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I’m E.S. Luck, author of The Wastelander, a post-apocalyptic romance that blends the grittiness of post-apocalyptic fiction with steamy romance. I’ve always had a deep interest in the idea of living after the apocalypse. Fundamentally, apocalypse narratives are about human resilience, a concept that’s rich with storytelling opportunities. I’m also an avid romance reader. I love the tension, buildup, and deep exploration of love's many forms. Post-apocalyptic romance ratchets that tension up to eleven and introduces the possibility of love that transcends even the end of the world…and if that’s not compelling and deeply desirable on a basic human level, I don’t know what is.
If anyone can successfully blend post-apocalyptic fiction, romance, and fantasy into one amazing book, it’s definitely Ruby Dixon. I admit that when I first discovered this book, I was skeptical that it would be able to juggle those elements successfully.
However, this book introduces us to a fascinating post-apocalyptic world destroyed by the one thing nobody expects dragons! As it turns out, though, these are humanoid people who can shift into dragons at will. The world-building in this book and in the series that follows it is just right—compelling without being overwhelming—and the spice is, as usual with Dixon, irresistible. Highly recommended.
Years ago, the skies ripped open and the world was destroyed in fire and ash. Dragons - once creatures of legend - are the enemy. Vicious and unpredictable, they rule the skies of the ruined cities, forcing humanity to huddle behind barricades for safety.
Claudia's a survivor. She scrapes by as best as she can in a hard, dangerous world. When she runs afoul of the law, she's left as bait in dragon territory. She only has one chance to survive - to somehow 'tame' a dragon and get it to obey her.
I’m E.S. Luck, author of The Wastelander, a post-apocalyptic romance that blends the grittiness of post-apocalyptic fiction with steamy romance. I’ve always had a deep interest in the idea of living after the apocalypse. Fundamentally, apocalypse narratives are about human resilience, a concept that’s rich with storytelling opportunities. I’m also an avid romance reader. I love the tension, buildup, and deep exploration of love's many forms. Post-apocalyptic romance ratchets that tension up to eleven and introduces the possibility of love that transcends even the end of the world…and if that’s not compelling and deeply desirable on a basic human level, I don’t know what is.
This book has it all in terms of amazing romance tropes: forced proximity, only one bed, rescue romance, grumpy/sunshine…but somehow, it never feels formulaic or forced. Kent’s prose is simple but evocative, and the spice is both hot and sweet.
I loved seeing Travis evolve through Layne’s eyes from a taciturn, grumpy guy she’s stuck with to a man that she realizes fully embodies the saying that “still waters run deep.” Their devotion to each other and their determination to create a life worth living even in a world they no longer recognize is touching and stayed with me long after I finished reading.
It only took four years for the world to fall apart.
Now the last member of my family has died, and I'm forced to travel across what's left of three states to find the only people I know left alive. To survive, I'll have to scavenge food and supplies and try to avoid violent men who've learned they can take what they want by force. The only way I'm going to make it is by trusting Travis.
Travis used to fix my car, and now he's all I have left in the world. He's gruff and stoic and unfriendly, and…
I’m E.S. Luck, author of The Wastelander, a post-apocalyptic romance that blends the grittiness of post-apocalyptic fiction with steamy romance. I’ve always had a deep interest in the idea of living after the apocalypse. Fundamentally, apocalypse narratives are about human resilience, a concept that’s rich with storytelling opportunities. I’m also an avid romance reader. I love the tension, buildup, and deep exploration of love's many forms. Post-apocalyptic romance ratchets that tension up to eleven and introduces the possibility of love that transcends even the end of the world…and if that’s not compelling and deeply desirable on a basic human level, I don’t know what is.
I truly never thought I’d be into “why choose” romance, but here we are, and Rebecca Quinn converted me. What I love about this book is that despite having five (yes, five!) main male characters, each one is so distinct and fully formed that it never feels confusing or repetitive to hop between their perspectives.
The relationship between Eden and the Brutes, as well as the relationships between the Brutes themselves, are complex, layered, and often messy in a way that feels authentic and real. Quinn’s prose is lovely, and the spice…let’s just say several of those scenes live in my head rent-free. The sequel is just as memorable and may be even better than the first book (how often does that happen?!).
Even if the world did end, five men is far too many to handle. Isn’t it?
Since the Final War, I’ve been doing just fine. I have a lovely cave, a darling vegetable patch, forest views . . . and if loneliness sometimes squeezes my aching heart, well, my books have always kept me company.
That is, until a pack of hunters chase me from my home and right into the arms of several rather large, rather brutish ex-Army Rangers. And those brutes have the nerve to make me the rudest offer I’ve ever heard.
I’m E.S. Luck, author of The Wastelander, a post-apocalyptic romance that blends the grittiness of post-apocalyptic fiction with steamy romance. I’ve always had a deep interest in the idea of living after the apocalypse. Fundamentally, apocalypse narratives are about human resilience, a concept that’s rich with storytelling opportunities. I’m also an avid romance reader. I love the tension, buildup, and deep exploration of love's many forms. Post-apocalyptic romance ratchets that tension up to eleven and introduces the possibility of love that transcends even the end of the world…and if that’s not compelling and deeply desirable on a basic human level, I don’t know what is.
We’ve somehow managed to make it to the end of a list of post-apocalyptic fiction without mentioning zombies, but I’m here to remedy that with this book. It has everything you love about zombie apocalypses but with the added element of a sweet, sizzling romance between a capable, kickass heroine and a dreamy former Marine.
This novel kicks off a series with plenty of zombies, spice, and even a mystery or two. Both main characters are compelling, and I enjoyed following their journey over the three books in this series.
Caitlin Meadows thought the worst part of her business trip would be the airport hassles and her overly chatty seatmate.However, when her plane is shot down, and she finds herself in the middle of a zombie virus outbreak, she realizes she was never prepared for terrors like these.Lost, alone, and afraid, Caitlin can only focus on one thing-- survival.That is until she crosses paths with Jack Booker, an ex-Marine with a shadowy past and a penchant for pushing Caitlin's buttons.Under the looming threats of the undead walking the earth, corrupt government agencies, and the horrors encoded in humanity, can unlikely…
Amy Goldman is a gardener, author, artist, philanthropist, and well-known advocate for seed saving, plant breeding, and heirloom fruits and vegetables. Her mission is to celebrate and catalogue the magnificent diversity of standard, open-pollinated varieties, and to promote their conservation. Amy gave up a career as a clinical psychologist to follow her first love which was kitchen gardening. In her own words from Heirloom Harvest: “I have romantic leanings and tend to follow my heart… In hindsight, I know my heart steered me straight, and toward a future I could never have imagined…My passion for the fruits of the earth has deep roots….”
The Garden in Every Sense and Season isn’t strictly speaking about food gardening, but Tovah Martin loves homegrown fruits and vegetables as much as I do, and that comes shining through on the pages of this book. She “lives on lettuce,” describes herself as “brassica-centric” (picture broccoli and cauliflower as the main event at lunch), is passionate about Jade bush beans and will have no other, and lusts for Chester Thornless blackberries. You get the idea?
What appeals to me most about Martin’s book, apart from her astute observations and deep knowledge about all kinds of plants – edible as well as ornamental; cultivated as well as wild – is her exuberance. About the rhythms of nature, the growth cycle, and the sensual pleasures to be had, every day in every season. I find her voice simply infectious. Reading this book is sure to make you smile, and perhaps help…
So much of gardening is focused on seasonal to-do lists and daily upkeep. But what about taking time to just enjoy the garden? The Garden in Every Sense and Season urges you to revel in what you've created. From the heady fragrance of spring lilacs to the delicious silence of a winter snowfall, writer and lifelong gardener Tovah Martin explores the glories of her garden using the five senses. Her sage advice and gratifying reflections on the rewards of a more mindful way of gardening will inspire you to look closer, breathe deeper, listen harder, and truly savor the gifts…
I loved cooking and baking since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I rediscovered the joy of the kitchen. Even though I may enjoy tossing off a batch of eclairs on a whim or experimenting with sous vide, I can get into a cooking rut of last-minute dinners and grab-and-go meals and forget why I enjoy it in the first place! These five books never fail to remind me of the figurative (and sometimes literal) magic of making delicious food with my own hands.
No can deny that pie is magic, but in this book, pies are literal magic: anyone who eats the fruit pies at the Blackbird Café will receive messages from their long-lost loved ones, thanks to the blackbirds who arrive at midnight and sing their dreams.
I adore the touch of magical realism in this gentle novel, and I can never read it without wanting a slice of pie and a glass of blackberry sweet tea. There’s something so quintessentially summery and wholesome about this book that you can practically taste it as you turn the pages.
THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER Heather Webber's Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe is a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town Southern charm.
Nestled in the mountain shadows of Alabama lies the little town of Wicklow. It is here that Anna Kate has returned to bury her beloved Granny Zee, owner of the Blackbird Café.
It was supposed to be a quick trip to close the café and settle her grandmother’s estate, but despite her best intentions to avoid forming ties or even getting to know her father’s side of the family, Anna Kate finds herself inexplicably drawn to…
I’m an award-winning cookbook author, photographer, and culinary instructor with a passion for local food and dessert. As a trained chef, I’ve worked behind the scenes of Cook’s Illustrated magazine and the TV show America’s Test Kitchen.I’ve also been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and CBS Evening News. For cookbooks, I love beautifully styled photography that pulls me in and delicious, well-written recipes that work in a real home kitchen. I also like a cookbook that you can curl up with and read like a novel. I live outside Boston with my family, two high-maintenance cats, and a pair of well-worn roller skates.
This charmingly compact cookbook is a favorite of mine and never far from my kitchen.
It’s chock full of recipes for old-fashioned, seasonal fruit desserts by the owner of Portland, Oregon’s Baker & Spice. I particularly love the rustic berry crisps, wholesome cakes, and boozy bread puddings inspired by the ingredients of the Pacific Northwest.The Sour Cherry Cobbler is a delightful recipe I come back to again and again.
Organized by season for easy reference, the luscious, up-close photographs are half the appeal. But the recipes for this irresistible assortment of desserts are reliable, unfussy, and delicious, making it my favorite seasonal cookbook of the bunch.
James Beard Award-winning chef Cory Schreiber teams up with Julie Richardson, owner of Portland’s Baker & Spice, to showcase the freshest fruit available amidst a repertoire of nearly 75 satisfying old-timey fruit desserts, including crumbles, crisps, buckles, pies, and more.
An early fall cobbler with blackberries bubbling in their juice beneath a golden cream biscuit. A crunchy oatmeal crisp made with mid-summer’s nectarines and raspberries. Or a comforting pear bread pudding to soften a harsh winter’s day. Simple, scrumptious, cherished–these heritage desserts featuring local fruit are thankfully experiencing a long-due revival.
Whether you’re searching for the perfect ending to a…
I spent my early childhood in a rural, isolated, multi-generational household. During summers we rarely saw anyone unrelated to us. My twin sister and I spent our days reading, hiding, and naming our menagerie of barn cats (final count: 36). In my career as a lifestyle journalist, I’ve gotten to interview famous eccentrics ranging from Loretta Lynn to David Sedaris. I live in the North Carolina mountains with my husband, our teenage son, and my aforementioned twin sister. This past summer, a black bear walked the 22 steps up to our front porch and stared in the window, raising his huge paws high in exasperation.
Unlike Welty’s works featuring honorable or broadly comic characters, this dense story cycle was never excerpted in anthologies. It’s a trickier cast: consider Jinny Love Stark and Virgie Rainey, who cut through the languor of Depression-era Mississippi with stone-cold intention. Jinny Love plays croquet with her lover to enrage her volatile husband; she encourages her daughter to wear lizards as earrings to offend the propriety of her own controlling mother. Impoverished piano prodigy Virgie flouts her gift merely to watch her teacher go mad. Later, she trims her dead mother’s yard with sewing scissors while neighbors do the real work of laying out the body and receiving mourners. The heat presses forward. What day is it? What hour? This is weird, experimental Welty, and the payoff is sweet.
First published in 1949, THE GOLDEN APPLES is an acutely observed, richly atmospheric portrayal of small town life in Morgana, Mississippi. There's Snowdie, who has to bring up her twin boys alone after her husband, King Maclain, disappears one day, discarding his hat on the banks of the Big Black. There's Loch Morrison, convalescing with malaria, who watches from his bedroom window as wayward Virgie Rainey meets a sailor in the vacant house opposite. Meanwhile, Miss Eckhart the piano teacher, grieving the loss of her most promising pupil, tries her hand at arson.
Hi! My name is Ben Berman Ghan, and I’m the author of the short story collection What We See in the Smoke and the novella Visitation Seeds. I’ve spent pretty much every day of my life since 2015 thinking about short fiction, writing it, or editing it. In many ways, the traditions and strengths of the genre of SF are owed to the short fiction writers and the magazines that have published them over the years — magazines that I keep on reading to this day. There is something electric to me about the short story, the concentrated fervor of an SF writer having to concentrate all that imagination and emotion into something tight and sharp.
What shall we do, when at last the intricate oppressions, we have built for ourselves are pushed plainly into view? Cory Doctorow’s collection of novellas bills itself not fictions of tomorrow, but stories of our present moment. Immigration, police brutality, tech monopoly, online radicalization, all bubble sharply and brilliantly to the surface here, in a world that, frankly, doesn’t seem that far from ours. What will you do, when your toaster tells you that the bread you bought is not a compatible product? Cory Doctorow might tell you. You might not like the answer very much. Either way, with stellar writing and keen insight, Radicalized is the best kind of political fiction, unapologetic, and empathic.
If you want a better future tomorrow, you're going to have to fight for it today.
Here are four urgent stories from author and activist Cory Doctorow, four social, technological and economic visions of the world today and its near - all too near - future.
'Unauthorized Bread' is a tale of immigration, toxic economic stratification and a young woman's perilously illegal quest to fix a broken toaster.
In 'Model Minority' a superhero finds himself way out his depth when he confronts the corruption of the police and justice system.
'Radicalized' is the story of a desperate husband, a darknet…
I'm the author of short stories and novels including my young adult debut, Pandemic, which continues to be a timely read about surviving a widespread deadly virus. After the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 (commonly called Swine Flu), I was fascinated with the idea of a global illness that could be much, much worse. I researched historical diseases, interviewed public health officials, and the idea for my novel was born. Written and published before COVID-19, some of the details are eerily predictive of coronavirus. Pandemic won SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award the year after its publication, and a June 2022 reissue of the original novel includes updated resources and backmatter.
This collection of short stories by
twenty different authors explores how a fictional deadly disease affects a
range of people, from scientists to government officials to everyday teens. (My
contribution is chapter 13, “Escape to Orange Blossom.”) What I especially
enjoyed about this anthology is the way that the characters from one story
might appear in another. Using a single incident to drive the plot, the
collaborative nature sets this collection apart.
From the imaginations of twenty authors of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction comes PREP FOR DOOM - an integrated collection of short stories that tell the tale of a single catastrophe as experienced by many characters, some of whom will cross paths.
What begins with a seemingly innocuous traffic accident soon spirals into a global pandemic. The release of Airborne Viral Hemorrhagic Fever upon New York City’s unsuspecting populace brings bloody suffering within hours, death within a day, and spreads worldwide within a month.
An online community called Prep For Doom has risen to the top of a recent doomsday preparation…