Free Contemporary Fantasy Kindle Books 9-27-2012

These ebooks were listed as free downloads at the time of the post. These are usually only free for a few days at most. Always double check the prices before downloading.    

Poisoned Soil
by Tim Young
4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Dark Contemporary Fantasy


Combine Barbara Kingsolver's pastoral perspective with the dark writing style of Stephen King and Dean Koontz and you'll likely end up with:

Your Dinner Locally Grown: On Poisoned Soil

Set in the mountains of Georgia, Poisoned Soil is a harrowing, cinematic novel that follows a small-town man who risks it all for a chance to make his fortune. College football star Blake Savage could almost taste NFL fame, until an accident shattered both his knee and his future. When Blake meets famous, egocentric restaurateur Nick Vegas, he realizes he has one more shot at glory. Nick offers Blake more money than he can fathom to produce a delicacy for his ultra-exclusive network of underground supper clubs. The job sounds easy enough but there’s a catch: it’s illegal.

Blinded by greed, Blake conceals his sins from his wife, Angelica, and enters Nick’s gilded world. But when the foodies take their first bites of the illicit delicacy an ancient disease resurfaces, unleashing a trail of black death that points back to Blake. As Angelica desperately clings to mystical Cherokee traditions to save her family, a mysterious youngster named Ozzie finds himself trapped in Blake’s deadly game.

Poisoned Soil is a shockingly real drama about what can go horribly wrong when greed entices otherwise good people to make bad decisions.




Nightworld
by Maureen Noel
4.2 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Paranormal Romance


When night falls, Sapphire enters a world that leaves her body cut, bruised, and inexplicably swollen with child. There, in a place densely forested and deathly cold, Sapphire becomes Safire — a trained assassin who must kill or be killed. But when her nightmare demons start walking the streets of her peaceful little town in broad daylight, Sapphire must hurry to unravel the mystery of this Nightworld. For her sanity, her unborn baby, and the fate of future generations.



TAKERS
by Chris Davis
4.9 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Vampire Dark Fantasy


There's a new kind of vampire in the City of Angels.

Los Angeles Police Detective Kel Langston finds that out the hard way when he survives a brutal attack in a dark alley only to realize he's been turned into a monster. Stuck halfway between the living and the dead, his existence becomes a nightmare war for control between his human side and the burning hunger that gnaws at him, urging him to do things no human should ever want to do.

And as if that isn't enough, Kel finds himself forced into hunting the creatures that did this to him, a new kind of vampire humans don’t even know exist...a kind of vampire known only as Takers. Something he hates…and can't resist…and doesn’t know how to kill.

Takers… Your blood is only the beginning.



Roads of Madness (Island of Fog, Book 5)
by Keith Robinson
4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon
YA Contemporary Fantasy Adventure



Emily Stanton was sick. They all knew it was a matter of time before she became too sick to walk, and after that -- well, it didn't bear thinking about. Walking into the night was their only option. The sickness was worsening by the hour, and by morning she might not be able get to her feet. They had to make it to safety soon. But where was it safe? The city? Their old island?

Roads of Madness pits Hal and his friends against an enemy worse than dragons -- people! But not just ordinary people. Driven crazy by a terrible, unseen infection more than a decade before, and eking out a semblance of life in the bleak, deserted streets ever since, the only way for these people to survive is to hunt and scavenge. Their skin still burns and itches after all these years, a suffering that just won't end. The biosuited military calls them scrags. Marked by lesions and scars, they're easy to recognize... and best avoided.

Hal, Robbie, Abigail, and a very sick Emily know their island is farther along the coast, just beyond the city. There they hope to find a way back home. But they have a long road to travel; the city stands in their way and Emily might not last that long, for she carries with her a sickness of a different kind. Could things be any more dire?

Unfortunately, yes. Under normal circumstances, the journey would be fairly simple. As dangerous as the scrags are, they're no match for a fire-breathing dragon, an ogre, and a naga. And there's no way they could catch a nimble faeire! But magic has fled the land after the recent phoenix rebirth, and the shapeshifters find they can no longer transform...

The first three books of the series formed a trilogy, a three-part story that wrapped up at the end of Mountain of Whispers. Then Lake of Spirits started a new chain of events for the shapeshifters and left some of the children in a terrible situation. ROADS OF MADNESS continues the story...



Ljubljana Witch
by Stavrogin
4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Humorous Contemporary Fantasy



A mysterious e-mail:

‘Come to Ljubljana. Stay with me forever.

D’

With his friend Jay along for the ride, and others picked up along the way, Billy arrives in Ljubljana and quickly finds that things are a lot stranger than he could’ve possibly imagined. An art commune run by a man in a bear costume. A castle surrounded by continual snow, with ancient gods and 80s board games, famous writers and forbidden rooms.

And Daisy…his beautiful, unpredictable host.

Free Contemporary Fantasy Kindle Books 9-10-2012

These ebooks were listed as free downloads at the time of the post. These are usually only free for a few days at most. Always double check the prices before downloading.    

Adrift (The Last Selkie Book One)
by Elizabeth A. Reeves
5.0 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Paranormal Romance


The Last Selkie.

Twenty years ago the Gates to Faerie, protecting mankind from the Fae, failed for only a few hours.

It was enough for a selkie maiden to escape through the barrier and fall in love with a young man who was dying. Her magical nature was enough to keep him alive a little longer.

Then she vanished, leaving her husband and young daughter behind, answering the inescapable call of the sea-- a call the selkie have always answered.

Now nineteen, Meg Tanner has lost her father to a malignant brain tumor. Grieving and alone in the world, she follows the road to Newfoundland.

There she meets Devin, the Guardian of the Gateway. He tells her that her mother didn't drown, but was a selkie who slipped through the gateway twenty years earlier, when Devin's father died, leaving the weight of the gateway on a ten year old's shoulders.

Because of this, Devin feels responsible for Meg. He is also afraid that his attraction to her is purely the attraction of a mortal to a creature of Faerie.

Meanwhile, Meg keeps dreaming of Faerie-- her mother, and one of the Sidhe-- an inhumanly beautiful Fae named Omyn, who is irresistable to her, but also frightens her.

Meg's mother wants her to come to Faerie-- a one way ticket, and is weaving the seal skin that will allow her to pass through the gate and leave behind mortality forever.

Meg is forced to choose between the man she has grown to love, the fascinating Omyn who ignites her blood, and the last family she has left.




Awakened (Vampire Awakenings)
by Brenda K. Davies
4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Paranormal Romance


Traumatized by her past, and struggling to move on from it, Sera has spent the past three years of college hiding herself from the world and content to stay that way. A chance encounter with Liam shatters her sheltered world, leaving her stunned and shaken by the strange feelings and emotions he arises in her, feelings she never thought she would experience and that frighten her in their intensity. Harboring a dark and deadly secret of his own, Liam knows that he should stay away from Sera; that he will only bring her more hurt, but he is irresistibly drawn to her and unable to deny himself the pleasure that only she can bring to him. But when their pasts collide with their present, and Liam’s true nature is revealed, will their love for each other be enough, or will they be torn apart forever?




Dare to Bleed (Emily Sullivan Series)
by Mary Whitten
4.1 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Paranormal Romance


Emily is a normal girl with a nosey mother, a deadbeat father she has never met, and a vulgar outrageous best friend. Girls start dying around her apartment, and her love life is being turned upside down. to top it all off two mysterious men have come into her life and informed her that she is the killers target. A vampire named Damon has stolen a book of spells and will do anything to force Emily to relinquish her powers. Powers she never realized she had. Emily must figure out what she is in order to save the life of her best friend before time runs out.



Oceans of Red Volume One
by Willow Cross
4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Urban Fantasy



By 2015 the streets of Los Angeles have been transformed from a thriving metropolis to a hostile world ravaged by demons bent on assimilating the human race. Standing between this total apocalypse of humanity and their chance for survival is 19 year old Remy Martin.

A warrior in her own right, trained to think on her feet and kill if the situation requires, she is flanked by her older brother and younger sister.  Together, they devise a plan to take back the streets.  Against the wishes of their father, who commands the resistance forces, they venture into unknown realms of the supernatural in a race against time with the fate of the entire world in their young hands.

Join them on their mission into darkness where death lies around every corner, it is virtually impossible to distinguish your enemies from your allies, and a single mistake could result in the annihilation of everyone you've ever known and loved.



A Case of Imagination: A Madeleine Maclin Mystery (Madeleine Maclin Series)
by Jane Tesh
3.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Psychic Mystery



“On this nice July morning in Parkland, North Carolina, the office of Madeline Maclin Investigations might as well have been an Egyptian tomb: hot, dusty, and dead.” It doesn’t help that her landlord Reid Kent, does a brisk business…and briskly hits on Mac to rejoin his agency. He maintains no one will hire a former Miss Parkland as a serious PI.

Mac has been friends forever with Jerry Fairweather. Jerry claims to be psychic and is, unlike his two brothers, somewhat screwy. And he refuses to claim a share in the Fairweather fortune. But he shares some good news with Mac—his Uncle Val has died and left him a house. The two friends drive out to Celosia, a half hour away, where they discover a local beauty pageant in trouble and a house just perfect for setting up shop. A Psychic Shop. The arrival of lawyer Olivia, Jerry’s shark-like girlfriend, rouses both Mac’s interest in the mystery at the pageant and the one in her own heart.

And then comes the first murder….

A Case of Imagination is Jane Tesh’s playful first mystery, the start of a series by an author who admires Terry Pratchett, Martha Grimes, Carl Hiaasen, and P.G. Wodehouse.

Free Contemporary Fantasy Kindle Books 9-7-2012

These ebooks were listed as free downloads at the time of the post. These are usually only free for a few days at most. Always double check the prices before downloading.   

Shelly's Second Chance (The Wish Granters, Book One)
by L.B. Gschwandtner and Hope Chandler
5.0 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Paranormal Romance


Shelly Wagner is in trouble but her fiancé, Ben, doesn’t know it. Broke and ready to gamble her last dollar on a Super Lotto ticket, she really needs some help.

It arrives in the form of Joe and Alanna—Wish Granters from another world. One problem: it’s their very first assignment and they’re fairly clueless about their new wish granting powers and how to best use them. Plus they have a few things to work out in their own lives—if only they were still among the living. They want to return to earth, but can only get back by helping Shelly first.

After Joe and Alanna show up, Shelly’s life takes a drastic turn. So drastic that Shelly sees she may have been wishing for the wrong thing all along.

Is Shelly doomed or will Joe and Alanna help her squeak through? And, once they grant her wish, will she truly be able to turn her life around?

The Wish Granters: They’ll grant your wish, but the rest is up to you.

From a Blogger's Review:
Chandler and Swan weave a beautiful story about tough choices within this novel. As the reader, you are quickly drawn into the bright lights, big city feel of what Shelly wants, but you also know this won't be the way she solves her problems. Even while reading, the subconscious constantly nags at you for Shelly - you know this can't be the way her life will be. This is the result of great writing, to make the reader feel what the characters feel - want for them, hurt for them, laugh at them, love them. Shelly's journey is one we all know too well - the desire for a quick fix. Chandler and Swan help us all see that a "quick fix" will not change our destiny - we must change ourselves.

Emerald City Dreamer (Dreams by Streetlight)
by Luna Lindsey
3.9 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Paranormal Romance


Jina and Sandy survived the unthinkable. Now they've set up a secret Order in Seattle to fight the impossible - fairytale creatures born of human nightmares and nourished on dreams. Their tools: iron, lore, science, glamour, and support groups. As beginners, without access to the ancient societies of faerie hunters, they must rediscover how to protect themselves. And in order to fight the fiends of the world, Sandy must take control her inner ghosts.

As a dreamer in a rock band, Jina unknowingly feeds the fae and attracts unseen enemies at every turn. Now, they're finally on the tail of at least one dark monster bent on evil. She is a dreamer, so she must follow her heart - but which way does it lead?

Jett is an elf who only wants to protect her hodge-podge clan of faeries from the encroaching world of science and religion - which have systematically slaughtered her kind and the beliefs that gave birth to her people. True dreamers are rare beings, and when she finds them, she does everything she can to protect them and claim them as her own.

Ezra is a teenager who never feels comfortable in his own skin. Most people like him well enough, but when he looks in the mirror, he sees a demon. He has been taken in by the Garbage Eaters, who expect obedience and purity. Before long, he suffers a crisis of faith that may lead him into real danger.

Delve into this deeply developed, internally consistent world of the fae, and meet beings who are simultaneously alien, elegant, and terrifying, fueled by dreams and the creative energy of artists.  Glimpse the secret world of Tir Nan Og through the eyes of fully fledged four-dimensional characters living in a Seattle that is just a bit weirder than you think.

This is a  story with psychological depth, a page-turner with unexpected twists and turns.

When prey hunts, who will lead the chase, and who will run?



Going Underground
by Chris Ward
3.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Contemporary Fantasy


Rob knows the trains still run. He can hear them, down there in the dark beneath the fading grandeur of London. But the London Underground is just a memory now, replaced by the Monorail that caters only to the very rich while the poor cower in its shadow. So where do the trains go? Who is riding on them? Rob wants to find out, but some mysteries aren't meant to be uncovered...

Going Underground, a 3000-word dystopian short story. Comes with the first part of the novel, The Tube Riders, as an exclusive sample.

Chris Ward is the author of 33 published short stories and the novels The Tube Riders and The Man Who Built the World.



Dark Matter Heart (Dark Matter Heart Vampire Trilogy Book 1)
by Nathan Wrann
4.2 out of 5 stars on Amazon
YA Vampire Horror


A new town. A new school. A new beginning. Seventeen year-old Cordell Griffin and his mother move from Los Angeles to the Pacific Northwest to deal with his "allergies," and start a healthier new life. Cor has one goal: To blend in and be invisible. Unfortunately for him, no matter how far he goes, he can't run away from his secrets. Secrets about who he is. Secrets about why he's sick. And secrets about why so many people he meets end up dead, drained of blood.



13 on Halloween (The Shadow Series)
by Laura A. H. Elliot
4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon
YA Paranormal Romance



Roxie has the best night of her life until the popular kids decide they want to celebrate her birthday in a way Roxie never expects––in her attic, with a gift that’s out of this world, and a pact to never tell a living soul what happens next.

Twelve-year-old Roxie wants to be like Adrianne, the popular girl who gets everything she wants––a trampoline, a flock to prowl around the mall with, and most especially invitations to parties. When Roxie invites all the popular kids in the eighth grade, she calls the peacocks, to her first ever thirteenth birthday party on Halloween they all come and give her a gift that’s literally out of this world. Roxie astral projects to Planet Popular where she becomes seventeen instantly and gets everything she’s always wanted, but nothing is as it seems. Being a high school peacock is complicated. Roxie will risk everything on Planet Popular to be who she thinks she wants to be. Oh yeah, there’s Prom, doppelgangers, and lots of bad peacocks too. BONUS EXCERPT! Two Chapters of Shadow Slayer, Book 2 in The Shadow Series

Free Contemporary Fantasy Kindle Books 9-4-2012

These ebooks were listed as free downloads at the time of the post. These are usually only free for a few days at most. Always double check the prices before downloading.     

Dangerous (Element Preservers)
by Alycia Linwood
3.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon
YA Paranormal Romance


Ria is an 18-year-old girl who has just started going to the University of Magic, a special university for those who have one of the four elements: fire, water, air and earth. There she meets Michael, a boy whose element is different from hers, which makes their romantic involvement seem impossible because mixing of elements can have horrible consequences. She also feels threatened by Adrian, a very dangerous magic disease carrier. Ria's best friend, Paula, is fascinated by Adrian like most of the girls at the University and wants him to help her with her research about the disease. All Ria's beliefs are put to test when she starts having the symptoms of the disease and the only person she can turn to is Adrian.




Mesmerized
by Julie Crane and Talia Jager
3.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon
YA Paranormal Romance


WARNING: This is a mature YA. Due to sexual content and some language it is not recommended for younger teens.

Seventeen-year-old succubus Lily Anderson can’t have a normal life: She isn't allowed a boyfriend, she has no friends, and school is just one mess-up after another.

Lily’s parents send her away to the prestigious Emerson Academy. It doesn’t appear to be any different from the others. That is, until she meets her roommate, Hannah, and a blue-eyed boy named Jake.

Lily makes an almost deadly mistake, and Jake has a mysterious past that has come back to haunt him. Together, they must go on the run from things neither of them understand in order to save the people they love—and each other. But, Jake’s foe is more dangerous than they realized, and it will take the help of friends and family to save the man Lily loves.

She must learn to use her powers for good before it’s too late.



Bemused
by Catherine Winchester
4.6 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Humorous Paranormal Romance


When self-made property developer, Niall, is attacked by vampires on his way home, his neat and ordered life soon begins to fall apart. His rescuer, the effervescent Mel, declares herself to be his Muse - better known in modern times as a Guardian Angel - and offers him a business proposition; she wants them to go into business as supernatural detectives.

Slightly sceptical to say the least, Niall eventually agrees to work one case with her - helped in no small part by his rather strong attraction to Mel.

Mrs Hart's house has been plagued by a series of deadly and inexplicable events, culminating in the death of a local boy. As they look into possible causes, Niall finds himself growing even more fond of Mel, although she seems determined to keep him at arm's length.

He discovers why she she is so reticent but that is soon overshadowed by the cause of Mrs Hart's problems; a foe so powerful that even the immortal Mel seems terrified!



Magenta Shaman
by Lily Childs
4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Contemporary Fantasy


A natural shaman by birth, Magenta Sweeney travels through trance-induced realms to deliver souls from demonic threat.

But Magenta also has an earthly life in modern-day Brighton, a strange and cosmopolitan city caught between the rolling hills of England and the Sussex coast where she lives with husband Tom.

Every journey Magenta takes is unique. Her intricate knowledge of herbs and poisons guides her when to heal - and when to kill. Yet before she faces each challenge she must meet with ancient and terrifying entities that will unlock her passage into other dimensions, but not without question - or sacrifice.

This first episode in the Magenta Shaman short story series finds Magenta’s relationship with Tom at breaking point as she takes greater risks to help those waiting for her. Under pressure from The Protegians, a mysterious group of earth-bound guardians, the shaman is sent on increasingly dangerous missions by their intermediary - a suave, arrogant man known only as The Judge.

Will Magenta survive the fight to expel a deadly demon from a foetid, volcanic pit? And will Tom stand idly by when he finds his wife's body, broken and lifeless on their bed?



Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow
by Lily Childs
5.0 out of 5 stars on Amazon
Contemporary Fantasy



Natural born shaman, Magenta Sweeney is torn from the comfort of England's green coast and sent on a terrifying trance journey by the very guides and guardians that claim to protect her. This time she must do as she is told. This time – she has no choice.

In Magenta Shaman Stones The Crow Maggie finds herself eight hundred miles from home, wandering the Bohemian forests of the Czech Republic in a final, desperate attempt to rescue the father she'd long believed dead.

As the bleak stone walls of ancient Houska Castle loom through the trees the shaman must prepare herself as never before.

And when the Gates of Hell open to invite Magenta in, she is forced to make a decision – one that could be her last.