Build-in Book Search
Cruel Beauty
Rosamund Hodge
Fantasy / Young Adult / Romance
Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.
Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle—a shifting maze of magical rooms—enthralls her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black
Fantasy / Young Adult / Children's
*Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.*
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.
How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me From Robots, Traitors, and Missy the Cruel
Jennifer Brown
Young Adult / Contemporary
Luke Abbott's school is the losing-est school in the history of losing. And that's just fine for him. He'd rather be at home playing video games and avoiding his older brother Rob and the Greatest Betrayal of All Time.
But now he's being forced to join the robotics team, where surely he'll help uphold the school's losing streak. He'll also meet a colorful cast of characters, including: Mikayla, the girl who does everything with her toes; Jacob and Jacob, who aren't twins but might as well be; the sunflower seed-obsessed Stuart; and Missy the Cruel, Luke's innocent-looking bully since they were six-years-old. But it's an unlikely connection with a mysterious boy known only as “Lunchbox Jones" that will change Luke's life. Turns out, Luke and Lunchbox Jones have a lot more in common than just robots . . . .
With nonstop laughs and enough heart to make even a mechanical robot shed a tear, Jennifer Brown's new book is poised to secure her status as a middle-grade author to know and read.
A Cruel Wind
Glen Cook
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Before there was Black Company, there was the Dread Empire, an omnibus collection the first three Dread Empire novels: A Shadow of All Night's Falling, October's Baby and All Darkness Met.
Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.
The Cruel Sea
Nicholas Monsarrat
Literature & Fiction / Biography
A powerful novel of the North Atlantic in World War II, this is the story of the British ships Compass Rose and Saltash and of their desparate cat-and-mouse game with Nazi U-boats. First published to great accalim in 1951, The Cruel Sea remains a classic novel of endurance and daring.
Cruel & Unusual
Patricia Cornwell
Mystery / Crime
Virginia Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is called in to autopsy the body of convicted murderer Ronnie Waddell after his execution. Several days after the execution, a young boy is discovered murdered in the fashion of Waddell's earlier killings, with Waddell's prints near the body. Scarpetta, along with FBI Agent Benton Wesley and Detective Pete Marino, try to discover how a dead inmate could have possibly committed another murder after his death. As the story progresses she seeks the assistance of her 17-year-old niece Lucy after she discovers a strange folder on her computer.
Cruel Zinc Melodies
Glen Cook
Science Fiction & Fantasy
View our feature on Glen Cook's Cruel Zinc Melodies.Garrett uncovers the dark side of the fantasy city TunFaire, where no-one is to be trusted especially beautiful woman. When a pack of gorgeous woman knock on his door, Garrett knows it’s too good to be true. The leader of the group is Alyx Weider, the daughter of the largest brewer in town. Her father and friends are opening a new theater in TunFaire and the lovely ladies are there to persuade Garrett to help get rid of the paranormal parasites living in the new construction. Garrett agrees because after all, it means free beer and the company of these beautiful girls. What else could a man want? But Garrett doesn’t realize the drama he’s stepping into.
The Cruel Fae King
Part #1 of "Cursed Kingdoms" series by A. K. Koonce
Polyamorous / Reverse Harem / Fantasy / Paranormal
A Cruel Deception
Charles Todd
Mystery & Thrillers / Historical Fiction
In the aftermath of World War I, nurse Bess Crawford attempts to save a troubled former soldier from a mysterious killer in this eleventh book in the beloved Bess Crawford mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.The Armistice of November 1918 ended the fighting, but the Great War will not be over until a Peace Treaty is drawn up and signed by all parties. Representatives from the Allies are gathering in Paris, and already ominous signs of disagreement have appeared.Sister Bess Crawford, who has been working with the severely wounded in England in the war's wake, is asked to carry out a personal mission in Paris for a Matron at the London headquarters of The Queen Alexandra's.Bess is facing decisions about her own future, even as she searches for the man she is charged with helping. When she does locate Lawrence Minton, she finds a bitter and disturbed officer who has walked away from his duties at the Peace...
A Cruel Confession
Vi Carter
He's brutal, cold and dangerous. She's a naïve virgin who doesn't know how to follow his rules. ***This is book two in The Obsessed Duet. This is NOT a standalone.
Cruel Devils
Mae Doyle
My parent’s brutal murder threatened to ruin my life. According to my aunt and uncle, I should be thrilled to be at Meyer’s Grove. But the devils, Asher, Parker, Luca, and Caspian, don’t agree. They’re vicious. Relentless. Filthy rich. And they’re not going to stop until I’m ready to quit. I have to survive Meyer’s Grove. For my future. For the memory of my parents. But that means I have to survive the devils. They’re dangerous, and they play games that I didn’t know existed. There’s just one thing that the devils don’t know – When you lose everything, then you’re no longer afraid. I’ve lost it all. The devils can do what they want. They can’t take this from me, too.
Cruel Saint
T. K. Leigh
<p><strong><em>Five years ago, he took everything from me. Now I'm going to take everything from him... Starting with her.</em></strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Gideon:</strong></p><p>For the past five years, all I've thought about is revenge.</p><p><br></p><p>Shot and left for dead by the people I trusted, only to be saved and taken to an even worse hell, I vowed to make them pay. To make them suffer as I once did. To listen to their pleas for mercy as they draw their final breath.</p><p><br></p><p>But to do that, I need her.</p><p><br></p><p>Which comes with its own risks.</p><p><br></p><p>I may be able to make everyone else believe my lies, but if anyone might recognize me beneath my carefully planned disguise, it's the woman I once planned to...
A Dangerous and Cruel Love (Dark Mafia Romance Duet, #2)
Tee, Marian
Note: This was previously published as Prince of Darkness (Part Two). She was too pure for his world. Too good for a man like him. She had every reason to be scared, but instead she chose to fell in love...with him. I should've gotten rid of her from the start.Instead, I stole her away from her boyfriend.I made her mine.I made her believe I could keep her safe. I made her think we had a future.But instead I found myself breaking all of my promises. This is Part II of the Dark Mafia Romance duet.
Cruel as the Grave
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
The murder of a personal fitness trainer draws DCI Bill Slider and his team into a baffling investigation where nothing is as it first appears. Fitness trainer Erik Lingoss is found dead in his west London flat, his head smashed by one of his own dumbbells. His heartlessly-dumped girlfriend, blood on her clothes and hands, is the prime suspect. She had means, opportunity, and motive. But is the case as clear-cut as it seems? Handsome Erik Lingoss had clients in high places; and he seemed to engender powerful emotions. If it was a crime of passion, there was plenty of that to go round: love strong as death, jealousy cruel as the grave. Who did he let in to his flat that evening? Where is his missing mobile phone? Why is seven hundred pounds in cash stuffed under his pillow? The deeper Slider and his team dig, the clearer it becomes there's far more to this case than meets the eye.
A Cruel Kind of Beautiful (Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll Series Book 1)
Michelle Hazen
Romance / Contemporary
If you can’t get to the Big O, can you get to the happily ever after? Jera McKnight loves music, swoons for hot guys, but sucks at sex. Jacob Tate is her perfect storm: a pun-loving nude model with a heart as big as his record collection.When a newspaper-delivery accident lands him in her living room, he’s almost tempting enough to make her forget she’s never been able to please a man—in bed or out of it. Sure, he laughs at her obscure jokes, and he’ll even accept a PG-rating if it means he gets time with her, but he’s also hiding something. And it has everything to do with the off-limits room in his apartment. Jera pours all her confusion and longing into her drum kit, which pays off when her band lands the record deal of their dreams. Except just like Jacob, it might be too good to come without a catch. She doesn’t know if her music is good enough to attract a better contract, or if she’s enough to tempt a man like Jacob to give up his secrets—even if they could fix her problems between the sheets. But if this rocker girl is too afraid to bet on herself, she might just end up playing to an empty house. Fans of Alice Clayton’s Wallbanger or Kylie Scott will love this addictive new series because of its quick sense of humor and adorable found family. Click now if you want to instantly escape into the world of Jera and Jacob’s romance.
Cruel Tides
Maria Adolfsson
The eagerly awaited next case for DI Karen Eiken Hornby from the global bestselling author, Maria Adolfsson. Perfect for fans of Shetland, Broadchurch and Ann Cleeves.A secluded island. A missing woman. An impossible choice.Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby is not the only person to have returned to her native island nation, Doggerland, after years abroad. Following a ten-year hiatus, Luna has chosen to secretly record her comeback album where she was born and raised. Spirits are high among her team at the wrap party, though Karen is less than impressed with the simpering singer. The next morning, Luna is nowhere to be found.Nothing goes unnoticed in the tight-knit community - certainly not the arrival, or disappearance, of a world-famous singer. So, while the rest of the force is frantically searching for a suspect whose brutal attacks on women are increasing in intensity and frequency, a reluctant Karen is tasked...
Cruel Money
K. A. Linde
Romance / Fantasy / Paranormal
Lose yourself to the dark and glamorous underbelly of the Upper East Side in USA Todaybestselling author K.A. Linde's new billionaire romance Cruel Trilogy. She was supposed to be a one night stand. A way to sate my sexual appetite. I let her glimpse the man I am. The face that I hide behind my carefully cultivated life. But she ripped open that divide—and there's no going back. Now, she's here. In my city. I don't care that I'm Manhattan royalty and she's the help. Only that she's living in my summer home. With me. And I want more.
Cruel Love
Part #6 of "Privilege" series by Kate Brian
Young Adult / Mystery & Thrillers
After escaping from the Brenda T. Trumball Correctional Facility for Women and stealing the identity of rich socialite, Ariana Osgood finally thought she was on the path she always believed she deserved. But her past caught up with her and she is forced right back to her old ways, making everything she wants seem further out of reach. And some familiar faces are back to make things even worse for her.
The Privilege series comes to and end with all the suspense, romance, drama and, wherever Ariana is concerned, murder you'd expect.
Wanted Bride for the Cruel Mafia King: Dark Mafia Romance
Posey Parks
KinsleyWhen I signed up for the Wife for Hire Agency, I thought I was in for a simple arrangement. A temporary husband to fund my mother's medical research. It seemed easy enough. But when I met my soon-to-be spouse, I realize he's no ordinary man. He is the mafia boss of the Pitucco crime family. Powerful, dangerous, and darkly seductive. I had walked away from him eleven years ago. I should be afraid of him, but instead, I find myself still drawn to him like I was years ago. He's a man who's used to taking what he wants, and now he wants me back. But can I handle the consequences of being his wife? Can I survive the cruel world he lives in? Or will loving him destroy me?NickAs the head of the Pitucco mafia crime family, my obligations come first. That's why when I decide to find a wife, I turn to the Wife for Hire Agency. Imagine my surprise when I come across Kinsley's profile. We had attended the same university. And when we crossed paths it felt like all the air had left my lungs. I had been drawn to her innocence and beauty. Our chemistry had been undeniable. However we couldn't be together. Back then, I was in an arranged relationship as part of a deal between my mafia family and another.Now she's an option and everything changes.I know that this marriage of convenience will become permanent. She doesn't know it yet, but she's mine forever. But as much as I want her, she represents everything I despise - innocence and vulnerability. Will I be able to resist the temptation to corrupt her or will she be the one to change me? Only time will tell if our union will be our salvation or our downfall.
Cold Cruel Kiss
Toni Anderson
Romance / Suspense / Thriller
When the daughter of the US Ambassador to Argentina is kidnapped in broad daylight on Christmas Eve, the FBI sends one of its best negotiators to investigate. Supervisory Special Agent Max Hawthorne arrives at an embassy thrown into chaos as US and local law enforcement hustle to track the young woman. Is this a simple kidnap for ransom, or part of a political agenda? Could it be something more sinister? Lucy Aston has something to hide. Preferring to stay in the shadows, the lowly, fashion-challenged office assistant resents being assigned to help Max. But Max can't resist a puzzle...he's starting to suspect Lucy Aston is not what she seems. When rumors emerge of a suspected Russian spy operating out of the embassy, Lucy's carefully constructed life begins to crumble. As she and Max race to rescue the ambassador's daughter, Lucy has to do whatever it takes to keep her cover from being blown—even if that means betraying the man she's falling for.
Cruel Winter
Anthony Izzo
Horror / Mystery & Thrillers
Lock the doors. Close the windows. And prepare yourself for the heart-stopping debut of Anthony Izzo, a new master of horror who will chill you to the bone. . .Jack Harding and his friends feel sorry for the new kid in town. His name is Ronnie Winter, and he's a bit of a weirdo. So when the local bullies try to beat him up, Jack and his friends step in to protect Ronnie—and that's their first mistake. Because Ronnie Winter is not like any other kid they've ever known. He lives at the old Steadman place, in the big creepy mansion that used to be a mental hospital. And his young, beautiful mother has a strange way of making Jack promise to be Ronnie's friend. . .forever.The closer Jack and his friends get to Ronnie, the colder it gets. The town is plunged into a wave of brutal snowstorms—and plagued by a series of gruesome murders. And as the grisly death toll mounts, Jack realizes that Ronnie is surrounded by something far more powerful than a mother's...
An Absence So Cruel: An Australian Crime Thriller (Detective Tony Packer Book 2)
JT Viner
SOME PAIN CANNOT BE ENDUREDSix-year-old Abby Hanford is abducted from King's Park in Perth while playing with her father. All that is left behind is a shoe.Police search the park but find no trace of Abby.Then they discover that a known child sex offender was in the park when Abby was taken. He is now on the run from police and a search of him turns up horrifying secrets.It seems clear that he was taken Abby.But Detective Tony Packer is not so sure. Something feels wrong. Abby's parents are not telling the truth and neither are their friends. There are darker secrets behind Abby's disappearance.A girl is missing.Time is running out.If Packer cannot find the truth in time, Abby will never be seen again.An Absence So Cruel is the second in a new series of knife-edge thrillers set in the underbelly of Perth, Western Australia.Perfect for fans of JD Kirk, Ian Rankin, Jack Gatland, JM Dalgleish, Patricia Cornwell and other police procedural thrillers.
Cruel as the Grave
Sharon Kay Penman
Literature & Fiction / Mystery
April 1193. England’s King Richard Lionheart languishes in a German prison, and treason scents the air. Richard’s younger brother, John, seizes Windsor Castle, and Dowager Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine summons her trusted personal “queen’s man,” Justin de Quincy, to do the impossible– mediate a truce with her rebel son. Amid such fateful events, the murder of a Welsh peddler’s daughter seems small. But the cruel demise of the beautiful Melangell so troubles Justin that not even a threatened French invasion can keep him from investigating her death. Yet can he bring Melangell’s craven killer to justice?
A Cruel and Burning Ice
Brian S. Wheeler
Animals / Birds / Environment / Nature
Markus Kohl's aching body struggles to attend to his duties as the kingdom's lowly tinker. Though his neighbors rely upon the tinker to keep the mechanisms of their livelihoods in working order, few in the kingdom appreciate Markus's effort. Regardless, Markus satisfies his king's newest request with a creation that will remind all of those in the kingdom of the debts owed to the humble tinker.Markus Kohl's old bones groan as the tinker wakes to the first morning of the second sun. The second sun's humidity and heat give Markus little relief. His neighbors show him little patience as their poorly maintained machines shudder for the tinker's attention, and the villagers calling on the Markus's services refuse to allow the tinker's helpful Fay to enter their homes. Markus's work schedule strains to meet King Tiber's request for a device that will cool his court as the second sun crowds the sky. Though his body aches and though his neighbors show no respect for his duties, Markus meets the king's order with the help of his silver-haired Fay. What the tinker presents to the court challenges the realm to take responsibility for itself, or suffer terrible plague should ruin be allowed to gnaw at Markus's final, stunning achievement.
Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor Volume 1
Iota AIUE
The Third Time’s The Charm!
Princess That never received an actual name and suffered many years of abuse. Each time she meets her untimely end, she’s sent back into the past, and during her third loop, she restarts as a three-year-old girl. What’s more, the imperial family’s guardian deity—the Golden Dragon—takes notice of her this time. Even the legendary, ultra fluffy Flame Tiger latches onto her! Despite being That’s older brother, the crown prince never showed any interest in her, yet in this loop, he dubs her an angel. Will her father—the infamously cold-blooded emperor—shower her with affection as well?! The nameless princess will fight with all her strength to survive and earn a name of her own!
Cruel Summer
Alyson Noel
Young Adult / Children's / Paranormal
"This was supposed to be my best summer yet, the one I've been working toward since practically forever. Now I'm being banished from everything I know and love, and it just doesn't make any sense."
Having recently discarded her dorky image--and the best friend that went with it--Colby Cavendish is looking forward to a long hot season of parties, beach BBQ's, and hopefully, more hook-ups with Levi Bonham, the hottest guy in school. But her world comes crashing down when her parents send her away to spend the summer in Greece with her crazy aunt Tally.
Stranded on a boring island with no malls, no cell phone reception, and an aunt who talks to her plants, Colby worries that her new friends have forgotten all about her. But when she meets Yannis, a cute Greek local, everything changes. She experiences something deeper and more intense than a summer fling, and it forces her to see herself, and the life she left behind, in a whole new way, in Alyson Noël 's *Cruel Summer. *
The Ever Cruel Kingdom
Rin Chupeco
From the author of The Bone Witch, the thrilling sequel to The Never Tilting World spins elemental magic, fierce sisterhood, and vast, incredible landscapes into a YA fantasy epic perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir. After a treacherous journey and a life-shattering introduction to a twin neither knew she had, sisters Haidee and Odessa expected to emerge from the Great Abyss to a world set right. But though the planet is turning once again, the creatures of the abyss refuse to rest without another goddess's sacrifice. To break the cycle, Haidee and Odessa need answers that lie beyond the seven gates of the underworld, within the Cruel Kingdom itself. The shadows of the underworld may hunger to tear them apart, but these two sisters are determined to heal their world—together.
What This Cruel War Was Over
Chandra Manning
In this unprecedented account, Chandra Manning uses letters, diaries, and regimental newspapers to take the reader inside the minds of Civil War soldiers-black and white, Northern and Southern-as they fought and marched across a divided country. With stunning poise and narrative verve, Manning explores how the Union and Confederate soldiers came to identify slavery as the central issue of the war and what that meant for a tumultuous nation. This is a brilliant and eye-opening debut and an invaluable addition to our understanding of the Civil War as it has never been rendered before.
**
