Story trope: Fish out of water
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I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life. Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world. At least, that’s what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does. But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either. Although I’m giving serious consideration to just one.
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Kessa is a half-barbarian herb-witch, arrested for crimes she didn’t quite intend. But when Iathor discovers her immunity to truth potions, he’ll do whatever he must to court her. Guilty or not, she’s his only hope of banishing his nightmare: a son enslaved to him by the loyalty potion that each Lord Alchemist’s heir must drink, and defeat. But Kessa doesn’t trust him, Iasen despises her tainted blood, and there’s still the mystery of who complicated Kessa’s little crime into the bigger one she didn’t intend. They don’t even have the benefit of lust at first sight. All they have in common is the alchemist’s immunity, and an ability to get on each other’s nerves. Will it be enough?
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To save a kingdom, she must charm a monster. Transported to the magical realm of Avalon, Gwen finds herself in the hands of its dark and beautiful ruler—Mordred, the Prince in Iron.
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The daughter of a Warrior King, Lara was trained as a healer. With her father dead and her incompetent half-brother on the throne, the kingdom is in danger of falling to warring Firelanders. Unable to depose her sibling or negotiate peace, Lara serves her people by healing the warriors—on both sides of the conflict—who are injured in battle. Lara finds herself educated in her enemy’s language and customs in return for her attention and compassion. She never expects that her deeds, done in good faith, would lead to the handsome and mysterious Firelander Warlord demanding her in exchange for a cease-fire. To save her land and her people, Lara trades her freedom to become the Warprize.
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For the world’s wealthiest vampires, the social season is about to begin. Julian would rather stake himself than participate in the marriage market. But as the eldest, eligible Rousseaux he’s expected to find a wife before the season ends—whether he likes it or not.
When cellist Thea literally stumbles into his life at a gala, he knows she’s the last person he could ever fall in love with. She’s too innocent, too kind, and way too human. But now that she knows about his world, she’s also a walking target. She needs protection. He needs a fake girlfriend to discourage overzealous vampire matchmaking.
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Brexley is thrown into the most feared prison in the east. Halalhaz, the House of Death—where you go in but don’t come out. She must learn to live with the worst of fae and human criminals. Here she meets the sexy, vicious legend, Warwick Farkas. A myth among man and fae. Brexley can’t deny an intense draw to him, one that might cost her life. If The Games don’t take her out first—A fight to the death where only one survives.
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One of the many engineers that keeps Beta, the city under the sea, running, Mira only wants to make her family proud and to prove herself worthy. Arges has fought his entire life for his people. With deadly creatures under his control, he plans to eradicate Beta once and for all to protect his kind and their peaceful way of life. In a battle to determine if love can survive a war beneath the waves, it will be their decision that changes the tides.
