McReadish's Reading List
50 stories
Shadow Road: Book 1 of the Shadows Rising Trilogy by AEPennymaker
AEPennymaker
  • WpView
    Reads 47,504
  • WpVote
    Votes 4,732
  • WpPart
    Parts 58
Brenorra Warring's father is going crazy. That's the only conclusion Bren can make when a fire destroys everything they own, and his answer is to take a job in the uncivilized Coalition Colonial Region on the other side of the ocean. Then disaster strikes again. Her father is lost at sea, and Bren is left with nothing but the clothes on her back, the things in her father's satchel, and the discovery that he has been lying about his reasons for leaving. When more of her father's secrets come to light, it becomes clear that someone powerful is killing innocent people to keep those secrets hidden - and they are hunting for Bren. As the only person alive who can figure out what her father knew, Bren winds up forming an alliance with two very different men. The first has been tasked with keeping her safe, and will do anything it takes to bring down the organization stalking her, no matter the cost. The other is a brilliant but icy Naval hero who has been branded a wanted man by the enemy. With time running out and danger rising, Bren must solve the trail of coded messages her father left for her and find the last piece of the puzzle before it falls into the wrong hands. The only rule of this game: do not get caught. [Longlisted 2018] [Featured on Wattpad's Wattpad Picks List, Sept-Oct 2018] [First Place in the Adventure Category in the One Million Project Awards, 2018][First Place in the Pen and Ink Awards, Summer 2018] [Tridents Award 2019 Winner][Featured on these Ambassador Profiles: Adventure, Adult Fiction, Mystery]
Breeder (The Ephemeral: Book 1) by gtgrandom
gtgrandom
  • WpView
    Reads 672,176
  • WpVote
    Votes 14,893
  • WpPart
    Parts 17
[12 Chapter Preview of 2019 Edition-2025 Edition Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble] When an army of darkness falls from the sky, Alex Kingsley enlists the help of her male peers and ventures into spirit-infested lands to save humanity. ***** She's an outcast cursed to consume the memories of anything she touches. A woman fated to repopulate the nation's army. A breeder barred from the sword. And she's desperate for a taste of freedom. So when a tournament is held to recruit the army's best candidates, Alex Kingsley does what she does best: she intervenes. But it's only after dark forces are unleashed upon humanity that Alex finally has the chance to prove herself -- and put her curse to good use. ***** 2020 Watty Award Winner: Fantasy 1st Place Admiration Awards 2020: Fantasy
Paladin by SallySlater
SallySlater
  • WpView
    Reads 18,361,732
  • WpVote
    Votes 644,768
  • WpPart
    Parts 69
Sam is the most promising swordsman among this year’s crop of Paladin trainees...and knows it. Brash, cocky, and unbeatable with a sword (well, almost), Sam is the kingdom of Thule’s best hope against the violence wrought by demons. The only problem is that Sam is really Lady Samantha, daughter of the seventeenth Duke of Haywood, and if her father has his way, she’ll be marrying a Paladin, not becoming one. But Sam has never held much interest in playing damsel-in-distress, and so she rescues herself from a lifetime of boredom and matrimonial drudgery. Pity that Tristan Lyons, the Paladin assigned to train her, is none other than the hero of her childhood. He hasn’t recognized her as Lady Samantha--yet-- but if he does, he’ll take away her sword and send her packing. Sam is not the only trainee hiding secrets: Braeden is a half-demon with a dark past that might be unforgivable. Sam, Braeden and Tristan set out for the western coast, charged with rooting out an infestation of demons that has made the West unlivable. As they travel, they uncover a deep-seated corruption of power that threatens to derail everything they stand for. Rebellion stirs, led by a rival faction of warriors who tempt Sam to join them with an irresistible offer. A war between men is coming, and Sam must pick a side. Will saving the kingdom cost her life -- or just her heart? Reminiscent of Mulan, but with a medieval fantasy twist, Paladin is a tale of adventure, action, and romance.
Shadows and Steel | ✓ by lyvrosex
lyvrosex
  • WpView
    Reads 80,965
  • WpVote
    Votes 6,100
  • WpPart
    Parts 56
Elle Hallor's world revolves around artful lies and trickery. No one knows Myndor's underhand networks like her -- she spent years dabbling in most of them. Despite being an infamous assassin, Elle is bound by contract to carry out whatever missions her guild commands. Her next assignment is a death-wish: kill the Imperial Heir of DETRA. She cannot do it alone. The heir's identity is a closely guarded secret. Her team will have to infiltrate DETRA and compete in lethal challenges to win their places inside. With the help of her DETRA mentor, Cerid, it might just be possible. But when loyalties and love become entangled, truths are unveiled and Elle's past comes hurtling back -- will she succeed? Five notorious assassins. One deadly competition. And Elle Hallor wants her revenge... ((cover made by blackroguex)) !!Winner of Action in CSA 2019!! !!Winner of Mystery/Thriller in Discovery Awards 2019!! !!Winner of Action in Tetralogy Awards!! !!Winner of the Aurora Awards!!
The Runner (Part I of the Runner Series) by so1tgoes
so1tgoes
  • WpView
    Reads 3,376,395
  • WpVote
    Votes 164,880
  • WpPart
    Parts 53
The world as we know it ended 209 years ago. From a desert wasteland springs a single kingdom, ruled by a tyrannical King and trapped in an endless war against the shadowy desert warriors. As a desperate bid to save what remains of humanity, society has been split into two distinct classes, nicknamed the Court and the Commons. For an oppressed population on the brink of revolution, a common thief could be the last hope. Up until now, Kay has survived by her wits alone. Reckless and impulsive, wanted by the King's guard, Kay has become known as the Runner. Using the city's rooftops as her personal domain, she manages to keep one step ahead of the King with one hand buried in the purses of the courtiers. Driven by the plight of the commoners and the unjust death of her family, Kay seizes the chance to graduate from small-time thievery to full-scale rebellion. Her opportunity comes in the form of Will, a wealthy ex-soldier with a dark past. Plucked from the streets and thrown into the shimmering palace court, Kay must use her every strength to blend into a world where she doesn't belong, closer to the enemy than she ever thought she would be.
Dust by angrychinchillanoise
angrychinchillanoise
  • WpView
    Reads 347,574
  • WpVote
    Votes 19,860
  • WpPart
    Parts 32
All the earth is torn asunder. There used to be grass, and the sun used to be golden. Children played outside, climbing trees with smiles on their faces and grass stains on their knees. People worried about a million things that would soon be irrelevant, continuing without a clue of the disaster to come. Centuries later, what little is left of humanity survives in a society constructed beneath the surface of a glass dome, the world outside converted to little more than a desert wasteland. Survival is a routine rather than an effort, and all rules are surpassed by only one: if you want to survive, you never leave the dome. There's nothing alive out there. The radiation that soaks the earth makes sure of that. Until one day, someone finds a bloody, dust-covered handprint on the outside of the glass. Nothing will ever be the same again. Book 1 of the Burning Series Highest ranking: #13 in Adventure on 03/04/16
A Storm of Chaos (The Hunter Legacy #1) by SJ_Holder
SJ_Holder
  • WpView
    Reads 50,661
  • WpVote
    Votes 3,656
  • WpPart
    Parts 37
Decades ago there were Hunters, people who inherited an ancient power gifted by the gods and who protected the world from the nightmarish creatures known as Reapers. But when the Anarchy Wars tore through the world creating fear and desperation, the world turned against Hunters and, one by one, their powers disappeared. Until now. Kaya Nebrae has been born with a Legacy, the same power Hunters once wielded. But while Reapers still stalk the streets, Kaya has no intention of using her power to fight them. She doesn't want to protect the world, and she certainly doesn't want the world to know she exists. So Kaya has carved a different life for herself, keeping her head down and her knives sharp, but when one of her jobs goes wrong Kaya will be thrown onto a new path, one that will force her to confront her fate - and the growing shadow that stalks her. ****complete
Medice Ceres by wdhenning
wdhenning
  • WpView
    Reads 16,168
  • WpVote
    Votes 2,305
  • WpPart
    Parts 66
In the Realm, a Taint cast years ago by a corrupt Shaman advances slowly but inexorably across the Lands, threatening famine and to undo the peace restored by the Treaty of Lands. Ceres, a young Shaman adept at the healing arts, flees the Order of Medice, who would have her serve in the house of the malevolent Lord Scias. With the help of her protector, Waithe, she sets off on a quest to cure the Taint. The Order and Lord Scias seek to bring her back by whatever means necessary. The stakes are higher than they know as an ancient deep Darkness rises. And it wants Ceres. Book cover by @Reading_Mermaid08 ** Fantasy Profile'Every Day in May' world building contest - second place. ** ** Featured on 'Secret Treasures' Fantastical Realms reading list. **
Aberrant by RJGlynn
RJGlynn
  • WpView
    Reads 7,912
  • WpVote
    Votes 1,587
  • WpPart
    Parts 68
Wattys 2021 Short List. Shipwrecked on a criminal-infested mining colony, military telepath Reid Kaplan needs answers about the attack on his ship and the unusual alien activity on the planet he's stranded on. Unfortunately, some of those answers might lie in a mind as unique as it is dangerously flawed. Customs inspector Jinsin Koel is used to having guns pointed at her head - but not ones attached to weapon-heavy cyborg insects who consider her lower on the food chain. The Xykeree, past enemies of humanity, should never have been allowed to dock at her home port. And they're just the start of her problems. Throw in a hereditary neurological illness and a secret society of soldiers genetically tailored for psionic combat and she has herself a whole new level of trouble ... the kind that could destroy her personal foundations and imperil billions of lives. Complete novel (word count approx. 115,600; no cliffhanger ending) Action adventure, space opera Reader advisory: strong language, violence/horror, sexual content UK spelling
𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐦 by MarCafeWrites
MarCafeWrites
  • WpView
    Reads 96,729
  • WpVote
    Votes 6,802
  • WpPart
    Parts 26
☆ 2022 ᴡᴀᴛᴛʏꜱ ᴡɪɴɴᴇʀ!! ☆ "Hell is empty and all the devils are here." On the cusp of the 20th century, blue blood heiress Lucy Penn has lost everything: her betrothed, her family and home, and even her ability to walk in the sunlight. As she struggles to acclimate to her new nocturnal existence, she makes the acquaintance of Dr. Thomas Reed: an intelligent and tortured immortal, still haunted by the horrors of his past. As the pair grow closer, Lucy becomes privy to a frightening world far below the surface of polite society, in which beings of ancient and unfathomable power live outside the confines of humanity. Carpe Noctem (or "Seize the Night") follows Lucy on her journey through the shrouded streets, eerie hospitals, and aristocratic parlors of nighttime London. As she seeks to exhume the insidious and terrifying purpose behind her transformation, Lucy finds herself drawn deeper into a dark nocturne world of unimaginable folklore and intrigue, begging the question: can love be found after death? HIGHEST RANKINGS ~ #1 Carpe Noctem #1 Period Fiction #1 Nocturnal #1 Gothic Romance #1 Gothic Horror #3 Dracula #3 Shakespeare #8 Vampire #17 Victorian #46 Historical Fiction