Eight stories celebrating the inner strength and courage of women by award-winning writer Annie Reed. From a little girl orphaned in the war in Afghanistan to a widow learning to cope with life on her own to the woman who discovers an unexpected chance at love in the unlikeliest of places, each of these women face a sudden change in their lives head on and come out stronger on the other side. Sometimes harrowing, sometimes magical, the stories of their lives will touch your heart.

Award-winning writer Annie Reed likes to scare us, charm us, haunt us, and make us fall in love. She does all of this and more in this collection of stories set in her home state of Nevada. A lonely desert highway provides the backdrop for a mother and daughter facing an uncertain future in "Night Passage." A simple day at a man-made lake turns out to be anything but in "Lady of the Deep." In "For a Few Lattes More," a barista encounters a hero from her childhood, while a former party girl faces the toughest decision of her life in "Bait." Life in witness protection takes a sudden left turn for a former hitman in "Night of the Cruisers." Luck runs cold for the petty thief of "Strike Two," while the world itself chills down for the old motel owner of "One Sun, No Waiting." And in "Love Among the Llamas," a woman finds unexpected romance waiting around a bend in the road.

In this five-story collection, award-winning writer Annie Reed takes us on a bone-chilling tour down the mean streets of The Shadows, a place where dark magic and crime rule the night. A man obsessed by his wife's death finds more than he bargained for in "Changeling," as does the budding serial killer in "Famous." A young woman goes on a desperate search for her twin's murderer in "Iris & Ivy." A stripper becomes the latest target of a dangerous man in "Don't Touch." And in "Ties That Bind," a young wizard risks everything to save the company she inherited from her father.

Five stories of a distant -- and not so distant -- future. The title story "The Forever Soldier" features a far-future infantry soldier who can't stop fighting, no matter how many times she dies. A journalist searching for that one big story in "Human Interest" uncovers more than he bargained for on a mining colony at the edge of known space. "The Liar" finds one woman preparing for the end of the world in her own unique way. In "Reboot," a time travel pioneer facing forced retirement sends himself on the most important mission of his life. And in the award-winning, near-future story "One Sun, No Waiting," an old motel owner tries to maintain an oasis of normal in the Nevada desert as the sun dims and civilization falls apart around him. "Annie Reed draws a pitch-perfect portrait of the Nevada desert and peoples it with folks so real I want to drive out by Vegas and check up on how everyone's doing. Its quiet voice and fast pace weave together to make any reader care." -- Cindie Geddes, Editor, Lucky Bat Books. "A friend recommended the works of Annie Reed. I was not disappointed. In fact, if her other shorts are as good as this one, I plan to read many more." -- Carol Davis Luce, author of NIGHT GAME (reviewing Annie Reed's short story CHANGELING) "The appearance of a new Annie Reed story is a treat. Try one and you'll be hooked." -- Dave Hendrickson, author of CRACKING THE ICE, forthcoming from WestSide Press Author Annie Reed is a prolific, award-winning writer whose stories have been published in numerous science fiction and fantasy anthologies, as well as in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. Annie can be found on the web at www.annie-reed.com.