Deep Down: A Jack Reacher Story

An e-original short story that sets the stage for bestselling author Diane Chamberlain’s novel Necessary Lies (September 2013).

The First Lie gives readers an early glimpse into the life of thirteen-year-old Ivy Hart. It’s 1958 in rural North Carolina, where Ivy lives with her grandmother and sister on a tobacco farm. As tenant farmers, Ivy and her family don’t have much freedom, though she and her best friend, Henry, often sneak away in search of adventure…and their truest selves. But life on the farm takes a turn when Ivy’s teenage sister gives birth—all the while maintaining her silence about the baby’s father. Soon Ivy finds herself navigating the space between adolescence and adulthood as she tries to unravel a dark web of family secrets and make sense of her ever-evolving life in the segregated South.  

Advance praise for Diane Chamberlain’s Necessary Lies:

“It will steal your heart.”—Katrina Kittle, author of The Blessings of the Animals

“An emotional powerhouse.” —Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling  author of Beach House Memories

“Enthralling…[it] transfixed me from the very first pages, and its vivid and sympathetic characters haunted me long after the last.”—Christina Schwarz, New York Times bestselling author of Drowning Ruth

In Cupid, Texas, they say everyone has one true love. And if you write a letter to Cupid, you will get an answer in return . . .

Now, from New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde, read how the legend of Cupid began . . . All it took was one great love story!

Too bad for pretty young housemaid Millie Greenwood that her one true love is John Fant, the handsomest, wealthiest man in town. But in 1924, a maid—no matter how lovely—isn't about to marry into the town's foremost family, and John is on the verge of becoming betrothed to another. Everything seems hopeless until Millie writes a desperate letter to Cupid, and the most romantic legend of all is born . . .

Chase Grayson has never been interested in having a relationship that lasts longer than it takes for him and his date to get dressed again. But then he stumbles into a gray-eyed girl whose innocence pours off her, and everything changes. From the minute Harper opens her mouth to let him know just how much he disgusts her, he's hooked.

But a princess deserves a Prince Charmingwho can make her dreams come true. Not a guy who can turn her life into a nightmare.

All good intentions go out the window when Harper starts to fall for the guy Chase has come to view as a brother. He wanted to protect her by keeping her away, but he can't stand to see her with anyone else, and he'll do anything to make her his. But when it comes down to Harper choosing between the two, will Chase have the strength to step back from the girl who has become his whole world if it means she's happy?

Lines will be crossed. Friendships will be put tothe test. And hearts will be shattered.

While in France, immortal warlock Magnus Bane finds himself attempting to rescue the royal family from the horrors of the French Revolution—after being roped into this mess by a most attractive count. Naturally, the daring escape calls for invisible air balloons…

This standalone e-only short story illuminates the life of the enigmatic Magnus Bane, whose alluring personality populates the pages of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices. This story in The Bane Chronicles, The Runaway Queen, is written by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson.