Toni’s weekend is over—she somehow found herself a boyfriend, Tim—but now it’s back to work. She has to finish her report on the business’s healthcare plan, hopefully getting back a proofread draft from Mallory without too many issues spotted, then submitting it first thing Tuesday. She knows a lot rides on this, perhaps even her job. Will it work out for Toni? Will it be received as well as she feels it’s good? Or will her boss, Greg, get up to his usual rubbish of throwing chaos at her? She has a plan for Greg, though.

---

Please note the first of what will hopefully be many short stories, and possibly novellas, in the Toni With An i/Light Avenue world was released last week; Not Strong Enough to Run. Featuring Steph and Trevor, and a new character, nurse Paul, it’s set roughly ten years before Toni With An i and fills in some (many?) background details. Or at least gives clues as to what’s going on in the yes/no/maybe? LGBTQ+ bar that is Light Avenue.

Waking up horny isn't exactly anything new for Evan - but it's not usually so literal!

...And waking up as a girl is kinda weird, too!

~~~

Evan's days are simple. Wake up, go to work, get drunk, hit the bar, head home for the day. It's a monotonous routine, but it works. At least until he gets lost on the way home, tries to cross a river drunk, bangs his head on a rock, and... wakes up as a muscular female oni in fantasy-land feudal not!Japan?

Join Evan - now Ella - as she attempts to answer a question that no pointy toothed oni has ever dared to ponder before: Rather than eating people to get stronger, couldn't I just eat them out?

(Good luck with that, Ella! Surely not everyone you meet will assume you're an enemy out to consume them... Right?)

~~~

Cover is by my friend/beta reader Lulla!

Buyer’s Remorse Chapters 9 - 10 by Maeryn Lamonte Copyright © 2023 No more violence, but some court scenes that I suspect are based more on imagination than reality

Chapter 8

The only break, the following Wednesday, was when we had the Mayor come along to cut a ribbon to declare Harrison Industrial Steelworks open for business. I took Carol and the girls in that day all of us dressed to the nines, and we met up with Janet, Gerald, and the rest of the Board, with their families. Geraldine turned up, with Bobby driving her and Astrid. Cyril and the rest of the office were there, along with some of the other union representatives.

Sluzhanka
A Short Story
By Maryanne Peters

They were different times. It was a Russia when it was still a place to do business. In fact, the nation was desperate to do business with the West. It was a nation looking in our direction back then. There was a need to make things better. The Russians had achieved many great things, but as a friend of mine once described it – “Russia is spires of excellence in a third world swamp”.

The other part of our convoy arrived thirty minutes later, and I spent most of that time staring out the window and trying to go over what kind of story I would tell the police when they arrived. Garrett was sure they were not coming and that she said that as a scare tactic.

A Loving Sacrifice

Paula was just getting home from classes, this being Wednesday her last class of the day was not until four P.M. Although an essential part of her curriculum for her degree it had developed into a class that she detested. By the time she caught the bus and suffered through the forty minute ride she was usually fit to be tied.

BetterU Incorporated is a large company that spans the multiverse.
Each new world and subsidiary has its challenges.
Doctor Ranjeed Pusapati is ready to celebrate with his team the approval for the production of auto-closets.
A device to automatically dress and - if necessary - adjust a person's measurements upon specifications.
But just as they start to party, reviews start to arrive. This shouldn't be possible as they haven't delivered a single device yet.
But the reviews are coming in and all paint a bad picture: the auto-closets are out there and they are malfunctioning.

Charles is now at Jane's Winsome Girls' School for Wayward Boys. He has volunteered to become one of Jane's girls to help Jane not only clear his name but to help Francis. He has a lot to learn about being a girl in a short amount of time, as Toby Camber is arriving at the school in a weeks time. Something else occurs that Charles wasn't expecting, he learns something else about himself while being Charlotte.

Two Sides of the Coin (End)
By Sabrina G. Langton

***
Author's note: We come to the end. I am already missing Martinsville, the quaint busy little town with big parking lots, scrumptious restaurants, and involved waitresses... We also find out the surprise, (There was a surprise?) well a mystery that our heroine wasn't even looking for. Isn't that always the way... I hope YOU like it...

***

Abduction Conspiracy
A Vignette
By Maryanne Peters

Brian had a file in his hand but it was just a prop. He wanted to cross over to Jared’s cubicle and exercise his lizard brain, probably the most active organ in his head.

“God, that temp is so hot. The one outside Finch’s office – the one with the long brown hair, in the short dress and black tights and heels” said Brian. “Do you know her name?”