Hardened Hearts

17 stories of difficult love, broken hearts, lost hope, and discarded truths. Love brings pain, vulnerability, and demands of revenge. Hardened Hearts spills the sum of darkness and light concerning the measures of love; including works from Meg Elison, author of The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (Winner of the Philip K. Dick Award), Tom Deady, author of Haven (Winner of the Bram Stoker award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel), Gwendolyn Kiste, author of And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe and Pretty Marys All in a Row, and many more. Hardened Hearts dips from speculative, horror, science fiction, fantasy, into literary and then out of the classifiable and into the waters of unpinned genres, but pure entertainment nonetheless. FOREWORD - James Newman IT BREAKS MY HEART TO WATCH YOU ROT - Somer Canon WHAT IS LOVE? - Calvin Demmer HEIRLOOM - Theresa Braun THE RECLUSE - John Boden 40 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR MONSTER LOVER - Gwendolyn Kiste DOG TIRED - Eddie Generous THE PINK BALLOON - Tom Deady IT'S MY PARTY AND I'LL CRY IF I WANT TO - J.L. Knight BURNING SAMANTHA - Scott Hallam CONSUMED - Madhvi Ramani CLASS OF 2000 - Robert Dean LEARNING TO LOVE - Jennifer Williams BROTHERS - Leo X. Robertson PORCELAIN SKIN - Laura Blackwell THE HEART OF THE ORCHARD - Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi MEETING THE PARENTS - Sarah L. Johnson MATCHMAKER - Meg Elison