Imogen Taylor: Artist. College dropout. Gamer. Screwup.
I had big plans for art school in California, but when the best mom in the world—mine—needed help, I came home to Arbolito, Arizona instead. I even got my old high school job back, making smoothies at the Desert Freeze…in winter.
So, yeah, by day, my life is a cold, tropical-hued hell. But at night, I escape reality by plugging into my favorite video game, Legendelirium, to become a powerful, sexy witch, going on epic quests while vanquishing baddies.
Until a cute guy from my gaming world shows up at work, gives me the worst kiss ever, and my reality and fantasy lives get blended by purple goo laced with lethal, nanorobotic technology.
Now, I’ve got powers—strange, witchy ones. Scary people are after me, and I don’t know who to trust. And, get this. Somehow, it’s up to me to defeat them, or it’s game over.
Enter the fast, fun, urban fantasy adventure of the BUTTERFLY WITCH series, where magic and science become one—mostly accidentally.
I could just give up. Most people would probably say—and some people had said—I should give up. But I just couldn’t, not yet. The only way to figure out what was happening to me was to find Brayden and beat it out of him point blank.
Somewhere behind the clouds, the sun was going down, and the already dusty hues of sage and burnt umber desaturated to dove and charcoal. As I crept down the winding roads, my hope faded with the light until in the long stretches of evening shadow, I found a wide spot that marked an access road. It obviously wasn’t used much, because tufts of pale cheat grass had sprouted through the gravel like a sorority girl’s leg hair during finals week.
With my luck, the Fiesta’s struggling engine would ignite the dry strands and I’d go up in a fireball. Despite the ruts in the gravel, I drove quickly to keep from catching fire. So I almost missed the glimpse of faded blue from the corner of my eye.
I slammed on the brakes, my heartbeat skipping. Throwing the Fiesta into reverse, I held my breath as I crept backward. Could be just a ranger’s truck, or an off-site tent from someone who didn’t want to pay the park fees. Shouldn’t get my hopes up…
I angled the Fiesta’s headlights into the gloom of the chaparral.
The silvery wings of the logo caught my light, but my gaze locked on the dented bumper, the buckled edges of exposed plastic flashing back at me like a warning.
The front half of the car was buried in the shrubbery.
Swallowing hard, I parked, leaving the headlights on. My fingers shook as I grabbed my phone off the seat beside me.
Swiping to the flashlight app, I stepped out into the scrub.
With the stink of dust and creosote clogging my throat, I crept toward the car. Sharp branches had scraped thin white lines in the paint that glinted like spiderwebs when I aimed my phone’s light toward the front seat. A fine layer of dust obscured the glass, reflecting back at me like an obstinate ghost.
I angled along the back fender, trying to avoid the spiny branches of wild lilac, but the door handle was buried in stickers. That was going to hurt…
I reached through the pokey wood to fumble for the handle. My heart beat too fast, making my head spin, and the shadows crowded way too close.
The door was locked.
I tugged again. But of course it was locked. People locked their car doors when they…left to do other things. Other things, like abandoning their vehicle on an empty road through the desert while they did…those other things—
“Ms. Taylor, step away from the vehicle.”
I shrieked as the voice and the bright white light hit me at the same moment. Then everything happened so fast, so damned fast.
Paranormal romance and science fiction romance for everyone who howls at the moon or looks up at the stars to dream. Learn more about Elsa Jade and the worlds of the Mating Season, Mating Fever & Intergalactic Dating Agency — and sign up for the New Release Alert — at http://elsajade.com
Latest News: See the profiles of the sexy aliens of the #IntergalacticDatingAgency in the free sneak peek at Instafreebie. http://instafreebie.com/book/15688
Erin Kellison is the bestselling author of the Dragons of Bloodfire series, the Reveler series, and the Shadow series. She writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and science fiction romance. She loves other worlds and visits them as often as possible via movies and books and her kids’ imaginations. When not daydreaming or writing, she’s goofing off with her family in sunny Arizona.
Title: The Thief’s Relic Author: Angela Knotts Morse Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Eamonn never wanted to be a thief.
So when a risky mission goes awry and he receives the chance of a lifetime, he leaves behind everything, even his newfound family in the Thieves’ Guild, to pursue an apprenticeship as an honest merchant.
Traveling the country means he sees and hears everything. Civil unrest, rebellions against the monarchies, and rumors of a usurper bent on uniting the provinces under himself with a mythical form of magic. Few suspect he’s not chasing a dead end, including village girl Leyna, a believer in the magic of ancient histories. Eamonn’s skeptical heart is also swayed once he finds himself the tyrant’s target, unknowingly possessing the key to harness the dangerous power.
To protect it, Eamonn’s only choice is to flee. But now that it’s the mission of his former brothers in the Guild to hunt him down, keeping magic out of their hands might be harder than either Leyna or Eamonn thought possible. If they fall, though, their world does too.
His pendant, usually hidden under his clothes, fell from behind his tunic. Eamonn felt all eyes turn to him as the pendant caught the firelight, and he stiffened. Only the crackling of the fire could be heard. The atmosphere in the cave changed in an instant.
Hadli’s dark eyes widened, blazing with the reflection of the fire. He leaned in closer to Eamonn, studying the intricate swirls of silver and translucent light green stone. “Where did you get that?” he breathed, enraptured, as his demeanor transformed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Did you find it in Idyrria? Rare jewelry is nearly impossible to steal, always tightly guarded.”
Eamonn released a nervous breath, a little amused that Hadli—and all the other lads, probably—assumed he had stolen it. He knew that living with a group of thieves would require absolute trust, and at some point, one or more of them would see his pendant. The awe in Hadli’s eyes, though, caused a pit to form in Eamonn’s stomach, and he swallowed hard. Something about it gave an impression of more than just wonder. His eyes shone of desire, of avarice.
“I didn’t steal it,” Eamonn responded, his voice deeper than usual. He touched the pendant in a delicate motion, an old habit. He swallowed again, his throat dry. “It belonged to my mother. She died when I was young, and my father gave it to me. I’ve never known a day without it. It’s like…” He paused, thoughtful, his gaze passing through the walls of the cave. “It’s like having my mother with me all the time. It’s all I know of her.”
Angela Morse has been writing since the fourth grade when a teacher wrote an encouraging note on one of her assignments. The note read, “I would not be surprised if I go to the library one day and pick up a book by Angela Knotts!” That simple note lit a fire within Angela and she developed a passion for writing stories. Though she has dabbled in a few genres, Angela’s favorite to write is Fantasy. Her audience is typically New Adult (NA) or sometimes Young Adult (YA), depending on the age and maturity of her characters and intended readers. Angela currently resides in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, daughter, and cat.
My new BFF is a witch and apparently, I’m a member of a witch’s coven. Only, I’m not a witch. Word is, I’m a wolf shifter. When I said I wanted to start over again, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
Being a shifter isn’t the worst thing I could imagine. It’s taken care of all the hot flashes. My body temperature now runs constantly high. I like it. Snow? Who cares? I don’t need no stinking coat anymore.
I can smell like ten times better than even when I was pregnant, and as for my vision? Glasses are SO last year. I won’t be needing those anytime soon.
But man, what about the actual shifting? That hurts like nobody’s business. They say I’ll get used to it, but they don’t know how much it hurts, because I’m the only shifter for miles around. “They” are the coven that has accepted me and given me a new family.
The threat from the cemetery is very real and the dead aren’t sleeping quietly. Our coven is the frontline on keeping the dead in their graves and for some reason, they think because I’m a wolf I should have some superpower against the dead. But I don’t.
What I have is an amazing BFF just as powerful and middle-aged as me and I know together we can face anything. At least I think we can. We survived the first half of our lives.
USA Today Bestselling Author. Farm Girl. Marketing Director.
Since I was eight, I have been writing stories that capture the adventures in my head and the characters strong enough and flawed enough to have them. When I look at an empty field, I see a formidable citadel. When I meet a vulnerable old man, I greet an emeritus warrior. When I walk through city streets, I feel dimensions hiding around every turn. It has been my lifelong passion to explore these worlds that reveal the pain of loneliness, the joy or self-actualization, and the hope of magic.
I grew up in a place called Potter Valley where the Milky Way is held aloft by a circle of mountains and the central business district consists of a bait store and a saloon. At 19 I moved alone to London and spent the next ten years exploring the world, even becoming an Australian citizen, before I returned to California and found a new home in Los Angeles. My world revolves around my two wee children, storytelling, and my love of travel.
