Fifteen-year-old Alex and his learning-disabled friends barely survived the events of Spinner, but their nightmare has only just begun.
Alex’s wheelchair has never stopped him from doing what he wants, but his supernatural power to heal every human ailment known to science has put him in the crosshairs of a dangerous doomsday cult that will stop at nothing to capture him and his long-lost twin, Andy, who can shift illness from one person to another. When the boys combine their “gifts,” they unleash the power to control life and death.
Now Alex, Andy, and the others have been kidnapped by the U.S. military. On a creepy Air Force base in the remote Nevada desert, they must decide who to trust and who to fear while uncovering secrets this base wants to hide from the world. Who is the young boy with unusual abilities who’s treated like a soldier? What is hidden in an ultra-secret hangar that no one can access? And what unnatural experiments are conducted in that closed-off laboratory?
As Alex unravels these mysteries, he strives to bond with his twin, but Andy is distant and detached, trusting no one. He’s also more attracted to the dangerous power they wield than Alex would like. When misplaced faith in science ignites a hidden lust for supremacy, rescue can only come from the most unlikely source, and Alex must confront a terrible truth.
Allison woke with a start. Had she been dreaming? She wasn’t sure, but she was sure she’d heard her father’s voice. She sat up in bed, the coverlet tumbling into her lap, and listened. Yes. It was her dad. His room was next to hers, but the voice was muffled enough that she couldn’t make out the words.
She slipped out of bed and dropped to the plush carpet. Not bothering with a robe to cover her pajamas, she padded across her expansive bedroom to the door. Easing it open, she peered out into the dimly lit, lushly paneled hallway. None of the household staff were up. Why should they be? It was the middle of the night.
The burnished wood flooring felt cold against her bare feet as she darted to the door next to hers. It was closed, but she pressed her ear up against it and listened.
“…just you and the two men left? Did you find any blood in the house?”
Allison gasped. Blood? Somehow, she knew her dad was talking about Alex. She yanked open his door, trembling with fear.
Her dad sat on his bed, wearing his fancy brocaded silk robe and black velvet slippers with the gold crown insignia, cell phone to one ear, worry creasing his face. He looked over as she rushed inside but didn’t seem surprised to see her. He held up a hand for silence and listened intently.
“All right. Get back here with the men. I’m going to contact my sources for any clues as to who took them.”
He ended the call and eyed Allison with a grim expression. The worry lines around his eyes looked deeper, almost like they’d been carved with a knife, and there seemed to be even more gray peppering his short dark hair.
“It’s Alex, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Armed men attacked the safe house and took him along with the other kids. Nathan and his older son were knocked out by some kind of drug and left behind, along with Martin.”
Allison felt her chest constrict with worry. “Does Martin know who took them?”
He shook his head. “The brief glimpse he had made him think military, so it might be the same group who brought Andy to that church.”
“Our government?” Allison felt disgust well up within her.
He didn’t look the least bit surprised at the idea. “There are some at the Pentagon who will use anyone or anything in the interest of national security, even children.”
Allison knew she should be angry, but she’d overheard enough of her father’s business dealings with the government over the years to know he spoke the truth.
“Go back to bed, Allison,” he said. “I’ve got to do some research.”
She knew better than to argue. “Just find him, Dad. Find all of them.”
“I will.” She returned to her room. Knowing she could never sleep now, she sat on her bed and lay back against the heavy wooden headboard, thinking about Alex. He’d literally brought her back from the brink of death at the risk of his own life. What kind of boy would do that? Most people seemed to care only about themselves. He had to be all right. He had to be!
Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author who grew up in Northern California. He majored in English/Theatre at Santa Clara University, earned a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and a master’s in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills. Michael taught high school in Hawthorne, California, both in general education and to students with disabilities. When Michael is not writing, he serves as a youth mentor with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles, but mostly he takes care of his recently adopted son. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California and hopes that his books can show young people they are not alone in their struggles.
Title: Fauxmance Author: Cookie O’Gorman Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Fauxmance (fow-mans): Term for a romantic relationship that is fake. Real feelings, like love, are strictly prohibited. See also: Why would anyone enter a fake relationship?
Eighteen-year-old Magnolia believes in true love.
Or she did.
When her boyfriend dumps her the day before her sister’s wedding, Maggie is devastated—but her broken heart is only part of the problem. Maggie is the maid of honor, and her sister insists: Every member of the bridal party must have an escort. No exceptions.
Thank goodness for Hayden Davenport.
Sarcastic, cocky, a surprisingly good listener and self-professed player, when Maggie gets stuck in an elevator with the handsome stranger, she thinks she’s found the perfect wedding date. Unfortunately, Hayden hates weddings. Like really hates them.
But one soul-shattering kiss changes everything.
Maggie needs a fake boyfriend. Hayden wants to prove he’s changed his playboy ways. Faking it should be easy. The hard part?
Remembering it’s all pretend and not falling in love for real.
This book features two opposites with sizzling chemistry, a sweet, hopeless romantic and a cynical bad boy who’ll steal your heart. Elevators, fake romance, and weddings, oh my! Get ready to swoon, laugh, and say ‘I do’ to this heartfelt YA romance.
Cookie O’Gorman writes YA & NA romance to give readers a taste of happily-ever-after. Small towns, quirky characters, and the awkward yet beautiful moments in life make up her books. Cookie also has a soft spot for nerds and ninjas. Her novels ADORKABLE, NINJA GIRL, The Unbelievable, Inconceivable, Unforeseeable Truth About Ethan Wilder, The Good Girl’s Guide to Being Bad, The Kissing Challenge (YA novella), and WALLFLOWER are out now! She is also the author of NA sports romances The Best Mistake and The Perfect Play. Her newest release CUPCAKE came out on November 2, 2021!
A truce has brought the Grove peace—but things are not as they appear.
Deep within a secret rainforest, live the keepers of unknown spells—a lost Landaffen colony with the power to keep Laura from fulfilling her fate by setting a trap and using Prince Brell as bait.
But Laura has become more Landaffen than human, her abilities sharpening as she infiltrates the forgotten and unforgiving Grove. She must learn to control the colony’s magic before their powers are at their peak.
If she fails, Prince Brell will die, and the joining of both worlds will be incomplete. It is Laura’s duty. Her calling. Faith must be restored, and the enemy defeated.
With a broken treaty and imminent conflict bringing death and war, Laura must build trust and bring order . . . before the PERILUNE!
I twisted, turning my head, and shifting my shoulders. Snow and more snow. I stretched my arm downward, clawing it with my fingers.
Where was he? My whole body numb, I lost my sense of direction. Was I facing up or down?Was my body vertical or parallel to the ground?
Weightless, I reached down again for my protector, my hand digging and finding nothing other than compacted snow.
I inhaled, each breath a fight for air as the snow rested compactly and heavily against my chest. I sucked a breath between tight lips and couldn’t feel anything.
“Dassh,” I tried to shout, my lips too numb to move. With a last effort, I punched through the snow layer below me, trying to feel for him. Snow and more snow. I dug with gloved hands, clawing against snow-compacted ice.
I gasped for air. My mouth filled with snow, and I coughed and choked, my body wrenching. Dizzy and without my sense of direction, I closed my eyes, punching the snow beneath me, trying to break the layer of ice separating me from Dassh.
I’m coming, Dassh!
My body spasmed, and I shook uncontrollably against the tight casket of snow and ice.
No! No! Stay calm! Stay calm! Don’t give up!
I counted to ten, the words in my head muffled and strained. Giving into each twinge, I forcefully relaxed my muscles in a futile attempt to regain my strength and fill my lungs with air.
The shaking stopped. I pushed through the ice below me, reaching to feel for him again. Sinking deeper and deeper, suffocating, my lungs empty, gulping and taking in nothing but snow, I continued, swinging my elbows inch by inch, hoping to create a pocket of snow at my nose.
As if pushed by a plow, snow tumbled against the sides of my face, rolling in balls, pushing, and compacting under my nose and mouth.
I gasped, swallowing more snow, and gagged, my numb tongue unable to move. My lungs tight and heavy, I inhaled a tiny breath that immediately shot from my lungs with the weight of snow on my back.
I opened my mouth, trying to take another breath. Snow caked at my nostrils and filled my mouth. My head and body became weightless. Balloon like, my arms and legs lifted, floating as though I was still trapped and smashed and hadn’t moved.
Making one last attempt to recover Dassh, I used my last strength to wriggle my fingers, loosening the snow just enough to jab them downward. Nothing! Nothing but more snow. My jaw tightened. I could no longer move.
Karri Thompson, a native of San Diego, attended San Diego State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English and master’s degree in education. When she’s not writing novels and teaching high school English, she can be found nerding out at San Diego Comic-Con and cooking delicious meals for her family. Karri is the recipient of the San Diego Book Awards Best Published Young Adult Novel for 2014.
