J.L. Hendricks's Blog

Miss Claus and the Secret Santa

From now until December 5th you can get a FREE copy of Miss Claus and the Secret Santa on Amazon! That’s right, an early Christmas Present! Woot Woot!

Not sure what this book is about? That’s OK, here’s a little description to whet your appetite for more!

Santa Claus isn’t who, or what, you think he is! 

Santa Claus is an Arctic Wolf Shifter, and the mantle has always passed down to his sons. But this Santa didn’t have any boys, he has 4 girls! 

His eldest daughter is supposed to marry the son of the pack’s Beta wolf, Rock. But she has refused. Lizzy wants to marry for love, not pack standing. 

Lizzy is pulled to Los Angeles by the Christmas Magic looking for adventure and possibly her future Santa. What she finds instead shocks her and her family. 

Come on over to Amazon and get your FREE copy today!

Magic Heist

Mary Karlik

(Fairy Trafficking #2)

Published by: Ink Monster LLC

Publication date: July 9th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Layla rescued fairies that had been kidnapped and brought to the human world. But now they can’t find their way back to the magic realm and time is running out.

Layla is a powerful fairy with magical ability that stretches beyond throwing spells. But with all that power, she still doesn’t know how to get over one-hundred fairies back to the magic realm. With their magic gone, the rescued fairies have no immunity to protect them from the toxins of the human world, and they’re slowly dying.

To find the path home, Layla knows she must team up with the one man who can make her insides quiver with an accidental brush of his fingertips. The same man who’s alter ego dragon is the natural predator of fairies. The man she knows will give his life to keep the fairies safe—Scotland’s finest Specialist Crime Division leader, Ian Cameron.

Ian has only been a dragon shifter for a few days. He struggles to control the dragon spirit locked inside his human form, doesn’t know what magical powers he may or may not have, and has never been to a magical world. But none of those things frighten him as much as the little spark that ignites in his soul when the half – human fairy is around.

But this little fairy is no Tinkerbell. She is brave, powerful, and can wield a sword like a medieval knight.

With growing feelings toward Layla, he couldn’t refuse to help her get the fairies back to the magic realm if he wanted to. The problem is the dragon who lives inside him would like nothing more than to feed his appetite with all of those little fairies—especially the half human one who killed its leader.

“Mary Karlik, is truly a hidden gem of a writer.” – I Am the Bookworm

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play

Since this book takes place in Scotland, and I’m going there in just 2 weeks, I asked Mary to give me a top 10 about Scotland!

The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland (This is totally cool!!!)
Braveheart was actually the nickname of Robert the Bruce, not William Wallace. Let’s hope the new movie gets it right!
Scotland has 3 official languages. English, Scots, Scottish Gaelic. I speak 2 of the three. Guess which? Yep. English and Scottish Gaelic.
A loch is a lake and the deepest is not Loch Ness. It’s Loch Morar which is 1077 feet deep.
Scotland has the highest number of gingers (redheads) in the world.
Scots are more likely to have blue eyes than anybody else in the world.
The national symbol is the Thistle.
The kilt is the national dress, the bagpipes are the national instrument, and Gaelic was the language of the highlands and islands. All were outlawed in 1746 after the battle of Culloden under The Act of Proscription. It was repealed in 1782.
Sasann is the Gaelic word for England. Sasannach simply means an English person.
The Gaelic word for whisky is uisge-beatha which literally means water of life.

 

 

 

Author Bio:

Mary Karlik has always been a dreamer. When she was a teen, she read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, and then sat in every wardrobe in her Nanna’s home, trying to open the door to Narnia. She didn’t find it, but she did discover her voice as an author: one filled with her young adult self, and grounded in her roots as a Texan and her Scottish heritage, nourished by obscure Scottish folklore.

You can find her Texas roots in her YA contemporary romance Hickville series , which has been described as “100% solid storytelling,” and begins with Welcome to Hickville High, a “lovely story about growing up.”

She digs deep into her Scottish roots – there is magic there, she just knows it – for the forthcoming YA epic fantasy Fairy Trafficking series, beginning with Magic Harvest.

She makes her home in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo mountains of Northern New Mexico where she is a certified professional ski instructor, but she also loves visiting Scotland where she is currently studying Scottish Gaelic at the University of Highlands and Islands in Skye. Mary also earned her MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, has a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and is a Registered Nurse.

Mary currently serves as the President of the Young Adult Chapter of Romance Writers of America and looks forward to raising a glass or two of gin and tonic with her fellow writers every year at RWA’s national convention.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

 

GIVEAWAY!

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The post Magic Heist Young Adult Fantasy book is here! appeared first on J.L. Hendricks.

 

Worlds Collide just launched and I have a snippet for you from the book! Curious about this story? Wonder who is the main character this time? Come on in and meet Natalie.

Worlds Collide is book 2 of the Worlds Away series! When the V’Zenians abducted 200 humans they had no idea who they picked up. Now they are crashed on an alien world with a second alien group collecting the missing humans. Why would the Zateelians want the humans? What ignominious plan do they have up their insectoid sleeves?

 

 

Chapter 1

 

 

“Natalie, you are with me today. We need to scour the back section of the ship for supplies while we wait for the Star Prime to arrive.” Zelan pointed to me as I sat in the cramped corner of the room I had been staying in since the Zamaya crashed on this alien planet after the space battle.

Those of us who were too stupid to get away once the ship crashed had all been corralled and brought to the front of the ship. We were all split up into different rooms and sections. Some even had to sleep in the corridor. I didn’t know many of the women in this section because most of them had been in the other room of abductees. The aliens called that room Beta, and ours was called Alpha. They were so original with their names. However, I was making friends.

I missed Paris and Sheila, two of the women I met after being abducted by the huge, alpha aliens. They had become my friends. Zelan told me Paris was really busy with her assignment as a medic. I didn’t know she had a medical background. I had thought she was homeless. Maybe living on the streets gave her a quick medical background?

“Where are we going today? And please tell me you guys have killed all of those giant insects. I don’t think I can take another one touching me, even if you do kill it. That stuff they discharge when you kill them takes forever to come out and stinks something awful!”

Yesterday, when we were out scavenging the ship, we came across three insectoids inside our ship who were ravaging our supplies. They were stuffing their backpack shaped bags with medical supplies as well as with our food bars. I thought that their ship must have taken a lot of damage for them to come over here during the day. Zelan thought they had been here all night and were waiting for the sun to set before setting off back to their ship.

The mutant insectoids, the Zateelians, who invaded our ship after shooting it down from space, didn’t like the sunlight. They could stand to be outside for a little while, but not too long. It is thought that the sun hurts their eyes. The rest of their body seems to be very strong. I know this because it took three shots from Zelan to kill one of them who had me pinned down on the ground. It slathered some goo on me, into my face to be precise, and then was backing away. My guess is it knew that the next shot was going to kill it, and it did. This then put more of that slime on my body. I couldn’t win, even when they died. After that, we went straight to the med-bay where the doctor examined me and proclaimed me clean.

What was that all about?

I was covered in that disgusting, viscous discharge the bug left all over the top half of my body. I was NOT clean. However, everyone around me seemed to breathe out at once, like they had all been holding their breath. I needed a twenty-minute shower to get all of that slime off but was only given ten minutes. I swear my hair still smelled of mutant cockroach slime.

Today should have been about me resting and recovering, I still had a bump on my head from when that creature attacked me and caused me to fall back to the hard ground. I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about the creature that almost ate me. Now Zelan wants me to go back out with him again?

Is he crazy?

 

____________

 

Curious to know what happens next? Come on over to Amazon and pick up your copy of Worlds Collide while it’s on sale this week! It’s available in Kindle Unlimited.

The post How About a New Snippet? Worlds Collide! appeared first on J.L. Hendricks.

 

Interview with Paris

 

I recently sat down with Paris from Worlds Away and had a chance to ask her about her story. She’s a fun girl, a bit quirky, but sweet in her own way. It’s amazing how strong she is even after everything that’s happened to her. But you know what they say, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. I think Paris has proved this and I can’t wait to read more about her adventures in space and on alien planets in the next book, Worlds Collide!

Paris, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with me. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Well, my name is Paris and I have just been abducted by aliens! But oh my word are they gorgeous! I guess I shouldn’t complain too much because I have a very able-bodied Commander who is taking good care of me now. You see, I used to live on the streets of LA. I was homeless after my parents died and I never was able to get out of my rut. But, I am only 22. My alien Commander, Venay, is in love with me, although a bit over-protective. If you read Worlds Away, by J.L. Hendricks you will see what I mean.

He sounds like every girl’s dream. But tell me, how do you evolve over the course of the adventure?

I have always been strong and independent, so I am that way even when I am abducted. At first, I choose to be a slave, but then I start to realize that I can make change happen much faster if I agree to be the mate, or wife, of the alien commander. For these aliens, once they meet their true, fated mate, they never love anyone else and will do whatever they have to in order to keep their mate safe. I start out taking advantage of his bond to me so that I can try to free the prisoners he has in his cells. Their intent is to sell them as slaves once we reach their home planet. Well, a lot of the women will agree to be mated to the warriors on the ship, but not all. So over the course of the trip (book) I realize that I have fallen in love with the giant alien. He is over 7 feet tall! And did I mention he is gorgeous? I do try to help keep my people from being used as slaves, especially one girl who is only 18 and hasn’t even graduated high school yet! What were they thinking abducting a kid like that? Some men are just stupid, whether they are aliens or humans, doesn’t matter. I hope to talk the alien government into changing how they view humans, and to stop the abductions, but that is something that will take time. I hope by the end of the series all humans will be free and the V’Zenians will stop abducting my kind.

Sounds like you have a very difficult mission ahead of you. I wish you much success, especially since I’m human and have no desire to be abducted by aliens.

Do you have an enemy or nemesis? If so, who are they and how did they become an enemy?

Oh my yes!!! The Zateelians attack my ship right after we leave the solar system. Well, not MY ship, but Venay’s ship. They have acquired some advanced weapons and attack us which forces us to crash land on a planet that is controlled by the V’Zenians, thankfully. But a few of them get on my ship and try to kill me, but to be fair, they are trying to kill us all. However, I prove to them that I am a force to be reckoned with! Well, I have a laser pistol. Sooo, I guess my pistol is a force to be reckoned with. I must warn you, never shoot a Zateelian in the head when he is on top of you, it’s quite gross. It takes forever to get alien guts out.

Um, thanks? I guess that’s probably good advice for any creature.

What’s the biggest challenge you face in the story?

Wow tough question, but I think that I am still having a hard time supporting Venay because he is responsible for abducting humans and bringing them back to his home planet to be either slaves, or mates. I can understand why he is doing it, his species almost died out due to a disease, but there are better ways to rebuild a society than forced slavery or marriage.

But, from what I can tell, they don’t force the women to mate with them, correct?

Correct. It is our choice. And to be fair, the alien men treat their mates very well. Not all of the aliens treat us good, but those who want a mate are sweet. They also do a great job protecting us from all of the dangers we have to face on this space adventure. Which, in my case is kinda tough. I’m not exactly the best at doing what I’m told or staying out of harm’s way.

 

 

Thank you, Paris for taking time out of your busy schedule fighting aliens and working to better life for your friends. I hope your plans come to fruition and you live a very long and happy life!

Keep an eye out for more of my interview with Paris next week!

Grab a copy of Worlds Away today for only 99c, or Free in Kindle Unlimited. Worlds Collide, Book 2 in the series will launch by April 25. Then the third book, Worlds Entwined releases the middle of May.

200 years ago, the Earth was conquered, but nobody knew.

Commander Venay of the V’Zenian Empire was a man on a mission. It was his responsibility to ensure a good lot of human slaves made it back to his planet each year. But this time it was different.

Paris was used to being invisible, so when she was abducted by an alien, she knew no one was coming to save her.

While fighting the alien Commander on his ship headed to some place in another galaxy, Paris discovers space isn’t as empty as Earthlings thought.

When their ship is attacked by the Zateelians, Paris decides to join forces with her captors in order to survive the monsters trying to take her and the other humans for themselves.

Is the enemy you know any better than the one you don’t?

 

 

 

The post Interview with Paris from Worlds Away! Part 1 appeared first on J.L. Hendricks.

 

The stunning story of how one homeless girl went up against two different alien races to help her fellow abductees is now live!

 

200 years ago, the Earth was conquered, but nobody knew.

Commander Venay of the V’Zenian Empire was a man on a mission. It was his responsibility to ensure a good lot of human slaves made it back to his planet each year. But this time it was different.

Paris was used to being invisible, so when she was abducted by an alien, she knew no one was coming to save her.

While fighting the alien Commander on his ship headed to some place in another galaxy, Paris discovers space isn’t as empty as Earthlings thought.

When their ship is attacked by the Zateelians, Paris decides to join forces with her captors in order to survive the monsters trying to take her and the other humans for themselves.

Is the enemy you know any better than the one you don’t?

 

 

Worlds Away is now available on Amazon for only 99c and is included in your Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Head on over to Amazon and grab your copy today for an out of this world adventure! But don’t wait too long because it’s only on sale for a short time.

 

Worlds Away is a 60K word novel and book 1 in the Worlds Away Series. Book 2, Worlds Collide, will launch in 2 weeks!

The post Worlds Away Has Launched! appeared first on J.L. Hendricks.

 

Worlds Away has received an extensive edit and all new covers! Starting this week I will re-launch this exciting alien abduction series with the first book, Worlds Away. Then 2 weeks later I’ll launch the 2nd book, Worlds Collide. And finally, 3 weeks after that I’ll have the third and final full-length book in this series, Worlds Entwined, released. They have all gone through extensive edits and I’m very excited to share this new version of the series with you all!

In fact, I have the first chapter here for you to read. Later this week I’ll be launching the book on Amazon and it will be available on Kindle Unlimited as well.

 

200 years ago, the Earth was conquered, but nobody knew.

Commander Venay of the V’Zenian Empire was a man on a mission. It was his responsibility to ensure a good lot of human slaves made it back to his planet each year. But this time it was different.

Paris was used to being invisible, so when she was abducted by an alien, she knew no one was coming to save her.

While fighting the alien Commander on his ship headed to some place in another galaxy, Paris discovers space isn’t as empty as Earthlings thought.

When their ship is attacked by the Zateelians, Paris decides to join forces with her captors in order to survive the monsters trying to take her and the other humans for themselves.

Is the enemy you know any better than the one you don’t?

 

 

Prologue

 

The peal of the claxon bells could be heard all through the ship, and the crew rushed to and fro as they took their duty stations to prepare for the inevitable.  “Rotna, get off the comm with your mate. NOW is the time to focus on the ship, not some female.” the Commander yelled as he gave Rotna a stern frown and pointed to the weapons console.

Rotna usually manned the weapons console during battles. However, it has been a few years since this crew had seen any battles. All had been calm during these trips until this one.

“I must go now, stay safe and know that I love you!” Rotna ended his comm with his mate and focused back on the weapons console, but he was too late. A charged torpedo hit the side of the ship where Rotna was stationed. The console discharged an energy blast that threw him against the metallic desk that housed the science scanners behind him. His back hit the hard surface, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

“Someone get a medic here immediately! I need my weapons officer back on task.“ The Commander gave Rotna one more look and arched an eyebrow with the realization he wouldn’t get his weapons officer back on duty any time soon. The ship warbled as another torpedo hit a different spot on the same side of the ship. All the warriors on the bridge looked to the Commander as he stumbled to the weapons console. At the same time his second in command, Eereen, made his way to the weapons station from across the bridge.

The Commander arrived first so he loaded and launched four torpedoes and sent them off one after the other in rapid fire towards the enemy ship that had attacked them. This enemy had supposedly agreed to a tentative truce some years back and would on occasion play chicken with the V’Zenian ships, but they never would have openly attacked like this. The Commander wondered what would have caused them to attack without provocation.

“Eereen, fire the laser cannons at will and target their port engine. Let’s see if we can’t damage their ship enough to keep them from firing any more torpedoes,” the Commander yelled as he handed over the weapons con to his First Officer.

“Yes, Sir!” Eereen stated as he sat at the console. He quickly reviewed the ship in front of them and targeted the port side engines with both laser cannons and another round of torpedoes. He had to be careful since they did not have many left. This ship should not have seen any combat on this trip. It was only on a trip to Earth to pick up another load of slaves and possible mates for their species. In the four trips he has made, they never saw anything more than space dust in their path.

The Chief Engineer reported to the Commander, “Sir, that last set of torpedoes damaged our engines along with the artificial gravity generator. I sent technicians to fix them, but I can’t guarantee that parts of the ship will have enough gravity to function properly.”

He pushed the green button on his console. “Listen up, this is the Commander. We have an issue with our gravity generator and certain areas could intermittently lose artificial gravity. Use the hand rails if you must move about the ship, otherwise strap in and prepare for a bumpy flight.” The Commander knew that his slaves in the holding cells had nothing to help them stay secure. He briefly wondered if he shouldn’t release their cell doors so they could at least find some seats to strap themselves into. But before he could think of it anymore, another round of torpedoes made their way past the energy shield his ship had up.

“Someone tell me how those torpedoes are making their way past our shields! They should not have access to such technology! I want a solution before they blow us out of the universe! And I want something that will destroy them- five minutes ago!” The Commander sat down and strapped himself into his command chair. Then reviewed the schematics they had of the enemy ship based on their scans over the past twelve hours.

The slaves in the holding cells had bumped around and most had nothing more severe than contusions. A few broke some bones and had cried out for help, but all of the guards who had been in their holding areas, had left before the battle began.

“Hey, listen up! Grab ahold of the bars and wrap yourselves around them as best you can. This is worse than a ‘bumpy flight,’” one man yelled out to everyone.

The ship kept taking hits from torpedoes and laser cannons, and it jumped and jostled. When the gravity generator in the section housing the slaves died, most had already wrapped themselves around the bars. However, a few did not, they sat on the ground and held onto each other and tried to wait out the ride.

This proved to be a fatal mistake. Three of the human slaves who had not held on tightly to the bars flew around like a cow in a tornado, hit their heads and died immediately. One had her head twisted so far back that she looked more like a rag doll thrown to the ground. The other two women continued to bump around their cell and hit the other women who were trying to hold on for their lives.

“Oh please God, if you can hear me, help me to survive this, and I will do whatever you want me to do for the rest of my life. Even if that means I have to marry one of these alien freaks, I will do it.” One human woman, Natalie, prayed as she closed her eyes and tried not to think about the horrible ways she might die on this ship.

______________

 

Keep your eyes out for the release news with the Amazon link!

 

The post Worlds Away Snippet! appeared first on J.L. Hendricks.

 

There are 2 sides to New Orleans, the one all humans see, and the one very few survive long enough to enjoy. This tale is of 4 adopted sisters who find out about the underbelly of New Orleans and survive to tell the tale!

 

For a Limited Time, get this Boxed Set of The Voodoo Dolls containing the entire series and the prequel that garnered J.L. Hendricks the title of USA Today Bestselling Author for only 99c! Also available in Kindle Unlimited.

All Jenna and her sisters, The Voodoo Dolls, wanted was a recording contract. Was that too much to ask? Instead, they were attacked by a vampire using borrowed magic. When Jenna almost died, she ended up being rescued by the sexy leader of the local wolfpack who promised them protection from this new reality. Life in the Big Easy was anything but.

 

Now their friend has gone missing and the girls swear to find her. Along the way, they find themselves in too much trouble to do this alone, so they enlist the help of the wolfpack. As their story progresses, they learn more about themselves than they ever thought possible. With this new knowledge, they set out to help the humans of New Orleans to fight back against the supernatural creatures who wish to harm them.

 

—Ever wonder what Josie & The Pussycats would’ve been if all grown up, adult and hot, oh and add in a bunch of supporting characters with magic powers while your at it? Well, wonder no more and just read New Orleans Magic. It’s a total riot and tons of fun. – The Mysterious Amazon Reviewer

 

—Adopted Siblings who make up a band in the paranormal atmosphere of New Orleans? Awesome, especially when they don’t actually believe in the paranormal, like magic, Vampires or Wolf shifters and yet run a magic shop, to boot. Well now anything can happen and it does. I was caught from the first words when the book begins with a vampire chasing two of the girls. You will have to read it for yourself to learn how it ends�� Great read, loved it. – Victoria Palmer’s Review

 

—These girls may be gorgeous, talented, and with a certain amount of sass, but kick ass they do not! Not when they’ve just recently learned that the supernatural is real. Instead, Hendricks has real people, characters who have room for growth, and who will surely kick some serious butt in the future! A lot of promise here. –  Amazon Reviewer

—I really enjoyed reading this fast paced book. Full of everything from friends to flirting to shifters and witches and can’t forget the vampires. It was a real good read. I couldn’t put the book down. – Tonya 

—This series make me laugh, I love the Voodoo Dolls, so independent and funny. Never a dull moment, very well written. – Oscar



Don’t wait, grab your copy today at only 99c before it goes up to $8.99. The Voodoo Dolls Boxed Set is only available on Amazon. It’s also included in the Kindle Unlimited Subscription.

The Voodoo Dolls Boxed Set

 

The post Join Me in the Land of Enchantment – New Orleans! appeared first on J.L. Hendricks.

The Witch’s Tower

Tamara Grantham

(Twisted Ever After #1)

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Publication date: March 11th 2019

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult

Gothel is a witch. Punished for the actions of her mother, her choice is simple: either she stands guard over Princess Rapunzel—or she dies. But just because a choice is easy doesn’t mean it’s pleasant. Protecting Rapunzel means watching as the princess lays trapped in a tower, bedridden by hair that is so long and heavy it’s slowly driving her insane. Gothel’s life has become one of imprisonment and solitude as well—until a prince and his handsome squire appear at the tower.

Only one object can cut Rapunzel’s hair and end the curse: a pair of magical shears. But the shears are guarded by the most terrifying witches in the land, who also happen to be Gothel’s aunts. As Gothel and the prince’s squire, Raj Talmund, work to form a plan, she finds herself more and more drawn to the mysterious young man from the Outerlands. Unfortunately, his destiny is far more dangerous than she wants to admit: to save a princess, he must kill the witch who’s been forced to guard her.

THE WITCH’S TOWER is the first in an inspired new series of fairy-tale retellings from award-winning fantasy author Tamara Grantham.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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99¢ on release week only!

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EXCERPT:

Moonlight illuminated the tower as Raj and I crossed into the meadow. The handcart’s wheels squeaked as I pulled it to a stop at the base of the tower. Raj had been true to his word and purchased all the supplies we needed for winter. I couldn’t complain—I was grateful he’d done it. I only hoped he didn’t expect a miracle in return.

Now I had the chore of transporting everything into the tower. Luckily, I’d brought my largest knapsack. As I loaded vessels of lentils, bags of flour, and a few jars of syrup into my bag, Raj stood over me.

“You’re bringing all that up there?” he asked.

“It’s better than leaving it down here.”

“You really live up there all the time?”

“Yes, I only ever come out to gather edibles, or when we’re desperate for supplies.”

“But how do you get water?”

“We have a well inside the tower. Can you help me?” I tossed him an empty burlap sack. If he was so insistent on being here, he might as well help me.

“It seems like a lonely existence.”

I eyed him. Lonely? What did he know of loneliness? I didn’t feel like admitting to this stranger how desperately lonely the past five years had been, how I lay awake at night wishing I had someone to talk to, feeling as if the silence would drive me to insanity. No, he didn’t need to know any of that.

“It’s not that bad. Rapunzel isn’t one for talking, but we have a cat. His name is Jester. He keeps me company most of the time.”

“A cat?”

“Yes. He’s mostly feral. But he’s friendly enough, and he comes and goes as he pleases. He’s even learned to climb the vines to get in and out of the tower. He’s quite clever.” I adjusted the pack’s straps on my shoulders. “Now, let’s get up there before Rapunzel…” I stopped myself. “Let’s get up there.”

With the pack strapped to my back, I turned to the tower. Wind rushed past, battering my hair against my cheeks, as I prepared to speak the spell.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” My words carried on the wind, echoing through the forest.

I waited, nervousness making my hands grow clammy as I held to the pack’s straps, but why did I feel so uneasy? Was it because Raj was with me?

I turned to him. He stood with haunting dark eyes as he watched a coil of ropy, matted hair drop from the tower’s only window high above us. I stepped to the length of hair and grabbed it, holding my breath against the scent of unwashed scalp. I never got used to that smell.

“Should I follow you?” Raj asked.

“Yes. But let me enter first.” Gripping the hair tightly, I started the climb. I made my way toward the window at the top of the tower. Halfway up, my muscles burned, and I focused on breathing to make it the rest of the way. This part was always the hardest, and the sack of supplies weighing me down wasn’t helping. Why did Varlocke have to put his daughter into such an impossibly tall tower?

When I reached the window, I grabbed the ledge. The worn stones felt smooth under my palms as I climbed over, then landed inside. As I straightened, I pulled off the pack and left it on the floor, then focused on the room. Moonlight illuminated the bare stones walls, the well sitting at the room’s center, the wooden chairs, roughly-hewn tables, huge bookcases cluttered with dusty spell journals and vials, and the bed where Rapunzel lay.

I stepped over the matted coils of hair. Pieces of rat and bird bones lay trapped in the knotted strands, seeming to glow white against the dark hair. The sound of gnawing stopped me.

She wasn’t.

“Rapunzel,” I said quietly. “What are you doing?”

The gnawing continued. I approached her on quiet feet, afraid of what I might find. Behind me, Raj scrambled inside the room.

Please don’t let it be the prince.

When I reached her side, her pale, skeleton-white skin glowed in the moonlight. She held a rat.

I exhaled, grateful it was only a rodent and not something—someone—else. A crust of bread and a handful of wild beets sat on the bedside table, but they were untouched.

Raj’s footsteps echoed, and I turned to face him. His tall, lean frame looked so out of place. Only the high sorcerer ever visited, and to have an Outlander squire inside my home unnerved me.

“Is she eating something?” he asked. “What is that?”

“Sorry. It’s the cat’s fault. He catches them and leaves them on her lap. He thinks he’s giving her a prize or something. Rapunzel does that with them sometimes—with the rats—eats them, I mean.” I stumbled over my words, feeling immeasurably mortified that Raj had to see it. But it could’ve been worse.

I approached her. She looked up, as if only seeing me now, and she hissed. With her red-rimmed eyes, it looked as if she hadn’t been sleeping, and her collarbones seemed to be protruding more than I remembered. Her white gown hung off her meatless frame, but at least it was the clean one I’d left for her. She’d managed to change clothes—at least there was that.

“Where is the prince?” Raj asked.

“I don’t know.” I scanned the room. With the large piles of hair covering the floor, he could’ve been hidden, but we should’ve seen some clue he was here—his feet or a hand poking out. Something. “You’re certain he came up here?”

“Yes, positive.”

I studied the tower more thoroughly but didn’t see anything that resembled the prince. Odd. Where was he?

“Rapunzel,” I said, turning to her, “we’re looking for a prince. Have you seen him?”

She shook her head, clutching the rat, her fingers digging into the carcass.

“Please,” Raj said. “I need to find him. His father is the king. He’ll be very sad if he loses his only son. Can’t you tell us where he is?”

Rapunzel focused on the man, but she remained silent. Outside, the sky lightened. Pink streaked through the gray as dawn approached. As the sun rose, sunlight streamed into the room, giving light to the dark places. Something thudded inside the well, and Raj followed me as I maneuvered around the coiled hair toward the raised ring of stones surrounding the deep drop that went straight through the bottom of the tower.

“Is there something in the well?” Raj asked.

“Someone probably.”

I pried open the lid. Sitting atop the wide-mouthed bucket was the prince, who stared up at us with a vacant expression. Hair coiled around him as blue bands of magic wrapped his wrists and ankles. I grabbed his tunic with both hands and attempted to lug him out. He was heavier than he looked.

“How’d he get in there?” Raj asked.

“Rapunzel. She tried to throw him down, I assume.”

“She can do that?”

“With her hair, yes. She’s clever when she’s motivated.”

“He was looking at me!” Rapunzel yelled. Well, at least she was finally speaking.

 

Author Bio:

Tamara Grantham is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books and novellas, including the Olive Kennedy: Fairy World MD series and the Shine novellas. Dreamthief, the first book of her Fairy World MD series, won first place for fantasy in INDIEFAB’S Book of the Year Awards, a RONE award for best New Adult Romance of 2016, and is a #1 bestseller on Amazon with over 200 five-star reviews.

Tamara holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Lamar University. She has been a featured speaker at multiple writing conferences, and she has been a panelist at Comic Con Wizard World speaking on the topic of female leads. For her first published project, she collaborated with New York-Times bestselling author, William Bernhardt, in writing the Shine series.

Born and raised in Texas, Tamara now lives with her husband and five children in Wichita, Kansas. She rarely has any free time, but when the stars align and she gets a moment to relax, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, taking nature walks–which fuel her inspiration for creating fantastical worlds–and watching every Star Wars or Star Trek movie ever made. You can find her online at www.TamaraGrantham.com.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

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A Ritual of Fire is only 99c for the next couple of days!

 

If you love a good dragon Urban Fantasy novel, this is the one for you! Alison and her FBI partner, Vlad, are on the hunt for someone who’s been performing ritualistic murders in the paranormal community! If you’re the curious type, scroll down for a snippet from Chapter 1 of A Ritual of Fire, sale NOW!

Find out the secret darker than her dragon shifter form …

In the first novel of The FBI Dragon Chronicles, Alyson Andrews’s Investigation of a gruesome serial murder sends her into the darkest depths of the city’s magical underbelly…

As the last known dragon shifter, Alyson knows firsthand how dark black magic can be.

So when she and her vampire partner come under attack, she knows she has to put an end to the sacrificial murders.

But where there’s magic, there’s bound to be powerful witches.

And they’re the only ones who can detect the truth of her identity…

Series is now complete! 

The FBI Dragon Chronicles

Book 1 – A Ritual of Fire

Book 2 – A Ritual of Death

Book 3 – A Ritual of Conquest

Check out the first chapter to get a taste of this exciting, action-packed urban fantasy with bite!

Chapter 1

Alyson

I hated these kinds of crime scenes. To be honest, the blood didn’t bother me so much as the scene as a whole did. Why did they use such a large pentagram? Why was the blood painted on the walls? Why had they moved the table to that corner?

More importantly though, I wondered what was missing. The previous crime scenes had something missing, some piece of the puzzle denied to us by the killers.

In this one, part of the pentagram had been wiped away. Part of me hoped it wasn’t incompetent locals who had done that. If they had, I might blow a gasket because chances were good whatever had been there would have given me a good clue to who’s doing this and why.

We needed to get this scene processed and fast. I’d already interviewed the neighbor to give them time to do their thing, but they still weren’t quite ready, and I was ready to walk around and see it from the different angles.

There was something in the air, something too faint to make out from the edges of the scene, something that had triggered my reflex to shift. The last thing I wanted was for the human CSI team to destroy something on accident that could be critical to cracking the case because they didn’t know what they were looking at.

“Hey, how much longer before you’re done here?” I called out to the nearest tech. “We need to get in and find out what happened.”

The tech scraping some fresh blood off the ground into a tube looked up. “It will take as long as it takes. Leave us alone and we will be done faster. Keep pushing us and it will just take us longer.”

“Eesh, don’t get your panties in a bunch. I just asked how long for the first time.” While I respected the work the local teams did, considering they had found us one of our first clues about shifter involvement, I was getting anxious about that strange scent. That anxiety was starting to make me a bit testy.

“Alyson, just do what you can from here,” my partner Vlad soothed. “Leave the poor kids alone. We will find these killers. You know we will.”

Vlad was good for me and me for him. When I was impatient, he was calm and collected and so far there had been a handful of times when he was the crazy vamp, and I had to be the one to talk him down.

I hated to say it, but I relied on his calming presence more often than I should because he knew who and what I really was. I could be myself in front of him and in return he got a trustworthy partner to watch over him during the day. That, among many things, was why we were such great partners. It was rather refreshing.

“Fine,” I muttered, pointing toward the smeared break in the pentagram. “They removed something from this scene as well.” The more I looked at it, the more I was certain the killers were responsible for the defacement. “My guess is that there was either something sitting in that spot or they used an uncommon symbol when they created the pentagram and wiped it. What do you think?”

Vlad’s eyesight was just as good as mine but he could sometimes see things I missed. It was one more reason we worked so well together. We picked up what the other one missed.

“Yes, I think they had a stand or something on that spot. If they were wiping away a symbol, it would look more like a smear. This looks like something was dragged through the blood. I see jagged lines along the borders of the smear instead of straight marks.” He pointed to the far edge of the area in question.

“You’re right.” Now that he pointed it out, I could see it clearly. “We know they had a stand or box at one of the other scenes. There, it must have picked up and left that rectangular clean spot in the middle of their ritual area. This time there weren’t as careful. My gut instinct is that it’s a stand or something larger than a box, something awkward enough a lazy perp might want to drag it instead of picking it up properly.”

While Vlad chewed over my thoughts, I decided to give the room another good sniff. Maybe now that I was calmer, I could pick out the strange scents I couldn’t identify before. With Vlad having to huff menthol to keep it together, it was down to me to get this one.

The calm must have helped because as I inhaled, I started to pick out other scents. I smelled sulfur, which wasn’t all that uncommon in a magical ritual of this caliber. There was something else though. Wolfsbane? Yes, definitely. Some ginger root for sure. Those were all among the usual ingredients when casting a spell, but there was one scent which has me puzzled. It couldn’t be what I suspected but if it was, I understood why my instincts went haywire.

It was still too indistinct from where we were at the edge of the ritual area. I needed to get closer to the smeared spot. The scent was starting to dissipate and if I didn’t get to it soon, I would never figure it out.

“Distract the kids. I need to get closer,” I whispered to Vlad so softly only he would be able to hear it.

“Why?” Vlad replied with equal softness. “Let them collect their evidence, it will only help us in the end. You can wait a little bit longer.”

“Actually, I can’t. A scent is evaporating. If I don’t get closer, I could lose it. So, just create a distraction so I can get a bit closer and see if it’s what I suspect.”

“Alyson, don’t cause a scene. If you suspect it’s something, then it is. Take a deep breath and just breathe. Close your eyes and let me know what you sense.” Vlad could be so infuriating at times, so calm and collected.

“Don’t you think I already tried that? I just need to get a little bit closer to the smeared spot. That’s it. I’ve got my booties on. I can tip-toe and not step into any blood.”

Impatience was something I was working on. Maybe if I lived to be a few hundred years old like Vlad, I could master it. Until then, well, impulsiveness was how I was. Disregarding Vlad’s advice, I stood up on my tiptoes and slowly moved through the labyrinth of the blood and empty spots on the ground. I took four steps before I was caught.

“Hey! You can’t walk in here yet.” The tech I spoke with earlier stood up and put his hands on his hips. “I told you guys it would take as long as it takes. Stop right where you are. Stupid feds. You think you own all of the scenes. Well, you don’t! If you aren’t careful, you will contaminate the scene and we won’t be able to help you.”

His evil eye didn’t scare me. The boy was just a young human. Too bad I couldn’t shift. My full-blown dragon senses could pick up the trail of the herb I suspected much easier than my human ones.

“Tim? Is that your name?” It was, of course, as I could see from the ID hanging off of his jacket pocket.

“Yes, and I’m in charge of the scene until I am finished. Get off of my evidence!” The boy was in a mood, that’s for sure.

Fortunately, those four steps and the extra moments arguing were enough to let me get a proper whiff, enough to confirm my suspicions. “Fine, fine,” I relented. “I have what I need anyway.”

I carefully made my way back to where I had been standing before I violated the poor tech’s scene. Since this was the eleventh crime scene, I doubted he would find anything we hadn’t already seen. My evidence, on the other hand, was new. What I picked up via scent wasn’t something his mass spectrometer wouldn’t identify.

“What were you thinking? Oh wait, you weren’t.” Vlad scowled as he led me out of the house.

“You’ll be happy I didn’t listen when you hear what I discovered.” My Cheshire Cat smile was from ear to ear. I could be a bit overly dramatic when I was right, although I would never admit it to anyone, especially Mr. I-am-always-right. Vlad could be so annoying at times.

“Well, what did you find that was so important you had to possibly ruin uncollected evidence?” He narrowed his eyes, a stunt that never intimidated me as he hoped.

I licked my lips and looked around to make sure no one was watching or eavesdropping. It was all clear in the victim’s front yard. “It was asphodel.”

“Asphodel? Like the component in a death spell? The black magic component? Are you certain?” Even though Vlad didn’t need to breathe, he took in a deep breath and rubbed his face.

“Yes, they were performing black magic. We’ve both suspected it since the start of this case, but this proves it. There are no uses of asphodel outside of the black arts. It’s only used in a handful of death spells, one of which is so heinous, the magical community will kill you on the spot for performing it.”

“The Death Drought hasn’t been used for centuries,” Vlad assured me. “I was told the spell has been lost. No one today can perform it.”

Vlad knew a lot of witches, including some very powerful ones. If they told him the knowledge had been lost, they were either right or very good liars. Well, there was a third option. If this was the spell being used, it might have been recently recovered, unknown to the general witch community. After all, none of the paranormals that can use magic live more than a hundred years. Well, dragons can, but I’m the last, so that was irrelevant unless I was going to arrest myself.

“I think it’s time you paid a visit to your witchy friends.” I raised an eyebrow and waited for his response.

“Alyson, be nice. They can be a little … strange, but overall, they are very nice. They have even helped me with my cases over the years.”

“You know I’ve never been a big fan of witches.” I was convinced that witches of some stripe were the ones who killed my family. “However, if you vouch for these particular witches, then they have to be half-way decent, so let’s ask them for their expertise.”

Besides, I didn’t have to trust them myself, I only needed to be nice. Or somewhat nice.

__________________

If you’re ready to root for the dragon, or even the vampire, then head here and pick up your copy of A Ritual of Fire today! It’s on sale for only 99c , or FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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First Full Moon

First Full Moon

Michelle Alstead

Publication date: August 28th 2018

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult

More secrets. More lies. I’m going to die.

She wanted a car for her sixteenth birthday, not magical powers… Candy McGregor is a teenager living in Sequim Falls, a small East Coast town, where the McGregors own just about everything. While her grandmother grooms her to run the family business—a pharmaceutical empire—Candy dreams of a life where she’s known as more than just a last name. When the monthly family dinner turns into a horror show, Candy discovers the McGregors aren’t so much blessed as they are cursed. At midnight on her sixteenth birthday, Candy inherits both the ability to do magic and the destiny to become a wolf on the next full moon. There is hope of a life that doesn’t require being chained up once a month. If Candy can undo the original spell that created the curse, she can rid the world of werewolves and remain a witch. But there’s one really big problem. Not everyone hates being a wolf. With the next full moon looming, Candy must take on forces that will do anything to stop her. Will she break the curse or surrender to life as a monster?

Goodreads / Amazon

—

EXCERPT:

“Candy?” Larkin is at my side, shaking me. “Say something!”

I’m lying in the snow, staring at the dark sky. “I’m so cold,” I say through chattering teeth.

“You’re bleeding.” She looks around. “We need something to stop the blood.”

I stick my hand in my coat pocket and pull out a packet of tissues. “Always come prepared.” I hold them out.

For once, boring pays off.

Larkin rips the package open and holds it to my head. Branches snap and leaves rustle in the woods behind us.

“Did you hear that?” I ask.

“Um, yeah.” Larkin’s muscles tense, her brown eyes wide.

An animal howls in the distance.

“We just had to have family dinner on a full moon,” Larkin says. “You know that’s when the crazies come out.”

I chuckle. “Well, you’re out.”

“I’m going to let that one slide because of your head injury.”

My dress coat isn’t warm enough for January on the East Coast. “Help me up. We need to get out of here.” I raise my hands upward.

Larkin frowns but only half her face moves. “Are we sure you don’t have a spinal injury? I should call for help. Do not move.” She holds out her hands to prevent me from getting up.

I push her away. “My spine is fine, but I think my foot is broken.” Slowly, I stand up and put pressure on my right foot only to cry out in agony.

“That is not good.” She glances up the road. “We’re like a mile from the house.”

“We have to call for help. Do you have your—”

A loud hissing sound followed by a small boom interrupts me. The limo’s engine is on fire and the flames spread quickly.

“Harold! He’s still in there.” I stand up, teetering on my left foot.

The fire reaches the front seat, shattering the side windows.

“We need to go now.” Larkin drags me away from the blaze.

“But Harold—”

“He’s already gone, Candy.”

We’ve known Harold all our lives. Leaving his body to burn in the woods doesn’t seem right.

“Where’s your phone?” I ask.

Larkin points at the limo. “Where’s yours?”

“In my purse in the limo.” I rub my hands together.

“Come on, looks like we’re walking.” Larkin puts an arm around my waist, pulling me away from the fire.

I swallow hard, limping through the snow while leaning heavily on my smaller cousin.

There’s another howl only this time it sounds as if the animal is getting closer.

Larkin stops.

“We should keep moving,” I say.

She takes several deep breaths. “We’re stuck in the woods on a full moon. We need to get our Buffy on.”

“This is so not the time for Buffy references,” I say, my head swimming.

Something is watching us. I have that feeling again.

“There is never not a time for Buffy references, especially when haunted forests with wolves are in play.”

“Come on, we have to go.” I wrap my arm tighter around Larkin’s shoulders, propelling us forward.

My coat only comes to my waist and my flats sink in the snow, leaving my bare legs to absorb the cold wind.

“I should have worn jeans,” I say.

“I’m telling you. The red leather jumpsuit would have been awesome. Like Little Red Riding Hood only—”

We stop suddenly. A wolf, brown-haired with gray spots, blocks our path.

In a low voice, I reply. “You had to say Little Red Riding Hood.”

“It’s not like I meant to conjure the Big Bad Wolf,” Larkin whispers back.

The animal inches closer, showing sharp teeth that make me cringe.

“Candy, it’s going to eat us,” Larkin whispers.

I don’t respond as my jaw unhinges. Several more wolves emerge from the woods, joining the first. They growl, snapping at us.

“What now?” My cousin squeezes my arm to the point of near numbness.

Every single wolf has their eyes trained on me. They’re staring at me in a weirdly human way.

“You should run, Larkin,” I whisper.

“Um, no. I can’t outrun a pack.”

“I don’t think it’s you they want.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at their eyes!”

She studies them for a second. “Yeah, they’re looking at you like you’re a gourmet burger.”

“That’s why you should run and get help.”

“Candy, they’ll tear you apart.”

I don’t reply. There’s no reason for us both to die.

Author Bio:

Michelle Alstead is a single, divorced mom of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, who tries to promote autism awareness and advocate for gender equality while raising Sheldon Cooper and searching for some semblance of a love life.

Michelle’s novels are frequently available for free on Amazon Kindle. Sign up for her email list to receive notifications. http://michellealstead.com/sign-up-fo...

All of Michelle’s adult novels take place in the same universe. Characters cross over between novels, which makes for a more interesting world.

One Last Try will be released Feb. 2018.

The Full Moon Series (four young adult supernatural stories) will be published in time for Halloween 2018.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

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