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Magick Squared
Secrets are like potato chips. Nobody can have just one.
Summer is supposed to be relaxing, but when Stacy's archnemesis uses her to launch a fresh spree of monster making she must sacrifice her secrets or fight back.
Meanwhile, Finder dives into the mysterious world of ritual magick to summon her father's soul and "re-alive" him, forcing Stacy to choose between being the kind of friend Finder needs or staying true to her own gut instinct. It's an impossible position. Every move is right, yet every move is wrong. Pile on a tower of secrets, an ambitious coven of witches, and a little brother who knows everything--it equals a middle game challenge to test everything Stacy thinks she knows.
So when the Man with No Face has a chance to kill Stacy but leaves her alive, she realizes something far more sinister is building, something hinging on every secret she keeps.
Impossible choices? Layered secrets? Unknowable consequences?
Welcome to Stacy's summer. Hopefully, she'll live to tell about it.
One thing remains true. Hope is not a strategy.
Summer is supposed to be relaxing, but when Stacy's archnemesis uses her to launch a fresh spree of monster making she must sacrifice her secrets or fight back.
Meanwhile, Finder dives into the mysterious world of ritual magick to summon her father's soul and "re-alive" him, forcing Stacy to choose between being the kind of friend Finder needs or staying true to her own gut instinct. It's an impossible position. Every move is right, yet every move is wrong. Pile on a tower of secrets, an ambitious coven of witches, and a little brother who knows everything--it equals a middle game challenge to test everything Stacy thinks she knows.
So when the Man with No Face has a chance to kill Stacy but leaves her alive, she realizes something far more sinister is building, something hinging on every secret she keeps.
Impossible choices? Layered secrets? Unknowable consequences?
Welcome to Stacy's summer. Hopefully, she'll live to tell about it.
One thing remains true. Hope is not a strategy.
731 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2025
About the author
J.S. Furlong
7 books38 followersJ.S.(Jen Selby) Furlong is an author, producer and actor. Raised in the Washington DC professional theatre, Jen spent her teenage years inhabiting other people's lives on stage and making them real.Her first published book was a LARP guide to playing truly evil bad guys: Antagonists for Mind's Eye Theatre, the LARP for Vampire: The Masquerade from White Wolf Publishing. Written under her maiden name, Jennifer Albright, this book was a natural integration of both writing and acting.
The largest portion of her writing began when she took a hiatus from acting to have children. A college professor once read a story she wrote and wrote on her paper "Not bad. You should publish this." Those words stuck with her. Hidden City was first drafted in 2004 just before the birth of her second son as an effort to write something her children could eventually read. Jen's teenaged heroines struggle with truth, possibility and who they are. Now mother to four of them, Jen loves teenagers and writes books that she hopes teens, tweens and adult lovers of YA will enjoy. A few random facts about Jen: 1. While writing this book initially she was also writing for and producing modern theatrical circuses, one of which she co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. 2. Jen's career in television and film includes a tiny but pivotal role on Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. 3. Jen is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and attended both Ithaca College and The University of Mary Washington.
One of her goals is to speak as many languages as she needs to run circuses and buy goats around the world. She lives in Virginia with her animals, her adorable husband and whomever else happens to be home. Follow Jen on IG at @iamjenfurlong. Hidden City is her debut novel.
The largest portion of her writing began when she took a hiatus from acting to have children. A college professor once read a story she wrote and wrote on her paper "Not bad. You should publish this." Those words stuck with her. Hidden City was first drafted in 2004 just before the birth of her second son as an effort to write something her children could eventually read. Jen's teenaged heroines struggle with truth, possibility and who they are. Now mother to four of them, Jen loves teenagers and writes books that she hopes teens, tweens and adult lovers of YA will enjoy. A few random facts about Jen: 1. While writing this book initially she was also writing for and producing modern theatrical circuses, one of which she co-wrote with Neil Gaiman. 2. Jen's career in television and film includes a tiny but pivotal role on Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. 3. Jen is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and attended both Ithaca College and The University of Mary Washington.
One of her goals is to speak as many languages as she needs to run circuses and buy goats around the world. She lives in Virginia with her animals, her adorable husband and whomever else happens to be home. Follow Jen on IG at @iamjenfurlong. Hidden City is her debut novel.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 11, 2025
Letting go kind of makes my stomach roil. I wrote this book and it was the hardest one so far, but at some point I gotta stop picking at dust bunnies, commit to having told the right story and hand it over. If you're mad and think it's too long, fight my editor. I sneaky cut another two thousand words after her last pass, because remember, I'm on your side..
You've waited two years, you patient soul. And if I took much longer, I know. I know. The threats of torches and pitchforks was real.
This book takes the vibe a little darker from Hidden City and Tattooed Angel- it has to for the Scoobys to grow. And after Tattooed Angel, they all have so much they aren't telling each other . . . You need to hear from more than just Stacy. Finder gets the first POV (after Stacy of course), then Tully and then . . .who do you think gets the fourth POV? You might be right!
This is the The Empire Strikes Back of the series. Books four and five are being written simultaneously so that when I wrap this for you at the end of Book five, I've closed all the breezeways I've left open. I want to be sure I've given you the replies to all the questions you ask me--at my signings, at my booth, at the Ren Faire, when you grab my arm in the grocery store and say "Jen. You are Jen, right? WHERE IS IT?" Thank you for being awesome. For reading, for telling people about what you're reading, for stuffing this series into the hands of book starved friends and most of all for enjoying the hell out of these books.
I tell people all the time that I have the BEST readers and it's true. You make every morning when I get to work worth every sliced adverb, every re-written line of dialogue, every axed nod, head shake and breath. I whack details you don't need and ask myself if you REALLY NEED TO KNOW the clever thing I just wrote and half the time the answer is no, so I pitch it and look for what you DO need.
I adore you. I'm grateful to you for giving me a career telling stories. If you need help getting your own book into the world, call my babes at mpcpublishing.com. They rock. Most of all, have fun. And don't be mad that it's taking a minute to get you book four. I'm writing the Hidden City pilot right now. (Yes, the PILOT.) If you need a fix, go read my Meredith's World books. I swap the MCs and Stacy is the sidekick. Tweens making trouble in NYC sans vampires. It's a ton of backstory. For real. Because there was a Stacy before chess and Meredith doesn't get nearly enough air time in this series.
I made a plan. Im sticking to the plan. I'm ready to change the plan and my mind is on the mate. Add Magick Squared to your want to read list. Buy it off my website. It'll only be available there or direct from me until December 3. Then it goes live everywhere.
Always now and always after, dear friends. Thanks for being with me.
Jen
You've waited two years, you patient soul. And if I took much longer, I know. I know. The threats of torches and pitchforks was real.
This book takes the vibe a little darker from Hidden City and Tattooed Angel- it has to for the Scoobys to grow. And after Tattooed Angel, they all have so much they aren't telling each other . . . You need to hear from more than just Stacy. Finder gets the first POV (after Stacy of course), then Tully and then . . .who do you think gets the fourth POV? You might be right!
This is the The Empire Strikes Back of the series. Books four and five are being written simultaneously so that when I wrap this for you at the end of Book five, I've closed all the breezeways I've left open. I want to be sure I've given you the replies to all the questions you ask me--at my signings, at my booth, at the Ren Faire, when you grab my arm in the grocery store and say "Jen. You are Jen, right? WHERE IS IT?" Thank you for being awesome. For reading, for telling people about what you're reading, for stuffing this series into the hands of book starved friends and most of all for enjoying the hell out of these books.
I tell people all the time that I have the BEST readers and it's true. You make every morning when I get to work worth every sliced adverb, every re-written line of dialogue, every axed nod, head shake and breath. I whack details you don't need and ask myself if you REALLY NEED TO KNOW the clever thing I just wrote and half the time the answer is no, so I pitch it and look for what you DO need.
I adore you. I'm grateful to you for giving me a career telling stories. If you need help getting your own book into the world, call my babes at mpcpublishing.com. They rock. Most of all, have fun. And don't be mad that it's taking a minute to get you book four. I'm writing the Hidden City pilot right now. (Yes, the PILOT.) If you need a fix, go read my Meredith's World books. I swap the MCs and Stacy is the sidekick. Tweens making trouble in NYC sans vampires. It's a ton of backstory. For real. Because there was a Stacy before chess and Meredith doesn't get nearly enough air time in this series.
I made a plan. Im sticking to the plan. I'm ready to change the plan and my mind is on the mate. Add Magick Squared to your want to read list. Buy it off my website. It'll only be available there or direct from me until December 3. Then it goes live everywhere.
Always now and always after, dear friends. Thanks for being with me.
Jen
January 23, 2026
I have enjoyed following Stacy and Steve. Steve is only seven? Really! The journey continues. Looking forward to Book Four.
December 14, 2025
Magick Squared is intense, smart, and completely addictive. The tension never lets up, the magick feels dangerous, and the emotional stakes hit hard.
This book thrives on secrets, impossible choices, and that constant “something bad is coming” feeling. Every chapter pulled me deeper, and just when I thought I had a handle on things, the story twisted again. I finished it already wanting more.
If you like urban fantasy that’s dark, layered, and keeps you hooked until the last page, don’t skip this one!
This book thrives on secrets, impossible choices, and that constant “something bad is coming” feeling. Every chapter pulled me deeper, and just when I thought I had a handle on things, the story twisted again. I finished it already wanting more.
If you like urban fantasy that’s dark, layered, and keeps you hooked until the last page, don’t skip this one!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews