New release sample: SHRUNK: THE EXILE OF MAURICE

 

Note: SHRUNK was previously released as DIVINE'S EMPORIUM. This new version has been updated to include people and events in Neighborlee who were written about and "discovered" after the publication of DIVINE'S. Plus you can now get a print copy, when before it was only available in ebook.

Just so you know!

Only an hour into the office Christmas party Friday night, Jo suspected someone had spiked the spicy lime punch. Everywhere she looked, a clump of mistletoe hung directly over her head. Either it hung from every light and in every doorway in this party center, or the silly bit of useless decoration was following her.

"Something wrong?" Ken came up behind her and held out a tall glass of amber liquid.

She opened her mouth to refuse, then saw the drink had bubbles in it. He was definitely her knight in shining armor. Tonight proved it. His eyes had gleamed when he'd seen her dark blue velvet dress. His attention made her feel special. This newest move, bringing her plain ginger ale, only proved he was the Mr. Wonderful she had dreamed of all her life.

"You okay?" Ken asked.

She pointed at the mistletoe hanging above their heads. Jo could have sworn it was four feet to the right the last time she looked. Then she forgot that problem when Ken went bright red.

"I wasn't suggesting -- not unless you want to. But I swear that thing is moving. It's in a different place, every time I see it."

"Thank you." He slumped for a moment. "I thought I was just imagining it." He gestured at her glass, which she sipped with grateful relief. "That's why I decided to go for something a little less likely to be polluted. Just in case."

"My hero." She laughed when he colored up again. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mr. Myerhausen beckoning to Ken. "It looks like the visitors from the Pittsburgh office want to talk to you." She decided to be flattered when he groaned.

He apologized and promised to hurry back before he walked away. Yes, Ken was definitely Mr. Wonderful. So nice. So strong and considerate. How could that idiot Brittney have let him go, much less tossed him over in favor of Allistair?

As if on cue, Allistair appeared at the edge of her vision, slithering toward her through the crowd of chatting, nibbling, drinking employees. That was her cue to flee.

Off the Bookshelf: SHIFTERS IN THE NIGHT, by Molly Harper

 

Audible, Audiobooks

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis

The NEW Mystic Bayou release through Audible.

This time around our hero is Jon Carmody, brother to Will, the town's doctor. The new girl in town is Lia Doe, a deer-shifter, working for a construction company building an apartment complex to handle the tidal wave of people moving to Mystic Bayou.

Lia can read people's emotions, which makes her very valuable as a liaison for the company. She works to make sure everyone is happy with the deal, on both sides. And maybe Lia will get something she wants before the job is done.

Nothing will ever calm down in Mystic, even though the problem of the Rift has been dealt with. The town is growing fast. Maybe too fast. Then there's the Founder's Day celebration. Jon is struggling to figure out how he feels about Lia, while trying to keep up with the demand for his boat repair business. Then Lia's boss starts breaking all his patterns. He has plans for the town, but none of the residents are complying. Lia listens to her instincts, and they tell her it's time to get out. Someone isn't happy with all the changes she's making, and strikes back. Will Lia and Jon unmask this new enemy before someone is hurt permanently?

New release sample: THE KINDNESS CURSE

 The baker's girl came around the smithy from the back way, with a basket covered in cheesecloth. Her furtive look gave Merrigan a good hint of what she was doing. She wasn't surprised at all when the girl whistled softly and stayed in the shadows of the trees, close to where Merrigan sat. The boys came running and she quickly handed them bread with thick slabs of cheese, and an apple each. They thanked her with much nicer manners than Merrigan would have credited them, and she blushed prettily and turned to leave. Then she saw Merrigan sitting only a dozen or so steps away.

"Oh, Granny, I'm sorry. If I had known …" She looked back over her shoulder at the boys, who had emptied her basket. 

The youngest looked up and his gaze met Merrigan's. She shivered and lost her breath for a moment. Was that tingle in her fingertips a sign of some majjian nearby, watching? Of course, it would be the youngest who looked at her, looked at the remaining bread and cheese and the apple in his hand, and moved away from his brothers. Why was it always the youngest chosen for magical tasks and help? More important, why wasn't she granted such protection and help, since she was the youngest daughter of the King of Avylyn?

Coming New Title! SHRUNK: THE EXILE OF MAURICE

 

The next Neighborlee, Ohio book

Coming JULY 1

Maurice used his Fae magic to help the downtrodden and abused. But when he went too far, the Powers-That-Be decided he needed to learn humility, self-restraint, and mercy. They took away most of his magic, shrunk him down to five inches, and slapped wings on his back that no self-respecting Fae would be caught dead in. Then they exiled him to the Human realms, to work out his sentence helping Humans. 

 

His destination: Divine's Emporium, a curiosity shop touched with magic, on the edge of the odd town of Neighborlee, Ohio. 

 

His parole officer: Angela, the proprietress of Divine's Emporium, touched with magic and a shadowy past of her own. 

 

His sentence: Help the Humans who come into Divine's to find answers, freedom, their own magic, and true love. Not necessarily in that order. 

 

His problem: How does a five-inch-tall Fae, invisible to most Humans, win the heart of the ugly duckling who has caught his interest, his sympathy, and then his heart -- when she can't see or hear him?

 From Ye Olde Dragon Books

Remember: in the month leading up to a new release, you can get print and ebook copies of the book at a discount at Ye Olde Dragon Books, BEFORE they're available in stores!

Off the Bookshelf: ALWAYS BE MY BANSHEE, by Molly Harper

 

Audible Original, Audiobook

Mystic Bayou

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis

Return to Mystic Bayou for more guilty pleasure. This time we have two newcomers as our heroine and hero, both dealing with lots of baggage before they're even hit with the wonderful weirdness that is Mystic Bayou. Cordelia and Brendan have come to town to deal with the "artifact" found in the bayou in the last adventure. It's a black box that seems to be the source of all the growing magical disturbances and problems coming out of the Rift.

Several problems to get over: Cordelia is a touch psychic, which makes it hard to be around people, much less deal with everyday living because everything she touches fills her mind with their stories. Brendan is a rare male banshee, so technically he's dead. And when he gets visions, they're always about people's deaths. Then there are the occasional sightings of Cordelia's psycho, entitlement attitude, con-woman mother, whom she fled when she was a teen. And the pressure from some pretty high up people in the League, to get the artifact to not just communicate, but cooperate and toe the line with the League's goals and ideals. That's just the tip of the problem-loaded iceberg.

Some answers, some changes, some danger. Lots of laughs. And more strong performances from all our favorite characters living in Mystic Bayou. I really hope Harper keeps writing more stories, because I want to keep coming back and seeing my old friends. Hmm, there is that phoenix/dragon baby on the way. A new generation to watch and cheer for? Please?

New release sample: THE KINDNESS CURSE

"Well, there's some hope for you yet." The frog let out a croaky chuckle. "You're right, he did steal it. He's selling the boys as slaves, at the fair in Blintytown tomorrow. I heard him promising them to a one-eyed man who stopped here three days ago."

"You have to do something. That's unfair. This is their home, not his."

"What can I do? Besides, you're the only person here who can hear me."

"What can I do?" she echoed, only half-heartedly mocking him. "I'm a stranger. People may be kind to the elderly and frail, but they don't listen to them. Especially not strangers. I'm quite tired of being laughed at and called mad."

"Forewarned is forearmed." He hopped away while Merrigan tried to decide if she should kick him, or even risk warts by picking him up and flinging him away. 

She fumed, chewing on his words, until the blacksmith walked away at noontime to get his meal. The boys were left to tend the forge, and he left nothing for them to eat. That just added fuel to the fire inside her. Ordinarily, Merrigan believed in letting peasants cheat and trick and steal from each other and reduce their numbers so their betters didn't have to look after them. However, those boys looked so helpless, and so young, and there was just something appealing about them, under their dirt and bruises. Forewarned? Would it be enough to warn them?

 

New release sample: BRIDE OF THE LIVING PROOF

Thanks to less power being sucked away and more power building up in Neighborlee for our defensive purposes, I was getting leg tremors and prickling at the most inconvenient times. Winkies swarmed me at the most inconvenient times. It was one thing to be the only one in the room who could see them. It sometimes got pretty dang difficult to sit in a meeting at work and not swat at or laugh at the sparkling bits of light creating images in the air around my co-workers' faces.

Along with the winkies, Fae came to visit. Not Will and Phil, who I had gotten used to during their infrequent visits when I was younger. These were people who sort of ghosted their way through town. Gliding through the crowds of shoppers and people taking advantage of unseasonably nice weather to get outside and socialize or just get their steps in for the day. I recognized them by the trails of winkies. If that didn't confirm their identity for me, their pointy ears did. 

Funny thing. Most of the Fae, I saw at Miller's Diner. They didn't seem to be making any effort to connect with Ben Miller. Who, I might add, displayed definite points in his ears. I hadn't seen those points until our New Year's battle with Big Ugly solved the whole power-siphon problem. (And created some new ones. The fluctuations as energy levels struggled for a new normal made my legs twitchy. A few times, I needed to get out of my wheelchair and walk, to get rid of the feeling, before I started screaming. However, I couldn't really explain to people the whole power field problem and how I might finish healing after all these years, now could I?) 

Off the Bookshelf: SELKIES ARE A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND, by Molly Harper

 

A Mystic Bayou novel

Narrated by Amanda Ronconi and Jonathan Davis

Audible Originals

Guilty pleasure time! Blame Audible Originals and deals too good to pass up.

Mystic Bayou is a weird, fun place to visit. This time, Sonja Fong, Jillian's best friend has joined the gang on the bayou, still dealing with sabotage to the Rift.

Will Carmody has come to the bayou to become the town's desperately needed doctor. He's a Selkie -- seal-shifter -- and was born there, so he mistakenly thinks he understands the situation. Nope. Not with the Rift shooting out more dangerous energy and more people turning into Shifters. He has a lot of catching up to do. Problem: he starts out on a really, really wrong foot with Sonja, who is charged with making sure everything runs smoothly.

In her capacity as she-who-keeps-everything-in-order, Sonja discovers some discrepancies that just get more puzzling the deeper she digs. Then there's the growing attraction between her and Will, and all those things that it just isn't polite to ask the magical residents of Mystic Bayou complicate their romance. And guess what? The creeps who we thought were defeated in the last book are back for more trouble.

Spoiler: Jillian is pregnant, and since she's a phoenix shifter and the daddy is a dragon shifter ... morning sickness takes on a whole new meaning!

More fun in Mystic Bayou!

New release sample: THE KINDNESS CURSE

 

The elderly, she had discovered by this time, were easily ignored. Merrigan settled under an apple tree where she could see and hear the activity at the smithy. Before the morning was half-gone, she was enraged at how the man ordered the four boys around, as if they were slaves. If she was right, he was a fraud, stealing their inheritance. Just like her kingdom had been stolen from her. She had to bite her tongue not to shout a command to stop, whenever he slapped the boys with the heavy leather gloves used for handling the hammer and tongs. Or when he swung a bar of red-hot iron perilously close to one boy who didn't respond fast enough to suit him.

"Hello, Merrigan."

She stiffened at the sound of that damp, warty-sounding voice. It couldn't possibly be -- could it? She looked down, bracing herself, and nearly didn't see the tiny, brownish frog sitting on a pillow of moss only a few steps away from her. Thank goodness, it wasn't Veridian, prince of frogs.

"What do you want?" She started to slide away, then stopped herself. She refused to admit that the sight of a frog, especially a talking frog, made her distinctly uncomfortable.

"Why are you scowling at those poor boys? Are they too noisy for you? Too dirty? Too ragged?" 

"Not them." She could have bitten her tongue, to be caught conversing with a frog. What had conversing with Veridian in her mother's secret garden ever done for her? "Their uncle. I'm sure he's stolen the smithy and their inheritance. There's just something about him I don't like."

New release sample: BRIDE OF THE LIVING PROOF

The actual attack on Athena: According to the few witnesses and dozens of security cameras and cell phones conveniently hijacked by London and Sherwood, at the time of the attempted theft, Athena had paused and was talking on her cell phone. The girl was smart enough to know that walking-and-talking was just as dangerous as driving-and-talking. The car with the Grandstone minions passed her three times before they made their move. After studying the video from multiple angles, it appeared they didn't attack right away because they were waiting for Freddie to get into position. He came from a coffee shop two blocks down, and apparently he was having his daily snit over his order not being right. He had exacting tastes when it came to his ten-dollar cup of high-calorie coffee. Sherwood caught the image from four different angles when Freddie carefully put down his cup before leaping to allegedly rescue Athena.

The guy at least took enough self-defense classes to make it look real when he dove in and used a couple fancy flips and kicks and arm twists to send the four minions running. Yes, I said look real, meaning it was staged. In slowing down the video, London and Athena both caught a half-dozen places where the minions leaned into Freddie's swing or kick.

My phone had caught two voices during the tussle. One said, "Time's up," and the other, Freddie, said, "Careful, that's cashmere."

Now, standing in the office, the gang spilled their gleeful, scornful report of all they had found out. The evidence kept piling up even higher against Freddie Grandstone being the hero of the hour. As if there could have ever been any doubt? Wallace and Cosmo and Doni kept shoving their cell phones and tablets in front of me, showing what London and Sherwood had just dug up.

"Okay, it's hilarious, but why are you getting me involved? Athena knows about all this fakery, doesn't she?" 

"Yeah, London finally broke the interference, which she figures came from that car, but get this," Doni said. "Grandad thinks she should play along and let Freddie play Prince Charming, until we can figure out what he wants."

Off the Bookshelf: LOVE AND OTHER WILD THINGS, by Molly Harper

 

Audible Original

Mystic Bayou

Narrated by Jonathan Davis and Amanda Ronconi

Guilty pleasure time! The visits to Mystic Bayou are far too short. I'm looking forward with dread to the time I run out of new fun, magical, sometimes silly, sometimes nail-biting romps.

This time, our heroine is Danny, who has come to Mystic Bayou to investigate and try to tame the wild, sometimes dangerous energy of the Rift. And our hero is none other than the mayor, Zed. Big bear-shifter with a marshmallow heart. Danny has some major commitment issues, thanks to her self-centered parents, but she does know how to love, thanks to her grandparents, who raised her.

Still, Danny's issues with trust and her need to deal with some big family problems get in the way and trip her up when it comes to another power manipulator who allegedly comes to town to do the same job that she was hired for. 

Then there's Zed, who has fallen for Danny from the moment she walked around the corner of the house and caught him messing up a home improvement project. This big, dangerous bear-shifter is a teddy bear any girl would love to take home and cuddle for the rest of her life. Because yeah, bear-shifters mate for life, and Zed wants Danny. Convincing her to stay is an even bigger challenge than figuring out who is sabotaging the Rift.

New release sample: THE KINDNESS CURSE

 

In the very next village, she looked at the villagers with new eyes, and watched their interactions, seeking the innocent and cheated among them. Surely there would be a kindred soul here? There had to be, since injustice filled the world.

She decided the blacksmith was dangerous. He had a thin smirk on his thick face, when he settled at the village well and watched the young people dancing that night. He had a way of looking at people that made her skin crawl. Merrigan asked the baker's daughter about the blacksmith the next morning, when the girl gave her fresh bread dripping with butter and honey. The girl looked in all directions before leaning closer to whisper that the blacksmith was new to their village. He had arrived last fall, claiming he was the long-lost younger brother of their smith, who had just died. No one could dispute him, because the brother had indeed been gone for nearly twenty years and no one could remember if he looked like his older brother or not.

They accepted him and let him take over the smithy. The four orphaned sons of the smith were only half-trained. They needed a teacher. The village needed a blacksmith. Nobody could fault the man, but nobody was entirely happy with him, either. 

Merrigan did not believe in coincidences. Chances were the new smith had arranged for the death of the old one and came in to take his place. Probably by magic. That was just the way the world worked, according to Leffisand and Nanny Tulip.

ARE YOU COMING TO THE PARTY?

 

REMINDER:

Hey, I'm having a BOOK LAUNCH PARTY and YOU are invited!

THIS Sunday, June 6 -- from 6 to 8 pm, EST.

It's on ZOOM, so you don't have to travel.

There will be a COSTUME CONTEST.

Come as your favorite faerie tale character!

We're going to have fun launching a new fantasy series called Magic to Spare, with Book 1: THE KINDNESS CURSE.

It's full of fractured faerie tales and a snarky heroine who needs a lot of reforming.

Hence the name of the book!

Check out the information page for the Zoom link, and find out more!

https://yeoldedragonbooks.com/its-a-book-launch-party/

New release sample: BRIDE OF THE LIVING PROOF

 "It's a setup," Doni insisted an hour after that, when she and Cosmo and Wallace came by the newspaper office to have a conference with me.

"London contacted me to get to Athena," Wallace broke in, "because something was jamming the phone signals, so she couldn't get to her. I was on my way over, and London and Sherwood were both cutting into all the security cameras around campus. They got the plates, and the car was reported stolen three days ago. It was seen parked behind the Wypnash Building, and the drivers have been seen hanging with Freddie Grandstone multiple times."

He winced and his hand went to the Bluetooth link in his left ear. Wallace was one of the few guys I knew who wasn't entranced by Bluetooth. He only started wearing it recently, to have audio communication with our two AIs.

"Yeah, the two of them are going to town, gathering gobs of evidence. The four creeps in the car seem to be regular minions of Monsieur Architect." He wrinkled up his nose.

If Reggie Grandstone was planning on taking the legal profession by storm (and saving the Grandstone clan hundreds of thousands of dollars every year by handling all their false claims and counterclaims) then Freddie was setting himself up to become a world-changing architect. Or so he claimed. The last any of us knew, he had managed to stay for two solid years at the fourth architectural firm he had joined since graduating from college. Rumors speculated that the Grandstones wanted to remake Neighborlee from the ground up. Freddie would be in charge of having the architectural plans and designs in place. Rumors spread by various members of his former architectural firms said the entire town had already been redesigned. Where the Grandstones were going to get the equipment to raze buildings and rebuild them quickly enough to suit their vindictive aspirations, most people didn't know.