Chicago Post V3.1 Global warming affects life on earth in unexpected ways. Magic intensifies, spreads and goes public. GOVERNMENTS REGULATE MAGIC. LA Tribune, 9.0.2 Danger from Dark Magic swells. Politicians panic. Ten years ago the world was shaken with the discovery that White and Black magic existed. Despite the headlines, like most people, nothing magical has happened in Sig’s life. As he prepares to leave for college, mysterious Great-Grampa Thor shows up with injuries sustained in a battle with a Dark Wizard. He bestows upon Sig, his only male heir, a magical family heirloom. He’s to lead in the fight against Dark Magic. Unfortunately, Sig can only access a small portion of the talisman’s power. His only magic is the ability to change into a 9 foot tall, 700 pound warrior. It’s small benefit in the age of machinery, rockets, and computers. The Dark Wizard comes after Sig. He escapes, but Great-Grampa falls victim to a demon induced coma before he can teach Sig what he needs to know. Sig joins with a group of fellow supernaturals. His new friends help him fight off more attacks while he searches desperately for his greater magic. If he can’t stand on his own against a Dark Wizard, how can he take his place at the front of the world’s fight against black magic?

    What could possibly go wrong?The Rothston Institute can secretly manipulate the decisions of anyone in the world – from ordinary friends to government leaders – using the abilities of its operatives known as adepts. Having discovered that she possesses these special skills, college student Kinzie Nicolosi is training to assist them to protect humankind from destruction. A student missing an exam? A construction worker fired for an industrial accident? A Congressman ruined in scandal? Necessary consequences of honing her skills for the greater good. But Kinzie brings more than her remarkable talent to Rothston. She bears an unexpected power that rivals Rothston's own… and the clash may be something none of them can control.First time author Smiles has devised a convincing supernatural culture...By continually paying such close attention to detail, Smiles has proven that she’s skilled at crafting a nuanced page turner...A worthy sci-fi thriller à la Dean Koontz. ~The Kirkus Review

    Now, she has no place else to go. When she’s cornered into using her magic to save mysterious Cooper Blackwood from a chilling supernatural attack, Verity is unwittingly drawn into a war with a clan of lethal monsters. Hunted and burned out of her home, she’s forced to flee to the last place she’s ever felt safe. But when Cooper’s deadly secrets collide with Verity’s dark past, new enemies meet old in an unholy alliance that could destroy everything each of them holds dear. Verity will have to protect the home she never thought she wanted… or lose it to a gruesome fate she never could have imagined.

     In the past week, her twin brother – a forager – has uncharacteristically run away from home and work after the mysterious death of a teammate. Something has also scared her normally unflappable father half to death, and, their family is threatened with eviction. But her brother’s disappearance presents her with a long-sought after opportunity to escape Newhome, since only the foragers – all men – are allowed to leave the town. All she has to do is impersonate her brother long enough to make her escape while foraging out in the ruins. But she never counted on the kindness of Ryan Hill, a forager new to the team. Nor on barbaric Skel attacking the team the moment she makes her escape. She has to choose between making good on her escape or saving Ryan and the others. Twenty-two-year-old Ryan Hill made one mistake at his last place of employment, and that earned the wrath of his fellow workmates, and cost him all of his friends. Alone and dejected, he begins a new job as a forager, expecting more of the same. But then he meets Chelsea, masquerading as her brother Brandon. And though he falls for her ruse, he sees in her a kindred spirit. Could he(she) spark in him the beginning of a true, genuine friendship that looks past the faults of the other? * Impersonator is Book One in a new trilogy set in the world of Peter R Stone’s Forager Trilogy. Although it starts three years before the events in Forager, it is not a prequel. It will catch up to, carry on, and draw to a conclusion the Forager Trilogy storyline. It can be read independently of Forager.

    In a world where priests and mages vie for the limitless power of the elements and a new Grand Vicar has sworn death to all sorcerers, Laedron is tossed into a nightmare which would see his destruction at every turn.From the home shores in western Sorbia, through the Cael'Brilland heartlands, and even across the seas to the great city of Azura, Laedron finds himself embracing old friends, consorting with unlikely allies, and confronting potent enemies. As he struggles to train himself in spellcraft, Laedron must face that he lives in a time when the utterance of a simple spell could be the signature on his death warrant.The Consuls of the Vicariate, Book #2 of the Mages of Bloodmyr Series, is now available.The Immortals of Myrdwyer, Book #3 of the Mages of Bloodmyr Series, is now available.This series is complete.

    One glass wall. No turning back.The human race has been divided. The chosen few live in the safety of the domes, watching through their glass walls as those left on the outside suffer and die. But desperation has brought invention. New drugs have the ability to alter humans, giving them the strength to roam the poisoned night unafraid—but survival comes at a terrible price.Seventeen-year-old Nola Kent has spent her life in the domes, training to protect her little piece of the world within the glass. The mission of the domes is to preserve the human race, not to help the sick and starving.When the fate of an outsider child falls into her hands, Nola dares to venture beyond the security of her home, diving into a world of darkness and vampires. Life within the glass didn’t prepare her for the realities of suffering or the depth of forbidden love.When blood washes over the domes, Nola must choose between her home and her heart.

    But Circe isn't your typical military base. It's an alien-run operation center and not all of the aliens are friendly, especially the one that tries to kill Alex on her first day. When Ace, a dark-eyed Caltian, enters and saves the day, she can't help but be drawn to him. Can these star-crossed lovers survive when they're on the brink of intergalactic war?

    He’s not a ghost, either. And she’s pretty sure he’s not a hallucination. He’s just Mason. He is, however, invisible. When Olivia spotted the crying little boy on her front porch at five years old, she had no idea she was the only one who could see him. Twelve years later when new-girl Robin bumps into the both of them and introduces herself to Mason, they are both stunned. Mason couldn’t be more pleased that someone else can see him. Olivia, on the other hand, isn’t jumping at the chance to welcome Robin into their circle. Jealousy may have something to do with that, but honest fear that Robin’s presence will put Mason in danger is soon validated when a strange black car shows up outside Olivia’s house. The race to find out what Robin knows in time to protect Mason from whatever threats are coming becomes Olivia’s only focus.

    Day of Sacrifice is part 1 of 6. All six stories are available together in the Day of Sacrifice Omnibus.*****With only three days left until her twenty-first birthday, her Day of Sacrifice, Flora Hamilton should be living it up. But when another Supernatural family puts a hit on her she’s forced to go into hiding with Julian, her gorgeous new Guardian Angel. Sometimes running for your life isn’t so bad.*****Day of Sacrifice is approximately 15,000 words. It is intended for adults due to language and sexual situations.*****Day of Sacrifice Series:Day of SacrificeRebellionDormantTakeoverDissentUnfavorable

    I cannot control this.One night, I was attacked in my home. The fire ... it raged out of control. I survived the inferno, but my house burned to the ground - with my parents inside.I was at a loss to explain to the courts what happened, and so they sent me to prison for ten years for manslaughter.Now I'm out on parole, and all I want is to return to my home town and rebuild my life; but the man who attacked me is back to finish the job he started.I can sense the power in me growing. If I can't control it, it will control me and destroy everything - and everyone - I love.

    As a technomage of the Charonic Archive, Damien had the power to create entire universes. Then, five hundred years ago, he gave it all up. He suspended the nanites that made up his bloodstream and began to age—and eventually die—like anyone else. For centuries, Damien has lived among those who once worshipped him, his real identity fading into myth and legend. Hundreds of years later, when Ceril Bain finds Damien’s old sword buried in his grandfather's garden, he is put on the fast-track to follow in Vennar's footsteps. Over the next six years, Ceril trains as a technomage aboard the Inkwell Sigil, a ship with the ability to travel between dimensions. Just as Ceril is preparing to undergo his Rites and finish his training, the Inkwell Sigil loses power. Stranded in space with no way back home, Ceril and four of his classmates are given their final assignment: go into uncharted territory, find a way back home, and bring back the one person who can fix the ship—Damien Vennar himself.While away, Ceril and his team find themselves in a predicament when they confuse an attempt at first contact with an attack and kill two of the world’s winged inhabitants. They are shortly captured and imprisoned, and the only thing keeping them alive is their angel-like captors’ belief they may be the subjects of an ancient prophecy about a group of magic-wielding messiahs. But that’s impossible. Isn’t it?

    She wakes up in the morning with bags under her eyes, lifeless hair, and a hunger like she’s never had before.Her mother—former doctor and current personal chef to Gracie—insists that these changes are hormonal. But Grace is growing skeptical of her mom’s knowledge on the matter, especially after Grace willingly dines on Fluffy, the very delicious four-legged neighborhood feline. When her mom introduces Grace to Dr. Walker, he promises to help her curb her sudden craving for living things…in another country. Grace can’t leave her life behind, not when her long-time crush, Tristen, is finally showing some interest. But when a couple of serious crimes are committed—assault and murder—Grace must decide whether or not to run away. It may be the only way to protect the people she cares about…from herself.

    Armed with only their notebooks, MP3 players, and wits, Jenni and her classmates are unknowingly transported to another world. Follow Jenni and her class on their extraordinary adventures in their fight to discover who and what they really are.

    Orphaned, raised by the Red Wolves of Opan, captured and enslaved - he is now free and on the run. Unfortunately everybody wants Ashton. Admiral Jones will torture him to get the secret of his power. Lady Lindha feels he is "The One" as named in Temple prophecy. The influential Lord Andros just wants him dead. Ashton only wants two things: revenge, and the Lady Lindha. If you had unique powers, wouldn't you use them to get what you want?

    He never has. But when a fiery-headed cowgirl saunters through the saloon doors, wielding shotguns and a know-how for killing the living dead, he believes he just may be the luckiest man alive. Trace wants to join "Red’s" posse, but she prefers to work alone—less messy that way. In order to become her traveling companion, Trace has to agree to her terms: no names, no questions, and if he gets bit, he can’t beg for mercy when she severs his brain stem. He agrees, knowing only that Red is the sharpest shooter he’s ever encountered. The fact she’s stunning hasn’t escaped his attention either. What he doesn’t know, is that Red has a very good reason to be on top of her game. She not only has the answer for how they can all outlive the plague taking over the wild, wild west, she is the answer.