Book picks similar to
Trading Into Shadow by C.M. Simpson


fantasy
paranormal
fantasy-paranormal
overcoming-the-odds

First Year


Rachel E. Carter - 2014
    Romance. War. Perfect for fans of Throne of Glass, Falling Kingdoms, and Tamora Pierce.Before the age of seventeen, the young men and women of Jerar are given a choice —pursue a trade or enroll in a trial year in one of the realm’s three war schools to study as a soldier, knight, or mage…For fifteen-year-old Ryiah, the choice has always been easy. Become a mage and train in Combat, the most prestigious faction of magic.Yet when she arrives, Ry finds herself competing against friend and foe for one of the exalted apprenticeships. Everyone is rooting for her to fail—first and foremost among them is Prince Darren, the school prodigy who has done nothing but make life miserable since she arrived.Will Ry survive, or will her dream go down in flames?

Restriction


C.M. Raymond - 2017
    Clarke She didn’t mean to use magicShe didn’t even know she HAD magicShe just wanted to save her brother, who was dying in her arms.Accused of using illegal magic, and sentenced to a cruel death at the hands of the city’s guards, Hannah has no choice but to trust in the aid of a strange old man who wields unimaginable power.The Founder has returned to correct the wrongs of unjust. But to do that, he needs Hannah, a young woman from the city slums. She has a key to unlocking a power even greater than his own--if she can only learn to trust herself and the magic flowing within her blood.Restriction is a fantasy set in the far future, where magic and monsters ravage the land of Irth and only the strong survive.Set on the foundation laid by the Kurtherian Gambit Series, Restriction tells an entirely new story in the Age of Magic--and of the heroes and villains who battle for control of its destiny.Read now and Enter the Age of Magic...

The Girl


Lola St. Vil - 2012
    They've been sent to elicit the secret from her before the demons can. Emmy later learns that her name is the only clue to locating a sought-after bridge that for centuries, Evil has plotted to destroy; this would in turn bring about the end of humanity. Things get worse when Emmy falls madly in love with Marcus, the well-intentioned but obstinate leader of the Guardians. He eventually confesses that he is in love with her as well. Unfortunately, Marcus has been warned by his clairvoyant and omniscient guide that should he and Emmy get together, the mission will fail and humanity will perish.

Born


Tara Brown - 2012
    There are no regular people anymore."Ten years ago when the world ended she ran for her life.Five weeks ago the world she'd hidden from came knocking on the door of her secluded cabin.Ten days ago she found salvation hiding amongst the dead.Yesterday she went back for the living.Today she wonders if she will live to see tomorrow.What do you do when the world you were born to is gone?Where do you hide when even your own body isn't safe?Emma ran when her daddy told her to. She hid like he said she should. He was the first person she turned her back on. The first one she let die.Ten years has gone by and she still lives by the simple rules he taught her when she was nine years old."Don't help anyone. Don't go where other people are unless you have to. Trust no one. Always pull the trigger."Until one night she hears the worst sound in the world, a knock. A simple, timid knock, on the door to her cabin.Only the voice of the brave little girl, ready to die for her brother, persuades Emma to open the door.As her fingers turn the lock, she has a terrible feeling she will regret her decision.But even as regret fills her world, so do love and companionship. Things she never imagined she would ever have again.Everything comes at a cost; you decide what you'll pay.

Deadtown


Nancy Holzner - 2009
    Most humans stay far from its borders-but Victory Vaughn, Boston's only professional demon slayer, isn't exactly human.

Moonlight


Rachel Hawthorne - 2009
    My forever.Kayla is the nature lover, the all-American beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Lucas. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying-and thrilling-gene that will change her life forever.Lucas is dangerous, gorgeous... and a werewolf. As leader of the Dark Guardians, shape-shifters who gather deep within the state park, he has sworn to protect his pack. But when Lucas finds his true soul mate, his love could put them all in harm's way.As Lucas and Kayla struggle with their feelings for each other, a greater danger lurks: Humans have discovered the Dark Guardians and are planning their destruction. Kayla must choose between the life she knows and the love she feels certain is her destiny.

Sky Ghosts: Initiation


Alexandra Engellmann - 2014
    Living in a city crawling with Beasts – her own kind gone rogue and using their supernatural gift to prey on humans – she's a skilled fighter doubling as a bodyguard. She's prepared for anything, except the two civilian guys who bring hell on her head.Hunted by the most dangerous man in the city, they claim innocence. But as she's assigned to protect them no matter the cost, she can't help but question the enemy's true motives – and the humans' story. Especially when one of them gets dangerously close to becoming more than just a client.As the enemies threaten to destroy everything she holds dear, she will have to choose: keep running or take a final stand.Even if it means giving up her own life.Previously published as Sky Ghosts: All for One. This is a revised, updated edition with 4 new chapters.

Nomad Found


Craig Martelle - 2016
    Can Terry Henry Walton, enhanced as he is, help bring civilization back as he seeks to atone for previous actions? By protecting and nurturing the ones with the knowledge. Terry Henry Walton begins building his Force de Guerre, a paramilitary group that will secure this new world from those who would take and destroy. When the enemies of peace appear before the FDG is ready, Terry partners with a werewolf to fight a battle that he must win. Set in the Kurtherian Gambit Universe, Nomad Found begins the Terry Henry Walton Chronicles, the time between the WWDE and the return of Michael to earth. ** As noted in other series set in the Kurtherian Universe, there IS cursing in this book, occasionally, it's funny, too. ** Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include: Death Becomes Her The Kurtherian Gambit 01 Queen Bitch The Kurtherian Gambit 02 Love Lost The Kurtherian Gambit 03 Bite This The Kurtherian Gambit 04 Never Forsaken The Kurtherian Gambit 05 Under My Heel The Kurtherian Gambit 06 Kneel Or Die The Kurtherian Gambit 07 We Will Build The Kurtherian Gambit 08 It's Hell To Choose The Kurtherian Gambit 09 Release The Dogs Of War The Kurtherian Gambit 10 Sued For Peace The Kurtherian Gambit 11 We Have Contact The Kurtherian Gambit 12 FUTURE (21 books planned) My Rides A Bitch The Kurtherian Gambit 13 Don't Cross This Line The Kurtherian Gambit 14 **Future Series** The Dark Messiah - Michael's Return The Second Dark Ages 01 Winter 2016/2017 SHORT STORIES Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 01 You Don't Mess with John's Cousin (read before TKG08) Frank Kurns Stories of the Unknownworld 02 Bitch's Night Out (read before TKG10) The Boris Chronicles With Paul C. Middleton Evacuation (Out) Retaliation (Out) Revelation Oct 2016 Restitution TBD Anthologies Glimpse Honor in Death (Michael's First Few Days) See on Amazon: kurtherianbooks.com/Glimpse_Amazon_US Beyond the Stars: At Galaxy's Edge Tabitha's Vacation See on Amazon: kurtherianbooks.com/Beyond_Stars_Amaz...

Good Witches Don't Lie


S.W. Clarke - 2020
    Welcome to my new life.I'm Clementine Cole. I thought I was a normal nineteen-year-old with anger issues, but I was wrong. I’m not angry, I'm just a witch.After my cat started talking to me one night, I made a few discoveries:First, magic is real and nightmares aren’t just in your dreams.Second, I'm the last witch in the world.Third, there's an academy for magic users just like me.Trouble is, I don't quite fit in at the academy. Witches get a bad rap, and everyone thinks we're destined to turn evil. Okay, maybe I've been in a few fights and speak my mind, but I'm no villain."Good witches don't lie," my teachers tell me. If I don't want to get kicked out of the academy, I have to follow the rules. No fighting, no lying, and definitely no secrets.But what if the one keeping secrets is the headmistress herself?Welcome to the Academy of Shadowed Magic.

The Princess Must Die


Everly Frost - 2018
    DESTINED TO BE TORN APART.In an Elven city beneath the streets of Chicago, the perfect storm rages, kept under control only by Marbella Mercy, the Storm Princess. Now she is of age, champions from each of the elven houses will play a game of wit and strength to fight for her hand – and for the chance to control the forces of nature.Baelen Rath, a warrior and leader of the feared House of Rath, is the only male Marbella has ever trusted. He'll risk everything to be her champion. But what he and the others don't know? The princess is fighting too.Because she's discovered that the winner is cursed to kill her, not marry her, and the only way to save herself is to win.But Marbella is fighting a power greater than herself, because someone believes that the perfect storm should be unleashed and for that to happen – the princess must die.

The Beast Within


Jonathan Yanez - 2013
    Concealed throughout the pages of time, there has been a powerful race of human-like creatures manipulating mankind. This Elite race is made up of five ruling families, who have obeyed The Law and remained content to keep their identities a mystery. Now after centuries of secrecy, an ancient foe is forcing them out of hiding. When a dark-haired mystery woman named Laren crosses Connor’s path his life is turned upside down. Soon Connor is taken on a heart-pounding journey that leads to a startling discovery of who he really is and a daunting future of what he is to become.

Bitten


Noelle Marie - 2014
    It really was unfortunate that he was also the most stubborn, controlling, downright infuriating jackass she’d ever known as well. Oh, and there was the fact that he was a werewolf – a werewolf who has bitten her. Sixteen-year-old Katherine Mayes had never believed in mythological creatures like werewolves or mermaids – certainly not those sparkly vampires that her friend Abby was obsessed with. Even when she’s bitten by a massive animal after a reckless night of teenage adventure and her body begins to change in mystifying ways, she can’t force herself to believe in what she’s convinced is impossible. Little does she realize she’s been infected with a disease a little more permanent than the rabies she feels fortunate to have not contracted. Lycanthropy. Her fierce denial is soundly shattered, however, when she is simultaneously saved and kidnapped by Bastian and his pack. Forced to leave small town Iowa behind and adjust to their way of life in a hidden society, Katherine must also deal with fighting the pull she feels towards the man – or wolf, rather – who has bitten her and disrupted her life so completely.

Undraland


Mary E. Twomey - 2015
    With her heart set on college life, Lucy’s dreams of medical school are dashed when a rabid bear attacks her in the middle of suburbia. When Jens, a handsome yet irritable stranger, saves her life, Lucy’s gratitude is cut short when he abducts her, taking her to a land filled with people and creatures she remembers from bedtime stories she assumed were just Scandinavian folklore. Jens takes Lucy to a world she never expected, and cannot escape. Undraland is teeming with oversized garden gnomes, warrior elves, Nøkken, Fossegrimens, and worst of all, Sirens. Lucy goes further and further down the rabbit hole until she signs up to join a band of thieves bent on taking down Pesta, the last Siren.

Frostbite


David Wellington - 2009
    . .There's one sound a woman doesn't want to hear when she's lost and alone in the Arctic wilderness: a howl. When a strange wolf's teeth slash Cheyenne's ankle to the bone, her old life ends, and she becomes the very monster that has haunted her nightmares for years. Worse, the only one who can understand what Chey has become is the man–or wolf–who's doomed her to this fate. He also wants to chop her head off with an axe. Yet as the line between human and beast blurs, so too does the distinction between hunter and hunted . . . for Chey is more than just the victim she appears to be. But once she's within killing range, she may find that–even for a werewolf–it's not always easy to go for the jugular.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Nightmare City


Jack Conner - 2014
     Lavorgna is a city of fog and shadows, undead servants soaring zeppelins, where mad scientists prowl the alleys, mob bosses strive for power and the dreaded Guild of Alchemists holds the land in an iron grip, while below the city lies a network of black caverns embedded with the ruins of an ancient race known as the Elders that worshipped Lovecraftian horrors. To survive and save the world from an unimaginable fate, Katya must navigate all these dangers and more. Running from the loan shark, she seeks out the local mob boss Ravic, only to learn that he’s embroiled in a vicious gang war with his rival Loqrin, a conflict that has supernatural overtones. A new horror has gripped the city, with mysterious creatures called haunts killing people by the dozen, and Ravic believes Loqrin is behind it. If Katya wants Ravic’s help, she must find out what Loqrin is up to – and stop him! To do this, Katya must use all her thieving skills and cunning, because if she doesn’t and Loqrin accomplishes his endgame, the whole world will suffer an awful fate. No pressure, Kat.