Book picks similar to
The Absence of Soul by Amanda Twigg


fantasy
aldiko
r-special-powers
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Curse of Stone


Veronica Shade
    But Madison accidentally killed her boyfriend, and now a girl at her witch academy is dead, too.Madison spent her life avoiding her magical abilities, but when she’s forced to use them to save her best friend from a deadly storm and accidentally kills her boyfriend as a result, she decides she needs to enroll at La Voisin School for Young Witches after all.She knew starting a year later than her peers would come with its own struggles; she just never expected one of those struggles would be the impossible murder of a classmate. The school is spelled for safety, and witches can’t kill…so how did Giselle end up dead?Only Giselle and her killer know, and only Madison can find out. Because now, the dead witch is haunting her. Crazy thing is, Giselle’s murder isn’t even the biggest secret this school has.Just ask the statues.

The Temptation of Dragons


Chrys Cymri - 2016
    ‘Holy water doesn’t harm vampires. Which is just as well, as it would make it impossible to baptise them.’ When I was asked by a dragon to give him the last rites, I never dreamed it would lead to negotiating with his cannibalistic family or running from snail sharks. Life as the priest of a small English village is quite tame in comparision. At least I have Morey, a gryphon with sarcasm management issues, to help me. And if all else fails, there’s always red wine and single malt whisky. As if my life weren’t complicated enough, a darkly beautiful dragon named Raven keeps appearing where I least expect him, I’ve met a handsome police inspector who loves science fiction as much as I do, and my younger brother is getting into trouble for trying to pick up vampires. That’s what happens when you’re dealing with an incredible and dangerous parallel world full of mythical creatures. And I have to learn to navigate it all without losing myself, or my brother…

The Scot's Betrayal


Keira Montclair - 2020
     A lass in desperate need. Will destiny be on their side in Scotland’s War of Independence? Destiny sent the famous warrior Alexander Grant three grandsons on the same day, at the same time. Or so the story goes. Alasdair Grant, one of the three, struggles to believe he has any special purpose. The future has never seemed bleaker for Scotland—or for Alasdair’s own family. And yet, he cannot help but wonder if fate has reached for him at last when his grandsire sends him to MacLintock Castle to help Emmalin MacLintock, the very lass who has possessed his thoughts. Emmalin would have been laird of her castle had she not been forced to marry a controlling English baron. Her heart longs for a different life, a life in which she leads her people and a handsome, strong Highlander stands by her side. A Highlander like Alasdair Grant. When the baron dies unexpectedly, Emmalin is relieved, but that feeling quickly fades when an English garrison shows up to storm her castle. Worse, there’s evidence someone in her life might be in league with them. Alasdair and one of his cousins arrive in Emmalin’s hour of need, giving Emmalin a glimpse of what life might be like with him by her side. If Alasdair can open his wounded heart to Emmalin, it will bring him one step closer to his destiny, but he’ll need to have faith in himself—and in Scotland—to do so.

The Butterfly Code


Sue Wyshynski - 2015
    I am a genetically modified human. PAINFUL SECRETS. STARTLING TRUTHS.UNDENIABLE LOVE.All it took was a chance meeting--one tingling glance across a darkened street to change my life.I'd been searching for my two best friends in the crowded Zenith Club, which was a really bad idea because I'm totally claustrophobic. I burst outside, and that's when I came face-to-face with the incredibly gorgeous Hunter Cayman. Dark-haired, tall, and leaning against an insane sports car, my pulse went haywire. Maybe things weren't so bad after all. The young doctor had his long muscular arms crossed over his leather jacket clad chest, and all his six-foot something would make any girl's knees turn weak. But then, if what Ella said was true, Hunter was the kind of guy who left behind a trail of broken hearts. And heartache was the last thing I needed right now.Yet there's something strange, something almost superhuman about Hunter. It's more than that infuriatingly knowing grin. I'm trying to stop thinking about him, and I get the feeling he's avoiding me, too. Yet Deep Cove is a tiny town and every time we run into each other the tension literally crackles, sparking around us. It just figures that when suddenly I'm in danger, he's there to save me.In truth, I should be dead. By all the logic in this world, I should be shattered to pieces. How fast was I going on that ATV when I smashed into those iron gates? Ninety? A hundred? And the men who were chasing me, where did they go?Somehow I'm whole.Maybe better than whole. There's no one I can talk to, not even my best friend, Gage. Gage hates Hunter. He wants Hunter's laboratory to be shut down. He thinks Hunter's a monster. And yet, if that's true, if Hunter's a monster...than what am I? I'm not sure what terrifies me more, the metamorphosis taking place inside me, or the intensely powerful connection with a guy whose heart and soul has become linked with mine.

The Secret Dead


S.W. Fairbrother - 2014
    She should. She's died enough times. Vivia is a hag, one of the last of her race, and can die, visit the underworld, and return at will. She loves her job helping London's most vulnerable supernaturals, even if her colleague Malcolm drives her round the bend on a daily basis. Then Malcolm is outed as a zombie, and along with his teenage son, flees the police. When Malcolm is captured, he is only able to pass on one message before his dead brain degrades completely: 'He killed me.' When the police find decades-old corpses hidden near Malcolm's home, Vivia begins to realise Malcolm's still-missing son is in a lot more danger than from just a possible zompocalypse...

The Language of Spells


Sarah Painter - 2013
    It is your gift. Gwen Harper left Pendleford thirteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. Until an inheritance throws her into the mystical world she thought she’d escaped. Confronted with her great-aunt’s legacy Gwen must finally face up to her past.The magic she has long tried to suppress is back with a vengeance but gift or burden, for Gwen, it always spells trouble. She has to stay – she has nowhere else to go – but how can she find her place in the town that drove her out after branding her a witch…?

Hopeless Pocus


Rachel Rivers - 2021
    What could go wrong?Witch out of water, Violet Vance, believes she’s run out of luck, when the truth is…she never had any in the first place. The poor girl’s not even a witch.Or so she thinks.Fired from her dream job as an investigator, Violet moves to the tiny town of Hex Falls seeking a new start where she discovers her somewhat-wacky, and terribly over-protective family has followed her. Being the only member of a paranormal family born without powers in the last hundred years, Violet has always been the anomaly. She was born human, never to become magical, but her family doesn’t seem to want to give up on that idea. Despite it all, she settles in, becomes an interior decorator, and right away strange things begin to happen. The winds of change begin to blow, and the waterfall next to her house flows backwards. But it’s when Violet’s fingertips begin to twitch, and her nose to itch, and a long-lost heirloom shows up out of nowhere that Violet begins to panic. But the slime really hits the cauldron when she’s followed by an overweight talking fox who claims to be her familiar. Could it be she has powers after all?Violet is then hired to restore a place called Murder Manor, to its former glory. She should have run screaming from the place when the house smelled like rotting corpse and the owner looked as white as a ghost… but, what can she say, she needed the money. Then a head rolled out onto the carpet of the blood-stained study, and well…what was an ex-investigator-turned-interior-decorator to do—just let a perfectly good murder lie there unsolved?Hex Falls Cozy Mysteries Series:Hopeless Pocus, Book 1, Now AvailableBedknobs & BroomHilda Sticks, Book 2, Now AvailableWitchity, Glitchy, Boo, Book 3, Now AvailableAbracastabra, Book 4, Now AvailableIn Charm’s Way, Book 5, Now AvailableWitchy, Glitchy, Glamour, Now AvailableThe Poof! Is In The Pudding ~ a special Christmas Novella to complete the series ~ Now Available

A Mark Unwilling


Candace Wondrak - 2018
    We’ve got biblical figures to the right, the Angels and the Devils, and ancient myths to the left, gods and all.I’m somewhere in the middle, though I’m sure some might think I lean more towards the right. My soul belongs to a Demon, you see, because my oh so loving parents sold it before I was born for money and privilege. Too bad none of that means anything now.Is it all connected? Probably, if my bad luck has anything to say about it. When the owner of my soul comes and forces me to do things I hate, well, I’ll deal with that when the time comes. For now, I’m going to get my friends and family out of here, somewhere safe.To all the gods and Angels in my way: watch out. With my Mark, I’m invincible. Death will not have me yet.When my Demon comes knocking we’re all in trouble. Especially me. Because he is not what I expected. Devastatingly handsome and infuriatingly annoying.Death will not have me…but the Devil might.A Mark Unwilling is the first in The Reckoning trilogy, an Urban Fantasy/Apocalyptic mashup perfect for fans of Buffy, Supernatural, and quirky characters!Out soon: book 2, A Betrayal So Cruel.

Storm Crazy


Livia Quinn - 2014
    I’m also a Paramortal like my family, or I’m supposed to be. If I didn’t have a few little talents, I’d think I was adopted. It’s just two weeks until Mardi Gras, and I’m having a bad day. That’s like saying Katrina dropped a little rain on the Gulf Coast. First, River’s amphora went missing—that’s genie bottle to you mere-mortals—and on my first delivery, a handsome scantily clad doctor triggered some sort of hallucination, with just a touch - pheromones? Then, one of my customers had a stroke while reading me the riot act over a piece of mail, but I saved the old grouch with a zap of my Zeus juice! It was the first time I’d actually called my power on purpose, and Destiny’s hunky new sheriff almost saw me use my magic—big no-no—when he responded to the call. He showed up again when the local florist filed a complaint against me for dropping a seventy-five pound box on his foot. Yeah, I did it, but it was kind of an accident. He put his hand where it didn’t belong, and my fingers… sorta slipped. Then, things got worse. I discovered a dead body in the clubhouse and rescued my brother’s amphora from a locker, bashing it in with a Greg Norman wedge. Guess who showed up? Yeah. I’ve denied my heritage for too long. Now, my brother is missing, my mother’s out of pocket, and the sheriff and my ex-lover are squaring off like yard dogs staking a claim over a poodle. I am no one’s poodle. Is it any wonder I’m calling this the worst M.A.L.E day of my life? My friend Aurora says all the chaos is a sign of my quickening Tempestaerie power, and more changes are on the wind. Oh, and the sheriff? He thought he’d settled in a normal small town to raise his teenage daughter—like Mayberry?! We’ll see how that turns out… Things better settle down soon, ‘cause I’m about to go Storm Crazy. “I could read this writer’s beautiful writing all day!” Storm Crazy “Flowing with passion…wow, what a great read.” “A hot read…what more could a reader want?” Undone

The Vampires of Shadow Hills Series #1 - #3


Willow Rose - 2018
    And now that they’re in high school in the sleepy town of Shadow Hills, she’s hoping they can take their friendship to the next level. But when their parents suddenly forbid them from seeing each other because of a centuries-old family quarrel, the few blocks between them might as well be worlds apart. She also can't help but wonder if the flirty new girl in their neighborhood with her sights set on Jayden has put another nail in the coffin. While her parents keep her under lock and key, they let her older brother roam free late into the night… even after a local girl is found murdered. Between her brother’s nighttime excursions and her parents’ odd behavior, Robyn starts to worry that the killer may be living under her own roof. When danger lurks around every corner, Robyn must decide if she’s willing to risk her family and her life for a chance at true love. This is the first three books in a fun and frightening series of romantic paranormal mysteries.

Blood Bonds


Adrienne Wilder - 2010
    They don’t do scent exchange, they don’t lick palms, and they have this thing called “personal space”.As the first and only Kin Agent for the Center of Folk and Kin Relations, Haley Night’s job is to help keep the public safe by helping keep the peace. But after an interview with serial man-eater Niles Fury goes terribly wrong, Haley finds herself face-to-face with a plot to destroy her species-genocide.With the help from her best friend and partner Farley, she sets off on a race against time to stop a madman’s plot to destroy Kin. It’s a journey that will put to the test everything she thought she knew: Kin have no God, survive at all costs, and love is only a Human emotion.Welcome to Atlanta, Georgia… City of Dragons...

Angeles Vampire


Sofia Raine - 2019
    A secret society. A mysterious stranger who could take her breath away for good…Fiona Winter refuses to give up the search for her estranged father. But after spending years chasing down dead ends, those she loves most refuse to support her quest any longer. Just when all hope seems lost, a dark, mysterious stranger promises answers… for a price…Fiona reluctantly agrees to Matthew Mercer’s intriguing proposal, and she’s tossed headfirst into an underground world of monsters that shouldn’t exist. To find her father, she’ll need to venture into the dark with a guide who might be just as dangerous as the creatures she’ll face. Can she trust the captivating Matthew or is he leading her to a fate worse than death?Angeles Vampire is the first book in an addictive new paranormal series that’s perfect for fans of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and A Shade of Vampire. If you like unearthly plot twists, heart-stopping chemistry, and characters with dark secrets, then you’ll love this new take on the lore you crave.

The Court of the Faerie Queen: The River Witch #1-3


Helena Rookwood - 2018
    The fae have escaped into the mortal world. And Tabitha's the only one who can stop them... Set in post-technology Britain and based around Celtic myth, The Court of the Faerie Queen is a romantic fairytale adventure of a young woman’s quest to discover who she really is. The River Witch When strange monsters rise from the river to attack her people, Tabitha’s sent on a desperate journey to seek aid from the fabled Iron City.Armed with only the stone necklace her mother left her and a book of fairy tales, Tabitha faces a world full of dangers, both human and fae. When a trio of mischievous sprites and a handsome, charming wanderer offer to join her, Tabitha’s only too willing to accept their help.But Tabitha’s about to learn that not everyone is quite who they seem... The Iron Court Tabitha is confident that Lysander can help her find the fabled Iron City. With him by her side, she's sure they'll find the help she needs to defend her village from the fae.Lysander, on the other hand, is desperate to keep Tabitha from ever reaching the city. He's determined to hurry her as far away from the ruthless Iron Court as he possibly can.But neither of them knows that the Iron Court is already hunting them... The Queen's Court Tabitha's convinced that the answers she needs can only be found in the Otherworld. And when she and Lysander meet a mysterious, handsome faery who promises he can take them straight to the Queen's Court, it seems like all her wishes have come true.But it quickly turns out that the Kingdom of Faerie isn't quite what she expected it to be...Tabitha and Lysander don't know who or what to trust any more. And the closer they get to the Court of the Faerie Queen, the darker and more wicked Faerie seems to grow... If you enjoy Holly Black's dark faerie stories, the sense of adventure in Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse, and Juliet Marillier's romantic mythology, then you'll love the River Witch series. This omnibus edition includes the first three books in the River Witch series (The River Witch, The Iron Court, and The Queen's Court), plus exclusive content including a brand new map showing Tabitha's journey across Bretan, a guide to faerie etiquette, tips on defending yourself in case of a faerie invasion, a magical recipe for recreating Tabitha's river at home, and a sneak preview of the first few chapters in the fourth book in the series.

Dark Witch: Cousins O'Dwyer Trilogy, 1 by Nora Roberts -- Sidekick


BookBuddy - 2014
    While it will greatly enhance your enjoyment and understanding of the book, it is not intended to stand in its place.* From #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts comes Dark Witch, the first book in the new Cousins O’Dwyer Trilogy. Use this sidekick to complement and enhance your experience of Roberts’ epic journey, spanning centuries of magic, Celtic mysteries, and family bloodlines. We meet Iona Sheehan, who has traveled to Ireland from America determined to unearth her family’s legacy of witchcraft and magic. Upon arrival in county Mayo, she meets her cousins Branna and Connor O’Dwyer and begins to unravel her family history, which includes the story of their ancestor Sorcha, and that of an evil sorcerer named Cabhan, who tried but failed to steal Sorcha’s powers 800 years earlier. The cousins begin to understand that their inherited magical powers are rooted in bloodlines passed down over centuries. Dark Witch weaves a spellbinding tale of good vs. evil, combining myth, magic, and romance. This sidekick’s chapter-by-chapter analysis will guide you through Roberts’ deftly plotted romantic adventure, as Iona falls in love with the handsome horseman Boyle McGrath and eventually learns to harness the power of her innate magic. Explore the Dark Witch's deeper themes of love, family, magic, and legend, as the family members prepare for an inevitable confrontation with ancient evil. Compelling and engaging, Dark Witch skillfully sets the stage for the remaining stories in the trilogy.

Out of the Woods


P.S. Power - 2016
     Willum Baker, a humble boy from deep in the forest, is pulled into a war that no one even knows about. Now, he either learns to become the perfect spy, or everything, everywhere, will have never been at all. He has help from a family he never knew, but in the end, Will is on his own. Fighting to understand hundreds of alien worlds, before it’s too late. If it’s possible, which is far from assured. *Note: This story takes place in the Young Ancients, Infected, Shortcuts and Mr. Hartley universes. If you've ever wanted a really satisfying cross over that moved past the first few minutes of meetings, this series is for you!