Fantasy

by Fred Koehler

“What if,” asked the raven, “all those old faerie stories weren’t really about being good and honest and obeying your mum and dad? What if they were a warning, telling you about *real* dangers, licking their lips just beyond the firelight?” Miriam Lockhart never believed in faeries—until they killed her. Now trapped in the faerie realm as a wandering spirit (and none too happy about it), Miriam must discover her unfinished business or remain a ghost forever. Her only guide is a Death Raven named Lucky I-Ain’t-You, whose record of escorting souls to the Great Beyond stands at, well, zero. Fates intertwined, the duo enters the realm of the Family LeFae, a riffraff band of faerie criminals locked in a brutal struggle against an oppressive monarchy. There, she faces down a cast of misfits including a foul-mouthed goblin, a sasquatch assassin, and the mysterious Faerie Godfather. It’s only when Miriam sees her own misfortune mirrored in others that her heart undergoes an even bigger transformation. A dangerous deal is struck with Death incarnate to try and break the chains of the enslaved faerie folk. But it may cost Miriam the one thing she set out to save: her soul.\ \ Dark humor meets genuine heart in this funny, haunting fantasy.

by Christina Farley

*What was buried is awakening…* Do not question the Paladins.\ Do not cross into the Wilds.\ Do not seek the Magic. Tara has spent her life following those rules. On an island where obedience is survival, she’s learned to swallow her doubts, hide her powers, and pretend Eden is the paradise everyone claims it to be. But a secret always has a pulse. And Eden’s secrets are starting to beat louder. When Tara is chosen to train as one of the isle’s revered Paladins, she believes she can make a difference. But the moment she steps inside the Paladin stronghold, her whole world turns upside-down. Tor, the man she confessed her love to, is haunted by secrets he refuses to share. Rune, another trainee, starts to awaken feelings in her that are both thrilling and terrifying. And there are whispers of rebellion and forbidden passageways that lead to dangerous secrets. So when Tara discovers something she wasn’t meant to find, it shatters the foundation of everything she believes. Now she’s trapped between loyalty and truth, two men with different agendas, and an island she swore to protect. Darkness is rising. Magic is awakening. But her people are dying. Tara must become the Paladin she was destined to be or lose everything she loves.

by Amelie Locke

**At Renfield Academy, the syllabus is simple: Serve. Protect. Bleed.** For twenty-one years, Seraphina Gray has lived as a prisoner to her mother’s religious fervor and the chaotic noise of her own mind. Being a mind-reader isn't a gift; it's a migraine that never fades. Desperate for one night of normalcy and maybe a stolen kiss from her crush, she sneaks out to a beach party and walks straight into a slaughter. She survives the brutal vampire attack, but she doesn't escape. Instead, she is dragged to Renfield Academy, a gothic fortress hidden in the shadows. Here, she learns the terrifying truth: she isn't cursed. She’s a *familiar*, born to serve and protect the very monsters that attacked her. Now, she walks a razor’s edge between impossible loyalty and forbidden obsession. She clings to Nicholas, the man whose kiss at the beach tasted like salvation, but whose secret lineage as a Van Helsing makes him her natural enemy. But a darker instinct pulls her toward Henry. Brooding, violent, and newly turned, he is the very vampire who attacked her that first night. By all logic, she should hate him. Instead, the connection between them is deeper than blood. But Renfield Academy is no sanctuary. When drained bodies start showing up all over town, the sacred treaty between humans and vampires begins to fray. Someone is manufacturing new vampires and turning them into weapons against the humans. Now Seraphina is faced with an impossible choice: will she protect the monsters she’s been created to serve, or help the hunter intent on destroying them?

by Amelie Locke

The **Renfield Academy Series** is a gothic, dark academia paranormal romance that follows mind-reader Seraphina Gray as she is thrust into a world of vampires, witches, and shapeshifters. While she is initially horrified to learn she is a familiar destined to serve the very vampires who attacked her, she soon discovers she possesses unheard-of powers that make her unique in the supernatural realm. Caught between two worlds, Seraphina faces a devastating choice for her heart. She is inexplicably drawn to Henry, a darkly handsome vampire hell-bent on revenge, yet she remains tethered to Nicholas, her first love who it turns out, belongs to the legendary Van Helsing clan. As a century-old treaty between vampires and the Van Helsing hunter clan begins to fail, Seraphina Gray finds herself at the center of a brewing war. To stop it, she must navigate a dangerous world where no one is who they seem. Her journey will take her from Renfield Academy to the heart of Romania to uncover the truth behind her connection to the original Renfield, Dracula’s servant and the first vampire familiar. To survive, Seraphina must decide where she truly belongs and which of the two men she is destined to love will stand by her side when the final battle begins.