Cara doesn't know who she is. She's never been particularly interested in finding out, either. To her defense, no one really knows anything about her. She's simply Crow, a bodyguard-for-hire that circles amongst the upper class families that can afford her services. When she's hired as the protective lady-in-waiting for the prospective bride of the Usurper Prince, she comes closer to secrets she didn't even know existed. Suddenly a member of the most dangerous court in the land, how can Cara protect her charge and herself, when everything she knows seems to be crumbling down around her? [ © endymions_ ]

APOLLINAIRE is the grandson of the oldest witch in the South. He's the first boy born in her line for three hundred years, and she guards him jealously, teaching him all the magic she knows before anyone else can corrupt him. Between his bloodline and his talent, there's a lot riding on his shoulders, all before he's twelve years old. And then his father sues for custody in the divorce. PAUL ST. ROSE is an emergency medic. At 21, it's not the end of his career path-or his schooling-but it's a good place to land and catch his breath. He's always done well in high-stress environments, managing to keep his cool even when the world is falling apart around him. But when his grandmother dies, he's pulled back into the life he used to lead: back into Old Mère's rickety trailer with the black soil garden out front; back into the social rough-and-tumble of his mother's side of the family, rife with petty backstabbing; back into who he used to be. Between the cold success of Paul and the honeysuckle-sweet occultism of Apollinaire, he crumbles under the weight of everything that he was supposed to be by now. He's always done well in high-stress environments. But what can he do when he's the one falling to pieces?

Irina would give her heart and soul to hunt a snow bear. The massive, ancient beings live only on the farthest reaches of the endless snows, near to the end of the world-so when she finds one in her father's favorite valley, hunting for game before winter sets in, she drags her brother up a tree to wait it out. Except the bear isn't alone; she has cubs, and when Irina kills one of them, she has trespassed against one of the oldest laws of nature. She's punished for her crime when the Prince of Always Night, ruler of the endless snows, snatches her brother from her side and into the dark. But he doesn't expect Irina to leash up her dogs and follow after him. When she comes knocking at his door, there's little he can do but hope this heartless hunter is willing to change-or else she and her brother will be stuck on the snow until the end of time.

In fifteen days, on his twentieth birthday, Prince Ronan Aldrea will die at the hands of a god. His path was set long before his birth by hands worlds away from his, unbiased and unyielding in their actions, and had been written into prophecy by seers of ages past. The hands of Fate had called for his death, but Ronan did not plan to sit idly by and let them claim him. The prophecy did not rest on Ronan's shoulders alone; it worked through a member of the Pantheon of Seven, the god Aevar, the one meant to kill him. With Aevar's arrival in the mortal realm comes a fierce reminder that his days are numbered, and with each pawn Fate puts into play, Ronan becomes more determined to defy it. In all of history, be it mortal or godly, Fate has reigned superior. It has never lost, never faltered, least of all fallen before a frightened mortal prince. But Ronan Aldrea intends to change those odds-no matter the cost.

dr. jonathan deere, trapped in a small, stifling town, spends his days working and pining after the gravedigger's son: sweet, silver-souled jesse goodwin. but the goodwin brothers have a devastating secret, and when jesse falls ill jonathan must force his way into their shadowy world, facing a battle for the life of the man he loves. things are not what they seem in the gravedigger's house -- men and monsters alike stalk the corridors, wearing the same skin. as jonathan delves deeper into the secrets of the town, he finds his own soul at risk. he can't save jesse alone -- but the alternative means trusting a man he hasn't spoken to in two years.

they say baia valontiu was a city of opportunity, once. before the fires came. the first fire was two hundred years ago. no-one remembers exactly how it started, whether it was an errant spark or an act of arson; what everyone agrees is that it was devastating. three out of four buildings reduced to ashen shells, far more grief than a city could handle. but they rebuilt, covering over their losses and starting anew ― and they almost made it. the second fire was fifty years ago. two years after the first greatship returned to baia valontiu's harbour. still, no-one knows quite how it began, only that the only surviving buildings were the stone ones. everything else, simply hollow ― but once again, they rebuilt. they raised their city higher, yet again burying the ghosts and grief. this time, though, they left people behind: the people beneath, the lost and forgotten. this time, something was missing from the city above; this time, the city had grown claws. the third fire hasn't come yet, but they say it will. smaller blazes break out across the city, each stopped, each one lending venom to people's whispers. maybe it's this poisoned speculation that turned the city sour, cut-throat, only offering its sweet opportunities to those willing to spill blood for them. those like beatrice vulpes, a child of the ashes, orphaned in a boat fire. her surname means fox, but they don't call her that; if they have to address her at all, they call her dog. clever, but dangerous too: she leads a gang of thieves and swindlers, running just outside the reach of both the law and the iron circle. it isn't enough. when a stranger offers her the reward of a lifetime, bea finds herself tasked with a suicidal mission: to venture into the bowels of the city, to venture beneath, to kill the most powerful man in the city. and maybe, just maybe, to find it in her shrivelled heart to save her city.

"and then it all went still." copyright © 2020 by aveirell

❝ beware of those who enter the forest. ❞ They are creatures that born from the sublime and haunt those who wrongs them. It was the written rule the Nascherein was built upon, but to Leon Kiesinger, it was much greater than the imperial soldiers could hold. Sheltered away from the war and its decaying matter, he finds himself unable to avoid death, his haunting dreams told him to follow it, to see where it would lead him to. But it comes with a price, something that calls for a ghost among trees. © arden reni 2017 ― Featured as 'Hot Off the Press' | 04.18.18 ― Wattys Longlist | 08.31.18