Aphanasian Stories by Rhonda Parrish‏

When she isn't being crafty, playing video games or procrastinating, Rhonda writes fantasy, YA and horror stories and poems. Also, she loves sushi.

http://www.rhondaparrish.com
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Three of Rhonda Parrish’s beloved Aphanasian stories brought together in one collection for the first time!

A Love Story: Z’thandra, a swamp elf living with the Reptar, discovers a human near the village. When she falls in love with him, she faces the most difficult choice of her life, a decision that will affect the Reptar for generations.

Lost and Found: Xavier, the escaped subject of a madman’s experiments, and Colby, a young lady on a mission to save her brother, must combine their efforts to elude capture and recover the magical artifact that will save Colby’s brother before it’s too late.

Sister Margaret: A vampire hunter and a half-incubus swordsman are hired by a priestess to kill the undead pimp that is extorting, torturing and murdering vulnerable girls.

Q) What inspired you to write this story?

Ooh, that's a tough question because this is actually a collection of three stories. I mean, it would be tricky anyway because each one of my stories (like most, I suspect) come from all sorts of different places. It's how the ideas combine together that makes them interesting 

Of the three stories Sister Margaret came first. I wrote it based on a prompt at the NaNoLJers community (http://nanoljers.livejournal.com/) which was to take a person we'd known in the past and imagine where they would be now. I did that but then transported that friend from the real world to the fictional world of Aphanasia. Then I added vampires.

Q) How long did it take you to write?
I'm not 100% sure. Some of the stories were easier to write than others. Sister Margaret flowed for me from the beginning. I think it took me a day to write and then a couple more to revise. Lost and Found, however, took much longer. Not just because its length is greater, either. I had to revise that story over and over again. It's probably Colby's fault really. She and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship that makes it tricky to write stories with her in them (not that that stops me LOL). As for A Love Story, it falls in the middle somewhere. The revision process on that one was pretty painless and then words and story flowed pretty well, it just took longer than Sister Margaret because it is longer.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Sharing stories. I love getting characters and stories out of my brain and out into the world where other people can enjoy them too.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Writing. No really, I'm not just being bratty. I love making up stories but the actual process of sitting down and writing the first draft is torturous for me. It's a chore. At least to start. Once I get far enough in and the story takes on a life of its own, it's a pleasure and I love it, but in the beginning each word feels like pulling teeth. Without anesthetic.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Oh my. I don't know. I was so stumped on this one I asked my family who they would pick. My husband said he'd choose to be Johnny Depp… and then he'd give me a call. So, um, I would choose to let my husband be a famous person for one day instead of me. ;)

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
There is some 35mm film in there that has been there for so long I have no idea what the pictures are of. I really need to remember to take it to be developed one of these days but my memory is like a sieve and so far I haven't had much luck.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I'm always writing poetry and short stories and have several of each upcoming in various magazines and anthologies. I'm also going to be releasing a collection of my zombie poetry later on this year and I'm working on several different novel-length projects (waiting to see which one takes on that life of its own first and earns my undivided attention). The project that is taking up most of my attention these days, however, is Metastasis. That's an anthology which I'm editing which will be filled with speculative stories and poems with a cancer theme to them. (http://www.rhondaparrish.com/call-for-submissions-cancer-anthology)

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Wucaii Goes on Tour!

Check out my blog stops for my urban fantasy novel.  You can purchase it here and here.

May 14 Guest blog

Booked & Loaded –
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May 20 Spotlight
Unraveling Words
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May 21 Guest blog
Preternatura
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May 28 Spotlight
Krystal's Enchanting Reads ...
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May 29 Guest blog
Love in a book
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June 3 Guest blog
www.christina-mcknight.blogspot.com

June 7 Interview
Pick Your Poison Book reviews
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June 17 Spotlight
Paranormal Romance and Beyond
Ashlynnelaynne.blogspot.com.

June 19 Spotlight
Escape Into A Book
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June 20 Spotlight
Share My Destiny
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June 25 Spotlight and review
Jessica Loves Books
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June 27 Spotlight
Frankie Blooding's Bookshelf
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June 28 Guest blog
Books, Books the Magical Fruit
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Stranger at the Hell Gate by Ash Krafton‏

Ash Krafton writes from the heart…of the Pennsylvania coal region, that is.


She is the author of the Books of the Demimonde (Pink Narcissus Press).

BLEEDING HEARTS (Demimonde #1) is a six-time RWA finalist and was voted "Reviewer Top Pick" by Gravetells.com. Ash continues the story of Sophie and her Demivampires in her latest release BLOOD RUSH (Demimonde #2). She's hard at work (when she isn't watching Doctor Who) writing the third book, WOLF'S BANE.

Ash Krafton's poetry and short fiction has appeared in several journals, including Niteblade, Bete Noire, Abandoned Towers, and Silver Blade. She's a member of Pennwriters, RWA, and Maryland Writers Association. She lurks near her blog and contributes to the QueryTracker blog.

Ash lives with her family and their German Shepherd dog deep in the Pennsylvania wilds, awaiting the day the TARDIS appears in the driveway (the dog most likely keeps the Doctor away. What a beast.)

Until then, she writes.

Find Ash at:
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Jagger Sintallon, a half-demon warrior, has dedicated his existence to fighting demons who enter the world through Hell gates. A loner of conflicting ideals, he offers shelter to a troubled woman but knows he is too rough, too dangerous, and too cocky for her delicate nature.

Dedicated to Divine Will, Sonya Camael, a Seraph, is determined to discover why she is drawn to Jagger's doorstep and the reason behind her mission. She needs the demon's help but fears he may get himself killed before she can figure it out and the world slips into Hell's dominion.

Sonya faces grave danger with evil stalking her every move, and Jagger shouldn't care but realizes he cares more than he'd likely admit. Sonya knows Jagger cannot win this war alone, but will her divine intervention mean his imminent end? Or will just the right combination of Heaven and Hell set the world right once again?

Get Stranger at the Gate 

Free for Your Kindle May 14-18

Q) What inspired you to write this story?A) This book is the second in a series so, technically, the first book inspired it. : ) The first book was inspired by a dream I once had; this book was inspired by the characters themselves. Very convenient, wouldn't you say?

Q) How long did it take you to write? A) This story was written in two stages. The first stage, which involved about 75% of the book was actually penned simultaneously to the first book (Bleeding Hearts). As I edited book one, queried agents, and sent out to contests, I would dash over to book two to write the continuation. It's hard to say exactly how long that stage took, but if I had to guess I would say about a year. The second stage, and remaining 25%, took four weeks. That was because I had a contract and a deadline. It's quite a motivator.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing? A) My favorite thing is the complete autonomy I have. My worlds, my creations, my rules. I feel absolutely limitless. Every once in a while a character will try to have their own way but, in the end, I'm the one at the keyboard.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing? A) Not having enough time to do it. I'm a full-time pharmacist and over-time mom--lots of hands on my time.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?A) Billie Piper, because she got to be the Companion of not one but TWO Doctors. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan and I personally believe Billie Piper is the luckiest woman on the planet. Catherine Tate is a close second because not only was her Companion Donna truly noble, but also because I love the Catherine Tate Show. Her Jumpy Margaret sketches are sheer brilliance.

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it? A) Homemade grape juice. I pick grapes at my Pap's house and jar the juice myself. The jar in there is still sealed--so it's perfectly okay to drink--but the label on it says 2006 and my daughter isn't willing to give it a try. It's like wine without the alcohol, I tell her. I WAS SIX, MOM she yells back. Eighth graders are so moody.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future? A) The third book in the Demimonde series, WOLF'S BANE, is due out in 2014. Once that is completed, I'll be getting back to work on my paranormal romance WORDS THAT BIND. I'd like to do another novella for The Wild Rose Press, and I'm kicking around two ideas for that project. Other novels in the work include two New Adult stories TAKIN' IT BACK and FACE OF THE ENEMY. Who knows what else will come up between now and then?

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FALL by Cindy Paterson‏

I am Xamien’s secret lover. Well, in my head I am and since I’m single this is completely allowed. Some of you may ask, who is Xamien, don’t worry you will meet him soon enough, but no falling in love with him. He is all mine.

Writing books is a fantastic way to have adventures that are impossible to have otherwise. I mean do you really want to fall in love with Waleron? He is so unstable and would never pick up after your dogs or clean the litter box. Not to mention the fact that he is always out killing disgusting grave robbing bug people.

Curling up with a good book and losing yourself to another time and place is the greatest reward. Being able to feel a character’s emotions, their fears, pain and love. Now that is incredible. I relish in the books that stay with me long after they have ended. This is what I strive for in my writing. To give the readers, and myself, an escape into another world, my world.

I have been writing since I was twelve. My parents, sorry mom and dad, would send me to my room for an hour every night to do homework, and instead I wrote stories. Oops, guess that is why I did so bad in math.

I have never stopped writing since then and never will. It’s like an addiction, but a good one. I adore stepping into the shoes of a character and deciding their fate. The characters are why I write. I want to fall in love with them (even the bad ones), so that I care about what happens to them in a story. If I can’t care about the characters then why bother with the story.

I live in Toronto with a menagerie of pets that keep me on my toes.

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“He’s destroying me—us. I need him like my next breath, yet I’m suffocating.”

An unrequited love that has ripped her to pieces.

Delara has loved Waleron for over a century. Their intense chemistry is sensual, gripping, irresistible. But tragedy struck, and after sixty-one years of believing he was dead, Waleron returns a tortured man. He claims the man she loves is dead, yet the undeniable sexual tension still pulls them together.

“I am no longer the man you love, maitagarri. I am incapable of it.”

Waleron has given his oath to protect the Senses. He will sacrifice everything for them. But there is one Senses he has vowed to protect more than any other—Delara. He will do anything to make certain she is safe, even if it means he must deny her the love they once shared.

She is the hunted.

Delara’s life is in jeopardy and Waleron will do anything to protect her. But he never suspected that Xamien, the man he brings to help protect her is way more important to her than he ever knew.

Torn between two men and hunted by another, Delara must fight her hardest battle—herself.

1) What inspired you to write this story?
Waleron. Fall is all about him. The Senses were originally created with him in mind. An intense man with a complicated history, so much pain and torture. A love for a woman he can’t have. He is constantly growing, changing, and through Fall, the reader gets to see what drives this man to do what he does. He’s not always liked because of his cool and unemotional decisions, but we get to see where this comes from in Fall. If you’ve followed the series, in Jump and Step, you feel the tension between him and Delara and also the chemistry. You know their past is filled with love and hurt. Fall is where it all begins and ends for Waleron.

2) How long did it take you to write?

Hmmm, hard to say in months or weeks. I wrote the history between Waleron and Delara years ago when I finished JUMP. Then I set it aside and worked on STEP. When it was time to finish Fall, it took me about five months to write and then my editor and I tore it apart. It had its complications due to the love triangle and the emotions involved between all three characters. Plus, there is the suspense and the other sub-plots. Fall is my baby. I love character driven stories and this is a love story with paranormal elements surrounding the Senses.

3) What is your favorite thing about writing?

Oh boy, tough question because I love everything about writing. Probably it’s when I suddenly have a new idea and a character takes off in my mind. It’s like a whirlwind and I’ll sit down and write until I fall asleep with my laptop on my knees. For me it’s like falling in love. I have such passion and desire for this character that I can’t stop talking about him/her. I drive my co-workers crazy chatting about a character and if anyone walks into the middle of the conversation they think it’s an actual person.

4) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Promoting. It’s so much work because I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m slowly learning what I’m supposed to do and I think once I’ve done it a few times, it will become easier. I spend every moment writing, it’s my therapy. My passion. My drive to get up at six in the morning on the weekends. So when I’m promoting, I can’t be writing and I miss that.  

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?

Well, I’m going to have to say Claire Beauchamp, from Diana Gabaldon’s novel “Outlander”. I know it’s a fictional person, but I would love to experience for one day what Claire felt for Jamie. The love between them was so magical. God I read the book three times and listened to the audio twice and I never read a book twice. There are too many books I want to read, but Outlander—truly a love that is so powerful and raw. At the same time, I’d get to live for a day in Scotland. A place I’ve studied, yet never had the chance to visit.

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?

Ha. Let me think. Besides the baking soda—grape water. I’ve had it in there for about three years. I lost the taste for it and hate to throw it out since it’s not expired. Now that you mention it, might take it to work and see if anyone wants it.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?

More Senses of course. If you’ve read Fall, you know who the next story is about. Then there are two more I have planned. How many after that? Well, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Currently, I’m working on a contemporary romance called Tear Asunder. It’s a love story, character driven and involves Sculpt, a leader singer of the band Tear Asunder and a fighter. I love complicated love stories and I’m hoping this emotionally intense novel brings forth all the emotions in the reader. Sculpt is one of those characters that came to me in the night and I got up and wrote two chapters non-stop. Damn, I’m in love with him!

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Love by Premonition by Holley Trent‏

Holley Trent is a Carolina girl gone west. Raised in rural coastal North Carolina, she has Southern sensibilities, but her adventurous spirit drove her to Colorado for new experiences.

She writes contemporary and paranormal romances set in her home state. They’re always a bit cheeky, sometimes sensual, and occasionally erotic. She enjoys creating diverse casts, which almost always contain a sassy grandmother.

Her works are inspired by real life, and her psychic romance Love by Premonition actually spawned from a petrifying encounter one evening when she was trying to sleep. Like her protagonist Marcia, she might be a bit of a medium…and like Marcia, the idea terrifies her.

Holley lives in Colorado with her ad guy husband, two kids, and two cats. Her romances are available from Calliope Romance/Musa Publishing, Crimson Romance, Rebel Ink Press, and she has works under contract by Lyrical Press. She’s currently working on a few paranormal romances, including a spin-off from Love by Premonition.

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Marcia Andrews is a freelance psychic consultant. Sick of living hand to mouth, she accepts a contract with Raleigh Police. A new gang called The Cardinals is terrorizing The Triangle, and Marcia gives the department an edge in tracking them. Help that she is, one cop isn’t so keen on her involvement, and makes sure she knows it.

Detective Nat McCoy would rather see Marcia in his bedroom than the bullpen. The gorgeous Scotsman isn’t the typical chauvinist pig, though. He’s keeping a secret that even the psychic doesn’t anticipate.

A close encounter with a Cardinal’s bullet knocks Marcia off her game when the police need her most. She loses hours to trances and ghosts haunt her sleep. She can hardly function, and everything she thought she knew about playboy McCoy suddenly seems questionable. McCoy thinks he knows the cure for what ails her—him. But can she trust him?

For more information about Love by Premonition: http://holleytrent.com/blog/upcoming-titles/love-by-premontion/

Publisher website:  http://www.musapublishing.com

Q) What inspired you to write this story?

Love by Premonition was sort of a natural progression from the very first paranormal book I attempted. That one featured telepaths in a somewhat dystopic setting. That story is simmering in my hard drive to this day. (It needs a rewrite.) I decided my next effort would be lighter—funnier. I wanted a heroine quirky like Stephanie Plum, a big cast with lots of world-building, and a heaping helping of dark humor. My protagonist, Marcia, is a bit of a hot mess, and that’s because I wanted her to be like me and my friends before we figured out the whole “grown-up” thing.

Q) How long did it take you to write?
It actually didn’t take long. I’d recently moved and was short on distractions, so I wrote. If memory serves me correctly, I got the bare bones down in about a month. The first draft was around 65,000 words and it eventually grew to 85,000 and landed at 80,000 with the final version.

Now, revising the thing? That took months.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
I love it when I incorporate a really obscure pop culture reference and people actually get it.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
Well, related to that last question, I get sort of bummed when people don’t get my humor or connect with my author voice. I try to “write bold,” but fear is a debilitating thing. Authors want as many people as possible to like their books, and sometimes we end up trimming the personality out of a story so it can find a home.

One of my editors told me my style is funky (it was a compliment), and some readers are vociferously anti-funk. Their reviews sting a bit, but I try to compartmentalize it this way: some people preferred Bill Cosby’s squeaky-clean stand-up, and others preferred Richard Pryor’s cheeky comedic diatribes. My style is more Richard than Bill.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
That’s a hard question to answer. I don’t particularly want to be famous, but I wouldn’t mind being rich. If pressed, though, I’d say maybe Karen Rosenfelt. She’s a producer who’s brought a few well-known novels to the big-screen. I wouldn’t mind having some experience on that side of the business.

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
Probably one of the many bottles of ranch dressing. If I had to guess, I’d say it was a year old…maybe more. Might have bought it after we moved here. It was a brand I decided not to buy again ’cause it was kind of gross. I keep forgetting to trash it on recycling pick-up day.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
In 2013, more quirky paranormal and contemporary romances. For next year, I’ve got a couple of long works planned—a sci-fi/space opera and I’ll revise that telepath series I mentioned earlier. I’ll probably spin off a new pen name for those because they’ll be more “romantic elements” than “romance.”

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Carry Your Heart by Audrey Bell‏

Audrey Bell lives in New York City, where she indulges her SoulCycle addiction and expresses her passionate hatred of the 6 Train. You can find her reading in Central Park, overcaffeinating at Starbucks, or trying to kidnap her neighbors’ Maltese puppy. She loves hearing from readers. Check out her blog at audreybellbooks.blogspot.com.


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Champion skier Pippa Baker lost everything in the avalanche: her boyfriend, his best friend, and her will to win. After a year of grief, she returns to competition.

She finds more than buried memories and steep slopes in Utah. She finds Hunter Dawson, a heartbreaking daredevil with the gold medals to prove it. And she finds that his reputation doesn’t stop her from falling hard, and that her heart might not be as broken as she once believed.

But, Hunter has scars and memories too—scars that make him believe falling in love might hurt too much, scars that make him run.

Pippa knows how much love hurts when it’s gone. Will she stop herself before she’s in too deep? Or will she let herself fall?

Q) What inspired you to write this story?
I read The New York Times piece on the avalanche at Tunnel Creek and my mind just went it’s own crazy places with it.

Q) How long did it take you to write?
I don’t even know! Around six weeks to a month.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
I love it when I start writing dialogue and the characters really come out for me, and hopefully for the readers too!

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
When I have to start over a scene!
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Um…I follow Amanda Bynes on Twitter and I am DYING to know what is going on her head. So, I might be Amanda Bynes for a day. Although, I might not survive it.

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
I have a wilted Cobb salad. It’s disgusting. I really need to throw that away.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
A sequel to this book and another new adult contemporary novel about a driven, college newspaper editor and a devil-may-care frat boy.

Thank you so much for having me! I’m a huge fan of the blog so it’s super-exciting to “be” here!

Influential Magic by Deanna Chase‏

Deanna is a native Californian, transplanted to the slower paced lifestyle of southeastern Louisiana.

When she isn't writing, she is often goofing off with her husband in New Orleans, playing with her two shih tzu dogs, making glass beads, or out hocking her wares at various bead shows across the country.

For more information and updates on newest releases visit her website at www.deannachase.com

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It’s tough being a faery in New Orleans, a city fraught with vampires… especially when their very existence drains your life-force.

Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void is having a rough week. Four years after her twin brother’s mysterious death, Willow’s life is threatened and the director saddles her with a new partner—her ex-boyfriend, David. To her horror, he’s turned vamp, which causes her physical pain whenever she touches him… and any other specimen of the undead.

In order to save Willow’s life, David agrees to turn double agent against the most powerful vampire organization in New Orleans. Or so he says. And she’s convinced they know something about her brother’s death. Unsure where David’s loyalties lie, she turns to Talisen, her childhood crush, to help her solve the mystery.

Caught between two gorgeous men and a director who’ll stop at nothing to control Willow’s gifts, she’ll have to follow her instincts and learn who to trust.

Otherwise, she risks losing more than just her life.

Q) What inspired you to write this story?
I’d say Influential Magic was inspired by the three things I love most. New Orleans, Urban Fantasy, and my dog. It’s probably not a surprise that I’m a huge urban fantasy reader. And since I live near New Orleans and it’s one of my favorite places, it was natural to set it there. Then we have Link, the wolf-shifting Shih Tzu. Don’t tell any of the other characters, but I’m pretty sure he’s my favorite. I’m not sure why I decided to make Willow a faery, except I do think it would be cool to have wings. Who doesn’t want to fly?

Q) How long did it take you to write?

I started Influential Magic back in the spring of 2011. But then I went on to publish my Jade Calhoun series and IM had to wait for a bit. I went back to it in Sept of last year. Even though it was half written, it took me six months because my writing had changed quite a bit over those eighteen months and the story took a few different turns that I wasn’t expecting.

Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?

The zone. That place where you go when you’re fully emerged in the story, living it with your characters and feeling everything they are. It’s the draft phase when I don’t worry about editing, just getting the story out. That’s my favorite part. My next favorite is the final read through when I see it all come together. It’s like graduation day.

Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?

Opening the notes from my editor. Don’t get me wrong. I love my editor. She saves me from myself every time. We writers have a hard time seeing what we said on the page verses what we meant to say. So it’s the editor’s job to tell us when we need to clarify. And that often means revisions. One revision can change the entire rest of the manuscript. Just when you think you’re done, you’re not and you have to go back through the entire thing to make sure the changes match. It’s daunting sometimes.

Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?

Is it crazy that I don’t want to be famous? I’m pretty introverted. I like people and can be social, but I’m more of an observer. That said, I’m going to say someone fabulously talented like Norah Jones so I could experience just once what it was like to sing and not have people throw tomatoes. 

Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?

A jar of pickles. It’s a year old and never been opened.

Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?

Angels of Bourbon Street, the fourth book in my Jade Calhoun Series is coming out at the end of May. Irresistible Magic the second book in Crescent City Fae will be out this September. Then Look for Shadows of Bourbon Street.

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