From M.A. Lee, we have two Regency mysteries with a dash of suspense.
From Remi Black, we have the second novella in the Fae Mark’d World series, Spells of Air.
Mysteries Fused with Romance
First up, we have two of the three Keytitles in the Hearts in Hazard series. All three have strong male protagonists. With The Key for Spies, Lee also achieved 1.5 million published fiction words. With all the titles that she’s published since 2019, she’s over 2 million published words.
The third book in the subseries is The Key with Hearts. We’ll celebrate that novel in February.
On January 15, The Key for Spies.
Spies and traitors. Lies and treachery. Unexpected love where bullets fly.
One traitor destroys loyalty. What will two traitors destroy?
Here are three links.
View the trailer for The Key for Spies: https://youtu.be/Ehc7VxUxCp4
The ebook and paperback can be published at online distributors everywhere or ask for it at the library:
On January 25 is Remi Black’s To Charm the Wind, second in the trilogy Spells of Air.
When Haven isn’t a Sanctuary—
When the untried wizard Orielle enters the Wilding on her journey to Iscleft Haven, she expects threats from bears and mountain lions, vipers and hornets.
She certainly doesn’t expect the creatures of legend: wraiths and gobbers, shape-shifting wyre, and the Dark Fae called the Kyrgy.
Grim, an outcast from Iscleft Haven, is the keen steel that stands with her against these dangers.
Yet when they reach the Haven, the elder arrests Grim. The Haveners aren’t interested in a renewed alliance with the Wizard Enclave.
Two wizards travel sharp-bladed roads in Weave a Wizardry Web.
Wizard against sorcerer.
Fae against dragon.
Wyre against Rhoghieri.
As children in the Wizard Enclave, Camisse and her niece Alstera recited that catechism daily. Yet the war against sorcery seems far from the Enclave, and the current leaders have forgotten that childhood chant.
What happens when forbidden magic lures wizards?
How many die when shape-shifting wyres invade the Wizard Enclave?
Can Alstera escape the spidery lure of corrupted magic? Or will she become the shifters’ next target?
Frost Clime threatens the Wizard Enclave. Sorcerers and their servants, shape-shifting wyre, have stolen into the city of Tres Lucerna, home to the Enclave.
Alstera is the greatest of the young wizards in the Enclave.
She’s treated like the least.
Alstera is desperate to join the war against Frost Clime, but the chief wizards refuse. Denied her wish, Alstera explores other ways to increase power.
A Fae disguised in glamour courts her aunt Camisse … but for what purpose? Does Camisse have latent power that the Fae will control? Will a forbidden linkage unlock her magic?
And what of Alstera’s cousins, who have joined an outland wizard’s circle? They dabble in twisted magic.
Danger walks the streets of Tres Lucerna, yet the chief wizards refuse to acknowledge it. Rumors fly … of a taboo nexus of power, of vile blood spells, and of enemy shape-shifters in the heart of the Wizard Enclave.
Then wizards are murdered.
A grim future awaits any wizard lured into forbidden Twisted magic,
And a grimmer death awaits wizards caught by the shifters.
Can Alstera escape the spidery lure of corrupted magic? Or will she become the shifters’ next target?
A dark fantasy of twisted magic, Weave a Wizardry Web by Remi Black is first in the Fae Mark’d Wizard series. Dream a Deadly Dream and Sing a Graveyard Song continue the series.
Visit remiblack.blogspot.com to connect with Remi Black.
Weave a Wizardry Web ~ book 1 in the series Fae Mark’d Wizard
Why has the Fae Pearroc Seale assumed the glamour of a Wizard?
What’s his goal?
Chapter 1
Pearroc Ciele poured Fae power into the newly learned wizard spell. Even as it flashed lightning bright, he recognized the weakness that shattered through the spell.
“If you are to pass yourself off as a wizard during the Trials, you must defend as a wizard would, not as a Fae would.”
He twisted his shoulders. The aged man never missed a point when teaching
wizardry. He might be too weary to rise from the chair provided by the arena master, but his black eyes snapped onto a flaw and his quick mind decoded the reason for that flaw. Fae spell contorted to look like wizardry: most wizards would miss the foundation hidden by the swirling energies. Pater Drakon never missed it.
Sine Pearroc’s springtime arrival, Drakon had trained him. Pearroc had selected the aged man, one of the few clan leaders who supported Faeron. A Blade sent in secret to the wizards by his queen the Maorketh Alaisa, he fumbled like a child at some lessons. He didn’t regret his apprenticeship to the master wizard, but it was High Summer, and still he trained.
The old wizard had a point. The Fae sparked power from the tangible element: a flame for Fire, soil for Earth, and on to Air and Water. Then they built the spell based on the power borrowed from the element.s Wizards needed nothing to spark power; it came from their essence. Though Pearroc wielded wizard-shaped power, he still needed a tangible element to initiate his spells. And as he fought to twist his spells to match to wizardry, he often dropped back to the easy Fae wielding.
The sudden clash of steel against steel jerked his head around. Power sparked at his fingertips.
“Stand down,” the Drakon clan leader said. “It’s a practice arena. Are you expecting someone to assassinate me?”
Sprites on the Wing in the Wilding, licensed from Depositphoto
Magical Creatures
Dragon – still imprisoned in the Wastes where they were banished after they lost the war against the Fae and Wizard and Mundane alliance following Dragon Dark. Rumors that they were once controlled by the Kyrgy. Massive wings, snake-like body, and a spiked tail. Only queens are fire-breathing; all others are only venomous, with large fangs to deliver poison. Long-lived but not very fertile. (Only queens nest.) Greatest dragon is Werthyrmir.
Fae – wielders of all the elements and exceptionally long-lived. They inhabit Faeron. In the past decade they have renewed alliance with the Wizard Enclave in order to defeat the threat of
Gobber – a stunted creature with round eyes, pointed teeth, and stubby claws. Always in a pack, rarely wear clothes over their thin fur.
Huldra – a mysterious creature, usually female, that lurks only and creates traps for the unwary. Rarely seen and only the Hinterlands of the Wilding and the Wastes. Traps and magical attacks are based upon the elemental power that the Huldra wields. A water Huldra uses ice; an air Huldra uses a sandstorm.
Kyrgy – Dark Fae who rule the Wilding. Krygy means “choosers of the Slain”. Marble-white skin, silver hair, slanted highbrows and sharply angled facial structure. Teeth are sharp points. Eyes are a full-black, with no white sclera. Long and slender limbs. Wielders of all four elemental powers. Supported by their riders, knights and dames who chose to serve them and have their lives extended.
Lindworm – a type of dragon, smaller than both the dragon and the wyvern. Vestigial wings near the head, snake-like in appearance. Only the females are fire-breathing; the males are poisonous with large fangs.
Ogre – Giant-sized and therefore larger than a troll, an ogre is solitary by nature although it will run with others in a pack. Bad-tempered, it usually prefers clubs and maces to other weapons. It dislikes arrows and hates spears. Most ogres have a hunched back and long arms. The skin is a mottled rock color.
Rhoghieri ~ wielders of elemental power. The wyre are their Rhos’ natural enemies. Rho can wield one of the pure elements: Earth, Air, Water, or Fire. They cannot wield the magic of wizardry or sorcery. Once allied to the wizards of the Enclave, they escaped the alliance—burdensome to them—about three generations ago.
Sprite – tiny winged creatures, with a spindly humanoid body and dragon-fly wings. Flashes brightly in various colors. Has a stinger; often called “jewel on a wing with a sting”. The apiary of sprites is ruled by a queen, her consorts, drones and workers.
Troll – a huge, lumbering creature, with mossy and warty growths, usually a shape of grey. Primarily cave-dwelling. Usually in a small group (three to five) or in a pack (10 or more) called a Trouble.
Wolfen / Wyre ~ shapeshifters, taking wolf-form. Ruled by a Prime, who can change and partial-change without limits. All others can shift only at a Moon-Turn (the 3 Lady Moons or the 3 Dragon Moons). Stronger shifters can partial shift. In order to shift out of Moon-Turn, sorcery must be employed. Wizardry does not affect the wyre, who usually ally with sorcerers. Elemental power can affect the wyre. Wyre hunt in packs and stay in lairs. The Prime is supported by a Second / Secondus, Tierce, Quartos, Quintos, Sextos, Septos, Octavos, Nunes, Decem. A full pack has 13 males and 13 females. When assigned to a sorcerer, a pack is usually 10 males with three females.
Wraith / Wight – a vaporous creature from Neotheora (the realm of the Dead Souls). When fed blood or other body substances, the wraith takes on a corporeal form. To say the name of a recent dead person is to give the Wraith a shape to mimic.
Wyvern – a type of winged dragon, smaller than a dragon. Venomous. Not able to breath fire. Four limbs plus the wings.
. ~ . ~ . ~ .
Characters in Spells of Air, first book to mention the Wilding
Orielle – a wizard who has not passed her trials. She volunteered for the mission to enlist the Rhoghieri of Iscleft Haven for a new alliance against the sorcerers and wyre of Frost Clime. Named Aiwaz Solsken by the Kyrgy Knight Sir Sangrior. Assisted in her journey by Grim, a Rhoghieri mercenary from Iscleft Citadel, also on a journey to Iscleft Haven.
Brok – a sentry of Iscleft Haven, who has recently lost his wife Zairantze. Wielder of Earth. A childhood friend of Grim.
Fortis – a mentor of Iscleft Haven and childhood friend of Grim. Wielder of Fire.
Grim – a Rhoghieri of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Air, who has been a mercenary at Iscleft Citadel for the past few years.
Hackett – a mundane who came with Tobit to the Haven from Iscleft Citadel
Kristofen – a knight of Lady Bone’s
Lady Bone – the Kyrgy lady whose brother rules the Wilding
Lillias – a mentor of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Air
Lord Skull – the Krygy lord who rules the Wilding, brother to Lady Bone
Saircuista – a dame who rides with Lady Bone
Sangrior – a consort knight of Lady Bone
Skuld (see Lady Bone)
Surrect – a healer and mentor of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Water
Tobit – elder of Iscleft Haven, wielder of Earth
Trebetha – a wielder of Earth, voted in to replace Tobit.
Volk a consort knight of Lady Bone
Waren, married to Malva – a sentry of Iscleft Haven, friend to Brok and Grim
Zairantze – Brok’s late wife, a mundane missing from Iscleft Haven
Characters in Spells of Earth
Desora / Adalse de Sora – a woman who has lost her wizardry following the backlash of a spell at Iscleft Citadel six years before. She wields Earth. Formerly of the Enclave Clan D’Aulnois.
Braxton – a captain who is seeking Desora. On leave from Iscleft Citadel, recently allied with Harte Regnant de Thettis, the Fae ruler of Bermarck, a sept of Faeron.
Granny Riding – wise woman in the village of Mulgrum
Griss – woodcutter’s helper
Guards from the Citadel – Klemt, Mannon and Challach.
Harte Regnant de Thettis – Maorn of the Bermarck sept of Faeron.
Lord Horst – ruler of the Wilding’s Northern Reaches. His riders include Morcain, Ehren, and others.
Merketh – a forester of Mulgrum turned into a wyre
Rangers detached from Maorn Harte – Alwin, Blaise, Dunstan, Ferrac, Gregoir, Imri, Ivhort, and Seire. Rangers are usually detachments of 10 in number; this detachment has lost Dunstan’s brother Waleran and Ivhort’s brother Vidorst.
Serron – Prime of the Wyre pack in the Wilding. Other wyre are Herlig ……
Skellig – elder of Mulgrum
Tammas – a friend of Teyja’s, son of the potters Estild and Ogrim.
