Hearts in Hazard: Which Book to Pick?

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The Hearts in Hazard series
12 books set in the English Regency Era
Mystery & Suspense with a Dash of Romance

6 Years Ago ~

October 2015. I released the first three books in the Hearts in Hazard series.

The Game of Secrets

The Game of Spies

The Game of Hearts

1 Year Ago ~

In August, the final Hearts in Hazard book released: The Hazard with Hearts.

Now ~

Time for the annual Celebration of Hearts in Hazard.

Which book is right for you?

I’ve never actually written down all this information. I’ve written snippets, but never the whole thing. So here it is ~
  • how the books are interconnected without being sequels.
  • which books have common characters.
  • which books follow a similar plot or a similar trope.

With Hearts in Hazard~

Each novel is complete and stands alone, but the series has interconnected characters among the books. Not ALL the books and not ALL the characters.

New couples confront the primary conflict for each book.

What are the 12 books in the Hearts in Hazard series?

Visit M.A. Lee’s page on this website for links for more information, to view a trailer, and to buy!

 

1. A Game of Secrets

Cover by Deranged Doctor Design

2. A Game of Spies

3. A Game of Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Games.

 

4. The Danger of Secrets

5. The Danger for Spies

6. The Danger to Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Dangers.

 

7. The Key to Secrets

8. The Key for Spies

9. The Key with Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Keys.

 

10. The Hazard of Secrets

11. The Hazard for Spies

12. The Hazard with Hearts

~ bundled as A Trio of Hazards.

 

How are the Novels Interlinked?

1/2 ~ A Game of Secrets 1 leads to A Game of Spies 2. These two are the most like sequels: Kate & Tony and Josette & Giles will become good friends. The friendship of Tony and Giles started when they served in the military together and were both wounded.

2/3/11 ~ A Game of Hearts 3, featuring Rafe & Maggie and Connie & Roger, mentions one of the treacherous English traitors from A Game of Spies 2. That treacherous traitor will recur in The Hazard for Spies 11.

  • Also, the time frame for A Game of Hearts covers a month before A Game of Secrets to after A Game of Spies, and GSpies’ characters are mentioned in GHearts.

2/4/5 ~ Building on the characters in A Game of Spies 2 are The Danger of Secrets 4 (Gordon & Maddy) and The Danger for Spies 5 (Tony & Melanie).

  • The Danger of Secrets 4 was a joy to write. I laughed often at the repartee between Gordon & Maddy.
  • The Danger for Spies 5 has as its primary couple Eugenie & Charles.

1/6 ~ The Danger to Hearts 6 brings back Jess Carter from A Game of Secrets 1. Jess becomes protector of Agatha.

6/7/10/11  ~ The Key to Secrets 7 features Constable Hector Evans (in love with Bee). Hector first appeared as a secondary in The Danger to Hearts 6.

  • Hector re-appears as a side character (chief constable!) in The Hazard of Secrets 10 and The Hazard for Spies 11.

1/2/3/5/10/11 ~ The Hazard for Spies 11 concludes the “Capture French Spies” conflict of Game/Secrets 1, Game/Spies 2, Game/Hearts 3, and Danger/Spies 5.

  • The Hazard for Spies 11 features Conrad and Phinney. She was barely mentioned in The Hazard of Secrets 10.

10/11 ~ The Hazard of Secrets 10 and The Hazard for Spies 11 have a secondary plot with the children Vic, Elise, and Hank. The three are not the main focus.

  • Corrie & Jem carry the main plot in The Hazard of Secrets.

6/9 ~ A character mentioned in The Danger with Hearts 6 becomes one of the primary leads in Key with Hearts 9. Greville Myers has married Liza Corbett to access her wealth. This convenient marriage inconveniently causes murder.

8 ~ The Key for Spies 8, one of the least-connected of the 12, is a stand-alone novel set in Spain. No interconnected characters. We do have spies, but I wished to break the constant focus on England. I justified my wish by saying, “Well, it has spies.” Let’s pretend our Simon Pargeter is friends with Hector Evans.

  • Simon & Miriella carry the plot, but Jesus & Elixane are strong secondaries.

9 / 12 ~ The Hazard with Hearts 12 is another stand-alone, with no interconnected characters. With The Key with Hearts 9, The Hazard with Hearts 12  is most like the vintage gothics of Victoria Holt and Dorothy Eden, from the 1960s.

  • It’s another marriage of convenience, this time with Vivienne & Max.

What Else will Help me Pick a Great Read?

 

Do You Like Couples falling in Love? (Not Lust.)

All the books are for you.

Want a Strong Heroine? Or a Strong Hero who is not an Alpha Dog?

All the books are for you.

Do you like Murder Mysteries? A Puzzle to Solve?

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard of Secrets (begins as suspense then morphs into a murder mystery)

 The Hazard with Hearts (both murder and suspense)

Do you like Suspense more than Murder?

A Game of Secrets

A Game of Spies

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

The Hazard of Secrets (which morphs into a murder mystery)

The Hazard for Spies

The Hazard with Hearts (because murders happen long before the novel begins)

Like Former or Current Soldiers? Or a Story in Wartime, on the battlefront?

A Game of Secrets

Simon Pargeter
Cover by Deranged Doctor Design

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

Like Early Law Enforcement?

A Game of Secrets

A Game with Hearts

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Story with Spies?

A Game of Secrets

A Game of Spies

The Danger for Spies

The Key for Spies

The Hazard for Spies

 Want a Smuggler Story?

A Game of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

Want a Story with Nobles? (Earls and Marquesses and Barons are one of the primary characters: hero or heroine)

A Game of Spies

A Game with Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Key for Spies

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a Story without Nobles? (Not the hero or the heroine)

A Game of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Hazard of Secrets

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Marriage of Convenience Story?

A Game of Hearts

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a High-Low Story? Someone of High Social Standing marries Someone Lower in Rank than them.

Something for Everyone
Nobles. No nobles. Law enforcement. Law breaker. Something for Everyone

A Game for Spies

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

Want a Story with a Runaway ?

A Game of Secrets

Want a Story with Children?

The Hazard of Secrets begins the story with Vic, Elise, and Hank, and it concludes in The Hazard for Spies.

Want a Story with a Young Couple?

A Game of Hearts

The Hazard for Spies

Want a Story with a Couple Approaching Middle-age?

A Game of Hearts

The Danger of Secrets

The Danger for Spies

The Danger to Hearts

The Key to Secrets 

The Key for Spies

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard of Secrets

Want a Story set in a Foreign Land?

The Key for Spies

Want something like a Vintage Gothic?

The Key with Hearts

The Hazard with Hearts

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

This is all of the ways

to classify the 12 books in the Hearts in Hazard series.

If you can think of another, do write to us at winkbooks@aol.com.

Read them all, a book a month. (Wasn’t that a book club?)

 

Dream a Deadly Dream

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Assassination.  A fugitive comtesse.  A lethal sleep-spell. 
Wyre and wraiths.  Wizardry against sorcery.  And regicide.

In Dream a Deadly Dream, a sorcerer’s plot to kill the king weaves together past and present, dream and reality, to create a nightmare that can kill.

The Fugitive Comtesse

For three years Cherai, the comtesse Muirée, has hidden from the conspirators who assassinated her father.  Now, in the weeping season, a sorcerer has woven a lethal sleep-snare to entrap her.  Although she doesn’t know it, she holds the key to the conspirators’ chance to seize the throne of Vaermonde, a chance thwarted when they killed her father too quickly.  The poisoned nightmares sent by the sorcerer will compel Cherai to turn herself over to her father’s murderers.

Only a chance-met wizard can free her from the sorcerous sleep-spell.

The Exiled Wizard

Alstera wandered into Vaermonde, seeking an opportunity to rid herself of the bindings on her power.  When she encounters Cherai, she realizes the nightmares are caused by a sorcerer.  Breaking a simple sleep-spell without any expectation of extrinsic reward should remove one of the bindings.  Selfishly, she attaches herself to Cherai.

Yet the sleep-spell is not a simple one:  it is a powerful sleep-snare, designed to kill once the conspirators have the document that Cherai’s father hid.  Alstera must use forbidden blood-magic—another crime against wizardry—to slip her powers through the binding sigils tattooed on her wrists.

Will the poisoned nightmares kill Cherai?  Can Alstera free her from the sorcerer’s web before the conspirators kill the king?  Threats come from both enemies and friends, from steely blades and magickal spells.

Dream a Deadly Dream, a novel of 119,000 words, is the second book in the Fae Mark’d Wizard series. 

1st is Weave a Wizardry Web

3rd is Sing A Graveyard Song

Visit Remi Black’s blog or her page on this website to discover more.

https://remiblack.blogspot.com/2021/05/weave-wizardry-web.html

View the Weave a Wizardry web Trailer https://youtu.be/jePz27U2Y6U

 

 

October Celebrates 5 Titles, All from M.A. Lee

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October is a major celebratory month for M.A. Lee.

First, it’s her launch month.

Back in 2015, she began self-publishing with her first three novels in the Hearts in Hazard 12-book series.

As a rapid release (a term she now understands much better), on October 21 she published

  1. A Game of Secrets

    Cover by Deranged Doctor Design
  2. A Game of Spies
  3. A Game of Hearts

Purchase or View A Game of Secrets at these links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734694629

Trailer     https://youtu.be/BzwOWP5ssCA

Find A Game of Spies at these links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734694637

Trailer     https://youtu.be/y3z34pr0ycM

And A Game of Hearts is here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734694645

Trailer     https://youtu.be/rht6hMctbGI

One year later / 2016 / And M.A. Lee Starts a 2nd series.

Digging into Death with Isabella Newcombe, artist at an archaeological dig, confronting thieves and murderers, published on the 1st of the month.

Links are here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LXPRKHM

Trailer   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX1BPx6VUnU

The bundle Into Death with the first three books  is coming!

The Into Death bundle, ebook only, will publish before the end of this year.

In 2019, M.A. Lee finishes a nonfiction writers’ guidebook series.

The Discovering series offers specific information in crucial areas every writer needs to understand.

The last book in the series, Discovering Sentence Craft, works at the base levels: sentences and words. Need to understand irony? Or allusion? Or implied metaphor? What about rhetorical structures like asyndeton, auxesis, and zeugma? This book explains the concepts and structures that help a writer shine, wax lyrical, or strongly present a debatable point.

With DiscSentCraft, M.A. Lee reached over 2 million published words in a five-year period: 2015 / 2016 / 2017 / 2018 / 2019.

Cover offers the A to Z options!

Check out this link https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQXKY87 to find the individual book.

Coming soon is the paperback of the bundled Discovering Your Writing, for every writer’s shelf.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S

Trailer: https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk

Let’s all Celebrate an auspicious beginning!

 

 

 

The Write Focus Summer Series Concludes.

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The Write Focus Summer Series on Discovering Your Novel … a series of craft-focused podcast episodes along with productivity and process and tools … has reached its conclusion.

Presence / Promotions / Publish / Party are the four steps to get that finished novel into the marketplace.

Yes, Party is a step. It’s a major step! Let people know the major task that you have completed.

You can listen to the concluding episode at this link.

Next up to start the Autumn right: Challenges then a mini-series for PrepToBer with inspiration!

Thanks for listening to The Write Focus.

Fae Mark’d World: Magical Creatures and Characters

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Fae Mark’d World

licensed from DepositPhotos
sprites on the wing in the Wilding

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.

. ~ . ~ . ~ .

cover design for To Wield the Wind, bk 1 of Spells of Air, by Deranged Doctor Design

Characters in Spells of Air

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

Cover design for The Wyrded Forest, bk 1 in Spells of Earth, by Deranged Doctor Design

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.

Teyja – apprentice to Granny Riding