The Picture of Dorian Gray meets Pride and Prejudice, with a dash of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York City, 1882. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Stewart's latest obsession is a painting of the handsome British Lord Denbury. Something in his striking blue eyes calls to her. As his incredibly life-like gaze seems to follow her, Natalie gets the uneasy feeling that details of the painting keep changing... Jonathan Denbury's soul is trapped in the gilded painting by dark magic while his possessed body commits unspeakable crimes in the city slums. He must lure Natalie into the painting, for only together can they reverse the curse and free his damaged soul.
"This novel was originally published in a substantially different form under the title The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess by Dorchester Books in 2011"--Title page verso.
A 2015 William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga. Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava — in all other ways a normal girl — is born with the wings of a bird. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naive to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the summer solstice celebration. That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo. First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.
As the twentieth century dawns in NYC, the top-secret Ghost Precinct pursues justice beyond the earthly realm in this paranormal historical mystery series. The ethereal denizens of New York owe a great debt to Eve Whitby, the young medium who leads an all-female team of spiritualists in the police department’s Ghost Precinct. Without her efforts on behalf of the incorporeal, many souls would have been lost or damned by means both human and inhuman. But now Eve faces an enemy determined to exorcise the city’s ghostly population once and for all. Albert Prenze is supposed to be dead. Instead he is very much alive, having assumed the identity of his twin brother Alfred, and taken control of the family’s dubiously acquired fortune. To achieve his vicious ends, Albert plots to twist Eve’s abilities into his own psychic weapon—a weapon that not only poses a threat to spirits but to everyone she cares for, including her beloved Detective Horowitz . . . “Smart, boundlessly creative gaslamp fantasy.” —RT Book Reviews on Eterna and Omega “Will have readers chomping at the bit for more.” —Suspense Magazine on Eterna and Omega
On the island continent of Ea it is a dark time of chaos and war. Morjin, immortal fallen angel and Lord of Lies, seeks to enslave the entire world. His dreaded assassins are everywhere and land after land falls under his evil power. The one thing that has the potential to destroy him is an object that has been lost for ages: the fabulous Lightstone that legend tells was crafted by the ancient Star people. A call is sent out by one of the major rulers still free of Morjin's grip to all those who oppose the dreaded sorcerer. It is nothing less than a quest to find the Lightstone and give Men hope after ages of despair. It is a quest that none have seen the like of in ten generations. And most believe is doomed to fail. What hero is man enough, brave enough...or foolish enough to embark on such a mad quest? Valashu Elahad, the seventh and youngest Valeri prince of the royal house of Mesh is such a man. With his faithful companion Maram by his side Valashu will journey to the farthest reaches of Ea to try and reclaim this mystical object, to free the world of Morjin's evil and save his people from sure destruction. Along the way he will discover truths about friendship, courage...and love. And the terrible truth about the being who threatens to sunder his world. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
In Peachville, even the cheerleaders have a dark side... Harper Madison isn’t like other girls. She has extraordinary powers, but her inability to control them has gotten her kicked from so many foster homes she’s lost count. Shadowford Home is her last chance, and she hopes Peachville High will be the fresh start she needs. But when evidence ties her to the gruesome murder of a Demons cheerleader, Harper discovers this small town has a big secret.
There were no surprises in Gatlin County. We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere. At least, that's what I thought. Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong. There was a curse. There was a girl. And in the end, there was a grave. Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever. Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them. In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.
This discounted ebundle includes: Strangely Beautiful, Perilous Prophecy, and Miss Violet and the Great War “Tells a love story with exquisite detail.”—TrueBlood.net on Perilous Prophecy Award-winning author Leanna Renee Hieber brings to life an exciting, romantic gaslamp fantasy in the groundbreaking, critically acclaimed Strangely Beautiful saga. Set in the Victorian era, Strangely Beautiful chronicles the adventures of the Guard — ordinary people blessed with the ability to see ghosts, heal illness, dispel demons, and more. Despite their weighty tasks, they are still human, and their lives and loves are inevitably intertwined, even as they stand between humanity and all the horrors of the underworld. Strangely Beautiful: Miss Persephone Parker—known as Percy—is different, with her lustrous, snow-white hair, pearlescent pale skin, and uncanny ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Seeking to continue her education, Percy has come to to the Athens Academy in Queen Victoria's London, not knowing that it is the citadel of The Guard. The Victorian Guard, latest incarnation of an ancient order that battles evil in all its forms, is led by Athens professor Alexi Rychman. Percy's lifelong habit of concealment, combined with Alexi's fevered search for the Guard's missing seventh member, nearly prove disastrous as ancient Greek myths begin playing out in modern, gaslit, Victorian London. Percy and her new friends and allies must overcome their preconceptions about each other and their own histories before they can set the world to rights. Perilous Prophecy: In this enchanting prequel to Strangely Beautiful, Cairo in the 1860s is a bustling metropolis where people from all walks of life mix and mingle in complex harmony. When evil ghosts and unquiet spirits stalk the city’s streets, the Guard are summoned—six young men and women of different cultures, backgrounds, and faiths, gifted by their Goddess with great powers. While others of the Guard embrace their duties, their leader, British-born Beatrice, is gripped by doubt. What right has she, a bookish, sheltered, eighteen-year-old, to lead others into battle? Why isn’t dark-eyed, compelling Ibrahim the one in charge? As ghosts maraud through Cairo’s streets, heralding a terrible darkness, Beatrice and her Guard have little time to master their powers; a great battle looms as an ancient prophecy roars toward its final, deadly conclusion. Miss Violet and the Great War: An adventure full of passion and power. From childhood, Violet Rychman--daughter of Percy and Alexi--has dreamed of a coming war, of death and battle on an unimaginable scale. Like her mother, she has seen and heard ghosts, who have loved and guided her. Now the future Violet dreamed is coming to pass as World War I rages across Europe. Millions of people are dying; entire villages are disappearing. Violet is nearly overcome when the Muses of antiquity offer her powers greater even than those of her parents or the Guard. The ability to impact people’s memories, even shape their thoughts. To guide their souls. To pass between the world of the living and that of the dead and to bring others through that passage. Violet must use these gifts in an attempt to stop death itself, lest the whole world be destroyed. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.