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About the Author

Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters, and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances. Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive, sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She's just honoured to write down their adventures.

From School Library Journal

Grade 7–11—In her fourth fantasy about the land of Bayern, Hale has created a strong stand-alone companion to The Goose Girl (2003), Enna Burning (2004), and River Secrets (2006, all Bloomsbury). Forest Born centers on Razo's sister, Rin, and her special abilities. The struggle that she goes through as she begins to recognize her talent of persuasion and her elemental connection to the forest brings the typical fantasy themes of good vs. evil to a place that makes them very personal. Rin discovered as a child that her words could be powerful. But that power left her feeling confused and wrong. Since that time, the wrongness has curled up like a snake inside her, making her doubt whether she can ever find peace. Rin encounters Isi, Enna, and Dasha from the previous Bayern stories and through them she finds hope; perhaps what makes her different could be a blessing, if she is able to find balance in her gifts. Lurking throughout the story is the tumultuous backdrop of diplomatic negotiations and threats of war. Everything finally comes to a head when Isi's nemesis from Goose Girl returns and kidnaps her son. All four women need to work together to defeat Selia, who has been completely corrupted and consumed by her people-speaking power of persuasion. Fans of the earlier titles as well as admirers of the genre will find Rin's journey a compelling read.—Genevieve Gallagher, Buford Middle School, Charlottesville, VA END

From Booklist

Hale adds a fourth entry to her Books of Bayern series with this exciting, stand-alone title focused on teenaged Rin, who follows her brother, Razo, from their forest home to the city’s royal court. Characters from the series’ previous titles all hold major roles in the ensuing adventures in which Rin joins a battle to protect Bayern from evil forces. As usual, Hale’s vivid, poetic language; romantic and action-filled plot twists; and friendship themes create a rich, satisfying read. But it’s Rin’s sensitively drawn struggle to recognize and accept her own power that will stay with readers most. Grades 7-10. --Gillian Engberg

About the Author

Michele Hauf lives in Minneapolis and has been writing since the 1990s.  A variety of genres keep her happily busy at the keyboard, including historical romance, paranormal romance, action/adventure and fantasy. 

You can write to Michele at:  PO Box 23, Anoka, MN  55303

Or visit her website: michelehauf.com

Email Michele at:  toastfaery@gmail.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Lyric Santiago stepped into a pair of diamond-encrusted Louboutins. They merely twinkled as if they were paste jewels when compared to the fabric hugging her body. A sexy gown shimmered over her skin with her movement. It felt like a summer breeze had wafted through the closed bedroom window. Lyric smiled at the unexpected sensation.

That was about the only thing that could make her smile today.

"Gorgeous," Charish said.

Charish lingered by her daughter's bedroom door, observing. The matriarch of the Santiago clan looked as young as Lyric, but had lived as a vampire for over a century. Her blond hair was pinned up in a I960s beehive hairstyle with a tiny pink bow attached front and center.

No matter how many centuries she lived, Lyric swore she would never get stuck in a fashion decade.

"I'm so glad you decided to try it on before you leave for the exchange," Charish said.

"How could I resist something that is probably a dream to most?"

Striding before the floor-length mirror framed upon the closet door, Lyric gasped at her first sight of the gown on her body. It dazzled. She could not see her reflection, but the dress conformed to her shape in the eerie manner she'd become accustomed to when viewing clothing on her body.

The gown had been made and was treasured by Faery's Seelie court. Fashioned from thousands of faery-mined diamonds, each of them no larger than an ant's head, it had been sewn together with spider silk. The silk was almost invisible, and it looked as though the diamonds that lay upon her skin were droplets of water under the sun, until the skirt swung gracefully about her ankles creating swishy waves of blinding brilliance.

It was rumored to give the wearer unimaginable magic should a faery don the gown. Holes could be torn in the sky to reveal other worlds. Entire faery clans could be leveled. Love (an uncommon sentiment to the fickle sidhe) could be annihilated or made pure.

On Lyric, a vampire, it would grant no such power save the sensual prowess to make men drop their jaws, stumble over their own feet and profess true lust for one promising wink from her.

She turned sideways and looked down her figure. Slender and toned, thanks to her gymnastics hobby, the gown clung to a taut stomach and her lean thigh muscles. The bodice slipped along the sides of her full breasts.

She liked the tease, and yet only wielded it when necessary.

A twist to check her backside showed the gown plunged to just above her derriere. Were the plunge an inch lower it would reveal things even she preferred to keep covered.

The gown, while revealing more than enough, could never keep all her secrets. Tugging her blond hair forward to cover her left ear, she made sure her mother had not been aware of the move.

"You should take it off now," Charish suggested in her quiet yet demanding tone. "Wouldn't want to muss it."

"Of course. It does feel…powerful."

"That could be the faery dust. Take it off, dear, before you get a contact high. Leo wore gloves when he handled that thing."

The gown had once belonged to the Seelie court, yet had been stored in a security safe by Hawkes Associates, a firm that represented the paranormal nations and acted as a sort of bank and store-all for their assets.

Priceless, the gown was a huge coup her brother, Leo, had stolen a week ago after her mother had requested he do so. Lyric had been surprised at Leo's easy submission to the one person he complained stifled his freedom. Yet at the same time, Charish Santiago could squeeze a tear out of the most stalwart warrior: she was master of manipulation.

Fact was, the Santiago clan was nearly bankrupt. Charish needed money. Fast. Pity, the domineering fiancé Charish claimed to love couldn't provide financial support. Lyric thought him worthless, but her mom did seem to genuinely love him.

If it would help her mother, Lyric was in for the ride tonight, even with the danger it promised.

Another glance in the mirror stirred up the frustration Lyric had thought she'd long pushed aside. She hadn't seen her reflection in nearly two decades. Sure, she'd seen it until puberty, when bloodborn vampires came into their blood hunger, but her memory was of a towheaded young waif whose love for summer camp and horses diametrically opposed what stood before the mirror.

She teased a strand of hair over her shoulder. Nothing good had come of that final summer before she'd completely transformed. Tonight brought up memories that she must vanquish once and for all. But would she be successful?

"The demon guards are prepared?" she asked her mother.

"Yes, three of them. Don't worry, Lyric."

"I'm not." Yes, she was.

"The guards will accompany you to the handoff site, and have been instructed not to allow the Lord of Midsummer Dark to take the exchange into Faery. You'll be safe."

Safe? Lyric sighed. If only.

The handoff site was at a known doorway to Faery. One wrong step and Lyric would never return. But she couldn't express her worries to her mother. She'd kept it a secret for so long, it was best she continue. If things went tonight as planned, it would be the beginning of the end.

"Give me a bit to get changed."

"Certainly. The driver isn't scheduled to leave for another hour, so take your time, dear."

"You going to wait with Connor?" She couldn't summon enthusiasm into that question. If the fiancé would show some initiative toward supporting Char-ish, she could at least bless her mother's choice.

"I wish you'd give him a chance, Lyric," Charish said. "He loves me. I need someone to take care of me. It's been difficult heading the Santiago clan since your father's death. People rely on me and expect certain rewards and contributions in exchange for an alliance. I can't do it all."

"I wouldn't expect you to, Mother."

Lyric wished Connor wasn't so…devious. She suspected he was at the root of the pilfered Santiago fortune—it had literally run empty over the past year—but she couldn't prove it.

Five decades earlier, Charish had married a thief, and a damned good one. John Santiago had not aligned himself with a vampire tribe, and had instead created a sort of mafioso ring of unaligned vampires across Europe. He had sought power and money, and all the blood a vampire could drink. Lyric wasn't sure exactly what had brought money into the family, but it did—or rather, had—flowed generously. Her father had died when Lyric was eight, but not before teaching her older brother, Leo, the skills of the trade.

Since Leo had left the family nest two years ago, Charish had faltered, taking on the weight of her deceased husband's responsibilities as if a blow to her soul. Until this newest opportunity had presented itself.

Maybe she could convince her mother to keep the reward she'd win from the exchange and ditch the fiancé? The exchange tonight was not for cash, but the return payment, if handled correctly, could prove profitable.

Lyric ran a finger along her ear, tucking her hair behind it, which was a habit she'd developed when she was thirteen. Last year of summer camp…

"I'll see you in a bit, dear." Charish blew her daughter a kiss—actual physical affection was not in the matriarch's arsenal—and backed from the room, her high heels clicking on the tiles as she went in search of her lover.

Another sigh could not be helped. Tonight would decide her fate. Running her palm over the diamonds felt as if she had skimmed a cool stream. The gown fascinated her, but much as she adored fashion, Lyric preferred a more subdued look. She didn't like to stand out in a crowd.

Behind her, a glass-on-glass scraping noise cut through the twilight. The floor-to-ceiling bedroom window, secured at each upper corner by a large rubber suction device, popped inside the room.

Lyric backed toward the mirror, slapping her hands to it as two figures in dark clothing stalked toward her. Just as she was about to scream, one of them punched her across the jaw, knocking her out.

Her body wilted in a glitter of priceless faery diamonds. The intruders opened up a black body bag and stuffed the vampiress inside.

The granite-colored Maserati GranTurismo convertible squealed around a corner in the tenth ar-rondissement, clipped the bumper of a parked BMW, yet continued onward at twice the speed limit on the narrow, cobbled street. The driver spied a parking space and swerved, hitting the brakes, which swung around the tail of the vehicle and nestled it between two parked cars. Neither car sustained damage, which surprised the hell out of the driver.

He was still mastering the mortal means of transportation.

Killing the ignition abruptly cut off Johnny Cash's voice from the CD player. Vaillant tugged a pair of dark sunglasses from the rearview mirror and slipped them on. He checked his reflection, still not used to the fact he could not see his reflection in the mortal realm—sunglasses hovering above a coat collar was just wrong.

Snakeskin boots hitting the tarmac (fake—you gotta respect the wildlife), he stretched to his six feet six inches and nodded at a passing mortal woman who pushed a pink baby stroller. Her blush amused him.

It was rare Vaillant walked the streets before noon. He was a late sleeper. The nights were much cooler here in the summertime, which decided his preference, though his bad vampire self could walk in the day, longer than most due to his heritage.

"Heritage? Ch'yeah," he muttered as he hopped the curb and marched inside the five-story business complex nestled within view of the train station. "Lot of good family blood has served me."

In truth, such blood had only hindered every step he'd ever taken.

Addicted to the sensory marvel of touch, Vail ran his fingertips along the black marble walls leading up to the elevator bays. The iron rings on his fingers clattered. His boots clomped nastily on the marble floor. The unfastened leather buckles on his right thigh swayed like banners.

Chi...

(v1.0)

After the sharp-eyed jay and the roaring lion, peace will come. . . .

Four warrior Clans have shared the land around the lake as equals for many moons. But a prophecy foretells that three ThunderClan cats will hold the power of the stars in their paws. Jayfeather and Lionblaze know that they are two of the cats in the prophecy. Now the brothers must wait for a sign from StarClan to discover the identity of the third cat.

Meanwhile, Dovekit and Ivykit—kin of the great leader Firestar—are poised to become ThunderClan apprentices. Soon one sister will have an ominous dream—and will begin to realize that she possesses mystical skills unmatched by any other cat.

In the midst of a cruel season that threatens the lives of all four warrior Clans, bonds will be forged, promises made, and three young cats will start to unravel the secrets that bind them together.<

SUMMARY: A frantic race to save a long-lost Traveler. An epic battle for freedom. Two brothers whose power puts them on a collision course . . .with each other. InThe Traveler, John Twelve Hawks introduced readers to a dangerous world inspired by the modern technology that monitors our lives. Under constant surveillance of the 'Vast Machine,' a sophisticated computer network run by a ruthless group, society is mostly unaware of its own imprisonment. Gabriel and Michael Corrigan, brothers who were raised "off the grid," have recently learned they are Travelers like their long-lost father part of a centuries-old line of prophets able to journey to different realms of consciousness and enlighten the world to resist being controlled. But power affects the brothers differently. AsThe Travelerends, Gabriel hesitates under the weight of responsibility. Michael seizes the opportunityand joins the enemy. THE DARK RIVER opens in New York City with a stunning piece of news. Gabriel's father, who has been missing for nearly twenty years, may still be alive and trapped somewhere in Europe. Gabriel and his Harlequin protector, Maya, immediately mobilize to escape New York and find the long-lost Traveler. Simultaneously, Michael orders the Brethrenthe ruthless group that has been hunting Gabrielinto a full-scale search. Gabriel yearns to find his father to protect him; Michael aims to destroy the man whose existence threatens his newfound power. The race moves from the underground tunnels of New York and London to ruins hidden beneath Rome and Berlin, to a remote region of Africa that is rumored to harbor one of history's greatest treasures. And as the story moves toward its chilling conclusion, Maya must decide if she will trade everything to rescue Gabriel. A mesmerizing return to the places and people so richly portrayed inThe Traveler, THE DARK RIVER is propelled by edge-of-the-seat suspense and haunted by a vision of a world where both hope and freedom are about to disappear.<

A conclusion to the trilogy that includes The Traveler and The Dark River finds Gabriel coming close to finding his father only to encounter an unimaginable new threat, while his brother Michael, firmly allied with the enemy, endeavors to wrest power from the leaders of the Brethren.<

This raw, moving novel follows two teenagers-one, a Mohawk-wearing 17-year-old violent misfit; the other, a gay 13-year-old cast out by his family, hustling on the streets and trying to survive. Acclaimed author Davida Wills Hurwin creates a riveting narrative told in alternating perspectives of their lives before and after the violent hate crime that changed both their futures. This tragic but ultimately inspirational journey of two polarized teens, their violent first meeting, and their peaceful reunion years later is an unforgettable story of survival and forgiveness. This story is inspired by the real lives of Matthew Boger and Timothy Zaal, who have shared their story on The Oprah Winfrey Show and NPR.<

A sparkling novel about friendship, love, betrayal and money - a modern, witty and wise comedy of manners set among the wealthy elite where a glittering harbour view is the ultimate prize.

Greed, fraud, betrayal and resurrection - this is a search for something to believe in. A search that takes us to a baby-naming, a same-sex wedding and a funeral all performed by Jo Blanchard, newly trained civil celebrant.

Jo - recently single, 45-year-old mother of two - is the former deputy headmistress of Sydney's most exclusive private girls' school - Darling Point Ladies College. A year ago she was forced to abandon her post in a scandal that had all the social set talking. In fact, they're still talking.

Jo is moving on - but with friends like hers, maybe leaving them behind is her only option.<

Who do you trust when you have no one left but yourself?Kenzie is a military trained assassin, hunting her target in Mexico. Cori is a student at the University of Guadalajara. One fateful afternoon their lives will come together under a flurry of gun fire. Questioning the lies around them, they will soon learn that they can not live without each other. On the run from an unknown enemy, they must learn to trust each other, and to believe they'll make it out alive.<

This Boston-based mystery stars smart and sassy Beantown Banner reporter Liz Higgins, who rails at being assigned only light news highlighted in front page teasers. She vows to change that by finding a missing mom and nailing front-page news in the process. Liz's quest takes her into Boston's lively Irish pub/Celtic music scene, the elegant Wellesley landscape, and as far as Fiji. Along the way, she courageously pursues a tangle of clues and falls for two very different men: the enigmatic forensics expert Dr. Cormack Kinnaird and the warmhearted Tom Horton, who pastes ads on the huge billboard that dwarfs Liz's tiny house on the edge of the Mass Pike.<

Lesbian Fiction - Futuristic - Sci-Fi - PRIMERIS WAS a Hubot, designed to serve humans. Her existence depended on her ability to complete her assignments... which she always did with a cold, emotionless detachment. Now, her perfect record was going to be tested to its limits. In her attempts to find and capture Solaria, another Hubot, Primeris is forced to either disobey her directive of obedience or become the human she never wanted to be.The Order of the Healers was exactly that, healers. Their mission was to move humanity forward, even if it meant saving the worst of mankind. Chantelle is a Singer, a member of a small sub-group of Healers, whose latest calling takes her on a mission that will test her gift to its limit, and leave her wondering if her success will lead to humanity's downfall.<

From Publishers Weekly

Few commercial writers are more deserving of their popularity than Harrison ( The Hammer and the Cross ), a fine writer who occasionally reaches brilliant heights. His latest collection boasts moments that rank high, but the overall level is middling. The colloquial "histories" of "Famous First Words" are never less than quaint and at times hilarious, while "At last, the True Story of Frankenstein" stands above most of the myriad variations on Mary Shelley's original. Even in the several pieces (such as "The Pad") that seem to have outlived their day, Harrison's wit is an adequate recommendation. But several tales ("If"; "Mute Million") rely too heavily on their trick-of-the-tail endings, and the lone new story ("Bill, the Galactic Hero's Happy Holidays") is one of the least worthy entries. Diverting if not impressive, this collection is still a pleasant read.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A dozen stories, including an adventure never before published featuring the galactic hero Bill, demonstrate the versatile talents of this prolific sf veteran author (Stainless Steel Visions, Tor Bks., 1993).
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.