Archives par étiquette : THE WHALEN AGENCY

WAR HOUR de Lauren Loscig

When powers are earned and not born, who shall wield them?

WAR HOUR
(The Broken Trials, Book 1)
by Lauren Loscig
Self-published, November 2023
(via The Whalen Agency)

Lysta lives in constant fear of Trialing, a deadly test that bestows an ability upon its victors, but only after pushing their mental and physical limits. Forced to Trial against her will, Lysta becomes a weapon others plan to use against the Untrialed, until an unexpected intruder from another Court presents her with an opportunity to stop it. But can she trust the plans of a man who seems to play the lines between enemy and ally?

Only through treason can Lysta save the people she once struggled beside. With the fate of her Court and the lives of the Untrialed at stake, the burden will fall on Lysta to convince the other Courts to intervene. Not to mention, the Crowns seem to fear the frustrating albeit handsome man who rescued her more than the one she testifies against. Lysta must find her own strength in a world of powers, battles, and court politics while navigating tumultuous relationships and hidden enemies.

Will Lysta save her Court or be ended by it?

Lauren Loscig is the debut author of YA Fantasy, WAR HOUR, first in The Broken Trials series. A lifelong reader and writer, she prefers being enraptured in stories rather than reality, whether that be in books, fanfiction, or her imagination.

HOUSE OF DEVILS de Kayla Edwards

From the author of Dreams of Ice and Iron comes a new fantasy romance perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas, Ilona Andrews, and Cassandra Clare.

HOUSE OF DEVILS
by Kayla Edwards
Self-published, 2022 – 2026
(via The Whalen Agency)

Book #1: CITY OF GODS AND MONSTERS (January 2022)

Welcome to the city of Angelthene. We hope you survive.

Loren Calla has only ever been ordinary. As a human struggling to survive in a city that caters to the needs of vampires, werewolves, witches, and other supernatural creatures, she always assumed her life would remain simple, predictable, and as safe as her world would allow.

Until she barely escapes abduction at the hands of Darkslayers—supernatural bounty hunters that possess the Sight, a magical tracking ability that allows them to see a person’s aura—and one of her friends is taken in her place. The abductors are demanding a ransom: Loren’s life in exchange for her friend’s safe return. Loren will do whatever it takes to get her friend back—even if it means accepting help from Darien Cassel, the leader of the Seven Devils, the most feared Darkslaying circle in the city.

Darien specializes in tracking down demons and criminals that are better off dead than alive, so when he takes a job to track down Loren and finds out she is human—and couldn’t hurt a fly if her life depended on it—he decides to protect her instead of turn her in for a reward. As much as Loren doesn’t want to admit it, Darien is her best and only chance at finding her friend alive, if she can somehow manage to get along with him—and not fall head-over-heels in love with him in the process, which is far easier said than done.

When more women start disappearing, and some of them slowly turn up dead, Loren and Darien’s search for answers takes them deep into Angelthene’s corrupt underbelly, where they discover a dark secret that threatens to unravel their world. And when tragedy strikes, Loren learns that love can make an ordinary person do extraordinary things.

Book #2: CITY OF SOULS AND SINNERS (February 2023)

Something wicked is coming…

In the sequel to CITY OF GODS AND MONSTERS, Loren Calla and Darien Cassel have settled back into their old routines, grateful that the whirlwind of dangers they’d faced on Kalendae and the weeks leading up to it are now behind them—or so they think.

But Loren soon finds herself caught in a new storm of trouble when the Terran Imperator blackmails her into working for him. There’s only one problem: he expects her to use her magic, and she doesn’t seem to have any of it left. To keep Darien and the other Devils safe, she agrees to everything the imperator asks of her. But the secrets she is forced to keep from Darien, and her involvement with the imperator’s son, threaten to drive her away from Darien in ways she might never recover from…

As Randal Slade’s successor, Darien wants nothing to do with the throne his father once sat in, but the city of Angelthene has other plans. The Magical Protections Unit asks for his help in taking down the illegal arms trade his father once dabbled in, and to do that Darien must claim his place at the top of the tiers of Darkslayers—a crown the other circles are willing to kill to possess. As he spirals deeper into the secrets his father kept, he makes enemies of friends and friends of enemies—and finds himself buried so deep in Angelthene’s underbelly that he is uncertain he’ll ever get out of it. And if that wasn’t enough, Darien fears he is going crazy when he starts to see creatures that only he can see…

Return to Angelthene in City of Souls and Sinners, a gripping, action-packed tale that tackles themes of love and loss, light and darkness, and the battle between good and evil—and what happens when you can’t tell which is which.

Book #3: CITY OF LIES AND LEGENDS (March 2024)

When Darkslayer Darien Cassel first took human Loren Calla under his wing, he’d made a promise to protect her from anything. And now that she has fallen into a coma, every day a losing battle to return to life, he is determined to save her.

When he hears rumors of the one place in Terra that houses a secret that just might bring her back to him, he drops everything to try it, leaving behind the city he grew up in and the people he calls family. His decision sets his best friend Maximus Reacher onto a road of his own—one no less dangerous than Darien’s as he unearths the secrets of his past, uncovering a multitude of lies and legends better left buried.

Meanwhile, in the historic city of Yveswich, Roman Devlin of the House of Black gets tangled up with a shapeshifting Selkie of the Riptide, a member of a rival Darkslaying house and a thorn in his side. Shay Cousens is a pickpocket with endless tricks up her sleeve—and if Roman isn’t careful, she might succeed at stealing both his wallet and his heart as they work together to find her missing sister. Their path will lead them not just to Angelthene, but also into the dark secrets of the Phoenix Head Society—and the restorative body of water that has the power to cleave their world in two.

Loyalties are tested, and worlds collide in CITY OF LIES AND LEGENDS, the third installment in the HOUSE OF DEVILS series.

Kayla Edwards is the author of the HOUSE OF DEVILS series— CITY OF GODS AND MONSTERS, CITY OF SOULS AND SINNERS, and CITY OF LIES AND LEGENDS. She is also the author of the upper-YA romantasy novel, Dreams of Ice and Iron. She started writing CITY OF GODS AND MONSTERS when she was in high school, so the characters and the world they live in are very close to her heart. When she isn’t writing, she enjoys traveling, spending time in nature, and binge-watching her favorite television shows with her husband.

THE KINDRED’S CURSE SAGA de Penn Cole

When old secrets catch fire, everything will burn.

THE KINDRED’S CURSE SAGA
by Penn Cole
Self-published, 2023 – 2024
(via The Whalen Agency)

Book 1: SPARK OF THE EVERFLAME (June 2023)

In a mortal world colonized by the gods and ruled over by the Descended, their cruel offspring, Diem Bellator yearns to escape the insular life of her poor village.

Her mother’s sudden disappearance—and the discovery of a dangerous secret about her past—offer Diem an unexpected opportunity to enter the dark world of Descended royalty and unlock the web of mysteries her mother left behind.

With the dying King’s handsome, mysterious heir watching her every move, and a ruthless mortal alliance recruiting her to join the growing civil war, Diem will have to navigate the unwritten rules of love, power, and politics in order to save her family—and all of mortalkind.

Book 2: GLOW OF THE EVERFLAME (July 2023)

An unexpected gift offers the power to change everything. Keeping it could cost Diem her life.

The threat of war has arrived at Diem’s doorstep, along with a new discovery that could save her people. To use it, she must survive the next thirty days by forming a devil’s bargain with the people she hates most: the royal family of House Corbois.

But as she dives into the world of the Descended elite, Diem quickly realizes good and evil aren’t as simple as they seem. Old prejudices are challenged, and new loyalties blur the line between friend and foe.

Meanwhile, her mother is still missing, and the secrets she left behind can no longer be ignored—and neither can the Guardians and their demands. Caught between an old flame and a sizzling new spark, Diem must confront the truth about who she is and what she wants before time runs out.

War is coming, and dangerous enemies wait on all sides.. but the most deadly battle Diem faces may be the one for her heart.

Book 3: HEAT OF THE EVERFLAME (September 2023)

The war has begun. Both sides demand Diem’s allegiance—or her death.

After her disastrous coronation, Diem finds herself at the center of the conflict between the Descended and the Guardians. With her newfound friends and the man she’s falling for on one side, and the mortals she has vowed to protect on the other, Diem must walk a careful line to save the people she loves… even from each other.

The mystery of her unusual heritage begins to unravel, sending Diem and Luther on an unexpected journey across the realms. The answers may hold the key to winning the war, but finding them will require her to face painful truths about her mother, her bloodline, and her fate.

Meanwhile, the Crowns have set Diem in their sights. Some could be her greatest allies—while others want her dead. To end their oppressive reign, Diem must sort friend from foe and risk it all to build an army of her own.

But a powerful figure in the north has plans that could change everything…

Book 4: BURN OF THE EVERFLAME (Spring 2024)

The journey concludes in the final book of The Kindred’s Curse Saga, a four-book epic fantasy romance series that follows our fiesty, bad*ss heroine Diem Bellator in her fight against injustice and oppression, her struggle to survive in a royal palace full of betrayal and intrigue, and her journey of self-discovery and finding true love. This slow burn, enemies-to-lovers series is perfect for fans of unique magic systems, dragons and other mythical creatures, angst and romantic tension, and hilarious banter. This book will appeal to fans of plot-heavy, character-driven romantasy such as A Court of Thorns and Roses, Throne of Glass, From Blood and Ash, Gild, Shadow & Bone, and The Serpent & the Wings of Night.

HOUSE OF BLIGHT de Maxym M. Martineau

The Threadmender Chronicles will appeal to fans of Holly Black and Sarah J Maas, with gothic elements and themes in the vein of Dorian Gray.

HOUSE OF BLIGHT
The Threadmender Chronicles, Book 1
by Maxym M. Martineau
Harper Voyager, TBD
(via The Whalen Agency)

The first book in the series, House of Blight, an adult romantic fantasy about dying immortals with sharp beauty and even sharper tongues, a decaying manor riddled with blight, and one woman with the power to stitch life’s threads back together—at the cost of sacrificing her own lifespan.

Maxym M. Martineau is an article and social media writer by day and a fantasy romance author by night. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Arizona State University, and lives with her husband and fur babies in Arizona.

THE GLITTER YEARS d’Annette Christie

Daisy Jones meets the Beatles documentary Get Back, THE GLITTER YEARS is a multi-POV women’s fiction novel interspersed with band interviews and epistolary elements. It takes place on beautiful Vancouver Island, and is about sisterhood, rewriting history to dig out the truth, and forgiveness.

THE GLITTER YEARS 
by Annette Christie
TBD
(via The Whalen Agency)

The Angies were a musical force in the eighties; a band, comprised fully of women, that were as respected amongst music journalists as they were adored by their far-reaching fans. With a steady stream of hits that married pop, folk, punk, and new wave, The Angies appeared to be unstoppable.

There were plenty of rumors about why the band broke up, about why the four members who were as close as sisters, refused to talk to each other. Now, years later, the truth is poised to come out.

It’s the year 2000. The Angies have been broken up for eight years and their long-time manager, Mack Slate, has just passed away. All four Angies are separately convinced by the manager’s son, James, to do one last concert for his memorial, which will also be presented as part of MTV’s Unplugged series. The concert is to take place in Victoria, Canada on Vancouver Island, the deceased manager’s hometown.

Each of the Angies has her own reasons for agreeing to this concert, and each one has her reasons for abandoning it. As the band reunites and begins rehearsing, fights break out, pain of the past resurfaces. The four women can barely stand to be in the same room together, and the risk of humiliating themselves on the most public of stages is a very real scenario.

But love comes from unexpected places: Ruby and Joanne’s cold relationship warms and turns romantic, Lou begins the difficult road to repairing her relationship with Saskia, and Saskia finds herself falling for James, their late manager’s son, despite it all.

The biggest shock of all is that, reunited, these women have the power to heal each other and themselves.

Annette Christie is the author of For Twice in My Life and The Rehearsals (Little, Brown), and the author/narrator of Love Lessons (Audible Originals). She has a BFA in Theatre and a history of very odd jobs. The back of her head is featured prominently in the film Mean Girls. She currently resides with her husband and two children in Alberta, Canada, where she is probably crying over a sitcom right now.