Melissa McShane

Calcutta, 1813. Lady Daphne St. Clair, who as an Extraordinary Bounder is capable of transporting herself anywhere in the world with a thought, has longed to serve in the Army for years. But an unexpected weakness at the sight of blood makes her responsible for a good man's death in battle. Unable to serve on the battlefield, Daphne is sent to India to be transportation for the Governor-General's wife and children. In disgrace, Daphne fears she will never achieve the fame and glory she has worked so hard for.A chance encounter with Captain Phineas Fletcher, attached to the Honourable East India Company as a troubleshooter and investigator, leads to Daphne being given a new opportunity: help Captain Fletcher discover the truth behind a series of strange occurrences in the town of Madhyapatnam. Daphne is willing to do anything to restore her reputation, even something as small as Captain Fletcher's investigation. As the days progress, her attachment to the members of the team grows deeper, as does her growing attraction to the captain.But as Daphne and Captain Fletcher dig deeper into the mystery, the truth turns out to be much more sinister than anyone imagined. Dark currents run deep beneath the pleasant surface of Madhyapatnam, and the echoes of a twenty-year-old story threaten not only the Company's rule over the town, but the safety and well-being of everyone in it. Soon only Daphne's talent and courage stand between Madhyapatnam and the evil that threatens to overwhelm it.

London, 1812. Sophia Westlake is an Extraordinary Seer, gifted with the ability to See past, present and future in Dreams and Visions. When she accuses a prominent politician, Lord Endicott, of embezzling from the Army, her Dream is "proved" false and she is disgraced, her reputation ruined. Furious and desperate, Sophia takes the only course left to her: she sets out to discover Lord Endicott's criminal enterprises and bring him to justice. Sophia's allies are few, but loyal. Cecy, her best friend, supports Sophia in her quest, while her cousin Lady Daphne, an irrepressible Extraordinary Bounder, is always ready for a challenge. And always watching her is the mysterious Mr. Rutledge, who claims to be interested in Sophia's friendship-and possibly more than that-but who has an agenda of his own. But as Sophia delves deeper into prophetic Dreams, Cecy and Daphne begin to fear for Sophia's health and sanity. Driven to collapse by her frequent Dreaming, Sophia is forced to reevaluate her motives: does she want Lord Endicott brought to justice, or is it revenge she seeks? Sophia's Dreams and Visions are leading her to just one place: the destruction of Lord Endicott. But the cost of her vengeance may be too high-and may demand the sacrifice of her own life.

A SPOT OF BLACKMAILFor months, Sienne and her scrapper team have faced many challenges in their quest to free Alaric's people from the wizard enslaving them. But when a new, unexpected challenge threatens to end their quest, the companions have no choice but to give in to a blackmailer's demand: retrieve an ancient stone artifact from an abandoned village.Their new adventure takes them north to the edges of the Empty Lands, where monsters roam free and even the land is dangerous. Someone else wants what they're after-someone who will kill to get it. And in a deserted castle past the borders of civilization, the companions encounter evil unlike any they've fought before.A thrilling adventure of powerful magic, dangerous foes, and the triumph of free will.

Men and women come to Castle Always to receive a destiny. Few of those questers survive to return home. Mysterious, difficult to find, and possibly sentient, the Castle keeps its secrets hidden away where no one thinks to look for them. Unlike other questers, Ailanthe just wants to return to her forest home. She travels to the Castle searching for something to send her back, not for a destiny. But the Castle refuses to let her leave-and worse, it wants her dead. With the help of another man trapped by the Castle, Coren, and the mysterious cat Miriethiel, Ailanthe sets out to unravel the truth about the Castle not only to gain her freedom, but to save her life.

The wizard Sienne hopes to make a name for herself as a scrapper-someone who scours the ruins of the Empty Lands for treasure and lost magical artifacts. But first she must find someone willing to take a chance on a desperate beginner.When Sienne finally catches a break, she becomes part of a ragtag group of adventurers-a desperate scrapper named Dianthe, her wizard-hating partner Alaric, the drunk priest Perrin, and a young fighter named Kalanath.But finding the treasure proves only the beginning. They must learn to work together as a team. Their very survival may depend on it.An epic adventure of daring quests, second chances, and the power of friendship.

Zara North, Queen of Tremontane, has the ability to unconsciously heal herself-a magic that also keeps her from aging. Faced with the reality that public knowledge of her magic could destroy her family's dynasty and cost them the Crown, she faked her own death and set out to make a new life for herself, far from the capital and the family she loved. Never settling anywhere for long, Zara became an exile in her own country.Now, sixty years after her "death," Zara's ageless face forces her to leave her home yet again. Wanting something different from the quiet life she led for decades, she sets sail for the distant continent of Dineh-Karit, reclusive and alien. When unexpected catastrophe strikes, it strands Zara and a handful of her fellow voyagers in the jungles of Dineh-Karit. Far from civilization, their only guide a reluctant Tremontanan expatriate who has his own reasons for being there, the castaways struggle for survival and to return home.But Zara, entrusted with a secret by a dying man, finds herself caught between the woman she has become and the Queen she used to be. As an implacable enemy bent on retrieving the secret-a mysterious magical object-draws ever closer, Zara realizes her companions' survival depends on Zara's ability to lead them as she once did a nation. With an identity and a magical secret she still cannot reveal, Zara discovers depths in herself she thought were long gone-and gains a future she never expected.

Sesskia, talented thief and secret mage, has spent the last ten years traveling the world, searching for ancient books that will teach her magic forbidden in her country. When she is magically transported to another world where magic is not only permitted, but celebrated, she wonders if she ever wants to return. With new friends and a chance at a new life, Sesskia feels as if she's finally come home.But catastrophe is coming. Her new home Castavir and the world of her birth are coming inexorably together, heralding near-total destruction for both.The mad God-Empress of Castavir intends to take advantage of the crisis by conquering both worlds-whatever is left of them. Sesskia must work with the Castaviran mages to combine their radically different magics to prevent the convergence from happening and save both her worlds.

The convergence is over, but Sesskia's role in preventing it has left her far from her friends and her husband Cederic.As she tries to travel north to rejoin them, events keep interfering. The mad God-Empress of Castavir is in control of an army that threatens to sweep over the newly rejoined countries of Balaen and Castavir. Men and women who use magic like Sesskia's have sprung up after the convergence, and Balaen's ineffectual king wants to use them for his personal protection. New friends, and new enemies, broaden Sesskia's horizons and challenge her loyalties.Though Sesskia wants only to be reunited with Cederic, she is drawn into the political conflict between two countries lying intertwined with each other, and finds within herself leadership abilities she never could have guessed.

Five years after the defeat of the Despot, the southern country of Santerre has finally recovered from his rule and sends an embassy to Dalanine. Piercy Faranter, government agent and man about town, receives an assignment to watch over the princess of Santerre, who is disguised as one of her own ladies in waiting. It's a task perfectly suited to his charm and reputation with attractive young ladies, but proves to be more of a challenge, both personally and professionally, than he ever could have anticipated.The beautiful Ayane Caligwe seems shy, but Piercy finds behind her coy smiles she's more than a match for him in cunning and cleverness. But when a rogue magician opens a portal to the past, dragging Piercy and his reluctant charge with him, they are both forced to put pretenses aside.Trapped in a time two hundred years before his own, Piercy finds himself embroiled in a mystery whose roots are a thousand years deep. With time running out, he and Ayane must work together to stop the magician's madness-even if it costs them their lives.

Telaine North Hunter, Princess of Tremontane, is beautiful, spoiled, flirtatious, and the center of fashionable society throughout Tremontane.She's also a spy. As an agent of the Crown, Telaine uses her high society connections to gather information for her uncle, King Jeffrey. But when an overheard conversation reveals a sinister plot centered on the Baron of Steepridge, Telaine must pose as a common Deviser in the distant frontier town of Longbourne to uncover the truth. Fresh from her glittering world of the palace, Telaine is completely unprepared for rural life. She must conceal her identity not only from the townspeople, but from the suspicious, corrupt Baron as well. Her only assistance comes from Mistress Weaver, a local woman with an agenda of her own, and Ben, the handsome young blacksmith who reaches out a hand of friendship when others turn away. As the days pass with no success in sight, Telaine's pretense becomes real, and her growing attachment to Longbourne and its people comes into conflict with her mission. She can't keep up the lie forever, but when the truth comes out, will she face it as the Princess-or as an agent of the Crown?

Imogen, warrior of the Kirkellan tribes, has never wanted to be anything else. But when the long war between the Kirkellan and the country of Ruskald ends, the terms of the peace treaty require Imogen to be married to the vicious King of Ruskald for five years. Confined to his freezing city, forbidden to fight, Imogen sees nothing but darkness in her future-until the arrival of Elspeth North, heir to the Crown of Tremontane, brings three countries to the brink of war and sets Imogen free.Now, sent to be the ambassador of her people to Tremontane, Imogen faces new challenges as she struggles to maintain her warrior's identity in a world of glittering ballrooms and foreign customs. As a diplomat, Imogen discovers skills she never knew she had-as well as a forbidden attraction to the handsome and charismatic King Jeffrey North. But when war once again threatens not only Tremontane but her own people, Imogen must decide: is she the warrior, the diplomat-or something greater?

The country of Dalanine, at war with the vicious Despot, turns to young magician Evon Lorantis to solve a mystery: a rash of spontaneously occurring fires that melt stone and vaporize flesh. This weapon could finally defeat the Despot, and they want Evon to harness it.But Evon soon discovers the mystery is far greater, and far older, than anyone imagined. His journey will take him across the country in pursuit of the rogue magician behind the fires and entangle him in a thousand-year-old story-and will irrevocably change the course of his life.

When unquiet ghosts walk the earth, the servants of Atenas, God of Death, guide them to their final rest in His domain. For six years, Zerafine, priestess of Atenas, and her companion Gerrard have walked the known world, bringing peace to the dead and fair judgment to the living. Hated and feared as a death-bringer by many, Zerafine has never regretted her decision to serve Atenas and never doubted her ability to carry out His will.Until now.An unexpected assignment from the Archpriest of Atenas sends Zerafine and Gerrard to Portena, the oldest city in the world, in pursuit of a kind of ghost no one has ever seen before: spirits that vanish before they can be sent to Atenas's court, appearing and reappearing at random. As emissary of Atenas, Zerafine's task is to discover the true nature of these ghosts and find a way to bring them peace. But Zerafine's task puts her at odds not only with the rulers of Portena, but with the high priest of another God, and she soon realizes that all is not as it seems in the great city. If Zerafine fails to learn the truth and put these ghosts to rest, it could mean disaster not only for Portena, but for the world.