Casey L. Bond

One Prince. One Witch. One Fate. The upheaval in my life began the moment a prince stumbled into my house and asked me to read his fortune. Any other night, I might have made an excuse to get him to leave, but this was no normal visit. My fingers prickled to touch him. So, I granted his request by handing him a single wishbone. When he snapped it, the wish … bled. Hearing me suck in a shocked breath, he asked what it meant. Such an ominous omen could only mean one thing: his death was imminent. Fate revealed that he wouldn’t die of natural causes. Someone wanted him dead. Stunned by the revelation, the man I now knew as Prince Tauren disappeared into a night I feared he wouldn’t survive. The following day, I received an invitation to the castle. While it seemed the prince believed I could intervene and uncover who was plotting his death, his motives didn’t stop there. I was being summoned to join twelve other women in vying for the opportunity to be his wife and future queen. ​ Going could mean jeopardizing my plans to reclaim my heritage and resurrect the House of Fate. But staying would guarantee Tauren’s death, and the blood of his wish would be on my hands.

Spirit and Stone. Song and Sky. Fate and Future all align. On my seventeenth birthday, I finally heard Fate’s voice. He whispered to me again and again, insisting I find the Omen of Stones. Having never heard of such lore, I thought I could ignore his pleas. The Summer Solstice proved otherwise. Being surrounded by fellow witches worked my magic up into a powerful swell that crashed and churned within me. As the energy crackled through my veins, I shunned my royal duties to follow the call of my heart. Venturing beyond the safety of the Kingdom’s borders, I felt Fate nudging me toward a destiny I was eager to claim. Confidence in my craft blinded me from the ominous clouds of danger that roiled on the horizon. Captured by purists dead-set on purging the Kingdom of magic and witches, my salvation came in the form of a mysterious girl who wielded stones like daggers. Something about her called to me, whispering we were stronger together, strong enough to stand against the dark forces threatening to crush my kingdom. Trusting Fate could jeopardize my heritage and my throne, but defying him could cost Omen’s life.

Dragon. Warrior. Woman. To honor her brother’s dying plea, Vayl Halifex carries a message that might prevent war with the elves: the location of their captive princess. Fortune and circumstance align in her favor and Vayl’s life is forever changed when an opportunity arises that only she can seize. With the help of a matchmaker, she becomes the emperor’s newest concubine. The new role affords her unfettered access to the gilded mountain stronghold, where the princess is rumored to be hidden away. But she won’t take this risk alone. Her brother’s best friend, dragon warrior Estin, calls on the small army of elven assassins he leads to use their magic and might to flank her for the fight to come. The band of dragons takes Vayl into their fold and trains her as best they can before she’s whisked away to the palace. Unbeknownst to the warriors, a dreadful magic simmers in the gilded fortress. With those fiercely protective of the emperor closing in, and the dragon assassins disappearing one by one, Vayl’s chance at escape narrows to a sliver, along with her hope of finding the princess or fighting her way out of the palace. With her heart entwined with that of the dragon warrior she was never supposed to love, she begins to fear the price of her treachery will be her life… or his. Mulan meets The Hundredth Queen in this romantic epic fantasy, perfect for fans of the Throne of Glass series and These Hollow Vows. "Riveting until the very last page." - A. Lonergan, award-winning author of the Crimson Pack Trilogy.

With these three virtues, we shall rise. With these three, we shall conquer. Truth. Honor. Blood. To my people, the sky-reigning Empyreans, Intention Day is sacred… Truth… To me, it’s the day my carefully crafted lie crumbles and my truth gives way to my ruin. The intense power surging through my veins is revealed, immediately coveted by those eager to exploit me for what they deem a greater good. If they have their way, the future I long for will be ripped away. But I am a warrior born to fly. To fight. Not to be caged and controlled. The great scale of the goddess Neera has tipped out of my favor. The pans teeter between weighty punishment and deadly opportunity. My choices? Capture my most formidable enemy before next Intention Day, or forfeit my wings. Honor… But life’s loftiest plans are often a breath away from disaster, and tragedy strikes as unpredictably as a bolt of lightning. When I find myself at the mercy of my greatest enemy, the terror known as the Shark of the Sea, the monster who killed the person I loved most, I accept my fate. My death. But the Shark does not lash out in revenge for all I’ve done. He tells me his true name is Crest. And while he calls me a Scourge, he honors his orders to guard me. Blood… Forced together, Crest reveals that the truth only exists in the place between our perspectives and shares his hope to garner peace before the land is further soaked with the blood of sky and sea. The longer I am among his kind, the more I wonder if he might be right. Could an alliance be the salvation of both our peoples? I am Elira, great Scourge of the Sky. He is Crest, cunning Shark of the Sea. Together… we could be unstoppable.

With these three tenets, we will live. With these three, we will fight. Bravery. Breath. Brine. Bravery. Neera, Goddess of the Sky, claims the war will end in the place where oceans burn. God of the Sea, Talay, believes it to be in the place where skies fall. Yet battles unlike any our people have fought before still wait to be waged. Like it or not, Crest and I find ourselves caught in the middle. Breath. He is The Shark, leader of the Guardians of the ocean. Sworn to protect everything in the salty sea below, his people stake claim to the Isle of Kehlani. As The Scourge of the Sky, I was once his mortal enemy. But he and his people took me in and showed me I’m worth more than the power surging through my veins. For the first time, I feel the sky might not be where I belong. Brine. The great goddess Neera’s scale has tipped out of my favor. Now, losing the feathers in my wings is the least of my worries. It will take every ounce of my cunning and skills to rip myself from the grip of a cruel goddess who would see me cowed and caged. Talay has claimed me for his own, and for that, I am grateful. When the sky descends, thirsty for blood, I will fight. For those I love. For the life I crave. And for him… For him, I will sink the kingdom of the sky. I will drag Empyrean into the depths and delight in watching it drown.

Capture his heart. Steal his crown. Noor is the unwanted, unloved third born of the Aten, chosen vessel of the sun goddess, Sol. While she has no chance at inheriting her father’s title, what she truly longs for is peace from his unrelenting hatred. Hope builds that she may finally be able to claim that reprieve when a missive arrives from the House of the Moon. The new Lumin, chosen of the moon god, Lumos, seeks to broker peace with the Kingdom of Helios for the first time in ages. He envisions open trade routes and an end to archaic rivalries. His dedication to this cause extends to visions of a union between the two families by marrying one of Aten’s daughters, if one of the matches is a fit. Driven by his own twisted agenda, Noor’s father is willing to sacrifice his daughters as pawns to steal the crown for him to further his despotic reign, pitting sister against sister in a brutal battle for power. But Noor must come out the victor, either by capturing the Lumin’s heart or stealing his crown. For whomever wears the crown of moonlight, holds the power of the moon itself. With such strength at her command, she could finally defeat her tyrannical father. Yet this endeavor cannot be accomplished without great sacrifice. As Noor learns more about Lumin Caelum, guilt over her betrayal consumes her, burning hot as the sun itself. If only he wasn’t kind, and selfless, and exactly what she wanted. If only she had greater dominion over her heart… Can Noor carry out her plan and end her father’s vile reign? Or will unlikely alliances allow a new day to dawn? Praise for House of Eclipses: "A gorgeous journey you'll want to take again and again." ~New York Times bestselling author, Wendy Higgins “Stunning world-building, a fierce heroine, gorgeous writing, and a storyline unlike anything you've ever read. House of Eclipses will pull you in until the very last page.” – Celia McMahon, author of The Unspoken Series “House of Eclipses is full of compelling characters, beautiful worlds full of whimsy and wonder, an edge-of-your-seat storyline, a love story for the ages, and an ending that packs in incredible punch.” – Ethan Gregory, One Guy’s Guide to Good Reads

Sometimes witches hunt their own… Someone knows my secret and they’re wielding it as the weapon of my execution. I stand accused of poisoning my Gravebriar coven mate. To my fatal regret, I can’t prove my innocence without revealing the truth I’ve long kept hidden: while every other Gravebriar witch are green witches and healers, my magic lies in poisons. There is one witch who believes me – the same boy who was sent to kill me with instructions to pluck the briars that sprouted from my grave – the only cure for a Gravebriar witch. Forge Silverthorn will be my undoing… or my salvation. He claims there is a malicious plot vining through the witch town of Cauldron that threatens to tighten around my throat in a deadly noose. Promising I can escape by seeking the help of a banished witch who hides our kind in plain sight, he leads me to a dark circus full of witches. The ringmaster will only help us if we agree to join his circus of uncanny tricks and diabolical feats for two nights only, using our magic to thrill his patrons. In exchange for our participation under the big top, he’ll divulge the information I need to save my coven mate and clear my name. But when dark secrets emerge from the shadows of this promised sanctuary, I’m forced to decide if I can truly trust anyone, especially Forge… my would-be executioner, my coven’s sworn enemy, and my could-be love.