Lish McBride

Sam leads a pretty normal life. He may not have the most exciting job in the world, but he’s doing all right—until a fast food prank brings him to the attention of Douglas, a creepy guy with an intense violent streak. Turns out Douglas is a necromancer who raises the dead for cash and sees potential in Sam. Then Sam discovers he’s a necromancer too, but with strangely latent powers. And his worst nightmare wants to join forces . . . or else. With only a week to figure things out, Sam needs all the help he can get. Luckily he lives in Seattle, which has nearly as many paranormal types as it does coffee places. But even with newfound friends, will Sam be able to save his skin?

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling's curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother's choosing before her eighteenth birthday. Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family's cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom. Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother's debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

Faolan Kelly’s grandfather is dead. She’s alone in the world and suddenly homeless, all because the local powers that be don’t think a young man of sixteen is mature enough to take over his grandfather’s homestead…and that’s with them thinking Faolan is a young man. If she revealed that her grandfather had been disguising her for years, they would marry her off at the first opportunity. The mayor finds a solution that serves everyone but Faolan. He hires a gunslinger to ship her off to the Settlement, a remote fort where social outcasts live under the leadership of His Benevolence Gideon Dillard. It's a place rife with mystery, kept afloat by suspicious wealth. Dillard's absolute command over his staff just doesn't seem right. And neither do the strange noises that keep Faolan up at night. When Faolan finds the body of a Settlement boarder, mangled by something that can’t possibly be human, it’s clear something vicious is stalking the palisades. And as Settlement boarders continue to drop like flies, Faolan knows she must escape to evade the creature’s wrath.

Will Murphy spends his down time doing subversive cross stitch, crafting saucy baked goods for the romance book club he attends with his Nana, and desperately trying to hide the fact that he’s been in love with Vanessa Woodbridge for, well, ever. For years, he’s been content to wear the best friend label. But suddenly it’s starting to chafe, right when Vanessa needs a trusted friend more than ever. Vanessa Woodbridge wants to be a hedge witch more than anything, but her chances of becoming one are laughable. Her father’s pride stands between her and her dream of crafting helpful potions and magical edibles at Wicked Brews, not as an employee, but as a partner. The Woodbridge patriarch has forbidden her from a career path that is, in his opinion, beneath their magical family legacy. She might not care about his feelings, but without his signature, Vanessa can’t sign up for the classes she desperately needs to learn essential hedge witchery. She’s ready to give up, but with Will at her back, she finds the courage to fight for what she wants. She’s never been able to count on her dad, but she can count on her best friend. Will’s her rock. He would never crumble. Only Will feels like he’s doing exactly that. He’s falling apart inside and he’s not sure how long he can keep up the façade of the calm, platonic, best friend. But for Vanessa? He’d do anything to help her get her dream… Even if it costs him the one thing he cherishes most. Her. Author's note: a misprint of this book went out, both on Hoopla (not hoopla's fault) and in some print editions. If you read or received a copy of Rough Around the Hedges and it was less than 300 pages, or if the summary on the back of the book is for A Little Too Familiar, you have a misprint edition. Please return it and notify wherever you got it from. If you can't return your copy, please notify the author. Thank you and I'm so sorry for this mess.

Louise Matthews has got it good. Wonderful job? Check. Loving family? The best. Roommates? Pretty fantastic, thank you. All of this helps her stay focused on what she wants: to finish out her apprenticeship and become a fully licensed Switch - an animal mage who bonds familiars to their witches. Only a problem has just moved in - a hot, occasionally wolf-shaped problem. Declan Mackenzie doesn't want to be a lone wolf, but he doesn't have a choice. Girlfriend? Gone. Sister? Starting a new life. Parents? In prison where they belong, thankfully. All he wants is a fresh start - a new home, new job, new life. What he gets is a house full of witches, a fledgling phoenixe named Dammit, and rogue ferrets who won't stay out of his business. And he could handle all of that if it wasn't for Louise. It's not great to crush on your roommate, it's even worse when you realize she wields the kind of magic that sends you running for the door. Still, Declan is no pup, and he's not going to let this set him back. Until the past comes back to haunt him - the parents he put in jail have busted out. They want revenge. And the only thing standing between them and Declan is Louise and the very magic he vowed never to go near again.

With the defeat of the evil Douglas behind him, Sam LaCroix is getting used to his new life. Okay, so he hadn’t exactly planned on being a powerful necromancer with a seat on the local magical council and a capricious werewolf sort-of-girlfriend, but things are going fine, right? Well . . . not really. He’s pretty tired of getting beat up by everyone and their mother, for one thing, and he can’t help but feel that his new house hates him. His best friend is a werebear, someone is threatening his sister, and while Sam realizes that he himself has a lot of power at his fingertips, he’s not exactly sure how to use it. Which, he has to admit, is a bit disconcerting. But when everything starts falling apart, he decides it’s time to step up and take control. His attempts to do so just bring up more questions, though, the most important of which is more than a little alarming: Is Douglas really dead?

The Necromancer Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and Necromancing the StoneThe two books of Lish McBride's popular Necromancer Series are available together for the first time! Perfect for current fans and new fans alike.Hold Me Closer, Meet Sam, just your average guy rocking that fast-food career. Well, until he finds out he's a powerful necromancer, and the other necromancer in town isn't happy about that at all...Necromancing the Sam's necromancer rival is gone, and things have settled into a routine. If you can call total chaos a routine, of course.Includes bonus chapters from Lish McBrideFirebug!