Esther K

When Emily Lane isn’t busy running her charming Christmas-themed store, ‘’Under the Mistletoe,‘’ located in the quaint tourist town of Fletcher’s Grove, she finds herself compelled to investigate not so quaint local murders. On the surface, Emily is a perfectly lovely, good-natured puzzle-solver and mystery lover. But she is hiding a secret past that has finally begun to catch up with her, as an old acquaintance arrives to throw a wedge between Emily and Sam’s burgeoning relationship, and worse, threatens to destroy the new life Emily has built for herself.

I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus. Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god. The worst god. Hades. For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus.

The world is about to tilt on its axis. Good versus Evil. Light versus Dark. There's a balance to the world's alignment and every thousand years the Earth Realm, the Fae Realm, and the Spirit Realm collide, igniting a period of rebalancing. And while the empowered sects battle for a stronger foothold and fight to find ways to strengthen their forces, the humans go on living blissfully unaware. Which is good. Blissful ignorance is exactly where we want them to be . . . Well, some of us, anyway. As the volatility rises, the aggressive races protest.

We all make mistakes, but for most of us we die and they're forgotten—not so if you're immortal. For gods and immortals, grudges live forever. One moment of poor judgment, a lack of understanding, or simply being oblivious to what's going on around you can elevate you to the top of someone's to-do list. Be careful who you piss off. Amid murder, ex-lovers, jewel heists, and much, much wine, the Cumhaill fam jam stays the course of fighting the good fight and standing behind our friends. Ni neart go cur le cheile . . . There is strength in unity.

Life is a balance—at least that's what I'm told by people smarter than me. Try as I might to spend quality time with Sloan, family, friends, and companion animals, my magnet of mayhem often has other ideas. Adulting is hard. So when I move an adolescent dragon into my backyard, why don't I anticipate the craziness that will ensue? Maybe Sloan's right and I am ridiculous. I like to think I'm an optimist. Either way, it takes a group effort to figure out the mess we find ourselves in and what to do about it.

Meet Fionna mac Cumhaill, an urban druid coming into her powers and trying to master them. She has a family she didn't know about, a magical heritage laying its claim, and a mystery she apparently needs to solve.

Assuming my role as the druid representative for the Lakeshore Guild of Empowered Ones is both an honor and a curse. It puts me in a position to make important changes in a flawed system but also puts me in the crosshairs of a lot of powerful people. Demons, tricksters, and wizards I can handle, but when my worlds collide and the police get involved, I'm afraid for not only me but the men in my family.

I have family I didn't know about, a magical heritage laying its claim, and a mystery I apparently need to solve. But when a back-alley brawl leaves me marked with a bizarre Celtic crest on my back, I become a beacon for all things whacked and weird.

Lieutenant Commander Beau Ward has too much on his plate. June is acting even quirkier than usual, the space station is malfunctioning, and his growing squadron needs new fighters to fly their missions. Worst of all, finding a lead on who kidnapped Katy is turning up nothing but dead ends. Beau's pilot shortage is eased by a new arrival, and Katy's apprentice may be green but he's stepping up to make her proud in her absence. The search for Katy is further complicated by the Kratch piling on the pressure with regular attacks. But do they have an ally on Uuru?

The peace and calm of Hampton Cove is brutally disturbed when celebrity chef Niklaus Skad, famous for his show Kitchen Disasters, is found cooked in his own oven. The chef wasn't a well-liked man, and there are plenty of suspects to go around. Odelia Poole, Hampton Cove Gazette reporter and civilian consultant to the police department, teams up with Detective Chase Kingsley to catch the killer. Max, Odelia's blorange tabby, would love to help out, but is faced with a cat emergency when Odelia takes in a new stray.