A YA Mythological Romance
From H. L. Burke and Uncommon Universes Press
A healing touch. A hideous face. A looming curse.
As the ugly twin to a perfect sister, Princess Laidra lives her life in the shadows—until her parents offer her as bait for a giant serpent.
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Her escape attempt leaves her shipwrecked on a secluded island with only one inhabitant: Prince Calen, who lives under a curse. If anyone looks upon him, he turns into a giant serpent. Speaking to him in the darkness, Laidra sees past the monster to Calen’s lonely soul, and she determines to free him from the magic’s hold.
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But if Laidra can’t break the curse in time, Calen will become a mindless creature of scales and fangs forever.
A YA Fantasy Adventure
In Gelia City, magic is music: a constant ever-changing melody known as the Strains. Hereditary ability to use the Strains divides the city into two classes: the wealthy Highmost, who can access the full potential of the Strains, and the Common tradesmen, who are limited to mundane spells, known as beggar magic. With the help of the Strains, Common teen Leilani rescues and befriends a gifted Highmost girl, Zebedy. The girls’ friendship opens Leilani’s eyes to the world of the Highmost.
As their unlikely friendship strengthens and endures, Zeb draws Leilani further into the Highmosts’ intrigues. Beneath the polished, academic facade of the Highmost manors lurks a threat to the Strains. An unknown force consumes their music, leaving only heart-rending silence behind. Leilani and Zeb will do anything to save their beloved Strains, but as the silence grows, they face danger their previously sheltered lives could never prepare them for.
Second Place in the CIAN Book of the Year: Fiction Category
A YA Fairy Tale Romance
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Stuck in a humiliating position as the Royal Kennel Guard, Sir Percy sees little hope for anything other than an obscure fate. After all, in the Kingdom of Ithelia, you need a fairy to guide you to greatness, and fairies just don't bother with knights like him.
However, when Percy catches the eyes of the sheltered Princess Matilda, his world expands in new and frightening ways.
A victim of an ill-planned Christening, Matty has spent her life in a locked tower, hiding from pixie attacks. Now she'll do anything to escape. And if that means dragging Percy along for a cross country search for Prince Charming, so be it.
But not all Prince Charmings are what they seem, and as Matty's plight grows more desperate, Percy finds himself losing his heart. Does a lowly knight have what it takes to uncurse a princess?
A deadly disease. A vanishing remedy. A breathless journey.
All her life, Niya's known she will die young from the fatal rasp. She survives only with the aid of vitrisar spice and a magical, curmudgeonly fire salamander named Alk. Then an ambitious princess burns down the vitrisar grove in an effort to steal Alk so she can claim her rightful throne. Joined by Jayesh, a disgraced monk, Niya and Alk must flee to the faraway Hidden Temple with the last vitrisar plant, or all who suffer from the rasp will perish.
But even as Niya’s frustration and banter with Jayesh deepen to affection, the rasp is stealing away her breath and life.
For a girl with limited time and a crippling quest, love may be more painful than death.
The secret lies with the Heart.
Born with a magical knack for manipulating emotions, Leodora's only dream is to ensure her talented little sister dances on the biggest, brightest stage in the Republic: The Curiosity, a grand old theater of tradition and innovation. After escaping a cruel carnival, Leo secures her sister a place in the Curiosity’s chorus line, and herself a job as a professional audience member, swaying the crowd's mood with her magic. The girls have a home for the first time in their lives.
Then a tragic accident darkens the theater. A greedy businessman begins blackmailing Leo, and financial woes threaten to close the show forever. The Curiosity's sole hope lies in a mythical power source hidden beneath the maze-like passages and trapdoors of the theater—the Heart. And Leo’s only friend Paxton, nephew of the theater's stagemistress, is the key to finding it.
While Leo and Paxton hunt for the Heart, the blackmailer’s threats loom larger. Mysterious figures, cryptic clues, and deadly traps hinder the search at every turn. If the friends cannot recover the Heart in time, Leo and her sister will be cast out of the only home they’ve ever known, and the final curtain will fall on The Curiosity.
Enter a world reminiscent of The Greatest Showman, with a puzzle worthy of Sherlock Holmes and National Treasure, in this new Steampunk Fantasy from H. L. Burke.
Stealer of warmth, bringer of death. What if Cinderella had a secret that kept her locked away?
Unable to make her own body heat, foundling Lizbete survives in the tavern kitchen, drawing warmth from the fires, the sun—and sometimes, other living beings. Her days are spent cooking alongside the tavern owner and avoiding the suspicious gazes of the villagers in her small northern town. While she quietly longs for the handsome Brynar, she knows she has no chance with the mayor’s son, even if he invites her to the First Frost festival.
When sudden earthquakes strike Brumehome, blame falls upon Lizbete, and not even her friendship with Brynar can protect her. She finds shelter in the dangerous caverns of nearby Ash Mountain. There she discovers mysterious people with her same ability to draw heat—and a fiery doom in the mountain that slowly awakens with every quake.
Now the festival Lizbete thought to avoid is her only chance to warn the villagers. Yet even with Brynar at her side, can the strange girl dubbed the Ash Lizard hope to save the town that fears her?
A rugged YA Cinderella retelling set in a fantasy world with light steampunk elements.
Jake's family ties have turned to cuffs.
Born with the ability to fragment his body at a molecular level, Jake Lucas has devoted his life to his uncle's supervillain gang. When he's captured by superheroes, he's certain his life is over at only sixteen.
To Jake's surprise, he doesn't end up in prison but at Camp Sable: an intervention project for at-risk super powered teens. Jake's not interested in rehabilitation. As far as he's concerned, the camp mentors are just a barrier between him and his true family, the Sand Fox gang.
Forced to work alongside the likewise screwed up duo of fire-powered Marco and electricity manipulator Laleh, Jake waits for the perfect escape opportunity. Having friends and the chance at a real family is more appealing than Jake originally thought, but going soft can cost a supervillain his life. Jake soon finds the forces fighting to control his life threatening to tear him apart.
Will Jake choose to remain the villain his uncle made him, or become the hero his new friends think he can be?
A Young Adult Superhero series featuring found family, friendship, and one superpowered ferret.