Today we feature the spotlight many authors - LJ Swallow, Donna Maree Hanson /
Dani Kristoff, Leisl Leighton, Carolyn Wren, Christina Phillips,
Melinda Sørensen, Theresa Fuller, and M.L. Tompsett.
"CHAPTER 1It behoves you to prepare yourself, physically and mentally, for the study of the lore of magic and its practice. A good magician is always ready to face the unknown and unseeable forces of this world and shape them to his will.
-Wilbur Hardcastle
The British Museum Tavern, Bloomsbury, London, Autumn, 1858
Edward Huntington pushed through the tavern door, the damp hem of his coat slapping against his trouser legs. Lowering his upturned collar, he cast his gaze around the room. The pub was crowded, requiring him to angle sideways to squeeze past bodies to achieve the bar. Tobacco smoke curled up to the low ceiling, cigar, cigarillo and something else. Voices loud and low filled the air. Lips moving in conversation, mouths opening to pour down light beer or dark ale."
- Gentleman Magician (Cry Havoc Novella) by Donna Maree Hanson
NEW RELEASES
Donna Maree Hanson
The Founder's Legacy
Released:
30 June
The Founders created them free and equal.
In the domed habitat of Frequil, sixteen-year-old Tal 455 is now an adult. Like every sihem—a genderless human engineered by the Founders—Tal has been raised to value harmony and the collective good, where every citizen has a place.
When Tal proposes an experiential history machine to explore Frequil's origins, the ruling council reluctantly approves it under strict supervision. Paired with Gen 456, a certified genius, Tal begins uncovering fragments of the Founders’ world that were never meant to be seen.
Hidden among the archives are stories of men and women living in a society with different rules. Fascinated, Tal and Gen use their machine to experience a forbidden past—and begin questioning everything they have been taught about themselves.
They were created to be equal…not different.
Buy
Ebook
Paperback
Donna Maree Hanson
Gentleman Magician
Cry Havoc
Gentleman Magician
Cry Havoc
Released:
10 September
Manners, magic and mayhem
Edward Hardcastle Huntington, budding scientist and inventor, is coming to terms with his new life as a country gentleman... and as something more. He has inherited his cousin Wilbur's Sussex estate, with its idyllic grounds and wonderful laboratories, but also the family's occult legacies and trove of esoteric knowledge. Edward's kind heart and growing magical prowess will ensure he won't get to enjoy this restful new life for long.
War has taken Lieutenant Ambrose Fulton's arm and leg, and with them his will to live. Edward is determined to put both science and magic to work to make new limbs for his patient. But he has also stumbled into the enmity of a malevolent magical cult, who have abducted and threatened an innocent young lady who has sought his help.
Battling to restore Fulton's body and spirit, battling to rescue Miss Trent from the cult that is going to sacrifice her to the dark one, battling to understand the cryptic admonitions in Wilbur's writing... The life of a Gentleman Magician was clearly never meant to be easy.
Leisl Leighton
The Blood and the Sire
Book 2, Blood Rites
Released:
14 July
A forever love, a terrible secret, a bond that could destroy them …
The sight blind witch Ardenne gained when she was forced to drink her mother Anita’s vampiric blood haunts her. With every day she is forced to use other people’s eyes to see, the longing for her true sight grows. And it makes her every achievement feel like ash in her mouth even though she knows it shouldn’t. The need to gain her true sight is starting to become an unrelenting drive she can’t let go even though it seems to be affecting her lover, Gabriel.
Gabriel is being driven mad. His hunger is a rampaging beast inside him, his need to hunt what he truly needs to feed on something he shouldn’t deny. But he has to. Because he can’t leave Ardenne. Even though he knows part of what is making her so unhappy is all the secrets he cannot share with her because of the locked door in his mind. A door he cannot open, not even for her because dangers linger there that could destroy everything good in his life, including Ardenne.
But denying his needs is bringing closer the one thing he and Lord Hei have fought against all these years: the secret of the Forbidden and what truly lies at the heart of Mary Middleton’s prophecy about Ardenne. It is allowing Anita access to Ardenne’s mind and if she succeeds in exposing those secrets to Ardenne, it could set the blind witch given sight on a path that could bring death and destruction to them all.
Perfect for lovers of J.R. Ward, Kresley Cole, Nalini Singh and Sherrilyn Kenyon.
If you love stories with kick-ass witches, hot vampires, fated mates, discovering magical powers, prophecies and Chosen One narratives, all mixed with sizzling sexual tension and a powerful romance, then the hotly awaited second book in the Blood-Rites Series, The Blood of the Sire, is the story for you.
Melinda Sørensen
short story 'Waiting For You' is in Jellybeans: Sweet Treats Anthology
by the Romance Writers of Australia
Released:
22 August
Jumping jellybeans! The Romance Writers of Australia presents the 2026 Sweet Treats anthology with sixteen short stories that will make you cheer and cry with a mix of friends to lovers and second chances as you indulge in your next afternoon read.
COVERS
has a new cover!
have new covers!
Escape to the 9th century with these HOT medieval romances with a guaranteed happily-ever-after! Tough Highland warriors meet their match with their pagan Pict princesses, who bring them to their knees…
LJ Swallow
writing as Lisa SwallowEnd Game
has a new cover!
A rivals-to-lovers spicy romcom packed with witty banter, geeky humour, and a gaming flavour.
Unmask My Online Nemesis: Quest Accepted
I'm one of the best players in the game, but offline in Australia I'm still stuck in the starting zone. Nobody gave me a walkthrough for real life, and I've no idea where I'm going. In-game, everything is predictable and achievements are easy.
Until he logs in.
A knight in shining armor invades my online world. The arrogant player calls himself Thorsday, never misses a chance to declare he's better than I am, and drives me absolutely insane. But somewhere between the boss fights and the banter, our rivalry starts to phase into something more.
The secretive guy refuses to share a single real-life detail until our guild meetup at a cosplay convention. Now, the digital armor is coming off. Is my online nemesis a blond-haired, blue-eyed Aussie with a god complex, or something completely different?
He’s fiercely guarding the walls around his life outside the game, and I’m terrified of what happens when the ones between mine and reality crumble.
If our online friction sparks the same heat in person, I’m walking straight into the fire.
My heart doesn't stand a chance against a critical hit.
End Game is a chaotic, heartfelt, and spicy romcom featuring:
Gamer rivals to real-life lovers
Hidden identity
Cosplay
An Aussie hero who (secretly) falls first
Witty banter & geeky humour
Slow burn to spicy
Australian setting
A heroine who lives life in challenge mode
Deep emotional stakes
Leisl Leighton
Witch Cursed
Book 6, Gods Cursed
A lost love, an unknown child, a curse that threatens them all …
Loki is thrilled to find his lover and her sons didn’t die horribly at Zeus’ hand thousands of years ago but were transported through time by his mentor Demeter, their memories stripped and their powers shielded by an ancient spell. That joy soon turns to ashes when he realises he can never tell Daphne who she is and what they were together unless he wants to unleash an ancient terror on them all. He can’t even claim her youngest son, Gideon, as his own child – a pain that strikes close to his damaged heart.
Until a few months ago, Daphne Edmonds never knew magic existed, let alone that Gods and Goddesses roamed the earth. But when her best friend is outed as an ancient God and his family and friends turn out to be witches, demi-Gods and Cupids, she has no choice but to accept. However, when she and her sons begin to change into creatures of myth, she can’t help but place the blame solely at the feet of one particular, very annoying and far too attractive God of Mischief.
Despite all Loki’s efforts to hide the truth, the ancient witch curse that plagues his life seems to want to make things exponentially worse. When Daphne and her sons begin to change into creatures of legend, it’s not only Zeus’ wrath he has to worry about – but the ancient evil that will seek to use them to help it destroy everything Loki has spent his life protecting.
For lovers of Sherrilyn Kenyon, Nalini Singh, Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter.
If you love action-packed stories with fated mates, hot heroes, witches discovering their powers, second chance romance, curses, dragons and meddling gods and goddesses all wrapped up with a sexy HEA, then Witch Cursed is the story for you.
Christina Phillips
The Highland Warrior Chronicles
SALES
Donna Maree Hanson
Ruby Heart
Book 1, Cry Havoc
on sale for limited time!
A book of manners, magic and mayhem.
After her father is murdered, budding scientist Jemima Hardcastle is packed off to boarding school by her guardian and heir to Willow Park, Edward Huntington. When they finally meet again at a house party, four years later, Edward doesn’t recognise his ward and the two share a flirtation that is broken when Jemima confesses her true identity. The murder of another party guest and the theft of a precious gem interrupt any chance they have to resolve their feelings. Edward coldly ships Jemima off once more – this time back to her old home. At Willow Park, under the chaperonage of the odious Aunt Prudence and meek cousin Milly, Jemima is expected to concentrate on her needlework. Instead, she finds a friend in Edward’s man, Fulton, who shows her the artificial leg his employer built for him. Impressed by this revelation of scientific genius and generosity, Jemima’s esteem for Edward rises and she longs to see him again — but he does not arrive home as planned. When she discovers he has been abducted, Jemima plans a rescue, but unbeknownst to her, Edward is a gentleman magician and his devices have more than science on their side. She and Fulton plunge into London’s hidden world of dark sorcery as they search everywhere for Edward — in the slums, manufactureys, and even a bawdy house until Jemima’s life is on the line.
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Leisl Leighton
The Blood and the Seer
The Blood and the Seer
Book 1, Blood Rites
on sale for limited time!
If you love stories with kick-ass witches, hot vampires, enemies to lovers, fated mates, grumpy-sunshine, discovering magical powers, prophecies and Chosen One narratives, all mixed with slow-burn sizzling sexual tension and a powerful romance, then The Blood of the Seer is the story for you.
Her blood carries ancient secrets. His blood carries her death …
Blind student, Ardenne Bartolli, has worked hard to prove herself worthy to be the next Prime to Vampire King, Lord Hei. Despite all the naysayers—the extremely rude and annoyingly attractive vampire, Gabriel, being foremost among them—she is determined to prove that her blindness will not hamper her ability to help Lord Hei fight the vampire cults.
Ancient vampire Gabriel has given his life to bringing down the evil that wants to turn the humans into blood-slaves. But when he is bonded to Ardenne by magics he doesn’t trust, his life upends. The ancient prophecy about the vampire and the blind witch is clear—a union between them could mean the end of everything he has fought to save; or it could mean he gets everything he never dared hope for. It’s safer to avoid her at all costs.
But Ardenne and fate have something else in mind.
A voice comes to Ardenne, telling her there’s a prophecy that ties her to Gabriel, and if she doesn’t uncover the truth of who she is, she won’t be strong enough to face the war to come. If that happens, doom, not love, will be her destiny.
Christina Phillips
Redemption
Redemption
Book 1, Realm of Flame and Shadow
on sale for limited time!
He saved me from abduction. But he can’t save me from a broken heart.
When Aurora accidentally triggers the wrath of the terrifying Guardians, only the quick thinking of an arrogant stranger saves her life. But Gabe is no ordinary guy. He’s a lethal archangel, and in his world his power is absolute and deadly reputation legendary. She needs to go home, not just because she doesn’t belong in the realm of immortals, but because the longer she’s with Gabe, the harder she’s falling for him.
And angels don’t fall in love with mortals.
I’m a mercenary for hire. If the price is right, I’ll do anything. Anything but fall in love again.
Betrayed by humans countless centuries ago, Gabe doesn’t trust any of them. But there’s something irresistible about the way Aurora questions his every word and refuses to accept she can never return to her own world. He’s pledged to keep her safe, not in his bed. Yet her touch is electrifying and the closer they get, the more he craves her.
But he’s an archangel, and she’s only a fragile human. So why can’t he get her out of his mind?
As danger stalks them, a devastating secret threatens to destroy everything they’ve ever believed in. But with time running out before the Guardians strike, the only way to survive might be the one thing that tears them apart forever.
GENERAL NEWS
LJ Swallow
LJ has a new logo!
Donna Maree Hanson
Donna was interviewed by The Cozy Chapter Bookstore on YouTube
about the Orchards Authors book signing.
Carolyn Wren
Carolyn was a finalist for the HOLT Medallion in the Dark Romance Category by
the Virginia Romance Writers for:
Silent Memory
and
Stolen Memory
Carolyn was also a finalist of for the Unpublished Speculative/Paranormal section of the Stiletto Awards
by the Contemporary Romance Writers
Theresa Fuller
EVENTS
Donna Maree Hanson / Dani Kristoff
is expected to be at the following events:
Orchards and Authors (The Cozy Chapter)
Donna Maree Hanson / Dani Kristoff and M.L. Tompsett
are expected to be at the following event:
A Romantic Rendezvous
Donna Maree Hanson / Dani Kristoff and Leisl Leighton
are expected to be at the following event:
Leisl Leighton and Carolyn Wren
are expected to be at the following event:
Leisl Leighton
is expected to be at the following event:
ATL Con 2027
~~~~
Congratulations to our DarkSiders!
Happy reading everyone. Be safe & well.
