~Eleni
"It doesn't matter how many times you open and close the door, food isn't going to appear miraculously," Aletta said to her sister, Dylan, as the younger woman opened the cupboard for what had to have been the twentieth time that morning. And it wasn't even eight yet.
Dylan sighed. "I'm just so hungry."
Aletta scowled. She was hungry too; it wasn't as if not eating for two days was going to result in anything other than hunger.."
- Alien Warrior's Honour (Book 1, Taurean Mercenaries) by Melody Beckett
NEW RELEASES
Mel Teshco
Her Champion
Book 2, The Unnaturals
Released:
7 August
Sometimes the monster isn't the one you should fear—it's the one you should save.
My name's Adler. I'm not human. Not animal either. I'm something in between. I hate that I look like the cowardly scientists who created me when I possess instincts far more deadly than theirs will ever be. I'm predator, not prey. When my only friend dies from the experimental DNA coursing through our veins, I unleash hell on the lab and everyone in it. But freedom isn't what I expected. My eagle wings are useless, my feathers ripped out one by one over years of captivity. Every shadow could hide those who'd drag me back to that sterile nightmare. Then I find Eden, beautiful and graceful, with a shy smile that makes me forget I'm a monster. Suddenly, I have everything to live for. I just pray my obsession won't destroy us both.
My name is Eden. I've never been anyone special. Just an ordinary woman trying to make the best of an ordinary life, never quite good enough for anyone or anything. Never quite belonging, always apart from everyone around me. Then Adler crashes into my world and everything changes. He makes me feel alive, wanted, electric. He also makes me question everything I thought I knew about myself, including what I actually am. But my instincts scream warning. He's not what he appears to be. When Adler begs me to hide him, common sense should make me run. Instead I open my door. Time will tell if I've just made the biggest mistake of my life...or the best one.
The above cover is by Eleni Konstantine's alter-ego, HelzKat Designs.
Keri Arthur
Dark Secrets
Book 1, The Black Lantern Society
Expected Release:
14 July
An arranged marriage, a missing bride, and a father with dark secrets…
Hanna Kang has been an investigator for the Black Lantern Society—an organisation of witches, werewolves, and vampires who work behind the scenes to right wrongs via whatever means necessary—for nigh on three years, and has certainly done her part in bringing society’s “wicked witches” to justice.
So when she and her shapeshifter partner, Ginny Baker, are given the task of babysitting Monica Ashworth, the pampered only child of one of Canberra’s most prominent witches, she looks forward to the change of pace.
But things go very wrong, very fast.
Monica is kidnapped from under their noses, a bridesmaid is murdered, and another goes missing.
As Hanna and Ginny battle to find the two women before they also end up dead, a mysterious stranger steps in to help Hanna—a man who has no life force but who appears as human as she.
A man she is dangerously attracted to.
With the body count mounting and the lies of all those around them beginning to unravel, it soon becomes clear that revenge, not money, is at the heart of it all.
But Monica and her father are not the only ones holding secrets. Hanna has them too… and hers can kill.
Hardcover version!
Audiobook
Melody Beckett
Alien Warrior's Honor
Book 1, Taurean Mercenaries
Released:
28 April
A warrior with a secret. A woman desperate to find her sister. A twist neither saw coming.
During an alien invasion, slavers take Aletta’s sister, leaving her hunted and alone. She expects death—until Gark, a feared alien mercenary captain, rescues her.
Gark has always denied his mixed heritage, but the instant he scents Aletta, his suppressed side explodes in an uncontrollable mate drive. As they race through the stars to track her sister’s captors, Gark fights the bond, refusing to trap Aletta in a life he knows she doesn’t want.
For a woman who has lost everyone she’s loved, the choice is terrifying. Accept Gark's claim and risk her heart? Or refuse him, and condemn him to the madness of an unrequited mate bond?
Alien Warrior’s Honor is a fated mates sci-fi romance featuring an alien hero burdened by duty and a fiesty human woman who might finally set him free.
Non-spec fic
Mel Teshco
Leopard
Book 5, Sons of the Sheikh
Released:
31 May
His roar is as powerful as his rule
As ruler of the largest province, Sheikh Lyron Al-Habib can't afford distractions. His duty is absolute, his focus unwavering—until his advisor's daughter turns his carefully ordered world upside down.
Niesha is everything a proper sheikha shouldn't be. Wild, untamed, and completely unsuitable for a man of his position. She rides his prized stallions bareback with reckless abandon, her laughter carried away on desert winds like a dare to propriety itself.
Perhaps that's exactly why he wants her so desperately.
Since losing her mother in a tragic accident, Niesha has lived each day as if it might be her last. She knows she's not marriage material—too wild, too free, too wrong for a man like Lyron. But when the powerful sheikh looks at her, she sees something that makes her believe she could be worth sacrificing everything for.
Until reality crashes back in.
He's bound by duty, she's bound by her status, and some distances can't be crossed—no matter how much two hearts might roar for each other.
Some leopards can change their spots. Others must choose between love and legacy.
The above cover is by Eleni Konstantine's alter-ego, HelzKat Designs.
D.K. Hood
Nothing Stays Burried
Book 30, Detectives Kane and Alton
Released:
30 June
Fear grips her as she passes under the last streetlight on the remote highway. Seeing the familiar truck, she thinks she’s safe. But her scream is silenced by a gloved hand before her world goes black…
When Sheriff Jenna Alton and Deputy David Kane investigate a cold case on a remote ranch in Black Rock Falls, what they uncover chills them to the bone. In a shallow grave lies the lifeless body of farm worker Maria Reyes. Jenna’s heart breaks as she sweeps aside the woman’s long dark hair to find purple bruising all over her face.
Interviewing workers at the ranch, Jenna senses hostility and feels eyes watching her. Every instinct screams that something very sinister is happening here and when news breaks that another young woman is missing, her pulse races once again. Jenna knows she’s running out of time to find the girl before she too ends up in a woodland grave.
Jenna and her team work night and day, ignoring the growing threat from the farm workers around them, and soon discover a link between the ranch and an unsolved case where two people were burned alive in a remote cabin. Could a twisted killer have been using this place as a hunting ground for over a decade?
When a call comes in about suspicious activity at an off-the-grid hut in the nearby forest, Jenna knows this is the breakthrough they need. Scrambling her team, she prays that she can catch this ruthless killer before he takes another innocent life. But what waits for her beneath the trees is more terrifying than anything she imagined. Can she find the missing girl and save herself from becoming the monster’s next victim?
D.K. Hood
Whisper Through The Pines
Book 31, Detectives Kane and Alton
Released:
29 September
Branches rip at her clothes as she sprints through the mist, deeper into the pine forest. In a clearing ahead a figure appears and cracks a twisted smile. The girl doesn’t even have time to turn back before her world turns dark…
When Detective Jenna Alton and her deputy, David Kane are called to the dense woods surrounding Black Rock Falls during the Halloween season, they encounter a crime scene that will haunt them for ever. Two teenagers, Avril Lampton and Hank Parker, lie beside the makeshift camp where they had planned to spend a night under the stars, their innocent eyes frozen in fear forever.
Sickened by the sight, Jenna is determined to catch whoever took these two young lives and left nothing behind but the deep pink scratches on the legs of one of the victims. And with acres of forest to search, Jenna has her work cut out for her.
Jenna hits nothing but dead ends until she gets a call that makes her heart pound. A young girl wearing a white nightgown has been seen running for her life through the same patch of woodland. With no thought for her own safety, Jenna races along the perilous mountain pass. But as the girl slips through her fingers and vanishes into the darkness of the pine trees, Jenna knows she’s just walked into a trap.
As light begins to fade and the forest closes in around her, can Jenna stay alive long enough to find the girl and put this twisted hunter behind bars?
If you love to be hooked by a totally unputdownable serial killer thriller, you will absolutely adore this latest book from USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author D.K. Hood. Perfect for fans of Lisa Regan, Melinda Leigh and Mary Stone.
**Each Kane and Alton book can be read as part of the series or as a standalone**
D.K. Hood
The Second Girl
Released:
21 August
One story. Two sides. A deadly secret waiting to be revealed.
I grew up watching actress Isabelle Croft on TV. I idolized her beauty and the way she effortlessly juggled work and family life. So when I got the opportunity to write her memoir, I jumped at the chance.
But the moment I enter Isabelle’s imposing seafront home, I suspect that nothing is quite as it seems. Day after day, Isabelle sits in front of me, carefully watching everything I write, tapping her blood red fingernails on a glass of white wine, whilst giving details of her perfect life.
When I interview Isabelle’s too-charming husband, Linc, he tells me about her jealous outbursts. Every woman is a threat to Isabelle—even me.
I become close to her son, Lucas, who tells me his mother can’t be trusted. As he leans in closer and whispers in my ear, my heart pounds. I’m not the first writer hired to tell her story. The girl before me vanished and was never seen again.
What happened to the other girl? And if I get too close to the truth, will I make it out alive…
An absolutely jaw-dropping psychological thriller from USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, D.K. Hood. Fans of Freida McFadden, Jeneva Rose and Colleen Hoover will be hooked!
This book was previously published as Tell Me Your Lies.
PRE-ORDERS
Mel Teshco
His Predator
Book 3, The Unnaturals
Released:
19 October
She was made to kill. He was made to be her target.
My name is Nyra. I’m the perfect weapon—silent, fast, and deadly. My handler points, I hunt. I don’t use bullets. I use my teeth. My claws. The way nature intended. A gun is a coward’s weapon. My prey deserves to face their predator. It’s simple. Clean. I don’t question the names on my list because I’m told they’re monsters who deserve what’s coming.
Until Barrett.
He’s supposed to be my next target. Another evil man who needs to disappear. But when I get close, nothing adds up. He’s not the monster they claimed. And the longer I watch him, the harder it becomes to make the kill.
My spots are breaking through my skin, my teeth extending, my eyes burning amber with predator fire—a warning I’m losing control. My claws ache to extend. Not to kill him. To protect him.
But my handler is watching. Waiting. And if I don’t complete this mission, we’ll both pay the price.
Some prey should never be hunted. Some predators were never meant to be caged.
Mel Teshco
His Shadow
Book 4, The Unnaturals
Released:
1 December
She sees everyone's future. Until him.
I can see it all—the winning horse, the lucky slot, the doomed man walking. One touch and visions flood my mind, showing me futures I never asked to know. My handler spent everything to own me. I'm his meal ticket, his empire, his obsession. And he'll work me to death before he lets me go.
Every vision costs me. Migraines that split my skull. Nosebleeds that won't stop. My body breaking down, piece by piece, while he grows richer and I grow weaker. Recovery takes days. Days I don't have.
Then I touch him.
No vision. No pain. Just...clarity. My mind sharpens. My body heals. For the first time in my life, someone makes the agony stop.
My handler notices immediately. He pays the stranger to stay close, to speed my recovery so he can use me again. And again. The man who brings me peace becomes the reason I can't escape. Because when he's near, I heal faster—and my master pushes me harder.
I should hate him for it. For being my prison and my relief all at once.
But the longer he stays, the more I see something my visions never showed me—a man who didn't know what he'd agreed to. A man who's starting to care. A man who might be the only one capable of setting me free.
Some shadows were meant to stay hidden. Some futures were never meant to be seen..
The above covers are by Eleni Konstantine's alter-ego, HelzKat Designs.
Keri Arthur
Geitha's Tears
Books 7, Relic Hunter
Expected Release:
9 November
In the game of life and love, can you depend on the old gods to play fair?
In Bethany Aodhán’s experience, the answer to that question would be a definite “hell, no.” But it’s not like she has any real choice except trust that at least some of them are on her side, especially since her father is one of the players in the latest godly game.
When the latest relic hunt leads them back to an ancient Myrkálfar kingdom, it raises yet more questions about her mother, their pixie heritage, and her own developing powers.
Then her tavern is set ablaze, and it becomes increasingly clear that someone wants her out of the way. Someone who isn’t a god, but a competitor for the heart of the man she loves.
Someone who is very determined to win, and may well have Geitha, the Myrkálfar goddess of love and destiny, on their side.
But when it comes to this particular battle, it is one Bethany is determined to win.
Even if it kills her.
Non spec-fic
D.K. Hood
In the Dead of Winter
Book 32, Detectives Kane and Alton
Expected Release:
15 December
The frozen ground crunches beneath her feet as the deadly snap of metal bear trap clamps around her leg. Her scream shatters the silence of the forest, but the monstrous look on the face of the man striding toward her says he hasn’t come to help. He set the trap, and now she is his prey…
As snow swirls around the small town of Black Rock Falls, a lone suitcase is abandoned at the bus station. Sheriff Jenna Alton and her deputy David Kane hold their breath and carefully draws back the zipper. Inside, curled up like a sleeping animal, is the lifeless body of a beautiful young woman.
The victim is divorcee Kate Bell, often seen walking the isolated woodland paths with her dog. It’s clear from the dirt on Kate’s clothing and the deep red lacerations matching the jagged teeth of a bear trap, that she was trapped in the pine forest before being killed and transported here. What kind of monster would do such a thing? And why?
Days later, another suitcase is found in the middle of a frozen lake. Inside, the body of sales assistant Lila Hart, last seen heading into the wilderness with her camera. In Lil’s final photo, Jenna can just make out the grainy figure of a man hidden in the trees, watching and waiting to strike.
With vital clues being lost under a blanket of fresh snow, Jenna must work fast to stop more innocent lives being taken. But a frantic phone call from a woman trapped in the woods, begging for help, has her rushing into a treacherous blizzard. Will Jenna unmask the murderer hunting women in her beloved town? Or will she be the next body delivered home in a suitcase?
GENERAL NEWS
Melody Beckett
Melody has a new look.
D.K. Hood
The Liar I Married is now available n German.
and in French.
D.K has a new 11-book deal with Bookouture. Associate Publisher Helen Jenner acquired World All Language rights, including audio, film & TV, to more books in the popular Kane and Alton police procedural series, which will take the author’s publishing up to 2030.
Keri Arthur
Dark Secrets (Book 1, Black Lantern Society) gets a review by KRL News.
Events for Keri
14 March 2027
A Romantic Rendezvous
Canberra, ACT
A Romantic Rendezvous
Canberra, ACT
Congratulations to our DarkSiders!
Happy reading everyone. Be safe & well.
