Who knows what the year has in store for us? Anything could happen. But there are a few things I do know, as far as book releases go.
February and March: THE PORTAL
Feb. 4th Legacy of the Witch: eBook only
Feb. 25th Mark of the Witch: eBook & paperback Paperback will include Legacy of the Witch March 11th Daughter of the Spellcaster: eBook & paperback
March 25th Blood of the Sorceress: eBook & paperback
eBook editions are Kindle exclusives
Paperback editions available wherever books are sold
About THE PORTAL
The Portal was published by MIRA Books a decade or so ago. For years they'd been gathering dust until at last, the rights expired, and I was able to rescue these books and bring them home.
The Plots
These were the stories of three sisters who were slaves in the harem of a Babylonian king. But they committed the unforgiveable crimes of practicing magic, an act reserved for the high priest alone, and of falling in love. Not with the king. Indira fell for a young priest in training, Lilia for the King's first soldier, and Magdalna for his only son.
Their actions then resulted in a curse they've waited lifetimes to remove. As they reunite and begin to remember, other element of that past life return as well, including the men they loved and lost, and the evil that tore them apart.
Prequel Novella: Legacy of the Witch
Amarrah inherits an ancient box from her dying grandmother, and recalls stories about the little slave girl Amarrah, her namesake and ancestor, charged with keeping the witches' box safe until one day, the witches returned to claim it.
The box is taken from her and her quest to get it back leads her to Sergeant Harry Brockman and memories of loving him in another life.
It turns out she's not the only one trying to take the box from him. And the others are willing to hurt anyone who gets in their way.
Book 1: Mark of the Witch
While Demetrius, the soldier who'd betrayed the king by loving his favorite harem slave, suffers to the point of madness in an underworld prison, Indira Simon, humble flower arranger, starts having memories of being bound and sacrificed to an ancient Babylonian god. And when she wakes up, there are real rope burns on her wrists.
Her sisters, women she's never met in this lifetime, will soon begin remembering their past together too. And the sexy priest who shows up saying he can help her, might be on the wrong side.
Book 2: Daughter of the Spellcaster
Magdalena's prince had been racing home across the desert on the day she'd been executed while carrying his child. Now, today, she is again expecting. But dark forces have plans for her baby, and she might not be strong enough to fight them on her own.
As labor sets in, something evil possesses the people she trusts most and prevents her from leaving town. Magdalena can't even trust her own mother. Dare she trust Ryan, her baby's father, the reincarnation of the prince from her past? Despire her vision of him plunging a golden dagger into her chest?
Book 3: Blood of the Sorceress
Lilia has been waiting between the worlds for Demetrius to return to physical form, and when he does, he brings otherworldly powers with him. But he's only partly alive. He can't feel. Can't experience the pleasures of delicious food or mind-blowing sex. His senses are muted because he's still missing a part of his soul.
The part Lilia holds.
To reclaim it, Demetrius will have to give up powers and even his immortality. He'd become an ordinary human again.
The high priest who murdered the sisters long ago has returned as well, and he iintends to sacrifice the witches all over again. Unless Demetrius makes the right choice in time, nothing will be able to stop him.
If you missed these books the first time around, you're not alone.
I've just re-read the full series in prepping them for re-release, and they hold up beautifully. They're real page-turners, and my proofreader raved all the way through each of them, too. (What a great proofreader, leaving such notes on the margins. "I'm in tears!" "I'm hyperventilating!" and so on. I love you, lady.)
Anyway some quick facts about The Portal.
It's a complete series, one novella, three novels, big fat ones previously published by MIRA.
Each book is a complete story of its own, but also part of the larger story made up of the four together.
The order here is the order in which they're designed to be read, Legacy of the Witch first, followed by Mark, Daughter, Blood.
The paperback pre-orders take a lot longer to get operational, as they cannot go live until the final manuscripts is uploaded, due to printers needing the exact spine width. So it's often very close to release day before I get pre-order links listed for the paperbacks.
eBook pre-orders are up and operational now.
The paperbacks will be everywhere. Any bookseller can get them as they'll be distributed through Ingram, the distributor most booksellers already use. Barnes and Noble will have them, as will Amazon, Books-a-Million, and all the booksellers with Bookshop.org.
There's a dedicated page here on the website for The Portal series.
The video will be re-worked and re-released when I find time
More in 2025
Also coming in 2025, the next book in The Texas Brand: Generations, HONKY TONK COWBOY. It's Bubba/Ethan's story. I'm not comfortable giving you a release date just yet, but give me a few more weeks and I'll be close. I'm about a third of the way through the first draft. That's too soon. It's still the first trimester.
We are also expecting a 2025 release date for THE SOLDIER'S SECOND CHANCE, in the McIntyre Men series. This is the second in the subset of books about the Wakeland family, co-written by my daughter Jessica. She does first draft, and I do second, and she's close to finished with this one. We have one more book planned after this one to complete that subset.
After those projects, I don't know. I can't think further ahead until we get these things wrapped up, but six titles feels like a good year's work for me!
Of course I have more Wings in the Night in mind, and I'm mulling how and in what format I can best squeeze that in. I want to do Roland's backstory next, as I did Rhiannon's.
That's a wrap!
My 2024 titles were HARRISON HYDE AND THE RUNAWAY BRIDE and THE MERMAID MURDER. (Those titles are pictured in the image below.)
Oh yes, I have more Brown and de Luca planned, too. Stay tuned.
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