Kristie Cook's Blog, page 8

We're less than 2 weeks away from The Space Beyond's release! Eek! Betas have all called it my best book yet. They also swore a lot in their feedback with everything that happens. I read "holy shit" a lot and many f-bombs. If you've thought my books have taken you on an emotional roller coaster ride before, this one surpasses them all. While Wrath was emotional and heartbreaking, The Space Beyond goes further...although in a different way. It's intense, deep, and a little dark. But with several LOL moments sprinkled throughout. I can't wait for you to read it!


I've posted bits and pieces of Chapter 1 over the last couple of months, both here and on Facebook, but not the full thing. So, here it is.

***WARNING: SPOILER ALERT***

If you haven't read The Space Between, you don't want to read this! It picks up from the end of the first book, and I'd hate to have that ruined for you. The Space Between is still on sale for only 99c, so it's a perfect time to get it and catch up before May 19th.


Where to Buy: Amazon USAmazon UKB&NiBookstoreKobo

Chapter 1Jeric
Sea-green eyes. Caramel-colored curls. Tip of a pink tongue swiping over full lips. Small body with curves in all the right places. Skin the color of dark honey that tasted just as sweet. The vision of my Twin Flame filled my mind several seconds before her physical self would fill the doorway. I couldn’t tell you which was happier to see her—my soul or my dick. Both swelled to greet her.
I pulled my headphones off and tossed them on the nightstand as she closed the door to the room we shared at the Phoenix manor behind her. We’d been here for over a month, since the night we caught a ride with a trucker to meet our fate here in Tampa. Well, specifically, at the Gate in the bottom of Tampa Bay, where our souls were Forged together. The manor overlooked the Bay, appearing to be an old, abandoned hotel that most people ignored.
“I thought I’d find you in here,” Leni said as she sauntered toward the bed where I sat. “Hiding again?”
I shrugged, blowing off her concern. “My training was cut short today.”
“Mm-hmm,” she affirmed as she bent over and placed her hands on the foot of the bed. My eyes drifted to her cleavage automatically, and I swore she flexed or squeezed or did something to make her tits practically pop out of the low-cut, green t-shirt she wore. I swallowed and forced my eyes to hers. “Not hiding at all?”
I gave her my best smile. Her eyes glazed for a brief moment, the distraction I’d hoped for. “Not from you.”
She walked her hands closer to me until she had to raise a knee onto the bed. “But…?”
My distraction hadn’t worked. She knew me too well and wouldn’t let this go. Still, I didn’t finish her sentence, but only held her eyes as she slowly crawled across the bed toward me.
“You are hiding from everyone else,” she finished. I didn’t need to answer. She already knew the truth. In the several weeks since we’d been here, I still hadn’t grown used to certain things—things she didn’t have to deal with like I did. Such as being able to hear again and constantly being surrounded by a whole tribe of Guardians. She leaned back, as though preparing to retreat. “Should I go then? Give you that alone time you need so much?”
I loved the sound of her voice, even as it dripped with sarcasm. But sometimes even her voice became too much. After eight years of complete and utter silence and living on my own nearly as long, even Leni—my other half and the woman and soul I loved more than life itself—could be a little overwhelming. I would never tell her that, though. I wasn’t stupid. And especially not now, when both my soul and body ached for her so badly.
Like lightning, I reached out and grabbed her wrists and pulled her to me. She let out a squeal and a giggle, and her green eyes lit up with anticipation the closer they came to mine.
“I need you more than I need alone time,” I said, my voice already husky with desire.
She glanced at my lips, and my eyes lingered on hers until I couldn’t wait another millisecond to taste them. Soft, silky, wet, and inviting. Her mouth opened slightly, giving permission for me to enter, and I slid my tongue in to meet hers. She straddled my lap and crushed her boobs against my chest as she deepened the kiss. I placed one hand on the small of her back and slid the other up to the nape of her neck and into the mass of curls.
“It’s almost time for our shift at the Gate,” she whispered when I gently tugged her head back, giving me access to her throat. I groaned against her neck, gave it a quick kiss, and then reluctantly pulled away.
She knew what I needed, and making out wasn’t it, which was why she’d stopped us. She rolled off of me, and we slid down until we lay together in each other’s arms, our mouths and our minds silent. Our hearts beat together in a rhythm that grew slower as we relaxed into each other. Leni’s eyes drifted closed, and mine did, too, as our souls found each other and melded together. We languished in that state—our souls as one yet still in our bodies—the most peaceful existence possible. At least, on this world called Earth.
Right now, it was just us, as one. No me or her. No them. No physical or mental training, no past lives to force into memory or evil enemies to worry about. We didn’t even have to think or feel, if we didn’t want to, although it felt pretty damn great. Everything simply passed between us, within us, a slow swirl of thoughts and emotions mixing together. The Zen of everything and nothing at the same time that took me, us, away from the rest of the world, from the insanity our lives had become since the night we crossed paths in Italy only a couple of months ago.
The only thing better was a physical orgasm at the same time our astral selves collided and climaxed.But that was on the other end of the spectrum between total peace and the most fucking exciting thing ever. And right now, we needed the peace. I needed the peace. When I’d been deaf, it had been easy to block out the rest of the world. Since my hearing had returned with the Forging, along with all kinds of special abilities, escape wasn’t so easy to find, not even when we projected.
Pushing our souls out of our bodies no longer automatically meant privacy and intimacy as it had in the beginning. In fact, it was almost as rare to be able to let our souls drift together in that other realm as it was to have alone time in the physical one. Knowing what I did now, I kind of wished we hadn’t mastered projecting without sex or controlling our souls so quickly. Now there were expectations, like guarding the Gate, and no dyads did that alone, especially newly Forged ones like us. Otherwise, sitting at the bottom of Tampa Bay could have been as peaceful as melding with Leni was right now.Until our phones both beeped with text messages.
“Ignore it.” I sent the feeling through our combined souls, the way we communicated when together like this.
The phones chirped again. Leni moved us to hover over mine to read the message from Mira:“Jacquelena and Jeremicah to meeting room C ASAP.”
“Sorry, hun,” Leni said. “But at least she’s asking for both of us.”
Mira, who I’d thought had been my grandmother in this life cycle, had known and guided my soul longer than this physical body had been alive. Her soul’s name was Mirangela, and when I was Micah, I’d known her as Angela. Now that Leni and I had made it to the Gate and our souls were Forged together again, Mira’s role in my life was technically complete. When she was around the manor and had time, however, she tried to help me remember more about my past lives so I could use that knowledge in this one. Thank God she wasn’t here often because the life lessons she wanted me to remember—the ones that mattered—consisted of the storms, which made for shitty memories. And so far, all I’d been able to remember was this life, the one before it, and the one before that, when the soul that Leni and I had shared was ripped in half.
Summoning both of us meant Mira probably didn’t intend to work on my memory recall, but that didn’t necessarily mean whatever she had planned was good. At least Leni would be by my side. Her presence always made all the crazy shit around here more tolerable.
Our soul pulled into two, and we returned to our bodies, and then headed downstairs from our eighth-floor room in the hotel part of the manor. Meeting room C was behind the mansion that now sat where the lobby used to be. With a conference table and eight chairs, it was one of the smaller rooms where groups of Guardians discussed missions … or planned Call of Duty campaign strategies. Although we weren’t exactly normal humans, we spent our downtime trying to maintain some sense of normalcy from our old lives.
Already seated were Mira and Theo, Leni’s Guide this time and last, and Uri and Melinda, two of our healers who’d helped protect our bodies while we were trying to get to the Gate. Mira and Theo had been Guardians in past lives, but this time they’d chosen the easier path of being Guides so they could grow to old age for once. Mira, plump with gray hair and glasses, was in her seventies, and Theo, tall and thin with silver hair and an olive skin tone, was in his eighties. Both were much stronger than they looked, though. Still, as Guides, they were not equal to Guardians.
“You both look well,” Melinda said, eyeing Leni and me as we entered the room and sat down across from the others. Her brown hair was pulled back in its usual braid, keeping it out of one of the oldest faces in the manor, besides those of the Guides. She and Uri, a short, blond man who was her other half, were in their thirties and the oldest of the Guardians at our Gate. They’d only lived as long as they had because they were healers and rarely went on missions, although they were forced to fight the Lakari when necessary. The Guardians didn’t really have a hierarchy, but because of their age and time here, Melinda and Uri were the closest we had to leaders.
“Looking well and ready to serve their roles,” Uri said, and I looked at him for meaning.
“Let’s wait for Brock and Asia before we start,” Mira said.
Not a minute later, the other two Guardians, the pair who’d helped us fight the Lakari and led us to the manor that first night, entered the room. Once we’d managed to beat the Lakari, get to the Gate, become Forged, and then healed, Leni and I had felt an instant connection with Brock and Asia that we felt with none of the other Guardians here. Perhaps it was because they’d been Forged only a couple of months before us when the most recent before them had been over a year. We spent most of our time with them.
Brock’s body, about as tall as mine with a similar build that came from countless hours in the gym, filled the doorway first, his dark hair hanging over his brown eyes that surveyed the room. As though he seemed to approve, he motioned his hand, and the wispy Asia followed him in, her dark eyes also calculating. They stopped at the only empty chairs, and Asia cocked her head at the others, her silver hair swinging over her shoulder. She changed her hair color like she changed clothes, but not from a box. Just something she could do, apparently. When we first met, it had been short and white-blond.“What’s going on?” she asked, not one to hem and haw.
“Why don’t you take a seat?” Mira offered, and she waited for Brock and Asia to sit before continuing. “This won’t take long. We have a few things to share with the four of you. Melinda and Uri wanted a couple of Guides to sit in on this chat, and since Theo and I were here today, we thought now was as good of a time as ever.”
Leni took my hand under the table. I shared her anxiety. Low at the moment, but Mira’s tone set us on edge.
Melinda leaned forward, resting her forearms on the wooden conference table. “Can we see your marks?”
I wasn’t the only one who hesitated, but after a silent moment, we all lifted our arms above the table.
“Have you noticed anything different about your marks from the other Guardians’?” Uri asked.
My brows pushed together.
“I’ve never noticed anyone else’s marks,” Leni said. Exactly.
“Exactly,” Uri echoed my thoughts. “Because they’re on our necks or heads. Out of sight.”
The four of us on this side of the table each shifted in our chairs.
“Why are we different?” Asia asked.
Uri and Melinda glanced at each other, then exchanged another look with Mira and Theo. Theo nodded.
“Mira and I are simply Guides, and we only know what’s been passed down to us by other Guides,” he said, “but from what we know and what many of the Guardians are saying, your marks are different because your souls are different. We all believe you’re part of the Sacred Seven.”
We stared at him silently.
“And … what’s the Sacred Seven?” I asked when no one else did.
“We’re not entirely sure,” Mira said, “but—”
“Wait,” Brock said, holding a hand up. “What do you mean you’re not entirely sure? How do you say something like that and not know what it is?”
“Details have been lost over the centuries,” Theo said. “We try to keep records to help future Guides and Guardians, but they’re always destroyed in some manner or another. The only thing we know for sure is that the Seven are called sacred for a reason. You’re the elite. The leaders of the Phoenix Guardians.”
“And Jacquelena and Jeremicah are the leaders of the Seven,” Uri added.
Crickets, again, as we all absorbed this. Then questions started flying.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Melinda finally said, raising her voice over the rest of us. We all quieted. “Like we said, we don’t know what it all means.”
“Since you don’t know much, how do you know we’re them?” I demanded. The others backed me.
“We feel it,” Uri said. He pounded a fist against his chest. “All of the Guardians feel a respect for you at the soul level. We know at our very cores that you are supposed to lead us.”
What the hell was he talking about?
“This makes no sense,” Leni said. “How could nobody remember more? How could we not remember something like this?”
“That’s always the question, isn’t it?” Melinda muttered as she sat back in her chair. “Memories are always wiped. Any recordings are lost. Any time we try so much as to leave clues for ourselves, we don’t remember that we did half the time and can’t make sense of them the other half. It’s as if the universe is against the possibility of us actually knowing everything we need to know.”
“Maybe it is,” Mira said. “Every lifetime, no matter how high in the world echelons we’ve gone, is a chance to grow and learn.”
“We can’t possibly know everything anyway,” Uri added. “Only the Maker knows. We do our best to figure out what we can, but our meager human brains are not capable of understanding everything. It’s a waste of time to try.”
“So what does this mean for us?” Asia asked. “If nobody knows the answers, does it really mean anything at all?”
Theo leaned forward now. “It means when the times comes, you four will be expected to lead. Especially you, Jeric and Leni.”
A prickle ran down my spine. After eight years of being a loner, I hadn’t even figured out how to live in a world with other people. And they expected me to lead? Hell no.
“We wanted to tell you now so you can be prepared,” Uri said. “You won’t be staying here long to guard the Gate. As soon as you’re ready, you should be out in the world, doing missions, helping the Broken and Lost. And if and when crisis hits, you’ll be experienced to handle it.”
“More and more Guardians are talking about you and the Sacred Seven, which is why we thought we better tell you ourselves,” Melinda said. “You were bound to hear it from someone.”
“So … that’s it?” Brock asked. “You drop this bomb in our laps and leave it at that?”
“Well, we’re hoping you remember more,” Mira said. “We’re hoping that as the elite of all the Phoenix, you’ll be able to recall past lives more clearly. That you’ll work on trying to remember more diligently so we can all possibly learn what you know.” She gave me a pointed look. I resisted the urge to flip her off.
“Who are the other three?” Asia asked. “If there are supposed to be seven, where are the others?”
“Good question,” Melinda said. “And it’s most likely there are five others. Five pairs. Because an odd number of individuals wouldn’t make sense when we’re all dyads.”
“Do the names Nathayden and Rebethannah ring any bells?” Uri asked. I began to shake my head, but Leni squeezed my thigh.
“They do sound a tiny bit familiar,” she said.
“Yeah,” Asia agreed, “but it’s really vague. Are we supposed to know them?”
Uri opened his hands, palms up. “Maybe. The Guides said they’d heard about the pair from previous Guides. It seems that you all were close in past lives on Earth. They might be another pair from the Seven.”
“But they’re not here on Earth right now?” Leni asked.
Mira shook her head. “They haven’t been for several lifetimes. At least, not together. We Guides only learn of Guardian souls alighting on Earth when both halves arrive. Our role is to bring the two parts together, so when there is only one half here, we can’t do that. We don’t even know about their existence here until Guardians on a mission might find them.”
“There’s rumor that since you’re here and the four of you have been Forged that it means something,” Melinda said.
“Like what?” I demanded.
“Like something major with the Gates or the Phoenix,” she said. “They’re only saying that because none of you have been here in nearly a century and now two pairs are. It’s just a rumor, like pretty much everything else. If the Sacred Seven belong here on Earth, then there’s really no reason we should be overly excited that two pairs have returned.”
“But if you couldremember something, anything … it’d help us all,” Uri added. “Perhaps help this whole world.”
Shit. No pressure there. Assholes. Did they really think we could just go back to our rooms, flip a switch, and remember everything about all of our past lives? All hundreds or even thousands of them? How the hell did we get put into this position? I mentally laughed at myself. I supposed if I could remember, we’d know how we got to be a part of this Seven, and maybe how to get ourselves out of it. There was one thing I knew for sure—if leading the Phoenix meant putting Leni’s life in danger, I wasn’t doing it.
The Guides and the healers left us with that bomb, as Brock had put it. We all had guard duty soon, so we headed back to our rooms. I sulked the whole way and needed Leni’s soul mixed with mine more than ever.
We’d barely settled into the perfect state when we were called. Our soul rose from our bodies as one, then drifted into two clouds of light. One took form as Leni, curls and curves and all, and the other took my form. Although our souls remained connected, we could move as two separate entities. We left our bodies safely in our bed, our physical arms still encircling each other, and floated through the window and outside, where Brock and Asia waited. Or at least their astral selves did, only misty-light forms, like Leni and me. We flew out over the water.
“How you doing, bro?” Brock asked as our souls dove into the water by the island with the single weeping willow tree that marked the Gate.
Only a few Lakari, what we’d called Shadowmen until we learned better, had been nearby, their black souls floating like dirty mist over the water. Not enough to take us on—our Light would shatter their Darkness easily—but that could change at any time. Thus, our need to guard the Gate below. They wanted in … from somewhere beyond this world.
“Pretty fucked up,” I muttered. Of course, nobody truly spoke. The energy of our thoughts carried to each other like vibrations through our souls.
“Yeah, no shit,” Brock agreed.
“It kind of explains some things,” Leni mused.
“Yeah, like how we feel a connection with each other,” Asia agreed. “Brock and I knew you guys as soon as we saw you. Your souls anyway. We recognized them.”
“That could just be because we’ve spent a lot of lives together,” Leni said. “Unc—I mean, Theo told us how some souls draw to each other over several lifetimes even when they’re not Twin Flames. Some best friends always seem to find each other over and over. And some families have that deep connection, too.”
Something rippled through us with her last words—a mix of hope and sadness.
“Yeah, something like that,” Asia said. “But—”
She was cut off by the Gate suddenly glowing a bright white through the sand. The light rose around us, creating a solid wall, and then a hole began to yawn open.
Leni’s eyes widened along with the hole. “Whoa. What’s going on?”
“Enyxa’s trying to open it!” Brock nearly yelled, and he responded faster than the rest of us, blasting his light toward the Gate to close the gaping hole before any of Enyxa’s Lakari could pass through.“No,” Leni said, shaking her head. She moved closer to the cylindrical wall of light. “It’s something else.”
I felt it, too, but how could Leni know it was anything different?
“You don’t have enough experience to know anything,” Brock barked, and I momentarily wanted to punch him for talking to us like that, even if he was right.
“It is different, though,” Asia said. Like Leni, she seemed drawn to the hole that refused to close. It wasn’t black as it usually was the few times I’d seen someone trying to open the Gate from the other side. Colors swirled inside it now, hypnotizing, like the walls in the Space Between the last time we were there.
“Stay back!” I said as Leni moved even closer, tugging at my soul to follow.
“Asia, NO—” Brock’s form flew at her, but he was too late.
Leni had lifted a hand toward the hole, and Asia reached out for her. Both of them were sucked inside, and the hole closed up.
“What the hell?” I yelled as I flew at the Gate’s wall to no avail. The hole wouldn’t reopen. Pain shattered through me as my soul felt Leni’s absence, and darkness began to cloud my vision. Brock and I both stood there, in too much shock to think straight. “What do we do?”
Brock didn’t answer.
“What the fuck do we do?” I yelled at him as I tried to push away the agony engulfing me. “Brock!”He still stared at the Gate, which remained lit like a beacon in the water.
“Broderick!”
“I … I don’t know. Nothing like this—”
I didn’t hear the rest. Something flew out of the Gate and crashed into me, sending me soaring through the water until I skidded against the sandy bottom of the bay. Everything around me went dark, and all I could think was Dark Souls. Lakari. They’d passed through the Gate. I immediately went into fight mode.
“Dude!” Leni’s voice stopped me. “Were you seriously going to hit me?”
The light of our souls immediately swirled together, erasing the pain before I’d even registered that it had been her form the Gate had spit back out. I didn’t have to ask if she was okay. I could feel it.
“Damn, you gave me a scare,” I silently said to only her.
I glanced over to Brock, whose form was no longer discernable as just his. Asia had apparently returned, as well.
“What the hell?” he yelled a moment later, his form jumping away from hers. “You know better!”
Leni removed her light from mine. “It’s my fault. It was me. I … I felt something.”
Brock waved his fists in the air like a crazed old man. “You can’t be doing shit like that.”
I stepped forward. “Dude, don’t talk—”
The full force of his energy turned on me. “Do you know what that would do to us? To all of us, since Asia was pulled in, too? We’re lucky they came back. If they didn’t …”
“We know,” Leni said. “We’d all go Dark. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help it. I felt a … a connection. Something—someone was in there.”
Brock’s form stiffened. “What the hell is someone doing in the Gate?”
“He wasn’t in the Gate,” Leni said. “I don’t think. It felt like somewhere … beyond. But he was reaching out for us, or for this world, or something.”
“Reaching out?” Brock repeated, sounding confused. “But why? Trying to talk to you?”
Asia shook her head. “No, it was more urgent than that. He had the desperation of a soul that’s been Separated.”
“I think … I think he thought we could help him,” Leni added. “But the Gate threw us back here before we could really know.”
Brock rubbed his head. “Well, it’s a good thing it did. Otherwise, we’d all be in his situation: Separated, desperate, and going Dark.”
Losing Leni had become my worst nightmare, and the thought of her soul going Dark scared the shit out of me. I melded more closely with her.
“At least you’re back,” I murmured to her. “Nothing else matters.”
Her soul gave mine a squeeze, but a tremor rippled through us. “A lot more matters, Jeric. Souls like that guy’s need to be helped. Even if we are part of the so-called Sacred Seven, we’re not the center of the universe.”
“Well, you’re the center of my universe. And I can’t imagine a universe without you. I will always make keeping us together my first priority, and everyone else can deal with it or fuck off.”

It's 5:30 p.m. my time on Teaser Tuesday. Many of my overseas readers are already in bed. So, I'm being kind of lazy and copying and pasting my newsletter that went out today. I mean, it's stuff you don't want to miss (I think, anyway), so just in case you did...

(The tease is at the bottom.)


Please Vote in the UtopYA Awards!


I'm headed to Nashville in June for the exciting UtopYA Con 2014! I'll have a table and will be signing at the public signing, as well. PLUS, big news, and I could use your help even if you can't make it to the conference.
The UtopYA Awards Nominees have been announced, and I'm so honored and excited to have been nominated TWICE!
Tristan ~ Best Supernatural Hero/SheroTristan and Alexis ~ Best Couple
Please take a moment to vote for them (and any of your favorites in the many other categories).
VOTE NOW
Thank you! :)
~ ~ ~ 
Join Us for a Read/Re-Read of The Space Between!
We are doing a group read/re-read of The Space Between in preparation for The Space Beyond's release on May 19th. Whether you've read it and need to refresh your memory, haven't read it yet, or have been dying to discuss the book with others, here's your chance for some fun. We'll have challenges, discussions, Q&A and PRIZES! Come join us at The Space Between Discussion group on Facebook .
Also, The Space Between is on sale for only 99c! So if you haven't snagged it yet (gasp!) or know someone who needs to, here's your chance!
Kindle at Amazon.comNook at B&N.comiBooks at iTunes.comKobo at KoboBooks.com

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Don't Forget to Pre-Order The Space Beyond!

The Space Beyond
Part Two of The Book of Phoenix
Release Date: May 19, 2014
Preorder on iBooks
We have an exclusive preorder agreement with iBooks. All other retailers' links will be provided when available.
Hearts break. Souls shatter. Love lies in The Space Beyond.
As members of the Phoenix, Jeric and Leni are thrust into their new lives, expected to lead Earth’s Guardians. But Leni struggles with trusting her own soul, and Jeric is more concerned about keeping Leni safe than meeting others’ demands. When Darkness swarms Lake Haven, they embark on their first mission with little preparation and no idea which soul the Dark hunts.
Born and raised in Lake Haven, Bex hopes to escape her small-town life, ideally in the arms of her soul mate. She knows he exists, and her heart aches with the need to find him. When her long-lost mama calls to announce she's knockin' on death's door, Bex reluctantly makes the trip to see the uncaring b!tch (bless her heart), only to be knocked off her feet by the sexy and charming Dr. Mason Hayes. Is he really The One?
Leni’s soul felt an instant connection to Bex, but if Bex found her soul mate, she isn’t their mission. So who is, and why does Leni instinctively feel drawn to her? Can Leni even trust her intuition? And will Jeric step up and lead when the time comes or continue to hold them back?
If they don't learn to trust themselves and each other quickly, Darkness will claim them all…along with the rest of Earth’s souls.
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Thank You for Your Support!
Because you're so awesome, and I appreciate your patience with this second newsletter of the month, here's an excerpt from The Space Beyond. This part is told by Jeric:

Leni and I had barely settled into the perfect state when we were called. Our soul rose from our bodies as one, then drifted into two clouds of light. One took form as Leni, curls and curves and all, and the other took my form. Although our souls remained connected, we could move as two separate entities. We left our bodies safely in our bed, our physical arms still encircling each other, and floated through the window and outside, where Brock and Asia waited. Or at least their astral selves did, only misty-light forms, like Leni and me. We flew out over the water.

“How you doing, bro?” Brock asked as our souls dove into the water by the island with the single weeping willow tree that marked the Gate.

Only a few Lakari, what we’d called Shadowmen until we learned better, had been nearby, their black souls floating like dirty mist over the water. Not enough to take us on—our Light would shatter their Darkness easily—but that could change at any time. Thus, our need to guard the Gate below. They wanted in … from somewhere beyond this world.

“Pretty f&*cked up,” I muttered. Of course, nobody truly spoke. The energy of our thoughts carried to each other like vibrations through our souls.

“Yeah, no sh!t,” Brock agreed.

“It kind of explains some things,” Leni mused.

“Yeah, like how we feel a connection with each other,” Asia agreed. “Brock and I knew you guys as soon as we saw you. Your souls anyway. We recognized them.”

“That could just be because we’ve spent a lot of lives together,” Leni said. “Unc—I mean, Theo told us how some souls draw to each other over several lifetimes even when they’re not Twin Flames. Some best friends always seem to find each other over and over. And some families have that deep connection, too.”

Something rippled through us with her last words—a mix of hope and sadness.

“Yeah, something like that,” Asia said. “But—”

She was cut off by the Gate suddenly glowing a bright white through the sand. The light rose around us, creating a solid wall, and then a hole began to yawn open.

Leni’s eyes widened along with the hole. “Whoa. What’s going on?”

“Enyxa’s trying to open it!” Brock nearly yelled, and he responded faster than the rest of us, blasting his light toward the Gate to close the gaping hole before any of Enyxa’s Lakari could pass through.

“No,” Leni said, shaking her head. She moved closer to the cylindrical wall of light. “It’s something else.”

I felt it, too, but how could Leni know it was anything different?

“You don’t have enough experience to know anything,” Brock barked, and I momentarily wanted to punch him for talking to us like that, even if he was right.

“It is different, though,” Asia said. Like Leni, she seemed drawn to the hole that refused to close. It wasn’t black as it usually was the few times I’d seen someone trying to open the Gate from the other side. Colors swirled inside it now, hypnotizing, like the walls in the Space Between the last time we were there.

“Stay back!” I said as Leni moved even closer, tugging at my soul to follow.

“Asia, NO—” Brock’s form flew at her, but he was too late.

Leni had lifted a hand toward the hole, and Asia reached out for her. Both of them were sucked inside, and the hole closed up.

Release Date: May 19, 2014
Preorder on iBooks
We have an exclusive preorder agreement with iBooks. All other retailers' links will be provided when available.

Oops! I missed a few Teaser Tuesdays, didn't I? I've been working frantically in the writing and editing cave on both The Space Beyond and The Space Within. The Space Beyond's release is less than a month! EEEEEEEPPPPP! I can't wait! Here's a little tease to whet your appetite:

Jeric

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Mira offered, and she waited for Brock and Asia to sit before continuing. “This won’t take long. We have a few things to share with the four of you. Melinda and Uri wanted a couple of Guides to sit in on this chat, and since Theo and I were here today, we thought now was as good of a time as ever.”
Leni took my hand under the table. I shared her anxiety. Low at the moment, but Mira’s tone had us on edge.
Melinda leaned forward, resting her forearms on the wooden conference table. “Can we see your marks?”
I wasn’t the only one who hesitated, but after a silent moment, we all lifted our arms above the table.
“Have you noticed anything different about your marks from the other Guardians’?” Uri asked.
My brows pushed together.
“I’ve never noticed anyone else’s marks,” Leni said. Exactly.
“Exactly,” Uri echoed my thoughts. “Because everyone else’s is on their necks or heads. Out of sight.”
The four of us on this side of the table each squirmed a bit in our chairs.
“Why are we different?” Asia asked.
Uri and Melinda glanced at each other, then exchanged another look with Mira and Theo. Theo nodded.
“Mira and I are simply Guides, and we only know what’s been passed down to us by other Guides,” he said, “but from what we know and what many of the Guardians are saying, your marks are different because your souls are different. We all believe you’re part of the Sacred Seven.”
We stared at him silently.
“And … what’s the Sacred Seven?” I asked when no one else did.
“We’re not entirely sure,” Mira said, “but—”
“Wait,” Brock said, holding a hand up. “What do you mean you’re not entirely sure? How do you say something like that and not know what it is?”
“Details have been lost over the centuries,” Theo said. “We try to keep records to help future Guides and Guardians, but they’re always destroyed in some way or another. The only thing we know for sure is that the seven are called sacred for a reason. You’re the elite. The leaders of the Phoenix Guardians.”
“And Jacquelena and Jeremicah are the leaders of the Seven,” Uri added.

The Space Beyond
Part Two of The Book of Phoenix
Release Date: May 19, 2014
Preorder on iBooks

We have an exclusive preorder agreement with iBooks. All other retailers' links will be provided when available.

Hearts break. Souls shatter. Love lies in The Space Beyond.
As members of the Phoenix, Jeric and Leni are thrust into their new lives, expected to lead Earth’s Guardians. But Leni struggles with trusting her own soul, and Jeric is more concerned about keeping Leni safe than meeting others’ demands. When Darkness swarms Lake Haven, they embark on their first mission with little preparation and no idea which soul the Dark hunts.
Born and raised in Lake Haven, Bex hopes to escape her small-town life, ideally in the arms of her soul mate. She knows he exists, and her heart aches with the need to find him. When her long-lost mama calls to announce she's knockin' on death's door, Bex reluctantly makes the trip to see the uncaring bitch (bless her heart), only to be knocked off her feet by the sexy and charming Dr. Mason Hayes. Is he really The One?
Leni’s soul felt an instant connection to Bex, but if Bex found her soul mate, she isn’t their mission. So who is, and why does Leni instinctively feel drawn to her? Can Leni even trust her intuition? And will Jeric step up and lead when the time comes or continue to hold them back?
If they don't learn to trust themselves and each other quickly, Darkness will claim them all…along with the rest of Earth’s souls.
If you are a blogger or admin for a book-related Facebook page and would like to participate in release activities, please complete this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gz2NdOTHLJoks1qzWTZVNohc6I5xgwgr-QxJ6yzpShU/viewform

I'm a Guest in the Alley over at NA Alley today, talking about book boyfriends. More specifically, about alphas and bad boys and why we love them, especially in our New Adult reads.

What are your thoughts about alphas and bad boys? Do you agree with what I say? Chime in here or there.

And while you're over there, be sure to check out their new site. It's all about the New Adult genre and absolutely awesome. And I bet you'll discover some fabulous new reads and authors while you're there.

So after yesterday's post, if you didn't get the newsletter, you might be wondering what, exactly, are the release dates for 2014 (or maybe not, which is fine, but I'm gonna tell you anyway). If you didn't read yesterday's post and are confused about what's going on, well, here's what went out in the newsletter for those who don't subscribe:
I am so excited to finally get to share some news with y'all about this year's releases. This might not be the news you were expecting, but I explain it all in  a blog post here . It comes down to this: For the best quality writing and story-telling and the best reading experience for you, I'll be finishing and releasing the last two books of each series in succession.
So, instead of getting the next part of The Book of Phoenix, and then Soul Savers 6, and continuing to alternate them, you'll be getting both parts of The Book of Phoenix back-to-back, and then you'll be getting both parts (6 & 7) of the Soul Savers back-to-back. In other words, no waiting forever for the last book!
As I explain  in the blog post , exact dates aren't available for everything right now. As each release comes closer, I'll be sharing the dates and other exciting info, like preorders. All of my books will be available on Kindle, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, and other ereaders. On or around the release date, they will all be for sale on Amazon stores throughout the world, iBooks, B&N, Kobo, All Romance eReader and partners of these retailers. Paperbacks will also be available.
Here's what we know now:
The Space Beyond
Part Two of The Book of Phoenix
Release Date: May 19, 2014
Preorder on iBooks

We have an exclusive preorder agreement with iBooks. All other retailers' links will be provided when available.
Hearts break. Souls shatter. Love lies in The Space Beyond.
As members of the Phoenix, Jeric and Leni are thrust into their new lives, expected to lead Earth’s Guardians. But Leni struggles with trusting her own soul, and Jeric is more concerned about keeping Leni safe than meeting others’ demands. When Darkness swarms Lake Haven, they embark on their first mission with little preparation and no idea which soul the Dark hunts.
Born and raised in Lake Haven, Bex hopes to escape her small-town life, ideally in the arms of her soul mate. She knows he exists, and her heart aches with the need to find him. When her long-lost mama calls to announce she's knockin' on death's door, Bex reluctantly makes the trip to see the uncaring bitch (bless her heart), only to be knocked off her feet by the sexy and charming Dr. Mason Hayes. Is he really The One?
Leni’s soul felt an instant connection to Bex, but if Bex found her soul mate, she isn’t their mission. So who is, and why does Leni instinctively feel drawn to her? Can Leni even trust her intuition? And will Jeric step up and lead when the time comes or continue to hold them back?
If they don't learn to trust themselves and each other quickly, Darkness will claim them all…along with the rest of Earth’s souls.
If you are a blogger or admin for a book-related Facebook page and would like to participate in release activities, please complete this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gz2NdOTHLJoks1qzWTZVNohc6I5xgwgr-QxJ6yzpShU/viewform


The Space Within
Part Three of The Book of Phoenix
Release Date: July 2014*
Cover & Blurb Reveal: April/May 2014

Preorder info coming soon
*Part Three will be released within 6-8 weeks of Part Two.


Soul Savers Book 6
(yet to be titled)
Release Date: October or November 2014**
Cover Reveal: Late Summer/Early Fall 2014

Soul Savers Book 7
(title yet to be announced)
Release Date: December 2014 or January 2015**
Cover Reveal: Late Summer/Early Fall 2014
** Soul Savers #6 & #7 will be released within 4-6 weeks of each other.

What's going on with the Soul Savers Series and The Book of Phoenix series? When's the next book coming out? What have you been doing, Ms. Kristie? Everyone has been waiting for news, and here it is. Sort of.

Let me start by saying, late last year, as I was planning out the rest of The Book of Phoenix series and the Soul Savers Series, I realized I had a bit of a dilemma. Both series needed to have books out this year. Both series have only two more books left to complete them. And for both series, I didn't want readers to have to wait too long for the last book because the second-to-last ones end on cliffhangers. As in, if you think I've left you on cliffhangers before, you have NO IDEA what I'm capable of. Mwahahaha! And although that was my evil laugh, I honestly don't like to be too awfully evil. I didn't want to make you wait 8 months to a year to find out how everything ends, and that's what happens when I alternate between the series.

Soooo...what does this mean? It means The Space Beyond and The Space Within will be released back-to-back, and Soul Savers #6 and Soul Savers #7 (titles yet to be announced) will also be released back-to-back. The Book of Phoenix series will be completed first, and they'll release within 6-8 weeks of each other. Later this year, the Soul Savers Series will be completed, and they'll release within 4-6 weeks of each other.

Yes, this means you have to wait a while for Soul Savers #6. I know. That sucks. BUT, I want to make sure it and #7 are as fabulous as I can possibly make them so that the wait will be worth it. PLUS, you won't have to wait very long between 6 and 7. I hope that makes up for it. Please say that makes up for it.

And while you're waiting for those, you get to finish The Book of Phoenix series. I love this series and the characters in it so much. They go through so much real-life and paranormal heartbreak and mending. If you haven't started it yet with The Space Between, now's a good time to do so. After all, you won't be waiting long for the rest of the series.

So what are the release dates? Heh. Probably my most favorite and least favorite message from fans would be: "When's the next book coming out???? I'm dying!!!" It's my most favorite because I'm thrilled people are actually excited to read more of my writing. Seriously - I never expected such interest and support, and I'm just blown away by it all.

It's my least favorite for several reasons. First of all, I hope nobody is seriously dying to find out what happens next. That would make me very sad. Secondly, I feel like I'm answering the question constantly. People say, "I haven't seen anything anywhere about the next book, so..." and I feel like that's all I'm talking about to the point of thinking I sound like a robot on a stuck program. LOL

And, finally and most importantly, the reason I don't have anything official posted is because I don't know release dates until ... well, I know them. I hate giving a vague answer, but I've learned the hard way to not post a release date until I know for sure that it will be met. This not only means that I can meet my deadlines, but also that beta readers, cover designers, bloggers, editors, proofreaders, formatters, retailers, etc., are able to schedule everything. AND, we have to know we'll meet the release date even if life emergencies happen, which they do. So...I've learned to hold back on sharing specific dates until we know that, barring the zombie apocalypse, we'll be able to release on or very close to that date (I've been to known release early).

With all of that said...I do have release news! Newsletter subscribers get the specifics first, including preorder news, and that will be going out tonight, so if you haven't subscribed, here's the form. Otherwise, I'll be sharing the info here on the blog in the next few days.



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Argh. Something happened to my blog posts last week, and this one almost didn't go up again. And I really loved this book and want to share it with you. Of course, I loved all of the books in the Curses, Fates & Soul Mates, but certainly don't want to leave this out. So, my post that was supposed to go up last week...



Curses, Fates & Soul Mates: 5 Paranormal New Adult Novels is no longer on sale, but for $5.99, it's still a steal. You get FIVE full-length novels, after all. That's barely more than a $1 each, compared to buying them individually, which would total $14.95! So if you haven't bought yours, what are you waiting for? They're all AMAZING stories. Get your copy at:

Amazon
Amazon UK
Kobo
IBooks
Barnes & Noble

For Teaser Tuesday today, I have an excerpt from Repossession by Rachael Wade, part of the CF&SM bundle.

Repossession


Book 1 in The Keepers Trilogy

*Recommended for ages 17+ due to sexual situations, language, and mature subject matter* 

New Adult Science Fiction/Apocalyptic/Romance 

Skylla only knows that she has been kidnapped and held prisoner by the foreign invaders and their human allies. And that the world is ending. Or so the humans think. The invaders have made it clear that their arrival is one of hostile intent, and as their takeover spreads, so does the panic across the globe. No one knows how to defeat them, or if it’s even sane to try. 

Jet, Skylla’s human captor, is up for the challenge, though. A traitor in Skylla’s eyes, he is working with them. But Jet has his own agenda; one that doesn’t include babysitting Skylla or helping the enemies. And as the human race struggles to keep the invaders from achieving their goal, Jet and Skylla’s paths collide to reveal the truth behind Skylla’s abduction. 

The invaders are headed for the water. Jet is headed for the water. But that’s the last place Skylla wants to be. That’s where the future of humanity lies, and where the bridge to their yesterdays was burned. On a mission to take back what is rightfully theirs, Earth’s population is determined to make sure this isn’t the end. But some endings were never theirs to begin with.

Excerpt:

Rattling the cuffs on the bar over my head, I huffed against the duct tape and used all of my core body strength to twist and contort my upper body, trying every single angle and method I could come up with to break the damn cuffs.
No luck. If only I had more light to work with.
The one thing I had going for me was that I was freestanding; my feet were firmly planted on the soil below. I took advantage and tried spreading my legs to feel around, kicking my heel back to feel a wall or something I could use for leverage. There was nothing. Wiping my sweaty forehead with my shoulder, I inhaled deeply and started rethinking my strategy.
A loud clang came from somewhere in the room, and I froze. The sound of a sliding door? A latch of some sort? I couldn’t tell. Then steps came toward me and my fear spiked, and I was desperate for more light to see what was headed in my direction. I blinked frantically, my chest heaving, disorientation making me dizzy when the lantern on the table fizzed out.
The shuffle of footsteps resumed and something grabbed me by the waist. A garbled scream erupted deep in my throat and a light blinded me before the duct tape over my mouth was ripped off, stinging my lips. Rough fingers—human fingers, I thought—grazed my lips, slowly, as if to soothe them, before pulling the piece of cloth from my dry mouth.
“It’s okay, you’re okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” a low, smooth voice crooned. The light’s brightness lessened, and I realized it was from a flashlight. My captor pulled the flashlight farther away so it wasn’t blinding me anymore. I spit in his face.
“Guess I deserve that. But I could shove this filthy piece of cloth back in your mouth if you want me to.”
“Go to hell.”
“Look around. I’m already there.”
“Why am I here? What do you want? You’re one of them, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m a mutant alien creature here to take you aboard the Mother Ship. I’m packing heat,” he shifted a large machine gun in his other hand, which was strapped over his chest, “which must give it all away, right?”
Piercing blue eyes found mine. My eyes adjusted to the light and I could make out my captor’s face: pale skin, sooty-dark brown hair, a military buzz cut. His thick, muscular build was covered with a ratty, grime-covered black t-shirt and cargo pants, the pockets bulging with gear and other weapons I couldn’t make out.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant you’re one of them. A traitor.”
“I understand how it would seem I’m your enemy, since I’m holding you prisoner at the moment, yes. But I’m not a traitor.”
“Let me go.”
“No can do. I’m here to feed you.”
“Screw you.” I spit in his face again, then tried kicking him in the groin. Given the circumstances and the fact that I’d just lost my parents and my home, it was all too tempting to just give up. To let the despair sink me. But I wouldn’t let that happen. As long as I was still alive, I’d find something to live for. Maybe I didn’t have the mental energy to fight for my own life, but I sure as hell had enough fury to propel me forward in honor of the lives stolen from my parents.
He caught my thigh with ease and steadied it. “Anytime, baby. All you gotta do is ask nicely.”
“Great. Your kind is repulsive and arrogant. What an endearing combination.”
He grabbed my elbow and leaned in, one palm still gripping my thigh. “Hey. I said I’m not a traitor. Don’t start the ‘your kind’ crap, Rambo. Watch your mouth. I’m human, and I’m on the right side, you hear me?”
“Oh, you traitors are far from human, you asshole. Humans might be disloyal and greedy, but when it comes to picking our own species over another, we’re clear on where we stand with that one.”
“My, my. What a potty mouth you have. And what did I just say?”
I yanked my arm from his grasp. “Screw you.”
“If you want me to keep protecting you, you better start treating me just a little bit nicer.” He narrowed his eyes and pinched his fingers in front of me, emphasizing the little bit.

Protect me? Was he serious? Although my hands were bound above me, I was able to return his gesture with my personal favorite, the middle finger.

Curses, Fates & Soul Mates is still on the charts! Do you have yours yet? If not, hurry! The 99c sale ends Monday, March 17! Get your copy now at:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Kobo
IBooks
Barnes & Noble
Two weeks ago,  I gave a little tease of Frostbite  by Lynn Rush, and last week, a taste of Cursed by R.K. Ryals, both part of the CF&SM bundle. Today, let's take a peek at Return of the Ascendant by Raine Thomas, released for the first time ever in the CF&SM set.

Return of the Ascendant

Part 1 of The Ascendant Series

Expecting to enjoy another typical college night at a frat party with friends, Kyra Vaughn’s plans derail when she’s almost killed…twice. Her savior, a tall, sexy stranger who calls himself TaeDane, claims that he’s the personal bodyguard for the Ascendant of Alametria. She’s convinced he’s crazy.
Especially when he insists that she’s the Ascendant.
With dark enemies hunting her down, Kyra has no choice but to trust her supposed bodyguard. Ty vows to help her remember her past and return her safely to Alametria, but someone seems intent on interfering, challenging his abilities at every turn.

As Kyra’s memories emerge, she remembers that Ty is more to her than he’s let on…much more than he’s allowed to be. She’ll also discover that there are many things about her planet and herself that she’d rather forget. In the end, she’ll have to make a choice: retain all she knows and remain the person she’s become, or sacrifice it all to become the person she’s destined to be.
Excerpt:

Blinking over the stranger’s comment, Kyra wondered how he’d known what she was thinking. She shook her head, figuring he’d just made a lucky guess based on the circumstances.
They walked for several feet before her sanity kicked in. She tried to remove her arm from the man’s grasp, but he just held her tighter. While the action should have alarmed her, it didn’t. It sure as hell annoyed her, though.
Giving him a more careful study, she tried to place his face. What little of it she could see as he studied their surroundings seemed somewhat familiar. Had she met him at a party? Was he in one of her classes last year?
That didn’t seem likely. She’d surely have remembered someone as hot as he was.
His gaze moved sharply to hers. She found herself catching her breath as she looked into the most startling silver eyes she’d ever seen. No one could possibly have eyes that color.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
Something flashed in his gaze. Disappointment? Irritation? She couldn’t tell.
He looked away without responding. His pace increased. She got the sense he didn’t want to be alone with her. Insult rose like a tidal wave.
“Okay, that’s far enough,” she commanded.
Her voice sounded louder than she’d intended. She planted her feet, refusing to move another inch until he let her go. Unfortunately, since he was far stronger than she was, he pulled her right out of her shoes and kept going.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” she cried. “Let go of me, asshole!”
Finally, he stopped walking and glanced down at her. She thought he looked puzzled, but then realized she couldn’t read his expression at all. Anger made her face and throat burn as she yanked her arm free.
“Look, I don’t know who you think you are,” she said, stalking back to her shoes, “but you have no right to haul me around like that. These shoes cost me fifty bucks on sale, for crying out loud. Don’t you know how long it takes a college student to save up that kind of money?”
“There is no time for this,” he replied.
There was something formal about his speech, she thought as she put on a shoe. He had a faint accent, as well. Maybe something European? She wondered if they treated women like this wherever he was from and sniffed in disdain.
One of his eyebrows lifted. “I realize I have failed to make a grand impression, but time is of the essence.”
“It sure is,” she said, securing her second shoe and starting forward. “My friends are waiting for me.”
He stepped into her path, making her once again come to a halt. “You saw something in the shadows,” he said.
She started to argue, then glanced over shoulder at the lingering darkness not too far away. Just the sight of it had her skin tingling. Frowning, she turned back and met his gaze.
“I will escort you,” he said.
“To my friends?”
“Yes.”

Studying his striking face, she tried to gauge if she was in any danger. Almost immediately, she decided that the only danger she was in was of drooling all over him.

Curses, Fates & Soul Mates is still on the charts! Do you have yours yet? If not, hurry! The 99c sale ends soon! Get your copy now at:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Kobo
IBooks
Barnes & Noble
Last week, I gave a little tease of Frostbite  by Lynn Rush, part of the CF&SM bundle. Today, how about a tease from Cursed by R.K. Ryals, another goodie in the box set.

Cursed

Book 1 in The Thorne Trilogy

A grimoire. A witch. A Demon. 

Ellie Elizabeth Jacobs, often known as Monroe due to her fascination with vintage attire and old movies, is an 18 year-old witch and a darned good one! But there is also something very wrong with her. Demonic energy makes her powers stronger, she has the ability to ward off Demons, and Lucifer wants her. 

Sometimes being bad is better. Or at least that's how Luther "Thorne" Craig feels. The hybrid Demon son of the cursed Cain and the Demon Lilith, Luther is reluctantly sent to New Orleans, Louisiana by his brother, the hybrid Demon ruler of the Outer Levels of Hell, to protect Monroe from Lucifer's searching Hellhounds. 

But what happens when things go wrong? 

In this riveting spin off from R.K. Ryals' Redemption series, Monroe is faced with an old grimoire, an ancient curse, and a journey to discover a family secret that may surprise them all.

Excerpt:

Luther watched me, his eyes searching before finally pushing away from the wall. I took a deep breath.
“I want an amulet,” he ordered.
I stared at him. “Excuse me?”He looked amused. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t stutter.”
There was a bad movie joke there, and I was prepared to make one, but one look at the Demon’s eyes and I knew it wasn’t a good idea.
“Why?” I asked instead.
Luther leaned in again. “I wonder if you know how appealing you are, Ms. Jacobs. Your blood is hard to resist. So, let’s make a trade. You give me an amulet, and I’ll promise not to kill you. Got it?”
I gasped. I knew the sons of Lilith and Cain craved blood. They were like the mythical vampires with the exception that they didn’t need blood to survive. They just liked it.
“I’m not afraid,” I whispered.
“The amulet,” Luther insisted.
His green eyes suddenly shone red, and I looked away again, pulling a piece of twine away from my neck. I pulled it over my head, cursing myself for my weakness. I did fear him, but I was stronger than that. My instincts were telling me to give him the necklace, and I trusted my instincts.
As soon as the quartz touched Luther’s palm, he winced before pulling the makeshift amulet over his head. It landed against his black t-shirt.
“I appreciate that,” he said wryly, before leaning so that both his hands trapped me against the door. “You’re a strong one, Witch. I can feel it.”
One moment, his red eyes watched me, the next his lips were pressed brutally against mine. It was painful, it was brief, and it sent shivers all the way down to my toes.
He pulled away. “For the amulet,” he said wickedly.

And with that, he disappeared.

Have you checked out Curses, Fates & Soul Mates yet? If not, don't miss out on the 99c sale! 5 full-length novels for less than a buck is a real steal. Get your copy now at:
Amazon
Amazon UK
Kobo
IBooks
Barnes & Noble
Need more convincing? How about a little tease from Frostbite by Lynn Rush, one of the amazing books in the box set...

Frostbite
Part 1 of the Touch of Frost Trilogy

Amanda gives a whole new meaning to cool...
Amanda Smith is sick of getting chased from town-to-town. So when she lands in tiny Trifle, Arizona, she hopes it's her last move for a long time. Despite hating the smallness of the town, she settles in and finds a best friend, and even a boyfriend. Normality at its finest.
But for a girl who can shoot snow from her hands and lift a two-ton truck over her head like a bag of feathers--normal is not an option.
The scientists who murdered her mother come barreling into Amanda's quiet life. She must decide if she'll run again or stay and fight. The price of either choice might be her life or the lives of those she's come to love...


Excerpt:
Ms. Stevens scrunched up her button-nosed face as I strolled into the detention room. “Amanda. Not again.”
“Didn’t want you to get lonely.” A smile tugged at my lips.
No one else sat in the classroom. Good. Less interaction with people meant less chance of my powers going wonky and freezing off a body part of some poor, unsuspecting student.
I will not freeze anyone today.
Ms. Stevens shook her head. She reminded me of my mom when she did that. It was a bitter-sweet thing, though. It gave me a sense of familiarity, yet hacked my heart open with a dull knife.
“What am I going to do with you, young lady?”
“Not much to do. This is about as good as it’s gonna get for me.” Total truth. I only needed to continue evading the Coats so I could graduate without freezing anyone or anything important.
She looked past me to Principal Nimrod who’d so courteously escorted me here. “Just lunch detention?”
“Next class, too. She’s been excused from P.E. again. She’s better off in here with you than sitting in the gym.” He strode out of the room.
Gym class was by far the hardest place for me to control my powers. Scott had mastered dreaming up excuses to get me out of that class. It’d become an art form, really.
I blamed Zach Landry for my control issues in gym. His statuesque presence sent my hormones into overdrive, which often led to unexplained room temperature drops and icicles on my fingertips.
That got interesting during the swim unit.
It should be illegal to look as good as he did. And from what I could tell by watching him from afar, he was pretty cool. Not a conceited jerk like most guys that hot were. I’d almost wished he was a jerk, though. It’d be easier to not think about him. Instead, he starred in most of my hottest dreams.
That was the only place I ever dated, too. My dreams. Considering I might freeze something important on a guy’s body, I stayed away. Tried that a few times…so not worth the stress it caused. All I needed was an incident in a tabloid that mentioned some chick freezing off a guy’s lips…that’d attract some Coats for sure.
But the fact someone like Zach existed made me realize how much I wanted a normal life.
One that included a boyfriend and a best friend. Sneaking kisses in dark movie theaters when we were supposed to be watching the show. Lazy days by the pool. College applications. Normal. Not one that involved running from scientists who wanted to dissect me to learn about my powers.
College would be awesome with the dorm-living, all nighters, pizza binges…
“Got another one for you, Ms. Stevens.” The high-pitched voice squeaking behind me sounded like the gym teacher.
I turned in my seat to see the lucky person risking his life to sit next to me for the next ninety minutes. My gaze landed on Zach Landry, and the room temperature took a serious nosedive.
“Not you too, Zach.” Disappointment tainted Ms. Stevens’ voice.
Zach’s wicked, steel-gray stare bore into me, and my heart almost shot out my open mouth.
What planet had I been teleported to if he got thrown into detention? He’d never been in here with me before, and I pretty much owned this room.
Zach stared and cocked his head as if he was trying to read my mind.
My cheeks burned, and I knew I needed to turn around and face the front, but that crooked smile of his nearly undid me. No one had dimples that big.
Not to mention the lips. They were full, but that bottom lip, the way it pouted out a smidge—
“Thank you, Ms. Catts.” Ms. Stevens reached for the sweater draped around the back of her chair.
I will not freeze anyone today. Especially my teacher!