I’m excited to be part of FaRoFeb this year. That stands for Fantasy Romance February, and it’s a promotion with a number of moving pieces. There are tons of different events planned, including 250+ books available for $0.99 US on February 1st. (That’s tomorrow, when I’m posting this.) There are also author spotlights, a panel discussion, a giveaway of a book a day between February 1st and Valentines Day on February 14th, and more.
Find out all the details at the FaRoFeb 2024 site including how to follow FaRoFeb on your social media of choice and how to sign up for the newsletter to get the book giveaways.
And if you follow FaRoFeb on social media (please do!), you’ll see me spotlighted on February 8th.
Me and my books
Three of my books will be on sale for $0.99 USD (and the equivalent elsewhere) through February 15th as part of FaRoFeb.
They are Sailor’s Jewel, Pastiche, and Eclipse. All three are set in Albion, the magical community of Great Britain that is the setting for all my books. They’re a mix of history, fantasy, romance, and a puzzle or mystery to solve. (In FaRoFeb terms, they fall into the gaslamp category.)
Read on to learn more about all three books!
Sailor’s Jewel
Sailor’s Jewel takes place in 1901, on an Atlantic crossing in one of the Pelagius Liners, a magical shipping line. Rhoe’s brother Cyrus has to make a trip on Council business. He’s convinced her to come along before she takes on a challenging new role at the Temple of Healing. Hugh Pelagius is the younger brother of the owner of the line. Hugh is still figuring out his role in the business after his father’s death a few years previously.
There are other passengers to talk to or avoid, a chance to talk to some pelagic mermaids. And there the possible terrors of the open ocean. When Cyrus admits that his task is to transport a highly magical jewel, Rhoe and Hugh – along with others on the ship – have to join forces to figure out how to land in America safely.
A lot of my readers love Rhoe’s size (she’s decidedly fat but also adores some of the aesthetic dress of the time). They also love one of the secondary characters, who helps communicate with those pelagic mermaids. Cyrus has a romance much later in The Hare and the Oak. Rhoe and Cyrus appear in several other books as secondary characters.)
You can learn more about what’s behind this book in my Idea to Book post about Sailor’s Jewel.
Pastiche
Pastiche is one of my books I often recommend as a starting place. It’s got a bit of everything my books have. Married in 1899, Alysoun and Richard have a cordial arranged marriage, holding the land magic for part of Kent.
Besides the land magic, Richard’s often working long hours as a member of Albion’s Guard. That involves both investigating crime and helping keep things running smoothly. Alysoun has been living with increasing pain, fatigue, and brain fog since the birth of their second child. She is admittedly a tad bored in her life. (Alysoun has what we’d call fibromyalgia these days, but they didn’t have that term for it yet.)
When she stumbles across something odd in a display of stained glass in a museum, she can’t let the problem go. Having a puzzle to sort out gives her a chance to try talking to her husband again. Well, once they get a little help from a couple of others.
Both Richard and Alysoun appear in a number of books, including the romances of both their children. (Charlotte’s romance, Perfect Accord, will be out on February 9th, and Gabe’s is in The Fossil Door.) The entire family also appears in various books of the Land Mysteries series.
If you like Gil and Magni, their 1884 romance is in Four Walls and a Heart.
Learn more about what went into Pastiche in my Idea to Book post.
Eclipse
Eclipse is set in the 1924-1925 school year at Schola, the most elite of Albion’s magical schools – and the most isolated. Located on an island off the Welsh coast, there are a limited number of people in any category you care to name. In September of 1924, Thesan and Isembard have been professional colleagues and friends since Isembard began teaching the previous year. When his old mentor, Alexander Landry, takes up a teaching position, Isembard has to reevaluate some of his past history.
And of course, being a school, there are a tremendous number of things going on. Some of them are the ordinary commitments of classes, marking, students wanting to put on a musical revue, even a few pranks. But Isembard is worried about his two particular charges, Claudio and Orion. They’re both sons of members of the Council who need a bit of attention. To complicate things further, Thesan and Isembard begin to notice worrying signs in some of their students. But they’re not able to articulate to the other staff what’s concerning them. Over the course of the school year – and an almost total solar eclipse – they learn exactly how well they work together.
Eclipse is born out of my own experience as a librarian in a high school. I wanted to write a friends-to-lovers romance about people who care deeply about teaching, but who don’t always have all the information (or influence) they’d like. Thesan is autistic (though it’s not as obvious in this book as in some other places she appears). Isembard is dealing with lingering effects of physical and mental health from the Great War.
Thesan and Isembard also appear in several other books (I do love them). Their son Leo is one of the point of view characters in The Magic of Four, in the 1946-1947 school year, out in May. Claudio and Orion are main characters later in their lives (along with two women) in Illusion of a Boar. That’s set in 1944 in the run up to D-Day and the Normandy landings.
Learn more about what’s behind Eclipse in my Idea to Book post.
Happy FaRoFeb!
Whether you’re reading my books or someone else’s, I hope you find stories that delight you.
