Old As The Hills

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What would you risk so others could live?

It is the early months of WWII and Rathna already has an idea of how bad it might get. If she can make the final connections she needs to create a new portal in a matter of weeks rather than years, she might just be able to get a few more people out of Germany's ever expanding grasp. But she's also been asked to take on a new apprentice. Rathna has no idea whether he'll be willing to help, if she can trust him, or if he can trust her enough to do what needs to be done.

Her husband Gabe has a challenge that will use every single one of his skills and then some. He's been charged by the Council to coordinate magical responses to the war, not only in Albion itself, but among the many esoteric and occult groups of Great Britain. His own apprentice is brilliant, in a different way than Gabe, but this project will ask everything of them both.

Together, Gabe and Rathna have built their lives to bend their passions, talents, and magics to making things better for the world around them, including their three growing children. Now their war work is going to separate them, certainly for months, possibly for much longer. As they tangle with ancient magics, seeking new ways forward, there are more unanswerable questions, tremendous risks, and a few glimmers of hope.

Old As The Hills follows Gabe and Rathna's adventures from the autumn of 1939 through the summer of 1940, a time of desperate plans to save lives and hold back invasion. It is full of ancient fae magic, the power of place, urgent witchcraft rituals, and unexpected encounters. The Land Mysteries series explores the Second World War in the magical community of Albion and is best read in order.

You can find Gabe and Rathna's romance in The Fossil Door, set in 1922 in Scotland.

Content
Deals with the first year of World War 2, and the plot explicitly includes the invasions of multiple countries during that time, the evacuation of Dunkirk, and other events of the period. (Though not in graphic or close-up detail.) Death of a secondary character with ongoing appearances in the Albion books, due to the war, and some reference to grief. The plot also deals with the esoteric groups active at the time and with witchcraft.

Established couple, married with three children, who are separated during much of the book due to their different tasks. Hero has ADHD (very much on display in some spots), while the heroine deals with assumptions (and some bigotry) because of her Bengali background and brown skin. Some nastiness from minor characters, including the presentation of white feathers for cowardice to a secondary character.

Want to learn more? Check out blog posts about Old As The Hills.

Books focusing on the Edgarton family:
(Additional information about the Edgarton family is available on my authorial wiki.)

Showing books 1-7 of 7

Period: Edwardian

Romance: M/F, First relationship

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Cover of Pastiche. A man and woman in Edwardian dress silhouetted against a bright teal background, with a stained glass window in golden yellow and muted purple behind them.
Pastiche

Period: 1920s

Romance: M/F, First relationship, Demisexual, Bisexual

Content notes: Click here to reveal

Cover of The Fossil Door. A man and woman in 1920s dress stand silhouetted on a bright burgundy and glowing orange background. An illuminated book is inset in the top left corner.
The Fossil Door

Period: Information not available

Romance: Information not available

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Nothing too horrible can happen in a fortnight. Charlotte is worried. Her friend Victor - the man everyone expects she’ll marry - has fallen in with a new circle. Growing up in the family she has, Charlotte knows there’s something odd going on. The new friends are older, united in a passion for ancient legends, and there’s something just a bit too intense about all of them. When Charlotte and Victor are invited for a fortnight at a remote country house with the rest of the group, she goes along to keep him out of trouble. It’s hard to get by as a working alchemist. Lewis hopes his arrangement with Morgen will let Lewis keep his brother in a much-needed potion and begin to build up his own business as an alchemical perfumer. He doesn’t mind being stuck in an isolated cottage on a rural estate while he does it. But when Charlotte appears in his kitchen - an impossible idea - they have to figure out what’s going on at the main house and how to stop it without causing more problems. All they have to work with are the skills they already have and whatever is stocked in the alchemy lab. Perfect Accord takes place in the magical community of Great Britain in 1923, as Charlotte is preparing for her older brother Gabe’s wedding. Third in the Mysterious Arts series, it can be read in any order. Join Charlotte and Lewis for a short tour through mangled Arthuriana, a long stint of forced proximity, and a sensual romance full of perfume, cooking, and time in bed.
Perfect Accord

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Romance: Information not available

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The cover of Old As The Hills has a man with a can and a woman silhouetted on a green ground with a map. She holds out her hand, he is putting something into it, forming a doorway between them. An astrological chart behind them shows the symbols for Venus, the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn highlighted behind a splash of glowing stars.
Old As The Hills

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The cover of Upon A Summer's Day shows a man in a suit silhouetted over a map of northern Wales in a muted green. He is gesturing, holding his cane in one hand, a cap on his head. Behind him is an astrological chart, with Jupiter and Saturn highlighted in the sign of Taurus.
Upon A Summer's Day

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The cover of Three Graces has three women in silhouette, two standing and one sitting, her hand resting on a cane. All three are wearing clothes from during the Second World War, against a deep brown cover with a map. An astrology chart to the back left has the Moon and Venus picked out in brighter gold.
Three Graces

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Four students in silhouette on a blue background of a map off the west coast of Wales. Three stand around a table, the fourth is perched on the near corner, leaning forward and gesturing.
The Magic of Four

Showing books 1-7 of 7

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