Abigail Kelly

Margot Goode, healer extraordinaire, knows that being noticed is the fastest way to getting herself murdered — or worse. But even with a secret like hers, she can’t stay cloistered forever. On her own in San Francisco, she’s on the hunt for the one person who can stop her magic from turning against her in a catastrophic meltdown.

Margot doesn’t expect things will be easy, but even she is surprised when someone plants a bomb in her Healing House, nearly killing her and wiping out her anonymity in one fell swoop. Attacking a healer is an egregious breach of the laws that keep the races from war. Attacking Margot Goode, granddaughter of the terrifying Goode Matriarch and leader of the most influential coven in the country, is not just blasphemous — it demands retribution.

Theodore Solbourne, newest sovereign ruler of the largest Elvish territory in the West, has waited his entire life for the woman he will one day claim as his consort. With the power to keep her finally in his grasp, he’s planned their meeting down to every last detail… only to have all the carefully crafted steps in their courtship blown away when she’s nearly killed before he can even say hello.

With her life and his kingdom on the line, there’s no time for subtlety. Earning the trust of the woman he’s been mad about his entire life just became much harder: the speculation of war is sweeping through the city, a goddess’s acolytes call for justice, and a traitor’s shadow looms over his household. But nothing, not even Margot’s single-minded determination to keep him out, will stop him from winning her heart.

The New Protectorate: Book One

Consort's Glory

He’s chosen to be alone.
 
Kazimier Rione, half-orc spymaster of the Elvish Protectorate, doesn’t want a mate. He’s got too many rough edges and too much baggage for any woman. That’s why he’s done everything in his power to stay away from a certain lush little witch that makes every instinct bristle. A glimpse was all it took to seed a dark obsession, but it’s one he knows he can never act on.
 
She was burned by fate.
 
Atria Le Roy learned her lesson a long time ago: the blessing of a mate is not for her. A witch groomed for a secretive priestesshood from birth, she’s spent years throwing herself into her potentially world-changing research and running from her complicated past. Now that research is about to come to fruition — if only she and her research partner can survive being hunted by the factions desperate to get their hands on it.
 
Keeping their distance is impossible.
 
When his witch is threatened, Kaz knows that rescuing her will mean giving in to the pull of fate, but doing nothing is not an option. He’ll do anything to protect her, even if that means kidnapping her and going on the run himself. With every mile they cover and danger they face, the fire between them burns hotter. She wants to escape her past, the bounties on her head, and the overbearing, beautiful orc holding her captive. He wants to possess everything she is and be utterly possessed in return.
 
Surviving will mean giving in, leaving the past behind, and letting the fire burn…
 
Burden's Bonds is book three in The New Protectorate series. It can be read as a standalone, but does contain some spoilers for the the other books. A full series list as well as a character directory and content warnings can be found on the author's website.

The New Protectorate: Book Three

Burden's Bonds

Love blooms in the dark.

After a lifetime of service to the Amauri vampire family, retired assassin Harlan Bounds lives his life exactly as it pleases him – on his private estate, surrounded by beauty, and unbothered by the bloody politics of the criminal underworld he left behind. He doesn’t need or want for anything... except, perhaps, the tantalizing witch hired to look after the acclaimed rose garden on his grounds.

Zia North has nursed a crush on the mysterious vampire that is her boss for nearly a year. They’ve never spoken, and she knows the rules by heart: never stay on Empire Estate’s grounds after sundown and never, ever bother Mr. Bounds. There’s no chance for her to fulfill her sensual fantasies, so what’s the harm in indulging a crush that will never see the light of day – or the kiss of darkness?

It’s all daydreams until she makes a mistake that finally brings her face to face with the intimidating vampire. Harlan’s dark intensity draws her in, and Zia’s light sparks a craving that can’t be denied. Fantasy clashes with reality when his dangerous past threatens to bite them both, but not even the violent conflicts of the vampire syndicate can sever a bond forged in blood.

This is the second volume in the New Protectorate Stories. It is a standalone, winter-flavored vampire romance in the wider New Protectorate universe and can be read without reading any of the other books. Content warnings can be found on the author's website and in the backmatter of the book.

The New Protectorate Stories: Volume Two

Empire

Their future hinges on a promise.

In the wake of her mother’s death, Camille Solbourne is determined to follow through with her deathbed promise to arrange a union with a suitable partner and get out of the Solbourne family. A union is cold, more business than love, and negotiating them is a dangerous political dance. It’s not what she wants, but sometimes happiness is found in compromise – and keeping one’s promises.

Their choices haunt their past.

Nearly twenty years ago, Viktor Hamilton, alpha of San Francisco's lone coyote shifter pack, let his mate go. Becoming someone his pack could rely on for safety and guidance is the only thing that kept him sane in the long, lonely years that followed. When the opportunity to make a life-altering choice for the betterment of his people arises, he makes a promise to see it through.

What he doesn’t expect is for the world to change around him in the blink of an eye. After a volatile run-in with Camille reignites the flame between them, he knows he can’t leave the past alone. The only thing standing between them is their fraught past and Camille’s furious determination to tie herself to another man. Pursuing Camille means gambling with the future of his pack, but Viktor won’t let his mate go a second time – even if it means he has to put his life on the line to keep her.

Book two in The New Protectorate Series is a standalone novel following the events of Consort's Glory. It can be read on its own, but does contain spoilers for the other books in the series.

The New Protectorate: Book Two

Courtship's Conquest

Fate can't be contained.
#376: A fey Changeling is rescued from captivity by a reluctant demon on a quest to find his fate. Of course Dom expects trouble, but he is shocked to discover his fate is tied to an imprisoned fey woman. Charlotte's a kicking, spitting, hissing little Changeling — and she’s his.

A dragon's kiss burns cold.
Astray: When Paloma Contreras, arrant scientist, accidentally dooms a rogue dragon to death, she'll do anything to save his life. If that means giving up the mountaintop she's called home her entire life, so be it. Too bad Artem Aždaja has no plans to steal her roost. He only wants one thing: her.

Desire fogs the mind.
Weathering: Elise Sasini, an intrepid reporter and weather witch, sets out to uncover the story of San Francisco's legendary sentient fog and gets a lot more than she bargained for. The mysterious elemental agrees to tell his story in exchange for a taste of the life — and the woman — he craves.

Three novellas. Three couples. One fractured world. Step into a magical near-future where love builds, breaks, and defies boundaries.

For those who want them, content warnings can be found in the back of the book and on my website.

The New Protectorate Stories: Volume One

Fragile Beings

Passion is electric.

After a millennia of longing, Hele has finally gotten her chance to live. A lightning elemental with a voracious hunger for knowledge and experience, she takes to her new life with a gusto that surprises everyone she meets. After two years of learning how to navigate the world she’s been thrust into, Hele is only missing one thing: love. She wants one particular dragon, but when he turns her away, she decides that life is too short to wait.

Vael has been a loyal soldier of the Draakonriik for nearly one hundred years. He’s never wanted anything more than to serve his clan and his leader… until the day he snatches a beguiling elemental from the sky. For two torturous years, he’s resisted the call of his Chosen, trying to give her a chance to fly before he claims her and hides her away in his nest.

But when Hele decides to set out on a quest to find a mate, that resolution goes up in smoke. His lovely elemental is about to learn a very valuable lesson: a dragon will do anything to win his Chosen.

Abigail Kelly

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