Karen Ruth Brooks

Marc McBride

Cassandra Klein accidently drags her friend and Deputy Principal into the fantastical world of Morphea.

The Gaze of the Gorgon

It had been Mother's secret and mine, one passed down through the de Winter women for generations. I would ensure it was kept that way, until I was ready to pass it on. When Anneke Sheldrake is forced to find a way to support her family after her father is lost at sea, she turns to the business by which her mother's family once prospered: brewing ale. Armed with her Dutch mother's recipes and a belief that anything would be better than the life her vindictive cousin has offered her, she makes a deal with her father's aristocratic employer: Anneke has six months to succeed or not only will she lose the house but her family as well. Through her enterprise and determination, she inadvertently earns herself a deadly enemy. Threatened and held in contempt by those she once called friends, Anneke nonetheless thrives. But on the tail of success, tragedy follows and those closest to her pay the greatest price for her daring. Ashamed, grieving, and bearing a terrible secret, Anneke flees to London, determined to forge her own destiny. Will she be able to escape her past, and those whose only desire is to see her fail? A compelling insight into the brewer's craft, the strength of women, and the myriad forms love can take.

The Brewer's Tale

La Serenissima - a beautiful but deadly city where corrupt aristocrats rule and everything, including love, has a price. Tallow is anything but a simple candlemaker and when she has everything taken away from her - friends, family, hope - all she can do to survive is rely on the Maleovellis. Casting aside the safety of her disguise, she becomes cold-hearted Tarlo, female courtesan and the toast of those who, if they knew her secret, would destroy her. But the intrigues of the Serenissian nobility are nothing against the larger forces moving within the world. And Tallow's enemies have a hidden asset: the one thing they know she cannot possibly resist.

Votive

"A young girl is rescued by a humble candle maker. When it becomes evident that dark forces are searching for her, she is disguised as a boy, apprenticed, and taught the art of candle-making. Years pass and strange powers start to manifest. She is taught how to distill powers into the candles she creates, making her both attractive and dangerous to those who seek to use her. Leaving the candle-making business, she is plunged into the corrupt world of the nobility and against her will becomes a deadly assassin. She falls in love with a young tallow chandler, whose fate is sealed when he makes an extraordinary sacrifice to protect her. But there are others who find her: to exploit her abilities or the deadly candles she creates, or to kill her. Set in a rich and dramatic world inspired by Renaissance Venice, Tallow is the first book in the trilogy The Candlemaker's Apprentice."--Provided by publisher.

Karen Ruth Brooks

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