In the harsh, priest-ruled land of the volcano-god, unsanctioned gifts are punished with death.Eleria knows she must give herself up. But her husband doesn't plan on letting her go.A short free read in Imogen Howson's Volcano Fire series.Christina ‘Chrissy” Monet aspired for something more than the life of a simple blog columnist. Her wishes come true when an old wooded property comes up for sale, and she pours her life-savings into the fixer-upper. The property comes with the added bonus of a handsome neighbor by the name of Adam Smith, but sparks fizzle rather than sizzle when she realizes he owns half the property she hoped to have. They part ways with biting remarks on her part, but she finds her carpentry skills aren’t up to the task and she’s forced into a relationship with the mysterious Smith. Strange happenings occur and she’s left wondering whether Smith has more up his sleeve than muscle.

On Fern’s 18th birthday, she discovers she’s a fire-starter. To learn to control it, Fern travels to a place where other young people have gathered to learn how to manage their gifts. And that’s where she meets Nik, the enigmatic magician who seems to understand her and her gift better than she does herself. But can Nik be trusted? Or is he hiding dangerous secrets of his own?From the award-winning author of “Linked” and “Unravel” comes this enchanting collection of stories and novellas, spanning centuries and cultures, from the underworld of the ancient Greece to the dystopian future.

When Elissa learns her telepathic twin is the subject of government experiments, the girls find themselves on the run with secrets worth killing for in this futuristic, romantic thriller. Elissa used to have it all: looks, popularity, and a bright future. Now, all she has is nightmarish visions and unexplained bruises. Finally, she’s promised a cure, and a surgery is scheduled. But on the eve of the procedure, she discovers the truth behind her visions: She’s seeing the world through another girl’s eyes. A world filled with pain and wires and weird machines. Elissa follows her visions, only to find a battered, broken girl on the run. A girl—Lin—who looks exactly like Elissa, down to the matching bruises. A twin she never knew existed.Elissa helps Lin evade the government agents who are ruthlessly tracking her down, but they’re struggling to avoid capture, and soon Elissa is forced to turn to the only person who can help: Cadan, her brother’s infuriating, arrogant best friend, and new graduate of the SFI space flight academy. Cadan is their one chance at safety. But Lin is too valuable to let go, and Elissa has knowledge that is too dangerous. The government will stop at nothing to get them back.Review “A pulse-pounding adventure—I couldn't put it down!" (Gennifer Albin, author of Crewel)“Howson’s high-flying, inventive tale is one part space opera, one part romance, one part The Matrix—and all parts adventure.” (Ilsa J. Bick, author of Ashes) About the AuthorImogen Howson writes science fiction and fantasy for adults and young adults, and is the winner of the 2008 Elizabeth Goudge Award for her romantic fiction. She works as an occasional editor for Samhain Publishing. She lives with her partner and their two teenage daughters near Sherwood Forest in England, where she reads, writes, and drinks too much coffee. Visit her at ImogenHowson.com.

Caught between love and duty, can she make an impossible choice? Five years ago, Aera was called away from everything she had ever known: her home, family, and Coram, the boy she was growing to love. She was given no choice. As the only living lava-shifter—able to transform her body into molten rock—she is destined to serve the volcano god as his fire priestess. Now, before she takes her ordained role, she must face her final test. Execute a criminal sentenced to death for the most unforgivable of all sins. Blasphemy. She’s shocked to discover it’s no anonymous law-breaker waiting chained at the center of the labyrinth. It’s Coram. For the crime of being a gargoyle, a winged stone-shifter. A gift akin to hers…except his gift is unsanctioned by the temple, his powers proclaimed unholy. If she refuses the test she will betray her god and condemn her family to dishonor. To pass it she must kill the boy she used to love…the man she still does. Warning: Contains violence, tears, self-sacrifice, a little bit of I-can’t-bear-to-leave-you-but-I-have-to sex, and a heroine whose touch melts the hero—um, literally.

Untold dangers await telepathic twins in this sequel to the futuristic, romantic thriller BCCB called “classic sci-fi, space-travel adventure at its best.”After Elissa and Lin exposed the government's secret experiments in Linked, which Booklist called “a roller-coaster ride into space that just about everyone should enjoy,” their home planet Sekoia is thrown into chaos. Determined to do their part to help the planet they’ve hurt, they return to Sekoia—only to discover that things are far worse that they imagined. Resources are suddenly scarce, people are scared, and there’s a rising current of anger against the Spares. When Lissa and Lin find themselves among another group of Spares and twins, they feel like they’ve found their kindred spirits at last. But a threat none of them could have expected is lying in wait for Sekoia’s Spares…

Sworn virgin, instrument of the god’s vengeance—helpless in her target’s arms. Sequel to Heart of the Volcano Maya, leader of the temple maenads, has learned nothing but contempt for the weakness of her human body. She lives for the ritual that transforms her into maenad form, ready to administer the vengeance of the volcano god. Killing a fugitive shifter is not just her duty, but her delight—until, against all odds, he captures her, trapping her in her worst nightmare. Her vulnerable, easily controlled human form. Marked for destruction by his forbidden gifts, empath and shifter Philos fled the city years ago to become a warrior for persecuted people like him. Now he has the enemy at his mercy—a maenad desperate to regain her power. But when they touch, he finds his empathic power not so much a gift as a terrible danger. To his people, and his heart. Gradually, Maya realizes Philos is not a monster deserving of death. Yet even as she hesitantly offers to help in the war against the priests, she can risk no more than the bare beginnings of friendship with the man she was supposed to kill. Anything more, and she will forever lose access to the power she cannot bear to live without… Warning: Contains violence, deadly spider-venom, sex that gets interrupted at the last minute, sex that doesn’t get interrupted at the last minute, and plenty of not-your-usual shape-shifters.