Megan Derr Boeken

Amidst a life of scorn and isolation, Prince Istari finds himself a hostage in Tallideth, where even former allies like Regent Vellem harbor resentment towards him. His only solace comes from Lord Teverem, a gentle figure burdened by his own tragic past linked to Istari's father. As their bond deepens, Istari uncovers a perilous family secret that threatens to reignite conflict between Tallideth and Belemere, forcing him to confront his legacy and the potential for war once more.

After three years abroad on an arduous expedition, Maximilian is happy to be home, where he can pursue his private studies in peace and enjoy not living in a dusty tent. He is also glad he has arrived in time to attend his twin sister's wedding in a few months, and to finally meet her fiance, Kelcey. Instead he arrives home to be accosted by his sister's furious fiance, who wants to know where she has run off to and why. When they confirm the wedding is most definitely canceled, Max has no choice but to fulfill the runaway clause in the marriage contract: he must find Kelcey a new spouse. And if that was not enough to manage, there is also the matter of the people his sister angered when she vanished ..."

At the age of nine, Johnnie lost everything. A quiet, normal child, his life forever changed when his family was attacked by a blood-crazed vampire, leaving his parents dead and Johnnie an orphan. Now grown, he is the cold, proud, beautiful-but very human-son of the Dracula Desrosiers, who took him in after the tragedy that befell Johnnie's parents. Constantly kept apart for being human, Johnnie chooses to bury himself in the two things he most loves: books and mysteries. Then he is summoned by a friend to solve a simple mystery involving a pair of Cinderella slippers, and in putting one mystery to rest Johnnie only succeeds in waking several more...

All Rath wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Unfortunately, his father brings him too much trouble-and too many debts to pay-for that to ever be possible. When the local crime lord drags Rath out of bed and tells him he has three days to pay his father's latest debt, Rath doesn't know what to do. There's no way to come up with so much money in so little time. Then a friend poses an idea just ridiculous enough to work: enter the Tournament of Losers, where every seventy-five years, peasants compete for the chance to marry into the noble and royal houses. All competitors are given a stipend to live on for the duration of the tournament-funds enough to cover his father's debt. All he has to do is win the first few rounds, collect his stipend, and then it's back to trying to live a quiet life...