The New Adult Genre – WTF is Going On?

It's a life stage...

I can only shrug, or laugh—or snicker might be the better word.  Because I don’t see much when it comes to trends, I mean seriously—I’m about as out of touch with trends as they come.  But I saw this coming from a mile away. And it wasn’t Easy, or Beautiful Disaster that clued me in, either.  Although I did read those books long before NA took off and yes, I did love both of them.

But I knew back in 2010 when this whole thing was really starting to take form that my main character in my book would not be a young adult in the traditional sense of the word.  She’s far too nasty, has a foul-mouth, and I’m not really sure when she lost her virginity, but it wasn’t anytime recent in her nineteen year old life in CLUTCH.

I made my character this way on purpose.  I wasn’t making a likable girl, I was making a real girl.  And yeah, she’s a bit over the top with her violence, but I was writing science fiction, so I could do that and make it normal.  I also knew this book was NOT for kids.  Not even for teens, although I have a lot of teen fans I actually do worry about them reading my books.

I never saw the draw to young adult when it was taking off in a big way this past decade, but I knew it was a very popular genre for writers to be in.  I wish I could’ve checked that category when I published Clutch because these books would’ve gotten a lot more attention.

But I didn’t.  I put the book where it belonged—squarely in adult science fiction, even though it really isn’t your typical SF story and certainly does appeal to young audiences because of Junco’s age.

And age is everything in the YA and NA markets because age defines these markets.  New adult is not about sex, or love, or college, or finding one’s self.  It’s about all of that from one unique perspective…the eighteen to twenty-six year old.

And I’m so freaking sick of seeing this question…what is new adult?  How is this hard?  I can’t even comprehend the confusion.  New Adult.  It’s pretty self-explanatory, right?  In America when you’re seventeen you’re a kid.  You live by the rules others make for you.  Most of us have parents who make these rules, but it can deviate.

When you’re eighteen, BOOM…you’re an adult.

A new adult.

It’s not a mystery.

When I think back to my eighteenth birthday I was kinda depressed.  I lived in Anaheim at the time and I was walking down my alley alone.  I have no freaking clue where my brother was, or my dad, or my boyfriend, or my friends, for that matter.  I had all these things, but I was alone, walking down an alley to a neighbor’s house, on the morning of my eighteenth birthday. 

A neighbor whose name I cannot for the life of me remember, all I remember is that he was gay and he was in his late twenties, so he had a clue about life.  And even way back then, he knew.  That guy knew that eighteen was a big deal in its own special way.  And he was the first person to see me on my birthday and he gave me a present.

This present made my whole day—so much so I still think about it, even though I cannot remember his name, I remember what he did for me that day as I was lost in my own angst in becoming a new adult.

He gave me a chamois to wash my new-to-me car that my dad bought me as a graduation/birthday present.  I didn’t even have my license yet, but that stupid sheepskin chamois made my whole day.

Someone I knew, but not that well, someone I really had very little in common with other than we lived close to each other, cared about me enough to give me a present that was maybe a little unusual for an eighteen year old girl, but it was personal.  He knew I got a car and that I wasn’t allowed to drive it until I got my license. And he wanted to celebrate that with me…he even reminded me that a car was a ticket to freedom.

The day went downhill from there and I ended up at home that night crying.  LOL… oh, God… seriously, the best thing about my day was that chamois from the neighbor because that gift helped erase the feeling of being all alone in this world.  And on my eighteenth birthday, that’s the feeling I had.  It wasn’t fun or cool or anything like that.

It was scary as fuck.

This is what new adult is.

It’s scary as fuck shit that you cannot explain.  You have no idea why life is so hard, or if you’re making it harder than it needs to be, you just know you’re one panic attack away from losing it all completely.  You have no idea if you’re doing it right or even if there’s a right way at all.  You have no idea if college is a good thing or a bad thing, you just know that’s what kids do after high school.  You have no idea if your boyfriend loves you, or just enjoys the fact that you sleep with him at night.

You have no clue because you have very few experiences to base your decisions on.  Growing up is a collection of experiences that translate into life lessons, and when you’re eighteen, you just don’t have what it takes to make good comparisons when you’re presented with choices.

And this is why life as a new adult is so unique.  As a young adult you have your fall-back, your family, your family home, your support system.  But as a new adult, whether you realize it or not right away, it all comes down to you.  You make your decisions, you succeed or fail based on those decisions, and you take the credit or blame in the end.

This is what’s going on in the new adult fiction world.

New adult is booming because new adult authors are writing real shit.  They’re writing about sex, yes, because most people at this age are thinking about and having sex.  They’re writing about college because this is where many new adults end up after high school, where they experience these firsts and formulate opinions on things.  They’re writing about decisions, bad and good, and consequences.

They’re writing about love, because everyone wants to fall in love.  And not the love you have as a teenager living at home with your mom and dad.  But the love that comes with no buffer between you and your feelings.

And that’s why I started the New Adult Addiction blog.  Because turning eighteen is hard.  It’s emotional, and it’s frustrating, and it’s scary.  And navigating the next six to ten years is all that and more.

And whether you think it’s a real genre doesn’t matter.  It is, because new adult is an actual human life stage.  Besides fiction, I write non-fiction science texts and this weekend I’m making a course on life cycles because it’s spring and the cycle is getting ready to start again.

If humans had a little life cycle chart like the one’s I’m making for this unit study, then new adult would be the tadpole with legs, the salmon smolt, the fledgling eagle, or the caterpillar in the cocoon.

And if a fucking fish can have a new adult stage, well, I think humans are entitled to one as well.

I write dark, hard-core, new adult science fiction about a girl named Junco.

Who is Junco, you ask?

Picture yourself lost in your own head, confused, surrounded by people who want to use you, take you away, or simply kill you.

This is me, Junco Coot.  Aged 19. Year 2152.

I am the daughter of the Rural Republic’s ranking commander, a trained assassin, semi-famous athlete, and on the run. Behind me is a past better left dead, and in front of me is a future I’d rather not meet. Because my life is nothing but lies.

So who is Junco?

Let’s just be clear on what I’m not.

I am no one’s project. I am no one’s redemption. I am no one’s salvation.

I’m a whole lot of things and none of them are good.

But it’s not my fault, because they made me this way.

And now they want to change the rules—but I’ve got other plans.

Because I am just Junco.

And I will not go down without a fight.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. A. Huss likes to write new adult books that make you think and keep you guessing. Her favorite genre to read is space opera, but since practically no one reads those books, she writes new adult science fiction, paranormal romance, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and books about Junco (who refuses to be saddled with a label).

She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs.

REVIEW: The Lost Girl by Sangu Mandanna

The Lost Girl

by Sangu Mandanna

Published August 28, 2012

Young Adult/Dystopian/Fantasy/Romance/Thriller???

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination--an echo. She was made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her "other," if she ever died. Eva spends every day studying that girl from far away, learning what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But sixteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything and everyone she's ever known--the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love--to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive.

What Eva finds is a grief-stricken family; parents unsure how to handle this echo they thought they wanted; and Ray, who knew every detail, every contour of Amarra. And when Eva is unexpectedly dealt a fatal blow that will change her existence forever, she is forced to choose: Stay and live out her years as a copy or leave and risk it all for the freedom to be an original. To be Eva.

From debut novelist Sangu Mandanna comes the dazzling story of a girl who was always told what she had to be--until she found the strength to decide for herself.

This book started out with a very poetic literary quality.  Let’s translate that – it has rambling sentences that are more beautiful than plot-moving.  Which is fine.  I actually give the first part of this book an enthusiastic five stars.  I enjoyed the world, even if most of it was not in the least believable, and I enjoyed Eva, her strength, and her guardians.

I think the love story between Eva and Sean started out as one of the most beautiful romances I’ve ever read.

      “I don’t want him,” I say. “I want you.”

      “That’s punishable.”

      “I don’t care about the laws.”

      He laughs softly, but it’s a funny sound. “It doesn’t matter.”

      “Why not?”

      “Because I do.”

      “Don’t you care about me more than you do the laws?”

      “No,” he says quietly.

      I stare at him silently, my throat tight and my eyes raw. “No,” I repeat, wrapping my arms around my knees. “I see.”

      He crosses the room and comes to me, his feet brushing softly against the floor. I look up at him. He touches my face with his thumb. “I’d rather spend the rest of my life without ever seeing you again,” he says, “than watch them destroy you because of me.”


Wow.  That was very powerful to me.  It was noble and heartbreaking at the same time.  And Sean continues this for a good portion of the book. <spoiler> It’s only when he breaks this promise that I got frustrated.  I could see him helping Eva from afar, that would still keep his promise, but he turns everything he said into a lie when he helps her run. </spoiler>

I'm a SF writer and reader, so I'm willing to go with pretty much anything as long as the author can convince me.  And so even though the entire premise of this book is pretty far-fetched, I think Mandanna pulled it off in the first half of the book.  I could buy into all the Weavers and Loom stuff, even the ability of Eva to stay hidden from society.  But the second half was just one lucky break after another.

I’m not sure what happened to the last half of this book – and I can get past the fact that India was pretty much a little America – I mean, I have no idea what India is like – I know they speak English there and they are a quickly developing nation, but it was very Americanized.  Even so, I accepted that as the truth in the story because it’s Mandanna’s world and she’s allowed to paint it any way she wants.

But what I could not accept is the fact that the last half of the book reads like a thriller when the first half of the book reads like a dystopian romance.  The whole plot in the second half was way beyond suspending belief and going with it.  There were just too many holes and it was just too different.

I just wish the story would've concentrated on the internal struggle like it was in the beginning instead of the thriller-esque external chase stuff in the end.  And I wish Sean would've kept his word, even though it would've hurt Eva.  This is a story that begs for a second installment, really. 

At any rate, I will definitely pick up the next book by this author because she got me with that romance between Sean and Eva – that was some fantastic emotional characterization and I can get over just about any plot flaws as long as I love the characters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sangu Mandanna was four years old when she was chased by an elephant and wrote her first story about it and decided that this was what she wanted to do with her life. Seventeen years later, she read Frankenstein. It sent her into a writing frenzy that became THE LOST GIRL, a novel about death and love and the tie that binds the two together. Sangu now lives in England with her husband and son. Find her online at www.sangumandanna.com

GIVEAWAY COVER REVEAL: Of Silver and Beasts by Trisha Wolfe

Of Silver and Beasts 

(A Goddess Wars Novel)
by Trisha Wolfe
Release Date: June 1, 2013

Genre: New Adult Dark Fantasy
Cover Reveal Organized by: YA Bound
Cover Designed by: StevenNovak

In the sand-covered queendom of Cavan, the goddess once saved a young Kaliope’s life, preventing the mercury her father attempted to hide in her blood from reaching her heart. Now, a cybernetic clamp filters it, but the silver streaks swirling faintly beneath her skin are a constant reminder that she’s different.

When nineteen-year-old Kaliope is chosen as head of the Nactue Guard, she becomes the sworn protector to her empress. In the midst of an invasion on a neighboring land, Kaliope is placed in charge of guarding Prince Caben, the last heir to his kingdom. But when they’re attacked by the feared Otherworlders, Caben and Kaliope are abducted and taken below to a realm where they must fight for their life in a caged arena.

Kaliope struggles to protect her princely charge, keeping him and herself alive while battling inhumanly opponents, and trying to save the stolen, sacred relic that will restore her empress’s life force and all of Cavan. And if she can somehow awaken the goddess within her, she may save what’s most important.

New Adult Dark Fantasy: Intended for readers 17 years of age and older.

I open my mouth to say something comforting, but I’m unsure of what. In this moment, I’m reminded that I know little about him. Other than the sarcasm and desire to understand nothing of my queendom, he hasn’t allowed me past the surface.

But then, I have my own walls, hiding things I’d never want him or any other to know. And I understand that need to hide them. You can’t trust anyone. 

“Caben…” I start, but still can’t find the right words.

He lowers his hand from his face, never taking his eyes off the glinting water top. “You’re right,” he finally says. “Let’s find the access to Lilly’s section.”

A hollow pang hits my chest, and I’m not sure why. Something in his voice sounds lost, broken. I imagine the gears around my heart spinning faster, trying to keep up with my racing heart. 

When he sidesteps me, I reach out and grab his arm. “Caben, I didn’t mean—”

“It’s fine, Kal,” he snaps. “We have work to do.”

“No, I’ve said something to offend you.” I drop my hand, but keep close to him, not allowing him to leave my side. Goddess, trying to understand the male brain is harder than anything in protector training. I’ve heard people say that you have to tip-toe around a woman’s emotions, but a man’s ego is every bit as fragile, if not more so.

He releases a heavy breath through his nose and walks back to the pool. He sits down along the edge and rolls up his pants, then slips off his boots. “I honestly don’t think Bax or his goons will be returning tonight.” He sinks his bare feet into the water and sighs.

Glancing at the back of the cave, I plant my hands on my hips. We don’t have time for indulgencies, but the prince is still my charge. If it were my empress, I’d give her anything she’d ask for. Allow her as much time as she needed to collect herself. I have to watch over his mental state as well as protect him, so I try to push the pending need to find Lilly aside and sit down next to him.

“Here,” he says, turning his hand out near my crossed feet. “You have to feel this.”

A smile tugs at the corner of my mouth. “I can remove my own—”

“Have you never been pampered a day in your life?” he asks, lifting an eyebrow. “I know that the Nactue are fierce and will put a hurt on any man for touching them. But try to relax.”

“Is that the rumor in Perinya?”

“What?”

I bite my lip, suddenly regretting my blurt. “Nothing. Never mind.”

From the corner of my eye, I see his lips pucker into a pinched smile, as if he’s trying not to. “Ah,” he says, like he’s made some great universal connection. “Well, there are many whisperings about the Nactue. Some I dare not repeat for fear I’d leave here missing a limb, but that’s one, yes.” He takes my booted foot and begins to unlace it.

“I’ve heard that the empress’s protectors are untouchable—forbidden to give themselves to men. And that they’ll snap a man’s neck just for making an advance.”

My mouth drops open. Appalled, I counter, “That’s not true.”

“All right,” he says, as if he hasn’t just insulted my very existence. “It’s only rumors. Things men jaw about in pubs. The unattainable woman is a fantasy, Kal. Don’t be offended.”

“Unattainable?” I grit my teeth, trying to maintain my composure. “Tell me, prince. Do men in your country just go around bedding every woman they can in order to keep them compliant?” I shake my head. “If their fantasy is a woman that would have nothing to do with them, it seems to me it’s their way of feeding their egos after being rejected.”

His eyes widen. “No! How does your brain come up with these—” He bites off his words, his lips thin as he presses them together. “Look, it was a joke.”

I nod, many times. “Another joke. I’m glad that our hard work and sacrifice is amusing to the men of Perinya.”

Caben lets out another sigh and slowly pulls off my boot. His warm fingers skim my calf as he inches up my pant leg. “Just stick your foot in,” he says, then adds lower, “while I stick mine in my mouth.”

Unexpectedly, I laugh. “At least it’s now clean,” I say. “Would you like some help getting it to your face?”

About the author...

I’m the author of the YA Steampunk DESTINY'S FIRE (Omnific Publishing), the upcoming YA Utopian FIREBLOOD (Spencer Hill Press, Oct. 2013), and a new YA Dark Fantasy series releasing June 2013, OF SILVER AND BEASTS.

I’m the creator of YA Bound, a promotional blog for the Young Adult genre. A proud member of the SCWW and The Apocalypsies. And I’m also a business owner, partnered with my partner, my husband. When I’m not busy doing all of the above, I’m a wife and the mother of a gorgeous teen boy who's the sounding board for my male characters.

Check out my website TrishaWolfe.com for more on my books and bonus material. You can also follow me on Twitter @TrishWolfe or like my Facebook page or updates. 

***GIVEAWAY***

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop

3rd Annual Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop

ONE lucky follower will win $10 Book of Choice from Amazon (US) or The Book Depository (INT)

March 29th to April 5th

Hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer & Read Now Sleep Later

YOU MAY CHOOSE ANY BOOK AND ARE NOT LIMITED TO THE ONE FEATURED HERE

 

I never feature my own books in these hops but this time I am.  I have a new adult romance coming out on May 20th and I love my new cover, so I'm gonna show it off.  Plus, you can get three entries if you add it to your Goodreads shelf in the Rafflecopter.  :)

ROOK WALSH IS TRAGIC... Because life so far – just sucks. Some girls get parents. Rook got the foster care system. Some girls get Prince Charming. Rook got an abusive frog. Some girls get lucky…

Rook got a second chance.

And she took it. Because when fate throws you a bone – you grab it with both hands and run.

Antoine Chaput knows the minute he spies Rook in his photography studio that she’s got The Look. The dark and desperate look he must have to land the exclusive TRAGIC media contract.

Rook is paired up with top model, Ronin, and he’s everything her abusive ex-boyfriend wasn’t. Patient, gentle, happy, attentive, and sexy AS HELL! He knows exactly what to do to make Rook blush for Antoine’s camera.

Rook’s luck changes in an instant and suddenly she’s the darling of the modeling world. It’s a dream job to go with a dream guy and all she has to do is look pretty and follow directions. But there’s always a price to pay – and Rook is about to get the bill.

THE HOP

The 3rd Annual Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop is hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and Read Now Sleep Later, and it goes a little something like this: A bunch of blogs sign up to host a giveaway and then we link up together (using the Linky list below) which enables everyone who's participating in the hop, as well as all of our collective followers, to visit each giveaway blog.  This allows blogs to get new followers and followers to find new blogs!  Everyone wins!  Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop is scheduled from March 29rd at 12:00 AM to April 5 at 11:59 PM.

THE PRIZE

ONE lucky follower will win $10 Book of Choice from Amazon (US) or The Book Depository (INT)

THE RULES

This prize will be delivered by email, typically within 24 hours of responding to my notification e-mail. Everyone who enters must be legally able to do so, typically this means 13 years and up, but please check with your local regulations.  Please follow all the rules for hop entries.  I do check them, so don't cheat.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond after I send out the notification e-mail, if I do not hear from you, I'll choose an alternate winner.

Don't forget to hop on down the line and enter ALL the Giveaways! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

BOOK BLITZ: The Grimm Prequels by Cameron Jace

The Grimm Prequels 
The Prequels to the highly anticipated Snow White Sorrow!

The Grimm Prequels 1-6, and The Grimm Prequels 7-10 will both be on sale for 0.99 each from the 28th until the 31st.

1) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AA4JIWC
2 )http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AA4JIWC

The Grimm Prequels 1-6 is an amazon.com top 100 bestseller

Grimm Diaries  

by Cameron Jace 
Prequels 11-14
Publication date: March 28th 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairy Tale

INCLUDES:

10.5) Happy Valentine’s Slay by Wee Willy Winkie The real Sandman Grimm sheds a light on what happened in Jawigi, and tells about how some of the teens in Sorrow spend their Valentine’s Day.

11) Children of Hamlin by the Devil The Devil tells the story of the Piper of Hamlin, who he really is, the historical events he witnessed, and his relationship to Ladle Rat. Most of all, why they call him the Black Death.

12) Tooth & Nail & Fairy Tale by Jack Madly Jack Madly stole a sack full of baby teeth from Bluebeard’s enchanted castle, which reminds him of when he first met the Tooth Fairy when he was a child; a memory he wishes to forget.

13) Ember in the Wind by the Little Match Girl All the Little Match Girl wants is to sell her matches so she uses the money to eat and find  shelter from the cold. But no one in the cruel city of crowded London helps her. Eventually, she learns something about who she really is, and it changes her life forever.

14) Jar of Hearts by the Queen of Sorrow The Queen of Sorrow, still trapped in the Dreamworld summons Cassandra, the fortuneteller, to ask her about the identities of Lost Seven. The problem with Cassandra is that she’s cursed that her predictions will never be believed. The Queen is still determined to believe her, but it will cost more than she can bargain for.

The Grimm Diaries Prequels volume 7- 10 includes:

• Once Beauty Twice Beast
• Moon & Madly
• Rumpelstein
• Jawigi

 

Grimm Diaries Prequels 7 - 10 
by Cameron Jace

Expected publication: Jan 16, 2013

What if all you knew about fairy tales was wrong?

Warning: these Grimm Prequels are like snap shots of a magical land you're about to visit soon. I like to think of them as poisoned apples. Once you taste them, you will never see fairy tales in the same light again.

This Grimm Diaries Prequels are a number of short books in the form of epistolary diary entries. The diaries are more of teasers for the upcoming series: The Grimm Diaries, allowing you to get a glimpse of what to expect of the series. The 6 diaries are told by The Evil Queen, Peter Pan, Little Red Riding Hood, the Devil, Prince Charming, and Alice Grimm.

Series Description: 

The Grimm Diaries are pages written in a Book of Sand, where each fairy tale character confessed the true stories once altered by the Brothers Grimm two centuries ago. To keep the truth about fairy tales hidden, the Brothers Grimm buried the characters in their dreams to never wake up again. But the curse is broken now, and the characters are allowed to wake up every one hundred years. They intend to tell the truth about really happened, and about an untold cosmic conflict between fairy tale characters.

BUY AT AMAZON 

AMAZON UK  

Goodreads

 

Grimm Diaries 1-6

BUY AT AMAZON 

AMAZON UK

Goodreads

SNOW WHITE SORROW.

Snow White Sorrow

Expected publication: February 2013 by Akmal Eldin Farouk Ali Shebl

 

Sixteen year old Loki Blackstar is no Prince Charming. His mother is a ghost. His only friend is a red Cadillac that talks to him through the radio. He looks like an Angel but acts like jerk. No wonder he has been banned from Heaven, which is the least of his troubles. Loki needs a job to pay for school and support himself.

Still, Loki has a rare gift: He is a Dreamhunter. One of the few in the world who can hunt and kill immortal demons in their dreams so they never wake up again.

When Loki is sent to kill a sixteen-year-old vampire girl the locals call Snow White Sorrow, he is pulled into a magical but dangerous world. The locals believe the monster to be Snow White.

The real Snow White… living in the ruins of an ancient castle in a small town. She is described as horribly beautiful, terrifyingly enchanting, and wickedly lovely.

What he finds instead is a beautiful monster girl filled with rage and hurt, who has an epic untold story to tell of things such like why the Brothers Grimm altered the fairy tale, who the Evil Queen really is, where the mirror came from, and who possessed it.

Snow White has killed every person who has dared come near the castle where she once lived with the queen. Mysteriously, she lets Loki live, and whispers two words in his ears; two words that will change his life forever

Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cameron Jace: Wonderlander, Neverlander, Unicorn-chaser, enchanter, musician, survived a coma, & totally awesome. Sometimes I tell stories. Always luv the little monstersI write young adult paranormal romance, urban fantasy, and science fiction mostly. The Grimm Diaries series is a seven book saga that deals with retellings of fairy tales from a young adult POV – it connects most of the fairy tales together and claims to be the truth about fairy tales.

I live in San Fransisco and seriously think circles are way cooler than triangles.

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PROMO: Broken Gates by DT Dyllin

(P.J. Stone Gates Trilogy #2)

by D.T. Dyllin

Paperback

Expected publication: May 24th 2013 by Dragonfairy Press 

 ***Genre - New Adult Paranormal Romance

P.J. Stone is a Seer who saw too little, too late.

In the past, her biggest worries were boys and school—but war has a way of changing things. Now, the alien Riders are trying to overrun the world. As the last of their kind, P.J. and her friends must find a way to save humanity before there’s nothing left to save.

After choosing a mate, P.J. hoped she'd have time to enjoy her love life. But with everything changing so quickly and major secrets revealed, who knows what the future will bring?

First Book in this series

Click on the photo above to learn more.