Title and Blurb Game

[NephraLimu]

Upside Down

Being the younger brother of the girls who famously solved a local cold case is usually quite interesting. [name_m]Nathan[/name_m] just didn’t think it would become the sort of interesting that almost gets you hospitalised on a weekly basis.

And then an old case gets dug up more forcefully than anyone could have ever expected.

[name_f]Lily[/name_f] Levisay was murdered almost fifty years ago, and found tied to a tree in the middle of the woods. Hanging by her ankles.

So too was a boy in Nat’s year — admittedly not quite dead, but he’s certainly not in any state to talk. A boy who [name_u]Nat[/name_u], better than almost anyone else, knows people would want to get rid of.

[name_u]Nat[/name_u] Driscoll is no detective.

Then again, neither were his sisters.

And anyway, whoever tried to kill [name_u]Theo[/name_u] [name_m]Hart[/name_m] might be after him now, and since [name_u]Nat[/name_u] rather likes to steer clear of trees and rope and being upside-down when it’s all happening at once… well, maybe solving strange cold cases runs in the family?

Next: Lost Lies or A Daughter of Enchantment

[CeriseAngel]

Lost Lies

Growing up, [name_f]Kate[/name_f] [name_u]Finch[/name_u] always thought it was strange when people called the death of [name_u]David[/name_u] [name_u]Ashton[/name_u] a ‘cold case’ – hadn’t the man died in a house fire? – but now that she actually knows what that means… she still isn’t quite so sure.

Everyone in Sergate knows that someone started that fire, of course, even [name_f]Kate[/name_f]. It’s obvious enough, because no sane person would drench their own house in petrol before lighting a match or trying to use a lighter. And yet it’s been almost ten years, and nobody knows what happened.

Except, of course, for David’s murderer.

When Kate’s given a very good reason to begin looking closer at the [name_u]Ashton[/name_u] case, and does so, uncovering secrets thought to be long buried feels like it’s going to be par for the course… but in a town like Sergate, where rumours spread like wildfire whether they have any base or not, secrets can be absolutely ruinous.

And with secrets like these, anyone might kill to keep their lies lost for good…

Next: Rules of [name_f]Eternity[/name_f] or [name_u]An[/name_u] Impossible [name_f]Bride[/name_f]

[NephraLimu]

(Rowan Cross Investigates #4!)

An Impossible Bride

The dead woman was identified, and it still didn’t make any sense to us — to anybody. How can three people look at the same body and get two different answers?

Rowan Cross is almost certainly too used to the magic and mystery of Feldern nowadays, which might not be a bad thing… but it also probably isn’t a very good thing.

When a woman’s body is found on the outskirts of town, it’s almost impossible to panic. It doesn’t even seem like she’s actually been murdered until she’s being identified.

Because while one of Rowan and Piper’s classmates believes the woman is her missing — single — mother, a man claims that she’s his wife. And his son agrees.

Stranger still, a woman identical to the dead woman turns up days later to claim that she is actually the missing mother of Carlyn Hallewell, and that the dead woman is really her twin sister. Which might make sense, if it wasn’t for the fact that Carlyn’s very insistent that she does not have an aunt at all.

In the midst of all the chaos (and definitely missing about half the context), can Rowan and Piper work out who’s telling the truth?

Next: Chronicles of Forgotten Fire or The Silent Magician

[lost_city_girl_14]

The Silent Magician

He’s always there. The silent magician. No-one knows much about him, but they all know one thing-
He watches. He waits. And he takes.
Some say the disappearances could just be a coincidence. But I know. I’ve been inside his “big top”, seen the stains splattered like jam on the dusty ground.
I knew I had to prove it was all him. Had to do the right thing. But rumours spread in a town as small as this.
And now I’ll be next.

Next: Fragments

[NephraLimu]

Fragments

[name_f]Ivy[/name_f] Amana was always composed… and somehow, this was no different. [name_m]Even[/name_m] as [name_f]Thea[/name_f] gasped and stumbled backwards, as I tried not to scream, she stood perfectly still.

She already knew what it looked like.

[name_u]Ollie[/name_u] [name_m]Yates[/name_m] knows that one of her best friends just brutally murdered most of her family — it’s just a question of why. Because nobody can risk asking her outright, and there’s never been any sign that she’d do such a thing.

But digging for the truth about the Amana family has never really ended well for anyone in the past, and as [name_u]Ollie[/name_u] and [name_f]Thea[/name_f] begin to piece together the fragments of answers that they have, [name_f]Ivy[/name_f] is practically right by their side: one step ahead in hiding her motive, but one step behind in hiding her guilt.

And she knows.

[name_f]Ivy[/name_f] always knows, and tidying away her broken glass might mean making her friends fear for their lives.

If she’s not prepared to end them first.

Next: Dawncrest Academy or And Hearts [name_u]Will[/name_u] Lie

[EdgeOfTheMeadow]

And Hearts [name_u]Will[/name_u] Lie

[name_f]Imagine[/name_f] having only a few snatches of memory to represent your whole childhood.

[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] lives alone with her dog [name_u]Henry[/name_u] and just about tolerates her job in the local coffee shop. [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] lives for beach walks with [name_u]Henry[/name_u] and eating biscuits and drinking tea infront of the TV at the end of the day. She’s sweet, sensitive and prone to aggressive outbursts that take everyone by surprise, not least [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] herself.

[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] is trying to piece together the first sixteen years of her life. It’s not easy when your mother is in and out of hospital with paranoid schizophrenia, your father was apparently physically present yet mentally absent from your childhood home and has now permanently removed himself from the country and any paternal obligations towards her. But why? And why does [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] feel that it’s all her fault?

[name_f]Emmeline[/name_f] would say that she loves both of her parents and they profess that they love her and that at one time or another, they even loved each other. But she knows that fear isn’t love and hearts will lie…

Three [name_u]Silver[/name_u] Rings

[Aviatrix]

(I was trying to come up with another idea, but then what I wrote made me think of what I wrote for A Tale of Wizards and Wolves , so… yeah.)

Three [name_u]Silver[/name_u] Rings

Saving a school like [name_f]Starlight[/name_f] Manor is bound to get you the exact sort of attention you don’t like, [name_u]Aster[/name_u] [name_m]Lennix[/name_m] has decided. Especially when you do it alongside the three most interesting students in the year.

Things between [name_u]Aster[/name_u] and the [name_u]Jinx[/name_u] siblings are only marginally less tense than before, however – or more specifically with [name_m]Zander[/name_m] and [name_u]Rue[/name_u]. [name_f]Lillian[/name_f], on the other hand, actually seems to trust him now… and even when her siblings are bound to hate her for it, she’s willing to tell [name_u]Aster[/name_u] things that no other students have ever known.

Dealing with the wolves around the school was bad enough. With just three silver rings and a few fragmented memories to go off, tracking anyone down should be absolutely impossible. But [name_u]Aster[/name_u] finds himself unable to resist the pull of the new mystery, which should be – in theory – much safer.

Though when it comes to the [name_u]Jinx[/name_u] siblings, safety may be little more than a myth…

Next: How Popular People Die or Sailing Among The Stars

[NephraLimu]

How Popular People Die

Something is very wrong in Blackbrook.

Maybe keeping tabs on who has the most friends — both online and in real life — among the students of Blackbrook Secondary School is something that could be easily replaced by a hobby. Maybe it is a little too stalkerish… but then again, [name_u]Avery[/name_u] [name_m]Quartz[/name_m] has never really cared what people think of them.

Until now.

Her Year Ten list loses its top three first, all three students vanishing from the same party at different times. Only one returns, the boy in second, and he refuses to talk about what happened.

The bodies of One and Three are found weeks later.

Then it’s Year [name_u]Seven[/name_u] — all three girls return, all just as shaken as the Year Ten. And then all three Year Nines are found dead within hours of their disappearances and less than a mile away from their homes.

[name_u]Avery[/name_u] is about three-quarters of the way down her own list when it comes to Year Ten, so while they shouldn’t expect anything to happen to them… well, someone’s been crossing the dead students off their lists and she’s pretty damn sure it wasn’t her.

Which means that destroying the lists won’t help anyone now, except [name_u]Avery[/name_u] herself, but with just two year groups to go before the killer either stops or just moves onto the new top three, they’ve got to do something.

One pattern down, and all the rest to go.

Are Avery’s lists going to be her downfall or their saving grace?

(And, perhaps a little more importantly, why are the former [name_u]Four[/name_u] and [name_m]Five[/name_m] of Year Ten glaring at them like she’s the killer even when Two has almost no idea who they are?)

Next: The [name_m]Black[/name_m] [name_f]Spirit[/name_f] of The [name_f]Dawn[/name_f] or King/Queen/Prince/Princess of The [name_u]Silver[/name_u] [name_u]Sea[/name_u]

[anniebrown01]

[name_u]Prince[/name_u] of the [name_u]Silver[/name_u] [name_u]Sea[/name_u]

As the moon crests close over the silver sea,
a baby is born on a cool summer night in Andalusia.

Warm the fading light floats by his mewling cry
while waves of sparking water crash ashore.

This boy knows not of the place that will one day be his kingdom,
just of smooth wind and his mother’s face.

But one day, many days from now,
the moon over the current will rise and fall
the tides on the shore will ebb and flow
the sparkling waves will crash ashore

all for this boy:
the prince of the silver sea.

Next: [name_f]Earth[/name_f] Shatter

[lost_city_girl_14]

[name_f]Earth[/name_f] Shatter

There’s something big out there. Something dangerous. They won’t tell me much. But from what I know, it seems like our game changer has finally came.

It’s the year 2096 and there’s almost nothing left.
[name_u]June[/name_u] [name_u]Copper[/name_u], a teenager caught up in the war effort, just wants to stop living in the constant fear that their life’s become. And finally, they think they’ve found the one thing that can change everything. That can win the war.
But playing with fire gets you burned. And [name_u]June[/name_u] doesn’t know just how deep they’ve fallen. Doesn’t know that it’s already too late.
Because there are some doors that should never be opened. Some lines that should never be crossed. And [name_u]June[/name_u] doesn’t know that what they’ve unleashed may turn out to be the ruin of everyone and everything they were trying to save. Once it is put in motion…
the [name_f]Earth[/name_f] Shatter can never stop.

Next: [name_u]Sky[/name_u] on [name_u]Fire[/name_u]

[CeriseAngel]

Sky on Fire

Scarlett always knew she was destined for the storms, with the wild magic of the lightning and thunder calling her name almost from birth. But living in the Flaris regions of Myaral keeps her almost as firmly on the ground as those in Theran, and as the daughter of a high-ranking fire general… well, running away to Volance is next to impossible.

Until she meets Ariel.

(Or more accurately until he goes missing.)

Despite the rumours of his inability to control his own gift, Ariel Kano is third in line to rule the Volancian regions, and thus an attractive target for anybody who wants to take control – anyone strong enough to remove those ahead of him immediately has a quarter of Myaral scrambling to do anything to appease them. And power is a well-sought-after thing, everyone knows that.

But even as the Theran people warn that Ariel is merely the first victim, nobody seems all that willing to make a move.

Scarlett is a warrior’s daughter, though, and she knows that if she can rescue the young prince she might have a chance of getting her greatest wish.

And if she has to set the sky on fire to succeed, she’s damn well going to do so.

Next: A City of Dreams and Nightmares

[NephraLimu]

A City of Dreams and Nightmares

Esrance is never safe — by day or by night. People’s nightmares stalk the streets in the depths of darkness, dragging those who remain awake into their original worlds when they have the chance… but daylight dreams are almost as evil.

[name_f]Aislinn[/name_f] [name_m]Knight[/name_m] is used to the cursed magic of Esrance, having lived there (and having fought for her life there) for all her sixteen years. She’s outlived scores of other children, never once falling victim to those beautiful dreams that ruined so many people before her.

And then [name_u]Casey[/name_u] Marten walks into her life and throws it all into chaos, as new people in Esrance tend to do.

[name_u]Casey[/name_u] is almost everything that [name_f]Aislinn[/name_f] is not, shaken to the core by the reality of their own nightmares and altogether too sensitive for their own good, but they share one thing — they’ve both spent their lives fighting to keep them, even when few else might.

Caring is dangerous. Having something else worth fighting for is terrifying, and in a place like Esrance…

Terror is just one way to the grave.

Next: The Book of [name_m]Smoke[/name_m] and Embers or Child of Consequence

[CeriseAngel]

The Book of [name_m]Smoke[/name_m] and Embers

The Niversoll Forests have always been far too cold for almost all the life that thrives elsewhere to survive – particularly the famed dragons of the Krabalst Wilds – but [name_f]Aelia[/name_f] Springflare is known to be quite the trailblazer when it comes to dragons. With her strange gift for creating dragons that adapt to their homes with ease, it’s a shock to exactly nobody when word reaches Niversoll about her newest idea.

[name_u]Ice[/name_u] dragons.

[name_u]Valo[/name_u] Everfrost is less than impressed to hear the news, though, even when everyone else is. While [name_f]Aelia[/name_f] makes it her mission to introduce dragons to Niversoll, he makes it his mission to work out how she does it.

But Krabalstan magic is nothing like he could have ever imagined, and the consequences of his investigations could prove deadly… or at the very least life-changing.

(That could have turned out much better…)

Next: Tell Me A [name_u]Story[/name_u] or It Was Getting [name_u]Dark[/name_u]

[rachelheth]

Tell Me A [name_u]Story[/name_u]

When [name_f]Althea[/name_f] was a child, what she wanted most was peace. Her daytime was disrupted by the relentless pressure from her father to carry on the family legacy in sport, and even her night-time was chaos. When the sky was coloured with night and she drifted into sleep, she would be haunted with visions of towering monsters hunting her down, their black talons reaching for her whilst their delighted shriek erupted in the air. She called them the ‘Howlers’ and although they became familiar, they never became ‘normal.’ When she would awake, the only thing that could chase them away from her mind was a story invented by her mother to ease her fears. The tale was about a kindly creature, an enormous bird named “The [name_u]Dove[/name_u] of the Castle” who would save her from the ‘Howlers’ by carrying her off on it’s wings and letting her fall into a deep, easy sleep as it flew amongst the clouds.

Ten years later, the dreams of the ‘Howlers’ are long gone… as is Althea’s mother. But when she awakes one fateful morning, her mind is racing with the fresh memory of once again being reached for by the long, dark talons the night before. At first she hopes it is a one-off, but the dreams soon become inescapable. Without the stories of her mother, [name_f]Althea[/name_f] decides to face the creatures head on. After all, she is not a child any more and has to maintain an exhausting career as a top sportswoman and she cannot disappoint her father. But when the ‘Howlers’ begin to invade her waking world, and begin to reach for the lives of those she loves, she knows she must look back to her mother’s stories and find the one creature than can save her and the people she loves most… The [name_u]Dove[/name_u] of the [name_m]Castle[/name_m]. But how can she possibly find a saviour who lives in the world of fiction?

(I don’t know if this makes any sense, I just kept writing )

Next: The Fall of the [name_u]Swan[/name_u]

[lost_city_girl_14]

The Fall of The [name_u]Swan[/name_u]

Alisa’s world has always been perfect. As the last in a long line of Legend’s, she has everything she’s ever wanted, and more. For generations, her family kept the land beautiful and flawless, maintained the reputation they had strived to bestow upon their kingdom, been the rulers their people wanted them to be.
And although [name_f]Alisha[/name_f] isn’t sure she can be the perfect future heir her world needs, she knows she can try - and help her family’s legacy in any way she can. And although she’s scared she’ll crumble under the pressure of someday being a [name_u]Legend[/name_u], she hides the cracks in her smile for the good of her people, as she knew she had to. As all the Legend’s had before her.
But then she found the Giver. The strange woman cloaked in a veil stained with black. The woman who claimed to be able to grant any wish [name_f]Alisha[/name_f] wants.
And [name_f]Alisha[/name_f] can’t help but hope… Maybe she finally has the chance to become the model child her parents always wanted her to be. Maybe she can finally make the Great Family of the [name_u]Swan[/name_u] proud.
But when she wakes up with huge, feathery, white wings, she wishes she could take her wish back. Because being able to literally fly wasn’t quite what she had in mind. And she wants the wings gone, before anyone can find out what she’s turned into.
But everything happens for a reason. And when the White [name_m]Castle[/name_m] begins to tremble, and the family reputation begins to slip-
Maybe Alisha’s wings are the only thing that can save her family of Swans…
Before they fall.

Next: After we Fell

[Aviatrix]

After We Fell

The [name_m]Kingdom[/name_m] of Loreane used to be… well, it used to be a kingdom. But now that the only living member of the royal family is woefully unprepared fourth child [name_u]Adrian[/name_u] [name_m]Valdemar[/name_m], it’s simply much easier to say that Loreane has fallen.

Life goes on, however, with one notable exception – the sickness that wiped out the rest of the Valdemars turns on those who first created it generations ago, changing and worsening until Loreane’s magic users are too weak to cure themselves. And yet nobody who has the chance can be bothered to raise a finger to help their families and friends and neighbours, even as news reaches the fallen kingdom that they’re about to be invaded.

But Loreane’s one real hope is wasting away, and the only chance anyone has to survive the coming storm is draining fast. Unless [name_u]Adrian[/name_u] can convince people to listen to him when nobody quite trusts the young king, there is no way to save his kingdom.

If nobody is listening, how long will it be before Loreane becomes swept into an even worse situation?

[Uh. Yeah. That makes so much sense… ]

Next: Faded Ink or [name_u]Dark[/name_u] Before The [name_f]Dawn[/name_f]

[NephraLimu]

(I guess it’s time to welcome the fifth part of Rowan Cross Investigates to the growing collection? I’m interested to see how far I can go with this…)

Dark Before The Dawn

The world — my world — is turning upside down, and I don’t know what I can do about it.

I don’t really think I want to look into the ‘why’ of it all, but I have almost no choice.

Rowan Cross is a detective, of sorts, when you get down to it. And investigations are nothing new to him anymore. But Piper’s insistence that he’s not actually wrong about his parents hiding something from him is enough to turn everything around.

Throwing themselves into the new mystery, Rowan and Piper begin digging up secrets that were never meant to see the light of day and a story that could ruin the Cross family for good.

The two friends have been standing together for justice since the case of the Girl In The River, but bringing all the new information to light still doesn’t feel like it’s in Rowan’s best interests… until it is.

Until the case takes an almost-expected turn for the much, much worse.

Next: When The Truth Comes Out or Black Swans

[CeriseAngel]

(Is it just me or has there been a little bit of a bird craze recently…?)

[name_m]Black[/name_m] Swans

Swans are known for purity and loyalty and devotion. The [name_m]Black[/name_m] Swans are known for the swift death they bring, for these are not birds. They are monsters without names… at least when it comes to the rest of their world.

The calling card, the singular black feather left behind at the scenes of their attacks, is all that most people ever find out about the most feared assassins in Faeverend. Their acceptance of their name and the strange dual reactions it causes in those who hear it is as far into the minds of the monsters that any sane person is willing to dive.

But even a black swan is beautiful, and it’s not usually as easy as one might think to remember which kind of swan they’re looking at until it’s far too late…

Next: [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f] Poison or Falling [name_u]Sky[/name_u]

[lost_city_girl_14]

[name_f]Scarlet[/name_f] Poison

As the daughter of assassins, [name_f]Kiya[/name_f] has always been taught to be merciless. Kill first, ask questions later. And this suits her just fine. A few lives in exchange for the greater good of her world doesn’t matter.
Does it?
Because when she finds out her next target is a completley innocent, completley terrifed little girl, she begins to question everything she’s ever been told. Is killing really the only option? And the more [name_f]Kiya[/name_f] begins the watch the little princess sentenced for death, more flames of rebellion begin to burn in her heart.
But her family won’t approve of her new friend. And [name_f]Kiya[/name_f] knows she can’t keep lying forever. She knows she will have to choose - a little girl she doesn’t even know, or her family and everything they stand for. And when they start closing in, reminding her they are assassins and she doesn’t want to stand against them, [name_f]Kiya[/name_f] knows there’s something they’ve forgotton.
Because she, too, is an assassin. And she will show them just how ruthless she can be.

Next: Forbidden Colours or Vantablack

[CeriseAngel]

(I went with uber-unimaginative names, honestly…)

Forbidden Colours

[name_u]Jade[/name_u] is on the run.

The already-problematic bright green of his eyes bleeding into his hair makes him stand out more than ever, and when such vibrance in one’s appearance is strictly controlled – and practically owned – by the royal family… well, there’s no choice but to make yourself scarce.

[name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_f]Ivy[/name_f] are curious.

As the last in a long line to the throne of Prismalei, [name_f]Princess[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] has very little else to be interested in, and [name_f]Princess[/name_f] [name_f]Ivy[/name_f] knows no such thing as playing perfect. Together, the sisters make themselves a promise – they’re going to solve the mystery of the boy who shouldn’t exist.

But when they all cross paths, things begin to change very, very swiftly. Suddenly Prismalei is a world of colour, bright and wonderful, and [name_u]Jade[/name_u] no longer needs to get out of the kingdom… in fact, he’s welcomed right into the palace for no sensible reason at all.

[name_f]Ivy[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_u]Jade[/name_u] all know that something strange is afoot, but what could have happened to make the king’s ruling on colour change as quickly as it did, and what does [name_u]Jade[/name_u] really have to do with any of it?

Next: The Untamed Fire/s