A Touch of Magic

I'm Xirasti a pure demon that lives in hell. When I was a child on accident I found an angel trapped in the bottom of a cavern. From the first moment I saw him he was mystical and enchanting. As I grew older he became beautiful and had me enraptured. Then I set him free. Things did not go as expected.

What I do know is:

I almost died for him.
I burned for him.
I bled for him.
I sacrificed for him.
I deceived for him.
I stole for him.
I longed for him.

Then once he is free I do them all over again and again. Because Sam, I'd follow him anywhere. What better reason is there to sacrifice yourself for someone other than love?

The world ended. The apocalypse came. The gods waged war on each other across the realms of reality and at last wiped themselves out. Angles and devils took the souls they wanted to who knows where. And then it was over. And you and others like you were left behind. Maybe your soul was trapped inside your body and couldn’t leave. Maybe it was bound to a demon. Or maybe you have no soul at all. Either way, you must be some kind of monster. All that is left is to decide – what kind of a monster are you going to be?

This is the premise of the short novel Silk and Steel – a dark dystopia / mythpunk story set in a post-apocalyptic world. It’s heavily based around Romani and Eastern European mythology and crammed full of LGBTQIA+ romance. Forget shiny heroes wielding even shinier weapons to defeat 'evil' foes. Instead, every monster here must simply try to survive and carve a place for themselves in this new confounding reality. At the end of the world, there are no heroes, everyone is some kind of monster and each choice they make will shape what kind of monster they eventually become...

Silk and Steel has:

Larger than life characters that you can invest in - a complex plot full of intrigue and suspense - a dark gaslamp/steampunk setting rich in folklore and mythos - graphic violence - steamy sex scenes - villains you'll really love to hate - heroes with troubled pasts and hearts of gold - supporting cinnamon rolls you'll want to adopt and take home. 

CWs:

Violence, consensual and non-consensual sex, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, prostitution, drugs, alcohol, addiction, theft and organised crime, swearing, murder, mental health issues including self harm and suicide, demons, magic, religion, cults.

Each chapter will have its own flags so you know what's coming up but please be advised that this is a grim story told in a harsh world - no chapter will be suitable for under 18s and all chapters may include content which some readers may find disturbing. 

A girl who sees ghosts. A magic out of control. A group hellbent on destroying what they’re afraid of.

Maddie Johnson is sent to a mental institution because she talks to people who aren’t there. She insists that they’re ghosts. Just as she thinks she’s convinced the doctors that she is fine, a dark-haired ghost with dreamy brown eyes rushes in and ruins everything.

Instead of going home, she is sent to a halfway house that helps people with mental illness assimilate back into society. Problem is, one of the residents hates her and the house is haunted – oh, and the cute ghost has followed her. Maddie tries to get away, but then she hurts someone using magic she didn’t know she possessed. Now she has a new problem. She will have to learn to control her magic.

She discovers that the town has secrets; people are going missing. How far are people willing to go to destroy what they are afraid of? Maddie and her attractive-but-annoying spirit might just find out first-hand.

FIRE AND MAGIC is an exciting first book in the Jadori Series that will transport romantasy fans to a fascinating world that exists within our own, filled with suspense, danger, magic, ghosts, and romance.

© 2024 Susan McKenzie. All rights reserved.