When the ice cream didn’t cut it, I went for a walk, met a gorgeous dragon, and realized I’d been living a lie. No big deal. Just another Tuesday. Back to the dragon, though. Jack’s a candy-coated hot mess. He’s bound to the ringmaster of the Underbelly Circus, and he’s desperate for my help. I don’t blame him, but there isn’t enough chocolate in the world to get me near that circus. Jack claims I’m the lost Qilin queen - a magical freaking unicorn.

My sadistic mother and god-fearing father believe I have the devil inside of me because I heal after their abuse. I accepted long ago I would die in the very place I'd been born without ever feeling the sun on my skin. Then, one day, my mother took me from my father's religious cult in the wake of his death. Nearly a week later, and after countless hours with her boyfriend Jed's creepy remarks, I find myself in Washington State. I had only ever interacted with my parents and now Jed, so you can imagine my surprise when I ran smack dab into possibly the most handsome man in the world.

As the daughter of Dracula, you would think I’d be born the perfect monster. You couldn’t be more wrong. As far as monsters go, I’m a screw up—if I’m not tripping over my own feet, I’m accidentally murdering someone (it’s a real issue, guys). Left with no choice, Dad decides to send me to Prodigium—otherwise known as Monster Academy—to train me on how to be a better monster. When bodies turn up on campus, I’m the prime suspect (not that I can blame them).

A simple promise I made to myself after escaping a brutal childhood of abuse and being trained to enact violence on unblessed witches. Since that moment, I've managed to survive on the streets by successfully pickpocketing. Unfortunately, after years of hiding, the monster who stars in all my nightmares is closer than ever, and I'm faced with only one option—to seek refuge at the Dark Imaginarium Academy. The Academy is filled with the elite witches of our society. I should have expected I'd run into some of my previous targets. Normally, that wouldn't be a proble—except for my last hit.

My whole life has been characterized by fighting; fighting my family and fighting for my life. Trust me—the first one is completely voluntary, and a lot of fun. The second? Not so much. To say my family dynamic is weird is the understatement of the century. I held my first sword when I was only five years old, and I learned how to dispose of a body before I turned ten. I may have a penchant for pink and sparkles…but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to kick major ass as well. 

Have you ever lost yourself in a fantasy world you created? That's how I've survived the years alone in a reality where humans cower in fear of supernatural creatures hiding behind the veil. All I've ever had is my pen, my notebook, and the world I created to make it through the days as a ward of the state, suffering at the hands of the real villains of the world—humans. The pages of my notebook hold three sinful, feared monsters. Ones that I certainly shouldn't be pining over since they aren't even real.

I walk into the bar with my pack, and I scent her straight away. She’s lying behind the counter with blood trailing from an injury to her head. My desire to protect her stuns me almost as much as her beauty. But it’s the smell of her blood that stuns me the most—it’s something not quite human. When she wakes up, her fear tells me all I need to know. She definitely thinks she’s mortal. I choose to disagree.

"Happily Ever After" wasn't supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of 20 years packs up and heads for greener pastures, and my son heads away to college, that's exactly what my midlife becomes. A do-over. This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at 40 I'm ready to carve my own path. Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills.

When mages slaughter my parents in front of me, I’m allowed no time to mourn. It turns out I’m the long-lost heir to a royal family of dark magic - and the four scorching hot guys I’m meant to rule beside have no patience for my grief. They expect me to fall in line. Learn my lessons at this college of magical villainy. Cultivate a power that feeds off people’s pain. Take my proper place as a vicious queen among ruthless kings.

My life hasn't been typical. All I remember is waking up in an alley when I was ten, scrounging for scraps to survive until I was taken to the Bronzeheart estate. That's where my life began, where I've lived for the past eight years with the ruling family, the Blitz Clan. It's where I found my best friend Gage, the future leader of this clan. At the time, I didn't question my good fortune because I was happy to know I wasn't alone in this world anymore. But maybe I should have. After landing a shocking invite to Dark Imaginarium Academy, I realized how much of a safe haven the estate was.