Showing results by author "R. A. Steffan" in All Categories

There’s a smokin’ hot dead guy locked in my garden shed. That part’s bad enough. But now, he’s trying to get out...Growing up, my father always told me that I’d come to a bad end, just like my mom did when I was a kid. Hearing that kind of shit when you’re little eventually gets to a girl, but I can’t say I ever expected my "bad end" to involve an angry vampire with a severe case of iron deficiency and a panty-melting English accent.

Suddenly I’m neck-deep in a world that I’ve never really believed in, no matter what my crazy great-aunt Mabel used to say. Seriously, I have more than enough drama in my life already, without adding an irresistibly mesmerizing nightclub owner to the mix. My boss - a man with a penchant for trouble and the echo of tragedy lurking behind his dark gaze. My new coworkers appear to be universally insane. My deadbeat ex is in trouble with a capital “T”, and if history is any indication, he’ll do his best to drag my son and me right along with him.

When I fled my safe haven in the demon realm to deliver news of betrayal and conspiracy to Rans, I thought it meant I was losing everything. Again. Instead, I've just gained the most valuable gift I could ever receive. I’m hopelessly in love with the last vampire on Earth. That’s hardly a news flash at this point. But I never expected my feelings to be returned...and I’ve never been happier to be wrong. Now, he’s mine, and I am his. Our lives are bound inextricably, even unto death. Of course, at this rate it just might come to that.

Carivel was born female, but she has been secretly living as a boy for years in her adoptive village of Draebard. The last thing she needs is to fall for not one, but two unattainable men—a fierce warrior and a reluctant wolf-shifter with a horrific past. Now, the Alyrion Empire is poised to invade, and Carivel must choose whether to keep her secret or reveal it—not only to the men she loves, but also to the powerful female ruler whose army could help protect Draebard during the coming war.

Len's been told that not all Fae are scheming, manipulative pricks. A moot point, since this one definitely is - he knows that much from bitter experience. So, when his vampire ex-coworker dumps Albigard of the Unseelie on Len's doorstep, he gives her two hours to find a better hiding place for the Fae fugitive before tossing him straight to the curb with the rest of the garbage.

Caius Oppita has served the Alyrion Empire for more than half his life, watching with growing revulsion as the royal family descends ever deeper into corruption and depravity. Powerless to do more than stand by as the land he loves slides toward civil war and social upheaval, he longs for his days as a general on the battlefield rather than a tame palace lapdog. When the execution of one of the emperor’s inconvenient bastard sons goes wrong, Caius has a choice to make—do his duty, or do what is right and spirit the innocent man away to safety.

My father has been kidnapped by my worst enemies. Either that, or he willingly sold me out to them. Whatever the case, I’m going to find him. Mind you, this would be a lot easier if every Fae in Chicago wasn’t already out for my blood. They’re not getting it, though. The only one who’s getting anywhere near my blood is the seven-hundred-year-old vampire who saved me. Yes, there are times when I’m convinced he’s not quite right in the head, but so far he’s the only supernatural being I’ve met who sees me as a person rather than a chess piece.

Everything I thought I knew about Emperor Kaeto was completely wrong. Well… not quite everything. He’s still a bitter, acerbic bastard with a chip on his shoulder the size of a continent. He still fascinates and infuriates me in equal measure. But my quest to retrieve the stolen dragon eggs has somehow morphed into a quest to return Kaeto to his stolen throne. And by doing so, I’ve put those I care about in mortal danger. Our flight to safety in my aunt and uncle’s kingdom of Utrea succeeded only in bringing spies and assassins to my family’s doorstep.

So… yesterday was hell. Literally. Now, I find myself asking how a day could be that terrible, while also being the most amazing day of my life.When I fled my safe haven in the demon realm to deliver news of betrayal and conspiracy to Rans, I thought it meant I was losing everything. Again. Instead, I've just gained the most valuable gift I could ever receive. I’m hopelessly in love with the last vampire on Earth. That’s hardly a news flash at this point. But I never expected my feelings to be returned…and I’ve never been happier to be wrong.

I never thought I’d see home again. Now, I almost wish I hadn’t. After giving myself up to the Fae, I expected to become the latest casualty of a war that should have ended centuries ago. Instead, I ended up inextricably bound to the last vampire on earth. My life since the Fae marked me has become unrecognizable. Inside, I’m still the 26-year-old waitress who struggled with working two jobs while being serially dumped by a parade of disgruntled boyfriends. Now, I’ve somehow become a figurehead, coveted, and despised in equal measure by two warring supernatural races.

Unfortunately, running away from your problems only works for so long. Since I got pulled into the secret underworld of demons, fae, and vampires, it’s been one crisis after another. I’ve been dodging and ducking, rather than hitting back. Reacting instead of acting. Ransley Thorpe and I have been gradually backed into a corner, and we’re about to take the offensive. We may be punching way above our weight class, it's true. But if the alternative is death or captivity at the hands of our enemies, do we really have anything to lose?

The gods promised her a savior. The gods are a bunch of lying bastards. Instead of delivering her from a life of slavery, they ripped away everything she ever cared about. Now, Kathrael must choose. Lie down and accept her fate, or risk her life and try to change the future. Destiny is calling, but she won’t face it alone. She has a gentle seer, a crazy lion-shifter, and the ghost of her dead best friend on her side. Of course, none of them have the faintest clue what they’re getting themselves into. But that’s all right. Because Kathrael of Rhyth has chosen to fight for freedom.

Trapped at the mercy of a corrupt Fae Court, Len and Albigard must overcome their harshest challenges yet in order to stop the Wild Hunt and retrieve their friends' lost souls. Albigard's father seeks to use his estranged son as a weapon against their enemies, the demons. And apparently, he's not bothered by the idea of entire worlds becoming collateral damage in his endless war.

There’s a smokin’ hot dead guy locked in my garden shed. That part’s bad enough. But now, he’s trying to get out.

Caius Oppita has served the Alyrion Empire for more than half his life, watching with growing revulsion as the royal family descends ever deeper into corruption and depravity. Powerless to do more than stand by as the land he loves slides toward civil war and social upheaval, he longs for his days as a general on the battlefield rather than a tame palace lapdog.

When the Archangels slammed the pearly gates shut on the great war between the Demons and the Fae, the angel Shemasiel missed the memo. Trapped alone on Earth, she’s spent the past few millennia sticking her nose in where it’s not wanted, and generally being a nuisance to the people in charge.

Or rather, he can try - but it should come as no surprise when he’s crushed by the vast powers arrayed against him. Caius Oppita knows this, but after what he’s seen, it suits him better to go down fighting than to crawl on his hands and knees. The empire he’s served faithfully since he was a boy now wants him dead, and the lover he thought he could trust has betrayed him in the worst possible way. Maybe Caius can’t win the fight he’s about to undertake, but he’ll damn well drag the imperial family's corruption into the light of day if it kills him.

Despite decades spent in service to the Alyrion Empire, Caius Oppita has betrayed both Decian and the imperial family he purports to serve, all within the space of a few weeks.

Len needs to track down a handbasket ASAP, because things are going straight to hell. In the aftermath of the disastrous battle to close the rip between realms, he's stuck with a Fae who seems convinced that the only way to fix things is to leap directly into the maw of the Wild Hunt. Len recognizes martyrdom when he sees it, and he's not about to let Albigard of the Unseelie sacrifice himself on the altar of his own guilty conscience.

Len's been told that not all fae are scheming, manipulative pricks. A moot point, since this one definitely is - he knows that much from bitter experience. So, when his vampire ex-coworker dumps Albigard of the Unseelie on Len's doorstep, he gives her two hours to find a better hiding place for the fae fugitive before tossing him straight to the curb with the rest of the garbage.