Roselle faces a mind-reeling showdown with the deep state agent controlling her psyche in the Wall Street Journal bestselling conclusion to the Secondborn series.
Roselle St. Sismode is many things: victim of a conspiracy, unwilling host of an ever-evolving mind algorithm, spy for a rebel army, and heir to the Fate of Swords. As a warrior, she’s also the anticipated main event at the Secondborn Trials. When the opening ceremonies erupt in chaos, Roselle is abducted by a sadistic agent with a diabolical plan: transform Roselle into a mind-controlled assassin to topple society. But a rogue scientist has implanted Roselle with a genius technology that is far more powerful. It renders her untouchable. Faster. Stronger. And maybe immortal.
With her enhanced abilities come the highest stakes yet, as Roselle confronts shifting realities at every turn as well as her own mother’s stunning betrayal. Racing against time with a determined resistance group, can Roselle overthrow the forces of destruction and reclaim the most valuable of commodities—her humanity?
Rebel warrior Roselle St. Sismode returns in the second book of the epic Secondborn series by USA Today bestselling author Amy A. Bartol.
In the Fates Republic . . .
Firstborns reign supreme.
Secondborns kneel in servitude.
Thirdborns face death.
And Census shadows them all.
Secondborn Roselle St. Sismode was pressed into military service to battle the rebel uprising threatening the society that enslaves her. Now, powerful factions conspire to subvert the lines of succession, positioning Roselle to replace her mother as leader of the Republic's armed forces. But the woman who bore her would sooner see Roselle dead than let her usurp her firstborn brother's command.
The deadly war of intrigue between her new masters and her ruthless family is but one conflict challenging Roselle. A soldier for the rebellion has drawn her into a rogue army's plot to overthrow the Republic and shatter its brutal caste system. Targeted by assassins and torn between allies, Roselle will have her loyalty, love, and honor tested in the greatest battle of-and for-her life.
Firstborns rule society. Secondborns are the property of the government. Thirdborns are not tolerated. Long live the Fates Republic.
On Transition Day, the second child in every family is taken by the government and forced into servitude. Roselle St. Sismode’s eighteenth birthday arrives with harsh realizations: she’s to become a soldier for the Fate of Swords military arm of the Republic during the bloodiest rebellion in history, and her elite firstborn mother is happy to see her go.
Televised since her early childhood, Roselle’s privileged upbringing has earned her the resentment of her secondborn peers. Now her decision to spare an enemy on the battlefield marks her as a traitor to the state.
But Roselle finds an ally—and more—in fellow secondborn conscript Hawthorne Trugrave. As the consequences of her actions ripple throughout the Fates Republic, can Roselle create a destiny of her own? Or will her Fate override everything she fights for—even love?
I gasp as my body curls toward Brennus like a flower to the sun, for the pleasure of it. He holds me close to him. His nose grazes the length of my neck. He breathes me in. I feel the roar and rush of my heartbeat. I'm his toy; his energy streams into me. He winds the invisible key in my back, and the euphoria ratchets and coils inside of me. Another wicked surge of energy flows from him into me. Pain. Pleasure. Bliss. My jaw unclenches as my lips part. I make a small, breathy sound as we dance. Brennus responds with something close to a growl. "Ye're killing me, mo chroi," he murmurs. His hand moves down my back, infusing me with a golden glow of power. My wings punch violently from me, tearing a hole in my day dress. They spread wide, like a red stain beyond my pale skin. I'm dancing now for the thrill of it. I follow his lead.
Kyon Ensin finally has what he's always wanted: possession of Kricket Hollowell, the priestess who foresees the future. Together, their combined power will be unrivaled. Kricket, however, doesn't crave the crown of Ethar-she has an unbreakable desire to live life on her own terms, a life that she desperately wants to share with her love, Trey Allairis.
As conspiracies rage in the war for Ethar, Kricket's so-called allies want to use her as a spy. Even those held closest cannot be trusted-including Astrid, her sister, and Giffen, a member of a mysterious order with a hidden agenda. But Kricket's resolve will not allow her to be used as anyone's pawn, even as the Alameeda Brotherhood sharpens its plans to cut out her heart.
As the destiny prophesied by her mother approaches, Kricket will backtrack through her fiery future to reshape it. For she knows one thing above all else: the only person she can count on is herself.
The highly anticipated sequel to Under Different Stars, winner of four 2014 utopYA Awards. Eighteen-year-old Kricket Hollowell was looking for her place in the world when she discovered that the universe was bigger—and more dangerous—than she had ever dreamed. Now, whisked across space to the planet Ethar, Kricket learns that her genetic ability to see the future makes her a sought-after commodity…and the catalyst for war between her star-crossed parents’ clans. According to Alameedan prophecy, one house will rise to power and the other will be completely wiped out, and Kricket’s precognition is believed to be the weapon that will tip the scales. A target of both the Rafe and the Alameeda houses, Kricket finds protection—and a home—in the arms of Trey, her Etharian bodyguard-turned-boyfriend. But her visions of what’s to come disturb her deeply, especially since she must discover whether the gift of foresight will allow her to rewrite the future, or if her fate is as immovable as the stars.
Kricket Hollowell never wished upon stars. She was too busy hiding in plain sight, eluding Chicago’s foster care system. As her eighteenth birthday approaches, she now eagerly anticipates the day she’ll stop running and finally find her place in the world. That day comes when she meets a young Etharian soldier named Trey Allairis, who has been charged with coming to Earth to find Kricket and transport her to her true home. As danger draws close, he must protect her until she can wield the powers she cannot use on Earth…and he soon realizes that counting a galaxy of stars would be easier than losing this extraordinary girl. Kyon knows the powerful depths of Kricket’s gifts—gifts he’ll control when he takes her for his tribe and leads the forces that will claim Ethar and destroy his enemies, starting with Trey Allairis. Now, Kricket faces the most difficult choice of her life: whether to wage a battle for survival or a fight for love.
Evie's journey continues in the fourth installment of Amy A. Bartol's Premonition series.
Cold, fine drops of rain fall softly on Evie's cheeks as she emerges from the darkness of the ship's interior to the gray, overcast sky of the main deck. Pulling her dark peacoat tighter to her body, the wind lifts red tendrils of her hair. She walks slowly to the railing overlooking the water.
She catches her first sight of the Irish coastline; its craggy landscape makes her shiver in dread. She finds it difficult to imagine now how the Gancanagh had made this their home for so long without anyone realizing it. The cold, moss-covered edifices practically scream their presence. As she studies the shadows between the falling-down stone, she imagines creeping shapes of undead Faeries grasping the rock, waiting for their ship to draw nearer to their position.
Tipping her face up, she lets the rain wash over her. It bathes away the frigid sweat of fear that has broken on her brow. "You don't know how fiercely beautiful you are, do you?" a quiet voice behind her asks, causing her to stiffen and fix her eyes on the rocks along the shoreline.
It was supposed to be a debt settled, just a price being repaid. Instead love was born . . . from unpaid dues it bloomed. See, that's the funny thing about love, you never expect it. Contains mature themes.
After losing her mother to cancer a few months prior to graduating, Bree Forbes was finally able to take some time away and enjoy her college days. That all changed in a blink of an eye the moment Bree came home for break. She didn't expect to find her dad strapped to a chair, a gun pointed at his head.
Alzerro "Zerro" King wasn't a man to be messed with. Women flocked to him and men ran from him. He ruled the mafia with an iron fist, and no one ever crossed him unless they wanted to pay the price. He believed that the only way to pay for something, if unable to do so, was to do it in blood. Nothing got him harder than stringing someone up and putting a bullet in their head.
That is, until Bree. One look is all it took for him to know that she could pay for her father's debt in many other ways—ways that could get him hard. Could a big-city mafia king fall in love with the small-town country girl? When push comes to shove, would Bree end up running only to be killed? Or would she sacrifice herself for love?
The tale of Evie and Reed's complicated romance continues, in the second novel of the Premonition series.
Evie doesn't open her eyes so she can't see him, but she can smell him. He thickens the air she breathes, choking her with his scent . . . his aroma. She shivers. She has to resist. If she's not strong, then she will be relegated to the same fate as this predator whose sickness infects her even now. But now, she craves him and he knows that; he has been counting on her need to end the gnawing pain. How he would savor her surrender. She's alive, but how much longer will it take until she begs him not to be?
College freshman Evie Claremont is determined to find out what an enigmatic fellow student is hiding from her, in the first book in Amy A. Bartol's Premonition series.
Soon-to-be college freshman Evie Claremont had hoped that once she'd arrived on Crestwood's campus, the nightmare that she'd been having would go away. It hasn't.
She may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but she's grounded . . . sane. She looks for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he's near, she feels an attraction to him—a magnetic kind of force pulling her towards him. Unfortunately, Reed acts as if Evie's the worst thing that has ever happened to Crestwood . . . or him. But for some reason every time she turns around he's there, barging into her life.
What is the secret that he's keeping from her? Evie's hoping that it's anything but what she suspects: that he's not exactly normal . . . and neither is she. So, maybe Crestwood won't be the making of her, but it could be the breaking of her. Evie's now left to wonder if the dark future her dream is foretelling is . . . inescapable.
