Starfire

They told her Arcadia was humanity’s last hope. They lied.

On the final day of Cassie’s journey to Arcadia (the lush new world meant to save the last of humanity) her father is killed in a mysterious explosion. Moments before the blast, a stranger with cyan eyes and an uncanny ability to disappear pulls her from danger.

The officials claim it was a tragic accident. Cassie knows better. Someone is hiding the truth… about her father, about Arcadia, and about why they were really sent here. Orphaned and cast aside, she is told to keep quiet. Instead, she starts noticing strange changes within herself, newfound abilities she can’t explain.

And then the stranger with the cyan eyes returns.

Javen is more than he seems, and he offers Cassie the one thing she craves most: answers. But what they uncover shakes the very foundation of Arcadia, forcing Cassie to make an impossible choice.

Save humanity. Or save Arcadia.

Because only one of them can survive.

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Death’s Kiss

When the body of a homeless man is discovered, carefully tucked between the weathered beach huts of Thorpe Bay on Southend seafront, the residents of Essex hardly bat an eye. That is, until the post-mortem shocks everyone by revealing the victim’s identity: Herbert Tucker, the local MP with a notorious past.

As the political and media pressure surges like a rising tide, DS Tomek Bowen is forced to navigate a treacherous undercurrent of lies, betrayal, and scandal. Digging into Herbert’s murky history, Bowen finds himself entangled in a labyrinth of secrets where every shadow conceals a potential suspect—and every clue deepens the mystery.

Death’s Kiss is the unforgettable third book in the DS Tomek Bowen Essex Murder Mystery series by Jack Probyn. Filled with twists, peppered with romance and flavoured with ounces of dark humour, this fast-paced British detective novel will keep you guessing until the very end when the final shocking twist is revealed. Perfect for fans of JD Kirk, JM Dalgliesh, TG Reid, Simon McCleave and Rhys Dylan.

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THE SETTING
Canvey Island, with its low-lying marshes and silent, brackish waters, feels like a place cut off from the rest of Essex. The island’s isolation, surrounded by the dark, slow-moving waters of the Thames, gives it an unsettling stillness. Sea defenses and forgotten corners of the shoreline hint at a past riddled with floods and unspoken tragedies. Here, as the fog and rain rolls in, the island takes on a haunting air, as if the land itself remembers things best left buried beneath its soggy surface.

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MEET THE DETECTIVE
Now on the wrong side of forty, DS Tomek Bowen has begun to worry more about the little things. Like the food he puts in his body, how many pints he can have without feeling too hungover, and what beard dye to use for his increasingly greying hair. But now he has something more important to worry about: a thirteen-year-old daughter he knew nothing about until recently. Now he’s a father, life and all its delicate intricacies have become infinitely more difficult and troublesome. On an island at constant risk of flooding, will he sink or swim?

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Evergreen Academy

Welcome to Evergreen Academy, the secret college for Magical Botanists.

I’d always sensed something peculiar about the reclusive Evergreen Academy, tucked deep in the woods of my hometown. But I never could have imagined it was a college for magical botanists–and that I am one of them.

An invitation to the academy opens up a whole new world of wonder, yet my plant affinity powers remain elusive, and my scientific training is far behind that of my peers.

When I’m assigned a tutor, Callan Rhodes, a powerful descendant of the academy’s founders, I’m baffled by his willingness to help me.

Despite my challenges, I’m enchanted by the academy’s glass schoolhouse, its grounds which are overflowing with plants that defy the climate, and the quirky festivals held each equinox and solstice.

But disaster looms as the verdant shield that protects the academy from the prying eyes of nonmagical people begins to falter. Can Callan and the other founder’s descendants sustain the magic on their own, or will the clock finally start to tick on figuring out my powers?

Elements you’ll find in this story:

Magical academy
Plant magic
Small town setting
Cozy fantasy
Light academia
Science-based magic system
Slow burn romance (no spice)
First person POV
An enchanting world
And so much more
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Sweatpants and Spells

I knew hot flashes were supposed to be hot, but I didn’t expect flames.

One day I’m in anger management, normalizing the cordial hate between me and my husband.

The next, we’re divorced and he has taken both our house and the business we built together. I’m forty years old and living above our empty restaurant, plotting my next move.

And then the world around starts lighting up—literally catching on fire. I’m starting to think my defining characteristic may not be my snark or my cupcake-baking prowess, but spontaneous combustion.

I’m done suppressing my anger. I’m done playing by other people’s rules. Ready to take the reins on my destiny, I’m making the choices I used to be too afraid to make. Like my favorite cast iron skillet, women get better with age. And at forty, I know exactly who I am and what I want.

I’ll embrace the fire and the fury. This is my life, and I’m in control.
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Murder on the First Date

A mysterious killer is no match for a group of mums in sensible shoes…

Mary Plunkett has mastered how to be a stay at home mum. Her kids mostly make it to school on time, forty percent of them do their homework and sometimes they even have clean socks. In fact, Mary can actually get them their five a day, as long as it’s apples. But she is terminally bored. When the teacher at her kid’s school is murdered, Mary joins a group of mums to find out who killed him

The Wronged Women’s Co-operative are more used to tracking down errant husbands and finding stolen dogs than catching killers, but it can’t be that hard, can it? When Mary becomes their newest member she realises that there is more to life than dirty nappies and winter colds. Mums are famous for being able to multitask, so why not add catching a murderer to the list?

A funny, charming novel that is the first in a series of cosy mysteries.