Freaks of Greenfield High (32 page)
Finalist: Romance Writers of New Zealand Clendon Award for full-length romantic manuscript
REVIEWS
“Training for a triathlon would be a whole lot better if there was a gorgeous warrior getting you out of bed in the morning! Ruby is insecure and for good reason. She’s fat, single and now thirty and her mother won’t let her forget any of them. She’s got a frenemy that is a man-eating stick insect (giggled at that description every time!). Kyan is the crystal warrior that is Ruby’s life mate. The only problem is that he is stunningly gorgeous (and a sweetheart!) so she doesn’t believe a thing about it. The first scenes of their meeting are a riot!
The set up for this story is not new but Maree adds some twists that make it feel fresh and her characters are believable and lovable. There are moments of heartbreak that make you want to cry but this is a Romance so there is a Happily Ever After, they just need to fight for it! Can’t wait to go get the next one now.”
Book 3 of The Crystal Warriors Series
Finalist: Romance Writers of New Zealand Clendon Award for full-length romantic manuscript
Jade’s a talented painter, forced to give up her dreams of art school to care for her chronically ill sister. Faced with escalating medical bills, Jade lies to her sister and her best friend, and advertises herself as an escort. Her ad is answered by Peter Stone, aka Pieter, the Crystal Guardian. He gives Jade a malachite crystal and when she touches it, she shares the torment of the man trapped inside. The crystal breaks and before she knows what’s at stake, she’s bonded to a Crystal Warrior named Malach.
Malach spent centuries imprisoned in his cursed crystal before he was given the chance to bond. When that bonding failed, he believed he would be put to death by the Crystal Guardian, but he discovered a far worse fate was to be imprisoned yet again to suffer years of torment and sensory deprivation. He’ll willingly bond with Jade if that’s what it takes to have another chance at freedom, but if it seems likely they will fail the next stage of the bonding—the Testing—Malach has vowed to kill himself rather than endure imprisonment a third time.
Jade is horrified when she learns the true extent of Malach’s suffering. She’s determined to save him, but it could be a losing battle… because he’s still in love with Francesca, the woman who refused him decades ago. And when Francesca discovers Malach is still alive and seeks him out, who will Malach choose?
www.mareeanderson.com/books/lightning-rider
Andie Brennan dies in a lightning strike and is miraculously healed and brought back to life. But now she’s sharing her body with an alien—the same alien who rode the lightning bolt that killed her.
Third place: Utah Romance Writers “Heart of the West” award, paranormal category
Highly Commended: Romance Writers of New Zealand Clendon Award for full-length romantic manuscript
When Andie Brennan signs up for a Slickrock Bike Trail tour in an attempt to rekindle her love of the outdoors she meets Jake Knight. Jake’s generous, down-to-earth, and gorgeous to boot. He could just be her soul mate… except she’s already got a boyfriend, and Andie doesn’t do cheating. But before she can fully explore why the sound of Jake’s voice and his crooked smile make her feels happier than she’s been in years, death strikes in a searing instant, sizzling a few million neurons and arresting her heart.
Andie wakes up in hospital. Her injuries are completely healed and her recovery is being touted as a miracle. Only trouble is she can’t remember a damn thing about her past—not even her name. Nor is she exactly whooping with joy at her second chance at life because there’s a voice inside her head claiming to be a Lightning Rider Elemental named Karylon. And boy, does it take one heckuva lot of fast talking for Karylon to convince Andie that she’s real—that Andie is not insane, and she really is hosting an alien.
Can a damaged young woman find the courage to escape her manipulative boyfriend and grasp the happiness she deserves? With the help of Jake, and the alien Lightning Rider trapped inside her, you betcha! But the omniscient Keeper of Portents has no qualms about manipulating Novik, Karylon’s Lightning Rider lover, to its own ends. Is Novik willing to risk it all to be with Karylon again? And with the future of the Lightning Rider Elemental race is at stake, who else will fall prey to The Keeper?