Kristen Painter – författare

Every vampire has heard rumours of the mythical place where their kind can daywalk. But what no vampire knows is that this City of Eternal Night actually exists. And its name is New Orleans. For centuries, the fae have protected the city from vampire infestation. But when the bloodsuckers return, the fragile peace in New Orleans begins to crumble. Carefree playboy Augustine, and Harlow, a woman searching for answers about her absent father, are dragged into the war. The fate of the city rests on them - and the responsibilities their fae blood brings can no longer be denied.

Tourists are disappearing at an alarming rate. While Augustine and his lieutenants attempt to find them, Harlow and the evil spirit possessing her remain Augustine''s true focus. Freeing her from the spirit''s grasp is all he can think about, especially with no real solution on the horizon.Then he discovers the tourists are disappearing because the city''s witches are stealing souls to cast a dangerous chaos spell. Before he can stop them, Harlow becomes their victim. Now he must race the clock to set her free and end the witches'' machinations before the chaos spell strips every fae in New Orleans of their power and brings fae rule to an end.

ALL HAIL THE QUEENMardi Gras approaches, bringing with it hordes of tourists eager to see the real life Faery Queen holding court atop her festival float. When the Queen is kidnapped, it''s up to Augustine, the fae-blooded Guardian of the city, to rescue her before time runs out.But Augustine''s mystifying protégée, Harlow, complicates the task by unintentionally aiding the forces of evil, drawing danger closer with each step. The Queen might not be the first to die . . .

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle''s body bears the telltale marks of a comarre - a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility and control their hungers. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the darkness of the mortal world . . . and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.Chrysabelle''s secrets, though, are about to put her life - and those around her - in even greater jeopardy. She possesses a powerful ring, the key to unlocking an ancient prophecy destined to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. A chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen threatens to reign unless she and Malkolm can stop the noble vampire behind the merciless plot.

With the Ring of Sorrows still missing, and the covenant between othernaturals and mortals broken, Chrysabelle''s life outside the realm of vampire nobility is about to take another downhill slide. She''s vowed to help the outcast Malkolm find a way to lift his curse, but that means returning to the home city of the vampire who''s trying to kill her. The breaking of the covenant has also activated an ancient organisation designed to protect mankind - the Kubai Mata.And when Kubai Mata Thomas Creek comes to Paradise City, Chrysabelle finds herself torn between the need to save Malkolm and the desire to stay on the path of light. Finally fulfilling her vow to Malkolm proves devastating for Chrysabelle. If she survives, what''s left of her life will never be the same.

Thomas Creek, Kubai Mata warrior, stumbles upon a murder. The girl was the major''s estranged daughter, masquerading as one of the vampires'' chosen servants. And the sinister circumstances of her death force the mayor to accept the othernatural threat facing her city.Creek recruits Malkolm and Chrysabelle to help prepare her for the danger ahead, but Chrysabelle is desperate to find her brother. Although to track him, she''ll need to retrieve the ring of sorrows from the fae holding it ransom. As they race to find the ring and protect the city, more girls professing to be vampire servants are killed. The night of Samhain is also approaching - bringing with it the final melding of mortal and othernatural worlds. Chrysabelle must have the ring, and its unexpected powers, as a new war is about to erupt.

After nearly dying Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a Comarré and grasp hold of some normality. Until a new task is brought to her doorstep: rescue the child kidnapped by her rival Tatiana, or her vampire boyfriend, Mal, becomes enemy number one.But before Chrysabelle can begin that mission, the mayor declares a curfew in Paradise City to control its othernatural population. A close friend gets caught and when Mal gets in over his head, Chrysabelle runs to his rescue and unwittingly unleashes a power that''s lain dormant in him for centuries . . .

In the final showdown between the forces of dark and light, Mal and Chrysabelle face not only their old master, the vampire Tatiana, but the ancient evil that now controls her: the Castus Sanguis. Chrysabelle gathers her friends and family around her, forming a plan to bring an end to the chaos surrounding them. But the Castus is the most powerful being they''ve ever come up against. Defeating such evil will require a great sacrifice from someone on the side of light.One of them will change sides. One of them will die. No one will survive unscathed. Can Chrysabelle save those she cares about or will that love get her killed? What price is she willing to pay to draw last blood?

Set in the world of the House of Comarré, Kristen Painter gives us a new novella about the price of freedom.Maris''s life as a comarré has come down to three options: escape her patron and spend the rest of her days looking over her shoulder, fight him for her freedom with the understanding it could mean her death or undergo dangerous experimentation to transform her blood into something even more powerful.Before she can make a decision, she discovers the vampire who''s been charged with sunproofing her blood isn''t so fond of her patron either. In fact, Dominic is unlike any vampire she''s ever met, but is she desperate enough to put her trust in another noble? Her heart says yes...