The sixth and final Dragon Gate novel came out earlier this fall, and you can now buy the entire series at Amazon:
The final audiobook will be out later this month as well. You can find the series at Audible, as well as Google Play, Chirp, Kobo, and other stores where audiobooks are sold:
For those not in the Amazon ecosystem, I’ll be publishing the ebooks in the other stores later in 2023.
Thanks for reading!
For those of you who like to try before you buy (or read more than the sample pages of an ebook), here are the first few chapters of my new romantic fantasy novel, The Princess Paradigm.
Chapter 1
Princess Hysithea glowered at the solidified block of elven root pitch, willing it to melt so she could pour it into glass jars for transport. The dark brown cube remained firm, not so much as a corner softening. She glowered harder.
Once, she’d had magical power that she’d been able to draw upon at will, but since her return to her people and what should have been a normal way of life… that power eluded her. All through her youth, she’d had to wear a special bracer with an embedded ryshar to nullify her magic. Now, it seemed a mental block was sufficient.
She growled at the root pitch, not caring that she sounded like a cranky wolf rather than a proper elven maiden.
“You have to heat it so it melts,” came a cheerful voice from her side.
The human, Princess Aldari, who was currently being courted by Hysithea’s brother Hawk, pushed a portable burner across the table toward her.
“Just be careful about how hot you get it. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s combustible around three hundred degrees standard.” Aldari touched a strawberry-blonde eyebrow that hadn’t fully grown back after her earlier experiments. “We should put that on the labels, shouldn’t we? A warning. It’s in the brochures I made, but those are for the vendors who will buy in bulk from us, not the end users.”
“Maybe you can just draw a picture of a flaming eyebrow on the label,” Hysithea muttered.
Usually, Hysithea enjoyed talking to the academically inclined Aldari, but she’d slept poorly the night before and couldn’t manage any enthusiasm. She’d only volunteered to help with this project to avoid the group therapy session that her mother had been coercing her to attend. It was difficult seeing Aldari and Hawk kissing and laughing and happy while Hysithea was so plagued by nightmares that she struggled to sleep.
“My background is in macroeconomics, not product marketing,” Aldari said, “but I’m inclined to believe that pictures of fire-scorched body parts might deter shoppers from making a purchase.”
I’ve published the fifth Wolf Wood novel (Charmed and Dangerous) and the fifth Dragon Gate novel (Sky on Fire) since my last post on this site. Typical. 😀
This is a quick update to let you know I’ve got a new romantic fantasy novel set in the same world as The Elf Tangent that’s out this week.
It’s called The Princess Paradigm and features Hawk’s sister, Hysithea, and the hunky warrior dude who wants to take over all of elfdom. Kind of an enemies to lovers type of story. Also, there’s a fun horse who may actually be the star of the novel.
I’ll post some preview chapters soon, and the actual blurb, but it’s up on Amazon if you want to check it out now:
https://books2read.com/PrincessParadigm
As always, if you’re not an Amazon fan, or you just like getting my books early, you can subscribe to my Patreon. I only do charges in the months that I release new books (and if you get them there, you don’t need to buy them from the stores). I also release the audiobooks there, and it ends up being a better deal than buying them elsewhere.
https://www.patreon.com/lindsayburoker
Audiobook fans, Charmed and Dangerous is available on Audible and will be popping up soon in other stores:
https://www.audible.com/pd/Charmed-and-Dangerous-Audiobook/B0B4BGLDSY
Next up with be the 6th and final Dragon Gate novel in September. I’m writing it now!
Thanks for reading, and I hope you have an awesome summer (or winter if you’re down south!).
This winter, I took a break from my Dragon Gate and Wolf Wood series (don’t worry — Books 5 for both are in the works and coming later this spring!) to write about elves. Handsome and haughty elves (I think this describes them all).
The result is The Elf Tangent, a high fantasy adventure with a bit of romance. It’s a complete story, so no pesky cliffhangers. And it takes place in a new world, so you don’t need to be familiar with my other work to enjoy it.
If you’re interested, you can find the first couple of chapters below.
As I publish this, the novel is exclusive to Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited. Look for it in other stores next year. As always, no matter which store and format of ebook you prefer, you can get all my releases early over on Patreon.
Blurb:
As a princess in the impoverished kingdom of Delantria, it’s Aldari’s job to look pretty, speak little, and marry a prince.
Studying mathematics and writing papers on economic theory in an effort to fix her people’s financial woes? Her father has forbidden it. With war on the horizon, they must focus on the immediate threat.
Reluctantly, Aldari agrees to marry a prince in a neighboring kingdom to secure an alliance her people desperately need. All is going to plan until the handsome elven mercenary captain hired to guard her marriage caravan turns into her kidnapper. His people are in trouble, and he believes she has the knowledge to help.
But with an invasion force approaching Delantria, Aldari’s own people need her. She must do everything in her power to escape the elves and make it to her wedding in time.
Never mind that her kidnapper is witty, clever, and offers her a challenge that intrigues her mind even as his easy smile intrigues her heart…
Aldari can’t let herself develop feelings for him. To fall in love and walk away from her wedding would mean the end of her kingdom and everyone she cares about.
“Mathematical Models on the Creation of Economic Prosperity Through Capital Creation—are you kidding me, Your Highness?”
From the top of a rickety library ladder with squeaky wheels, Princess Aldari ne Yereth frowned down at her bodyguard. “My father sent you along to protect me from the riffraff, not spy on the books I’m borrowing.”
“It’s not spying if the book is so thick that the letters on the spine are legible from the circulation desk. You said you were picking up some light reading for the trip. That’s not light. Or is your plan to throw it at enemies if your wedding caravan is attacked by highwaymen?” Continue reading
I’ve got a big list of my novels here, with the books in order by series, but I’ll admit it’s a pretty long list these days, and there aren’t descriptions of the various series. I’ve been publishing for eleven-plus years as I write this, and I think I’m getting close to a hundred novels between my name and my pen name Ruby Lionsdrake (sci-fi romance, if you’re interested). It can be daunting for a new reader!
I’m putting together this post in case you’re new to my work, and you’ve read one or two of my series, but you’re not sure what you should try next. (This assumes you enjoyed the books you read and want more like them; if you hated them, my style doesn’t change much from series to series, so you’re probably better off checking out another author.)
I hope this helps!
(Note: some of my newer series are exclusive to Amazon. With the exception of the Ruby Lionsdrake books, they will eventually come out in the other stores. In the meantime, there are lots of books below that are available everywhere.)
Dragon Blood and the spin-off series Heritage of Power
Humor, romance, adventure, and a snarky sentient sword in a high fantasy setting. If you read the eight Dragon Blood books (plus Shattered Past and the novella Under the Ice Blades), then the next logical read is the Heritage of Power spin-off series.
Already read both? You might like my Emperor’s Edge series (no dragons, but there’s an assassin, and he’s just as cuddly as a dragon). If you love snark, can’t get enough of dragons, and don’t mind hopping over to a modern Earth setting, you could also try my Death Before Dragons series.
Dragon Gate
If you enjoy this series because it’s on the epic side with quite a few heroes that we hop between and worlds-spanning problems, then you might like my Star Kingdom series (which also features gates, because who doesn’t love gates?). That does shift from fantasy to space adventure sci-fi though. And it’s a little lighter with more humor.
If you like the Dragon Gate characters and the touches of humor in a high fantasy setting, then I suggest Emperor’s Edge or Dragon Blood. For another young hero who gradually learns he has power, consider my Chains of Honor series (Yanko gets a parrot rather than a dragon, but he otherwise has many similarities to Jak!).
For something that’s a bit of a nod to Dungeons & Dragons (with elves and dwarves and the like), you could also try my Agents of the Crown series.
Death Before Dragons
My first major contemporary fantasy series (and still my longest). It’s in first-person with a snarky half-elf heroine and a completely uptight and haughty dragon (he chills a bit as the series progresses) who turns into a human when he comes to Earth. These are relatively fast-paced novels with each one telling a complete tale, though you’ll hopefully want to read through all nine to see Val’s and Zav’s relationship develop (or just for the goblins, who try to steal the show).
If you’ve already read them, you could check out my A Witch in Wolf Wood series, which is also set in contemporary times, but with werewolves and witches instead of dragons and half-elves.
You also might like my Rust & Relic series (also contemporary and first person), but as of this post, I haven’t yet finished the series. When I first released it, the fans weren’t that excited about my switch to contemporary fantasy, and I ended up going back to high fantasy for a while. I do plan to write two more eventually to wrap things up.
The Emperor’s Edge, Encrypted/Decrypted, and Chains of Honor
These two series, and the “Forgotten Ages” duology of Encrypted and Decrypted, are all set in the same world. Chronologically speaking, Encrypted comes first, though the original Emperor’s Edge novel was the first book I published. Sicarius, the assassin in that series, first appears as a boy in Encrypted, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Before you get to Forged in Blood 1 & 2 toward the end of the Emperor’s Edge series, you might want to read Encrypted and Decrypted as the characters in those play a role in those final books. Also, Tikaya and Rias are just fun geeky heroes.
The four-novel Chains of Honor series is set after the events in the Emperor’s Edge series. It can stand alone, but Sicarius and Amaranthe do pop in and play a bit of a role near the end. And Akstyr and his hair have a guest appearance in Book 1. Oh, and Tikaya’s family (Encrypted/Decrypted) also play a small role in Book 1.
In short, you might want to read all of these if you’re a fan of the world.
Already finished? I think you’d enjoy the Dragon Blood books, though if you want something a little grittier, you might also try my Dragon Gate series. I’m still writing this one as I pen this post, but it should be complete in 2022.
Agents of the Crown
Another high fantasy adventure series, this one is light on politics, empires clashing, and other world-wide happenings. I originally thought of it as a fantasy-mystery romance, which the romance evolving over five books.
If you already read it and want another series, I’ll point you toward Dragon Blood.
For a smaller story with romance that develops over the series, you might also like my Flash Gold novellas. They’re set on 1800s Earth rather than in a fantasy setting though.
Star Kingdom
I originally tagged this one Big Bang Theory in space, because it’s got quite the collection of misfit geeks, with a pacifistic roboticist for the hero and a socially awkward microbiologist for his best friend. They’re not your typical action heroes (though Kim, the microbiologist, has a mean side kick and can hold her own in a fight).
With a number of point of view characters and a story that expands as the series continues, this ended up almost feeling like “epic” space opera. Is that a thing? I’m not sure, but if you like this, my other big space adventure series is Fallen Empire, so you might try that. If you like the grander scale and don’t mind fantasy, Dragon Gate might also be worth your time (it’s a bit darker than Star Kingdom though).
Fallen Empire
A pilot mother looking for her missing daughter in the aftermath of a great war, this is a one PoV-series with a slow-burn romance and lots of adventures in space. It’s a less epic story than Star Kingdom, but if you want more sci-fi by me, it’s the next logical choice. Although, you could also try…
If you don’t mind sex scenes and a different couple being featured in each book, you might also like the Mandrake Company series I wrote under Ruby Lionsdrake. Those are a bit Firefly-inspired but with much more romance and a big crew of mercenaries instead of a little crew of cargo haulers.
A Witch in Wolf Wood
This is the story of what happens when a divorced, 40-year-old heroine inherits her grandmother’s house in the tiny town of Bellrock, Washington, and learns that Grandma was a witch… and that she has the power to become one too. If she can just get past the werewolf who thinks the property is his to guard.
These are light stories with more pets (familiars) and a little less action than my usual. I originally envisioned them as cozy mysteries with magic, though they evolved into their own thing, as typically happens.
If you’ve already read these, you might enjoy my Death Before Dragon series (also contemporary fantasy).
Death Before Dragons Book 1: Sinister Magic
Flash Gold
My one and only steampunk-set-on-Earth series, these five novellas take place in the Yukon in the late 1800s. I’m not sure they’re quite like any of my other series, but there’s humor with a slow-burn romance (that tends to be a theme of mine!). If you enjoyed them and also like high fantasy with elves and dwarves and the like, you might try my Agents of the Crown series.
Agents of the Crown Book 1: Eye of Truth
The previously mentioned sci-fi romance of Ruby Lionsdrake
I wrote about 15 novels under this pen name over a few years. Ruby has been on a hiatus, but she may return one day. In the meantime, the main series are Mandrake Company (all the romances you can imagine happening on a mercenary ship) and Star Guardians (five human women kidnapped from Earth for adventures and romance in space). Also, those who like fantasy romance with naughty bits might like the stand-alone novel Dragon Bond.
If you came to me via Ruby Lionsdrake and want more books like those, you might try my Fallen Empire series (but this is a slow-burn romance across a series instead of a hook-up in one book).
I didn’t mention everything here, but for a complete list, you can check the novels/reading order page.
Thanks, and if you’d like to leave a comment with suggestions of your own, that’s welcome!
Hey, reader! I hope you had an amazing holiday season!
If you need new books, I’ve got you covered. 🙂
Chosen for Power, my fourth Dragon Gate novel, just came out on Amazon:
This series will likely be exclusive there until late 2023.
Just a reminder that I do release all of my books early (and in both ebook formats) on Patreon. This is the best way to get them right away for non-Amazon fans — and anyone else who wants them early! If you get them there as they come out, there’s no need to re-purchase them in the stores.
AUDIOBOOKS!
I know some of you have been waiting, and we’re slowly getting caught up. Here are the new audiobook releases from the last two months:
Vivienne (our narrator for all of these) is now working on Wolf Wood 2 and 3 as well as Dragon Gate 4.
As far as what I’m working on, I just sent Wolf Wood 4 off to my editor. In the near future, I’ll be doing one more of those, two more Dragon Gate novels, and a new Star Kingdom novel. I also have a half-written high fantasy elf romance that I’ll finish here at some point. So many projects in the works!
Thanks for reading and following along. 🙂
Spell Hound, the second novel in my new A Witch in Wolf Wood series (or Wolf Woof as the faithful sidekick Lucky calls it), is out on Amazon this weekend. Here are the links if you want to pick it up:
And if you haven’t read Book 1 (Mind Over Magic) yet, there’s a preview chapter on my blog here.
I thought it would be fun to do a little “behind the scenes” post to go along with the launch. So, here goes!
What was the genesis of the story (yeah, I know, it’s super geeky to use words like genesis in every day conversation, but… you’ve read my books and know I love my words)?
I actually had the idea for a woman inheriting a big rambling old house in a small town more than a year ago. And the werewolf now known as Amar came along with the original idea. Because who just inherits a house without catches, right?
And because romances are always fun, I figured they’d hook up in the end (regular readers will know this is not new for me), but I couldn’t let that happen right away… I envisioned him leaping out at her car and trying to drive her off the property first. What’s now Chapter 1 in Mind Over Magic is pretty close to how I imagined it a year ago.
I went as far as to order a cover for the book, but I didn’t put aside my other projects. I was deep in Death Before Dragons at the time with an idea for an epic fantasy — Dragon Gate — prodding me and wanting attention. Also, it’s a big pain to actually get a stand-alone book to sell.
With series, you can spend more than you earn from sales on advertising for Book 1 on the assumption that some readers will carry on and buy the next books. With a stand-alone book… there’s none of that, unless you get lucky, and readers go check out your other stuff.
It also wasn’t going to be in a sub-genre of fantasy that I’d written in before, so I figured that might make it an even harder sell to my existing fans. A random paranormal romance (as I was thinking of it then) among all the high fantasy, steampunk, and a single urban fantasy series. Oh, and don’t forget the space opera!
So, I put it on the back burner.
But then in May, I was in beast-mode, writing the third Dragon Gate novel and starting to feel like I needed a break. I’d just finished the second, which had come in at something like 185,000 words, and Book 3 was looking meaty too. These were turning into some thick books by my standards (by most authors’ standards), and with numerous point-of-view characters, they were more complicated than the average story.
I had family coming to visit for the summer and a road trip planned, and I knew I’d have a hard time focusing on something long and involved. My mind came back to that inheriting-a-house-with-a-werewolf story. It seemed like it could be a fairly short and simple story with just one point-of-view character. Maybe it would be a perfect project for a summer full of distractions.
But there was still the problem of a stand-alone novel being tough to market…
Until I realized the obvious solution was to write three books.
That was perfect since I’m not that great at writing stand-alone romance stories anyway. As most of you know, I like to make that hero and heroine work for it for a while. (Yes, yes, Balanced on the Blade’s Edge was a rare exception where the randy Sardelle and Zirkander were getting busy in a cave by Chapter 13…) A little UST or unresolved sexual tension is always fun after all.
This is how a light and easy fun summer project turns into three books and more of a time commitment than you had planned…
But I don’t mind. I complain a lot, but I seem to be happiest when I have lots of work lined up and at least four book (or series) ideas waiting in line to be written.
So, there’ll be three books in the series?
Well, about that…
A few days ago, I sent Book 3 off to my beta readers, and as I was writing the second half, I realized that while I’d wrapped up the original story I wanted to tell, there were quite a few more things I could see exploring in the little (little but witch- and werewolf-filled) town of Bellrock. There were all of these other interesting characters that would be fun to develop more, and I’d just brought Morgen’s sister in for a visit, and their dialogue was a blast to write. Book 3 was starting to seem a little early for ending things.
I need to write my next epic fantasy before thinking of Wolf Wood 4, but I have tentative plans to do at least a couple more novels. 🙂
When did you decide Morgen would be a witch?
I loved wolves as a kid (my favorite animals even above horses!), so doing werewolves was pretty natural for me. The surprising part was that I hadn’t written a werewolf main character sooner. There were some furry bad guys in Death Before Dragons (and the quirky werewolf neighbor who may or may not be having sex with Val’s mom), but it was definitely time for one to be a star.
But… witches? I had no plans for witches.
I’ve watched in some bemusement as “witch cozies” (witch cozy mysteries) have become a thing on Kindle, but aside from reading the Dorrie the Little Witch series with my mom as a kid, they weren’t anything I sought out as a reader.
But I did have this kooky old house that Morgen inherited, and I knew her grandmother had been a little eccentric. Maybe she was eccentric… because she was a witch?
And maybe Bellrock was as brimming with witches as it was werewolves. That could create some nice tension in the stories…
And that’s how it happens. Writers have an idea or two, let them run, and pretty soon they’re writing a 10-book series. (FYI, I’m not committing to ten books yet. :D)
It’s also nice in fantasy novels if the heroine has a way to kick some ass. Let’s face it: we 21st-century readers aren’t down with a damsel in distress.
I don’t mind doing the Xena-warrior-woman heroine from time to time (see: Val in Death Before Dragons), but let’s face it. Most of us ladies can’t relate to that. But we wouldn’t mind having just a little bit of magical power to protect us from bad guys… or hex ex-boyfriends. You know how it goes.
Of course, Morgen only learns about her witch heritage in the first book, so she basically starts out at Level One, but she’s learning a few things and getting better. Once she connects with her familiar in Book 2, she’s clearly on the right path to becoming a legit witch.
Will we learn how a pack of Mexican werewolves ended up in Bellrock, Washington?
Amar gives us a few hints about his past across the books, but this is actually something I’ve put down in my notes for Book 4, a little more on why he and the others left their homeland and… oops, I better not start spoiling things that far out. Besides, it’s all subject to change until I actually write the novel.
We’ll leave it at, yes, I think so for the answer.
What was the inspiration for Lucky?
There actually is a Lucky!
I have vizslas of my own, but my parents have a vizsla named Lucky, and he’s such a friendly goof that I decided to name a canine character after him. And then… I just decided to make Morgen’s Lucky more or less him.
The real Lucky is a little older than the fictional one and has started to get a gray muzzle, but here’s a picture of him staying in a hotel this summer. (Also, the real Lucky has never glowed from the aftereffects of a spell. In case you were wondering.)
When does Book 3 come out?
On Halloween. I had to. 🙂
Thanks for reading!
If you follow me on social media, you know I had a busy summer, with family visiting (finally!) and a road trip up to Washington. It seemed like it would be a little chaotic for working on the next big epic fantasy, so I gave myself a lighter project. Technically, three lighter projects.
The first of three novels in a new contemporary fantasy series is now out: Mind Over Magic. Book 2 is coming in a little over a week, and Book 3 will be ready toward the end of October. (Have no fear: Dragon Gate, Book 4, is coming in December, and you can pre-order it now.)
Here’s a look at the first chapter for those who like to try before they buy!
Mind Over Magic: Chapter 1
The rain and the dog’s noseprints on the windshield made it hard to see into the twilight gloom ahead. Lucky whined from the passenger seat as Morgen guided the car through mud, over downed branches, and around water-filled potholes large enough to support a small flock of mallards. Possibly a large flock. And their cousins.
Lucky whined again.
“We’re almost to the house,” Morgen said. “You can hold it.”
Lucky snuffled at the cracked window like a hedgehog with nasal polyps and did his best to shove his snout through the gap. His whip of a tail thwacked at the side of Morgen’s head, making her regret letting him out of his crate for this last leg of the journey. He stood on the armrest of the door, one paw finding the controls, and the window slid open further.
“Just remember that goes both ways.” Morgen concentrated on the road, navigating around another pond-sized pothole. Maybe she should have rented an SUV instead of driving her electric car up here. “If you get your head stuck again, I’m not going to be sympathetic.”
As Lucky inhaled deeply, oblivious to the rain spattering his copper-furred head, Morgen checked the GPS again. It had been years—decades—since she’d been up to the house. Was it possible she’d turned at the wrong spot? It was hard to believe Grandma had driven up the treacherous mile-long driveway every day on her motorcycle.
A deer shot out of the moss-draped fir trees and darted in front of the car. Continue reading
