The Spiritglass Charade Sneak Preview

Want a sneak peek? Download this free sample of The Spiritglass Charade: A Stoker & Holmes Novel by Colleen Gleason. After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa "appear lunatic," using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, "there are no coincidences." It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay.

Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes never meant to get into the family business. But when you're the sister of Bram and the niece of Sherlock, vampire hunting and mystery solving are in your blood, so to speak. After the Affair of the Clockwork Scarab, Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes are eager to help Princess Alix with a new case. Seventeen-year-old Willa Aston is obsessed with spiritual mediums, convinced she is speaking with her mother from beyond the grave. What seems like a case of spiritualist fraud quickly devolves into something far more menacing: someone is trying to make Willa appear lunatic using an innocent-looking spiritglass to control her. The list of clues piles up: an unexpected murder, a gang of pickpockets, and the return of vampires to London. But are these events connected? As Uncle Sherlock would say, there are no coincidences. It will take all of Mina's wit and Evaline's muscle to keep London's sinister underground at bay... “This book has it all…the vivid setting and the finely drawn, compelling heroines make this a fine choice for readers who like their stories with steampunk spice and smart, strong women.” –School Library Journal “The mishmash of popular tropes (steampunk! Vampires! Sherlock Holmes!) will bring readers in, but it’s the friendship between the two girls that will keep them.” –Kirkus Reviews “The author’s writing exudes energy, romance, and humor, and she gives her heroines strong, vibrant personalities as they puzzle out the expansive mystery unfolding before them.” –Publishers Weekly “If Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sherlock Holmes ever met, this book would be the result. If you loved ‘Nancy Drew’ or ‘The Hardy Boys’ as a kid, you’re going to love this sci-fi/fantasy mystery series.” —SLJ Teen

Want a sneak peek? Download this free sample of The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason. Evaline Stoker and Mina Holmes have reluctantly agreed to act as social chaperones and undercover bodyguards for Princess Lurelia of Betrovia, who has arrived in London to deliver a letter that details the secret location of an ancient chess queen that's been missing for centuries. But when the letter—which will heal a centuries-old rift between England and the Betrovians—is stolen out from under Evaline and Mina's watchful eyes, the two girls are forced into a high-stakes race to ensure they find the chess queen before anyone else does. The Stoker and Holmes series is as culturally popular and compulsively readable as the Sherlock Holmes stories and Dracula were in the Victorian era.

A nerdy (but sexy) scientist. A writer on deadline. A haunted lighthouse. And a secret worth killing for... Welcome to Wicks Hollow: a cozy town near Lake Michigan filled with quaint houses, eccentric residents, and more than its share of ghosts, murders, and sexy romance. Teddy Mack has to finish the latest book her bestselling thriller series, or her editor and agent are going to come and park themselves on her desk and force her to write, so she decides to cloister herself in the small house attached to a Lake Michigan lighthouse for the summer. No wifi, no Internet, no distractions... Until a heartbroken Oscar London, PhD, shows up with all of his microbiology equipment and takes over the same rental property. There's been a double-booking, and neither Teddy nor Oscar are willing to leave, and so the neurotic writer and the love-bruised scientist decide to make do. Everything seems to be fine until Teddy discovers a ghost is haunting her writing space, and Oscar—who has no time for such silliness—discovers a clue related to a disappearance that happened near the lighthouse. Things become even more hairy when Teddy and Oscar realize someone is trying to drive them out of the lighthouse—or crazy. Which ever comes first. “Like Nancy Drew for grown-ups!” —New York Times bestselling author Mara Jacobs Each book in the Wicks Hollow series is a romantic suspense novel with all the quirks of a small town setting—the perfect blend of humorous contemporary romance with cozy mystery and supernatural suspense. Heat Level: Sexy Mystery: Cozy Mood: Mildly creepy, Suspenseful, Humorous The Wicks Hollow series does not have to be read in order. Look for the following titles: Sinister Summer Sinister Secrets Sinister Shadows Sinister SanctuarySinister Lang Syne

“Magic is “messy and dangerous and filled with longing,” we learn in this brave tale of grief, villainy and redemption that borrows from the story of the Snow Queen. Set in a vast, chilly museum, the tale brings together a valiant girl, a charmed boy, a magical sword and a clock ticking down to the end of the world.”—The Wall Street Journal This is the story of unlikely heroine Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard who doesn't believe in anything that can't be proven by science. She and her sister Alice are still grieving for their dead mother when their father takes a job in a strange museum in a city where it always snows. On her very first day in the museum Ophelia discovers a boy locked away in a long forgotten room. He is a prisoner of Her Majesty, the Snow Queen. And he has been waiting for Ophelia's help. As Ophelia embarks on an incredible journey to rescue the boy everything that she believes will be tested. Along the way she learns more and more about the boy's own remarkable journey to reach her and save the world. A story within a story, this a modern day fairytale about the power of friendship, courage and love, and never ever giving up.

Strange things are happening at McQuarrie Middle School in the opener to the New York Times bestselling series from Tom Angleberger! It takes the wisdom of Yoda to survive the sixth grade. Meet Dwight, a sixth-grade oddball. Dwight does a lot of weird things, like wearing the same T-shirt for a month or telling people to call him "Captain Dwight." But Dwight does one cool thing. He makes origami. One day he makes an origami finger puppet of Yoda. And that's when things get mysterious. Origami Yoda can predict the future and suggest the best way to deal with a tricky situation. His advice actually works, and soon most of the sixth grade is lining up with questions. Dwight's friend Tommy wants to know how Origami Yoda can be so smart when Dwight is so clueless. Is Yoda tapping into the Force? This is Tommy's case file of his investigation into "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda." Includes instructions for folding your own Origami Yoda.

Superheroes, science, and one ordinary girl's quest for greatness. Join 13-year-old Jessie as she keeps a diary of her class's yearlong research project on superheroes, which culminates in the Superhero Slam: a head-to-head debate battle! It's shy, comics-obsessed Jessie's dream come true . . . and worst nightmare. She decides to champion Batgirl, a regular person (albeit with major talent and training under her utility belt), and soon Jessie wonders what it would take to be Batgirl. Will she prove to her best friends, Cade and Audrey, that she's more than a sidekick? Can she take down archenemy Dylan at the Slam? Combining science facts, lively illustrations, and comic-book trivia with actual correspondence from superhumans such as NYPD Sergeant Mike Bruen, Olympian Clara Hughes, and Captain Marvel writer Kelly Sue DeConnick, Project Superhero is a celebration of the heroes among us and of one girl's super-secret identity: herself.