As a child, Halili Banta ignored her grandmother’s cryptic warnings not to make friends with children outside their Filipino community in Houston. But she preferred to become a “real” American, down to the Americanization of her name, Lili. When many of those other children fell ill, Lili vowed to focus on learning everything she could about Western medicine, ignoring the whispers in her community that a vampiric aswang walked among them.
Now, as an adult and a medical doctor, Lili has returned to Houston to work for the Quarantine Station of the Center for Disease Control—but she is plagued by dark, bloody dreams that consume her nights and haunt her days. As a strange illness once again sweeps through the city, leaving hundreds of children ill and several dead, Lili races against the clock to find its source, and possibly even a cure.
But in order to save the city, she must first embrace her Filipino heritage, and acknowledge a sinister truth: A monster stalks the night—and it might be closer than she ever expected….
Isa: Gift of the Baloma is a fantasy tale created from a myth that derives from the Trobriand islands (today officially known as the Kiriwina Islands). Isa is the beautifully tortured soul who has never known love, and who has pretty much travelled through life alone. When tragic circumstances lead her into the depths of the sea, she has no idea what her fate may hold, and thus prepares for worst.
However, as in life, sometimes we have to go through our very worst to get to the place we were destines to be. Such is the case with Isa. Just when she thinks all is lost, she meets Chief Topileta, headman of the villages of the dead, and an unexpected love affair ensures. As Isa will soon find, nothing in her life stays peaceful for long, and before she knows it, she is separated from the only person to ever care for her. When tragedy strikes and Isa finds herself awake after two years of falling into a deep sleep, she is surprised to find that all thoughts are still with the man she has not forgotten. But has he forgotten her? Will he come for her? Will she find love again?
This is only the beginning of Isa’s story, in the full length novel that is set for 2015 release, readers will find out the many layers of Isa and be able to journey with her as she finds out about her lineage and the family she was sure did not exist.
Micco, a captivating Native American man with a desirable physique and statuesque features, radiates a mysterious allure. Living on the reservation with his unapproachable father, he doesn’t believe in the old ways and works as a cop in the local town. The only reason he lives on the land is Nara, his childhood friend and the love of his life, who is married to a cruel reservation man.
Waking up in the heart of a murderous scene, he flees for his life, unfamiliar with his surroundings or how he arrived there. To his horror, he’s assigned to the case. As he works with the local detective, more murders transpire with unusual, terrifying sightings of wolves.
His behavior starts to drastically change, forcing others to take notice. Although trying to avoid the inevitable, Micco is forced to accept the undesirable truth, unable to fight what has been awakened, and all that he has forgotten is finally revealed.
A skeleton is dug up at the crossing of the ways on Hanging Moor, striking dread into the heart of Old Ma Ramsgill – the elderly matriarch of the village of Thruscross. And with good reason. The eighteenth-century witch, Jennet, has been woken.
A spate of killings by a vicious black dog gives credence to her warnings and the community – in particular her family – realise they are in terrible danger.
Drastic measures are needed to contain her, but with the imminent flooding of the valley to create a new reservoir, do they have the ability to stop her and break her curse?
We are born, live and eventually leave the mortal world. For Stefano Bonaro the same can be said, with a powerful exception. He was born to live and love in Venice, beyond death.
Stefano is passionately in love with Anastasia Soranzo. They grew up with the promise of a future together, through family bonds and emotional ties. Then suddenly their lives are torn apart by unforgivable deception. For the sake of family, Stefano and Anastasia can no longer have a future together. While Anastasia can easily move on, Stefano refuses to do so.
During Eighteenth Century Carnival, Stefano seals his faith when he commits a crime of passion that ends with him even taking his own life. But this is not the end for the jilted lover, when he is suddenly brought back to life a year later. Stefano’s spirit continues to hope in love, even as he becomes ruled by madness. But will it ever truly end for Stefano Bonaro?
The bloodline of Romania, older than the legend of the vampire, the strigoi are vile, evil creatures who suck the life from the people of the villages that line the impenetrable forests of the country. In this tale with a twist, Jessica Petrescu dotes on her grandmother and takes care of her family in the aftermath of the fall of communism in Romania. Her family is disrupted by a red headed, indigo colored eyes cousin, who turns her household upside down in his quest to discover whether a strigoi is living among his relatives.
Cultural Cocktails 