I turned to his wife as Jonathan began to rummage through the inner pockets of his coat. “Of course, there is still the question of where to host my school,” I told her. “I could rent a house somewhere, I suppose, if I found somewhere secluded that I could afford, or...”
“Away from us? Don’t be absurd! If you’re going to do this, you’ll need our help. And if you think we’re going to lose you all over again...!” Amy’s brown eyes narrowed. I could almost see the wheels of strategy beginning to turn inside her head as she tapped one finger against her side. “We do have an unused dower house on the estate. That should be large enough at least for the first lot of students...and then perhaps...”
My sister-in-law’s words trailed off as her pretty face tightened into the look of intense concentration that heralded a perfect political maneuver in the making. Beside her, Jonathan pulled out a commonplace book to start scribbling down notes with a silver pencil, muttering to himself all the while.
My family was on my side, as always—and together, we were unstoppable.
“So?” Keeping my hands wrapped firmly around his shoulders, I looked up challengingly at Wrexham, the only one who hadn’t spoken yet. “What do you think of my great plan? Are you still ready and willing to marry me even if I scandalize all of your colleagues and the Boudiccate itself?”
Wrexham’s smile was slow and certain as he pulled me even closer into the warmth of his embrace. “I think, Harwood,” said the love of my life with deep affection, “that you live to scandalize the nation...and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
“You always will be,” I promised him.
Magic swirled through the air around us as the other magicians’ loud debate turned into a laughing, cheering competition.
Sparks and flares danced in the corner of my vision.
I’d spent so much of my life fighting to win every magical contest that I came across...
But now I closed my eyes, smiling, and kissed my fiancé, while grand plans and schemes built themselves in my head and happiness soared irresistibly through my body.
For the first time in months, I couldn’t wait to see what the future would bring me.
What Comes Next
Thank you so much to everyone who’s read this first volume in Cassandra’s story! Volume II, Thornbound, will be published sometime in 2018. To find out the details as soon as possible - and to get access to free tie-in short stories and giveaways! - please sign up to my newsletter now: www.stephanieburgis.com/newsletter
If you have the time and energy to review Snowspelled on Amazon, Goodreads or elsewhere, I would be incredibly grateful. Word-of-mouth makes a huge difference, especially with a new series. Thank you!
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much to all of the fearless beta-readers who read first-draft chapters of this story as I wrote them and cheered me along through moments of despair: Aliette de Bodard, Rene Sears, Jenn Reese, Tiffany Trent, Patrick Samphire and David Burgis. I appreciate you all so much!
Thanks to Leesha Hannigan for the gorgeous cover art, and thanks to Patrick Samphire for the wonderful cover design! Thanks also to Patrick Samphire for patiently helping me with so many aspects of creating this book.
I am so grateful to everyone who critiqued part or all of this novella: Laura Florand, Patrick Samphire, Rene Sears, Molly Ker Hawn, and Amber Lough.
I owe an enormous amount to everyone who carefully proofread the manuscript for me: Rich Burgis, Sophie Anderson, Karen Bultiauw, Anne Nesbet, Deva Fagan, Nancy Palmer, Susan Franzblau, Bridgit Boggs, and R.J. Anderson. You guys all deserve so much chocolate! Any mistakes that still appear here are all my fault – but there are far fewer of them because of you.
And oh, I owe so many thanks to everyone who patiently critiqued one or more of my infinite variations on a blurb for this book: Jenn Reese, Rene Sears, Tiffany Trent, Aliette de Bodard, Leah Cypess, Jackie Dolamore, Claire Fayers, Jaime Lee Moyer, Tricia Sullivan, Deva Fagan, Ben Burgis, David Burgis and Patrick Samphire. Thank you guys!
And for inspiration: thank you SO MUCH to Vickie Ruggiero, who founded our Skype Book Club and inspired me to write exactly the kind of novella that would make both of us happy. I wanted this story to be fun to discuss with a good friend. I hope that I’ve succeeded!
Most of all, thank you so much to the readers who’ve followed me through multiple genres and adventures. I appreciate you guys so much!
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
When fierce young dragon Aventurine is tricked into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, she’s horrified to find herself transformed into a puny, blunt-toothed, wingless human girl. But she’s still a dragon on the inside, and her instincts – combined with her new-found passion for chocolate – take her to the Chocolate Heart, a quirky chocolate house in need of help (and customers). Still, it will take all her courage, lots of chocolate and perhaps a little magic to learn to be her true self…
“A gloriously fresh story to be read with a steaming cup of chocolate at hand.”
– Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
“I fell in love with this book.”
– Barnes & Noble Kids Blog
A Summer 2017 Kids’ Indie Next Pick and an Amazon.com Best Book of the Month. Published by Bloomsbury Books in the UK, US and Australia.
Available as an ebook and in paperback.
Courting Magic
In Kat Stephenson's Regency England, magic is even more shocking than a stolen kiss. But now that she's eighteen, it's time for wild and magical Kat to be introduced to high society by her older sisters, whether she likes it or not...and to finally have a romance of her own!
Of course, her true love is hopelessly ineligible. But when has Kat ever let Society's opinion stop her from making up her own mind? Once she realizes she's found her perfect match, she's not going to let anything or anyone stand in their way - even if she does have to solve a magical mystery, matchmake for an old friend, and break a few rules along the way!
Courting Magic is a sparkling 34,000-word Regency novella set in the world of Kat, Incorrigible.
"It is a blast of fresh air, pure romantic joy." - Gail Carriger, author of the Parasol Protectorate series and the Finishing School series
Available as an ebook on most platforms.
About the Author
Stephanie Burgis has lived in Michigan, Vienna, and Yorkshire, and now lives in Wales, surrounded by castles and coffee shops, with her husband (fellow writer Patrick Samphire), their two children, their (very) vocal tabby cat, and thousands of books. She is the author of two historical fantasy novels for adults, Masks and Shadows and Congress of Secrets (both published by Pyr Books), as well as four MG fantasy novels, most recently The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart (published by Bloomsbury in 2017).
Her MG novel The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart was named one of the Best New Children’s Books Summer 2017 by The Guardian, her adult novel Masks and Shadows was included in Locus Magazine’s Recommended Reading List for 2016, and her first MG novel, Kat, Incorrigible, won the Waverton Good Reads Award for Best Début Children’s Novel by a British Author.
You can read more about her and her books and short stories on her website: www.stephanieburgis.com and sign up for her newsletter for free tie-in short stories and news.
Text copyright © 2017 by Stephanie Burgis Samphire
Cover art copyright © 2017 by Leesha Hannigan
Cover design copyright © 2017 by Patrick Samphire
ISBN 978-1-9997254-0-2
Five Fathoms Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Snowspelled: Volume I of The Harwood Spellbook Page 14