My science-fantasy novel The Warmth of Ashes is available on Amazon!
The Warmth of Ashes is a science-fantasy family drama and coming-of-age story that will appeal to fans of Kamilah Cole’s So Let Them Burn and Caroline O’Donoghue’s All Our Hidden Gifts.
Maka Garrett has no hope of getting accepted to the Royal Institute. What would the prestigious academy for Ensom’s most powerful citizens need with a blind 17-year-old aura reader? She’s as ordinary as extraordinary gets, much to the disappointment of her mother Helen, who was banned from the Institute years ago despite her godlike ability to control the wind.
And yet, it’s Helen who insists that Maka apply.
Professor Soren Harkonen is furious that Maka even shows up to the interview, though she appears unaware that her mother is plotting revenge against him. He ruined Helen’s life to save his boyfriend and he’d do it again without hesitation. Despite Soren’s best efforts, Maka is accepted to the Institute when it’s discovered that her ability to read and extract the auras of books can be used to manipulate people.
Maka is as reluctant to learn to wield this power as Soren is to teach her, but neither have a choice — the Queen demands a well-trained arsenal. Because discontent has been brewing since the volcano at the heart of Ensom erupted ten years ago. An extremist group is claiming that the island only survived due to a deal the monarchy made with the devil. And the people, still poisoned by the ashes, are starting to listen.
When Maka’s ability suddenly evolves into something far more dangerous, she not only becomes the most terrifying student in school but a crucial pawn in the clash between the Queen and the extremists — as well as the key to Soren and his boyfriend’s freedom.
That is, if Helen doesn’t convince Maka to destroy them first.
As Maka unravels the horrifying truth about what happened when the volcano erupted, she learns that no one is innocent. And in the end, she will be forced to make a harrowing choice: save her mother or save the island.