Do mermaids believe in humans?

While working on a deep-sea diving assignment at the University of California, oceanography student Jay Bishop is dragged into a volcanic tube towards the earth's core and certain death. 

But much to his surprise, Jay not only survives the fall, he finds himself taken prisoner by a community of mermaids and kept alive as a science experiment. Confused and disoriented, Jay's only hope to escape back to the surface is found in Paga, an elder of the community who believes Jay's unexpected arrival marks the fulfillment of a terrifying prophecy.

With the community rising against them, Jay and Paga face dangerous choices -- and their consequences -- if Jay is ever to see home again. Will Jay make it back to the world on the surface? And even if he does, how can his life be the same ever again?

FROM THE BOOK: 

“Are the others boring you to death, that you’re listening so intently to my remarks, darling?” Jay asked, teasing even though he welcomed her churlish chatter.

“People confuse boredom for stability, and stability for sanity,” she muttered.

Jay laughed. “Well, I’m sure some people would never assume we had a solid grip on sanity before we decided to become oceanographers. With several metric tons of water pressure surrounding us at these depths, I’m sure someone would be quick to question our mental facilities and their working order.”

“True enough, brother mine.”  Noelani paused, and Jay knew she was likely rolling her pretty eyes. “And yours especially, since your sanity was barely there to begin with.”

FROM THE AUTHOR:

Enjoy this short story adventure tale set before Till Human Voices Wake Us, a science fantasy novel with an unlikable protagonist, sadistic mermaids, and the trip of a lifetime. 

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING: 

"Very exciting prequel!! Lots of mystery and suspense. Can't wait to read the next one!" ~ Dee Bookworm Book Reviews

"This is a very entertaining read, very action filled opening followed by a philosophical middle, with a thrill ride of an ending." ~ Author C. O. Bonham

As if Hamilton Dinger needs any more frustration at the moment. Not only has he accepted his duty as a starlight warrior, he's got swim meets to prepare for, his little brother to babysit, and an annoying new girl in his class. Plus he's got his 'mentor' dragon, Elysian, on his back every chance he gets, and his 'co-defender,' Starry Knight, urging him to quit the superhero business after every battle.

As the Seven Deadly Sinisters and their leader, Orpheus, search for new ways to gather power, Ham finds both betrayal and friendship in unexpected places. Desperately searching for a way he can get stronger, he finds his own inner struggles costing him the most as he attempts to keep the rest of the city safe.

Will Hamilton realize his potential in the power of trust? Will he be able make peace with Starry Knight, or will their quarrels be the downfall of them both?

FROM THE BOOK:

I found every layer of myself chiseled away, the blackened cynicism of my heart breaking open and oozing the kind of fear which only stems from the deepest sort of longing. "Don't leave me."

And then I kissed her.

FROM THE AUTHOR:

Continue reading through the epic fantasy series from young adult author C. S. Johnson, as fallen Stars/superheroes Wingdinger, Starry Knight, along with their dragon Elysian, fight evil as much as they fight with each other.

Perfect for young teenagers or disaffected college students, or adults who enjoy some satire mixed in with some sweetness!

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING:

Johnson really manages to make the main character's growth very believable. Even starting from where he left of in the previous book it is clear that Hamilton Dinger - just like all the rest of us real human beings - still has a long way to go. ~ Jake Yaniak, author of Morality is the Problem

4 STARS! ~ Reader's Favorite

By far one of my most favorite young adult book & audio book series!!! ~ Teresa, Mom to a teen and Goodreads Reviewer

Falling in love was out of the question ... until it was the answer. 

There is nothing Aeris St. Cloud wants more than to win her father's love and the acceptance of her family unit by joining the Military Academy at New Hope. But after she is captured by the fearsome space pirate, Captain Chainsword, Aerie is certain falling in love with her nation's arch enemy is the last possible way to earn their coveted esteem. 

Driven by vengeance, Exton Shepherd never set out to save anyone. As he circles the war-torn world in his pirated starship, the Perdition, he only sees his father's ghost lurking around every corner and the looming darkness on the horizon. When Aerie unexpectedly tumbles into his life, he finds he cannot trust her, anymore than he can ignore her. But just like the raging war down on Earth, it's tempting to think he can ... 

When the war ascends to the heights of the Perdition, Aerie's loyalty, and Exton's heart, are put to the test. But will love be enough to save them -- and others -- from certain destruction?

FROM THE AUTHOR: 

The Heights of Perdition is the first book in the Divine Space Pirates trilogy, a futuristic romance series where family, faith, and freedom take center stage. 

FROM THE BOOK: 

“Tell me your name. It’s a good place to start, don’t you think?”

“I’ll never give you any information. How could I, knowing what I know about you?”

“Perhaps there’s more to me than you realize.”

“You’re a hateful monster! What else do I possibly need to know?”

Aerie regretted her outburst less than a second later. The captain immediately left his chair and came close to her. Instinctively, she pulled back, but the pad behind her did not allow her to go far.

As he drew near, she got a good look at his face; though no longer adorned with the pirate’s wig and beard, she could see he was still masked. The apathy, the cynicism, the playful whimsy—all of it hid a deep crevice of pain inside of him.

The sudden urge to reach out and touch him shot through her. It was quickly followed by alarm and self-disgust.

“From your comments, I would assume you have yet to learn a great many things,” he told her, his voice sharp.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, boldly meeting his gaze.

“First, your name is no small matter," he said. "Destinies can be made and shaped by your name, though whether good or bad, it is up to you."

He turned away from her abruptly and began pacing by her bed. Aerie listened to his steps resonate with certainty and distinctness, like a military cadence, as she tried to breathe properly.

“Second,” he continued, glancing at her from over his shoulder, “Despite what you might think, I am not a monster; merely a man.”

“I hardly see the difference,” she retorted, still rattled by his presence.

“I would expect that, given your education with the URS.

CONSTANTINOPLE, 1845

Amir Qureshi knew his life would never be the same the day he met Naděžda Ollerton-Cerná, much to his chagrin. With her sharp wit and brazen charm, Naděžda is as infuriating as she is irresistible, and Amir cannot stop himself from falling in love with her—even though they can never be together.

As an ally to the Order of the Crystal Daggers, under the command of Naděžda’s indomitable mother, Amir knows there is no place for love in the life of a spy.

When they are sent to Constantinople to investigate a missing shipment of weapons, Naděžda’s life is endangered, and Amir races to save her, knowing he cannot deny his heart any longer.

But Amir is not the only one who is keeping secrets ...

FROM THE BOOK:

“Miss Eleanor.”

The desperation in his voice was only matched by his irritation, and the moment he said anything, Amir feared he had inadvertently given himself away.

The sapphire eyes he had come to both love and hate twinkled mischievously at him. “Why, Mr. Qureshi, I do believe you’re quite flustered. Especially if you’re going to use your manners. Where are those mongrel ways of yours? I might mistake you for a real gentleman with such a formal tone.”

Her lyrical, teasing voice did nothing to lighten his mood; rather, it plucked at his heartstrings with a bittersweet twang, and Amir had to force himself to remain still as he stared down at her.

It would do nothing for his case if he showed any further sign of compromise, especially now that his partner sensed his weakness.

“It is only proper I address you as such, Miss Eleanor,” Amir said, keeping his voice stripped of all his conflicting emotions. “Your mother, Her Grace, would be the first to agree with me.”

At the mention of her mother, her gaze only grew bolder. “We both know my mother’s favorite thing in the world is being a hypocrite,” she said, crossing her arms and tapping her toe. “Call me Naděžda, as I’ve told you to before several times now.”

Inwardly, Amir groaned. He should have known better than to say anything. If there was anything Eleanor Naděžda Ollerton-Cerná excelled at—and there was plenty—it was arguing with him. And while there was enough wrong with that in itself, it unnerved him how often he found himself losing those arguments.

“Miss Eleanor, propriety demands—”

“Is this my punishment, after all these years, to have you give me the same lecture I gave you when we first met, Amir?” Naděžda asked, arching her brow as she pouted.

Amir hated how he stared at her mouth. His Abba had always been so concerned about him looking into a woman’s eyes that Amir never realized how sinful looking at a woman’s lips could be. Even beneath her yashmak, the transparent veil worn by women on the streets of Constantinople, seeing Naděžda stick out her bottom lip was like watching a rose bloom under misty moonlight.

Sixteen-year-old Hamilton Dinger leads a charmed life. He's got the grades for the top of the class, the abilities of a star athlete and Tetris player, and the charisma to get away with anything. Everything seems to be going along perfectly, including his plans to ask out Gwen Kessler, as he enters into tenth grade at Apollo Central High School.

Everything, that is, until a meteor crashes into the city, releasing the Seven Deadly Sinisters and their leader, Orpheus, from their celestial prison, and awakening Hamilton's longtime dormant supernatural abilities. Suddenly Hamilton finds himself reluctantly allied with his self-declared mentor, Elysian, a changeling dragon, and Starry Knight, a beautiful but dangerous warrior, as they seek to protect the souls of Apollo City from the Sinisters and their evil intentions.

Can Hamilton give up his self-proclaimed entitlement to happiness in order to follow the call of a duty he doesn't want? More importantly, will he willingly sacrifice all he has to find out the truth?

FROM THE BOOK:

At the time, I didn't really believe that anything outside my control would change my life. Or at least, not in a significant, substantial way. My life was all about myself, and I figured I had complete control over that. Anything that happened outside of my control was more or less because I let it happen, and didn't feel like stopping it.

It's funny how one disaster of epic proportion can really make you change your mind.

FROM THE AUTHOR:

Welcome to the epic world of The Starlight Chronicles, a young adult fantasy series about a team of fallen Stars with supernatural powers. Follow them through this alternatively snarky and sweet series as they become their city's resident superheroes, with all the fun and frustration of dragons and swords and homework! Look for Book 2, Calling, as the battle between good and evil continues on!

Perfect for young teenagers or disaffected college students, or adults who enjoy some wry humor with their reading!

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING:

If you like Narnia, superhero adventures, or coming-of-age tales, definitely give this book a try. ~ Chandler Brett, author of Wolf Code

5 STARS! ~ Reader's Favorite

... Hamilton's inner progress toward heroism feels touchingly genuine, and there are plenty of good comic moments to keep the story moving ... Percy Jackson fans will eagerly await the next volume in the series ... A fast-paced, effective teen-paranormal outing. ~ Kirkus Reviews

Beauty's Curse
Beauty's Quest
Beauty's Kiss
Beauty's Gift

A curse haunts the Kingdom of Rhone and the young Princess Aurora. Magdalina, the wicked ruler of the fairies at war with Rhone, decreed the princess upon turning eighteen would die from pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel. Aurora, or Rose to her friends, has never known a moment apart from this prophecy.

Now as her eighteenth birthday approaches, Rose defiantly sets out to find a way to break the curse, yet with the help of her friends—Theo, a priest on a quest for his own revenge; Mary, a young and talented fairy; Ethan and Sophia, siblings with a troubled past; and Prince Philip, an attractive newcomer. In this last venture, Rose will risk everything to fight the battle of her life, the battle for her freedom, her kingdom, and her heart.

Sometimes the difference between reality and insanity is only a matter of absurdity. 

There is nothing Milo Bishop fears more than the thought that he is going insane. 

Having grown up hearing his Uncle Jay’s stories about the strange mermaids, Milo never had a reason to believe they were actually true. But when a near-death experience gives Milo a vision of a mermaid calling to him for help, Milo is forced to test his uncle’s claims. And when he winds up in Rasulka, the mermaid community tucked away, deep under the southern California seas, the question of his uncle’s sanity is the least of his concerns. 

For in the heart of Rasulka, a growing whirlpool in the ocean-sky and the terrarium’s changing climate -- along with a discarded prophecy that says their end will come when humans appear -- all suggest that the end is near. Along with his uncle and best friend, Moss, and Eluia, a young mermaid who grew up hearing myths about humans, Milo has only hours to sort through his doubts and insecurities and face down unimaginable terrors if he is going to find his way home -- before Rasulka, and everyone in it, is lost forever. 

FROM THE BOOK: 

“Lani would’ve liked them, you know,” Uncle Jay said, as he slouched back into his chair. “She could appreciate their dedication to their cause.”

“Liked who?” I rubbed my eyes, and then immediately regretted the question.

“The mermaids, of course.”

I shook my head, panic suddenly suffocating me. “Oh, God, not this. Please stop with this.”

“They are calling for us, Milo.” His voice was steady with conviction of the worst sort. Uncle Jay always seemed quite lucid to me, even after I’d grown up enough to know his stories about the mermaid community that lived under the sea bordered on alien abduction levels of insanity.

I covered my face with my hands and shook my head.

Not this. Not again. Not now.  

FROM THE AUTHOR: 

Fans of Dune, Empire of Lies, Fahrenheit 451, and Till We Have Faces will enjoy this science fantasy thriller with a dark psychological twist.

WHAT REVIEWERS ARE SAYING:  

"This was a fantastic read and really allowed me to see from the other side of the looking glass ... Excellent work C.S. Johnson!" ~ Nathan K. Battles, author of The Transcedent 

A girl, her grandmother, and half a dozen radioactive doughnuts ...

There's nothing that seventeen-year-old Kallie Grande-White hungers for more than to be a famous model like her mother -- except maybe actually food. But that's a small inconvenience, especially with the Model Middle America reality show holding auditions for the Next Top Heartland Teen Heartthrob Model right in Kallie's hometown.

Now that she has a chance to make her dream come true, Kallie is determined not to let anything stand in her way -- not her best frenemy, Amory Franklin, not her lacrosse-playing crush, Blake Turner, and especially not the new, awkward fat kid in her computer class.

And while the sudden appearance of her PhD-in-nuclear-nanotechnologist grandmother definitely throws Kallie off, the rest of the world will soon find out that it's not over until the fat lady sings -- or in this case, it's not over until Fatgirl sits on a terrorist's face.

You'll never look at doughnuts the same way again.

Perfect for anyone who's ever felt out of place in high school and never felt good enough for others to love you for who you are. 

Fatgirl: Origins: Part One is the first in a new series featuring a satirical science fiction superhero take on growing up, PC culture, and diet culture from award-winning, genre-hopping author C. S. Johnson.

The clouds in front of him began to shade over, their airy inscriptions spelling out a message of welcome—or maybe a warning—as the promise of land became clear.

Eydis.

As an accomplished Viking warrior, Sterlig Kyvansson always found a way to get what he wanted—until he wanted Arja Freydottir. After Sterlig is denied the right to marry Arja, he is determined to do anything in his power to claim her as his own—even if it means slaying the dragon that guards the cursed island of Eydis.

With his brother’s sword at his side and Arja’s hand on the line, Sterlig sets out for Eydis with his friends. When they arrive, they quickly find that the rumors of Eydis are all true, including the irresistible beauty of the Princess of Eydis, Brynja the Bride. With her blessing, Sterlig heads out into battle with the dragon.

But near that battle’s end, Sterlig discovers the terrifying secret behind Eydis’ power. Is it already too late, or can his discovery still make a difference?

With danger, friendship, and a surprising twist, Eydis: The Island of the Dragon Bride is a Viking fantasy adventure from award-winning, genre-hopping author C. S. Johnshon.