Frances Ruiz
The Key to Embralia Trilogy
Book Three: Fairy Might
The long-awaited third book. Finally coming on May 15th, 2027. Available for pre-order on May 15th, 2026.
Kelly reels from the events of Fairy Bond, when Miasmos obtained The Key to Embralia. He now possesses a command of the elements at grand scale - the "power of the gods." Massive tornados begin to strike out of season and long dormant volcanoes erupt. Humans wonder what could be to blame. More fairy bands, seduced by Miasmos's promise to protect the Earth from the destructive influence of humans, join his side. Kelly and Marcos work with the human government's secret fairy program in an attempt to harness human technology in the fight. But are their new allies more interested in defeating Miasmos, or in gaining the secrets to fairy magic for themselves?
As Glendenland braces for war, Kelly tries to help Dmitri and Stephanie adjust to their newfound powers. Stephanie is thrilled to be able to shoot lightning bolts from her fingers with ease, but Dmitri buckles under the strain of suddenly being able to hear everyone else's thoughts. Will he be able to control his abilities before they drive him mad? If these challenges weren't enough, Kelly's father decides to show up at the most inopportune moment, inadvertently revealing himself to Mindy.
The fate of fairy and human civilizations alike may lie in Kelly's ability to connect with the enigmatic memory stone, an ancient artifact rumored to hold the secret to using the Key to Embralia's power for good, not evil. Yet every time Kelly connects to it, she risks being lost forever.
Book Two: Fairy Bond
Kelly hopes to make a smooth transition to high school, but hiding her half-fairy identity is hard when fairies burn holes in her tests to get her attention. Even so, being pestered at school by her fairy friends is the least of her worries. Miasmos is still out there somewhere - weakened but far from dead. It is only a matter of time before the evil fairy strikes again, incensed by the capture of his half-fairy son, Marcos Witherings. For his part, Witherings appears to have undergone a partial change of heart after being captured. He claims he can help Kelly find her father. She wants to believe him, but could it all be an act? Is it really wise to attempt a dangerous journey to a reclusive fairy band at his urging? A reclusive fairy band whose penchant for violence has earned its realm the name Land of the Terrible Ones? Any course of action Witherings suggests could be a trap. Even so, if there’s any chance it will lead her to her father, it’s a gamble Kelly’s willing to take.
Anticipated sequel to Fairy Senses, the critically acclaimed debut novel that placed as a finalist in the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.
Book One: Fairy Senses
The fat, one-foot tall, miniature man with dragon wings that Kelly catches in her refrigerator, his face smeared with her fourteenth birthday cake, is not what she imagined a fairy would look like. But he proudly claims to be a "perfect specimen." Kelly soon learns that she herself is half-fairy, which means everything she has ever been told about her absent father is a lie. Who was he and why has her mother been lying about him? Kelly vows to find out, but her plans are interrupted when US presidential candidate Marcos Witherings kidnaps her. He is a half-fairy too, and he wants another of his kind to help him in a twisted plan that far exceeds a simple desire to be US president. Kelly escapes and flees to the underwater fairy kingdom of Glendenland, where she must race to develop her fledgling "fairy senses" before it's too late.
Awards: 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.
Pale Ants
When Alessandro Dunaro enters the military academy in the hopes of earning his father's respect, he has no idea that the man he so desperately wishes to please, the great General Dunaro, is an impostor. Alessandro's real father is long dead, and that secret is just one of many that the general would kill to protect. Alessandro has always believed his parents' explanation that his ultra-pale complexion, his hypersensitivity to light, and his uncanny sense of hearing are simply the result of a random genetic mutation. But when he begins to suspect that his parents have been lying to him, his search for answers takes him to a mysterious network of subterranean caves. What he finds is an alien, yet familiar world, populated by people who look just like him but who view him as an outsider - or worse, as an enemy. A secret war has been waging for decades between the society that Alessandro was born into and the society that raised him. Will he choose the right side?
Awards: 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.