✨ Magical Gift Is Out Today! ✨
Jul 30, 2024 6:45 pm
🎭 Magical Gift Is Out Now! 🎭
Are you ready to enter the Teutonic Fantasy Realm in a fresh new series of standalone novellas? The time has finally come! And yes indeed, this series is honestly, truly comprised of standalones without connecting story lines, which means you can read them one by one the second they drop onto the retailers instead of waiting who knows how long until the series is finished. 🤯
Below you can find all of the pertinent info about Magical Gift, including links to every retailer where you can buy the eBook right now. After that I've got a snippet to share...and it might involve cupcakes. 🧁
Title: Magical Gift
Series: Elemental Gifts
Main Characters: Sylvia, a Teuton witch of dark energy, and Siegfried, a Teuton who wields red fire
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Tropes: star-crossed lovers, forbidden love, alternate history, billionaire heir, emotional scars, secret past, masquerade ball, rival witch
Where To Get Magical Gift
C.L. Carhart's book shop:
https://clcarhart.com/products/magical-gift-ebook
Amazon:
US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DBGZ3S8J
UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DBGZ3S8J
CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0DBGZ3S8J
AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0DBGZ3S8J
Universal: https://books2read.com/magicalgift
Other retailers:
Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/ebook/magical-gift
Apple Books:
https://books.apple.com/book/magical-gift/id6587570646
Google Play Books:
https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=EMIWEQAAQBAJ
Barnes & Noble/Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/magical-gift-c-l-carhart/1146068813?ean=2940185974728
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1596255
Everand (used to be Scribd):
https://www.everand.com/book/754381417/Magical-Gift
If you're on a budget, the great news is that since Magical Gift is a novella instead of a chonky novel, it's way cheaper than a Quarter Pounder at McDonalds 🍔 (and it lasts longer, too). All of the novellas in the Elemental Gifts series will be affordably priced, so I hope you'll be able to enjoy every single one of them.
If you prefer to read through a subscription program like Kindle Unlimited, you can subscribe to Kobo Plus to read Magical Gift and all the other books I've published. Magical Gift is also available on the Everand subscription, which is not usually the case for my books due to their pricing rules. So binge readers have multiple options this time around!
Magical Gift should be popping up at library apps like OverDrive, Hoopla, and cloudLibrary very soon, so if that's how you prefer to read, be sure to request any and all of my books from your local library to make them available to yourself and other readers too! 💖
Magical Gift Snippet
Let's catch up with Sylvia shortly after she arrives at the Heydt castle for a masquerade ball. 🎭 Unfortunately she runs into someone she was not expecting to see on her way inside, and that someone upends her hopes of enjoying a romantic evening with her beloved Siegfried. 😔
So Sylvia ducks into the castle's hidden corridors in hopes of getting a chance to gather herself.
And then she runs into Siegfried's younger sister Prisca. Who tags along when Sylvia sneaks into the kitchen to snag a cupcake for her own sister....
***
We reached the thin door where I planned to enter the kitchens. “It’s cupcake time. Do you think I ought to slip inside like this or as a spirit? I don’t sense any of our people out there right now.”
“Most the staff my mother hired for this event are outsiders. Might be best to go in spirit form. Your dress is kind of red. Obvious. There aren’t any doorways to the public areas near here. People might wonder why they didn’t see you coming into the kitchen.” Prisca gave my gown a once-over, then said, “I can stay here by the door and hold it open when you come back with the cupcakes.”
“Cupcakes? Do you want one too?” I had expected to collect only one for my sister. I could get one for myself during the meal.
“Marble cake with chocolate frosting and silver sprinkles.” Prisca winked at me, and then a stone gray coating raced up her body from the hem of her skirt to her hairline. My eyes widened as her spirit leapt free, leaving her mortal self poised like a gargoyle three paces to the left of the door. Get going. I might want to visit Marlisa myself after you’ve got her cupcake.
The young witch’s mental voice tickled my brain, and I could not hold back a smirk at her spirit’s impatient expression. “I’m not your servant, silly princess,” I reminded her, taking a couple steps back from the door and centering myself on the energy blazing deep within.
My mother had taught me one of the most intricate forms of Teutonic magic many years ago, shortly after I discovered my dark energy for the first time. Since a Teuton’s element stemmed from their spirit and their blood, someone trained in elemental manipulation could conjure their magic to cover their body from inside out, effectively shielding their physical home while their spirit traveled the astral realm. I had heard that some outsiders could enter the immaterial realm through meditation and protection agreements made with divine beings, but the methods inherent in Teutonic magic were much easier. At least for me.
As I blocked all distractions from my mind and focused on my dark energy, its sparking power channeled its way out of my inner soul, warming my body and enveloping my crimson gown in a layer of violet-black electricity. No one, whether human or otherwise, could harm my body with my spirit absent, for dark energy would shield it and summon me back in the event of an attack. A vital glow lit up the entire corridor when my spirit broke free, leaving my body as a shimmering statue of voltage. More fantastic to look at than Prisca’s stone form.
That was impressive. The younger witch smirked at me, her spirit hovering not far from the door to the kitchen. Better than watching my brother’s fire. That always cooks my eyeballs.
I gave a mental snort and glanced at the ethereal robes flowing around my spirit. They appeared more black than violet, reflecting the uncertainty I could not shake despite Prisca’s declaration about Siegfried’s intentions. His plans at age six might not match today’s reality. But I ordered myself to do one task at a time. First, cupcakes. Second, the Wechmar maiden and my father’s dark machinations.
Don’t forget to open this door for me when I come back, I reminded Prisca before slipping my spirit through its wood and into the kitchen. That was one of my favorite things about traveling the world as a spirit. No need to bother with doors unless I carried physical objects. Like cupcakes.
I’ll watch you from the wall. Prisca’s offhand reply made me pause halfway to the display counters. Turning back, I noticed a pair of ghostly eyeballs gawking at me from the whitewashed wall above the shadowed door. She had set her spirit inside the stones. Typical behavior for someone who wielded an earthen element.
Humor sprayed my translucent robes with vibrant purple, and I averted my attention to the room before me. This section of the Heydt castle’s kitchens held a vast number of cupboards and several deep freezers, the display counters sporting platters of caviar, shellfish, and other hors d’oeuvres. I drifted around servers and kitchen staff bustling here and there, adding and removing dishes as time marched toward the dinner hour. The pastries occupied a table beyond the heated counters. A shorter matron wearing an apron arranged colorful French macarons on a tiered platter, several trays of cupcakes sitting ignored to her right.
Through my intent, I raised my spirit toward the ceiling so I could observe the options from above. Marlisa had not specified which type of cake she wanted, but I knew vanilla was her favorite. My gaze zeroed in on a tray decked with swirled crowns of white frosting sprinkled with golden flecks. The cakes were of a creamy yellow beneath their artistic crowns. Perfect.
Shooting a glimpse at the server perfecting the macaron display, I allowed my spirit to descend to the opposite side of the dessert table, bringing myself into an upright position before it. The vanilla cupcakes stood at the center, and here in front of me were the ones Prisca mentioned. An older man clad in a formal black suit and red-and-white-striped tie approached the server to murmur something in her ear. Hopefully I could manage to snatch a pair of cupcakes without them seeing anything amiss. Might be best to float toward the ceiling once I chose my spoils. Most people did not look up, but someone might notice if a couple cupcakes glided along the floor or at waist height.
After making sure the older gentleman and the server remained occupied, I closed my wispy fingers around a cupcake on the edge of the center platter. Maybe I should get two, one for Marlisa and one for Angelika. Very carefully, I eased the first along the table and around the platter holding the marble cupcakes, bringing it to rest alongside the one I planned to grab for Prisca. Then I stretched my right arm out toward the center plate again, channeling all of my intent toward grasping the second vanilla cupcake. Such efforts could be complicated, for a Teuton’s spirit naturally passed through objects. Unless said spirit shaped their magic to interact plainly with the physical world.
Just as my fingers took hold of the second vanilla cupcake, I heard the older gentleman clear his throat. “Excellent job with the macarons. They appear just as decadent as the ones I sampled in Marseilles. Now I’d like to take a gander at these rather small cakes you and your staff have prepared.”
Out of nowhere, a sizzle of warning sparked within my chest, my elemental sense recognizing that the elder was also a Teuton. And a powerful one at that. His aura radiated the deathly chill of winter, his squinting eyes glistening with a touch of ice as he drew his gaze away from the server and her macarons.
His eyes locked directly with mine.
Get out of there! Prisca shouted at me from the safety of the hidden door, so far away from where my toes curled upon the kitchen’s floor. Panicked, I scooped the vanilla and marble cupcakes to my chest and envisioned my own kitchen in the city of Wels. Reality blurred around me right when the elder’s pale lips parted to speak, his bushy eyebrows heavy over frosty eyes.
What could he possibly say when the server arranging the macarons was an outsider? Beware of the ghost stealing the cupcakes?
***
Find out what happens next by grabbing your copy of Magical Gift from your favorite retailer right here:
https://books2read.com/magicalgift
Or get it from my shop so "small business author" doesn't have to share your hard-earned money with a giant corporate conglomerate! 😊
https://clcarhart.com/products/magical-gift-ebook
Waterfall Time
It's been a minute since I shared a fun photo. I think the last one was of stripy little Mango, who is still tearing up the house alongside his older "brother" Panther. Since it's not easy to capture a picture of a hyper kitten, how about we take a trip back to the Thompson River to admire another of its waterfalls?
My husband took that photo while I was making my way to the base of Rich Falls, one of the many majestic falls on the Thompson River. Yeah, I look like a dork. Yeah, my left ankle was indeed sprained while I was out there picking my way through the rocky bottom of a rushing river.
Yeah, I'm probably crazy or something. Maybe just weird? 🤪
And that's a much better photo once I'd situated myself. My husband and I spent about a half hour hanging out in this area with our feet stuck in the river. Very refreshing considering it was a semi-hot summer day!
Have you visited any waterfalls lately? Or any other exciting places in nature? Send me a reply with a photo or two! I love gazing at nature's artwork; that's one of the major inspirations that kicks off my creative muse.
Might be why Magical Gift is set at a woodland castle. 🌲
Gift of Air: One Last Reminder
Here's your last reminder that if you haven't downloaded Gift of Air for free from your favorite retailer yet, you'd better get on that before August 1st. On Thursday this week, I'm going to go into the back end and switch Gift of Air back to full price on all the retailers except for Amazon (because as we all know, they're a necessary evil in this world).
So if you read somewhere other than Kindle, grab Gift of Air NOW.
And if you read on Kindle, you might have a few extra days to grab your copy before the price goes back up.
But time is short either way. Start reading Ilsa's love story today!
Don't forget to pick up Magical Gift and dive into Sylvia's adventurous experience at a masquerade ball in a forest castle. Will she come out of it with Siegfried by her side, or will her witchy rival trap him in a political marriage? 😱
I've got another love story brewing in the Elemental Gifts series, so I need to skip out and start outlining. Will catch you later this week!
Talk to you soon,
C.L. Carhart
Get Magical Gift:
https://clcarhart.com/products/magical-gift-ebook
Get Gift of Air for free:
https://books2read.com/ebgiftofair
Fantasy & Sci-fi on Kobo Plus:
https://bf.clcarhart.com/Kobo-Plus-Fantasy-Sci-fi-July-August/d1b2xi607n
LoveBite Books monthly freebies: