It's Time To Binge A Giant Box Set 📖

Mar 22, 2023 3:01 pm

There's a lot of wild stuff going on in my authorly world this week, so I won't bother beating around the bush with regular old life comments. Let's get to it!

First and foremost, the HNWA Giant Box Set is officially available on my bookshop! The awesome readers who joined my shop's newsletter have already grabbed their box set, and now it's your turn. How about a 10% discount coupon to take the edge off?

Yes, it's the highest-priced eBook I've released to date. That's because it includes 6 full-length novels and 2 short stories, along with all 8 cover arts plus that sweet & sexy box set cover. Aaaaaand there are 2 bonus epilogues in there, plus 3 bonus chapters you literally can't get anywhere else. 😲

Want to be one of the few readers in Swanie's inner circle? The ones who can binge read the entirety of her story without having to swipe from one eBook file to the next? The ones privy to some "secret" conversations between her and her one true love, Augustin?

Get YOUR copy of the HNWA Giant Box Set today, and use the code TORSTEIN at checkout for 10% off.

✨ I Need The Box Set! ✨

(Yes, the code uses all capital letters. And yes, if you've already read any of Swanie's books—like Arcane Gateway, the freebie—then you might know that code's inner meaning and why it's significant. 😉)

One More HNWA Snippet

How about one last snippet from Swanie's convoluted quest for truth, love, and acceptance? Along with the 6 main books from her story, the HNWA Giant Box Set also includes 2 quick tales that focus on Vreni—a girlfriend Swanie met in high school who wasn't yet a witch at the start. Let's look at what happened the first time Vreni appeared at a Teutonic May festival, immersing herself into an enchanting culture that hovered just beyond her reach....

***

We found a group of small children tossing rocks into the Isar River, and Swanie offered them a more interesting game. She crouched down and touched her fingers to the water, creating a batch of tiny ice disks. Taking hold of one, she waved it at the three gaping children and flung it across the surface of the Isar. It skipped once before returning to its natural form amid the ripples.

“Wow, I want to do that!” a young girl with dark pigtails cried out. Her two male companions pushed forward to seize the disks Swanie had created, and the girl gave an incensed wail.

“Don’t worry, Swanie will make enough for everyone,” I told her, bending down to touch the water myself. It sported spring’s crisp chill. Snagging one of my friend’s disks, I turned it over in my hands before skipping it across the river. Maybe one day I could summon tiny flames in similar fashion.

As more children came to the riverbank, Swanie continued to create a bunch of ice disks, while I stacked them into a pile on the grass. Our activities attracted the attention of some Teutons closer to our age. I tensed when two college-age guys approached to study Swanie’s ice disks, taking note of me in the process.

The taller one with the build of a soccer player abruptly harrumphed and rounded on me with a sneer. “What makes you think she needs your help when you’ve got no element of your own?” he blurted, his voice doubtless reaching every ear in the clearing. He pointed toward Swanie’s back before glaring at me.

My lips parted, but nothing came out. Swanie, meanwhile, whirled around and leaped to her feet, her eyebrows slanted downward. “Excuse me?”

“Dude. There’s kids,” the second guy muttered to his friend, but the tall jerk ignored him.

“Kids should know there’s no point in hanging around people with tainted blood,” the bully went on, nodding rather meaningfully at the gathered children. “You don’t want her to steal your magic, do you?”

Swanie marched forward and halted centimeters from the jerk, staring up at him with her fists clenched at her hips. “Just who do you think you are, telling lies like that to the children? How dare you make fun of my friend?”

“Are those the kind of friends Teutons make here in München? No wonder our people have been dying out for decades now! You, though.” He towered over Swanie, a disturbingly orange glimmer in his eyes. “You’ve got some skill with your ice. You might want to think about making a pure match.”

Swanie looked furious. I feared a magical fight might break out if she did not back down. My opinions of Teutons having taken a sharp nosedive, I forced myself to my feet. I crept forward to tap Swanie’s back and whispered, “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I knew I shouldn’t have come.”

“You belong here,” my friend said before sticking a frosty finger in the jerk’s face. “Bad news for you that we came here with one of the priests on the council. And he asked us to tell him if anyone bullied my friend.”

The jerk spat a curse at Swanie, and I sensed his heat permeating the air around us. Just as he reached to shove her finger away, another young man walked up and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Back off, Bruno. We don’t treat Teutonic people like shit around here. If that’s what you like to do, maybe you’d better run to the backwoods village you came from, where all they do is inbreed.”

The new arrival’s black hair was gelled in a collection of orderly spikes, gray swirls encompassing his irises, studs and a dragon wrap ornamenting his ears. He stood just as tall as Bruno and wore Lederhosen that looked sleek and well-made, his clean-shaven jaw firmly set while he glared at the young man who had bullied me. Swanie’s hand fell to her side, a grin playing upon her lips.

“Inbreed? You people are all dense,” Bruno retorted, shaking off my defender’s grip with an expression that implied an impending speech. But the next time he opened his mouth, naught but a choking sound came out. His eyes widened as his lungs began to heave.

“I’d walk away if you don’t want to leave here on a stretcher.” The new guy raised one eyebrow at Bruno, who gasped before staggering back, leaving the rest of us at the riverbank. His unnamed companion ushered him away and pledged to take him back to his frat house.

Swanie burst out laughing. “Oh. My. Word. Stefan, you freaking rock!” She gripped her stomach and chortled.

“All in a day’s work, especially when the college rabble is here. Not sure how that one passed the exams, to be honest.” I started to grin myself, and Stefan turned his attention to me. When I met his gaze, I saw that his eyes were an entrancing sky blue, their sincerity soothing my fears.

“I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Stefan Heigel,” he said, reaching his right hand out.

“Vreni Scheele.” I took his hand to shake it with staunchness. My mother and father taught me to never quail from a handshake, for weak ones implied submissiveness.

“Scheele? As in, the Scheele?” Stefan spoke the name of my father’s corporation, and I nodded, somewhat embarrassed. “That’s awesome! I’m studying chemistry right now because I want to go into pharmaceutical research.”

Stefan looked like he wished to pursue the subject further, but Swanie cut in. “I think the dances are about to start. And just because Vreni’s father runs that corporation doesn’t mean she’s interested in drugs.” She smirked at Stefan and took my hand. “Let’s go watch people run their elements along the streamers.”

I allowed Swanie to guide me away with a touch of reluctance, for Stefan had piqued my interest. A college student with gallantry and class—and an interest in pharmaceuticals. Was he single, or had another local female claimed him?

“So what’d you think of Stefan?” Swanie inquired in an undertone once we reached the edges of the crowd ringing the Maypole. The first dance had just begun, so we remained on the outskirts to watch.

I entertained thoughts about him for sure, but I was not quite ready to admit it yet. “It’s good to know some Teutons don’t think I’m tainted.”

“Most Teutons don’t think that,” Swanie emphasized, shaking her head with a glance toward the trail. Bruno and his buddy were in the process of departing. “That bum’s apparently from someplace out in the sticks. Some people like that are willfully ignorant.”

“What’s Stefan’s element, anyway?” I asked, the significance of his earlier actions having escaped me. “Does he have Darth Vader powers or something?” I did a pantomime of choking for breath.

Swanie laughed. “Not quite. He’s Föhn. Pretty sure all he did was shift the oxygen around where that dork was standing.”

“Oh.” I saw Stefan lurking on the other side of the crowd with a few guys who looked around his age. They talked animatedly amongst themselves, and our eyes met for a fleeting second. Blushing, I looked back at the dancers. Föhn was the sultry Alpine breeze that infiltrated the city in summertime. Never had I imagined myself harboring a latent attraction to that moody entity.

✨ Learn More ✨

Reminder: The Isar River Is GREEN

At least, in Munich it looks green.

Strangely enough, in most of the photos I've found on Google, the Isar River does look blue, just like a standard river you might find anywhere else. But the Isar is an Alpine river, and thus its waters have the tendency to look light green sometimes along with the usual blue. Apparently that's because the river comes from melted glaciers, which include a variety of minerals that make the water appear green!

Back in 2018, my husband and I visited the Isar in Munich for the first time—and I quickly discovered I'd have to rewrite every part of HNWA that mentioned the Isar being blue. 🤣 Here's the author looking weird as always while posing with the Isar River's light green waters in Munich's English Garden.

(I think I was trying to point at the river, but this picture looks like I'm punching it. Hope I never meet a river spirit of the Isar. 👀)

🪄 Magical Freebies Await! 🪄

Just in case you checked out the box set and freaked out when you saw the price tag (trust me, I've freaked out about that, myself 😨), here's a quick batch of magical eBooks that are FREE on all retailers, with no strings attached! A lot of these books are packed with adventure and mystery, so be sure to browse the book fair all the way to the bottom so you don't miss out. 📚

✨ Magical Freebies ✨

Other Books You Might Like

This week I've got two books from my fellow indie authors for you to check out. One is FREE on most retailers and another is free with newsletter signup. Vampires and fae await your attention. Whom will you entertain first? 🤩

Scotland – 1513

An abused widow with a child to protect, Davina has closed her heart off to all but one—the handsome Gypsy who captured her heart as a young woman.

But when the wandering fortune teller comes back to her village years later, his dangerously seductive pursuit and the dark forces surrounding him shatter her girlhood fantasies. Davina is thrust into the middle of a feud between two vampires bent on vengeance, and the safety of her daughter is paramount.

Broderick MacDougal has one thing on his mind—revenge.

At least until he returns to Stewart Glen and finds Davina has blossomed from the gangly freckle-faced youth into a voluptuous woman he can't resist. But resist he must if he wants the beautiful widow and her precious child to live.

His immortal clan enemy has set a trap—and Davina's the bait.

✨ FREE On All Retailers ✨

Ailis is a faerie in the Seelie Court, which embraces order and beauty.

Problem is, she's fallen for Faolan, a faerie in the Unseelie Court, which embraces chaos and pain. And romance between the two Courts is forbidden.

When Ailis gets caught kissing Faolan, she flees to mortal lands to escape punishment. Her time there shows her just how dangerous humans are to the Fae.

Ailis's mother finds her and brings her home, where faeries are planning to move to a safer world. But the Seelie Queen hasn't forgotten Ailis's forbidden romance...and she won't let Ailis join the exodus.

If Ailis doesn't find a way to flee Earth with her fellow faeries, she'll be stuck on a planet full of Fae-hating humans...and she'll be forever separated from Faolan.

✨ FREE On BookFunnel ✨

One last surprise before I sign off for the week (and crawl into an authorly cave to start cranking out Book 3 in the Elemental Bloodlines series).

In honor of my newly opened web shop and the release of my BIGGEST eBook to date, Gift of Fire is on sale for 99¢ right now in my shop and on the retailers! That means if you didn't add Gabi & Lukas' love story to your eBook collection back when it came out in December, now's the time to do it.

Do you enjoy workplace romances? Enemies-to-lovers? A heroine determined to rise above her culture's expectations and the looming claws of destiny to seize HER version of life and love? Then Gift of Fire is for you!

✨ Get Gift Of Fire For 99¢ ✨

Now I gotta go hide away so I can start discovering the next story in Elemental Bloodlines. Soon we can all learn exactly what's going on with those two mysterious sisters—one Teuton and one outsider. Can I count on YOU to join me on their compelling journey to love and magic? 😉

Talk to you soon,

C.L. Carhart

Get Gift of Fire for 99¢: https://books2read.com/ebgiftoffire

Use the code TORSTEIN at checkout for 10% off the HNWA Giant Box Set: https://clcarhart.com/products/his-name-was-augustin-complete-collection-ebook