YA Fantasy/Romance Regional SCBWI "Best in Show" Love is honey sweet, but it comes with a fatal sting . . . Melaina Maris needs wings to fly the gap between loving Sam and her family's ancient curse that forces carnal love and then kills the male lovers. She won't let the same fate that killed her father befall another. She refuses to allow her goddess-created bloodline to continue. But there's no easy way out, especially after the curse turns her into the Honey Queen-savior to honey bees-intensifying her charms. To help her fulfill the curse's demands in the least harmful way, her grandmother takes her to mate with terminally ill Boyd. But Boyd's gay. And an expert in mythology. Instead of having sex, Melaina learns how she might summon the goddess who created the first ancestor bee-charmer and cursed her bloodline. Melaina's magic-tears to save honey bees from endangerment-could be enough to persuade the goddess to end the curse. But an unexpected discovery soon changes that hope, spinning Melaina into a swarm of love, friendship and death.

Follows Award-Winning Tween/Teen Fantasy ARROW OF THE MIST Blood of body, blood of soul, Entwined for life, then unfolds; If blood still runs when magic binds, Soul is never too far to find. In ARMS OF ANU, Lia and Kelven battle through a land of tyrants, war and magic. Can Lia escape the foes who ensnare her? Will Kelven's love withstand the darkness taking root inside Lia? Is freedom too high a crown to reach, or will they forever remain in the hollows? "ARMS OF ANU is full of magic, an exciting adventure with rich settings and characters you'll love." -Dawn Lairamore, Author of IVY'S EVER AFTER, a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year "Christina Mercer's mythical realm in ARMS OF ANU is richly evocative of the natural world and echoes with lore and legend that might have been. Heroine Lia forges her own true path, igniting passion, loyalty and plant-magic where she wanders. A fresh, invigorating fantasy that spellbinds to the last enchanting page " -Julia Park Tracey, Award-Winning Blogger, Journalist and Author

Terror strikes the Celtic inspired kingdom of Nemetona when barbed roots breach the veil of a forbidden land and poison woodsmen, including 15-year-old Lia's beloved father. Lia and three others embark on a quest to the forbidden land of Brume to gather ingredients for the cure. But after her elder kinsman is attacked and poisoned, she and her cousin, Wynn, are forced to finish the quest on their own. Lia relies on her powerful herbal wisdom and the memorized pages of her late grandmother's Grimoire for guidance through a land of soul-hungry shades, trickster creatures, and uncovered truths about the origin of Brume and her family's unexpected ties to it. The deeper they trek into the land, the stronger Lia's untapped gift as a tree mage unfolds. When she discovers the enchanted root's maker, it forces her to question everything about who she is and what is her destiny. Ultimately she must make a terrible choice: keep fighting to save her father and the people of the lands or join with the power behind the deadly roots to help nature start anew. Look for the sequel "Arms of Anu" late 2013.