C Gockel Writes

Featured Fantasy: Moonlight and Storm (Australian Supernatural: High Country Book 1) by Nicole R. Taylor

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Featured Fantasy: Moonlight and Storm (Australian Supernatural: High Country Book 1) by Nicole R. Taylor

FREE as of July 4, 2025
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Shapeshifters, conspiracy theories, and an urban myth brought to life. Welcome to the Australian High Country, where secrets and magic lie beneath the melting snow.

After Grace Atkinson’s city life crumbles, she’s forced to move back to her childhood home—the sleepy alpine town of Targangil.
When she arrives, she finds herself in the centre of not only her own family drama, but a flurry of mysterious black panther sightings—elusive predators rumoured to roam the wilderness, but whose existence has never been proven.
But when Grace comes face to face with a black panther in the shadow of a looming storm, she becomes determined to uncover the truth behind the sightings once and for all. But her world is shattered when she witnesses the panther transform…into a human being.
Lawson’s hidden shapeshifting abilities have always been a closely guarded secret, but as his past catches up with him, Grace’s discovery of his true identity exposes them both to danger.
Because he is hunted…and now so is she.

Moonlight and Storm is the first book in the Australian Supernatural: High Country series.
Set in the wild and romantic Snowy Mountains, it tells the story of Grace Atkinson, who discovers a secret world of shapeshifting black panthers…and the evil forces who hunt them.

Featured Sci-Fantasy: First Contact (Eclipsed Evolution Phase I) by Kim Harrison

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Featured Sci-Fantasy: First Contact (Eclipsed Evolution Phase I) by Kim Harrison

$1.99 as of July 4, 2025
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In the wake of the solar eclipse, a portal between our world and a paranormal realm opens—and a scientist’s life will never be the same, in this thrilling serialized adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hollows.

Dr. Renee Caisson knows there are worse things than an attractive man in uniform drafting her into a secret government project—especially when Major Jackson makes it clear that he isn’t bothered by her questionable past. But when her labs come back with decidedly odd results, the Major is forced to come clean over who the government is actually studying. Renee is shocked to learn her subjects are demonic-looking beings who call themselves “Neighbors”—refugees from a dying world, who arrived during the nation-wide solar eclipse.

The Neighbors’ technology is unlike anything Renee’s ever encountered. At first, she dismisses an injury that inexplicably heals as “just one of those things”. And surely August, the most gregarious Neighbor, begins to speak English overnight because of the team linguist’s skills?

Not until August begins evolving in real time to withstand Earth’s brighter, dryer atmosphere does she admit that the Neighbors’ “tech” feels less like science and more like magic—the same magic that brought them here in the first place, and the same they’re trying to rekindle with a mysterious labyrinth in order to return home and save their world.

At least, that’s what August claims they came for…

Featured Fantasy: A Blight of Mages by Karen Miller

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Featured Fantasy: A Blight of Mages by Karen Miller

$1.99 as of July 4, 2025
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A privileged mage forges a troubling romance with an aspiring student of the mystic arts in this epic prequel to the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker fantasy series.

Hundreds of years before the great Mage War, a land lies, unknowing, on the edge of catastrophe…

Barl is young and impulsive, but she has a power within that calls to her. In her city, however, only those of noble blood and with the right connections learn the ways of the arcane. Barl is desperate to learn—but her eagerness to use her power leads her astray and she is banned from ever learning the mystic arts.

Morgan holds the key to her education. A member of the Council of Mages, he lives to maintain the status quo, preserve the mage bloodlines, and pursue his scholarly experiments. But Barl’s power intrigues him—in spite of her low status.

Together, he realizes they can create extraordinary new incantations. Morgan’s ambition and Barl’s power make a potent combination. What she does not see is the darkness in him that won’t be denied.

Praise for the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series

**“A solid epic that posits political intrigue, ethereal prophecies and a rags-to-riches hero against a vivid if familiar fantasy backdrop. . . . Miller’s prose is earnest and engaging.” —**Publishers Weekly on The Innocent Mage

**“Intriguing characters and a finely tuned sense of drama.” —**Library Journal on The Innocent Mage

“The sort of conclusion you remember for years and keep revisiting in your imagination.” —Glenda Larke on The Awakened Mage

Featured Fantasy: Cinderwitch (Olympus Ever After) by Eva Pohler

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Featured Fantasy: Cinderwitch (Olympus Ever After) by Eva Pohler

New Release
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CINDERELLA meets Hecate . . .

They promised to protect her. Instead, they made her a slave.

For eighteen years, Hecate lived in peace, but now war shatters her world. Given to Zeus for safekeeping, she is betrayed, bound to servitude as his Cinderwitch. Even when the war ends, her freedom does not. Instead, she is sent to the Underworld, a silent shadow in Queen Persephone’s court.

Yet one light remains—Hermes, the quick-witted trickster who moves between realms, bringing laughter to the world of the dead. He has her heart, though no one has his.

When Zeus announces a grand ball where Hermes must choose a bride, Hecate is desperate to attend. Forbidden to leave, she defies Hades, cloaking herself in magic to dance in Hermes’s arms. But if her secret is revealed, she risks everything. Will she confess the truth—or remain forever a Cinderwitch?

The books in this collection can be read in any order.

Featured Fantasy: Academy of Horrors (New Arrival Book 1) by Holly Hook

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Featured Fantasy: Academy of Horrors (New Arrival Book 1) by Holly Hook

New Release
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I’m Raelyn Silverton, and as a 16-year-old born into a prestigious monster slayer family, I’ve already seen my fair share of feral, law-breaking vampires, werewolves, and other creatures. But as a girl, my parents insist I carry a phone and tablet instead of stakes and crossbows, and my brother is the only person who believes in me.

But when my awesome brother and I find a monster that shouldn’t exist, which steals his soul, I’m elevated…to top suspect in his disappearance.

My Hunter’s Guild doesn’t believe what I saw, so to get help, I break into the closest monster reserve and then into Soulstone Academy—no Hunters allowed. Attending as a fake witch is my best shot for saving my brother, and I’m lucky to have help from Asher Love, the school’s top warlock student.

Though in class with civilized monsters—mostly—if I’m found out, I’ll go into the dungeons or worse. And do you know what’s scarier? My brother is still missing, and new, more terrifying monsters are mysteriously appearing. And Asher might be closer to the problem than I thought.

Academy of Horrors: New Arrival is a fresh new series in the Cursed Academy and Monster Academy universe. This new series can be read alone as it begins with a new character, but Cursed Academy and Monster Academy are also recommended for those who are new to this book universe. This book is the first of a YA (Young Adult) urban fantasy book series that features a slow-burn romance and numerous paranormal and academy tropes, along with plenty of spooky secrets. If you like slayer stories, magic, and Halloween, you’ll love Academy of Horrors.

Featured Fantasy: A Magical Adventure by Nicole Beyer and Nathan Ryan

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FREE as of June 30, 2025
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When Rafe contracts a magical sickness, what else can his friends do but go on a quest to find magic and heal him?

Gavin the leader, Millie the fighter, and Ethan the bookworm set out to leave their town. Rumors of magic lead them to Lost Man’s Grove. All too quickly, they become lost themselves, lost in the past, in the Age of Magic.

Their main goal has shifted. They still need to save their friend, but first, they need to stay safe. When magic ruled, wyverns and dragons existed too.

The trio must survive and return home hopefully with magic. That’s not too much to ask, is it?