Magic After Midlife

When Miri­ was a teen, her parents were murdered by magic assassins. Now her aggressively normal job as a law librarian is perfect for keeping her daughter safe—until her ride-or-die best friend goes missing after tangling with vampires. To save her, Miri unleashes the rare and formidable shadow magic she’s kept hidden for years. It’s exhilarating, intoxicating—and totally dangerous.

Her new gig as a fixer for the magic community is a lot like being a full-time mom to someone else’s kids; they get annoying faster but don’t respond to guilt trips. And sure, maybe she feels kind of grumpy and stabby about these irritating jobs, but that doesn’t mean she killed her latest client! As far as the magic police are concerned, Miri and her wolf shifter friend Laurent might as well have “guilty of murder” tattooed on their foreheads. If they lose this fight, it’ll be a one-way trip to Deadman’s Island. Talk about a real buzzkill for their easy banter and deepening chemistry.

When Miri steals a demon artifact for a client, she doesn't expect a magic curse. Failure to reverse it means the death of someone close to her, the end of her uneasy alliance with the head vampire, and an open season on her family. So that sucks. Meanwhile, her screw-up on a dangerous fact-finding mission may have kicked her sexual tension with the wolf shifter in the balls. At least she’s not obsessing over it, since fighting through a maze of mind games, tested loyalties, and secrets is consuming all her energy.

Miriam Feldman’s life is happily bobbing along. Her family and close friends support her magic, and things are getting interesting with the wolf shifter. But smooth sailing turns to shark-infested waters when she plumbs the dark depths of her past to investigate her parents’ last con. In comparison, Miri’s new assignment should be easy: track down a demon to check a necklace for dark magic. Of course, nothing about demons is simple, and she finds herself forced to strike hard bargains with both demon hunters and an ancient vampire. Awesome.

When Miri partners up with her detective ex-husband on an off-the-books magical missing persons operation, she expects buddy cop adventures galore. Instead, she gets more than she bargained for, starting with a mouthy golem who’s forced onto the team. Their mission? Crash a secret—and deadly—competition targeting non-magic humans to rescue the young woman at the heart of their case.

Miriam Feldman’s road to happiness is littered with potholes. Between her search for a vampire’s missing fiancée and getting answers about a creepy amulet tied to her parents’ murders, Miri is making enemies across the whole supernatural spectrum. Fun! Meanwhile, her daughter is acting out, and teen attitude is sooo delightful when you throw magic into the mix.

Gehenna isn’t on Google Maps, and there’s no Angel Annihilation for Dummies. To Miriam Feldman, list lover extraordinaire, this is an irritating oversight. It’s fine. She’s got this mission under control. Sure, her instructions are vague, and her team is trigger-happy, but she’s got plenty of motivation to carry them to victory. Vengeance counts, right? Plus, if ridding the world of celestial menaces doesn’t top up Miri’s karmic bank, then stopping a vampire contagion will definitely earn her some good will.