Series: Miss Misery #1-5
Author: Tracey Martin
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Summary:
It s all quasi-legal fun until somebody gets framed for murder.
Jessica Moore thrives on misery. Literally. Thanks to a goblin’s curse, she gets a magical high from humanity’s suffering. A shameful talent like that could bury a girl in guilt, so to atone, she uses her dark power to hunt murderers, rapists and other scumbags until one of them frames her for his crimes.
In desperation, Jessica seeks refuge with the one person she trusts to not turn her in, a satyr named Lucen. Like every member of his race, Lucen uses his lusty magic to control Boston’s human population, and Jessica isn’t immune to his power. But the murder victims belonged to a rival race, and when they discover Lucen is harboring Jessica, dodging the cops becomes the least of her problems.
With only five days to find the real killer, Jessica faces a danger far more serious than the brewing magical war. The danger of succumbing to Lucen’s molten seduction.
Warning: Contains a heroine with a lust for misery, creepy murders, and creepier goblins, satyrs so hot you’d sell your soul for one, and scaly sewer rats masquerading as dragons. Who said magic was all sparkles and tiaras?
Summary:
Lust can be downright lethal.
Thanks to her freakish, satyr-like power, Jessica Moore was denied her dream to join the Gryphons, the magical law-enforcement officers protecting humanity from the pred races. But after the Gryphons tried to arrest her for murders she didn’t commit, Jess is no longer interested. Too bad—they are.
Now that they know what she can do, they want Jess on their side. If she doesn’t agree to help them solve a new case, they’ll charge her with every magical crime she’s ever committed.
Nine people are dead. The cause? Exhaustion. The activity? Never-ending sex. Someone sold them tainted F, an illegal aphrodisiac made by satyrs. No surprise, Jess’s satyr allies aren’t pleased with her investigation. Worse, it strains her tenuous relationship with Lucen, the one satyr she counts as a friend.
As Jess delves into the shady satyr business world, she unravels a scheme more sinister than dirty drugs—and her relationship with Lucen unravels right along with it. Only the truth will save their friendship. But not before it turns Jess into an ambitious killer’s next target.
Warning: Contains blackmail, betrayal, and sex that’s literally to die for. Plus plenty of bad stiff jokes to go with it. Remember, just say no to magical drugs.
Summary:
When it comes to magic, more isn’t always merrier.
Keep letting the Gryphons blackmail her? Or join a goblin for tea? Choices, choices.
Furious at the Gryphons’ betrayal, former vigilante Jessica Moore is determined to cut the law enforcement agency from her life—and hopes doing so will solidify her rocky relationship with Lucen.
When a friend’s soul is sucked dry by a goblin, Jess finds it’s not so easy to let go of her past. Unwilling to let down someone who needs help, she puts aside her anger to work with the Gryphons and solve the case.
A stolen soul isn’t her only problem. Boston’s goblin leader is calling in the debt Jess owes. To plug the holes in both her personal and professional dam, Jess must unearth information about a magic she never knew existed, all the while testing Lucen’s patience and stirring the wrath of old enemies.
What she discovers will reveal the terrifying truth behind the Gryphons’ treachery, and force her to choose where her loyalty—and her heart—truly lie.
Warning: Secrets will be revealed, friendships will be tested, and old enemies will pick fights. On the bright side, there are still naked satyrs for a distraction between battles.
Summary:
Red sky at morning, satyr take warning.
Jessica Moore is about to lose her you-know-what. She did the impossible by convincing the Gryphons, the magi, the satyrs and the goblins to work together to stop an apocalyptic prophecy from coming true.
The one thing she can’t do? Make them trust each other—which means their plans are already falling apart. With Gryphons and satyrs making plays for her loyalty, Jess is ready to cut the crap and kill everyone herself.
The tentative alliance disintegrates even faster when a key member is murdered and Jess’s supposed allies turn on her. Grieving will have to wait. Right now, she’s forced to work closely with her least trusted coworker to flush out the culprit, even as she pushes Lucen away to keep him safe.
Dangers that will test her freakish powers await in the Alps, and this time Lucen isn’t there to guard her back. Even if she finds what she’s looking for, it’ll come with a fury-ous heap of trouble.
Warning: Sticking four enemy groups into a conference room is the definition of hell. Throw in a murder, a kidnapping, and a not-so-fabulous trip to France, and you know what? The apocalypse isn’t looking so bad. As long as it doesn’t involve PowerPoints.
Summary:
Sometimes everything goes to hell. Sometimes hell comes to you.
Jessica Moore has one hell of a to-do list. 1) Bring the fury who attacked her friends to justice. 2) Obtain the last item required to relock a magical prison. 3) Save the world by actually relocking the damn thing before its demonic prisoners escape.
But with a red sky enveloping the earth, humans and nonhumans alike are panicking, and the crazy fringe is getting violent. Anti-magers-humans who want to destroy all things magical-are waging war on Jess and her friends.
Then there's still the problem of the key. It's the last item Jess and her allies are searching for, but legend claims it's trapped within the prison itself. Someone will have to go in there and face down the demons to find it.
Naturally, guess whose strange power is the only thing that might succeed? Even with Lucen at her side and a Gryphon army at her back, this might be too much for a misery junkie to handle.
Warning: Blood and tears will be shed, sacrifices will be made, and more secrets will be revealed. So kiss your loved ones and hold your weapons tight. No one ever claimed the apocalypse would be fun.
I slumped off the sofa, and my butt hit the floor with a thud. Dull pain flew up my back. Add that to my despair and every pred in a ten-mile radius probably knew I was having a bad night. No wonder Lucen wasn’t touching his wine. I provided enough of a buzz.
“Little siren…”
“You mean stupid, dead woman.”
“Jessica, it won’t be the end of the world. Hitting that Gryphon with a chair was not in your best interest, but it was in mine, so I appreciate it. But so what if the Gryphons decide you can’t be trusted among humans anymore? You’ll live among us. You see we’re not so bad.”
I twisted around so I could laugh in his face. “Yeah right. Except when you’re all trying to turn me into an addict. From my perspective, that’s plenty bad, thanks.”
“Has anyone tried to addict you yet?”
“Not yet, but Dezzi’s counting on my help. When she’s done with me, any of you could.”
“And I’ve known you for ten years. If I wanted to addict you, I’d have done it. Don’t you think?”
Actually, no. I didn’t know what to think about that. Never had. I should have kept my mouth shut, but fear made me angry. “No. I don’t know all the details about addictions. For all I know you’re waiting for the right time. For one of your addicts to die or something.”
“You know as well as I do that I could cut one or all of them loose at any time. It’s not a question of not being able to handle one more.”
“So why wait? You could break my will just like that.” I snapped my fingers. Brilliant, Jess. Just challenge him to do it, why don’t you?
“Do you think I’d enjoy that?”
“I know you would.” Oh yeah, I was earning a Ph.D. in stupidity tonight.
“You’re right. I would.” Lucen scowled and flopped back on the sofa.
I held my breath. Maybe I’d gotten lucky and my outburst wouldn’t get me in trouble, after all. Strange, but I was almost sad about that. I’d primed for a fight. I had anger to expel.
Then Lucen sat up, the scowl gone and replaced by a devious intensity. My stomach twisted. Okay, perhaps a fight hadn’t been a good idea. And I hadn’t gotten lucky. But it was too late now.
“Actually I’m far more insidious than you give me credit for. Your gift was cursed. My magic is inherent in my nature. You can’t compete, and therefore can’t really comprehend what I’m about. But, you see, being evil is a lot like sex. The release is fantastic, but the release is fleeting. It’s the buildup to the release that’s so sweet and lasting. Once I break you, it’s over. Done. But this way I can toy with you for a while, build your fear, prolong the anticipation—ten years so far—and savor the possibility that one day I’ll be too tempted not to finish you off.” He reached toward me, and I stiffened. “What do you think now?”
His fingers brushed my hair. My blood raced, but my breathing stopped. I couldn’t move.
Lucen pressed in closer, and his breath coated my ear like honey. “I haven’t touched you in ten years, little siren. Ten years because you simply asked me not to. What…” He tugged off the band around the bottom of my braid. “Are.” Started undoing the twist. “You.” I wanted to tell him to stop, but I was paralyzed. “Afraid of?”
The last of the braid came apart in his hands. I shivered, breaking the paralysis. “The potential.”
I closed my eyes, wondering what I meant. The potential for him to break me? For me to lose myself and become emotionally attached? For my humanity to drain away? I didn’t know. I didn’t even know whether I should take that speech of his seriously.
Lucen’s hands were on my shoulders now, and my ability to think clearly was fading. “I would never hurt you, little siren. I promise.”
I wanted to believe him, always had, but it seemed suicidal. All the promises in the world didn’t change what he was. He’d practically said as much me to the other day. He was what he was. He did what satyrs—what preds—did. He enjoyed it, and he could do it at any time. Letting him touch me was like baiting a lion. The best animal trainers could get away with it for a while, but occasionally their beasts turned on them.
Tracey Martin grew up outside of Philadelphia, the lucky recipient of a drama-free childhood, which is why she spent so much time reading about other people’s lives. It was while she was working on her doctorate in psychology that she had an epiphany–imaginary people are way more fun than real ones. And so she began writing. Never able to choose just one of anything, she currently writes both urban fantasy for adults and contemporary stories for teens.
She likes her coffee simple, her music epic, and her movies to contain explosions. A city girl at heart, she doesn’t understand how she and her husband ended up living in New Hampshire, but writing keeps her off the mean, small town streets. You can find her online at tracey-martin.com.
Miss Misery Series
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