Title: Cursed
Author: L. R. W. Lee
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publisher: Woodgate Publishing
Book Blurb
From the moment I killed that demon, I knew my world would never be the same.
On a routine call to rescue humans, celestial warrior Gladriel kills a demon, a once-an-eon occurrence. And now its brethren plan to exact revenge. Despite the Almighty’s explicit order to let him handle things, after a month of his inaction, Glad feels ignored and breaks rank to fight back. But she’s expelled from Heaven for insubordination, as a result.
Glad finds herself enrolled at Morningstar Academy, a school dedicated to re-educating newly fallen angels. The core curriculum: making human lives a living hell, and compliance is mandatory. But she refuses to capitulate. She just hopes she’s strong enough to weather the trials that will come with her defiance.
During one of her first classes, massive numbers of humans suddenly disappear from Earth and she and her new classmates are charged with discovering who is behind it. As they search for clues, she realizes these events are the beginning of an ancient prophecy foretelling humanity’s and her new home’s annihilation.
Despite her rebellion against the school’s rules, can Glad win over her new classmates and persuade them to help her stop it?
Excerpt
A siren screams past on the 101 Freeway not far from where I’m perched atop the South San Francisco Conference Center. Lights at night reflecting off the San Francisco Bay usually make it feel magical, but it feels anything but that at the moment. I’m on high alert and shift to stretch one leg then the other, glad only that I can disappear my wings when not in use since we’ve been in these tight confines for way too long.
“Be still, Gladriel. You’ll give us away,” Astread, my partner and BFF, warns in a hushed tone, crouching beside me.
I harrumph. My back’s stiff, and my legs are practically numb from hunching in this position beneath a large metal vent. It rises a good four feet from the roof, then curves forward, affording us aerial cover from passing enemy but offering zero comforts. I may be immortal, but that doesn’t mean my body enjoys this treatment.
Angelic brightness dimmed because we’re in enemy territory, we’ve been surveilling the area for the last five hours.
I turn to watch a couple emerge from the Holiday Inn on the other side of the conference center.
I scan the skies, looking for the pack of squalid, mangy menaces we’ve been expecting. Where are they? When will they strike?
The man takes the female’s hand—ah, amore. Chivalry’s not dead with this one—and they head for the sidewalk that stretches beside the four-lane road running in front of the conference center. No doubt they’re heading for the restaurant. It’s the only place to eat within walking distance.
The woman laughs at something her companion says, and I smile at how cute they are.
A disturbance forces me to tear my gaze away from their easy banter and focus instead on a vehicle several blocks away that’s approaching from behind them at high speed, heavy-metal music blaring out the open windows.
Human senses aren’t nearly as acute as that of spiritual beings, and I know they won’t hear it until it’s nearly on them.
My sore muscles scream as I tense, readying to unfurl my four wings in an instant if I need to. Astread turns her head as she notices but otherwise doesn’t flinch. If we intervene, it’ll blow our cover—not that the humans will see us, because they won’t, but who knows who else might. Regardless, I won’t allow this couple to come to harm, if it comes to that.
The man laughs as they stroll past a streetlight.
My pulse speeds as the car continues careening toward them, running a red light two blocks away and cutting off a pickup truck entering the intersection. The driver of the pickup screeches to a stop and lays on the horn, but the sound does nothing to stop the maniac.
“Demon. Has to be,” I whisper.
Buy Links
L. R. W. Lee’s Website: https://lrwlee.com/collections/morningstar-academy-series
Author Biography
USA Today Bestselling author L. R. W. Lee writes genre-bending stories in vivid worlds with sweet romance and stunning plot twists that not only help you escape, but actually help you live better.
She loves writing such fantasy because her characters are everything she’s not in real life. For example, L. R. W. can’t handle scary movies or cockroaches. But give her a drink and a Hawaiian sunset and she’ll be just fine.
She lives in scenic Austin, TX with her husband. Their two children have flown the coop.
Since age 8, she had wanted to write a book patterned after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, her first and favorite childhood fantasy read. She started writing professionally in 2012 after selling the dot com company she co-founded.
Social Media Links
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Thank you, L. R. W., for sharing your book with our readers!