Heart of Ice

Book 3: Alice Worth

by Lisa Edmonds

Genres: Paranormal; Romantic Fantasy; Urban Fantasy; Occult & Supernatural; Paranormal Romance; Supernatural suspense; urban fantasy; paranormal romance; magic; female sleuth; paranormal mystery; vampires; werewolves; kickass female protagonist

Synopsis

Even the coldest hearts can burn . . .

After closing a big case for the Vampire Court, mage private investigator Alice Worth is relieved to be back solving magical mysteries with her ghost sidekick Malcolm and spending quality time with sexy alpha werewolf Sean. Her latest case puts her on the trail of a burglary ring targeting wealthy collectors of magical objects. Meanwhile, Alice's grandfather, crime lord Moses Murphy, fights a local boss for control of the city. Soon a new danger emerges: Moses's new lieutenant is someone Alice knows and this is one family reunion she wants to avoid at all costs.

When Sean is injured as a result of her investigation, Alice faces the wrath of his pack and finds herself in a carefully laid trap. To save the city from Moses and his lieutenant, she risks capture by her grandfather and unimaginable torture at his hands. To save Sean, she risks losing everything she's fought so hard to gain. But Alice has never backed down from anything in her life and she's not about to start now . . .

Contains mature themes.

Release date: February 6, 2024

Publisher: Storybook House, LLC

Print pages: 380

Content advisory: Language, violence, sexual content

Sample

I woke up just after noon to the feeling of a large, warm body curled up behind me and a heavy weight pinning my legs.

            “Hey,” Sean murmured, his lips on the back of my neck.

            “Hey,” I echoed, my voice thick with sleep. “How long have you been here?”

            “Since about ten. I didn’t want to wake up you up, but I couldn’t stay away once I knew you were back.” He wrapped his arms around me.

            “I’m awake, sort of.” I yawned and smiled at the black-and-white dog lying on my feet. “Hey, Rogue.”

            The dog woofed and laid his head back on the bed, closing his eyes.

            “When did you get home?” Sean asked.

            I rubbed my eyes. “A little after dawn.”

            “So you’ve only been asleep for a few hours. Go back to sleep. We’ll go downstairs.” He kissed my cheek and started to pull away.

            I held him back. “No, stay.”

            He settled back in and nestled me against his body. I was bone-tired, but it had been too long since I’d seen Sean or my dog and I couldn’t have gone back to sleep now if I’d wanted to.

            “You want to tell me about it?” Sean asked after a few minutes.

            His werewolf nose had no doubt alerted him immediately that things had gone sideways. I was surprised he’d waited until I woke on my own to ask what had happened. The Sean I’d first known would have demanded an explanation for why I smelled like blood that was not my own, and that earlier version of me would have been annoyed and angry at being questioned. I realized neither of us were the people we’d been when we first met and was surprised that I liked the change in myself.

            “Alice?” he prodded.

            “Hang on,” I said with a note of irritation in my voice. “I’m having a revelation.”

            Sean chuckled. “Isn’t it a little early in your day for that? You haven’t even had coffee yet.”

            I elbowed him in his hard stomach. He made an exaggerated oof sound and nuzzled my neck. “So, do you need a minute to process this revelation, or…?”

            I sighed. “No, you ruined the moment.”

            “Sorry.” He pressed a kiss into my hair.