‘Tis the Season of Witches!

As September slips away, I see fall decor everywhere, cider and pumpkins in the grocery stores, ads for sweaters and boots on all my social media sites, and pumpkin spice everything! Fall-ish things take over the stores, greenhouses, and movie channels. So why not your TBR pile, too?!

Today, I’m featuring humor and romantasy author Ashlyn Chase. Ashlyn describes herself as an Almond Joy bar–a little nutty, a little flaky, but basically sweet, wanting only to give her readers a satisfying experience that leaves them smiling.
She earned a degree in behavioral sciences, worked with children with disabilities, then worked as a psychiatric RN for fifteen years, and spent four more years with the American Red Cross.

Her jobs were great for character building, both as a person and an author. Ashlyn has identified her “Author theme” as found families, where being different makes no difference, and characters who reinvent themselves. She is a multi-published, best-selling, award-winning author of humorous paranormal and contemporary romances. And she writes fantasy adventure/magical realism books for young adults and children as E. B. Lorow (Elisabeth Lorow.)

And she writes fun books about witches!!

Here’s a look:

Autumn L.A.W. Part 1

The Dangerous Duo

Sahara Nadir trusts history, logic, and ancient languages. Lioness Graves trusts visions, instincts, and whatever wild idea pops into her head next. Working together has never been their strong suit, but dark humor gets them through.

When a mysterious obelisk erupts beneath Central Park, the League of Amazing Witches discovers it isn’t just an artifact. It’s a prison, and something inside is trying to break free.

Sahara, with the help of an unshakably calm mage, and Lioness, with a fearless firefighter who insists on returning her life-saving protection, must put aside their differences before an ancient evil possesses a human host. The future may depend on the one thing they’ve never mastered: teamwork.

And then . . .

Autumn L.A.W. Part 2

Crossing the Wrong Witch

Victoria De La Fontaine is a glamorous witch, helicopter pilot, and proud member of the League of Amazing Witches… until a dry-cleaning dispute goes spectacularly wrong. One magical mishap later, she’s trapped in a stranger’s body, wearing stained sweatpants, while the thief runs around in her long legs and designer wardrobe.

Determined to reclaim her identity, Victoria sets out on a globe-trotting search for six rare spell reversal ingredients. Her ally is Duke Masterson, the league’s occult librarian with access to some of the world’s rarest magical secrets and a few mysteries of his own.

As the stakes grow higher, Victoria discovers that reversing an ancient curse and getting her body back may be only part of what she needs to do. Learning and liking who she really is could be the life-altering challenge.

Enjoy this excerpt!

The world lurched. Not a rumble. More of an honest-to-Goddess tremor that made the trees shiver and sent a flock of birds blasting upward like confetti out of a cannon.

Lioness stumbled forward, catching herself on the caution tape that she and Sahara had not been authorized to put up but did anyway. Her sketchbook slipped from her fingers and flopped onto the grass.

“Okay,” she said aloud, because sometimes narrating her life helped. “That was not normal. That was ‘something is waking up, and it’s out to get us’ levels of abnormal.”

The cracked earth in front of her split again. A sharp seam zigzagged across the ground like a lightning bolt.

“Lioness!” Sahara called, barreling toward her from the far side of the site, ponytail whipping. “Back up. Now.”

Lioness didn’t argue. Mostly because the ground was shifting under her boots and arguing required stability. She hopped backward just as the crack widened and released a gust of air so cold it slapped her across the face.

She reeled. “What the—? Did someone leave the door to Antarctica open?”

“No,” Sahara said, sliding to her side. “Worse. I think the obelisk seal ruptured.”

Before Lioness could respond, a spike of nausea slammed into her gut so hard she hunched over. Her vision blurred at the edges. Heat prickled across her skin. Hot, then cold, then hot again, like a thermostat having a seizure.

Sahara swayed beside her. “Lioness? Do you feel—”

Lioness didn’t hear the rest. A wave of dizziness crashed over her, sending her to her knees.

“Okay,” she gasped, “I officially feel like I’ve licked a subway pole.”

Sahara’s hand trembled as she pressed it to her forehead. “This isn’t a normal illness. Something is—”

She didn’t finish. Both witches were hit by a synchronized punch of ancient magic, sharp as stone, and it felt like breathing in electricity.

Lioness clutched the grass. “Am I dying? Don’t let me die looking like this. I haven’t fixed my brows for a month.”

“It’s a curse,” Sahara managed, voice tight. “An ancient Egyptian one. I can feel the glyphs vibrating under the soil.”

“Well, tell them to stop,” Lioness snapped, then immediately gagged, because she felt the world had tilted in a way physics never intended.

Sahara dropped to her knees beside her, breath shallow. “It’s not removable. Not without… not without the counter-glyphs.”

Lioness blinked hard. “And I’m guessing you don’t have those lying around in your Gucci bag?”

“No,” Sahara said weakly. “And I think whatever’s buried down there just woke up enough to sneeze on us.” Sahara collapsed onto her side. “Great. Cursed by dirt. My mother told me this was how it would end.”

A vibration rippled through the soil again. Deeper this time. Almost sentient. The ground pulsed like something beneath it had a heartbeat.

Lioness forced her head up and saw the crack widen one more inch. She screamed.

Thanks so much for sharing with us, Ashlyn! Happy Fall reading to all!