Haunted by a crushing fear of death, a young Victorian woman discovers the secret of eternal youth-she must surrender her life to attain it, and steal heartbeats to keep it. In 1860 Surrey, a young woman has only one occupation: to marry. Senza Fyne is beautiful, intelligent, and lacks neither wealth nor connections. Finding a husband shouldn't be difficult, not when she has her entire life before her. But it's not life that preoccupies her thoughts. It's death-and that shadowy spectre haunts her every step. So does Mr. Knell. Heart-thumpingly attractive, obviously eligible-he'd be her...

BOXED AND BROKEN is a collection of speculative fiction and poetry by Pushcart Prize nominee Ash Krafton. This volume includes work from her books DOORWAYS, BLIND ALLEYS, DELIVERANCE, and THE SCENT OF HIS FEATHERS, as well as other stories.

..".a marvelous tapestry of broken hearts, searching souls, yearning spirits, lost hope, and hesitant faith." AF Stewart "My crow leaps in a sudden sweep of wing and sails past, the scent of his feathers a balm to a soon-broken soul." Pushcart Prize nominee Ash Krafton opens this volume with a piece that leaves the reader wondering: Is the speaker victim or victor? Shadows can obscure the details that would cement our perceptions of individuals or events. Sometimes, shadows tell us more than we want to know. Shadows prevail in each of the poems in The Scent of his Feathers, but Krafton is not...

The darkness is rising and one man stands against it: the exorcist mage Simon Alliant. But in Baltimore, he finally meets his match...a part-mortal divinity with the power to whisper away demons. Simon Alliant is an exorcist who battles demons, whether he wants to or not. Sometimes it's not so bad...he gets to play with magic, after all. But for Simon, magic represents a demon of another kind. He's addicted to magic and it takes more than a handful of charms to keep that particular demon at bay. Chiara is part Light, part Dark, and stubbornly mortal. The woman has a way with words: she...

Sophie Galen is an advice columnist whose work leaves her neck-deep in other people's problems. Thanks to her compassion, her gut instinct, and her magnetic charm, Sophie really knows how to attract little black clouds. Marek Thurzo is no little black cloud; he's a maelstrom. Marek is Demivampire, a race with the potential to evolve into vampire. A warrior who's taken his share of spiritual damage, he hovers dangerously close to destruction. He seeks salvation. She's driven to save him. But what if he can't be saved? Sympathy for his plight becomes true empathy as Sophie's hidden nature is...

Sophie doesn't believe in happily ever after. These days, she'd settle for alive after sunrise. Advice columnist and newly-appointed oracle to the demivampire, Sophie Galen has more issues than a Cosmo collection: a new mentor with a mean streak, a werewolf stalker she can't shake, and a relationship with her ex's family that redefines the term complicated. And then there's her ex himself, who is more interested in playing leader of the vampire pack than in his own salvation... Becoming a better oracle is tough enough, but when Sophie encounters a deadly enemy - one she never dreamed of...

Since becoming oracle to the demivampire two years ago, advice columnist Sophie has battled werewolves and survived a vampire attack (or two). However, not only was she powerless to save her lover Marek when he slipped to the brink of evolution, she also witnessed his transformation into a falcon, the symbol of Horus United. Sophie's quest to save Marek is further complicated when rock star Dierk Adeluf - who also happens to be the king of the Werekind - invites her backstage after a concert. Just when it seems she will find respite from heartache, Sophie is bitten by a werewolf and Dierk...