The Sphere: A Journey In Time by Michelle McBeth

SPSFC 2022 SPSFC 2023

Adelaide loves her job, but who wouldn’t enjoy traveling to the past to unravel the great enigmas of human history? The rules and regulations of her mysterious workplace may seem rather severe, but their need becomes apparent when a coworker returns from a mission decades older and unable to remember his life in the future. Adelaide embarks on a desperate journey through time to save her friend before he becomes trapped in the past. When her own timeline takes an unexpected turn, the fates of everyone she knows are at stake, and the secrets she uncovers put her own life at risk.

Of Blood and Deceit by Rachel A. Collett

Magic runs in the Drakara bloodline. To seventeen-year-old Ilianna it’s a curse. Born a bastard and raised by an abusive uncle, she struggles to conceal her late-bloomed gifts, but it’s hard to hide when your uncle is king. The kingdom of Eira recovers from over a decade of warring an overseas enemy. Ilianna trains from youth to fight in her uncle’s militia, to keep her people from the grip of the Wraith Queen, even if she’s feared by everyone except the one that controls her. When it seems that peace is assured, her uncle offers her up to be married to their neighboring realm. However, Ilianna has no intention of accepting and flees the king’s rule only to wind up captured by the very enemy she was promised to. Prince Castiel, a powerful leader and cunning strategist, recognizes a disguised Ilianna the moment he sees her. When his strange prison guest does nothing but patiently wait for three long months, he forces her to make her move. Ilianna must tame her fears and control a rogue power before her uncle kills her for disobedience or worse, reclaims her and her magic.