Release Blitz, Excerpt & Giveaway:
Twisted Tome
By Vanora Lawless

Devastating Magic, Book 2

A stubborn empath. A passionate dreamwalker. A love worth fighting for.

For empathic illusionist Warren ‘Sully’ Sullivan dreamwalking Captain Elliot Stone is more than the only thing keeping him sane and safe. He’s the keeper of Sully’s heart, even if he can’t seem to admit it out loud.

When an ancient grimoire infused with catastrophic magic comes into play, they’ve got to do everything in their power to keep it from landing in enemy hands. Unfortunately, that means working closely with a man who once shattered Elliot’s heart. Someone he would have done anything for.

As insecurity and fear threaten the fledgling relationship between Elliot and Sully, will the darkness closing in around them bring them closer or tear them apart forever?

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Excerpt:

ELLIOT SAT ON THE edge of the bed he shared with Warren, dreading the arrival of the new team, who were expected any moment now. He was trying to distract himself with the letter that had arrived yesterday from his sister, May. Tucked inside the envelope along with hers was one from each of her children. Thomas’s was only lovely colorful squiggles and a small handprint that, even without anything to compare it to, seemed bigger than the last time he’d seen the boy. Elliot followed one of the squiggles with his fingertip from chaotic start to swirling finish, missing the noise and laughter the children filled his home with each time they visited. He could almost hear them shouting as they ran through the hall and up the stairs while he chased them.

A lump formed in his throat, but he ignored the sting of his eyes. He didn’t have time to cry over missing them growing up, or whether the younger ones would even remember him when he finally went home. Or worse, how heartbroken the older ones would be if he never did make it back.

The bedroom door creaked open, and Warren entered, closing it behind himself. He leaned back against it and examined Elliot far too keenly. He’d likely sensed the shift in Elliot’s mood from a low hum of anxiety to a dip into deep despair.

“We shouldn’t both be up here when they arrive,” Elliot forced himself to say. What he really wanted was to crawl beneath the faded floral bedspread with Warren and shut out the entire world. How difficult would it be, really, for Warren to hide them away from everyone until Elliot felt strong enough to get through this?

“So we won’t be up here. Or they won’t think we are, anyway,” Warren said, almost plucking the thought from Elliot’s mind. “Easy for me to throw up an illusion showing me come in from the back instead of down the stairs with you. Promise I’ll keep you safe.”

Elliot’s ridiculous heart fluttered the same way it did whenever Warren promised him something. But even that wasn’t enough to lift his spirits long. “With my luck Everett will be immune.”

“Yeah, about him. You got some pretty complicated…” Sully waved a hand around Elliot’s general area, and then continued, “stuff going on since you got the news. It feels a lot heavier than friend of the family baggage. Want to fill me in?”

Elliot sighed, shoulders tightening. He really should have talked to Warren about this last night instead of brooding, but he’d felt raw and ill-prepared, and all he’d wanted was for Warren to hold him in his arms and make him forget.

Now he was out of time to stall, and he had to face the uncomfortable truth of his former naiveté. His entire being wanted to cringe at how impressionable and infatuated he’d been. How wrong.

“Everett was my first…everything.”

Enter the Giveaway:

Check out Book 1 in the Devastating Magic Series: Imperfect Illusions

A drafted empath. A dreamwalking poet. A world at war.

Chicago, 1917.

Idealistic, aspiring poet, Elliot Stone can make people feel euphoria or horror with a simple touch. But that’s only part of his magical abilities. He can also wake in the dreams of people he cares deeply for.

Stubborn, fiercely independent Warren “Sully” Sullivan is an illusionist with a secret of his own: he feels the emotions of others as visceral sensations. That, and a lifetime of fending for himself, has left him guarded.

On their last night of freedom before shipping off to training—military and magic—Elliot and Sully indulge in an explosive, emotional night together. Elliot assumes it’s a one night stand and nothing more, until he awakens in Sully’s nightmare. The urge to rescue Sully is impossible to resist. And when dream-Sully begs him to keep coming back, something Sully would never do while awake, Elliot can’t resist that either.

As real life draws them into battle, their shared dreams become a refuge that only Elliot recalls. So when Elliot has the opportunity to recruit Sully to the secret elite unit of magical soldiers he leads, he’s willing to risk everything for the man he’s fallen in love with in dreams. But being away from the front lines doesn’t mean Sully’s safe. Now they battle enemies with twisted magic where their secrets are a liability.

Can they bring their dreams—and love—to life? Or will the war cost them everything?

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About the Author

Vanora Lawless is a bisexual genderfluid Canadian with ADHD and a passion for telling love stories set in magical or niche historical worlds. A graduate of Saint Mary’s University, Vanora has a B.A, majoring in psychology. As a Nova Scotian, loving long walks on the beach is practically a law, so Vanora takes every possible opportunity to explore the best sandy shores. In spare time between crafting new worlds and stories, Vanora can be found behind the lens of a camera or in a blanket burrito with a good book.

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