The Final Formula Series

Filled with action, magic, humor, and romance, this unique urban fantasy series follows the adventures of Addie, an amnesic alchemist on a quest to discover her lost past.

I took a slightly different approach with this series by alternating novels told from Addie’s point of view with shorter works told from James and later, Elysia’s point of view.  The in-between books (which grow from novellas to novels as the series progresses) are not side stories.  They set up events in Addie’s next book. And though I try to write a complete story in each novel/novella, none of the books are truly stand alone.  They’re all part of one big story.

The Final Formula (Book 1)

To a master alchemist like Addie, impossible is just another word for challenge.  When a fiery explosion destroys the Alchemica, the premier alchemy institute in the United States, she’s left with nothing.  No home, no colleagues, and no memory.  Learning what happened seems impossible, but she still has one strength, and in her opinion, it’s the only one she needs.  She hasn’t forgotten a thing about alchemy.

Addie brews a potion to restore her lost past, but remembers only the flames of the Alchemica’s destruction—and a man among the ashes.  A man with the elemental power of fire, who just happens to be the leader of the magical community.  He might know what happened, but getting him to tell her will require some…creativity.  The magical aren’t fond of alchemists.  Some say it borders on hatred, but Addie isn’t one to back down from a challenge, even if that challenge happens to be a man who can turn her to ash with a thought.

Read an excerpt here: The Final Formula

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Note – New cover added 11/23/18 (No change to the original book)

The Element of Death (Book 1.5)

Betrayed by the first woman he ever loved, James lashes out at Rowan, the man who won her heart. When James nearly kills him, he panics and strands them both far from home, leaving them to take shelter in an abandoned crematorium.

But the decaying building isn’t unoccupied. When a twisted presence takes an unhealthy interest in Rowan, the guys will have to work together to escape—before their stay becomes a permanent one.

Read an excerpt here: The Element of Death

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The Blood Alchemist (Book 2)

Master alchemist Addie Daulton hasn’t always done the right thing. To atone for sins from her forgotten past, and earn back the respect of the people she loves, she decides to show the world that alchemy can be used for good. For healing. But she can’t do anything without a lab. Desperate, she teams up with a new partner whose lab has everything she needs, but does she dare work with a man whose reputation is even darker than her own?

The risk proves worth it when she lands a contract to make burn salve for a local hospital. Things are looking up until Rowan, the leader of the magical community and her former lover, returns and demands her assistance. The magical are being gunned down, and cryptic messages are being left at the murder scenes. Messages that point a finger at alchemy—and her. The connection begins to make sense when she discovers that the bullets from the crime scenes have been altered with blood alchemy—and that the design is her own.

Working with Rowan won’t be easy, not just because of their lost love, but because her new business partner once tried to kill him. If Rowan finds out who he really is, Addie’s involvement in the investigation will be over. She can’t let Rowan shut her out again. Not when he might be the killer’s next target.

Read an excerpt here: The Blood Alchemist

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The Necromancer’s Betrayal (Book 2.5)

All Elysia wants is a normal life. A life free of magic and her family’s expectations. The last thing she wants is to be a practicing necromancer.

That changes when Elysia meets a dead man. His presence so close to her home can’t be a coincidence. Throw in his polite demeanor and good looks, and she knows another necromancer is messing with her. So she does what any of her kind would do: she soul binds the dead man and makes him her own.

But the solution isn’t that simple. James, her newly acquired dead man, is no necromancer’s pawn. He’s a grim: a near mythical being of incredible power and a prize in the necromancer world. Yet Elysia sees the man beneath the power. James is as much a slave to his magic as she is to hers.

Determined to free him, Elysia must seek help from her family. Can she convince them that he’s not a prize to be claimed? Or will she have to rejoin the necromancer world, sacrificing her own freedom to save him?

Read an excerpt here: The Necromancer’s Betrayal

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The Alchemist’s Flame (Book 3)

Now that the local hospital is using her burn salve, master alchemist Addie Daulton has become a celebrity. The positive press will go a long way in helping her redeem alchemy’s reputation, but Addie wishes the media would stop calling her the Flame Lord’s alchemist. She doesn’t need his sanction to validate her skills. Besides, having the name of the city’s premier Element tied to hers makes it hard to carry out her clandestine activities—like spying on the leader of the necromancer community. If she’s not careful, she could kick off a war between Old Magic and New.

The risk proves worth it when she discovers that her former colleague and current nemesis, Neil Dunstan, is working with the Deacon himself. If that wasn’t bad enough, she learns that Neil has resurrected a grim and made it his own. A grim that once destroyed a family of Elements. And this month, every Element in the world is gathering right here in Cincinnati.

With the date of the gathering fast approaching, Addie must figure out what Neil plans to do and stop him, or Old Magic will win the war before it even begins.

Read an excerpt here: The Alchemist’s Flame

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The Heir of Death (Book 3.5)

Elysia Mallory has never embraced her magic, not when doing so comes at the price of her sanity. Her family is cursed with bizarre necromantic gifts that have driven each recipient mad, and she doesn’t want to be another dead branch on the family tree.

But when Elysia learns that an ancestor is still in the mortal world and using his rare gift to possess the Deacon, the leader of the necromancer community, she decides it’s time to take control of the power she was given. Will her gift give her the ability to right a wrong centuries in the making? Or will she become another puppet for him to control?

Read an excerpt here: The Heir of Death

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The Catalyst of Corruption (Book 4)

Addie Daulton wants nothing to do with her dark past as an Alchemica alchemist. Content with her new life surrounded by the people she cares about, she has chosen to live with amnesia rather than face the person she was. She focuses on alchemy’s healing properties, helping others and hoping to find a way to save Rowan before his magic consumes him.

But Addie isn’t the only one with a dark history. Her lab partner, Ian Mallory has just had his past resurrected in the form of his brother. Alexander is a powerful necromancer who has been secretly leading the necromancer community for centuries. He’s not the type to share his power, and certainly not with the Flame Lord.

Addie must watch helplessly as Rowan struggles to maintain control of both his volatile magic and his influence in magical politics. Meanwhile, flashbacks tease her, suggesting that the solution to all their problems lies in her past. Unwilling to reclaim her memories, Addie must find another way to learn what she was studying at the Alchemica. Unfortunately, the only person who knows is her former colleague, Neil Dunstan. The question now becomes: how far is she willing to go to save the man she loves?

Read an excerpt here: The Catalyst of Corruption

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The Bonds of Blood (Book 4.5)

Born without a heartbeat or a soul, James Huntsman has never felt part of the mortal world. It’s an insecurity his abusive brothers reinforced daily, and with his very existence bound to theirs through the alchemically altered blood they share, James has always been at their mercy.

All that changed when James found a home within the magical community and fell in love. Elysia Mallory doesn’t mind that he is technically dead. The only thing standing between them is her lethal magic. As her health continues to deteriorate, James searches for a cure, determined to save her and give them a chance at a life together.

But his brothers aren’t willing to let him go, not when the Huntsman legacy is dependent on James. They will stop at nothing to capture their wayward brother, and that includes using Elysia as leverage. James is left to decide how far he is willing to go to save the family he has chosen from the family he was created to serve.

Read an excerpt here: The Bonds of Blood

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The Fifth Essence (Book 5)

Addie Daulton has never backed down from a challenge. After all, doing the impossible is what makes her a master alchemist. So when she learns that her best friend, James Huntsman, has been banished from the mortal world, she believes she can get him back. But finding James isn’t her only problem.

An infectious breed of zombies has appeared in the city, and they’re like nothing any necromancer has seen. Addie suspects that alchemy is involved, or more specifically, an alchemist. She strongly suspects her former colleague Neil Dunstan is behind it, using the ingredient she inadvertently gave him.

And if all of this isn’t enough, New Magic suddenly vanishes as mysteriously as it appeared two decades ago. With the naming of a new Deacon only days away and infectious zombies targeting former New Magic users, it’s not the best time for Rowan to lose his power—magically or politically.

Impossible problems require improbable solutions, and circumstances keep pushing Addie to the same conclusion: the answer is buried in her family history. A history she doesn’t remember. Now to save those she cares about, and perhaps the entire city, Addie will have to face her greatest fear. Her past.

Read an excerpt here: The Fifth Essence

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Blood Gifts (A Final Formula Novella)

Seventeen-year-old Ian is used to pressure. Born into a necromancer family, he and his twin brother Lex exhibited uncommon magical potential at an early age that led their father to expect great things—from them both. That is until Lex’s blood gift fails to manifest.

Or so everyone believes.

For the past five years, Ian has been keeping a secret. A secret that—if it got out—would see his brother shunned, or worse. Lex does have a blood gift, but not every gift is a blessing, and not every recipient can manage the talent in his blood.

As Lex’s sanity begins to slip, Ian knows the responsibility to raise his family’s fortunes is on his shoulders, and his alone. When he is offered an apprenticeship with one of the most influential men in the necromancer community, Lex convinces Ian that the connection would offer their family even more if Ian were to marry his elderly mentor’s “spinster” niece.

Ian’s plan takes an unexpected turn when he discovers that Isabelle is not a spinster. She’s a young, beautiful, intelligent woman who, unfortunately, wants nothing to do with him. Now Ian must find a way to win her over before Lex attempts to elevate their family, his way.

Read an excerpt here: Blood Gifts

Pick up a copy here: Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple

The Final Formula Collection (Books 1, 1.5, and 2)

When magic returned almost two decades ago, it found a modern world rooted in science, and those beliefs colored the way new abilities manifested. This New Magic is in sharp contrast to Old Magic, which has always been around, hiding in the dark and forgotten places.

Addie isn’t magical, but she can wield power with the best of them. As a master alchemist, she bottles magic through knowledge and skill. To the magical community, she is just a mundane human who dares to wield a power she doesn’t innately possess. But Addie is used to surprising those who underestimate her.

When an explosion levels the Alchemica, the country’s premier alchemy institute, Addie suspects the magical community. She sets out to prove her suspicions only to discover that it might not have been professional envy that led to the destruction of her home. It might have been the discovery of a particular formula. A formula that anyone—magical or not—would kill to possess.

Filled with action, magic, humor, and romance, The Final Formula Collection includes the first three titles in the series, along with two never before published short stories:

The Final Formula (Book 1)
The Element of Death (Book 1.5)
The Blood Alchemist (Book 2)
The Lich’s Lab (Bonus Short Story)
A Christmas Formula (Bonus Short Story)

Read on excerpt from one of the short stories here: FF Collection Blog Post

Pick up a copy here: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | Apple