Mix a smidgen of cinnamon, nutmeg, and brown sugar in a tiny bowl (you know your own preferences about how much sweetness you like in your coffee, so make your measurements accordingly.) Throw this right into the filter with your scoops ofcoffee grinds.

Hide it! The girl snapped at the sight of me holding it up like a beacon. I’ll confuse them while you get away. No time to waste, Trite. Blink twice and chase the train! A twinkle lit the girl’s eyes. My eyes crept over, and sure enough, there was that weighty sphere in my hand, clear as crystal, encompassing an ivory and gold haze that glowed ever so slightly like the active molten core of a planet. Something was seriously wrong with me, and there was no chance I’d be bringing it up with these people who stuffed themselves with spiced bread and hot turkey and declared their opinions with loud voices. Because even though I sat in a room crowded with relatives, I felt the familiar pang of being alone. Same as I did every year during the holidays when I woke up to the cold bite of winter and relived the ache of bad memories that came with it.The rabbit was pure white, even its nose. The only colour anywhere was the fantastically bright, sparkling blue of its eyes.

The spark had become a torch behind her eyes, her irises glittering like the diamonds in the jeweler’s window. A Soul as Cold as Frost instantly transports you into a magical world that the whole family will adore. Fans of Chronicles of Narnia will be thrilled with this new wintery adventure!" (Nikki Mitchell, author of Nightshade Forest) I lifted my mitten but before I could ask what the rush was about, the girl shoved something into my palm: a glass ball about the size of a tennis ball. I jumped in surprise when the still haze erupted into a volcanic blanket of white flakes, littering the end of the street and temporarily eating a streetlamp before it calmed. I would rather stay in for the month of December and have my grandmother read us boring old Christmas tales to spare us the holiday drama.There are elements of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and even Harry Potter, as Helen discovers the magical world lying just beneath the surface of her normal, Canadian city. Speaking of Helen, she’s a totally relatable character, struggling to come to terms with the strange things that seem to keep happening around her, and slowly opening her eyes to the truth. She takes us on a real journey throughout the book, it’s a beautiful coming of age tale with elements of good versus evil, friendship and plenty of exciting action thrown in. I held the ball away from my body, positive it needed to be anywhere but in my hands. My palms were sweating in my mitts, even in this crisp air. As the conversations at my aunt’s dining table grew in volume, I noticed my grandmother’s focus fall distant behind the reflection of her family in her glasses. She was a body here, with a mind somewhere else. Like me. Your aunt tells me she had to leave you in the street to make it here on time, she said to me beneath the chatter of the room. The scolding in her voice was entirely overshadowed by the smirk on her face. I turned to go after her, more curious about what she was doing than what was happening in the family room, even if she was just cleaning up in the kitchen.

Open my…what…? I got the strangest impulse to turn and run—a nervous reaction to her husky, outlandish blabbering and harsh features.My name is Lyndsey, I live on the edge of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, UK. I'm the author of The Fair Queen, a YA fantasy novel and the first in a complete trilogy, The Fair Chronicles. The Quarrel of Sword and Bone was a death sentence for anyone who stepped into the arena with the deranged Queen, whose soul had crisped to frost in an age long since past. I smooshed my face against the window, my hands cupping around my eyes to see where he went. But beyond where the boy had been, two dozen beings of unnatural height congregated around tables, hunching to fit beneath the ceiling. The sight sent a barrel of heat rolling through my stomach. Pointy ears and long noses protruded from their heads, hidden only when they sipped from their steaming mugs. Some of them had to be as tall as the lampposts outside.

There is a subtle Christian undertone to some of the story, in a very similar vein to Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia, so if you’re a fan of Christian fiction you’ll love the added layer, but if you’re not looking for it then you won’t notice it’s there. Glory to Elowin! It was a stifled muffle through her facemask as she cast one last look at me and slapped the medallions together. a sparkling glass city. Tall crystal pillars lined both sides of the street, curving inwards and holding up glass boxes … . Within the glass, red ribbons floated like sea snakes, slithering around each other and rippling in a choppy ballet. My muscles seized, lurching me to a halt. I thought I was dreaming, but I couldn’t peel my stare away, even though all I could think about was running for my life.Antique streetlamps illuminated downtown, prismed in every direction like hovering confetti. Carols blared from the speakers of a newspaper stand whose buzz-like radio sound muddied the familiar melody of Jingle Bells and swallowed most of the other noise in the street. Buildings hosted glassy bouquets of scarlet, green, and gold ornaments, but it was difficult to enjoy the splendour of the season in this bitter flash-freeze. As though summoned by the girl’s lunacy, a horn-like blast echoed down the city street, and I whipped around in alarm.