NGL Subject Librarians: Ashley Crane

Buffy meets Jane Austen in the first book of this wickedly funny NYT bestselling series about a young woman whose brush with the supernatural leads to a deadly investigation of London's high society. Alexia Tarabotti is laboring under a great many social tribulations. First, she has no soul. Second, she's a spinster whose father is both Italian and dead. Third, she was rudely attacked by a vampire, breaking all standards of social etiquette. Where to go from there? From bad to worse apparently, for Alexia accidentally kills the vampire -- and then the appalling Lord Maccon (loud, messy, gorgeous, and werewolf) is sent by Queen Victoria to investigate. With unexpected vampires appearing and expected vampires disappearing, everyone seems to believe Alexia responsible. Can she figure out what is actually happening to London's high society? Will her soulless ability to negate supernatural powers prove useful or just plain embarrassing? Finally, who is the real enemy, and do they have treacle tart? Soulless is the first book of the Parasol Protectorate series: a comedy of manners set in Victorian London, full of werewolves, vampires, dirigibles, and tea-drinking.

Four mages. One destiny. No turning back. New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce's masterful novel is now available in paperback Daja, Briar, Tris, and Sandry have grown up and grown apart since their days together at Winding Circle, and Sandry's especially disappointed with the change. When Sandry's uncle requests that her three old friends accompany her on a visit to Sandry's vast lands within the Empire of Namorn, the young mages discover that they've landed in a trap. Namorn's iron-willed Empress has plans for Sandry and her companions, and she has wily and powerful mages to help her. But so, of course, does Sandry - if only she can get them to work together . . .

This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches. Grandmamma loves to tell about witches. Real witches are the most dangerous of all living creatures on earth. There's nothing they hate so much as children, and they work all kinds of terrifying spells to get rid of them. Her grandson listens closely to Grandmamma's stories--but nothing can prepare him for the day he comes face-to-face with The Grand High Witch herself!

A Wall Street Journal bestseller. In the final First Wives novel by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee, falling in love could become the most dangerous dare of one woman's life. Protector-for-hire Sasha Budanov is accustomed to life as a loner. Always on the move, she's now reached a crossroad. Looking for answers about her shadowy youth, she's returned to the strict boarding school in Germany where she was raised. It's also where she was trained in the stealthy, militarized art of survival. But behind its gleaming gates, Richter is a fortress of secrets, including those buried in Sasha's mysterious past. To uncover them, she's clinging to her first rule of defense: stay guarded. If anyone can challenge Sasha's rules, it's devilishly sexy stranger AJ Hofmann. He wants answers, too. And he needs Sasha's help. The recent deaths of several of Richter's former students--including AJ's own sister--have aroused his suspicions. He's arousing something more in Sasha. Never one to surrender to her emotions, she senses something tempting in AJ. She trusts him. He's fearless. And he kisses like a demon. Sasha's found her match. But treading Richter's dark halls--and following their hearts--has its risks. As the decades-old secrets of the past are mined, Sasha and AJ are falling deeper in love...and into danger.