Innovative Magic by Cristy L. Bowlin [Blitz with Excerpts]

A broken enchantment. An uncertain alliance. A dangerous journey.

Welcome to one of the many stops on the one-day blitz for Innovative Magic by Cristy L. Bowlin with Silver Dagger Book Tours (schedule linked.) Look for others participating in this blitz today across social media and on your favourite bookish blogs, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Books

Innovative Magic
The Hybrid Magic Chronicles Book Two
by Cristy L. Bowlin

Published 19 July 2022

Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 210
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

A broken enchantment. An uncertain alliance. A dangerous journey.

Aaron has made a terrible mistake. He unleashed a powerful mage who will only make him and his friends more of a target for the Defenders who hunt them. When Theo is taken, Elara must use her newfound abilities to track him down, while Aaron vows to fix his mistake before anyone else gets hurt. With assistance from some experienced seers, healers, and combat mages, Aaron and his friends embark on a quest across the Deravine Commonwealth and into a cold northern land. The trip is anything but easy, forcing the hybrid mages to learn how to rely on themselves. As Theo slips further away from them, the Defenders gain more followers. With few people they can trust, the hybrid mages are left wondering—Is any place safe for them now?

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Excerpt

Once Master Killian was gone from the courtyard, Theo looked up at the clock on the wall and cursed. It was already 7:15, and he still needed to change his outfit before dinner.

Hurrying inside, Theo took a shortcut through the kitchens. The faint smell of smoke made him glance around for burning food, but he didn’t see anything on fire. After exiting the kitchens, he spotted the source of the smoke—a singed tapestry hung above a completely scorched plant. Theo looked up and down the corridor. Usually there were a couple guards stationed in this area, but it was currently empty. Between the missing guards and the burned remnants of the plant, something wasn’t right. The hairs raised on the back of his neck.

He turned down a few more corridors and gasped at what he saw when he rounded a corner onto a hallway on the east end of the palace near the guest wing. A man in a guard’s uniform lay sprawled on the ground, his limbs bent at unnatural angles. Theo ran to the man, wishing as he always did that his magic included some healing abilities.

Theo felt for the guard’s pulse and discovered his heart beating unnaturally slowly. When Theo examined him further, he couldn’t find any torn clothing, bruises, or bleeding wounds. There were no indications of a struggle. The man was still breathing, yet his breaths were ragged. Maybe he had been poisoned. There weren’t any of the obvious signs of poisoning that Theo had learned about in the textbooks Bennet assigned him, but Theo knew some poisons were nearly indetectable.

A shiver trailed down Theo’s spine at the thought that a Defender might have done this. Here was another innocent person who might be suffering because he was helping protect Theo and his friends. How had anyone even gotten into the palace who didn’t belong here? There were countless guards, and it was built like a fortress. Theo’s best guess was that there was a traitor working at the palace. Whether that person was a Defender or not, Sir Sheffield needed to hear about this immediately.

A creak sounded down the hall that made Theo jump. He looked up and saw a door cracked slightly open, letting in a sliver of moonlight from outside. Theo crept over to the door and peered around it but saw no one. A gust of wind must have pushed the door ajar. Theo stepped out onto the flagstone path that led to the temple behind the palace.

When he reached the doorway into the temple, Theo saw that the lock was broken. He knew he should turn back. Whoever was inside the temple could be dangerous. But he was tired of running away from danger. His magic was given to him for a reason.

Hybrid Magic
by Cristy L. Bowlin

Published 29 June 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 227
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Two nations joined peacefully as one, but a band of assassins lurks in the shadows.

Magic isn’t uncommon in the Deravine Commonwealth, where people can be gifted with the faculties of combat, healing, transformation, or sight. Yet as a hybrid mage, Aaron Ztrong’s abilities aren’t so easily categorized. He managed to save his parents during a dangerous confrontation when he was only a young boy, and now a decade later most people in his life expect him to do remarkable things with his powers. Then there are those who fear what Aaron and others like him can do. When Aaron’s life is threatened by a group calling themselves the Defenders, he takes refuge with two other hybrid mages and the teacher who is training them to enhance their abilities. As the Defenders continue to hunt down hybrid mages, Aaron and his new companions must find a way to survive.

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Excerpt

When Theo lay down in his bed, he had a hard time falling asleep. It was just his luck. The mattress was lumpy, and he found himself unable to get his mind off Tristan. He stared at the dark ceiling and remembered their last encounter. He couldn’t even count how many times he had recalled the same memory. It came to him less often than it used to, but it was still just as clear as if it had happened yesterday. Every time, he felt like he was watching a one-act play performed only for him.

In this imagined play, Theo was an onlooker watching himself from afar. He was packing his things for school. His mother had left an apple and a sealed container of stew on the kitchen counter for him. He noticed his mother also left a note in her scratchy handwriting that said she had to leave early to go visit her cousin in the next town over, but she loved him and hoped he had a good day at school. His father buttoned up the front coat of his constable’s uniform and was about to walk out the door when he noticed his son, patted him on the shoulder, and said a gruff goodbye before heading to work.

Tristan came in the back door a moment later, his white shirt stained with grease and unbuttoned at the top. He smelled of alcohol and slurred his words. “Off to schul, baby bruver?”

Theo squared his shoulders and stood taller. “Go take a bath, Tris. Get yourself cleaned up before Papa comes home for lunch.”

“Don’t wanna,” Tristan said, shaking his head vigorously. “Y’know I went to a meetin’ last night. Very intrstin’ it was. I got up and made a lil’ speech.”

Theo narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Why are you telling me all this? I need to leave, or I’ll be late for school again.”

“Because my speech was all ’bout you, baby bruver. I’m a Defender of the True Four now.”

“What does that even mean?”

Tristan grabbed a bottle off a nearby shelf and smashed it on the kitchen counter, causing glass shards to scatter all over the wooden floor. He held the bottle out in front of him, swinging the jagged edge toward Theo’s face.

Theo took a step backwards, reaching for the door handle. He fumbled with it for a few moments until he managed to push the door open and ran outside. Tristan pursued him, still waving the broken bottle around like a sword.

“As a Defender, it’s my duty to get rid of the likes of you, baby bruver. You and your dark magic are a poison. Tha’s what they said at the meetin’.” Tristan slashed at Theo, finally leaving a cut on the left side of his jaw.

Theo reached out to push Tristan away, grabbing Tristan’s unbuttoned collar in the process. A strange energy filled the air, and Tristan’s collar tightened like a noose around his neck. Theo let go of the collar with a look of horror, but it kept tightening. Tristan dropped the bottle he had been using as a weapon and choked for air as his face turned red.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to do it, I swear!” Theo cried, his hands trembling.

About the Author

Cristy L. Bowlin grew up in Ventura County, CA where she spent most of her free time ballet dancing and reading fantasy books. She got her BA in English with an emphasis in creative writing and a minor in dance from the California Polytechnic State University. She then received her MA in English with a minor in gender and women’s studies from the University of Kentucky. She currently lives with her husband, daughter, and cat in Southern California where she is a college English professor. Her debut YA fantasy novel The Temple Dancer’s Diary was published in July 2019, and her next book Hybrid Magic was just published in the summer of 2021.