In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he's a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.

For many years, Sandry's cousin, the Empress of Namorn, has pressed her to visit. But Sandry prefers to stay with her own family in Emelan. Now, as is her right, the Empress has insisted. Sandry will not travel with a group of warriors -- that would only insult the Empress. She will travel with her friends from Winding Circle: Daja, Briar, and Tris. But the four young mages haven't been together in some time, and their friendship isn't what it used to be.

 

San Francisco socialite and art-world doyenne Bibi Chen has planned the vacation of a lifetime along the notorious Burma Road for 12 of her dearest friends. Violently murdered days before takeoff, she's reduced to watching her friends bumble through their travels from the remove of the spirit world. Making the best of it, the 11 friends who aren't hung over depart their Myanmar resort on Christmas morning to boat across a misty lake—and vanish. The tourists find themselves trapped in jungle-covered mountains, held by a refugee tribe that believes Rupert, the group's surly teenager, is the reincarnation of their god Younger White Brother, come to save them from the unstable, militaristic Myanmar government.

 

The intricate power struggles between various breeds of avian shapeshifters continue in this third book in the series. Nicias, 19, son of Kel and Sebastian, falcons who were stripped of their falcon magic and exiled from their homeland of Ahnmik, is one of the personal guards to Oliza, heir to the avian and serpiente thrones. He is loyal to her despite never having felt at home in Wyvern's Court. He has inherited his parents' magic and it will destroy him unless he can learn to control it. His parents reluctantly send him to Ahnmik to be taught to bind it by his grandmother, the Empress, and her heir, Lady Araceli.