McLean Twins Series






McLean Twins series
Black Diamond (Book 1)
Demon’s Touch (Book 2)
Black Coven (Book 3)


About the author:
Jennifer Loiske lives in Finland in Naantali, which is a small sunny town on the southwest coast. She is a Teen/YA paranormal fiction author, with four exciting series available worldwide. The McLean Twins series for teen readers, the Immortal Blood series for mature young adult readers, the Blood Hunters series, also for mature young adults, which is a follow-up for the Immortal Blood series and is created by the readers’ requests, and the Shape Shifter series for anyone aged 16 and up.
Jennifer’s stories are full of creatures of the night. Vampires, demons, witches, shape shifters… but even if they are mostly fiction you can find a hint of truth in every story. Jennifer loves to research, so every time she gets an idea or a new story she has a crazy Google session, looking for places, old myths, names, folklore, magical items… anything that could spice up her story and make it more real for the readers. Jennifer is also part of Authors For Charity, an international author alliance, and a team member of Epilepsy FI magazine. She is a pre-school teacher by profession.

Author links:

What readers say about McLean Twins series:

5***** A Great Start to A Series!
I am far from the YA target of Black Diamond, but that did not keep me from thoroughly enjoying it! This is a story that engages all ages with
thrilling spirits, spells, and dark demons. Author Jennifer Loiske certainly knows how to create characters about whom the reader cares and
believes in even amid supernatural events. After Shannon loses her mother, she must live with her estranged father. As she becomes acquainted
with the family she never knew and learns some secrets about herself, Shannon explores a magical world which will delight fans of imaginative
storytelling.

As a high school English teacher, I would not hesitate to suggest this book to my students.


5***** Wow! This gets better and better!
I was looking forward to this release since finishing the second novel and I have to say, wow! Jennifer Loiske outdid herself with the thrilling end to the McLean Twins' story! The book starts dark, and carries you through the final instalment, making you want to stick to the pages and follow along every discovery with both twins, wanting good to triumph over evil and Shannon and Ian to finally be able to go home and see their father and not the demon he is becoming. It was a fast paced ride, highs and lows, tears and smiles and I loved every page of it! Excellent end, perfectly crafted and one that will keep you reading for days until you find the very end. Perfect and highly recommended!



Excerpts:
Black Diamond
Shannon felt uncomfortable. It was so quiet and obviously she was the only person who was going to eat. Connor was nowhere to be seen and the third person had ignored the ‘or else’ part.
The side door opened. Three young women came in carrying trays. They were as pale as Lily had been a moment ago and they kept their eyes down. Breakfast was served in silence and Shannon could only stare at the women’s hands. Each was tattooed with a tiny lock. She grabbed one of the women’s hands and looked at the lock. It started to move and seemed like it was going to change shape into something strange that almost looked like a black diamond. The woman pulled her hand away and fled screaming. That’s it! Shannon wasn’t going to eat anything they served and she didn’t care what might happen if she didn’t eat. She stood up and left the room.
She slammed the front door on purpose and hoped that at least Connor would hear it. Then she went into the garden. The trees were full of apples and pears. She grabbed an apple. That would be her breakfast. It wasn’t much but at least she could be sure it hadn’t been poisoned by those creepy women. She spotted a path that went through the field behind the garden. She had nothing better to do so she decided to follow it. She was curious. Would it lead her away from this nightmare place, or would it lead her into some even weirder place?
The moist grass bent under her feet and wet her sneakers. The weather was clear and she could see that the path went into a small forest. She walked through the field and was surprised at how far away the forest was. It had looked closer, but it took her almost two hours to reach it. When she saw the giant trees she hesitated. The manor and the people there were obviously not normal, so why would this forest be? If she entered it would she get out again, or would it trap her there? She glanced behind her. She could still see the manor and the houses that surrounded it. What could be a worse place than that? Carefully, she took the first step and walked into the forest.
The trees were really huge. The oaks and maple trees reached so high into the sky that Shannon could barely see the blue between the leaves. The tree trunks were full of creepers that had twisted their thin branches around them, and the light that penetrated between the trees looked heavenly.
Shannon laughed. There was nothing to be afraid of. It was just a normal forest. Maybe a little bit more beautiful than the ones she had seen before, but that was it.
Her stomach rumbled. Maybe she should’ve taken another apple with her. She sat on a mossy rock and looked around.
There were at least a dozen different types of tree. She recognized oak, maple, willow, lime, elm, and rowan, but the rest of the trees were a mystery to her. One of the tree trunks seemed weird and she went to take a closer look at it. There was some odd writing on it, but she couldn’t read it. It seemed similar to what she had seen on Connor’s hands, but she couldn’t be sure. She pressed her hand to it. It felt warm and when she tried to read it out loud it started to move.
“Wow!” she gasped and pulled her hand away quickly. The words stopped moving. She walked around the tree and saw that some of the other trees had writing on them as well. She stared at it. What if… she thought and touched it lightly with her finger. It moved again but nothing else happened. She stepped back and hesitated. She had no idea why her fingers made the writing move, and she knew that if she were wise she should walk away from the forest and ignore the writing. She was not wise. She stepped forward and pressed both her hands onto it.
Instantly, it started to move. The air thickened around her and the sun went behind the clouds. She heard quiet whispering from the trees and her hands started to glow. She screamed, pulled her hands away and started to run. She had no clue where the path was and it was almost impossible to see, as the air was so thick and grey. She bumped into the trees and tried to grope her way out of the forest, but she couldn’t see a thing. The whispering got louder and the trees seemed to be awake. Their branches tore her hair and clothes and she could feel blood streaming from the tiny wounds on her body. This is my end, she thought. This is the place where I’m going to die.
She coughed. It was hard to breathe and she was so tired she wanted to collapse and give in. Her legs slowed down and she felt dizzy. She stopped and leaned on something she thought was a big rock. She couldn’t be sure of it, but it felt hard and cold, so she decided it had to be a rock. She breathed heavily and wiped her face. Then she saw it. There was light in front of her. Not much, but definitely some. She started to move again, as slowly as a cripple, and bit by bit she reached the light. Suddenly, she was in the field again. She looked behind and saw the forest. It didn’t look any different from when she saw it the first time, but now she could sense that something strange was in it. Like the whole forest had held its breath and waited, waited for her to do something. She felt a million tiny eyes staring at her and she froze. Whatever was in there, she didn’t want to know. She sobbed and started to run back to the manor as fast as she could.

Demon’s Touch:
“Shann, we don’t know the right spell and we don’t have a demon as our guinea pig. We’re simply not ready.”
Simon peeked in. “Someone called me?”
“There,” Shannon said triumphantly and wiped the tears from her face. “I have the spell and I have the demon.”
Ian stared at her. He knew exactly what she was thinking but he couldn’t let her do it.
Shannon detached herself from Ian’s arms and flew into Simon’s. He glanced at Ian in surprise.
“No.” Ian narrowed his eyes.
“What?” Shannon cooed innocently.
“I won’t let you do it,” Ian continued. “It’s way too dangerous.”
“You can’t know that,” Shannon said. “Not for sure.”
“Yes I can. And so can you,” Ian said angrily.
Shannon’s eyes begged him to agree with her, her lips forming a silent plea, but he didn’t yield. He remembered only too well what had happened the last time they’d played with demons and magic. It had nearly destroyed them and without the help of their father the spell would have probably killed them. But Shannon had clearly decided to forget all that. How convenient. Ian turned to leave.
“Fine,” Shannon snapped. “Just walk away. It’s so boyish. I’ll do it by myself then.”
“What?” Ian turned quickly. “You know you can’t. It takes both of us to bind a spell like that and I won’t do it. Not without the proper preparations, if even then.”
“What’s going on?” Simon asked suspiciously. “You’re just doing a minor spell, right?”
Shannon turned her head away, looking uneasy. “Not exactly. But you’ll be perfectly safe,” she blabbered quickly.
Ian snorted loudly.
“Shannon.” Simon backed away from her. “Is it dangerous?”
She shrugged and sat on the bed.
Simon looked baffled.
She made a helpless gesture with her hand and was about to lie, but how could she? Simon had a right to know that she was far from sure about what she was about to do. Yes, she had a vague idea of how the spell worked, but that was not enough. With a spell like that she had to be sure. However, she was too proud to admit that out loud. Because saying the harsh fact aloud would equal confessing that Ian was right, and that was not gonna happen. She turned her back on them, trying to imagine they weren’t there.
Ian laughed dryly. “Still willing to be her guinea pig?”
“Shannon?” Simon was confused.
Shannon battled with her conscience.
“Shannon?” Simon tried again.
“Yes.” Shannon frowned and faced him. “It’s dangerous and I can’t ask you to do it. Not if Ian’s out of the game.”
Ian spread his arms apologetically.
“But it’s doable?” Simon asked, face hard and determination gleaming in his gaze.
“Yes,” Shannon said at the same time as Ian said, “No.”
They stared at each other, the awkward silence enveloping them.
“It’s just…” Shannon broke the moment, drooping her head. “We’ve come all the way here to learn and now we’re back at the beginning. Elowen will never treat us as her equals and we’re running out of time. Connor is changing and he’s changing fast. If we don’t act now, we might lose him.”
“I thought you didn’t care about him,” Ian said quietly.
“So did I,” Shannon said miserably. “I guess he’s gotten under my skin, sort of.”
“And this is really important to you?” Ian asked suspiciously. “I mean, you’re not doing this just to snap Elowen, are you?”
Shannon shook her head, peeking at him from under her long lashes.
Ian closed his eyes. He didn’t want to look into her puppy ones and he didn’t want to look at Simon either. He could sense Simon’s curiosity and the waking demon in him that wanted to see if the spell would work, wanted the danger and the excitement Shannon was offering and, more importantly, his willingness to do anything to please his master, which in this case was their father. And yet neither of them seemed to understand the dangers in doing something so big and the numerous chances that the spell would explode in their faces, destroying their only shot at saving Connor.
Ian glanced at Shannon. Shoot! He hated this. She had driven him into a situation that he couldn’t win. If he walked out the door right now, she would try to do the spell on her own. Most likely she would fail and hurt herself. Even in the middle of her insanity she had to understand that a spell like that would take all of their powers, stripping their souls naked and leaving them vulnerable to anyone who wanted to hurt them.
And Simon … well, he’d unlikely be in any shape to protect them. If by some miraculous means they succeeded in exorcising every demonic part from him, they had no idea what would be left. But somehow he doubted it would be a pretty sight. After that they’d have their hands full, as that was the moment when the hard part would begin. The part where they were supposed to save the man from himself by creating his essence from the start and hope this time he would be wise enough not to bargain with the devil but stay away from him and keep his new, intact soul as far away as possible from anything slightly resembling demon magic. No, better yet, he should stay away from any kind of magic and then maybe, just maybe, he’d have a chance to live as a normal human being one day.
Sure, if he helped Shannon the probability of them succeeding would rise a lot, but the risk was still too big. So what choice did he actually have? None. Shannon was his sister and there was no way he could let her to do it alone. No way was he going to carry the burden of her getting hurt or worse for the rest of his life just because he’d walked out on her.
He let out a deep moan. “Fine.”
“What?” Shannon asked, stunned.
“I said fine,” Ian snapped. “But if it’s not working we’ll stop. We’ll go to school like normal teenagers and we’ll try to convince Elowen about our magical abilities in some other, not so deadly way. Okay?”
“Okay,” Shannon breathed.
“Okay,” Simon agreed. “What do we do next?”
“I have an idea.” Shannon smiled.
“I thought you might say that.” Ian rolled his eyes and slumped onto the bed. “Talk.”

Black Coven:
“Nice try,” she cried, laughing out loud. A crow joined her with its raspy voice.
A car door opened close by and a man leaped behind them.
“Simon,” Shannon said without looking at the man. “I was wondering whether you’d show up or let us deal with this mess on our own.”
Simon growled. This was the last place on earth he wanted to be, but there was no way he’d leave those kids without proper back-up. A devilish grin flashed across his face. Yes, they might be witches, but he was a demon. He placed his heavy hands on their shoulders.
Ian stole a quick peek at Simon’s grim features before focusing on the house again. Simon’s black eyes were hollow, the scar across his face unnaturally visible on his pale skin. The demon in him raised its head, making the tattoos entwining his muscled arms squirm as if they were alive. He could sense the evil inside, the devil lurking in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to strike down Shannon and Ian. His grip on the kids’ shoulders tightened. He knew he shouldn’t go into the house. Not when the darkness was whispering in his veins, urging him to do terrible things. The pull was nearly unbearable and yet he knew there was no power, in or outside this world, which could force him to harm a hair on his protégées’ heads. He would rather die than hurt them.
“Let’s do this,” Shannon said to no one in particular.
Ian nodded. “I’ll go first.”
“No.” Simon stopped him before Ian could move. “I’ll go.”
“Are you sure?” Shannon asked, worried.
“Positive.” Simon pushed them aside and strode to the door. “Ready?” He glanced at them.
They nodded and, without saying a word, grabbed each other’s hand, preparing to cast a protection spell over Simon if needed.
Simon opened the door carefully and stopped to listen. Nothing. He moved to the doorway, ready to fight in a blink, but there was no sound or a person anywhere. He stepped inside slowly, Shannon and Ian right on his heels. The silence was disturbing. Candles were burning on the tables and in the chandeliers. The spotless floor gleamed, so clearly someone had cleaned it recently, and through the open door of the living room at the back of the hall they could see a fire dancing in the fireplace. On her left, Shannon saw a pair of boots and an umbrella leaning against the wall, and on the small table near the umbrella was a leather leash. A dog’s leash, and yet there was no dog nearby. No barking or the sound of an approaching animal could be heard. Not even a sniff. The only sounds were their soft footsteps as they carefully moved deeper inside the house.
“Connor?” Shannon whispered.
Nothing.
“Connor?” she tried again a bit louder.
Deep silence. They could’ve heard a needle drop in the room, as even the air seemed to be still. Weird.
Simon walked to the living room door and pushed it open a bit more with his foot. He gestured to the twins to wait. Shannon nibbled on her bottom lip, her hand tightly in Ian’s. Simon peeked carefully into the room. His back stiffened and he quickly withdrew back into the hall.
“What?” Shannon asked as quietly as she could.
Simon closed his eyes for a brief moment, his mouth tight.
“Simon, talk to us,” Shannon demanded. “What’s in there?”


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