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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