Staying Dead
A Retrievers Novel (Book 1) by Laura Anne Gilman

"In a world in which most people believe that magic doesn't exist, there remains a sub-culture of Talent thriving. These folks use their powers in a way that keeps them hidden from the unbelievers. Wren Valere is a Retriever, a talent who locates things that have been missing for people who do not want the police involved. She returns the missing object to its owner for a fee negotiated by her partner and agent Sergei Didier. Both Sergei and Wren are loners who make a very good team professionally and personally even though neither wants to admit their feelings for one another.

A cornerstone with a spell of protection has been stolen from the Fronts building and the owner wants to get it back. Wren and Sergei intend to retrieve it from the collector who hired a rogue mage to steal the spell. Before they can accomplish the deed, they also must deal with a ghost that was freed when the spell was stolen. If Sergei and Wren want to collect their fee, they have to stop the runaway spirit, who is intent on revenge

Fans of Laurell K. Hamilton, Tanya Huff and Mercedes Lackey are going to love STAYING DEAD, a romantic fantasy that stirs the senses and creates a story that is both fulfilling and magical (no pun intended). Laura Anne Gilman makes the reader believe that magic exists and creatures of myth and legend inhabit the earth. It will be very hard to wait for the next Retriever's novel coming in the summer of 2005 because Laura Anne Gilman has cast quite a spell on readers. " -- Harriet Klausner

Curse the Dark
A Retrievers Novel (Book 2) by Laura Anne Gilman

And you think magic is complicated? Once more Wren Valere's game plan has taken an unexpected direction. She'd agreed to a bargain with one supersecret magic-watching outfit to protect her partner and herself on their last job. But now the Silence is trying to wedge them apart.

On the one hand, ever since she and Sergei began to talk about their "relationship" things have been tricky. On the other, though . . . Well, no one better try to stand between Wren and Sergei when danger is near!

So now they are off to Italy in search of a possessed parchment (or maybe not possessed -- all they know is that whoever reads it disappears). Still, when compared to what's going on at home (lonejacks banding together, a jealous demon, tracking bugs needing fumigation, etc.) maybe disappearing won't be so bad . . .

As if!

Bring It On
A Retrievers Novel (Book 3) by Laura Anne Gilman

Nobody said juggling a career and a relationship would be easy...

Wren Valere used to have a simple life. Her partner Sergei would negotiate the terms of the Retrieval -- all right, the theft -- and she would use her magical Talent to carry it out. Paycheck deposited, on to the next job.

Now? Her relationship with Sergei is even more complicated (sex will do that). Her fellow lonejacks are trying to organize against the Mage's Council. The nonhuman population of Manhattan is getting fed up with being ignored and abused. And the Council? Well, they have an agenda of their own, and it's not one the lonejacks are going to like.

And Sergei is far too involved with the Silence, his former employers, for Wren's liking.

When it comes down to choosing sides, the first rule of the lonejack credo is "Don't get involved." But when friends are in danger, and the city you love is at risk, sometimes getting into the thick of things is all you can do...

Burning Bridges
A Retrievers Novel (Book 4) by Laura Anne Gilman

Wren Valere used to be almost invisible. But now she's not only being seen, she's getting involved.

Recent attacks against nonhuman Fatae have escalated into hate crimes against magic users in general -- humans included. With the Mage Council distracted by internal power struggles, Wren is guilted into stepping up as spokesperson for the fragilely united Fatae and lonjack communities...

And, because the cosmos deems her without enough complications, her partner-lover Sergei is drowning in his own problems. But not only can't she help him -- she's the cause.

With lives on the line -- including her own -- Wren is going to have to break the lonejack credo, ditch her long-cherished invisibility and take a stand.

But burning bridges can be deadly...

Free Fall
A Retrievers Novel (Book 5) by Laura Anne Gilman

The Cosa Nostradamus is in disarray; the Truce holding violence in check has been broken. Magical Manhattan is at war, and Wren Valere is left without her partner/lover Sergei, whose past loyalties keep him from her side just when she needs him the most.

Hoping to keep herself occupied, Wren takes a job -- but what should have been an ordinary Retrieval instead forces her to realize that it is time to do more. It is time for the Cosa to take the battle to the enemy.

But she'll do it her way. The Retrievers' way. Sneaky, smart -- and with maximum damage possible. What was lost will be found, what was stolen will be Retrieved. And the war will be ended, once and for all.

Wren Valere always finishes the job. Always.

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