Books with author A.J. Bennett

Cora De’mar is the princess of the witches. However her life is nowhere near a fairy tale. Her father is sick and the day she has been dreading since a child is looming closer. Soon she will be queen. But is being queen more than she can handle? Her youngest sister doesn’t trust her future husband. But there is nothing Cora can do, she has a duty. One that she must honour, for the sake of her people. With her father’s passing Cora uncovers the twisted truth of her ancestors. Everything she has ever been told was a lie. That lie threatens to shatter her world completely. But how can Cora fix the twisted roots of the past? There is one man intent on taking over the throne. Can Cora be the queen her people need her to be? Or will she suffer the fate of her sins?

Peter Wilson is nobody’s definition of a Hero. He has an imaginary friend called Gensing. He likes to sit on the beach at night reciting poetry and he’d rather read about fighting than engage in it.While his twin sister Josalynde is outgoing, athletic and although she goes through best friends almost as quickly as she goes through boyfriends, she’d at least have a chance of slaying a dragon, while Peter – well, he’d likely just sing about it.And how unfair is it that while Peter is being seduced by sirens, Josalynde is being pursued by their Grandmother, who since she’s been turned into a vampire, has never felt so good. Surely Josalynde has no choice but to stake her? Isn’t that what anyone would do in her situation? But as Josalynde discovers, there are many ways of being heroic and conquering someone doesn’t necessarily mean destroying them. .

From award-winning Jenn Bennett comes a swoon-worthy story with a compelling mystery at its heart Raised in isolation and home-schooled by her strict grandparents, the only experience Birdie has had of the outside world is through her favourite crime books. But everything changes when she takes a summer job working the night shift at a historic Seattle hotel. There she meets Daniel Aoki, the hotel’s charismatic driver, and together they stumble upon a real-life mystery: a famous reclusive writer—never before seen in public—is secretly meeting someone at the hotel. To uncover the writer’s puzzling identity, Birdie must come out of her shell, and in doing so, realize that the most confounding mystery of all may just be her growing feelings for Daniel.

Twelve-year-old Harriet lives on top of a hill with her parents in a small colony of sorcerers who conjure and manipulate Light; a form of sorcery called Lightcraft. Harriet’s Lightcraft powers are far more advanced than anyone else her age which, unfortunately, causes Harriet to be excluded by the other children, all because she is a little different. But their lack of respect for her is soon going to change.When an ancient malevolent force escapes from its prison, intent on bringing about a new age of Darkness, the Sorcerers of Light must do everything in their power to banish this evil, forever. The impending war between Light and Darkness is about to erupt and Harriet is caught in the middle of a battle which she has a bigger part to play in than she realises.Follow Harriet on her adventure as she learns new Lightcraft spells, comes face to face with the Spirit of Darkness and discovers that she has a destiny far beyond her wildest dreams.

After ten years in New Zealand, Joe Bennett asked himself what the hell he was doing there. Other than his dogs, what was it about these two small islands on the edge of the world that had kept him - an otherwise restless traveler - for really much longer than they seemed to deserve? It wasn't the sheep, the hobbits had left, and they could no longer claim the best rugby team in the world - what else was there? Bennett thought he'd better pack his bag and find out. Hitching around both the intriguingly named North and South Islands, with an eye for oddity and a taste for beer, Bennett began to remind himself of the reasons New Zealand is quietly seducing the rest of the world.

“Once upon a time, a prince of the Underwater kingdoms fell in love with a fair maiden who went by the name of Roxie, Roxanne the Restless to her bibliographers. From an early age she frolicked with a princess of the Aboveground kingdoms in a world identical to ours only much older, or younger depending upon your state of mind. After a couple of heavy nights in the Underground kingdoms, everything gets pretty out of whack, if you know what I mean.Anyway, Princess Angel’s sexual barracuda of an evil mother planned to marry her off to a bro guaranteed to spurt out defective offspring. So along comes Jarvis the Stud – I kid you not – to save the day by dooming the world.Protection. Protection. Protection. It’s all about DNA. You know?Sacrificing life as she knew it, Roxie saved the world and got the prince. Well, at least until she was kidnapped by mermaids desperate to procreate and torn asunder by crocodiles. See these boots? They’re the real deal. My Madison has the matching handbag. I had a wallet too, but left it somewhere. Be careless with your possessions and you’ll never want.I’m guessing Roxie or Darius managed to pass you sideways through time, bro because here you are and there you were eight years ago, stumbling along that very beach. Lucky for you, Neptune owes me big time. You know? And now you owe me.”When Grayson broke into her hotel verhenda, his words slurred and eyes bloodshot, Daria thought he was insane. But when she was pulled sideways through time by a prince called Darius who could have passed for her twin brother, her grip on reality began to slip.It slipped further when she met her mother’s sister, Marcy for the first time. Further still when she spoke to Morgan, who tried to convince her she was the only one who could lead the children of the Underground kingdoms to safety.Should she trust him?Her mother’s cousin Catherine didn’t. Cat was her age but from a different time. Cat was courageous. Independent. Outspoken. Everything Daria wished she could be.But Daria couldn’t be anyone until she’d unravelled the mystery of her first seven years, though even remembering her childhood didn’t prevent her from making the second biggest mistake of her life.And if she could find a way to forgive herself for destroying her world, would she ever be able to believe in a happy ever after for herself and Oliver? For Cat and Darius?Was there any such thing as a happy every after?

If you were a sixteen year old out-of-timer with the ability to travel sideways through time would you stay with your family in the remnants of a world that had been ravished by disease, then fire?Would it make your choice any easier if the only guy anywhere near your age had an ego so big it blotted out the sun? A guy who thinks he’s in love with your Aunt, but is only capable of loving himself? A guy who persists in attempting to rescue you when you so totally and absolutely do not want to be rescued?Not if you were Amelia Rolleston. All her life she’s dreamed of falling in love with her Darius – only she’s not about to let him slip through her fingers. She’ll be like her heroine, her cousin Catherine and spend her life in an underwater Palace savouring fish eggs.And if that doesn’t work out, well there are always the Aboveground kingdoms, the Underground kingdoms and who knows what’s been going on in the Ocean kingdoms. Her parents have already lost two daughters to the other world, but surely eventually they’ll forgive her. After all, they weren’t always old and stuffy. Once upon a time her mother was known as Eleanor the faithless and her father, Jarvis the Stud. Only problem is, Amelia is an out-of-timer, not a time-shifter and there’s no way through to that other world without one. At least not until King Darius decides it’s time to bring his son home.Amelia finds her Darius is not quite as she’d dreamed. Nor is Catherine the Deceiver. So much for happy ever afters. But Prince Errol is hot, as is Prince Wolfgang. The world is big, Amelia’s heart is wide and hey, who says a girl can’t get what she wants if she tries hard enough.

The children of the Temple are cloned, not born. Lifetime after lifetime they’re drawn through the astral towards a single drop of their own blood. Within the sanctuary of the Temple, guided by their brothers and sisters, every lifetime they remember who they are.Every lifetime, they serve the Juhadists, teaching them by their actions how to connect with their inner selves, how to deny the temptations offered by the gods and demons that surround them.The children of the Temple have always numbered fourteen. Then Aisha abandons the Temple for the luxuries of the Palace. But she is still Temple, isn’t she? Surely the middle-aged Juhadist who claims she’s the real Aisha must be lying.But what if she isn’t? At sixteen, neither Rhea nor Lysander have begun to remember. What if someone is trying to steal their bodies? Someone who trades with the demons to travel through the astral. Someone who wants to live in the same body forever.The children of the Temple no longer number fourteen.Now the fun begins.

Eleanor always dreamed of meeting a magical creature – she just never imagined it would happen when she was sweating her way up Castle Hill with her parents and her brother.When he asked her to step through time with him she didn’t hesitate. Everyone knew when you stepped through time with a magical creature – even one called Ralph – you’d save the world, win the heart of at least one handsome prince, then ride off into the sunset on a white horse.She wasn’t counting on the first eligible prince she met pulling her into his Underwater kingdom, enraged because she’d dared to drink some of his precious water without asking. She wasn’t prepared for him to steal her first kiss either. Of course he denied kissing her, said he was just taking her breath away so she could breathe in his world, but she wasn’t about to believe anything he said. Although Darius was undeniably the most beautiful man she’d ever seen, she’d never met anyone more despicable.Unlike Prince Nicholas, who she decided within moments might be the one. She even liked him more than Jarvis Rolleston, the boy from her own time who’d been pulled into the Desert kingdoms by desperate men and women who needed the DNA of strangers to allow them to access the other kingdoms.She hadn’t expected Ralph and Nicholas’ father, King Bruce to be the reason she was there either. How did you save someone from dementia? In fact, nothing in that world or her own was turning out as it should.Concerned about her absences her parents had grounded her, and her best friend was so jealous of Jarvis she’d stopped being friendly. Life at home seemed unbearable, yet every time she stepped through time she was risking her future.Not even Prince Ralph knew the when, where or why of it, but most out-of-timers found themselves unable to cross sideways through time somewhere in their late teens, early twenties. Eleanor was only sixteen.Too young to get married – though the only reason she’d agreed to marry Darius was because he’d plied her with spiced fish eggs that were so inebriating they made her feel sounds.Too young to give up everything for love.Even a Darius should realise that every girl deserves to make her own choices. But how much choice does a girl have, and if she makes the wrong one will she regret it for the rest of her life?

Marcella Rolleston didn’t realise she had an older sister until the night she met her cousin. According to Madison, Roxie walked up the hill behind their house one day and never returned. The house belonged to Marcy’s brother, Ashleigh now. Marcy had spent her life travelling the world with her father. She’d thought she was travel fatigued until she stepped sideways through time, to a world where Roxanne the Restless was legendary. A world where her mother was known as Eleanor the faithless, her father Jarvis the stud. A world where they still sang her Uncle Milo’s songs.The songs didn’t impress Madison. Although she was the illegitimate daughter of Miles Dorchester she’d never met him. She never wanted to either. But she was glad she’d met Marcy. Well at least until Marcy took to wearing those too-short shorts. No wonder Jack couldn’t keep his eyes off her legs. Darius too, truth be told. Not that she had anything to worry about. Marcy wasn’t that kind of girl.Things were sweet until Darius left Madison with her half-sister, Dahlia. Dahlia and her brothers were the only surviving descendants of the Ocean kingdoms. They had tails - fluorescent tails - and were pathologically obsessed with creating more of themselves. This all seemed kind of cool, until Madison discovered they could only reproduce with another of Harrison’s descendants.There was nothing sweet about being hauled through the ocean by your hair. Fortunately unlike Jack or Darius, the mermen preferred Marcy, something Marcy lost quite a bit of sleep over. What was wrong with her? Why did Jack take ten minutes to give Madison’s breath back yet had barely ten seconds to spare on her? Was she only attractive to freaks?And why couldn’t she fall in love with Grayson? He was the coolest guy she’d ever met. Sure, he talked way too much and his shirts could use a good clean, but she’d never met anyone she’d felt so comfortable with.Then Marcy found out what had happened to Roxie and falling in love no longer seemed quite so important. Harrison’s DNA had the power to create Gods or Monsters. Harrison’s DNA was growing within Dahlia’s womb, Jack’s wife Angelica’s too.Were they the reason the birds had all died? Were they the reason the flying lizards had returned? Or was it something else. Something to do with Illyissia pronouncing Marcy to be the harbinger of change.Besides Marcy wasn’t that kind of girl, was she?