Books published by publisher Faery Ink Press

A short-story prequel to BREAKWATER.A storm is brewing.Fourteen-year-old Alexander has a secret. Several, in fact. He’s in love with Jade Cleopola. He covers up for his violent, drug-addicted father. And he often goes hungry. His friends at school wouldn’t understand—they’re high-class mer like Jade. But Alexander has bigger problems than the latest gossip and the parties his friends live for. When his father’s irresponsible choices leave Alexander facing a blade-wielding debt collector, Alexander discovers himself trapped in a tangled, ever-tightening net. He must find a way to survive in unfriendly currents.Even if it means losing her.Dive into an underwater adventure in Broken Tides, a series of mermaid tales perfect for fans of Carrie Anne Noble, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer Donnelly, and Kiera Cass.PRAISE FOR BREAKWATER BY CATHERINE JONES PAYNE"A compelling story about helping others at great personal cost. With artful world-building, skillful dialogue, and a powerful message, Breakwater is a book you can immerse yourself in with an ending you won't believe." -New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee"Breakwater has it all: a lifelike merworld, political intrigue, emotional wreckage, and--of course--murder. My only disappointment is having to wait for the sequel!" -Carol Award-winning author Nadine Brandes"Woven through with intrigue and a touch of romance." -Carrie Anne Noble, award-winning author of The Mermaid's Sister

Mermaids. Murder. Mayhem.Realm Award Finalist for Best Debut, 2018 Parable Award Finalist, 2018Alliance Award Semi-Finalist, 2018A red tide is rising.Seventeen-year-old Jade is recently engaged to a handsome soldier and about to choose her own career. But she didn't expect to witness a murder.When her fiancé kills a naiad, plunging the underwater city of Thessalonike into uproar, tensions surge between the mer and the naiads. Jade learns too late that the choices she makes ripple further than she'd ever imagined. And as she fights against the tide of anger in a city that lives for scandal, she discovers danger lurking in every canal, imperiling her family and shattering the ocean's fragile peace.Can the city's divisions be mended before the upwelling of hate rips apart everything Jade loves?Breakwater is the spine-tingling first novel in a complete trilogy of YA mermaid fantasy books. If you like enigmatic mystery, stirring romance, and harrowing intrigue, you'll love Catherine Jones Payne's riveting underwater world.Plunge into a page-turning adventure perfect for fans of Carrie Anne Noble, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer Donnelly, and Kiera Cass.

A black tide is swelling.In the wake of a horrific massacre, the naiads have chosen to leave Thessalonike, and the merman Jade loves is leaving with them. But the naiads’ departure can’t quell the city’s political tensions or satisfy Jade’s enemies.After disaster strikes, Jade must face sea dragons and the fathomless deep as she journeys to Marbella. There she learns that Thessalonike’s infighting is the least of her world’s concerns. A new empire is rising in the ocean, and it will stop at nothing in its quest for dominion.Can Jade survive the churning current of fear and violence, or will it drag her to the depths?Crosscurrent is the heart-pounding second novel in a complete trilogy of YA mermaid fantasy books. If you like enigmatic mystery, stirring romance, and harrowing intrigue, you'll love Catherine Jones Payne's riveting underwater world.Dive into an underwater adventure in Broken Tides, a series of mermaid tales perfect for fans of Carrie Anne Noble, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer Donnelly, and Kiera Cass.PRAISE FOR BREAKWATER BY CATHERINE JONES PAYNE"A compelling story about helping others at great personal cost. With artful world-building, skillful dialogue, and a powerful message, Breakwater is a book you can immerse yourself in with an ending you won't believe." -New York Times bestselling author Tosca Lee"Breakwater has it all: a lifelike merworld, political intrigue, emotional wreckage, and--of course--murder. My only disappointment is having to wait for the sequel!" -Carol Award-winning author Nadine Brandes"Woven through with intrigue and a touch of romance." -Carrie Anne Noble, award-winning author of The Mermaid's Sister

A white tide is crashing.Jade flees home to Thessalonike to find her brother kidnapped and the king assassinated. As the city awaits the arrival of a conquering foreign army, violence surges between the Royal Mer Guard and the revolutionaries, and everyone Jade loves is caught in the ensuing riptide. If the Neptunian army arrives before the city unites, nothing can stop Thessalonike from falling.Floundering to navigate treacherous currents, Jade must rescue her brother before it's too late. And as the city descends into turmoil, she must resist the lure of violence and hatred that threatens to swallow her whole. Can the city mend its divisions to face the Neptunian threat, or will its factions tear it apart? And can Jade protect her loved ones amid the swelling torrent?Experience the stunning culmination of Jade's story in Maelstrom, the final novel in a page-turning trilogy of YA mermaid fantasy books. If you like enigmatic mystery, stirring romance, and harrowing intrigue, you'll love Catherine Jones Payne's riveting underwater world.Dive into a page-turning adventure perfect for fans of Alexandra Christo, Leigh Bardugo, and Kiera Cass.

Run. That's what instinct told me. But to save the secrets of my people, and to protect my brother, I must become the enemy.There are two kinds of people in the land of Marlenia.The Marlenians, who live on the surface,and the Freetors, who are forced to live underground.The war between them ended two hundred years ago, but the Freetors still fight for the right to live under the sun. Fifteen-year-old Kiera Driscoll embodies the Freetors’ hopes as the Violet Fox. In a violet cape and mask, she sneaks around Marlenia City stealing food and freeing her people from slavery.Then the Elders task her with a secret mission: retrieve a stolen tome that contains the secrets of Freetor magic, something the Marlenians both fear and covet. Kiera must disguise herself as a noblewoman and infiltrate the Marlenian castle before the Freetor-hating Advisor finds out her real identity, before her brother is imprisoned because of the secrets he hides, and before she falls any more in love with the prince she’s supposed to hate.More is happening in the castle than she realizes, and Kiera is faced with a difficult choice. Will she be loyal to her people and their fight for freedom, or will she be loyal to her heart?

Burn hot and cold.Read minds.Disappear at will.Dream your own death.Welcome to Sparkstone University, where some students are more gifted than others.When Ingrid learns she’s been accepted at the hyper-secretive Sparkstone University, she is sceptical. It’s an honour to attend, apparently, and yet barely anyone has ever heard of the place.And everyone seems a little too happy that she’s there: especially when she meets Sunni and her group of friends. They seem to already know Ingrid. As if she was expected. Expected to save Earth from an imminent alien invasion. Like she has superpowers or something.As if magic and mutations exist. As if aliens are really planning to attack.That just sounds ridiculous. There’s no such thing.…right?Wrong.

Rise.That’s what my heart tells me.But to fight our many enemiesAnd finally unite my people,I must destroy what I’ve become.Kiera Driscoll and her allies return from their perilous journey to find their home in ruins.The East has retreated. For now. But they’re up to something in the mountains, and their brief occupation has left the West with no food, weakened defenses, and an angry populace crying out for a leader. Keegan Tramore is the rightful ruler of all of Marlenia, but his memory is not what it was, and thus it falls to Kiera to carry the broken realm on her shoulders.There is only way to restore Keegan to his former self: the Midnight Tablet, a primal artefact and the legendary origin of all magic. It promises secrets and knowledge to its possessor, as long as they’re willing to pay the price.Magic has corrupted everyone Kiera has ever trusted, and now that same magic she has sworn to destroy has awoken within her. As Kiera spirals into darkness, she must decide, once and for all, what—and whom—she will sacrifice to rid her people of the tyranny of magic.

Rule. That’s what my prince tells me. But to win the respect of my people, and shield them from the threat of war, I must find the Silver Spear.Although sixteen-year-old Kiera Driscoll stands to become the High Queen of Marlenia, she cannot forget her origins as the Violet Fox, the world’s most wanted Freetor criminal. She rules alongside Prince Keegan, her intended, in the mountain castle in the West.Kiera’s new position comes at a heavy cost. The East’s powerful Frostfire family prepares to march west, provoked by Keegan’s refusal to wed their daughter, Lady Sylvia.With the world on the brink of war, Kiera turns to the elusive Elder apprentices–the only ones left underground who can control magic. In exchange for their help, the apprentices want something in return: the Silver Spear, an ancient Freetor artefact of immense importance and power to the Freetor people. Yet the Spear is a legend, and finding it won’t be easy–if it exists at all.The world outside is treacherous, and their allies are few. At every turn, Kiera must sacrifice what she holds dear to move forward. As assassins trail their every move from the shadows, and a mysterious force plots to tear Keegan and Kiera apart, they must travel to the edge of the world to uncover the truth of the Spear before the East destroys their home.

Open the door.Step quickly, step through.Breathe in the darkness,Until you are its master.Ingrid Stanley is in more trouble than she knows. Ingrid’s dead friend keeps showing up in her dreams along with mysterious visions that feel all-too real. What’s worse is now the Collective knows that Ingrid is supposed to have superpowers. They’re waiting to pounce the moment Ingrid and her new superpower-wielding friends make a mistake.When her family is threatened by Professor Jadore, Ingrid decides it’s time to take matters into her own hands. A little student protest can’t go wrong, she thinks. Not when her almost-boyfriend Ethan is fully supporting it. Not when her friends put an innocent student’s life in danger to make it successful.Not when a powerful alien is waiting for Ingrid to inadvertently summon him into this world.Everything’s going to be fine. Absolutely no one will get hurt this time.…right?Wrong, and wrong again.

So You Think You Can Dance meets Storm SirenRealm Award Finalist for Young Adult, 2020Realm Award Finalist for Fantasy, 2020Alliance Award Semifinalist, 2020Serious Writer Book of the Year Semifinalist, 2020Fire is a dangerous magic.Sixteen-year-old Kyla is preparing for the test of her life: a high-stakes dance competition to win the role of principal dancer in the fire festival's elite troupe. When she's not sneaking off into the woods to practice forbidden magic, that is. Among her people, only the men are entrusted with the mysteries of magecraft. But Kyla's been learning in secret for ten years, and she's never backed down from a challenge.As danger ignites, Kyla must maintain a tight control on her magic. For more than her ambition is in peril. She must stay a step ahead of her enemies—a backstabbing dancer, a repressive council, and a crazed arsonist. If she can't withstand the inferno, the people she loves most will die.Fire Dancer is the heart-pounding first novel in a trilogy of YA elemental fantasy books. If you like fierce girl power, slow-burn romance, and harrowing danger, you'll love Catherine Jones Payne's fire world.Plunge into a page-turning adventure perfect for fans of A.L. Knorr, Mary Weber, and Cassandra Clare.

We burn bright in the twilightAnd choose to be rememberedJust when Ingrid and her friends have their hands full investigating the whereabouts of the missing students at Sparkstone University, Sunni Harris’s mother shows up, demanding to know where her daughter is. Only Ingrid and her friends know Sunni’s true fate, but telling Mrs. Harris the truth could put everyone in danger.Unfortunately that’s the least of their problems. An eager student with journalistic inclinations believes she’s found the scoop of a lifetime at Sparkstone. And the proprietor of the new local occult shop believes they’ve found a way to communicate with the dead. Oh, and that mysterious alien that only Ingrid can see? He relays chilling details about future happenings that Ingrid must now prevent.All the while, the Collective are preparing to mount their most dangerous attack yet, with a weapon that cannot be controlled.Playing with the forces of life and death never got anyone in trouble before. Things that are dead stay dead.…right?Not at Sparkstone they don’t.This young adult science fiction series has plenty of action, adventure, and romance. It is book three in the Sparkstone Saga.

A flood is surging.Sixteen-year-old Tryphaena Moss just wants to be left alone. In the Camford River, where the king and queen rule with exacting authority, the wisest naiads stay safe by avoiding the attention of the royals. But then Tryphaena’s best friend is condemned to die.Tryphaena’s carefully planned life is upended when she steps forward to take her friend’s place in a trial by ordeal, provoking the anger of the king and queen and attracting the eye of the roguishly handsome crown prince. To survive, she must embark on a dangerous journey to travel to her father’s homewaters and seek an audience with a foreign queen. Can Tryphaena survive the venture into unfamiliar rivers, or will the rapids take her life? And will the prince’s newfound infatuation with her prove to be her doom?Encounter the magic of the naiad rivers in Daughter of the Rivers, a companion novella to Broken Tides, a spine-tingling series of YA mermaid fantasy books. If you like enigmatic mystery, stirring romance, and harrowing intrigue, you'll love Catherine Jones Payne's riveting underwater world.Dive into a page-turning adventure perfect for fans of Alexandra Christo, Leigh Bardugo, and Kiera Cass.