Conjure (The Hoodoo Apprentice) - Softcover

Be careful what you search for...Emma Guthrie expects this summer to be like any other in the South Carolina Lowcountry--hot and steamy with plenty of beach time alongside her best friend and secret crush, Cooper Beaumont, and Emma's ever-present twin brother, Jack. But then a mysterious eighteenth-century message in a bottle surfaces, revealing a hidden pirate bounty. Lured by the adventure, the trio discovers the treasure and unwittingly unleashes an ancient Gullah curse that attacks Jack with the wicked flesh-eating Creep and promises to steal Cooper's soul on his approaching sixteenth birthday. But when a strange girl bent on revenge appears, demon dogs become a threat, and Jack turns into a walking skeleton; Emma has no choice but to learn hoodoo magic to undo the hex, all before the last days of summer--and her friends--are lost forever.

Books provided Lea Nolan a portal to enchanted lands where anything was possible and characters relied on their wits to wiggle out of sticky situations. Today, even though she's all grown up, she writes the kinds of stories she sought as a teen -- smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She has an undergraduate degree in history and a master's in public policy and women's studies, which believe it or not help a lot in her fiction writing. She lives in Maryland with her heroically supportive husband and three clever children, who've figured out how to get out of doing their chores.