Nica's Legacy — Laura Jo Phillips

When the leading lights of high society on planet Apedra host their glittering three month social “season,” there's nothing quite like it anywhere else in the Thousand Worlds. No visitor could help but be impressed by the formal dress balls, the beautiful mansions, the exquisite designer gowns, the sprawling country estates, and the glittering jewelry. And, let's not forget the most memorable happening of the season: the series of brutal, blood-soaked serial murders. Unfairly expelled from the elite ICARUS Academy for blocking her own powerful psychic abilities to screen herself from the unbearable pain of a searing tragedy from her past, Nica Vinia, sister of Arima Honor Vulpiran, travels to Apedra to visit with her long-time school friend, Bree, and spend the social season with her. Almost immediately, her expectations of a few light-hearted months of dancing and “girl time” go awry. First, her hopes of a restful vacation are disrupted by the presence of Bree's strikingly handsome brother, Ian, with whom she feels an instant connection and sudden, powerful desire, but who appears to despise her on sight. Then, Nica finds out that the planet itself is dying for reasons its residents can't understand, and that -- in addition to the humans there -- Apedra is inhabited by magical beings with ties both to Earth and to the shifter clans of Planet Jasan, Nica's adopted homeworld. In addition, it is revealed to Nica that her psychic gifts may be the key to saving that entire world from becoming a desolate wasteland of rock and ice. And, as if that weren't enough, there's a rampaging serial killer on the loose who has Apedra's first families in the cross-hairs with Bree as the possible next target. With her friend's life and the life of an entire world in the balance, Nica must confront and vanquish the pain of her past in order to fulfill the potential of her enormous gifts and liberate her emotions so that she can experience everything that love, and passion, have to offer. Nica's Legacy, a full-length 108,000 word novel, is the first volume of the “Hearts of ICARUS” series, the new fantasy novel arc from Laura Jo Phillips, author of the “Soul Linked Saga” and the “Orbs of Rathira” trilogy. As in her previous offerings, Nica's Legacy blends futuristic fantasy, magic, romance, sensuality, adventure, intrigue, danger, and passion in to an exciting, emotional roller-coaster ride which will be cherished by Laura Jo's current fans and by readers who are new to her work.