You’ve got magic, but the spring water that bestows it is locked away.

In someone’s backyard. At an expensive spa. Or miles out of town and you don’t have a car. There are ways to fix that…

Nancy Armstrong reckons those Earthcore folks are just do-gooders whose supernatural springs got handed to them on a silver platter. She’ll do whatever it takes to top up her magic, even if it gets her little sister Colette into trouble.

Dazza Leonard wants to join the Earthcore, but Nancy still wields a terrible leverage over him. And now there are others who fall into her tangled web: a shady businessman and his reluctant son, a pair of prankster twins, a construction worker and an unhinged activist.

Nancy doesn’t care who gets dragged into her schemes, as long as their powers are useful. But some of the springs are strangely toxic, and the dangers aren’t what anybody imagined.

Series: Earthcore, #5

Format: Pocketbook
Published: August 8, 2024
ISBN: ‎ 979-8335332828
Language: English

The Earthcore team's newfound fame means they're asked to help calm an earthquake cluster shaking the Hauraki Gulf yet again. No geological cause can be found—indicating a source related to the Taniwha of legend.

Anira and her team travel to Waiheke Island, where clues point to the old, closed-up WWII fortification tunnels that honeycomb the island's remote eastern headland. As the quakes continue, the team investigates a mystery from the 1940s.

To solve it, they’ll have to head underground, where a young member fumbles with dangerous emerging power and the rest of the team find their magic almost useless.

Split up and trapped beneath the surface, Earthcore races to resolve a wartime injustice, but the Taniwha are angry—and the tide is rising.

Series: Earthcore, #4

Format: Pocketbook
Published: March 13, 2024
ISBN: ‎ 979-8884694545
Language: English

They saved a town with the help of the creatures that command the geysers.
They saved a city from volcanic eruption.
Surely they've earned a break?
...Tell that to the Titanosaur.

Now the faultline network is active, threatening all of central New Zealand with aftershocks that might be bigger than the initial event. Amateur geologist Anira Fraser is in Picton, facing her final high school athletics competition. Along with her friend Tiger McRae, she realises their presence is disturbing the area's guardian spirits.

Soon other Earthcore members arrive in town and discover an old enemy stirring up fresh trouble, while the locals hint at the legend of a mysterious taniwha war that could worsen the series of quakes.

It's up to Anira and the Earthcore team to find the cause of the war and end it - otherwise they themselves could be responsible for a cataclysmic natural disaster.

Series: Earthcore, #3

Format: Pocketbook
Published: June 15th, 2019
ISBN: ‎ 979-8883952318
Language: English

New Zealand's largest city. Forty-nine volcanoes. What's one more?
Auckland is built on volcanoes and has more ocean coastline than any other city in the world. For Anira, a reluctant and forgetful superhero, it's home.

Away from the thermal springs and legendary creatures of Rotorua, Anira's supernatural brainpower and memory have faded. She's forgotten the events of summer and even the friends who became the Earthcore team. Tiger, Graeme and Bethany come to the big city too, each unsettled in their own way.

But their maniacal opponent has arrived in Auckland, wielding mind control and bent on revenge, terrorism and profit. When the earth becomes restless from his meddling, Anira must fight to remember her gifts, to bring the team together again, figure out shenanigans at sea, and to call the ancient taniwha to help protect her hometown from a disastrous eruption.

In the Earthcore series, every book is a self-contained adventure and can be read as a standalone.

Series: Earthcore, #2

Format: Pocketbook
Published: July 27th, 2018
ISBN: 979-8866247356
Language: English

Superpowers from hot springs — who knew!

In a tourist hotspot in New Zealand, geysers have secrets, and so do the locals. Can one girl stop a superpowered conman?

Anira doesn't want to go along on the family trip to Rotorua, city of geysers. Not while she's fighting off a latent phobia of volcanoes.

But this place has ancient secrets beyond anything she could imagine. Untamed thermal forces hold a hidden power that transforms Anira. The spirits of the land have a job for her to do: stop a foreign developer who wants to concrete over the natural springs as he misuses the very same powers to take control.

Using abilities she has never known, soon Anira finds there are others like her — but they want her to back off. Can she convince them to work together and save the city?

Superpowers. Volcanoes. Legendary creatures. Read the compelling origin story of the Earthcore heroes.

If you like supernatural mysteries, real-life locations and satisfying endings, then you'll love this fast-paced series.

Buy Earthcore to take a trip to New Zealand right now.

"It's like a front-row seat on a tour with a personal guide - and extra magic!"

Series: Earthcore, #1

Format: Pocketbook
Published: July 27th, 2017
ISBN: 979-8377110927
Language: English

Does crime still exist after the end of the world? And, if it does ... how much can you get away with charging people to solve it?

Introducing "Sievert and Gray, Detectors", a standalone post-apocalyptic crime comedy like no other.

"But you ... you just saw too much. This is how it has to be. Now stay still, eh? This is gonna take a few chops."

And that's how John Doe was murdered.

* * *

In the Orcklands, a sprawling post-apocalyptic nightmare of a city, what is crime? Who gets to decide?

Sievert and Gray - the Orcklands' finest detectors - think they have the answers. At least ... enough to charge clients for their services, anyway.

When a distraught Jane Doe tells them her brother has mysteriously vanished, it's their job to figure out why - and who murdered him. But it won't be easy. Politics is afoot, and when the Orcklands' warring leaders start scheming, things get bloody. Can Sievert and Gray find John Doe and bring his killer to justice (whatever that means) before the bullets start flying?

...probably not. But they'll damn well shoot back if they have to.

"Sievert & Gray, Detectors" is the second standalone novel set in Duncan P. Pacey's Waste series. It's a detective comedy with a splash of difference - although that splash is a bit red and might be hard to wash out.

Series: The Waste Stories, #2

Format: C, 472 pages, Paperback
Published: August 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-0473417208
Language: English

"Smack-dab, in the Middle of Nowhere" is a post-apocalyptic comedy novel about a grumpy bar owner desperately trying to save her home and livelihood from the perils of the Waste - perils like bandits, tax, and...tourism?

Think Terry Pratchett meets "Fallout", but not as good as either.

* * *

“Bert’d be damned if this bar did anything other than thrive. Smack-dab would prosper, or she'd shoot folk until it did.”

Bert is the takes-no-crap bar owner of Smack-dab, a struggling tavern halfway from nowhere to nowhere else. All around her is the barren, post-apocalyptic Waste, a terrifying place plagued by villainous bandits, ravenous monsters, and Things that go bump in the night (and also eat you).

The Waste is in turmoil. Lord Ash has been overthrown, replaced by a terrifyingly powerful giant hell-bent on taxing anyone and everyone that can help fund his devious master plan. Smack-dab is threatened with total destruction, but Bert has a plan of her own. Can she rally enough help to fend off the bandits?

Strange and hilarious, “Smack-dab, in the Middle of Nowhere” is the fresh new face of the post-apocalypse, even if that face has more creepy mutant eyes than you expected.

Series: The Waste Stories, #1

Format: C, 316 pages, Paperback
Published: December 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-0473417208
Language: English

Thrust into a world previously unknown to her, Agatha fumbled her way through bouts of depression as the desperation of her situation hits home, the denial of her new life, and the brutality of war that ensues, and magic that she never knew was in her. Can she pull herself back into reality, to help those who love her the most?

The crew living in the castle, help with fortification and safety, but what will happen if more join? Will the balance of calm and support hold, or will it teeter on the edge.

Lord Caspian has his tricks with control, deceit, and manipulation, not to mention the growing unease of a town that supported and cared for Agatha’s aunt. As Agatha grows in strength the young woman that first walked through the oak doors, clueless to the unravelling events to face how life is teetering on a thin line stretched over a cavern filled to the brim with Daemons raged and bloodthirsty. Will it be Caspian that breaks the line or will the stress of the new life become all to much for our beloved Agatha.
And don’t forget our beloved Fey and their new home, reveling in their newfound freedom, no more the kamikaze Fey that were only destined to be caged and used as subjects of war.


Reviews:

JD ‘if you’re into epic fantasy with magic, adventure, and a dash of romance, you’ve got to check this series out! Trust me you won’t regret it!’

Grungy_fairy_reader: ‘Here we go! Are you ready for the second book in this series because I loved it even more than the first one!’.

Published: 22 June, 2024
ISBN: 9781067014018
Language: English

As the Civil War rages, secessionists menace California. The Confederates want the state and they’ll stop at nothing to they’ll stop at nothing to take it.

UTAH TERRITORY, 1860. On a wagon train headed for the Golden State, Aleksandra makes a dangerous enemy of a gun-running Confederate when she fights her way out of his unwelcome embrace. 
After a late-night poker game, Xavier’s new friends realize he’s heard too much to be allowed to live. 
Embroiled in the Confederates’ fight to drag the new state from the Union and make it their own, can Aleks and Xavier survive? The secessionists mean business.

Series: The Long Trails Series, #2 (stand-alone)

Format: C, 498 Pages, Paperback 
Published: February 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9941447-3-7  
Language: English

Meet the Author

Lizzi grew up riding wild in the Santa Cruz Mountain redwoods, became an equine veterinarian at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, practiced in the California Pony Express and Gold Country before emigrating to New Zealand. When not writing, she's swinging a rapier or shooting a bow in medieval garb, riding, driving a carriage or playing on her farm, singing, or working as an equine veterinarian or science teacher. She is multiply published and awarded in special interest magazines and veterinary periodicals.

They set sail for the peace and calm of New Zealand, but they hadn’t counted on murderers, mutineers, and a land war in paradise.

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND NEW ZEALAND, 1863. Aleksandra and Xavier have finally found happiness on their Rancho de las Pulgas, but tragedy and death strike far too soon. Sickened further by the U.S. government’s treatment of their Native American friends, they only want out. Of everything.They are thrown a lifeline by an old friend of Xavier’s from the California goldfields. This Gustavus von Tempsky, with his shadowed past, is now a newspaperman in Coromandel, New Zealand. His invitation draws them to a new start, with a part to play in the development of the peaceful young country—but by the time they arrive in Aotearoa, everything has changed. 
Aleks thought mutineers and scoundrels aboard ship were the worst of their worries, but she hadn’t planned on disembarking into a turbulent wilderness and befriending the helpful local Māori, only to find von Tempsky leading the colonial troops into the bush against the natives who’d saved her life.

Series: The Long Trails Series, #3 (stand-alone)

Format: C, 381 Pages, Paperback 
Published: May 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9941447-5-1    
Language: English

Meet the Author

Lizzi grew up riding wild in the Santa Cruz Mountain redwoods, became an equine veterinarian at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, practiced in the California Pony Express and Gold Country before emigrating to New Zealand. When not writing, she's swinging a rapier or shooting a bow in medieval garb, riding, driving a carriage or playing on her farm, singing, or working as an equine veterinarian or science teacher. She is multiply published and awarded in special interest magazines and veterinary periodicals.

She didn’t expect to become a target, but she is one now.

 Winner of True West 2016 Best Western Romance, Romance Writers of New Zealand: 2014 Pacific Hearts Award and 2015 Koru Award.

UTAH TERRITORY, 1860. Alone. Aleksandra has spent her whole life training for the inevitable. So, when a brutal Cossack tracks down and kills her father, she knows what she must do. She flees, disguised as a Pony Express rider, in an attempt to keep her pa’s killer from discovering their family’s secret.

Xavier has kept the world, especially women, at arms-length since he ran from his troubles as heir to his Californio rancho family. As a Pony Express Station Keeper, having a girl riding the Pony out of his station wasn’t ever part of his plans... but somehow it happened, blackmail being what it is. Curiously, he didn’t want to let this one out of his sight.

They begin to let each other into their hearts, but the cards are stacking against them as the minutes tick by and Aleks rides full speed into the Indian Paiute War. Can they learn to trust in time to escape the Indians, evade the killer, and save both their love and Aleksandra’s family legacy?

Series: The Long Trails Series, #1

Format: C, 394 Pages, Paperback 
Published: February 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9941431-4-3
Language: English

Meet the Author

Lizzi grew up riding wild in the Santa Cruz Mountain redwoods, became an equine veterinarian at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, practiced in the California Pony Express and Gold Country before emigrating to New Zealand. When not writing, she's swinging a rapier or shooting a bow in medieval garb, riding, driving a carriage or playing on her farm, singing, or working as an equine veterinarian or science teacher. She is multiply published and awarded in special interest magazines and veterinary periodicals.

From the author of LIMELIGHT ON LOVE and DRAGONUS CHRONICLES comes this sensual, heart-warming story of second chances and rediscovered love.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"A lovely read. I loved the story and characters. I do love this author. 5*."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "A steamy but romantic read!"

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I absolutely love this author and this book didn’t disappoint."

Thirty-two years ago, sixteen-year-old Emily had a crush on Noah Hayes—the boy next door and captain of the high school volleyball team. She had hoped he would finally notice her. But Fate had other ideas, and Noah went off to university, leaving his family, friends, and Emily, behind.

As a reward for finishing her latest manuscript, bestselling romance author, Emily Reid, signs up for a four-day Autumn Colours photography workshop in Otago, New Zealand. While she sits waiting for the bus to head out, a tall, gorgeous stranger with broad shoulders and dark tousled hair, comes on board. She’s never met him before, yet there’s something familiar about him, an inexplicable magnetic attraction that sets her heart racing.

The last person Noah expects to run into on a photography workshop is his high school crush. But he isn’t going to waste the opportunity. With green eyes, fiery auburn hair, and a smile that takes his breath away, she is even more captivating than he remembers. And if she’d let him, he would spend every possible moment in her company.

Can Noah and Emily use the second chance Fate gives them to focus on love?

Find out in book one of Jay Shaw’s new series: Seasons Of Romance.


Content advisory: This book contains adult content and themes best suited to readers over 18 years old.


What people are saying about FOCUS ON LOVE:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️...Gently told with a real sense of place (New Zealand) that figures heavily in the story the author slowly unfolds the tentative exploration of two older people trying to recapture the potential of the past. Kristin Gleeson

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️...An amazing love story of a couple that are of a non-traditional age - they are 48 + 50 - and this was a long awaited reading treat. Too many stories are based on the 18- 28ish age range with the writing styles reflecting that age. The writing in this book reflects the maturity of our characters and that is refreshing for the older reader. Jay's character development and world building brings the reader into the heart of the story and you won't want to leave. Donna

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️...What a lovely heart-warming book. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and their journeys. Life has a habit of showing us the unexpected. Amazing after all those years their paths would cross again. Highly recommended. Angela Taylor
Content Advisory: Contains adult themes that are best suited to readers 18 years old and over.

Tigger Warnings/Age Restrictions: R18+ for sexual situations and occasional swearing

Published: 11 July, 2021
ISBN: 9798535196763
Language: English

Meet the Author

Jay was raised on a balanced diet of Star Wars, 80's TV, and romance novels. So, naturally, she has a partiality for tall, dark-haired, space heroes and military men in thigh holsters.

When I'm not lunching with my most-excellent author friends or marathoning Netflix, you can catch me writing sexy space adventures, wolf-shifter escapades, contemporary second-chance romances, and steamy action/adventures.

Despite the many trials and tribulations of her characters, it is universally acknowledged that they will discover their one great love. A love all time and space will lie down and be still for.