Rove City Series

In El's fantasies, she pilots a fighter jet for the intergalactic fleet. In reality, she's a mechanic whose social grid ranking guarantees she'll never advance beyond the lowest grunt work, and a slave in all but name to her cruel and self-centered stepmother and stepsisters. The most she can hope for is a few stolen moments of happiness practicing on her sisters' flight simulators, or talking to the mysterious stranger she met on an illicit night of stargazing. When the queen announces a competition to find new pilots for the fleet, El knows this is her chance to escape. But her stepmother will never let her compete—and then she learns that her new friend, the one person she thought she could trust, was hiding a secret that changes everything between them. It's a good thing she has a lot more friends than she thinks she does. Exciting, fast-paced, and hopeful, this science fiction retelling of Cinderella is the first in the Rove City series.

Fia loves her job as an electrician aboard a space-faring city vessel. She is skilled at her work, and appreciates not having too much facetime with other humans.  She just has one problem: a colleague has taken an interest in her—interest she doesn't return.  When she finally works up the courage to tell him no, he takes offense and reports her to her supervisor for insubordination. Her punishment? Her boss assigns her to repair the conduits in the bowels of the ship, reported to be haunted by a ghostly voice.  As Fia nervously delves into the darkest, most unknown corners of the ship she calls home, she wonders just what she will find down there: friend or foe? Or something else entirely? This is a short story set in the Rove City universe, set roughly 150 years prior to book 1, Midnight Wings.  

Every year, members of Jack's community are invited to meet with the wealthy founders of the Stalk, the living space elevator that casts its massive shadow over every part of her life. Every few years, one of the chosen is a Digger like Jack--who returns to the community only to throw themselves to their death. Jack doesn't want to think about the Stalk. She doesn't want to think about the friends she's lost. But this year, it's her turn—and refusing the invitation isn't an option. When she arrives, she only has one goal: stay alive. But as she encounters a mix of people in the highest positions of power and other ordinary citizens like herself, she begins to realize that the truth about the Stalk is bigger than all of them--and darker than she could have imagined. And she's the only one with the power to stop it. The Stalk is a science fiction retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk, and the second in the Rove City series.

Maybelle works as a mechanic fixing bots and ships on Rove City and she loves it. Her life should be good. Except that her merchant father hasn't returned from his most recent trip, her younger sisters need more than she can give them, and the family is quickly running out of money. Not to mention, Gabor, a local security guard, has decided he deserves Maybelle's affections—at any cost.   She's managing, until Gabor takes his attentions one step too far: he threatens her sisters. Maybelle realizes that she can't protect them alone—it's time to track her father down. But when she finally finds him, she discovers that it's not that simple. He's being held prisoner by Amarok, a temperamental cyborg who will only let her father go under one condition: Maybelle stays behind in his place. For the sake of her sisters, she agrees, but soon discovers that there is far more to Amarok than meets the eye. The longer she stays on board his ship, the clearer it is that something strange is going on—but she doesn't know what it is or how to fix it. The Silver Arm is a science fiction retelling of Beauty and the Beast, and the third in the Rove City series.

For nearly thirty years, Penny has searched the galaxy for her missing son. She has a reputation throughout the solar systems as a relentless mother on a mission—and as a woman who won't let the chronic pain she suffers prevent her from achieving her goal.    Then Penny gets a tip. Someone on Rove City might have a clue to her son's whereabouts. This will probably be a dud, just like the last hundred tips, but she decides to try one last time. If she still can't find him, she'll settle down and live out her days on a nearby planet, and maybe try to find some peace for the first time in her life.    When the tip turns out to be a double cross, she finds herself flying across the galaxy toward a mysterious planet said to be inhabited by ghosts, with two disreputable people who she absolutely cannot trust—and still with no idea where her son is. Penny must confront her own hopes, fears, and grief over her lost boy as she hurtles through space, destination unknown.   Hook's Regret is the fourth book in the Rove City series, and a retelling of Peter Pan.

No home, no family, no nothing. This is how Rose and her sister Snow have lived for their entire lives: hiding in the bowels of Rove City, begging for scraps, and relying on the kindness of the mysterious Baron for survival tips--all while avoiding security bots, stealing to survive, and doing everything within their power to avoid capture. Then comes the purge. The city suddenly begins changing security schedules, doing random maintenance, and arresting anyone who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not to mention, the mysterious Baron, who has helped them so many times before, seems to have disappeared. And there's nothing Rose can do. Or so she thinks. The purge sends the sisters fleeing into the main levels of the city where they must hide in plain sight, protected only by their wits and the strange appearances of a stray dog. Rose quickly begins to realize that the way they are living their lives is unsustainable. No matter how hard they try, how fast they run, or how well they hide--eventually, they will get caught. Unless she can find the Baron. With the help of her new friend Aspen, Rose risks everything to find out who this mysterious Baron is, so together they can help save every underdweller in Rove City.

Sophia's life is a mess. She's dating her boss. Working in a job she doesn't want. And now, she's being poached by the Queen's Lab to work on a super-secret project she has no interest in. But when security shows up at her door to escort her to the Tower, she decides she might as well see what all the fuss is about.   There she meets Thorne, a mysterious, enigmatic colleague whose position at the lab isn't entirely clear. But only moments after meeting him, he offers her a cryptic warning: keep your morals to yourself.   At first, she's offended by this advice—but the reason quickly becomes clear: there's nothing simple about trying to help people who are being eaten alive by living metal.   In only a matter of days, Sophia is drawn into a world of mystery, excitement, and danger, and as far as she can tell, there's no way out.   This is a science fiction retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and Book 6 in the Rove City series.

Jack has finally arrived on Rove City, after spending three months on a ship overflowing with other refugees from Jord. The only problem is, Rove City was not expecting them, and is not prepared to manage the influx of people fleeing the destruction of their home. In addition, Jack is still struggling with the affects of the Stalk's intrusion into her mind—rather than decreasing, the symptoms seem to have gotten worse throughout the journey.   To compound all this, when Jack seeks out the family she left behind years ago, she learns that her mother is dead and her sister has been imprisoned for crimes against the queen. And when Ace asks Jack to testify to finish bringing down the Solv Company, Jack starts to think that her only option is to leave Rove City again, this time forever.   As Jack tries to navigate this new world on board Rove City, manage the worsening symptoms of the Stalk's influence, and figure out what's going on with her sister, she begins to realize that though the Stalk might be gone, there are much, much worse things to take its place.

It's been one year since Amarok offered Maybelle a job aboard his vessel, and she hasn't heard from him since. Anger, concern, and irritation towards him have plagued her, but now all she feels is worried—and bored. Her father has been on the straight and narrow, has a new job, and is taking care of Maybelle's sisters competently. And Maybelle feels adrift and unsure of what her future holds.    In one last effort to reach out to Amarok, Maybelle agrees to a strange task: collect a mysterious item hidden in a bot sent to the mechanic's shop where she works, and deliver it to the resistance. Maybelle has heard of the resistance, and after some initial hesitation, she decides it's worth the risk, especially if it leads her to finding out what happened to Amarok.    But one task for the resistance leads to another, and Maybelle finds herself dragged into a web and of intrigue and danger far more complex than she ever could have imagined.    This is the tenth book in the Rove City series, and the second installment of Maybelle's story.  

Etele has a good life, living on a cold and snowy planet with a family and community who love her. But when sky fighters from Rove City show up suddenly and destroy her small village, her world is turned upside down. And when she discovers that her own father is the target of this attack, everything she once believed about her life is forever altered. Fleeing from the sky fighters and their now ruined town, Etele, her friend Natali, her two young charges, Maeve and Lazlo, and the surviving members of her village are forced to make a long, arduous journey on foot to the nearest city. And when the first winter snow hits during their march, they are unprepared to handle its devastating wrath. Just when all hope is lost, a mysterious bear appears, guiding Etele and her companions to safety, and leading Etele down a path of discovery—about what happened to her village and why, her father and her family history, and most importantly, about Etele herself. This is the seventh book in the Rove City series, and a retelling of the Italian fairy tale, She-Bear.

El is about to graduate from fighter pilot training, and it is the greatest achievement of her life. Three days before it's official, Queen Amina offers El a special task: join her crew of elite pilots, assassins, and trackers for a secret mission on a nearby planet. Thrilled at the opportunity, El agrees.    When they arrive on the planet, El keeps her eyes and ears open for any information that might be relevant to the queen--about the mission, the other members of the Queen's Guard, and about the local inhabitants.   But on the team's return trip, when one of the assassins cracks open El's skull and leaves her for dead, El has to wonder--was this truly the queen's plan all along?  This exciting adventure is the next installment in the Rove City series of science fiction fairy tale retellings, and the direct sequel to Midnight Wings.