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Charlie N. Holmberg

Biography

Charlie N. Holmberg

Charlie N. Holmberg is a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author of fantasy and romance fiction, including the Paper Magician series, the Spellbreaker series and the Whimbrel House series, and writes contemporary romance under C. N. Holmberg. She is published in more than 20 languages, has been a finalist for a RITA Award and multiple Whitney Awards, and won the 2020 Whitney Award for Novel of the Year: Adult Fiction. Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie was raised a Trekkie alongside three sisters who also have boy names. She is a BYU alumna, plays the ukulele and owns too many pairs of glasses. She currently lives with her family in Utah.

Charlie N. Holmberg

Books by Charlie N. Holmberg

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

Pell is an engineer and a digger by trade --- unearthing and repairing the fascinating artifacts left behind by the mysterious Ancients who once inhabited the sunbaked planet of Tampere. She’ll do anything to help the people of her village survive and to better understand the secrets of what came before. Heartwood and Moseus are keepers of a forbidding tower near the village of Emgarden. Inside are the remnants of complex machines the likes of which Pell has never seen. The tower’s other riddle is Heartwood himself, an enigma to whom Pell is inexplicably drawn. Pell’s restoration of this broken behemoth soon brings disturbing visions --- and the discovery that her relationship to it could finally reveal the origins of the tower’s strange keepers and the unfathomable reason the truth has been hidden from her.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Merritt Fernsby’s life has changed considerably since he inherited Whimbrel House. He’s engaged to Hulda Larkin, who opened his eyes to the uncanny. And he’s grown quite protective of his uncle Owein, who is presently inhabiting the body of a mixed-breed terrier when Merritt receives a missive from none other than Alexandrina Victoria, the Queen of England: I am interested in your dog. It’s the queen’s duty to the peerage to keep British wizardry empowered. Her offer: England will find a human vessel for Owein, marry him into the royal family, and add this remarkable soul-shifter to its lineage. For Owein, a boy trapped in the body of a pup, it’s a dream come true. However, once they are in London and in consortium with a necromancer, the situation doesn’t feel right, both with their hosts and the house they inhabit.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

Seven years on the run from her abusive father, and with no hope of sanctuary among the dwindling pockets of human civilization, Lark is out of options. Her only leverage is a cursed power: she can thrust fear onto others, leaving all threats fleeing in terror. If the campfire myths of her childhood are true, Lark’s sole chance for refuge could lie in Cagmar, the city of trolls --- a brutal species and the sworn enemies of humanity. Her gift makes her invaluable as a monster slayer to fight off the unspeakable creatures that torment the trolls’ hanging city. Lark will do anything to make Cagmar her home, but her new role comes with a caveat: use her power against a troll, and she’ll be killed. Her loyalty is quickly put to the test when she draws the hatred of a powerful troll who loathes humankind.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Thanks to house tamer Hulda Larkin, the mischief infesting Whimbrel House has calmed. But if Hulda’s job is done, what does that mean for Merritt Fernsby, inheritor of the remote Narragansett Bay estate, who’s only now coming to terms with his enchanted place in the world? His nights are sleepless, with an uncontrollable cacophony of voices that compel a long-overdue search into his uncanny bloodline. It’s not the only puzzle uniting Merritt and his ex-housekeeper, Hulda. Her friend and former employer at the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has disappeared. Hulda herself is up for the now-vacant position of institute director, and her rival for the role is a stranger who’s suspiciously curious about Whimbrel House --- and could have connections to an old foe.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction

Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby is surprised when he inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home --- until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever. Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too. But the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

It happens in an instant, filling Aija with dread: the Sun is suddenly cast from the sky, throwing the Earth into midday darkness. On the fourth day of endless night, Aija finds an unconscious man by the river. His skin is as hot as her lantern’s glass and just as golden. To Aija, a farmhand with the soul of an artist, this beautiful stranger is an inspiration --- and a mystery. He calls himself Saiyon. He bleeds light. His friends are celestial. His enemies are godlings of the moon. Stunningly, Aija is falling in love with the earthbound Sun God. When Saiyon’s faltering powers are restored to full glory, what then? Aija chooses to follow her heart to places darker and more dangerous than she realizes.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

When a star dies, a new one must be born. The Sun God chooses the village of Endwever to provide a mortal womb. The birthing of a star is always fatal for the mother, and Ceris Wenden sacrifices herself to secure her family’s honor. But after her star child is born, Ceris does what no other star mother has: she survives. When Ceris returns to Endwever, it’s not nine months later --- it’s 700 years later. Inexplicably displaced in time, Ceris is determined to seek out her descendants. Being a woman traveling alone brings its own challenges, until Ceris encounters a mysterious --- and desperate --- godling. Ristriel is the only being who can guide Ceris safely to her destination. Now, as Ceris traverses realms both mortal and beyond, her journey truly begins.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance

England, 1895. An unsolved series of magician murders and opus thefts isn’t a puzzle to Elsie Camden. But to reveal a master spellcaster as the culprit means incriminating herself as an unregistered spellbreaker. When Elsie refuses to join forces with the charming assassin, her secret is exposed, she’s thrown in jail, and the murderer disappears. But Elsie’s hope hasn’t vanished. Through a twist of luck, the elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey helps Elsie join the lawful, but with a caveat: they must marry to prove their cover story. Forced beneath a magical tutor while her bond with Bacchus grows, Elsie seeks to thwart the plans of England’s most devious criminal --- if she can find them.

by Charlie N. Holmberg - Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Romance

The orphaned Elsie Camden learned as a girl that there were two kinds of wizards in the world: those who pay for the power to cast spells and those, like her, born with the ability to break them. Commissioned by an underground group, Elsie uses her spellbreaking to push back against the aristocrats and help the common man. Elite magic user Bacchus Kelsey is one elusive spell away from his mastership when he catches Elsie breaking an enchantment. To protect her secret, Elsie strikes a bargain. She’ll help Bacchus fix unruly spells around his estate if he doesn’t turn her in. Working together, Elsie’s trust in --- and fondness for --- the handsome stranger grows. So does her trepidation about the rise in the murders of wizards and the theft of the spellbooks their bodies leave behind.