What came to me multiple times as I read In Graves Below was the amazing photography of sexy wounded veterans by Michael Stokes. Ms. van Natta’s description of Idrián brought these images to mind over and over again as Idrián proved to be a survivor, wounded and scarred physically but with a resolve and strength of spirit and character that left me enthralled. Just as endearing is Riya’s ability to see past the scars to the loving warrior beneath.

Idrián is one of the last in a line of dreamwalk warriors. With the passing of his grandfather, Black Fox he is left with the responsibility of maintaining the treaties of the Dreamwalk realm which guards this realm from an invasion of demons and maintaining the wards upon his ancestral lands. Unfortunately, his grandfather put off his complete training until it was too late. The wards are failing and he has no way of renewing them unless his grandfather’s spirit returns to guide him. He spends his nights walking the Dream realm. In the Dream realm, he’s whole. He is unlimited by the prosthesis he struggles with on Earth. During the day, he communes with the spirits of his ancestors… that is if you call being harassed by them from sunrise until sundown communing. Recently in his Dreamwalk, he was joined by a beautiful woman who helped him defeat a demon. Then she disappeared. Now his grandfather’s spirit has come to tell him he must find this woman, his dream partner in order to save the world. With the few clues, she gave him he’s off to Denver to search for the dancer that already holds a piece of him.

Riya is the descendant of an avian shifter and a cloud spirit. While her siblings have inherited the ability to shift, Riya didn’t. For the most part, she’s human… well except when it comes to her magical ability with doors and portals. It was that very gift that found her walking in the Dream realm where she chanced upon a beautiful warrior fighting an ugly creature. She has spent every night since following the warrior in the Dream realm. Unable to manifest as she did the first time her words go unheard. During the day she works in a coffee shop, her evenings are spent as a dancer and choreographer. What spare time she has is spent assisting at the VA to rehabilitate wounded warriors. Promised a paid promotion she puts her heart and soul into the theatrical piece she is choreographing. But promises are just that… promises. Demons are hiding amongst the living and working the set will prove more dangerous than anything she has ever encountered. Perfect timing for fate to deliver her dream warrior to her doorstep.

Idrián and Riya partnered are a force to be reckoned with. Soul eating demons, faulty wards, pesky ancestors and an infestation of minor demons that multiply like rabbits are no match for the combined defense of a bonded pair of Dreamwalkers. They defy the limitations of the physical. Their passion for life, love and each other blazes. If you haven’t tried out the Magic, New Mexico Kindle World yet, perhaps it’s time. In Graves Below is my third in the series and I have to say if the rest stay in keeping with the world SE Smith built as well as Ms. van Natta has done then they will prove to be totally awesome as well.

♥ Amazon US ♥

Magic, New Mexico Kindle Worlds Series

Touch of Frost by SE Smith, Book 1

Taking on Tory by SE Smith, Book 2

Etched in Stone by Susan Hayes

Guarding Grayson by Cathryn Cade

In Graves Below by Carol Van Natta

Tangling With Topper by Donna McDonald

Taste of Wicked by Michelle Howard

Touch of Fire by Michele Callahan

Touch of Decadence by Sylvia McDaniel

A Touch of Patience by Evelyn Lederman

A Touch of Mayhem by Geri Foster

In my career, I’ve been a swing-shift guard, secretary, emergency medical technician, actor, voiceover talent, film production coordinator, corporate trainer, singing telegram performer, technical writer, non-profit director, business continuity specialist, and of course, an author. I still do some of those things so I can eat regularly and sleep indoors. I make my home in Fort Collins, Colorado, that I share with a sometime mad scientist and various cats. Any violations of the laws of physics in my books are the fault of the cats, not the mad scientist.

Overload Flux, Minder Rising, Zero Flux, and Pico’s Crush are the first four books in the science fiction romance series, and both Overload Fluxand Minder Rising have won SFR Galaxy Awards. In Graves Below is a standalone paranormal romance in S.E. Smith’s “Magic, New Mexico” Kindle Worlds universe. If you’d like to read something completely different, look for Hooray for Holopticon, a retro science fiction comedy, co-written with Ann Harbour. Trust me, it’s nothing like the Central Galactic Concordance series, but it’s a fine, silly romp. All my books are available from most major e-book retailers.
I’m also a playwright, screen writer, and radio script writer, with scripts on such subjects as bank robbery, assassination, aging, demons, funeral homes, and bootleggers.