Mera Midnight

Secrets, magic, and murder — welcome to Mera Midnight’s world…
A fantasy writer will go to the ends of the earth to win back the love of a man — even if it means awakening the oldest and most terrifying myth ever known.
But to conjure a power beyond the grave, Mera must outwit one of the most elusive fugitives alive — a man doomed by a cursed Slavic bloodline.
A man hiding for thirty years in a South African rainforest, fiercely protected by his devoted household staff.
A man whispered of across the ages as knowing the secrets of the most powerful magic, while also holding the key to awaken the greatest imagination.
But if Mera wants to learn the science of magic from a master magician, she has to be craftier and more cunning than any known figure from history.
She has to be more imaginative than the best fantasy writers before her.
And her performance has to be flawless as she acts her way to gain the ultimate power — hoping she can be convincing enough to outwit everyone around her.
But when the worlds of reality and imagination collide, disaster unfolds between the pages. The written stories come to life, and Mera must rewrite the oldest tales to prevent devastating consequences — knowing that the only way they can both be saved is for love to become stronger than magic.
Bloodlines, the first novel in the Mera Midnight trilogy, carries the reader from the snow-covered forests of ancient Russia—steeped in myth—to Solitaire, a picturesque seaside village in the Cape, drenched in sun and secrets; from Moscow, where Major Igor is closing in on an assassin, to the misty Knysna Forest, where an inquisitive fantasy writer has set her sights on the enigmatic neighbour across the valley.
It’s a world of magic and mischief, enchanted places and forgotten myths, where fairytales are not always fiction—and impossible love may be the most dangerous thing of all.
Previously published as The Russian and His Personnel: Bloodlines by Luca Asten (AUTHOR).