St. Paul’s Academy of the Arts isn’t your usual boarding school…
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About the Book
Serenade
The Dark Nocturne Book One
by Morgan Shamy
Published 31 May 2022
Aethon Books
Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery
Page Count: 266
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St. Paul’s Academy of the Arts isn’t your usual boarding school…
When November Huntington is sent away to live with her long-lost family, she’s forced to attend a music school for the gifted—which wouldn’t be a problem if November were musical. She’s an athlete through and through, and hates being different.
The kids at the school don’t welcome her, they’re wary of her presence, especially Vincent, a brooding teenage boy involved with dark spirits, who can make time stop when he plays his piano. In fact, all her classmates are all obsessed with playing their instruments. And odd things happen when the do.
But something is off about the school. Deaths have occurred through the years, students showing up dead the same way November’s parents were killed—with their throats ripped out.
A killer is on the loose… November must figure out a way to stop whoever it is, balance her feelings for Vincent, and solve her parents’ past before she, too, is numbered among the dead.
The first in a Paranormal Fantasy Saga by debut author Morgan Shamy.
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
Excerpt
“Hello?” she called again. She poked her head outside and looked both ways down the hall, but still, nothing but a long stretch of dark.
She started to pull back into her room when she heard it. A voice—smooth and deep, barely a whisper.
“You shouldn’t be here, you know. Your father wouldn’t have wanted it.”
Her heart pounded at the mention of her father, and her mind screamed at who would know him. She gripped the doorframe, her fingers digging into the wood.
“Who are you?” she asked, her jaw tight. “And what do you know about my father?”
“Just call me a family friend.” A smirk carried in his voice.
She squinted down the hall and her eyes cleared a tad. A long dark figure leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
“What are you doing hiding in the dark?”
“I don’t want you in my home,” he answered. “So figure out a way to go and go. Now.”
November glared through the dark, her teeth clamping together. She had never allowed herself to be bullied, and she wasn’t about to start now.
“I can stay here if I want to,” she said. “And you can’t say otherwise.” She didn’t want to be here either, but she also didn’t want to be told what to do.
A low laugh erupted through the dark. “Oh?” The guy pushed off the wall and straightened. He began to take long steps toward her, smooth, calculated. “You won’t last a week here. Guaranteed.”
November’s grip tightened on the doorframe, anger rising up her throat. She’d met people just like him, climbers even—who were full of themselves—who thought they knew everything. He continued to glide toward her.
“I don’t know who you think you are, showing up at my door in the middle of the night and lecturing me, telling me to get out,” she said, “but I won’t have it.” His snark was pushing her over the edge.
He continued to advance, his silhouette lean and black. “Pretty powerful words for a Huntington.” The name came out in disgust.
November’s stomach tightened the closer he drew near. Awareness prickled on her skin, every inch of her buzzing. He glided to a stop, standing right in front of her, but she still couldn’t see his face.
“Tell me, Huntington, what makes you think you’re better than the rest of us?”
Her brows creased. “I don’t.”
“Oh, I can see your ego a mile away. Or maybe I just know too much about you. World class rock climber. Dead parents. Trying to use your sob story to find meaning in your life. Well, Huntington, it’s time for you to wake up. Gain some responsibility for your own emotions and go back to your life. Get out. No one wants you here.”
November narrowed her eyes, until tears started to gather. She still couldn’t see him, only the wild spat of dark hair on top of his head. She’d never had anyone call her egotistical before. Not even Shawn, and he’d been horrible to her.
“Looks like I’m not the only one with an ego,” she said, her tears thickening. “And I don’t want to be here either, so looks like we both win.”
She slammed the door in his face, the sound echoing in her head. She wanted to see his shocked expression as the door shut, but she couldn’t stand his presence any longer. She needed to take control of the situation and show him who was boss. She wasn’t some girl who cowered away from someone who pushed her around.
She pressed her back against the door, breathing fast, but could still feel him outside. A part of her wanted to run to April and Conroy and demand that they tell her who he was, but she didn’t want to give him the pleasure of knowing he affected her. She would ignore him. He didn’t have any power over her. But she didn’t dare move, not until she heard his footsteps disappear down the hall and walk away.
About the Author
Morgan Shamy is an ex-ballerina turned YA writer. She has been immersed in the arts since the young age of 4, where she performed various roles alongside a professional ballet company for over seven years, and has danced on prestigious stages like soloing at Carnegie Hall in New York City. She has taught hundreds of girls in her fifteen years of teaching, where some of her students have received full-ride scholarships to schools like School of American Ballet, the Harid Conservatory, Kirov Academy of Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, to name a few.
Morgan discovered writing when her three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer. It was through that experience which instilled the need to share art and magic with children through words on the page.
Morgan is also an accomplished concert pianist. She was the first girl in Utah to receive the 75 pt. Gold Cup in the Utah Federation of Music in piano solo/concerto competition. Morgan currently lives with her X-Games gold-medalist husband and four children in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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I like the cover, synopsis and excerpt, this sounds like a must read for my teen-aged granddaughters and I. Thank you for sharing the author’s bio and book details