Cirrus@Austlit

'She′s from an ancient clan. He has no family. Can they save the world ... together?

'Maggie Shaunessy is used to keeping secrets. She′s a fantastic teacher, but she′s also gadda, part of a hidden, powerful race - and she has a habit of annoying the wrong people.

'Until Lucas Valeroso meets Maggie, he had no idea what awaited him: super-human powers, a smart and beautiful woman interested in more than unlocking his new abilities and, above all, a sense of belonging.

'But dark ambition and dangerous bigotry are emerging in the gadda ranks. Lucas′s new family might cast him out before he′s even truly found his place. And Maggie must work with new allies to find and retrieve a missing artefact before the entire world is changed for all time.' (From the publisher's website.)

'For centuries, the gadda have worked to keep their identity secret from the rapidly expanding human race. All this is now at risk - the most terrible of gadda teachings, the Forbidden Texts, have been stolen and the race is on to find them.

'Ione Gorton may have got her best friend back from Australia, but Maggie′s elevation to the ranks of the guardians means that she′s not around as much.

'And when Stephen O′Malley, almost the youngest (and definitely the hottest) ever candidate for the sixth-order test, needs a place to stay after still more strange violence hits Sclossin, Ione is all too happy to lend a hand ...

'But Ione, like Maggie before her, is soon a target for the forces behind the theft of the Forbidden Texts, and the now-urgent search for the artefact will change life for gadda and human alike.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Hampton Rourke has always lived under his father′s shadow, and he′s not convinced he′s the right man to be leading the search for Asarlai and the Forbidden Texts. When the clues lead to Boston and he stumbles upon one of the fabled lost families, Hampton faces challenges that will test his faith in himself.

'Charlotte Haraldson has been taught to hate the bardria, so it stinks that the man of her dreams isn′t just from Sclossin but is the most powerful of them all. Then she learns that everything she′s been taught is lies and she has to find new meaning for her and the gadda.

'With Asarlai setting loose one of the most dangerous gadda who had ever lived and then gaining a powerful ally, the pressure builds to stop her and retrieve the texts before she can finalise her terrible plan and change the world forever.' (From the publisher's website.)