The Century Portal by Barbara Hartzler


The Century Portal
The Sacred Stones Portal Series 
Book One
Barbara Hartzler

Genre: Urban Fantasy Portal
Date of Publication: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 979-8325107788
ASIN: ‎ B0D1WBMTLR
Number of pages: 208
Word Count: 58,600
Cover Artist:  FantasyBookDesigns.com

Tagline: Downton Abbey meets Shadowhunters as Bella portals to the 1920s to rescue the Seer from a time-traveling villain bent on changing the course of history.

Book Description:

I thought my days of magical battles were behind me—until a portal opened in my dorm room.

I’m Bella, and I’ve done my fair share of saving the world. But when two strangers from 1924 show up begging for my help, it’s clear that my quiet college life is about to be anything but ordinary. Their mission? To stop a dangerous villain from unraveling the future by tampering with the Seer’s family line.

Suddenly, I’m thrust into the magical world of time portals, glitzy debutante balls, and the underground speakeasies of the Roaring Twenties. And that’s not even the worst of it. There’s a new enemy in play—one who can manipulate time itself and has their sights set on Lucinda, the future Seer.

In 1924, Lucinda thought her biggest problem was planning her future. She couldn’t be more wrong.

Eighteen is supposed to be an exciting time for Lucinda—freedom, ambition, maybe even a little romance. But as strange powers start manifesting and a mysterious suitor takes an interest in her, life gets complicated. Add to that a time-traveling villain who’s decided she’s the key to his plans, and her once-bright future starts to look pretty dangerous.

Now, Lucinda and I are fighting across centuries to stop history from being rewritten. But with enemies closing in from every side, the battle for the Seer has only just begun…

Century Portal is the spellbinding first book in a new YA historical time-travel fantasy by bestselling author Barbara Hartzler. Downton Abbey meets Back to the Future with a good dose of Shadowhunters-like magic in this thrilling blend of coming of age romance, mystery, and urban fantasy adventure.


Excerpt 1, Chapter 1:

Out of nowhere, a gust of wind blew through the open window. Standing up, I rushed to close it.

Then stopped in my tracks.

The window wasn’t open.

My heart plummeted into the depths of my stomach as the bottom dropped out.

What was going on here? Gusts of wind rushed straight at us like a storm blowing through our room—where both the windows and doors were closed.

My knees started wobbling, and I braced myself on the edge of my desk.

With the wind came a deafening roar that sounded like giant hunks of rock ripping in half.

Turning around, I glanced at Patrick. “What the bloody—?”

“I-I, uh, don’t know. But look.” His dark eyes went wide, his jaw going slack as he pointed behind me.

When I turned around, my jaw fell open. I blinked and blinked, but the crazy sight remained.

A strange pool of light swirled around in the center of my room. It started as a tiny blue marble, then grew larger every second until the translucent sapphire circle filled the room.

Two shadowy figures appeared in the middle of the swirling light, small at first but growing larger as they walked toward the center of the liquidy blue circle.

A few seconds later, a man and a woman emerged from the sapphire portal. Both were dressed in old-fashioned clothes. The man had on a three-piece suit and a fedora, while the woman wore a silky, drop-waisted dress that made me think of the 1920s.

The man clutched a necklace at his collarbone that glowed an intense royal blue.
Maybe the Three Societies weren’t done with us yet.

Patrick gasped, then rose to his feet and put his arm around me. “It’s a Watcher, from the past.

Coming through some kind of wormhole,” he whispered in my ear.

I glanced at him, about to ask how he could possibly know that, while simultaneously calling up my internal lightning power.

As I said before—just in case.

But then one of the intruders spoke.

“Actually …” the man trailed off, releasing his grip on the necklace.

Within seconds, the portal collapsed in on itself, the wind died down, and everything returned to normal again. Well, except for the piles of papers blown around the room.

“We’re not Watchers. We’re both Guardians, like you.” The man enunciated in a crisp tone of voice that reminded me of my British homeland, but the accent was still American.

“Wh-who are you?” I stammered, even as Patrick moved in front of me.

Who knew what would happen if we told these two that the Guardians didn’t exist anymore.

“Ah, let me allow myself to make the proper introductions.” The man took off his fedora and smoothed his brown hair peppered with gray. “We are Ward and Eleanor Sinclair,” he gestured to his wife, who curtsied slightly.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Eleanor said, dipping her head at us and fanning out her blue dress skirt in a half-curtsy.

I blinked at the gesture, unsure how to respond.

“I’m Patrick Rodriguez, and this is my girlfriend, Bella, Isabelle Beatrix.” Patrick held out his hand.

Ward and Eleanor took turns shaking his hand.

Then they all looked at me. I was frozen still as a statue. A blinking statue.

“I think she’s in shock.” Patrick wrapped one arm around my shoulder, nudging me forward.

“Maybe you can tell us what the heck just happened.”

“Certainly. Ward?” Eleanor arched one eyebrow and nodded at her husband.

“Ah, yes.” Ward stood up a little straighter. “This may be hard to digest. You might want to sit down.”

Grabbing Patrick’s hand, we both sat down on my bed.

The Sinclairs perched on the edge of the bed opposite us, their spines straight as an arrow.

I just stared at the couple, who looked like they’d stepped right out of Downton Abbey or The Great Gatsby. Ward wore a gray suit complete with a vest that matched the Fedora in his lap.

Eleanor wore a light blue drop-waist dress with long sleeves and a skirt down to her ankles. Her sandy brown hair was pinned into an intricate updo with some face-framing waves.

None of which helped my concept of reality. How were these people, who looked like they were straight out of the 1920s, sitting in my dorm room? And what was that giant portal they’d somehow made in the middle of the room?

I glanced at Patrick, arching my eyebrows at him—silently willing him to explain this whole thing to me.

But he just shook his head, as if he had no clue either. Small comfort.

“Where to begin?” Ward tapped absently on his chin.

Jerking my head back to the newcomers, I rubbed my eyes and pinched myself.

“Ouch,” I muttered under my breath. Guess this wasn’t a dream.

“Why don’t you tell us how you made a portal of some kind in our dorm room? With a Watcher’s Sapphire?” Patrick’s voice was louder than normal, as if volume would help in the communication process. Then he looked at me. “I didn’t know they could do that. Did you?”

“Huh-uh.” I shook my head, my curls swishing around my face.

“We didn’t either. Until someone from your time came crashing into our lives a week ago.”

Eleanor pursed her lips and folded her hands together in her lap.



About the Author:

Barbara Hartzler is an Urban Fantasy Academy author writing about Seers, Chosen Ones, sacred stones, and secret societies … oh my! 

Her stories are full of snarky heroines, supernatural shenanigans, dreamy guys, and normal teens taking on larger-than-life quests to save the world.

As a former barista and graphic designer, she loves all things sparkly and purple and is always jonesing for a good cup of joe. 

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Release Day Blitz The Last Portal by Barbara Hartzler



The Last Portal
The Sacred Stones Portal Series 
Book Three
Barbara Hartzler

Genre: Urban Fantasy Portal
Date of Publication: November 12, 2024 
ASIN: ‎ B0DKGCJHYF
Word Count: 50,000
Cover Artist:  FantasyBookDesigns.com

Tagline:  If you love Downton Abbey, Shadowhunters, and world-changing stakes, get ready for an action-packed finale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

Book Description:

The final battle is here. If we fail, we could rewrite history—forever.

I’m Lucinda, the Seer. When every member of my family and the entire Chosen One bloodline shares the same vision, I know we’re doomed. Especially when the villain’s henchmen show up on my doorstep hours later, there’s no denying the truth.

We’re out of time.

It’s up to me and Bella to take charge and end the time travel villainry once and for all.

Too bad Ricky Montrose isn’t going down without a fight. He’s unlocked an alternate reality where everything I’ve fought to protect—my powers, my friends, and the world itself—is at his mercy.

Now, it’s a race against time, and we’ve got two choices:

1. Travel to the past to stop the portal book from ever being created
2. Defeat Montrose before he can put his twisted plan into motion.
It’s all or nothing. So we split up into two teams to defeat the Montrose army. My friends and I have faced impossible odds before. But this time, we could wipe out the Three Societies, erase our past, and destroy the future my family battled to protect.

But with alternate realities colliding and the line between allies and enemies blurring, I’m questioning everything—especially whether I have the strength to save the world.

Can I master my powers, protect my friends and family, and close the last portal before everything we know disappears forever?

I guess we’re about to find out…

The Last Portal is the thrilling conclusion to the historical fantasy time travel series by bestselling author Barbara Hartzler. If you love Downton Abbey, Shadowhunters, and world-changing stakes, get ready for an action-packed finale that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final page.

Excerpt 1, Chapter 1, Book 3:

Lucinda, 1926

“We did it,” I whispered to Everett, leaning into his side. Standing at the front door, we waved goodbye to Robert and Lillian Cooper as they strolled arm-in-arm down the path to their car.

My new husband closed the door with a smile that lit up his whole face.

“Our first successful dinner party as a married couple.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my temple. “The start of many more firsts to come, I hope.”

It was November of 1926, and Everett and I had been married for a little over four months. In that time, we had set up our own home with the wedding money from our parents. Thanks to Everett’s real estate knowledge and financial acumen, we’d purchased a two-story brownstone in the up-and-coming but immensely more affordable Queens borough.

At the back of our quaint property was a small cottage that had once been a carriage house. It was one of the main reasons we bought this property. Now my darling husband could rest easy, knowing his sister and nephew would be taken care of.

We set up the cottage for Nora and her son Grant to live, thus ending her constant worries over rent and how to put food on the table.

Everett worked as a financial adviser at the local bank between classes while he finished his degree. But he had plans to setup his own accounting firm once he graduated, despite his father’s wishes to work for the family business.

I was still working on my degree as well. After the successful protest last year, I was allowed to run for office in my junior year. Two months ago, I was the first female in history to be elected as Vice President of the NYU Law School.

And yet, at the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder—could I really balance everything before Ricky Montrose enacted his own plans?

As the Seer, I needed to have children to continue the family bloodline. Despite our newly-wedded bliss, I was still nowhere near ready for that next step.

But the clock was ticking. Ricky Montrose and Rosie Stanton had opted for a longer engagement, probably because construction on Montrose Paranormal Academy was set to be completed by the end of the year.

Even so, Rosie and Ricky were scheduled to wed in the spring of 1927.

For the time being, he’d been focused on building his namesake school. But how long would that last?

I felt like there was a ticking time bomb always lurking somewhere over my shoulder.
When would my time expire? When would Ricky come after me to end the Seer’s bloodline forever?

“You okay, Lucinda?” Everett asked, rubbing my shoulders.

I smiled up at him. “Yes. Just thinking about Ricky, unfortunately.”

He wrapped his arms around me. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him hurt you.”

I sank into the warmth of his embrace. In my heart, I believed my new husband would always do his best to protect me.

But could anyone stand up to Ricky Montrose and win? He had the power of time travel at his fingertips, and big plans to manipulate the Chosen One powers into his own hands and take over the world.

And I for one hated being a helpless puppet, waiting for him to pull the strings and set another horrible chain of events into motion.

But what else could we do?

“Let’s go to bed, Snickerdoodle.” Everett drew back, moving his hand to weave his fingers between mine as he tugged me up the stairs.

“You scoundrel.” I smacked his arm. “That was my first attempt at baking anything on my own.”

For tonight’s dinner, I decided to try my hand at making cookies. The cinnamon-sugar-coated snickerdoodles seemed like an easy choice. But they had proved more than challenging.
The edges were a little extra crispy, but our guests had eaten them anyway. Robert had nibbled out the middles and Lillian had dunked hers in her coffee.

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” I asked as we reached the second-floor landing.

“No, probably not, Snickerdoodle.” He tweaked my nose as he opened the bedroom door.

I pretended to ignore him as I dressed in my nightclothes and slid beneath the quilt.

“Goodnight, Snickerdoodle,” he said, stifling a laugh.

“Goodnight, Scoundrel,” I shot back, wrinkling my nose as I burrowed further under the covers.

Everett turned out the light, and we snuggled until he fell asleep.

As I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, the blackness behind my eyelids didn’t stay black for long.

This wasn’t right. This couldn’t be right. I could hear myself saying in some far-off corner of dreamland.

I tossed and turned as a strange scene screamed into focus like a talking horror picture—in full, living color.

Instead of being under construction, the picturesque campus of Montrose Paranormal Academy was now completed. The entire design was built out in a giant rectangle extending from the Guardian church, now situated at the backside of the grounds.

Half a dozen impressive brick buildings with formal white columns ringed the edges of a lush green lawn, complete with cobblestone paths artfully zigzagging across the landscape.

Every wrought-iron lamppost along each path now fluttered with bright green banners that read One School. One Society.

Green? That wasn’t one of the colors of the Three Societies. What was going on here?

My heart caught in my throat as the strange dream-scene unfolded around me.

This was it. This was Ricky’s endgame, right? He had to be behind this so-called “One Society.”


About the Author:

Barbara Hartzler is an Urban Fantasy Academy author writing about Seers, Chosen Ones, sacred stones, and secret societies … oh my! 

Her stories are full of snarky heroines, supernatural shenanigans, dreamy guys, and normal teens taking on larger-than-life quests to save the world.

As a former barista and graphic designer, she loves all things sparkly and purple and is always jonesing for a good cup of joe. 

Newsletter Sign Up:  https://bit.ly/3YyORcG











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The Hunter’s Moon by Lee K. Rogers



The Hunter’s Moon
Unleashed
Book One
Lee K. Rogers

Genre: Urban Fantasy Romance
Publisher: Open Door Publications
Date of Publication: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN:979-8-9871697-3-5
ASIN: B0DHLN7QW1
Number of pages:152
Word Count: 50,100
Cover Artist: Eric Labacz

Tagline: Two passionate men but she can only choose one. Will Ana surrender to the beast or the hunter?

Book Description:

Two men, one moonlit choice—will she surrender to the beast or the hunter?

Ana once found peace in her late-night walks through Rivelou, a sleepy Kentucky town where on the surface, nothing much happens. But beneath the quiet streets and old Southern charm, a mystery is lurking. 

When Ana is attacked by a vicious beast one night, she’s saved by a mysterious stranger. But as more people fall victim to the beast, she’s torn between the two men who have entered her life—one a fierce protector, the other a dangerous enigma. Both seem to know more about the dark forces at play than they’re letting on.

Caught between a deadly predator and a town full of secrets, Ana must decide: can she trust the hunter or the wolf?

The Hunter’s Moon, an enemies to lovers shifter romance, is Book One in the Unleashed Series.


Excerpt:

The animal stayed in the bushes, following along slowly and silently as it tracked its prey. He could smell it. Taste it. And it attracted him like nothing ever had before.

Do wolves think in the same way that humans do? Or do they rely only on instinct, hunting mindlessly?

Whether intellectual reasoning or animal instinct, the wolf knew it had to watch this woman. It wanted her. It needed her.

Ana breathed in the early autumn air as she headed away from the university and onto the darker streets of the neighboring suburb. It was an older neighborhood, built in the 1920s when the town of Rivelou had begun to spread from its central location on the river, south across the railroad tracks. This particular section of town had been built for the railroad workers: tiny shotgun houses lined up on even tinier lawns.

As Ana crossed Roosevelt Avenue, the streetlights ended,  and the sidewalk was illuminated only by occasional porch or walk lights. She loved sauntering home from her evening classes this time of the year. The air, while it could not yet be called crisp, had lost its summer sultriness, a welcome change from the blistering heat of a Kentucky summer.

As she strolled down Harlan Street, farther from the more heavily trafficked avenue, the road became even darker. It was too soon for most of the leaves to have fallen; they were just beginning to turn red on this last week in September and were so thick on the trees that they hid the full moon. Part of the charm of the old neighborhood was the beautiful, large, old maples and oaks, but their roots also tore up the sidewalks. Ana tripped on one of those cracks. Papers, a lipstick, her wallet, and a few other necessary items spilled out of her purse, and she shook her head in disgust. How could she always trip in the same spot, night after night? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t memorized the uneven areas in the sidewalk after years of walking this way.

The young woman bent down to gather her various belongings and froze. Was that something growling? Somewhat spooked, Ana shoved everything back in her bag and hurried down the street. After a moment she slowed, listening carefully to the night noises around her.

Nothing unusual.

She shook her head. It must have been her imagination. She had slowed her pace and continued on when she heard the sound again. A low growl nearby. A dog? No one on this block had an animal big enough to make that sort of sound. That growl had definitely come from something larger than Mrs. Ahearn’s yappy little Pomeranian. She picked up her pace again.

Only a half block until she turned onto Sycamore, then another half block until she arrived at her own home.

The growl came again. She settled her purse more securely on her left shoulder, her computer bag on her right, and doubled her pace. There were no lights on any of the houses on this part of the block, and of course, the moon took that moment to hide behind a cloud. She took a deep breath and tried to walk at a steady pace. She wouldn’t run even though she could now hear the animal behind her as she rounded the corner. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her own porch light on as well as that of her neighbors, Joe and Linsdey. Only a few more steps to safety.

She was almost in front of her own door when she heard the rush of paws with nails clicking behind her on her sidewalk. With a howl, the animal knocked her down. Holding her computer case in front of her face, she yelled and pushed it at the animal’s huge, dark head. “Take a bite of that, you nasty beast!” It was all teeth and glowing eyes as it loomed over her, growling.

“What do you want?” she shouted. Though it had her on the ground, it didn’t make a move, just stood gazing at her. If she did move, it would strike. She had to do something. She drew a deep breath and prepared to scream when someone came running up behind her.

“Hey, you, get back! Get back!”

She turned her head and saw a man running toward her and the slobbering animal. The man grabbed a stick from the ground as he rushed forward, waving it at the animal.

“Back! Get back, you ugly beast!” he shouted again, striking the creature who turned, snarling at him. They stared intently at each other for a moment before the canine finally dodged the stick and lunged to take a bite out of the man.

The man got in a couple of good blows before the dog suddenly grabbed the stick, tugged at it, and knocked him to the ground. Fumbling in her purse, Ana took action just as the dog leaned back on its haunches preparing to strike. Just before he lunged on the fallen man, Ana found her can of mace and hit the dog in the face with the noxious spray. With a howl of pain, it ran into the darkness.

Several more porch lights suddenly popped on to light the night, and the street was filled with neighbors coming to check on the unusual commotion.

“Are you alright?” her rescuer, still gasping and out of breath, asked. “It didn’t bite you, did it?

 


About the Author:

Lee K. Rogers has been reading fantasy since she discovered the Brothers Grimm, and her love of the genre has only grown from there. From classics such as the Narnia series and The Lord of the Rings (before the movies came out of course!) to Charlaine Harris’ series and Pamela Clare—she reads it all. When she discovered urban fantasy romance she found her new passion. She particularly loves adding a little spicy sex to her own fantasy adventures.

Lee once lived in the Kentucky/Indiana border town on which she has modeled Rivelou. While she never met a werewolf there, she was convinced there was an entrance to the land of Fae just down the street from her house.

The Hunter’s Moon is the first in her paranormal romance series, Unleashed. The next two books, coming in 2025, are titled The Artificial Witch and The Vampire’s Heart.