Books by Ljane Smith (L. J. Smith) in order of publication
Some Untold Tales and Apocalypse Night Stories are
listed also. Scroll to the end for books to come.
The Night of the Solstice, Macmillan, 1987
No one believes the four Hodges-Bradley children about the sorceress in the mirror. But Alys, her brother Charles, and her sisters Janie and Claudia know that Morgana is realCand that she needs help. Their journey through the mirror takes them to a terrifying new world, the Wildworld. My first book, begun in high school, finished in college.
Heart of Valor, Macmillan, 1990
Janie has been learning sorcery for a year now, and everything seems fineCuntil weird creatures begin to stalk the streets of Villa Park. To solve an ancient riddle, the four children must go back to the Wildworld and set out on the most deadly journey of all... and Alys discovers the secret of their birth.
The Vampire Diaries, Volume I: The Awakening, HarperPaperbacks, 1991
The most haunting love triangle of all. Two vampire brothers, one good and one evil, are in love with the same beautiful girl. Stefan meets Elena, and falls for her instantly. But he swears never to approach her because of his dark secret. On the other hand, Elena has sworn to make Stefan hers or die.
The Vampire Diaries, Volume II: The Struggle, HarperPaperbacks, 1991
Damon is haunting Elena’s footsteps; coaxing and coercing her by turns. Stefan desperately tries to protect her from his brother. And Elena is having her blood drawn by two separate vampires. Meanwhile Caroline plots to expose Elena in front of the entire town. Can things get worse? They do, when Elena drives too fast over an unsafe bridge and drowns.
The Vampire Diaries, Volume III: The Fury, HarperPaperbacks, 1991
It’s happened. Elena wakens as a vampire. She belongs to Damon, now, and to his world. The town mourns her as dead while she haunts the Old Wood by night. But by the time she remembers that Stefan is her true love, a new and powerful enemy appears. This is the last battle; and the only way Elena can win it is to sacrifice herself.
The Vampire Diaries, Volume IV: Dark Reunion, HarperPaperbacks, 1991
As a psychic, Bonnie has dreams of Elena in the Other World. But the dreams quickly turn frightening. There is a terrible new enemy stalking Fell’s Church, killing young girls. Elena’s friends call for Stefan and get both him and Damon—but whose side is Damon on? The ending is the most surprising yet for Elena!
Now on this site, a brand-new Vampire Diaries story:
Blood Will Tell.
Please look out for Vampire Diaries V: Damon coming soonish!
The Secret Circle, Volume I: The Initiation, HarperPaperbacks, 1992
Shy, sixteen-year-old Cassie falls in love with the mysterious Adam before moving to New Salem, thinking she’ll never see him again. But as it turns out, Adam is there, too, at a high school where a strange elite rule. Beautiful fair-haired Diana, whom Cassie learns to love as a sister; voluptuous dark Faye, who wants to turn Cassie into her puppet. The greatest surprise: Cassie, like the other elite boys and girls, is a witch! And then Cassie discovers that Adam is actually the boyfriend of gentle Diana, now her best friend and the leader of the coven!
The Secret Circle, Volume II: The Captive, HarperPaperbacks, 1992
Adam and Cassie have sworn not to love each other for the sake of their beloved leader Diana. But Faye has caught them in their one embrace. Now she uses it to blackmail Cassie, forcing Cassie to lie to Diana and to dig up the strange crystal skull that gives them all such dangerous visions. Meanwhile, students are being murdered, and the witches are under suspicion. And Faye wants from Cassie the ultimate betrayal: her vote for Faye as coven leader.
The Secret Circle, Volume III: The Power, HarperPaperbacks, 1992
Faye rules the Circle, while Diana reels from Cassie’s apparent treachery. Cassie and Adam are drawn more strongly together than ever. A new principal appears who seems to know all the Circle’s secrets and is dedicated to persecuting them. Cassie, no longer the shy girl she was only a few months ago, takes charge in solving the murders, the mystery of the crystal skull, and the true meaning of the Secret Circle. Her reward is her dream come true.
Please look out for The Secret Circle Omnibus in fall 2008!
The Night of the Solstice (paperback), HarperPaperbacks, 1993
Heart of Valor (paperback), HarperPaperbacks, 1994
The Forbidden Game, Volume I: The Hunter, Pocket Books, 1994
Jenny wants to get her boyfriend, Tom, a special game for his birthday party. However, she can’t help but be fascinated by the boy with the white-blond hair who sells her a strange game as a present. It turns out that the boy, Julian, is the youngest of those from the Shadow Lands, a race of evil beings who live invisibly just beside our own world. Once Jenny opens the game, she is in his land. Julian is determined to seduce her, but he has to work by a set of inflexible rules, only touching Jenny where she has reached for him.
In the fantasy house that Julian has created, where everyone at the party must face their greatest fear, Julian himself is Jenny’s worst nightmare. . . and maybe her dream lover, as well.
The Forbidden Game, Volume II: The Chase, Pocket Books, 1994
Jenny begins to get terrifying phone calls and soon it’s clear that Julian is loose is the real world. More and more, Jenny falls under his spell, allowing herself the freedom to do as she likes, no matter the consequences. It seems that Jenny has chosen Julian over Tom. But then her friends are disappearing, sucked into the Shadow Lands, paper dolls left in their places. Can Jenny outwit Julian without giving in to his demands entirely?
The Forbidden Game, Volume III: The Kill, Pocket Books, 1994
Jenny returns to the place where it all began; her grandfather’s house, where as a child she first met the child-Julian. A door with a strange rune on it opens to the most fantastic creation of Julian’s of all: an empty amusement park that Jenny loved as a child. Except here, all the rides are deadly. More, Jenny must survive her confrontations with an increasingly frustrated and determined Julian. Will he really kill her if he can’t have her? Jenny forces him to make the choice—and two worlds are changed forever.
Dark Visions, Volume I: The Strange Power, Pocket Books, 1994
Kaitlyn is an artist, but not an ordinary one. She draws pictures of things that are going to happen in the future. Everything she draws come true—but sometimes she can’t figure out what she’s drawn until it’s too late. Kait is only too happy when Dr. Xetes, a scientist who is studying psychic abilities, invites her to come to California and join his school of similarly talented individuals. There Kaitlyn meets golden boy Rob, a healer, and the dark lone wolf Gabriel who apparently wants nothing to do with her. But with so much supernatural energy going around, it’s hardly surprising that the psychics develop a telepathic link that can’t be broken.
Dark Visions, Volume II: The Possessed, Pocket Books, 1995
Kaitlyn and her buddies are on the run. Having learned the dark secrets of the psychic institute they head north, looking for shelter, not daring to even contact their parents or old friends. They’re on their own in a race for time, when Kaitlyn discovers Gabriel’s dark secret: he’s a psychic vampire. He needs to drain other peoples’ life-force to live, and he hasn’t been doing it. What to do? Kait volunteers—and finds the experience not entirely unenjoyable.
Dark Visions, Volume III: The Passion, Pocket Books, 1995
Back at the lab, captured like animals, Kaitlyn and her friends must face the true meaning of what the link means, and what their lineage is. They also have the fight of their lives on their hands, as Dr. Xetes does his best to do them in. But the real question for Kaitlyn is: Rob or Gabriel? Sunlight or darkness? Kait has to search her heart for the answer.
Night World: Secret Vampire, Pocket Books, 1996
The Night World isn’t a place. It’s the world of vampires, witches, and shapeshifters who live in the human world—by their own rules. And the first two rules of the Night World are simple: 1) Never tell any human about its existence, and 2) Never fall in love with a human.
Spunky, sassy Poppy has always been in the best of health. Until today, when she discovers that she has a rare disease, and only weeks to live. James, her best friend, and the coolest boy at school, is confronted with a frightening decision. He can make Poppy a vampire like him, or he can let her die. But telling Poppy about the Night World is almost as dangerous as letting her die of a human disease, for he’s broken both of the Night World’s rules, and fallen in love with her.
Night World: Daughters of Darkness, Pocket Books, 1996
Mary-Lynnette, seventeen, loves to watch the stars from her Oregon backyard. Then one day, she thinks she’s witnessed a murder through her telescope. She’s wrong: it’s only three vampire sisters burying their mysteriously-killed aunt. Mary-Lynnette, by the laws of the Night World, must become kin to the sisters or be sentenced to death: a sentence that seems to be sealed when their brother Ash appears. Gorgeous, lazy Ash has never dreamed that he could fall in love with a human, but it seems that Mary-Lynnette doesn’t want him on any terms because of his lurid vampire past. Can a now-repentant Ash convince Mary-Lynnette to let him atone for his former sins and be his soulmate?
This question will be answered right here on the website, in the
story Ash and Mary-Lynnette: Apocalypse Night!
Night World: Spellbinder, Pocket Books, 1996
Thea and Blaise are cousins, and witches, and as different as day and night. They even belong to different witch covens, Circle Twilight, for the not-so-wicked-witches and Circle Midnight for the real hellions. In fact, Granny Harman, the Witch Leader, often compares them to Hellewise and Maya, the sisters who were the mother of all witches and the very first vampire, respectively. But when Thea breaks the laws of the Night World and falls in love with Eric, an ordinary human boy, she has unexpectedly to rely on the whims of Blaise or both she and Eric are doomed. This is the book in which Circle Daybreak debuts.
Night World: Dark Angel, Pocket Books, 1996
Childlike, innocent Gillian Harman is trying to save a baby she hears crying in the woods when, to her own surprise, she dies! Even more surprising is her guide in the afterlife, Gary Fargeon, an “angel” with a great body and a gorgeous face. Returned to life, Gillian listens to her dark angel in all things . . . and soon finds herself anything but childlike and innocent. But things are not what they seem, and even angels can make mistakes. Soon Gillian is on a quest to find out just what deed Gary committed to strand him in the afterlife; and to find out the secret of where she belongs in a world she never knew existed: the Night World.
Night World: The Chosen, Pocket Books, 1997
Rashel Jordan lost her mother to a golden-eyed vampire at the age of five—and just barely saved herself by her wits. She’s grown up to the age of seventeen as a vampire hunter—the best. But when a group of hunters captures Quinn and decides to torture him, Rashel feels something in her soul twist. Left alone with Quinn, she goes along with her mad impulse and allows him to escape. But Quinn, a vampire with one of the darkest reputations in the Night World warns her not to expect him to return the favor. Nevertheless, when Rashel gets herself chosen for a bloodfeast and finds that Quinn is in charge of gathering girls for the dark ceremony! Enemies—and soulmates—what will happen during their final fight?
Night World: Soulmate, Pocket Books, 1997
Sixteen-year-old Hannah goes to a psychologist to understand the meaning of her the notes she keeps finding—in her own handwriting. “Dead before 17,” “He’s coming,” “Watch out.” Only under hypnosis is their cryptic meaning revealed. Hannah is actually an Old Soul, a girl who has been reincarnated many times and can remember her past lives. And in every one of them, the fair-haired stranger appears—and Hannah loves him—and Hannah dies at age16. Meanwhile, the leader of all the vampires of Circle Daybreak, all those who have human soulmates, Lord Thierry, is searching. He’s looking for her—the girl he loved and accidentally killed thousands of year ago. Who will find Hannah first—her vampire soulmate, or Maya, the first of all the vampires who has murdered Hannah a thousand times to keep her from Thierry. And who will Hannah believe when they do find her?
Look on this site for upcoming stories about Lord Thierry
and Lady Hannah!
Night World: Huntress, Pocket Books 1997
Jez, with flaming red hair and silvery blue eyes, is the epitome of the wild teenage vampire, riding her motorcycle and chasing skinheads through the woods. She and Morgead regularly challenge each other for leadership of the gang, and Jez believes—naturally enough—that the handsome, dark-haired vampire hates her. But suddenly the world changes for Jez. She discovers that she has no right to the Night World, because one of her parents was human. Now Jez has turned into a vampire huntress, and one with a special job: find one of the four Wild Powers who can fight off the Apocalypse, the end of the world. To do so, though, she must challenge her dearest enemy once again for the leadership—knowing that she has only half-vampire Powers.
Look on this site for Jez and Morgead’s Night Out:
An Untold Tale. Coming soon!
Night World: Black Dawn, Pocket Books 1998
Maggie is the picture of an ordinary human teenager. Yet when her brother’s lovely girlfriend reports that he has been killed in a mountaineering accident, she knows it is a lie. The chase leads her to discover an entire community of human slaves ruled by vampires in the hollow of a Washington mountain. There also, she finds Delos, the second of the Wild Powers, the vampire ruler of this kingdom where she is a slave—and her soulmate. Her modern clothes cause the other slaves to hail her as a messiah come to bring them freedom. Can even level-headed Maggie deal with her arrogant soulmate and an entire kingdom to be freed?
Night World: Witchlight, Pocket Books 1998
Keller is a seventeen-year-old shapeshifter, a panther, who goes by her last name only. She’s an operative for Circle Daybreak and her mission is simple: find the third Wild Power who can fend off the Apocalypse. Keller does find Iliana, and much more, as well: a dragon in the shape of a human, and her own liege lord Galen. So, she learns: dragons walk the Earth again, even if in disguise. And Iliana is as far from a serious Wild Power as Keller can imagine. A love triangle quickly develops between the handsome princely Galen, the exquisite but bubble-minded Iliana, and Keller—who counts herself out with her favorite saying, “I’m just a grunt.” Life has surprises in store for the cynical, embittered Keller, and her opinions of both Galen and Iliana are in for a radical change.
Now on this site, a brand-new Keller Apocalypse Night story:
Thicker Than Water.
Vampire Diaries Omnibus Edition 1, Pocket Books 2007
Vampire Diaries Omnibus Edition 2, Pocket Books 2008
To come:
Secret Circle Omnibus, HarperPaperbacks (planned for fall, 2008)
Night World: Strange Fate, Simon & Schuster
Sixteen-year-old Sarah Strange finds life a mass of contradictions.
She’s an ordinary-looking girl, and yet two of the most popular guys at school form her circle of friends. Kierlan Drache and Mal Harman, who are as unalike as any two people can be. That ought to make her happy, but recently she’s been having romantic feelings about each of them—and has seen two silver cords: one reaching from her to Kierlan, and one from her to Mal. What’s going on? In addition, every night she dreams of a future where dragons and vampires rule the world, and of a brave child called Crispy. For a girl who hasn’t even heard of the Night World yet, Sarah has a lot to handle! Even worse, the Apocalypse has finally come—and even the Wild Powers see only one way to stop it. This is an epic volume, which stars all the most beloved Night Worlders from the other books. Be prepared, though, because seven go on a mission to save the world . . . and only two come back.
Now on this site, an untold tale about Strange Fate:
Bionwy’s Lullaby!
Vampire Diaries V: Damon, HarperCollins
Yep, here he is, a whole book devoted to bad boy Damon. There is plenty, however, about Elena and her new powers to startle readers. The most important of her permanent changes is that she now has blood that is like rocket fuel compared to the unleaded gasoline that runs through everyone else’s veins. This blood gives Stefan unprecedented Powers, but he’s stuck with the same old problem; love Elena as she wishes and turn her into a vampire, or leave her?
Stefan’s answer, this time, is to leave her briefly, in the hands of his brother Damon while he goes to track down a rumor that vampires can leave their curse behind. Bad idea. Damon is possessed by a powerful spirit from halfway around the globe, and it decides that Elena looks awfully enjoyable. Even when brought back to his ordinary self, Damon is difficult, and it isn’t until Elena and Damon go looking for Stefan that she gets a look at what’s under Damon’s shell. This is the epic Vampire Diaries fans have been waiting for; I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Remember on this site, a brand-new Vampire Diaries
story: Blood Will Tell.