joelysueburkhart.jpg

Joely always has her nose buried in a book, especially one with mythology, fairy tales, and romance. She, her husband, and their three monsters live in Missouri. By day, she’s a computer programmer with a Masters of Science degree in Mathematics. When night falls, she bespells the monsters so she can write. Click on the titles below to purchase a book. Read more about her current projects at on her blog.

Defiance

What happens when three very talented authors decide to set a short story in in the same time and place? Three very different, but entertaining stories about women who survive. Laura Anne Gilman (bestselling author of The Retriever series), Joely Sue Burkhart, and Angela Korra’ti visit the American Civil War in our short story collection Defiance. Click here to read an excerpt.

In “Finder’s Keeper” Gilman’s heroine is a finder, but never until now has she been given visions of something lost before someone asks her to find it. What she finds, though, is much more than she expected. She begins to find herself.

In “The Blood of the Land”, Angela Korra’ti takes us on a journey. Two slaves escape with the help of the Underground Railroad, only to find themselves surrounded by men who would force them to return. Our heroine must choose to trust others if she’s going to be free.

Joely Sue Burkhart’s “Storms as She Walks” is about a woman who disguises herself as a man to fight in the Civil War, and Burkhart is unflinching in her story of what might happen to a woman who made that choice, but her heroine, too, comes out the other side of her adventure with a new clarity about her self and her purpose, and it’s her courage that earns for her a true happily ever after.

The Road to Shanhasson

The long awaited sequel to Joely Sue Burkhart’s first Shanhasson novel, The Rose of Shanhasson, is finally here. The Road to Shanhasson is the second in the “Blood and Shadows” series, and continues the breathtaking story of Shannari, rightful queen of the Green Lands.

Shannari is about to be made the Khul’lanna of the Plains, wife to the Khul, leader of the 9 camps of the Sha’Kae al’Dan people. Unusual in the land of her birth for her skills as a warrior and prized as the rightful ruler of the Green Lands before being stolen away by Rhaekar, the Khul of the Sha’Kae al’Dan, Shannari is as foreign to these people as they are to her.

Shannari has admitted her love for Rhaekar, and, reluctantly, that she also loves Gregar, the Shadowed man who, along with the other eight Blood guards, protects Rhaekar from danger. Rhaekar, far from being angered by her love for another man, is man enough to give her what she wants, and determines that Gregar shall be her co-mate.

Some of her new people welcome Shannari, but others are angry that a hated Outlander is to become their new queen. Controversy and danger swirls around Shannari and the men she loves, threatening to tear apart the camps. Shannari works with Rhaekar, Gregar, and some new allies to bring peace to the camps, but she forgets that Theo, the current ruler of the Green Lands, will stop at nothing to debase and destroy her, and his bloody pact with Lygon, the god of Shadow, will bring Shannari to her knees.

Reviews: Beyond the Invisible, Whipped Cream

Beautiful Death

Humanity has been nearly wiped out by by an alien virus. Some have become monsters, a few have remained human, and far too many are dead. A vaccine saves a remnant of humanity and they begin to rebuild, taking on new names to represent their new lives and their hope of a better future.

Isabella Thanatos, Beautiful Death to the people of New Olympia, is a killing machine who has dedicated her life to protecting her people. Athens, her city, is the jewel in the crown of the civilization they’ve built off of the ruins of their old lives and she won’t let any monster run loose in her city except Hades, the seductively beautiful alien whose people loosed the virus on humanity and caused their ruin. He is a welcome visitor and sits on the city council–but not by her choice. He missed his opportunity to kill her long ago, but she won’t miss hers.

When Isabella discovers she’s been mysteriously contaminated with the virus, she knows she should kill herself before she becomes the very thing she hates. Fearing for her people but desperate to find out how and why she was contaminated before she has to die, Isabella runs to the only one who can help her, the monster Hades.

Outside the city she discovers that everything she was taught is a lie. There is no chaos, the contaminated live in harmony with humans, what Hades wants to do to her–with her–doesn’t include death, and the city she loves is controlled by a monster in the guise of a man.

Reviews: Beyond the Invisible, Brat Sweet Nothings, SF Crowsnest, The Long and the Short of It

The Rose of Shanhasson

Shannari is destined to unite the Green Lands. All she has to do is survive a battle with a barbarian, marry the barbarian, escape the very sexy barbarian and his elite warrior band, kill her former fiance, and make it home in one piece.

The men in Shannari’s life don’t take no for an answer easily, and she’s definitely worth fighting for. She doesn’t believe in love with good reason–her last lover tried to kill her at a most inopportune time. It’s a good thing she has fast reflexes, even when she’s distracted. Now Rhaekhar has to convince her that his love is worth fighting for, and keep her alive while doing it.

Reviews: Castle in the Clouds, Bookaholics Reviewer, The Long and The Short of It, Marissa’s Booklair, Peaches N Cream, Reviews by Clarissa, Sage Fire Reviews

The Fire Within

Eleni is fighting for her life and her sanity in the Green Lands. She’s so desperate she believes barbaric Keldar is her only hope. Having convinced her brother he should send her as an ambassador, she allows herself to be captured and sold to the Keldari warrior Zahar.

Zahak has plans for Eleni. Her unique bloodline means she can appear to fulfill a prophecy that will make the man who holds her the ruler of all of Keldar; so he’s going to give her to his brother.

The gods have other plans for Eleni and Zahak; plans that may not leave them alive at the end.

Reviews: Bethanie’s Brain, Coffee Time Romance, Dear Author, Front Street Reviews, Liz DeJesus, The Long and The Short of It

Well of Sky

This story is available as a free download in the bookshop in a variety of formats.

In Well of Sky, Joely Sue Burkhart visits the world of the Maya, where one woman could save the lives of her entire people, if she has the courage to offer herself, one life for all.

Reviews: The Soulless Machine Review

Survive My Fire

Chanda, cursed to dragon form for her sins by She Who Hung the Moon, and Jalan, the Krait warrior who is her perfect match, must win an impossible battle. Jalan must love her…and then kill her. She must love him…and die.

This exciting tale is set in a world unlike any other. Burkhart’s world-building skills are first rate, and she has story-telling skills to match. As one reviewer put it, “Dragons do it hotter.” In Burkhart’s world, they most certainly do.

Reviews: Bethanie’s Brain, Dear Author