J A Beard: 6 books

When her parents die, teenager Gail Dorjee retreats into an angry, sarcastic shell. She hopes it will ease her pain, but all it gets her is a one-way trip from Kansas to a Seattle boarding school, the elite Osland Academy. As soon as she arrives, Gail clashes with Diana, the leader of the...

Months after a shocking showdown, Gail Dorjee is doing her best to recover and settle into her new role as a Rift Watcher at Osland Academy. Her friends are distant, and she’s uncomfortable with her growing relationship with the handsome Nick MacEvoy. That’s all stressful enough, even before she...

With the arrival of summer at Osland Academy, Gail finds the lack of rift bleed and fanatical assassins a welcome change of pace. When Nick asks to introduce her to his parents, she wonders if it’d be less painful to take on an army of rift monsters. It doesn't help when he makes a shocking suggestion...

To be a crafter is to control the essences of the world. To be a crafter of House Lran is to control the very essence of being, the mind. Feared by others for their ability to read and alter minds, the Lrani are known across the Larangian Empire for both their powers and mental discipline. Shala,...

Helena Preston, the eldest daughter of a Bedfordshire gentleman, would rather risk spinsterhood than marry a man unwilling to accept her for who she is, much to the consternation of her mother and sister. She feels marrying an ugly or poor husband would be a mere inconvenience; marrying an irritable...

Despite being depressed after her high-school graduation, insecure artist Alice Stone has a bright summer awaiting her. She’s managed to land an internship at the prestigious National Gallery of Art, a perfect entrance into the fascinating world of art and art curation. All that changes...