Enter a world of magic which weaves together folktales and historical fantasy. Each Hearth and Bard Tale is a stand alone fantasy based in a different part of the world. Each is rich with culture and authentic characters who will make you laugh, worry, and think deeply.
Vasilisa
Whitney Award Nominee 2020
“Forest born! Ogre child! You’re nothing but a demon wild!”
Vasilisa has always been strong. She’s strong enough to break the arm of the bully that daily taunts her. She won’t because she and her mother are servants at the Orlov manor, and her mother would be punished for her retaliation. Instead Vasilisa bides her time until she is sixteen and can return to the forest.
Only Staver, the master’s son, shows her kindness. His friendship pulls as strong as the forest, but their classes are divided forever by law. She is a forest born, fatherless servant and her future at the manor holds mockery filled drudgery.
War threatens. The forest calls. Will she stay to protect the one who can never be more than a friend, or flee to the peace that the forest offers?
A retelling of the Russian fairytale Vasilisa and Staver
Available in print or ebook from the M.L. Farb Author Store and most major retailers
Fourth Sister
Whitney Award Finalist 2021
Little Women x Spirited Away
Shisei is said to be the cursed twin—bringer of death—plagued by a kitsune only she can see. Feeling unwanted, she flees her home, finding solace within an isolated mask maker’s hut.
Yet some secrets cannot remain hidden. Fate may find her still.
When her youngest sister is accused of murder, Shisei must lead her sisters in a deception that will either save the youngest or condemn them all.
An exquisite tale of hope and redemption that combines complicated sisterly bonds, deadly deceptions, the poetry of possibility, and a trickster kitsune.
Available in print or ebook from the M.L. Farb Author Store and most major retailers
Heartless Hette
SPFBO8 Semi-Finalist 2022
When Princess Hette refuses a sorcerer’s proposal, he retaliates by stealing her heart—literally.
Desperate to resist his influence, Hette makes herself emotionless, stifling all feelings until she can find her heart and win it back. Only Konrad, the despised Court Fool, knows where to find the sorcerer, and he has his own curse to battle.
Riddles and magic plague their path, including a memory stealing witch, an unbeatable knight, and a magic book that would as soon drown them as lead them to their destination. Yet, if Hette can’t find the sorcerer in time, her heart will be the least of her losses.
Available in print or ebook from the M.L. Farb Author Store and most major retailers
Hearth and Bard Novelettes
Each of these novelettes take place after the associated main story above.
Flight
After facing enslaving nobles and an invading army, Vasilisa’s life should have been dull comparatively. But raising precocious children is anything but dull, especially when one child inherited her love for adventure but not her talents, and another inherited her talents but fears to use them.
When a stranger broaches the borders of her home, Vasilisa must face old fears and fight to protect her loved ones. This time she doesn’t fight alone.
FLIGHT is a novelette that takes place after the events in the novel VASILISA.
Available from the M.L. Farb Author Store and most major retailers
Birth
Shisei has found her place as a mask-maker and eagerly awaits the coming of her first child. But complications arise and even with the help of her sisters and the midwife, she might not survive.
Shisei must draw on the wisdom of her husband, the trickery of the kitsune, and her own ability to create illusions to beat death.
BIRTH is a novelette that takes place after the events in the novel FOURTH SISTER.
Available from the M.L. Farb Author Store and most major retailers
Gift
Konrad planned on never marrying because of his curse, but plans change. He’s ready to start his happily ever after, but first he must get through ridiculous royal protocol, a riddle mongering owl, and a wedding suit designed to strangle the groom.
In the midst of wedding preparations, Konrad creates a gift for his bride, one he hopes will restore a part of what she sacrificed to save his life.
GIFT is a novelette that takes place after the events in the novel HEARTLESS HETTE.
Available from the M.L. Farb Author Store and most major retailers
M. L. Farb - Author 