Book excerpt: Dating and High School: Hard Enough. Now Add Assassins. Avoiding assassination wasn’t on Mel’s to-do list for her junior year. Learning she wasn’t human hadn’t made the list, either. An only child with overprotective parents, Melody Walters just wants a drama-free year—and to be able to date. She gains the interest of more than one suitor, but doesn’t realize any one of them could be an enemy on the hunt. For her, the dating scene could prove deadly. Mel discovers she’s a member of a botanical race, forced to hide their daughters in the human world until they mature enough for their powers to bloom. Something goes wrong with her blooming process, breaking her cover and jeopardizing the lives of her protectors and the large family she’d never known about. With the enemy threat ever-looming, in a rush to master her new powers before she’s stranded in the human world forever, Mel struggles to decide who she can trust and if the sacrifice being asked of her is too great. PRAISE FOR SEEDER SHADOW WARS “Seeder Shadow Wars presents the genuinely strong female protagonists that are missing in a lot of young adult fantasy today. This book has all the elements of great storytelling--relatable and complex characters, a great and accessible magic system, and deep themes." -CM Adler, author of The Witches of Grimm Series "SEEDER SHADOW WARS thrusts the reader into a duplicitous setting in our world, where anyone may be a friend, foe, or family member. J. Houser provides the reader with a world within our own, complete with botanical beings in an age-old war. It is the first book in the series, and I can’t wait to read more." -Courtnee Turner Hoyle, author of The Pale Woods Mystery Series