Author Arden Steele
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New Series Coming This Summer

6/8/2025

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Sometimes, you just need a little supernatural assistance. Whether it’s removing a ghost from your drain, hexing your insufferable boss, or hiding some regrettable evidence, MNSTR doesn’t judge. 


A magical odd-jobs app connecting humans to paranormals, there’s always an agent ready to help…for a price.
​

All sales final. No refunds. MNSTR is not responsible for accidental curses, feral fated mates, emotional carnage, or that one demon’s tail. 
Pre-Order Now
Click on the covers to learn more about each book.
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Welcome to the Underworld

5/15/2025

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Definitely Dead is live and available to read with your KU subscription! 
Get It Here
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Drowning in an ocean of conflicting and unfamiliar emotions, Tyr couldn’t move. He couldn’t think. Nothing made sense, but at the same time, he had the unshakeable conviction that his entire life had been leading to this moment. 

Long-buried instincts clawed their way to the surface, each one vying for dominance. A possessiveness of this stranger with an aura as sunny as his name. A fierce protectiveness that made his vow to the Nightstar family look like a pinky promise in comparison. 
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And the absolute certainty that this vibrant human would change him in irrevocable ways.

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Fake Dates. Real Feelings.

4/24/2025

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It's release day for Fake It Til You Break It! You can grab your copy on Amazon, and of course, it is available to read with KU! 
Get It On Amazon
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If you’ve ever felt like too much and not enough...
If you've ever wanted to be seen but also disappear…
If you’ve ever needed someone to stay, even when you didn’t know how to ask...
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This one's for you. 💘
Read an Excerpt
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The Storm is Here!

3/27/2025

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Draken the Rules is now live on Amazon!
Get Your Copy
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EXCERPT

​The enchanted plants shrank away as he crossed the lobby. Vines coiled tighter, their ethereal light dim and flickering, and the colorful blooms folded their petals. Even the guests sidestepped when he rounded the corner into a wide corridor, their heads bent to avoid eye contact. 

Itri strode through the part in the crowd, pretending not to notice their discomfort as he followed the sounds of music and laughter to a set of heavy, ornately carved doors. The entrance of the grand ballroom stood open, a shimmering light dancing near the threshold to lure revelers inside. 

Decorated in rich cream, pale gold, and deep sapphire, the space was a marvel of opulence, a testament to craftsmanship and illusion. Clouds drifted near the ceiling, their edges gilded in soft celestial light against a backdrop of twinkling stars. Candlelight flickered from oil-bronzed candelabras, casting a warm, inviting glow over a marble floor inlaid with veins of gold and lapis lazuli. 

Descending the marbled staircase into the main part of the ballroom, Itri scanned the crowed, searching for his next distraction. Above him, less adventurous partygoers leaned against the gallery railing, champagne glasses in hand, bystanders to the excitement.

Below, women in extravagant gowns glided across the dance floor, their skirts swishing and swirling like waves in a moonlit sea. Men in festive tuxedos moved with casual grace, their covered faces hinting at hidden smiles and secret glances. 

Throughout the room, feathers, beads, and precious gems from elaborately designed masks caught the lights, creating a kaleidoscope of colors at every turn. And in the center of it all, a large stone fountain, its enchanted waters dancing to the rhythm of the evening. 

Itri strolled through the throng with an air of practiced indifference, yet every cell in his body hummed with awareness. His gaze skipped from one guest to the next, quickly assessing before moving on. 

He sighed, growing increasingly frustrated with the utter sameness of them all. No one sparked his interest. No one held his notice.

Until…

A predatory grin stretched his lips as he watched a server weave gracefully through a cluster of laughing revelers. Now, that was more like it.

The white tuxedo molded to his slender frame, highlighting a narrow waist and a pert backside. Balancing a tray of champagne flutes on his shoulder, he moved with poise and purpose, navigating the busy room with a quiet, understated confidence. His tawny skin glowed in the candlelight from the wall sconces, and soft curls floated around his angelic face like a dark halo.

Itri’s gaze lingered, but the storm within him didn’t dissipate. It simply changed, morphing into something quieter, albeit just as dangerous. He stopped in the center of the ballroom, watching, stalking, taking in every fluid movement, every carefree smile. In nearly two millennia on this wretched planet, he had never felt such an instant, almost magnetic, attraction.  

Little surprised him anymore. Even less could hold his attention for more than a fleeting moment. This male, however, captivated him, and he felt a deep aching desire to know what stories lay behind those bright, sparkling eyes. 

Itri wanted to unravel him layer by layer. To leave him completely undone. To discover all his secrets and claim them for his own.

He wanted this beautiful stranger, and by the end of the night, he intended to have him.
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Something Wicked is COming

2/11/2025

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Fate is shattering...and something ancient is waking up.

✨ A sentient pet rock with too many opinions.
✨ A fallen Fateweaver with nothing left to lose.
✨ A Shadowwalker who thrives on chaos.

They should have been enemies. They became something much more dangerous.

EVER AFTER...ISH 💕 Coming Soon
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It's Finally Here!

1/26/2025

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I know it took forever. There was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (so many tears) poured into this book, but Curses and Casualties is now live on Amazon! 
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Get in Amazon
Fame is a curse. 

At least, that’s the way Elliot Church feels. A powerful mage with a gift for necromancy, he’s made a name for himself as a successful private investigator. And he fails to see how smiling in front of a camera or answering the same banal questions has any bearing on his performance. 

It’s nothing more than a distraction, and one he doesn’t need, especially when strange things start happening in New Orleans. 

There are dead Otherlings in the Quarter, their bodies mummified and their souls fragmented. A Reaper stands on every corner, and more are pouring into the city daily, which can only mean one thing. Mass casualties. 

When his search for answers leads him to Hunters Hollow, the last thing he expects to find in the backwater town is his mate. Incubus and retired bounty hunter for the Ministry, Lysander Tennison—Tenn to the locals—is everything he never knew he wanted, but the timing couldn’t be more wrong. Yet, he can no more turn his back on the demon than he can ignore what’s going on in the city.  
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Even when every road in front of him leads straight to hell.
Get in Amazon
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​Stay tuned for updates on my latest project, The Fairy Fail Chronicles. I'm so excited about this new series, and I can't wait to share it with you! 
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Coming Soon

10/13/2024

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If you received my newsletter at the beginning of the month, you'll know that I was supposed to release a new Blackhaven Manor book last week. And if you read my previous post, you'll know I'm a hot mess. LOL! For real, though, my back issues flared up again last week, and the meds I take to manage the pain make me a zombie.

​Dewitched: Blackahven Manor, Book 12 will be out this week, though. I'll have it uploaded to Amazon by Friday, but it just depends on how quickly the review process takes. Could be a few hours, could be a few days. 
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I should still have Curses and Casualties uploaded by Halloween. Same deal, though. It just depends on how quickly Amazon decides to publish it.

As I mentioned in my newsletter, it really feels like Hunters Hollow is cursed. 

When I was writing the first book, there was a death in the family. Then I started writing the second book, and my husband had a heart attack, almost died, and needed open heart surgery. With this third book, my sweet little doggo, Luna, passed away rather unexpectedly. 

My dysfunctional brain holds onto those traumas and associates them with other things going on in my life at the time. AKA, the book I'm writing. So, working on the book makes me think of the painful thing that happened, and then, of course, I just want to get distance from it. Which is why every single book in the series was delayed by several months. In the case of Beauty and Bad Blood, it was close to a year. 

This time around, I had the crappy association, but I also had some other things going on in my life. Again, check out my last post for more detailed information. 

It's not an excuse. I hate it. I wish I wasn't like this. I just wanted to give an explanation for why I miss deadlines more often than not. Especially when it comes to Hunters Hollow.
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After Curses and Casualties, I'm going to take a break from the Blackhaven Manor world for a bit so I can work on a brand new series. 

Tentatively, I'm calling it Twisted Fate, but that could change before release. It's my paranormal, m/m, twisted take on fairy tales and fables. The series will take place in a port town, but not one by the water. It's not a tourist destination. It's a town located in a kind of nowhere place that controls all the portals to other realms. It also happens to be where a lot of fairytale characters live. 

The first book will focus on the fairy godparent responsible for screwing up all your favorite classics. As punishment, he is fired from his position and forced to work at the Portal Authority office. Think of it like a magical DMV. Eventually, he'll get a second chance to fix his mistakes, and he'll appear in the background of the rest of the series as he tries to rewrite history. 

Stay tuned for more details, but look for After Midnight to release in November.



Oh, and in case you missed it, a good friend of mine just released her debut book! 
If you enjoy overprotective dragons, a quirky take on the Underworld, and hellhounds disguised as yorkies, be sure to check Death Becomes Him.  
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Get it on Amazon
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Real Talk

10/13/2024

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I don't typically like to talk about my struggles. Mainly, because I don't want them to sound like excuses. I'll mention the big things. Or I'll tell you same vague stuff about how I've been "struggling." 

Here's the deal, though. I'm a hot mess. The last few years, I've been a full on dumpster fire. And it wasn't until just a couple of months ago that I finally started figuring it out. 

When I post updates about when a book is coming out, I fully intend to keep that promise. But remember, I'm a mess. Physically, I have spinal arthritis and two bulging discs in my lumbar that flare up and cause a lot of pain. I've had two surgeries on my left knee, and I just turned 40 this year. 

Mental health wise, I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Medication and therapy has helped, but it's always there. I also have ADHD. Apparently, the two go together like peanut butter and jelly. Fun times. Basically, that means I worry about everything, get distracted easily, and hyper focus on all the wrong things. 

I've never really suffered with depression until about 4 years ago, though.

That's when I started taking prescription medication for my allergies. (Oh yeah, I'm basically allergic to everything, too.) This was around the same time that I had some pretty traumatic things happening in my life, and so when I started feeling down, I contributed it to that. As time passed, however, it progressively got worse. I was eventually prescribed another antidepressant along with my SSRI for anxiety. 

I don't take ADHD medication, but the antidepressant made my ADHD symptoms so much worse. Still, I wasn't getting better. It wasn't until a few months ago that I came across a black label warning from the FDA for the allergy medication I was taking. Namely:

Mood changes.
New or worsening depression.
Suicidal thoughts.

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I immediately stopped taking it, and within a couple of weeks, I felt so much more like myself. A month later, I stopped taking my antidepressant. ADHD is still a struggle, but I'm able to focus a little better. (I still struggle with motivation and distractions.)

Without the allergy medication, though, which also helps treat asthma, I was really suffering. At that point, I started taking an inhaled steroid for asthma, which I hated, and it made me really sick. So, I ditched that and just use a rescue inhaler when I need it, which isn't often. 

I started taking immunotherapy injections for my allergies. Which also made me really sick and exhausted for a long time. Thankfully, I'm over the worst of it. Now, I only feel awful for about 24 hours after the injections, (I get 4 every appointment) instead of a whole week. 
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​While I was trying to get myself fixed, my sweet boy got really sick. He'll be 10 in May, and as a Great Pyrenees mix, that makes him a pretty senior boy. The good news is that he's okay, but he does have to take his own medication twice a day for the rest of his life. For a while there, though, he needed a lot of my care and attention, and honestly, I didn't have the energy to worry about anything except him.

I've posted some phots and videos of him lately, and if you noticed a big knot of his shoulder, please don't worry. It's just a lipoma. It's benign, and it doesn't hurt him. We are going to have it removed, but we have to make sure he's healthy enough for surgery first. 


With that said, I do apologize for disappearing for a while. I think we can all agree that social media can be pretty toxic sometimes, and I really needed to step back from it. What I discovered, however, is that I'm actually a lot happier without it. Going forward, I will continue to post updates to both Instagram and Facebook, but that's about it. It's really easy for me to fall down the rabbit hole, so I won't be closely monitoring comments and things like that. So, if it takes me a while to respond, please don't be offended. It's not personal. I'm not ignoring you. If you want/need an answer quickly, the best option is to email me or use the contact form here on my site.

I really struggled about writing this post. But I thought it was important to give a little insight to why I can be so flighty sometimes and am constantly missing deadlines.

So, stay safe, be kind, and I'll be back soon!
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Regression toward the Mean

4/23/2024

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In statistics, regression toward the mean is a phenomenon where extreme highs and lows return closer to the mean when measured a second time.

In psychology, it's pretty much the same. It just means that things can't be all good or all bad, and eventually will return to average or "normal." The last couple of months have been...bad. But it can't stay that way forever. Eventually, things will get better, and I think I'm finally starting to see that turnaround. 
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A few weeks ago, I injured my back, courtesy of my 115-pound polar bear dog and a ballsy rabbit. Bunny ran out in front of us, less than a foot away, and my dog did what dogs do and gave chase. Unfortunately, I was still holding his leash, which resulted in a snap, crackle, pop in my neck and lumbar. 

The pain was pretty debilitating for a while, and the meds I was given basically turned me into a zombie. 
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I am feeling better now and finally coming off the meds. Being unable to write has put me super behind, but I'm doing my best to get things back on track. There will be a new Blackhaven Manor releasing in May, and Curses and Casualties will now be coming in June.

And that's about as far ahead as I've planned for now, but I'll post again once I have a revised plan for 2024. 

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Where's my Pre-Order?

3/11/2024

1 Comment

 
If you received an email from Amazon notifying you that your pre-order of Curses and Casualties has been cancelled, I deeply apologize. 

After the death of my pup, I needed more time, so I went into my account to change the release date. I'm not sure if there was a glitch in Amazon's system or what, but the new release date was never approved, and instead, they cancelled my pre-order. 

When I contacted them about it, the gist of their response was, "Not our problem." So, that's great.
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Please know that Curses and Casualties is still coming soon. I'm hoping to release it before the end of the month. With that said, it will also depend on how quickly Amazon reviews and approves it.

​I'll keep you updated. 
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  • Home
  • Books
    • Blackhaven Manor >
      • Purrfect Harmony
      • Night and Fae
      • Dragon it Out
      • Grin and Bear It
      • Pixie Little Liar
      • Dead Over Heels
      • Silent Knight
      • Pain in the Ice
      • Walking a Tight Trope
      • Royally Flocked
      • What the Hex
      • Dewitched
      • Draken the Rules
    • Happily Ever Afterlife >
      • Definitely Dead
      • Dead Ringer
    • Hunters Hollow >
      • Angels and Anarchy
      • Beauty and Bad Blood
      • Curses and Casualties
    • At First >
      • Petty AF
      • Confused AF
      • Messy AF
    • Nocturne Bay
    • +One >
      • One Good Thing
      • Ex-Boyfriend Material
      • Mr. Big Shot
      • Bad Habits
      • Fake It Til You Break It
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