It was as if she could see everything laid out before her. For the first time, Gracie understood clearly that her soul and Zari's were irrevocably connected. But they were from different worlds. How could they ever be together? Or were they even supposed to be together? Had she made a mistake? Or had this been her destiny all along? She didn't have answers, and her thoughts haunted her. Gracie McKay is terrified, lost and alone in the desolate, mountaius wilderness. One thing she kws for certain: her demise is imminent. When Gracie, a shy city girl of sixteen, accidentally strays from a group of seasoned hikers, panic overwhelms her. She believes all is lost--that is, until she's rescued by an ancient race of humans. The forest people have remained hidden from civilized society throughout the ages by using their mystical powers. Brought into the primitive yet magical world of these antediluvian people, the teen is befriended by Telacki, a forest girl her age. Telacki ushers her into a secret realm of supernatural creatures and untamed wilderness fraught with danger. But t all of Telacki's people welcome Gracie. Some want her dead. When the girls are captured by an evil clan, help comes in the form of Zari, a fierce teenager. Hardened by his life with the archaic monsters, Zari is surprisingly sympathetic to Gracie's plight but he's in for a shock. Beneath her shy demear lies a warrior of epic proportions. An unexpected love blossoms between them as they battle everything from snakebites to tunnel monsters on the daunting journey through strange lands. But will their love endure? Can they merge seemingly incompatible worlds to build a future together? First they must survive. Set against a backdrop of lush evergreen forests and majestic mountains, MYSTIC FOREST: WISHES is a coming of age vel about love, loyalty, and high ideals. Its characters experience every emotion from heartrending sorrow to euphoric joy as they face adventures, mortal danger, and narrow escapes. A serendipitous love story, WISHES embraces the old adage that love truly can conquer all.
Dr. Melba S. Ketchum moved to a small rural town in a forested area of Texas after graduating from Texas A&M University with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. She practiced as a veterinarian for several years before entering the field of genetics and becoming the director of a large laboratory. Melba continues to work in the field of genetics and lives in an area where there are frequent sightings of the Forest People reported, making her privy to the local lore surrounding them. This prompted her to write the first installment of the Mystic Forest saga in 2013.