VERTINA: “My goodness you have strange eyes.”

VESPERA: “The answer you seek does not exist.”

ALVAR: “Sorry I’m late, Mom.”

SIR ASTIN: “Where’s your seventh star?”

BRONTE: “What?”

LIVVY (AS PHYSIC): “It looks worse than it is.”

LUZIA: “Yes. I liked the view.”

ORALIE: “Give me your hand, Sophie.”

RUY: “That’s enough of that.”

ANSWER KEY: 1. KEEFE; 2. ALDEN; 3. LINH; 4. JENSI; 5. BIANA; 6. WYLIE; 7. ELWIN; 8. FITZ; 9. MAGNATE LETO; 10. MARUCA; 11. LADY ZILLAH; 12. SOPHIE; 13. DEX; 14. FINTAN; 15. MARELLA; 16. TAM; 17. EDALINE; 18. STINA; 19. DAME ALINA

IGGY COLORING PAGE

EVERYONE KNOWS THAT IGGY GETS a new fur color (and style!) in every book of the Keeper series—and many of you also know that my readers are the ones who choose his look every year. But you might be wondering why I give away that kind of control, and it’s because a reader inspired the idea in the first place.

I decided to have Dex turn Iggy pink (in Exile)—but I wasn’t planning to change Iggy again, until an adorable little girl (whose name I sadly forgot to get—author fail!) asked me at one of my Exile tour events what Iggy’s color was going to be in Book 3. I opened my mouth to tell her, “The pink will wear off, and he’ll be gray again,” when I thought, Why not have someone change his color again? So I asked her what color she wanted Iggy to be, and she leaned in, looking very serious, and told me, “Orange.”

And so, Iggy turned orange in Everblaze—and every year since, I’ve used my social media channels to let readers pick the next new color and style. You’ll see how this year’s winning Iggy look gets worked into the novella. But I also thought it’d be fun to give you your own Iggy coloring page, so you can turn him whatever color (or colors) your heart desires! If you want to color in Iggy, just click this link for a page you can print and color!

PS: If you’re not following me on Instagram—@SW_Messenger—you *might* want to (or have a parent follow me, if you don’t have an account), so you can vote for Iggy’s color/style in Keeper Book 9!

RECIPES

I LOVE TO BAKE—SO when I first started coming up with the elvin foods for this series, my goal was to create desserts that I’d be able to make recipes for, so that my readers could enjoy the same treats as the characters.

(Okay, fine, I wanted to eat all the yummy things too!)

And while there are sadly a few delicacies that have defeated my baking skills (so far—I’m not giving up!), I’ve also been able to create several that taste exactly like what I was imagining when I wrote those scenes. Hopefully you’ll love them too.

If you decide to give these recipes a try, make sure you have a parent or adult with you to help, since baking is a lot of fun, but it needs to be done safely!

MALLOWMELT COOKIES

Technically, mallowmelt is a gooey cake—and you can find a recipe for it on my website (shannonmessenger.com), as well as a recipe for mallowmelt-flavored cupcakes (because cupcakes are always a good idea).

But, as any of you who follow me on Instagram already know, I’ve recently spent a lot of time baking cookies. (It’s an excellent stress release—and they’re so easy to serve and share!) And one night I thought, What if I could make mallowmelt-flavored cookies?!

It took a few tries to perfect the method, but the final result was every bit as melty and delicious as I’d imagined—and now you guys can make mallowmelt-flavored cookies too! (But make sure you have a parent or adult with you to help!)

Makes about 24 cookies

Ingredients

FOR COOKIES:

1/2 cup salted butter, melted

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup butterscotch chips

12 marshmallows, cut in half

FOR CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE:

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/3 cup half-and-half

FOR BUTTERSCOTCH DRIZZLE:

3/4 cup butterscotch chips

2 tablespoons half-and-half

Directions

FOR COOKIES:

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together melted butter and both sugars until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. (Note: This can also be done in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer—your preference!)

Add half of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Then add the remaining flour mixture and stir until batter is smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides of bowl.

Gently stir in chocolate and butterscotch chips until combined. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill dough in refrigerator for at least 2 hours (or as long as overnight).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Take cookie dough out of fridge and let stand for 10 minutes. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie and roll into balls. Arrange cookie dough balls 2 inches apart on each tray and bake for 12 minutes.

While cookies are baking, cut the marshmallows in half, and after the 12 minutes have passed, quickly remove cookie trays from oven and place half a marshmallow, cut-side down, on top of each cookie. Return cookies to oven and bake for 2 more minutes. Remove cookies from oven and allow them to cool on the trays for 5–10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and let them cool completely.

Note: The cookies are delicious just like this—but if you want to capture the true gooeyness of mallowmelt, you’ll want to add the chocolate and butterscotch drizzles.

FOR CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE:

Combine chocolate chips and half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl.

Cover and microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove and stir.

Repeat process, microwaving in 30-second intervals until chocolate is melted and stirs smooth. (Caution: The bowl may get warm.)

Using a spoon, drizzle chocolate over each cooled cookie. (If you want it to look fancier, you can use a pastry bag. Or if you want to keep it simple, you can also spread like frosting on top. Whichever method you choose, make sure the cookies have cooled completely before adding drizzle.)

FOR BUTTERSCOTCH DRIZZLE:

Combine butterscotch chips and half-and-half in a microwave-safe bowl.

Cover and microwave for 30 seconds.

Remove and stir.

Repeat process, microwaving in 30-second intervals until butterscotch is melted and stirs smooth. (Caution: The bowl may get warm.)

Using a spoon, drizzle butterscotch over each cooled cookie. (If you want it to look fancier, you can use a pastry bag. Or if you want to keep it simple, you can also spread like frosting on top. Whichever method you choose, make sure the cookies have cooled completely before adding drizzle.)

Additional note: I use salted butter for the cookies because I think it helps balance the sweetness of the butterscotch—but if you prefer to bake with unsalted butter, it works just as well!