Author
Molly Lyions
Out Now:
A Soldier's Faith: The Dog Who Led Him Home
Canvas of Faith
THE BOOKS
Trial by Fire
Phoenix Rising Book 1
Where will you be when the world comes to an end? Most people don’t even think about it or they laugh it off. Some people will laugh and say they will be dead by then, but, what if you’re not? What then?
The reality of that question came crashing in like a wave sooner than expected one cold, mid-winter night. Some of us were prepared, but many were caught completely unaware.
The world. Had gone. To shit. In the blink of an eye, the world as we knew it was totally rearranged into a desolate landscape. It was inevitable, really. So much division and fighting in the world could only lead to our own destruction. Countries tearing themselves apart from within, governments fighting for dominance and not taking care of their own people, and world leaders unable to quell the growing tsunami of discord.
Doomsayers had been prepping for this eventuality for decades, but no amount of training, prepping, or stockpiling can ever really prepare you for the end of the world as you know it. No matter who you were before, how much money you had, whether you prepped or not, we are all equal now. Disaster has a way of doing that, leveling the playing field. Now here we are, at the end, and we are all left wondering the same thing. How the hell did we get here and what the hell do we do now?
A conglomerate of world leaders, called the Axis, have decided it is time to narrow down the population of the Earth. In the United States, the government leaders have drawn a line down the center of the map and divided the country in half. Those who live at or below the poverty line, are ill, elderly, or otherwise dependent on the government, are being forced to relocate west of the Axis line. Those who live above the poverty line, are healthy and young, are being relocated to the east of the Axis line. With the threat of nuclear war hanging over their heads, what the world leaders have planned next is nothing short of Nazi regime genocide on a global scale. John and Phoenix MacKenzie decide it is time to move their family from rural Nebraska to the compound they have been building for decades in Arizona. Once there, can they find a way to save humanity from the atrocities that await them?
From the Ashes
Phoenix Rising Book 2
After Niko and the crew return from Colorado without John, the compound is in shock. Everyone is at a loss. The compound turns to Phoenix for leadership, a role which she reluctantly steps into. John left big shoes to fill but a solid plan to follow. Phoenix, Niko, and Liam must pull themselves out of their grief to guide the survivors. The Axis has found their location and is watching them, waiting for their next move.
Niko is a mess. He was with his father when he died, or rather he was until John ordered him to leave him. He doesn’t know if he will ever be able to pull himself out of the darkness now. When a pretty young stranger is rescued from one of the camps, Niko finds love and the hope he so desperately needs, but will she help Niko and the rest of the crew pick up the pieces and put them back together or will she further shatter their already fragile existence?
Rise of the Phoenix
Phoenix Rising Book 3
This is it, do or die time. When a new inhabitant arrived at the compound and developed a relationship with Niko, it stirred a new hope in the compound after their patriarch was killed while trying to free some prisoners. Phoenix and crew have walked through fire and sifted through the ashes only to find hell on the other side. After a secret is revealed that Niko’s new love isn’t whom she says she is, and Niko is imprisoned by the Axis, Phoenix must rise up find a way to rescue Niko and save the compound. With a little help from an unexpected source, will they be able to rise from the ashes or will everything they have worked for come crashing down?
Trinity
A Phoenix Rising Novel
Every ending is just a new beginning. That’s what they say anyway. I never really believed it, but here I am living it. I had been given a second chance to make things right, and I’ve spent the last twenty years fighting to do just that. The Axis nearly took everything from me; my home, my father, the love of my life. I was lucky to get them all back. Now, here I stand, with my husband and children, at the precipice of human existence.
We had to fight to get to where we are now. Twenty years ago, North Korea destroyed everything with the use of nuclear weapons. The Axis had decided to play God and killed millions of innocent people in an effort to raise enough money to stop them, but they failed. My family stopped the Axis but couldn’t stop North Korea. The damage had already been done.
Now, as I stand with my family, I am grateful that I was given a second chance. I look at my husband, then my children and wonder just what the future holds for us all.
“What do we do now, Mom?” I hear my husband, Niko, ask his mother.
“Now, we rebuild, we start over, we do better.” She answers.
That’s what we will do. We will spread out and rebuild. I take my husband’s hand as he leads us out into an uncertain future, knowing that whatever is out there waiting for us, we will get through it together.
Before we can face the unknown, I must first share how we got here. I have to face my past. My name is Trinity Amari MacKenzie and this is my story
A Return to Innocence
What happens when the person you thought was the love of your life disappears and then returns twenty-seven years later? That’s what Aurora is asking herself right about now. Carsten walked out of her life when they were seventeen, and now he’s back. He couldn’t have picked a worse time to show up. Will they rekindle the hot romance they had as teenagers or will she find he did her a favor all those years ago?
Purgatory: Judgement Day
Mara wakes up in a dark hospital room not knowing where she is or how she got there. After meeting the Doctor, she finds out that she met with some sort of accident, and while she is speaking with the doctor, she passes away. She begins to run through the halls of the hospital looking for an escape. Every exit door she opens leads back to the doctor. When she finally resigns herself to the fact that she is trapped, she confronts the doctor who tells her she is in Purgatory and the only way out is to face her life choices. She goes room by room to face the people she hurt and experience their own personal hells that she caused. One by one she inhabits the bodies of those she hurt and lives life through their eyes. Once she has faced her life choices, she returns to face the Doctor for judgement.
It Was Fate
Can love really transcend the boundaries of space and time? Can relationships from the past influence a relationship in the future? Can our ancestors really have a bearing on our current relationship? Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as decided by a supernatural power. Brody and Scarlet believe fate is guided by their ancestors who have gone before them. From the Hall of Ancestors, they guide future generations along their destined path designed by Fate. While surrounded by their friends and family, Brody and Scarlet celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary by sharing stories of their life together intertwined with those of their ancestors.
Purgatory: Seeking Forgiveness
Mara is back! After facing the consequences in Purgatory and seeing the pain she caused others, Mara begs The Doctor for forgiveness. He is not in a position to offer forgiveness, he is only there to ensure her suffering. He gives her a challenge. Go back and ask those she hurt for forgiveness. If she can win their forgiveness, she can leave Purgatory. Will she find redemption or was the pain she caused too great to warrant forgiveness?
The Lavender Secret
In the heart of 1950s Washington, D.C., as the Red Scare gives way to the Lavender Scare, fear and persecution take on a new and deeply personal form. Under the shadow of Executive Order 10450, thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals are forced out of federal employment, their lives destroyed by suspicion and secrecy. For Daniel Harper, a loyal State Department employee, and Julian West, an outspoken artist, love becomes both a refuge and a risk.
The Lavender Secret weaves a tale of forbidden love against a backdrop of political paranoia and social repression. Daniel, caught between duty and desire, struggles to shield the man he loves while navigating the dangerous corridors of power. Julian, refusing to live in the shadows, channels his defiance into art that challenges the very systems threatening their existence.
As whispered accusations and betrayals mount, their bond is tested in ways neither could have imagined. With every choice, they risk exposure, but their love may be the only thing strong enough to endure the storm.
Will Daniel and Julian find a way to hold onto each other, or will the relentless fear and secrecy of the Lavender Scare force them apart forever? A story of courage, resilience, and the unbreakable power of love, The Lavender Secret captures the human cost of a dark chapter in American history.
Coming Home
After you've left home, can you ever really return? This question has been playing in my mind like a broken record as I drive through the quiet darkness, heading home from the airport. For the first time in twenty-five years, I’m back on American soil—a home I haven’t seen in so long that it feels almost foreign. Coming back wasn’t easy, not by a long shot. There were times I wasn’t even sure I’d make it. Leaving Russia turned out to be harder than I ever imagined. You’d think being born and raised an American citizen would have made things easier, and in the end, it did—just not without a price. A price far higher than I ever anticipated.