Bridgette Tell's Blog, page 2

NOW AVAILABLE: Book 1 in new Fantasy Romance Series

For those of you who love magic and elves keep reading below for the about on the new book and keep an eye out for the next post with link to purchase your copy of Cillian: Stones of Duhaem.

Four stones stand tall to protect life and order from the hungry destruction of Kaos. 

Pedwar. Chwech. Saith. Wyth. 

But times are changing and the shift in majic both dark and light are felt by all.

Cillian has a duty to protect his people, by any means, from the creatures of Kaos. One fateful battle lands him in the claws of the mist that separates the realms.

Nora, a simple sheep herder, takes her Granda’s sheep into the mountains for the summer meadows. A chance encounter with a strange being from the fog turns her world upside down.

Will Nora be able to forgive Cillian for stealing her freedom? And will Cillian be able to save Duhaem from certain destruction?

*Warning: Explicit content and a happy ending, this is the first stand-alone book in the Stones of Duhaem series.

Cillian: Stones of Duhaem will soon be available worldwide in book print and ebook.

Available Soon: Book 1 in new Fantasy Romance Series

Hey all!

So as I have mentioned I have been trying something new. And this new includes going into a totally different direction from contemporary romance to fantasy romance. The series is still as spicy hot as the Love Me Right series. Each book is a standalone so don’t worry about never finding the end of the MC love story.

For those of you who love magic and elves keep reading below for the about on the new book and keep an eye out for the next post with link to purchase your copy of Cillian: Stones of Duhaem.

Four stones stand tall to protect life and order from the hungry destruction of Kaos. 

Pedwar. Chwech. Saith. Wyth. 

But times are changing and the shift in majic both dark and light are felt by all.

Cillian has a duty to protect his people, by any means, from the creatures of Kaos. One fateful battle lands him in the claws of the mist that separates the realms.

Nora, a simple sheep herder, takes her Granda’s sheep into the mountains for the summer meadows. A chance encounter with a strange being from the fog turns her world upside down.

Will Nora be able to forgive Cillian for stealing her freedom? And will Cillian be able to save Duhaem from certain destruction?

*Warning: Explicit content and a happy ending, this is the first stand-alone book in the Stones of Duhaem series.

Cillian: Stones of Duhaem will soon be available worldwide in book print and ebook.

Summer of Bliss: Post 20

This is the final free post from the romance book Summer of Bliss. To keep reading, please sign up to the blog with your email and receive the link to your free copy in the new year.

In the mean time, I will be taking a short break from posting for the rest of the winter as I gear up to publish not one but 2(!) books for the spring. So happy 2022 everyone and I will see you all in the spring!

Chapter 7

I jolt up in bed. Before I realize what’s happening, the blankets caught between my legs and I find myself dumped to the ground. 

Groaning, I glare up at the unfamiliar single bed beside me.

Right. I’m in Germany for the next four Weeks. 

Sighing, I roll onto my back and reach up for my phone which miraculously stayed on the bed. 

Sliding it open I groan even louder when I see the time. 4:22.

Who is even awake at that time, I wonder to myself.

Yet the buzz in my limbs makes it impossible to go back to sleep. This must be what jet lag feels like. 

I get up and am surprised to find myself still in my jeans and tshirt from the party last night. 

Flashes of memories race across my mind: the red head feeling me up; Klara’s light blue eyes watching me; Klara falling onto the ground, drunk and barely able to talk.

Grimacing, I grab my shower bag and decide a quick shower to wash of the sweat and grime of the night before is essential. 

I carefully place last nights clothes in the hamper before jumping in the small cubicle. Even with the shower head pushed at its highest setting, I still have to duck and bend over to get my hair clean. 

The hot water clears my foggy mind, bringing in the memories of last night into focus. Of Klara, with her simple t-shirt and jeans stretching over her curves. Of her long blonde hair, white in the strobe lights, flashing in a shimmering curtain down her back. 

I ignore as heat pools at my crotch, instead focusing on when I returned downstairs to the dance looking for Klara, only to find her in the middle of the floor in the arms of two men. But she didn’t notice them. Her arms were thrown back, a soft smile on her lips as she swayed with the beat. Even from the edge of the room I could see the goose bumps racing across her skin. She had felt that music, really felt it. In the way I felt my music, when my violin was perched on my neck and the strings were vibrating up my jaw. 

It was my biggest weakness when it came to women and dating. And my biggest turn-off when they were offbeat and out of sync. 

Summer of Bliss: Post 19

Chapter 6

“So you what you been up to this summer?” Alfred asks, his eyes kind. 

But I don’t want kindness right now. I want to forget Adelle holding Eric’s hand. Or the way he watched her face with open interest. 

No, what I wanted was to let go and live in this moment.

I grab Alfred’s hand and with a smile, I whisper in his ear, “I’d rather dance than talk right now.”

He doesn’t let go as I pull him out of the kitchen.

I can hear Tony yelling from behind, but I keep us moving until we are in the middle of the dance floor.

I close my eyes and throw my hands up, my limbs starting to loosen from the beer and korn earlier.

A hot hand wraps around my middle and pulls me into a hard chest. I turn and look up into Tony crooked smile. He leans down to my ear and half yells over the music, “Here’s your beer, sweetheart.”

I grab the beer and take a long swig before leaning back in his arms. Sandwiched between Alfred and Tony I close my eyes and force myself to only feel the heat of their bodies against mine, the rumble of the base through my skin. 

The third beer goes down easy as I sway and smile up at the dark ceiling.

The song morphs into the next. And then the next. Alfred is replaced by a stranger. This guy is my height, and had floppy blonde hair.

Suddenly, the lights come on. I stumble back from blonde and look around me. The room is almost clear of people.

Where’s Hermione?

Frowning, I try to walk to the hall but the floor moves on me and I find myself on my knees. 

Strong hands lift me up. By the time my head stops swimming, I realize I’m staring up into soft hazel eyes. 

“You’re hot. Like a maroni,” I mumble.

Eric frowns, his jaw even harder than before. I reach out to touch it without thought.

He lets me, apparently deciding that I can’t be trusted to walk on my own. Eric carries us into the cool night. The fresh air is a relief against my overheated skin. 

Then suddenly we’re in the back of a car, but I’m still in Eric’s lap. I look up at his mouth and realize his lips are moving. “…the address…” 

I cover his mouth with my hand and repeat my parents address from memory.

My head is spinning and falls forward, smacking into his shoulder. I can feel strong arms wrapped around me and a hand rubbing my back. 

Then blackness.

Summer of Bliss: Post 18

Chapter 6

I pull the long strands aside and open my eyes to the crowd, searching. 

But when my eyes land on Eric, my whole body jerks in surprise.

Standing not a meter away from me is Eric, but his eyes – and his hands – are all over Adelle’s slim body.

“What the…” I can just barely hear Hermoine growl from beside me. 

We both watch as Adelle wraps a hand around the back of Eric’s neck and pulls him down for a long kiss. 

But what shocks me the most isn’t the kiss. 

It’s his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer. I feel the hot pricks at the corners of my eyes as my chest heats. Before I break out in tears, I turn and almost run off the dance floor, shoving people out of my way.

People shout and glare at me but I don’t care. 

All I care about is getting away from them. From him.

Somehow I end up in the kitchen and Alfred, a friend from primary pulls me in to his side. His lopsided smile use to warm me up, but now it does nothing but comfort. 

“My Klara, you need a beer,” he half shouts, his own eyes dilated from drinking.

In moments I have a cold beer bottle in my hand. 

The image of Eric and Adelle flashes through my head. Grimacing, I tip the bottle up and loosen my throat, chugging it in ten seconds.

I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand, a loud burp escaping me.

Alfred grins. “It’s like that tonight.” Then he finished his own half finished beer before grabbing both of us another bottle. 

He turns us slightly to chat with Tony, another friend from primary. Just behind them, I see a flash of red hair. I squint and my gaze locks with hazel eyes that feel far more familiar than the few hours that I have known them.

Eric stares back.

And then Adelle is tugging further inside to where the stairs are. And from past parties I remember that way leading to the bedrooms above. 

Frowning, I chug my second beer. 

Tony frowns briefly before giving me a quick smile. “Sure you don’t want to slow down?”
I sneer at him. “I like beer. What’s it to you?”

He puts his hands up as if to stop the words, before chuckling. “Whoa, didn’t mean anything by it. I’ll grab you another beer.”

Summer of Bliss: Post 17

Chapter 6

Then her eyes flashed and the corners crinkled. Hermione leaned in even further. “Does this mean that your going to fly to America and become a superstar chef?” She whispered.

I laugh out loud at the ridiculous statement. 

Hermione crinkles her brow. “What? Isn’t that what you want? Why you work so hard on that Insta page?”

I shrug, not able to get the words past my throat. 

Going overseas and learning from renowned bakers was a dream. A girl’s dream as my parents pointed out to my so many times when I was finishing up my primary school. 

There had never been talk about what to do next after school, it was just understood that I would get a job right away. Something stable and sure. Live at home until I could pay the rent for my own place. Meet a man, get married, and then have two children and dog with an apartment near the Alt Stadt.

Like my sister.

Yet a small part of me wondered. Would it be so bad to take a risk? The emails on my phone taunted me.

Shaking my head, I turn to the fridge and pull two bottles for Hermione and I. 

She takes the drink without comment. 

After a long gulp, I look her in the eye and shrug again. “All I know is I have the best job ever, working with my closest friend and meeting people from around the world.” I plaster a fake smile across my face.

Hermione must have believed it because she raised her glass to me. 

“Prost. To being an amazing baker!” She yelled.

Thirty arms raised their glasses in unision. “Prost!” And then, the guy closest to the fridge began singing off key. “Ein prosit, ein prosit..”

Hermione grinned as she wrapped her arm around my shoulder. We swayed and sang loud and proud. I giggled wrapping my arm around her waist and looking out at the crowd.

This is what I loved about home. These moments. 

And it was these moments that had me questioning if I really did want to leave and get out in the world. 

At the end of the song, we raised our hands again, yelling and shouting, before everyone broke up into their little groups again. Hermione grabbed my hand and pulled me out into the hall and towards the dance floor. 

I could see the back of Eric’s head, swaying above the crowd. 

I straightened my shoulders and followed Hermione into the middle of the crowd. 

The beat was heavy, vibrating and pushing through my lungs. Around me limbs and bodies sway and grind on each other. For a second, it’s to much. I can feel my heart beat pick up and my breathing speed up.

Hermione turns to me, grabbing both of my hands in hers and starts swaying. Her smile is infectious and I can’t help but smile back.

Shaking my head, I let the fear slide to the back of my head and close my eyes so all I see is the colours on the backs of my eyelids. 

Hermione drops my hand and pulls me close to her, as we sway together. 

A shiver runs down my skin, followed by a trail of sweat. My hair is already sticking to the back of my neck.

I pull the long strands aside and open my eyes to the crowd, searching. 

Summer of Bliss: Post 16

Chapter 6

“…he is so hot. And his accent. To die for!”

I turn from Hermoine to look at a group of girls from my primary school. If possible, Rita was even more statuesque than five years ago. And beautiful. Her makeup was dramatic and glamorous like the women in my American cosmopolitan magazine.

Adelle turned to Rita before glancing over her shoulder. I also turned  towards the living room where the writhing mass of friends and strangers danced and undulated to the beat.  

I couldn’t help but gasp at the view.

Eric really was something else. He stood above the crowd, his dark hair black in the low lighting. His face was even more harsh and angular in the flashs of red and green. The thin t-shirt was stretched taut over his wide shoulders. Around him was a flurry of movement, as women buzzed around him like fruit flies to an overripe peach. Yet his eyes looked past it all, not focused on any one person or thing.

“Damn you are lucky to be living with that,” Hermoine whispered in my ear. 

I jump a little before giving her an uneasy smile, not liking her hungry look towards Eric.

Trying to be non-chalant, I shrug and take a hearty sip of my korn and cola. I was more than comfortable with keeping myself separate of the crowd of desperate women.

Hermoine turns to me her, frowning. “You don’t think so?”

I take another sip, glad the darkness hides the heat racing across my cheeks and ears.

But Hermoine knows me too well. “Come on. Say it. I want to hear you say you don’t think he’s attractive.”

I roll my eyes. Just as I open my mouth to reply, Rita bumps into my shoulder as she passes down the hall towards the living room. 

Hermoine growls at Rita, grabbing my elbow and pulling me all the way into the kitchen. 

Once Hermoine’s eyes light on my face again, I can feel the heat of our conversation on my face.

Hermoince bursts out laughing, setting her empty bottle on the stone counter. “Good luck hiding that one from him,” she finally said with an easy grin.

I shrug, taking another sip before mumbling, “I doubt we’ll be spending much time together.” Hermoine opens her mouth but I quickly change the subject. “Did I tell you I had one of those influencers reach out to me on my insta?”

Hermoine frowns for a moment but then leans in with curiosity. “No. Who?”

Setting my own drink aside I pull open my Instagram page. 130 notifications. And that was only from the last couple of hours. Shaking my head, smiling, I quickly pull open the messages. (Friend) leans over my shoulder to see the familiar profile picture.

Gasping, she hits me playfully. “Shut up!” Her eyes widen.

My grin spreads even further. “Yup. She said she loved my pictures and –“ I pause with my hands out for effect, even if my only audience in the crowded kitchen is Hermoine. But Hermoine leans in even further, grabbing my elbows in her excitement.

“And…?” She half squeals.

“They may have mentioned my name to a certain famous talk show host from America.”

We both scream as Hermoine starts jumping up in excitement. We get a few looks from the other people in the room but no one asks any questions. 

“That’s amazing Klara,” She finally breathes out, her eyes bright against her long red hair. 

Then her eyes flashed and the corners crinkled. Hermoine leaned in even further. “Does this mean that your going to fly to America and become a superstar chef?” She whispered.

I laugh out loud at the ridiculous statement. 

Summer of Bliss: Post 15

Chapter 5 – Eric

Not five minutes later, the car brightens up with street lamps as Hennigsdorf. comes into view. Two quick turn offs and suddenly Klara throws the car into park. Up ahead on the right, amidst a row of cookie cutter two story brick houses, one house stands out with the flashing green and purple from its window.

The girls are piled out of the car in seconds. By the time I untangle myself, Hermione and the other two are already half way up the walkway to the house.

Klara stands near the hood of the car, hesitating as she looks towards the girls. She turns to me as my passenger door slams shut behind me. I start walking and she quickly picks up my pace. 

Or more accurately, she almost runs to keep up with me. Her head barely comes to my chest. 

I try to slow my step for her, shoving my hands in pockets. 

“So…” Klara starts, glancing up at me. 

I wait for her to continue, as we turn up the drive. The rest of the girls have disappeared into the brick house. From here I can hear the familiar base shaking the house. Lights flash from only the downstairs windows, but one of the upstairs windows lightens briefly as if someone had hit the curtain by accident.

“You don’t say much do you?” she continues. 

She stumbles at the front step, and I reach out to steady her. For a brief moment, she’s in my arms. Her wide blue eyes looking up at me, her lips relaxed in an O as if waiting for a kiss.

And then she pulls out of my arms, her right hand automatically coming up to shove her hair behind her ears even as her cheeks pinken. 

“Sorry, I-“

“I don’t,” I answer her, cutting off the apology that I did not want or need. 

She peaks up at me from beneath her eyelashes, before giving me a quick nod. 

Instead of asking another question, she turns to the front door and opens it without hesitation. As we step through the entrance, I feel as if I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole into an alternate universe. 

The hall is filled with bodies, men and women laughing and dancing and moving. The flash of lights from the left illuminate the white smiles, the understated clothes. 

Instead of the glitz and flash of the frat party I had been dragged to by Saphine, this house party was very cool and almost more scary. 

I turn to Klara but she is already gone, sucked into the sea of unfamiliar faces and sharp smiles. 

Sighing, I take a breath and start down the hall. With any luck, and maybe some beer, I might actually get through this evening. The pounding behind my right eye says no chance.

Summer of Bliss: Post 14

Chapter 5 – Eric

Fingernails digging into my arm has me turning away and focusing back on her annoying friend. 

“I read once,” she says in what I’m sure she believes is a sexy whisper, “That people who play with the papers on their bottles are sexually frustrated.”

Far from it, I think to myself but settle my fingers and take another big swig from my bottle.

Her hand somehow has moved from my arm to my chest, slowly creeping upwards. “I could help-“

Riingg! Ring! Riiing!

Hermione leans back with a frown, settling her beer on the coffee table as she pulls her phone out. I share a glance with Klara who smirks at me before taking a sip of her beer. She starts talking to the other two girls in german, much to my relief. 

I take another hardy gulp and am not surprised to find the bottle empty. Before I can place it on the table, Hermione grabs the bottle from my hand as she jumps up and disappears into the small kitchen that is identical to the Decker’s house. 

My eyes slide over the white walls and wood accents. Everything feels familiar yet so different to the houses from home. It’s smaller, narrower but feels no less spacious. 

Did my mom grow up in house like this one, I wonder. My dad has very few pictures from my mother. Only a small shoebox that he would pull out every once in while. It was from her side of the family, dad would say, that I got my musical genes from. Not surprising considering most of my siblings couldn’t hold a tune and my father was tone deaf. 

My fingers absently rub the rough cloth of the ottoman, anchoring me to the present as my mind spins through the possibilities of the past. And the hopes for the next few weeks.

“I think we will be leaving soon,” Klara interrupts my thoughts. I turn to her and realize the other two have shifted towards each other, both heads stooped over a phone. The rough sounds from the kitchen reminds me that Hermione is still gone.

“I hope you like techno,” she added before taking a sip, her eyes skittering away from me. She does that a lot, I’ve noticed. 

Maybe she’s not completely unaffected. 

“I like music.” Understatement of the year. 

She frowns, flashing those blue eyes my way for a long minute. 

Right as her lips purse as if to ask me something, Hermione enters the living room again. 

“Okay, let’s go girls!” She frowns at me before smiling, “And man.”

In moments, Hermione and the other two girls are crammed into the back seat while I find myself barely fitting in the passenger seat. Klara smirks as she glances at me knees shoved into the dash but otherwise keeps queit. 

Hermione leans through the middle and takes over the radio, forcing the normally calming sounds of Falling Up by Dean Lewis to skin shaking intensity. I carefully shove my shoulder to towards the window, putting as much distance between Hermione and myself as I can.

I don’t know what it is, but something about Klara’s friend unnerves me. Maybe it’s the fuck me stare or the not so subtle licking of her lips. I’ve dealt with overt women before but even this is a little much for me.

The city sweeps past, a blur of red and white bright lights smattered with the occasional flash of a door opening. I close my eyes and try to ignore the music, but my skin tingles with an awareness that has more to do with the woman sitting beside me than the strong bass shaking the air. 

Just as I turn to stare at Klara, the car plunges into darkness. 

As if sensing my hesitation, Klara reaches out and turns down the volume. Her eyes glance my way. “Matteo’s place is just outside of Berlin, in Hennigsdorf.”

I nod but she’s already turned the volume up. 

Summer of Bliss: Post 13

Chapter 5 – Eric

Loud giggles and screeching can be heard from upstairs. Flinching, I take a sip of the beer that had been shoved in my hand the moment we showed up at the two-family house. 

My eyes follow the blonde girl around the living room. 

Klara.

My host family’s daughter. 

She has the same light eyes as Theresa. But that’s where my mind stops comparing and just appreciates the view. The curves, the long flowing hair that waves just slightly. The pale skin that almost glows despite the shitty lightbulbs.

“-No! And then what did he say?” she asks her redhead friend. Her eyes widen as she leans slightly in, not realizing how she mirrors her friend. 

The redhead – Hermoine I think she introduced herself as? – shrugs as she dusts her shoulder. With a sniff, she answered, “That he wanted to speak to my manager about the horrible food and service.” 

The other two girls stumbled downstairs and gathered around Klara and Hermoine. Hermoine waited until they were seated before giving them a wicked grin. She took a sip of her beer, the other girls quickly following suit. 

“Of course, I went and grabbed Herman and he put that American in his place.” She grinned.

The other girls squealed.

Klara gave a small smile, leaning back. Her hair shifted and the glint of something gold near the top of her ear captured my attention.

The energy in the room shifted, and I found four pairs of eyes focused on me. Not unlike growing up with five sisters. Sharks, really. They were circling, waiting for blood. 

I took another sip of the cool wheat beer, careful to keep my other hand loose in my lap.

Hermoine stood and joined me on the love seat couch. The other two sat on the floor across from us. I watched as Klara stood and carefully seated herself, one foot tucked underneath her, on the ottoman. 

“So…” Hermoine started.

I quirked my brow and waited. 

One of the girls across from me asked something in quick german, the staccato of the syllables almost familiar. But not quite. 

Hermoine laughed before turning to me. “What do you think of Germany so far?” 

A safe question.

A tease, before they would hit me with the dynamite, I’m sure. Kitty used the same tactic on me and her poor boyfriend to get the information that she wanted.

Her black eyes flashed as she licked her lips. 

I focused my eyes down on my bottle, my fingers picking at the damp label. “It’s nice.”

The silence is deafening as the girls wait for me to fill in the comment. What more did they want? I had landed in the country less than (5) hours ago. There wasn’t much to say yet.

(name) broke the silence first. “You have a girlfriend?” She asked point-blank.

I blinked a couple times, surprised at how bluntly she asked me. Not that I minded. I just wasn’t use to girls asking about my relationship status.

And to be frank, most of them didn’t seem to care. They were willing to change it for me, even when I said no.

“No,” I answer honestly.

Hermoine’s eyes light up as she smiles up at me, leaning in close. 

I try to stretch away from her, settling further back into the couch. A snort catches my attention and I stare back into ocean blue eyes. 

Unlike her friend, Klara’s eyes give nothing away. Not happy, not sad. 

Not interested. 

To bad. There’s something about this girl that sets something off inside of me.