Mary Newman's Blog - Posts Tagged "release-day"

Yes, it's early for my blog post, but I'm just so excited and I had to share.

Today is release day for A Prince's Ransom!





First, a couple of things about this book:

1. This is a departure from the universe I've been writing in. It's not connected to the Love Trilogy, Brethren, or Hashani series, so the characters are completely new.

2. A Prince's Ransom has a professionally rendered cover. I might have mentioned this before, but when you luck out and someone as talented as Catherine Dair agrees to do your cover, well... Let's just say there was lots of happy dancing and squealing like a little girl going on.

With all that being said, how about an excerpt from the book?

Itu sat on a couch in the mercantile office with a computer balanced on his lap and a second box of receipts on the floor in front of him. He had a spreadsheet program open and was doing his best to sort and categorize the mishmash of invoices, receipts, hand written notes and bank slips. Rhia sat beside him in what had become her customary place. Each day she joined him, working with a smaller, handheld computer, doing her school lessons. Periodically, she’d ask him a question before going back to her work.

She was very smart and didn’t really need tutoring. Rhia seemed to have taken a liking to him, though, and usually accompanied everywhere. Well, she liked his hair, actually. Since that first evening, less than a week ago, when she’d brought out her combs and ribbons after the evening meal had been eaten, Rhia was never far from him. Once she completed her lessons she would begin playing with the long, blonde strands, removing the tie Itu used to keep it out of his face, and soon she’d have him looking as if he’d been hit with a makeup bomb. Rhia had raided the store’s cosmetics counter and delighted in plastering Itu’s face with color. Since it made her happy and kept her quiet, Itu let her. He could always wash it off later. He kept a large tub of cosmetic removal cream in the bathing room of the cottage just for that purpose.

Salio had protested, at first, because it got in the way of Itu trying to organize Bira’s records. Once she’d realized Itu didn’t mind being combed and painted, she’d let her daughter have her way. She now used him as a babysitter in addition to his accounting duties. It allowed her to concentrate on her sewing and directing Grekor on how to arrange the storage room. Not that Grekor needed much instruction. His companion had devised his own system and made a huge dent in the clutter of the main store room. As far as Salio was concerned Grekor was golden. Especially once he’d located a missing case of fancy threads that had apparently been lost for months.

“I’m getting hungry, little one,” Itu announced, setting the computer aside and stretching his back. “Think it’s time for a snack?”

Rhia cheerfully set her lessons down and jumped off the couch.

“Mommy made cakes,” she said, hopefully.

“Aren’t those for your birthday party?” Itu asked. “Why don’t we go to the guest house and see if Grekor made some sandwiches?”

“But I like cake,” Rhia stuck out her bottom lip.

“So do I, but your mommy will be disappointed if we snitch them before she can serve them at your party, don’t you think?”

“Not even a little taste?” Rhia looked at him sideways.

“I think Grekor made cookies,” Itu tried for distraction. “The ones with chocolate chunks.”

“Oh yes!” Rhia grabbed his hand and started pulling him from the office.

Point for the accountant, Itu grinned to himself, mentally adding to the tally in his head.

“Finished already?” a velvet voice wrapped around Itu and grabbed hold of his balls.

“Um, no,” Itu looked up to find Loka lounging against the wall next to the office. “Did you need something, Loka? We were just going to get a sandwich and cookie.”

Loka raked his gaze up and down Itu’s form, and like a string attached to his nether regions, Itu felt it pull at his cock. Blast the man, anyway. Itu was holding the hand of a five year old little girl. Why did Loka make him feel like this every time they saw each other?

“Are you hungry, too, Uncaloka?” Rhia asked, innocently.

“Oh, yes. I’m very hungry.”

Itu barely kept from snorting at the innuendo in Loka’s words. He wasn’t exactly being surreptitious about it, either.

“Come on, you can have a cookie, too.”

Rhia grabbed one of Loka’s hands with her free one and began pulling both men through the store room.

“Oh, hey, Loka!” Bira’s voice boomed out. “Salio wants you to go out and pick up Pops for the party.”

Yes! Salvation was in sight!

“You can take Itu with you,” Bira continued. “He hasn’t been out of the mercantile since he got here. Rhia, go take care of Kinto. You haven’t fed him yet today.”

What? No!

“Okay!” Rhia released his hand and skipped away.

Traitor! See if he gave her another chocolate chunk cookie.