Margo Bond Collins's Blog, page 26

Spotlight On: A Faerie Wedding (The Star Child #4.5) by Stephanie Keyes

Excerpt

My feet touched the frozen ground. Singer slid off my back and hopped onto the grass beside me. I shifted back in an instant.

With a quick glance down, I straightened my tie. At least I never lost my clothes when I shifted. I had no friggin’ clue where they went during the process, but I’d learned not to ask a lot of questions about Faerie-related things.

“At least your landings have gotten better.” Singer smoothed out her hair. “I would have been pissed if you’d bucked me off, again.”

Singer had done a header the first time I’d flown her. To be fair, I kind of didn’t try for a good landing. Things were different now.

Taking her hand, I pulled her to me. “I won’t let you fall again. Promise.” She started to say something, but I didn’t give her a chance. I opened my mouth against hers, tasting her, savoring the feel of her tongue against mine.

“Gabe.” The way she whispered my name sent shivers crawling over my skin.

She bit my bottom lip and I groaned out loud. “You can’t start doing stuff like this, Sing. Otherwise, we’ll never make it inside.” Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing? At least, I wouldn’t have to meet her father.

Yet.

 

A Faerie Wedding (The Star Child #4.5)

by Stephanie Keyes

Release Date: February 12th 2016

Genre: New Adult

Inkspell Publishing



Summary:

Gabe Stewart has everything he ever wanted. Mortal Earth is safe. He’s a super-hero Protector whose best friend is within telepathic shouting distance. And then there’s his soul-mate, Singer. He knew right away she was the one he’d been waiting for.
 
But Gabe’s world shatters when Singer professes she doesn’t love him. On top of that, his mother admits she’s been messing with his memory making him doubt everything he’s ever known. And just when it seems things can’t get any worse, his best friend in the whole freaking world, Kellen St. James, wants Gabe to stop being his Protector. Being a Protector is who Gabe is. What will happen if he’s not standing between the prince and danger?
 
When the man who’s sacrificed his freedom is faced with life alone, which path will he choose? Will he remain the last Protector? Or will he finally get the happy ending he deserves?
 
*A Faerie Wedding is a companion novella–intended to be read after the other books in the series. It is a New Adult novella and features adult language and situations. 




























 
Buy Links:

Amazon│Kobo│iTunes
 
Previous Books in the Series (click on images for Goodreads links):
     
 




About the Author
Stephanie Keyes is the author of the YA Fantasy series, The Star Child, which includes The Star Child, After Faerie, The Fallen Stars, The Star Catcher, and The Last Protector. The Boy In The Trees, part of the Blood In The Shadows anthology, released in November 2015. 

The Star Catcher won first place in the 2014 Dante Rossetti Young Adult Novel Awards—Mythological Category. The Star Child was a finalist in the 2015 BTS Magazine Reader’s Choice Awards. Keyes was also selected as a 2015 Rutgers University One-On-One Plus Conference mentee. She’s an active member of SCBWI.

Steph lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Mr. Keyes, her boys, Hip-Hop and Bam-Bam, and dogs Duncan MacLeod and Princess Riley. Steph is a hopeless romantic and Whovian who’s shamelessly addicted to Nutella and spontaneous singing.







Author Links:
Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook│Tumblr│Instagram
 



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Book Blitz: The Guardian Series by G.K. DeRosa – Excerpt and Giveaway #WILDER

 

 

Hello readers! We are so excited to present to you,

The Guardian Series by G.K. DeRosa!

Fans of the supernatural, family legacies, and swoon worthy brothers definitely do not want to miss this series!

Wilder, Book 1 in The Guardian Series will be available for .99 for the duration of the blitz.

 

 

Dive into the world of Celeste and the Constantin brothers, and immerse yourself in a world created by G.K. DeRosa.

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post for a chance to win a physical copy of Wilder!

Search #WILDER to jump around the internet to read excerpts from various bloggers!

 

All that Celeste Wilder ever wanted was to find someone who would sweep her off her feet like she had seen in countless romantic movies. When she meets the gorgeous and mysterious Constantin brothers her senior year of high school, she gets much more than what she had bargained for. As they introduce her to an exciting supernatural world that she never imagined existed, she makes a startling discovery about her own family legacy and is forced to make a decision that will change her life forever.

Wilder (The Guardian Series #1) by G.K. DeRosa Publication Date: May 4, 2015

 

 

She found the romance novel she wanted, the newest one from the series she had been obsessing over, and made her way to the checkout desk. She turned the corner and abruptly collided with someone. She dropped the book, which slapped against the marble floor with a disconcertingly loud thud, echoing through the cavernous room.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she blurted, without looking up as she bent down to pick up her book. As she stood back up, her heart skipped a beat. Before her stood a towering, well-built young man with wavy, raven hair, chiseled jaw, and eyes as blue as the summer sky. Celeste felt her cheeks grow hot. Embarrassed, she flushed even redder.

“No problem. Sorry, I should have been watching where you were going, I guess,” he said, eyes twinkling.

 

Celeste Wilder’s mundane world has been completely turned upside down, and it all started when the intriguing Constantin brothers strolled into her small town last summer. After discovering the truth about her destiny and making a life-changing decision, she is now forced to deal with the consequences of her new supernatural reality. Gone are the carefree days of high school and homework, now she must fulfill her duty as a Guardian…no matter the cost. Luckily, she has the love of her life by her side as she battles the supernatural forces of evil, but will that love really last forever? As new challenges arise and old enemies reappear, Celeste must find the strength to overcome the biggest threat she’s ever had to face.

Wilder Destiny: The Guardian Series Book 2 by G.K. DeRosa Publication Date: October 28, 2015

Available for purchase: Amazon

 

G.K. De Rosa has been an avid reader from a very young age. In fact, before she could even read, she tried fooling everyone into thinking that she could. At the precocious age of two, while living in Italy, she had memorized an entire children’s book in Italian and expertly turned the pages at the exact right moments of the story. As she grew up, she always enjoyed literature, no doubt having been instilled with a love of story telling from her early years in Catholic school where she was greatly influenced by exemplary teachers who taught her the value of English and Literature. Though she did not pursue writing in college and instead went for the more traditional route of International Business inspired by her love for travel and all things foreign, after a move to New York City, she found her creative writing side calling once again. She began writing a restaurant review blog, City Lights and Tasty Bites, detailing her other passion – food! The hectic hustle and bustle of the city, combined with long commuting times gave her the opportunity to spend more time reading and rekindled a lost love. After reading countless books in many diverse genres over the two years in New York City, and returning to her home state of Florida, she felt compelled to write something for herself. She had always felt particularly drawn to Young Adult novels and having been an eternal romantic at heart, a fantasy romance was a natural choice. She currently lives in South Florida with her real life Prince Charming and their fur baby, Nico the German Shepherd.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

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Spotlight On: Raining Down Rules, by B.K. Rivers

 

Raining Down Rules

by B.K. Rivers

Release Date: February 9th 2016

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Limitless Publishing



Summary:

Jemma Bowers hasn’t kissed anyone in over a thousand days. She knows—she’s counted.
 
For twenty-year-old Jemma, rules are not meant to be broken…even if she’s the one who created them. Friendships have boundaries, relationships mean trouble, and don’t even get her started on sex. Haunted by the death of her mother and her father’s abandonment, Jemma finds herself hungry for something meaningful and permanent, but is afraid of what may happen if she pursues it.
 
Jordan Capshaw can’t fight his addiction. Not even if it will cost him his career…
 
When Jemma finds Jordan drunk and barefoot in the street, she convinces him to get in her car. Aside from the fact he’s the lead singer of her favorite band and pretty much the rock star of her dreams, she quickly realizes his addiction is a monster neither of them can control.
 
Who knew choosing between a rock star and a fireman could be so difficult?
 
Emotions run high as Jemma soon finds herself caught between the troubled rock star and her growing affections for Vic Harper, a swoon-worthy firefighter from her past. But when her grandmother passes away, leaving her with no other family, Jemma’s world falls apart.
 
To save herself from further heartbreak, she risks it all by breaking her own rules, and putting her heart on the line.
 
After all, the heart just might be the biggest rule breaker of them all.

Buy Links:

 

Amazon

About the Author


BK Rivers grew up riding through rolling fields of grain on horseback, driving hay trucks and catching frogs in a silver creek.  She traded country life for the big city when she married the love of her life, but the heart always returns to the country.

BK, her husband and three children live in the Phoenix suburbs on their own mini farm surrounded by crowing roosters and the low nicker of horses.  When she’s not writing, she can be found baking anything sweet, in fact it’s been said her brownies are so good they save marriages.

The inspiration for her novels comes in many forms, but mostly from her Gotye channel on Pandora.  She writes young adult and new adult novels to the beat of Gotye, Snow Patrol and many others.

Author Links:





     

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Giveaway + Spotlight On: Solace, by Gini Rifkin

Solace

Fae Warriors Book 1
Gini Rifkin

Sexy Sci/Fi Fantasy Romance
The Wild Rose Press/248 pages


Can a six-foot-tall female Fae Warrior from another realm, and a hunky ready for action ex-Army Ranger save the earth from invasion?  

Solace Goodeve, one of Mother Nature’s favorite Fae Warriors, is assigned to Earth to help save the planet. Reptile invaders, disguising themselves as humans, are waging a takeover—and Mother is mad enough to eat asteroids. Solace is ready to prove herself as a warrior, but having a human for a partner is not in her battle plan—even if the man is rugged, ripped, and ready for action.

Army Ranger, Tanner Jackson, has seen his share of black op missions. The last one took a toll on both body and soul. Tanner isn’t looking for love, even though his new partner is six-foot-tall and drop dead gorgeous. However, after Solace shows him a new meaning to working undercover, he may have to reconsider that possibility.

As the Reps plan to sabotage NOAA, Tanner and Solace must learn to trust one another. But as they’re trying to save the world, Solace and Tanner might just lose their hearts—and that takes the most courage of all.

Buy Links:   Amazon    B&N    The Wild Rose Press   Google Books



Excerpt:

There must be some mistake. The man striding toward her couldn’t be Tanner Jackson. Dressed in a black t-shirt, camo cargo pants, and rugged lace up boots, he looked ready for a special ops mission, not a day of wrestling with figures and scientific data. Tall and well-muscled, he appeared rock solid, like he belonged in the age of Athena. In fact, he seemed so overwhelmingly masculine, she worried he might not be human. That gave her pause. Had the Reps already established a man on the inside?


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About the Author:
Greetings…I live in beautiful Colorado with my chaotic herd of abandoned farm animals. My friends and family keep me sane, and writing keeps me hungry to learn new things even as I research times gone by. 
When you open a book and turn the pages, you breathe life into the characters and set them free. My stories are adventurous romance, past, present, and into the future, sometimes with a bit of magic or fantasy, but always with a happy ending.


Please visit me at www.ginirifkin.com or http://ginirifkin.blogspot.com
https://www.pinterest.com/ginirifkin/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001680213365
If I don’t see you in the future, I’ll see you in the pasture (or the hat store).

Cover Reveal: In Her Eyes by Wesley Banks

In Her Eyes
By Wesley Banks
 
Blurb:

When Ben Wilder is given a second chance he focuses on the one thing he’s always been good at: running. After walking on to the University of Florida Track and Field team he begins to quickly move up the national rankings, paving a path towards the NCAA Championships. Everything is going the way he planned, until the day he bumps into Casey Taylor.

New to Gainesville, and focused on her first year out of medical school, Casey is initially hesitant to let Ben into her life. But the truth is she’s worried about letting a guy near the one thing she loves most: her daughter, Emma. After one fun and fateful night Casey can no longer bury her feelings behind these excuses, and takes a chance on a guy she is slowly falling for.

Casey’s relationship with Ben starts to gradually build into a love that she has never felt before. But more importantly, Emma has taken a particular liking to Ben. As they all spend more time together Ben is forced to confront painful memories when he starts to notice something hauntingly familiar in Emma’s eyes.

After a local journalist uncovers the secret of Ben’s past their lives begin to converge on a single promise that Ben Wilder has long since made: to never give up…no matter what.

Release Date: 

March 14, 2016





Excerpt

Ben was tired, but he was excited when he woke up on Monday morning. It was Casey’s day off and Coach had given the team the week off, minus a team meeting this afternoon, since they had another month until the NCAA Championships.

Emma’s school started at seven forty-five which meant if he got to Casey’s around eight, they could spend the whole day just relaxing.

When he arrived the garage was shut, so he walked up to the front door. Before he could knock, though, the door swung open and Casey jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

“My hero,” she said in a terrible southern accent. Then she started giving him little pecks all over his head and face.

He walked inside with her still wrapped around him and kicked the door shut. Laughing, he said, “Who is this strange girl, and what did you do with Casey?” She continued on in the southern accent. “You won the race for your beloved and claimed victory.”

Ben sat her on the backside of the couch and looked down at her. “What on earth has gotten into you?”

“You, Sir Runner. Now, take me, take me now.” Casey puckered up her lips playfully and Ben laughed.

Ben leaned in to give her a quick kiss, thinking she might taste or smell like alcohol, because right now that was the only explanation he could come up with. She tasted like…cookies.

He looked around the room and to his right, sitting on the kitchen counter, he found his answer. He let go of Casey and she fell backwards onto the couch.

“Hey!” she said as she hit the couch cushion.

Ben walked over to the kitchen and picked up a small tub of Cookies ’n Cream ice cream and a bag of Fudge Filled Chewy Chips Ahoy. He held up both and looked over at Casey who was half-hiding, half-peering over the top of the couch. “Please tell me you are not eating cookies and ice cream at eight o’clock in the morning.”

Casey jumped over the couch and came running at Ben, a ball of sugar filled energy. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her legs around the back of his calves, and inched her way up his body. When she reached the top she bombarded his neck with kisses. “My hero,” she said. She stopped for a moment and looked at him with the most devious, sensual grin. She leaned in closer until there was almost no space between her lips and his. Then like a cheetah springing on a gazelle, she grabbed the ice cream with her left hand and the cookies with her right, hit the ground and took cover on the couch.

“You have serious problems,” Ben said.

Casey pulled out a cookie and dipped it in the ice cream and held it up for him to see. Then she started humming and dancing the cookie around like she was taunting him.

Ben took two steps, dove across the couch, snatched the cookie from her hand and shoved it in his mouth before she could barely move. She looked at him wide eyed and in complete silence and then jumped on him. They wrestled and tickled each other like five-year-olds, stopping every now and then for a quick cookie break.

This went on for about thirty more minutes and then she crashed on the floor next to him. Her head lay across his chest as he played with her hair until eventually he crashed too.

About The Author

Wesley Banks was born in 1983 and grew up on the west coast of Florida. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Civil Engineering.  After spending over 7 years building movable bridges from Florida to Washington he decided to focus on his true passion: writing.

Wesley recently moved from Florida to Oregon to get back to the great outdoors that he loves so much. He lives with his wife Lindsey, and his two dogs Linkin and Story. Most of his time these days is spent writing, with as much rock climbing, hiking, or skiing as they can fit in.

You can find Wesley at

                  




Presented By

 

Spotlight On: Rhuna, the Star Child ~ by Barbara Underwood

Rhuna, The Star Child is the thrilling sequel to Rhuna: Crossroads, and is the third book in the Rhuna Fantasy Books series, but each book can also be read as a standalone novel. Rhuna, the Star Child is set in mystical Ancient Egypt where Black Magic was developed by the followers of the legendary villain, The Dark Master. As strange and frightening curses plague the population, Rhuna discovers the underground organization that performs this uncanny new magic, but she can only combat it with the help of her long-lost father. Having learned from her father amazing new skills to empower her on the Astral Plane, Rhuna once again strives to preserve peace and harmony in the idyllic Atlan civilization.

Far more challenging than fighting powerful Dark Forces, however, is Rhuna’s personal anguish when her daughter becomes involved with the leader of the Black Magic movement, and the once-perfect Atlan society based on utopian principles begins to crumble all around her. Shocking events escalate Rhuna’s world to a breathless climax as she and her family undergo a momentous upheaval, and she is forced to make great personal sacrifices for her loved ones.

Buy on: Amazon | Smashwords

Author Bio:

Barbara was born and raised in Sydney, Australia; the only child of German migrants who provided a rich and diverse childhood environment. Already in third grade she wrote a short children’s book for a class project and realized that she was deeply satisfied with creating stories. In sixth grade, for another class project, her teacher was so impressed by the lengthy story she submitted, that he commented at the end “I see we are going to have another author”.

Over the years, Barbara kept writing one thing or another, but only as a hobby while she pursued other interests and goals. In the 1990s, she completed a correspondence course in professional writing, doing it in her spare time after work. This led to having a few short stories published, but what she really wanted to do was write a proper novel.

At this time, Barbara had travelled extensively and gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in subjects that held special appeal for her, namely ancient history, myths and legends (such as Atlantis, the builders of megaliths around the world), folklore (the belief that a god-like race gave mankind its technology), human psychology and the culture of other countries. What better subject for her Fantasy book series than to combine all these elements into one big adventure!

Follow the author:
Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Google + | Literary Addicts

Paranormal Love Wednesdays ~ Cover Reveal: Siren’s Curse by Margo Bond Collins

 

Welcome to the weekly blog hop featuring paranormal stories. From witches to werewolves, vampires to berserkers, you name it, we have it.

This blog hop is open to authors and writers whose work is published or unpublished. We also welcome works-in-progresses/WIP’s.

Join us each week and check out all the cool stories!

This week, check out this sneak peek at the cover of Siren’s Curse, coming out this fall as part of the Hotel Paranormal collection, then be sure to HOP back to check out the rest of this week’s entries. Keep an eye out for more information about both Siren’s Curse and the Hotel Paranormal collection!

 

 

About the Author  

Margo Bond Collins is the author of a number of novels, including Sanguinary, Waking Up Dead, Taming the Country Star, Bound by Blood, Legally Undead, and Fairy, Texas. She lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, and several spoiled pets. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters.

 

Connect with Margo

Newsletter: https://confirmsubscription.com/h/d/03A21E5E161401F0

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/margobondcollins

Email: MargoBondCollins@gmail.com

Website: http://www.MargoBondCollins.net

Blog: http://www.MargoBondCollins.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargoBondCollin @MargoBondCollin

Google+: https://plus.google.com/116484555448104519902

Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/vampirarchy

Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MargoBondCollins

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mbondcollins/

Playlist for The Girl and the Gargoyle by Pauline Gruber

 

Playlist for The Girl and the Gargoyle by Pauline Gruber

Here is a direct link to the playlist on Spotify for The Girl and the Raven and The Girl and the Gargoyle: https://open.spotify.com/user/gruberp...

You can also check out the playlist below:

Everlong – acoustic version, by Foo Fighters
Hero/Heroine, by Boys Like Girls
Take Me (As You Found Me), by Anberlin
Your Guardian Angel, by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
Little Death, by +44
Running Up That Hill, by Placebo
Tomorrow Comes Today, by Gorillaz
Franklin, by Paramore
Velvet, by The Big Pink
Walking With A Ghost, by Tegan and Sara
Magic, by Coldplay
Electric Feel, by MGMT

 


The Girl and the Gargoyle (The Girl and the Raven #2)
by Pauline Gruber 
Release Date: 06/23/15

Summary from Goodreads:
Being half-witch/half-demon and dating Marcus, a gargoyle and demon enemy, is complicated enough for Lucy. She can almost tolerate Jude, her demon father, forcing her to undergo combat training.

But when Marcus’s long-lost family returns to Chicago, her world begins to crumble. Marcus’s mother wants him to leave to join the gargoyle clan; his father wants him to help kill Jude. There’s one major problem with this: if Jude dies, Lucy dies.

Marcus will do whatever it takes to save Lucy and her father. Meanwhile Lucy has her own plan and with the aid of a surprise newcomer, seeks help from the most unlikely—and dangerous—source.

 

 

Book One:

(cover linked to Goodreads)

About the Author

Pauline Gruber is a self-professed music junkie, cat wrangler, and travel nut. She went to Paris in the 90’s where she discovered a love of three things: croissants, old cathedrals, and gargoyles. Deciding that the paranormal world could use a new kind of hero, Pauline translated her fascination with the protective gargoyle into a suspenseful love story. She is the author of the young adult series, The Girl and the Raven, The Girl and the Gargoyle and the forthcoming novel, The Girl and the Demon. By day, Pauline is a legal assistant for a Chicago law firm where she steals identities and incorporates them into her books. If you tell anyone, she’ll deny, deny, deny.  Pauline lives outside of Chicago with her precocious black cats.

Author Links:

     

Spotlight On: Happy Chasing Happy by Jerome “Jay” Isip

Though Jerome “Jay” Isip now enjoys the success of being a professional MMA fighter, entrepreneur, and author, he is no stranger to the feelings of self-doubt, depression, and lack of direction that many people– young and old, male and female– struggle with at one point or another in life.

This candid, autobiographical book tells of MMA fighter and accomplished champion Jerome Jay Isip’s journey to find his identity and his own version of “happy” in early adulthood through self-destructive means like alcohol, a myriad of drugs, and other risky behavior, and how he pulled himself back from the edge of the abyss, finding the courage to live a life of clarity and purpose after discovering what true, lasting happiness in life is all about.

Buy on Amazon

 

About the author:

Jerome “Jay” Isip is a successful entrepreneur within several walks of life – finance, small business, e-stock trading, and athletics. Born and raised in Belleville, New Jersey, Jay was never one for academics. Rather than concentrating on coursework, he was instead distracted by the typical trappings other young men endure. Jay has always been more interested in enjoying life and those around him, which isn’t going to get anyone accepted at a credible college or university. Even still, through all the self-destructive means and risky roller coaster of behavior, Jay stayed determined to choose his own career path, which would eventually lead him to becoming a business owner, a professional “mixed-martial arts” fighter. And now he has added the title of “author” to the list.

Follow Jay: Twitter | Facebook | Website

Spotlight On: Halfway Bitten by Terry Maggert

 

Halfway Bitten 
(Halfway Witchy Series #2)
by Terry Maggert
 
Blurb:

The circus came to Halfway, and they brought the weird.

When clowns, vampires, and corpses start piling up in town, Carlie has to break away from her boyfriend, Wulfric, to bring her witchy skills to the table- or grill, as the case may be.
When the body of a young woman washes up in the lake, it unleashes a spiral of mystery that will bring Carlie, Gran, and Wulfric into a storm of magical warfare. Spells will fly. Curses will rain. Amidst it all, Carlie will make waffles, protect her town, and find out if a man from the distant past can join her in happy ever after.

With love and honor at stake, Carlie has no peer.




Available for purchase at

 

Excerpt

If I ride my bike to work, it takes three minutes; walking takes ten.

I chose to walk.

The sun broke over the lake in a fury of gemlike flames. Halfway is a lake made in heaven, and the town curls around it like a jealous lover. At five in the morning, it’s sleepy and quiet, with only the occasionally rowdy goose or loon breaking the silence. The only humans moving around other than me and a few bakers are fisherman; they have the excellent sense to limit their noise and speech under the auspices of not scaring their prey. I applaud that kind of dedication to avoiding human contact before you’re fully caffeinated.

I unlocked the diner’s side door and slipped into the quiet cool. This was the magic hour before any other employees were around, and the entire space was mine. Three days a week Louis would be waiting to greet me—he started baking at two in the morning, but not today. There was no aroma of flour or sweets and coffee, just the welcoming stillness and a lingering hint of something fried and delicious. Glynna and Pat would arrive later; between the two of them they could organize the invasion of a modest country. They’re both seasoned veterans who know that coffee comes first, chit chat is second, and smiles are constant. It’s no surprise that getting a job here is rare, but keeping it is common.

I set coffee to brew, wrapped a snow white apron around me, and slid easily into the kitchen to begin the dance of preparing for an onslaught of bustling customers who came to eat, relax, and gaze out at the brightening surface of the lake. There are some mornings that I lose time; it’s as if the muscle memory of my job takes over and bliss descends to move my hands in a familiar pattern of cooking, and plating, and smiling at the general joyous chaos that erupts from the moment we open our doors. Most of the time, I love my job. Other days I tolerate it, but this was not one of those days. This day was going to be interesting.

I looked up from the grill and froze. Usually, the diner—that’s the Hawthorn Diner, known to everyone in town simply as The Diner– is filled with a nice mix of tourists and locals. You know the types. There are tourists wearing all manner of vacation uniforms with the occasional sunburn mixed in for good measure. Dads wear khaki shorts, white sneakers, and an expression of relief when their kids start eating. Tourist moms wear anything that’s clean, drink coffee like their lives depend on it, and always seem the smallest bit worried. Our locals wear baseball caps and an air of infinite patience, waiting for me to cook their waffles just so without a hint of hurry.

So, when I looked up and saw six clowns sitting at the counter, I took a moment. Okay, if you want to get technical, I froze. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared of clowns. As a witch, I actually find them sort of relaxing when compared to the paranormal nasties I deal with now and again; a little face paint and red noses don’t frighten me. But still, I just took a moment.

Glynna smirked at me while she filled a row of coffee cups; apparently even clowns enjoy a hot cup of joe. I nodded politely, looking down at my current batch of home fries that were happily sizzling away, then turned to add onions and mushrooms to an omelet that was nearly done. Despite my, ah, stature, I can cover a lot of ground in the kitchen. I may not be tall, but I’m really busy, and that goes a long way towards making me efficient. I like that. So do our customers.

“Circus in town?” I asked Glynna, who began to hang tickets in the window with a robotic efficiency. You’ve probably seen someone like her before in a diner somewhere. Glynna is fifty, slender, has hair color that changes like the weather, and brown eyes that are cheery and bright. She’s an inveterate coffee and sugar addict, and she avoids vegetables, meat, and milk like one would a dodge a radioactive badger. Glynna is fueled by caffeine and sweets. I really need to look into her diet someday, if she’ll ever stand still long enough to let me take notes about her eating habits outside work.

She pointed at the array of clowns and nodded sagely. “It is. Rolled in overnight. They’ve set up near the park, although I’d say it was more like a carnival. They’re nice guys; they were giving away tickets at the lakeshore before they came in here to tank up on waffles.”

The lakeshore meant the walkway that followed a rough outline of our park, which snugs up to the water. We’re are exactly halfway between the beginning and the end of the Adirondack chain of lakes, hence our name, and the park is your basic giant green lawn that acted as a picnic spot, music venue, and general meeting place for friends, lovers, and the occasional dog who wanted to stretch it out and run for a bit. My town is compact, idyllic, vibrant during the summer, as all touristy places are, and frigid for the winter.

It’s also lousy with magic.

Now, clowns aren’t from the Everafter, they just dress that way. Trust me, if you’ve ever seen an actual Faerie Queen, you’d think she got her wardrobe at yard sales held during the disco era. Just because you’ve got royal fae blood doesn’t mean you have taste. I know this from experience, and I’ve only just stopped laughing at a printed pantsuit that a fae court member wore during a fight with a rogue Werebear. If it hadn’t been dangerous, I would have been too busy taking pictures for posterity. I don’t care if your beauty is magically enhanced; when you combine stripes and spots, I’m going to laugh at you.

I breezed through the remainder of my shift in a happy fugue, stepping out of the door at just past two in the afternoon. Actually, I took two steps, because I’m just brushing five feet tall and my legs are appropriately long; that is to say they reach the ground. Barely. My eyes are gray, my hair is black, and I love my Doc Martens as much as any inanimate object on the planet save my charm bracelet, which acts as a sort of repository for my excess magic. I’ve got a hidden witchmark behind my right ear; from it springs hair of every human color you can imagine, and a couple that I’ve only seen on really unusual cats. I use the hair for spells, on occasion, and the witchmark as a sort of early warning system for everything nasty that find witches to be delicious or interesting. I couldn’t blame the beasties, since my hair smelled of the grill, my clothes were speckled with waffle batter and I needed a shower in that welcome sort of way you get if you love your job. I do. I’m lucky like that.

So, I’m a witch, and I come from a long line of witches. My Gran is sort of the de facto leader of all things magical in our area; her decades of experience make her the go-to for all questions about the arcane. I seem to be the designated hitter in terms of pest control; I don’t know whether I should be flattered or angry that I spend so many of my days off traipsing around the woods hunting down errant demons, ghouls, or undead tax accountants. The spread of evil knows no bounds, it would seem, so until you’ve had to cast spells at a guy with blue skin, a pocket protector, and fangs, don’t you dare judge me.

Part of being a witch means having a familiar. Mine is a cat named Gus. He’s of the Maine Coon variety, which means that his size rivals mine, and his favorite hobbies include giving me the stinkeye, complaining, and trying to smother me with his tail when I take naps. In other words, he’s your basic cat, just three times larger and more attuned to my magical needs. Gus is the only other occupant in my home; it’s a small bungalow that’s close to the diner, and it once belonged to my parents. They’ve retired and headed for the sunsets of New Mexico, leaving me my childhood home.

I love everything about my house. I love the deep cool of the cellar where I perfect my magic; I love the green expanse of the lawn, and the lonely apple tree that marks the eastern corner of my yard. Its branches are few but heavy with fruit each September, and I pick each apple with a reverent memory that stretches back to the first years of my life. I’m twenty-one years old, and I’ve never known another place. I belong here, and I love that fact, too. All of these things push together in my heart and leave me full and happy, a fact which naturally irritates the rare cynic I’m forced to deal with. Those people are inevitably customers who are cursed with real or imagined special dietary needs. Egg white omelets make me sad, but the people who order them make me angry.

I stepped through my door and tossed the keys on a tall table that hugs the left hand wall. Gus waited to greet me from his usual perch on the fireplace mantel; I refer to it as The Dais of Judgement due to his unblinking stare and haughty bearing.

Then again, he’s a cat. They’re built for that kind of subtle insult, so maybe I’m just overly sensitive since he’s so confident. I admire that kind of moxie in an animal who is frightened of my sneakers if I dare to leave them in a different position. He’s a creature of habit, as am I, but you won’t see me shedding like a cheap sweater when I get upset. Big difference.

Gus interrupted my thoughts with a single deep mroooowwwt.

“Yeah, yeah. You big galoot. I’ll get it.” I moved unerringly to the fridge and pulled out a pitcher of actual cream— my snobby cat won’t drink anything but the good stuff. After I filled a dish large enough to swim in, I started peeling off clothes and heading towards the bathroom. I took an experimental sniff as I passed my bedroom, sensing the lingering essence of Wulfric, my boyfriend. He’d left just before dawn to go on what amounted to a patrol of his lands. I should probably explain why I have a boyfriend who needs to patrol anything, so here goes.

Wulfric is a thousand year old half-vampire, half- Viking who guards a section of the forest so that mortal hikers don’t get turned into undead monsters by an evil spring that we sometimes call the Fountain of Youth.  He also has a daughter, Emilia, with a no-good skank named Anna who is actually a Werepanther, hula-hoop addict, litterer, and general malcontent. Anna’s also really hot, which means that for the most part she got away with all manner of anti-social behavior, but absconding with my boyfriend’s kid puts her squarely on my shit list, and I’ve got news for that trampy little kitten.

I’m not scared of any kind of cat. I live with Gus.

 

Halfway Witchy Series



Halfway Dead (Halfway Witchy Series #1)

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About The Author
 



Born in 1968, I discovered fishing shortly after walking, a boon, considering I lived in South Florida. After a brief move to Kentucky, my family trekked back to the Sunshine State. I had the good fortune to attend high school in idyllic upstate New York, where I learned about a mythical substance known as “Seasons”. After two or three failed attempts at college, I bought a bar. That was fun because I love beer, but, then, I eventually met someone smarter than me (a common event), and, in this case, she married me and convinced me to go back to school–which I did, with enthusiasm. I earned a Master’s Degree in History and rediscovered my love for writing. My novels explore dark fantasy, immortality, and the nature of love as we know it. I live near Nashville, Tennessee, with the aforementioned wife, son, and herd, and, when I’m not writing, I teach history, grow wildly enthusiastic tomato plants, and restore my 1967 Mustang.




You can find Terry at

               



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