SNEAK PEEK of “Don’t Date the Haunted” FINALE!
With the publication of “Don’t Marry the Cursed” (book 2), I thought I’d celebrate by sharing a little sneak peek of the final book in the Haunted Romance Trilogy!
In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, you can find books 1 & 2 on Amazon (“Don’t Date the Haunted,” and “Don’t Marry the Cursed“)!
As for book 3, it already has an official title! Are you ready?
***drumroll***
Coming to Amazon in early October, 2021, the third book of the trilogy will be called…
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“Don’t Dance with Death”Back when the first book was still terribly titled “Haunted Romance,” and book 2 was titled “Haunted Adventure,” this book was titled “Haunted Return.” So . . . you can speculate what that means. . .
Soon after creating Pansy’s silhouette for “Don’t Date the Haunted,” I created Theo’s silhouette for “Don’t Marry the Cursed,” and ____’s silhouette for “Don’t Dance with Death.” (Read the excerpt below to learn his name!)
Here it is: the silhouette that I created for bluewaterbooks.com to create the cover!
Oh, you thought Pansy and Theo were holding hands with no one else?
Nope, there’s a little someone between them.
PS. this trio of pictures works better on tablets or computers.
As I’m still in the editing process of this book, sections and parts of the following are likely to change. However, the main concepts will remain the same.
Chapter OneTHEOWe live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
– The Call of Cthulhu
“Happily ever after” was sometimes quite tiresome.
I sat in a padded throne and longed for Pansy to sit in the Marchioness’s identical seat beside me. I wondered where she was as I idly listened to the petitions and reports from the lords. My wife and flower still grew nervous with each meeting in the Presence Chamber and preferred other duties if possible. At least her influence was seen in the ivy that grew up the stone wall. Pansy suggested it, hoping to “bring some life into the room.” She also did a number on the security, regularly checking the protocols and functionality of systems within Ruezdad and all of Eimad. Maybe she was checking on them, or experimenting with medicines in her drawing room.
I pictured her in my mind with a small smile. Some things did get better with age. After six years of marriage, there were a couple of wrinkles around her brown eyes. A few greys highlighted her black hairline, testifying to the responsibilities of royalty and parenthood. I had a few of my own greys above my ears. They grew while I tried to simultaneously learn two fields of study that were usually taught from childhood: how to be Marquis and how to be a wizard.
Someone coughed, and I blinked myself back to the matters at hand.
After two reports of missing children, we had reason to suspect a cannibalistic witch lived in the northern foothills. The lords and I formulated a plan for the expedition. A dozen witch hunters would be enough. More than likely, the witch had moved on and disappeared since the last sighting.
The lords left with plans, assignments, and encouragement. The last one held the door wide for a grizzly bear who stood on his hind legs and wore a samurai’s kimono.
“Master Bahr?” I asked.
The massive warrior bowed. “The young prince would like a word with you.”
“Send him in,” I said.
He stepped back to make room for the one person he was assigned to guard. A child stepped into the Presence Chamber.
Aeron Fromm, the Earl of Margen. My son.
A little man of five years, he was truly a beautiful child, and I cherished that he was half mine. He had my blue-green eyes with Pansy’s darker skin tones. His blond hair surprised us both, though it slowly darkened each year. We figured he would have my dark brown hair by the time he reached adulthood. He had Pansy’s nimbleness and keen awareness with my eagerness to learn. Pansy worried that he asked far too many questions for his own safety.
“Father?”
“Yes, Aeron?” I asked.
“I want to show you something…if I may?” he added as a formal afterthought.
I pinched my lips, both proud and annoyed at my son’s training. As much as I wanted a casual relationship with my son, the formalities would serve him well as Margen’s future duke. I smiled and squatted to his eye level. “Of course. What is it?”
“Hold this,” he said, handing me an oak board. I took it with one hand and held its center. “No, you hold it wrong. Like this, see?”
My son took the board back and held it up by the edges between his palms. “This is how Master Bahr hold it. Now you try.”
I suppressed a grin as my child spoke to me the way his personal guard spoke to him. With the wooden board between my palms, I angled it to the side.
He threw his fist through the board and shouted, “Pah!” I winced as the board broke from the impact and bits flew towards my face.
Aeron had the best trainers of Margen and Pansy’s coordination, though it was still the punch of a child. My son beamed with accomplishment.
“Look! Look! I breaked the—”
“Broke?”
“Oh, I broke the board!”
“Yes, you broke the board.” I grinned.
“Can that be my title? Can Eimad call me Aeron, the Best Puncher in Novel?”
I laughed. “You are still young. You will find many more talents and skills for Eimad to title you. To receive a title is a great honor and not to be taken lightly. They are only given to royalty and great Heroes.” Besides, any title would be considered a nickname until it was made official on his twelfth birthday.
“Then I want to be a Hero.”
“Why is that?” I asked.
My son fiddled with his leather bracelet. He liked to wear it all day, though its only magical function was to absorb nightmares. Some kids carried blankets for security. Aeron wore his bracelet.
“Cousin Farris say—” I gave him a look “—says they will name me after Mom and call me ‘The Unsettling,’ which means weird.”
I frowned. “Your mother’s title is ‘The Unsettled,’ which does not mean weird. It means—” I considered a simple explanation of her paranoia for Hauntings and speed ability. “It means she moves a lot. Besides, you are not unsettling. Farris was just teasing you.” Still, I made a mental note to talk to King Aenirin and the attitude of his youngest child.
Aeron shook his head. “He calls me unsettling because I do not have magic or a ability.”
That phrase rang far too many familiar bells. I took my son by his shoulders. “Aeron, people with abilities have difficulty learning magic. You know that. The only way I learned wizardry was through a gift. Uncle Dunstan’s ability is very strong, so he struggles to learn Priest magic. Aunt Di, however, has no ability and picked up magic naturally. The fact that you are unable to do magic proves you have an ability. We just need to discover it. You have plenty of time.” I, for one, was ten years old before I met Lord Freund, whose ability was to see others’ abilities. Except, his ability was stolen by my wicked step-mother. I vaguely remembered her comments about some dark ability born within Pansy’s womb. Unfortunately, confirming with anyone was impossible since the only other witnesses of the broken mirror’s prophecy were dead. Maybe it was better if Aeron’s ability was left unknown.
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