Sunday Snippet: Nowhere Good

Another month endis almost in sight. August is gearing up to be a busy month for me and I'm excitedand exhausted at the same time. I love being busy and having projects on mycalendar but also have to remember to take time to decompress.

Cleanout projectstalled again. I had deadlines to meet and also got a new office chair that neededassembly. Have to admit it's comfy.

Had a solid workweek with several projects ongoing and two that needed to be finished. I gotthose out of the way and started a new one that's a long procedural.

Pretty good week ofviewing. Made it through a full round of shows and started both of my back-burnerones.

Started with MissFisher's Murder Mysteries and enjoyed the backstory of Janie and Phryne. Almostthrough the first season.

Started the newseason of Madame Blanc Mysteries and a holiday episode. Looking forwardto more of this show.

Caught anotherepisode of Death in Paradise. Kind of sad to see Marlon go. He ended upgrowing on me. Thrilled to see JP back for a brief appearance. The mystery alsogave Marlon time to shine, which is nice for his final ep.

Watched anotherepisode of Poirot, which is the first of two parts. Looking forward toseeing how this one ends. A super-young Polly Walker is a guest star!

Enjoyed an episodeof Elementary. I haven't quite decided how I feel about Morelandsticking around for a while, but I did like his interaction with Sherlock. The casealso proved to be interesting.

Caught another episodeof Batman Beyond and have vague memories of this one the first timearound. Always fun to have Shriek back.

Watched anotherepisode of Lower Decks. This show annoys and charms me in equal measure.I did quite like the interaction between mom and daughter even when I rolled myeyes several times.

Started an episode ofPeak Practice. I didn't quite manage to finish it but will get it donethis week. I hope!

Also started andgot most of the way through another episode of Reacher. I only stoppedbecause I couldn't keep my eyes open. That's what watching a show at four a.m.will do.

That's it for thelife update this week. Tonight's post is from Nowhere Good, a novella thatexplores how a couple resolves an age-old conflict.

Here's theminiblurb:

After wiping out a rival fae faction's hell spawn, AdrianStock plants a hot kiss on Shaun Henrickton, a fellow enforcer, and their worldtilts sideways. They've got custom and ritual, protocol, and baggage betweenthem and if they cave to their baser feelings, the outcome can't go anywheregood.

And a preview snippet…

Adrian sat through Matilda'sexamination. "You don't have to check the sirens. We got them to the safehouse without incident." They'd be a little crowded for a couple of days.Matilda smoothed a cool salve overAdrian's burns. "Good to know. You and Shaun make a hell of a team." Afterrecapping the jar, she held her palm over the injury and closed her eyes,muttering an incantation over and over.The brief respite gave Adrian timeto unpack her thoughts. Shaun did make a great partner. But would he still? Thesilence coming back to the estate after seeing to the sirens put her out ofsorts. Because of the kiss. She and Shaun usually had a million things to talkabout. But neither spoke a word on the journey back. Because of the kiss.She chastised herself. Such astupid thing to do. Ruling families did not mix with the lower classes. And shedefinitely didn't qualify for ruling status. Her family would be disappointedshe'd initiated something with Shaun. She mumbled under her breath."Not that his family is any better." Even if Shaun didn't think likethem.His family wanted to keep the oldways. Seven families ruled over the rest of the population and made sureeveryone stayed in their own lane. The regular folk like the Stocks pushedback, trying to form a council that would better represent all beings in theglade.Matilda gently squeezed her fingersaround Adrian's. "There. Are you still feeling any pain?"Adrian made a slow fist. "No.None. Thank you." She started to get up.Matilda nudged her back down."Uh-uh. I want you to stay here tonight. Consider it a favor to me. But Iwant to be here if you have any aftereffects." Her steady gaze bored intoAdrian's.Adrian slumped. "You thinkI'll have nightmares." She might … even if it had been years since herlast one after Bent's death.Matilda nodded. "It'spossible. And if you have one, I'd rather it be here where I can help."What she didn't say? If she hadone, being here wouldn't pull her mom and dad into the fray. They stillstruggled with the loss of their only son.Adrian sighed. "Okay. But if Idon't have any, I'm heading to the cottage in the morning." She livedbehind her parent's house in the old gatekeeper's residence.Matilda smiled. "As you wish."She got up and put her supplies away. "For now, I have to make my rounds.Help yourself to anything you need. The spare room is already made up foryou." She bustled around, grabbing her satchel and a jacket then headingout of the suite.Adrian settled back into thecushion of the chair. "Leaving me alone with my thoughts can't go wrong,right?" She snorted.Why worry? She had no chance withShaun. He'd reached the age where he had to find a mate. Someone the sevenhouses approved of.Rolling her eyes, she shook herhead. "Definitely don't want to be around for that." But … the reasonshe kissed him had everything to do with the ticking clock.Because she had to know what itwould be like. Just once. To kiss Shaun and have that memory.But, yeah, dumbest move she'd evermade. Because now she wanted more. So much more.And now her primary goal would beto minimize what happened. Because the kiss meant nothing.Nothing at all…

This one is comingtogether in fits and starts but it's shaping up nicely. Shaun has his work cutout for him to convince Adrian the kiss is not nothing.

 

That's it for thisweek.

Cheers!

Skye