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Four Times Blessed
What if one of history's (cough, cough) less-fortunate heroes got a second chance? Hold on tight as ancient myths and modern legends clash in this sugar-and-spice, down-home tale.
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Fate's funny. It starts with an unwritten recipe...
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Back from military school, adventurous dreamer Crusa is once again in the embrace of her aunt's magical kitchen. Her whole family (or at least, one side of it) is thrilled, because (finally!) they can throw her a most-advantageous wedding.
.
Crusa's summer escapades get a rough start, as her not-quite-fairy godparents hire her a personal bodyguard, the fiery and mysterious Lium, so she won't get kidnapped (or wander off). Crusa has fun with the rough, easily frustrated man who she likes to refer to as the "babysitter guy" (to everyone but him, of course).
.
Little does she know, the playful, thrill-seeking Lium and his moody brother Hale are fighting to hold their own against both sides of her feuding family, a rambunctious cast of characters revived from ancient myths and colorful New England legends.
.
At its heart, the story of a girl who believes in the simple things in life: family, fun, and her island. Quick wit and slick talk spur Crusa's story to a wild conclusion with equal parts humor and heart in this spirited drama.
Exclusive excerpt from Four Times Blessed:
"Uncle Groton. Nobody's going to kidnap me. People haven't done kidnapping for years."
"Years are not that long ago, to an old man like me. What is wrong with him? Do you not like the one I choose?" He seems hurt.
I examine Lium. He's smiling like my grandmothers at a pleasant garden party. He lifts his eyebrows.
"He doesn't want to do this," I tell my uncle.
"Nonsense. It's an honor to do this."
I open my mouth to say something, but then I have only enough time to skirt my gaze to my side, as Lium has already interrupted me.
"Yup, an honor. Also, following a...you..." he bows, "around is much better than shop duty, which your uncle said was my other option."
Awesome. Good to know I'm preferable to fish guts. Confidence booster, there.
I sigh and say calmly, "I'm going to talk to Zizi."
My zizi thinks it's a fantastic idea. She's always wanted me to have a guard. She wishes she could find two more, for Cassie and Eleni, who, when asked, support her statements wholeheartedly. Whole hearts of evil, is what I tell Eleni. Not Cassie. Cassie cried because she realized a guard is just the thing to keep the evil squirrels at bay. I suggest our little cousins Benito and Gino, and she darts off, muttering about things that pit-pit-patter in chimneys.
Betrayed by my whole family, I spend the cook-out minding my own business, and then help my aunts wash the dirty bowls in the whimpering surf. Then I stomp off and go stew on the bluff.
I'm facing the drop-off, so I don't hear the person approaching through the underbrush.
"Hey, babe. What're you doing?"
"Plotting to kill my cousin." And I'm sorry, but that's the kind of answer you get when you interrupt someone who's stewing.
"Doesn't look like that's going too good."
Impressed by his intuitiveness, I say, "No, it's not. I'm too mad to think of anything."
He laughs. He tried to hold it in, I guess, but I heard that burble. Clearly. He coughs several times. I sigh, or rather, growl. And clench my fingernails into the meat of my palms.
"Come over here." His arm comes over my head, pulling me onto my toes when he squeezes. It's odd, but actually very nice. I feel my insides start to melt and I don't mind it when he touches me again to stop my hair from blowing over our faces.
It's too quiet. I pinch and twist a bit of cloth from his shirt. Which is his, not mine. I pat it back down.
.
Fate's funny. It starts with an unwritten recipe...
.
Back from military school, adventurous dreamer Crusa is once again in the embrace of her aunt's magical kitchen. Her whole family (or at least, one side of it) is thrilled, because (finally!) they can throw her a most-advantageous wedding.
.
Crusa's summer escapades get a rough start, as her not-quite-fairy godparents hire her a personal bodyguard, the fiery and mysterious Lium, so she won't get kidnapped (or wander off). Crusa has fun with the rough, easily frustrated man who she likes to refer to as the "babysitter guy" (to everyone but him, of course).
.
Little does she know, the playful, thrill-seeking Lium and his moody brother Hale are fighting to hold their own against both sides of her feuding family, a rambunctious cast of characters revived from ancient myths and colorful New England legends.
.
At its heart, the story of a girl who believes in the simple things in life: family, fun, and her island. Quick wit and slick talk spur Crusa's story to a wild conclusion with equal parts humor and heart in this spirited drama.
Exclusive excerpt from Four Times Blessed:
"Uncle Groton. Nobody's going to kidnap me. People haven't done kidnapping for years."
"Years are not that long ago, to an old man like me. What is wrong with him? Do you not like the one I choose?" He seems hurt.
I examine Lium. He's smiling like my grandmothers at a pleasant garden party. He lifts his eyebrows.
"He doesn't want to do this," I tell my uncle.
"Nonsense. It's an honor to do this."
I open my mouth to say something, but then I have only enough time to skirt my gaze to my side, as Lium has already interrupted me.
"Yup, an honor. Also, following a...you..." he bows, "around is much better than shop duty, which your uncle said was my other option."
Awesome. Good to know I'm preferable to fish guts. Confidence booster, there.
I sigh and say calmly, "I'm going to talk to Zizi."
My zizi thinks it's a fantastic idea. She's always wanted me to have a guard. She wishes she could find two more, for Cassie and Eleni, who, when asked, support her statements wholeheartedly. Whole hearts of evil, is what I tell Eleni. Not Cassie. Cassie cried because she realized a guard is just the thing to keep the evil squirrels at bay. I suggest our little cousins Benito and Gino, and she darts off, muttering about things that pit-pit-patter in chimneys.
Betrayed by my whole family, I spend the cook-out minding my own business, and then help my aunts wash the dirty bowls in the whimpering surf. Then I stomp off and go stew on the bluff.
I'm facing the drop-off, so I don't hear the person approaching through the underbrush.
"Hey, babe. What're you doing?"
"Plotting to kill my cousin." And I'm sorry, but that's the kind of answer you get when you interrupt someone who's stewing.
"Doesn't look like that's going too good."
Impressed by his intuitiveness, I say, "No, it's not. I'm too mad to think of anything."
He laughs. He tried to hold it in, I guess, but I heard that burble. Clearly. He coughs several times. I sigh, or rather, growl. And clench my fingernails into the meat of my palms.
"Come over here." His arm comes over my head, pulling me onto my toes when he squeezes. It's odd, but actually very nice. I feel my insides start to melt and I don't mind it when he touches me again to stop my hair from blowing over our faces.
It's too quiet. I pinch and twist a bit of cloth from his shirt. Which is his, not mine. I pat it back down.
246 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2013
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43 people want to read
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