Friday 56 #142 – Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton @sarahdalton

.
The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

I won an ebook of Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton some time ago, but I loved this story so much, I wanted to share it with you.

My thanks go out to Sarah Dalton and Laura @ fuonlyknew.

Mary Hades (Mary Hades #1)

Amazon  /  Goodreads

MY 56

“I don’t blame her,” Seth says. “What I saw that night…I’ll take it with me to my grave. It’s with me every day. Every day. She is with me every day. We’re connected – like rope on an anchor – and we will be forever.” He shrugs.

MY ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton is a creepy and fantastic tale of a girl who is able to see and communicate with the spirits, her vacation adventure that turns into a young girl’s ghostly revenge and I loved every minute I spent with her and her friends, leaving me wanting more.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos  5 Stars

 

  • To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
  • To see all my reviews, go HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – Chosen by R S Broadhead @RSBroadhead @XpressoReads

Chosen
R.S. Broadhead
(The Urban Legends Series)
Publication date: October 24th 2017
Genres: New Adult, Supernatural, Thriller

Black eyes. No emotion. No sympathy. Only emptiness.

Piper McAdams’s life was normal. Career? Check. Boyfriend? Check. Friends? Check. One unsettling run in with a homeless man turns everything from normal to terrifying. She begins seeing…things.

Things she can’t seem to explain or make any sense.

As if things aren’t already getting out of hand, Piper receives news that the only family member she has is dead. She thinks maybe a trip across the country to her hometown will get her away from all the strange events happening.

After a late night accident, Piper isn’t in her hometown burying her loved one. She’s in a town called Hell. All she wants to do is leave, but the people seem to be holding her there for some reason.

A reason she feels threatens her life. Around every corner things become darker and scarier.

Can she escape what is coming for her?

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT

Dark liquid sprung in from the cracks and rushed under the bottom. A bolt popped loose, which hit the wall with a ping! The doors pressed forward more, bending unnaturally. I turned and ran with every ounce of strength I had. Bang! The doors slammed into the walls as they flung open. The liquid rushed in and filled the hallway. It lapped at my feet, spraying the back of my legs. I gasped for air, unable to stop.

I darted to the right, down another hall, just as it would have swallowed me. I stopped, the liquid pooling in around my ankles. At the end of the hallway, illuminated in red, was someone sitting in a chair. A cold chill clawed its way up my spine. I knew who it was. The familiar dark hair dangling about the hung head was a dead giveaway. I glanced around to find the liquid still rushing by. I couldn’t turn back. Maybe there was another passageway between us. I sloshed forward, watching her. She sat motionless. As I drew closer, I saw she was bound to the chair at the ankles and wrists.

The chair began to rock as she started vibrating faster than humanly possible. It became a blur and hard to follow. I steeled my nerves and kept moving. There had to be a way out of this.

Paint chips fluttered down, landing on my face and gown. I batted them away.

She screamed so loud it stopped me in my tracks. Her head came up, still bellowing, and looked at me. Her skin began to melt, peeling away. Chunks of charred flesh fell to her lap, exposing pink tissue. Patches of hair dropped around her and floated away in the liquid. One by one her teeth broke, leaving a jagged snarl in its wake. The skin along her arms and legs was now a grotesque mosaic of blacks and browns. An invisible force ripped her from the chair, the bounds tearing deep into what was left of her skin and exposing the bone. She was hoisted about four feet into the air and suspended there as if whatever was holding her wanted me to see.

I ached to run away. Not to see this. She didn’t deserve that. I didn’t deserve that. Hell, no one did. She opened her mouth and licked her cracked lips with a bloated tongue.

Come to the dark.

We promise to play.

Come to the dark.

It’s where you’ll stay.

She chanted the words, but it sounded as if more than one person spoke through her. Out of the liquid, things formed around me, creatures with sharp teeth, wings sprouting from their backs, and slit pupils, which focused on me.

Tears threatened as fear sank into every morsel of my existence. I twisted. I turned but was surrounded with nowhere to run. The creatures took a cautious step forward with their heads hanging low to the ground. Their backs arched as the wings hung close to their bodies. They were preparing to attack. This was my worst fear realized, to know I was about to die, and there was nothing I could do about it was something I couldn’t bring my mind to fully comprehend. They stopped, dipping low.

I dropped to the ground, clasping my hands over my head. My chin dipped so low between the fold of my body my neck began to ache. I didn’t care. I welcomed the distraction. In a matter of seconds, I would be ripped apart by whatever these things were.

 

Author Bio:

R. S. Broadhead lives in Jackson, Alabama with her husband of ten years, their two little girls, and a pug named Wednesday Love the Duchess, or Winnie for short. She has a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in business administration. She loves to snowboard, travel (Australia is her favorite place so far), and dance (not professionally, just whenever she feels like it). When she was sixteen-years-old, her and her friends would take pictures and make up funny stories about them. Fourteen years later, UNVEILED was born. UNVEILED, her first novel, is the first book in a four book series.

Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

"XBTBann</p

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Monday Mini – Ari by S M Boyce @thesmboyce

A Ghostly Paranormal Horror Novel, Ari by S M Boyce

I love the covers for this series and think Sarah Montee did a fabulous job on them.

Ari (To Each His Ghost, #1)

Amazon  US  /  Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA  /  Goodreads

MY REVIEW

“…You won’t get help. Not from me, not from the white shirts, not from the docs. Demons don’t simply play with their food. They take prisoners of war…”

Ari is a virgin, young, innocent and head over heels for Marcus. He’s a dick, with a capital D. He only wants to get into her pants and place another notch on his belt.

For their date, they are heading to the Lodley farmhouse. Ari should have listened to her instincts and Marcus should have listened to Ari when she said it was a very bad idea.

Now, they are both being haunted, each in their own terrifying and deadly way and these ghosts do plenty more than go bump in the night.

The tension and anticipation I feel as I wait for whatever is coming on the next page and the next page, makes it hard to contain my excitement. I don’t know what’s coming but I am thinking it will get so much worse…

I am loving what S M Boyce has done with this ghostly story about haunting and redemption as it comes full circle.

Now, I have met Mel and Marcus and I can hardly wait to spend more time fighting demons and monsters with them.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A Ghostly Paranormal Horror Novel

A crumbling farmhouse lies on the outskirts of the sleepy borough of White Haven, Pennsylvania. No one lives there anymore, but it’s never been empty.

Ari Bowers is a nerdy high school junior with a crush on the Varsity wide receiver and a healthy fear of the paranormal. When her crush Marcus Wagner takes her on a date-gone-wrong to the local haunted farmhouse, her fear is tested. A dark entity latches onto them both in that house, and they pay for their mistake with blood.

Marcus won’t admit something followed him home from the farmhouse even though shadows lurk in his periphery. It’s a prank, all of it… until a local girl dies with similar wounds on her body. Now he’s convinced he’s gone insane. His life spirals out of control, and it all boils down to his stupid date with Ari. As he sinks into addiction and women to ease his pain, he’s left with a choice: lose everything, or acknowledge the darkness slowly taking over his soul. He’s running out of time, and if he doesn’t face this creature, it’s going to take him the same way it took Ari.

For Ari and Marcus, it’s not about whether or not monsters lurk in the dark—they just don’t know which one is after them.

My Review of Origins by S M Boyce

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

One Sentence Review – Origins by S M Boyce @thesmboyce

 

A FREE Short Story, Origins by S M Boyce

I love the covers for this series and think Sarah Montee did a fabulous job on them.

Origins (To Each His Ghost, #0.5)

Amazon  US  /  Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA  /  Goodreads

ONE SENTENCE REVIEW FOR ORIGINS by S M Boyce

I love this fabulously creepy cover that opens into an even creepier horror story, and you might want to think twice before you piss off your resident ghost.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A Ghostly Paranormal Horror Short Story

Mel has a curse: she can see what’s invisible to most humans. We call them ghosts and demons. She calls them living nightmares.

When she was five, she had her own ghost. A good ghost. She swore to never leave his side, but over time, he scared her. She pushed him away. She broke her promise.

Now well into her twenties, Mel meets her old ghost again. And this time, he’s brought the darkness with him to prove his point…

…you don’t break a promise with a ghost.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Friday 56#141 – Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin @aileen_erin

.
The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

I won a signed copy of Becoming Alpha (Alpha Girl #1) by Aileen Erin and a beautiful bookmark some time ago and just got around to reading it.

Check out this beautiful cover. Do you think it’s safe to take a walk in the woods?

Becoming Alpha (Alpha Girl, #1)

Amazon US  /  Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA  /  Goodreads

MY 56

We walked across the lawn to the large brick house. A lilting beat flowed across the yard. I took a look down at my outfit – black skater dress, thin silver belt, flip-flops, thin silver scarf, and black over the elbow gloves – as my nerves started to reach an all time high. I smoothed my skirt down and centered the knot on my scarf as my nerves rose.

MY ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

Becoming Alpha by Aileen Erin has all the elements for  a great young adult story, danger, betrayal, supernatural creatures of all kinds, romance, confusion, a fight to the death, and I’d follow her flip flopping footsteps all day long.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos  4 Stars

 

  • To see all my Giveaways, go HERE.
  • To see all my reviews, go HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Evils Surrounds Them – In The House of Leviathan by B D Bruns #BDBRuns

.

In The House of Leviathan by B D Bruns has such an eerie cover with a ghothic ghostly feel to it, that I would have grabbed this for that reason alone.

How about you? Do covers affect you like that or are you drawn to a book for another reason?

In the House of Leviathan

Goodreads  /  Amazon US  /  Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA

MY REVIEW

I love the eerie, gothic cover for In The House of the Leviathan by B D Bruns. It fits the story inside, which takes place in 1863.

Monsters and spirits, gossip and fear. Who is to say what is the truth.

Could the Leviathan be terrorizing the sea? Could the spirits be terrorizing the papermill? It will test their faith in God.

On the beautiful, inviting Amalfi Coast of Italy, a spirit is terrorizing the town, it’s anger knowing no bounds, seeking…

Who is next? Why?

There are those who give their all and there are those who let their anger and jealousy fly, never caring who pays the price, just striking out.

I enjoyed the story, which was not quite what I was expecting. Did that affect my rating…I don’t know.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos  3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

“An absorbing story that sacrifices light predictability for depth and solid development, making In the House of Leviathan a standout.” – Midwest Book Review

From 3X Book of the Year winner comes an edge of the seat paranormal thriller in the exotic Amalfi coast. An exorcism was the first thought but last desire of Giuseppe. His contentment working with his sister at their ancient paper mill in 1860s Italy is shattered when he witnesses Old Man Grapaldi summoning the Devil. Omens from the sea threaten the village and bizarre, violent happenings at their mill threaten his family. With their church rocked by inner turmoil and so many good men succumbing to dark secrets, Giuseppe himself must overcome his fears and his physical handicap to save his beloved sister. 

ABOUT B D BRUNS


B.D. BrunsBrian David Bruns has traveled to over 50 countries to gather material for his bestselling books. He’s won over 20 national and international book awards, including the USA REBA Grand Prize. On two separate occasions he has been featured on ABC 20/20. 

Bruns’ travel adventures span from entering the Pyramids of Giza and swimming in the Panama Canal to climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro and touring Torture Museums in Estonia. He has attended ceremonies from the descendants of cannibals in the South Pacific and has been consulted by a ghost tour in Malta. After residing in Dracula’s hometown for several years, Bruns moved to Las Vegas with his Romanian wife, where they live with two cats, Julius and Caesar.

He usually writes as Brian David Bruns.

Website

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway & Playlist – Prince of Fools by Nancy Gideon @NancyGideon @RoxanneRhoads

 

Prince of Fools
House of Terriot
Book 3
Nancy Gideon
 
Genre: Paranormal (shapeshifter)
 
Date of Publication: 10/23/17
 
ASIN: B074QYWHQ7
 
Number of pages: 296
Word Count: 96,000
 
Cover Artist: Patricia Lazarus
 
Tagline:  He’s afraid to take the leap . . . She’s afraid of the fall
 
Book Description:
 
A dark prince to her Cinderella barmaid . . .
 
Rico . . . Prince in the shapeshifter House of Terriot
 
Reckless, hotheaded Rico Terriot seeks purpose and a sense of pride training the resentful guardians of New Orleans to defend a city besieged by a deadly outside force. Torn between his desire for his brother’s mate and the woman tied to the child of another, protecting their future happiness means denying his own on a dangerous path to redemption.
 
One night of stolen pleasure he didn’t remember and she couldn’t forget…
 
Amber . . . a single mother hiding a terrible past
 
Rico Terriot was the stuff of dreams . . . lately all of hers. But there’s no happily-ever-after for someone living in the shadows, protecting dangerous secrets that threaten her and her daughter. Dare she believe in a fairytale prince when he comes to her rescue, not knowing the price he’ll pay for making her troubles his own? From world’s so far apart, is love strong enough to hold them together . . . and keep them alive?
 
 
Amazon     Kobo
 
About the Author:
 
Nancy Gideon is the award-winning bestseller of over 60 romances ranging from historical, regency and series contemporary suspense to dark paranormal, with a couple of horror screenplays tossed into the mix, and is currently testing the “Hybrid author” waters. 
 
Under her own name, she’s a top 100 Amazon bestseller with her “By Moonlight” dark shape-shifter series and is also listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) for collaborating on Indie horror films In the Woods and Savage with screenwriting and ADR script credits, and a small role as “bar extra” she likes to boast about. Writing as Dana Ransom, she’s a “Career Achievement for Historical Adventure” award winner with books published in Romanian, Italian, Russian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, German, Icelandic and Chinese. Writing historicals as Rosalyn West, she’s a HOLT Medallion winner and she’s also penned regencies as Lauren Giddings. Many of her older titles (from the ‘80s and ‘90s) have been or are soon being reissued.
 
A prolific writer, Nancy attributes her creative output, which once peaked at seven novels in one year, to her love of history and a gift for storytelling, also crediting a background in journalism and OCD. She’s up every weekday at 4:30 a.m. to get in computer time before heading to her full-time job as a legal assistant in Central Michigan, and feeds a Netflix addiction along with all things fur, fin and fowl.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amazon Author Central:
 
 
Goodreads Group:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
 
Halloween Playlist https://goo.gl/Y8nyZB

 


 
  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Monday Mini – Watch The Shadows by Robin Winter @winterobin13

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

I won this beautiful first edition paperback from Robin Winter and Christy Mauer. Thanks so much for the wonderful giveaway.

Watch the Shadows

Amazon  US  /  Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA  /  Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Nicole is not your typical teenage girl. She is more interested in science than boys, and she has some very unique parents. They are both professors. She mom sounds like a hippie and her dad is working for NASA…strange bedfellows. Meg, their neighbor helped out with the homeless population. Brian, the postman knows them all.

The mystery surrounding the people of Isla Vista, California, kept me reading. I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck is going on. I felt the characters seemed almost real.

It’s funny…I was watching a Halloween NCIS episode on TV, when I read this Halloween story. If you’re a fan of B movies, you are going to want to read Watch The Shadows by Robin Winter. You may be looking out of the corner of your eye, or over your shoulder, wincing at the whispering sound of IT.

The great writing made even the homeless lovable and real, the peripheral characters becoming just as important as the main ones. It didn’t knock my socks off, but I do think it’s worth the read…And, who knows, you may like it more than I.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos  3 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

In the college town of Isla Vista, California, small, odd things start happening. Science-geek Nicole notes the crows are leaving. Meg Burdigal can’t find her tabby cat, Schrand. Brian the postman feels uneasy at the rustlings, the shadows he’s seen at the edge of his vision on his delivery route in town. Now Nicole sees fewer and fewer homeless in the park. Using her knowledge of biology and forensics, Nicole searches for answers—but will anyone take the horror she finds seriously? In this unusual thriller, “Watch the Shadows,” author Robin Winter explores where the ordinary slams against the extraordinary.

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’ talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Just Keeps Getting Better – Onyx Webb by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz @OnyxWebb

.

Onyx Webb by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz is an ongoing story that grabbed me and won’t let me go. Each book draws me in further, making me have to know what will come next.

Onyx Webb: Book Five: Episodes 13, 14, 15

Goodreads  /  Amazon US  /  Amazon UK  /  Amazon CA

MY REVIEW

This may be the best one yet…

In Onyx Webb, Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz have no problem putting their characters through HELL. No easy ‘living’ for them.

Left me asking the question, “Do we ever really know anyone? What are they thinking, feeling?”

Even as a ghost, Onyx Webb has kept the lighthouse lit. Guess even a ghost has to have a purpose.

“Life is a hard thing to let go of…Even when you’re dead.” Onyx tells Katherine. But, why stay, when there is no joy or happiness?

Death, murder, lies and betrayal. Be careful who you put your trust in and who you care about. The authors are not afraid to kill off their characters. Adds a little something extra for me, guessing who will bite the bullet next.

A multitude of characters, some of them dead, some of them not. We have numerous storylines going on, jumping from the past to the present. I can hardly wait to see what happens when they catch up with each other.

The authors include a memory refresher in the beginning of the book and I found that very helpful. This series does not stand alone, so begin with Book I. All the books are out and available for purchase.

I knew the ending for these episodes was coming and I didn’t want it to happen. From present to past, character to character, I find this hard to put down and I want more….NOW!

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Onyx Webb by Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos 4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Welcome Back to the World of Onyx Webb! This is Book Five. (Episodes 13, 14 & 15) Haven’t Gotten Entangled Yet? Please Start with Book One.

Readers of the series will see the web tighten in this book, the past and present are slowly starting to catch up to each other and shocking connections continue to be made.

Onyx Webb is a complex multi-genre mash-up that combines elements of supernatural suspense, crime, horror, romance, and more. The Onyx Webb series follows the unusual life of Onyx Webb along with a central group of characters in various locations and times.

The billionaire Mulvaney family, piano prodigy Juniper Cole and her brother Quinn, paranormal show hosts Cryer and Fudge, and a few others make up the core of the series. Written like a book version of your favorite tv series (think: supernatural soap opera like American Horror Story) each character’s story moves forward with most every episode. It may appear that the characters are entirely unrelated and yet episode by episode, the connections will become clearer. Like being an inch away from a spider web, with each book, the web will move further and further away revealing the full story of every character and most importantly, the stunning conclusion for Onyx Webb herself.

In Book Five: It’s the 1980’s and Bruce Mulvaney starts his own family while a killer watches from afar. It’s 2010, and the Mulvaney’s are dealing with Koda’s accident. Onyx Webb fights to keep her way of life. Scroll Up and Grab Book Five Today!

About Andrea Waltz and Richard FentonOnyx Webb Book Three by Andrea Waltz and Richard Fenton

Richard Fenton & Andrea Waltz are a married writing team. Most well known for their business fables, they’re professional speakers who teach audiences on how to overcome fear of failure and rejection.  The Onyx Webb Series is their first serious dive into fiction.

Richard and Andrea have been in love with creating stories together since they met almost twenty years ago and even spent some time in Hollywood writing screenplays, being represented by the producer of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Their favorite genres are suspense, thriller, crime and anything of a paranormal nature which is how Onyx Webb turned into a mash-up of all their favorites!

Website  /  Facebook  /  Twitter  /  Pinterest  /  Google+  /  Goodread

MY REVIEWS FOR ONYX WEBB

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!

Giveaway – One Shade of Gray by Monica Corwin @Monica_Corwin @XpressoTours ‏

One Shade of Gray
Monica Corwin
Publication date: September 26th 2017
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance

My name is Dorian Gray. You might think you know my story? Please. That was just the beginning. Not the end.

I’ve lived over 100 years. I don’t know why. I’ve sinned, deeply, but haven’t we all?

Now Sybil is back. Her name is Izzy and she looks the same. Smells the same. Walks the same…but everything else about her is different. Stronger. Bolder. I want her more than ever.

I should keep her safe, and keep my hands to myself. But those dark parts of my soul still linger. I won’t lose her again.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

EXCERPT:

Some said women who knew their own minds were dangerous. I disagreed. A woman who knew her mind, and her worth, was intoxicating.

She cleared her throat and I realized my thoughts had been wandering to the past. “My apologies.”

Her face flushed a pretty pink. “It’s fine just stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like I’m more than an employee.”

I leaned out, about to pull her in again for another lesson but she stalled my hands, placing her small ones on the outside of my own. They were chilled slightly but the touch sent a heat through me I hadn’t felt in years.

“I think we just had this conversation.”

She leaned in and pulled her hands into her lap. “No, we had a lecture. You told me how you wanted it and didn’t give me the chance to offer an opinion.”

Fair point. “Very well, what is your opinion on the matter, Miss Vale?”

“Do you actually want to know, or are you going to do that playboy billionaire thing where you declare something to be and suddenly the universe aligns against the poor unsuspecting female you set your sights on?”

I chuckled. She was funny. Maybe Sibyl had been funny too, and I never took the time to notice. “I promise your opinion will be considered with appropriate weight.”

“That sounds like something a billionaire playboy would say.”

I didn’t respond to her taunts but waited instead for her answer.

She raked her eyes over my face and body, and I’d never felt more on display. I sat up straighter, which caused a little tick of a smile to appear at the corner of her mouth.

“I don’t want to date you, Gray. You’re technically my boss, and while you’re very attractive I can’t put aside my personal work ethic.”

My heart hit my feet and shattered like a boulder into a pile of rubble. Of course I wasn’t going to force her to do anything. But part of me had hoped my charm or appeal might at least give me the opportunity.

“Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

She shook her head and gave me a sad soft smile, the kind reserved for deathbeds and christenings. Definitely not the reaction I wanted from her. Not the smile I wanted from her.

I nodded and stood up, unable to remain under her scrutiny once she’d made her opinion so very plain. “Of course. I’ll not bother you again.”

“And you’ll stop following me?”

I threw some bills on the table, slipped my arms into my coat, and buttoned it, all without meeting her eyes. The rejection stung. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever felt this particular mix of humiliation and sadness. Once I was put together and glued on the face I showed the world, I gave her my own version of the deathbed smile and a little bow. “Of course.”

I walked away without a word but when I reached the middle of the square a hand clasped my shoulder. Izzy grabbed me and held out the book I’d left on the table. I took it and met her eyes, unsure what she could see there, unsure what I could and couldn’t hide when I was around her.

She leaned in and whispered, “I’m not going to ask to kiss you but I will give you this as a parting gift.”

 

Author Bio:

Monica Corwin is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author. She is an outspoken writer attempting to make romance accessible to everyone, no matter their preferences. As a Northern Ohioian, Monica enjoys snow drifts, three seasons of weather, and a dislike of Michigan football. Monica owns more books about King Arthur than should be strictly necessary. Also typewriters…lots and lots of typewriters.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

 

GIVEAWAY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

XBTBanner1

  • You can see my Giveaways HERE.
  • You can see my Reviews HERE.
  • If you like what you see, why don’t you follow me?
  • animated smilies photo: animated animated.gifLook on the right sidebar and let’s talk.
  • Leave your link in the comments and I will drop by to see what’s shakin’.
  • Thanks for visiting fundinmental!