A Few Little Things...

First of all, as March comes to a close, a huge THANKS to everyone who wrote blogs and commented on the March Author Series! I think it went very well. Authors who submitted posts, I'd love to hear feedback from you. Did you see any increased traffic to your websites or increased sales? Would you be interested in another series like this?

April brings us into the A-Z blogging challenge, and most of the letters have been snatched up. Prepare for 26 days of unique guest posts, all related to the letters of the alphabet.

Now, for some fun, I'm sharing a snippet from Chapter 3 of Serenya's Song, Book Two of my Tallenmere fantasy romance series, which will be out in a few weeks. In this excerpt, our heroine, Serenya, has just met Jayden (our hero) prior to this during a brief encounter at her stepfather's tavern. He's a recent arrival there in Summerwind, where the story takes place. Serenya's dearest friend, Lillyanne (Jayden's co-worker) is back in Summerwind too. Coincidences can be quite interesting...
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From Chapter 3: Serenya's POV

I donned my cloak. We left the tavern, headed down Main Street, and crossed Hightower Road to the long drive that led to the Crowe Estate. The moon played peek-a-boo with the clouds overhead. Hot, humid summer air had retreated, and a chilly dampness enveloped the countryside. I shivered and pulled my cloak tighter around me. Despite the temperature, my heart warmed at the thought of having Lilly back in town. I’d finally have someone to talk to again.

 Lilly had been in Leogard for the past ten years, only visiting Summerwind on occasion. She had told no one else about her work in the Leogardian Intelligence Organization, or the L.I.O., as she liked to call it, not even her parents. I looked behind us and made sure all was quiet.

  “So,” I said, conspiratorially, “will you still be working for the you-know-who?”

 “Aye. For a while at least.”

 Lilly had always relaxed after a bit of ale. I thought perhaps she’d had enough to let me broach another, more sensitive, subject.

  “And what about your partner? You told me once that you had feelings for him.”

 She took a sip and glanced up at me. A hint of disappointment lined her frown. “Jay and me would have never worked like that, ye know. The last two years have been rough for ‘im, but I’ll tell ye about it later. Would ye believe he’s moved here as well?”

 Mr. Handsome’s image popped into my mind, not that it had ever left. “Really? That might have been him I saw tonight.”

 “Fine-looking wood-elf, ‘bout yer height, sandy brown hair down to his shoulders, blue eyes like sapphires?”

 Oh, I had noticed his eyes, along with his hands, his voice, and everything in between. I understood why Lilly had been attracted to him. Who wouldn’t be? Yet, I had to play nonchalant again. I was no longer the daydreaming teenager I’d been when Lilly moved to Leogard. I was the wife of an Earl. Besides, Lilly had once been in love with him, and I guessed she still harbored some feelings. Any interest in him on my part would be more than wrong.

 I put on a thoughtful expression. “I bet that was him. He gave me a rose. I think he liked my music.”

 Lilly stopped walking. Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll warn ye just this once. Jay’s had a thing for the ladies. And now, he’s mendin’ a broken heart. It’s a dangerous mix.”

 Someone had broken his heart? Was that why he was here? I swallowed back the urge to interrogate Lilly and laughed dismissively. “He’s handsome enough, but you’ve nothing to worry about.”

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Raise your hand if you believe there's nothing to worry about....funny, I didn't see a single hand raised. Ha!

And if you were diligent enough to read that whole thing, here's another treat for you. Until Midnight tonight, that's 12:00 AM EST, I'm giving away a FREE copy (PDF or Kindle) of the first book in the Tallenmere series, A Ranger's Tale, to anyone who leaves a comment with your email addy on this post!

To avoid spam-bots, you can leave your email like this: yourhandle (at)blahblah (dot) com



All the books in this series are meant to be stand-alone, but subsequent books focus on previous characters, so don't miss out! Grab your copy of A Ranger's Tale, and if you like it, I hope you'll come back and buy a copy of Serenya's Song too. Happy April!!

~Mysti