Posts
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Greetings of the Season!
“I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not. But there is much that, while I cannot give, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven. No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this our present instant. Take peace. The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take joy. And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.”
~by Fra Giovanni (from a salutation to a friend, written in 1513)
Wishing you all a magical Holiday Season and a bright Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
FREE this weekend through Wed.
Free on Kindle this Sat.-Wed. (Dec. 15-19)
URL: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009LTC42I
The third installment of the popular “Odd True Tales” series… Some of the stories deal with the paranormal, while others relate curious events from history. Some are a bit grisly, and some may make you laugh. All are good reading and full of food for thought. Volume Three includes the tales: “Charlie”... “They Saw It Coming”... “Honey, I Shrunk the Heads”... “The Sorcerer’s Sorry Apprentice”... “No Demon is an Island”... “The Cycling Santa”... and “Is There a Shaman in the House?”...
Saturday, December 8, 2012
The Kitchen Witch Yuletide Book -- $0.99
A holiday "fruitcake" of facts, fun, and food. Recipes and tales for the Yuletide season. Includes sweet treats and saucy trivia, heartwarming memories and magical lore. Delightful reading and delicious eating for the merriest time of the year.
Available at Kindle, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Apple, Kobo, Sony, and Diesel
Sunday, November 25, 2012
FREE on Kindle for a limited time...
Free on Kindle from now through Wed. (Nov. 25-28)
URL: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009PVI5HK
Happy Holidays!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
FREE on Kindle for Halloween
Odd True Tales, Volume 2
FREE on Kindle today thru Halloween (Oct. 27-31)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009CFXDBC
A new crazy collection from the “Odd True Tales” series. Some of the narratives deal with the paranormal (ghosts, angels, and more), while others tell of curious events from history. All are good reading and full of food for thought. Volume Two includes the tales: “High Planes Drifters”… “Call Me Angel”… “Blessing In Disguise”… and “The Female Paul Revere”...
Happy Halloween!
Friday, October 19, 2012
New release...
Homemade Halloween Treats
Available at Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009SI7P8K
Also available at Apple, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords, and other online bookstores.
Frightfully fun Halloween recipes, from the sweet to the savory, the grotesque to the gourmet - cakes and candy, party dips, drinks, and more - a colorful assortment of bloody good food that will make your Halloween party a spooktacular event! And to top things off, the authors have included a ghostly little story from Volume 3 of their “Odd True Tales” series. You’ll find it at the end of the recipes, as a special bonus.
Happy Halloween!
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Friday, August 17, 2012
It's never too late for love...
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EXCERPT (PG-rated):
“Open up, you old rooster! I want to talk to you!”
Harper Rourke couldn’t get across his living room fast enough. He knocked over a chair, toppled a lamp, and scattered three stacks of books in his mad charge to the door.
“Evangeline! I knew it, I knew you’d come back to me,” he crowed in triumph at the sight of her poised on his threshold. He could scarcely believe his eyes. Maybe he was dreaming?
“Prove to me you’re really here, honey.” He leaned toward her with lips on the pucker. “How about a little smack?”
Evangeline obliged him with a big one. It knocked him a full pace back into the trailer.
“Thanks a heap.” He worked his jaw around to make sure it wasn’t broken. “That wasn’t quite what I had in mind.”
“Shove it, Harper. I’m not here for what you’ve got in your warped mind. I just want to ask you one straight question. And I’d better get a straight answer, or you’ll be walking crooked till Christmas.”
Well, at least she was talking to him again. It was a start.
“Ask away, honey. Everything I have is yours.” Harper grinned. “Including the contents of my head.”
“Now there’s a scary thought.” Evangeline shuddered and pushed past him into the trailer’s living room. She stopped short at the sight of the scattered volumes. A pretty weighty collection. Her gaze swept over the titles. There were books on radiation, light, magnetism, mathematics, a biography of Einstein and another on Newton...
“Okay, what’s going on here?” She planted her hands on her hips and nailed him in place with a pointed stare. “You never used to read anything heavier than Superman comics and Louis L’Amour westerns.”
Blushing like a bandit under his leathery tan, the old man broke the hold of her eyes and hustled to collect his carefully acquired reference library.
“Is that your question?” he asked, trying to skirt around the issue. His passion for physics had been triggered years before by his passion for Evangeline. Her explanations back then of why she felt such a driving need to pursue the subject had piqued his own interest enough for him to eventually begin studying it himself. But he was too embarrassed to admit that now. He doubted she’d believe it anyway.
“Wait a minute--let me see that.” Evangeline snatched one of the volumes out of his hands. “Where did you get this? This is my book.”
She didn’t mean that particular parcel of bound pages belonged to her. She meant that she had written what was on those pages, over forty years before. E=Everything: A Layman’s Guide to Physics, the book was titled.
“Mercy, this looks like a first edition.” She opened it to check. “There aren’t too many of these around. The publisher started off with a minimum print run, because the book really wasn’t expected to sell as well as it...did...” The words trickled off as a handwritten note on the flyleaf snagged her attention. Her eyes narrowed, and her voice went cold.
“Who is Maddie?”
Harper dropped his gaze. “Evangeline, you said you had one question for me. That’s three you’ve asked so far. Which do you want me to answer?”
“All of them! You can start by telling me who Maddie is.”
Would it do any good to play dumb, Harper wondered. Pretend he couldn’t remember? Ask what she was talking about? He kicked the notion aside. Evangeline would never let it pass so simply. But still...
“Honey, what difference does it make?” He lifted soulful eyes to her icy glare. “It was such a long time ago.”
Evangeline made a strangling noise in her throat, whipped the book up in front of her nose, and read aloud:
“Dearest Harper, You don’t really want to spend our precious time together discussing the unified field theory, do you? Read this, instead. The author explains it all so much better than I can. At least, I can never explain things when you’re looking at me--and if you had any idea how handsome you are, you’d understand why. Our weekends together mean the world to me, I hope you know that. And this weekend I’ll have an even better gift for you than this book. A wonderful gift, I think. But I’ll know that for sure when you tell me that you think it’s wonderful, too. Until then, Maddie. P.S. I love you.”
I... Love... You...
The words hung heavy in the air as Evangeline lowered the book. Time skidded to a crawl. Or maybe it spun backward, carrying her too many years into the past.
Handsome, huh? Well, she could hardly fault Maddie for that. Harper had turned more than one head in his day. She raised her eyes and stared hard at the rugged face across from her. Her heart skipped several beats as she saw too clearly what she’d been trying so hard to not notice since his return.
Blast his hide, he was still handsome. Gray hair, weathered skin, blackened eye and all, he was still the most beguiling man she’d ever known. She caught her breath as the memories swept in, and a long forgotten fire flared to life deep within her. Her abdomen tightened like a fist squeezed her inside, and her mouth went dry, as though all the moisture in her had drained south. Evangeline pressed her legs together till she quivered like a struck harp string where she stood.
And the player of her body--the Harper himself--stood but a tempting arm’s length away. She groaned and locked her hands at her side to keep from reaching for him. Damn the man--and damn her own traitorous hormones along with him. Where did she get off having hormones, anyway? This was depraved.
Mercy, I’m too old for this. She glared at him through rising clouds of hot steam. The randy old goat. The miserable, maddening, aggravating, disconcerting... Desirable... Oh, merciful heavens.
She grappled to wrestle her mind back to the issue at hand. “Harper, tell me--I need to know. Who was this girl?”
Stepping forward, Harper gathered her into his arms. “Only someone who wasn’t you, honey.”
Soft and sultry as his whisper, his lips claimed hers...
==============
Every Jack Needs His Jil
Winner in the P&E Readers Poll
FAR "Recommended Read"
Available at B&N, Apple, Sony, Kobo...
Smashwords: http://smashwords.com/b/47940
and KINDLE: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004KKXTR2
=========
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
NEW release - The Kitchen Witch Spring into Summer Book
Springtime, the season of renewal and rebirth, which leads us into the blossoming abundance of Summer. Forward motion! Healing and happiness! That’s what this anthology is all about. Here you’ll find surefire inspiration for a joyful rejuvenation along with magical tools to achieve it. You’ll also find holistic health tips and natural remedies, plus easy no-cook recipes perfect for warm weather days when you crave cool food. But most of all you’ll find the path to perpetual growth, an inner Springtime that will keep you blooming all year.
-----------
Available now at Kindle
URL: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0081AN5EO
Friday, April 27, 2012
FREE for a limited time...
Free on Kindle now through Monday (April 26-30)
URL: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007RVGQVW
Thursday, April 12, 2012
FREE on Kindle for five days!
A full-length novel with cats, castles, Comanche, and kilts...
Available on Kindle
And it's FREE from now through Monday (April 12-16)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007KZ0BI4
Review snip:
“Mimi Riser has penned the most astounding tale of love, desire, mystery and suspense. I highly recommend Eyes Of The Cat to anyone who loves an intriguing story!” ~Ariana Dupré, award-winning author of Night Visions and Talgorian Prophecy
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Monday, March 26, 2012
Sneak peek (R-excerpt) from Eyes Of The Cat
Once upon a time, in a far, strange land (1883 Texas, to be precise), there arrived from back East a beautiful and headstrong young princess...um, I mean a scientist...named Tabitha Jeffries. Hardly more than a girl, really, but she had the courage of an Amazon and a heart as big as her intellect. To save another girl, named Gabrina, from an arranged marriage to this presumably wicked prince (well, a laird, anyway) called Alan MacAllister, Tabitha switches places with her. Expecting, naturally enough, that the awful Alan’s Highland Scots family (who just happen to live in a full-scale medieval castle) will release her the moment she confesses she’s not Gabrina. Only--and this is the annoying part--Alan’s family is actually more interested in a bride than they are in a specific bride... “Gabby or Tabby, ’tis such a wee dif’rence”... In other words, they keep her--fussing and fuming, kicking, clawing, biting, punching and screaming, notwithstanding.
And Alan himself, who turns out to have wanted Gabrina even less than Gabrina wanted him, decides that he does want Gabrina’s replacement. He decides this on first sight, in fact. And one can scarcely blame him, because that first sight was a lulu. It was the sight of said replacement--who had just escaped a tower by way of a tree that snagged off most of her clothes on the climb down--leaping wildly out of that tree in her unmentionables. Very interesting. Something to make a man stop and think. Catching her in his arms, he thinks he may be in love.
Numerous battles and embraces, some bloodcurdling adventures, and an emotional triathlon later, Tabitha is beginning to think the same thing. Now all she has to do is solve a ten year old murder, prevent a new one, and save herself and Alan from a horrifying family legacy. There’s always something, isn’t there?
Eyes of the Cat
Available now on Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007KZ0BI4
=======
Excerpt:
“I should have scattered a trail of bread crumbs after myself when I left, so I could find my way back. I think I’m just going around in circles. Everything is starting to look the same,” Tabitha grumbled as she padded down what seemed the hundredth winding passageway she’d tried since reentering the keep. She’d found another lit candle, but it wasn’t helping much. “Honestly, this place is laid out like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle. I’ll never reach my room at this rate.”
She sighed when the passage ended abruptly in a semicircular alcove. The area was bare, save for a few stools off to one side and a large, three-section Oriental screen standing near the back, looking rather incongruous. How curious. What could it be there for?
“Aahoooeeeeahhh...”
The sudden screech rattled overwrought nerves. Tabitha’s hair stood on end.
“Death... Death... Leave before it’s too late!” a banshee voice wailed. “Ahooeeeooahh...”
Uh-huh.
Silently, Tabitha crept toward the screen, like a cat stalking a mouse. With a single quick move, she grabbed the nearest panel and snapped it back. The screen wobbled, overbalanced and tipped over, landing on the wood floor with a heavy thud.
“Oh! Now see what you’ve done!” A tall, willowy young woman with extravagant red hair, piercing blue eyes, and an almost blinding canary yellow negligee stood staring at the screen in dismay. She stamped her foot. “If it’s been damaged, Uncle Angus will hang me by my thumbs and then have me hurled into the moat! That screen belonged to his mother.”
She glanced at Tabitha, her brows suddenly pulled together with thought. “Or, maybe it was his grandmother’s. I can’t remember. Anyway”--she heaved a dramatic sigh--“he’s very fond of it. Here, help me set it right. I’m Mary MacAllister, by the way. But I detest being called Mary--it’s too mundane--so I’ve changed my name to Esmeralda,” she chattered as the screen was lifted back into position. “What do you think?”
Tabitha was studying the ornate panels as best she could by the light of her candle. “It looks all right to me.”
Mary-Esmeralda gave a disgusted snort. “I didn’t mean the screen! Who cares about that silly old thing?” She gave it a kick that almost toppled it again. “I want to know how you like my name. Don’t you think Esmeralda has the wildest, most romantic sound to it?” She closed her eyes in ecstasy.
“Why, yes,” Tabitha said in the voice she reserved for small children and fussy lapdogs. “It makes you sound like a Spanish flamenco dancer.”
The blue eyes snapped open. “Oh, no! That will never do. I can’t sound like a flamenco dancer. They make far too much noise. All that heel clicking and those castanets--they sound like a herd of stampeding crickets!” She angled away, her brow furrowed with furious thinking. “I know! I’ll call myself Ophelia,” she exclaimed, spinning triumphantly back to face Tabitha. “What do you think of Ophelia? Or... Wait!” She flung out an arm for attention. “Flavia! Or maybe Angelique? Sophia? Desdemona? Oh, it’s so difficult to decide! What do you think?” she demanded, stamping her foot again.
“How about Cassandra?” Tabitha suggested, thinking of the beautiful, mad princess from Greek mythology.
“Cassandra?” The young woman’s head quirked to the side, as though she were listening to some distant melody. “Cassandra MacAllister... I like that very much, I think. It’ll look good in print, too. I’m going to be a famous playwright, you know. And star in all of them myself. Cassandra it is then! Thank you, Tabitha.”
She smiled sweetly. “Oh wipe that silly shock off your face. Everyone here knows who you are. Didn’t you see your audience the other night when Alan dragged you up the keep’s ramp? That was quite a show you put on. I almost applauded. It didn’t fool me any, of course--I knew what you were up to--but it was entertaining, nonetheless. I may use it in my next play,” the redhead finally finished, because she’d run out of breath. She stared at Tabitha through narrow blue slits, a sly grin curling the corners of her mouth.
Tabitha stared back through equally narrowed eyes and the opposite of a grin tightening her expression. “What are you talking about, Cassandra?”
“As if you didn’t know,” the new Cassandra chanted, wafting dreamily across the alcove and seating herself on one of the stools in a billow of screaming yellow silk. “But enough of that. Here I am boring you with all this talk about yourself, when you must be dying to hear all about me.”
“Not really,” Tabitha said, still staring glaciers.
“I’m from Boston, and my father sent me out here last month because he thinks the theater is a scandalous career for a woman,” Cassandra cheerfully began, ignoring the ice. “He’s hoping I’ll marry one of Uncle Angus’s sons, instead. But I don’t like any of Uncle Angus’s sons. They’re all toads. And not the kind you could turn into princes with a kiss either.” She grimaced. “If I kissed any of them, I’d get warts.”
“So why don’t you go back to Boston.”
“No.” Mary-Esmeralda-Cassandra pressed her lips into a firm line, her eyes flashing blue fire in the candlelight. “You won’t trick me that easily, Tabitha. I know your game, but it won’t work.” She popped haughtily to her feet, shaking out her negligee like a queen shaking out her robes of state. “And I’m not going to tell you any more about me. You can perish of curiosity, for all I care.” Chin in the air, she billowed out of the alcove and was several catlike steps down the dark passage, when she whirled around and flew back.
“By the way, speaking of perishing, I’d keep my eye on Alan, if I were you. He may be a murderer,” she said brightly, gazing down at Tabitha’s stunned face with an angelic smile illuminating her own. “A murderer and a widower, to be specific. The two terms go together, you see, because he supposedly killed his wife. Her name was Heather, in case you’re interested.” Still smiling, she turned and drifted into the darkness, like yellow smoke vanishing in a midnight breeze.
And Tabitha fell, rather than sat, on the nearest stool. Her legs had turned to rubber. She was remembering the story of the original Cassandra and hoping that she hadn’t chosen too appropriate a name for her new acquaintance.
The first Cassandra had been a princess of Troy during its long ago siege. She had asked for and received the gift of prophecy from Apollo. But she’d also spurned the god’s advances, so he’d turned his blessing into a curse by declaring that no one would ever believe her. To all who heard them, Cassandra’s words sounded like the ravings of a madwoman, yet the poor doomed girl had spoken nothing but the truth.
Tabitha shook her head, jiggled one knee, then the other. The atmosphere of the castle had suddenly shifted. Before it had seemed a bit eerie, of course, but mostly just impractical and eccentric. Now it felt malignant and menacing.
She shot a wary glance around the alcove, the flickering glow from her candle making the curved walls appear almost as if they were pulsating. Even her own shadow looked somehow threatening. Steeling herself against a creeping panic, she cautiously rose to her feet, every nerve trembling like a touched fiddle string. Something hit against the hem of her skirt, and the squeal she let out hit high C.
She was that happy to see him.
“Hullo, angel, you always appear just when I need you the most, don’t you?” She knelt down to pet the cat. “You’re my little knight in furry armor.”
He dug his velvety head into her hand, that deep throaty purr of his vibrating like a hive of giant bees.
“You must know this castle like the back of your paw. Do you think you could show me the way to my room? Not that I really want to go there--I’d rather be far away from this dreadful place--but if I have to be anywhere here, I think my room is the safest. At least there I can lock the door and barricade myself in. Don’t you agree?” She gazed wistfully into his glowing amber eyes.
The eyes blinked once, and the cat gathered himself into a tight crouch beneath her hand. Like a spring unwinding itself, he shot around her and darted behind the screen. Tabitha heard a wild scrambling, a muffled woosh, like something large and soft hitting the floor, and then... Complete, breathless quiet.
“Now what was that all about?” Her voice echoed in the stillness. “Did you hear a mouse?”
As if in answer, the candle flame flickered frantically for an instant, then wisped out, leaving her in a darkness so dense it almost suffocated her.
But not quite. From somewhere a breeze was blowing. A draft that hadn’t been there before. Heart pounding, she groped her way toward the source of the moving air--and found not only it, but a bright light in the passageway the cat had uncovered when he’d clawed down the tapestry that had hung behind the Oriental screen. It was rather strange she hadn’t noticed the tapestry before. But then, meeting Mary-Cassandra had been more than a little distracting.
She stooped to retrieve the light that the red haired distraction must have left behind when she’d entered the alcove--from this direction, apparently. It was one of Simon’s electric lanterns.
She sighed when the passage ended abruptly in a semicircular alcove. The area was bare, save for a few stools off to one side and a large, three-section Oriental screen standing near the back, looking rather incongruous. How curious. What could it be there for?
“Aahoooeeeeahhh...”
The sudden screech rattled overwrought nerves. Tabitha’s hair stood on end.
“Death... Death... Leave before it’s too late!” a banshee voice wailed. “Ahooeeeooahh...”
Uh-huh.
Silently, Tabitha crept toward the screen, like a cat stalking a mouse. With a single quick move, she grabbed the nearest panel and snapped it back. The screen wobbled, overbalanced and tipped over, landing on the wood floor with a heavy thud.
“Oh! Now see what you’ve done!” A tall, willowy young woman with extravagant red hair, piercing blue eyes, and an almost blinding canary yellow negligee stood staring at the screen in dismay. She stamped her foot. “If it’s been damaged, Uncle Angus will hang me by my thumbs and then have me hurled into the moat! That screen belonged to his mother.”
She glanced at Tabitha, her brows suddenly pulled together with thought. “Or, maybe it was his grandmother’s. I can’t remember. Anyway”--she heaved a dramatic sigh--“he’s very fond of it. Here, help me set it right. I’m Mary MacAllister, by the way. But I detest being called Mary--it’s too mundane--so I’ve changed my name to Esmeralda,” she chattered as the screen was lifted back into position. “What do you think?”
Tabitha was studying the ornate panels as best she could by the light of her candle. “It looks all right to me.”
Mary-Esmeralda gave a disgusted snort. “I didn’t mean the screen! Who cares about that silly old thing?” She gave it a kick that almost toppled it again. “I want to know how you like my name. Don’t you think Esmeralda has the wildest, most romantic sound to it?” She closed her eyes in ecstasy.
“Why, yes,” Tabitha said in the voice she reserved for small children and fussy lapdogs. “It makes you sound like a Spanish flamenco dancer.”
The blue eyes snapped open. “Oh, no! That will never do. I can’t sound like a flamenco dancer. They make far too much noise. All that heel clicking and those castanets--they sound like a herd of stampeding crickets!” She angled away, her brow furrowed with furious thinking. “I know! I’ll call myself Ophelia,” she exclaimed, spinning triumphantly back to face Tabitha. “What do you think of Ophelia? Or... Wait!” She flung out an arm for attention. “Flavia! Or maybe Angelique? Sophia? Desdemona? Oh, it’s so difficult to decide! What do you think?” she demanded, stamping her foot again.
“How about Cassandra?” Tabitha suggested, thinking of the beautiful, mad princess from Greek mythology.
“Cassandra?” The young woman’s head quirked to the side, as though she were listening to some distant melody. “Cassandra MacAllister... I like that very much, I think. It’ll look good in print, too. I’m going to be a famous playwright, you know. And star in all of them myself. Cassandra it is then! Thank you, Tabitha.”
She smiled sweetly. “Oh wipe that silly shock off your face. Everyone here knows who you are. Didn’t you see your audience the other night when Alan dragged you up the keep’s ramp? That was quite a show you put on. I almost applauded. It didn’t fool me any, of course--I knew what you were up to--but it was entertaining, nonetheless. I may use it in my next play,” the redhead finally finished, because she’d run out of breath. She stared at Tabitha through narrow blue slits, a sly grin curling the corners of her mouth.
Tabitha stared back through equally narrowed eyes and the opposite of a grin tightening her expression. “What are you talking about, Cassandra?”
“As if you didn’t know,” the new Cassandra chanted, wafting dreamily across the alcove and seating herself on one of the stools in a billow of screaming yellow silk. “But enough of that. Here I am boring you with all this talk about yourself, when you must be dying to hear all about me.”
“Not really,” Tabitha said, still staring glaciers.
“I’m from Boston, and my father sent me out here last month because he thinks the theater is a scandalous career for a woman,” Cassandra cheerfully began, ignoring the ice. “He’s hoping I’ll marry one of Uncle Angus’s sons, instead. But I don’t like any of Uncle Angus’s sons. They’re all toads. And not the kind you could turn into princes with a kiss either.” She grimaced. “If I kissed any of them, I’d get warts.”
“So why don’t you go back to Boston.”
“No.” Mary-Esmeralda-Cassandra pressed her lips into a firm line, her eyes flashing blue fire in the candlelight. “You won’t trick me that easily, Tabitha. I know your game, but it won’t work.” She popped haughtily to her feet, shaking out her negligee like a queen shaking out her robes of state. “And I’m not going to tell you any more about me. You can perish of curiosity, for all I care.” Chin in the air, she billowed out of the alcove and was several catlike steps down the dark passage, when she whirled around and flew back.
“By the way, speaking of perishing, I’d keep my eye on Alan, if I were you. He may be a murderer,” she said brightly, gazing down at Tabitha’s stunned face with an angelic smile illuminating her own. “A murderer and a widower, to be specific. The two terms go together, you see, because he supposedly killed his wife. Her name was Heather, in case you’re interested.” Still smiling, she turned and drifted into the darkness, like yellow smoke vanishing in a midnight breeze.
And Tabitha fell, rather than sat, on the nearest stool. Her legs had turned to rubber. She was remembering the story of the original Cassandra and hoping that she hadn’t chosen too appropriate a name for her new acquaintance.
The first Cassandra had been a princess of Troy during its long ago siege. She had asked for and received the gift of prophecy from Apollo. But she’d also spurned the god’s advances, so he’d turned his blessing into a curse by declaring that no one would ever believe her. To all who heard them, Cassandra’s words sounded like the ravings of a madwoman, yet the poor doomed girl had spoken nothing but the truth.
Tabitha shook her head, jiggled one knee, then the other. The atmosphere of the castle had suddenly shifted. Before it had seemed a bit eerie, of course, but mostly just impractical and eccentric. Now it felt malignant and menacing.
She shot a wary glance around the alcove, the flickering glow from her candle making the curved walls appear almost as if they were pulsating. Even her own shadow looked somehow threatening. Steeling herself against a creeping panic, she cautiously rose to her feet, every nerve trembling like a touched fiddle string. Something hit against the hem of her skirt, and the squeal she let out hit high C.
She was that happy to see him.
“Hullo, angel, you always appear just when I need you the most, don’t you?” She knelt down to pet the cat. “You’re my little knight in furry armor.”
He dug his velvety head into her hand, that deep throaty purr of his vibrating like a hive of giant bees.
“You must know this castle like the back of your paw. Do you think you could show me the way to my room? Not that I really want to go there--I’d rather be far away from this dreadful place--but if I have to be anywhere here, I think my room is the safest. At least there I can lock the door and barricade myself in. Don’t you agree?” She gazed wistfully into his glowing amber eyes.
The eyes blinked once, and the cat gathered himself into a tight crouch beneath her hand. Like a spring unwinding itself, he shot around her and darted behind the screen. Tabitha heard a wild scrambling, a muffled woosh, like something large and soft hitting the floor, and then... Complete, breathless quiet.
“Now what was that all about?” Her voice echoed in the stillness. “Did you hear a mouse?”
As if in answer, the candle flame flickered frantically for an instant, then wisped out, leaving her in a darkness so dense it almost suffocated her.
But not quite. From somewhere a breeze was blowing. A draft that hadn’t been there before. Heart pounding, she groped her way toward the source of the moving air--and found not only it, but a bright light in the passageway the cat had uncovered when he’d clawed down the tapestry that had hung behind the Oriental screen. It was rather strange she hadn’t noticed the tapestry before. But then, meeting Mary-Cassandra had been more than a little distracting.
She stooped to retrieve the light that the red haired distraction must have left behind when she’d entered the alcove--from this direction, apparently. It was one of Simon’s electric lanterns.
Tabitha stood blinking and puzzling a moment, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the glare and wondering why the catty Cassandra had been there in the first place. It was almost like she’d been waiting for me. And what was she doing with one of Simon’s lamps? Did he present one to every prospective bride who came to Castle MacAllister?
She heaved a small sigh. This was hardly a concern, considering all else she had to deal with--such as kidnapping, imprisonment, and a murdering fiancée--but it did smell somewhat suspicious.
Somewhat? The whole fortress and everything in it was beginning to stink like a kettle full of rotten fish!
Shaking her head, Tabitha glanced down the passage. Her black furred knight was nowhere to be seen, but that was all right, because she recognized where she was now and knew how to get from here to where she was going. She placed the lantern back on the floor and scurried back to her room.
She was a little breathless by the time she reached it, and more than a little dismayed to find no key in the door’s lock.
“But I’m sure there was a key here when I left. I should have taken it with me,” she muttered while dragging her trunk several feet across the floor and shoving it up against the door’s base. “No, that won’t work.” Panting with the effort, she pushed it aside and began a determined wresting match with the large mahogany dresser that stood against the wall directly to the right of the door. “Ugh,” she grunted, “this weighs a ton. I defy anyone to get past this monster.”
“You’re right. We don’t want to be disturbed tonight. But that’s far too heavy for you. Let me do it.” A powerful pair of arms reached around her and slid the dresser into place.
Tabitha screamed loud enough to wake the dead. Which she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t be joining anytime soon.
Alan clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Hush.” He laughed softly, close to her ear. “They’ll think I’m murdering you.”
A poor choice of words, from Tabitha’s standpoint.
“Argh,” Alan bit out through clenched teeth, as her teeth bit into his fingers. He stared at her with a mixture of surprise, amusement--and something Tabitha didn’t want to think about. “What’s the matter with you, lassie?”
“N-n-nothing’s the matter with me. Get out of here!” She flew to the far wall, pressing her back against it. “What are you doing in my room?”
“Our room. ’Twas mine, in fact, but now ’tis ours.” He flexed his hand to make sure everything was still adequately connected.
“Our room?” Tabitha choked, unable to pull her gaze off him. She felt pinned, like a butterfly on a mounting board.
Alan began a slow, languid approach toward her, looking as though he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. “Aye. Husbands and wives often do share the same bed, don’t they?” He paused to remove his collar and vest, then resumed his approach, unfastening his shirt en route.
Tabitha watched in horrified fascination as more and more of that rock hard, tanned chest came into view. The knowledge that she’d seen it before offered not a whit of comfort. A bare chest had seemed...well, natural on a Comanche. It had been easier to deal with then. Now it seemed somehow improper. Indecent. And nerve-wrackingly sensual. She gulped as the shirt hit the floor. He pulled off his belt, and her knees started to quiver.
“What difference does it make what husbands and wives do? We’re not m-married,” she strained out, thinking that if he reached for his trousers, she would probably faint.
“Aye, but we are,” he said. And reached for her, instead.
Her knees buckled, but she quickly caught herself, swiveled, ducked under his arm, skidded across the floor, and plastered herself against the opposite wall. “We are not! We’re merely engaged.”
Alan heaved a sigh and turned to face her, the muscles in his torso rippling like burnished copper in the glow from the oil lamp. “Look, dear, according to old Highland law, two people are married simply by saying so in front of witnesses. That’s what you and I did on the ramparts, if you’ll recall. And that makes us man and wife.” Stealthily, he closed the distance between them. “At least, that’s the tradition the MacAllisters follow. And for once in my life”--a sudden grin lit his face--“I find myself most glad to be part of the clan.”
Pausing two paces away, he raked her with a look that almost set her hair on fire and ordered softly, “Now come here, Tabitha. Stop acting so frightened. What do you think I’m going to do to you, anyway?”
Gauging by his expression, Tabitha didn’t know. Strangle her? Kiss her? In her current state, all possibilities seemed petrifying and probably fatal. She doubted if she could survive any of them.
“You...you’re not going to do anything to me.” She dodged sideways and back to her previous wall. “Because I won’t let you get close enough to even try. And I won’t accept this so-called marriage, either. It’s preposterous!”
“What’s preposterous is the thought of me spending our wedding night chasing you around the room,” Alan said, his rich voice something between a growl and a purr. “Now come here.”
He took a single step toward her. And waited.
“Tabitha?” He took a second step, then a third and a fourth, his eyes pulling at her like magnets. “This is your last chance. Don’t make me come get you, lassie. You might be sorry for it when I catch you.”
“You might be sorry for it, too,” she warned, watching him approach the way a caged canary watches a cat. He moved with an easy feline grace that sent disturbing hot tingles shooting deep into her abdomen. “Whatever you’re planning, I...I won’t make it easy for you.”
Alan halted in midstep. “And what do you think I’m planning, dear? I can understand a new bride being nervous on her wedding night, but aren’t you being just a wee bit extreme?” He chuckled.
Infuriated, Tabitha glared into his eyes. A mistake. They nailed her to the wall, sucked the air and the movement straight out of her. She stood transfixed a breathless moment, just long enough for him to cover the last several feet between them, sweep her up into his arms, and toss her into the center of the large four-poster bed...
She heaved a small sigh. This was hardly a concern, considering all else she had to deal with--such as kidnapping, imprisonment, and a murdering fiancée--but it did smell somewhat suspicious.
Somewhat? The whole fortress and everything in it was beginning to stink like a kettle full of rotten fish!
Shaking her head, Tabitha glanced down the passage. Her black furred knight was nowhere to be seen, but that was all right, because she recognized where she was now and knew how to get from here to where she was going. She placed the lantern back on the floor and scurried back to her room.
She was a little breathless by the time she reached it, and more than a little dismayed to find no key in the door’s lock.
“But I’m sure there was a key here when I left. I should have taken it with me,” she muttered while dragging her trunk several feet across the floor and shoving it up against the door’s base. “No, that won’t work.” Panting with the effort, she pushed it aside and began a determined wresting match with the large mahogany dresser that stood against the wall directly to the right of the door. “Ugh,” she grunted, “this weighs a ton. I defy anyone to get past this monster.”
“You’re right. We don’t want to be disturbed tonight. But that’s far too heavy for you. Let me do it.” A powerful pair of arms reached around her and slid the dresser into place.
Tabitha screamed loud enough to wake the dead. Which she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t be joining anytime soon.
Alan clapped a hand over her mouth.
“Hush.” He laughed softly, close to her ear. “They’ll think I’m murdering you.”
A poor choice of words, from Tabitha’s standpoint.
“Argh,” Alan bit out through clenched teeth, as her teeth bit into his fingers. He stared at her with a mixture of surprise, amusement--and something Tabitha didn’t want to think about. “What’s the matter with you, lassie?”
“N-n-nothing’s the matter with me. Get out of here!” She flew to the far wall, pressing her back against it. “What are you doing in my room?”
“Our room. ’Twas mine, in fact, but now ’tis ours.” He flexed his hand to make sure everything was still adequately connected.
“Our room?” Tabitha choked, unable to pull her gaze off him. She felt pinned, like a butterfly on a mounting board.
Alan began a slow, languid approach toward her, looking as though he couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. “Aye. Husbands and wives often do share the same bed, don’t they?” He paused to remove his collar and vest, then resumed his approach, unfastening his shirt en route.
Tabitha watched in horrified fascination as more and more of that rock hard, tanned chest came into view. The knowledge that she’d seen it before offered not a whit of comfort. A bare chest had seemed...well, natural on a Comanche. It had been easier to deal with then. Now it seemed somehow improper. Indecent. And nerve-wrackingly sensual. She gulped as the shirt hit the floor. He pulled off his belt, and her knees started to quiver.
“What difference does it make what husbands and wives do? We’re not m-married,” she strained out, thinking that if he reached for his trousers, she would probably faint.
“Aye, but we are,” he said. And reached for her, instead.
Her knees buckled, but she quickly caught herself, swiveled, ducked under his arm, skidded across the floor, and plastered herself against the opposite wall. “We are not! We’re merely engaged.”
Alan heaved a sigh and turned to face her, the muscles in his torso rippling like burnished copper in the glow from the oil lamp. “Look, dear, according to old Highland law, two people are married simply by saying so in front of witnesses. That’s what you and I did on the ramparts, if you’ll recall. And that makes us man and wife.” Stealthily, he closed the distance between them. “At least, that’s the tradition the MacAllisters follow. And for once in my life”--a sudden grin lit his face--“I find myself most glad to be part of the clan.”
Pausing two paces away, he raked her with a look that almost set her hair on fire and ordered softly, “Now come here, Tabitha. Stop acting so frightened. What do you think I’m going to do to you, anyway?”
Gauging by his expression, Tabitha didn’t know. Strangle her? Kiss her? In her current state, all possibilities seemed petrifying and probably fatal. She doubted if she could survive any of them.
“You...you’re not going to do anything to me.” She dodged sideways and back to her previous wall. “Because I won’t let you get close enough to even try. And I won’t accept this so-called marriage, either. It’s preposterous!”
“What’s preposterous is the thought of me spending our wedding night chasing you around the room,” Alan said, his rich voice something between a growl and a purr. “Now come here.”
He took a single step toward her. And waited.
“Tabitha?” He took a second step, then a third and a fourth, his eyes pulling at her like magnets. “This is your last chance. Don’t make me come get you, lassie. You might be sorry for it when I catch you.”
“You might be sorry for it, too,” she warned, watching him approach the way a caged canary watches a cat. He moved with an easy feline grace that sent disturbing hot tingles shooting deep into her abdomen. “Whatever you’re planning, I...I won’t make it easy for you.”
Alan halted in midstep. “And what do you think I’m planning, dear? I can understand a new bride being nervous on her wedding night, but aren’t you being just a wee bit extreme?” He chuckled.
Infuriated, Tabitha glared into his eyes. A mistake. They nailed her to the wall, sucked the air and the movement straight out of her. She stood transfixed a breathless moment, just long enough for him to cover the last several feet between them, sweep her up into his arms, and toss her into the center of the large four-poster bed...
Thursday, March 22, 2012
FREE on Kindle for 3 days (starting now)... Ready, set...Go get it! :)
Two lonely guys, two unforgettable gals, and a town full of “stardust”...Texas will never be the same.
EVERY JACK NEEDS HIS JIL
Full-length novel, full of love & laughs
FREE on Kindle today through Sat. (March 22-24)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004KKXTR2
Blurb:
It’s the modern-day Wild West when two wandering black sheep return to claim the women they left. Difficult women. Jileana has spent years pining for Jack, while at the same time praying she never sees him again. Mind you, she has her reasons, and they’re good ones. But not good enough to withstand the impact of an old man’s deathbed confession. Now long-lost Jack is back. And Jil’s about to take the tumble of her life!
Meanwhile, Harper pursues Evangeline, who chased him off decades ago (she had her reasons, too). He’s hoping to bury the hatchet, but fifty years hasn’t been quite enough time for Evangeline’s temper to cool, and the only place she wants to bury it is in Harper’s head. Both couples have an uphill climb ahead of them. The road to love is a madcap obstacle course, but at least it runs through the right little town...dusty Star, Texas, a place where hearts can heal and dreams really can come true.
Review Snips:
5 Angels & a FAR Recommended Read: “Mimi Riser’s talent for the written word is outstanding. Her ability to bring these characters to life and into your heart will leave you laughing, crying and cheering for the underdog.” ~Mary, Fallen Angel Reviews
5 Stars: “Everything about this story is just perfectly done. It was such a treat to witness Harper’s dogged pursuit of Vangie and Jack’s determination to finally have Jil along with all the madcap wackiness erupting around them.” ~Susan, eCataRomance Reviews
5 Cups: “...a pleasure to read...upbeat and entertaining...strong and vibrant... This book cries out to be put on the keeper shelf.” ~Johnna, Coffee Time Romance
4.5 Blue Ribbons: “...a wonderful, whimsical novel, which will have you laughing and seeing first hand what true Texas grit is all about. A guaranteed pleaser!” ~Nadine, Romance Junkies
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Just released! - Eyes of the Cat
Once upon a time, in a far, strange land (1883 Texas, to be precise), there arrived from back East a beautiful and headstrong young princess...um, I mean a scientist...named Tabitha Jeffries. Hardly more than a girl, really, but she had the courage of an Amazon and a heart as big as her intellect. To save another girl, named Gabrina, from an arranged marriage to this presumably wicked prince (well, a laird, anyway) called Alan MacAllister, Tabitha switches places with her. Expecting, naturally enough, that the awful Alan’s Highland Scots family (who just happen to live in a full-scale medieval castle) will release her the moment she confesses she’s not Gabrina. Only—and this is the annoying part—Alan’s family is actually more interested in a bride than they are in a specific bride... “Gabby or Tabby, ’tis such a wee dif’rence”... In other words, they keep her—fussing and fuming, kicking, clawing, biting, punching and screaming, notwithstanding.
And Alan himself, who turns out to have wanted Gabrina even less than Gabrina wanted him, decides that he does want Gabrina’s replacement. He decides this on first sight, in fact. And one can scarcely blame him, because that first sight was a lulu. It was the sight of said replacement—who had just escaped a tower by way of a tree that snagged off most of her clothes on the climb down—leaping wildly out of that tree in her unmentionables. Very interesting. Something to make a man stop and think. Catching her in his arms, Alan thinks he may be in love.
Numerous battles and embraces, some bloodcurdling adventures, and an emotional triathlon later, Tabitha is beginning to think the same thing. Now all she has to do is solve a ten year old murder, prevent a new one, and save herself and Alan from a horrifying family legacy. There’s always something, isn’t there?
-------
Available now on Kindle
A big fat juicy novel (93,000 words) for only $2.99
And Alan himself, who turns out to have wanted Gabrina even less than Gabrina wanted him, decides that he does want Gabrina’s replacement. He decides this on first sight, in fact. And one can scarcely blame him, because that first sight was a lulu. It was the sight of said replacement—who had just escaped a tower by way of a tree that snagged off most of her clothes on the climb down—leaping wildly out of that tree in her unmentionables. Very interesting. Something to make a man stop and think. Catching her in his arms, Alan thinks he may be in love.
Numerous battles and embraces, some bloodcurdling adventures, and an emotional triathlon later, Tabitha is beginning to think the same thing. Now all she has to do is solve a ten year old murder, prevent a new one, and save herself and Alan from a horrifying family legacy. There’s always something, isn’t there?
-------
Available now on Kindle
A big fat juicy novel (93,000 words) for only $2.99
Monday, January 2, 2012
Celebrate the New Year with a party at TRS
Lots of authors, excerpts, and prizes - and the grand prize is a NOOK. Join the fun at The Romance Studio party site this week, January 2nd, 3rd, and 4th! :-)
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