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Two wedding nights. Two dead husbands.
Deirdre MacCoinneach wishes to
understand her unusual ability to sense others’ lifeblood energies…and vows to
discover if her gift killed the men she married. Her father’s search for a new
and unsuspecting suitor for Deirdre becomes complicated when rumors of
witchcraft abound.
Under the façade of a trader, Alasdair
Montgomerie travels to Uist with pivotal information for a Claimant seeking the
Scottish throne. A ruthless baron hunts him and a dark past haunts him, leaving
little room for alliances with a Highland laird or his tempting daughter.
Awestruck when she realizes that her
unlikely travel companion is the man from her visions, a man whose thickly
veiled emotions are buried beneath his burning lifeblood, Deirdre wonders if
he, too, will die in her bed if she follows her father’s orders. Amidst magic,
superstition, and ghosts of the past, Alasdair and Deirdre find themselves
falling together in a web of secrets and the curse of a hundred kisses…
Excerpt
She
sensed no colors in the murky, lifeless water, and it was freeing. All breath
escaped her. Muted visions passed before her eyes—her mother, her father,
Gordon, and Cortland. Just a moment longer, she thought…
Suddenly,
a burst of warm light invaded her thoughts as air filled her lungs. Red-hot
hands burned her shoulders and ripped her from her icy grave. She breathed life
into her body. She coughed, gagging on the change.
Muffled
words yelled at her.
Oh, God, so hot. His fingers were like hot pokers. Her
head pounded as she slowly returned to the present. Heat radiated from her
rescuer. Somebody had pulled her from the water.
“Wh—?”
“Hush,
lass. You nearly drowned.”
His
voice was as soothing as a warm cup of goat’s milk on a winter’s day. A red-hot
glow emanated from his body. Never before had she felt such a strong lifeblood,
and it nearly burned her. She struggled in his arms to get free. She blinked,
only seeing a blurry form before her. “Release me!”
She
splashed and wriggled, and he did as told. She clambered to the shoreline. Numb
and shaken, she began to dress. It wasn’t easy as she fumbled with slick
fingers to put dry clothes over wet skin. She instantly regretted her naked
swim. She pulled on her long-sleeved white chemise first.
She
faced the forest, away from her rescuer. He quietly splashed to shore. His
lifeblood burned into her back. He wasn’t far behind, but he stopped. She
refused to look at him until she was fully clothed, not out of embarrassment of
her nudity, but for what had just happened. He released a groan and mumbled
under his breath about wet boots. His voice was not one of her father’s
soldiers.
When
she put the last garment on, her brown wool work kirtle, she squeezed out her
sopping hair and swept her hands through the knotty mess. She fastened her belt
and tied the lacings up the front of the kirtle. Blood returned to her
fingertips, and she regained her composure. Belated awareness struck her, and
she leaned down and searched through her bag for her dagger. She spun around.
She
gasped as she saw the man sitting on the stone-covered shoreline, his wet boots
off. Confusion and the hint of a scowl filled his strong-featured face. She staggered
back, caught her heel on a stone, and fell, dropping the dagger. Dirt and
pebbles stuck to her wet hands and feet, and she instinctively scrambled away
from him.
His glower, iridescent dark blue eyes, and disheveled
black hair were not unfamiliar. Staring at her was the man she had seen in her
dream—it was the man from the wood.
Author Bio:
Jean
is a scientist, part-time education director, and a mom. She currently resides
in Massachusetts and draws from her interests in history, science, the
outdoors, and her family for inspiration. She enjoys writing non-fiction
articles for family-oriented and travel magazines, and aspires to write
children’s books while continuing to write novels. In 2008, she visited the
land of her daydreams, Scotland, and it was nothing short of breathtaking. Jean
enjoys tending to her flower gardens, tackling the biggest mountains in New
England with her husband, and playing with her sons, while daydreaming about
the next hero to write about...
Connect with Jean
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Thanks for hosting me!
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to stop by here too to say good luck with everything! Sounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your new release, Jean. Exciting times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good wishes!
ReplyDeleteTweeted & FB'd Good luck! Meredith
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