Title: A Valentine's
Anthology
Author: C.L. Kraemer,Genene
Valleau,Christine Young
ISBN: 978-0-9842211-2-7
Email:
Genre:
Excerpt Heat Level: 1
Book Heat Level: 1
TAGLINE
BLURB
The Lending Library-a fantasy. By C. L. Kraemer
Faeries try to fit into the human world when the forest
where they make their home is destroyed by a mysterious enemy.
Chasing Rainbows-a contemporary romance. By Genene
Valleau
An eccentric aunt, an inventive uncle, a mother who wears
poodle skirts, and a brother who wears pearls provide a hilarious backdrop for
the courtship of a young woman who yearns for a "normal" family.
The Gift-a historical romance. By Christine Young
A man and a woman on opposite sides of the Civil War get
a second chance at love after one final battle returns soldiers to their
war-torn homes to rebuild their lives.
EXCERPTS:
The Lending Library:
Ailidh wobbled precariously
on her high heels.
Kayne smirked. "Having
problems, dear?"
"Shut up!" she
snapped. "I need to practice this until I get it right. We don’t really
have many options left open to us, Kayne. You had better practice, too."
He stopped and steadied
himself on the railing of the porch. He wriggled his feet out of the closed
leather shoes that encased them.
"I don’t know why you
insist we wear these ridiculous articles of clothing. This long-sleeved shirt
cuts off the circulation to my hands not to mention the lack of space for my
wings and these long pants chap my legs.
"Worst of all, are
these horrendous leather shoes. They pinch and make my feet swell. Why do we
have to go through all of this? I don’t understand." Kayne grumbled.
Ailidh sighed and slowly, patiently explained to him, once again,
why they were practicing.
Chasing Rainbows:
Ka-boom!
The blast shattered the settling peace of dusk as Marissa Madison pulled into
the circular drive. Rissa threw open the car door and sprinted toward the gray
stone house.
"Please,
no blood this time," she whispered as her feet hit the rough-hewn steps
leading up to the broad double doors.
A
bespectacled man stepped through the doorway amid a confetti shower of
envelopes and leaflets. His silvery hair stood in startled spikes around a
balding pate as if it too had been a victim of the explosion.
"Too
much torque in the mail conveyor," he muttered with a frown.
"Please
turn it off, Uncle Horace!"
"Right."
The old man disappeared back into the house. Within moments, the clanking
stopped and silence fell over the rolling hills once again.
Just another normal day, Rissa thought, as she surveyed the day's mail
scattered in gay abandon across the landscape.
The Gift:
"Get in the house,
now!"
"Mama?"
Elice Weld shielded her eyes
and watched the ground fog rising in the distance. She didn't know what was
coming her way, but she could guess. The rumors that a Union cavalry unit was
in the vicinity had spread like a wildfire on a Kansas prairie.
Rain had fallen all morning.
Now the clouds had separated, and the sun heated the earth, causing the
evaporation of the water-soaked ground. The cavalry rode through the mist like
dark, avenging wraiths bent on the destruction of all mankind. She could see
seven men silhouetted on the horizon.
"Izzy, go." Elice
didn't want to frighten her daughter but the urgency of the moment could not be
denied.
"But mama?"
"Go to the cellar.
Now."
"It's dark."
Izzy's voice echoed in
Elice's head, filling her with a wild panic she didn't know how to stop. Every
time soldiers approached she was terrified. The last four years had been the
longest years of her life. "Do as I say, quickly." Elice hugged her
daughter, turning her at the same moment and with a gentle shove sent her
through the open door of her house.
"Izzy."
Elice knew the panic in her
voice would mobilize her young daughter. She despised the fear and the terror.
She loathed the war. She looked up. The fog was dissipating, and she could see
the dark blue of the Union coats. She didn't have anything left for the
soldiers to take. Good God, they'd taken everything already--everything save
her daughter and her hope for the future.
She inhaled a quick breath
then stood on the steps, hands folded together in front of her, watching the
dark wraiths inch closer. She knew from experience she couldn't fight these
men. She would do as they said and when they left, she would put the pieces of
her life back together.
Until the next time…
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