Eternity’s Gamble has gone LIVE!
My first ever paranormal/horror romance went LIVE at several ebook retailers today!
A HUGE thank you to Kate Richards and everyone else at Decadent Publishing for all of their help, from submission status to getting Eternity’s Gamble published.
A special THANK YOU to my co-conspirators on this project – Maggie Blackbird, D.S. Dehel and Cameron Allie for all of their help with brainstorming and story ideas. A second shout out to Cameron Allie for beta reading this story for me.
I am so thrilled it’s finally out there for everyone. I hope all of you like it. It’s the most unusual and fun story I’ve written so far, and the sexiest… If you know what I mean. *WINK!!!*
Now that this book is out, I’ll be back to writing once things settle down and I catch my breath. I have at least two or three more books to write for the Feathered Tartan Series (at Extasy Books) and I want to write another paranormal story for Decadent Publishing sometime soon.
It’s been one hell of a wild ride this year so far with the writing, but man, it’s been a fun one too.
You can find Eternity’s Gamble HERE: https://decadentpublishing.com/eternitys-gamble/
Here’s the blurb
for Eternity’s Gamble… And a short
excerpt!
Can
love beat the odds, or will the dice decide their fate?
Expecting the
usual entertainment at the local Nova Scotia exhibition, Charles Hazard is less
than impressed by the secluded corn maze his long-time friend and secret crush,
Tiffany, drags him to. The repulsive state of decay, and the creepy dummy
guarding the entrance of the maze have Charles anxious to leave, but his sense
of self-preservation wars with his desire to make Tiffany happy.
Tiffany
Morrow doesn’t think much of the tarot card reading she had only days before
the annual exhibition, and has all but forgotten the prophet’s words and how
she drew the Death Card when she comes across a spooky looking corn maze.
There’s only one person she wants to explore the stalks with. She’s been in
love with her best friend, Charles, for as long as she can remember. His level
head, introverted tendencies, and unique ginger sexiness call to the most
intimate parts of her.
Their fun
quickly takes a dark turn when the maze morphs into a game of life or death.
From a quiet sunflower field, to a treacherous walk across a volcano’s cone, to
an encounter with a creature out of horror legend, each roll of the dice forces
them to work as a team or perish in a way they most fear.
Amidst the
danger-filled labyrinth, they delight in small, stolen moments and find the
soul mate they have been searching for. However, as with most games of chance
performed at a devil’s will, there is more to this sport than there appears.
Could they really be the only ones within the walls of their confines, or are
other creatures lurking?
In a
terrifying twist of fate, their chances at forever could be ripped away from
them by a single roll of the die…
Victory may
linger out of reach, and a curse of eternal agony and loneliness could be their
fate. Or just once the die might roll in their favour. But what are the odds of
that?
Eternity’s
Gamble is a friends to lovers paranormal horror romance.
* * * *
Excerpt:
The
inside of Tiffany’s eyelids were red, meaning she was in a spot with some
bright light and also seeing a few stars.
She
must have fallen asleep. Vaguely, she remembered spending the evening with
Charles, but when did they get home? Her mind dismissed it, happy and content,
so relaxed, she didn’t want to move.
A soft
sound, like running water hit her ears, and when she took a deep breath through
her nose, the air smelled like freshly cut grass underlined with flowers.
Roses, maybe. She rolled onto her back and felt the tickle of grass against her
neck.
A soft
buzzing grew closer. She opened her eyes and saw a bee fly past her nose.
Sunlight kissed her bare arms and legs, and the warmth of it made every cell in
her body feel cozy, like she was under her favorite thermal blanket with a cup
of hot chocolate and a good book. The sky was a brilliant blue. No clouds
marred its perfection.
A happy
groan to her left made her glance that way. Like her, Charles was on his back,
his face toward the sun. How many times did they lie like this in his parents’
backyard last summer, watching the clouds and talking about her graduate
studies at university? She couldn’t recall.
She let
out a soft sigh and closed her eyes again. It was the perfect day and the
perfect weather to have a nap in the sun.
Her
eyes flew open when she didn’t recall putting on sunscreen. She hated getting
sunburned and didn’t like risking skin cancer. She sat up and growled in
frustration.
“What’s
wrong, Tiff?” Charles asked. He sounded drowsy and happy.
“I forgot to slap on sunblock. I’m going to
the house to get some.”
“Mm,”
he sighed, and folded his hands on his stomach. “Bring it out so I can have
some too.”
“Lazy
bones,” she replied and swiped at his arm.
He
reached over and poked her in the ribs. “Better lazy than sunburned.”
“Fuck
off.” She shoved his hand away and tried not to giggle. Charles always seemed
to forget the sunscreen even though he was more prone to turning lobster-red
than she was. She stood up and brushed the grass off her rump, noting the color
of her tank top. Odd, it looked like the same one she wore yesterday.
Ice
lodged itself into her spine as her mind recalled the hideous face, a demonic
voice, and the putrid smell of decay. She shivered, and the area didn’t feel so
comforting and warm any more.
Every
cell in her body turned to ice as a garden of sunflowers came into focus. Her
parents didn’t grow sunflowers. Neither did Charles’ parents, and he lived in a
small apartment building in town. No one in that part of town had a garden
containing sunflowers.
“Charles,
get up. Now,” she hissed.
He gave
her the finger. “I thought you were getting some sunblock.”
“I
don’t think we’re going to need it.” She nudged him in the ribs with her foot.
“Why
not?” He sounded agitated and slightly bored.
“Open
your eyes and you’ll get it.” She gave him a harder push with her foot.
“Ow,
okay. For fuck’s sake. Jesus.” He shoved her foot away and sat up. His jaw
dropped at least two inches. His eyes were wide when he stared up at her.
“Where the hell are we? In a farmer’s field? I don’t remember the party.”
Tiffany
held out a hand so he could pull himself to his feet and shuddered as the
memory of the monster invaded her mind again. “We didn’t go to a party.”
Charles’
blue eyes widened, and his freckles appeared to glow in the sunshine as
comprehension spread across his face. “That fucking maze.” He glared at her,
his blue eyes spitting fire as they narrowed. “You and your crazy-ass ideas.
Thanks to you, we’re stuck in this whatever-it-is, and can’t get out of here.”
He gestured toward the sunflowers.
Shame
made her cheeks turn hot. Charles was right, it was her fault they were in this
mess, and she felt horrible for dragging him into it. Silently, she vowed to
never drag her best friend-slash-crush on another one of her outlandish
adventures, not without making sure he’d like it first. “I’m sorry,” she
mumbled and toed the grass with her left foot.
“Yeah,
you should be,” he muttered, annoyance thick in his voice. “That’s the last
fucking time I follow you on your stupid ideas. We always land in deep shit,
and this is the worst batch of it yet.”
Tiffany’s
eyes burned and she lowered her eyes to the ground so he wouldn’t see the tears
in them. Charles would assume she was trying to gain sympathy if she cried,
even if it was genuine.
“You’re
crying, aren’t you? Jesus, Tiff, you always do that when I yell at you for
doing it so I’ll feel guilty for saying something. Can’t you be really sorry
for once?” He sounded pissed, and rightfully so.
She
raised her gaze to his and narrowed her eyes. His expression mirrored hers. His
eyes were narrowed, his brow crumpled in anger and a deepening frown marred his
beautiful face. His freckles were lost in the redness that covered his cheeks.
Yeah,
he was pissed, but she was genuinely sorry for what happened. It wasn’t her
fault the damn demon decided she was the one to play his fucking game. With a
long snort, she flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and stomped toward the
sunflowers. At least their sunny faces wouldn’t snap at her for something
stupid.
“Where
do you think you’re going?” Charles’ voice echoed loudly in her ears.
“Away
from you,” she shot over her shoulder and gave him the finger.
“Tiff—”
She
slammed on the brakes and whipped around to shoot verbal daggers at him. Her
right hand came up and she pointed at him with her index finger. “I said I was
sorry, and this time I mean it. I did not know we’d land in some fucking game,
playing for an asshole’s pleasure.” Both hands slammed down on her hips and her
jaw tightened as she snapped, ”You can stand here and stew over it all you
fucking well want, but I’m going to look around to see if we can get out of
this place and go home. Fuck you Charles Hazard!” She pivoted on her heel and
marched away without a glance backward.
Charles
muttered something—it sounded like a few swear words—and then footsteps echoed
behind her. “Wait up.”
“Why
should I?” She was getting sick and tired of his attitude. He hated adventure.
She loved it. From now on, he’d be able to keep his ass home, because she
wasn’t dragging him along after this. Not if he got mad at her for accidentally
going through some sort of portal to another dimension.
She
scanned the area around her and the sunflower grove to her right. All she could
see was grass, lots of wildflowers—from dandelions to daisies and a few
violets—and the sunflowers. Bees and butterflies floated from one flower to
another.
Surely
if there were bees, there had to be a hive, right? She walked along the hedge
of sunflowers, looking for a telltale sign of a hive, manmade or otherwise.
With a
mental reminder that they could possibly in a dimension that didn’t allow for
bees to be kept by humans, or even create their own natural hive, she kept a
lookout for bees entering or exiting a spot along the ground, or in the wall of
sunflowers.
Charles’
footsteps got closer. “I told you to wait,” he muttered when he caught up to
her.
Without
taking her gaze off the grass and flowers in front of her sandals, Tiffany kept
walking. “I thought you didn’t want to go on any more adventures.”
His
deep voice rumbled in her ears. “I don’t think we should split up. What if
something happens?”
What
if, indeed. As pissed off as she was, Tiffany had to agree with his logic, but
she wasn’t going to let him know that. She pointed to the hedge of sunflowers
beside them. “I’m looking for a break in this wall. Maybe it will lead us to a
way out.”
Footsteps
beside her indicated Charles was tagging along. Not that she cared. God he was
such a pain in the ass when he got his attitude going.
A
shiver of guilt traveled up her spine as she remembered her own actions got
them into this mess. If only she hadn’t tried to show him that fucking maze.
“Hey,
Tiff, I think we found something.”
He was pointing to a break in the greenery. The scent of roses mixed with chrysanthemums and jasmine hung in the air. Another bee flew past her nose. She could feel the wind from its wings as it buzzed away.
* * * *
Thank you so much for your support… I hope you enjoy Eternity’s Gamble.
Namaste and have a
fantastic weekend everyone! I leave you with a song by a local heavy metal band…
“Whom Gods Destroy” by classic metal band Whom Gods Destroy.
