Readers, have you ever wondered what happens when an author doesn’t finish a book? Because sometimes we don’t, and it’s not because we don’t try. Maybe you’ve been waiting for a sequel to a beloved book but the author hasn’t completed it. Could be, the author is stuck like I was.

My book Surrender Love was a huge hit when it came out, and I told everyone I was writing a sequel, which I planned to call Surrender Trust. But it never materialized. Fans loved book one so much I got emails eleven years later asking me about it. One reader said she had reread her copy of Surrender Love multiple times and just had to know if the next story would ever come out.

I had been stymied by this story for years and had rewritten it nine times, but I got stuck every time. I didn’t know why the antagonist would do what he was doing. None of it made sense, but for the story to work, X had to happen. How could I write the story when there was no viable reason for the antagonist to do what he did?

Not having an answer frustrated readers and me, too. I had to find a solution.

So, I took a step back and tried writing about the antagonist himself. I called it Origin of Pietas. He’s the immortal king, and he’s a character in a ton of books. Pietas has always been a bit crazy to my way of thinking, but when I started writing his book, I got into his psyche and realized why I didn’t understand — because I was writing him doing things his deep sense of honor would never permit him to do.

After I wrote that book, its sequel, Forged in Fire, came quickly. I wrote a short story in the same series. Lights Out is free when you sign up for my newsletter. I see the possibility for at least two more books in the Bringer of Chaos series. I shifted to the Antonello Brothers series and wrote two others with Pietas in them. I began the Antonello Brothers: Immortal series to work up to the story that had stymied me.

First, I rewrote Surrender Love, and then added Ring of the Dragon to the series. When I was ready to start on Surrender Trust, I gave it a new name, Forever Love. What a great title for a book about immortals falling in love, right?

A full seven books after I started, I finally finished the book that had frustrated me. It has a gloriously happy ending and answered so many questions! I uploaded it to Amazon with a huge sense of accomplishment, and an equally big sigh of relief. It comes out May 13th.

To celebrate, on May 12th and 13th, Surrender Love is free on Amazon and it’s free on Kindle Unlimited every day. There is a not-to-be-missed book between these called Ring of the Dragon. Read that to soak up every single luscious detail. These books each come with a bonus story available only to readers of that book.

Here’s a short excerpt from the opening of Forever Love. The young hero is a newly made immortal named Izzorah, who’s a Kin, one of a feline-human race with catlike eyes and ears, fangs, claws, and the ability to purr. He and his soon-to-be spouse, Luc, are standing at the door, saying what I call a Southern goodbye. You know the type; someone’s leaving and you keep trying to let them go but then they say this and you say that… Luc and Izzorah do not want to part even for a minute.

Excerpt from Forever Love…

Luc braced one hand against the open door, body to body with his lover. “You look like you need one more kiss.”

“No, kahmay t’hahr, lord of my heart.” A purr rumbled in Izzorah’s chest, and he tilted his head. The late afternoon sun streamed through the door, lighting his glorious green eyes. His pupils altered, widening like a cat’s, until only a rim of emerald remained. Izzorah focused on Luc’s mouth, then shifted his gaze back up. “I need a lot of kisses.”

“I should have left an hour ago, but with you, I want one kiss after the other.” And instead of walking through the door, he captured Izzorah’s mouth once more.

His lover arched against him, arms around Luc’s neck. When the kiss ended, Izzorah drew back, sliding gentle claws through Luc’s hair, then down his chest.

Luc’s skin tingled from the erotic touch, the raging heat of his inner beast eager for release. He refused to allow his fiery nature the control it craved. As much as he desired another hour with Izzorah, duty called.

He caressed Izzorah’s face. “I love you, Rah. And your cute little cat ears.”

“You’re trying to distract me, calling me a cat. I’m not a…”

Luc stroked one of Izzorah’s ears between fingers and thumb.

“…um… I’m… Ooh, yes, like that…” Izzorah rubbed against Luc’s hand.

Continuing to play with Izzorah’s ear, he smiled. “Is it working?”

Izzorah arched his back, pushing that ear into Luc’s touch. “What?”

With a chuckle, Luc released him. “Distracting you.”

“No. I’m not a cat. I’m Kin.” Izzorah rubbed his head beneath Luc’s chin.

“Rah.” Luc pulled back. “You just marked me, didn’t you?”

Izzorah looked up at him through dark lashes. “I am yours, lord of my heart, but I want other Kin to know you are mine.”

*~*~*

Forever Love – Antonello Brothers: Immortal

For their love, forever isn’t long enough.

Izzorah has always been a Kin, part of a human-like race of fierce, rugged felines. Now he’s also a brand-new immortal.

When he learns the truth about his fiancé’s immortality–and his own–the familiar world he knew vanishes. He must pass a test designed by the immortal king to reveal his gifts and weaknesses.

Pass and he’s accepted into a warrior society he wants no part of. Fail and he’s cast out, away from the man he loves.

As if that’s not bad enough, his lover is also the king’s ex, and the king refuses to part with anything–or anyone–he loves.

Fair test? Not in this immortal lifetime…

Forever Love, a hot MM Sci-Fi romance, is third in the explosive Antonello Brothers: Immortal Science Fiction series.

Amazon worldwide / Kindle Unlimited https://books2read.com/forever-love-immortal

Full series, Surrender Love, Ring of the Dragon, Forever Love https://amzn.to/2N4d7lX

Today Book #6, PROTECTING SUSAN, in The Protectors, my series in  Susan Stoker’s Special Forces World, is live! The book is dedicated to Susan who is such a genuine person and so supportive of authors as well as being an incredibly talented author herself. I hope you will join the fun and grab a copy.

What’s it about?

For Susan Stryker, the chance to start a new life with a new name, halfway across the country from her abusive ex, was like a miracle. Determined to give back, she opens a self defense school for women, reaching out especially to those in shelters. Although her ex destroyed any desire to connect with someone else, she can’t help what she feels for former SEAL Levi Hawke, a man with his own troubles. A man she met halfway through her journey on a rainy night who hooked her up with someone who could make that new life happen.

Two years later she’s about to spend two weeks on a farm where she will teach self defense and gun use to abused women who want to protect themselves. Tex Keegan, who helped her create her new life, insists she take a bodyguard with her, despite her objections. But when that bodyguard turns out to be Levi Hawke, all those buried emotions come raging to the surface. And then, just as the classes are going smoothly and the chemistry between Susan and Levi is taking them places they never thought they’d go, all hell breaks loose, from both the past and present.

For Levi this is a must-succeed mission, to save the woman he admits he loves. For Susan, it’s a chance to finally bury the past. But are two people, no matter who they are, enough to do it? Together?

https://desireeholt.com/books/protecting-susan/

Free Book

To celebrate, for a limited time only – May 8-12, Book #1 in the series, PROTECTING MADDIE is FREE! If you have not read any of the books yet, this is a great introduction and hopefully will lead you to the rest of the books.

When Maddie Winslow talked a student out of his gun in her classroom, she never figured it would set off a chain of events that put her life in grave danger, and the lives of her parents.

Hiding in WitSec for thirty years, her parents thought they had beaten the odds—until the image of Maddie, an identical replica of her mother—hits the television airwaves and the people who have been seeking revenge all these years find her. Intent on learning where her mother is hiding, they break into her home and then try to kidnap her. Frightened, she goes to her friend, Zee, who once dated someone in Delta Force. She calls him to explain her friend’s situation, but he’s prepping for a mission and can’t leave the base.

Hunter “Hawkeye” St. John, a Delta Force team member, is on medical leave recuperating in Tampa and chafing for some action. When he and Maddie meet, the sparks flying between them sizzle the air. But if Hawkeye wants to move forward with Maddie he first has to keep her safe and then eliminate the bad guys.

https://desireeholt.com/books/protecting-maddie/

And find the entire series here: https://desireeholt.com/the-protector-series/

Want more? Come join Desiree’s Darlings, where every day is a celebration. https://www.facebook.com/groups/DesireesDarlings

UPDATE: The winner is…bn100!
*~*~*

I must be honest with you from jump street. What I knew about Quakers was formed by elementary school stories about William Penn and movies like The Angel and the Bad Man and Friendly Persuasion. It took meeting real-life Quakers who kindly corrected my ignorance to free me of clichés and caricatures I hadn’t realized I harbored. The first thing they informed me was officially they are the Religious Society of Friends and they refer to themselves as Friends. So decades later when I created inspirational historical romances set in the 1880s in which my African-American characters have been helped by Friends, I scurried down a wonderful new research rabbit hole.

I Iearned that four Friends in Germantown Pennsylvania wrote one of the earliest protests against slavery in 1688. In 1700 on May 7^th — one hundred eighty years before my stories are set — William Penn began monthly meetings for African Americans that promoted manumission. However, Friends weren’t always that quick to invite African Americans among them and it took another eighty years for the denomination itself to take a public stand against slavery. Donna McDaniel and Vanessa Julye document this journey in their book, Fit For Freedom, Not For Friendship. Prior to the American Revolution Quakers owned slaves and shared the same attitudes about African Americans as non-Quakers in American society. McDaniel and Julye do give the Society kudos for being the first large Christian denomination to require its members to stop participating in slavery.

I was amazed to learn that I was familiar with African-American Quakers by name but didn’t know they were Quakers. I knew of the abolitionist and back-to-Africa work of Paul Cuffe (1759-1817). I didn’t know Cuffe established the Friendly Society of Sierra Leone in 1811. Probably the most famous African-American Quaker known to me is Bayard Rustin (1912-1987). I had always known of Rustin’s civil rights and gay rights activism, but I never knew he was a Quaker.

I was grateful to encounter new names and new stories. Freed slave Cyrus Bustill (1732-1806)  helped found Philadelphia’s Free African Society and was himself a conductor on the underground railroad. His family continued as prominent black Quaker leaders, one of whom — Gertrude Bustill Mossell — became one of the first black women journalists and journal editors in the United States. Another new name was Vera Mae Green (1928-1982). Green championed international human rights and Caribbean anthropology. She did a study, “Blacks and Quakerism” in 1972-73 for the Friend’s General Conference and participated in a significant way in a session in 1979 with Quaker sociologists on peace in the Middle East.

Though I don’t get to use all I learn in my writing, I love discovering these hidden histories which make the tapestry that is history in general so colorful. So for a chance to win a $10 Amazon gift card, what are some surprising historical facts you’ve come across.

One Breath Away by Michal Scott

Sentenced to hang for a crime she didn’t commit, former slave Mary Hamilton was exonerated at literally the last gasp. She returns to Safe Haven, broken and resigned to live alone. Never having been courted, cuddled or spooned, Mary now fears any kind of physical intimacy when arousal forces her to relive the asphyxiation of her hanging. But then the handsome stranger who saved her shows up, stealing her breath from across the room and promising so much more.

Wealthy freeborn-Black Eban Thurman followed Mary to Safe Haven, believing a relationship with Mary was foretold by the stars. He must marry her to reclaim his family farm. But first, he must help her heal, and to do that means revealing his own predilection for edgier sex.

Then just as Eban begins to win Mary’s trust, an enemy from the past threatens to keep them one breath away from love…

Amazon Buylink – https://amzn.to/2u5XQYY

Excerpt from One Breath Away…

His smile turned up the heat in his gaze. Mary frowned, painfully aware the smell of her passion lingered in the air, despite the woolen barrier of her skirt.

He stepped forward so his hand-stitched boots stood toe-to-toe with Mary’s second-hand shoes. “Eban Thurman, at your service, Miss Hamilton. May I get you something to drink?”

At her service? The air congealed. Mary gasped, trying to suck in air too solid to inflate her lungs.

“No—no, thank you. I’m not thirsty.” Her stutter mimicked the tremor between her thighs. She clasped her hands and planted them hard against her lap.

“It’s a really hot night.” He turned his hand palm up in a silent plea. “Perhaps you’d find a waltz more cooling.” He eased his fingers into her clenched hands. “May I beg the honor of this dance?”

“Beg?”

“Yes, Miss Hamilton.” He tilted his head, slanting his smile to the right. “Beg.”

“You don’t strike me as the begging type, Mr. Thurman.”

“To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.” He tongue-swiped his full lips as if he’d just tasted something he wanted to taste again. “I know when it’s time to beg.”

She pursed her lips into a frown, fought back the urge to grovel and won. Barely.

The fingers around hers, clean and huge and strangely slender, hadn’t moved, hadn’t trembled. Their stillness aroused her. His stillness aroused her. Her lips quivered. She inhaled deeply against the surrender summoned by that tiny tremor.

Resist the devil and he will flee.

Silently she called upon the truth in this scripture for rescue.
The devil waited. She stared at the hand on hers, helpless against the appeal, the allure of temptation.

She swallowed hard, opened her mouth to say no, but her tongue refused to cooperate. She huffed out a breath and shook her head. “I—I can’t. I don’t know how to waltz.”

“Well, you’re in luck.” His lips bowed in a smile, full, broad, and hypnotizing. “I’m an excellent teacher and I bet you’re a fast learner.” He gave her fingers a squeeze. “Shall we?”

He really wanted to dance with her. She blinked, speechless. A warning voice protested.

Resist.

Her heart countered.

Surrender.

She firmed her lips, heaved a sigh then accepted his invitation.

*~*~*

Social Media:
Twitter: @mscottauthor1
Amazon Author Page – https://amzn.to/2TSHzRn

Hello everyone and thank you for having me as a guest on this blog. I enjoy arts and crafts. Pinterest is one of those social media sites that I thoroughly enjoy because it not only lets me save tons of pics of my muse, Jake Gyllenhaal, it also allows me to find new arts and crafts type projects I can work on. Are you crafty? In my YA for Mature Readers, The Drummond’s Series (14 Books!), I think at least one person is artistically inclined. The Drummonds are musicians, but not everyone is awesome at it, and several of their mates have other skills such as spray painting, pottery, making awesome “I’m With the Band” T-shirts.

What are some of your favorite arts and crafts? Are they holiday-themed?

As an author, I got a batch of my books with the pages stuck together. They sent me a fresh batch, but I am trying to figure out what all I can make with the randomly glued books I have. I don’t want to throw them away. So far, I have origami cranes and I mod-podged some pencils. Any other suggestions?

If you are into YA, please check out my Drummonds. They are available where e-books are sold.

Website: https://www.creativewritingwithdrnagle.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaraNorthauthor
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Get to know Cara North better by signing up for an email newsletter: Subscribe is at the bottom of the page https://www.creativewritingwithdrnagle.com/

Under Strain, the second standalone romance in my Rebel Cyborgs series, is set on Rohini 9, a dinosaur planet. The main predators on Rohini 9 are theropods, velociraptor-like dinosaurs. They’re intelligent, deadly hunters, and the arriving cyborg warriors have fun dealing with them.

I LOVE dinosaurs. As a kid, I had dinosaur toys and I read every book I could find on them. I’ve been on touristy dinosaur digs. I am glued to the TV whenever any of the Jurassic Park/World movies are shown. Once there’s a dinosaur featured, I’m captured.

My favorite dinosaur, when I was young, was the Brontosaurus. I was fascinated by their size and I always viewed them, even before watching Jurassic Park, as gentle giants. Riding a Brontosaurus was a childhood goal.

If that goal is ever achieved, something has gone terribly wrong in the space-time continuum. And there are no Brontosauruses mentioned in Under Strain but there ARE some awesome dinosaur riding scenes.

The velociraptors in the Jurassic Park world, however, excited me. They are intelligent and they communicate with each other, as many pack predators do. They are also slender enough to navigate between trees. Their prey couldn’t easily escape them.

I knew it was merely a matter of time until I found the perfect story in which to feature them. And I suspected that story would be a SciFi Romance.

It is plausible to me that somewhere in our vast universe, there’s a world inhabited by dinosaurs. They existed here on Earth. They could exist elsewhere.

Under Strain is my set-on-a-dinosaur-planet story.

Kamyelle, the heroine, has been the sole human on her planet for many solar cycles (years).  The theropods view her kind as nice, light snacks. She has skillfully avoided being eaten by living in the trees.

Strain, the cyborg hero, and his brethren have a very different approach to dealing with the theropods. They plan to have some fun with the predators.

What is your favorite dinosaur? Would you like to live on a dinosaur planet?

Under Strain

A damaged cyborg warrior is hunted by a peace-loving human female.

Strain is severely malfunctioning. The D Model cyborg was the sole survivor after a horrific decision was made by his cruel manufacturers. He hates all humans, and when he attacks one who is under his cyborg leader’s protection, he is reprimanded, stripped of his weapons, and told to watch and not actively participate in the next mission.

That mission takes place on a small remote planet. Its lush terrain should only be inhabited by the cyborgs they were sent to rescue, but Strain senses another presence on the surface. She is watching him, tracking him, hunting him.

A fully operational cyborg would end her lifespan.

Strain wants to claim her. Forever.

Kamyelle is the only one left of her kind. Warriors have killed the other nonviolent human inhabitants of her planet. She survived…barely…by hiding in the trees, observing her enemies, and covering herself with lifeform scan-concealing mud.

When a handsome, gray-skinned, brilliant-blue-eyed male arrives, surrounded by weapon-carrying warriors, she has to save him. Warriors harm and they kill. That is what they do.

She won’t allow them to hurt Strain.

Under Strain is a STANDALONE Cyborg SciFi Romance set in a dark, gritty, sometimes-violent universe.

It features a broken warrior, a human female who thinks he’s perfect, and velociraptor-like dinosaurs who view them both as light, tasty snacks.

Pre-order Now:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08R322L7S
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08R322L7S
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08R322L7S
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/under-strain/id1545957749
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/under-strain-cynthia-sax/1138505613
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/under-strain
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10602

About Cynthia Sax

USA Today bestselling author Cynthia Sax writes steamy Cyborg, Alien and Contemporary Romances. Her stories have been featured on TV, in Star Magazine, and numerous top ten lists.

Sign up for her dirty-joke-filled monthly newsletter and visit her on the web at www.CynthiaSax.com

Website:  https://cynthiasax.com/
Newsletter:   https://cynthiasax.com/newsletter/
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/cynthiasax/
Twitter:  @CynthiaSax
Blog:  https://tasteofcyn.com/

Now that the days are warmer it’s time to throw open the windows and let in the fresh air. Each new season offers a chance to renew ourselves and our homes, to take stock of what’s working and what needs to change.

For most of us, spring means spring cleaning—airing out our homes, washing down walls, hunting down dust bunnies, and giving everything a scrub to freshen it up. It’s also an opportunity to go through what we have stored in our closets and dresser drawers.

I don’t know about you, but the only clothing I bought last year was socks. I mean, I wasn’t going anywhere, so I didn’t see the point of new clothes. Some of what I’m wearing is getting a little ragged. I’m not a big clothes shopper. I tend to find something I like and buy it in multiple colors and call it a day. But it’s time to toss what’s faded and worn and make a list of what I need. I’m looking forward to it.

The same goes for the linen closet. My summer sheets, which only get used about three months of the year, must be about fifteen years old. (I spend my money on sets of heavier jersey sheets since they’re the ones I use most often.) The colors are faded and I fear they won’t last for many more washings without disintegrating. That’s something else to go on the list, along with new pillows. The ones I have are starting to get a little too flat for comfort.

Since I live in an apartment, there’s no garage to sift through, but I will be poking around the kitchen cupboards and closets to see what else can go. I’m a big believer in yard sales and donating what no longer suits me. It keeps things in circulation and out of the landfill. And it also makes room for the new.

Happy cleaning!

Salvation Pack

Have you discovered the Salvation Pack? If you love alpha wolves, you’ll love the Salvation Pack.

Wolf at the Door
Wolf in her Bed
Wolf on the Run
Wolf from the Past
Wolf on the Hunt
Wolf on a Mission
Wolf in his Heart
Wolf in her Soul
Wolf of her Own

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0753H2PLQ

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, assassins, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit me at:
Website: https://www.njwalters.com
Blog: https://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
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Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

UPDATE: The winner is…Dana Zamora!
*~*~*

Spring has sprung—at least here in Northwest Georgia! The flowers are going crazy. There’s green as far as the eye can see, and of course, the yellow haze of pine pollen coats everything. We’re joyfully wheezing and sneezing our way through the days with runny eyes and runny noses as we embrace the wonder of spring.

Here on the farm, spring means BABIES! Our first calf dropped last night—a little late, but better late than never. We have four new chicks that will augment our four old ladies who supply us with eggs. Piglets should be coming in another few weeks. The energy of spring is like nothing else. It just lifts your soul when you walk among new life, full of possibility and hope.

I think creating a story is like that too. It starts as a baby idea, a kernel of thought. Then, it starts to grow, sometimes not even consciously, until it defines itself. Sometimes, it rises in my brain, fully formed with crystal clear images and parades around like a gaudy Vegas side-show until I give it my attention. Other times, it whispers and nags, slipping into my dreams as half-formed ghosts, only revealing itself clearly when I focus solely on it.

Then, the magic starts. Just like that buzzing lift of spring, the story takes root and blooms—and it’s the most amazing feeling in the world. It’s why I’m shamelessly addicted to writing! Like any infant, you don’t know what it will be when it grows up, but breathing life into a story is like experiencing spring over and over!

One of my book babies releases today! Thank you, Delilah, for letting me drop by and celebrate with you wonderful folks!

Pure Magic Contest

I’m offering a giveaway of an ebook copy of Pure Magic, a multi-author anthology that features my story—Hecate’s Hand-Me-Downs. To enter, leave a comment about your favorite part of spring! I’ll pick a winner on May 1^st!

Hecate Rigby wants nothing to do with magic or being the witch she was raised to be. But, when Cate’s forced to return to Ravensdale after her Grandmother’s death, she soon finds out her Grandma led a double life—one that will change Cate’s life forever. The Hammer of the Gods is missing, and Cate was the last one to have it. Will she step up, embrace her powers and her heritage, and find the hammer before it falls into the wrong hands and plunges the world into war?

Grab your copy here: https://books2read.com/pure-magic

Here’s an excerpt from Hecate’s Hand-Me-Downs:

Rook squawked and puffed his feathers up.

In a voice that shook the walls, he announced, “Behold, the God of the Forge.”

He flew down from his perch and landed in front of the door, bowing his head with one wing spread out to the side.

I spun around to see a man shuffle into the store and stop short of the mess. Despite his twisted legs, he towered over me and seemed to suck up all the available space. His t-shirt read ‘Save an Anvil, Bang a Blacksmith’ and stretched to its limits over his massive shoulders and muscular chest. I glanced down at his legs. His knees touched, and his pigeon toes canted in at an awkward angle.

The dichotomy of his top and bottom halves would have distracted me, but his bedroom brown eyes snagged my attention.

Goddess help me, but I’m a sucker for a brown-eyed boy.

The man wore his dark brown hair long and pulled it back in a simple ponytail gathered at the nape of his neck. His body screamed bad boy, but his eyes whispered tenderhearted dreamer.

Rook squawked and pecked my ankle. “Show some respect.”

“What?” I gave myself a little shake and put a smile on my face, reminding myself that it was bad manners to stare.

“Hello, Mistress Rigby.” He nodded at me as his gaze swept over the disarray in the shop, and his mouth turned down with a frown.

I drew a breath to launch into my ‘we’re closed’ speech, but he cut me off.

“I’ve come for the hammer. Bring it to me, please.”

The command in his voice was unmistakable, and my patience, brown eyes notwithstanding, found its end. I didn’t like his tone.

“The hammer isn’t here. A tall, beautiful, scary lady beat you to it.” I put my hands on my hips and mirrored his frown. “As you can see, we’ve had a bit of a…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say. Finally, I just said, “We’re not open.”

“Rowen Rigby, Sentinel and Guardian of the Crossroads, do not play games. I will have the Hammer of the Gods as I am its rightful owner.” The man seemed to get bigger, and his voice filled the shop.

Magic crackled in the air. Pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.

Rowen had not been remiss in my arcane education. I knew mythology as well as spell casting, herb lore, and healing magic. Though I hadn’t embraced the craft after leaving home as an adult, the lessons still lingered in my mind. The Hammer of the Gods, Rook’s announcement of the God of the Forge, and the man’s palpable power all came into focus. Impossible as it was, Hephaestus, Son of Hera, God of the Forge, and Olympian outsider, stood in my shop.

*~*~*

Stalk me (it’s not as kinky as it sounds!) for more giveaways, games, and fun: https://linktr.ee/andycarley