Shira Anthony is here today with an exclusive excerpt of her first Dreamspun Beyond novel, Finder's Keeper. See our 4.5 <3 tag team review HERE!
Shira's also brought the goods. Be sure to enter to win below. Good luck!
Shira Anthony’s Finder’s Keeper: Exclusive Excerpt
Thank you Boy Meets Boy, for hosting this stop on the Finder’s Keeper blog tour! Be sure to read to the bottom of the post for a chance to win a unisex red agate fox pendant I’ll be giving away at the end of the tour.
Finder’s Keeper is my first novel in the brand new Dreamspun Beyond line of contemporary paranormal stories that are romance-forward in the tradition of the old category romances from Harlequin and Mills and Boon. Finder’s Keeper is the sweet story of a half-human, half-fox spirit named Kit who guards a gate between the human and spirit worlds and Zane Mayer, an engineer who inherits the old gothic brownstone where the Gate is hidden.
In this exclusive excerpt from the story, Kit has decided he needs to figure out how to keep the house clean without using his spirit powers, because he doesn’t want Zane to figure out he’s not completely human. As Kit fumbles with the washing machine, his demon sidekick, Lor, watches and laughs.
KIT studied the directions on the back of the jug of laundry detergent. He’d meant to take care of the laundry when Zane was out of the house, but the pile had steadily grown. With Zane around, he didn’t want to risk using his magic to clean it the way he usually did. Besides, doing things manually would conserve his flagging power.
“Are you serious?” Lor had rolled on the floor and chortled when Kit had told him the night before that he was going to do the housework like a human.
“Zane knows nothing about the house, and I don’t want him finding out by seeing me use a spell to clean the place.”
“He’ll probably figure it out when you bungle it, or even better, fry the electronics in the washing machine.” Tears of laughter rolled down Lor’s cheeks.
“I can do this,” Kit announced, half hoping Lor would hear. He picked up the bottle and unscrewed the top. Wasn’t he supposed to fill the cap to the line? But the top had several lines. Given all the clothing, he figured he’d be better off with more, so he filled it to the rim before emptying it into the washer.
Now what?
The washer and dryer weren’t particularly new. Ralph had insisted on buying them fifteen years before, after he’d retired from his job at the downtown advertising firm. But Ralph had never used them. Now, as Kit eyed the dials, he inwardly chastised himself for not having asked Ralph how they worked. It was getting dark outside. He really needed to finish the laundry so he could start making dinner.
“Can I help?”
Kit turned to face Zane, who was sorting the laundry into piles. “No need. It’s my job to keep the house clean,” he croaked.
“I hope you don’t mind.” Zane shrugged. “Old habit.” “I…. No, of course not. Thank you.” Kit couldn’t recall the last time a Keeper had helped him with something as mundane. It wasn’t that they hadn’t offered, but they hadn’t complained when he’d insisted on doing it himself. Caring for them was his responsibility, after all.
Kit went back to studying the controls for the washer. “These things are always a little confusing,” Zane said with a reassuring smile. “Darks first?”
“Uh… sure.” Kit’s cheeks heated. Apparently doing laundry involved more than just shoving it in the machine.
Zane turned one of the knobs to Cold and pulled on it. The machine began to fill with water. “Ren and I moved around a lot.” He scooped up half of a pile, and Kit realized when Zane mentioned darks, he’d been talking about dark colors. “We learned pretty quickly that helping out made things go a lot easier.”
“Foster care?” Kit gathered the rest of the pile and put it into the washer as Zane had just done.
Zane nodded and his smile faltered. “We did okay. We spent the last three years before we aged out with a great family. We still see them from time to time. We’re pretty close.”
Grace and Lucas Jackson. The retired couple had taken the Mayer children in despite their age. The Jacksons still lived in Wilmington. Lor had even found their photos through a Google search. Before the Jacksons, Zane and Ren had bounced around from home to home. “Zane’s school counselor and his foster parents have concerns that he continues to injure himself. Recommend that Zane be evaluated by a therapist for possible borderline personality disorder,” the social worker had written in the notes Lor had shown Kit. Kit knew enough about human society to realize those notes should never have been available on the internet. He generally stayed away from tech, but Kit had made sure no one else would be able to view them.
“It’s great that you’re still close to them.” Kit watched as Zane closed the top of the washer.
“We used to spend every Christmas with them. But they bought a place in Florida a few years back, so we haven’t recently.”
“Oh.” One of Ralph’s friends had moved to Florida too. Kit had seen photos. The water looked pretty, but not any prettier than Lake Erie in the summertime.
“You really don’t need to do my laundry, you know,” Zane said.
“I like doing housework.” It was the truth. Keeping the house clean made Kit feel good.
“As long as you let me help. Although asking me to help with anything in the kitchen other than setting the table and doing the dishes would probably be a mistake.” Zane chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve been known to burn water.”
“That bad, huh?”
“I make a mean box of mac ’n’cheese. Microwave,” Zane said with a self-deprecating grin.
Blurb: The truth might ruin his dreams—or make them come true.
When Zane moves into an old gothic brownstone, he discovers the house comes equipped with a caretaker—Kit, who lives in the basement. Zane is immediately drawn to the charming and attractive Kit. But Kit is much more than he seems. He is a two-hundred-year-old half-human, half–red-fox spirit who guards a Gate between the mortal and spirit worlds—a fact Zane should recognize, but doesn’t.
Orphaned at a young age, Zane never learned he comes from a long line of mystical Keepers. Kit needs Zane’s help to protect the Gate, but how can he tell Zane of his legacy when that will crush Zane’s dreams of traveling the world? If he takes up the mantle, Zane will be bound to the Gate, unable to leave it. But when Zane realizes Kit’s true nature, and his own, he’ll have to make a choice—fight to protect Kit and the Gate, or deny his destiny and any chance of a future with Kit.
Buy Links:
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
Kobo
Barnes & Noble
Shira Anthony was a professional opera singer in her last incarnation, performing roles in such operas as Tosca, i Pagliacci, and La Traviata, among others. She’s given up TV for evenings spent with her laptop, and she never goes anywhere without a pile of unread M/M romance on her Kindle. You can hear Shira singing "Vissi d'arte" from Puccini's Tosca by clicking here: Shira's Singing
Shira loves a great happily-ever-after and never writes a story without one. She's happy to write what her muse tells her, whether it's fantasy, sci fi, paranormal, or contemporary romance. She particularly loves writing series, because she thinks of her characters as old friends and she wants to visit them even after their stories are told.
In real life, Shira sang professionally for 14 years, and she currently works as a public sector attorney advocating for children. She's happy to have made writing her second full-time job, even if it means she rarely has time to watch TV or go to the movies. Shira writes about the things she knows and loves, whether it's music and musicians, the ocean, or the places she's lived or traveled to. She spent her middle school years living in France, and tries to visit as often as she can.
Shira and her husband spend as many weekends as they can aboard their 35' catamaran sailboat, Land's Zen, at the Carolina Coast. Not only has sailing inspired her to write about pirates and mermen, her sailboat is her favorite place to write. And although the only mermen she's found to date are in her own imagination, she keeps a sharp lookout for them when she's on the water.
To enter for a chance to win the beautiful fox pendant? 1) at each stop on the Finder’s Keeper blog tour answer a question in the comments, and 2) claim your entry on the Rafflecopter here:
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Here’s the question you need to answer: What is your least favorite housekeeping chore? Mine is vacuuming. When we moved to our apartment, we bought a Roomba. It vacuums for me. Good luck!
-Shira
I love paranormal stories. Congrats on the release.
ReplyDeleteUhm, mopping the floor. But luckily I live alone so I can do it only twice a week *lol*
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post and congrats, Shira. This isn't original, but cleaning the bathroom. While my husband does that I do the floors, vacuuming, dishes, dusting, whatever will compensate. - Purple Reader,
ReplyDeleteTheWrote [at] aol [dot] com