Thank
you for inviting me to your blog today with my new Evernight Publishing
release, ‘A Fairy Tale Romance’
The
story is contemporary, fantasy romance. It’s set along the coast in the
sumptuous Mediterranean, and bathed in warmth, which I felt was a fitting venue
to contrast with the stark misery of my hero’s predicament.
The
story is modelled on old fairy story motifs, where there is a fairy godmother
style character, a prince and a princess. I so enjoyed writing this story
because Thorn Valmont, my hero, is such a lovely, romantic man and deserves to
be freed from the curse that befalls him. This is a sizzler of a story with
erotic love scenes and threads of fairy tale mystery as we wonder what has
happened to Thorn and how he’ll escape his lonely life.
When delectable Thorn Valmont buys an old palace to
renovate on the Mediterranean coast, he never dreams it will cost him his
freedom.
Thorn is part of an aristocratic family. He’s a
prince and must find his princess to solve a puzzle he inherits from the
ancient owners of the Mediterranean palace.
Will he find her in time to stop his loneliness
destroying him completely?
Sandy Carson unlocked her
office door, flipped the notice secured in the middle of the glass panel to
‘Open,’ and clattered to her desk. Her stiletto heels echoed in the large
half-empty space. She employed an assistant who generally started work at nine,
and that’s why she’d made the eight o’clock appointment with poor Thorn
Valmont. That’s how she thought of him now. At first, she’d regarded him as
‘that totally dishy young man who’d bought the old palace’ but after ten years
of knowing his secret, she pitied him. Though he was still gorgeous, his plight was nothing short of grotesque.
She tossed her briefcase
down and pushed the button on her computer. Leaving it to boot, she went to
make coffee in the back room of the office. Sandy enjoyed the cool, white,
spacious office. She’d chosen the minimalist look for it. At fifty years old,
Sandy had discarded her unfaithful husband and changed every facet of her
surroundings at home and in her business.
She took her coffee back
to her desk and checked through the contract again. At last, Thorn was opening
up the vacation accommodation he’d made in the old palace. Three self-contained
luxury apartments were available within the huge house. Thorn lived in another
on the third floor. Sandy had sold him the place and now she was going to act
as the agent to let out the vacation apartments. She hoped to involve him in
greeting the tenants, but Thorn might do nothing more than allow access to the
cleaners at the end of each rental. She sighed, thinking about the sad figure
he cut when he did appear in town. Tall, muscled, dark hair, and lovely blue
eyes, his handsome exterior still couldn’t hide his pain. Well, not from me anyway ... maybe that’s because I know.
The door of the office
opened and the man she’d been picturing entered. He smiled as he approached her
desk.
Sandy recognized the
effort Thorn had made to look businesslike and she stood to shake his hand in
greeting.
“Thorn, good to see you …
would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, please, Sandy.”
She waved at the chair
alongside her desk.
“Sit down, and read the
contract. I’ll go get you a cup of coffee.” She handed him the hard copy she’d
printed out for signing.
Thorn took it.
Sandy saw his hand
trembling. She couldn’t help patting him on the shoulder before she went to the
kitchen. “It’ll be okay.” I hope.
When she got back with
his cup of coffee, he’d closed the folder, and placed it on her desk. She put
the cup down alongside it.
“Have you changed your
mind?”
Thorn looked sadly into
her eyes.
Her heartbeat sped up. A
strange, little tug tightened her stomach. Not for the first time she wished
she were twenty years younger. Thorn was exactly her type physically, and such
a lovely man, but he was only thirty. I
can look though, can’t I?
He answered her. “No, I
have to do this. It’s scary, but I have to start earning a living somehow now.
My monetary inheritance has just about gone and the rest is property that can’t
be sold. I have no right to ask my brother …” he trailed off, and picked up his
coffee cup.
Sandy watched him take a
sip of the drink. She slid the folder along the desk and turned to the signature
page. He’d signed it. She looked back at Thorn. “You’ve signed already …? You
won’t regret this. Renting out the apartments will be an easy source of income
for you. Seriously, I’ll take care of everything for you. Just let it happen.
Don’t end up like the old prince, Thorn. You need to retain hope. One of these
days things will get better, I just know it.”
He placed the cup down on
the saucer. “Thank you.” He slumped a little.
Sandy watched him. It
seemed as if sorrow had overwhelmed him. She tried to cheer him.
“Hey, we’re all done. All
I’ll need is a set of keys for each apartment. How about I drop by later this
week and collect them? I’ll bring your hard copy of the contract too. You get
out in the sun now — it looks like it’s going to be another lovely day.” She
didn’t add the words, while you can,
though it hung in her mind like a stone.
Copyright Elodie Parkes 2014 Evernight
Publishing All Rights Reserved
Buy the book:
Elodie’s Evernight Page: http://www.evernightpublishing.com/elodie-parkes/
About Elodie:
Elodie Parkes is a British author writing romance, erotic, contemporary, and often with a twist of mystery, paranormal or suspense. Her books are always steamy, cool stories and hot love scenes.
Elodie lives in Canterbury with her two dogs. She works in an antique shop by day and writes at night, loving the cloak of silent darkness that descends on the rural countryside around her home.
Elodie writes for, Hot Ink Press, Moon Rose Publishing, Eternal Press, Secret Cravings, Evernight, Siren and Ra Jones Anthology
She has also released titles as an individual indie author.
Find Elodie online: Blog Tumblr Facebook Twitter
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Hi Nana :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting A Fairy Tale Romance
My pleasure.
DeleteSounds like an entertaining story!
ReplyDelete