Love Spell: Book 2 of The Grimm Laws (39 page)
Read Love Spell: Book 2 of The Grimm Laws Online
Authors: Jennifer Youngblood,Sandra Poole
“I put the key in a safe place,” Adele said, “for when you need it again.”
Again?
The meaning of the words pelted home as a shudder wracked her body. She couldn’t go through the black terror again.
“You are strong,” Adele countered. “You did what was nearly impossible. You used the strength of your will to dispel the darkness. You came to terms with your past. You …”
Elle caught her eyes and held them. “I remember everything,” she said quietly, feeling a ray of light flowing in and restoring a sense of calm.
Adele nodded, a satisfied look on her wise face. “That is good.”
Elle looked around the room through new eyes. Her gaze settled on Rae and Jack, and she felt a smile bubble up in her breast. It felt good to have such trustworthy friends—friends she could count on—friends that had never doubted her, even when she doubted herself. Her eyes grew misty, and she blinked rapidly to stay the tears. Then she looked at Edward who had a protective arm around his mom. Edward—the fair-haired, noble prince. So good in so many ways. So idealistic. So naïve. And then a startling realization came over her. He’d never loved her—not really. He adored her from afar the way a young boy develops a crush on a girl he hardly knows. For him, she represented the princess on the tower—a girl for which he could fight battles and win tournaments. And while she would always care for Edward, she didn’t love him either. The revelation was like a breath of fresh air. It felt so good to know who she really was.
Her eyes went to Rush as a surge of energy pulsed through her. Oh, how she loved him. In him was everything she was—everything she could ever hope to be. He felt her scrutiny. “What in the heck is going on?” he asked, frustration sounding in his voice.
She couldn’t stop the tears from flowing down her face, and she laughed through them. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”
“Are you okay?” He left his mom and went to her side. He pulled up a chair and sat down beside her, gathering her hands in his.
Her two worlds collided as she saw not only Rush but also Rushton—the same person but different because of their experiences. She reached and touched his strong jaw, staring deeply into his intense blue eyes. “I thought I’d lost you. Don’t you ever leave me again,” she said forcefully.
“Lost me?” He frowned. “I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“I know.” She chuckled at the irony of it. For so long, she’d been the one who didn’t remember anything, and he’d been trying to prompt her to remember who she was. Now the tables were turned. “Never mind. Just know that I love you.” She raised her voice. “I’m saying it out loud for all to hear. I have loved you my entire life, and I will always love you.” She paused, emotion choking her voice. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”
He gave her a quizzical look. “Never,” he said fiercely.
There it was, that unconquerable spirit that had captured her heart from the very beginning. He’d nearly brought an entire kingdom to its knees because of his undying devotion to her. He was reckless and arrogant and brave … and yet he was tender and loyal at all costs. She loved him for it all! He gave her a crooked smile as he slid his arm around her neck, pulling her into him. Her breath caught as his lips grazed hers. The familiar flame licked down through her toes, turning her bones to liquid. “Whadda ya say we pick this conversation up later on … after the party’s over … when it’s just the two of us,” he murmured.
“Sounds like a good plan.” A mischievous grin tugged at the corners of her lips as she plucked a daisy from out of the centerpiece of a nearby table. “For you.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “A daisy?” He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t remember?” she asked playfully.
“Should I?” He brushed a strand of hair from her face, his hand lingering on the curve of her jaw.
She glanced at Adele and then back at him. “You will. In time, you’ll remember everything.”
The cuckoo clock began to chime, signaling the midnight hour. A sudden gust tore through the room, lifting the corners of tablecloths, scattering napkins, and toppling over empty cups.
Ruben lifted his eyes to Alexander, giving him a triumphant look. “It’s not over.”
Adele shot Wisteria a worried look, her senses going on full alert. She scoped the room with a watchful eye, preparing for an attack. “Get ready!” she yelled. “Griselda is here!”
Mocking laughter echoed through the room, bringing with it a cold dread, and then everything went black.
H
ey there
, thanks for taking the time to read
Love Spell
the second book in
The Grimm Laws Series.
If you enjoyed it, please take a minute to give us a review on Amazon. We really appreciate your feedback as we depend largely on word of mouth to promote our books.
We have always loved fairy tales! There’s something magical and comforting about reading a fanciful book where everyone lives happily ever after. Of course, things don’t always turn out so perfect in the real world. We wanted to write an in-depth fairy tale where the characters become real and where things don’t always work out so perfectly. The challenging part about this series is that the action goes back and forth between two very different worlds. We wanted to add a touch of the formal language into the dialogue without it seeming forced or stilted. Eventually, we came up with our own language—a hybrid between the modern and the present.
We have completely fallen in love with this series and look forward to writing more! Book III is in the works and will be released sometime in early 2016.
J
ennifer’s love
for writing began as a young teenager when she wrote stories for her high school English teacher to critique. She feels that it’s a great privilege to be able to write with her mother, Sandra Poole. “Writing together adds a depth and spice to our work that neither of us could get independently,” she says.
Jennifer has BA in English and Social Sciences from Brigham Young University where she served as Miss BYU Hawaii in 1989. Before becoming an author, she worked as the owner and editor of a monthly newspaper named
The Senior Times
. In addition to her love for writing, Jennifer works in the home design industry. She and her husband owned an interior design gallery where she specialized in custom window treatments and floral arrangements. Jennifer continues to do interior design for select clients.
She now lives in the Rocky Mountains with her family and spends her time writing, carpooling, attending basketball games, and doing all of the wonderful things that make up the life of a busy wife and mother.
S
andra grew
up in a small community in northeast Alabama called Alder Springs, the setting of Sandra and Jennifer's first novel, Livin' in High Cotton. It was there that she developed a deep love for literature in a two-classroom country school. She recalls that every afternoon the teachers would bring their classes together and read such classics as
Rip Van Winkle, Moby Dick, The Headless Horsemen
, and The
Taming of the Shrew
while all their students sat on the floor.
Sandra has worked in the administrative field for over twenty-five years. She worked her way through college while her daughters were very young and completed a four-year degree in three years. Later, she earned a Masters in Business Administration. Her experience has ranged from being an executive secretary and human resource manager for Fortune 500 companies to being an assistant to one of the vice presidents at the university where she eventually retired. She now works in the education field.
For Sandra, writing is a continual journey of discovery. She has so many ideas for other books running through her mind that it's hard to focus on one at a time.
B
anished
(Book 1 of The Grimm Laws)
Older teens, adults, and fans of the hit TV series Once Upon a Time will love this sophisticated retelling of The Cinderella Story where the real world and fairy tale world collide in an epic tale of magic, love, and betrayal where there are kings, queens, knights, tyrants and a fair-haired prince that falls in love with a peasant girl.
An accident puts Elle Worthington into a coma, and when she awakes, she can’t remember her name or anything about her life. She leaves the hospital and returns to a home that’s anything but ideal—her stepmother loathes her, her stepsister resents her, and her father’s a workaholic who’s rarely ever home.
She soon discovers that she is the head cheerleader and is dating Edward Kingsley, the golden-boy quarterback who’s madly in love with her. Everyone tells her how lucky she is to be with Edward, but for some strange reason, Elle is instead drawn to Rush Porter, her next-door neighbor—a brooding, reckless newcomer who’s too good looking for his own good! From the moment she sees him, he captures her attention and haunts her dreams, and he seems to know an awful lot about her.
When Elle goes to work for her eccentric aunt Adele who owns a chocolate shop, she begins to get a glimpse of another life—a magical life in which she was a simple peasant girl whose life changed forever the day she caught the eye of the prince. A girl who might have lived happily ever after had her heart not had other ideas. She becomes trapped between loyalty and duty—betrayal and love, and a forbidden attraction so strong that it has the power to destroy her.
All is not as it seems on the surface. Dark forces are watching and waiting to claim what they deem to be theirs, and the fate of a kingdom rests in the hands of a girl who cannot remember who she is or where she came from.
False Identity
(A Romantic Thriller)
Chancy Hamilton can’t bear the thought of spending the holidays without her late husband Max who died in a plane crash. When Chancy and her teenage son, Travis, have an argument, Travis storms out of the house and ends up in the wrong part of town where he is attacked by a group of thugs. When a homeless man comes to his rescue, he invites the man home to have a meal with his mom and little sister. Gabe Jones is not like any other homeless man Chancy has ever seen—he’s confident, intelligent, and devastatingly handsome. Jake, Chancy’s boyfriend, takes an instant dislike to Gabe and warns Chancy to stay away from him. Nevertheless, their lives become intertwined, and Chancy is soon thrown into nightmarish events caused by a chilling deception where nothing is as it seems, bringing a terrifying aftermath that threatens not only her but the lives of her children.
Burned
(A Romantic Thriller)
Sydney Lassiter goes back to the small Alabama town of her youth to search for answers about her father’s death. Was it an accident or was he murdered? The closer Sydney gets to the truth, the more it seems that her quest could destroy not only her but the people and town she loves.
Beastly Charm
(A Contemporary Re-telling of Beauty and the Beast)
Fans of Christian Romantic Fiction will love with this contemporary retelling of Beauty and the Beast. A smart and tender love story with lots of sizzle, set against the splendid backdrop of a sweeping, timeless mansion!
High-powered real estate executive, Belle Montrose has a lot riding on a deal—a deal that must take place else her career will crumble! Only one man stands in the way—the elusive Sebastian Blake, heir to the valuable Rosewood Estate. He refuses to sell to Belle’s client, even though Rosewood is on the brink of foreclosure. When Sebastian Blake cancels a conference call, Belle is furious! She jumps in her car and drives to his estate, determined to speak to him face to face. Never mind that it’s coming a blizzard or that she’s sick with the flu.
Sparks fly when Belle barges into Sebastian’s home and demands that he listen to her. Sebastian Blake is not only devastatingly gorgeous, but he’s formidable and beastly in the way he chomps Belle to bits with a severe tongue-lashing that cuts her to the core. In a rage, she storms out of his house, vowing to never lay eyes on him again, but a twist of fate, throws her right back into the den of the beast, where she finds herself completely at his mercy.
Sebastian Blake offers her a proposal she cannot refuse, and she’s drawn into his world—an intoxicating world of charm, romance, roses, and dancing. And try as she might, she can’t fight the incredible attraction she feels for Sebastian. Will she risk everything for the man whose beastly charm is captivating her heart, or will her head win out in the end?
Livin’ in High Cotton
(Historial Romantic Fiction)
Cultured, graceful, feisty Shelby Collins is the epitome of a southern lady. She tries to prove her competence by looking after her siblings while her mother is away caring for an ailing relative. Shelby’s secure world is turned upside down when her father, in a drunken rage, tries to rape her. Fearing others will learn of his treachery, he kidnaps her, takes her to a reform school, and abandons her. In utter despair, Shelby is sure that her life is over—but sometimes blessings come in the most unexpected ways.
When a chance meeting brings her face to face with the ruggedly handsome, Harlan Rhodes, Shelby is unprepared for the feelings that stir within her. Hearts collide, quickly budding into a lasting love that will span time and space. Through a series of unfortunate events, Shelby and Harlan are separated, forcing them to lead separate lives of loneliness and frustration.
Years later, when their lives converge, old feelings rekindle, and they must decide if they will risk all to finally be together.
Inspired by a true story, this poignant novel is set against the rich tapestry of the South during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It’s a story of love, betrayal, and the indomitable human spirit in the face of adversity. It’s about a young girl, growing up, who realizes that life is full of second chances, and that it’s never too late to learn how to live.
The Secret Song of the Ditch Lilies (Part I)
The Secret Song of the Ditch Lilies (Part II)
(A Southern Romantic Suspense Novel)
What if the one thing you wanted most was the one thing you could never have? What If you’d done something so terrible that you could never go back?
Delia Reynolds has spent a lifetime trying to escape the snake-handling town of her youth. In a strange twist of fate, her daughter, Sybil, leaves her high-society life in Atlanta and flees to that very town, forcing Delia to relive the horrors of her past.
Sybil tries to rebuild her life and becomes involved in a tempestuous relationship with a local police officer who’s everything she ever wanted in a man and more, but all is not as it seems, for the horrors of the past refuse to stay buried, and there are those waiting in the shadows to exact revenge. The past and present collide in a blood-curdling climax as the poisonous serpents make their way to the surface once more.
