Raven's Rest (25 page)

Bookstore owner Randy Stone is smitten. His new boyfriend, Kyle Temple, is sweet, hot, attentive, and great in bed. But introducing Kyle to his family takes courage, because Randy’s parents can be a little judgmental, and Kyle is ten years younger than Randy, a small-time pro wrestler, and dumber than the proverbial sack of hammers. Needless to say, Randy’s parents aren’t exactly thrilled, and even his best friend is skeptical.

Despite the challenges, Randy is determined to tough it out for Kyle. After all, enduring a few scornful comments from his mother is nothing compared to what Kyle’s going through trying to quit smoking for Randy. When a hypnotherapy session designed to help with Kyle’s cravings leaves him quoting Jesus Christ—in Aramaic—Randy’s parents are suddenly the least of their problems. Once word gets out, their privacy is destroyed. News crews follow them everywhere, and everyone who knows Kyle seems determined to make a buck. It’s a mess that could make Kyle’s dreams of wrestling in the UWE come true—but what about his dream of being with Randy?

A Duncan Andrews Thriller

Private detective Duncan Andrews’s best friend Gina is a witch. His dog is a zombie. And his dead boyfriend, Robbie, is a ghost. So it’s hardly any wonder that he uses his connection to the supernatural to help him solve cases. Good thing, too, because Duncan has his hands full. Janice Sanderson, the richest woman in Indianapolis, wants him to find her stripper daughter, Brenda, and another client is having some trouble with a specter haunting her family home. On top of that, Duncan has decided to add dating into the mix, though after Robbie’s death, he’s not sure he’s ready.

When Duncan meets Nick while tracking down a lead on Brenda’s boyfriend, he shelves his doubts and agrees to a date. Robbie doesn’t make it easy on him, showing up to spoil his chances, but that is the least of Duncan’s worries—because one of his clients’ husbands is missing and there’s a serial killer on the loose—one Duncan fears isn’t human.

Sequel to
Pale as a Ghost

A Duncan Andrews Thriller

Private detective Duncan Andrews has the home-team advantage when it comes to solving paranormal crimes: His best friend, Gina, is a centuries-old witch. His dog is a zombie. And his boyfriend, Robbie, is a ghost.

Duncan certainly has his work cut out for him with this case. Someone’s been using the skull of a powerful wizard to control animals, and whoever it is, they’re not out to set up a petting zoo. For Gina, the case hits close to home—she knows just how dangerous it is, since the wizard was her father.

Just when he thinks they’re close to breaking the case, tragedy strikes, leaving Gina in a coma. Then, after years as a ghost, Robbie finally decides to move on, leaving Duncan to protect young Ashton Marsh, the victim of several strange animal attacks. Suddenly Duncan is working without his supernatural safety net. Without his friends, can Duncan defeat the power of Eleazar’s skull and keep Ashton alive? Or will the struggle for his life end in broken bodies as well as broken hearts?

Under a Blood-red Moon

“Those who gleefully devoured the four previous Duncan Andrews Thrillers will love this fifth outing and newcomers to the supernatural series will become converted to a new guilty pleasure.”

—
Divine Magazine

“Osborne writes with a wry sense of humor…”

—Prism Book Alliance

Speaking of Dreams

“This book is funny and clever and unique.”

—The Blogger Girls

“I was definitely drawn into this book as soon as I started it and I could not put it down.”

—Inked Rainbow Reads

Dead End

“I love scary stories and reading this one alone in the dark definitely gave me the heebie-jeebies.”

—It’s About The Book

“It has everything a good read needs—characters with interesting personalities, a little angsty romance, good friends, action and danger, all within a well written and paced plot.”

—Literary Nymphs Reviews

STEPHEN OSBORNE
has been a pizza restaurant manager, a semiprofessional wrestler, and a member of an improv comedy troupe. He now lives in rural Illinois with Christine, a Border terrier mix with a diva complex. In addition to writing, seeing musicals in Chicago, and losing at Monopoly, Stephen sometimes spends cold, shivery nights in haunted locations—just because he likes to.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephen.osborne2

Twitter: @southbendghosts

E-mail: [email protected]

Cuddling (Dreamspinner Anthology)

Pop Goes the Weasel • Rat Bastard

Raven’s Rest

Speaking of Dreams

Temporal Driftwood

Wrestling with Jesus

DUNCAN ANDREWS THRILLERS

Pale as a Ghost

Animal Instinct

The Scarlet Tide

Dead End

Under a Blood-red Moon

Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Published by

DREAMSPINNER PRESS

5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

www.dreamspinnerpress.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Raven’s Rest

© 2016 Stephen Osborne.

Cover Art

© 2016 Anna Sikorska.

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

ISBN: 978-1-63477-700-1

Digital ISBN: 978-1-63477-701-8

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016906846

Published September 2016

v. 1.0

Printed in the United States of America