The Wild Rose Press Hauntings in the Garden collection
Here's another ghostly story from The Wild Rose Press' celebration of Halloween/Samhain. Caster's Unfriendly Ghost released on October 2, 2014. Let's check out what this story is all about...
BLURB
A
year after her husband’s death, Emily Tillman is ready to start dating again,
and hopefully, find what she’s always wanted—marriage and children. But the man
who broke her heart five years ago is back. And he’s anything but the marrying
kind.
Confirmed bachelor Reese Caster is perfectly content with his life—and he’s finally over Emily, the one woman who almost made him commit. Now, his world is rocked when her dead husband shows up, demanding that Reese pursue Emily to keep her out of the clutches of her latest suitor—a jerk who is only after her money.
Being around Emily again has made Reese reconsider his bachelor life style. But now that the threat of the other man is gone, the pesky ghost wants Reese to break things off. Can he and Emily find the love they were denied, or will the ghost of her dead husband destroy their chances?
Confirmed bachelor Reese Caster is perfectly content with his life—and he’s finally over Emily, the one woman who almost made him commit. Now, his world is rocked when her dead husband shows up, demanding that Reese pursue Emily to keep her out of the clutches of her latest suitor—a jerk who is only after her money.
Being around Emily again has made Reese reconsider his bachelor life style. But now that the threat of the other man is gone, the pesky ghost wants Reese to break things off. Can he and Emily find the love they were denied, or will the ghost of her dead husband destroy their chances?
EXCERPT
“Emily is the kind of
woman you have to take things slowly with.”
“Sure, if this was real.
But you have to step it up, turn on the charm. You need to show you care, that
you know her, buy her things that she loves. Her favorite flowers are white
roses, she loves dark chocolate, and her favorite wine is Merlot. You need to
move in on her, hard.”
Caster gave a humorless
laugh and shook his head. “Do you hear yourself? You were her husband, for God’s
sake. Have some respect.”
Joey’s face flushed. “I do
respect her. That’s why I don’t want this asshole putting one over on her. She
deserves to find someone who will truly love her and give her the things I
couldn’t.”
A note of pain in his
voice almost made Caster feel sorry for him. But not as sorry as he felt for the
family who lost a loved one less than half an hour ago. “Listen, I’ve performed
back to back surgeries today, and had my night capped off by an emergency
surgery that ended with a young girl’s death. So, you’ll understand why I’m not
in the mood for this right now.”
“I’m sorry, but there’s
nothing I can do about that. My concern is with Emily. And I need you to follow
through with your end of the deal.”
“Deal, my ass. You
blackmailed me into going along with this bullshit. Well, I’m out. I’ll finish
the haunted forest thing, but no more of this romancing Emily crap. I can’t use
her like that, I can’t break her heart again.”
“Break her heart? You
sound pretty sure she’ll fall for you. My, my. Someone’s full of
himself.”
Caster stood and stalked
to the door. “Look, I don’t know if she will or not, I just know I can’t do this
any longer. You can destroy everything I own, keep me up every night for the
rest of my life, but I’m done.”
He put his hand on the
door, but Joey’s voice stopped him. “I’ll tell her.”
Caster paused and turned
to face him. “You’ll what?”
“Not only will I continue
to screw with you, even on the job, but I’ll appear to Emily, tell her about our
little scheme. What do you think she’ll think of you
then?”
“You’re bluffing. You
wouldn’t hurt her like that.”
Joey shook his head and
closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were suspiciously damp. “I don’t want
to. But I’ll do anything to keep her from making the biggest mistake of her
life.”
Caster let out a resigned
sigh and shook his head. “Nah, getting mixed up with the two of us was the
biggest mistake of her life.”
Alicia Dean lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. She has three grown children and a
huge network of supportive friends and family. She writes mostly contemporary
suspense and paranormal, but has also written in other genres, including a few
vintage historicals.
Other than reading and writing, her passions are Elvis Presley, MLB, NFL
(she usually works in a mention of one or all three into her stories) and
watching her favorite televisions shows like Vampire Diaries, Justified, Sons of
Anarchy, Haven, The Mindy Project, and Dexter (even though it has sadly ended,
she will forever be a fan). Some of her favorite authors are Michael Connelly,
Dennis Lehane, Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Sharon Sala, Jordan Dane, Ridley
Pearson, Joseph Finder, and Jonathan Kellerman…to name a few.
Find Alicia here:
Website: http://aliciadean.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alicia_Dean_
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/aliciamdean/
Ooh, nice twist, and great title!
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds like fun, and thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDelete