Treasures (Etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #1

GIVEAWAY CLOSED – THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED

The following is a (approx) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Treasures, Demons, and Other Black Magic. This is not the final proof. Release date: June 19, 2014

Comment on this post to win a prerelease ebook (eARC) of Treasures (Etc). An excerpt and chance to win will be posted every Friday leading up to the release date. A new winner will be selected by random number generator after 12noon PST on the following Friday.

**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR DOWSER #1 & #2**

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With one hand on the invisible knife at my hip and one hand twined through the wedding ring charms on my necklace, I stepped out from the golden magic of the portal onto the shores of Loch More. Yeah, Loch More, as in Scotland.

The ground underneath my feet thrummed with wild magic and untapped power. Supposedly, all the grid points around the globe — where natural magic reigned — teemed this way. Too many thousands of years ago for me to comprehend the guardian dragons had set up a network of portals anchored at these points. I gathered the portals were rather helpful when it came to saving the world, which the guardians did constantly.

Thankfully such responsibility wasn’t my duty. No, my focus was much more personal.

I drew a little more of the shielding magic from my necklace, and the hair on the back of my neck settled. I unclenched my teeth. The land around me glowed — I could see for miles in all directions — but not with any specific color of magic. Rather, all the natural hues of the earth were intensified. I could actually see magic in the air I breathed.

I’d expected snow, seeing as it was the first week of November, but there wasn’t any. I wondered if that was like people who didn’t know Vancouver expecting it to snow there all the time, which it hardly ever did. Unlike the rest of Canada.

The sun was low in the sky. I’d misjudged the time, which reminded me I also wasn’t sure of the exact date though I’d tried to keep a rough calendar based on my infrequent calls home. My sleep schedule was erratic, now dictated by exhaustion rather than the rotation of the earth.

Time moved oddly in the dragon nexus. At least three and a half months had passed while I’d trained, studied, and pretty much did anything to avoid the fate waiting for me in the Sea Lion Caves, but it felt like more and less all at the same time. I supposed that was what destiny felt like … or was that inevitability?

Memories of the terror my sister Sienna had created in the caves along the Oregon coast — which, ironically, were a tourist attraction for some people — had melded over the past months with the bloody vision that Chi Wen, the far seer, had shared with me. A vision that showed my loved ones slaughtered on an altar. A vision that had stopped me from following Desmond and Kett back through the portal and kept me training like a woman fueled by vengeance. A vision, mixed with a memory, that had me formulating a plan.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Treasures, Demons and Other Black Magic!

Wait! You haven’t read Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic or Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic yet? You can win that ebook instead, just let me know in your comment.

Bonus entries?? Do the above and add any or all of the following:

Sign up for my new release mailing list
Follow me on twitter and tweet giveaway info … such as: Excerpt & Giveaway for the #DowserSeries via @mcdoidge – #win a pre-release eARC#ebook http://wp.me/pP9tA-HM
Like me on Facebook. I cannot ask you to post a link on your Facebook page because that is against FB’s code of conduct, but if you felt so inclined that would be lovely.
WordPress user? Like this post.
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Subscribe to this blog (link on side bar).

Are you already following me on any or all of the above platforms or mailing lists? Thank you!! Just remind me in your comment so I remember to give you the extra entries!

The Graveyard Kiss

While we’re all waiting patiently for the release of Dowser 3, I thought I’d give away a short story just for fun.

The Graveyard Kiss – which is set in the Dowser Universe but doesn’t contain any of the characters – is free to download from Amazon from May 9 – 11, 2014. This short story also appears in The Kiss Anthology so some of you may already have it.

I wrote this just for fun … no secret hints into the Dowser Series or anything. Just for fun.

Book cover by Irene Langholm
Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray

Soon, soon my pretties, there will be a synopsis, giveaways of eARCs, and a release date. Soon, soon there will be more Jade, and Kandy, and Kett and some new(ish) players as well!!

Trinkets (Etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #3

ETA: The random number generator picked Karen to win the Trinkets (Etc) ebook (for the 2nd time this month). Lucky lady!!

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic. This is not the final proof. Release date: December 27, 2013

EXCERPT #1

EXCERPT #2

WARNING: this MAY contain spoilers for Dowser #1.

Comment on this post to win a prerelease ebook (eARC). An excerpt and chance to win will be posted every Friday in December leading up to the release date. A new winner will be selected by random number generator after 12noon PST every Friday throughout December.

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“We went over all that already, vampire,” I said, hoping to get him to talk again. “Like thirty minutes ago.”

“Perhaps I wasn’t happy with your answer.”

There he was — a rapidly fading wash of red in the shadows, three trees to my left.

“Perhaps you fell asleep and forgot, old man,” I teased. Then I took three quick steps only to grab thin air.

He laughed. I could feel his breath on my neck. “Answer, dowser.”

I spun. The taste of cool, clean peppermint with something spicy and dark underneath — not cinnamon or nutmeg; I hadn’t quite figured it out yet — hung ever so briefly in the air, then dissipated.

“The witches Convocation, vampire Conclave, and shapeshifter Assembly are all overseen by the Grand Council,” I said, “which is comprised of members from all the Adept communities, though not all the species.” I hadn’t caught Kett once in the three months we’d been playing this game. At least Kandy wasn’t here to curl her lip at me.

I paused between fir trees to wrap my fingers around the hilt of the invisible knife I always wore across my right hip. Actually, the knife wasn’t invisible. It was hand carved out of jade rock I’d found near Lillooet, and about the length of my forearm and the thickness of my thumb. The sheath — a birthday gift from Gran because such spells were beyond me — was invisible.

“Going to stab me, dowser?” the vampire asked.

“Nope,” I said as I closed my eyes and unzipped my Gore-Tex jacket a few inches. I weaved my fingers through the wedding rings I wore soldered like charms onto a thick gold chain around my neck. The necklace was an accumulation of nearly two years of work. Today, I wore it looped three times around my neck, so that it lay across my collarbone over my T-shirt. The T-shirt proclaimed me a spin-the-bottle champion in faded white lettering.

“The knife is your best offense. Revealing its existence, even a second too soon, could be a fatal mistake.”

“But you can see through such magic, vampire.”

“I’m not teaching you to fight me —”

I pivoted and then lunged between two closely spaced trees to slap the vampire with the flat of my hand right in the middle of his chest. “Tag, you’re it!”

He stared at me, surprised. It was subtle, but it was surprise. His white blond hair, unnaturally pale skin, and ice-blue eyes stood out starkly against the wet green and brown backdrop of the forest. Kett had been human once, hundreds of years ago — though he had yet to actually confirm his age — but he hadn’t retained much natural expression. His eyes were slightly wider than normal, hence surprised. I’d beaten him.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Trinkets, Treasures and Other Bloody Magic!! New winner every Friday in December!!

Wait! You haven’t read Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic yet? You can win that ebook instead, just let me know in your comment.

Bonus entries?? Do the above and add any or all of the following:

Sign up for my new release mailing list
Follow me on twitter and tweet giveaway info … such as: Excerpt & Giveaway for the #DowserSeries via @mcdoidge – #win a pre-release eARC#ebook http://wp.me/pP9tA-zf
Like me on Facebook. I cannot ask you to post a link on your Facebook page because that is against FB’s code of conduct, but if you felt so inclined that would be lovely.
WordPress user? Like this post.
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Subscribe to this blog (link on side bar).

Are you already following me on any or all of the above platforms or mailing lists? Thank you!! Just remind me in your comment so I remember to give you the extra entries!

Trinkets (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #2

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic. This is not the final proof. Release date: December 27, 2013

EXCERPT #1

WARNING: this MAY contain spoilers for the Dowser #1.

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I scanned the immediate area. I could feel the vampire nearby, but he had a super annoying ability to somehow contain or cloak his magic, so that I wasn’t sure of direction or proximity. I couldn’t pick up any trace of the green-haired werewolf. Kandy moved way faster than me through the forest, so she’d probably found the end range of my dowser senses. Plus, she had practically inhaled — even while driving — the dozen cupcakes I’d brought for the hike before we’d even parked the SUV at Alice Lake, so she had a lot of fuel to burn.

A shimmer of sunlight caught my eye … no, not sunlight. What was that? I was done with the sulking and on my feet before I even made the decision. Wow, that was me in a nutshell.

The glimmer of magic beckoned from the side of a cedar tree, as if something supernatural had brushed against it at shoulder height. I usually didn’t see such incidental traces, but I was learning to just go with the heightened-powers persona instead of freaking out about it all the time.

“Gotcha,” I murmured, thinking Kandy had inadvertently left me a clue. Though I wasn’t totally clear if I was actually playing hide-and-seek with the werewolf or if she’d just gotten fed up being around the vampire and had taken off. Both scenarios were equally possible.

Except that as I got closer, the glimmer didn’t look exactly like Kandy’s magic … its base color was green, but leafy, not grassy. It was too dim for me to pick up any taste —

“The foremost magical authority …”

I actually jumped as the vampire’s cool voice sounded right next to my ear. God, I hated it when he did that. I spun around but the immediate area was vampire free.

“The foremost magical authority,” Kett prompted again. His voice floated in from the right, but I stopped myself from spinning in that direction. Everything was a test with him, but I couldn’t complain because I’d asked for it. Yep, I had promised to treasure hunt for the vampire if he agreed to fill in some of the holes in my magical education.

There were a lot of holes. And Gran was still spitting mad about bargaining with a vampire. If she’d had her way, Kett would have been ash three months ago. Hell, she probably would have let the untethered magic of Sienna’s pentagram just swallow him.

Ah, Sienna. What was that? A full five minutes without thinking of my foster sister and the black magic that destroyed her? I shoved the ache in my throat back down to its permanent place in my heart, then turned to scan for Kett’s magic.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Trinkets, Treasures and Other Bloody Magic!! New winner every Friday in December!!

Wait! You haven’t read Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic yet? You can win that ebook instead, just let me know in your comment.

Bonus entries?? Do the above and add any or all of the following:

Sign up for my new release mailing list
Follow me on twitter and tweet giveaway info … such as: Excerpt & Giveaway for the #DowserSeries via @mcdoidge – #win a pre-release eARC#ebook http://wp.me/pP9tA-zf
Like me on Facebook. I cannot ask you to post a link on your Facebook page because that is against FB’s code of conduct, but if you felt so inclined that would be lovely.
WordPress user? Like this post.
Blogger? Post a link to this post via your blog.
Subscribe to this blog (link on side bar).

Are you already following me on any or all of the above platforms or mailing lists? Thank you!! Just remind me in your comment so I remember to give you the extra entries!

Trinkets (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #1

Update: Jen won this week’s giveaway! YAY, Jen! Please check the giveaway page for more chances to win.

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic. This is not the final proof. Release date: December 27, 2013

WARNING: this MAY contain spoilers for the Dowser #1.

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Fully aware that the vampire was watching me from somewhere deeper in the woods, I placed my second to last piece of single-origin Madagascar chocolate on my tongue and lovingly sucked on it. The smooth, creamy, dark-roasted cocoa teased my taste buds and I instantly relaxed.

I wasn’t going to freak out about being stranded in the Squamish forest. I wasn’t going to freak out about being damp from my blond curls to my perfectly painted pink toenails. And I really, really wasn’t going to freak out about running out of chocolate in the middle of bloody nowhere while being harassed by a vampire and stalked by a werewolf.

Okay. I was exaggerating, but only a little. My toes, crammed into clunky, very practical — but ultimately ugly — hiking boots were bone dry.

Everything else was the utter truth, from my perspective at least. Except the werewolf would say ‘training,’ not stalking. And the vampire would — if he bothered to explain at all — call harassment ‘education.’

The last of the chocolate melted in my mouth with no hint of bitter aftertaste, and I opened my indigo eyes, ready to move forward. I was good at moving forward — baby steps, at least — because if I really paused to think or take mental stock, I was afraid I wouldn’t ever get going again.

I was sitting on a fallen, moss-covered tree — a cedar, maybe — surrounded by more trees. Though these ones were still upright and thick enough that I wouldn’t be able to wrap my arms around them. You know, if I felt like hugging trees. I was currently somewhere in a valley that cut between multiple mountains and led eventually, I thought, to Whistler ski resort. I could see three snow-covered peaks without turning my head. Whistler, known for its world-class skiing and fantastic restaurants, would be a great location for a second Cake in a Cup bakery. That is, if I ever got out of this forest and felt like working for more than twelve hours a day, six days a week. I was close enough to a river — the Squamish River, I hoped — that I could hear but not see it. No trails cut through the underbrush. The sun, which had just made an appearance, glinted off water droplets caught on fern leaves. My phone declared the time to be 2:23 p.m., but I had no signal.

So, yeah. I was lost.

The vampire wasn’t in a helpful mood, which was usually fine by me, because whenever he was helpful, it creeped me out. Helpful usually meant he was satiated. And what satiated vampires? Blood. Not mine, so far at least. Not that he wouldn’t fang me in a split second, even if he was all detached with his cool peppermint magic and carved-ice features. A girl just knows — with guys or vampires, though other girls, not so much.

Anyway, lost.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Trinkets, Treasures and Other Bloody Magic!! New winner every Friday in December!!

Wait! You haven’t read Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic yet? You can win that ebook instead, just let me know in your comment.

Bonus entries?? Do the above and add any or all of the following:

Sign up for my new release mailing list
Follow me on twitter and tweet giveaway info … such as: Excerpt & Giveaway for the #DowserSeries via @mcdoidge – #win a pre-release eARC#ebook http://wp.me/pP9tA-zf
Like me on Facebook. I cannot ask you to post a link on your Facebook page because that is against FB’s code of conduct, but if you felt so inclined that would be lovely.
WordPress user? Like this post.
Blogger? Post a link to this post via your blog.
Subscribe to this blog (link on side bar).

Are you already following me on any or all of the above platforms or mailing lists? Thank you!! Just remind me in your comment so I remember to give you the extra entries!

Dowser #2 – Cover Reveal and Giveaway

Without further ado, here is the book cover for Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic by the ever-brilliant Irene Langholm. I adore the magic and mystery that Irene has captured here. Thank you, Irene! You can find the synopsis and keywords on the Trinkets (etc) page (link above & on the side bar) but SPOILER ALERT!!

eBOOK RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 27, 2013

ENTER GIVEAWAY

I’m giving away one (1) eARC of either Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic or Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic to celebrate the cover reveal and release date announcement.

In the comments below, tell me:

Which ebook you want to win? Cupcakes (Etc) aka Dowser #1 or Trinkets (Etc) aka Dowser #2.
What is your favourite trinket? I adore a Norwegian wood bracelet that a friend gave me for my birthday years ago. I actually need to replace the elastic I’ve worn it so much. The wood warms, like pearls do. I love that!
Make sure you fill your email address into the blog comment form.

Yup, it’s that easy. Contest open internationally, of course. I’ll select winners by random number generator after 12noon PST on Friday, December 6, 2013.

Bonus entries?? Do the above and add any or all of the following:

Sign up for my new release mailing list
Follow me on twitter and tweet giveaway info … such as: Cover Reveal & Giveaway for the #DowserSeries via @mcdoidge – #win a pre-release eARC#ebook http://wp.me/pP9tA-yW
Like me on Facebook. I cannot ask you to post a link on your Facebook page because that is against FB’s code of conduct, but if you felt so inclined that would be lovely.
WordPress user? Like this post.
Blogger? Post a link to this post via your blog.
Subscribe to this blog (link on side bar).

Are you already following me on any or all of the above platforms or mailing lists? Thank you!! Just remind me in your comment so I remember to give you the extra entries!

And the winner of the four paperbacks giveaway is…

Heather from Hellertown, PA! (a.k.a. H.Lee in the comments). Out of 80 entries earned the random number generator picked number 74 = H.Lee.

I have boxed up Heather’s paperbacks and will mail them off to her this afternoon.

Thanks to everyone who entered. I just absolutely loved reading all your comments over the last two weeks. You are a funny, smart group! I totally wished I could send paperbacks to you all.

Bummed out that you didn’t win? I’ll be giving away a paperback copy of Cupcakes (Etc) via Goodreads next week. I’ll update the giveaway page here and facebook/twitter with the entry info when it opens.

In other news, I’m at 16,000 words on the 2nd draft of the Cupcakes (Etc) sequel, Trinkets, Treasures, and Other Bloody Magic. Looking at an October release date if all goes well.

Still a little sad? How about a pretty picture? This is a chocolate dahlia from my chocolate garden. Yes, I have a chocolate garden. How can you possibly be surprised?

Sunshine & Lollipops!

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #4

Update: The random number generator picked Johnnie-Marie to win this final giveaway – congrats! and I hope you enjoy the read!!

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my new release, Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic. Want to read more? Comment on this post to win an ebook with your email address (e.g. name AT gmail DOT com).

Excerpt #1

Excerpt #2

Excerpt #3

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I let my eyes drift over him like he wasn’t the absolute focus of my attention as I crossed around the baking display case. I murmured greetings to some of my regulars, and, as unhurried as possible, wandered over to the bistro table where my foster sister Sienna sat sipping a latte and nibbling on a mocha butter white cake Thrill in a Cup. I hated it when she paired similar flavors like that, but my sister did what my sister wanted. We both did. We were as similar in that attitude as we were dissimilar in looks.

I cleared my throat as I came around from behind to the front of the table. Sienna didn’t lift her dark eyes from the book of spells she was reading on her Kindle. I was momentarily distracted that such an ebook existed, and wondered where it could be purchased. Sienna seemed to be reading up on binding spells, which made sense given that was her specialty.

A breeze from the door — the unusual heat the day had provided was fading as the sun set — stirred a few of my trinkets and recalled my attention to the vampire.

“Sienna,” I hissed.

“What?” My sister glanced at me over the rim of her coffee. She’d skimmed off all the foam and was left with the creamy espresso underneath; her bored eyes almost matched the color of the liquid. “The coffee beans are burned.”

“The coffee is not burned.”

“Is too.”

“Sienna, there’s a vampire at the door.”

“What?” Sienna laughed and looked over my shoulder toward the door. “Where?”

“Right there! Tall, blond, and fangy.”

“You can’t actually see their fangs, you know. Ahead of time, I mean.”

“Sienna!”

“There is no vampire at the door, Jade.”

I looked over my shoulder. Indeed, the doorway was empty, and closed. The last customer to leave must have politely shut it behind them.

“Imagining things?” Sienna murmured, but her attention had returned to her book of spells. Spells that were above both our magic grades as far as I had seen with a glance. Which is why I rarely bothered to practice magic — it was mostly out of my reach. Sienna always liked to know, however, even if she couldn’t do.

“Right,” I murmured, tracking my eyes from the door along the French-paned windows. I’d had them especially built for the bakery when I opened last year. The mullions were painted white, as was the paneled wooden front door. I had been going for a French provincial look, but with the addition of the slat wood floor and the hodgepodge of trinkets hanging everywhere, I’d achieved more farmhouse than sleek old country.

The vampire was gone.

I was nowhere stupid enough to step out onto the sidewalk to look for him … okay, maybe just a quick peek. The sidewalk and street were empty of vampires, though. The sun was fully set, the last vestiges of reddish orange still tinting the sky to the west. It was suddenly chilly enough to see a puff of my breath. I folded my arms over my T-shirt-clad breasts, and a light breeze lifted my blond curls from my neck. At least it wasn’t raining.

I dropped my hands and smoothed them over my spotless apron. The sidewalk was teeming with after-work shoppers. Strollers competed with teacup pets, the dogs even pricier than the kids. But then, my customers could afford the price tags of both. I held the door open for one mother fresh from yoga and decided that I needed a class before dinner myself.

What the hell was a vampire doing in Vancouver? And why the hell had he wound up at my door?

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Comment below to win an ebook copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!!

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #3

Update: A bunch of people knocked themselves off the list by buying Cupcakes (Etc) already, but that worked to Catherine’s benefit (somehow, perhaps) because the random number generator just picked her to win an ebook copy!! YAY!

The following is a (approx.) 450 word excerpt from my upcoming release, Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic. Want to read more? Comment on this post to win a prerelease ebook (eARC) with your email address (e.g. name AT gmail DOT com). A new winner will be randomly selected every Wednesday throughout June. An excerpt and chance to win will be posted every Wednesday in June.

Excerpt #1

Excerpt #2

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I took the customer’s credit card and rang through the order. Customers could run their own cards, but I thought it was better service to do so myself. He was talking to me again. I pulled my gaze from the vampire, who was moving back to the front door, to acknowledge him.

“Sorry? My mind was elsewhere.”

“I said that I own the law firm up the street. We just renovated.”

Oh. Nice. He was the reason I’d been woken before eight in the morning for the entire week. I always attempted to nap after I baked in the mornings.

“Great,” I replied as I handed him his card. “I hope you enjoy the cupcakes.”

His smile faltered. Perhaps I, a lowly baker, was supposed to be more impressed with his lawyer status. Then I felt bad for being uncharitable … it was just that the vampire currently testing the wards on my front door was starting to freak me out.

“Oh. Okay then,” the lawyer guy said. “Till next time.” He grinned, and I took a brief moment to notice he was rather cute. It wasn’t like the vampire was currently slaughtering my customers. I could pause for a moment to exchange smiles with a cute, potentially rich guy — leases on West Fourth Avenue weren’t cheap — who had nice straight teeth and an adorable dimple.

“Till then,” I called after him.

The lawyer didn’t even notice the vampire as he exited the bakery. But then, he was looking back at me. I was accustomed to men — even some women — staring. This time, I was pleased it meant the lawyer didn’t inadvertently make eye contact with the alpha predator in the doorway. The vampire was all but blocking the entrance.

He caught my gaze. I flinched. I couldn’t help it. His magic coated his pale skin with an icy aura. He lifted his hand to press against the invisible ward guarding the door, which stood open despite it being early spring. It had been unseasonably warm all day, but the weather could be temperamental in Vancouver. The runes etched in the doorframe glowed in response to the vampire’s touch. Runes were how Gran anchored her magic, though not every witch used them. I wondered if the vampire could see such things, or if he simply felt the magic blocking him from entering uninvited. I felt the ward magic shiver in response, but the vampire wasn’t trying to break through. He was simply … tasting.

The idea scared the shit out of me.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!! New winner every Wednesday in June!!

Cupcakes (etc) – sneak peek – excerpt #2

UPDATE: Cindi has won the Cupcakes (etc) eARC from last week – YAY!!

Excerpt #1

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“Sex in a Cup,” the customer across the display counter requested. His voice was laced with as much innuendo as he could muster.

I reached for and automatically boxed this ninth cupcake — more chocolate butter icing with a wallop of cinnamon and cocoa in the batter. I ignored the come-on — with a smile that indicated my delight over his exuberance for my cupcakes, but which thwarted his attempt to start something other than buying them. The customer looked familiar, like maybe he’d been in the bakery a few times before. The vampire, however, was new. What the hell was a full-blood vampire doing in Vancouver anyway?

The vampire wasn’t interested in the child, whose mother had lifted her back onto her stool and directed her attention to the remainder of her cupcake. No one else seemed to notice the striking bloodsucker at the window, but then again, most people couldn’t see magic as well as I could. That was my little bit of talent. Well, that and the trinkets I made from magical bits I happened upon, but they weren’t powerful or useful. Just pretty bits to hang in a window and chime in the breeze.

One Rapture in a Cup, a yellow/chocolate swirl cake with cream cheese chocolate icing; a Buzz in a Cup, a mocha fudge cake with mocha butter icing; and an Ecstasy in a Cup, a double chocolate cake with lemon butter icing, rounded out the customer’s order. He liked chocolate almost as much as I did. Or he had a thing for anything provocatively named.

I crossed to the till, weaving for a second time around Bryn and Todd, who were moving a hell of a lot faster than me to fulfill customer orders. But then, being human, they weren’t distracted by the vampire examining my trinkets through the window.

I didn’t know vampires were attracted by shiny things, or I wouldn’t have hung so many in the front window. I really should pay more attention to Gran’s lessons. Too bad my grandmother was currently surfing in Tofino — yes, at sixty. The vampire might not be so bold confronted by a full-blood witch. I was only half, through my mother. I also had my mother’s eyes, medium blue or indigo, depending on whether a part-time guitar-playing poet was immortalizing them or not. I didn’t know any guitar players. I also didn’t inherit the Godfrey petite stature, pert nose, or magical prowess.

My father was some Australian backpacker, who my mother left — at sixteen — before she even knew she was pregnant. So all I’d inherited from him was my golden locks and sun-kissed skin. It didn’t bother me much, not even knowing my father’s last name or whereabouts. But then, I had Gran, and Gran was better than any other family in the world.

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Comment below to win an exclusive prerelease copy of Cupcakes, Trinkets & Other Deadly Magic!! New winner every Wednesday in June!!