Happy October!
I’m a firm believer that Halloween isn’t a single day, but an entire month. And more than that, it’s a state of mind! Much like Ebenezer Scrooge, I try to keep Halloween in my heart all year long!
This year that worked out even better than normal when JMS Books sent out a call to its authors for short trick OR treat themed stories. They didn’t necessarily have to be Halloween stories, but… yeah, Halloween! It was totally happening, even though it was July.
A story about a bookstore that might just be haunted by more than the remnants of a father Owen Key never really knew, Findley Black and the Ghosts of Printer’s Devil is up for pre-order on the JMS Books website. I don’t think it’s materialized on any of the other retail sites yet, but you can pick it up from the publisher's website for 20% off now through November 2nd.
Check out the blurb and an excerpt below.
Findley Black and the Ghosts of Printer’s Devil
Starting over at thirty-four is harder than Owen Key expected. Lonelier too. There’s Bella, and the odd assortment of kids he’d inherited when a father he barely knew left him Printer’s Devil. But his bookstore employees and his cat aren’t much good when it comes to getting laid.
Findley Black says a lot of things. At least according to everyone at the store. When Owen runs into him for the first time during one of his ghost tours, with his leather jacket and flirtatious looks, Owen finds himself more than interested in what he has to say.
Owen may have been hoping for a one-night-stand, but when Findley asks to stay the remainder of Halloween night in the Printer’s Devil in hopes of seeing the ghost of a serial killer, he finds it hard to say no.
Halloween is a time for ghost stories and trick or treat. But running out of candy is a bad omen, and it’s hard to get lucky when something otherworldly seems determined to ruin your night.
Excerpt
The truth was Owen and Alexander’s relationship had been…complicated. Worse than that. They hadn’t spoken but a handful of times in more than seventeen years. He’d run off at seventeen and he’d never thought he’d come back. Yet, here he was, surrounded by the weird, makeshift-family Alexander had created for himself in Owen’s absence.
Through two doorways, around a small table of cookbooks, and up two steps, Owen was back in the main entry.
He reclaimed his place behind the counter, and Kayla pretended to straighten up the long entry wall of local author books to spy on Micah.
He was still on the porch, the clear vinyl curtain panels that helped protect the books from wind and rain and been dropped, and he perched on the wood railing talking to a guy with a bright, blue jacket and headful of chestnut curls. If Micah’s smile hadn’t been enough proof, any doubt that it was his date come early disappeared when they shared a lingering kiss.
In the light from the porch’s overhead fixture, Owen thought Micah looked like he must have at the same age—young, heart-on-your-sleeve naïve, and just begging to have his heart broken. It was depressing to watch.
Owen blew out a breath, looked away, and tried to pick up where he’d left off with bagging orders.
It wasn’t that he regretted anything from his own past. Not exactly. Not running away, not coming home again. There had been no one in New York to keep him there, and every enticement to leave. It was just that starting over again at thirty-four was harder than he had anticipated. Lonelier too.
He needed to get laid.
“What you need is a boyfriend.”
“You think?” Owen was pretty sure Kayla could read minds, and not only because she’d announced she could the first day they’d met. The girl was tall, with poker straight dark hair that she kept pulled back in a painful-looking ponytail, and atrocious taste in shoes. But she had excellent taste in books. He liked her. And because he liked her, and because she was young like Micah and still a romantic, he didn’t have the heart to disagree. “You find me one, I’ll give you a raise.”
“No, you won’t.” Yep. She could definitely read minds. “Besides, Findley always says bookstores are the best place to meet men ‘cause you’ll know they can read.”
From what he’d gathered over the last few months, Findley, whoever he was, said a lot of things.
“Literate is a plus.” Though, at the moment, Owen would have settled for clever enough to undo his pants. “But I’m not really looking.”
“Liar. No one spends that much time on their hair unless they’re looking.”
Yeah, he really did miss the days when the employees didn’t talk to him.
Want to read another excerpt? Or take advantage of JMS Books 20% off pre-order and new releases? Just click the button below.
In other news, The Whiskey Den (House of Witches Book 2) will be up for pre-order in the next couple of weeks—I’ve been busy writing or it would have been up already—and out later in the month.
And you can expect a Christmas release from me this year—also through JMS Books—as well as a freebie short story just for my mailing list members!
Make sure to keep an eye on your email!