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Blurb: Twenty years ago. When a slumber-party prank goes awry, magical forces are unleashed that will permanently impact the lives of four teenaged girls. Exiled from Oberon when she was still a teen, Scout Patterson has been trying ever since to distance herself from the mistakes in her past. Now, she's finally coming home--to face the ghosts she has never laid to rest, and the love she thought she'd lost forever.
Memories of the girl he loved and lost have haunted Officer Nick Greco for years, along with his dreams of what his life would be like if she’d only return. When Scout’s homecoming is followed by a reoccurrence of deadly attacks, Nick must solve an all-but-forgotten crime or risk losing her again—this time for good.
Excerpt:
Scout wandered through the deserted fairgrounds early next morning. The fog that had seeped into the valley the
night before lay thick on the ground, giving the empty pavilions a dreamlike
quality. People passed like ghosts
through the pearl gray mist.
A
solitary piper, half hidden in the shadows, played a haunting, mournful
tune. Scout felt a melancholy longing
steal through her. The wheel of the year
was turning. The days would grow
steadily shorter, now. Last night, the
Oak had fallen; the Holly King’s reign was begun. She shivered, her heart filled with grief at
the loss of the sun. Until a passing
breeze brought the welcome fragrance of fresh coffee to her nose.
She
breathed it in gratefully. The scent
evoked those tropical climes where the days never grew short. That was what she needed. The hell with this other nonsense. She changed directions abruptly, moving away
from the sorrowing pipe. What the heck
had she been thinking? It was the height
of summer. The sun was rising, even now,
and would soon warm the earth and burn off the fog. It would be months before the nights were
much longer than the days.
Besides,
this was Coastal California, where winter meant, at worst, a few weeks of
rain. She could handle that, couldn’t
she? A little rain, a little mud, a
little bit of wind, perhaps. No big
deal. She’d have no problem with winter
here.
“C’mon,
dog.” She smiled at her companion. “Let’s go eat.”
The
dining pavilion was mostly empty, only a few of last night’s diehards, and a
handful of early risers had gathered for coffee or tea and a light
breakfast. When Scout emerged from the
line with her tray, she saw Celeste sitting alone at one of the tables. She hesitated for a moment, then headed in
her direction.
“Mind if
I join you?” she asked.
Celeste
raised weary violet eyes to her face.
“Oh. Hello, Scout. Please.
Sit down.”
Scout
sat, and the dog sat at her feet.
Celeste
smiled as she bent to stroke the dog’s head.
“And aren’t you a sweetheart?” she crooned, as she offered the dog a
scrap of toast. “Have you had her long?”
“No.” Scout sipped her coffee. “And I’m not really sure I have her now,
either.”
“Of
course you do!” Celeste looked really
shocked. “Anyone can tell just by
looking that she’s your dog. What’s her
name?”
“I’m
afraid she doesn’t have one yet,” Scout replied, and was surprised when Celeste
burst into a peal of silvery laughter.
“Oh,
my. Sweetie, they all have names. You just haven’t discovered what it is
yet. But, don’t worry. You will.”
Celeste smiled down at the dog again.
“Oh. I have something for
you. I knew I was supposed to give it to
someone. Obviously you’re the very
one.”
She
removed her satchel from the back of her chair and began rummaging through
it. Finally emerging with a little brass medallion that
she attached to the dog’s collar.
“It’s a
protective amulet,” Celeste explained. “In ancient times actual blessing
rituals were performed at these festivals, you know. People would bring their
animals to be cleansed by being passed through the smoke from the bale
fire. It’s still a powerful time of year
for working protective magic. Especially
for animals.”
“Mmm,”
Scout murmured, neutrally. She found
herself growing annoyed with all the magic mumbo-jumbo. “So how long have you been involved in this,
uh, stuff? You know-- amulets and tea
leaves and all that kind of thing?”
“Ohh, forever, really,” Celeste said, with an
airy wave of one graceful hand. “I
learned to read the tea leaves from my grandmother. And palms, as well. The cards, though.” She shook her head and gave Scout a small,
rueful smile. “I’m still working on
those. Would you like me to do a reading
for you? I could use the practice.”
“Thank
you, but no.” Scout spread fresh
strawberry jam on a scone. “I’m not interested.”
Celeste’s
eyes glittered. “You’re afraid. Now why is that?”
“I’m not
afraid! I just don’t believe in that
stuff.”
“Well
that’s what's so nice about it, isn’t it?
It doesn’t require Faith. It
works whether you believe in it or not.”
Celeste dipped into her satchel again and removed a small red velvet
bag, from which she slid a deck of cards.
“Really,
I’m not—” Scout began, but Celeste laid a hand on her arm.
“Please. Humor
me.” She smiled at her. “Pick one card. Where’s the harm in that?”
Reluctantly,
Scout turned her attention to the fanned deck.
Her hand hovered irresolute, and then settled on one card. She drew it from the deck and laid it on the
table.
“See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” Celeste teased. “Let’s see . . . ahhh. The Lovers.
Well, that’s always nice isn’t it?
Of course, it is reversed, which suggests some sort of difficulty. Let’s see if we can’t find out what the
problem is. One more.”
With a
sigh, Scout picked another card at random and slapped it down.
Celeste
nodded. “Uh-huh. See now?
The Knight of Wands. Someone
fiery and impulsive and I’d say, tending to be rather single minded in his
pursuit of you.” She cocked her head at
Scout and smiled. “Sound like someone
you know?”
A shadowy
figure loomed over Celeste’s shoulder.
“Scout? Can I talk to you?”
Scout
frowned up into Glenn’s face. It was
gray and pinched. Probably from partaking in last evening’s debauchery she
supposed.
“Hello, Glenn,”
she said, striving to keep her voice neutral.
Celeste gave a
quiet cough and, when she had caught Scout’s eye, tapped gently, but
meaningfully, at the card Scout had picked out.
No, Scout mouthed, with an almost imperceptible shake of her
head. “Celeste, this is an old friend of mine, Glenn. Glenn, Celeste.”
As the
others shook hands and mumbled polite greetings, Scout sank back into her chair
and thought about how much she hated Oberon.
She hated the mystery and the magic.
Hated that she could pick a card called The Lovers out of a deck of cards, and, a moment later,
have Glenn materialize in front of her. Jesus.
What is up with this card shit?
Belatedly she realized that Glenn was addressing her.
“I said,
what are you doing here? I thought
you were going to stay home last night?” he repeated angrily. “I thought we’d agreed it would be a good idea for you to be careful while you’re
in town.”
“I was
careful,” Scout snapped at him. “And
anyway, we didn’t decide any such
thing. Like I already told you, Glenn,
much as I’d love to believe that Caroline had only my best interests at heart,
I really doubt that was the case.”
“So you’re still determined to go through
with this ridiculous plan of yours?”
Ridiculous
plan? “You mean, am I still going to
keep looking for Lisa? Of course I
am. Absolutely. But, what do you think? This being Oberon, and all, maybe I should
start by getting a reading done on the subject?
Maybe see what the cards have to say?”
“Uh,
yeah,” he answered, his eyes sliding
away from her face. “You’ll let me know
beforehand though, right? Before you do
anything foolish.”
Foolish? A little late to
start worrying about that.
Scent of the Roses can be purchased on its own, or as part of the Welcome to Oberon boxed set.
Contemporary romance meets magic realism in this engaging series by PG Forte. This first set, Welcome to Oberon, contains three full-length novels. While each book can be read on its own, you'll want to return to Oberon again and again to visit with the friends you've met there.
This set contains three full length novels, Scent of the Roses, A Sight to Dream Of and Sound of a Voice That is Still, and is available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble , All Romance eBooks, Smashwords, and SynergEbooks.
To learn more about the series, visit the website: http://www.oberoncalifornia.us/
To read another summer solstice excerpt from The Oak King visit my other blog:
http://rhymeswithforeplay.blogspot.com/2015/06/summer-solstice-scene-from-oak-king.html
She wrote her first serialized story when she was still in her teens. The sexy, ongoing adventure tales were very popular at her oh-so-proper, all girls, Catholic High School, where they helped to liven up otherwise dull classes...even if her teachers didn't always think so.
Originally a Jersey girl, PG now resides with her family on the extreme left coast where she writes contemporary and paranormal romance in a variety of sub-genres.
PG can be reached directly at: pgforte@pgforte.com
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