I’m so excited!
Today is release day for MASQUE in print! As my first erotic
romance released in March of this year, I’m thrilled to see it in print!
Here’s
the blurb for MASQUE.
Rena
Mills plans to turn an abandoned abbey into a haunted bed-and-breakfast to
prove she can be successful without her ex-fiancé. What she finds inside is
Synn MacAllistair, the distinguished, self-proclaimed Ghost Keeper. Her dreams
soon fill with sexual cravings for him. But are they dreams?
Synn,
born in 1828, is determined to free the souls of the resident spirits, blaming
himself for bringing the Red Death that killed them. When Rena steps into the
old Pleasure Palace, he’s sure he can take her through the after-midnight
Pleasure Rooms and stoke her passion to complete the Masque so the souls can
cross over. Her innocent fire makes him crave more, but it’s far too late for
him.
As
Rena begins her erotic journey, her heart becomes more involved with every
sensual caress until she discovers by completing the Masque she would lose her
ghosts. Synn’s betrayal wars with her compassion for her ghostly friends. Torn,
she must make a choice between her financial security and freeing seventy-three
trapped souls. Either way, she could lose her Synn.
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The print version came out to be 336 pages. Wow. Luckily, it is good size print type and the paper back is large for easy reading. So if you weren’t sure what to do with that gift card you received for Christmas… ;-)
Here’s a never before revealed excerpt from MASQUE.
Synn
stepped into the chapel at the back of the Abbey. The small, intimate structure
he’d designed had two stained glass windows at either end with tall, clear
windows lining the walls. As he sat in a random pew, he admired the rose tint
on the white marble altar as the sun shone through the red glass of the robes
of St. Anthony. Unable to resist, he glanced above him at the painting of the
Archangel Raphael on the ceiling. That particular image bothered him, not
because the face was set in disapproval, but because wherever he was in the
chapel, the angel disapproved of him personally. Once again, it looked down on
him.
He
had never been a religious person, but the chapel itself and Father Richard
were old friends…that is when Father Richard decided to appear. Synn hadn’t
discovered yet why the good father graced him with his presence some times and
not others, but he certainly didn’t mind the company. Unlike other priests of
his time, this father was well aware of the human condition and did not expect
perfection from mere mortals.
“Father
Richard?” Synn paused. The good father wasn’t a ghost like the others and yet
he was. He had appeared after Synn finished the graves and had blessed them
all. “Father Richard, are you here?” He waited, his fingers drumming on the pew
in front of him. Maybe an enticing tidbit would bring the father out of hiding.
“Father Richard. I don’t know if you are aware, but we have guests. Two lovely
ladies from this century are now living in the Abbey.”
He
waited, smelling the air. Father Richard had a very particular frankincense
scent. Synn leaned back against the pew. The father must already know of their
guests. “No men have come with them, so I think I will take the dark-haired
lady, Rena, through the Pleasure Rooms.”
“What?!”
Synn
grinned. He couldn’t see the father yet, but incense tickled his nose. “I have
no choice. No men arrived with them.”
Father
Richard appeared as he strode purposefully up the aisle toward him. “My son.
Enticing a young woman to sin is not going to expiate the sins of all here. Two
wrongs do not make a right.”
Synn
raised his brow as Father Richard stopped at the pew in front of him, short of
breath. The father was thin and wiry; therefore, he must have come from far
away to be so winded.
The
man sat at the end of the pew across from Synn. “Tell me you are not seriously
contemplating this.”
“But
I am.” He faced the father, his elbows on his knees. “I believe by having the
woman complete the circuit for the rest of the guests who did not, I may be
able to fulfill the desires that were interrupted when I arrived.”
The
priest hesitated. “But everyone here has been able to finish their Pleasure
Rooms and yet they remain. Why do you think taking this woman through will
change their status?”
Synn
reviewed his logic before answering. He didn’t want to win a debate, he wanted
the father to agree it could be the answer, or propose a better one. “I believe
the problem is our people are not alive. Yes, they later completed the rooms
they had hoped to that night, but they were already dead. However, the prince
never finished and he did cross over. I think if I can persuade a live person
to complete each room, the clock will start working again and the spirits will
be allowed to cross.”
He
watched his elusive friend for signs of agreement. He’d read every book in the
library and developed theory after theory for freeing the spirits trapped in
the Abbey. He’d tested a number of those theories, but none had ended in
success.
Father
Richard looked heavenward and crossed himself. “You realize if you are right,
there is no surety you will be free as well. You are different.”
A
cold chill swept through Synn’s body as he nodded. He was different. He was a
killer. He deserved to be trapped in the Abbey for eternity.
The
priest’s hand on his shoulder jerked him from his morbid thoughts as comfort
seeped beneath his skin.
“My
son, you deserve to be freed. You must stop blaming yourself for their deaths.
How many times must I tell you, it wasn’t supposed to be this way? Something
evil interfered with His plan.”
Synn
stood, dislodging the priest’s hand and the peace he provided. Father Richard
was wrong. He was to blame, and he
must free the spirits of the Abbey. “But do you think it could work? Does it
make sense?”
“I
don’t know.” Father Richard sighed. “It goes against what I believe, and yet,
if someone tainted the original events, this does make logical sense. But I
will tell you, I’m not happy about it.”
Synn
smirked. “You can always watch.”
Father
Richard crossed himself again as he rose, but his lips quirked. “Stop teasing
this old man. I can still take you down if I want.”
“Only
if I let you.” Synn winked. “Now, I just need to persuade this exciting woman
to experience each room in order. Not an easy task, I assure you.”
“You
only have six left. That’s a start.”
“Father!
You did watch.” Synn stared hard, not quite believing the man he respected had
given in to the sin of the Abbey.
The
father grabbed his ear and pulled hard. “No, you wicked man, I heard Eve and
Jonathan talking about it in the vestry. I should take a swing at that pretty
face of yours for your lack of faith, but you will need it to entice the lady
of the Abbey.”
Synn
pulled away despite the pain it caused. “I apologize for having such
disrespectful thoughts. But you’re right, I do still need to convince her to
fulfill every room. I hope you will pray for my success.”
Father
Richard harrumphed before turning away. “For the sake of your soul and those
trapped here, I will pray for your success.” The priest strolled down the
aisle, disappearing as quickly as he’d come.
Synn
walked through the pews and stopped before a side window. There had never been
a plan for a graveyard. In fact, it had been a garden when he’d designed the
Abbey, but he’d needed the stone of the garden walls to make the headstones for
those he’d buried. Like a magnet to metal, his gaze shifted to two headstones
in particular. Those were the resting places of Eve and Jonathan, the young
couple who were so in love, and at the time, just beginning their journey as
man and wife, except they weren’t resting…yet. His hands fisted as he ground
his teeth in frustration.
He
would free them. If this plan didn’t work, he’d try another and another, and he
wouldn’t stop trying until he found a way to release every soul.
I will give away one personally signed copy of MASQUE in
print. Enter the Rafflecopter or leave a comment about what was your favorite part of Christmas this year and you
may win!
Always, Lexi
