Title: A Glimmer of Ghosts
Author: Hunter J. Skye
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book Blurb:
One night of filming in the wrong cemetery changes everything for a celebrity ghost-hunter with a half dead brain. When Melisande Blythe discovers that a secret society of wraiths wants her killed or worse, Mel will have to do the one thing she promised she would never do… trust a ghost.
But, does the corporeal spirit of her dreams really want her heart or does he want her newfound ability to enslave souls? With Hell on the horizon, Mel is running out of time. She has to stop the fiery invasion or face the darkness warring in her soul.
Excerpt:
The lush curve of his brow bent in sympathy as he took in the left side of my face. “It was a monstrous thing which happened to you,” he whispered hotly.
“I’m fine,” I assured him, but nothing escaped his notice.
“I must say, I was taken aback when I saw you at Edwardia’s gathering. I had not known her to take prisoners before that night. When her intentions became clear, I could not stand idly by.” He looked down at his hands.
Touch her. Kiss her. Take her.
“What?” I searched the space around us. I’d just heard something.
Grayford’s eyes shot up, but his face was still downturned. The almost ashamed tilt of his head fought the eager searching of his eyes. “It is nothing. An intruding thought.” His gaze lingered on my lips and then dropped lower.
“What do you mean?” I shook my head in confusion.
Tear the garments from her flesh. Devour her.
I pushed to my feet so quickly, I fell forward. Grayford was there in an instant to stop my fall. His hands gripped my sides, and I felt the pressure of his fingertips as they slipped beneath the hem of my Tshirt.
“I’m so very sorry. It is my fault.”
“What’s your fault?” I looked into his handsome face.
“The Joining…when I took you from Edwardia’s home…” Colonel Grayford frowned. He seemed to search for the right words. “The only way I could remove your body from that location was to possess it.”
Possess her. Fill her. Make her beg.
I gasped as my brain lit on fire. A tidal wave of passion crashed over me. I staggered in his arms.
“It is an unavoidable side effect of sharing the same…space. Our, how do you say, neuro-pathways are aligned.”
“Excuse me?” I shoved at the solid muscle beneath the loose fabric of his shirt and vest, which caused his hands to tighten.
Touch me. Find me. Slide your soft fingers along my…
“Stop!” Another wave of ardor rolled over me, and it was a powerful, aggressive, masculine thing. I’d never felt desire that way before.
“I am trying. It’s harder when you are near me.” Grayford lowered his head until the loose tendrils of his thick brown hair brushed my cheek. “I know it is a shameful intrusion.”
I felt a tremor run through him where my hands rested on his chest. It seemed as though he were concentrating. The alien weight of manly desire eased away. I was left breathless. Blood sang through my veins in the wake of his passion. How could his attraction be so strong? We’d just met. Thoughts spun to life in my aching head.
“Have we just met?” The question whispered from my lips as I contemplated that first time I saw him in the graveyard. He’d seemed so familiar. And again, in Edwardia’s dining room. Something about him felt like home. Like a large gracious home with a sprawling porch and a view of the river.
“In a way,” he whispered close to my ear.
I pulled from his grasp and backed away from him. “Have you…” My voice shook. “Have you…” I couldn’t even formulate the words. I wiped at my arms as something viscous and violating clung to me. A thought. A feeling. It was the same feeling I had every time a ghost entered my personal space without permission.
Grayford’s guilty look said it all.
“Melisande.”
“No.”
“It is not what you think.”
“Isn’t it?” I cocked my head and the park tipped sideways. “You’ve been near me…watching me. Haven’t you?”
Grayford’s chest rose as if he were breathing real air. “I am drawn to you, yes. I protect you. And sometimes—” He hung his head again. “—I keep you company when you are lonely.”
“Can you hear my thoughts?” I asked abruptly. I wrapped my arms around my chest until the ache in my ribs became a stabbing pain.
“Not until now. The Joining…”.
“The Joining,” I repeated. “Don’t you think you should have told me about this little side-effect? I mean, shouldn’t I have been given a chance to decide if I wanted that to happen?”
“Melisande.” He said my name again, and it was as sweet and tender as mimosas on a breeze. “There was no time.”
I shifted from foot to foot until my legs shook with exhaustion.
“Please.” Grayford gestured to the bench once more. I lowered myself to the very end of the seat. He perched on the opposite end and folded his hands in his lap.
Exhaustion spread through my brain as well as my body. I felt defenseless again. I was also acutely aware of my need for a shower. In an ordinary circumstance, I would never let a man see me like this, but apparently, he’d seen me in lots of ways.
After a long moment of studying the grass at my feet, I took the opportunity to look at Colonel Grayford in the bright light of day. And he was amazing. His pale blue eyes were circled with a thoughtful line of darker blue. They seemed to give his words conviction and his ideas clarity. In fact, every one of his handsome features seemed certain and complete. I wondered if my impression of him was part of that ghostly glamour.
His long, brown curl had fallen forward over his shoulder when he’d taken a seat. Even in my fuming state, I fought the urge to twine my fingers in its silky length. An image of my hand tugging his hair washed over me. I felt the pressure of his teeth on my neck, the thrust of his tongue in my mouth. Was I leaning toward him? He seemed so close. His eyes ran along the curve of my cheek and followed the trembling line of my lips. My lashes fluttered low.
“It seems you must learn to control your thoughts as well,” he whispered.
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Why is your featured book a must-read?
Hanging out in spooky cemeteries is a ghost-hunter’s job, but handsy ghosts, pissed off poltergeists and world-ending hell gates are where Mel draws the line. Her new motto: ‘What doesn’t kill you…better start running.’
A Glimmer of Ghosts is a dark and steamy five star, multiple award-winning must-read in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy genres.
“An offbeat tale of things that go bump in the night featuring a well-developed main character.” Kirkus Reviews
“…this is a promising start, and readers looking for something different than the genre’s norm will be satisfied.” Kirkus Reviews
Giveaway:
Enter to win an e-book bundle of all 17 books featured in the Booklovers' Pot 'O Gold Event:
Open Internationally.
Runs March 13 – 17, 2020.
Winner will be drawn on March 23, 2020.
Author Biography:
Hunter J. Skye was born with a rare nightmare disorder, and was raised in a haunted late Victorian home. Those two factors predestined her to write ghost stories. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Hunter first went into museology, but her love of the written word drew her back to the keyboard. She now writes full time and paints part-time.
Hunter’s debut novel, A Glimmer of Ghosts has won four RWA awards pre-publication. It is the first book in The Hell Gate Series set in coastal Virginia. Book two is due out in late 2020.
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