Title: Away: The Folk, Book 1
Author: Meg Benjamin
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Book Blurb:
His job is keeping secrets, but she needs the truth. Even if it destroys them both.
Grim Morrigan, Guardian of the Ward and part-time private detective, polices the Folk, the clans of fairies who live in the foothills outside Denver. But his main job is concealing their true nature from the mortals around them.
Enter mortal Annie Duran, who hires him to look for her brother Richard, missing and presumed dead for ten years. Annie has seen Richard in the parking lot of the nightclub where she works. Now she wants answers, and Grim’s supposed to find them. The quest for Richard ensnares the two in a sinister conspiracy, but they also discover their own overwhelming attraction.
When Annie herself disappears, Grim’s need for answers is even more urgent. With the help of a dissolute prince and a motley crew of unlikely fairies, Grim confronts a rebellion among the Folk. And it may take more than just magic and luck to save both Annie and Grim this time.
Excerpt:
The front man folded his arms. “You’ve got a reputation for being smart. We’ve got a reputation for sticking together. We’re not handing over anybody. We protect our own.”
Grim suppressed a groan. Clearly, arguing wasn’t going to work, and they were on the clock. Time for Plan B. “Then your only other chance is to find a way to make them let you go.”
A snort in the back from one of them. “You think they’ll let us go? They’re freakin’ Seelies.”
“It won’t be easy. But if they started thinking it might be more comfortable for them not to have you here, then maybe . . .” Grim trailed off pointedly.
The leader stared him down. “Maybe what?”
“Touchy people, those Seelies. Not mountain people, like you and me. Out of their element here.” Grim jerked a thumb toward the door. “Take Gowan, for instance. He thinks this is a godforsaken place.”
He had their undivided attention now. The leader raised his eyebrows. “What’s your plan?”
“I don’t have one. Other than making the Seelies think there are better things to do than torturing you all to death.”
“And how do we do that?”
“By showing Gowan what the Barbegazi can do. I understand you have a spell to change the temperature—what you used last night on the beer. Now would be a good time to use it.”
The leader blinked in confusion. “Use it how? What do you want from us?”
“Can you focus it?”
“We did with the beer,” another Barbegazi snickered, and the leader’s jaw tightened.
“Use it now,” Grim suggested. “On the Seelie.”
“Will it work?”
“Who knows? If I can’t get you out of here, you’re all dead men anyway.”
The leader licked his lips and nodded morosely as the door opened and Gowan and Bertie re-entered the room.
“Well?” Gowan raised an immaculate eyebrow.
“The gentlemen feel their sense of loyalty to one another prevents them from betraying their comrade.”
“They’re ours, then.” Gowan stepped forward. “I’ll take them to the punishment suite.”
“There are a few things you might want to consider first.” Grim pulled a chair around, sitting with his arms folded across the back.
Gowan sneered. “And what would those be, halfling? You ready for another duel? I can give you a hotter blast this time.”
Insults again. Well, it was a start. “First, the Council of Chieftains is in charge of all the mountain people, including the Barbegazi. They might not take kindly to the murder of innocent Folk when only one is guilty of a relatively minor offense.”
“Minor?” Gowan sputtered. “They practiced magic where the mortals could see. The broke the most serious of our laws.”
“Ah, but we live in a cold climate. Making beer into ice is hardly more than what might happen naturally. The owner can be compensated for his losses. The Barbegazi can pay the necessary fine. And you could avoid offending the clans’ sense of justice.” Grim didn’t look at Bertie. The idea of the clans having a sense of justice was just this side of laughable.
Gowan gestured rudely toward his prisoners. “You think anyone here cares about mountain trash like this?”
Now came the tricky part. “If you murder innocent Barbegazi, which is undoubtedly the way the Barbegazi themselves will see it, you would almost certainly receive their curse. And the Barbegazi curse isn’t something you can easily dismiss.”
“The Barbegazi curse?” Gowan snorted. “What curse? Eternal dirt and bad clothes? I’ll take my chances.”
“The Barbegazi have more resources than you give them credit for,” Grim said mildly. “They’ve been in these mountains much longer than the Seelies. And before that they lived in the mountains of the Old World. In fact, in the old times I’ve been told they never came below the timber line. Right?” He inclined his head to the leader, who was crouched on his left.
He nodded slowly. “We came from the ice. It was our element. We rode the great snow slides down the mountains and carved our homes in the glaciers.”
Across from them, Bertie pulled his coat tighter.
Another Barbegazi turned toward Gowan, his voice low. “The curse begins in cold. Your hands and feet are never warm again. Then it travels to arms and legs, like frost across a frozen lake.”
His mouth a rigid line, Gowan flexed his fingers.
“When it reaches your stomach, it’s like you ate a dinner of sleet,” another Barbegazi threw in. “No matter how much coffee or tea or even mulled wine you drink, your guts stay frozen.”
Grim resisted the urge to zip his coat. The Barbegazi spell was spilling over onto him, too, but he didn’t want any distractions right now.
“Then it hits your balls,” the Barbegazi leader said with relish. “They shrink to the size of pebbles and your cock is no bigger than your thumb. And it never comes to size because the cold never leaves you.”
Something old and dark had entered the room. Not a trick this time. Mountain magic, from before the time the Barbegazi had moved below the timberline. Ancient power slid through the space like hoarfrost. Grim fought down his own shivering.
The Seelie’s ears were rimmed with ice. Spots of white and yellow marked the beginning of frostbite on Gowan’s cheeks. His hands were reddening around the joints. “Stop it,” he snapped.
“It’s a curse, Gowan. It doesn’t stop unless they rescind it.” Grim had to stiffen his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. “And this is only a taste of what it’s like. A brief demonstration, more or less. Give them to me and the curse won’t be imposed. Drag them off to the punishment suite, and you and your men had better lay in a supply of electric blankets. But they won’t do you much good.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4efOaf2
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Meg_Benjamimn_Away?id=B34gEQAAQBAJ&hl=en_US
Note: The Folk trilogy is a reissue and it’s currently up for preorder. I’m struggling to get the reissue listed on Goodreads and Book Bub rather than the previous version that was published by Soul Mate. So I don’t have link from these two sources.
If you could dress up as anything or anyone this Halloween, what or who would it be and why?
Always a witch. I love the idea of powerful old ladies who scare the hell out of the local establishment. Of course, I’m not quite as taken with the whole burning-at-the-stake thing, but like the T-shirt says, “We’re the descendants of the witches you didn’t burn.”
Explain why your featured book is a treat to read:
I had so much fun writing the Folk trilogy. I got to do a deep dive into fairy lore and then translate it into contemporary Colorado. If fairies were humans with a few special powers, where would they live, how would they behave, how would they keep their magic a secret? Away kicks everything off with a mysterious disappearance that leads to all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. And, of course, there’s a hot romance between a member of the Folk (i.e., the fairies) and a mortal. Or is she?
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs October 1 – 31, 2024
Drawing will be held on November 1, 2024.
Author Biography:
Meg Benjamin is an award-winning author of romance and cozy mysteries. Meg’s Konigsburg series is set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are set in the Colorado Rockies (all are available from Entangled Publishing and from Meg’s indie line). Her new cozy mystery series, Luscious Delights from Wild Rose Press, concerns a jam-making sleuth based in the mythical small town of Shavano, Colorado. Along with romance and cozies, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix and the Folk trilogy from Meg’s indie line. Meg’s books have won numerous awards, including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1/ (personal)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/megbenj1
Instagram: meg_benjamin
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/megbenjamin/
Website: http://www.MegBenjamin.com/