Title: I’ll Be Seeing You
Author: Paris Brandon
Genre: 20th-century Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance
Book Blurb:
20th-century historical romance with a paranormal twist…
Jack Howland, part of an elite group of OSS special agents can’t resist the pull of the moon or the memory of his brief wartime romance with widowed USO hostess, Lulu Lane. After the war, their paths cross again, but will the truth about what he is send Lulu screaming into the night or back into his arms?
Excerpt:
It was difficult not to eavesdrop in a space as close as the tiny kitchen being utilized by two other USO hostesses, especially when they were discussing the handsome lieutenant who apparently was giving one or both of them the eye.
Louisa “Lulu” Lane didn’t need to ask who they were talking about. He had all the brooding elegance of Tyrone Power combined with the rough masculinity of a young Clark Gable. Her uncle would have been desperate to sign him before another studio could snatch him up.
One glance had caught his smoldering, dark-eyed gaze but she’d convinced herself that she must be mistaken. A skillful seamstress, she’d managed to tailor a too-large brown knit dress to drape so that it actually appeared she had a bust; not many looked past the horn-rimmed glasses and scraped-back auburn hair, but the one or two who’d given her another glance had been so shy they’d barely mumbled thank-you when she’d handed them a doughnut.
“We need a second opinion, Lulu.” Kate Whistler, blonde and buxom, her wasp-waist emphasized by the trim emerald-green belt that matched her fitted dress, whispered out the side of her mouth while her identical twin, Kitty, giggled mischievously. She’d called them the Bookends since primary school and nothing had changed in fifteen years. Of the two, Kitty would be the one she’d bet was up to something, and that didn’t bode well.
Lulu wiped the tell-tale sugary residue from her hands and picked up the tray of doughnuts she’d been arranging.
“About what?” She settled the tray into an empty space on the crowded counter.
“Which one of us is he looking at?” Kitty actually sighed when the he in question stood and started making his way through a sea of tables.
She adjusted her glasses and just barely resisted the urge to check the knot of auburn hair caught up at the nape of her neck for strays.
These days, any man looked better in a uniform, but the broad-shouldered lieutenant wore the recognizable army-olive wool, it didn’t wear him. With his dark hair and eyes, he would have been movie-star handsome, even without the strong square jaw, which at the moment was clamped shut, making his smile a little intense.
“Which one?” Kate whispered frantically, as if Lulu’s answer could determine the outcome.
His approach made answering the question irrelevant. Anyone with eyes, including the twins, knew whose gaze the lieutenant had snagged. They stopped chattering and she could feel her cheeks growing warm.
“Would you care for a doughnut, Lieutenant?” Lulu inquired awkwardly, breaking the small silence when Mr. Too Good To Be True didn’t say anything.
“No thank you, ma’am. Would you care to dance?” he countered, somewhat stiffly, and she tried to chalk it up to his military demeanor. Far from home and surrounded by strangers, some men clung to it like a lifeline.
They were supposed to dance if asked, but in the nearly three years she’d been a hostess, no one ever had.
“I’m afraid it’s my turn to convince everyone they want a doughnut.” She knew her cheeks were pink by now and was only a little gratified by the looks she was getting from the stunned Bookends.
He glanced around the small, empty space in front of the counter not crowded by tables. “Everyone’s dancing and you’re the only one who hasn’t been out of this kitchen all night.”
Kate smiled and patted Lulu’s shoulder as if she were an errant child. “Why don’t you take a break and dance with the nice lieutenant,” she said, in that butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth voice she used when she wanted something.
What she really meant was bring him back so they could have a go at him, which irked Lulu a little more than usual, but not as much as the vicious pinch Kitty delivered to her upper arm as she nudged Lulu toward the unsmiling officer.
Her hand was engulfed in his warm grip as he led her to the dance floor. She had about two seconds when she wished she could have worn something a little more attractive than the sedate, brown knit dress and matching low-heeled oxfords, but as a junior hostess, she’d always adhered to the established rules.
“I’m a little out of practice,” she said right before he swung her into his arms and a female singer doing a good imitation of Jo Stafford went into a rendition of “I’ll Be Seeing You”.
“So am I,” he mumbled gruffly, and she drew back, which was no easy feat, considering the strong arm holding her just the shady side of what would be considered proper. He seemed to grow more disturbed by the minute and she avoided his gaze by taking a quick inventory of the room.
There were girls in soft summer dresses, all pink and flowery, smiling and perfumed. None of them would have turned down the handsome lieutenant. Why ask her?
She placed a hand on his solid chest. “Did somebody put you up to this? Did you lose a bet or something?”
He loosened his grip and took a deep breath right before he slid her left hand to his shoulder. When his fingers brushed over the third finger of her right hand, and detected the evidence she was a widow, he uttered a harsh, whispered word that might have been a vehement curse in another language.
“Or something,” he said very clearly, his breath warm against her ear. “Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your mind?”
“Daily. What’s that got to do with you asking me to dance?”
“What’s your name?”
“Lulu Lane. What comes after Lieutenant?” she asked, trying not to get lost in the sensation of being moved around the floor by a handsome man while people stared.
“Jack. Jack Howland,” he snapped, but then he snugged her tighter to his chest and his hand drifted over her back as if he were soothing a wound.
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Author Biography:
USA Today bestselling author Paris Brandon writes contemporary, paranormal, erotic and historical romance, throwing in a little mystery and suspense for good measure. She can be found most days bent over her keyboard creating worlds where sleeping beauty turns out to be a cursed bootlegger or an outlaw shifter is forced to go on the run with the assassin tasked with killing her.
When not dreaming up stories featuring heroes who aren’t intimidated by strong heroines, she can be found searching through antique and thrift stores for vintage treasures, or communing with nature, which is code for sitting on the patio with a cup of tea and a good book. And as with any activity, chocolate is usually involved.
Social Media Links:
Website: http://parisbrandon.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ParisBrandon
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/parisbrandonaut/
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00N3M7EEM