Title: To Love a London Ghost
Author: Cornelia Amiri
Genre: Paranormal Comedy Romance
Book Blurb:
A Wild Ghost Chase
Queen Victoria orders the premiere phantom hunter, Sexton Dukenfield, to track down England’s missing ghosts. On the job, Sexton stumbles into Ceridwen, a phantom Celtic warrior woman. Not only does Sexton find her intriguing as a clue to the missing spirits, her sultry beauty haunts him as well.
Though they both burn with desire, it’s difficult to quench their fiery passion. Since Ceridwen is so translucent. On a mission through the bustling narrow streets of London, to a dreary match factory, and to the Otherworld and back to stop a genius scientist and his phantasm debilitater machine, the ghost and the ghost hunter seek the secret …to freeing the boundaries of life and death. Is it possible…or just a wild ghost chase?
Excerpt:
Sexton stepped out of the factory door. His heart pounded. In the next moment, it nearly stopped altogether as a cloud of white mist floated through the brick wall, and onto the sidewalk right in front of him and Katie. He jumped back, then he gasped, and Katie screamed as it formed into the shape of a translucent woman outlined in a glowing white light.
Taken off guard, Sexton finally managed to catch his breath. “Do you see her?”
Katie bobbed her head, then raised her thin, trembling arm and pointed at the apparition. “Ghost.”
The specter spread her feet in a warrior stance, with her back straight and her chin tilted up. “Keep your box and magic beam away from me.”
Even in these strange circumstances, Sexton couldn’t help but notice the ectoplasm outline of the lush bulge of her heavy breasts. He riveted his eyes on them, then his gaze roamed to her waist, which flared into curved hips.
“These?” He grabbed the devices strapped over his shoulder, one in each hand. “No magic, just boxes. They measure energy and heat, to tell me if phantasms are near. They can’t hurt you. Though I don’t need them now. I can see you, I know you’re near.” He turned his head toward the child peering at the specter from behind him.
“A real ghost,” Katie exclaimed.
“Indeed, and looking right at me.” Sexton turned his head back to the stunning spirit. He could tell her hair had been blonde and her eyes a sky blue. He felt warm being near her, rather than cold. Looking the phantasm in the eyes, he said, “I’m not going to hurt you and I was just going to ask you to not hurt me. I can help you go back to the light.”
“I’m not going to the light or anywhere else until I free the others and bring vengeance on those men for capturing me.”
“Others? Do you mean there are more phantasms in the factory?” He nodded toward the building. “Captured by men, did you say?”
“Yes, eight ghosts.”
Sexton took a deep breath. “Well, well...you are just the phantasm I was looking for.”
“We need to free them,” the beautiful spirit said.
“Yes, indeed, and I am here to rescue them. The Queen sent me.”
The phantasm gave an impatient shrug. “The queen of what tribe?”
“The Queen of England.” Sexton swept his eyes down her translucent body and noticed she wore a plaid cloak over a tunic and baggy pants, and a torque banded her neck.
“The one who lives in Buckingham palace,” Katie piped up.
The phantasm blinked her eyes and stared at Sexton, baffled. “It’s been two thousand years since I lived here, I don’t know this queen you speak of.”
They heard men’s shouts from the warehouse, and growling dogs. The dogs became quiet.
“They must have found the bones you dropped, Katie. Good girl, that will give us time to get away.” He nodded at the spirit. “I am on the Queen’s business, and I can’t let the villains involved in this phantasm-napping catch me or recapture you.”
The apparition fluttered her fingers as if waving away his advice. “No, we must get the others out.”
“Come to my house and we will sort it all out there.”
“Is the ghost coming with us?” Katie’s body moved from stooping to stretching on her tiptoes as her gaze scanned the specter from bottom to top.
“Yes, we are all leaving now. Run!” Sexton sprinted away and when his leather soles hit the street curb, he waved his arms frantically to flag down a steam-powered carriage heading their way.
Sexton tossed the driver a coin, lifted Katie inside and climbed in after her. No one or nothing else appeared to be there, but when he glanced at the meters on both machines, he knew the lovely phantasm was with them.
Having already worked up its head of steam, the horseless carriage puffed and rumbled at full power away from the factory.
Sexton peered at the empty-looking space where he knew the spirit sat. “You’ve no doubt never seen a contraption like this. Since you are a phantasm, you may know Albert, he’s our queen’s deceased husband.”
Suddenly, her white misty body appeared, sitting across from him. “I don’t know all the dead and this is much like a wagon, but it’s closed in, which is odd, and it moves without horses, by itself. It must be druid magic.”
“Ah, I see, you must be an ancient Briton. I realized that when I saw your torque. I can assure you, a lot has changed since your day. This carriage is not due to magic at all, it’s due to Albert. You see after its inventor, Richard Trevithick died, the prince discovered that the reason Trevithick’s high-pressure steam engines exploded wasn’t due to any fault in their design. No, they were sabotaged.”
Katie leaned her head to the side. “Are we going to explode, Papa Sexton?”
“What is explode?” The glowing phantasm leaned back.
“A burst of sparks and fire and a loud bang.” Sexton gestured with his hands and mimicked the kapow, boom, and pop noises it would cause.
Katie leaned forward, giggling.
The phantom shook her ectoplasm head at Sexton. “Walk or take a horse.”
“There is no need to worry; there hasn’t been a steam carriage explosion since Prince Albert declared Trevithick a genius, who had been unfairly branded with folly and madness by an ignorant press.”
The expression on the phantasm’s face marked Sexton as a man of folly and madness.
“The papers referred to his invention as a ‘steam circus,’ but the prince knew better, and he was further enthused at the savings these contraptions provide, with no feeding or upkeep of horses.”
“I like riding in it. It’s fun.” Katie squirmed on the seat.
“So, it won’t explode?” the phantasm asked.
“With my luck, it might.” Sexton leaned back against the cushioned leather seat.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
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B & N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-love-a-london-ghost-cornelia-amiri/1125125341?ean=2940153490526
What’s your favorite thing about autumn:
Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday. I also like fall food: apple pie, sweet potato pie, caramels, candy corn, real roasted corn, cornbread dressing, and cranberry sauce. And the cooler weather. I live in Houston, so we don’t have the beautiful orange, red, and yellow leaves in fall, but the heat and humidity let up a bit and I love that.
What inspired you to write this story:
Seeing Steampunk Ghostbuster cosplayers at Steampunk Cons inspired me. And the main male character, Sexon Dukenfield is inspired by W. C. Fields. His real name was William Claude Dukenfield. I used his last name. Sexton was my great, great grandfather’s first name. So, the book is funny and along with being a paranormal romance, it’s also steampunk and historical—Victorian. It’s uses the grumpy/sunshine trope. If you are familiar with W. C. Fields, then you know which of the characters is the grump.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $75 Amazon US or Canada gift card
Open internationally. You must have a valid Amazon US or Amazon CA account to win.
Runs September 1 – 30
Drawing will be held on October 3.
Author Biography:
The Celtic Warrior Queen made me start writing professionally. I love history and in reading a book about the dark ages, I came across the rebel queen. She inspired me so much, I started jotting down notes, but they were fiction, visions of me involved in the Boudica revolt. Before I knew it, I had accidentally written a rough draft for a novel. And I've been writing books on purpose ever since. Drawing on my love of a happy ending I have currently penned 35 published romance books. When not writing, I love to read, watch movies, and attend local comic cons.
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