Thursday 31 October 2013

Kristi Ahlers: The Trouble with Halloween

A big round of welcomes goes out to Kristi Ahlers who returns to use today to talk about her latest release in her wildly popular Trouble Series. Book #8 is released today, The Trouble with Halloween. No better day for it!

Kristi is a California girl at heart but has moved around not only America but Europe as well with her Marine family. Now, based on the US east coast, her husband is enjoying his retirement, but her two sons have now enlisted, following in dad's footsteps. No prouder mother than Kristi.

A retired flight attendant, Kristi has switched modes and now enjoys her time at home, making up for all those tours her husband made in the Marines and engaging in one of her passions--writing.

The Trouble with Halloween is the eighth book in The Trouble Series. Yes, you read that correctly. Book number eight. Seems there's trouble everywhere and Kristi has the knack for finding it!

Ever since Everly Treymore turned thirteen, she's been haunted by dreams. They come every year now, thirteen days before Halloween, which means they start on the 19th of October and last every night straight up to Halloween day. This year, she's ready to put it all behind her. She's tired for the troublesome dreams and needs some answers, but that means a trip to Salem, Massachusetts.

Alexander Danforth joined the military as a way to put the past behind him and bury the guilt he's carried since he was thirteen. He's forced home to Salem when his beloved grandmother has a stroke. He promises to help her in her tarot shop until she's well. Unbeknownst to him, she's thrilled to have him home. He must face his past if he'll ever stop running from it long enough to have a future.

When Everly and Alexander meet, they both realize they share a secret, but it's one they must get past if they're to find love.

Wow, wow, wow! There's a lot of story here, and it's still a novelette. This is a paranormal, and as it's set in Salem, we can't not take a trip into the past. Especially on Halloween. Kristi weaves the past and present wonderfully to create a wholly believable tale. Her characters are real people with real life issues they must both deal with in order to face a happier future. This story is full of action and adventure, and that signature building love story Kristi is so well known for. She can write a kiss like nobody else! And when you mean Alexander, you'll know why. There's a little of everything in this story -- romance, history, a little paranormal activity, and some Halloween fun. Definitely a mood lifter, even if it gives you a spine tingle or two.

Before we get to the excerpt, Kristi is giving away a copy of The Trouble with Halloween to one random commenter, so be sure to drop her a comment or question (*don't forget your contact email address so we can reach you) to be automatically added in the draw.

• • •

Everly Treymore has been haunted by a dream that started when she was thirteen and returns every year, thirteen days before Halloween. This year she is ready to put the past behind her and find a happy ending. First however she needs to confront what the dream really means. This means a trip to Salem, Massachusetts. When she meets Salem local Alexander Danforth she realizes that he’s part of her story—and maybe you really never do put your past behind you. At least not when it’s true love.

Alexander Danforth has been carrying the weight of guilt on his shoulders for since he was thirteen. He’s tried to do everything he can to ease that burden by joining the military. When his beloved grandmother has a stroke, he comes back to Salem to help her run her lotions and potions and tarot shop. She’s thrilled he’s back because time is drawing near where he’s going to have to finally face his past to make peace. When he sees Everly for the first time, it’s like a sucker punch to the gut. He’ll do whatever he has to in order to protect the one woman he’s been waiting all his life for.

 
Salem, Massachusetts, 1691
 
A fine sheen of perspiration covered their bodies. He bent his head and took her mouth in a deep, wet kiss, his tongue mimicking the movement of his hips, firing her desire and need. Oh, how she adored this man. He was everything to her.

She craved their time alone more than anything. They had talked earlier of their plans for the future once they told his family about their relationship. His family, well connected in the new world and in Salem Village, had very specific plans for his love and they needed to be cautious since she didn’t figure into those plans at all. It wouldn’t do for them to show their attraction too openly for fear of attracting censor from the puritan community. This she understood and soon they would pledge themselves to each other in front of friends and family.

Until this happened, their love would remain between them—a delicious secret.

She didn’t know where she started and he ended. It was perfect. They fit like two halves of a whole. She reached around and grasped his backside, holding him close as she relished the sensation of being surrounded by him, possessed by this man who made her desire him above all else. Was she under a spell as it had been whispered among the good people of Salem, was there an enchantment at work that would cause her to throw her beliefs and purity aside as if it mattered not? She didn’t know and she didn’t care, all she knew was she wanted this more than her next breath.

Before she reached completion the door to her house crashed open.

“Harlot, enchantress!”

Pain, frustration and shame seared her to her very soul as her lover was ripped from her arms, the blame for all on her shoulders.

“I told you good sir, she was working her black magic. This man was above repute before she came to town and darkened our village with her vile sinful self.”

“But I’ve done nothing wrong,” she exclaimed as men seized her and without a care for her modesty dragged her from her cottage.

“We must rid Salem Village of this deceiver and devil’s handmaiden.”

• • •
Kristi Ahlers is a California girl! She grew up in Northern California in a small city called Yuba City. Since then she's lived in Brussels, Belgium, and England along with a myriad of other locations. A former flight attendant, she was able to continue to feed her love of travel. This has greatly influenced her writing, allowing her to pen stories about places she's managed to visit and things she's experienced.

Kristi loves to hear from her readers.

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