The Once Upon A Princess stories came to me in excerpts. Bits and pieces of the story ideas came to me but I didn't know what to do with them. Finally after a lot of drafts I figured out what the stories would be about for Heart of Stone and Beauty & the Faun. They both have Beauty & the Beast as an influence, and Cinderella too. Land of Dreams came later and was inspired by a friend of mine (also a book blogger and reviewer) who really liked the hero from Heart of Stone. So he got his own story.
Two of the books are on sale for the month of February. Read about them below!
Formula for Fairy Tale Love: 1 Adventurous Heroine + 1 Tortured-But-Noble Hero = Happily-Ever-After
"Heart of Stone:" Leesa trespasses into a haunted palace, where she meets a lonely gargoyle. Breaking the spell that cursed him may carry a price steeper than she's able…or willing…to pay.
Read an excerpt:
She opened the door and stepped inside. Strangely, this room wasn't as dusty as the others.
The air was heavy with perfume. Across from the door was a folding screen decorated with blue and yellow flowers. Behind it she could make out the base of a claw-foot tub.
To her surprise, the entire room had a feminine feeling, from the huge bed covered with blush pink coverlets and plush furs to the gold-trimmed white furniture. Even the jewel-encrusted skylight above her had its own beauty, reflecting colorful sprinkles of light over the pale stone walls.
A white cabinet with glass doors caught her attention. The shelves held glass bottles of different shapes and sizes. Some had liquids inside, others were empty. What were these? Perfumes? Or maybe potions.
The Duke used magic. Maybe this was where he'd kept his enchantments. Would they be worth anything? Possibly. But just as Leesa reached out to open the cabinet, the door slammed behind her.
Startled, she spun around. She was alone. Who had closed it? Leesa ran to the door and gripped the handle, expecting the door to open as easily as it had when she'd come in. But it didn't. She pulled and banged on it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Beauty & the Faun:" Kayla flees an arranged marriage and falls for a faun shifter instead. But how can she ignore her duty by refusing to marry a prince?
Kayla leaned against the tree, her legs drawn up. A flash of memory from her childhood came to her, reminding her that she'd once had days like this back when her father was alive. The forest had been home then, with the three of them in their small house on the edge of the woods.
"Del, I've never met anyone like you," she said. "I haven't had a chance to have fun since my mother and I lived in the forest. I'm always working."
"You lived in the forest?" he asked.
"When my father was alive. But when he got sick and died, my mother and I moved in with my uncle and aunt."
"That's too bad," Del said. "You must miss him."
"I do. Do your parents live in the forest?"
"No. They live in a big house. I live there too, sometimes. But I love it out here. I feel free. The forest folk are very open and welcoming."
"Are there fairies here too?" Her father had talked about them, and how nice they were.
"Of course." Del yawned. "They're a lot of fun."
"Like satyrs?" she asked. She did want to know more about them.
He chuckled. "Not quite. Satyrs are always wanting to drink and have fun, but you have to watch them. They get too drunk and then, everybody's fighting. And they cheat at cards."
Kayla giggled. "Cards? They play cards? You're kidding." She couldn’t imagine the two who tried to kidnap her sitting at a card table.
"Sure they do." Del sat up and stretched. "They do everything humans do, just wilder and louder." He took a last bite of his apple, then threw the core aside.
Wild. That’s what Lady Agnes said her husband-to-be was. Wild. Maybe he was a satyr. Kayla suddenly felt queasy. What would she do if he shifted into one of those? Scream? Run away? What was she going to do?
"Del, I don't know what to do. If I go back, they'll marry me off." Going to town to find work seemed like a ridiculous idea now. As soon as her uncle found out, he'd come and force her back to his house.
"It's your choice, Kayla."
"But my mother can't stay at the house when I'm gone. She deserves a place of her own. My aunt has her there sewing her gowns. It should be the other way around."
He sighed, then ran his
fingers through his curly hair. "We'll figure it out. I wish you could
stay here with me."
Read more about the books here: https://authordebbailey.com/paranormal-romance/
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