Here's a sneak peek at its probable cover. I say probable because sometimes there are subtle changes when we live with them awhile.
I am already starting to line up the next book in the series. They are a lot more western than I had expected but I should have expected it. They are set in Tucson but also out into the desert and at a ranch which has come down through their family. Some of the books may have more city in them, but the next one will have even less and travel north for some of its story to the Verde Valley.
Here's a clip from The Enchantress' Secret which will likely go to beta readers within a week and if that goes well (this is out of their normal romance genre reading), I could see it out by the end of May... and me well into writing the next one. Nick is a painter and Denali a witch. John Cordova is a Yaqui who has drifted away from his family.
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John took a big swallow of his wine. “Guess I did.” He
looked at her. “You’re a witch too. I knew that first time I saw you but the
real deal, a good witch, one born to it, ain’t you?”
She nodded. “As was my grandmother and great grandmother. It
is on both sides for my sister and me as the one side has the Yaqui shaman
magic.”
He smiled. “Powerful combination. Dangerous in the wrong
hands.”
“We understand that. Do you do magic, John?”
He shook his head. “Not since… No.”
“But you did once.”
He looked uneasy. “Maybe but no more.”
“But if there was a storm coming, you might again if the need
arose.”
The old man looked at her and then shook his head. “Don’t
want to.”
“I understand that. It’s a lot of responsibility but
sometimes, it has to be done for good.”
He sucked in a breath. “I’ll leave you two.” He looked back
at Denali. “Glad he’s got you until he’s ready to understand all that he
faces.” With that he was gone.
Nick took another long draw on his cigarette. “Strange,” he
said as he looked at her through the smoke.
She smiled. “He’s a good witness as to the problem with
Cynthia. I am afraid that if she kept photos of you, they will show up in her
home. She may have talked to her girlfriends and who knows what she told them.”
“I see the writing on the wall. I’m being set up.”
“It seems that way.”
“You think by someone who used the women or created their
motivations?”
That was pretty insightful but she supposed she should have
expected it from someone who had been a SEAL and used to espionage and attacks.
“It could have been either. I hope my family will know more tonight.”
“Me too as I don’t relish being in a prison cell for things
I didn’t do. I think I can safely say with the publicity my art career will be
in the toilet.”
“If the publicity gets out.”
“It’s pretty salacious to not. Nothing about this is good.”
“Well there is one thing.”
“And?” He was looking in a bleak mood and she couldn’t blame
him.
“You have a good friend in John Cordova. He has adopted you
it seems.”
“And you. You adopted me too.”
She smiled at that. “Oh no, my motives aren’t any purer than
Cynthia’s.”
He grinned. “You though have had encouragement. Do you need
more?”
“Oh no, I just am thinking you need to stop sleeping alone
at night.” She laughed.
“Ah, my alibi... the witch.”
She laughed. “You might prefer to say the Hemstreet
heiress.” With that, she moved across the room and sat back on his lap. “Shall
we take off from where we were?”
