One Last Chance to be a Fairy Tale Hero - a Blog Tour and Book Excerpt for "The Boat on the Lake of Regret"

BOOK EXCERPT

Opening:

“Hannah!” Dylan calls. “Hannah?”

A shiver of worry runs up my spine. He never uses my real name.

“Here! I’m in the parlor!” Footsteps thunder down the hallway and Dylan bursts in. His hair is all mussed, his face is wild, and his jeans are in deplorable shape.

“What on earth happened? Come in and—”

“I’m fine. It’s yourself who needs to be careful.”

Fancy that, after barely making time for me for weeks, he bursts into my own home and orders me around!

He sees his mistake immediately. “I didn’t mean—look, I brought you this, Henny luv.”

Well, that’s a little better. He holds out his palm and I move close to look. He smells of campfire and sweat and rain, and I rest my hand on his arm just to feel the steady solid warmth of him.

“Oh, you didn’t have to buy me a ring! I’ve told you already that I’ll marry you, and we’re trying to save up.”

Despite my protests, the ring is lovely, and I reach for it, but Dylan closes his fist before I can touch it.

“It’s not that…I mean, of course we are. It’s just”—he takes my hand, his fingers cool and gentle—“there’s a whole story, but”—he slides the skin-warmed metal over my first knuckle—“first I want to —”