To lure his nemesis, the Shadow Lord Umbra, out of hiding, Kai Elias allowed himself to be beaten and poisoned. He became lost and sick and thought he was human. Rey Kean found him and nursed him and named him Greyson, and he fell in love with her. Rey infiltrated Umbra’s castle to get her sweet Greyson’s antidote. Umbra discovered her and used her as bait to bring Elias to his castle. Umbra has now trapped both Elias and Rey in his dungeon. While Elias is in a trance to try to effect their escape, Umbra threatens harm to a girl Rey cares about to make Rey attack Elias. Elias wakes from the trance just in time to catch Rey’s attack. *** Elias wasn’t surprised Rey had attacked him. Umbra loved using others to make his prey vulnerable. He’d pull out all the stops to make Rey do his dirty work. The male had a lot to answer for. Elias had been fighting the Shadow Lord’s minions for years, but now it was personal. “If you’re going to kill vampires,” he said to Rey, “I’ll show you some more effective techniques.” Her jaw dropped; she’d expected retaliation. Natural, though it…

My first book in the Enchanted Rock Series was GOODBYE, LARK LOVEJOY. With its many characters, the novel provided threads to pull from later when I began writing the future books in the series. Of those, Sissie Klein was a minor character, married to a man who, to put this kindly, was confused about his commitments and priorities. Although her role in the first novel was that of a supporting character, Sissie whispered to me, “I have a story, too.” I considered how easily we make assumptions about relationships from the outside, asking: Why is she/he with her/him? How did they get together? What keeps them in the relationship? What’s keeping them from leaving? So I gave it a whirl, writing Sissie’s story in first-person because I wanted to see what Sissie saw, hear her thoughts, and sense her emotions. I sat with her when she learned she was pregnant. I feared for her newborn daughter’s fragile health, and I grieved when her marriage hit the rocks. Sissie taught me a thing or two about assumptions, but that’s not all I learned while writing this novel: Everyone has a story. Don’t overlook the possibilities of the quiet girl at the…