A change of seasons is in the air, potential shimmering in the trees’ bright new colors. Even though temperatures hover in the 80s, leaves crunch underfoot on my daily walks through Tacoma. September feels like the start of a new year, even six years after leaving my teaching career. Do you feel it too?
These golden late-summer days give me the chance to do my final read-aloud, paper-and-pencil edit outdoors. Feels odd to read a Christmas story while basking in the heat.
A quick glance at any social media platform will show people already getting excited about Halloween–perhaps because summer was such a disappointment. Of course, with the pandemic still squashing our celebrations, we’ll have to find new ways to enjoy the fall and winter holidays this year. How might we deliver candy to social-distanced trick-or-treaters, I wonder? A chute made of PVC pipe that drops sanitized goodies directly into their treat bags? A candy catapult? A slingshot loaded with Sweetarts and Snickers?
I’ll miss the costume parties, but we can still enjoy our decorations, horror movies, and spooky books. For example, Keta Diablo’s latest suspenseful, supernatural romantic thriller:
Cecily’s been called home for her brother’s funeral. She’s determined to find out how Calder really died, even if it’s her last act in life.
When twins Cecily and Calder Sizemore’s parents are killed in a car accident, they’re adopted by the Frost family—Gus, Mae and their sons, Marcel and Elliott. Over the years, Cecily’s love for Marcel evolves into anything but sisterly.
Cecily always knew something was amiss in the Frost household. Little things belied the calm, peaceful ambiance Mae did her best to portray. Calder tried to warn her things were not as they appeared, but she didn’t want to believe him. When Calder begs her to leave Des Moines, start a new life away from the secrets, away from the Frosts and away from Marcel, she takes his advice and her shattered heart and moves to Minnesota.
Now she’s been called home for her beloved brother’s funeral. There’s more to the story than meets the eye. Discrepancies in how her twin died lead her back to Des Moines, and back to Marcel―the boy who stole her heart, the man whose very presence turns her blood to liquid fire. Marcel has always kept dangerous secrets, but this time, Cecily is determined to uncover the truth about the Frosts… and the truth about how Calder really died.
She’ll find out what really happened to her brother, even if it’s her last act in life.
Excerpt:
Cecily waited until Elliott’s footsteps faded before she pinned Marcel with a lethal glare. Too bad he couldn’t see it behind her shades. “Enlighten me, Marcel. I want to know the truth.”
“It was just a weekend getaway.” He ran his hands through the hair at his forehead. “St. Louis hosts several fourth of July celebrations every year, Riverfest, Fair St. Louis….” His voice dwindled on a heavy sigh.
Lord help her, could she even say the words? “What happened, how did Calder die?”
“Car accident.” He blew air through his lips. “Calder made a late-night beer run and…and…the sheriff said he spied tracks from a deer sprinting at top speed across the dirt road. Calder must have swerved to avoid the animal and hit a tree.”
“The irony is perverse, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Irony?”
“Oh, come on, Marcel. Our parents died in a car accident and now Calder?”
“Call it perverse, coincidental, whatever you want, Cecily. I don’t think about how he died; just how much I miss him…will always miss him.”
She couldn’t bear the grief dwelling in his eyes, his voice. Calling on every ounce of her buried composure, she tossed another question at him. “Was he alone in the car?”
Marcel gave a slow nod, but the flicker in his eyes contradicted the head motion. He must not know she’d memorized his body language, his every nuance, ages ago. A tug at the corner of his mouth meant a semblance of joy, a tic in his jaw, anger. But truth and lies walk a thin line and both resided behind those luminous orbs at the moment.
“Who made the decision to seal the casket before I arrived?”
“Me. I didn’t want to put you through…wanted you to remember him in life. Both Mom and the coroner concurred.”
She blew a huff of air. “Yeah? Well, you, Mae and the coroner are not his next of kin.”
Anger laced his words. “I did it for you, Cecily.”
This time, his eyes didn’t lie. “So, who identified—?”
“Me.” His face blighted by pain his voice guttered like a candle flame. “I identified him for the mortuary in St. Louis, before they shipped his body home.” The seconds ticked by while he held her stare. At last, he spoke. “You got something to say, Cecily, say it.”
Every bone in her body ached, not like when she had the flu, but rather a dull pain in the deepest part of her marrow. If she lived to be one hundred, she’d never get used to the aberrant discomfort that took flight in her bones when something in her world was off. “I do have something to say. Call it intuition, but something reeks here.”
Palms up, Marcel’s hands came out at his sides. Translation—a defiant stance that meant she was getting under his skin. “Look, I don’t know what your internal truth compass is pointing to, but it’s like I said. Now, why don’t you run back to your cozy little life of tea leaves and tarot cards in that quaint little resort town you live in and get on with your perfect little life with your perfect little boyfriend?”
ebook: Https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZFC5WT7/
Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Spy-Demon-Hunter-Novel/dp/167464485X/
About Keta
Keta Diablo lives in the Midwest part of the United States on six acres of gorgeous woodland. When she isn’t writing or gardening, she loves to commune with nature. A pair of barn owls returns to the property every year to birth their young and show them off in the high branches of the oak trees. Nothing more adorable than these white fluffy babies with heart-shaped faces. A lifelong animal lover, Keta devotes her time and support to the local animal shelter. Emma LaPounce, a rescued feline, has been her furry companion for the last ten years.
Keta is an award-winning and bestselling author who writes in several genres: Western Romance, Historical Romance, Paranormal Romance and Contemporary Romance. In a past life, she wrote Gay Romance. Her books have received numerous accolades, including RWA contest finalist, Authors After Dark finalist, Top Pick of the Month and Recommended Review from many top review sites, and Best Romance Finalist from The Independent Author Network.
Ps: For some strange reason, ghosts often show up in her stories.
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