Monday, March 30, 2015

Guest Blog: Three Wishes by Debra Dunbar



Right now I’m fascinated by the paranormal.  Okay, I’ll admit I’ve always been fascinated by the paranormal.  When I was five, I was convinced that the neighbor’s flower garden held a gateway to the fairy realms.  I was a changeling, and the elves would come back for me any day.  Oh, and pirates had hidden treasure in the garbage incinerator.

There were other flights of imaginative fantasy– my plans for a three story home inside an oak tree complete with an elevator, killer leeches in the shallows, and creepy killers in the house across the lake. But nothing fueled my childhood stories like elves, vampires, werewolves.

And angels and demons.  It’s an unlikely romance.  Opposites attract.  Ancient enemies find love.  But in Three Wishes, the romance between Asta and Dar is more than just an unusual pairing.  Asta’s been told her whole life that demons are evil, that they’d lost their divinity, fought against the others and fell.  The demons she’s met to date have supported that ingrained prejudice. 

But Dar is different.  He’s funny, impulsive, and along with his amoral propensity for bribery, he’s loyal and capable of deeply connecting with the humans Asta has spent the last 100 year protecting.  He completely turns all her notions of demonic behavior upside down. Which is just what an angel needs.

It’s a match made in heaven.


Three Wishes
Debra Dunbar

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Publisher: Anessa Books

Date of Publication: March 7, 2015

ISBN: 978-1505671193
ASIN: B00RKE5608

Number of pages: 229
Word Count: 79,000

Cover Artist: Phatpuppy Art

Book Description:

Dar helped his foster sister become the ruler of Hel, and helped her free the enslaved humans from the elves. It’s about time he helped himself – to a fun week of mayhem in the Windy City. Collapsing a few buildings and corrupting politicians is an ideal vacation for a demon in Chicago, but Dar didn’t count on a beautiful angel sabotaging his fun and putting him to work.

Asta is an angelic enforcer, scanning for demons in her assigned territory and sending them to an early grave. Unfortunately, the latest trespasser from Hel has diplomatic immunity - but immunity doesn’t mean she can’t coerce him into helping her track and dispatch the powerful demon that’s been cycling in and out of her radar for the last few days.

Demons are the sworn enemies of every angel, but Asta must learn to trust Dar or the dark presence that is growing in Chicago will spread - and this particular enemy has the skills and knowledge to send human civilization back to the dark ages.

She has one week left as an enforcer before she returns to her heavenly home – one week to catch an elusive monster, and one week to safeguard her heart from the demon who is determined to seduce her to sin.

Available at Amazon     iTunes    BN

Excerpt 3
She gave him a watery smile.  “And flying?  I’m sure you fly all the time, since you have immunity and don’t need to fear death at the hand of us angels.”
Don’t look down, don’t look down.
“Uhhh, I don’t fly.”
The angel’s eyes widened.  “You don’t fly?  I know you all lost your wings in the Fall, but I thought you could still manifest those leathery bat-type wings.  What do you mean; you don’t fly?”
“I . . . we . . . .” Dar made the mistake of looking down and felt himself break out in a sweat, his hands white knuckled as he gripped the rim of the roof.  “Not all demons can manifest wings.  I can’t.  I don’t fly.”
Silence fell, and Dar felt her pity.  It grated on him like sandpaper.  “I don’t want to fly.  It’s not my thing.  I’m a rat.  I like it underground in caves and tunnels.  The air isn’t my thing.”
As soon as he’d said the words, a lump settled in his throat.  She was an angel with an affinity for air, and he couldn’t fly — wouldn’t fly.  The very thought of it sent chills down his spine.
“I’ll fly you.  You need to experience it, even if just this once.  If you don’t like it, that’s fine — you don’t ever have to do it again.”
Dar tensed, his hands gripping the ledge of the roof so hard he feared it would crumble in his grasp. A hand touched his shoulder, and he jumped with an involuntary reflex.
“Trust me.  I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear.  Trust me.” Her mouth turned up in the most adorable smile ever. “I’ve trusted you these last few days.  It’s your turn.”
The demon drew a shaky breath.  It was as good a day to die as any. “Okay.  Just a short flight.”
He glanced over and saw the warm approval in her face.  Moonlight and some inner glow lit her like a beacon in the night.  Golden brown.  Everything about her was like a warm loaf of bread right out of the oven.  Maybe he was wrong.  Maybe she’d drop him from a thousand feet up, or drown him in Lake Michigan.  It didn’t matter, because he was lost in the beautiful joy shining from her dark eyes.
“I’ll even fly you in your rat form.  How’s that?  Both of us conquering our fears at the same time.”
Who says I’m afraid?  It’s what Dar wanted to say, but instead something totally different came out. “Right.  You’ll be more likely to panic and drop me as a rat than as a demon.  I know how you feel about rodents.”
The brown eyes widened then Asta threw back her head and laughed.  It was a deep, smoky, musical laugh, and Dar felt his hands loosen on the roof ledge.
“I swear on my eternal soul that I will not drop you.”  The angel’s eyes grew soft.  Dar could have sworn he saw something in them that was more than affection.  “I will never let you go, Dar, no matter how red your beady eyes are, or how your whiskery nose twitches, or how much your sharp claws dig into my skin.  I will never let you go.”
Dar took a deep breath and stood.  “I can’t promise I won’t puke on you.”
Asta rose, huge wings of brown and gold extending full-width from her back.  “Vomit is not included in this excursion.  You puke on my shirt and you’re going for a swim.”



About the Author

After majoring in English with a concentration in Medieval Literature and Folklore studies, Debra promptly sold out to the corporate world, occasionally writing marketing copy and op/ed articles for a local city paper. By day, she designs compensation programs, after dark she stuffs her nose into obscure mythology, and feverishly writes her novels. A DEMON BOUND is her debut novel.

Debra lives on a farm in Maryland with Sweetie, three sons, and a Noah's ark of four legged family members. She drives an old PT Cruiser, couldn't carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground. Her only known super power is 'Identify Roadkill'.




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