It Calls Me Back
by Shelley Adina
If I were asked what I love most
about the Corsair’s Cove series of novellas, I could answer any number of
things. The ghosts we invent in the books. The authors I work with so closely.
The brainstorming weekends we share to plan the next series. All those things
would be true! But the thing I really love is contained in the tag line that
seemed to form when we weren’t looking:
Corsair’s Cove. The place that calls you
back when you need it most.
It doesn’t say them, though it does refer to the characters. It says you, whether that’s a reader or one of
the authors. Because as the world whirls around us and people find more to
divide than to unite, having a safe, sunny place for my mind to go seems to be
increasingly important. Not that I’m running from my responsibilities (they
have feet of their own and they’d only follow). But when I need a mental rest,
I go to the Cove.
The Cove, where people I know run
the shops. Where roots are deep, and local history goes back a hundred and
fifty years. Where the sun sparkles on the waves in the harbour, and the smell
of apples is in the air. Where you hear a horn and you know it’s the ferry
coming in—you hear a crack of sound and you know it’s the local carpenter
building something with a hammer and nails—where you smell smoke and it’s only
the old-timers burning leaves.
And that reputation for being the
most haunted town in the Pacific Northwest? Some of our characters handle that
better than others. As an author, it’s sometimes a bit of a shock to run into a
ghost when we weren’t expecting it, like in a creek bed or a cellar. That’s a
creepy moment we do our best to get on to the page. Because sometimes even the
ghosts are compelled to come back by love of this place.
Just like we are.
To our town.
Corsair’s Cove.
Corsair’s Cove Orchard: The Complete Set
Secret Vintage, Secret Seed, Secret Spring
Rachel Goldsworthy, Shelley Adina, Sharon Ashwood
Genre: small town sweet romance with a paranormal twist
Publisher: Moonshell Books, Inc.
Secret Vintage, Secret Seed, Secret Spring
Rachel Goldsworthy, Shelley Adina, Sharon Ashwood
Genre: small town sweet romance with a paranormal twist
Publisher: Moonshell Books, Inc.
Date of Publication: 2018
Number of pages: 344
Cover Artist: Wicked by Design
Tagline: Let Corsair’s Cove draw you home again …
Book Description:
Corsair’s Cove has a reputation for being one of the most haunted places in the Pacific Northwest. Back in Prohibition days, it was a roaring hive of rumrunners, flappers, money, and betrayal. Big Tom Macfarlane and Marigold Mayhew met in the old apple orchard, loved hard, and died young, but their story isn’t finished. Because some betrayals have consequences that echo down through time … and demand the kind of resolution that only true love can bring …
That same apple orchard has now been sold to the local carpenter to make a home for his bride—and has become a bone of contention. Who knew that the cider apple that made Joe Johannsen’s family famous during Prohibition—an apple thought to be extinct—would still be growing there?
When Joe and Siena Panati discover the secret recipe hidden in plain sight, will it mean their future—or will it tear their friendships apart? Then Sam Wilson’s return to the Cove for an antique car rally triggers a series of ghostly visitations. The last thing he needs is for Marigold’s ghost to reveal herself to Haley Struthers, the botanist who discovered the apples. But Haley has something very real to be afraid of, and only Sam can help her. It all comes to a head when Lora Trelawney returns to the Cove. With the help of Spike the bartender, she discovers that some secrets aren’t meant to be kept … even from herself … and love is the only way that the Cove’s Jazz Age secrets will ever be resolved …
Readers have fallen in love with Corsair’s Cove, its small-town atmosphere and quirky characters. The Reading Café called the Chocolate Shop novellas “swoon-worthy love stories sure to sweeten your life.” The Orchard series simply raises the bar—giving you stories as tasty as a slice of homemade apple pie!
Secret Vintage Book 1 – Rachel Goldsworthy
Secret Seed Book 2 – Sharon Ashwood
Secret Spring Book 3 – Shelley Adina
Excerpt
From Secret Seed by Sharon Ashwood:
“I never thought
I’d see you in Corsair’s Cove again,” said Eloise Wilson as she picked at the
cookie crumbs on her plate.
Sam’s gaze
settled on his sister. She’d chosen the gingerbread cookie with big crystals of
sugar on top. It was the same treat she’d always picked, all through childhood.
Had two decades actually passed since then?
All families had
issues, but theirs were extra-special by anyone’s measure. Now they sat in the
upstairs bay window of the Zephyr’s Rest Inn, the space just big enough for a
tiny table and two chairs. The stage was set, but Sam wasn’t sure of his lines.
“Sorry I didn’t
visit sooner,” he said, sipping his mug of black coffee. No cookie for Sam—he
wasn’t into sweet things. “I got busy.”
“Yeah?” His
sister’s bright green eyes were apprehensive, as if afraid he might vanish into
mist. “Are you sure there aren’t other reasons for staying away?”
Sam sighed inwardly.
He loved Eloise, really he did, but she had to talk everything to death. “What
do you want me to say?”
“The truth?”
He raised his
head to answer, but instead of meeting Eloise’s eyes, something caught his
attention—a flicker of something white. From his seat in the window, he could
see down the long hallway with its double row of guest room doors. This place
was nearly as old as the town. Sam would have stayed someplace more modern, but
rooms were hard to come by in tourist season.
So here he was at
the Zephyr. Even in daytime there wasn’t much light in the upstairs of the inn.
Nothing dispelled the shadows that clung to old places like this. That alone
made his skin creep, but sometimes—like now—there was more.
The young woman
stood halfway down the dim corridor. She wore a pale sleeveless dress and a hat
that almost hid her bobbed hair. When was that fashion from? The 1920s? 1930s?
Sam wasn’t a clothes guy but he’d learned some history the hard way—like when
it was lurking under the bed, ready to yell “boo!”
The woman saw
him looking and waved gloved fingers. Sam looked away, finding sudden interest
in his coffee cup. It was never good when the ghosts knew he could see them.
They always wanted help with unfinished business—as if being a psychic automatically
made him a customer service desk for the dead.
Eloise turned
her head to follow his line of sight. “Who were you looking at?”
“What are you
talking about?” he asked gruffly.
Eloise frowned
at him. “Corsair’s Cove has more ghosts per square foot than anywhere I’ve ever
been. This inn has six I’ve been able to identify.”
And that was
what made them siblings. Other families went for picnics or took cooking
classes together. The Wilson kids saw ghosts. The big difference between them
was that Eloise had always owned her gifts, however much that cost her. He was
the exact opposite—don’t ask, don’t tell—which was why he avoided this town
like the plague.
“Six hauntings, huh? I think I’ll be sleeping
in my car.” Sam grinned to hide his thundering heart.
“It was
Marigold, wasn’t it?” Eloise raised one brow. “A flapper girl? She likes pretty
young men.”
Sam pushed his
empty cup away. “That’s the last thing I need.”
“You never
know.” Eloise licked sugar from her fingers. “I don’t remember you mentioning a
girlfriend.”
About the Authors:
Rachel Goldsworthy grew up on the West Coast, sitting quietly in the kitchen of one aunt or another and nibbling homemade Nanaimo bars while the relations told tales. Some were factual, and some were true. When the time came to earn a living, Rachel took those listening (and eating) skills, and wrote for magazines and newspapers stories of the people and places of the coast. Now she’s writing the adventures of people she’s crazy about in Corsair’s Cove where love and family, like the tide, might ebb and flow, but chocolate is eternal. Every word is true.
Shelley Adina is the author of 24 novels published by Harlequin, Warner, and Hachette, and a dozen more published by Moonshell Books, Inc., her own independent press. She writes steampunk (including a band of air pirates), contemporary romance, and young adult fiction, and as Adina Senft, writes women’s fiction set among the Amish and other plain communities. She holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, where she teaches as adjunct faculty. She won the Romance Writers of America RITA Award® for Best Inspirational Novel in 2005, was a finalist in 2006, and in 2009 was a Christy Award finalist. When she’s not writing, Shelley is usually quilting, sewing historical costumes, sneaking another succulent chocolate out of the box of See’s Nuts and Chews, or hanging out in the garden with her flock of rescued chickens.
Sharon Ashwood is a novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. And chocolate. And pirates. Chocolate-covered pirates would be a definite plus. Sharon’s books include urban fantasy, paranormal romance, historical adventures and more. She is the winner of the RITA® Award for Paranormal Romance. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.
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4 comments:
I enjoyed reading the excerpt. Thanks for the opportunity
Glad you could stop by, Onyinye!
This book sounds like the kind I enjoy reading. I have added it to my TBR list
Thanks for sharing this.
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