Autumn is in the air and it’s my absolute
favorite season. It’s the perfect time to sit down with a good paranormal
romance, a glass of wine and of course, the best food you can get your hands
on!
While writing my books, I like to imagine
just what kind of foods my characters enjoy. It’s a small aspect that makes
them more human and that – I think – makes it just a little bit easier for my
readers to connect with them.
A few of my important moments in the Night Hunters series revolve around the
dinner table, or breakfast table, or food in general. With autumn in the air, I
thought it would be fun to imagine just what kind of meal Dawn, Jase, and their
friends would sit down to while they catch up.
Picture
this.
After a long day in the old Ford, Dawn and
Jase pull up to Jim’s Bar in Goosemont. It’s been almost a year since she last
left West Virginia, and Dawn is excited to meet with her old friends once more.
The bar is exactly how she remembers it – a little old, a little run down, but
full of heart.
Jim greets them both with pints of beer and
deep, loving hugs. The menu is mostly unchanged, and Jase quickly orders a
plate of nachos for him and Dawn to share, along with a greasy bacon
cheeseburger and fries for himself. He’s always loved greasy food, and it’s
good he leads such an active lifestyle or else that love would show a lot
easier on his muscular frame.
Dawn decides to go for something a little
different than what she used to eat at Jim’s. Luckily the cook, Gabe, has added
an attempt at a healthier option on the menu and Dawn orders that. Grilled
salmon with rice pilaf and seasonal vegetables, it sounds almost fancy and
she’s excited to chow down.
Dinner is shared while Dawn catches up with
her old boss and Jase’s hand meets her knee. It’s a small gesture, but enough
for her to know that he’ll always be there for her. Goosemont is only a stop on
the road ahead, but she’d glad he suggested they make the detour. With food in
their bellies and a place to lay their heads for the day, morning will come all
too soon and the haunted house in Raleigh won’t exorcize itself.
Devil’s Playground
Night Hunters
Book 4
Helena Shaw
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Jynxed Moon
Date of Publication: August 15th, 2015
ISBN: TBD
ASIN: TBD
Cover Artist: Helena Shaw
Book Description:
She finally thought she was free.
Dawn Garrett has been on the run from her past since the day she turned eighteen. A new name, a new life, and a new love have kept her safe from the one man who will stop at nothing to get her back.
Together with Jase Byrnes, Dawn has stood up against werewolves, witches, vampires, and so much more. She’s learned to be a hunter and with Jase by her side, she’s finally found the strength she’s been looking for.
But the man she’s spent so long running from is hot on her trail and Dawn is out of places to run. She’ll need to stand and face him, but she’s trapped in his playground and he’s got more tricks up his sleeve than she ever thought possible.
Excerpt:
The snow showed
no signs of slowing down as it whipped and whirled through Dawn’s hair. All her
sweaters were gone, her makeshift scarf, her boots, everything.
And yet she
wasn’t cold.
When she and
Jase had gone out earlier, the snow had been so cold that it hurt, and it had
been even worse when they got back to the hotel and her toes and fingers
started to warm up again. The pain and itch had combined into pure agony and
part of her wanted to bury them in the hotel’s ice bucket just to alleviate the
pain, but in time it had begun to subside on its own.
Maybe I’m going
numb, she wondered to herself as she marched through the snow. She’d read that
was a sign of hypothermia. The body numbs itself to the cold and eventually you
just go to sleep, but never wake up.
But she wasn’t
tired. She was looking for something, and she couldn’t sleep until she found
it.
She had no
choice but to keep moving forward through the blowing wind. Each step was a
struggle against the constant pressure of the gale, but she couldn’t stop.
It wasn’t until
she reached the park that she realized that she was completely alone.
“Jase!” Dawn called. He’d been with her a
moment ago, she could have sworn it, but now she was alone.
Entirely alone.
“Anyone?” Dawn
screamed. No one was out in the freezing weather. The snow was too much, too
wet and cold, and it just kept falling.
I have to find
him, Dawn’s mind raced as she moved through the park. Panic surged through her
and she kicked through the snow while it planted wet kisses with every flake
that landed on her cheeks.
But the further
she went, the less the snow behaved like normal. It changed, mutated, and when
she looked up at the trees she saw they were no longer bowed and bent, but
easily carrying the weight of their loads.
“No...” Dawn
muttered as she spun. The wet snow turned to dry speckles of white ash and the
wind was no longer cool on her face, but a hot blast of air.
The ash in the
trees spread and grew, and without warning, it burst into red hot flames. Smoke
filled the air and Dawn knew she had no choice but to run or risk getting
swallowed by the fire.
It’s not real,
she told herself as she ran. It can’t be real. It’s just a dream.
But it didn’t
feel like a dream. The heat was real, the smoke in her lungs too. The hot blasts
of air stung her eyes and everything was too clear.
Ahead, she saw
what just might be her salvation. A subway entrance beckoned to her and she ran
right for it.
Like the rest of
the New York in her dream, she was alone when she got down the long flight of
stone stairs. She’d hoped a train would be waiting, a train that would take her
out of her dream and keep her safe, but she wouldn’t be so lucky.
As a teen, she’d
loved the subway. The freedom it had given her that she hadn’t had in her small
home in New Jersey. Without the need for a car, she could just get on the train
and go anywhere she wanted to without a moment’s notice.
It would be her
eighteenth birthday present to herself, or at least, that’s what she had
decided. The moment she was legally an adult, she’d be gone and she’d keep
running until he could never find her again.
Her plan had
been to get some cash, get on the subway, and catch a train. With cash in hand,
she’d be able to do it all easily enough. No one could trace the cash and she’d
be out of the city before the sun rose.
It had all been
worth it. The freedom she’d had on the road was better than the subway had ever
offered her. It couldn’t even compare, and now she could only hope that this
time, the train would actually lead her somewhere safe, rather than just
looping around the city.
She knew she
couldn’t stand there and wait for the train, not for long. Something was
outside and it was coming for her. She couldn’t risk standing still and she
needed to get moving or risk being caught.
With no train in
sight, Dawn jumped down on the tracks. Even knowing it was a dream, she avoided
the third rail and debated whether to go left or right.
Right, she
decided. An old bit of trivia was what kept her from going left. Sinister, that
was the old word for left, or at least that’s what she had heard. She couldn’t
go the sinister way, it was just asking for trouble.
She hadn’t made
it far when behind her she heard something. Even without turning around, she
knew she was no longer alone. The soft sounds of scraping claws and heavy
breath filled her ears and when she turned, all she saw were glowing yellow
eyes.
Run, her mind
screamed, and she did just that. There was no hesitation, no paralysis, only
instinct as she began to run down the tunnel.
About the Author:
Helena Shaw has been writing ever since she was a child. Always with a book in her hands, she started crafting her own stories at a young age. She has always loved the world of the paranormal and inspired by her favorite stories, she set out to create a world of her own.
Her first full length novel, Harvest Moon, was released in November, 2014 and she is currently hard at work on the sequel. She hopes to keep Dawn and Jase's story going for many years to come.
Helena Shaw resides in a small town in western Ontario. When she is not writing, she is taking care of her two boys and her husband.
Website: www.helenashaw.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/helenashaw17
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelenaShaw17
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/HelenaShaw17/
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