Synopsis

In a war between humans and shifters, sparks, and fur fly…Until scales appear.

Princess Kisa, the middle daughter in the shifter nation of Dar, is often overlooked and underestimated. Always the devoted caregiver of family and country, she’s come to terms with her future as a Shield-Mate in a political marriage. Many, including Kisa, are surprised when her father names her as heir to his throne.

Kalman, once a privileged son of the former protectorate Sorota, is an outcast and a man without a future. The people of Ruinae consider him a weak, self-indulgent man. Only his trusted servant knows the heart of the soldier beneath the veneer.

Forces are gathering against the two countries, and now dragons, long banished to the outland, have returned. Kisa and Kalman are charged by King Dar to find out how entrenched the dragons are with the enemy. Since a long-ago meeting, Kalman never forgot the spitfire Lynx-shifter. He’s no longer the boy she’d met, but a man. One determined to have her despite their differences. But Kisa can’t fall in love with the enemy. Can she? Would her people accept not only the son of Sorota but one whom her family also seeks retribution?

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Excerpt

“How may I serve you, Father?” Kisa glanced around. “It’s been long years since I’ve been in here.”

This was his personal lair. Darkly masculine with shelves filled with books. Maps lined the walls and a side table with a miniature replica of the kingdom and surrounding areas. It was where he could find peace from all the demands of running the empire. Though no respite from the ghosts who haunted him.

Amaya’s portrait stared down at him with accusation I left my daughters in your care. You’ve disappointed me, Shield-Mate.

“We have much to discuss.” He turned from the portrait, his chest tight with pain as he walked behind his writing table and lifted the stack of papers he’d collected. “These are all Shield-Mate offers for you.”

She stared first at them and then him. Barely a whisper squeezed out, “So many?”

“Is it love and Shield-Mate you want?” He asked with a penetrating look. “What is your greatest desire, daughter?”

Kisa’s mouth opened and closed as she stared at him. He had never asked her about her dreams. Shouldn’t a father know his child? “Well, what is it?”

“What do you mean?” She tugged at her earlobe as she’d done since she was a babe.

“If I throw this pile of papers into the fire —” he grasped the stack into his large hand and pointed to the hearth with them, “—will it disappoint you? Or give you relief?”

She blinked at him. “I don’t know what you are asking me.”

“It’s simple––disappointment?” He shook the papers. “Or relief.”

Kisa whispered, “Relief.”

Dar threw the communiqués into the fire, where they flamed and sparked. Neither spoke while the letters—some paper, some parchment—curled at the edges, turning brown, then black, then nothing but ash.

When the last cinders drifted away, his daughter sobbed, and he thought he would too. “Someone must rule when I’m gone.”

“What?” Her voice cracked. “I always thought you intended to bind Lansdowne and Dar into one kingdom, and Orsolo and her Shield-Mate would co-rule.”

“Orsolo is shrewd and intelligent but frivolous. Before her Shield-Mating, I informed your older sister that she would not be Queen here.” Dar folded his arms across his chest. “Before you ask, she was relieved.”

“I know as children of the Darrian royal house, there is no guarantee to ascend the throne.” Kisa hugged her arms around her waist. “Who did you decide it would be?”

Dar went to the matching high-backed chairs near his desk and, with a groan, sank into the cushions. “Come, sit. This will be a lengthy conversation.”

About the Author

D.V. Stone is an award-winning, multi-genre, traditionally and independently published author. She writes books people want to read. Whether romance or fantasy, contemporary or mid-grade, her stories are about the importance of friends and family. About overcoming obstacles while often with humor.

Around the Fire is a popular weekly blog where she introduces both established and new authors giving an insider’s look into their lives and books as well as tidbits about her own life.

Now retired, she is a full-time author and incorporates her life experiences into her books.

A former Emergency Medical Technician, she volunteered in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At the same time, she worked as a professional EMT in a women’s state prison. She was the proprietor of a coffee shop and a small restaurant/ice cream stand in the years that followed. The years following were as a manager in an animal emergency hospital, while her last position was in a human medical office.

When not behind the wheel of 2Hoots—a 41-foot long 13.2 feet high 5^th Wheel camper, she rambles around town in Northern New Jersey in a white Camaro. She also loves travel and history.

D.V. is a wife to an amazing husband, mother to one son, and not your average grandma to three beautiful grands. A woman of faith, she believes and trusts in God.

“My greatest pleasures are spending time outside with friends and family, cooking over the open fire, sipping a glass of wine, and reading.”

Hali, her rescue dog, always reminds her to let readers know, “Woof, woof.” Which is loosely translated as support your local animal rescue.”

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