I’m so happy to be here on the Tule blog.
Today I’d like to tell you a little about Ghost Ship’s Dark Spell, book four in my Witch and Demon Hunter series. This has been such a great series to write. I’m really enjoying the enemies to lovers, opposites attract, and age difference romance tropes.
My main characters, Fiona, a powerful witch and Lorcan, the half-human half-demon who in book one, Dark Irish Demon, were forced to become partners at LAMB, the agency who locates and assesses magical beings, were polar opposites. Yet during the last year they’ve changed considerably. They’ve overcome fears, past trauma and their complicated history. I love their character arcs, especially Lorcan who has grown so much. Fiona has learned to trust men again (mostly) and they’re both finally willing to let their vulnerabilities show.
They’ve already faced many challenges and those certainly aren’t over. There’s a lot of excitement and adventure in this installment. Readers are in for a wild ride through time.
I’ve been asked whether I gravitate more towards time travel or magic. I love both and include them in almost every series. However, I’d have to say magic because it is a consistent element in all my books. In fact, it’s often through magic that the characters are able to time travel.
In most of my series my protagonists have some supernatural abilities. I also often include amusing magical beings, terrifying mythological creatures, and sometimes other realms. I’ve had fun including some beloved old characters from my Irish Witch and Witches of Time series. This book features Angelique, a modern day water witch who’s like a daughter to Fiona, and her husband, Lorcan’s brother, Faolan, an eighteenth century pirate. They were also one of my favorite couples.
Time travel makes for humorous situations when characters from the past meet and try to converse with those from the future. I especially like including some actual historical events and people, while incorporating technology and modern ways of phrasing things.
No matter how many books I write–– Ghost Ship’s Dark Spell is number twenty-four–– I encounter something new. In this book, I wrote my first car chase. Not your typical car chase for Fiona is pursued by three vehicles driven by hybrid vampires on a windy road near several cliffs. Lorcan is following and trying to figure out how to help her without making things worse.
I’m presently writing the fifth and last book in this series, Druids’ Dark Curse. I’m tying up converging and progressing storylines while also including a new adventure for Lorcan and Fiona. I look forward to being back on the Tule blog in March/25 to discuss that story.
Magical wishes,
Leigh Ann
About the Author.
Leigh Ann Edwards writes smoking hot romantic fantasy with badass heroines, alpha heroes, history, castles, and magic. She believes love is love, that villains should get their comeuppance (sometimes with a stake through the heart), that pleasure is NOT a four-letter word, and that “dog” is another word for “joy.”
Don’t let her gentle appearance fool you; this grandmother of four ditched a sad story and is now enjoying her happily-ever-after with the love of her life in north central Alberta, Canada. Her heroines don’t need to be rescued but they’ll gladly work with a competent partner to right the wrongs of whatever world they inhabit.
Enjoy an excerpt from Ghost Ship’s Dark Spell.
Fiona coughed and sputtered as she flew through the time portal at LAMB headquarters and scudded first across the platform holding the portal, then down the seven stairs, her body battered with each step.
She sat up, heart pounding, and dashed water from her eyes. “Lorcan?”
His tool kit filled with items used for dealing with supernatural beings was beside her, but he wasn’t.
Panic rose inside her. Had something gone wrong? Had he been left behind with whatever evil was on that ship? She had to go back.
But before she got to her feet, another surge of seawater appeared and he landed next to her, gasping for air.
She squeezed his hand, weak with relief, and lay back on the floor trying to calm down. The ground shuddered beneath her. With shock, she saw the massive solid-silver time portal teetering above them. If it fell, it would crush them both. She whipped out her hands and used a blast of magic to steady it.
Lorcan leapt up, and with Herculean strength, pushed it to an upright position then collapsed again beside her. They stared at each other wordlessly.
“I was terrified I’d lost you,” she said telepathically.
Lorcan exhaled shakily. “Yeah, you gave me a bloody scare when we got separated, too, Boomer.”
Ringo—who seldom left the compound housing the time portal on the day of a time jump, raced across the room, then skidded to a halt, dumbfounded at the scene in front of him. The Dewey-Ringo scientist duo, who were either identical twins or clones—she hadn’t yet received a straight answer on that—had helped design the multimillion-dollar portal presently sitting off-kilter.
The young man pushed up his thick dark-rimmed eyeglasses, as usual held together with electrician’s tape, and shook his head. “Why did that wave come through the portal? Occasionally undesired MBs have latched on to agents, but nothing like that—” he pointed “—has happened while I’ve been with LAMB.”
“I’m not sure why is the question we need answered, Ringmaster.” Lorcan had a nickname for nearly everyone. “You might want to ask how a bloody tidal wave from ancient Greece could follow us to the twenty-first century.”
Fiona stood on rubbery legs and Lorcan clutched her elbow to steady her. Judging by the emotion in his eyes he wanted to hold her and oh, how she yearned for the comfort of his arms. Instead, she patted his hand. Assuming Dewey hadn’t shared what he’d heard over the communication device, they needed to maintain their professional distance.
“I’m fine, partner.” She removed a sprig of seaweed from his hair. “Glad you are, too.”
Nodding, he put his arm around her shoulder. “I’m damn relieved your ghost ship didn’t follow us along with the wave.”
“It’s hardly my ghost ship.” She blinked. “Wait. You saw it too, then?”
He shook his head. “Not even a glimpse this time. Do you suppose it has something to do with that colossal wave nearly drowning us? Or the hydra and the gorgon acting so uncharacteristically?”
“Possibly. The ship gave off dark energy.” She shivered and rubbed her arms, the chilled wet fabric of her clothing sticking to her skin.
Lorcan glanced at her tunic and lifted his eyebrows. “You’re freezing, Boomer. Better get changed. You could win a wet T-shirt contest.”
She slammed her forearms over her chest, feeling her nipples poking through the drenched garment. Ringo flushed and turned away but not before he’d taken a good look. Evidently even his presently defunct portal was second to male desire.
She hugged herself. “Don’t be such an arse, Junior! Have you forgotten you’re stark naked?” She sent her gaze skyward. “Looks like you’re freezing, too.”
He snorted but made no move to cover himself. “Demons are hot-blooded. Are you suggesting that the cold water has caused certain…shrinkage?”
Like the rest of his six-foot-four, gloriously formed body, he was masculinely blessed. And he knew it.
Ringo, shy and small of stature, glanced reverently at Lorcan, then handed them each a lab coat. Fiona draped hers over her shoulders while Lorcan wrapped it around his waist and tied it at the side.
Suddenly, with a grinding metallic groan, the portal began to spark. “Oh no!” Ringo shrieked, his face drained of color. “The time machine…it’s shorting out.”
Lorcan tossed Fiona over his shoulder and dashed away from the water. Ringo raced to the control panel and slammed a lever to cut the power. A moment later, the grinding sounds slowed and the machine stopped sparking. Ringo wiped his brow.
Just then, an authoritative voice came through the wireless intercom. “Agents Wright and Maguire,” said Minerva, LAMB’s militant part-werewolf vice-chief, “report immediately for debriefing, medical examinations and completing reports.”
Fiona stuck out her tongue.
Just wait till she finds out about the time portal, Fiona thought.
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