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In my upcoming contemporary romance series, Once and Forever, the stories are rooted in fairytales but, of course, they don't take the pretty route. Their moral is twisted and turned into a gritty, modern story about real people who go through as much cruelty as I can throw at them, but who come out stronger. Ready to be the person they should be and have the love they deserve.
Each novel in the series will begin and end with their own fairytale, as I see it.
This is the fairy tale of DARKER WATER:
Prologue:
Once upon a time there was a young woman who lived in a tall glass tower in the middle of a city. She wasn’t incredibly beautiful but she was attractive, probably somewhere around the eighty-fifth percentile. She was smart, kind, honest, and good with animals.
But the most beautiful thing about her was her heart, for it was made of the purest of golds. Unfortunately, she wasn’t very good at taking care of it, and over the years, it lost its shine. Because every time she met a prince, she believed him to be perfect—strong but gentle, brave, and caring. So, she would show him her heart and give it to him to hold, thinking he would take care of it.
What she hadn’t yet realized was that there was a curse put on her…at some time…by someone. And the curse was this: The moment the woman gave her heart away and kissed the prince—believing it to be true love—the prince would begin to change. Sometimes slowly, other times quickly. But he always turned into a frog. And although the frog would give her heart back to her, each time it was a little more worn, a little less brilliant.
But the woman didn’t give up trying to find a prince who would remain a prince, knowing that somewhere out there was someone who could heal her heart and break the curse by remaining a prince after she kissed him.
Then one day, she finally understood the curse’s power. No one could heal her, she would never find a prince, and the curse would never be broken.
And so, clutching what was left of her heart, she gave up her search.
Epilogue:
Once upon a time there was a woman who though not stunningly beautiful, thought herself to be. Because she was in love with a man who made her feel that way. And despite himself, he was in love with her.
After all of the princes who’d turned into frogs and had damaged the woman’s heart, it took a man who was not a prince to mend it. And in return she mended his. For even though he’d long believed himself the lowest of creatures, he wasn’t. His heart was locked away, deep inside of him, and he had never allowed anyone in for fear they would discover how truly ugly it was.
But what he didn’t know was that his heart was pure and beautiful and strong. And all he needed was the right woman to unlock it and set him free…with a kiss.
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DARKER WATER is available for pre-order now. Sign up for my newsletter to hear the moments it's released. Or, you know, click one of the links below to buy it now. Then it'll show up on your eReader magically on October 3rd.
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