The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.
Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!
My 56 for this week is from
My Favorite Corpse
A Skullduggery Inn Cozy Read #1
by Kathy Carmichael
My 56
Immediately Michele called from the storage room, “Kittens. There are more kittens in here.”
“More kittens?” Kiki cried. Total pandemonium broke out. Kiki darted into the storage room while Michele ran out of it, and I pushed my tray of crabs at her. “Take this.”
“Where are you going?”
“To find Mama cat,” I said, running out the door in pursuit of her.
~~~
Synopsis
Novella. My Favorite Corpse centers around Ashley Sands, the owner of a mystery-themed inn located on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay. An amateur sleuth, Ashley finds a corpse washed to shore at her inn’s private beach. She must learn what happened before her guests begin checking out. While Ashley’s mystery weekend guests usually enjoy the occasional dead body, they prefer the never-previously-animated kind.
~~~
When I spotted this story took place on Mobile Bay I had to read it. I live on Mobile Bay and was excited to see if I recognized anything.
FREEBIEALERT!
This is a free download on Amzaon right now. You can get a copy HERE.
You can read a bit about the books and enjoy the special glimpse inside Mel Goes To Hell.
Welcome To Hell
“Good morning. Welcome to HELL.”
Mel hates job interviews – and this one’s shaping up to be the interview from Hell.
From the grumpy receptionist to the disturbingly demonic interview panel and the sleazy CEO, it seems landing her first job is the least of Mel’s worries.
Can she make it out of the office alive without selling her soul?
A devilishly hot CEO. The angelic new office temp. A match made in Heaven or Hell?
Melody Angel takes a job as a temp at the HELL Corporation. Surrounded by eternal bureaucracy gone mad, demons who love making life miserable, and dying for a decent coffee, it may take a miracle for Mel’s mission to succeed. She must find out what evil plans Lucifer and his minions have in store and stop them, using any means necessary.
Adding trouble and temptation to Mel’s job is Luce Iblis, the damnably hot CEO, who has set his smouldering eyes on the new office angel and he’s determined to claim her, body and soul.
Can ultimate evil and angelic perfection escape a limbo of desire and find a paradise of their own?
The ultimate forbidden love – when Lucifer falls for an angel.
Luce and Mel unearth an age-old conspiracy behind his fall from Heaven which could doom their love for eternity. Yet in the deepest levels of Hell lies a secret that could hold their salvation.
Eternal damnation awaits any angel who descends into the Pit of Despair, but Mel will move Heaven and Earth to save Lucifer’s soul. Armed with little more than the fury of a righteous angel, Mel will raise Hell in the name of love.
From the heights of Heaven to the depths of Hell, can love truly conquer all?
She wore white – an angel in the kitchen, contrasting with the honey-coloured timber cabinets. Her hair was pinned up as it usually was in the office, baring her neck so that it fairly begged him for a kiss. He couldn’t refuse her, so he moved as quietly as he could until she was close enough to touch. Maybe he hadn’t used up all his oyster influence last night…
“What is it about white that makes you look so angelic?” he murmured as he kissed her neck.
Mel jumped and gave a yelp. Liquid splattered on the bench.
Luce lifted his head and realised she’d been handling hot tea. She moved quickly to the sink, running her red hands under the cold tap.
“I’m sorry, Mel. I didn’t realise…” he began, wishing he’d thought to announce himself more safely. She was hurting because of him and he couldn’t stand it. He’d give anything to be able to heal her as she had him.
“It’s all right,” she said breathlessly. She nodded at the half-full cups. “You drink yours. I’ll get to mine in a minute, if I get time.”
“What’s the hurry?” Luce asked, slurping the steaming liquid. He hadn’t had a cup of tea in centuries until arriving at Mel’s place and now it seemed perfectly natural to drink several a day. He wondered if there was anything she couldn’t persuade him to do.
“Raphael called. He said he can get permission for you to enter Heaven again, but you’ll have to go through judgement, like any mortal. I said it was ridiculous and I fully intend to argue your case in person. Raphael evidently didn’t make it clear…” For the first time, Mel looked annoyed. No, like an angel filled with righteous anger, or at least indignation. He pitied whoever she’d be arguing with; they hadn’t a hope in Hell against her.
“Are you sure it’s worth the trouble?” he asked. “I mean, it’s been so long, I barely remember what it’s like up there. It’s not like I need to go in – the place is full of righteous angels, being sickeningly kind to each other with no idea of the reality down here. You know I have no patience for them, with their snowy-white reputations and ideals. I don’t belong there.”
“I’m one of them and so are you. You have every right to be there, just like they do. I have the same ideals, Luce, and you seem to like me just fine,” Mel said through gritted teeth as she shut off the tap, shaking her fingers dry in the sink.
Now he felt bad. She seemed so different to all the other angels he knew. None of them knew the conditions down here as well as she did. Delusional, living in their cloudy paradise…they’d never believe her, unless they saw him bleed for themselves. He’d spill his lifeblood for Mel, but not a drop for any of them, he swore. And they’d turn on her like they’d turned on him all those centuries ago. For doing what was necessary – stating the truth.
“I’m coming with you,” he announced.
She shook her head. “No, Luce. They’d…react differently to you. I’ll go on my own and smooth the way for you. It’s better this way.”
He snorted. “You expect me to sit here, like some damsel in distress, while you fight my battles for me? Why don’t I just wear one of your dresses and you can call me Lucia, too? Even then you’d have to chain me up here to keep me from coming with you. Oh Hell, that brings back memories…” He couldn’t help laughing.
“What memories? Do you have a torture room with chains somewhere that you haven’t showed me yet?” Mel asked. “Or did you just forget about it until now?”
Luce did his best to regain control of himself. “No, not any more. I did have a fun couple of decades as Madam Lucia, though, and we had a couple in the Lair. The things those girls could do…”
Mel’s face turned blank, almost deliberately, Luce decided. “You worked as a brothel madam? Why doesn’t that surprise me? I bet you could’ve filled up Hell with the people in your whorehouse…”
Luce sobered. “The customers, yes, but most of the girls were absolute saints. The things they put up with from the clients, the pay, the conditions…actually, I never saw their souls again, once they left my employ. Of course, there were a few…the ones who thought it was a fun idea to rob the customers and leave them in an alley somewhere, sometimes still breathing…well, Hell always needs a few more demons.”
“You…I’m sorry, Luce, I’m just trying to imagine you in a dress, let alone running a brothel…” Mel shook her head, as if trying to shake the image out of her ears.
Luce tried to smother his grin. “You know, I could show you,” he offered eagerly. “There was a lot of leather involved, but I believe some of my favourite designs are still in vogue in modern adult shops. I think they’d suit you better than they ever did me, though.”
“Luce.” Mel’s piercing gaze brought him out of his fantasy. “We weren’t discussing your fetish for leather. We were discussing how you should stay here while I’m in Heaven, at least for the moment.”
He met her eyes without flinching. “The only way you’ll get me to stay here while you’re fighting on my behalf is with a strong set of restraints – which brings us nicely back to leather.” He let his grin break free. “I fight my own battles in person, Mel. Later, we can celebrate with leather, if you like.”
Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish. She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray-drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.
Sensationalist spin? No – Demelza tends to take a camera with her so she can capture and share the moment later; shipwrecks, sharks and all.
Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.
The Ocean’s Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by her suspense thriller Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn’t leave her alone.
