Excerpt from Light Paranormal Romance Somewhere My Love (#3)

“A riveting blend of romance and intrigue with light paranormal tones that grab hold of you on page one and won’t let you go.” ~Reviewed by Jenni @ Romancing the Book

Lord, give him air. Julia had engulfed him in an irresistible tide. Her mouth…he must stop eyeing her enticing mouth. “Let’s see the gardens now.”

Like a soldier on drill, Will turned and walked swiftly out of the hall and into the passage that led to the front of the house. Julia practically had to sprint to keep pace with his ground-covering stride.

The gentleman in him took over on autopilot as he stopped in the worn flagstone foyer before the paneled entrance.  He pushed open the white door embellished by the carving of colonial craftsmen and beckoned to her.  “After you.”

“Thank you.” She walked across the threshold and onto the circular brick porch ringed with an iron railing.

The breeze had picked up with the approach of evening and lifted lengths of her long hair. Her already short skirt danced in the wind. The green-gold light spilled through the trees overhead and down across her blowing mane. His artist’s eye took in the glossy sheen of red, copper, and ginger reflecting the rays. As if this weren’t torment enough, Will glimpsed even more of her shapely legs, almost to her thighs with one gust.

Julia pushed the fabric back down, seemingly too absorbed in her surroundings even to notice. “Just smell that,” she sighed, inhaling deeply.

The warm fragrance from an avenue of ancient hedges filled the mild air. “Yes. I love the scent of Old English boxwood,” he said.

She flung her arms wide at the green expanse, knotted with herb gardens, and stretching down to the gently lapping river. “Magnificent!”

Will felt weak and emboldened in one, as if he wanted to lunge with a sword and stagger from a punishing blow.

An inner voice whispered, Julia’s back.~

***For the next two weeks, light paranormal romance Somewhere My Love is on sale for .99 at Amazon Kindle, The Wild Rose Press, All Romance Ebooks, Fictionwise….  After that, the price will remain at 2.99.

Finding Gold In Herbal Lore

Calendulas wink cheerily in the flower bed that stretches along the road like a colorful island in the middle of a grassy sea. These calendula are special with their dark eyes dotting the centers of orange, saffron, yellow, and apricot flowers. A wealth of lore is invested in these simple plants, also known as “pot marigold,” and the blooms Shakespeare had in mind when he spoke of marigoldsThe Old English called them golds and ruddes.

From Discovery Health:

“Calendula has a long history of use as a wound-healing and skin-soothing botanical. This lovely marigoldlike flower (although called pot marigold, it is not a true marigold) is considered a vulnerary agent, a substance that promotes healing. Calendula also has anti-inflammatory and weak antimicrobial activity. It is most often used topically for lacerations, abrasions, and skin infections; less commonly, it is used internally to heal inflamed & infected mucous membranes.”

*Interesting and informative site that sells Calendula Cream.

From The Tree of Knowledge: Add calendula to baths to win respect and admiration. Scatter under your bed for protection & prophetic dreams. Carry for justice in court.~

An ancient herbalist states: “Golde is bitter in savour. Fayr and yellow in his flowur. Ye golde flowur is good to sene. It makyth ye syth bryth and clene.”

“It is said, only to look on marigolds will draw evil humours out of the head and strengthen the eyesight. The petals may also be ingested in a conserve of sugar to be taken during times of plague and pestilence, or dried and added to broths. And if you’ve been robbed, marigold will give you a vision of the thief. But it must be taken “only when the moon is in the sign of the Virgin and not when Jupiter is in the ascendant, for then the herb loses its virtue. And the gatherer, who must be out of deadly sin, must say three Pater Nosters and three Aves.”