COOKING UP TROUBLE by Michelle Levigne

COOKING UP TROUBLE by  Michelle Levigne 

Tabor Heights Year Two

Audrey lives for cooking and acting. When the Randolphs experiment with dinner theater, they turn to her to head the kitchen.

Steve returns to Tabor Heights to get to know his new sister, Max. Creating a dinner theater fascinates him, and soon so does Audrey.

As Max and Tony's wedding draws near, so do paparazzi spies. After all, Max is the daughter of celebrities. When Audrey discovers a spy in her kitchen, she spins lies to protect her friends, but finds she needs protection when she is cast opposite Steve in Romeo and Juliet -- and the media speculates she's auditioning to join the celebrity family. Steve becomes her defender and partner in thwarting the paparazzi. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," is more than true for them, but past difficulties and shameful secrets may be building a wall too thick for even friendship to endure.

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Excerpt:

"Who is this incredibly creative lady?" Carlo said, after they had laughed together and made wagers on which of their most-loathed gossip papers would release the false story first.

"Actually... She's my Juliet." Steve held his breath, and counted to eight.

"Come again?"

"I got cast as Romeo, and Audrey is Juliet."

"Oh ho." Carlo's chuckle rolled over him, warm and rich, with a touch of something that made Steve writhe a little. "Be careful to keep reality separate from the fantasy you'll create."

"Dad..."

"Tell me about her. Your mother and I have the right to know the truth about the girl we'll find out you're engaged to by the end of the run."

Steve groaned. He hadn't considered that aspect of getting up on the stage again. Working behind the scenes for eight years now, he had been able to forget what happened the last time he had a leading lady. The sad part was that the girl was so new to the limelight -- winner of a talent search competition -- she actually believed some of the stories she read, pairing her with Steve. For a short while. Fortunately, her awakening came painlessly. When one gossip sheet gave a fictitious biography for her, she realized nothing could be believed just because it was in print.

"Well... okay, she's a baker. I think I heard Max say she went to culinary school. And she's doing pastry for the wedding. She's going to be part of some experiment Joel wants to do with dinner theater..." He groaned again, silently, as he realized he didn't know much else about Audrey, other than where she lived, Max liked her, and she was a loyal member of the cast at Homespun Theater.

"Well, then, I suggest you get to know her better," Carlo said, when Steve related this. "Your leading lady holds your life in her hands, as you hold hers."

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ACCIDENTAL HEARTS by Michelle Levigne

ACCIDENTAL HEARTS by Michelle Levigne

A Tabor Heights, Ohio Novel

Tyler Sloane's sister and her children came to live with him when her marriage exploded. A summer of carting children to activities brought him into Abby Morgan's path, and friendship grew between her niece and nephew and his.

Abby was busy with her air courier service and helping her widowed brother raise his children. Common sense said she didn't have time for a relationship -- especially with a man as accident-prone as Tyler. But there comes a time in every woman's life when she has to throw out common sense and take a chance on love. That is, if accidents would stop plaguing her and Tyler, and four mischief-makers could agree that romance isn't "gross," and they should help Aunt Abby and Uncle Ty get together.

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EXCERPT

"Oh, yuck." Abby slowly stood. Strings of bright pink marred with dirty black streaks dripped from her fingers.

"What is it?" Tyler asked with that horrified expression that said he suspected what the answer would be.

"Looks like bubble gum." She turned to hide her grin. Her shoulders shook as she fought giggles.

"Did it ruin anything?"

"Well..." She scraped at the pink and black mess remaining on the cable ends. "Looks like someone was trying to make some repairs, actually."

"What?"

"These connections were snapped. Looks like someone tried to do a patch job with the bubble gum, but the heat melted it."

"Danny. And Pam. They're a matched set." He looked tired, but he grinned. "Too many MacGyver re-runs."

"This sounds good." She returned his grin. If this man had enemies, she suspected they were amusing, cute, and he had just dumped them at the camp hidden in the trees behind them. "Kids?"

"Kids." He sighed. "They broke my cell phone yesterday, otherwise I'd call for a tow. I can't fix anything."

Abby pulled her cell phone from her pocket to call Al. Why not? Her brother's kids had brought her here, so his towing business should profit.

"I'm going to kill him," Tyler said with a crooked grin that made Abby suspect he was proud of the little monster. She just nodded encouragement as she punched in Al's number. "Danny. I can't decide if he's inherited my mechanical ineptitude or not."

"How old?"

"Eight. And ten. Pam ought to know better, but that's her gum. Danny won't chew anything but grape."

"My monsters are ten and nine."

"That's right!" He slapped his thigh and gave her that crooked grin particular to men when they didn't want to admit they had done something stupid.

"Right?"

"I saw you at church a few weeks ago with your kids. You go to Tabor Christian, right?" He barely waited for her to nod she was feeling a little stunned at this point -- and gestured in the general direction of the registration pavilion, through the woods. "They looked so excited about whatever you were signing up for, I decided to check it out. That's how mine are here." He shrugged, his grin widening. "That's how I'm here, too, I guess."
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DIVINE KNIGHT by Michelle L. Levigne

DIVINE KNIGHT by Michelle Levigne

A Neighborlee, Ohio Story

Enemies converge on Divine's Emporium. The question of whether they succeed rests in the secrets of Angela's forgotten past.

Equinox: Maurice has a day of full-size freedom to spend with his true love, Holly. Their day of fun ends in panic, when Angela is attacked and the defenses of Divine's Emporium are breached. In the search to find out who hired thieves to steal books full of inimical magic from the shop and provided them with magic charms to do it, Angela's memories are stirred. Strange dreams disturb her sleep and she asks questions she hasn't thought of in decades.

Ethan Jarrod, a particularly gifted P.I. with some mysteries of his own, joins forces with local P.I. John Stanzer to identify Angela's enemies. Is Jarrod the knight from her dreams, or the final weapon of her enemies, to destroy all the magic of Divine's Emporium and Angela herself?
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~Excerpt~

The winkies circled a painting that sat on a crate near the doorway. They kept trying to light on the frame and then flittering off again almost immediately. No wonder, Maurice decided a moment later, when he narrowed his eyes and separated the agitated red light of the winkies from the agitated red haze of magic coating the frame.

Then he saw the two hands gripping the bottom of the frame, the knuckles white and the tips of the fingers turning purple from trapped blood. He lunged forward, going to his knees on the crates, and grabbed hold of Angela's wrists. A hot sheet of irritated, strained magic wrapped around him, yanking the breath out of his lungs for a moment.

Angela looked up at him, pale and sweating, her lips bitten through and bloody, her eyes wide. Maurice nearly roared from the sudden stab of fear that cut through him. Angela's customary serenity was entirely missing--she was afraid and in pain.

"Hold on, Angie-baby," he growled, and threw himself backwards, using all his weight to yank her up and out of the painting.

Holly shouted. Behind him, he was vaguely aware of running feet, thudding on the landing and then down the stairs.

Maurice gritted his teeth and leaned backwards when the painting's magic got stubborn and resisted him. For a precious couple of heartbeats, Angela hung in mid-air, stretched between Maurice's grip and the painting's, still caught in it from the knees down.

At last something snapped, and there was a smell like ozone and hairs caught in a blow dryer. The two of them went tumbling toward the door of the painting room. Angela landed on him, her elbow in his gut, and Maurice saw stars when the back of his head hit the edge of a crate.

"You…okay?" he gasped, trying to convince his diaphragm to resume working and let him breathe.

"Maurice." Angela nodded. Sweat coated her face and darkened her hair. She closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths. "Thank you."

"Hey, what are pals for?" Then he realized something was wrong. Missing. "Holly?"

"They took her." She staggered to her feet and past him.

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THE MISSION by Michelle L. Levigne

THE MISSION by Michelle Levigne

A Tabor Heights, Ohio Novel

Thanks to the Arc Foundation, the renovations Claire wanted for the Mission could now become reality. First on the list was a new head custodian to oversee the repairs. She welcomed Paul Hunter and his 5-year-old daughter Sammy, and was thankful for his wholehearted dedication to the Mission -- until she realized one of her deepest fears was having someone take over. Was Paul an ally, or a threat?

Paul welcomed a chance to take his daughter away from his hometown with its painful past and people who preferred to believe the lies about him and his dead wife. Tabor and the Mission were the fresh start and the ministry he had been looking for. He didn't even mind when Sammy took one look at Claire and asked if she was her new mother -- at least, not too much. He wasn't quite sure if he was ready to fall in love again, but if he ever did, Claire would be at the top of his list.

When painful remnants of their pasts followed both Claire and Paul to Tabor Heights, their growing, changing relationship and their faith in God were put to the test. Could they open up their hearts to each other enough to survive, and possibly make the new family that Sammy wanted?

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EXCERPT

Paul pulled the truck into the Holwoods' driveway and climbed out. Brock started making introductions. Paul stepped forward to shake Nikki's hand and the movement revealed a little figure curled up on the bench seat, just starting to stir. Claire barely heard Brock introduce her to Paul, who saw the direction of her gaze and turned back to the cab.

"Hey, sleepy." He reached in and gathered up a bundle of platinum curls, bare feet, and faded denim. Claire felt her face heat up. Proven wrong twice in less than ten minutes. This was not the rebellious adolescent she had envisioned. Sammy Hunter couldn't be more than five years old. An adorable, sleepy five years old. Paul cuddled her close, rubbed her back, and whispered to her as she scrubbed her eyes. When the child finally had both eyes open, her father introduced her to the three adults. Claire couldn't help comparing Paul Hunter with Rich Thomas, his obvious tenderness for his child versus the casual affection the fugitive custodian had sometimes spattered on his adoring little girl.

No doubt about it: Sammy Hunter was wanted long before she was born. Not an accident and burden like poor little Aurora Thomas.

"And this lady is Miss Donnelly. She's Daddy's new boss, too," Paul said, turning Sammy to face her.

"Miss Claire," she responded with a smile. "All the children call me that. I'm so glad to finally meet you, Sammy."

Claire felt her heart twist when the little girl's face lit up slowly, like sunrise. She sat up straight in her father's arms.

"Is she my new mommy?"

"Sammy--" Paul blushed a red so intense it was almost neon. "Miss Donnelly--"

"I prayed really hard," the child continued. "I asked God for a new mommy. I want you."

"Why?" Claire had to ask. She could barely speak, caught between an onslaught of tears, laughter, panic and hunger. Her arms actually ached with the need to cuddle Sammy close.

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WHITE ROSES by Michelle Levigne

WHITE ROSES by Michelle Levigne

A Tabor Heights, Ohio Novel

Twenty years ago, Toni's sister, Angel, was killed by her secret boyfriend. Now, the White Rose Killer is stalking and killing young women, searching for his true love. Toni is sure this is the same boy who killed Angel, grown to be a dangerous man.

Curt, assistant editor at the Tabor Picayune, has the same theory. They team up in a race against time to dig through the past to identify Angel's killer, before he chooses, terrorizes, and kills another victim.

To protect Toni from being chosen as the White Rose's next 'true love,' Curt and Toni pretend to be involved. Reluctant partnership turns to friendship and then to something more, but will it last beyond the unmasking of the killer?

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EXCERPT

"Donovan said he'd get somebody started checking places that supply greenhouses, and places that would provide building materials. But wouldn't they report something like that being stolen?" She brought the pot over to the table, shoved aside a stack of papers, and put it on a trivet in the center of the table.

Curt inhaled deeply of the fragrant steam rising out of the pot and groaned. "That is not jar sauce. Please tell me you made it."

"Gotta have something to do when you're frustrated and you can't get to the gym." Toni blushed and grinned and stepped over to the refrigerator to pull out a big bowl of salad. "With a name like Napolitano, I better be able to make a decent pot of sauce."

"You are the perfect woman. Marry me."

Curt held his breath and went stone still, afraid to look at Toni. She, on the other hand, started dishing up the spaghetti as if she hadn't heard what he said. If she did hear, she didn't react. He slowly, cautiously released his breath, and congratulated himself that Toni knew him so well, she knew he was joking.

That was good, wasn't it?

"What if Donovan doesn't find any report of that greenhouse panel being stolen?" Toni continued, as she dished up her own spaghetti.

"How much surplus do you think anyone has sitting around?" he countered, and concentrated on twirling strands around his fork. He flinched when Toni reached over and slapped his hand.

"Bless the mess before you eat, okay?" She grinned at him when he looked up at her, startled and half-guilty.

Curt nearly took hold of her hands before he bowed his head to pray, just like he had seen dating couples do at Singles outings for church. That urge scared him, so he ended up clasping his hands together tightly in his lap. What was wrong with him lately?

For a few minutes after he said 'amen,' neither one said anything, busy with scooping up salad and putting dressing on it. He groaned at the first spicy, rich taste of the dark red spaghetti sauce. In college, he had lived on spaghetti and other inexpensive food, but instead of getting sick of it, Curt had turned himself into a connoisseur. Toni's creation ranked up there with the best he had ever tasted. She laughed when he told her so.

"Flattery will get you a quart to take home, if you really like it that much."

"Forget about taking it home. I'll drink it instead of coffee."

"Low blood sugar. Definitely. You're getting loopy." She picked through her salad bowl for a moment. "Okay, the greenhouse panel. What if it was never reported stolen because the White Rose owns a greenhouse?"

"That'd make sense. They've been trying to use the roses as a lead, but no luck." Curt chewed for a minute or two while he thought it over. "He grows roses for himself, to give his victims."

"I didn't see anything about greenhouses or even belonging to a garden club, when I looked through the list. Did you?" Toni sighed and shrugged when Curt thought a moment and shook his head. "Got the feeling we'll spend the whole evening looking through the disks Baxter gave us?"

"Just keep the spaghetti coming."

Toni laughed, and that suited Curt just fine.

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DEATH BY CHOCOLATE by Michelle L. Levigne

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE by Michele L. Levigne

All's Fae In Love And Chocolate Book Four

The race is on to catch the Fae who poisoned the Queen's chocolate. For Epsi and Guber, the stakes are even higher and could lead to death, or love. What a choice!

Fae use dark chocolate as a cure-all, so how did the Queen die of eating too much? Epsi gave her former school chum a boatload (we're talking Cleopatra's barge here) of chocolate as a coronation present. Now she's a prime suspect. Where's a knight in shining armor when a Fae damsel in distress really needs one?

Enter Guber, Fae of royal blood, Human-phile and techno-geek. Mysteries and gizmos to test for substances harmful to Fae life and limb are right up his alley. Epsi is the prettiest damsel in distress that he's ever seen - and she doesn't think he's weird.

Guber has been living in the Human realms for decades to avoid both the Fae who want to reinstate the hereditary royalty and those who want to eradicate anyone with the slightest trace of royal purple blood. Both of them are on Guber's tail, and could focus on Epsi at any moment.

It's a good thing they have an entire warehouse of possibly poisoned chocolate to use as a weapon.

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~Excerpt~

Epsi had just finished sharing Will and Phill's revelation about carob--and how Humans used it as substitute chocolate in a ridiculous effort to convince themselves they were being healthy--when a communication globe shimmered into being directly in front of her. She had two seconds to read the message that she had visitors and was to report to the visitation dimension. The next moment, she blinked and found herself in the visitation dimension. It was a good thing she hadn't been taking a bath or changing her clothes or eating or something else that would put her in an embarrassing light.

"Harry?" She looked around the room, essentially featureless, with slowly churning lavender and pink walls and floor, and a conference table and chairs that oozed up from the floor. She was alone with her three visitors--Harry, and two Fae men who looked familiar in that "I've met you before, maybe centuries ago in a really, really crowded party" way.

One was dark-haired and handsome, polished in the hereditary advocate style and wearing the Fae knock-off of Armani. The other wore Army fatigue pants, and a baggy purple T-shirt with the Tasmanian Devil slavering on it. He had shaggy, dusty brown hair, a beaked nose and slightly bugged eyes. Despite that, there was something charming and little-boyish about him that had her smiling as soon as his gaze locked with hers. She liked his slowly dawning grin and the blue and green and gold sparkles in his big, chocolate-brown eyes.

Right now, she hated all mention or thought of chocolate, but she definitely liked this bit of chocolate in her life. Not that that made any sense.

"This is my distant cousin, Kevyn. He's an advocate," Harry said, pointing to the immaculately groomed one as they settled around the table. "And this is his buddy, Guber."

"Guber!" Epsi was so glad to remember him, she nearly leaped over the table to hug him. It had been years since she had seen him. If she remembered correctly, he had stood up to Theodosius with some really clever, messily nasty tricks. That made him her hero, even before the realization that he was probably here to help Harry in her defense.

"He's a tech wizard. Human tech is his specialty," Harry added.

"We're putting together a carob detector," Guber announced, eyes sparkling, his voice rich, as if this was all a fascinating adventure he was enjoying immensely.

Epsi kept her mouth pressed in a tight smile, to avoid blurting that he had no business having so much fun when her life and liberty were at stake. It took a few seconds for her to catch on to what he was saying, and it occurred to her that Harry couldn't have found anyone better suited to help her with her problem than someone who was totally immersed in all things Human and tech.

"A carob detector? Can you do that?"

"Better this way than doing it your way," Kevyn offered with a tip of his head.

"My way? Oh--getting sick. Yeah. Not cool." She decided maybe she was on the verge of being out of her depth, so she should just sit back and let the experts handle the problem.

At least she had someone helping her on the outside.

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THE DREAMER'S LOOM by Michelle L. Levigne

THE DREAMER'S LOOM by Michelle L. Levigne

He was the cunning trickster king, always playing his opponents’ weaknesses against them, lying as easily as other men breathed. He trusted no one, or so the other warriors of Achaia believed. Then he met the one woman who could match him in cleverness and vowed he would have her, no matter what it took.

She was the overlooked daughter and cousin, dark and small when her cousins, Helen and Kleitamaistra, were tall and golden. She was a princess, but knew she would be sacrificed in marriage to buy peace for her uncle’s kingdom. She was a visionary, glimpsing the future and events half a world away in her dreams.

Odysseus went to Sparta to win Helen as his bride, but when he saw Penelope, he knew she was the queen who could protect his precious Ithaka through the turmoil of the future. Their love grew through pain and tears, and held strong for twenty years while vengeful gods kept him from their home. Their love triumphed against enemies who would have stolen kingdom and queen, and became the greatest love story ever told...

Note to reader: This story was previously published only in electronic format under the title The Dark One (LTD Books, ISBN 1-55316-083-5). This new Amber Quill Press version, however, has been reedited and retitled for the electronic format and the first-time paperback release.

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Excerpt:

In silence, the ship left anchor and headed out into deeper waters again. The flames of the funeral pyre grew smaller in the distance as Penelope watched. She shivered, wondering if the man who touched her was on the pyre.

“What are you thinking?” Odysseus asked, his voice a rough whisper, softened with weariness.

“How many died?” For a moment, she couldn’t face him.

“Seven. Their leader among them. Dolios found him before I did,” he added, one corner of his mouth rising for a second. “The ones who lived know who they were fighting. Maybe now they will not so easily attack travelers.”

“They know…you told them, and released them?” Penelope shook her head, trying to understand. “What if they call their kinsmen together for vengeance?”

“Who would justify them? Who would help them?” He sighed, closed his eyes, and leaned hard into the rudder. “Penelope, they took their lives into their hands in a wager, and lost.”

“I will never understand battle, or what drives a man to cut the life from another.”

“Sweet Penelope, I hope you never do.”

THE RIFT WAR by Michelle L. Levigne

THE RIFT WAR by Michelle L. Levigne

The final installment in the Zygradon Chronicles: Arthurian Fantasy

Emrillian Warhawk has been raised in the modern world, 2,000 years away from the Lygroes, hidden inside a dome of Threads. Now, she must return via the tunnel under the sea, to retrieve Braenlicah, find the lost Zygradon, and awaken Athrar Warhawk from his enchanted sleep to defend Quenlaque, Lygroes, and the world. An enemy and a war have arrived that could destroy all the Threads and magic itself.

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Excerpt:


When they were halfway across the glass-smooth floor, a sound like a sudden, soft gasp came from the two sleepers. The cloth covering their forms shifted slightly, and the sounds of breathing grew stronger, louder, more steady in a few heartbeats. As her eyes grew accustomed to the shifting haze of the light, Emrillian made out more details of the two people lying before her..

A man and a woman. Even with her fading memories of her last view of her parents, Emrillian somehow expected them both to be robed and crowned as king and queen. The man wore plain, faded, dark blue tunic and shirt. The kind of clothes a convalescent would wear, comfortable and warm, and easily laundered. .

He didn't wear a helmet or chain mail or armor. He didn't even hold an empty scabbard, as the tales and ballads popular among the Archaics pictured Athrar Warhawk in his mystical resting place. A quilt with a simple spiral pattern in blue and green covered him partway, as if he had moved in his sleep and dislodged it. Emrillian remembered her mother making that quilt when they lived in the Stronghold. She had promised to teach her daughter to make one just like it, when she was a little older..

Ynfara's deep golden hair was loosely bound in a simple matron's net at the back of her head. No gauzy scarves or jewels. The only jewelry visible were their marriage bands on their wrists, and Athrar's signet ring. They looked like ordinary folk, weary from long labors, in travel clothes. .

Emrillian remembered how pale and emaciated her father had been when they brought him to the tunnel and the Vale of Lanteer, to save his life through enchantment. Now, Athrar almost looked as he did from those short few moons of happy family life. He had color in his cheeks, and his beard and hair didn't look so drained of life and substance. But both her parents still looked tired, nothing at all like the triumphant king and queen, ready to leap from their bier, take up their magical weapons and lead in the defense of their kingdom..

"Grandfather--".

"Hush, my dear. Trust in the Estall. His timing is best.".

She studied her parents as she took the last few steps up to the bier, trying to decide what features she had inherited from whom. She had her father's upturned nose and strong, long-fingered hands. Mrillis had told her many times she had Athrar's grip and dexterity. She had inherited her mother's dainty chin and rounded brow and long, white neck. Any other features, she could not discern. The similarities were enough to comfort her..

Ynfara sighed loudly. The arm stretched across Athrar's chest twitched. She reached up to rub her nose, and snuggled down closer against his shoulder..

Emrillian couldn't help it. Her nerves snapped and she giggled..

"Who's there?" Ynfara whispered, and her eyes flickered open. A frown creased her forehead as she stared up into the pearly lights spinning around her. Those eyes were deep blue. Emrillian thought she could look into them and find the answers to questions only half-formed in her mind..

"Mama?" she whispered, her voice barely more than a squeak. She cleared her throat. "Mama.".

"Who--" She inhaled sharply. "Emmi?" She struggled to sit up. .

Emrillian hurried around the bier to offer her hand..

Ynfara shuddered and stared, wrapping her arms tight around herself. She began to shake her head, then moaned and pressed her fists against her temples..

"Slowly, my dear." Mrillis came to stand beside Emrillian. He rested a hand on Ynfara's head. A flash of green-tinted light made all four in the room flinch..

"Grandfather." Ynfara offered a trembling smile. Then a sob shook her and she stared at Emrillian. "What happened to my baby?".

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