The Key to All Things by Cindy Lynn Speer

 

 

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Cindy Lynn Speer will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Five Things You Might Not Know About Cindy Lynn Speer

Let’s see…five things about me.

My father was a blacksmith, but I still have a horrible time remembering much about metallurgy, which is OK, until I have to remember if carbon steel is great or a no-no when it comes to swords. (Answer…carbon steel is great for keeping a blade sharp but awful if you want something that is not brittle when you are fencing.)

My first paying job was as a cemetery caretaker…which meant I mowed the lawn while my boss would pour gas into hornet’s nests and light them off. Fun times. I was always sure someone would come back in the form of a singed zombie or belligerent ghost to complain, but sadly, no one ever did.

I adore gardening but am very bad at it, mostly, because I am very allergic to the outdoors. I do well with orchids, though. And my basil is about to become self-aware, I just know it.

I love road trips. Getting in the car and just seeing the world is wonderful. But I’ve not gone anywhere for a bit…so the big reset button in my head hasn’t been hit, and I think it is wearing on me. I better get going somewhere soon! With the pandemic, though, it is hard. (But if that is my biggest problem, I should admit I am very lucky and shush.)

I have a love of foxes, currently, which means that every time something with a cute fox appears (for while Wal Mart was making book because they put out so many fox printed pajamas) it must be mine.

Every day, Lady Avriel hears the bards sing about the greatest love story of all times, a heartbreaking romance between a human nobleman, Captain Edward de Vere, and the beautiful Queen of the Fae, who shattered his heart when she abandoned him to accept her throne. Avriel secretly longs for the sad and romantic captain as she works as a double agent, serving at both human and fae courts to keep the peace between the two kingdoms.

But for three hours every night she remembers a completely different world, where the greatest love story is a lie, and Edward belongs to her. She believes this reality to be the true one, even if no one else does. The world has fallen under a spell, and it is up to Avriel to find its source and undo it.

To set things right, Avriel must face the all-powerful Elder Fae and confront the darkest powers that rule her destiny – only to learn that if she proceeds, her actions will bring chaos and open her kingdom to destruction. Is this a choice she is willing to make to bring her love back?

Read an Excerpt:

Avriel blinked. Blood rushed into her head, and suddenly there was too much of everything – too much sound, too much scent, too many visions clouding her head. It pulled her in like a wave, all cacophony and fear of being overwhelmed. And then silence, abrupt and complete, before her senses started to work again.

She had to school her features, to look calm while the turmoil sorted itself.

Nine o’clock. The Remembering Time. For the next three hours, she would remember a completely different world, a different reality.

“What is it?” Northram asked sharply, staring into her face. Jervis had the grace to look worried, Charlotte was studying her fingernails.

“Just this awful headache all the sudden.” She took a deep breath, and held it as the world clicked back into place.

She did not want to meet Northram’s gaze, fearing that he would see the truth – that she was a different person sitting here, staring back at him. She wondered for the thousandth time how he did not remember the truth of things. The spell, whatever it was, was strong indeed; for when she finally looked into his eyes, she could find no warmth, no concern. She was just one of his puppets… if he knew her as anything else, his expression did not give it away.

“Very well, then,” he said. “You may go.”

Jervis helped her up and walked with her. Charlotte stayed behind, as usual.

“Do you need a doctor?” Jervis asked.

“No.” Avriel forced herself to keep a hand on his arm. With her recovered memory, she now knew how she despised his cowardice, how cruel he could be. Her skin crawled at his touch. But since the Avriel of a few moments ago did not remember Jervis in such a fashion, she was forced to submit.

Fortunately, her room was not far. “Thank you for your help.”

Jervis searched her face, much like Northram had a moment ago. “Avriel, what is it?”

“Pain. Just lots of pain. I will take some headache powder and take to my bed.”

She closed the door quickly before he could say anything else. Some nights the truth wanted to come pouring out in a torrent. She wanted to punish people like Jervis for sins they doubtless didn’t even remember.

About the Author:

Cindy is the author of the Amazon bestselling The Chocolatier’s Wife, and it’s sequel, The Chocolatier’s Ghost, among others, including the brand new Key to All Things. She loves reading, taking road trips, hiking, pretending to garden (really, I need to feed my poor tomatoes) and sword fighting.

Website: http://www.cindylynnspeer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cindylynnspeer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cindylynnspeer

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/Key-Things-Cindy-Lynn-Speer-ebook/dp/B088HHD3WX

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The Chocolatier's Wife and The Chocolatier's Ghost by Cindy Lynn Speer

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

The Chocolatier's Wife: ROMANCE, MAGIC, MYSTERY.... AND CHOCOLATE

A truly original, spellbinding love story, featuring vivid characters in a highly realistic historical setting.

When Tasmin's bethrothed, William, is accused of murder, she gathers her wind sprites and rushes to his home town to investigate. She doesn't have a shred of doubt about his innocence. But as she settles in his chocolate shop, she finds more in store than she bargained for. Facing suspicious townsfolk, gossiping neighbors, and William's own family, who all resent her kind - the sorcerer folk from the North -- she must also learn to tell friend from foe, and fast. For the real killer is still on the loose - and he is intent on ruining William's family at all cost.

The Chocolatier's Ghost: Married to her soul mate, the chocolatier William, Tasmin should not have to worry about anything at all. But when her happily ever after is interrupted by the disappearance of the town’s wise woman, she rushes in to investigate. Faced with dangers, dead bodies, and more mysterious disappearances, Tasmin and William must act fast to save their town and themselves – especially when Tasmin starts to be haunted by a most unwelcome ghost from her past…literally.

The Chocolatier’s Ghost is an enchanting sequel to Cindy Lynn Speer’s bestselling romantic mystery, The Chocolatier’s Wife.

Read an excerpt from THE CHOCOLATIER'S WIFE:

Time was, in the kingdom of Berengeny, that no one picked their spouses. No one courted—not officially, at any rate—and no one married in a moment’s foolish passion. It was the charge of the town Wise Woman, who would fill her spell bowl with clear, pure water; a little salt; and the essence of roses, and rosemary, and sage. Next, she would prick the finger of the newborn child and let his or her blood drip into the potion. If a face showed in the waters, then it was known that the best possible mate (they never said true love, for that was the stuff of foolish fancy) had been born, and the Wise Woman could then tell where the future spouse lived, and arrangements were made.

For the parents of William of the House of Almsley, this process would turn out to be less than pleasant.

The first year that the baby William’s finger was pricked and nothing showed, the Wise Woman said, “Fear not, a wife is often younger than the husband.”

The second, third, and even fifth year she said much the same.

But you see, since the spell was meant to choose the best match—not the true love—of the heart the blood in the bowl belonged to, this did not mean, as years passed, that the boy was special. It meant that he would be impossible to live with.

On his seventh birthday, it seemed everyone had quite forgotten all about visiting the Wise Woman until William, who knew this of long habit to be a major part of his day--along with cake, a new toy, and a new set of clothes--tugged on his mother’s skirt and asked when they were going. She stared at him a long moment, tea cup in hand, before sighing and calling for the carriage. She didn’t even bother to change into formal clothes this time, and the Wise Woman seemed surprised to see them at all. “Well, we might as well try while you’re here,” she said, her voice obviously doubtful.

William obediently held out the ring finger on his left hand and watched as the blood dripped into the bowl. “She has dark brown eyes,” William observed, “and some hair already.” He shrugged, and looked at the two women. “I suppose she’ll do. I’m just glad ‘tis over, and that I can go on with my life.”

“For you, perhaps,” his mother said, thinking of what she would now have to accomplish.

“Do not fret, mother, I shall write a letter to the little girl. Not that she can read it, anyway.” He petted his mother’s arm. He was a sweet boy, but he was always charging forward, never worrying about feelings.

The Wise Woman rolled out an elegantly painted silk map of the kingdom and all its regions, his mother smoothed the fabric across the table, and then the Wise Woman dipped a brass weight into the bowl. Henriette, William’s mother, placed her hands on William’s shoulders as the Wise Woman held the weight, suspended, over the map.

Henriette held her breath, waiting to see where it would land. Andrew, her younger son, had his intended living just down the street, which was quite convenient. At least they knew what they were getting into immediately.

The plumb-bob made huge circles around the map, spinning and spinning as the Wise Woman recited the words over and over. It stopped, stiffly pointing toward the North.

“Tarnia? Not possible, nor even probable. You must try again!”

For once, William’s mother wasn’t being stubbornly demanding. Tarnia, a place of cruel and wild magic, was the last place from whence one would wish a bride. They did not have Wise Women there, for anyone could perform spells. The Hags of the North ate their dead and sent the harsh winter wind to ravage the crops of the people of the South. Five hundred years ago, the North and the South had fought a bitter war over a cause no one could quite remember, only that it had been a brutal thing, and that many had died, and it led to the South losing most of its magic. Though the war was long over and the two supposedly united again, memory lingered. “I have cast it twice.” The Wise Woman chewed her lower lip, but therewas naught else she could do.

“Not Tarnia, please?” Henriette, usually a rather fierce and cold woman, begged.

“I am afraid so.” The Wise Woman began cleaning up; her shoulders set a little lower. “I am sorry.”

William, staring out the window at the children playing outside, couldn’t care less. What did it matter where anyone was from? She was a baby, and babies didn’t cause that much trouble.

“Only you, William,” his mother said, shaking her head. “Why can you not do anything normal?”

This was to be the tenor of most of their conversations throughout their lives.

About the Author:

Cindy Lynn Speer has been writing since she was 13. She has Blue Moon and Unbalanced published by Zumaya. Her other works, including The Chocolatier’s Wife (recently out in an illustrated hardcover to celebrate its 10th anniversary) and the Chocolatier’s Ghost, as well as the short story anthology Wishes and Sorrows. When she is not writing she is either practicing historical swordsmanship, sewing, or pretending she can garden. She also loves road trips and seeing nature. Her secret side hobby is to write really boring bios about herself.

Website: http://www.cindylynnspeer.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clspeer
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cindylynnspeer

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