Hope. Dreams. Life... Love: Fox Tale

FOX TALE

by Karen Hulene Bartell

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GENRE: Paranormal Romance

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BLURB:

Heights terrify Ava. When a stranger saves her from plunging down a mountain, he diverts her fears with tales of Japanese kitsune—shapeshifting foxes—and she begins a journey into the supernatural.

She’s attracted to Chase, both physically and metaphysically, yet primal instincts urge caution when shadows suggest more than meets the eye.

She’s torn between Chase and Rafe, her ex, when a chance reunion reignites their passion, but she struggles to overcome two years of bitter resentment. Did Rafe jilt her, or were they pawns of a larger conspiracy? Are the ancient legends true of kitsunes twisting time and events?

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EXCERPT

I applied my makeup with an artist’s hand, blending three shades of eyeshadow and going heavy on the mascara. Then I slipped into the black cocktail dress I’d bought for the occasion--a fusion of chic and slutty.

Wish I knew what Rafe planned for my birthday. Dinner at an upscale restaurant? Pub food at a sports bar?

“A surprise,” was all he’d said.

What’s the fine line between dressed to kill and overdressed? Glancing at the mirror, I glimpsed the exposed décolletage, then examined my naked left hand. More importantly, is tonight the night? After dating for three years, the conversation had finally turned to rings and weddings, and with graduation a month away, I was eager to take the next step.

At six o’clock sharp, I sat by the door, butterflies fluttering in my belly.

Ten minutes passed, fifteen. I texted him. An hour later, I called. When he didn’t pick up, I left a voicemail.

At eight o’clock, I checked my email. No messages, no texts--radio silence.

At nine o’clock, I removed my makeup, the black, smoky taupe, mauve, and greige streaks on the cotton pad mirroring my mood. After showering, I picked at soggy leftovers as I studied my bare left hand. Leftovers…

When the phone dinged, I flinched. Rafe?

Mia--Guess who’s at Tootsie’s? And Rafe’s not alone. What’s going on?--

I sat back, stunned. He wouldn’t break up with me on my birthday--without even the courtesy of telling me--would he?

A Word With the Author

What are your favorite TV shows?

Young Sheldon is my favorite show because I can relate to his character, Missy, and Meemaw. I find the relationship between his sister and his father sweet, and (living in East Texas) I have to laugh at the East Texasisms. I enjoy the sitcom’s imperfect characters, who do their best in extenuating circumstances.

I’ve begun watching BBC’s All Creatures Great and Small. Though I’d read the series decades ago, I’m now enjoying the stories a second time.

What makes you cry?

Only two things make me cry: music and heartrending stories—NOT cliched tear-jerkers—but narratives of true kindness or compassion that are relatable. Music can reach into the deepest crevices of my soul to find sore spots I didn’t know existed, then heal them.

What makes you laugh?

Animals’ antics make me laugh out loud the way they surprise “attack” each other, then jump or chase or play fight. Once in a while, a meme tickles my funny bone and I giggle. But mostly, it’s silly times with friends or loved ones that just make me chuckle and laugh until my sides ache.

What was the scariest moment of your life?

Too late during a budget tour of Paris, I learned our group would visit only the lowest level of the Eiffel Tower. I had traveled over four thousand miles to see the landmark, and by gosh, by golly, I was going to the top tier. Suffering from ignorant bliss, I left my group and set out alone, not worrying because, although I had no francs (this was prior to the Euro and Chip-n-Pin debit cards), I was armed with travelers checks.

Moments after my group left, the blue skies turned gray. Showers quickly turned into a deluge. High winds drove sheeting rain through the open-lattice ironworks, drenching us. The gendarmes closed access to the upper levels, but when I didn’t understand that we were being evacuated, the guards literally shoved me toward the down staircase. Despite my abysmal French, I finally understood.

At street level, I stopped a cab, but the cabby would not accept travelers checks without a passport. I naïvely had left mine in the hotel safe in suburban Paris, far from the city’s center. And he warned me that, without a passport, I could be arrested. With no francs and “worthless” travelers checks, all I had was one subway ticket--not a pass--but a ticket.

The Paris Metro of the 1980s required inserting a ticket into an automatic barrier each time you entered or transferred. Sometimes, the machine “spit it out” for reuse, but sometimes it would “eat” the ticket, in which case, I would be left with no means of returning to my hotel in the Parisian suburbs other than walking.

Two hours and multiple gray hairs later, I stumbled into my hotel, vowing never to desert another tour.

What's the loveliest thing you have ever seen?

To choose one thing as the loveliest I’ve EVER seen is impossible. There are too many magnificent scenes to limit the selection to just one, so I’ll simply pick the most recent.

The Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park, just outside Tallahassee, FL, was a fairyland of ethereal Spanish moss interspersed with fragrant camellias, azaleas, magnolias, and dogwoods. It was truly an enchanting spring paradise.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Author of the Trans-Pecos and Sacred Emblem series, Karen is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life, who writes multicultural, offbeat love stories. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved often, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.

Connect with Karen:

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/611950.Karen_Hulene_Bartell

Website: http://www.KarenHuleneBartell.com/

Email: info@KarenHuleneBartell.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenhulenebartell

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BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-hulene-bartell

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhulenebartell/