A Sneak Peek of Lupine: Pigs Might Fly

I've been working on Lupine: Pigs Might Fly amongst other things... If you don't know, Lupine: Pigs Might Fly is my contribution to the Into The Dark Charity Anthology that will be releasing this summer.

🐺 Found Family

🐺 Magical Mayhem

🐺 Reverse Harem

🐺 Mafia Romance

🐺 PNR Small Town

Camden’s POV

“You’re not my dad!” Castalia is screaming at the top of her lungs. “You’re… You’re…”

She struggles to find the words and I consider making a few suggestions. But really none of the words I want to suggest are suitable for her ears. And Lupine would definitely murder me if I encouraged any of the children to swear.

Wren and Enzo are sitting at the kitchen table, both of them struggling to hold in their snickers. When did they become friends? I’m not sure I like that.

“I might not be your dad, but I’m still in charge right now.” I try to sound serious and authoritative. Where is Lupine? I’m really not the best at the disciplinary stuff. Enzo or Wren could help. If they could pull their heads out of their arses for a second, that is.

“I want to go out with Amon!” I swear there’s something wrong with her voice. It should not go that high. It can’t possibly be natural.

“It’s too late.” Why am I even trying? This isn’t my responsibility. “It’s already nine o’clock.”

“Amon wants to catch the last showing at the cinema.”

“Where is Amon?” I ask.

When I came to live with Lupine at the orphanage she runs, it hadn’t seemed like a bad idea to have such a big family. All the children in the orphanage are practically family to Lupine. She loves them. Then again, when they’re not pranking us, they’re pretty easy to love.

But now that Amon and Castalia are dating… It’s got me thinking about what we’ll do when our little Luna wants a boyfriend. We’re quite a long way off that, but it’s still a concern. I don’t like the idea of Castalia with Amon. He’s definitely a bad influence on her.

She pauses for a second. “He said he’d meet me there. He’s getting the bus from his academy.”

“Wait. So he wants us to let you walk to cinema on your own?” I cross my arms stubbornly as I mutter under my breath, “some gentleman.”

The glare Castalia is giving me makes it obvious that she’s heard me but I don’t feel guilty. I like Amon but I don’t like Amon with Castalia. It’s bizarre. I have no idea where this paternal need to protect the irritating witch has come from.

I mean she’s not really annoying. At least not when she isn’t turning the whole town into farmyard animals.

“You! You’re a…”

Pre-order Into The Dark to read all about how Castalia turns Camden & Lupine's other mates into Dick Pigs.

A Brit Down Under Release Alert

𝔸 𝔹ℝ𝕀𝕋 𝔻𝕆𝕎ℕ 𝕌ℕ𝔻𝔼ℝ

What the hell made me think this was a good idea?

╔═🐠°*🐬*°🐠°*🐬*°🐠°*🐬*°🐠═╗

🐠 Holiday Romance

🐠 Love at First Sight

🐠 Sexy Aussie Doctor

🐠 Backpacking RomCom

╚═🐠°*🐬*°🐠°*🐬*°🐠°*🐬*°🐠═╝

They all said I’d regret it. They said something would go wrong. It always goes wrong. I am the world’s biggest clutz and yet I’d stupidly thought going on a backpacking holiday alone was a good idea.

I was wrong.

Mum told me I’d be bitten by a snake and Dad said I’d probably get mugged. My best friend Maddy thought I’d get lost and wind up in bed with a sexy Aussie… if only.

They all underestimated just how much of a clumsy idiot I am. No snake. No scary mugger. Unfortunately, no sexy Aussie… Just me and a shark.

Yup! A SHARK!

Worst day of my life.

Have You Read Damaged Intimacy?

We've spoken. We've flirted. But she won't let me close. She's guarding herself even if her face says she's the most approachable person I've ever met.

Coming home to London, Tallulah is looking for a second chance, a fresh start. Her friends know something is wrong, but they have no idea what’s she’s running from.

Tallulah is not herself. The usually happy, bubbly excitable girl is faking it. Inside, she’s a complete mess but she refuses to tell anyone why, choosing to keep it a secret, a secret that makes her skin crawl and leaves her crying herself to sleep.

She tells herself she’ll be okay. That she can cope. She can forget about how damaged she is, forget what she’s run away from. She’s fighting to hold it together.

When she meets Jarrod, he’s everything she’s ever wanted. He’s a hot, suited, motorbike riding, boss with a soft heart.

As perfect as Jarrod as, she can’t date him. She’s not the same girl she used to be and now she doesn’t think she deserves what she once wanted.

"The friendship between these two is heartbreakingly beautiful. They both promise not to allow it to go further, but know deep inside that they both want more. Hanleigh's gentle writing and sweetness comes across through both of these characters." - Reading In Our Satisfaction

I remember the first day I saw her.

It was a Sunday morning in November, and I’d had to come into work because one of the bartenders had called in sick and none of the waitresses had any idea how to pour a pint, something every good British restaurant must sell on a Sunday.

It was a British pastime to sit in a beer garden eating your Sunday roast and drinking a pint. British people had been doing it for decades, and it showed no signs of ever becoming less essential to the British way of life.

Even in November, when people couldn’t spend the day sat outside in the beer garden for fear of getting rained on, they piled into the restaurant seeking sustenance, but mostly they wanted a pick me up. They wanted a beer to rid them of the hangover they were suffering as a result of the night before. They wanted the hair of the dog. Of course, any good bartender would recommend something a little stronger than beer, but whatever made the punters happy and on Sunday mornings that was beer.

So, there I was at ten thirty-six am, stood behind the bar, bored out of my skull, pouring pint after pint for the regulars when she walked into Thorpe’s.

Everything about her took me in.

She looked remarkably like a drowned rat. She was wrapped up in more layers and scarves than I’d ever thought I’d see on one person.

Yet, even with the excessive amount of clothing, she was wearing there was something about her, something alluring, something sensual that seemed to pulse off her. I hadn’t been able to tell what it was. All I knew was that it called to me.

If I had had less self-control, I would have marched across the restaurant and cut the host off before she showed her to a table. Instead, I had secured my feet to the ground before they could run off with themselves.

I acted nonchalant as I cut some garnish for the lunch service, almost cutting my finger off several times as I pretended I wasn’t practically staring at her back.

Her hair had been down that day, and the light from the window next to her table was ricocheting off it as if it were a diamond or some sort of glass prism. Every colour imaginable seemed to reflect off her.

I had been transfixed, made practically immobile by the mere sight. I had watched as her waitress served her. I had only been able to imagine the smile that graced her face as she listened attentively to the specials menu. Her laughter had a lilt to it that was so completely unique; I didn’t think I’d hear anything quite like it even if I were to live to be one hundred.

That Sunday morning was over six months ago and yet I still barely know the girl, except that I know that I want her, that I crave her. She’s got secrets that she won’t share no matter how much I try to get them out of her.

We’ve spoken.

We’ve flirted.

But she won’t let me close. She’s guarding herself even if her face says she’s the most approachable person I’ve ever met.

After that first day, she came in nearly every day, sitting at that same window, drawing in her sketchbook. I’d desperately wanted to find out what she was drawing, but I hadn’t been able to think up an excuse to go over to her table and introduce myself.

Not on the first day or the second, not even on the seventh.

It wasn’t until the eighth day that I managed to talk myself into approaching her table and even then, it was just to clear her empty glass.

I hadn’t said a word. She had given me a brief glance and a quiet, “thank you,” and I was walking away, back to my spot behind the bar before my brain could even catch up.

The bartenders hadn’t commented on my weird behaviour or the fact that I was spending an abnormal amount of time outside of the office. They hadn’t even complained that I was taking over their bar, but I’d noticed the raised eyebrows and winks that they had exchanged between themselves; they knew I was interested in her.

They weren’t daft.

It was damn obvious that my behaviour was restricted to the times that she visited the restaurant.

I was surprised that she had managed to make me nervous. It was a well-known fact amongst my friends that I was the sweeter guy in the group, but I’d never been called shy, and yet that’s exactly how I had behaved that first week.

My best friends Jack and Landon would have laughed at me if they could have seen me. Fortunately, Jack had been spending more and more time at The Kent Mockery, another of our businesses, a luxury wine bar and club not too far away and Landon had been distracted by a woman.

That had been a big surprise. We’d always thought it would be me that settled first. In fact, bets had been placed, not just once but on multiple occasions.

I was the long-term guy in the group.

Unlike my friends, all of my relationships had been serious, usually lasting a few years or more and every time I’d thought they were the one, only to realise how wrong I was a few years later.

Landon, on the other hand, was always the man of the one night stand. He’d had rules for everything, but Aurora had managed to break every rule in his book, and now they are happily married. It is still slightly unbelievable, even now, but they are perfect for each other and completely over the top in love.

Now six months on from the day I first saw Tallulah Conway, I’m no closer to having her than I was that very first day. We’ve danced around the idea, but we’ve gotten nowhere.

Day after day, that first week I’d watched her from a distance, considering my options and each night I’d gone to bed worrying that she might not return to Thorpe’s the next day only to be delighted when she turned up, sketchbook in hand. Each day had been hell waiting for her arrival, and then pure adrenaline had rushed through my system when I saw her cross the threshold of my restaurant.

I’d had the surprise of a lifetime when on the ninth day Landon had invited a bunch of people to dinner at Thorpe’s, myself included. I’d been dealing with a problem in the kitchen as the other guests arrived, so I’d missed the moment she took her seat at the round booth.

As I’d approached the table where my best friends were waiting for me, I had been barely able to keep my eyes off her.

You mustn’t stare, Jarrod, I’d told myself over and over again but to no avail. Her eyes had been on me too. That had given me hope. Perhaps false hope but hope nonetheless.

💜 Romantic Suspense

💜 Love At First Sight

💜 A Love To Heal Your Soul

Damaged Intimacy (BK 1)

Don't forget that Damaged Intimacy is currently FREE on Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, B&N, Google Play and Smashwords.

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Google Play | Smashwords

Audible | iTunes | Radish

Entangled Intimacy (BK 2)

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Google Play | Smashwords

Audible | iTunes | Radish

Forceful Intimacy (BK 3)

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Google Play | Smashwords

Audible | iTunes | Radish

Call Me Doctor (BK 4)

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N | Google Play

Smashwords | Radish

BOXSET

Amazon | iBooks | Kobo | B&N

Google Play | Smashwords