My Midnight fantasies: Release Event: The Mirror by Candace Bowser

Book Title: The Mirror

Author: Candace L. Bowser

Release Date: June 18, 2013

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Horror

Length: 280 Pages

Publisher: GMTA Publishing LLC

Presented by: As You Wish Tours

BLURB

Adrianna Bristol stood before her grandmother's antique mirror and stared at the black velvet cloth covering it. She just couldn't believe her nana was gone. The mirror had hung in that exact same spot for the last twenty years, never once had it been moved from the alcove. Adrianna remembered the stern words of her grandmother when she was a child. Annabel Bristol had told her, "promise me Adrianna that you will never uncover the mirror. No matter what it may whisper to you, you must never remove the cover." Adrianna laid her hand against the cool velvet which covered the glass. As she walked away the mirror whispered to her, "you belong to me now. You belong to me." A four hundred year old curse has plagued the Bristol family since the 1600's. A curse born out of a love so rich and a betrayal so deep, that time itself has no power to stop it. Only Adrianna has the courage to find the truth behind the curse and set her family free. But will the Mirror release its darkest secrets?

EXCERPT

My dreams were of Tuscany. I stood on the balcony of a villa overlooking fields and fields of grapes and olives. Sheep grazed on the lower terraces and the terrain was as green and vibrant as any I had seen. A young girl was playing in the vineyards, running in between the rows. Her dress was long and flowing with an empire waist. She obviously was a child born into wealth by the fine quality of her clothing and could not have been more than five years old. My eyes followed her as she came to the house and went inside. She stopped momentarily in front of the mirror and whispered something but I couldn’t understand her. I watched as she reached to touch the glass.

I awoke abruptly unable to catch my breath and covered in sweat. The mirror the little girl reached to touch was the same mirror hanging downstairs. I grabbed my robe off the end of the bed and ran down the stairs. I stopped in front of the mirror wrapping my around me tightly.

“What do you want from me?” I whispered.

I stared into the mirror for a long time but it said nothing to me. Still no reflection was cast. I was hoping you would show me the little girl. The longer I stood there the more amusing the whole situation became.

“Not only have I taken to talking to myself, I have started talking to inanimate objects like you. What kind of control do you exact? Is it purely the mystique that surrounds you that makes everyone believe you are cursed?” I spoke loudly in the hopes that if anyone was hiding in the house they would hear me.

Still nothing but silence surrounded me. I turned to go back upstairs and could have sworn an image appeared in the mirror out of the corner of my eye. I swirled back around quickly but nothing was there, just the mirror and nothing more. I decided to retrieve the book from nana’s room, bring it downstairs where the fire could be lit, and where reading in the parlor until morning broke would be more pleasurable.

I had fallen asleep in my clothes and decided to change. A pair of blue jeans and a white blouse would suffice. I sat down at the dressing table and brushed my hair using one of the combs to pull my hair back from my face. Was my mother’s hair blonde like mine? Did she have green eyes the same as Sam and me? Sighing deeply with the book clutched tightly to my chest, I walked into the hallway and closed the door behind me. The front door burst open suddenly and a giant gust of wind blew into the house. The force of the wind was so great it took every ounce of strength to close it.

That door was locked when I went to bed. How could the door have unlocked itself? No more chances. This time you get the deadbolt and the chain. I locked the door with the key and checked the knob to make sure it was still locked and it was. How could there not be someone else here with me? A locked door cannot just fly open on its own.

The house was cold. The embers from last evening’s fire were long gone and building a fire would take too much time. I fumbled to find the matches and light the kerosene lamp with my hands still shaking. It took nearly five minutes to regain the composure needed to strike the match. My hands trembled as though I had no control over them. Nana’s shawl around me would help to ease my distress and allow me to sit down in the chair and resume reading about the woman and her child

AUTHOR BIO

An avid writer, Candace works nearly every day on one of her manuscripts. Though she predominately composes works of horror, she also writes mystery, suspense, and adventure. During the 1990’s she was a featured columnist for PRS in Kansas City. In 2011, Candace was honored by being voted one of the Top 20 Most Prolific Authors by AKG mag.. Her books are an unusual blend of historical places and events, along with fictional and non-fictional characters, which she seamlessly weaves into the story .Originally from south-central Pennsylvania, she currently resides in Kansas City with her husband Todd.

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