Halloween Trivia Question: Everyone has fears, even monsters. Traditionally, what does a vampire fear? A. Rats B. Crucifixes C. Coaches (Find the answer below.)
Josie Riviera
Josie’s Top 3 Halloween top list:
1. Halloween Costumes–love fun ghost costumes
2. Halloween Candy–anything chocolate
3. Halloween Decorations–pumpkins on the porch
About Josie: Josie Riviera is a USA TODAY bestselling author of contemporary, inspirational, and historical sweet romances that read like Hallmark movies. She lives in the Charlotte, NC, area with her wonderfully supportive husband. They share their home with an adorable shih tzu, who constantly needs grooming, and live in an old house forever needing renovations.
Author Links:
Website: http://josieriviera.com/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Josie-Riviera/e/B009POZLGU?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000
Seeking Fortune
Blurb:
Are her superstitions working their magic…or is God sending a message?
From USA Today bestselling author Josie Riviera comes the first heart-warming novel in the Romany Gypsy Seeking Series.
Losing his wife and daughter to influenza shook James Colchester’s faith in God. As another epidemic threatens, he’s torn between what’s best for his fragile son: fleeing to his Welsh homeland, or staying put.
In a moment of weakness, the black-haired, green-eyed Gypsy’s delicate touch on his palm quells his fear…and her beauty ignites a warmth he hasn’t felt in years.
Desperate to return to her people, Valentina goes against every lesson her mother taught her to soothe the Englishman into a false sense of security. But as James’ quiet faith sparks a hunger to know it for herself, she realizes she’s made an unforgivable mistake. One that could rob James of his most precious gift—and destroy their chance for lifelong love.
There are lies more believable than truth.
Excerpt:
Si khohaimo may patshivalo sar o tshatshim.
There are lies more believable than the truth.
Old Romany saying
England 1811
“Bury me standing, for I have been on my knees all my life.”
Valentina Rupa bowed her head to hear her beloved mother’s last words, to see the twitch of her eyes beneath her eyelids, the rise and fall of her chest beneath the thin blankets.
Her mother’s breath faded, already settling into the bleak night, already gone.
Unearthly quiet filled their makeshift canopy. The dwindling light from the nearby campfires of their Romany tribe seeped through the canvas.
“Daj. Mother … don’t stop speaking.” Tears blinded Valentina’s eyes, defeated her voice. She focused on her mother’s lips, willing her to speak once more. What good did it do to be a drabardi, a powerful fortune-teller and healer, if she couldn’t save her own mother?
Valentina’s younger sister, Yolanda, stood beside her. Yolanda coughed violently, then wheezed.
“Please, Daj, it’s not your time.” Yolanda’s hoarse voice faded to a whisper. “Her lips, she’s breathing …”
“Nay, it’s the north wind.” Valentina peered at the oak tree branches bending against a biting gust, threatening to collapse their crude canopy. Wagon wheels creaked, groaning into the dirt, familiar sounds, yet so distant. Their mother had lived her entire life in the caravan, traveling from village to village. There was no other way for her. Only the way of the Romany.
The air hung thick and heavy, weighty against Valentina’s damp cheeks. She didn’t care, didn’t bother to wipe them.
She hated the weakness of crying. Crying meant loss and loneliness and defeat.
She glanced at Yolanda, noting her ashen face, the stoop of her slight shoulders. “Try to rest for a while.”
“I’m not tired.” Yolanda rubbed her temples. “Now that both Mother and Father are dead, we’re orphans.”
“I’ll not abandon you.” Valentina choked back her fears and crushing uncertainties. She was the older sister. She always took care of Yolanda.
With shaking fingers, she tucked the threadbare blankets around their mother’s feeble body, smoothed the wrinkled fabric, and folded the ends back. Neatly, the way her mother liked it done. Tucked, smoothed, folded. Tucked, smoothed, folded.
“Daj, you starved yourself so we could eat. We’d have found the food we needed somehow.” Her hands glided purposefully. “Why do the English treat the Rom as if we’re animals?”
“Because this is the land of the English,” Yolanda said. “They make their own rules.”
Long shivers rippled through Valentina’s body, a cadence of trepidation and doubt. In a single, deliberate breath, she blew them out.
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Answer to Halloween Trivia Question: B. Crucifixes
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