Witch Hunt

• Author: Leanne Karella & Vivienne King
• Publisher: New Concepts Publishing
• Year: 2006
• Setting: Unegi, Arizona
• ISBN: 1-58608-861-0
• Purchase: New Concepts Publishing

Book Description

Lina Brennen has been searching for one thing all her adult life: A place to call home. Between her Granna's ghost, who's been by her side since she was a child, and Lina's skills as a healer, she's been run out of town after town.

Trent Godfrey has spent the last ten years keeping his heart safe from any woman, until Lina comes into his life. He's turned his back on his Native American heritage, refusing to have anything to do with the Spirit World.

The sizzling attraction between them can be stopped by only one thing: Lina's gift. Is their love strong enough to lead him through his buried past? Or will it tear them apart forever?

Reviews

• "...enjoyable account of life in Unegi, about both the living and the dead, with entertaining characters who keep the sheriff hopping and the reader guessing." - 4 Stars, Romantic Times

• "I loved this book. It touched me so much that I cried." - 5 Angels and RECOMMENDED READ!, Fallen Angel Reviews

• "...a superb love story... definitely a keeper." - 5 Angels, Fallen Angel Reviews

• "...one of the funniest paranormal romances I've ever encountered!" - 4 Stars, Ecataromance

• "This paranormal romance, unfolding at a careful pace and with a slightly spicy flare, is spellbinding." - 4 Cups, Coffee Time Romance

• "...not only a very sensual read but also a very spiritual one." - 5 Hearts, Love Romances

Teaser

Prologue

From the Journal of Lina Brennen:

When I was a child, all I dreamed about was being normal. And now that I'm adult? Yeah, that's still my biggest dream.

* * * *

"Well, Granna, it's time to move on again. The villagers are getting restless. If I don't leave now, they'll be coming after me with pitchforks and sickles."

"Oh, sweetling, this is the twenty-first century. You know they don't do that kind of thing anymore."

After laying another neatly folded pair of slacks into her suitcase, Lina turned toward the chair in the corner of the bedroom to send a good old-fashioned glare at her great-great-grandmother, Merona. Granna's ghostly aura was extra bright today; she was happy they'd be moving on. They'd stayed in Chicago for nearly a year, and Merona had been getting restless. She'd said there was nothing to accomplish in this "barbarous city." She'd used that very term for nearly every big city they'd stayed in.

"How many towns were you chased out of that way?" Lina asked as she went to the closet. She scooped up all the hangers at once and dumped them on the bed to start folding.

"Only a few. Most of the time I left before anyone caught on." Her aura seemed to brighten even more as her sweet round face broke into a cherub-like grin. "You're just so determined to help everyone. When you do that, it's easier to get caught."

Lina wanted to throw all the clothing into the bag without folding it. She hated packing. She hated moving. She just wanted some place to call her own. She'd been on the move for the past fifteen years, and it was getting old. "Jane said I should do what I need to do. Do you think I should have let that little girl suffer when I could help her?"

"Jane was a do-gooder, and you know it." Though Merona's words seemed harsh, Lina knew better. Merona had been proud of her granddaughter, Jane. Just as Lina knew that Merona was proud of her.

The phone rang. It had been ringing non-stop for three days now. Newspaper reporters, television reporters, curiosity seekers. It had happened before. Lina was sure it would happen again in the future. She felt like crying. She felt like raging against this ... this thing she had.

"You are upset."

Well, duh. Why wouldn't she be upset? She'd made it almost a full year without the attention, without the shocked gasps, without the fearful glances thrown at her. She'd found a job in a private school, working in the office. It had been a dream fulfilled. She could be around the children but not have close contact with them. She could watch them from afar, dream her dreams. Oh, how she longed for a child of her own!

But that was not to be.

To have a child of her own, she needed a man of her own. The man. Like she'd ever find him.

Merona's pale face wrinkled into a frown as she rose from her post in the corner of the room and came toward the bed. "What is floating around in that head of yours, child?"

Lina scowled at Merona as she stuffed the corners of her suitcase haphazardly with T-shirts to fill in the space. "Oh, Granna." Lina sighed as she threw down the shirt she'd wadded into a ball and turned toward the window, folding her arms around herself for comfort. She so wanted someone else's arms around her. Anyone's. Someone to make her feel ... "I want a home, Granna. A home and a husband and a child of my very own. Why can't I have one? You did. Granna Jane did. Why am I so different?"

Lina felt the cool brush of air on her hair and knew Merona was trying to comfort her. "You will have all your wishes fulfilled, my darling child. In your own time. You cannot rush true love. It must find you. And then, my sweet Lina, all your dreams will come true."

Granna Merona had been saying those same words to her all of her adult life. At thirty-two, she was beginning to doubt them.

"Now, sweetling, it is time to dig out that great map of yours and let us find a new place." Merona sat down on the edge of the bed. "A small town this time. This place is ridiculously cold and windy. The weather makes the inhabitants bitchy."

"Small town," Lina mumbled. They'd tried that before. The townsfolk had almost come after her with the pitchforks and sickles. She gave a sigh, pulled the atlas from the top shelf of the closet, and flung it carelessly on the bed next to Merona. "You pick this time, Granna."

With a glittering chuckle, Merona waved her fingers at the atlas and the pages fluttered open. "We've never been to Arizona before."

Arizona it is.

Chapter One

From the journal of Lina Brennen:

My life has been an unending journey of beginnings. Over and over I've started from scratch. New town, new place to live, new job, new life. Just for once, would it be possible find something permanent? Happily ever after can't only be in the storybooks. I want mine.

A home of my own. Two point three kids. White picket fence. And a man with sparkling eyes, a charming smile, and a voice to make a woman melt.

* * * *