The Princess of Isca

The Princess of Isca

Michelle Hoppe

Published 2018 by Book Boutiques.

ISBN: 978-1-946363-90-9

Copyright © 2018, Michelle Hoppe.

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Book Boutiques.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, locales, or events is wholly coincidental. The names, characters, dialogue, and events in this book are from the author’s imagination and should not to be construed as real.

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Blurb

When her mother decides it's time for her to get serious about finding a mate, Valerie rebels. Finding herself swept up in the world of a good-looking, fun-loving, human tourist, Val is determined to make the most of her time on land and the last few hours of Dylan's vacation on St. Kitts.

Dylan wasn't expecting to find love on the island of St. Kitts, then he met free-spirited Valerie Richardson. From sun-drenched beaches to secluded gardens, he and Val explored the beauty of the island and each other. With his vacation almost over, Dylan had one last memory to create—making love to Valerie Richardson.

Being a mother is not easy, especially with a headstrong daughter like Valerie. All Katherine wanted was the best for her daughter and an end to her dating humans, but it was a fight every step of the way. Tired of waiting for Val to get serious, Katherine takes matters into her own hands and signs up to an online dating site using her daughter's stats and pictures.

Can Valerie find love in the human world before her mother marries her off to some pathetic loser from ParanormalMatch.com?

Previously Published

(2006) Changeling Press

Acknowledgements

Cover Artist: Valerie Tibbs, Tibbs Design

Prologue

Breathe, Katherine, breathe.

Katherine felt a tingle start in her toes and travel at warp speed up her spine.

Oh my stars in heaven, is he real?

She glanced at her sleeping husband Edward to assure herself he still slept, before shifting the laptop on the pillow and glancing back at the picture of a perfect male body.

A flush heated Katherine, slipping up her neck and settling on her cheeks.

Stop. Get back to the business at hand.

Katherine reluctantly scrolled past the picture of whitetail47 to concentrate on the printed words further down the home page of the online dating site and started reading quietly to herself.

Welcome to Paranormal Match, where finding the love of your life is supernatural, super easy.

Right. She’d already found the love of her life. Besides, all this late-night research wasn’t for her. Katherine continued to read.

Tired of squeamish humans passing you over because blood is your beverage of choice?

Do you long to indulge in intimate moonlit jaunts with a potential Pet Smart Companion? Are your fins fed up with the goldfish bowl of dating?

Katherine smiled. Goldfish bowl is exactly what Valerie thought she was stuck in. If only I could get her to at least look at these pictures, she thought. But no, her daughter was strong willed. An I don’t need your help finding a mate type of girl. Well, too damned bad. Katherine truly believed it was a mother’s right to intervene if her children were making the wrong life choices.

After glancing again to assure herself Edward still slept, Katherine returned to reading the information on the home page of www.ParanormalMatch.com.

Did the devil make you give up on ever finding your soul mate? Long to soar to the heavens with the match of your dreams?

Katherine smiled.

Fill out our in-depth entry form. Browse thousands of profiles from paranormals just like you! Make new friends—find the immortal man or woman of your dreams with just one easy click.

This last line of text was followed by more pictures to tempt those not yet convinced by the clever writing. Katherine scanned them quickly, and then looked again. Interesting. Using her touch pad, Katherine scrolled back up the page and confirmed her observation. All the pictures on the home page of www.ParanormalMatch.com were of males.

Vampires, werewolves, mermen, and more. All neat little thumbnails with a username printed below. Eye candy, for sure. Katherine wondered why only pictures of men were displayed. Not that it mattered. As a woman, she was more than happy to look at the flesh laid out before her.

Scrolling back down to her place in the advertising, Katherine resumed reading.

Let us help you find the paranormal match of a lifetime at www.ParanormalMatch.com—where meeting the perfect match can be out of this world! Don’t wait—join with our special offer for a free trial basis now. Choose the membership that best suits your search for the perfect paranormal mate!

A loud snore, followed by gasping, startled Katherine. She quickly lowered the laptop lid, weakening the glow of light from the screen.

Katherine, Edward croaked out, why are you still awake?

I’m reading about this dating site.

Edward twisted his body so he faced her hip. His eyes were still closed and his voice sounded hoarse from snoring. You looking to replace me, dear?

Of course not. Katherine laid a hand on his shoulder. I’m getting a membership for Valerie.

Pushing his head deeper into his pillow, Edward seemed to have drifted back to sleep. Katherine opened the cover on the laptop to continue, when his voice once again startled her. That’s nice, dear.

Katherine stopped thinking about Edward. He won’t even remember this conversation in the morning, she assured herself. Finding her place, she clicked on the Join navigation icon and was quickly whisked to another page on the site.

Thumbnails of half-dressed male bodies waited to be ogled. Katherine was in a hurry now to get Valerie a membership so she could access some of these pictures and read profiles.

Scrolling past more pictures, she finally came to the options for joining the site.

The Heavenly Membership looked interesting. Katherine read quietly to herself, trying to keep her voice barely audible so she didn’t disturb Edward.

Allows you unlimited on-site e-mails to and from your own personal e-mail account.

Send and receive as many e-mails as you’d like to find and communicate with the paranormal partner of your dreams! Upload as many as four pictures to the site—a premium mate-seeking tool! Our Heavenly membership also brings with it full access to all of the Paranormal Match member profiles and additional features such as vibes—the ultimate way to express your interest!—and Instant Messaging. Purchase a three or six-month Heavenly membership package. The three-month package is loaded with features and available for only $29.95 per month or get crazy and take our value package for six months for just $22.95 per month!

So basically, thirty dollars a month for three months. Surely, I can find Valerie a mate in three months. Katherine clicked the correct icon to start the application process. Once her credit card information was accepted, she received her username and password confirmation, via email.

Not bad for a night’s work. With sleep heavy in her eyes, Katherine saved all the necessary information to a file, added ParanormalMatch.com to her favorites list and logged off the computer.

With a last look at her sleeping husband, she closed the laptop lid, set it on the nightstand, and soon drifted into peaceful slumber.

Chapter 1

"Tracee, Valerie shouted over the pounding music. We can’t go yet."

The dance floor vibrated from the deep bass of drums, sending rattling tingles up her legs with each tha-thump of the drummer’s sticks. The