Page 98 of Monster Among the Roses (Fairy Tale Quartet 1)

“Oh, you are on,” Isobel hissed. “What’re the stakes?”

Ezra shrugged. “A grand?” he suggested, looking completely sure of himself.

I opened my mouth to warn him not to be so cocky, only to get Isobel’s elbow thrust in my side, shutting me up.

Then she wrinkled her nose at her brother. “Oh, no, no, no. It can’t be a monetary amount. That’s no fun. It has to be something humiliating or—ooh! I got it. If I win, I get to decide what costume you’re going to wear to your company’s Halloween party.”

Ezra sniffed. “Yeah, right. No dice.”

“Wow, you must really think you’re going to lose,” she taunted.

His eyes narrowed. “Fine. You’re on. And if I win, you have to work out here in the front—with all the customers—for a week straight.”

What Ezra didn’t know was that Isobel came out of the back quite frequently. At least once a day. And there was always a customer around when she did it. She was doing so well about not letting her scars hold her back any longer, she didn’t need her brother to prod her into the open.

But I kept my trap shut because I already knew my girl was going to win this bet. And she did too. She sent me a glance and we shared a brief knowing look before she turned back to Ezra. “Deal.”

He looked smug as he held out a hand for her to shake. But then Isobel looked pretty damn smug too.

Grinning, she turned to me. “So…what embarrassing outfit should we make him wear to the party?”

I smirked, catching Ezra’s eye. “Oh, I know the perfect costume for him.”

Cinderella’s face blanched when he realized exactly what I was thinking. “No,” he flat-out begged. “Please, God. No.

Which, to Isobel and me, meant oh hell, yes. This was going to be fun.

the

END

Next in the Fairy Tale Quartet

KISSING THE BOSS

A Cinderella Story

behind

MONSTER AMONG THE ROSES

INSPIRATION

for Porter Hall, Residence of Entrepreneur Henry Nash:

At the time of writing this story, a very real place called Chestnut Hall Estates was on the market for sale in Georgia for a cool $48 million. http://www.priceypads.com/chestnut-hall-48000000/# This 17,000 square feet of living space boasted of sitting on 18 acres of land, but it was the collection of artifacts that came with the house that made it so pricey. Some of the statues came from a garden in Versailles. It contained a chandelier from the Civil War era, which brought about the idea of the chandelier in my fictitious Porter Hall coming from a mansion in France that was confiscated from the Gestapo in World War II. Also in Chestnut Hall, there was a bronze eagle from Benito Mussolini. So I stuck that statue in my Porter Hall as well. Shaw helped Constance move it across the hallway to preserve the carpet.

INSPIRATION

for Isobel’s Rose Garden:

All I knew when I started writing was that I wanted her rose garden to be connected to the main house and I would love it to look like a gazebo-shaped greenhouse. When I came across this conservatory on Tanglewood Conservatories of Denton, Maryland from an online search, I knew it was Isobel’s garden. They converted an old carriage house into a glasshouse. At the time I wrote this, the inspiration for Isobel’s garden was #7 in their conservatories portfolio. http://tanglewoodconservatories.com/our-portfolio/modern

INSPIRATION

for the Rock Cave Pool House:

When I did a search of pool houses so I could describe the one at Porter Hall, I hadn’t originally intended to make it a rock cave until I came across this one: http://ricorock.com/project/residential-custom-rock-work-virginia/ From that point on, the Porter Hall pool house could be nothing else. Note: I’m not sure if there is actually a bedroom in the real rock cave pool house. I’m guessing no.

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