Have a sneak peek between the pages of The Boat on the Lake of Regret by Christy Matheson #HistoricalFantasy #FairyTaleRetelling #RecommendedReading

 

The Boat on the Lake of Regret

by Christy Matheson

He has one last chance to be a fairy tale hero.

But she didn’t agree to be the damsel in distress.

When her longtime boyfriend unexpectedly slides a ring on her finger, Hannah is whisked from her everyday bedroom to a medieval ball. Hannah knew that Dylan would do anything to prove to her parents that he’s husband material, including going into the Fae world—but she never agreed to go through the Veil herself.

Now one of three princess sisters, Hannah is paired with now-Prince Dylan. But, homesick and blindsided, she pretends the Veil has wiped him from her memory.

As her prince scrambles in vain to be the right kind of hero, Hannah ignores her instincts and follows her new sisters onto a mysterious boat—which promptly sails them into a land of giants, magical traps, and enchanted pianos…and away from Dylan.

Read now to journey back to medieval Ireland, complete with the Fae and mythological monsters, in this fairy tale adventure and sweet "it was always you" romance.

Opening:

“Hannah!” Dylan calls. “Hannah?”

A shiver of worry runs up my spine. He never uses my real name. 

“Here! I’m in the parlor!” Footsteps thunder down the hallway and Dylan bursts in. His hair is all mussed, his face is wild, and his jeans are in deplorable shape.

“What on earth happened? Come in and—”

“I’m fine. It’s yourself who needs to be careful.”

Fancy that, after barely making time for me for weeks, he bursts into my own home and orders me around!

He sees his mistake immediately. “I didn’t mean—look, I brought you this, Henny luv.”

Well, that’s a little better. He holds out his palm and I move close to look. He smells of campfire and sweat and rain, and I rest my hand on his arm just to feel the steady solid warmth of him.

“Oh, you didn’t have to buy me a ring! I’ve told you already that I’ll marry you, and we’re trying to save up.”

Despite my protests, the ring is lovely, and I reach for it, but Dylan closes his fist before I can touch it.

“It’s not that…I mean, of course we are. It’s just”—he takes my hand, his fingers cool and gentle—“there’s a whole story, but”—he slides the skin-warmed metal over my first knuckle—“first I want to —”

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Christy Matheson

Characters you connect with. Adventure. Love. Family… And endings that are more than a sugar rush.

When Christy Matheson is not throwing ordinary characters into fairy tales, she is busy raising five children. (Very busy.) She writes character-driven historical fiction with and without fantasy elements, and her “fresh, smart, and totally charming” stories have won multiple awards.

Christy is also an embroidery artist, classically trained pianist, and sews all of her own clothes. She lives in Oregon, on a country property that fondly reminds her of a Regency estate (except with a swing set instead of faux Greek ruins), with her husband, five children, three Shelties, one bunny, and an improbable quantity of art supplies.

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