Title- Ensnared
Series- The Dolan Prophecies Series #1.5 (Novella)
By- Allana Kephart & Melissa Simmons
Publication Date- August 22nd, 2014
Genre- New Adult Dystopian/Dark Faery Tales
Blurb
Patrick and Maeve Dolan left the safety of their New York
human settlement on a sultry summer night and never returned. Ambushed by the
Winter Court guards during their search for information on how to free humanity
from faery rule, they are now ensnared in the Winter King Landric’s web, and he
has some questions of his own.
The Winter King is
curious about the way the Dolans run their city. In a surprising turn of
events, he’s determined to learn all about their 16-year-old son, Eirnin.
Landric separates the couple, threatens and tortures to the best of his
ability, but the Dolans won’t give up the information he’s after.
Murphy, one of King Landric’s guards has been a ward of the
Winter Court for as long as he can remember. Trained from childhood to be as
quiet and obedient as possible, he’s always been the perfect servant. At least,
until Princess Lumi strolled into his life and made him question everything he
believes in.
When the princess vanishes without a trace in the middle of the
night, Landric is determined Patrick’s people had something to do with it.
Without the only connection to kindness and humanity they had, Murphy and
Patrick both find themselves falling into very different kinds of insanity.
Will Murphy follow his heart just this once, choose his own
side and find Lumi? Will Patrick’s hope dwindle before he can escape and save
his family? Or will their unyielding resistance be the death of them all?
Excerpt #1
(Patrick’s pov)
I
look down at the radiant beauty of my wife’s face as she holds our daughter in
her arms for the first time and feel happiness flare to life inside my chest.
It’s a perfect moment; Maeve looks floored by the depth of her affection for
our baby girl and I can understand. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much love
and protectiveness before in my life. I look into her face and feel the
enormity of my responsibility to this tiny little girl settle on my shoulders.
Honestly it’s a weight I welcome, and I have every intention of being as
amazing to this child as my mother has always been to me.
Maeve
can’t seem to stop herself from touching our daughter’s face, and I hear her
murmur, “Welcome to the world, little one…” She looks up at me, smiling from
ear to ear before saying, "You got your daddy's eyes, lucky girl." I
feel an answering smile break over my face as I look down at our daughter.
I
pretend to think over what Maeve said. "The color is different, that much
is certain. She is beautiful though, just like her momma," I say sincerely
and reach out to caress my wife’s face. She looks up at me and smiles; leaning
into my touch.
"She has those big, innocent eyes,"
she says; smiling wider with happy tears standing in her deep brown eyes.
"Just like you."
I
am bursting with newfound parental pride. "My mother's eyes, it
seems," I correct her. "Hopefully she'll have her mother's keen mind
and big heart."
She
chuckles softly. "And her father's sense of humor, I hope." I watch
her lean down and whisper to the baby, "He's much more fun than me."
She
has such a jaded view of herself, it hurts my heart. She doesn’t see the
goodness inside herself—the love and kindness that peek out when she’s not
paying attention. "Not true, wife. You're too hard on yourself." I
feel my eyes misting over as I look down on them. They are both infinitely
precious to me. "My lasses…the whole universe right here in this
bed."
Maeve
smiles up at me with mischief in her eyes. "Oh dear, look at your
father—getting soft on us already!" She reaches her hand up and pulls my
arm until I lean down far enough for her to press a kiss to my lips. "Sit
with us? I want to run something by you," she
asks and I nod at her; settling on the
bed and then lifting her easily in my arms and setting her down in my lap so
both she and the baby are in my arms where they belong.
