Favorite 5 reasons why books are better
than boyfriends
by Teresa Richards
1. Books don’t have a curfew.
2. Books can go with you anywhere. You can even carry them
around on your phone which, sadly, is something you can’t do with that hottie
in your Bio class.
3. Went too far with your book last night? No worries, all you
lost is a little sleep. Your self-respect is still completely intact.
4. A good book makes you forget about all the drama in your
life, while boyfriends only heighten it.
5. Reading a book gives you a certain amount of creative
license. You can imagine the scenes just the way you like, filling in the
details that aren’t filled in by the author. Wouldn’t it be great if boyfriends
came the same way? For example: “To your ink-black hair and powder-blue eyes,
I’ll add some bulging muscles, a talent for whipping up delicious kitchen
creations and, oh yeah, how about an Italian accent?” Now you are perfect.
Emerald
Bound
Teresa Richards
Fantasy, Romance,
Suspense
Evernight Teen Publishing ~ 83,000
words
Editor's Pick
A princess, a pea, and a tower of
mattresses. This is the sliver that survives of a story more nightmare than
fairytale...
Maggie Rhodes, high school junior and
semi-reformed stalker, learns the tale’s true roots after a spying attempt goes
awry and her best friend Kate ends up as the victim of an ancient curse. At the
center of the curse lies an enchanted emerald that has been residing quietly in
a museum for the past fifty years. Admirers of the gem have no idea that it
feeds on life. Or that it’s found its next victim in Kate.
Enter
Lindy, a school acquaintance who knows more than she’s letting on, and Garon, a
handsome stranger claiming he knows how to help, and Maggie is left wondering
who to trust and how to save her best friend before it’s too late.
If
only Maggie knew her connection to the fairy tale was rooted far deeper than an
endangered best friend.
Excerpt:
A part of me died
long ago.
It was the part of me
that feels, and it was Calista’s fault.
What happened tonight
was nothing new—innocent victims welcomed into our home, not knowing they would
never leave. I learned long ago I could not help them, so I stopped trying.
But this time
something was different. This time I was awake, burning with a gut-wrenching
guilt, as the next victims slept downstairs. This time I knew the victims. And
they didn’t deserve what was coming.
It had always been
hard for me to make friends. I’d been called loner, loser, outcast, and freak.
Even still, I remembered Maggie offering to show me around when I first
transferred to their school.
Through her, I met Kate and Piper. The three of them were always nice to me, while other kids kept their distance and spread rumors behind my back. I told myself I didn’t care—I wasn’t like them.
Through her, I met Kate and Piper. The three of them were always nice to me, while other kids kept their distance and spread rumors behind my back. I told myself I didn’t care—I wasn’t like them.
But being a loner was
lonely.
So tonight when I saw
Maggie and her friends here, something inside me snapped. Or, perhaps it was
the dead piece of me coming back to life. Now I cared desperately about what
was happening in the room below mine.
But there was still
nothing I could do.
Calista usually lured
in victims from out of town to avoid arousing suspicion. Pregnant ones were a
particular favorite—easy prey, she called them. But Maggie and her friends came
here all on their own. The opportunity was too good for Calista to pass up.
Everyone thought
Calista was my mother, but she wasn’t.
Back in my day,
almost four centuries ago, Calista had an alternate method of luring in
victims. She and her husband, Theodore, advertised for hired help with their
inn. The number of parents willing to sell their daughters into a life of
servitude in exchange for a forgiven debt or a clean slate was staggering.
My father was one of
them.
By the time my mother
found out what he’d done, it was too late. There was no escape. I was bound.
My story was well
known in this land, whispered as a bedtime tale to ease children into sleep.
But, just like any other story passed down through time by rumors and idle
gossip, the fragment that survived was woefully incomplete. It began something
like this:
There is rumored to
have been (once upon a time, of course) a princess, a pea, and a tower of
mattresses.
That much was true,
though in actuality it was only one mattress, not twenty. The pea was also
real, though most would call it a precious stone—an emerald, to be precise.
The gem that sealed
my fate was now in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.
Calista was furious when she found it missing. She thought I’d stolen it until
she remembered my limits. The identity of the true thief remains unknown.
Even though the
emerald is no longer in our possession, we are still bound to it, as it is
bound to us.
Admirers of the opulent necklace where it rests don’t understand it. Like me, the gem is a prisoner, struggling against its fate.
Admirers of the opulent necklace where it rests don’t understand it. Like me, the gem is a prisoner, struggling against its fate.
Even now, centuries
later, I don’t understand all the details of what happened to me that night.
But it began with a troubled slumber on a bed of enchanted emeralds.
About the Author:
Teresa Richards writes YA, but loves anything that can be
given a unique twist. Her zombie stories 'Are You My Mombie?' and 'The Zombie
Code' can be found in Z Tales: Stories from the Zombieverse by The Fairfield
Scribes.
When Teresa’s not writing, she can be found either chasing
after one of her five kids, or hiding someplace in the house with a treat her
children overlooked. Emerald Bound is her debut novel.
You can connect with her on twitter @BYUtm33 or atauthorteresarichards.com.
Giveaway: Signed Copy of Emerald Bound
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