Honey Queen
Release Date: 05/31/14
Summary from Goodreads:
Love is honey sweet,
but it comes with a fatal sting . . .
Melaina Maris needs wings to fly the gap between loving Sam and her family’s ancient curse that forces carnal love and then kills the male lovers. She won’t let the same fate that killed her father befall another. She refuses to allow her goddess-created bloodline to continue. But there’s no easy way out, especially after the curse turns her into the Honey Queen—savior to honey bees—intensifying her charms.
To help her fulfill the curse’s demands in the least harmful way, her grandmother takes her to mate with terminally ill Boyd. But Boyd’s gay. And an expert in mythology. Instead of having sex, Melaina learns how she might summon the goddess who created the first ancestor bee-charmer and cursed her bloodline. Melaina's magic—tears to save honey bees from endangerment—could be enough to persuade the goddess to end the curse. But an unexpected discovery soon changes that hope, spinning Melaina into a swarm of love, friendship and death.
Melaina Maris needs wings to fly the gap between loving Sam and her family’s ancient curse that forces carnal love and then kills the male lovers. She won’t let the same fate that killed her father befall another. She refuses to allow her goddess-created bloodline to continue. But there’s no easy way out, especially after the curse turns her into the Honey Queen—savior to honey bees—intensifying her charms.
To help her fulfill the curse’s demands in the least harmful way, her grandmother takes her to mate with terminally ill Boyd. But Boyd’s gay. And an expert in mythology. Instead of having sex, Melaina learns how she might summon the goddess who created the first ancestor bee-charmer and cursed her bloodline. Melaina's magic—tears to save honey bees from endangerment—could be enough to persuade the goddess to end the curse. But an unexpected discovery soon changes that hope, spinning Melaina into a swarm of love, friendship and death.
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Excerpt;
The
kiss of a sting sends heat up my arm. I don’t flick away the
stinger. Instead, I watch the barb pulse like a heartbeat as it
unloads its venom. Pleasure and guilt war within me. I’ve never
before felt the sensation of a sting, as if a swarm buzzed through my
veins. Nor have I ever murdered one of my own. But life with our
honey bees changed last summer. Now our connection to them is even
more twisted, morphed into a love-hate battle I wish would end.
“I
know,” I say with partial regret, as squadrons of bees swoop in to
investigate their sister’s death. The banana-like scent of alarm
pheromones fills my nose. I pull on my glove, deciding not to kill
any others or further tempt fate. Even one sting raises my risk of
becoming like Mom, crazy with need, using alcohol to replace her
addiction to bee venom. But I had to understand what seduced my
mother. I had to taste the pleasure that deceives, so that I know
firsthand what I’m fighting against.
I
wait until the buzzing heat of the sting fades, ignore the temptation
to expose my flesh again, and continue to work the hives. Three
colonies down, three more to go—just enough to pollinate our fruit
orchard and release the pheromones Gran, Mom, and I need to stay
alive.
A
part of me misses the rows of hives that used to make up our apiary,
how spring’s arrival was like a big party with a million honey bees
as our guests. A bigger part of me misses my mother who, before last
summer, danced in the orchard every morning and sang to me every
night. Now it’s my turn to come out here in the morning and greet
bees that would kill her in a wing’s flutter but that we both
depend on for life.
About the Author
Christina Mercer is an award-winning author of fiction for children and young adults. She took Writer’s Best in Show at the 2012 SCBWI CA North/Central Regional Conference, was a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakout Novel Award Contest, and won Honorable Mention in the 21st Annual Writer's Digest Self Published Book Awards. She holds a degree in Accounting from California State University at Sacramento and a Certificate in Herbal Studies from Clayton College of Natural Health. Christina resides in Northern California enjoying life with her husband, two sons, four dogs, and about 100,000 honeybees.
Christina Mercer is an award-winning author of fiction for children and young adults. She took Writer’s Best in Show at the 2012 SCBWI CA North/Central Regional Conference, was a Semi-Finalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakout Novel Award Contest, and won Honorable Mention in the 21st Annual Writer's Digest Self Published Book Awards. She holds a degree in Accounting from California State University at Sacramento and a Certificate in Herbal Studies from Clayton College of Natural Health. Christina resides in Northern California enjoying life with her husband, two sons, four dogs, and about 100,000 honeybees.
Author Links:
GIVEAWAY:
1 ebook of Honey Queen (INT)
1 "Honey Bee" swag pack (USA). Swag will be bookmark,
buzz card, beeswax lip balm, honey sticks, honeybee charm.
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