AWW Feature & Giveaway: Shona Husk and the Fairy Tale Kiss

Welcome Shona Husk!

A civil designer by day and an author by night, Shona Husk lives in Western Australia at the edge of the Indian Ocean. Blessed with a lively imagination she spent most of her childhood making up stories. As an adult she discovered romance novels and hasn’t looked back. Drawing on history and myth, she writes about heroes who are armed and dangerous but have a heart of gold–sometimes literally. With stories ranging from sensual to scorching, she is published with Ellora’s Cave, Samhain Publishing, Carina Press and Sourcebooks. Kiss of the Goblin Prince was released earlier this month and  is the second of her paranormal romance ‘Shadowlands’ series, following on from The Goblin King which has been nominated as a finalist by the ARR as a Favourite Paranormal Romance for 2011. Today Shona shares a scene from the Kiss of The Goblin Prince that is sure to pique your interest.

The Fairy Tale Kiss

In fairy tales a kiss has a magic all of its own. It can wake a sleeping princess or break a spell. It’s the sign of true love between the hero and heroine, and the moment we hold out for. We want Cinderella to get the Prince, for Sleeping Beauty to wake and for Belle to break the Beast’s curse because those little moments are the reward after the trials. They are the start of a new life and a happily-ever-after.

Usually in fairy tales the kiss happens at the end, but what if waking up was just the start and once awake the danger began?

In Kiss of the Goblin Prince the heroine, Amanda, has locked heart away after having it broken once before. The death of her husband and caring for her daughter has made her wary and even though she recognises attraction she won’t act on it—even though she wants to.

Dai is getting used to living in the Fixed Realm (our world) again after living as a goblin for centuries, but even before he was cursed his life was lived on the edge. This is a second chance at life he never expected to have. After being a slave and then a goblin he isn’t quite sure he knows what to do with Amanda—if anything. He doesn’t want to drag her into the mess his magic has made, and she knows nothing of goblins and the Shadowlands.

And yet neither can just walk away, because like all good fairy tales they are searching for a happily-ever-after and they don’t come without danger, magic and adventure. Here’s a look at the first kiss in Kiss of the Goblin Prince:

“I’ve been out of touch with the world for too long…too obsessed with the dead and obsolete…” Dai shrugged as if changing his mind.

“I know the feeling.” She’d wanted him since the moment she’d seen him in the church. That first glance had woken her and now she couldn’t go back to sleep and ignore what she’d tried to forget. Desire.

He turned to face her, the moonlight catching on his cheekbone and lending him a sharper edge. But instead of running she leaned closer. The heat of his body lessened the chill of the air. Her pulse pounded in her ears as if her heart had remembered how to beat after too many years being still and was making up for lost time. Their eyes met and for one painful moment she thought he wasn’t going to kiss her and she’d misread all the signs.

Then he stepped closer. His fingers trailed up her arm and caressed her neck so softly it was as if he expected her to break. His hand slid into her hair and cradled her head. She tilted her chin to meet his lips. His mouth moved against hers, teasing and tempting. Offering a hint but not satisfying the lust now unleashed and raging in her blood, demanding more. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she tasted him. Her lips parted, tingling from the lightest touch, and her tongue flicked against his lip. Her hand slid up his chest, hard with the muscle she hadn’t expected to find. Her fingers pressed against him, enjoying the sensation of feeling a man.

Dai pulled back, breaking the moment stolen out of time and place. “I’m sorry.”

His gaze remained on her as he drank in the sight of her as if she was a mythical creature he shouldn’t be near.

“Dai.” She reached for him but it was too late. The magic was gone.

He turned and without a word he stalked back into the house. Amanda exhaled and hoped the chill of the night would cool the fever in her skin. What the hell had happened?

Had she forgotten how to kiss?

No. It had barely been a kiss. An experiment, a testing of desire. Did he not like her after all? She frowned. He’d kissed her. She pressed her lips together, but the memory of his mouth lingered and couldn’t be erased. Why had he walked away?

The wind whipped her hair about her face as she glanced back at the house. But Dai had disappeared. What was she doing? She was playing games in the dark with a man she hardly knew while her daughter was inside watching a movie.

And yet she wouldn’t take it back. For the first time in too long she felt alive instead of going through the motions and living for everyone else. She wanted something for herself. And he hadn’t brushed her off. He’d apologized, as if he thought she didn’t want to be kissed. No, she wanted so much more. She bit her lip. But maybe he didn’t and that was why he was apologizing. It didn’t make sense. None of this did. They were adults dancing around each other like teenagers.

She hadn’t been on a date with anyone but Matt since she was eighteen.

“What do I do?” she whispered into the night. She couldn’t go back, but should she, could she go forward?

Kiss of the Goblin Prince is available to purchase at

 @Boomerang Books I @ Booktopia

@Sourcebooks I  @Amazon I @Book Depository 

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