Title:
The
Daring Young Man
Author:
Jane
George
Release
date: December
10, 2012
Genre:
Fantasy
Age
Group:
Young Adult Fantasy – I usually recommend for 14+
Promotion
Event organized by: AToMR
Tours
Once, sixteen year-old Dante Delgado dreamed of being one of the few trapecistas able to do a quadruple somersault in the air. Then a tragic accident took his parents, their circus, and his ability to fly.
Circus is one big family all over the world, and Dante hates everything to do with it. But to survive, he must choose between joining the ranks of the tiny, yet magical Mumbo Jumbo Circus or its nemesis, the Las Vegas spectacular, Cirque Patron. And it doesn't help that two very different girls are confusing the situation.
If he makes the wrong choice, he won't have a future to worry about. Buy Links: Kobo Amazon Barnes and Noble
Excerpt from Chapter 13
Dante and Markie, a
strange girl who has taken up with the circus teens, are busking
(performing for money) in Balboa Park, San Diego. The act ends with a
kiss:
Markie crashed into
him. By all rights, he should have been flattened. The impression was
more like being absorbed into a marshmallow. Her arms wrapped around
him, sending a rush of feeling all down his back that continued into
his hamstrings and calves. He shuddered, and she responded by
quivering with glee. Her eyes were bulbous. Her teeth protruded.
Dante should be repulsed.
But he wasn’t.
The crowd started
chanting, “Kiss him! Kiss him!”
Markie played the
moment to its fullest, glancing at the crowd, her expression bursting
with naiveté, as if to ask, “Should I, really?”
They hooted and
stomped.
She ripped the fake
lips from her face and placed her mouth upon Dante’s.
A collective,
“OOOOOOOOH,” rose from the audience.
Dante barely heard
it. What he did hear was the haunting lullaby from the night he
almost drowned and the seductive sound of ocean waves relaxing his
defenses, drawing him in. Her mouth slid over his with sublime
tenderness. He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her back. The
kiss grew deeper.
His body buzzed, and
along with the sensation came an overwhelming sense of her love. For
him.
He felt himself melting into her. He craved this unconditional
comfort she offered. And her kiss was so incredibly hot.
So sinuous. He forgot this was Markie. She hugged him tighter, and he
floated on a soothing bed of complete ease. His hurt, his worry, his
anger,
vanished. He longed to keep kissing her, to disappear into her love.
The lullaby pulled
at his thoughts. A hiss-hiss sound tugged at his body. It was the
sound waves made as they kissed the sand. Over and over. He could no
longer tell where he ended and Markie began. They merged. For a split
second, he connected with her pure, inner joy, sparkling and fizzy,
like he was
her.
Dante wasn’t
swimming, but he felt like he was. Deep in his soul, something black
rose up like a shark, ascending toward the surface beneath his
desperate, paddling feet. He couldn’t allow this. She’d drown
him. Kill who he was. He couldn’t breathe.
He pushed away from
Markie and stumbled backward.
They were alone. The
crowd had long dispersed.
“¿Qué
diablos?”
he demanded.
“We kissed.” She
stared at him with those ugly, gorgeous goggle-eyes. “It was part
of the act.”
“I’m talking
about the rest of it.” He backed a step further from her. “What
in hell happened, man?”
She walked over to
the coffee can and lifted it. “We made a bunch of money is what
happened. We work well together.”
“Huh.”
“There’s a group
of people coming out of the conservatory.” Markie pointed. “Let’s
start the act over.”
“You mean do it
again?” Dante couldn’t quite keep the dismay out of his voice.
“Yeah, of course.
The Mumbo Jumbo Circus needs money. We can double what’s in this
can right now.”
He narrowed his eyes
at her, trying to see her secrets. “You’re some type of siren
aren’t you? You know, like the ones that drown sailors.”
She startled. “What
are you talking about? We don’t… Those aren’t real.”
“You tried to
drown me with that kiss,” he accused.
“You’re nuts. I
would never…” She set down the can and put her hands on her hips.
“I saved your life on that beach!”
Angry again, Dante
walked up close to her. “Saved my life? I woke up naked, covered in
sand, and couldn’t remember much. How about you tell me what went
on, yeah?”
“I rescued you so
now I care about you, is that so awful?”
Dante froze. That
was exactly how he felt about Belinda. Well that, and a healthy dose
of lust.
He said, “I don’t
remember needing to be rescued.” Which wasn’t true.
“Trust me. You
were well on your way to being the cutest corpse I’ve ever seen.”
Dante hated
to be called cute. And wait a minute, she’d seen other corpses? He
was far from reassured. He could recall the gangbangers, their fists
and their knives. He remembered backing into the ocean to escape
them. After that, his mind filled with that haunting lullaby and a
warm mushy feeling. Yuck. That feeling, combined with the frustration
of not being able to recount everything that happened that night,
added to his rage.
“You must be one
heck of a swimmer,” he spat out. “Olympic level even.”
“Oh, I’m better
than that. I’m a regular sea monster.”
Dante
laughed and, oddly, his anger dissipated. He couldn’t figure her
out. What an absurd thing to say.
About the Author
Author
and illustrator Jane George lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She
holds a BFA in illustration from the California College of the Arts
and has won awards for her art.
A
dedicated writer for over a decade, she produces and publishes her YA
fantasy and literary titles under her personal imprint, Paper Grove
Publishing. Find out more at: www.Jane-George.com
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