Book Title: Postscript (Kedgetown, Book 1)
Author: Anne Barwell
Publisher: LaceDragon Publishing
Cover Artist: T.L. Bland
Release Date: February 7, 2023
Genres: M/M romance, Paranormal, Dual Timeline (contemporary & historical), Psychic Powers, mystery
Tropes: Small town romance, sweet with heat, magical bookshop
Themes: Family, found family
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 50 000 words/125 pages
It is book 1 in the series. There are references to a wider shared world, but the reader doesn’t need to have read them. Two of the MCs are new to the supernatural world so are introduced to it through the course of the story.
It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
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A magical bookshop holds the keys.
Blurb
Kedgetown Book 1
A magical bookshop holds the keys.
When Mason Chynoweth inherits an old house in small-town New Zealand, he hopes to discover what happened to his great-great uncle Lewis after he returned from the war in 1945. Mason’s first encounter with the property is thankfully reassuring—his sensitive psychic powers aren’t triggered and he has a calm sense of coming home.
Elijah Whitaker arrives in Kedgetown for an extended visit with his aunts. He’s quickly drawn to Mason and offers to help him try to find some answers in the dusty old house. It soon becomes clear that Mason is keeping secrets, but Elijah has a few secrets of his own. Like his closely guarded knowledge of the hidden supernatural world, and the fact that many of the townspeople are psi and supernaturals.
What is the connection between the house and Postscript, the town’s enigmatic bookshop? Mason’s glimpses of the past give some clues, but not enough to make sense of the puzzle.
When a hidden journal comes to light, the true story of Lewis’ journey is revealed, and his path and Mason and Elijah’s begin to intertwine.
“Ask him about his lemon curd,” she murmured to Lewis on her way out.
Cyrus shook his head. Rilla meant well, but she’d always lacked subtlety. Lewis gave her a puzzled look, then continued towards the counter.
“Good afternoon, Mr Newman,” Cyrus said, his mouth suddenly dry. Hunger accompanied his rising nervousness, and he wished he hadn’t devoured his last bottle of blood the night before.
“Mr Godfrey.” Lewis licked his lips, then chewed on his lower lip. He studied Cyrus for a moment. “Mrs Whitaker from the bookshop told me I should ask you about procuring a jar of your lemon curd.”
“Yes, she mentioned it. Or rather Rilla—Mrs Beresford—did.” Cyrus retrieved a jar of curd from the shelf behind the counter. The human world and its laws wouldn’t accept two women being married to each other, or taking each other’s surnames, but that hadn’t stopped Rilla and Annalise from using Mrs instead of Miss. “Would you like something to go with it? Some bread, perhaps?”
“Bread sounds lovely.” Lewis blushed, his cheeks a lovely sprinkling of pink. “I… I’m new to town. I was hoping you… er… someone… could show me around.”
Cyrus raised an eyebrow. “Surely you’ve seen all of it while you’re delivering the mail.” He mentally kicked himself. “I mean, of course, I’d love to.”
“If you don’t want to, that’s fine too.” Lewis frowned. He lowered his voice. “I like it here. The people don’t seem very… judgemental about certain things.” The earnestness in his voice and demeanour was sweet, although he was clearly embarrassed.
“You want to know if people here would report someone who might….” Cyrus chose his words carefully. “… not follow some of the conventions of society.”
“Yes, that.” Lewis glanced outside. “I, um, thought you might be interested in pursuing a friendship, but my apologies if I’ve misread the situation.” He looked as though he was about to bolt.
“Kedgetown is a safe place,” Cyrus said softly. “You can be yourself here, and no one will judge. The council are very choosy about who they allow to settle in town.”
“I thought some of the questions they asked during my job interview were unusual.” Lewis rolled his shoulders, his posture relaxing. He smiled, his face lighting up. “I’m sorry if we got off on the wrong foot. I’ve been rude, and I shouldn’t have been.”
“It’s fine.” Cyrus returned the smile. “It’s a beautiful day out. I’ll be closing the shop in another hour. If it’s not too late, perhaps we could take a picnic to the park. I could make a thermos of tea for us to share.” He’d always preferred to get to know someone before getting emotionally entangled. It made extracting himself from a situation so much easier.
“That sounds wonderful.” Lewis hesitated. “Do you want me to bring anything?”
“Just yourself.” Cyrus packaged up the bread and lemon curd into a bag. He shook his head when Lewis pulled out his wallet. “My treat for your supper tonight. A welcome to Kedgetown if you’d like.”
“Thank you.” Lewis gazed at Cyrus again as though struck by something.
“Do I have flour on my nose?”
Surely Lewis didn’t realise what Cyrus was? His vision was normal, so his eyes weren’t entirely black, and his fangs were definitely retracted.
“No, of course not. Sorry, I….” Lewis averted his eyes. “Never mind. I’ll meet you outside the shop after you’ve closed then, shall I?”
The doorbell tinkled, signalling another customer entering the shop. “I’ll see you then.”
“I’m looking forward to it, Mr Godfrey.”
“Cyrus. My name is Cyrus.”
“Lewis,” Lewis murmured and tilted his hat towards Scott, who was pretending to study the painting on the far wall of the shop. “Afternoon, Dr Kelly.”
“Afternoon, Lewis.” Scott waited until Lewis left, then grinned. “About time too.”
Cyrus groaned. By the time he and Lewis set out on their picnic, the whole town would know about it.
Anne Barwell lives in Wellington, New Zealand. She shares her home with kitty siblings Byron and Marigold, who are already running the house and causing havoc.
Anne works in a library, is an avid reader and watcher of a wide range of genres, and is constantly on the look-out for more hours in her day. She likes to write in series and even so called one shots seem to breed more plot bunnies. Her writing is like her reading – across a range of genres, although her favourites are paranormal, fantasy, SF, and historical. Music often plays a part in her stories and/or her characters are musicians.
She also hosts and reviews for other authors, and writes monthly blog posts for Love Bytes. She is the co-founder of the New Zealand Rainbow Romance writers, and a member of RWNZ. Her books have received honourable mentions five times, reached the finals four times—one of which was for best gay book—and been a runner up in the Rainbow Awards.
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