Melynda Price ~ Author of Contemporary and Paranormal Romance

Latest

Hot new MMA romance: Passing His Guard

PHG3

http://goo.gl/rUJIy1

When a MMA fighter clashes wills with a sexy private investigator, the gloves come off…

Aiden “Disco Stick” Kruze walked away from it all—money, family, friends, and a successful career as a lawyer in Manhattan—to pursue his dream of being an MMA fighter. When a sexy private investigator shows up at Aiden’s gym, he mistakenly assumes she’s a cage-banging groupie.

Ryann is determined to haul Aiden back home. She’s desperate to claim the reward money that will pay off her father’s creditors before the man who killed her father comes to collect from her.

Aiden is done living his life under the microscope of being a senator’s son. He’s not going back to New York—ever—and there’s nothing this tenacious redhead can do about it. Or is there?

When the demons of Aiden’s past catch up with him, he realizes the lies, deception, and betrayal run deeper than he ever imagined. Aiden must put his career and his life on the line to save the woman who’s stolen his heart.

Series Description:

Against The Cage:

The gritty, rough, and hot-as-hell MMA men of the Cage Fighting Association never surrender. Each has his own battle-scarred past, and each has a reason to resist the biggest takedown of all: love. But when these fighters meet their matches, the battles in the cage pale in comparison with the sparks that fly outside of it. Against the Cage, Melynda Price’s MMA romance series, is big on action and high on heat, with alpha males who are just as unforgettable as they are irresistible.

    • Win By Submission (book 1)
    • Passing His Guard (book 2)
    • Grappling For Position (book 3) coming 4/16

New Release: Win By Submission!

I’m so excited to announce Win By Submission, the first book in my Against the Cage series, is releasing tomorrow! Join me tomorrow for the 1 day book blitz event and you could win some great prizes!

https://www.facebook.com/events/410722149106345/418426555002571/

 Price-WinBySubmission-cover final

To win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life.

After an illegal kick during a CFA title fight fractures Cole Easton’s spine, doctors say there’s nothing more they can do for the bitter Vegas fighter. They say it’s a miracle he can walk, if that’s what you call his crutch-dragging limp. Unwilling to give up on him, Cole’s manager sends the injured fighter to the best physical therapist he knows: his niece, Katie Miller. When Cole arrives in the small town of Somerset, Wisconsin, he quickly discovers his sly manager may have had reasons other than rehab for sending him to this frozen tundra.

After a year of running from an abusive ex-boyfriend, Katie has returned to her hometown to care for her father, who’s recovering from a stroke. When Uncle Marcus calls in a favor, she reluctantly finds herself taking on a rancorous MMA fighter, broken at the height of his career. He’s insanely sex-on-a-stick hot—and everything she loathes in a man.

If Cole thinks his fighting days are over, he’s dead wrong. To save Katie from her past and to win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life.

Excerpt:

Right now, tied to the bed and at Katie’s mercy, Cole was rapidly rethinking the wisdom of his less than well thought-out strategy. He’d told her no sex, determined to hold on to at least some semblance of control. Perhaps she would be more confident if she didn’t have the added pressure of worrying he might have expectations about where this was going to lead. But now, Cole was starting to wonder if she wasn’t going to use his clause against him.

His arms were stretched above his head, his wrists fastened together by the length of his belt and secured to one of the thick rungs on the headboard. It was by sheer will he remained at her mercy. Though she’d bound him tightly, he was plenty strong enough to break free if he’d had a mind to escape, but in doing so, he’d also be breaking Katie’s trust and forfeiting any chance of being with her.

Buylink: goo.gl/8LrJ5u

Hope you stop by tomorrow!

~Melynda

New in MMA Romance: Win By Submission

I’m very excited to announce my upcoming release, Win By Submission, the first book in my Against the Cage MMA Series!

Releasing 3/24/15!

Price-WinBySubmission-cover final

To win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life…

After an illegal kick during a CFA title fight fractures Cole Easton’s spine, doctors say there’s nothing more they can do for the bitter Vegas fighter. They say it’s a miracle he can walk, if that’s what you call his crutch-dragging limp. Unwilling to give up on him, Cole’s manager sends the injured fighter to the best physical therapist he knows: his niece, Katie Miller. When Cole arrives in the small town of Somerset, Wisconsin, he quickly discovers his sly manager may have had reasons other than rehab for sending him to this frozen tundra.

After a year of running from an abusive ex-boyfriend, Katie has returned to her hometown to care for her father, who’s recovering from a stroke. When Uncle Marcus calls in a favor, she reluctantly finds herself taking on a rancorous MMA fighter, broken at the height of his career. He’s insanely sex-on-a-stick hot—and everything she loathes in a man.

If Cole thinks his fighting days are over, he’s dead wrong. To save Katie from her past and to win her heart, he’ll be in for the fight of his life.

Win By Submission is available for preorder now!

Celebrating the new release of Braving the Darkness with a shares giveaway!

I’m hosting a shares giveaway in honor of my new release, Braving the Darkness! For ever fifty shares, I’ll be giving away a $15 Amazon gift card! Enter to win by visiting my author page and sharing! https://www.facebook.com/MelyndaPrice1
I’ll announce the winners tomorrow at 3/CT. Good Luck!
Braving the Darkness

goo.gl/0y3dcw (Series link)
http://goo.gl/hclmQn (Braving the Darkness)

All have sacrificed, but one will sacrifice all…


Just when Olivia thought she’d finally have everything she always wanted, she was never closer to losing it all. Haden rocked Olivia’s foundation when he professed his love for her, and then turned himself in to the High Court. Although it was for the best, watching him walk out of her life was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

Liam has always been the angel that holds her heart. But nothing will test the bonds of that love more than when a sick twist of fate brings all their lives crashing back together again.

Bitter enemies in love with the same woman, Liam and Haden must put their differences aside to battle an evil whose reach is far greater than either of them ever imagined. It will take all their strength to protect Olivia from an enemy that’s come to claim her and usher in a power-play to overthrow the High Court.

Love, sacrifice, and betrayal… It all comes to a heart-stopping conclusion in Braving the Darkness.

 

When “Mr. Perfect” becomes a perfect nightmare…

Until Darkness Comes

On Sale .99

Autumn landscape

 A guardian angel… A forbidden love… Eternal consequences…

Olivia Norton was born with a gift—a gift heaven has sworn to protect, and hell is bound to destroy. Her perfect world is turned upside-down when two handsome strangers, Max and Liam, step into her life. Olivia soon discovers that her ‘Mr. Perfect’ is actually a perfect nightmare.

 

The rules of engagement have changed and Liam, Olivia’s guardian angel, is forced to cross dimensional borders or risk losing the woman he’s sworn to protect. Suddenly, thrust into a world unlike anything he’s ever known, Liam isn’t prepared to come face to face with the young woman whose life he holds in his hands.

 

But nothing is as it seems, and secrets abound that will ultimately force him to choose between two impossibilities. Max will stop at nothing to finish what he’s started, and Olivia is soon plunged into a battle between good and evil. Her very life hangs in the balance as two forces fight to win her heart.

Buy link: goo.gl/rUh1OT

Cover Reveal for Braving the Darkness (Book 4 Redemption Series)

Braving the Darkness

Coming October 16, 2014!

 

Braving the Darkness

 

All have sacrificed, but one will sacrifice all…

Just when Olivia thought she’d finally have everything she always wanted, she was never closer to losing it all. Haden rocked Olivia’s foundation when he professed his love for her, and then turned himself in to the High Court. Although it was for the best, watching him walk out of her life was one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

Liam has always been the angel that holds her heart. But nothing will test the bonds of that love more than when a sick twist of fate brings all their lives crashing back together again.

Bitter enemies in love with the same woman, Liam and Haden must put their differences aside to battle an evil whose reach is far greater than either of them ever imagined. It will take all their strength to protect Olivia from an enemy that’s come to claim her and usher in a power-play to overthrow the High Court.

Love, sacrifice, and betrayal… It all comes to a heart-stopping conclusion in Braving the Darkness.

7 Things You Can Do to Promote Your Book

For all my fellow author’s, if you’re anything like me, promoting your work is the hardest part of being an author. I’d much rather spend my days writing and editing. I came across this article titled 7 Things You Can Do to Promote Your Book and thought it was too good not to share. Hope you find it helpful. Have a wonderful day!

~Melynda

7 Things You Can DO to Promote Your Book

She’s captured the hearts of Heaven and Hell…

Courting Darkness

New Release!

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She’s captured the hearts of Heaven and Hell…

 

Betrayed by her true love, Olivia cannot let go of the angel her mind doesn’t remember, and her heart refuses to forget. In an attempt to reclaim her broken life, she is determined to unearth her past, but some secrets are better left buried.

 

To save her life, he sacrificed everything. Universal Law was broken when Liam violated Olivia’s free will. His guardianship has been revoked, and the pain of letting her go is nothing compared to the torture of enduring their shattered bond. He can no longer sense her, no longer feel her, and the enemy he risked it all to save her from, now has free reign to claim her for his own. To get her back, Liam must turn away from all he is, all he was, for the one thing he may have already lost forever—Olivia’s love.

 

Haden will stop at nothing to possess Immanuel’s Stone, and locked away in Olivia’s memories is the key he needs to find it. But in his quest for vengeance, he never expected to lose his heart to the enchanting green-eyed beauty. Forced to choose between love and revenge, Haden becomes captivated by a woman who will never be his…or will she?

Excerpt of Courting Darkness:

Guardian? Olivia’s pulse kicked in her throat, choking off her air in a startled gasp. At the last moment, she jerked her hand back before Tate could make contact. Oh shit, this guy was crazier than she was. Stumbling away from her “guardian,” her retreat was halted when she collided with the wall, smacking the back of her head.

Tate winced with a that-must-have-hurt grimace as the bang echoed throughout the elevator.

It did. A lot.

“Actually, I’m your new guardian.”

She reached up to rub away the sting, scowling at the stranger as if this was his fault. Two thoughts crossed Olivia’s mind. One, you’re about to become a skin suit. And two, play along with this nut job until the elevator stops, then run like hell.

Swallowing back the panic, she forced a negligent shrug. “New guardian, huh? What happened to my old one? He get fired or something?”

At her sarcastic bark of laughter, the stranger gave her a disapproving scowl and grumbled, “Something like that. And he’s not too happy about it, either.”

Could this elevator go any slower? Looking at the very large, very attractive man, no one in their right mind would ever suspect he was bat-shit crazy. Perhaps that was how he lured unsuspecting women into his web of death—right before he Ted Bundyed them.

Humoring the guy and yes, stalling while this elevator took the painfully slow journey from the sixth floor to the lobby, she asked, “So, what did he do to uhh… get fired?”

“The fact that you don’t know is precisely the reason.”

Well, that’s…cryptic.

The elevator suddenly came to a jarring halt between floors, pitching Olivia forward. Her hands shot out, bracing for a fall, palms planting solidly against his chest. The rich scent of muted spices enveloped her, reminding Olivia of…nothing. Dammit, another black hole.

Trying to play it cool, she hastened an apology and quickly retreated to her respective corner of the elevator. Pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, she closed her eyes and drew a deep breath that failed to calm her jangled nerves. “I’m trying to follow you here, I really am. But I don’t see what my having amnesia has to do with you or my so-called ‘guardian.’”

“You don’t have amnesia.”

A cynical bark of unladylike laughter tore from her throat. “Well, that’s good to know. But I’ve got about twenty-thousand dollars worth of medical bills that beg to differ with your diagnosis, Dr. Tate.”

She reached over and slammed her palm against the “emergency” button on the control panel, sending a shrill alarm up the elevator shaft.

Tate scowled, making no attempt to disguise his irritation as he reached in front of her and very pointedly hit the button again. The sharp ringing abruptly ceased. “Look, Olivia, your free will has been violated, and it’s imperative that I speak with you about this. I— Why are you looking at me like that?” he snapped impatiently.

“Because I never told you my name. How do you know me?”

“I already told you. I’m your guardian. I assure you, I have no intention of harming you, Olivia.”

“Guardian of what?” she challenged. “Because you certainly don’t look like an angel to me.” Just how naive did this guy think she was? What kind of a creep would hang out at a psychiatrist’s office and prey on emotionally damaged women? Did this guy really have nothing better to do with his time?

He exhaled an exasperated breath, muttering something about stubborn women and never wanting this job in the first place. When he looked back at her, he seemed to have rallied a measure of patience. “Exactly what is it we’re supposed to look like, Olivia?”

Well, for starters, how about not huge, hot, and terrifying?

“Am I to have a halo over my head, wear a white flowing dress, and sprinkle fairy dust about wherever I go?”

The sudden arch of his dark brow suggested he was poking fun at her. She was having none of it. “Well, that would help,” she quipped back with equal snark to his sarcasm.

“Sorry… I’m not that kind of an angel.”

An angel! Seriously…? He wasn’t even denying it!

Suddenly, as if a light clicked on, it all made sense to her. This guy must be one of Dr. Shriner’s patients. He had to have been in the office and overheard the secretary calling her name—that’s how he knew her. Oh shit…then this guy really was crazy, which was a hell of a lot more terrifying than hypothetical nuts.

Her hands swung up to back him off. “Look, Tate, maybe you don’t mean to scare me, but you are. Honestly, you’re really freaking me out right now. If you truly believe that you’re my guardian angel, then you need some serious help. Perhaps you should talk to Dr. Shriner about this God complex you seem to have. I’m sure she can help you, but please, leave me alone.”

At her request, the elevator jerked and continued its descent. His furrowed brows were a combination of frustrated and pissed off, and neither look said “hey, you can trust me not to kill you.”

As the elevator chimed, announcing they’d reached the lobby, Olivia made a final attempt to diffuse the situation. “I thank you for your concern, but I don’t want a guardian and I don’t need a guardian.” As the metal prison doors slowly slid open, she bolted for the exit, slipping out sideways before they could even open all the way.

“You’re wrong, Olivia. You need me,” Tate called after her. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here.”

At this taunting reply, she glanced over her shoulder, making sure he wasn’t following her. With each hurried step, her sandals clapped briskly against the gray tile floor. When the elevator doors slid closed, she caught a glimpse of Tate dragging his hand through his hair, growling what she could only imagine was a very unangel-like curse.

Olivia exhaled a sigh of relief to be away from the nut job and hastened her steps. The moment she was safely locked inside her car, she’d call up to Dr. Shriner’s office and report this Tate, whatever his last name was. Someone definitely needed to adjust that guy’s meds.

Rushing out the glass doors, her poorly anchored sandals slapped against the marble steps with rapid-fire clap, clap, clap. She was nearly to the sidewalk, her black Camaro in sight, when the stranger suddenly materialized out of thin air.

Olivia let out a startled yelp. Headed right for him, she put on the brakes, but the laws of physics were not in her favor. Momentum pitched her forward, her foot slipping off the step and hitting the one below. White-hot pain exploded in her ankle as it rolled beneath her. Her knee buckled under the duress and she reached for the iron railing, trying to catch herself before face-planting into the now scowling man.

He looked as if he wanted to come to her aid, but wisely stayed back. “Are you all right?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

She wasn’t buyin’ it. He was probably worried she’d scuff her knees and damage his skin suit.

“Are you all right, dear?” an elderly woman asked, hobbling over to her. The well-meaning geriatric looked like she needed more help than Olivia did, but she was limited on her choice of saviors, so granny was gonna have to do.

“No. I’m not all right,” Olivia replied, unable to keep the panic from edging into her voice. Lifting an accusing finger, she directed it at the stranger and accused, “This man is harassing me.”

Following the direction of Olivia’s outstretched arm, the old woman’s cataract-grayed eyes squinted to the bottom of the marble steps. After a moment of hard looking, she readjusted her glasses and gave it another try. “Dear, there’s no one there.”

“Oh Lord, I really am crazy,” she murmured.

Grandma laid a sympathetic hand on Olivia’s arm and gave it a patronizing pat.

“You’re not crazy,” the figment of her imagination piped in.

“Let me get someone to help you,” sweet granny offered. “Here, take my cane and sit on the bench.” She gestured to the vacant wrought iron bench on the sidewalk, precisely four feet from Olivia’s very large, very muscular illusion.

“She can’t see me,” he explained, taking a step up the marble stairs. “Let me help you, Olivia.”

The familiarity in the way he used her name added insult to injury. Ignoring his offer, she tested the strength of her ankle. When it refused to hold her weight, she begrudgingly accepted the old woman’s cane. “Thank you. I just need to sit for a minute. I’m sure my ankle will be all right.”

“I’ll get you some help.”

Before Olivia could protest, the Good Samaritan hobbled away, leaning heavily on the railing as she snail-paced it up the stairs.

“Are you always this stubborn?” her illusion asked, folding his arms across his wide chest. He followed a few steps behind as she gimped to the bench. On the plus side, if she was going to start imagining guys, at least she made them hot.

“Ignoring me won’t make me any less real,” he persisted.

Then Plan A was a bust, because that was exactly what she’d intended to do. “Will it make you go away?” she snapped.

“No. Not until I tell you what I came here to say.”

Somehow, Olivia wasn’t so sure that even then, he would leave her alone. But the way she saw it, she had two things going for her. One, if Tate was a figment of her imagination, then at least he couldn’t kill her. Two, if by some unexplainable phenomena he really did exist, then it was doubtful he’d whack her right here in public. So either way, it was unlikely death was imminent. Besides, Grandma was going for help, albeit not as quickly as Olivia would have liked, but help was on its way.

“All right then, talk,” she snapped impatiently, looking down at her watch. Shit…she was going to be late. “Tell me whatever it is you have to say and then go.”

He stood before her, dark brows scrunching in displeasure. Clearly, he didn’t appreciate her candidness—or perhaps being told what to do. This guy looked like he was more used to giving orders than taking them. She had to admit, for a figment of her imagination, his commanding presence felt pretty damn intimidating.

He watched her a moment in contemplative silence. Then, as if deciding on something, knelt on the sidewalk before her. “Let me see your ankle.”

She didn’t miss the note of impatience in his voice. Before she could refuse, he reached out and gently but firmly grasped her foot, slipping off her sandal.

His touch sent a jolt of awareness flooding her veins. “You are real,” she gasped, unable to deny the power coursing through his hands and seeping into her ankle. Liquid heat spread up her leg as the throbbing pain steadily diminished. “Why can I see you but that woman couldn’t?”

Tate stopped the assessment of her injury and glanced up at her with a dark violet gaze that made her heart ache with unexplainable loss. She didn’t like the way he made her feel. The emotions he stirred to life were painful and confusing. As a surge of overwhelming grief knifed into her heart, she suddenly found herself fighting back the urge to start sobbing.

“That old woman couldn’t see me because I wasn’t in corporeal form. You can see me because you have the gift of Sight, Olivia. Your eyesight can transcend dimensions, which means you possess the ability to see angels and demons. I can block your sight, demons cannot, which is why you’re in danger. You are a threat to the Dark Court because you can expose them. They want you dead. My job is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Your job is to let me do my job, and so far you haven’t been cooperating very well.”

He focused his attention back on her ankle, and Olivia winced when his fingers found a particularly tender spot. His grimace looked genuinely remorseful. Maybe, just maybe, he was telling her the truth. And if he was…God help her.

“Back in the elevator, you said you were my new guardian. What happened to my old one and why can’t I remember him? What was his name?”

Seeming overly focused on his task, he looked reluctant to answer, his dark brows furrowing in contemplation. “Look, Olivia, I’m not even supposed to be here, and I’m sure as hell not supposed to be telling you this. But the way I see it, you haven’t given me any other choice. Your life is at stake—”

“Tell me his name,” she pressed, believing Tate more and more with each passing second. Something told her he spoke the truth. The comforting heat infusing her ankle warred with the dread churning in her gut. Could it be possible that this…angel held the answers she’d spent the last eight weeks seeing a shrink to get? After two months of therapy, she wasn’t any closer to the truth now than before. “Tate…”

He gave a pensive sigh and met her stare. “His name is Liam.”

Her heart hammered against her chest at hearing the same name her mother had spoken the night she’d picked Olivia up from that hospital in Duluth. She hadn’t uttered it since, and wouldn’t talk of it now, even when Olivia had pressed her for answers. Her mother claimed she didn’t know anything. The only thing she could tell her was that Liam was an “old boyfriend” from several years ago. Minutes before she was to walk down the aisle and marry Mitch, he’d snuck into the church and abducted her. Kim didn’t know anything beyond that, other than there had been an accident. She’d been in a coma for days before Liam had called her mother and father to come and get her. By the time Olivia had awoken, he was gone, and so was her memory.

“There were rumors…that he loved you. That he…” Tate cleared his throat, seeming uncomfortable to continue. Casting his gaze to the ground he murmured, “That he…crossed boundaries of an intimate nature with you.”

Oh Lord…had he? Did they? She couldn’t remember.

“I should say, in his defense, that these allegations were never proven in court. But ultimately, he lost his guardianship of you because he violated Universal Law. Even though his bond to you has been severed, and he can no longer feel your emotions, I believe your connection to him remains. Although you can no longer remember him, I think you’re still in love with him, Olivia. And as long as you are, I cannot bond to you. Without that bond, I can’t sense you. I cannot tell when you’re in danger so I can’t keep you safe.”

Tate’s hands left her ankle to grasp one of hers—pleadingly. Were someone to see them across the street, one might think he was proposing to her. His grip was strong, surprisingly gentle. It seemed crazy, but she’d swear she felt his energy coursing through her veins as he looked up at her, imploring, “Olivia, you have to let him go. If you don’t, I can’t protect you and you will surely die.”

“This is crazy. How can you expect me to stop loving someone I can’t even remember? And what exactly does that mean? Violating Universal Law?” Her mind was reeling, trying to absorb the information he’d just dumped on her. She was still stuck back in the conversation where her guardian was in love with her. And she loved him, too? Really? Was that why her heart ached so? Why she felt like a part of her was missing?

“Universal Law demands that at all costs, a human’s free will must be honored—even unto death. You don’t have amnesia, Olivia. Liam stole your memory—”

“There you are, dear,” an aged voice called from the stairs.

She swung her head to look over her shoulder. A security officer was escorting the hobbling old woman toward Olivia. The warm hands that held hers disappeared, and when she glanced back, Tate was gone.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Redemption Series:

“Writing the Redemption Series has been a fantastic adventure, culminating a world of mystery, suspense, love and deception. Have you ever wondered what it might be like to see beyond our dimension? Step into Olivia Norton’s world, where nothing is quite as it seems, and evil lurks where she least expects it.”

~ Melynda

 

Public contact information

Website: www.melyndaprice.com

Email: Melynda@MelyndaPrice.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MelyndaPrice1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelyndaPrice1

 

 

Owned by the Ocean~Free Read by Christine Steendam

January 16, 2014

Christine Steendam’s Owned by the Ocean

Christine Steendam’s Owned by the Ocean, which is currently free at Smashwords!

Available from 5 Prince Publishing 

Genre: Fiction, Action, Adventure, Historical, Romance, Sea Stories
Release Date: January 16, 2014
Digital ISBN 13: 978-1-63112-004-6 ISBN 10:1-63112-004-2
Owned By the Ocean
Brant’s life is planned for him. He will attend the best academic school in England, run his father’s estate, and marry well. But, with the sea calling to him, and a father that treats him more like a soldier to be commanded than a son, he takes off to find his own destiny.
What Brant doesn’t know, is that the sea is a cruel mistress, and once she owns you she won’t let you go.
About the Author: Christine started writing when she could put pen to paper and form words. Now, many years later, not much has changed. Her stories are romances that you can relate to with a little bit of adventure mixed in. She enjoys writing flawed but loveable characters and more often than not a horse or two will find their way in as well.
Christine makes her home in Manitoba, Canada on a sprawling 15 acre ranch withher sons, husband, and many animals.
Excerpt of Owned by the Ocean:
England, 1660
Brant looked up from his scribbler at his teacher who was droning on about something to do with the politics behind the colonization of the new world… or was it the precarious peace with Spain? Either way, he didn’t really care. Time was moving at a snail’s pace. Every tick of the clock sounded like a hammer hitting an anvil, the boy two rows down was scratching his head. Brant was pretty sure he had lice. In front of him another boy was drumming his fingers incessantly. Every noise and movement was grating and more in focus than Mr. Johnson’s teaching.
Brant shut out everything around him and looked down at the open page of his scribbler. He was supposed to be writing notes but instead the page was covered with carelessly doodled shapes or words that had nothing to do with what Mr. Johnson was teaching.
At sixteen, Brant Foxton had no interest in the politics, grammar, or math that filled each and every day at the school for young men he attended. All he wanted was to leave the masquerade called London society and sail. He had expressed this desire many times over to his father, Sir Calvin Foxton, but he would hear nothing of it.
Calvin Foxton had served his King faithfully for many years in both the army and then as a member of his council. He had been knighted when Brant was but five years old, a moment in history that he could remember being filled with excitement and honor for his father. Too bad it didn’t take long for Brant to realize that he was treated more like a soldier than a son.
This past year, after many attempts at convincing his father to allow him to attend the royal naval academy, Brant had been sent to a prestigious boarding school in the heart of London where he was to be polished and educated for service to the crown as the gentleman his family name required. There would be no sails, sword or pistols in Brant’s future. Instead it held paper work, money and bowing and scraping before the King. That was the life of nobility in England and that was to be the life of Brant Foxton. That was his father’s plan.
Brant stopped his doodling and looked around. Some of the boys were asleep, others intently taking notes and listening to the teacher. Most of the boys at this school were everything their parents expected them to be. The picture of young men of society, they walked and talked exactly as they were instructed, turned their noses up at those less fortunate than them, and flaunted money—that many didn’t have but their name allowed them to pretend—like it was their job. They were raised to outwardly respect someone like Brant due to his family’s status but many whispered behind his back or snickered over their afternoon tea. Brant was an anomaly, someone who didn’t care about prestige, money, and would very willingly throw it all away for a chance at a different future.
Brant was not an overly kind boy, nor humble. He hated his father and family name, he hated the school and the teachers, he hated the boys who hid behind masks their parents had forced on them, and most of all he hated that he was considered to be among them. He was better than this and he knew it. He was better than the acting and the back stabbing that he saw among the boys.
London was full of hypocrites. Brant may be blatantly cavalier and didn’t give a damn, but the boys he went to school with participated in the same activities, but behind well-kept facades. No one but themselves and perhaps their closest friends knew about the things they did that their family would disapprove of. But they all did them. Brant had seen the older boys get drunk and steal things from the younger ones. He had seen, and been a victim of, their bullying behind closed doors. But they all hid it from the outside world, from prying eyes. To the public, to the teachers, they were everything young gentlemen should be. Everyone but Brant Foxton.
The class was dismissed and Brant left the room in a shuffle of feet and a murmur of voices. Politics had been the last class of the day and they now had the evening for free time until dinner was called. Brant went up to his room that he shared with two other boys and, lying on his bed, pulled out a military strategy book he had taken from the library. There was no military strategy class offered since the boys that went here didn’t need to know about battle formations and military hierarchy. But, the library carried books on the subject and Brant spent his free time educating himself on everything he would need to know to join the navy. He hoped that with the knowledge he gained from reading he would be able to make his way through the ranks quickly and become an officer in short order. Of course his father would not even consider forgiving him until he made Captain, then perhaps he could consider Brant was upholding the family name in an honorable fashion. But, until he was prepared, he would remain in school and learn what he could, then take his leave and endure his father’s disapproval.
Things had changed when Brant’s mother passed away six years earlier. Calvin had become hard on his son, without his gentle wife to keep him in line. Brant’s brother; James, who was now six, was mostly taken care of by a nurse and the maids. Calvin Foxton didn’t have much time for his youngest son, not when he was reminded of his wife, who had died giving birth to him, every time he saw him. Brant guessed that his mother was the only person Calvin Foxton had ever been gentle with. He had been young when his mother passed, only ten, but from what he remembered she was a kind woman, and had truly loved her husband, which was not something he saw often among other couples.
It had been an arranged marriage, as many of them were, and Suzanne had been ten years Calvin’s junior. However, they had fallen in love during their years together, and Brant was certain his father would have given Suzanne Foxton anything she wanted. If she gave him even a disapproving look when Calvin adopted his military background with his son he would immediately melt and become a loving and kind father. That had disappeared when Suzanne passed away. Suddenly there was only military discipline and his father was detached from him in every way. No longer did Brant have loving parents but instead he had a commander and he was nothing more than a delinquent soldier. It had been a drastic change that had embittered Brant towards his father. He was convinced that if his mother was alive he would have been allowed to join the Royal Navy. She had always wanted what was best for Brant and what would make him happy in the long run. Calvin would have nothing to do with that now. The military was not the place for his son, especially the sea. There was nothing glamorous about being an officer, Captain, or Commodore. They were respected if they served the King well and had some kind of military genius that brought them to his attention but otherwise they were just another civil servant making low pay and risking their lives for honor that Brant shouldn’t have to earn any longer. He was born with it.
Leo, one of his roommates walked in, took one look at Brant and laughed. “All you ever do is study those useless books. That won’t help you at all with your marks here.”
“I don’t really care about my marks here.”
“You should. Your father is going to beat you if you fail.”
Brant laughed. “He can try. I’m getting a bit old for him to slap around.”
Leo was two years Brant’s senior and had two years left in the school. He was looking to take over his father’s business in Jamaica where he owned a sugar cane plantation.
Out of all the boys in school, Leo was probably the only one Brant considered a friend. In society Leo was what every young man should be, but in his circle of friends he was better known as a womanizer and a gambler. When his father sent him money, Leo made his way to a local brothel where he spent time with Claire, a pretty little blonde that had been used one too many times and had a sad look behind her eyes. He was kind to her though, and when he went out with the guys he would invite her along. Although her company was paid for, she was accepted among them as a friend. One couldn’t help the circumstances life had dealt someone.
When the money didn’t come Leo would pull out his charm and woo a pretty second or third class girl that dreamed of a man like Leo coming along and marrying her, turning her into a real lady. It was never going to happen though. And every time, it was the same, hopeful laughter turning into disappointed tears. It bothered Brant that Leo could be so self-absorbed, yet he considered himself fortunate to be his friend.
Leo was kind enough to most of the boys, but he enjoyed putting some of the more pompous pricks in their place. When Brant had started out his year Leo had considered Brant just one of those; a pompous prick who curtailed off his daddy and thought himself better than everyone else. But, for the most part, Leo was humble and kind. He never considered other boys inferior, even if society deemed them so, and always treated everyone with respect. Even outside of society he seemed to ignore the boundaries and distinction and class and mingled without prejudice. That was what Brant liked about Leo. And for that, he overlooked his friend’s less than upstanding behavior.
Leo and Brant were not so fortunate as to have the third boy who shared their room follow their life philosophies. Robert was a second year student, right between Brant and Leo. He was self-important and had delusions of grandeur. His family was on the verge of losing everything, and everyone knew it. Yet, they held onto their expensive taste, threw just as many dinner parties as before, and turned up their noses at anyone they considered beneath them. They sent Robert to school on their good name and credit, but he strutted the halls as if his father was the King himself and treated the younger boys with such disdain that you would have thought them his servants. He never said a word to Brant or Leo after he discovered they had no interest in playing along. Instead, they took every opportunity to take him down a notch. A biting comment or a prank usually managed to put him in his place for a short time.
“Are you going home for Christmas?” asked Brant, looking up from his book.
Leo too had lay down on his bed and was studying his arithmetic. He looked over at Brant. “Of course. I believe my father is coming to get me next week. Are you?”
“I suppose. My father hasn’t visited me except that one time I got in trouble for pouring ink down Robert’s jacket.”
Leo chuckled, presumably at the memory of Robert’s face turning a plum shade of purple from anger and embarrassment. “He’s a tough one but I’m sure he only wants what’s best for you.”
Brant scoffed, “What’s best for me? Perhaps, but he has a very narrow view of what’s best.”
Leo put down his book and sat up. “I like you, Brant, but I also think you’re in serious need of an attitude adjustment. You father has worked very hard to get where he is now and you don’t appreciate what he has given you. He doesn’t want his life for you. The navy is not easy and often ends in tragedy. Take the easy way. Your father worked hard so you would have the best things in life.”
“It’s not about status and courts and money to me. I don’t want to be stuck in a life where everyone plays a role and wears a mask. I want adventure and freedom.”
“Then you are naive. You think adventure is glamorous? If so I think you will find yourself disappointed. This life isn’t so bad. I have fun still.”
“But your parents, anyone outside of your circle of friends has no idea what you’re truly like.”
“That’s not true. I still act like myself; I just choose to practice discretion in revealing some of my less than appropriate habits. Speaking of which, my father sent some money again. Would you like to go play some cards?”
Brant looked back at his book for a moment then sighed, “Why not? It’s that or stay here reading.”
Leo laughed. “That’s the spirit. Come on let’s dig into your trust fund a little and make use of some of your father’s hard earned money.”