A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love

In this slightly spooky paranormal romance, will two women finally break their curse and get the happily ever after they’ve fought for? Each year, when no one is paying attention, Pepper White knows exactly how this works. For five years, ever since the last Keeper of the Store tricked her, she has been cursed--appearing when the store does, and disappearing when it goes away. People will remember But how do you tell the girl you’re falling for that you’re cursed and that you only have ten weeks together before Christina forgets . . . everything? To have a chance at happily ever after, Pepper has to do the one thing she swore she wouldn’t--find the right treat to trick someone else into taking on the curse. But all’s fair in love and spells, and this spooky season, Pepper and Christina are ready to stir up trouble in the name of love.

Autorentext
Ann Rose is a typical Taurus—loyal but stubborn, which means being an author is perfect. While asking the private group chat for ideas on what to include in this bio, Ann was reminded that some of her greatest qualities are her awesome best friends from high school—a fact she couldn’t argue with. She loves dark chocolate, sarcasm, her family, tacos, and her cats—obviously not in that order. Ann also writes young adult novels under the pen name A. M. Rose.

Leseprobe
70 Days
Until the Store Closes

Pepper

One of the best things about having my soul eternally tethered to a seasonal holiday store was that I could eat anything I wanted. The bag of Skittles crinkled as I reached deep into my pocket and grabbed a couple before popping an orange one in my mouth as I stood in the center aisle.

The Dead of Night wasn't your typical Halloween store. Aside from the fact that it needed a human soul to operate, it wasn't just a place to buy costumes but an experience. People were always in awe as they walked through the doors-even the employees gaped at the decor the first time they entered-but they never asked any questions about how it got there. Plus, it was nice that I didn't have to put in all the manual labor to make it happen, unlike the weeks and weeks of work when I'd been in charge of the town's annual haunted house-magic was cool like that. Too bad I didn't really have any of my own.

In the moments before the first employee arrived, I took it all in. Holiday-appropriate music played quietly overhead. The scents of plastic and cinnamon swirled in the air. Most of the shelves were already filled, and all types of costumes, from seasonal favorites like zombies and witches to more elaborate things like kings and queens, hung in every aisle. Halloween was by far the superior holiday, and now I celebrated it full-time. Some people would likely argue that Christmas mornings were the best-but no way. On Christmas once the morning was over, everything kind of settled down. Whereas with Halloween, the anticipation rose from the moment you opened your eyes-waiting for the first glimmer of darkness that lasted well into the night. On Halloween, you could be anything you wanted-no matter how old you were, costumes were always appropriate and candy was handed out freely. What wasn't fun about a fun-size Milky Way? Nothing. That was what. And today was the first day to get ready for the holiday, which meant it was the first day in a long many I got to exist at all.

As far as curses were concerned, I considered myself pretty lucky.

Questions about all the adventures that awaited me spun through my head faster than an electric mixer. Which of our regular staff would come back this year? How long would it take for them to warm up to me? How much had Clover Creek changed since last year? I could hardly wait to find out the answers.

Being Keeper of the Store was never a dull moment.

A door in the back creaked open.

It was showtime.

Twenty minutes later, everyone had arrived, and the energy of opening day was palpable.

"Pepper! Why does Molly get to work the prosthetic and mask counter today and I'm on general cleanup?" Caleb, one of the other Dead of Night employees, whined, his tawny skin taking on a much more pinkish tone.

Even with all the pros of this job, listening to employee complaints was definitely on the list of cons, but it was better than the complaining I had to endure before I got stuck here-at least these complaints weren't directed toward me-so it also wasn't terrible.

"Well, what did Dewy say?" I popped a few more Skittles into my mouth-breakfast of champions. The chaos had already begun as staff rushed this way and that, trying to prepare the store for this season's grand opening.

"They said I have to do general cleanup."

"So then-"

"Can't you do something about it?"

This was the common misconception that came with being the Keeper of the Store. All the staff instinctively recognized me as upper management, but I really didn't have any say in scheduling-I didn't have much say in anything at all. "Look, I know it seems like you got the short end of the stick, but what if I told you we're getting a huge shipment today and someone is going to have to count and tag every scab, scar, and wart that comes into the place?" Being Keeper, however, did mean I knew everything about the store. Everything.

Caleb glanced at Molly, sitting on a stool behind the glass case of fake blood and vampire teeth-dressed as an angel, her pale cheeks painted with pink hearts, a halo perched on top of her red hair, and wings secured to her back with some elastic straps-and his thick dark eyebrows rose. "General cleanup sounds amazing."

"I agree." I winked. "A few for the road?" I offered him some Skittles, and he opened his hand while I poured a pile inside.

"Taste the rainbow," he said as he shoved them all in his face, straightened his giant clown bow tie, and scampered away.

Wearing costumes was highly encouraged, but even pieces of costumes with the signature Dead of Night polo and khakis were preferred to nothing Halloween related at all.

Caleb grabbed a broom and started sweeping. He was a good kid. Even if he didn't remember me. He'd been tentative the first day he walked into the Intro to Theater class I'd taught at Clover Creek High School-he shuffled his feet and stared at the ground the entire time he introduced himself-but that didn't last long. There were those kids whose only knowledge of "theater" was a bucket of popcorn and a reclining chair, but when they got on a real stage-even the small one we had in the classroom-they bloomed right before your eyes. That was Caleb. That was also five years ago. My stomach clenched.

That was the toughest part of this job-remembering people and things about them when I was nothing but a stranger to them. There were always the awkward moments when I "knew" something they didn't think I should. But it was especially hard when I wanted to celebrate their accomplishments with them.

Dewy-standing there behind the register dressed as a scarecrow-had been the manager of this store for the past three years. They weren't the kind of person who trusted easily, so it took them a couple of weeks to open up. Last year they confided in me that they and their partner were looking to adopt-they hadn't told anyone about it but me. I'd been dying to know what had happened on that front since then-if anything at all-but there was no way I could straight up ask. How could I possibly know something so personal when we hadn't ever "met" before? And from experience, I knew they weren't one to share personal things with people they didn't know. So I would have to take my time with them.

Then there were people like Molly who were new to the store, but not new to the town-so while she had no idea who I was, I remembered that last year her hair was blonde, not the fiery red it was today, and that she had the mo…