Drawing is her world …
but when she’s pushed into the In-Between
and thought lost forever, it’s his world too.

Her…
Storey Dalton wants her life back. Her home back. Her world back. The way they were before she messed with time. She does not want to become a living dead lost In-between. She thought she’d known the worst that could happen … but she wasn’t even close.

Him…
Eric thought he’d seen the worst that his father could do…but he hadn’t … unfortunately. Heartbroken and panicked, Eric tracks Storey to the misty dead space – and follows her in. There is a way out – but not a way that anyone would willingly choose.

It…
The stylus has no way to help with Storey’s latest predicament. But survival is paramount. Only this time it can’t do it alone. There might be help available … if they can save someone else…first.

Them…
Storey wants to save her world. Eric wants to save Storey. The stylus wants them to save someone else. But can anyone save them all?

Tammy is now with her family and happy. With her safe, Storey and Eric go to retrieve the imprisoned Councilman. They barely manage to portal out with the him before the guards arrive. Then the Eric’s father, the esteemed Councilman does the unthinkable. He pushes Storey out of the portal.

Storey is now caught in the in-between, and as she starts thinking through her problem with her stylus, it’s not very promising.

Back in Toran, the Councilman is arrested and place in the dungeon under guard. Eric is determined to find Storey and bring her back, only to learn no one ever returns. Of course Storey isn’t staying put either, but her stylus is mapping where they go and Paxton is seeing it as he inputs the data from his stylus.

In order to do this properly Eric gathers all the things he could possible need including getting sketchbooks from her home, he also sneaks the broken stylus into his pack. There is no stopping him once he’s as prepared as he can be and Paxton has no choice but to let him go.

In the meantime Storey is learning a lot about the history between the Torans and Louers. It’s not pretty and her finding Dillon is going to reveal some very well hidden secrets.

This is a favorite scene as Eric arrives.

Shaking her mind free of those depressing thoughts and tucking the knowledge that Dillon was a Louer back into the corner of her mind, she turned to the more immediate issue.

“You said there is a Toran here. Who and where?”

Eric.

“Really?” she shouted. This time she danced around Dillon, joy rippling through every part of her. “We’re saved!”

Dillon stared at her and blinked.

She groaned in disgust. “Dillon, it means someone is here to help us.” She continued to skip in small circles. “I presume he’s on his way to us? And we should stay until he finds us?”

He landed at our old coordinates, where you found Dillon.

She laughed. “I knew he’d find us. Does he have the new coordinates?”

Paxton has just given them to him.

“Good.” She said with satisfaction. “Then he should be here any moment.” Then she frowned. And tugged Dillon several steps over. “Just so he doesn’t land on top of us.”

She stared and stared at the spot. Nothing happened. She glanced around in case he’d adjusted the coordinates slightly and still nothing. She turned back to look at the original spot.

And there was Eric.

His grin flashed, huge and full of relief.

“Woot!” She launched herself into his arms. “I knew you’d come!”

He picked her up and swung her around and around. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you.”

He put her back down and gave her a blistering kiss.

She pulled back slightly and beamed up at him. “Maybe I’ll have to disappear again, if you’re going to welcome me like that!”

“Trust you.” He glanced around. “Man is this is a weird place.”

She snorted. “Tell me about it!”

He smiled down at her, then froze and spun around. “What the…”

“Yeah, what a surprise, huh?” Storey glanced at the sleeping Dillon. “I still don’t understand that whole 45 degree angle sleeping thing.”

“He’s asleep?” Eric dropped his to a faint whisper. He bent over slightly to look closer.

“Yes. I think he’s been asleep since he arrived. According to the stylus that was a long time ago.” She shrugged. “He’s spoken to me a couple of times, but then always nods off again.”

“Unbelievable.” Eric shook his head. “How did he survive here?”

Storey wished she knew. “I have no idea. I think he went into a sort of hibernation. The stylus doesn’t think he’ll survive if we try to take him home though. That his muscles, after not experiencing gravity in so long, won’t support him. And that’s just the beginning of the problems. The thing is, I can’t leave him.”

Eric stared down at her. “This isn’t a Louer child to return to her parents. This is an adult male Toran. If he dies while going home, surely that’s better than this quasi-dead existence.”

That whole death with dignity thing. She sighed. “I hate to kill the poor man. And speaking of family,” Storey winced, not sure how Eric would react. “He says he has a brother, named Paxton.”

Eric’s head swiveled to stare down at her in shock. Then back at Dillon. “It couldn’t be.”

“What?” When he didn’t answer right away, Storey poked him in the chest. “What couldn’t be?”

“Paxton did lose a brother when they were young men. He was playing up to the ladies while porting and fell In-between.”

She gasped and turned to stare at Dillon. “Oh no. Then we definitely can’t leave him.”

“Neither do I want to take him home to his brother to die.”

She didn’t know what to say. “Stylus. Is there anything we can do for Dillon?”

His body won’t be able to handle living in the other dimensions.

“But he’s not alive here either,” she said in frustration. Then caught Eric’s look. Right. He couldn’t hear the stylus.

Quickly she explained what she she’d heard. “According to the stylus, Dillon can’t live in other dimensions, but it told me earlier he won’t be able to survive much longer here, either. I don’t want to believe that.”

“But there is no other way.” Eric wafted his arm in the thick soup. “Either desert him to this endless darkness or take him home and he will either live or die, but at least he’ll be home again. Think of his family. This would mean tremendous closure for them.”

Storey opened her mouth to speak, but a weird noise sounded.

What the hell was that?
Dale Mayer. Design Trilogy (Kindle Locations 6321-6359). Valley Publishing.

Seems the best move Eric made was bringing the broken stylus. The soul contained is very knowledgeable and once a leader.

There are many complications both on the way out of the in-between and to getting home. Since the best pathway the styluses could follow was back to Tammy, she unwittingly attaches to them.

Plenty of suspense a few more surprise and the promise of a romance that will last.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

Drawing is her world …
but when she’s banished
to a deadly new world and needs help,
it’s his world too.

Her…
Storey Dalton wants to go home – but something goes terrifyingly wrong and she ends up in her worst nightmare. There’s no escape … not without Eric or her stylus. Then she finds someone who needs rescuing even more than she does…

Him…
Eric Jordan races to save Storey, only to realize a close family member has betrayed them both. Now the enemy is closing in on him. When he meets up with Storey, he knows her plans are a bad idea, but she won’t be dissuaded…and it could be their only way of staying alive.

It…
the stylus, now bonded to Storey’s artistic soul, is determined to survive this new chaos – against all odds. But damaged from a prolonged separation, he can’t help Story or Eric – without making things worse.

Them…
Storey is determined to make things right. Eric is determined to help her. Neither counts the personal cost, until their very lives are in danger.

By the end of the first book we’ve had a look at a few different dimensions, including one that Storey has created for the Louers. The Toran’s which is Eric’s, the Louer’s old and new and of course Storey’s. Oh and the creation also caused a time problem within Storey’s.

At the end of all that, instead of being sent home Storey is sent to a difficult situation, one she recognizes by the smell. Her sketches are portals and now she’s here without her backpack, sketch book or her stylus. She is however, soul connected to her stylus so she finds a way to communicate although the stylus isn’t answering her. It’s using her words to communicate with Paxton an elder and Eric through Paxton’s stylus.

As she looks for a way out, she finds a Louer child, alone except for her pet. The portal to the new dimension is damaged so no one can come back for her. Now Storey has a new project but first she needs to get out of the old Louer dimension.

Eric saw horror on Storey’s face as the dark mist surrounded her to take her home. He also saw the glee on his father’s. Now he needs to know she arrived safely. What he finds is not what he wants to hear. She is not in her dimension or his. With Paxton’s stylus communicating with hers they figure out where she is and Eric goes to get her.

This is a favorite scene.

“You didn’t even make it to your home, did you?”

“No. As I left the party, your father waved at me. In his hand he had my stylus. At least what he thought was my stylus. Oh, he gloated like he knew something bad was going to happen – something I was not going to like. And he was right.” Storey shook her head at the memory. “When the mist dissipated, there were these horrible hands reaching for me. I don’t know if it was crossing the dimension or what but I blacked out. When I came to, I was alone in a large cave-like room.”

Eric closed his eyes. Damn. His father couldn’t have known about her fake stylus. He’d intended to separate Storey from her stylus, thus bringing about her death. Could he have also changed the destination in her codex? Did he even know how to do that? The one was bad enough, but if he’d done them both… well, Eric didn’t know what to think.

Could his father hate Storey that much? Or was this a desperate act of a desperate man? Could he have thought this was a way to regain his all powerful leadership status – using her as an example to others, perhaps? He’d never had to deal with outright defiance or a potential non-confidence vote before – until Storey. Could this be just about ego?

Or maybe fear was the basis of his father’s actions. Fear of losing everything he had? Eric had heard mutterings from several displeased council members and presumed his father had as well. Would that have been enough to precipitate these actions?

Eric would have to let this mess roll around in his head for a bit.

Right now he had bigger priorities – like getting Storey home safely.

“It’s going to be fine now. I have my codex and I brought another one for you.” By the time he’d finished speaking, Eric had unclipped the spare on his left and snagged her arm to clip it onto hers.

He stopped. “What’s this?”

“What’s what?”

Eric tapped her arm.

“I can’t see.”

“Lights on full.”

Instantly the lights turned on, giving Storey her first real look at the large room. She couldn’t believe the enormity of the space they were in. There had to have been many Louers living here to require a room of such size. It was bigger than the community center she’d gone to at home. “Wow. Look at this place.”

“Wow,” Eric said patiently, “Look at your arm.” He grabbed her left arm and gave it a good shake.

Staring, Storey frowned at the intricate swirls decorating her arm. They traveled from the back of her wrist to her elbow and around the underside. She felt nothing as she ran her fingers over it. There was no burning, scarring or even loose ink to come off on her fingers.

“I have no idea. I don’t know when or how I got these.”

“It’s also not on you; it’s a part of you. Your people have tattoos inked into their skin. These are considered marks of honor in my home. I have no idea if the Louers have something similar in theirs.”

“Marks of honor.” She snorted. They were pretty cool looking. “That might have made sense if your people had given them to me on the night of the celebration. But not here and now. My arm was clean when I left your place.”

“Somehow you’ve gained these marks in the time you’ve been here.” He studied her face carefully, a hint of humor in his eyes. “You are the strangest girl.”

“Oh,” she gasped, “that is so unfair.”

He grinned. “Only you could be banished to another dimension and come out with marks of honor without having any idea of how you got them.”

She snickered. “I found a few other things here too.” All humor fell away. Storey looked into his eyes, willing him to understand. “A lost Louer child for one. A little girl was accidentally left behind in the mass exodus of her people. According to my stylus there’s something wrong with the portal and the Louers can’t come back for her. She’s all alone.”

“What? A single juvenile? Oh, that’s not good.” Storey nodded emphatically. “Exactly. I’m glad you understand. So, you’ll help, right?”

Eric tried to figure out where Storey’s lightning quick mind was going. A Louer child alone probably wouldn’t survive and as much as he didn’t like the idea, it might be a kindness to kill her now and prevent her suffering. But from the hope on Storey’s face, he highly doubted he was going to like her solution.

“Help you do what?” he asked warily. Somehow he didn’t think he was going to like her answer.

“Help me return her to her parents. In the new dimension.”

Oh shit.
Dale Mayer. Design Trilogy (Kindle Locations 3695-3732). Valley Publishing.

Storey didn’t just find the Louer child she’s named Tammy, she also found more styluses. Everyone is about to get quite the education on those.

Of course getting Tammy to the new dimension isn’t going to be easy, and they don’t get it right the first time either. We they do but not, they encounter a faction against her father, so not a good place for any of them to be.

The styluses seem to be able to cause a bit of trouble by interfering when they shouldn’t.

Eric and Storey grow closer as they face many obstacles in their way to getting Tammy to her parents. More than just a couple of surprises as well and topped off by another OMG ending.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.

Drawing is her world…
but when her new pencil comes alive,
it’s his world too.

Her…

Storey Dalton is seventeen and now boyfriendless after being dumped via Facebook. Drawing is her escape. It’s like as soon as she gets down one image, a dozen more are pressing in on her. Then she realizes her pictures are almost drawing themselves…or is it that her new pencil is alive?

Him…

Eric Jordan is a new Ranger and the only son of the Councilman to his world. He’s crossed the veil between dimensions to retrieve a lost stylus. But Storey is already experimenting with her new pencil and what her drawings can do – like open portals.

It …

The stylus is a soul-bound intelligence from Eric’s dimension on Earth and uses Storey’s unsuspecting mind to seek its way home, giving her an unbelievable power. She unwittingly opens a third dimension, one that held a dangerous predatory species banished from Eric’s world centuries ago, releasing these animals into both dimensions.

Them…

Once in Eric’s homeland, Storey is blamed for the calamity sentenced to death. When she escapes, Eric is ordered to bring her back or face that same death penalty. With nothing to lose, can they work together across dimensions to save both their worlds?

This is book 1 in the series and ends on a hook that is picked up in book 2.

Story Dalton is reflecting on the loss of her boyfriend Jeff as she stomps through the woods. She’s kicking rocks and finally getting the release she needs. She’s about to kick yet another large rock when she spies something next to it, a pencil, delighted she picks it up. She loves to collect pencils finding value in what others toss away.

Once she picks up the pencil she find she has even more desire to draw. She spends every waking moment with the pencil sketching her teachers notice and so does the new boy at school.

This is a favorite scene.

“Hey, Storey?”

Storey spun around but continued to walk backwards. A tall man in black was walking up behind her. She frowned and reassessed her first impression. Not a man, a teen on the brink of adulthood. And one oddly familiar. Right. He was the new kid at school, a rare enough event that it caught even her attention. She’d caught a glimpse of him in the morning, navigating through the hallways. Tall and slim, dressed in black from top to toe, even his short hair matched, giving his white skin a bleached look in contrast. He’d make a perfect vampire.

She couldn’t help but smile. “Hi.” For the life of her she couldn’t remember his name. Her eyes locked on his square jaw, deep forehead and blazing blue eyes. His face would be hard to forget.

A lopsided grin slipped out, fascinating her.

“I’m Eric. You probably don’t remember me. I just started at school today.” He fell into step as she continued on her way.

“This is your first day and you know my name.”

“I recognized a fellow artist in the first class we shared and…” His smile deepened. “Your name would be hard not to know after the number of times I heard a teacher call it out today.”

“Oh.” Heat crawled up her face. Her stride stretched out, making him increase his pace to keep up.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.”

Surprised, she shot him a quick sideways glance. “You didn’t. Everyone knows I spend most of my time caught up in my art. Getting yelled at is no big deal.”

The same grin flowed in her direction. She watched, captivated at how his face changed with his moods. Her fingers itched for pencil and paper. His voice was striking too, gravelly with a sense of humor lurking just beneath the surface.

“What? Am I wearing my lunch on my face or something?” He swiped his chin self-consciously.

Her eyes widened. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stare,” she muttered and walked even faster.

“Hey slow down, we’re not racing anywhere. And you’re tall, but I’m taller.”

Confused, she slowed down, sliding a sideways glance his way. “What does height have to do with it?”

“That I can walk as fast as you, I just don’t want to.”

Yeah, he was weird. “You don’t have to walk with me at all.” She couldn’t help but point that out. Give him a chance to beg off and go his own way. It was kind of hard to believe he was still there in the first place.

“I know. I want to.”

She snorted. “And why would you want to do that?”

“Because I like your artwork. It’s unique, dark.”

This time there was no holding back the look of disbelief. “And you like dark art?”

“Yup. It’s cool.” They came to a corner. “This is where I turn off. I live just down there.” In spite of herself, Storey looked in the direction he pointed. He lived close to the old mine. Not the most affluent area of town. Still, it wasn’t loser city like where she lived.

“See you tomorrow.” He waved and walked away.

Storey crossed the road, watching as his lanky frame disappeared in the distance.

What was that all about?
Dale Mayer. Design Trilogy (Kindle Locations 183-190). Valley Publishing.

Eric Jordan is not just the new boy at school, he’s much more than that and Storey is about to find out her new pencil is more than a pencil.

Another dimension and her pencil is called a stylus, but it contains memories. Many questions and the council where she lands with Eric isn’t receptive to her presence or her gaining knowledge.

A bit of a cliffhanger but I bought the trilogy so I can just continue on with the next book.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.