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    Everything Anise
    Everything Anise
    Everything Anise
    Ebook73 pages1 hour

    Everything Anise

    By Natalie-Nicole Bates

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A Victorian-era vampire living in the modern world, Emigh Bennett's favorite activity is watching people from the window of her little bookshop. When she spots a woman nearly killed on the street outside her shop, she rushes to her rescue, and she meets Anise.

    The proprietress of a little home business called "Everything Anise", Anise crafts one of a kind perfumes all with a touch of her namesake spice, all with the power to intoxicate and delight the senses. She is smart, sexy, beautiful, and happens to be a little bit different.

    Although Anise is everything Emigh could ever ask for and more, she can't quite figure her out.  Anise possesses the duality of an innocent angel and a vivacious vixen. Even if Emigh can ever peel away the multi layers of Anise to uncover the truth beneath, what will happen when she finally reveals the truth about herself?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPaperlate Press
    Release dateSep 15, 2018
    ISBN9781386009078
    Everything Anise
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    Author

    Natalie-Nicole Bates

    Natalie-Nicole Bates is a book reviewer and author. Her passions in life include books and hockey along with Victorian and Edwardian era photography and antique poison bottles. Natalie contributes her uncharacteristic love of hockey to being born in Russia. She currently resides in the UK where she is working on her next book and adding to her collection of 19th century post-mortem photos.    

    Read more from Natalie Nicole Bates

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      Book preview

      Everything Anise - Natalie-Nicole Bates

      Natalie-Nicole Bates

      EVERYTHING ANISE

      First published by Paperlate Press 2022

      Copyright © 2022 by Natalie-Nicole Bates

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      Third edition

      This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

      Find out more at reedsy.com

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      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      About the Author

      Also by Natalie-Nicole Bates

      Chapter One

      She always loved the rain. Today was no exception.

      Hands against the frosty glass of her little, used bookshop, Emigh Bennett stared out the window, taking in the February storm as it whipped up a frenzy of frigid wind and rain.

      Outside, people scattered for shelter. Some desperately held on to an umbrella that threatened to break free and sail away in the storm. Others crouched under folded newspapers and briefcases, trying to avoid a soaking.

      Emigh inhaled a deep breath of satisfaction as she watched the scene outside. She was warm and alone in her shop, far from the harsh outdoor elements, and surrounded by the smell of old books and gingerbread-fragranced candles. But watching the storm, and the frenzy it created, was somehow fascinating to her. Always was, even as a child.

      Then someone familiar caught her eye.

      The object of her latest crush.

      She first noticed the curvy brunette one evening in late summer at the Sassy Kitten, during the time when she was still hitting the clubs with regularity. The woman was dressed in the most amazing and unmissable red corset, with a skirt that billowed out over layers of tulle. She just…glowed. Not just her style or her glorious mane of raven hair, but her countenance—she glowed with vibrancy and vitality. And Emigh wanted to bask in that glow. Unfortunately, she lost her in the crowd as quickly as she spotted her that night.

      She appeared again before Christmas, going into the town’s post office with a stack of packages. Now she sometimes saw her two or three times a week. Yet she never made an attempt to accidentally-on-purpose run into her. Maybe they could have shared coffee and conversation at the local café.

      But it was all just a fantasy.

      Things over the past year had altered—it started when Jonathan left—and she wasn’t quite sure why. She should be happy. But the palpable loneliness got stronger and stronger as the weeks went by.

      She’d known Jonathan for so long. When they first met what seemed like forever ago, she was wild and raw, and he was a calming presence. He balanced her craziness, and she taught him to get out and live. They co-existed peacefully for years within the walls of the bookshop and the twin flats upstairs.

      Several months earlier, he met a woman and moved far away. Now he lived in his own perfect little world, with his perfect little wife, and a perfect little baby arriving soon.

      To this day, she wasn’t quite sure how all that happened—especially the baby part. But theirs was a peculiar condition they shared. As crazy as it seemed, Jonathan was nowadays almost—dare she think it—human.

      Now, alone for the first time in decades, Emigh found her lust for fun and life slowly but surely slipping away. The clubs—where she spent so much of her nighttime—filled with beautiful, eager, and willing women, lost their appeal. Sometimes she would float in what resembled sleepless dreams for days, functioning becoming little more than going through the daily motions of life and existence.

      Emigh focused her eyes on the lovely woman on the other side of the glass.

      Who didn’t even know she existed.

      The rain fell harder, and now ice pelted the glass. The woman’s long dark hair took on a life of its own, whipping furiously around her face. She juggled several packages in one arm and clutched a dozen red roses to her side with the other.

      A huge gust of wind grabbed hold of her deep-purple skirt, lifting the material enough for Emigh to catch a glimpse of curvy porcelain thigh peeking out above the stocking and garter she wore. As she tried in vain to keep her skirt down, the woman took two wobbling steps and fell hard into the street. A car came to a screeching halt just a few feet from hitting her.

      Emigh didn’t have time to think, only to react. Racing to the front door of the shop, she threw it open, the wind taking

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