Dead People In Love (Haunted Hearts) Read online

“So, who’s stupid?” she asked.

  “Donovan. For making a will like that before he married her.”

  “Olivia was manipulative. He isn’t rich but she saw his possibilities. She was smart that way. Plus, he’s young and attractive.” She paused and grinned at Luke. “With a great body.”

  “Not as great as mine.”

  “If you say so.” She grinned wider and laughed, then thought of Rose and her grin slipped. But the happiness remained, a quiet glow inside her chest. “When he signed the will, he probably didn’t even think of the condo as his property. In his mind, it was Rose’s. Until Olivia planted doubts about Rose’s mental stability.”

  “I can see how it happened. I’ve been stupid over a woman a few times.” Luke rolled to his side, cupping Cassie’s cheek with his hand. “But when I met you, I was very smart.”

  The glow inside Cassie grew louder. “It’s fixed now. They’re all going to have a happy ever after. Rose and Herb in the afterlife. Donovan and Bridget in this life.”

  “With some bumps in the road,” he said.

  She nodded. “Except for Olivia. I don’t know what’s going to happen to her, and I don’t care.”

  “What about us?” he asked.

  “I think we’re going to have a very happy afterlife, too.” She laughed at him.

  He lunged on top of her. And he kissed her. And her laughter stopped and she wasn’t thinking about happy ever after, she was just thinking about now. About making that baby they’d been talking about. About the way his skin felt against hers. About the stubble rubbing her chin. About the way he smelled so damn good.

  And about the bumps in the road... Her favorite bump was growing on top of her right now. That was pretty damn good, too.

  And it was going to get better.

  -The End-

  Dear Reader,

  I’m delighted that you’ve read DEAD PEOPLE IN LOVE, the sequel to DEAD PEOPLE. One of these days I plan to write Joe’s story from DEAD PEOPLE, but for now I’m concentrating on my Miracle Interrupted series, where a miracle is prophesied in a Wisconsin village with a population of 629. In almost every story, someone thinks the miracle applies to him or her.

  MUST WORSHIP CATS and STARDUST MIRACLE from the series are available now. MIRACLE LANE will be out soon – possibly by the time you’re reading this. Two more Miracle Interrupted novels are planned, with more on the way.

  Read on for excerpts from STARDUST MIRACLE and CATTITUDE.

  If you enjoyed DEAD PEOPLE IN LOVE, I would appreciate it if you would help others enjoy it by posting a review at your favorite places.

  I love hearing from readers. You can reach me at [email protected].

  Author updates can be found at http://edieramer.com. You can also sign up for my newsletter and find samples of my other novels.

  Happy Reading!

  Edie Ramer

  Stardust Miracle

  Edie Ramer

  A miracle is going to happen

  Becky Diedrich is the cheesemaker’s daughter.

  The minister’s wife.

  The good sister.

  What she’s not is her own woman.

  What she can’t be is a mother.

  And then she catches her husband with another woman.

  And she moves in with her sister.

  And she starts to see sparkles.

  And this is just the beginning…

  Excerpt:

  Becky ran across the grass and laughed at her brashness. She wore her tan trench coat — her church coat — over her red negligee. Tonight she felt free. With a sexual appetite and playfulness she hadn’t felt for a long time.

  She couldn’t swear that what she planned had never happened in the church, people being what they were. But it had never happened in the church before with her and Jim.

  Laughter spilled out of her mouth, and she only stopped because she was breathless from an overload of excitement. The need to experience something more with her husband had been building inside her for a long time. Now it was finally boiling over — leaving her lightheaded and unlike her usual self.

  She liked these feelings. Liked this side of her a lot.

  When she’d stepped out of the car tonight and looked up at the stars, something happened. Something changed. For so long, she’d been carrying a dark weight around with her. Going through the days and nights trying to say and do all the right things, when inside something had felt all wrong.

  She’d lost the joy of life. Not fully living...just going through the motions. At only thirty-six, she’d felt old and dried up.

  Now she felt young again. Free.

  Jim wouldn’t know what happened to his proper wife.

  She reached the church’s back door, using it instead of the front entrance because she didn’t want anyone passing by to see her. Not that there was anything wrong with going to see her husband. But if anyone mentioned her late night visit, her face would probably turn the color of a ripe tomato and give away what they’d done.

  She slipped the key into the lock but it turned easily. She stepped inside. Jim must’ve come in this way and forgotten to lock the door behind him. He was always preoccupied with his work and his parishioners.

  She admired that. She did. But once in a while, she wanted his mind, plus a few body parts, to be on her.

  And not just when her body temperature was right for conception.

  She started toward Jim’s office, and her heels clicked on the linoleum floor. Laughing under her breath, she stopped and took them off. She wanted to surprise Jim with a good surprise. No. A wonderful surprise.

  His door was closed. Habit, she supposed, since no one was here except him. She heard him speaking. Couldn’t make out the words. Just his voice. Probably saying lines from the sermon he was preparing. Then his voice stopped, and she imagined him frowning at his computer screen while he wrote the next line.

  She started to undo the buttons of her coat, then decided it would be sexier to do it inside with him watching. Kind of like a stripper.

  Stifling a giggle, she turned the handle and flung open the door.

  “Surprise!”

  Cattitude

  Edie Ramer

  It’s all in the Cattitude...

  After Belle the cat switches bodies with a psychic on the run from a murderer, she wants her perfect cat body back instead of this furless human one. But she doesn’t count on falling in love with her former owner. Or that a CEO and a beauty queen want to use up her nine lives. Now is her chance to prove anything a human can do, a cat can do better.

  “Cattitude is a magical tale that you won’t soon forget. Edie Ramer has a writing voice that charms, and she pulls the reader right into Belle’s amazing world.” –Cynthia Eden, New York times best-selling author.

  Excerpt:

  Belle’s brain ached from talking. Meowing was so much easier. Humans made everything difficult, even communication. So few words, so many meanings.

  “You want to tell me about yourself?” Max asked.

  She put a hand on the bruise on her forehead, just like Annette in today’s TV show. “Amnesia.” She’d practiced saying it while watching the show, the mmm sound easier than the nnn. “I have amnesia.”

  “Amnesia?” He looked at her with disbelief. “The only people I’ve heard of with amnesia are actors in bad TV shows. If you’re afraid of someone, tell me. I’ll protect you.” His gaze shifted to her ring. “No matter what. You have my promise.”

  She nodded. Of course he’d protect her. She’d never thought anything different.

  “Do you want to tell me?” He moved closer, bending, the same concentration in his blue eyes as when he was reading one of his travel books.

  “Pretty eyes,” she said.

  He snapped back. “You don’t need to flirt with me. I already told you I’ll protect you.”

  “You have pretty eyes,” she repeated. He also had a pretty face and body, but she decided not to say that.

  What
had she done wrong? Max told her all the time how pretty she was. “Pretty Belle.” “Beautiful Belle.” “Pretty kitty.” She always liked it. Didn’t humans like to be called nice things?

  “Well, thanks.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and backed up. “I’ll order the pizza. You like garlic bread?”

  She shook her head. She liked meat. Lots of meat.

  “We’ll probably eat in about a half hour.” One corner of his mouth flicked up. “Don’t go anywhere.”

  She shook her head. Where would she go? This was her home.

  As soon as he left, she stretched, holding the position for a long moment. Then she rubbed her cheek against the pillow. It was soft and smelled of Max. Now her smells mingled with his, her cat body and her human body.

  A knock rattled the door. A mewl came out of her mouth, the unfamiliar words forgotten for a second. The door opened before she remembered how to purse her lips and where to stick her tongue to tell whoever it was to come in. Unless it was Caroline. Her she would tell not to come in.

  “You’re decent? Too bad.” Ted strolled inside, clothes draped over his arm. “Max said you’re eating with us tonight. I thought you’d like a change of clothes.” He tossed his armload of garments on the foot of the bed. “They’re my sister’s exercise clothes. They should stretch or shrink to fit you. Tory won’t mind if you wear them.”

  Belle nodded. Tory liked her. Tory had wanted to take her to New York, but of course Belle couldn’t go. This was her home. Why would she want to live anywhere else?

  “I’ll leave now.” Ted glanced at his watch. “You have enough time to take a quick bath or a shower and change.”

  Watching him leave, Belle felt sick inside her stomach.

  Bath? Shower?

  No, no and no!

  She wasn’t going to do it. She refused to do it.

  But if she didn’t, they’d smell her. Cats groomed themselves all the time, but they didn’t wash away their scents. Any animal knew scents were good. Water was for drinking. Inside the body, not outside.

  Her mouth set. She threw back the covers, rolled out of bed, marched into the bathroom, knelt by the bathtub and turned on the faucets the way she’d seen Max do so often. Anything a human could do, a cat could do—no matter how disgusting and unnatural.

  But she’d better find Sorcha and get her body back. Fast.

  How many more indignities could she stand?

  OTHER BOOKS BY EDIE RAMER

  Contemporary

  MUST WORSHIP CATS (a Miracle Interrupted novella)

  STARDUST MIRACLE (a Miracle Interrupted novel)

  MIRACLE LANE (a Miracle Interrupted novel)

  YOU’VE GOT MURDER co-written with Karin Tabke

  Paranormal

  CATTITUDE

  DEAD PEOPLE

  DEAD PEOPLE IN LOVE (short story)

  DRAGON BLUES

  THE SEVENTH DIMENSION (short story)

  Science Fiction Romance

  GALAXY GIRLS

  MIXING IT UP (a Galaxy Girls novella)

  Short Stories and Essays

  The Fat Cat in ENTANGLED, A PARANORMAL ANTHOLOGY

  (all proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research Foundation)

  The Kiss in EVERY WITCH WAY BUT WICKED

  (all proceeds go to Kids Need to Read)

  Killing the Rat Bastard Disease in AUTHOR MOMENTS

  Fighting Back in AUTHOR MOMENTS II

  (all proceeds from both Author Moments books go to Cancer Research UK)

  About the Author

  Edie Ramer is funnier on the page than in real life. A multiple award-winning writer, she writes stories with heart, attitude and magic. She lives in southeastern Wisconsin with her husband, two dogs, and one important cat. She loves hearing from readers at [email protected].

  Acknowledgments

  It’s true that the busiest people are the ones who will stop and make time to help you. Dale Mayer is an amazing writer as well as a friend. Huge thanks to her for stopping her own work to design this great cover – and for being there for me when I needed her.

  Connect with Edie Online

  Edie’s Website

  Twitter

  Facebook

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Reader Letter

  Stardust Miracle excerpt

  Cattitude excerpt

  Other Books by Edie Ramer

  About the Author and Acknowledgments

  Connect with Edie Online