Briar Rose Read online

  The snow seemed to glow in the last of the light, and Rose smiled. It had been her mother’s cruel joke to call her half-sister “Snow”, when her skin was so dark, but it fit the older girl. Perfectly icy and pristine when she needed to protect what was underneath.

  Here, so far from the house, the blanket of white was unmarred. Rose was the only one who ever ventured out to the barn, and since it was behind the house, opposite town, there was no reason for it to be anything but perfect. She stopped a moment, the bucket of slops heavy in her arms, and just admired the white-dusted firs.

  Christmas was only a few weeks away, and although it was frigid, this was Rose’s favorite time of year. Not because she had particularly fine memories of the holiday, but because the town always put on a grand festival, and everyone worked together, and Wyoming was just so beautiful.

  That’s when she noticed the disturbance in the snow, a trampled track leading from the opposite side of the barn. And the drops of red that followed it.

  Blood.

  Find out exactly what—or who!—is hiding in Rose’s barn in

  Rose Red: an Everland Ever After Christmas Tale!

  ACKNLOWEDGEMENTS

  First of all, thank you to all of my fans; readers who enjoy sweet historical western romance crossed with fairy tales! I couldn’t do what I love without your support. I owe a grand debt to my critique partners JA Coffey and Merry Farmer, and my “I wanna be you when I grow up” mentor, Kirsten Osbourne. Thanks are also owed to my Cohort. If you’re on Facebook, and you adore the Everland tales enough to want to help brainstorm the next one and promote the current one, drop me a line about joining Caroline’s Cohort. The more, the merrier!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Caroline Lee is what George R.R. Martin once described as a "gardener author"; she delights in “planting” lovable characters in interesting situations, and allowing them to “grow” their own stories. Often they draw the story along to completely unexpected--and wonderful!--places. She considers a story a success if she can re-read it and sigh dreamily... and she wishes the same for you.

  A love of historical romance prompted Caroline to pursue her degrees in social history; her Master's Degree is in Comparative World History, which is the study of themes across history (for instance, 'domestication of animals throughout the world,' or 'childhood through history'). Her theme? You guessed it: Marriage throughout world history. Her favorite focus was periods of history that brought two disparate peoples together to marry, like marriage in the Levant during the Kingdom of Jerusalem, or marriage between convicts in colonial New South Wales. She hopes that she's able to bring this love of history-- and this history of love-- to her novels.

  Each one of the books in her Sweet Cheyenne Quartet has reached the Best-Sellers list on Amazon, and all are available in e-book and paperback formats.

  Caroline is living her own little Happily Ever After with her husband and sons in North Carolina.

  You can find her at www.CarolineLeeRomance.com.