Secret Husband: Myths Retold, #1

By Normandie Alleman

Psyche's new husband only appears to her at night, and she's forbidden to see him.

At first she finds this strange, but before long she falls so deeply in love with him, she forgets all about the unusual conditions of her arranged marriage.

But once she hears the rumor that her husband is actually a monster, she becomes obsessed with discovering the truth. Determined not to be deceived, she finally unmasks the man she loves, and risks destroying the one relationship that has brought her happiness.



Secret Husband is a re-telling of the love story between Cupid and Psyche. It includes a HEA and was inspired by the original tale from mythology, spiced up a bit.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Normandie Alleman
• Release date: May 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393709251

Normandie Alleman

A former psychologist, Normandie has always been fascinated by human behavior. She loves writing quirky characters that are all too human. Fiber arts, baking, and Pinterest are a few of her favorite pastimes. A shamelessly proud basketball mom, Normandie lives on a farm with a passel of kids, an adorable husband, and a pet pig who’s crazy for Red Bull. 

Book preview

Chapter 1

She made a point to sign her proper legal name, Psyche Armstead, on the document in front of her.

Psyche was so unusual. She only used it for the stage and official papers. Her sisters had called her Kiki when she was a baby, and the nickname stuck.

But what document was more official than a contract binding her in marriage to a complete stranger?

Now that she was twenty-one, she was officially old enough for her parents to sell her away to pay off her father’s gambling debts, and possibly save his life. She didn’t particularly want to do it, but if she didn’t, she feared what her father might do.

Or what someone might do to him.

And without him, what would become of her mother and sisters?

By the middle of the twenty-second century, numerous changes had come to the planet formerly known as earth. The world was now called Darteen, and the gods of Olympus had come back into the lives of humans in a big way.

They had taken over much of the territories that used to belong to humans, and while they left the humans alone for the most part, people now had gods to answer to.

Most kids lived at home with their parents until they were around thirty years-old, and offspring were once again viewed as chattel.

When you were a mere mortal living under the rule of the gods, life was tough enough, and having parents who were screw-ups didn’t improve matters.

Kiki looked down at the document and bit her lip as she considered everything she would be giving up for her family.

She had a life most people would kill for. But she’d never intended to become a star.

Her dream had been to become an artist. She loved nothing more than watching people go by and capturing their likenesses on her sketch pad. It’s what she’d done ever since she learned how to hold a pencil. These days technology had taken artistic creation to new heights, but she preferred the old fashioned way—paper and charcoal pencils.

But street art didn’t pay well enough, and soon after she left home she realized she’d have to get a real job to support herself if she wanted to keep creating. So, she got a job as a waitress working at a little café in what used to be Florida, but was now Aphrodite’s territory. It was there, in the city of Panamour, where a majority of cinema is created, where a big producer of beaming video content discovered her. Before she knew it, Kiki was under contract with his studio, and her channel became an instant success.

Even though she’d never wanted to act, she had a talent for it, and it brought so much money to her family that she couldn’t turn it down.

It had been three years now, and she was exhausted from the filming schedule.

This marriage contract couldn’t have come at a better time.

In two hours, her entire life would change, and she wasn’t sure if it would be for better or worse.

Yes, she wanted to be done with the video business, but she worried she would just be trading one master for another.

At least she’d be out of the spotlight.

That had been part of the contract from the beginning. Her husband wanted her to stay off video feeds. No publicity whatsoever.

Fine with her. The only condition she’d been able to work into the agreement was that she be allowed the space and materials to draw and paint.

Her art was all that mattered to her, and if her parents could be compensated, and she’d be allowed to create, she believed it could be a good arrangement.

Now, she dared to hope that her husband wouldn’t be too difficult to deal with.

Most marriages these days were arranged in some form or other. Whether chosen by an artificially intelligent matchmaking program or the old-fashioned way by one’s parental unit, couples in the late twenty-second century trusted they would grow to love one another. Or not. Some considered love an ancient and outdated construct.

Those who did find love were certainly lucky, but people viewed it as a bonus to marriage rather than a right.

As long as her husband left her alone so she could create, Psyche told herself her own marriage would be quite adequate.

Is everything satisfactory, Miss Psyche?

The voice startled her, and she flinched. It was Pierce, the butler of her new home. More like castle.

The forty thousand square foot dwelling perched high atop Panamour, soaring upwards into the clouds. The sheer elevation of the place made her curious if her new husband had connections with the gods. Unfortunately, she knew next to nothing about him, and Pierce had been no help when she’d questioned him.

Call me Kiki, Pierce.

Yes, Madame. Can I get you anything?

As modern as everything else was in the hillside estate, Pierce was a complete throwback. He wore a tuxedo and skulked around like a transplant from an Agatha Christie novel.

I’m all right. Maybe an espresso . . . No, that will make my nerves even more jangly.

Some tea, perhaps, then?

She considered