Praline Dreams

By Annette Miller

As the summer season ends, Daria Drake and her father prepare to close their ice cream shop on the Atlantic City boardwalk. After Labor Day, they'll return to the mer-city of Tor, their home under the ocean. When a handsome man enters one day and kicks out a trio of troublemakers, Daria's captivated but won't chance loving a human.

Zale Monroe is the captain of the palace guard in Tor, but the queen has forced him to take a vacation. He didn't expect to find a beautiful girl and her father being harassed in their ice cream shop. These men are trouble, but how can he convince Daria of this without giving away his merman secret?

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
• Release date: Jul 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781509231942

Annette Miller

I graduated from Mercy High in Baltimore, MD in 1981 and got married to an Air Force man in 1982. We have two amazing boys who have grown into amazing young men. We spent sixteen years in southern New Jersey, four of them at McGuire AFB and the rest in Hammonton. We currently live in Memphis, TN where science fiction, wrestling, and hockey take up what time the cat doesn't.

Book preview

Inc.

He nodded toward the stage. What’s going on here?

She turned her head, and their lips almost touched. Heat crept up her neck to flood her face. It’s a local band. A lot of talented people come to the boardwalk. The artists hope to sell their merchandise or pick up listeners or followers. Dreams are big here in Atlantic City.

What about you? Is there some hidden dream you wish to make big?

Daria forced her attention back to the stage. No. I’m pretty much content with my life. Dad and I come here in the summer to run Praline Dreams. Then we go back home to run the restaurant we own.

You’re not from here? He continued when she shook her head. You seem so comfortable, so at home.

As much as I love it here, I like my home more. I’ve been told New Jersey can be brutal in the winter with bad storms and snow.

The band had started to play, and any conversation ended. Daria breathed a mental sigh of relief as she took pictures of the performance. Now he wouldn’t be able to ask where she and her father lived. How did one explain to a human about being a mermaid who lived in an underwater city?

Praise for Annette Miller

"[NIGHT ANGEL] is the first book in Annette Miller’s Angel Haven series, and I am hoping she will come up with a bunch more."

~Annette Sweetko, Fresh Fiction Reviews

~*~

Ms. Miller’s WWW.CUPID was the 2017 4th Place Finalist in Short Paranormal Romance, International Digital Awards.

~*~

"[WWW.CUPID] was one of the most original fantasy stories I’ve read recently. Ms. Miller spent a lot of time showing the audience exactly how the Romance and Proposal Department operated."

~Long and Short Reviews

~*~

Her AN ANGEL’S HEART was a finalist in Paranormal Romance, American Fiction Awards.

Praline Dreams

by

Annette Miller

One Scoop or Two

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

Praline Dreams

COPYRIGHT © 2020 by Annette Miller

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Contact Information: [e-mail]

Cover Art by Kristian Norris

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

PO Box 708

Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

Visit us at www.thewildrosepress.com

Publishing History

First Fantasy Rose Edition, 2020

Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-3194-2

One Scoop or Two

Published in the United States of America

Dedication

Dedicated to my husband Brian

and my sons, Scot and Alex.

You guys made me believe in my dreams.

Chapter One

Hey, Dad, what do you think of this? Daria called out.

Give me a minute. I’m almost done with the touch up on the sign. Her father, Eldon, came in, and set the gallon of paint and brush down. Old enough for his hair to gleam silver in the bright sunlight, he still didn’t carry any middle age weight around his waist. He stared at the painting. Isn’t it a little late in the season to hang new artwork? Where’d you get it?

She blew a strand of light brown hair out of her face as she pushed up one corner to straighten it. A local artist had painted some seascapes and I thought it looked pretty. Besides, it’s a perfect fit between the windows. She looked at him. I think Mom would’ve liked it.

I believe she would. However, I think a seascape belongs in a seafood restaurant rather than an ice cream parlor. He studied the picture for a moment. The pastels do match the décor, and we get to look at it for two more weeks. After Labor Day, you know how business drops on the Boardwalk. A lot of vendors, the two of us included, will pull out of Atlantic City.

I know. She retrieved her underwater camera from behind the counter. I want to take a picture of the painting to show my friends back in Tor how humans see our world. Merpeople have such a twisted view of the land dwellers.

Eldon kissed the top of her head. I wouldn’t say those types of things out loud when we get home. Mers think humans are strange enough without you stirring the pot.

I’m not going to stir anything. I just want them to get to know the people the way we do.

Sunshine poured through the large windows and the pale blue and white floor tiles glowed with the light. Round, white top tables with shiny chrome legs were placed in precise order around the Praline Dreams ice cream shop. Napkins, straws, and spoons were nestled between the register and the long, glass case filled with large, round containers of the frozen treat.

A workspace against the back wall held all the utensils needed throughout the day. The flavor menu hung over a large window, giving a view of the workroom. This allowed the customers to watch Eldon make the ice cream sold in the shop. Sometimes, he’d let parents and children come in the back to