Espressi Con Eagle: A Kinship Cove Fun & Flirty Romance: Cuddles & Coffee, #2

By Ellis Leigh

The spotlight burns brighter in a small town as does the fire between mates…no matter the age difference. Welcome to the Kinship Cove Diner, where a good cup of coffee comes with every fated mating.

 

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I have two great loves of my life—my fox shifting family (no matter how much they drive me crazy) and being on stage. True, my acting credits are relegated to the local community playhouse, but that doesn't matter. I spend my free time learning lines and rehearsing scenes…that very few people will ever see. Dating, mating, and all that comes with it? Unimportant.

 

At least until a man with a sharp gaze, a little gray in his hair, and a familiar face comes walking into the diner. He's handsome, charming, and the fates say all mine.

 

Except he's also famous—an actor whose eagle shifter instincts have brought him stardom in the action-movie arena.

 

The fates aren't always kind, but giving me someone who lives his life in such a public way might just be too cruel for words. I've never really worried about finding a mate, but now that I have him? I don't want to be without him. And I've had enough sharing for one lifetime.

 

* * *

 

What a wonderful, intriguing and intoxicating journey. Two thumbs up and a recommendation for you all to grab yourselves a copy! ~Zetter

 

SALTED EAGLE is a paranormal romantic comedy from USA Today bestselling author Ellis Leigh. The story is a standalone PNR rom-com with wit, snark, shifters, and more than just flirting.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kinship Press
• Release date: Feb 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781944336691

Ellis Leigh

A storyteller from the time she could talk, USA Today bestselling author Ellis Leigh grew up among family legends of hauntings, psychics, and love spanning decades. Those stories didn’t always have the happiest of endings, so they inspired her to write about real life, real love, and the difficulties therein. From farmers to werewolves, store clerks to witches—if there’s love to be found, she’ll write about it. Ellis lives in the Chicago area with her husband, daughters, and a German Shepherd that refuses to leave her side. Ellis can also be found writing tropey, erotic shorts with her bestie Brighton Walsh as London Hale or taking her suspense into the contemporary world as Kristin Harte.

Book preview

Espresso Con Eagle

Espresso Con Eagle

Kinship Cove: Cuddles & Coffee

Ellis Leigh

Kinship Press

Espresso Con Eagle

Kinship Cove: Mates & Macarons

A town cannot live on baked goods alone. Welcome to the Kinship Cove Diner, where a good cup of coffee comes with every fated mating.

I have two great loves of my life—my fox shifting family (no matter how much they drive me crazy) and being on stage. True, my acting credits are relegated to the local community playhouse, but that doesn’t matter. I spend my free time learning lines and rehearsing scenes…that very few people will ever see. Dating, mating, and all that comes with it? Unimportant.

At least until a man with a sharp gaze, a little gray in his hair, and a familiar face comes walking into the diner. He’s handsome, charming, and the fates say all mine.

Except he’s also famous—an actor whose eagle shifter instincts have brought him stardom in the action-movie arena.

The fates aren’t always kind, but giving me someone who lives his life in such a public way might just be too cruel for words. I’ve never really worried about finding a mate, but now that I have him? I don’t want to be without him. And I’ve had enough sharing for one lifetime.

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1

Tilly

Glitter was definitely the herpes of the crafting world.

No, really. It spread to every crevice, was totally impossible to hide, and you simply couldn’t get rid of it no matter how hard you tried. Or at least, I never could. Which was what led twenty-three-year-old me to being scolded by my mother. Totally normal day at the Kinship Cove Diner.

It’s from a costume, Mom.

Tilly Mae, only exotic dancers wear that much glitter. What have you been up to?

My middle name, by the way, was not Mae. It was June. I guess when you have eighteen children, little details like names and birthdays get a little mixed up.

It’s for the play I’m in next week. I swear—no clothing was removed in exchange for money. I just ended up in a glittery dress that’s well past its prime, and some of the silver sparkles decided to come home with me. That’s all.

My mother, though, never had been one to back down from a fight. I don’t see why you do those plays anyway. It’s not like they’re going to get you any sort of fame. The only people who go to see them are the relatives of the people in them.

I arched a brow and folded my arms over my chest, giving her the same look she’d been giving me since about birth. So that means you’ll all come to see this one? Because I’m pretty sure you missed the last two.

The diner is always busy. Who has time for such frivolity? She shoved a tray of condiments and silverware sets wrapped in napkins at me and waved a hand in the air. Go. Reset section five before the dinner rush. And don’t get any of that glitter on the tables.

In other words, she wouldn’t be coming but didn’t want to actually admit that, so she’d rather send me off with marching orders and totally ignore my feelings on the matter. Got it.

Yes, ma’am. Chin up and emotions locked down tight, I headed out to the dining room, tray balanced on my shoulder and—hopefully—no glitter falling from my hair and clothes. The fates forbid anyone possibly think we were hosting stripper parties at the Kinship Cove Diner.

Though that would certainly bring in some revenue.

And maybe some unmated males.

Oh, the possibilities.

Hey, Aunt Tilly. Jackson—oldest son of my oldest brother and recent sucker to have to work at the diner—hurried my way with a bin of dirty dishes balanced in his arms.

Hi, Jackson. Have a good day at school?

Yeah, though calculus is kicking my a— he blinked and fumbled for a word that wasn’t a cuss —behind.

I chuckled, remembering being his age and trying so hard to follow the rules, while knowing I was basically an adult. An adult under the rule of one crazy fox shifter old lady who would whack you upside the head for cussing in front of her. Well, keep it up. Not long now, and you’ll graduate and be off to college.

Yeah, that’s the plan. Let me know if you need anything. He was practically right beside me when he paused and frowned. Did you know you’ve got glitter in your hair?

Might as well own it. Yup. I sure did.

Oh. Okay. Well, sparkle on, then. And with that, he disappeared into the kitchen while I weaved my way through the crowded tables and chairs toward section five. Having worked in the diner since I was about twelve, I didn’t need anyone to tell me what needed to be done before the dinner rush, but my mom sure loved to do it anyway. Just like this whole reset of section five—of course it needed to be reset. We didn’t open every section for lunch on the weekdays because we weren’t busy enough, but section five—the one closest to the front door—was always open. Hence, we’d need to reset it a lot. Like before the dinner rush.

Didn’t need anyone to tell me that, I mumbled before I quickly set the silverware on the tables and refreshed the condiment stands to make sure we were ready. Once everything seemed about as perfect as I could make it—and I’d scraped a thousand pieces of glitter off the tables—I turned for the kitchen once more. There was always work to do, and if I didn’t seek it out, it would be assigned to me anyway. Might as well be useful.

Something outside caught my attention, though, and I rerouted myself to the big picture windows at the front of the restaurant. Across the street, Ginger Chance—one of the owners of the Cake-ily Ever After bakery and one of my sister Misty’s bosses—walked by with her handsome mate, a dragon shifter named Kingston. I really liked them both, having spent a lot of time at the bakery lately as I helped Misty and Ginger bake about a thousand loaves of bread. Not sure why they needed so much, but they did. Thankfully, the job paid pretty well, and the Chance sisters were great to hang around with. Plus, I got to spend time with my favorite sister. Newly mated, Misty didn’t work in the diner much anymore. Her wolf shifter mate worked at the college on the other side of the mountain, and she spent a lot of time there to