💛 Minnie's Mate Needs Dating Advice

You open your email and realize that you're about to get transported to a supernatural prison. If you don't want to spend the next little while behind bars, you skip to the summary at the end; otherwise, you keep reading.

You blink and suddenly find yourself in a prison cell. The cell door is wide open, but the man sitting on the cot across from you doesn't look at all interested in making a run for it.

You instantly recognize that he’s Zachariah, one of Minnie’s fated mates. She’s really lucky to have such a handsome, broad-shouldered, muscular man for a mate, you think. Luckier still because you know he’s a genuinely nice guy. 

You glance from him to the open door and back again. Finally, you ask, "Why are you just sitting there, Zachariah?"

He startles at the sound of your voice. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice you come in.” He takes a second to ponder your question. “Not much else to do when you're in prison. And I couldn’t focus on reading."

“You glance at the parenting book on his lap and smile. “Why not make a run for it?" you suggest, gesturing at the open door.

He snorts. "Where would I go?" 

“To find Minnie and Natty”

“Oh, you’re being serious.” He shakes his head. “The cells are open because it's free time. We can walk around, visit other prisoners, that sort of thing, but you can’t leave. There are guards, and magical wards keeping us in."

"So why aren’t you visiting anyone?" you ask. 

"I've got my parole hearing today.” He grins from ear to ear. 

"Congratulations on the parole hearing!” you tell him. “When does it start?” 

“Any minute now. I'm just waiting for Vigga to come get me. She’s one of the guards.” 

"So, who’s the first person you want to see when you get out?" you ask.

“Natty and Minnie,” he says with so much emotion that your heart squeezes. “I need to see them. I should have been there. I should have found a way to take care of my boy. I should have been there for my mate. Instead, she had to raise him alone. I’m such a lucky bastard.” He shakes his head. “I wish I was there for it all. My boy’s three. And I wasn’t there to kiss booboos, or bandage scraped knees, or laugh over breakfast, or hold my mate as she slept.” Zachariah shakes his head and takes a deep breath. “I can’t change the past, but I can change the future.” He recites the words like a mantra. “As soon as I’m out, I’ll make up for lost time, and be there for them every day from now on. If I get paroled.” 

“Of course you will.” 

He shakes his head. "You don't know that. I may not, and then I’ll have to serve out my sentence, and miss more of Natty’s life.”

“I know for a fact you’ll get paroled,” you tell him. Otherwise, Minnie won’t get her happy ending. 

There’s no other way for her and Zachariah to be together… well, unless he takes your prison break suggestion seriously and escapes. You grimace. Or Minnie gets locked up, and they spend their happily ever after in jail. Which doesn’t sound like fun—but isn’t outside the realm of possibilities. 

You frown. “Okay, I don’t actually know if you’ll get paroled, but I really hope so.” ”  

Zachariah smiles. “Thanks.” 

"So what do you plan to do with Minnie once you’re out?” you ask.

“That’s personal,” Zachariah says, his pupils dilating. You realize exactly what he wants to do with Minnie, and that you’ll get to read about it once book 2 is out. 

But Zachariah doesn’t look like he’s going to talk about that. “What about actual plans?” 

"You mean dates?" he beams, but then his face falls. "I don't have much saved up. Everything I've earned went to paying back the money I stole."

You pat his arm, marveling at the size of his bicep. “Romance isn't about spending money,” you tell him. “There are plenty of free things you can do."

“Really?” He lights up. "Like what?" 

"A romantic walk on the beach," You say, only to realize there aren't any beaches in Silver Springs. "Or park."

"Oh, that's a great idea," he beams. 

"Or you can cook for her," you add. "Can you cook?"

He nods. "I've been working in the prison kitchen. I figured I needed to know how to cook to raise my boy." He gestures at the stack of parenting books peeking out from beneath his cot. "Natty deserves a dad who can feed him. And so does Minnie. She's been cooking for him all this time. It's time someone cooked for her."

“Awww,” you say. It’s a sweet sentiment, even though Minnie hasn't cooked a single meal for Natty. She doesn’t have a working kitchen in the boarded up bakery, and you’re not even sure the girl knows how to make a sandwich. "I think she'd love it if you cook for her," you finally say.

Zachariah grins. "Minnie deserves everything. I just hope that one day I deserve her." 

The man is clearly in need of a pep talk, but footsteps echo and a guard steps into the cell. "Hey Vigga," Zachariah greets her. "Is it time for the hearing?"

She nods. "It’s about to start. Come on." 

Zachariah turns to thank you for stopping by, but before he gets the chance, you get teleported to the same cottage you visited last week.

I’m sitting on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, and surrounded by bunnies. They hop around, but I ignore them and groan in frustration as I glare at my old laptop.

"Oh no," you cry when you notice the blue screen of death. "Is it broken?"

I shake my head. "It's fine. It always starts up again when it does this.” I sigh in frustration as a bunny hops onto my lap and starts bouncing up and down, demanding attention. "Darn plot bunnies,” I complain. “Everything I was writing is backed up on the cloud, so I haven’t lost anything, but by the time this thing starts back up, I won’t remember what I was going to write." 

As if on cue, the bunny jumps off my lap and races out the door. 

You consider running after it, but it’s so fast, you don’t stand a chance. “Sorry, Mia,” you tell me. 

"Thanks," I smile at you.

"Have you thought about replacing your laptop?" you ask.

"It’s not that bad," I tell you, even though it is. "Thanks for stopping by. I've slowly started writing again," I add. "Zachariah's about to go to his parole hearing." 

"Is he going to get paroled?" you ask, hoping I say yes.

"I can't tell you. But I appreciate you giving him some tips on how to romance Minnie on a budget. If you have other ideas, let me know, okay? He really wants to prove he's worthy of her.

“He feels like the luckiest man in the world to have a mate as beautiful, and kind, and wonderful as Minnie, and he just wants to find a way to show her how he feels. 

“If you have any romantic ideas for him, let me know, okay?" 

You nod, and everything around you fades. You find yourself in front of your screen again, wondering how you’d like Zachariah to romance Minnie.

You also realize that Amber is on sale for 99 cents in US and UK until the end of the week, and rush off to grab a copy if you’re in those countries and haven’t already. And if you’re in Canada, like me, or somewhere else entirely, you shake your fist at Amazon, cussing it out for not making sales in other countries an option for authors. 

Summary: I'm slowly recovering and getting back into writing. Minnie’s mate Zachariah's about to go to his parole hearing, but has no money, so if you have ideas about how he can romance Minnie when he eventually gets out of prison, let me know. You can also get Amber for 99 cents this week (UK and US only, Amazon rules).