Excerpt from:
Second Sight, by Amanda Quick

Why you should buy a copy of your very own:
A fun new book from Ms. Quick, filled with humor and interesting characters

In this scene...
Venetia is a talented photographer with an uncanny ability--the power to see people's auras. In order to succeed as a photographer, she establishes herself as a respectable widow and, in a private tribute to a man she'd known all too briefly, calls herself "Mrs. Jones." Of course, things get a bit complicated when Mr. Jones, the powerful psychic who happens to be the mysterious Master of the Arcane Society, strides back into Venetia's life and is less than pleased to learn that Venetia has been posing as his wife. As for Venetia, well... let's just say that there is nothing like having fictional dead husband come back from the grave to ruin a fine spring morning.


"You consigned him to the attic?" Amelia set down a tray of retouching tools. "But he is your husband."

"There appears to be a grave misunderstanding here." Venetia grasped the edge of the large metal stand that held the painted back­drop of an Italian garden. "Mr. Jones is not my husband."

"Yes, of course, I know that," Amelia said, impatient. "The thing is, people are supposed to believe that he is your husband."

"That circumstance," Venetia said, hauling the backdrop into position behind the sitter's chair, "is not my fault."

"A matter of opinion, if you ask me." Amelia began to sort through the large selection of props.

"What will the neighbors think if they discover that you have stashed Mr. Jones in the attic?"

"It is not as though I had a great deal of choice." Venetia released the backdrop and stood back to survey the results. "I am certainly not about to give up my bedroom and take up residence in the attic. Nor will I allow you or Edward or Aunt Beatrice to be shifted upstairs. It would not be right."

"I doubt that Mr. Jones would want you to inconvenience any of us to that extent in any event," Amelia said. She selected an Italianese vase from the assortment of props. "He seems very much the gentleman."

"When it suits him," Venetia muttered darkly.

(c) Amanda Quick, 2006

Labels: Amanda Quick, Snippet