Framed and Burning (Dreamslippers Book 2) (41 page)

He would know the sound of her sigh across a crowded room.
 

But he did not know her name. She was only “Dandelion” to him, the nickname at once soft and tough. At work, or even randomly at home when he should have been watching himself more carefully, he would smile, thinking of her as pretty like the dandelion’s flower, but with roots he couldn’t rip out of himself if he tried.

Only once, in the beginning, did she have to use their safe word. The name of a bird: robin. “It makes me think of flying away,” she explained. Her eyes were coy, but he heard the sadness in her words.

He didn’t want her to have to escape. He wanted her free, to choose him. He wanted them both to be free.

But they were each in their own cage.

>>>Falling for the Dreamslippers? Learn more about the series at
http://www.catintheflock.com/dreamslippers-series.html
.<<<

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all who reviewed and recommended the first book in this series,
Cat in the Flock
. Without you, I wouldn’t have had the gumption to write a sequel. These days it takes a village to publish a successful book, and you are my treasured neighbors.

And a special shout-out to my BETA readers for their honesty and insights: Ana Sprague, Anna Dobritt, Anne Harrington, Beth Poole, Chris Roman, Chris Toepker, Chrysanne Taull, Elisa Mader, Jennifer Vandenberg, Lanae Rivers-Woods, Linda Cox, Mario Russo, Marnie Roberts, Merlin G. MacReynold, Peter Wiederspan, Rebeqa Rivers, and Renee Corwin-Rey.

Most of all, thank you to the readers who’ve fallen in love with Cat and Granny Grace. It’s my pleasure to bring you their stories.

Namaste.

About the Author

Lisa Brunette is the no. 1 Amazon bestselling author of the Dreamslippers mystery series. Book One,
Cat in the Flock
, is an indieBRAG honoree title that has been praised by
Kirkus Reviews
, Midwest Book Review, Readers Lane, and others. The second book,
Framed and Burning
, is a finalist for the Nancy Pearl Book Award and a nominee for the RONE Award that has received critical praise from BestThrillers.com, Puddletown Reviews, On My Kindle, and many more. Book Three will be released in fall 2016.

Brunette is a career writer/editor whose work has appeared in major daily newspapers and magazines, including the
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
,
Seattle Woman
, and
Poets & Writers
. She's interviewed a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a sex expert, homeless women, and the designer of the Batmobile, among others. 

She has story design and writing credits in hundreds of bestselling video games, including the Mystery Case Files, Mystery Trackers, and Dark Tales series for Big Fish and AAA games for Nintendo and Microsoft platforms.

Brunette holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of Miami, where she was a Michener Fellow. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in
Bellingham Review
,
The Comstock Review
,
Icarus International
, and other journals, and her poetry is available in a book-length collection,
Broom of Anger
.

She's also received a major grant from the Tacoma Arts Commission and won the William Stafford Award and the Associated Writing Programs Intro Journals Project Award. 

Brunette is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.

>>>Read her weekly blog posts at
www.catintheflock.com
.<<<

>>>Join her mailing list at
http://forms.feedblitz.com/192
and receive a free book!<<<

Book Club Discussion Questions

1.
When did you figure out the arsonist’s identity? What tipped you off?

2.
Who is your favorite dreamslipper, and why?

3.
Which non-dreamslipping character is your favorite, and why?

4.
Which parts of the book made you feel the most? Describe.

5.
How do the descriptions of Miami fit with your own impressions of the place, either from experience or from media?

6.
What did reading this book teach you?

7.
What was most surprising about the story? Least surprising?

8.
Quote a favorite line or passage to share with your group.

9.
Which character’s art would you most want to hang on your own walls?

10.
What sort of jail sentence should each of the guilty characters serve? What do you think is fair?