Looking for a great,spooky but not too long read for Halloween?  And better yet, not break the bank?

Guardian of the Grimoire is a novella, longer than a short story, but shorter than a novel. You can read it in an hour or so, but you might want to keep the lights on if it’s late at night. The ebook is just 99 cents at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Magic, mystery and romance combine in a gothic story that sees a peaceful, small-town  library turned into a supernatural battleground. In the library’s basement a  dangerous book lies hidden somewhere in stacks of old crates, and librarian  Jess O’Rourke is caught in the middle of a battle between a demon and the  book’s mysterious guardian for possession of it…

A few quick excerpts:

The gargoyle over the library’s main entrance twitched its wings and leaned down to look at her as she rushed up the steps.

Jess O’Rourke stopped and blinked at it. She shook her head, staring upward. No movement now. Of course not. It was a stone statue.  It must have been a pigeon or a crow flitting around that fooled her into thinking the gargoyle had moved.

* * * * *

That evening, as Jess returned from her dinner break, Carrie looked up from the computer at the main desk and said, “Your boyfriend just came in.”

Jess turned to where the man sat in the corner.

“Boyfriend” was Carrie’s teasing nickname for him. The man was a complete stranger. She knew absolutely nothing about him except that he’d started showing up regularly each evening a few weeks ago. He always sat quietly in the same corner, reading and occasionally glancing up at her. And every night he left on his own just before closing time. So far, he hadn’t attempted to check out a book or say more than “hello” and “good night” to her.

* * * * *

As usual, he held a book open in front of him, but he looked up frequently to stare at her in a way that suggested both hunger and sadness. He had dark hair streaked with silver, though his otherwise youthful features said he couldn’t be more than thirty. His gray eyes seemed permanently lost in shadows. Not quite handsome. The face was too angular, drawn too tight for that, but it was compelling, nonetheless. His demeanor was tense, wary, constantly on alert.

* * * * *

“What is he doing here?” the Reverend asked in his most theatrical and self-righteous tone, pointing to the man who still sat in the shadows. “This is a creature who has done wicked things beyond your comprehension. How can you allow this walking evil to sit here among the good and decent people of this town?” His stare sharpened as he challenged the other man, “Do you deny it?”

They all turned to watch the stranger’s reaction, waiting for his denial. He stood, unwinding his long, lean length with deliberate care.  He glanced at Jess for a moment before returning his stare to the Reverend. “I deny nothing. Whatever else I’ve done, I’m not a liar.”

Jess sucked in a harsh breath. What the hell was going on here? Whatever it was, she wasn’t about to have it escalate into anything more in her library.

The ebook is just 99 cents at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.