Her Gargoyle Protector

When Amber Lawson flees her abusive ex-boyfriend, she discovers the mysterious town of Beastly Falls—a place where humans and supernatural beings coexist, bound by a curse that only allows fated mates to enter.

Welcomed by the quirky towns people, all eager to get to know her and oddly curious about her relationship status, she quickly finds a job as the night-time librarian. Charmed by the gothic structure and the eclectic collection of books and patrons, she quickly falls into a routine and is intrigued by one of her patrons, a male who resembles the gargoyle on the building.

Gargoyle Xavier Chauvre watches over the library by day and transforms into a brooding human by night, cursed until he finds his true love. He had despaired of ever finding his love until he felt the unmistakable tug the day Amber drove into town. Drawn to her, he lurks in the stacks and keeps watch over her, hoping she feels the bond too.

As sparks fly over late-night book talks, Amber falls into old habits, and only a magical mating bond with Xavier can save her. Can this odd couple break the curse, defeat her past, and find love among the stacks?

Amber

I drove down the winding forest road and glanced in my rearview mirror, wiping away tears for what felt like the millionth time today. My hands were shaking on the steering wheel, and my stomach growled loud enough to drown out the static-filled radio. The road was empty behind me and I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe I had ditched Kevin finally. When he had found me in that last town, I barely escaped before he caught me, ducking out before the sun was even up to avoid him following me. But now I was running on fumes, needing caffeine and food and a new sanctuary.
I checked the map I had bought. Yes, it was a paper map. I didn’t know they still made those. But it was a good thing because my GPS had started going haywire a few miles back. In fact, it showed nothing but green and a large body of water. Yet, it was clearly wrong because I was looking at a quaint sign that read "Welcome to Beastly Falls" in swirling golden script. Cute name.
The only problem was, it wasn’t supposed to be here.
The GPS and the paper map agreed. There was no town supposed to be here, named Beastly Falls or not. This was an empty stretch of road for at least another hour. Yet there was a town. It may not be on my map, but at this point, I'd take any port in a storm. I hoped they had coffee strong enough to wake the dead because that's exactly how I felt.
As I pulled into what looked like the main street, lined with the most adorable shops I had ever seen. It looked like a vintage New England town from postcards or the movies. I didn’t think they existed. This was so far from my life in Baltimore, but I loved it already. I wondered if I could stay for a while. My eyes landed on a cozy little café called The Growling Bean. Charming. And hopefully not too on-the-nose about their coffee quality.
I parked my beat-up Corolla, grabbed my purse, and stepped out onto the sidewalk. That's when things got weird. Well, weirder.
Every single person on the street froze. And when I say froze, I mean like someone hit the pause button on a movie. But that wasn't even the strangest part. These weren't... people. At least, not entirely.
To my left stood a massive green creature that had more muscles than any body builder that I had ever seen and tusks coming out of his lower jaw. He wore a pinstriped, gray suit with a maroon tie and white dress shirt and was mid-bite into what looked like a gooey cinnamon bun. Beside him, there was a woman dressed in a green and brown homespun dress, with what looked like leaves and branches coming off of it, coming off of her, almost like she was part tree. It was very confusing. And they were staring at me.
I rubbed my eyes. Maybe I was more tired than I thought.
“Um, hi?” I managed weakly.
Silence. More staring.
Right. Okay. I remembered vaguely hearing about towns, usually outside of the big cities, that were populated with monsters, or supernaturals as they preferred to be called, since they were more comfortable living among their own kind. Monsters had been living among us for years, but we hadn’t ever really known about them until a few decades ago. To say it had not gone well was an understatement, but most people handled it pretty well, though we only saw the occasional supernatural in the city, usually the more common ones, who looked like humans.
It was weird to be the one they would stare at, but I suppose it made sense, since I was probably the minority here, since I didn’t see any humans on the street. This was fine. Totally normal. I could handle this. Besides, true monsters didn’t always look that way on the outside. I knew that better than anyone. I'd just get my coffee and be on my way to wherever I was going next. Not that I had a clue where that would be.
I pushed open the café door, a little bell announcing my arrival. The low hum of conversation stopped dead inside and all eyes turned to me. The barista—who appeared to be part goat—dropped the mug he was holding. I swallowed and made my way to the counter.
“Can I get a large coffee, please? Cream and sugar.” I tried to sound normal, like I ordered from mythical creatures every day.
Before the goat-man could respond, the door burst open behind me. A short, plump woman with rosy cheeks and a head full of curls that defied gravity bustled in, pushing through the crowd of beings who had blocked the door, all staring at me.
“Oh, for heaven's sake, you lot! Have none of you ever seen a human before?” She turned to me with a warm smile. “I do apologize, dear. We don't get many visitors here in Beastly Falls. I'm Sylvia Haasenfrau, the mayor.”
I shook her offered hand, feeling like I'd stumbled into some bizarre dream. “Amber Lawson. Nice to meet you.”
Sylvia shooed away the gawking crowd. “Now then, how did you find our little town, Amber?”
“I drove here?” I replied gesturing out front to my car, confused by the question.
“Hmm,” Sylvia said, tapping her chin. “Well, you look like you could use a good rest. Have you considered staying a while?”
I blinked. “I hadn't really thought about it.”
Sylvia nodded sagely. “I can sense these things about people. Did you move recently?”
“You could say that,” I mumbled, not wanting to get into the whole fleeing-my-abusive-ex story. It had always been my experience that most people didn’t like when you got too personal right away. And when you add in an abusive ex, well, most people found themselves with an appointment or something else to do really fast. No one wanted that kind of trouble. Not that I blamed them. I wish I could avoid this trouble too.
Sylvia, on the other hand, laid a comforting hand on my arm and I felt relief flooding me. There was something about her that made me wonder who or what she was. While she looked human, I didn’t think she was. “You don’t need to keep running, dear. You’re safe here for as long as you stay with us. You seem like you could use a break. We have a lovely bed and breakfast owned by Esme, just down the street with a room for rent that might suit you just fine. What do you do for work, dear?”
I was feeling a bit bewildered, but maybe that was the stress, lack of sleep and hunger talking. Maybe I had driven into an alternate reality, but I was feeling better, almost like I was safe, like Kevin couldn’t get to me here and I could take a chance at staying for a while. I needed to replenish my savings anyway. “I’m a librarian, actually.”
Sylvia clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling. “Oh, how perfect! We're in need of a night librarian. Would you be interested?”
I stared at her, my mind whirling. Stay here? In this town full of whatever they were? But then again, who would think to look for me here? And I was so tired of running.
“You know what?” I heard myself say. “I think I would like that.”
Sylvia beamed. “Wonderful! Let me show you the library and your new room. Oh, this is exciting! A new resident and a new librarian! Everyone will be so excited. We haven’t had a night time librarian and our nocturnal citizens will be so happy to have access to the library again.”
As she ushered me out of the café, chattering about the town's history, I couldn't help but wonder what I'd just gotten myself into. But for the first time in months, I felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe, just maybe, Beastly Falls was exactly where I needed to be.