DARE TO BELIEVE by Dana Marie Bell

He’ll fulfill her wildest fantasies… but only if she believes.

The Gray Court, Book 1

Leo Dunne has been searching his entire life for the one person born just for him. He finds her working in his own company, but the shy little Ruby Halloway constantly hides from him. He hatches a devilish plot with her best friend to bring her out of her shell, and the result proves her desire is more than a match for his own.

Ruby has had the hots for her boss for some time now, but she knows business and pleasure shouldn’t mix. While that can’t stop a girl from dreaming, she sticks by her guns and does her best never to be alone with the handsome CEO. Until the company masquerade party, where she discovers a passion with him that leaves a mark on her soul.

A family emergency calls Leo away, and rather than spend one night out of Ruby’s arms, he convinces her to go with him. With his brother’s life on the line, it’s vital she learn how to deal with who, and what, her new lover really is…before it’s too late.

Once upon a time a girl fell in love with a handsome fae prince, but that handsome prince didn’t know she was alive. She strove to avoid the prince, because the pain of watching him with the beautiful princesses who flocked to his side was too much for her to bear.

The prince had noticed the girl, but because she avoided him he could never tell her how much he wanted her for his princess. So the prince hatched a plan involving an angel, a costume ball and a double dog dare…

Okay, so Leo isn’t a prince. He’s merely a lord. And Ruby isn’t exactly Cinderella, either. She’s an accountant in Leo’s party planning firm. Still, it’s a heck of a start to a fairy tale, isn’t it?

I wanted to do a series of modern-day fairy tales. Not Cinderella, just fairies and, well, their tales. What better way to start than to write a story about an Elven lord and the woman he wants to claim as his?

The fae have always called to me, especially the Sidhe. I’ve been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien since I was twelve years old (trust me, that’s a lot of years). I’m such a geek I’ve read the Lord of the Rings nine times, the Hobbit seven, and actually got through The Silmarillion, something none of my other friends managed to do without falling asleep. I always play an elf in video games whenever they’re available, and I even thought about learning Sindarin (an Elven Tolkien language) but decided that might be crossing the line into super-geekdom even for me. When Everquest II mentioned they would introduce a race with fairy wings I squee’d like a little girl.  Heck, I courted my husband while role-playing an elf. All hail the mighty dice! Needless to say there was no way I could go through life without writing about the fae.

Thus the Dunne family was born. The middle child, Leo, began whispering in my ear about this woman he had his eye on. What to do when the woman of your dreams keeps hiding in the ladies room every time you try to talk to her? You could try using your Sidhe powers, but she’ll only think it was a dream. Mention you’re an elf and she’ll either run further than a Boston Marathon contestant or refer you to the nearest hug-me jacket factory. The only way to get her to see you’re not a candidate for anti-psychotic medication? You have to prove to her you’re everything you say you are, and a little bit more. And Leo does that admirably.

So here I am, and finally my fairies are out in the world. Now I’m left wondering… were there any dragons that were considered fae? Because I’ve been dreaming about dragons recently…

— Dana Marie Bell

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