Mirth and Other Dark Tales of Love

NEVER LET THE PASSION END. Ghosts are faithful lovers...forever. Vampires may steal your heart, but they demand a  piece of your soul and hold it with their amorous grasp for centuries.Are you willing to succumb and invite the darker side of romance into your heart with a phantom lover who is drawn only to you? Become spellbound by tales of otherworldly  devotion, longing, and sublime attraction.

Whether Paris during the French Revolution, Roaring Twenties Coney Island, the world of 17th century London theater, or  present day New York, CELESTE PLOWDEN offers you a selection of these supernatural lovers in her stories, and creates new legends for time worthy genres of literature.

Maud wandered into a sumptuous antique shop and was offered a drop of port by its charming proprietor, and sipped  while he poured out a dark red substance for himself and bade her make a wish on one of the antique objects. Rick listened to dazzling tales of Madame La Guillotine from a costumed lady in lace and frills he met at a Halloween party at a New York art gallery. Pegg, an actress during the reign of Charles II, could not rid herself of a lover she was tormented by, even after he was hung at Tyburn Tree.

The stories in this collection reveal a darker side of romance, not only because the characters who offer love are ghosts or  vampires, but because we who are drawn to these creatures are steeped in shadowy imaginings based on deep longing for an amorous connection with another soul. The real danger is not the vampire’s bite or the ghost’s demanding grip on us, but in losing that vital piece of our soul that we are so willing to part with in order to meld with this otherworldly spirit. 

To succumb is to let go of reason, no matter the agony of losing some essential part of our self to an unstable entity. Meet  men and women who fall in love with such creatures, and learn why they did.

Fantastic! A well written brilliant read. Best read at night; Captivating stories! Very entertaining. each story is so well crafted I couldn't put it down.