Title: A Recipe for Love

Series: Surviving Vihaan, Book 0.5 (Prequel)

Author: Elaine White

Publisher: NineStar Press

Release Date: 01/30/2024

Heat Level: 1 – No Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 39500

Genre: Paranormal, fated mates, forty-something MCs, bisexual MC, found family, shifter, blended family, chef, physician

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Description

When Dr Waylan Robell left Vihaan, he did so on the understanding that he was leaving for the right reasons, and he could never go back. He’s never regretted his life in Dnara, but it can be lonely. Taking care of the Vihaans of Dnara should be enough…it has to be enough…but he longs for someone to share his life with.

Channon Taford has run the “A Taste of Home” food truck for nearly twenty years. He left Vihaan knowing the risks, the cost, and the burden it would lay upon his shoulders, but he did it for the sake of the people he loved most. In his early forties, he thought he was past the age of wishing for more.

Finding comfort in their shared heritage and experiences of life, Waylan and Channon have been drawn together for nearly a year. Now, their friendship is starting to feel like it could be more…until Channon discovers Waylan’s life is more complicated than he thought and there might not be room for Channon.

Can Waylan trust Channon’s offered hand, and everything it could represent: a chance, a future, a connection?

Excerpt

A Recipe for Love
Elaine White © 2024
All Rights Reserved

Prologue
In the Beginning…

The world began with a shimmer in the air. On one side Earth grew lush and green, and creatures roamed the land: tree-dwellers, mountainous mammoths, ocean-lovers and sabre-toothed tigers. On the other, Vihaan: a large island surrounded by water-dwelling beasts. Regions developed from the landscape, vast swathes of desert land fit for kalou, miles of forests to house m’weko, trees for hutti to hide in and long grass for caly to walk through. Vihaan and Earth co-existed, the shimmer allowing beasts to travel from one land to the other. Though the worlds had different climates, different flora and fauna, they traded food sources and took shelter from harsh seasons.

The Mother―the giver of life to Vihaan―watched Her children in wonder and pride. With no physical form, She could follow Her children between both lands, guiding them to safety and food sources, choosing where to create more lakes, trees and rivers.

The Mother’s magic learned and grew stronger with each passing moon. She gave the doorway sentient thoughts to distinguish predators that ravaged the land from any in need of shelter. The doorway learned how to protect both worlds from the dangers of the other and became Her eyes and mind, protecting Her children.

When the first human stumbled through the doorway to Vihaan, the Mother rejoiced. The man was smart, a keen hunter and eager to explore the new land. While the doorway protected Vihaan, the Mother read the thoughts and emotions of the humans and creatures who passed through Her magic. She could dissect what made a human different to a beast and adapt the magic to benefit Vihaan.

For a time, humans passed unaware through the doorway, treating both worlds as one. With each new generation of hutti, m’weko and caly, the Mother fed the essence of what separated humans from animals into the born creatures of Vihaan to create foame: the two-bodied of Vihaan.

She sought balance within Her kingdom, leaving the kalou to their feline nature and the lower, hotter region of Gheva Tarlou. The heecha were given a human form, living in the mountains of Henima to represent their close spiritual connection to the Mother. The wild beasts of m’weko learned to exchange the body of the wolfish beast for a human-like shape and occupied the edges of forests within the foame kingdom of E’Boolou. The great cats, hutti, were cave- and tree-dwelling creatures who drifted between regions, followed by the patient wild-dog caly who liked open plains, each evolving to share the body of a beast with the form of a human.

Yet the Mother knew there was more to be done. While two bodies in one creature was a worthy evolution from prey to predator, their thoughts and feelings were not the same as the homo sapiens.

The Mother taught Her Vihaans language, developing a culture, setting forth laws and guidance, and gave Earth the Vihaan name of Dnara―meaning ‘the other world’ and ‘safe haven’.

The Mother soon realised humans had grown too fond of the two-bodied of Vihaan. Cross-breeds tainted the species and humans used Vihaan to hide from their natural predators, disrupting the balance of Dnara. Losing control of Her creations angered the Mother, who banished humans from Her lands. To prevent them from defying Her again She gave the doorway the knowledge of how to repel the banished from Vihaan.

As She oversaw Her emerging creations and helped them grow to Her wishes, the doorway sealed itself from Dnara, blocking entry to the humans and beasts who once passed freely. In doing so, the Mother forever separated two halves of what made her Vihaan creatures whole: the original beasts and the humans who made them something more.

While the Mother jealously guarded Her children, the doorway could never forget. Sharing the Mother’s mind and abilities, the doorway remembered the old days when the world was free and Vihaans embraced the joy and freedom of exploration, the wonder of travelling new paths and the safety of seeking shelter in the other world.

While the Mother retreated from Vihaan, content with Her world and all who dwelled within, the doorway would shimmer in the sunlight, a silent calling card for Vihaans willing to risk stepping into the unknown.

For too long the doorway remained a guard and watched as Vihaan lost its way, forgetting the Mother’s teachings, letting discrimination and laws guide their hearts. While Vihaans lost faith in the Mother, the doorway waited with hope, patient and ever vigilant.

One day…long after the Mother had forgotten Dnara existed, and Vihaans began persecuting one another…a brave Vihaan, praying for a better life, followed the shimmer into a new world.

Once again, the doorway could be a safe haven between two worlds.

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NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Elaine White is the author of multi-genre MM romance, celebrating ‘love is love’ and offering diversity in both genre and character within her stories.

Growing up in a small town and fighting cancer in her early teens taught her that life is short and dreams should be pursued. She lives vicariously through her independent, and often hellion characters, exploring all possibilities within the romantic universe.

The Winner of two Watty Awards – Collector’s Dream (An Unpredictable Life) and Hidden Gem (Faithfully) – and an Honourable Mention in 2016’s Rainbow Awards (A Royal Craving) Elaine is a self-professed geek, reading addict, and a romantic at heart.