Obsessions of a Djinni by Claudia Herring

OBSESSIONS OF A DJINNI by Claudia Herring, Romantic Fantasy, 374 pp, $15.99 (paperback) $.99 (Kindle)

Title: OBSESSIONS OF A DJINNI

Author: Claudia Herring

Publisher: Caravanserai Publishing

Pages: 374

Genre: Romantic Fantasy

A djinni seduces his master’s young bride, forcing her to make a fateful choice.


A world of mysterious powers and tumultuous intrigues comes to life
in Regency England as a djinni, burdened with a dark secret, is thrown
into a love triangle fraught with subterfuge.




Will he defeat his nemesis or be betrayed?

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Prologue

I am Djinn. I
am abandoned.

Another day of countless
days. Waiting. A torture, but not the worst I have endured.

The light of this place sets
me on edge. I know not its origin. Where the brightness falls illumines my
carpets, colors rivaling my jewels, the finest weave of silk from Persian
masters, treasures on which to tread. But I would gladly tread a floor of dirt
strewn with rushes if I could be free.

I stretch my arms above my
head. My kurta shimmers around my body, the gossamer silk the hard work of
thousands of industrious and sacred lepidopteran larvae and their keepers. I
see the gleam of silver and gold, the glimmer of gems on my ivory tabletop
reflecting the rubies’ blood red, the emeralds’ echoing green and the ancient
amber of the topaz as if it were a soft, tranquil pond.

I will be called. I know not
when. My impending summons looms over me like the sword Dionysius hung above
Damocles. I pray my next master will be kind, for I have had enough of cruelty.
And if I could have wishes, if I could follow my heart, I would search for my
Thalia.

Meanwhile, I am here, in
Bramley House, for many years now. I sense I am in the East wing, upstairs, in
one of the older bedchambers. Of over a hundred rooms in this centuries-old
manor, this is one rarely used. In here are cast-offs of years gone by.

Among the clutter and jumble
sits a marble bust of some long-forgotten statesman, transported to these misty
isles to adorn the august Roman villa of one of England’s
early conquerors. A magnificent, life-sized bronze stands by the window—an
Indian god with four arms, dancing, dancing, dancing, a Natraj, Shiva, who
keeps this world, where I am forced to exist, in motion. A few steps away,
above the mahogany escritoire, hangs
a drawing, elaborately framed in burnished gold leaf, the flowing black ink
magically coalescing into my lady, my Lavinia, my Thalia, fixing you in her
grave gaze, her somber eyes conveying the tragedy I made of her life.

And on the mantel the etched
brass urn, securely lidded, where I am prisoner—for how long I do not know.

I remember being in this
great house, living in its rooms, a real person in a real place. Happy.
Reunited with my beloved, my heart, my Thalia. I remember sunlight streaming at
an angle through the wavy old glass, warming my black velvet jacket, dust motes
floating in the rays like stars within a galaxy. My hair pulled back in a queue
secured with a black velvet ribbon, the style of the time. I took it all in, my
treasures, my manor, my love, my life.

Even I never realized how
quickly it could change.

Claudia Herring writes romantic fantasy novels. Her
Djinn Chronicles series are set in a world of mysterious powers and
tumultuous intrigues fraught with subterfuge. They begin in Regency
England where sensible mortals interact in disbelief with djinnis,
magicians, sorceresses, and soothsayers.


She would live in a library if she could.




Is afraid of her cat.




If you like Diana Gabaldon or Carol Berg, you’ll love Obsessions of a Djinni.




Website: https://claudiaherring.com/


Twitter: @claudiakherring


Facebook: claudia.herring.writer