HAVEN HOLLOW

  Books 31-40

  Summer Solstice

  Lace Laments

  Enchanted Emporium

  Gypsy Gold

  Newlywed and Pixie-Led

  Cold Blood

  Hexes and Hoarfrost

  Satin Superstition

  Memento Mori

  Silk Skullduggery

  by

  J.R. RAIN

  &

  H.P. MALLORY

  The Haven Hollow Series

  Gypsy Magic

  Cashmere Curses

  Faerie Enchantment

  Spandex Sorcery

  Love’s Goddess

  Demon in Denim

  Taffeta Trickery

  The Black Cat Cocktail Club

  French Country Frights

  All Hallow’s Eve

  Mystic Veil

  The Yule Log

  The Broken Mirror

  Art Deco Apparitions

  The Vampires Grave

  Herringbone Hexes

  Raising Cain

  Druid’s Curse

  Colonial Corpses

  Angora Alchemy

  Day Dream

  Ritzy Business

  Pan’s Delight

  Armed & Charmed

  The Christmas Spirit

  Blood Rose

  Blood Bond

  Georgian Ghouls

  Velvet Voodoo

  Dead Ringer

  Summer Solstice

  .Lace Laments

  Enchanted Emporium

  Gypsy Gold

  Newlywed and Pixie-Led

  Cold Blood

  Hexes and Hoarfrost

  Satin Superstition

  Memento Mori

  Silk Skullduggery

  Blood & Ice

  Royal Ransom

  Nightmares and Numerology

  Other Books by J.R. Rain

  VAMPIRE FOR HIRE®

  New Moon Rising

  Moon Mourning

  Haunted Moon

  Moon Dance

  Vampire Moon

  American Vampire

  Moon Child

  Christmas Moon

  Vampire Dawn

  Vampire Games

  Moon Island

  Moon River

  Moon Tales

  Vampire Sun

  Moon Dragon

  Moon Bayou

  Blood Moon

  Parallel Moon

  Moon Shadow

  Vampire Fire

  Midnight Moon

  Moon Angel

  Vampire Sire

  Moon Master

  Dead Moon

  Lost Moon

  Moon Vacation

  Vampire Destiny

  Infinite Moon

  Vampire Empress

  Moon Elder

  Wicked Moon

  Moon Shots

  Winter Moon

  Moon Blade

  Sasquatch Moon

  Moon Cases

  Wild Moon

  Moon Magic

  Moon World

  Vampire Deep

  Moon Matador

  Latin Moon

  Sun Dance

  Unicorn Moon

  Missing Moon

  .

  Other Books by H.P. Mallory

  PARANORMAL WOMEN’S FICTION:

  Midlife Mysteries

  Midlife Spirits

  Haven Hollow

  Misty Hollow

  Trailer Park Vampire

  Gwen’s Ghosts

  PARANORMAL ROMANCE:

  Witch, Warlock & Vampire

  Lily Harper

  Dulcie O’Neil

  Gates of the Underworld

  .

  PARANORMAL REVERSE HAREM:

  Happily Never After

  My Five Kings

  Haven Hollow: Books 31-40

  Published by J.R. Rain and H.P. Mallory

  Copyright © 2025 by J.R. Rain and H.P. Mallory

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Summer Solstice

  Lace Laments

  Enchanted Emporium

  Gypsy Gold

  Newlywed and Pixie-Led

  Cold Blood

  Hexes and Hoarfrost

  Satin Superstition

  Memento Mori

  Silk Skullduggery

  Reading Sample: The Good Daughter

  About J.R. Rain

  About H.P. Mallory

  SUMMER SOLSTICE

  Haven Hollow #31

  (Poppy’s Potions)

  by

  H.P. MALLORY

  &

  J.R. RAIN

  Summer Solstice

  Published by Rain Press

  Copyright © 2023 by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Summer Solstice

  Chapter One

  The box of potions in my arms slipped as I reached for the door, and I gasped as I scrambled after it.

  I managed to catch a corner of the box before the whole thing dropped onto the ground. Leaning back against the wall in the farmhouse’s entryway, I fought to get my breathing back under control.

  That had been a little too close. Dozens of hours of work were carefully packed into that box, not just to restock my shop, Poppy’s Potions, but for the big Summer Solstice festival coming up at the end of the week. It wouldn’t look good if one of the people organizing the whole thing had an empty stall.

  With everything that had been going on in Haven Hollow lately, (including but not limited to: vampire attacks, curses, and Faerie wars breaking out), a lot of people were nervous. Some weren’t even sure that the Hollow was any kind of protection anymore, and were moving away to other Hollows, or just striking out on their own. The whole point of a Hollow was that everyone was supposed to respect the rules and leave their grievances at the door. When I’d moved to town (three years ago, come November), Haven Hollow had been a safe place, where all the various supernatural people could come together and live among their mundane neighbors in peace, if quietly. I was pretty settled here now, what with the farmhouse and my business, and Finn had his school and his friends, but I couldn’t blame other people for leaving—things had certainly been getting out of hand lately. Though I did have to admit that it hurt to see businesses closing on Main Street, with big ‘For Sale’ signs up in the windows.

  In an effort to convince people that Haven Hollow was still a safe place to be, the town, and mostly the Supernatural Council, had decided to throw a festival to celebrate the solstice. There were going to be games, market stands, and food, and the festivities would wrap up with a huge bonfire after sundown. I was all for it, hoping it would help to shore up the community, and provide a draw for tourists, human and monster alike.

  It was a lot of work though, keeping on top of everything I needed to do at the shop and at home, and then throw in all the planning and organizing for the solstice festival, as well as chasing people down for answers—well, it was tiring, to say the least. No wonder I hadn’t been sleeping well. Strange dreams hovered at the edges of my sleep, but I could never seem to remember any of them once I woke up. It made for some restless nights and groggy mornings.

  “Finn,” I called back towards the stairs. “Come on, buddy. We’re going to be late.”

  I was running slow because I had about three hours of sleep in the tank. Finn was running late because he was a teenager and such was what they did. He was probably checking his hair again. But we needed to, as my ex-ghost, now friend Darla might say, ‘get a wiggle on’, so I could get Finn to school, get to the shop and do what I needed to before it opened. I wouldn’t have time after work, because Andre was coming by to give Finn a magic lesson.

  My heart gave a little flutter when I thought of Andre and that handsome face, and British accent. We’d been kind of dancing around each other for months, trying to feel out what we were to each other. I loved being with him, but the timing just never seemed right. When we first met, I’d been seeing my best friend, Marty. And when I finally admitted to myself that I saw Marty more like a brother than a romantic partner, well that had been the beginning of the end. Finally, I’d had the courage to tell Marty as much and things hadn’t been the same between us since then. Not that I’d thought they would be, but a girl could still hope. Regardless, I hadn’t wanted to jump into anything new with Andre and risk hurting Marty. The truth was that I still loved Marty (and probably always would), just not in the way he wanted me to.

  I told Andre I wasn’t ready for anything, and might not be for a while, but he’d been happy to be friends... at least, for now. But none of that stopped my lips from curving into a smile at the thought that I’d get to see him tonight.

  I’d known Andre a little over a year, and yet, I felt like I’d known him my entire life. Everything just felt so easy and comfortable around him. But I also had a terrible track record with men. I never picked the right ones. I couldn’t regret that, since one of those relationships had given me Finn, and he was the best thing to ever happen to me. But it made me a little shy about getting into another relationship any time soon.


>   And then there was the guilt. The guilt about things not working out with Marty, the guilt about keeping things between Andre and me on pause, when I could tell he wanted more. He’d even moved to Haven Hollow, giving up his lifestyle of being a footloose and fancy-free magician so he could teach Finn how to control his budding magician powers. Even given my shoddy radar when it came to men, I could tell Andre was one of the good ones.

  The sound of footsteps thundering down the old wooden staircase had me straightening up from my slump against the wall. Finn was finally ready, and if we hurried, I could still get Finn to school on time.

  Somehow, I managed to ease the big cardboard box through the doorway and down the creaky front steps. Sweat beaded along my hairline as I huffed my way towards the white Jeep in my driveway, the back hatch already open and waiting.

  And then disaster happened—a stone turned under my foot and I tripped. Scrambling forward a few steps, I attempted to regain my balance, but the box slipped from my sweaty fingers to land on the gravel with a tinkling crash. Sweet florals, rich citrus, and amber rose up in a cloud of ruined work, as oils leaked from the corners of the box to stain the driveway.

  I clenched my hands into my hair and tried not to cry.

  Gravel crunched behind me as Finn stepped onto the driveway. “Are you okay, Mom?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I managed. “But all those potions aren’t.”

  He dropped down into a crouch next to the box, all loose and lanky limbs. Finn was now nearly 5’10 and skinny as a tree branch. His brows pinched and he chewed his bottom lip. “Maybe not all of them broke. We might still be able to save a few.”

  I shook my head. “Leave it.” Maybe one or two of the pretty glass bottles had managed to survive, but I didn’t want Finn reaching into the box and cutting himself while trying to find out.

  “I’ll sort through them later.” I tried to smile. From the way Finn’s face creased, the dusting of freckles across his nose all but disappearing, I wasn’t very convincing. I probably looked overwhelmed and close to tears, which was exactly how I felt, but I didn’t want Finn to have to deal with it.

  He looked over at me. “And I can tell you’re not telling the truth, Mom. You’re not fine.”

  I couldn’t argue, because Finn would know it was a further lie. He’d always known when someone was being untruthful, even before his powers as a magician had started manifesting, so I always tried to be honest whenever I could. But at that moment, I felt like sitting down in the gravel and just giving up.

  I knew the feelings were owing to the fact that I was stressed and hadn’t been sleeping well, but all I could think of was how much I had to do, and now I’d have to remake every one of those potions. Not to mention I’d need to order more supplies in order to do so. It was all just a bit too much.

  “Don’t worry about it. Really,” I tried to reassure Finn. “I’ll get it sorted.”

  “And what about yourself?”

  I nodded. “I’ll get myself sorted, too. But we still need to get you to school, so let’s get going.”

  Maybe if I had a slow day at the shop, I could try to remake some of the potions with the things I kept on hand, there. It didn’t make me want to kick myself any less, but at least it was a step towards fixing things.

  I pushed my hair back off my face and was about to further convince my son I was just fine when a voice interrupted.

  “Yoo-hoo! Hello there!”

  Finn and I both startled, and turned to find a woman coming up the driveway. As far as I could tell, she was a human woman. There didn’t seem to be anything magical about her aura that might say otherwise.

  She was blond, with her hair caught back in a pink band. Dressed in white capri pants and a white, short-sleeved shirt thrown over a pale blue tank top, she looked cool and effortlessly casual. A million-watt smile lit up her whole face and crinkled the edges of her pale eyes while she held out a plate of brownies and chocolate chip cookies towards us.

  “Hi, I’m Lacey. I’m your new neighbor. I just moved into the house up the road.” She nodded vaguely up the street, past the cemetery that bordered my backyard. “I thought I’d drop by and introduce myself, and bring a few sweets.”

  I blinked, taken aback. “Oh, hi Lacey. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Poppy. When did–”

  “Oh, my!” Lacey made an exaggerated look of surprise as she looked down at the soggy cardboard and rapidly spreading potion puddle. “What a mess. Looks like someone has a case of the morning clumsies.”

  She laughed at her own joke (which wasn’t very funny) and gave me what was probably supposed to be a good-natured nudge in the ribs with her elbow.

  Finn looked at her like she was nuts. I took a breath and kept a smile plastered on my face.

  “It was really nice of you to come over, but unfortunately Finn and I need to get going because we’re running late–”

  “Oh, phooey.” She flapped a hand at me. “I’m sure you have a few minutes to have a cookie. Cookies make everything a little bit better, right?”

  I was getting a little tired of not being able to finish a full sentence, but I was sure Lacey was just trying to get to know people in Haven Hollow, and who better to start with than the neighbors?

  She made a face, waving a hand in front of her nose and somehow managed not to drop the massive platter of deserts. “Yuck, what is that smell?”

  “They’re potions,” Finn said, his voice flat.

  I shot him a warning look.

  “Potions?” Lacey laughed, loud, throwing her head back and with the disbelieving expression on her face, it further cemented the fact in my mind that she had to be human. “Are you a witch?” She wiggled her fingers at me. “Oooooh!”

  I wasn’t a witch, I was a Gypsy Traveler. But I was a member of the local coven, mostly due to my BFF, Wanda, who happened to be in charge of it. And it wasn’t like I’d wanted to join a coven, but Wanda had pretty much insisted—letting it be known that she wanted me to have the protection of a coven, so no other witches could try to push me around. I was pretty sure that was only half the reason and the other half happened to do with the fact that she also wanted a discount on her potion purchases (though I was already giving her 20% off).

  Of course, if Wanda had been here, she would shut Lacey up right where she was standing—by slapping Lacey with a hex, or something equally offensive. Even if Lacey was human, and had no way of knowing that magic really was real, she was still pretty rude.

  Luckily, Wanda wasn’t here.

  “I’m sorry, Lacey, but Finn and I have to be going. We’re late for–”

  “Oh, pish, what could be more important than meeting your new neighbor? I figure you’re already late, right?”

  “Right,” I grumbled.

  “So, what’s five more minutes?” she asked with a shrug. “Maybe put the kettle on so we can have some tea?” She started walking towards us slowly, like she really thought she could force us into the house to be hospitable or something.

  I glanced at the time on my phone, and my anxiety spiked. “I’m sorry, no. I really need to–”

  “After treats. Come on, Poppy. I’m sure you’d just love one of my brownies.”

  The hold I had on my emotions snapped like an old rubber band. “No, thank you. We’re leaving now.”

  “Come on. You–”

  “We have somewhere to be,” I snapped, taking a little enjoyment out of interrupting her for once. “And just some advice: if you want to meet your neighbors, maybe don’t ambush them on their way out the door in the morning.”

  I regretted the words the second they passed my lips. The way Lacey rocked back like she’d been slapped, the way the smile fell off her face. I could tell I’d offended her, and the guilt was almost instantaneous. Yes, she was nosy and rude and demanding as all get out, but I supposed in her own weird and unaware way, she was just trying to be nice.

  She straightened her spine, drawing up to her full height so that she could look down her nose at me. “I thought people in small towns were supposed to be friendly.”

  Then she turned on her heel and walked away without another word.

  I almost called her back, but we’d already missed the first bell by this point, and Finn was only getting later by the second. And considering it was only the second day of ninth grade, we really should have been doing better.

  Still, the guilt was churning in my stomach as I backed out of the driveway, almost hoping to catch sight of Lacey angrily stalking down the road so I could at least give a partial apology. But I didn’t see any sign of her, and I had to push the feeling down and focus on all the other things I had to get done.