The Haunted Librarian - Softcover

Wallace, Auralee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593818571 ISBN 13: 9780593818572

Verlag: Ace, 2026

Inhaltsangabe

A lonely librarian finds love, friends, and a few ghosts between the shelves in this cozy, paranormal tale from beloved bestselling author Auralee Wallace.

It’s a dark and stormy night…and Amelia Bates is caught in the rain. Life hasn’t always been kind to her, and being a ghostseer certainly doesn’t make things any easier.

Glowing warmly through the autumnal downpour is her safest haven: the library. Amelia, the newly hired librarian, has always relished the comfort of curling up with a novel, vastly preferring it to the company of humans (alive or ghostly).

But Amelia is shocked to discover the building is full of more than quiet stories and warm cups of tea. There are curious, talkative patrons, a shy, bespectacled head librarian who makes her heart skip a beat, and three quirky spirits causing paranormal havoc that endangers the future of the library.

To help the ghosts and save the building, Amelia will have to gather all her bravery and wits, because learning to trust others might just be the first step to a happily ever after she only thought was possible in books.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

After spending her formative years reading Grimms’ fairy tales and stirring up potions in the creek behind her house, Auralee Wallace knew she would grow up to be a witch. When that didn’t work out, she decided becoming a writer was the next best thing. Now, Auralee is the author of multiple novels, including the Otter Lake mystery series and The Evenfall Witches B&B mysteries. She lives in Ottawa with her husband, three kids, two cats, and one dog.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1

The only thing that you absolutely have to know
is the location of the library.

-Albert Einstein, attributed

For as long as Amelia Bates could remember, she wanted only one thing from life: to be a librarian.

Libraries had always been her natural habitat. Aside from being surrounded by the intoxicating vanilla scent of decomposing lignin and the whispers of long-dead authors, Amelia relished knowing that contained within those bookish walls were so many lives to be lived! Lives filled with romance, excitement, and adventure. The thought alone was thrilling, especially for someone like her, who would never be fortunate enough to experience much of anything due to an extremely rare condition that made her, well, not normal.

But she had come to peace with all that a long time ago.

In light of this love, it perhaps wasn't all that surprising that by the time Amelia was eleven, she had read all of Jane Austen and Murasaki Shikibu; the complete works of the Brontës by twelve; and most of Mirza Ghalib and Charles Dickens by thirteen. Despite her best efforts, Bleak House had stretched into her fourteenth year.

After that, her pace really picked up.

What did she need from the rest of the world when there were entire universes waiting for her in libraries? No, forget acquiring possessions or piling up great achievements. Never mind traveling or learning new hobbies. All Amelia Bates needed to achieve her happily ever after was a quiet life wandering through dusty shelves laden with books.

Given all this, it was actually quite mind-boggling that she was about to be late for an unexpected, though very welcome, job interview at her dream library.

A chilling blast of wind hit Amelia as she rushed down the steps of her new apartment above the fish shop on the outskirts of a small village not too far from Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. The early warm fall weather had hung on for as long as it could, but now the cold, dark end of autumn had them in its grip. She grunted lowly with disgust. Amelia did not like fall-early or late. One could even say she hated it. Somehow its presence always seemed to be laughing at her. Like right now, as she was peering down at her watch, struggling to see its face in the deepening gloom, she could almost hear autumn cackling gleefully at the seconds ticking past.

She had to hurry.

Clutching the hood of her jacket to her throat, Amelia rushed for the boardwalk on the other side of the shop only to be greeted by the sight of giant bruising clouds tumbling over a dark ruffled sea. No! Those clouds weren't supposed to be there! Amelia checked herself over as though she might find an umbrella hidden on her person as another gust of wind spattered raindrops over the lenses of her glasses. The forecast had said it would be clear!

Silly meteorologists, they clearly hadn't factored Amelia's job interview into their predictions. Of course there would be a sudden storm. Actually, no. There was no escaping it. She was going to be late, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Inconceivable.

Amelia had never wanted so badly to be on time for anything in her life, and she knew exactly how long it took to get to the library because she had practiced the route seven times. But as was the case with all well-laid plans, things had gone awry. Her wardrobe, in this instance. She had intended to leave ten minutes early, and had in fact been all ready to go, but just as she was about to depart, she realized the perfect outfit she'd selected suddenly didn't seem so perfect. Three times she had changed from her twill skirt to herringbone pants, then back again, and she still wasn't sure if she'd made the right choice. How quickly those ten minutes had disappeared, and now with the wind, she'd be lucky if she made it on time for her interview, because with every step she took forward, the storm was pushing her back by half.

Suddenly, the sole of her boot slipped over the slick wood of the boardwalk. Amelia jerked to remain upright, barely managing to stay on her feet. Once she had her balance, she placed her hand on her chest. That had been close, but thankfully no harm had been-

Snap!

Metal slapped painfully against the nape of Amelia's neck. Her hair clip! The sudden jerk had caused it to explode. Masses of curls swelled inside the hood of her jacket, allowing the wind to catch hold and push it back. Amelia's hair swirled as she struggled to yank the hood down over her head once more. This was terrible. Wild and wind-tossed was not the professional look she was going for, and things were only going to get worse the longer she was out here. Maybe if she stayed extra light on her feet, she could run . . . except she couldn't run because there was somebody in her way.

Two somebodies, actually, glowing in the dim light.

Amelia squinted through her rain-spattered glasses, making out the iridescent couple holding hands up ahead as yet another blast of wind shook her balance. Of course they'd be here. They traversed the boardwalk every night as far as Amelia could tell, always wearing cloaks, always carrying lanterns. Always looking so in love.

This was the last thing Amelia needed. She was in a hurry, and they were gliding along in front of her without a care in the world. And it wasn't as though she could go around them. If she did, they'd notice, and she couldn't risk stirring up that kind of trouble.

She had to remember the rules.

Amelia switched from her light hurried steps to determined slapping footfalls on the boardwalk, hoping the couple would hear her gaining on them and clear a path. As she approached, she caught the woman's voice carried on the wind. "It is another beautiful night, my love."

Beautiful? Amelia scoffed internally.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," the man replied, and kissed his partner's hand. "But can you feel it?"

The woman nodded, and they both looked off to the sleepy fishing village glinting dully in the storm.

"It is a most disturbing sensation," she said. "I fear for those who fall within its grasp."

Disturbing sensation? Fearful grasp? The village looked perfectly fine. What were they talking about? And more importantly, why weren't they getting out of her way?

There was no other choice. Amelia was just going to have to walk right through them. She had to . . . but she hated doing that! Maybe if she could get their attention, they'd move. Amelia coughed, then quickly averted her gaze. Rule one: Don't look at them. Out of the corner of her vision, Amelia caught the man's head turn.

"Ah! The storm has routed the pumpkin-haired fish wench."

Amelia's eyes widened. Thankfully, her head was still turned. Pumpkin-haired fish wench?! Admittedly, her hair was red, and yes, she did now live in an apartment above a fish shop, but-

Keep calm and carry on, Amelia.

The rational side of her brain-which she referred to as Rational Amelia-was right. She didn't have time for this.

The pair slowed, broke hands, and stepped to either side of the path. Amelia turned her best blank stare forward and kept on at her steady pace. At least they were getting out of the way, but as she reached the point between the two, her boot slipped again, sending her knee crashing to the boardwalk and her foot sliding into the woman's cloak. A deep cold ran up Amelia's calf.

The woman gasped. "Heavens, girl, are you sound?"

Rule two: Do not listen to them.

If only she had been following that rule when the pumpkin-haired fish wench comment had occurred. But rule number two had always been of the easier-said-than-done variety. And was she all right? Amelia was moving to push herself up when she saw the damage that had been done through her tangled masses of hair. NO! Her woolen tights. The woolen...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Ace
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2026
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593818571
• ISBN 13: 9780593818572
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 368
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar