While Aubrey and Rayne are a delightful couple to share, these three… (honestly, I love all my character creations, good or bad, and these three are no exception)

So three, a triad? Yes, this is a royal triad marriage of sorts. King Dane Gow, like the Hunter Kings before her, has more than one wife. In fact, she has two, Sissy and Bonnie Gow. Dane is married to each of them separately, in different centuries, and for very different reasons, but Bonnie and Sissy are definitely not married to each other. Note the difference. Bonnie began her Hunter life because Dane fell head over heels for her despite then Cent’s warning, and Sissy began her Hunter existence more as Dane’s assistant in Bonnie’s care. You see, Bonnie has deep-seated psychiatric issues that become apparent very early in Keeping House.

It isn’t that Dane doesn’t love her elder wife but caring for Bonnie has worn Dane down over the course of two centuries. This is a frequent problem with caretakers of chronically ill family members. They need respites, and Dane had no real one from their marriage in 1816 until the 1970s when she met Sissy in a bar. Add one drunk-driving accident, and you have Sissy the new Hunter. But Bonnie, bless her, is more than any one person can manage so she and Dane ended up caring for her together, which is how Dane and Sissy came to fall in love. Is Dane a marvelous caretaker? Good grief, no. Dane’s got a load of her own problems, but she tries.

And, Bonnie? Yes, absolutely have sympathy for Bonnie because she’s gravely ill. In Keeping House she’s reached the stage of long periods of psychosis, but Bonnie is also manipulative even when she is cognizant, and the lengths she’ll go to… Well, you’ll just have to read for yourself.

Lastly, Sissy, sweet little Sissy. She’s a kind soul, but like most Hunters she has a deeper inner issue, namely alcoholism. Sissy’s sloshed when you first meet her in Keeping House, so Dane has two problematic wives to handle along with an entire kingdom of people with their own problems. Dane and Sissy, by the way, have been married a mere four years at the start of Keeping House.

Before Keeping House, there was Cleaning House, novel one in the Appalachian Elementals series. Cleaning House is now available in audiobook format from Audible, and it’s a sight to behold or to listen to as the case may be. The novel is narrated by Alex Riley, a true storyteller who brings the story to life in a storyteller’s fashion, complete with character voices.

Cleaning House the audiobook, is available from Audible. If you own an ebook copy of Cleaning House it’s available for as low as $7.49 or, if you’re an Audible subscriber, you can acquire the audiobook with your monthly subscription.