Tarnished Beginnings — Ann Gimpel

Tarnished Beginnings is the prequel to the Soul Dance series. Novella length, it's shifter fantasy, but not a romance. The other three books in this series are full length romances with happy-ever-after endings. Join Tairin as a young woman struggling to survive in 1700s Egypt. You'll meet her again in Tarnished Legacy, book two of Soul Dance.

1700s Egypt is a melding pot for magic-wielders of all kinds. Vampires hold court, staying one step ahead of the priests and priestesses who want them dead. Shifters keep to themselves, while gypsy caravans roam the Nile from north to south and back again telling fortunes, casting Tarot cards, and stealing from the gadjos.

Tairin Jabari was born in a caravan and has always believed she's Romani. Why wouldn't she? Her mother and father never suggested otherwise. The Rom have harsh rules. When Tairin's first shift catches her unaware at thirteen, her father disappears, and the elders move with deadly speed to punish her mother for mating outside the blood.

Hurt, lost, confused, and fearing for her life, Tairin runs away, leaving her mother's smoking funeral pyre behind. Desperately unprepared for life outside her protected caravan, she and her wolf face hard choices.