Sneak Peek 2 of Before the Guide, Book 1 of the User-Friendly Guide to Ghosts Series by Mia Smantz
- Mia Smantz
- Apr 18
- 5 min read
#userfriendlyguidetoghosts #miasmantz #willawalker #alpha #reverseharem #reverseharemseries #beforetheguide #ghosts #reverseharemghosts
Hello all!
Welcome to the sneak peeks countdown for Before the Guide, Book 1 of the User-Friendly Guide to Ghosts series, by Mia Smantz. With the first book of the new series, Before the Guide, releasing on April 22nd, I'll be posting some snippets from the story to whet your whistles :)
Some housekeeping notes before we get to the good stuff... my first series, The Cardinal Series is all completed and available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited for free. It's also available for purchase. If you're interested in purchasing a hardcopy set of the first two books, The Cardinal Bird and Cardinal Caged, you can buy the first volume here. This volume is also available in the Kindle Unlimited store if you want to purchase or add to your ten-book Unlimited list to help free up a slot for another great book. I know I always have a hard time trying to cull my book limit. Get the Kindle version here. I've also bundled the second volume of the series to include Cardinal of Hope and The Cardinal Sin. That volume is available here for the Kindle version and the hardcopy version. The third and final volume with Cardinal Rose and The Red Cardinal are also online.
Also the second, completed series, The Stillwind Series is all completed and available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited for free. It's also available for purchase. If you're interested in purchasing them the links are here:
And, if you've already read the books through Kindle Unlimited and are looking to reread, consider downloading the 6-book anthology. You can free up some space in your Kindle Library and also support me, since authors only get paid the first time you read a book on your account. The 6-book link is here with some awesome new artwork.
Also--almost there, I promise--the second book of the User Friendly Guide to Ghosts, Tentatively Prewritten, is available for preorder. Order your copy today!
And now, on to the sneak peek of the new series.
Before the Guide, Book 1
SNEAK PEEK
To the detriment of my nerves, I realized that with my brisk pace, we’d reached my family’s campsite. Luckily, Nick spotted me instead of Dad. “Willa!”
The loud volume could use some work, but Dad would have yelled too.
“Your brother?” Ralph guessed from my side, close enough that his arm brushed mine, watching Nick run up, panting and out of breath. If Ralph noticed the brush of skin, he didn’t say, but the small contact sent goosebumps trailing up my cool, damp flesh.
What had he been asking?
A visual reminder reached us, bent with his hands braced on his knees.
Oh. Right.
Did I want to claim Nick?
Well, he had called me Willa and not Willy, so he’d earned himself some leeway. “Yeah.”
Nick straightened. “Hi,” he greeted Ralph before tugging my hand. “We’ve been waiting for ages, and you take forever to get dressed! Let’s move.”
Sure enough, in a line that was twelve strong, our enlarged group idled on the forest boundary with my dad in the lead. Their timing couldn’t have been better—mine could have. I could have avoided this embarrassing interaction with my school peer if I’d been just three minutes earlier.
With irrefutable proof of needing to rush sitting there so impeccably, they’d provided the perfect excuse to flee the awkward situation.
I turned to Ralph as I started a daring walk backwards to where I’d shucked my gear, praying I wouldn’t wipe out but accepting the risk if it took me further from my own social ineptness. “Right, like I said…”
“No worries.” Ralph waved me off, his grin growing bigger. That threw me. What was so amusing? “Maybe we’ll see you out there.”
We?
God, I hoped not. He’d pretty much guaranteed there was at least one other person from our upcoming senior class, and I had a hunch it involved that gray Jeep at the far end of the campground.
I’d probably seen it in the school parking lot as the bus drove by, where I was crammed in with all the other unfortunate plebeians lacking a car or license.
“Maybe. Maybe not.” I shrugged. “It’s a big park.”
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll manage.”
His words alone threatened to trip me, so I whirled around to watch my step. I didn’t need help falling if he kept throwing out loaded statements that made my wires misfire.
Nick assisted me with my gear. Well, he held the next piece out impatiently, hoping to hurry me along. “I didn’t know Ralph Buchanan rode out here.”
Of course Nick would recognize him. I barely knew anyone in the grade below me, but Nick was a people person like our dad.
“Me either.” I pulled the helmet over my head and climbed on the four-wheeler, my hands shaking so badly that it took two attempts to start it. Once it was running, I huddled toward Nick. “Is he gone?”
Forgoing any ounce of subtlety, Nick leaned over to check. “Yeah, he left.”
If I hadn’t been wearing my headgear, I’d have smacked my forehead. Boys had no clue.
Oh well, at least Ralph was gone and hadn’t witnessed my brother’s appalling lack of covert skills.
Wanting to gauge how far he’d gotten, I turned way around. With the helmet on, I had a limited range of view, so my neck popped before I saw anything. Immediately, a dozen curse words I’d never utter out loud flashed through my brain.
Nick had lied.
Ralph Buchanan hadn’t moved a single inch from where I’d left him on the outskirts of our campsite, and he’d caught me peeping—no ifs, ands, or buts. What else could I have been looking at on the coattails of Nick’s dead giveaway performance?
Ralph winked, unashamed, and I whirled away, trying my best not to freak out, glad that the helmet hid the worst of the furious blush staining my cheeks. I shoved my brother. It implicated me further, but what’d happened was already dead obvious—especially with how intently Ralph had been staring. If I didn’t let out some of the adrenaline from being caught red-handed, I’d throw up from the roaring butterflies swarming in my tummy, and Nick made an easy target since this was at least ninety percent his fault.
My shove didn’t even faze Nick. He only grinned wider before tipping an imaginary hat my way as he darted to the safety of Dad’s Jeep.
“Come on, chickadee!” someone shouted. “You can make moon eyes at your boyfriend later.”
Another person laid on the horn, causing the rest of the hive to mimic him. Luckily, the twelve-horn symphony saved me from having to hear Ralph’s reaction to being referred to as my boyfriend.
Wanting nothing more than to outwait the persistent boy but terrified of whatever embarrassing thing our riding companions would do next, I dropped into gear and sped off, praying I didn’t do something dumb.
It was the most nerve-racking part of the entire day, and I’d started the trip fully believing I had run over a person.
END EXCERPT
I hope you enjoyed it!!
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