Mele Kalikimaka, Ginger Croom

So an Elf meets a redhead in a hotel room... The Elf had shown her a world of true magic and wonder. The woman had given him a love like no other. Together they'd schemed to reunite the descendents of an ancient school of magic, the Guild of Ornamental Hermits. But they quarreled over a bitter secret and hadn't seen each other for years.

Can the "truly beautiful" Elven academic, Professor Almond, and Ginger Croom, wilful and charismatic founder of the Hermitville Farm & Arts Collective in Pahoa, Hawai'i, really settle their differences and rekindle their turbulent romance during a clandestine tryst in a shabby Hilo hotel? Professor Almond hopes so—he thinks their love is timeless. How could he know that Ginger, older and perhaps a little wiser, was now counting her days?

After all this time, was there anything else they could give each other except forgiveness? And what must they do with their shared secret? Will it finally bring them together or continue to tear them apart?

This Guild of Ornamental Hermits "short read" is set six years before the beginning of The Dire Deeds, first volume in the series. "Mele Kalikimaka, Ginger Croom" takes place during the Kalikimaka (Christmas) holidays on Hawai'i Island.