Excerpt from All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Fair Lady, do not mistake me. You are honest. Truly. But there is something behind that honesty. A practice, an art. As though you have learned that it is more powerful than the lie. And your eye, your tooth, your joyous laugh—"

"Are not honest?"

His fingers find mine, intertwine. "Are too much so."

"And that is my secret? My lord, I don't think you know me at all."

He considers, his face lowering to mine, his lips hovering above my lips. "Your face, my Lady, is as a play. Rehearsed. And you perform what you wish others to see. The audience believes they are seeing behind the curtains, but they see only the curtains themselves."

I move swiftly, press my mouth to his as if for a kiss. Instead my teeth take his lower lip, bite. It is gentle, but my tongue tastes a faint mingling of salt and blood. He does not flinch. I release.

"See what I mean?" He grins. "All honesty."

Excerpted from All Our Yesterdays by Joel H. Morris. Copyright © 2024 by Joel H. Morris. Excerpted by permission of G.P. Putnam's Sons. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.