On life, the universe, and coffee.
Oh yeah, and books... |
**this is an 18+ blog!**
On life, the universe, and coffee.
Oh yeah, and books... |
Happy Sunday all! Today's spotlight is a joint venture between Lydia Michaels and Allyson Young. Forfeit is the start of their Degrees of Separation trilogy, and is a bit on the darker side. WARNING: This book contains subject matter suitable for mature reading audiences. Some content may be offensive to sensitive readers. Degrees of Separation is a ménage trilogy with many emotionally graphic encounters and challenging situations that break the rules of traditional romance. December and Austin have a traditional, storybook marriage complete with defined roles. Married young, they’ve shared nearly a decade of passion and love. December’s submissive nature is perfectly suited for her husband’s authoritative, yet adoring response and he seamlessly holds the indisputable role as head of the household. But Austin harbors secrets, and the pressure of losing his job makes those festering skeletons impossible to ignore. Turning to alcohol instead of his wife, Austin finally drives December away and into the arms of their closest friend, Cord, despite her intense loyalty. Cord has loved December since the day they met. His moral compass is challenged and lines are blurred when Austin steps aside and insists Cord take his place. Forfeiting all, Austin must face a harsh truth. Take control of his life, or forever lose the woman he loves. EXCERPT: It was like he no longer saw her, just looked right through her, when she used to be all he could see in the whole world. No matter what she did, he stayed away—alone—wandering through the house at night and sleeping all day. She had pride too, and he’d been chipping away at it, scarring her with deep tattoos of doubt. Something happened to a woman when her husband no longer touched her. First there were the superficial frustrations of unrequited desire, but then it became something worse. The insecurity, fear, and uncertainty ate away at her insides. Her self-esteem fractured, perhaps beyond repair. Tiny little shards of self-worth were all she had left. Even if he came to her now, begging and full of apologies, she feared someone might get cut. This rut seemed to get deeper and darker every day. She was losing sight of the light and worried she’d never see herself out. She needed to feel alive, feel something. She needed to reclaim control and pull herself back to her feet, which was why this job with Cord was imperative. Amazon B&N iBooks Kobo Lydia Michaels
Lydia Michaels is the award winning author of 30 romance novels. Her novels from the darkly compelling Surrender Trilogy were iBooks Bestsellers and her work has been featured in USA Today. In 2015 she was the winner of The Best of Bucks Award and she has been nominated as Best Author in the Happenings Magazine two years running [2015 & 2016]. She is a four time nominee for the prestigious RONE Award. Her books are intellectual, emotional, haunting, always centered around love. Allyson Young Allyson lives in cottage country, Manitoba, Canada with her husband of many years and numerous pets. She has written for many years and after reading an erotic romance, quite by mistake, decided to try her hand at penning one. A best selling Amazon author, she has now published three series and several stand alones in contemporary, sci fi, fantasy and suspense genres, as well as several novels under a different pen name. Allyson will write until whatever is inside is satisfied, until the heroes man up and the heroines get what they deserves. Love isn’t always sweet, and Allyson favours the darker side of romance. www.LydiaMichaelsBooks.com www.AllysonYoung.com
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Good morning my everybodies!
I just love that phrase - "my everybodies". It's adorable when my 3yo says it. Even for the ten-thousandth time of the day. Anyway, I figured an update was long overdue. As I mentioned previously, my husband had surgery, and he was out of work for much longer than expected. My boss is great, and gave me as many hours as I could take for the past two months. Problem with that, though, is I had little time or energy left for writing. So, there hasn't been much headway on the second book in the North Woods Wolves series. Or the third book, which I've also started, lol. BUT, today he went back to work (woo-hoo!!!!) so I am back to working only three days a week, and once I've gotten this house back in order and all decorated for Christmas, I *will* finish that damn book and get it submitted to the publisher! My goal is to have it submitted no later than my birthday, which is right around Valentine's Day. That seems quite reasonable to me. This is what I'm working on and looking at for 2018: writing: Alpha's Beta - North Woods Wolves #2, m/m, short story (almost done) Savage Alpha - North Woods Wolves #3, m/f short story (just started) editing: Elixir - the never-ending edits, lol. m/f, vampire, full length novel (60 thousand words). One day I'll manage to write a blurb and synapsis/summary and finish editing it to my liking so that I can submit it. Because I've already started books two and three in that world, too. :) Ok, I'm off to take the kids to the doctor, they both get checkups today, and probably shots, so they'll be cranky and clingy all afternoon...I can't wait, lol. Thank goodness for wine once they go to bed! Hope you all have a great day! Happy Sunday! Today's spotlight is on April Zyon and A Mate for the Sheriff, part of her Shifters-Match.com series. Jessica Morris has a secret that could get her killed. Hiding in plain sight, pretending to be normal, is all she’s ever known. And even though she’s been lucky so far, she knows that she can’t hide in Shifter Falls forever. Getting involved with the town sheriff is the last thing she needs, but lately it’s all she can think about.
Novak Porter has watched Jessica since the first day she came into town. He suspects that, like everyone else in Shifter Falls, she’s got a skeleton or two in her closet. She’s nervous around him, and for years he’s forced himself to give her time. But when a chance encounter throws them together for more than five minutes, Novak decides he’s tired of waiting. He’ll do whatever it takes to keep her around. Convincing her to work for him is easy, but getting her to believe in happily ever after might be a little more difficult. Excerpt: Jessica turned to the voice in the darkness. The sexiest voice on the face of the planet. “Sheriff,” she said, her pulse increasing when she turned to look at him. He looked as if he had been built of stone, and again she wondered just exactly what sort of shifter he was. No one seemed to know, or be willing to share, which was very strange in a town like Shifter Falls. Then again, she didn’t let anyone know what she was, either, so it could just be a privacy thing. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but suddenly all the electronics inside the car went completely dead. The lights, dash, everything. I’m afraid it’s the alternator, since it has a brand-new battery.” She might be a lot of things, but she wasn’t completely stupid. “And I think that Jagger’s cub swiped my cell phone, again, so do you think you could maybe call a tow for me?” She shook her head. “That little guy gets me every single time. I swear he’s taken more cell phones off of me than I can count. Phi is never able to find them, so there’s no telling what he does with them.” She was snickering as she said that. She didn’t know why she was talking so much, but she was. The sheriff was watching her intently and didn’t seem all that bothered by her random rambling. He merely pulled out his cell and put in a call for a truck. “Mick will come get your car. He said to leave the keys on the passenger front tire since he might be a while. They had to pull a couple cars from a slough after some young twits decided that drag racing with their parents’ cars was a good plan. Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.” She whistled. “Oh boy. I bet there are going to be some kids in serious trouble about right now. Thanks for the offer of the ride.” She grabbed her purse, locked the car, and put the keys on the front passenger tire as she had been instructed. “You’ll probably be going out of your way a bit. I live at twenty-nine Forest Acre Road.” It was a dirt road surrounded by forest and she loved it. Nature called to her, and at least there she didn’t have to worry about nulling any abilities as she typically did when she was near other witches. “No worries at all. It keeps me out of the station until the parents have finally wound down to a dull roar and the kids have had a few minutes for everything to sink in. Anyhow, I think that an hour’s worth of stewing before I arrive to come up with some interesting charges might help the situation. By then I’ll know if the lawyers have actually been called in or not and can figure out how to play this to keep the kids from doing something worse down the line.” The sheriff held her door for her, then shut it when she settled into her seat. A minute later he was setting out reflective markers behind her car before sliding in behind the wheel to take her toward town and home. “You are a good man. Too bad you can’t keep a secretary to save your gorgeous ass.” She felt her face turn red from heat when she realized she’d blurted that out. “Crap, ignore me. I don’t know what I’m saying.” She cringed, but then shrugged. Since it was too late to take her candid observation back, she pressed on. “Well, from what I understand, you have gone through thirteen of them inside of three months. That’s outstanding right there.” He leveled a look on her she couldn’t read. She was only thankful he seemed to ignore her initial comment and it allowed her cheeks to cool. “I have a specific way I expect things to be done. And, I admit, my temper can get the best of me. Everything we do can be called into question inside a courtroom. If even one I isn’t dotted right, or a T was missed being crossed, that is potentially a dangerous offender being allowed out on the street due to clerical error. Unacceptable in my book so, yes, I have some impossibly high standards I expect to be carried out by every man and woman in the department.” “No, not impossibly high standards. They are perfectly reasonable. The way that everyone made it sound you were seriously a neat freak nut job, but what you’re saying doesn’t sound like that at all.” She understood the importance of perfect record keeping, of ensuring that everything was where it should be at all times. “When the council took me on as their secretary, I had to redo a hell of a lot of stuff because the person before me couldn’t seem to understand that paperwork is filed by number then letter. Idiots.” She smirked and looked over at him. “I guess I have high standards as well. Then again since I’m a witch without abilities, I have to be able to contribute somehow, right? Especially with my mother’s coven proclaiming me to be nothing but a human.” That’s what all of Shifter Falls thought of her, and she was happy to keep it that way. When she’d first started out on her own, she’d wondered if it wouldn’t have been smarter, and safer, to try to hide even the fact that she’d been born into a witch family. Ultimately she’d decided that it was better to stick as close to the truth as possible. So she never tried to hide the fact that she had been born to witch parents. It was unlikely that she would ever run into anyone from her old coven, but on the off chance that she did, she didn’t want to arouse suspicion by being caught in a lie. Besides, being known as a witch without powers—therefore, more or less, human—kept her just as safe as if she’d tried to pass herself off as a normal human. “I’m glad you understand. Few do,” he muttered. “I think the council foisted their rejects my way for some form of payback. They all loved the idea when the mayor had me run for office and I won by a landslide, but the minute I arrested the first council member and wouldn’t take a bribe, they started to wonder. Told them the same thing I told the mayor when he hired me—I was going to run things my way, and if they found someone that could run against me and get elected that would be the only way they’d get me out of that seat. They haven’t had any luck yet.” Jess knew it was because the sheriff was respected by every citizen in the Falls as well as the other two cities that made up their exceptionally small county. While not everyone agreed with his methods and strict by-the-book ways, they liked how he’d cleaned up and kept the area protected from a drug problem several years back when he’d first taken the position. “You cleaned up the area. No one would run against you. You’re too good at your job, so it is what it is.” She shrugged. “You are strict and you can be an ass from what I’ve been told, but then again there are a lot of falsehoods that fly through Shifter Falls, aren’t there?” she asked with a smile. “True enough. The trick is determining what’s truth and what’s lie in everything that goes around town. It’s amazing what one can discover the moment they find that tiny thread and give it a tug. After all, there’s not a soul in this town that is exactly who they appear to be on the surface once you dig down a little further.” Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU Barnes & Noble | Evernight Publishing | Bookstrand | Smashwords | iTunes Hello my everybodies! My son calls his stuffed characters/animals collectively "everybody". When it's nap or bed time, he says "I need my everybodies!" and surrounds himself in his bed with stuffies. It's freaking adorable. Sorry for skipping last week's post. With the Thanksgiving holiday and then my son's birthday party on Saturday (omg he's three already!) and work, scheduling my weekend blog post completely skipped my mind. Today I have a lovely story by ED Parr for you! Heads up, it's a male/male, so if that's not your cuppa... From the author: The story ‘Falling Star Valentine’ was inspired by shooting stars. We all know shooting stars are falling meteorites, but the romance remains when one streaks across the midnight blue sky, and when two, in close succession, zoom over the night vista as you stand on your hotel balcony, it’s a sight to behold. I travel a little with my day job and in the autumn of 2016, I had to travel a lot more than usual. One night when I couldn’t sleep because I was churning worries around, I went out onto the balcony of the hotel room I was staying in and stared up at the sky. The night sparkled cold and the sky displayed an array of stars. Suddenly seeming only meters away a shooting star flew across my line of vision, then another as if it followed the first. I’m a die-hard romantic and immediately my sweet but sexy character, Valentine Steel, had formed in my head. He’s Falling Star Valentine on his way to visit earth. Will he find love? Fashion photographer Dale Walker takes a train to his hometown, relocating there after nursing a broken heart for six months in another city. His train makes an unscheduled stop to take on a mysterious passenger.
For a long time, Valentine Steel has hoped to meet a man who will love him. When he sees Dale on the train, he’s overjoyed to find a vacant seat beside Dale. Dale’s immediate attraction to Valentine has him on edge. He doesn’t want another broken heart, and yet Valentine is so magnetic Dale’s frozen heart begins to thaw. Valentine sets out to charm and capture Dale in his sparkling aura. He can’t let the chance to have Dale’s love slip away. This could be his last chance to stay on Earth, the planet he loves. Read a teaser: He gazed at Dale’s mouth as his stomach tightened and he experienced an intense longing to kiss Dale. He hungrily watched Dale’s lips move. “I don’t want to trouble you with my sad little story.” Dale’s stoic expression touched Valentine. He felt a thud in the region where his heart was. Then a ripple of tenderness radiated to every part of his body and his heartbeat grew strong. “Oh, but you must. You wouldn’t trouble me. There’s no shame in having a sad story. I had one myself some years ago.” He pushed his hand over the short distance of the table, longing to touch Dale. Dale took a deep breath and Valentine knew he was going to share his story. “I broke up with someone, a lover … it hurt to stay in the same city. I’d moved there for this person and now … there’s no need to stay.” Dale stared at Valentine’s hand and edged his own along the tablecloth. The server arrived at the table with their order. Valentine waited, impatient now, until the server spread the food before him and Dale, then left. “I’m sorry. Do you still love this person?” He avoided saying man, although he knew it was a man. Dale’s sexual preference was apparent in the way he looked at Valentine. His eyes traveled over Valentine’s face with a particular gaze only a gay guy would make. Valentine had long searched for a man who made his heart leap the way the sight of Dale did. When he’d heard Dale reminisce about a man, who could only be an idiot to let Dale go, he’d been elated. He’d yearned for Valentine’s Day then, when he could show himself. http://www.evernightpublishing.com/falling-star-valentine-by-e-d-parr/ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MV2VKAJ https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MV2VKAJ http://www.bookstrand.com/falling-star-valentine-mm Amazon global link http://a-fwd.com/asin-com=B01MV2VKAJ Find E.D.Parr Twitter https://twitter.com/parr_books Amazon page https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B01MUNJ3I8 Blogs https://parrx.blogspot.com https://parrx.blogspot.co.uk/ https://edparr.blogspot.com G+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/109826263935095799032 |
Author, wife, motherlover of wine, coffee, and reading. Archives
January 2019
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