Category Archives: Erotic Romance

His Absolute Assignment & His Absolute Betrayal (An Illicit Billionaire Love Story)


The re-release of His Absolute Assignment and His Absolute Betrayal is here! There were complications before, but everything has smoothed out now, and things appear to be going well.

The re-release includes updated covers, bonus scenes, and slightly different book descriptions! (I just added one line, but I like it and I think it makes the concept of the books pop a little more, you know?)

As a quick note, the bonus scenes are also available in the Freebies section of my website (you can get the password by signing up for my newsletter ❤ )

Anyways… without further adieu…

Elise Both

As a special limited time offer, both of these books are available for free on Amazon from February 4th to February 8th (2/4/15 – 2/8/15). (Also, February 7th is my birthday, yay)

They’re both also available to borrow for free by Kindle Unlimited subscribers!

You can get them at:

Amazon US | Amazon UK

If you’ve already read them, plus the bonus scenes, I’d really love if you would consider leaving a review, too. It helps a lot, and I appreciate it so much.

And now… (dun dun duh! Haha)

Fantastic photo of stylish young couple

I am his absolute obsession…

Six months ago I was trapped in a library with a man who wanted to possess me. For three days, a record-breaking blizzard kept me confined with Lucent Storme, the dominating and enigmatic Director of Public Relations for Landseer Enterprises. Rumors existed of his forbidden desires and darker passions, but I didn’t believe them. I should have. For one weekend, I became Lucent’s sole obsession.

When the snow began to melt, he tried to leave me. He thought he could save me from himself, from his control. I didn’t let him. I was already his.

From USA Today Bestselling Author Cerys du Lys ~

Six months ago my entire life changed. I never meant to fall in love–especially not with Lucent–but his allure transcended common sense and tapped into a dark, primal need inside me that I didn’t know existed. The snow melted, our lives quieted, and everything seemed to be going perfectly.

Until today.

I thought I knew Lucent, but I realize now I never really did. A mysterious calm exists even within the eye of the darkest storms. I love Lucent. I am his and he is mine. I want to believe he is a good man. After seeing another side of him, after being the object of his absolute obsession, I fear I might have fallen in love with a monster.

(This scintillating steamy romantic suspense novel contains themes of domination and submission)


Elegant and c attractive ouple in the middle of the night

I may have fallen in love with a monster…

I thought I knew Lucent, but now I realize I never really did. He’s kept so many secrets from me. I fear I might have fallen in love with a monster. Worse yet, I’m afraid I’m becoming one, too…

From USA Today Bestselling Author Cerys du Lys ~

I thought I knew Lucent’s secrets. I thought I knew about his dark past and forbidden obsessions.

He likes control; a lot of it. He enjoys seeing me kneeling on the rug in front of him while he paces back and forth, planning exactly what he’ll do with me. He likes caressing my cheek with soft fingers before squeezing my jaw tight and forcing me look him in the eyes. His seductive smirk when he calls me Miss Tanner while tying me to the bed, reciting everything he’s going to do to me in intricate detail, and telling me why he’s going to do it, sends shivers through my body.

I thought that was it. I thought that was the worst of it, and in time I came to enjoy our sensual games. Lucent likes control, but he loves me. He would never hurt me.

Or so I thought.

Lucent’s dark past contains secrets darker than I ever could have imagined. Unwittingly, I’ve been lured into his world of sordid conspiracy and corporate scandal. We’re running from the law for a crime we didn’t commit, but saving ourselves isn’t as simple as just telling the truth. I don’t know what the truth is anymore.

Beneath Lucent’s fractured facade, I still feel his absolute attraction towards me. I still want to love him, and I want him to love me, too. I hope I’m making the right choice.

(This captivating contemporary romantic suspense novel contains themes of domination and submission)


I hope everyone enjoys them! Have you read the bonus scenes yet? What did you think?

(Also, Book 3, His Absolute Proposal, will be coming soon! Keep an eye out for that ❤ )

Merry Christmas! (Free Elise & Lucent Christmas Story)


I didn’t know if I’d have time for this originally, but then I got hit with some inspiration after someone showed me a neat picture that was perfect for an Elise and Lucent Christmas story, so…

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

GIF All I Want Regular

This is just a fun Christmas story I wanted to write with Elise and Lucent. It’s a little sweet, a little sexy, and a little something more, too. You can download a copy for your Kindle, Nook, iPad, Kobo Reader, or you can also just read it online. It’s about ~40 paperback pages long or so.

In addition to that, I kind of went overboard with the cover and made an animated version, haha. I thought it’d be fun. It’s nothing too crazy, but I think it ended up looking pretty neat. Also, please feel free to share this post with anyone you think might like it! It’s my Christmas gift to you, but you’re welcome to gift it to others, as well.

This story goes along with The Billionaire’s Paradigm, so it makes a bit more sense if you’ve read that. It’s kind of a throwback to what happened in the library that fateful weekend. I hope you enjoy it! ❤


All I Want for Christmas is Lucent (Download or Read Online) ~
Kindle Version
Nook, Kobo, and iPad Version
Online Version (Read Online)


All I Want 0

~*~ Sneak Peek Preview ~*~

Snow fell in fluffy white flakes outside, covering the empty streets in a heavy winter frosting…

I stood inside, near the door, looking out and remembering the time I’d been in almost this exact same position nearly a year ago. I was in the library then, standing behind the counter, warm and watching the gentle flakes of snow drifting down into the street. It was Friday afternoon then, and the library had been almost entirely empty. No one had wanted to go out in the storm, and for good reason.

We were in a record-breaking blizzard at the time. Over seventy-eight inches of snow. I didn’t find out until after, but most of the city had been snowed in, trapped because of the weather. The power had gone out almost everywhere, though the library had fared much better because of the emergency electric grid it was on. It was lucky, I thought. I was lucky. Not just because of that, but because of what happened.

Lucent came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. Instinctively, I leaned back against him and nuzzled my head into his chest. He leaned forward somewhat, his cheek close to mine, his lips near my ear, soft, almost kissing me.

“Hello,” he said. “Am I interrupting anything?”

I laughed, and Lucent grinned. I felt the tug of his cheek near to my ear. He squeezed me even tighter, holding me close.

“That’s not what you said,” I told him.

“No,” he agreed. “You weren’t napping, though.”

“Should I?” I asked. “Can we do that?”

I twisted in his arms until we were face to face and I was looking up at him. He smiled down at me and nodded slightly. “That’s what you wanted, isn’t it, Miss Tanner?”

“I know, but… you don’t think it’s silly, do you? You don’t think I’m being too weird?”

He shook his head, no. “Those are fond memories for me, too,” he said. “Also, it’s almost Christmas. This is the time of year when we’re supposed to honor and cherish our true feelings.”

“My true feelings are that I love you,” I said with a small smile. “But I think it would be fun to do a sort of recreation of when we were in the library, that’s all. I think it might be nice.”

“We’re going to start at the beginning then?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Um, sort of? This isn’t exactly a library, you know.”

He shook his head, letting out a low chuckle. “No, not quite. It’s snowing, too, but not nearly as bad as it did back then.”

“Alright, well, um… wait! Wait, before we begin, did you order food yet or were we going to cook something here?”

“I ordered something,” Lucent said.

My ears perked up and I stared at him, rapt. “What did you get?”

“Curious little one, are you?” Lucent said with a grin.

“Lucent, you can’t start yet!” I said, laughing and pushing him lightly.

He’d said almost exactly that to me those many months ago in the library. Wrapped his arms around me again, he pulled me close to him.

“Is it good, though?” I asked. “Did you order something nice?”

“Of course I did,” he said, as if the idea of ordering something not nice had never occurred to him. I supposed that made sense, too, but I still kind of wanted to know what he got.

“We have about an hour,” he added. “The snow isn’t too bad, but it’s going to take them a little longer than usual to get here.”

“An hour,” I said. “Alright, that’s good. That will work. I’ll um… I’m going. Into that room. The one with the bookshelves.” I glanced towards the couch in the main room of the log cabin, a sudden idea coming to me. “I’m taking these!” I added, slipping out of his arms and towards the couch, excited. I grabbed the blanket and two overstuffed couch pillows, piling them in my arms.

Lucent smiled. “I’ll give you a few moments, Miss Tanner.”

“I only need about a minute,” I said. “Then come in, alright?”

“Hurry, then,” Lucent said, staring after me as I rushed away.

Before I ran into the adjacent room, I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. He smiled after me, his eyes twinkling, interested and intent. This was going to be fun, I thought. It was what I wanted to do, and I thought it’d be a lot of fun.

***

I awoke, or I thought I did, and I saw a man…

Lucent stood in front of me. He wasn’t wearing the same dark, crisp suit with the black shoes and his grey tie that he’d been wearing that evening when he found me in the library nearly a year ago. No, he wore simpler clothes now. A plain, dark grey sweater, with a nice pair of dress pants. His shoes would have looked similar if he had them on, but neither of us wore any at the moment. He had on black socks, though.

Before he came in, I plopped the couch pillows next to each other, and then lay on top of them. I cuddled under the blankets, keeping one eye shut while I kept the other carefully trained on the doorway, waiting. When I saw Lucent come in, I snapped both my eyes closed and waited for him to step closer. As soon as he did, as soon as I no longer heard his quiet footsteps coming towards me, I yawned and blinked open my eyes, pretending to have just awoken from a nice nap.

Lucent cleared his throat. “Hello,” he said. “Am I interrupting your nap?”

I yawned and stretched my arms up over my head. I didn’t have a book this time, just a blanket. I pushed the blanket aside and stretched my arms even higher, arching my back and pushing out my breasts to give Lucent a show.

“Quiet little one, are you?” he asked, staring at my breasts. “What if I were looking for a book?”

“I…” I paused, trying to remember what I’d said back then when he’d asked me these very same questions. “Um… I hardly think it necessary…” Oh, and I’d yawned! I yawned quick, hoping to hide my hesitation and uncertainty.

“To deal,” Lucent said, finishing my sentence for me, “with figments of your imagination.”

I pouted at him, crossing my hands over my chest. “Lucent, you stole my line.”

“What if I am a figment of your imagination right now?” he asked me, grinning, coy. I didn’t like that look; or, I liked it a lot. He had a plan, and I thought it meant he was up to something.

“What if you are?” I asked. “What would you do?”

“Do you want to know what I was thinking that day, Miss Tanner?”

The way he said it, the way he kept looking at me so intently… I gulped hard, then swallowed even harder.

Lucent pulled the blanket away, sweeping it off to the side. He knelt down, joining me on the pillows. One of his knees pushed between my thighs, claiming space between my body. The rest of his body… well…

He leaned forward, closer to me. I started to lean back and away from him, curious and wanting to watch this sudden turn of events. I didn’t have far to go, though. There was nothing behind me to keep me from falling, and I inadvertently found myself doing exactly that. I fell backwards, my back and my head bouncing atop the overstuffed couch pillow beneath me.

Lucent loomed over me, staring at me, watching me.

“I refrained, because I didn’t want to frighten you at the time, Miss Tanner. Obviously it would have been more than untoward and inappropriate, as well, but the sight of your breasts propped up by that book nearly sent me into a frenzy,” Lucent said.

“It did?” I asked him. “I remember I was nervous, because I hadn’t realized it at first, but then… then you were real.”

“You were wearing a skirt, too. Do you remember what happened?” he asked.

I did. I wasn’t wearing this exact skirt, but I had a skirt on right now that was close enough to the one from before. I wore a dressy blouse, too. No shoes, and no pantyhose this time, though. I had stockings that went halfway up my thigh instead, and then panties further up.

I reached down and pulled my skirt up a little, reliving that time in the library. I’d fallen asleep on a bean bag chair and hadn’t fully realized my surroundings at the time, but Lucent must have.

My skirt hiked up, a book held close to my stomach, pushing up my breasts, and him standing over me, watching me, gazing at me with…

With what? I didn’t know before. I knew now. I wondered what I would have thought about it back then. Would we have… what? Nothing good, I thought. Things like that didn’t happen, not really. Or, they took a little more time. Lucent couldn’t very well have forced himself onto me right then and there, you know? And, I knew him now; he wouldn’t have done that, regardless. No matter what he said, and no matter how he acted, Lucent was always careful with me. He cared about me. He didn’t want to hurt me.

Or, he didn’t want to hurt me a lot. He’d gladly spank me, tie me up, make me beg, and do other wonderfully unspeakable things to me, but… well, I liked those things.

“You were watching me,” I told him as he stared at me with that intense and steady gaze of his. “You were always watching me, and so I know you must have been watching me then. You made me upset later, though. You said you didn’t want to look at me, and that was when I wanted you to look at me.”

“I was always looking at you, Miss Tanner,” Lucent said. “Always.”

“Where?” I asked. “Where were you looking then? What were you thinking when you found me in the library?”

“When I first found you, I immediately noticed your skirt,” he said. “It was up to about here, as you may have already realized.”

His fingers caressed up my stockings, towards the barest inkling of my upper thigh hidden beneath my skirt. He wrapped his fingers around my thigh, gripping me tight.

“I wanted to see more,” he said. “You really have no idea, Miss Tanner. You were wearing pantyhose, but I wanted to see the rest of you beneath that skirt of yours. It took all of my willpower to keep myself from staring between your legs.”

“If I remember correctly, you stared at my breasts instead,” I said, laughing. “I don’t think that’s much better, Lucent.”

“They were beautiful, too,” he said. “Propped up, plump, and luscious. I licked my lips when I saw you like that. It was over all too soon, though. Once you realized what position you were in, you jumped up and returned the state of your dress back to normal.”

“Yes,” I said, grinning at him, coy. “I think that’s what people usually do.”

“I know,” Lucent said. “In my mind, it went more like this, though.”

“Like–” I didn’t have a chance to ask him how it went; Lucent was already upon me…


(Read the rest by downloading your free copy or reading the online version)

All I Want for Christmas is Lucent ~
Kindle Version
Nook, Kobo, and iPad Version
Online Version (Read Online)

Master Over You Blog Tour Mega-Post!


Hi! This is the Master Over You Blog Tour Mega-Post. I think that sounds kind of fancy, so I thought I’d go with it, haha.

Anyways! This post will be updated daily with links to all of the blog tour spots for the Master Over You: A Dark Romance Novel blog tour through Xpresso Books. It should be interesting and exciting. (It’ll go in reverse order, so the newest posts will be at the top, super easy to find)

Also, if you haven’t entered yet, here is a neat giveaway for you to join, too:

*Giveaway*

Master Over You Release Celebration Giveaway

(Day Nine)

Home is Where the Wine is Book Blog (Top 10 List + Review)
In My Secret -Book- World (Excerpt)

(Day Eight)

Naughty Moms’ Story Time (Excerpt)

(Day Seven)

LeAnn’s Book Reviews (Excerpt)
Turner’s Antics (Excerpt)

(Day Six)

MI Bookshelf (Excerpt)
My Book Filled Life (Review)

(Day Five)

Escape into a Book (Review + Top 10 List)
A British Bookworm’s Blog (Review)
Cornerfolds (Excerpt)
New Adult Addiction (Excerpt)

(Day Four)

We Love Kink (Review + Interview!)
Tattooed Book Review

(Day Three)

She Hearts Books (Review)
Girls With Books (Excerpt)
Broadway Girl Book Reviews (Review)

(Day Two)

Living in Your Own Story (Review + Excerpt)
Creating Serenity (Guest Post by Cerys!)
A is for Alpha, B is for Books (Blitz)

(Day One)

Sinfully Sexy Books (Review)
Craves the Angst (Excerpt)
Mommy’s a Book Whore (Excerpt)
Romance Novel Giveaways (Review + a bunch of stuff)

Happy Master Over You Release Day! (Xpresso Books Blog Tour)


Boots Cover

Today is the official release day for Master Over You, which is super exciting to me. Not only is this the release day, but we’ve got some wonderful things planned out, which I will now tell you about.

First off, perhaps the most exciting one is that you can get Master Over You for free right now on Amazon! Woo hoo!

Here is a link for that, just for you:

Master Over You: A Dark Romance Novel (Extended Version, Author’s Preferred Text)
(Free until October 24th)

After that, it’ll just be $0.99, so if you miss out on getting it for free, it should be available for a discounted price for awhile, but not for too long. Definitely don’t wait on this one.

And next… blog tour! I’ll be making another post soon in order to keep track of all the blog tour stops in an easily viewable format, but here’s what we’ve got so far:

Sinfully Sexy Books (Review)
Craves the Angst (Excerpt)
Mommy’s a Book Whore (Excerpt)
Romance Novel Giveaways (Review + a bunch of stuff)

Ethan and I also have a giveaway going on in celebration of the book release and for the blog tour, so definitely check that out (it’s also available on all of the blog tour spots, so you can check it out there, too, if you’d like)

Master Over You Release Celebration Giveaway

(There’s a ton of prizes, which I’m really excited about!)

Are you excited yet? Have you read Master Over You already? What’d you think?

Master Over You ~ Cover Reveal (Cerys du Lys and Ethan Winters)


The Master Over You cover reveal is today! Not only are we super excited about it, but we have some really fun stuff for everyone, too.

First off… a giveaway!

Master Over You Cover Reveal Giveaway

The giveaway is ongoing through the rest of the week (ends August 10th), so definitely check that out. There’s a ton of chances to win prizes, too, so you can share it with a friend or two or twenty five (there’s twenty five prizes, haha).

Ethan and I are also really happy to announce that you can pre-order your copy on B&N and iTunes (Kobo coming soon, Amazon is currently unavailable). The official release date is October 20th, which will include a lot of extended, bonus, and special content that we’re working on right now. If you’d rather get your copy today, you can get it for just $0.99 on pre-order at these online bookstores (and it’ll be automatically sent to your eReader as soon as it’s released):

B&N – Master Over You Pre-order
iTunes – Master Over You Pre-order

There’s a monster in every closet, and I’m in yours

My name is Noah. I’m not a nice person. This isn’t cupcakes and candyland, love.

I’ll take you, break you, and offer you to the highest bidder without a second thought. You’re mine now. It’s business, nothing personal. You wouldn’t understand, and I’m not going to explain it. Sorry, love, you don’t mean a thing to me.

Just know that there’s a monster in every closet, and I’m in yours.

Author Note – This dark romance novel contains themes that may be discomforting to some people. If you are sensitive to depictions of violence, then this book is not recommended for you.

(Ethan Winters official debut release co-authored with USA Today bestselling author Cerys du Lys)

Man’s POV = Ethan, Woman’s POV = Cerys

There is a light at the end of every dark tunnel, no matter how dim it may seem.

And… now for the cover(s)! (There’s a main one, and two alternative versions)

Main Cover ~
Boots Cover

Alternative Cover (Noah) ~
Noah Cover

Alternative Cover (Dark Undress) ~
Pantyhose Cover

Which Master Over You cover do you like best? You can let us know in the comments. We’d both love to hear your thoughts. Also, definitely enter the giveaway before it’s too late, too. And there’s a way for you to vote for your favorite one(s) cover on Facebook, too!

His Absolute Obsession: The Billionaire’s Paradigm (Audio Books Like Fifty Shades of Grey)


Want to get this audiobook for free?
Sign up for a 30-day free trial offer on Audible
(includes one free audiobook)
then go here to get your free copy of His Absolute Obsession

The Fifty Shades of Grey official first movie trailer comes out today! Because of that, I thought it’d be fun to do something a little different and special. I can’t quite create my own movie trailer (not yet at least…), but some of what I write is like Fifty Shades of Grey in a way, and I do have audiobooks, so…

I thought it’d be fun to create a YouTube sample of His Absolute Obsession: The Billionaire’s Paradigm!

(This is the scene when Elise first meets Lucent, before that fateful weekend they spend together trapped in the library during a record-breaking blizzard)

Trapped in a library during a blizzard, Elise finds herself stuck with the untoward magnate, Lucent Storme, who’s rumored to have more than a few forbidden desires…

What do you think? I love the narration and I think Irma Kent did a wonderful job at it. Just a little sneak peek there, but I really enjoy that scene, and it’s the start of so much more, too. Elise and Lucent are some of my favorite characters.

The rest of the audiobook is fairly long, but it’s only the beginning, too. His Absolute Obsession is over 2 hours of steamy romance, commanding intrigue, and dominant mystery. There are more audiobooks in the series, too. Can’t wait for the Fifty Shades movie to come out and want something to tide you over in the mean time? For less than the price of a movie ticket (and for more than 2 hours of romantic enjoyment) you can get His Absolute Obsession right now.

You can find His Absolute Obsession on:
Audible – His Absolute Obsession
Amazon – His Absolute Obsession
iTunes – His Absolute Obsession

The e-book version is available on Amazon, as well.

Review: Only Pretend


Only Pretend
Only Pretend by Nora Flite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Seductive Confliction

I’ve read all of the Hard Body Rock books by Nora Flite and really enjoyed them. I’ve also read Tears of Tess, though I haven’t delved too deep into dark romance besides that. I do like it sometimes, but I think other times it’s done a bit oddly and too far for me.

Saying that, I really enjoyed Only Pretend. It had some of the same elements that I’ve come to enjoy from Nora Flite’s books, but with a sense of something more like in what Pepper Winters’ writes.

Only Pretend is a wonderful story, but there’s a definite sense of darkness and depravity going on. After Celeste is not only fired from her job, but also broken up with by her boyfriend, for being “boring” as he says, she decides to find a new life for herself. I really liked the idea of that, too. I think sometimes everyone imagines what it’d be like to pretend you’re someone else for a day, right? So this is like that, except…

She gets what she wants in a way, and then way more than she could have ever imagined. Leonide is sensually provocative, but with some absolutely dark desires. He’s that man you love to hate, who can pull your strings and bring out the best in you, providing you with immeasurable pleasure, but… what does he want in return?

That’s really the driving question that I kept wondering about throughout the novel, and I think that’s one of the things I liked most about it. We start off knowing a little about Celeste, but not everything. And Leonide is a complete mystery initially. Where did he come from, what is he doing, and why?

Celeste started off trying to pretend, but maybe there’s even more pretense to all of this than we know?

If you like Nora Flite’s other books, or Tears of Tess, I think you’ll really enjoy this one. It’s got a seductive style that really keeps you reading. I liked the thrill and suspense aspects, too. There’s some darkness, obvious, so you really need to be able to handle some adult themes, but… I think everything in this book is the sort of thing you really want to read about, but maybe not talk about in “polite” company? Haha. Curiosity is a dangerous and compelling thing! But oh so wonderful, too.

Highly recommended! I loved this book.

View all my reviews

New Release ~ Love Charms – A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set


Love Charms, a collaboration between ten bestselling paranormal romance authors, was released earlier this week. There’s some really great authors in there, some of which have been on the New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists.

LC Boxed Set

10 scorching paranormal romances for ONLY 99 cents! LIMITED TIME ONLY! (REGULAR PRICE: $9.99)

Available at:
Amazon (US | UK) | B&N | Kobo | iBooks (Coming Soon!)


Escape into the world of paranormal romance, a magical journey featuring delicious demons, wanton witches, zealous zombies and more that promise you a hauntingly good time! Featuring spell-binding novels from popular New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble bestselling authors, including Ava Catori, Selena Kitt, Cerys du Lys, Deanna Roy and more, these enchanting books will be sure to charm, beguile and bewitch you!

Blinded by Magic, A Witch Romance by Ava Catori: Raven’s weakness is mortal men. She’s fallen hard for Derek. There’s just one problem, he doesn’t know she’s a witch. Can he accept her truth or will their relationship crumble?

Blind Date by Selena Kitt: Selena Kitt’s Blind Date ventures into the strange and surreal realm of magical realism in a hot Valentine’s Day romance that takes on the classic Greek myth of Eros and Psyche.

Breathless by Cerys du Lys: Sadie and Evan live in different worlds. Brought together by fate, and held there by hope, can they bridge the gap dividing humanity, or will long held fears and prejudice force them apart forever?

The Passion Cure by Deanna Roy: Jet is a Nix, an outcast enchantress with zero power. To conjure a love spell to save her family, she seduces a handsome enchanter who is willing to break the rules, and possibly, her heart.

Marked by Charisma M. Cole: Jade Murray is a witch that can communicate with the dead. After a summoning goes awry, two murders rock the human and supernatural world. One thing connects the gruesome acts: Jade.

The Warlord’s Concubine by J.E. & M. Keep: As a servant to the princess for much of her life, Mirella sees the conquest of the land as an opportunity to elevate herself.

A Demon and His Witch by Eve Langlais: Remy’s seen a lot during his tenure in Lucifer’s guard, but nothing can prepare him for the witch with the acerbic tongue–and voluptuous figure. Can he convince her to love him and not kill him?

Psychic Appeal by Michelle McCleod: Psychic Sofia Parker has fallen in love, a problem because her new relationship drives the lovesick ghost of her ex-boyfriend to come back from the dead…anyway he can.

Memoir of a Reluctant Shaman by Ty Nolan: When his love spell goes wrong, our hero is exiled to be fully initiated as a Shaman in this spicy tale of New Orleans Voodoo and Native American magic.

Vampire Lords of Blacknall Trinity by Shirl Anders: Only a creature of the night can save her. Lady Beth Winslow never stays home at night. She fears her stepbrother. Then a monster stalks her in the dark woods and she cannot tell beast from savior.
Love Charms Cover


For this collection, I offered up my book, Breathless.

Breathless is a lot different from anything I’ve ever written before. I loved writing it, but some parts of it were very difficult. I needed a way to portray the confusion that Sadie has to deal with in this new world she’s been forced into, but I wanted to also show a sense of redemption and love, too. Admittedly, Sadie and Evan come together fast once they meet, but I don’t think it’s unbelievable. The circumstances and situations they’ve been thrown into are kind of crazy, and you don’t have time to worry or overthink things, you know? You either trust someone or you don’t, and you don’t have a chance to second guess yourself later. It either works out, or it doesn’t. I really liked that sort of “black and white” mentality going on. The other thing I liked is that not every character in the story follows along with that mindset, either.

Everything in Breathless is heightened in a way. The characters need to figure things out fast, or deal with the consequences. Granted, these aren’t always bad consequences, but every single thing that they do will have a reaction at some point in time. Literally everything. If they step outside and go for a walk in the morning, that could have dire consequences. If they fall in love, it could change their lives forever. In Breathless, the idea of dating someone, then breaking up with them… it just doesn’t exist. The world is too complex for something like that.

I wanted to capture that aspect of it, of the “survivor” and people’s will to survive. I wanted desperation and desolation, but I wanted hope and fighting against the odds, too. I wanted to write the sort of story that I think characters like Sadie and Evan deserve, and so that’s what I set out to do. I really like how it turned out, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, also!

Valentine’s Day and New Adult Romance


Loving couple in romantic city
Valentine’s Day is soon! I really love Valentine’s Day and I think it’s one of the more exciting holidays. It’s special in a lot of ways, you know? It can be romantic, but it’s not necessarily just about romance.

Valentine’s Day, to me, is about special moments. What I really love about it is that it’s not just one special moment, but kind of a combination of all of them. I feel like Valentine’s Day tries to recapture everyone’s “firsts” and lets us relive them for one day of the year. Because of this, it reminds me a lot of new adult romance, too.

One of the best things about new adult romance is that it’s something everyone can relate to. Whether you’re younger and currently going through being a new adult, or if you’re older and have already gone through it, it’s an experience that everyone will have at some point in time. It’s like a first kiss, you know? You always remember your first kiss, no matter where it was or who it was with. Hopefully your first kiss was really nice, but sometimes they aren’t. There’s lots of other romantic firsts, too, so don’t disregard those, either!

So, saying all of that, I feel like Valentine’s Day and new adult romance are a natural complement to each other. New adult romance lets us re-imagine our own coming of age. We can remember the feelings of being a new adult, whether it happened yesterday or a lot more yesterdays ago. We can remember being in good or bad relationships. We remember our first loves, our first kisses, our first time being intimate with someone in other ways, too. Maybe it’s the first time we invited someone to stay the night at our apartment, or the first night someone invited us to do the same. The first time we were invited for coffee, or to a certain restaurant.

New adult romance is about figuring out how to deal with all of these firsts. It’s about the experience, but also about the journey, you know? Valentine’s Day is all about remembering all of those. Maybe your first kiss was a really long time ago, but… what about your first kiss on Valentine’s Day this year? What’s that going to be like? I hope it’s special and I hope you’ll think of it as a different sort of first. And while you’re at it, why not relive all those firsts all over again? They don’t have to be perfect, because I don’t think a “first” anything is perfect, but they’re fun. Firsts are memorable and special.

And… the really nice thing about Valentine’s Day is that you can spend it with someone. Or… you don’t have to.

I admit that it can be a lot of fun if you have plans. Wake up early and get that first kiss of the day in. Depending on how frisky you and your partner are feeling, maybe you want to get a couple of other sexy firsts out of the way, too, haha. (Maybe a couple times? I won’t judge. There’s a whole lot of time between waking up, brushing your teeth, taking a shower, and having breakfast, so if you need something to occupy yourselves, well…). Valentine’s Day is on a Friday this year, so unfortunately that means a lot of people have to work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue your fun. Maybe a sexy email or text message here and there? Anticipation! That can be a ton of fun. Do you remember the first time you were really excited–I mean, really excited–for what was to come later?

Maybe you’ve got plans to go to a fancy dinner at a restaurant, or maybe you’d like to make a nice homemade dinner instead. Do you go to a movie, or watch one at home? What do you do at the movies? If your home, you’ve got a little more leeway, but if you’re out, there are definitely covert ways to have some playful fun while watching a movie. I’m not talking anything crazy here! A hand on a leg. Cuddling close. A light caress. You’ve got a lot of options. And after that, once you’re home (or if you’re already home), well… you’ve got a lot of options. You can do what you like, maybe you can relive some firsts, or you can have some more real firsts.

If you don’t have someone, I think that’s fine, too. Do you remember in grade school when everyone would make Valentine’s cards for everyone else? Give out candy, sometimes? Those cute little heart message candies? Or other candies. You could make your own easily enough, bake something nice, melt chocolate and buy some molds. Whatever you like!

If you don’t have someone, Valentine’s Day is the perfect excuse to have some fun by doing something you might not usually do. Do you want to grab the attention of a really attractive man at work? Or maybe you see him on your way to work every day? Maybe you don’t even have someone in mind, but you want to be prepared just in case you see someone you wouldn’t mind spending time with in the future (because you never know, you know?). You can, on Valentine’s Day, give him a Valentine’s card and some candy. I mean, you can give everyone a card and candy if you want, and maybe that helps it be a little more secretive. But, of course, you give the special man the special candy. Fill it up with “I love you” hearts! He won’t catch on, I swear. Everyone else gets the goofy candy hearts, but every single one he gets says “I love you,” and… maybe he’ll catch on and go further with it. You could be having a lunch break tryst in the copy room for all I know. I don’t know if I’d suggest that, but if you want to, Valentine’s Day sounds like a great time for it.

You could spend your day with friends, too. Go to special Valentine’s Day events, at a bar or a restaurant. I imagine there’s some fun one’s for singles, too, like speed dating or something. Actually, random side note, but I think that’d be really neat. What if you can go to a restaurant in your area as a single man or woman, and they’ll pair you with someone to have dinner with? If you like each other, you can exchange numbers, and if you don’t, then you can just eat and be on your way. That could be fun.

Anyways!

I hope everyone has a ton of fun this Valentine’s Day, no matter what you do. Remember what it was like for your first time, your first kiss, your first everything, and try to have those experiences again. Fall in love for the first time another time. Live and be happy and smile! A lot of new adult romance deals with difficulties and problems, but not everything is hard, you know? Love in general can be really difficult, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s just different and it’s special because of that. It’s memorable and beautiful.

Do you have any Valentine’s Day plans this year? I’d love to hear about them! Whatever you do, make sure to be happy and have a nice time.

A New Freebie!


Hello!

I mentioned in my newsletter this week that I was going to put up a new free story in the freebie section soon, and… well, hey! It’s there now. This is a sweeter one, and some of you may have read it already, but for those who haven’t, I hope you’ll check it out and see if you like it. I won’t spoil what it is, because it’s kind of like a present, I guess? You know, like… it’s fun to find out what it is after you open it (after you go to the freebie page), and then you can either get really excited or bemoan receiving a fruit cake for Christmas (or whatever holiday, I guess. I kind of like fruit cake, though, so maybe that’s not a great example).

Anyways! It’s there, so go check it out.

For those who can’t figure out how to get on the freebie page (because I haven’t figured out how to put good directions for it yet. Sorry!), you’ll need to sign up for my newsletter, which you can do on the side over there somewhere (—->). I send out newsletters on a weekly basis, and include the password to access my freebies from there. You also get fun information about stuff! What kind of stuff? Well, it varies a bit. I’ll mention my new releases and how I’m doing on specific stories, or what’s coming soon, all of that. I like to talk about other random things, too, like what I’m reading, or what I think of book things. And, I include fun little tips and tricks about sexy things (or things I think are sexy, at least. They aren’t always strictly tips, I suppose).

So… yes! Newsletters go out on Tuesdays, generally, and I’ve got two freebies available as of now, so… if you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for?

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