The June Invitation to Eden Releases are here!

Are you following along with the Invitation to Eden series? If not, get to it because you're missing out. : )  My installment will be in August (check out the first chapter), but each month we have three authors with new releases in the series.

You don't have to read them in order. Each book can standalone, and the common thread is that some part of each book happens on the mysterious Island of Eden where fantasies come true. (Think LOST with more sex, lol.)

And this month, we have three fantastic authors on the block.

Breaking Free by Cathryn Fox
Spring Break at college is  supposed to be a time of fun and parties, but Alaska Rossi, AKA Jane Smith, is on lockdown thanks to her father’s mafia dealings. She wants only to  party down with the  rest of her classmates.  At least her hot, darkly mysterious bodyguard— deep undercover as her dorm’s resident  assistant—gives her something to fantasize about during her boring nights in  confinement. When she wins a campus radio contest, and is gifted with  a special invitation to an exclusive island, she knows it’s her  chance to break free. After all, it’s a place where no one knows her name, so  what danger could  possible come to her? But when danger appears in the form of a masked man who takes control  of all her pleasures, tapping into her darkest fantasies, she begins to wonder  if her undercover lover, and the mysterious bodyguard who’s deep undercover, are one in the  same…

Kindle Nook Kobo iTunes


Hold Me Close by Eliza Gayle (Purgatory Club, Book 6)
Sometimes you need to cut and run and sometimes the ties run too deep to abandon. Bonnie’s job at Purgatory keeps her on edge in more ways than one. Every day the pain of her grief over losing her Dom threatens to consume her. Her only escape comes at the hands of the resident tattooed  bad boy who likes to keep things light and loose with a variety of women. He may not be the Dom of her dreams, but he chases away the darkness if only for one night… Dex is used to unattached submissives coming to him for a chance to feel the kiss of his flogger or the sting of his whip until they find their own Doms. With his busy life of ink and kink he likes keeping his women at arm’s length. Except one night a month when Bonnie shreds him every time she asks him to hold her close.
When a secret invitation to an island resort arrives, is it the answer to their problems? Or their worst nightmare?

Kindle 

Queen’s Knight by Sara Fawkes (a story set in the Anything He Wants world)
A man for whom Dominance is a way of life. A woman who refuses to yield control.
Dany McQueen was good at her job, and she knew it. Being the PA to one of New York’s most respected professional Doms had it’s unique challenges, but she could handle anything thrown her way…except the invitation to participate. Giving up control scared her, even when the offer was tempting beyond belief. When an invitation turns up at her door, however, that may give her a chance to live out her deepest fantasy, she’s ready to give it a shot. Gabriel Knight was getting old, and he felt every year. With his latest sub ending their partnership to pursue a vanilla relationship and family, he’s suddenly loathe to take on any more trainees. When his long-time personal assistant requests a vacation, he’s more than willing to grant it…until he realized exactly where she is going. Dany thought Eden would be somewhere she could enjoy her fantasies, safe from the pressure of her real life. She never expected for her boss to follow her, nor that his relentless pursuit would awaken a desire inside her she’d refused to allow herself before. Now that she’s had a taste of her Knight, Dany is desperate for more, but can a relationship so long suppressed work outside of their own private fantasy island?

Kindle  Nook  Kobo

A Wee Sneak Peek of FOREVER STARTS TONIGHT

Want a little peek into FOREVER STARTS TONIGHT? This novella is about Jace, Evan, and Andre, but I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of the cameo Grant and Charli make since it's been a while since they've popped up.

Releasing this September

From FOREVER STARTS TONIGHT (All Rights Reserved - Berkley Publishing):

Jace shielded his eyes from the sun as he crossed the open fields on the edge of The Ranch, looking for the horse paddock. He wasn’t overly familiar with this part of the property. Most of what he needed here was either at the main house or in the cabin he, Andre, and Evan often rented out. But ahead he could see the stables and the cowboy he was looking for.

Jace headed over that way and heard Grant Waters, owner and operator of The Ranch, explaining the ins and outs of saddling a horse to his girlfriend, Charli, who was standing there, hands on her hips and frustrated expression on her face. Jace smiled. That seemed to be Charli’s go-to expression when it came to Grant. Jace had seen the two scene together at the main house before, so he knew Charli was a fantastic submissive to Grant, and the love between them was obvious. But when not in those roles, she was a no-nonsense, highly opinionated tomboy who kept the big man on his toes.

The whole thing amused Jace to no end because Grant could be such a stoic, all-knowing bastard sometimes, and it was fun to see the guy get flustered or perplexed by his woman. It reiterated Jace’s belief that no man could keep it together all the time when he was in love. It was nice to know even the master of The Ranch wasn’t immune.

“Howdy, partners!” Jace called out, making his accent as countrified as possible.

Grant turned around and tipped his black cowboy hat up. “Well, look what the barn cat dragged in. Coming to the muck out the stalls, Austin?”

Jace sniffed. “I’m not even sure I know what mucking stalls means, but I think I’ll pass on anything with the word muck involved.”

“Smart man,” Charli said, giving the pretty brown mare she’d been trying to saddle a pat.

Jace leaned against the low fence. “Sorry to interrupt. I didn’t realize y’all were in the middle of pony play.”

“Now there’s an idea,” Grant said, sending Charli a lazy grin. “Maybe the best way to show you how to saddle a horse is to saddle you.”

 She gave Grant the same look Evan gave Jace this morning when he’d asked her to stay home from work and rest. “Just try it, cowboy. See who ends up wearing a saddle and a tail.”

Grant chuckled and adjusted his hat. “Freckles, you know I’d let you ride me anywhere, anytime.”

 

Want to have it show up on your reader the day it's released? Only 2.99 Pre-order now: Kindle | Nook

 


FOREVER STARTS TONIGHT Cover Reveal!

Jace, Evan, and Andre's follow-up novella is only a few months away now (September). And yay, we have a cover!

I love this cover because the book takes place in a snowy mountain cabin, and I know these three are going to steam up quite a few windows. 

What do y'all think?

And if you want to pre-order it so that you get it the second it's available, here you go: Nook | Kindle

 

 

“I can’t wait for Roni Loren’s next tantalizing story!” (Jo Davis). The wait is over. They fell in love in Melt Into You, but that was only the beginning. NowNew York Times bestselling author Roni Loren dials up the passion as three lovers reinvent the meaning of togetherness and find out if love is truly enough… 

Two dominant men, one beautiful woman. Jace Austin knows he doesn’t have what you’d call a conventional relationship with Evan and Andre, but it works. Boy, does it work—until Evan starts acting strangely and Andre’s ex-fiancée pops back into his life, unbalancing a perfectly happy threesome. Jace is forced to face the unthinkable: that the two people he cares most about in this world are in danger of slipping away from him.

So Jace plans a surprise getaway to a secluded mountain cabin for the three of them. And he knows exactly what he needs to do: give both his lovers a fantasy week they’ll never forget. And the possibilities for pleasure are endless. But when they get snowed in and the heat between them reaches a fever pitch, secrets come out. And Evan has one that could change all their lives forever.

 

Who's excited? :-)


Must Read Monday: The Best of My Book Binge

After I turned in a honking pile of writing, including short stories, a novella, and a novel mid-March, I was in desperate need of a break. And what do breaks mean? Book binge! :) So since I'm just getting back from the RT Booklovers Convention and haven't quite recovered my brain yet, I thought I'd share my favorites from my most recent book binge.

And I'd love to hear in the comments what you've been reading and loving lately.

Here goes, in no particular order:

Foreplay: The Ivy Chronicles by Sophie Jordan (New Adult)

Really sexy and fun AND only 99 cents right now!

 

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan (YA)

A few years in the future and they've learned how to identify the kill gene. What happens when a good girl tests positive for the gene? I loved the concept and I loved the book. I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel now.

 

Hard Time by Cara McKenna (erotic romance)

A convict hero. Yep. Every time I read a premise for a Cara McKenna book, I'm like, how is she going to pull that off? Then she does. She's become an autobuy for me.

 

Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry (YA)

Dude, I just went to grab the pic for this and it's on sale for 31 cents! Go buy it. I loved this book.

 

And for something a little different...

600 Hours of Edward by Craig Lancaster (lit fic)

This one follows a man who has Aspergers and OCD. It was recommended to me and I really enjoyed it. I'd say it's more a lit fic type book, but had a good pace and kept me reading. 

 

Spin by Catherine McKenzie (women's fic)

I don't read a lot of women's fiction but this one sounded like a fun premise. Reporter goes undercover in rehab to get a story about a starlet but finds out she really needs rehab herself. Ended up really liking this one.

 

So those are my faves from the last few weeks, what are some of yours?

 

*As always, none of these authors solicited me for reviews. I don't take review requests and any recs I give are from my own personal TBR pile and based on my own leisure reading.

A Writer's Block Breaker: 30 Songs For 30 Chapters

As most of you know, I'm slightly obsessed with books on the writing craft. And a few weeks ago, I was poking around in Barnes and Noble (as you do) and picked up the book Now Write! Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror: Speculative Genre Exercises from Today's Best Writers and Teachers  (Edited by Laurie Lawson) to flip through.

Now, I write romance, so you may be wondering what would make me pick up a book about speculative fiction, but I like to expand my horizons. And there are things to be learned from other genres. Plus, I love horror and may one day pen something with some scary stuff.

Anyway, this book is filled with short essays (1-2 pages) on different topics: World Building, Plotting, Creativity, etc. and at the end of each essay are writing exercises. (Hence the title Now Write!)

And I've only read a handful of them thus far, but it's turned out to be a great book already. And one of the exercises I read last night got me moving in all kinds of creative directions. This exercise was by Diego Valenzuela in an essay titled "The Constant Writer: How To Plot An Entire Story In Minutes and Never Run Out of Ideas"

I won't go into the whole essay because you should buy the book. But the exercise he suggests is so much fun and oddly effective at sparking ideas. So here it is:

Put your playlist on shuffle. Write the numbers 1-30 for your 30 chapters and then label each chapter with the song title that comes up. Then use those titles to help plot/spark ideas for your story.

I read it and was like--sounds interesting but how could that work? So, of course, I tried it.

Here's what I got with my own playlist:

Pretty cool, yeah? Especially that near the "black moment" time in a book I have Live and Let Die, Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone, and Walk Away. And then the last chapter is a song about goodbyes. 

But these are my songs that I'm already familiar with, so I decided to try a variation. I put on Spotify's Coffee House station and did the first 30 songs of that. And look, I ended up with a road trip book! And I kind of got a story idea from it. How awesome is that?

Then I was chatting with my friend Julie Cross and she did it. And when I looked at her list, I thought--hey she has a sci-fi space novel! Daylight, Extraordinary, Come Fly With Me, Defying Gravity, Radioactive, 93 Million Miles...

 

So yeah, you've just lost the next hour of your life because I bet you can't resist. ;-)  If you do one, feel free to post it in the comments. I love seeing other people's lists.