Guest Bloggers

#Freebie #Blitz A Shameless Little Con by Meli Raine @meliraineauthor #MFRWAuthor



A Shameless Little Con

Author: Meli Raine
Release date: January 30, 2018
Genre: Romantic Suspense

**FREE 8/4 to 8/31**

Description:

I didn’t do it.

I never betrayed my friend.

Last year, I was kidnapped along with presidential candidate’s daughter Lindsay Bosworth, forced to help her assailants, my mother implicated in one of the biggest political scandals in American history.

I’ve been cleared of any wrongdoing, but that doesn’t matter. Once you’re tried by the media, you’re guilty as sin. The truth doesn’t get the public’s attention.

But shame? Shame sells.

And everyone assumes you’re tainted.

Now I have my own personal security team, courtesy of the United States government. Not the one you learned about in civics class, though.

I’m being tracked by the deep state. The shadow government. They’ve assigned Silas Gentian to be with me twenty-four seven. He thinks he knows everything about me – all of it bad — and he does.

On paper.

Like everyone else, he assumes I’m a traitor. A backstabber. A betrayer. Someone who helped a group of violent psychopaths, puppets of powerful men in Washington who made me into a tool.

Yet I see how he looks at me. True desire can’t be faked.

Or hidden.

And that goes both ways.

He assumes I’m trying to fool him.

And he might be right.

But not for the reasons he thinks.

A Shameless Little Con is the first book in the Shameless trilogy by USA Today bestselling author Meli Raine.

Read the whole series:

Book 1: A Shameless Little CON

Book 2: A Shameless Little LIE

Book 3: A Shameless Little BET

Buy Links for A Shameless Little Con

iBooks: http://apple.co/2AjKfyG
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2hGFMKV
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2zmLWel
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2hRzxrC
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2mOqQzY
Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2B2IGSS
Nook: http://bit.ly/2zVm0pg
Google Play:  http://bit.ly/2A0fQkS
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2DMJKiO

Buy Links for A Shameless Little Lie

iBooks: http://apple.co/2j1BthB
Nook: http://bit.ly/2oN9q4w
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2FlFaYI
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2FbdFSa
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2tdVJRt
Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2HXs9Db
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2oLBy80
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2H3nb6B
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2FcBIQL

Buy Links for A Shameless Little Bet

iBooks: https://apple.co/2GmPVHj
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2riKGCh
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2HU9l7v
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2HLswEi
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2roOSBx
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2JQZPlQ
Nook: http://bit.ly/2JSIfhF
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2HTkzZB
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2rnvGTU

Author Bio:

Meli Raine writes romantic suspense with hot bikers, intense undercover DEA agents, bad boys turned good, and Special Ops heroes — and the women who love them.

Meli rode her first motorcycle when she was five years old, but she played in the ocean long before that. She lives in New England with her family.

Social Media Links:

Website:  http://meliraine.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/meliraine

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/meliraineauthor

Excerpt

He jolts, digging into his pocket to pull out a phone. Before he turns the screen away from me, I see his backdrop. It’s of a small dark-haired child on a beach, the picture taken from behind, her skirt flying around her legs, the little girl in motion, the blue skies over the green water idyllic.

Does he have a child? Who is the little girl? As Silas reads his screen, his shoulders slump slightly–in defeat.

What the hell is in that text he’s reading?

He leans his elbow against the door, setting the phone face down on his thigh, his expression troubled. I want to ask him if he’s okay. I want to ask him about the little girl. I want to ask him so many questions.

Most of all, I want to ask him to be kind to me.

I need someone to be kind to me.

Anyone.

Because you can live for a very long time in isolation.

But you can’t live among people for very long without needing kindness. It’s as essential as oxygen, as water, as food.

While you might not technically die without kindness, the existence you’re left with is worse than dying.

Freebie blitz organized by Writer Marketing Services.

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Out Now – For Queen and Country, Undercover Lovers: Book Three by Ellie Barker @sinfulpress @EllieBa3 #MFRWAuthor



Released on July 13th 2018 from Sinful Press, For Queen and Country is the new LGBT erotic crime novella by Ellie Barker, and is the final novella in the Undercover Lovers trilogy.

For Queen and Country concludes the story of Nikolas, a bisexual police mole, and Sky, a transgender thief, as they work to infiltrate the local crime syndicate. Ellie Barker has created a fast paced and highly entertaining trilogy, with a diverse range of characters, various sexual encounters, and unconventional romance. Secrets and Spies, the first in the trilogy, was released in May 2018, and In Bed with the Enemy, the second book in the trilogy, was released in July 2018.

The Undercover Lovers trilogy is Amazon exclusive for a limited time before being released across all main platforms. It is available to read through Kindle Unlimited.

Blurb:

Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is given an ultimatum; stop seeing his girlfriend, or lose his job. When a hasty attempt to keep both goes wrong, he does the only thing he can think of: he lies. But with his new roommate a member of the elite gang that Nikolas has been tasked to look into, and his assignations with his girlfriend constantly interrupted by calls on his services as a lover, Nikolas finds that work isn’t all fun and games.

For Queen and Country is a light-hearted erotic crime novella with LGBT themes.

Excerpt:

There’s something about fucking people I hate that I absolutely love.

It’s partly the pleasure. I can make them writhe, moan, plead for me to just keep doing what I’m doing. I can stop, teasing and taunting, sliding in and out slowly, flicking a clit or a nipple with my fingers or tongue. I can reduce them to a begging, panting mess just by using my body and my cock.

And it’s partly the sense of power. It’s being able to bend them naked over whatever I want, grip their hips, thrust in again and again. I love the way my hips slam into their skin, the way my fingers pinch and tug flesh, eliciting moans of pleasure even when I’m hurting them.

And it’s definitely the ability to make them orgasm. I can make them scream and groan, squirt over my fingers or pulse cum over their skin. I can draw it out, getting that build-up oh oh oh! until it snaps and they shake, jerking under me, held by my hands and cock and mouth as they can’t control their pleasure.

To see someone I hate at my command, helpless under my tongue, is really satisfying.

Case in point: Tanya Mardos. Blonde, large-breasted, round-assed, and quite frankly one of the biggest bitches I’ve ever met. She was a bitch to my girlfriend, and she’s a bitch to most of the people around her. She’s also a grade-A bitch when it comes to business, mostly because she doesn’t shy away from the illegal side of things.

She’s usually quite nice to me, but that’s because I have a cock and I know how to make her come—multiple times, if necessary. I’m a tool that she likes, especially right now, because I’ve just given her a screaming orgasm in her favourite position: up against the floor-to-ceiling windows of her penthouse, with everyone outside able to see her hot, naked body.

Not that they can, incidentally, because security dictates the glass is one-way. But it’s a fantastic illusion, and considering Tanya is an exhibitionist, she makes the most of it.

She’d just finished making the most of it, and headed back into the room to pick up a drink from the desk as I wiped my face and remembered how to breathe.

Book links:

Amazonhttp://smarturl.it/FQaCKindle

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38908150-for-queen-and-country

Author Bio:

Ellie mostly writes short’n’dirty flash fiction and short erotic fiction in any genre going. She prefers vampires over werewolves, and is always hot for a rainy night.

You can find out more about Ellie over at http://elliebarker.co.uk/, or follow her on Twitter as @EllieBa3

Release blitz organized by Writer Marketing Services

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Guest Bloggers

Out Now—Mia’s Choice (The Heiress’s Harem Book Three) by Lucy Felthouse (@cw1985) #reverseharem #whychoose #MFRWAuthor



Blurb:

But what happens after the wedding?

The last few months of Mia Harrington’s life have been tumultuous, to say the least. Losing her father, the bombshell in his will, followed by her multiple whirlwind romances and subsequent marriage—it’s little wonder she’s so thrilled to be spending three weeks in a tropical paradise with her four men. Rest, relaxation and a hefty dose of fun is precisely what they all need.

But the unconventional honeymoon isn’t all sea, sun, sand, and scorching sex. Back home in England, they have careers, responsibilities, other things that take up their time. Being in each other’s pockets on a tiny island is a challenge—but is it one they can rise to? Will this make or break their relationships? And when being away from it all gives them time to think, what impact will that have on the decisions they make about their futures?

Buy now (or read in Kindle Unlimited):
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07BZPF7LF/
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BZPF7LF/
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07BZPF7LF/
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07BZPF7LF/

Excerpt:

Mia Harrington sighed contentedly and tipped her head back to allow the sun’s rays to bathe her face. Her blonde hair swished gently behind her in the sea breeze. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so thoroughly relaxed. Sitting on the wooden deck of her bungalow with her bare feet dangling over the clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean was exactly what the doctor ordered.

She snorted. Her surgeon boyfriend, Alex Cartwright, hadn’t even organised this trip, though she was sure he’d had some input. No, this supremely unconventional yet utterly perfect honeymoon was all the doing of her brand-new husband, Elias. It wasn’t the location that was unconventional—honeymooners probably flocked to these secluded islands in their droves to celebrate their nuptials. No, it was the fact Mia and her husband had three tagalongs—Alex, Thomas Walker, and Arjun Chaudary—each of whom she was in a romantic relationship with. And everyone involved was perfectly okay with it.

Elias had even had the foresight to book five separate over-water bungalows—money was no object for her investment banker husband, after all—giving each of them the opportunity for their own space. Yes, the picturesque thatched huts were all in a row with a wooden walkway connecting them, but if any of the group wanted some alone time, they could easily get it. Essential, really, when five adults were living in each other’s pockets for three weeks on a tiny island, no matter how stunningly beautiful it was.

They’d been on honeymoon for three days, and so far, it was working out well. Being together—or at least within shouting distance of one another—twenty-four seven was a little weird, and not even close to how things would be when they got back to England, but Mia figured it would be a good test of the strength of their relationships. If there were any cracks, they would definitely be showing by the end of the trip. But if they all got along, then it was a good sign for their quirky future as a fivesome.

Quirky hardly covered it, if Mia was honest with herself. Her life had been nuts since the death of her father almost eight months previously. As an only child, and with her mother already dead, Mia stood to inherit her father’s estate—which included her beloved childhood home, a considerable fortune, the land and wider estate on which the house stood, and more besides.

But, to her shock and dismay, her father had put a caveat in his will, requiring Mia to marry what he deemed to be a suitable husband in order to inherit. A husband who would be willing to not only take her last name, ensuring any offspring they had would continue the Harrington line, but to sign a prenuptial agreement stating that he wouldn’t get a penny if they divorced.

Mia didn’t care about the money, but she did care deeply about her home, and the estate, which provided jobs for so many in the area—herself included. Added to that, if she didn’t marry, her worthless, money-grabbing cousin, Quinn, would get his hands on everything. Knowing perfectly well he wouldn’t give the house, the tenants, or the employees a second thought, Mia had resolved to find herself a husband—no matter how unimpressed she was about the idea. It was the only way to keep her home, protect the livelihoods of the estate workers, and prevent Quinn from squandering it all away.

It had all happened a great deal faster than she’d been expecting, however, and with a bunch more variables thrown in. Which was how she’d ended up on honeymoon with her new husband and three other men—all of whom she adored, and who adored her right back.

It was truly idyllic. Not just the location, but the situation. The company. She was with her four gorgeous guys on a private island with no prying eyes, no one to see or care what they were up to. The members of staff who kept things clean and tidy for them and provided their food packages were incredibly efficient and discreet, so she wasn’t worried about them gossiping. It was more than their jobs were worth, after all, and in this part of the world she imagined jobs were few and far between. Although part of her felt guilty they were having such a lazy, luxurious time while the locals worked so hard and probably earned very little for their efforts, another part of her was glad they were injecting money into the area. It likely relied on tourism to keep things going.

Mia and her men had surrendered their phones and tablets on arrival, and the resultant lack of contact with the outside world meant none of their jobs or other responsibilities would encroach on their time in this island paradise—though they could be contacted in an absolute emergency. Even better, there were no interruptions, diary clashes, or physical distances between them. They could be themselves, spend quality time together, relax, have fun, and do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to.

Up until now, they hadn’t done very much at all since they were getting over the long journey and the time zone change. Alex seemed to have recovered quickest—probably since he was used to working different shifts and insane hours at the hospital back home. He’d grown used to snatching hours or even minutes of sleep as and when he could. For Mia, Thomas, Elias, and Arjun, who all worked more regular hours, it had taken longer, but everyone finally seemed to be back on an even keel.

The deck creaked: someone was coming. Mia didn’t turn; the staff had disappeared after clearing away their breakfast things, so it could only be one of her men, and she honestly didn’t mind which. Half the fun of having them all in the same place at the same time was not knowing what was going to happen next, or with whom. Her new life was unpredictable, but in a safe way, a status quo which suited Mia’s personality perfectly—she liked adventure and excitement, but not too much. If controlled chaos was a thing, that was what she was aiming for.

A moment later she sensed a person right behind her, felt their body heat, and then gentle hands covered her eyes. A whiff of cologne reached her nostrils, telling her exactly who it was, but she kept quiet—she didn’t want to ruin the game.

*****

Author Bio:

Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award, and an Amazon bestseller), The Persecution of the Wolves, Hiding in Plain Sight and The Heiress’s Harem series. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 170 publications to her name. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter or Facebook. Join her Facebook group for exclusive cover reveals, sneak peeks and more! Sign up for automatic updates on Amazon or BookBub. Subscribe to her newsletter here: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter

 

Release blitz organised by Writer Marketing Services.

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Guest Bloggers

Short Story to Novella? Ellie Barker on Tour @EllieBa3 #MFRWAuthor #LGBT



Short story to novella?

So how did I manage to get from a short story to a three-novella storyline? As with everything, it started with two people meeting, and a spark…

Miss Blue Hair (published in the Sinful Press anthology “Sinful Pleasures”) started with a meeting between Sky, with her sky-blue hair and snarky humour, and Nikolas – sarcastic, charming, bisexual, flirty and oddly straightforward for someone who should be double-crossingly devious. As soon as I put him on the page, I knew that I wanted to write him – and I knew that his character meant his backstory wasn’t going to be straightforward. He’s a policeman, a mole who can’t quite leave the underworld behind, but refuses to be part of it: he’s torn between two worlds, and it makes for a very fun character to write.

But the novellas also started with a wider backstory. I knew that Nikolas had seen Sky before, and realised that it was during a failed theft – or, at least, a failed theft for him, when the documents that he wanted had escaped the building despite the latest security. If Sky had also been there, was she responsible? And if so, who was behind the theft, and what did her patron want with the information that Nikolas had failed to gain? I knew that even if he tried to question Sky, tipping her to the point of pleasure and back to get the truth, that it wouldn’t help him. He’d need to meet someone else.

And that brought the Queen into the game. Sky’s boss, with a penchant for secrets – and for sex, especially when she can manipulate other people using it. Nikolas was up for playing her game – and even when he found out the information he wanted to know, that led him even deeper into Sky’s world of secrets and spies.

xxx

Ellie

Excerpt from the Undercover Lovers Trilogy:

I pulled out my phone.

Bear answered within two rings. “Nikolas! This is a pleasant surprise.”

“I changed my mind about that nightcap, if the offer’s still open,” I told him.

Why the change of heart?” He sounded a bit surprised.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” And actually, it was true. I wanted to know what he was like in bed. How far down that beard went. What was under that suit. What he looked like when he came.

I thought you didn’t do one-offs?”

“Sky wants to hear all about it afterwards.”

I heard the bellow of laughter down the phone, and then he came back on the line, still chuckling. “Well, I can’t disappoint her, can I. When?”

“What’s wrong with now?”

Forty-five minutes later, I was getting out of a taxi at the foot of a tower block. Ten minutes had been picking up a bottle of wine that I liked, wondering if he’d like it, checking with Sky—who told me she didn’t have a fucking clue and I’d just got her killed, which meant she was playing something with Benny—and going back to my original choice. And now I was here, looking up at the lit windows above me and thinking about Tanya’s exhibitionism.

I’d wondered about getting a hotel room, but Bear had invited me over and I’d accepted. It meant if there was a trap I was walking into it, but then a hotel room had a veneer of anonymity that I didn’t necessarily like. Sky knew where I was going, and had offered to come and rescue me if needed—and that meant she could potentially bring both the Queen and Tanya’s resources down on someone’s head. Tanya Mardos didn’t care about much in the world, but I figured she’d probably have something to say if her current sex toy wasn’t available on demand.

And so I headed for the main door and pushed the button for the flat intercom.

Yes?” Bear’s voice said almost immediately.

“Nikolas.”

Come on up.”

Blurb:

Ellie Barker’s Undercover Lovers trilogy: the complete set.

Secrets and Spies

When Nikolas Jinsen, police mole, meets an unusual woman named Sky, he thinks he’s just in for a night of pleasure. But he’s soon pulled into a world of mafia dealings, stolen documents, hacked computers and kidnappings – not to mention a woman with a taste for exhibition, a Queen who demands payment in pleasure, and Sky herself; unusual, intoxicating, and wanting more than Nikolas may be willing to give.

In Bed with the Enemy

Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is given an ultimatum; stop seeing his girlfriend, or lose his job. When a hasty attempt to keep both goes wrong, he does the only thing he can think of: he lies. But with his new roommate a member of the elite gang that Nikolas has been tasked to look into, and his assignations with his girlfriend constantly interrupted by calls on his services as a lover, Nikolas finds that work isn’t all fun and games.

For Queen and Country

Nikolas Jinsen, police mole and mafia odd-job man, is usually pretty easy-going – both at work and in the bedroom. But there’s one thing he doesn’t forgive, and when an opportunity for revenge comes up against the woman who insulted his girlfriend, Nikolas is in… even if the woman in question is the powerful mafia boss who is currently retaining Nikolas’ services as a lover. Revenge is best served hot – and steamy.

Undercover Lovers is a fun LGBT erotic crime comedy novella trilogy.

Amazon Buy links:

Secrets and Spies (Book 1): http://smarturl.it/SaSKindle

In Bed with the Enemy (Book 2): http://smarturl.it/IBWTEkindle

For Queen and Country (Book 3): http://smarturl.it/FQaCKindle

Undercover Lovers Trilogy Paperback: http://smarturl.it/ULPrint

Author bio:

Ellie mostly writes short’n’dirty flash fiction and short erotic fiction in any genre going. She prefers vampires over werewolves, and is always hot for a rainy night.

You can find out more about Ellie over at http://elliebarker.co.uk/, or follow her on Twitter as @EllieBa3

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Guest Bloggers

Guest Linda Nightingale “The Summoning” @LNightingale #Giveaway #MFRWAuthor



The Summoning is a book, like many others, about good versus evil.  It’s not a romance alone. The story evolves around this central theme—the misguided Shaman against the hero and the heroine, who is a witch but is unaware of that fact until she summons Eryael from his dimension.  I wonder if another dimension is a fantasy element, don’t you? I’ve touched on that question in another post on my tour. In the excerpt, from Eryael’s point of view, he hears Heather calling him across and responds.

I am sitting in my office at 4:30 AM writing this short post. I hope you enjoy the excerpt and are intrigued by what you read.  The language in the book is a bit stilted but that’s the way Eyrael speaks. I’d be interested in your comments on this.

Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter.

I published The Summoning myself because my editor at The Wild Rose Press currently had another of my books to review, and I didn’t want to wait for her to work through at least one other book while this one languished in my computer. I don’t know the meaning of patience. So, here is The Summoning.

Blurb:

Heather Morique is a witch. The problem is she doesn’t know it. Her husband Jahill was a refugee from an obscure branch of the Arawak Indians. After his death, mysterious whispers lure her to his homeland of Jamaica. Soon, she finds herself in a web of secrets, lies and illusions.

Jahill’s people worship Eyrael, the God of Wind and Sea, and his brother Sofiel, the God of Fire and Earth. The new Shaman has pitted brother against brother, and these two powerful spirits from an alternate universe fight to become the tribe’s ruling deity. Will light or darkness reign?

When Heather unwittingly summons Eyrael, these two unlikely soul mates face a dangerous fate.  The chemistry between them is more disturbing than the long-buried secrets.

Excerpt:

Eyrael.

His name vibrated through his entire being. The intensity of the call shocked him. A sudden, unreasonable fear chilled him despite the warmth of the surrounding air. As he collected himself to respond, again another being’s panic seized him. Impossible but he was falling!

He was shrinking, compressing. It was a pleasant feeling, not painful, not frightening but interesting—a hugging together of his nebulous self. Disorientation should have alerted him that he was growing small enough to pass through, but it had been so long he’d forgotten.

This side of the curtain, time had no meaning. He remembered nothing of the other dimension—except that it existed in some vague, prickly memory.

Sofiel was with him, riding high on the crystal winds. His dark brother shot him a puzzled frown. He, too, felt the pull of the Summons. Chants echoed through his being, distant drums beating a seductive rhythm. A high-pitched scream—that of a woman—pierced him. Vague recollections of this tearing apart surfaced. The Summons was not for Sofiel. It was for Eyrael alone. Darkness blinded him, and he imploded.

Eyrael’s next awareness was the caress of a warm liquid holding and supporting him as the air had done moments ago. Not only the water, but he was changing shape, forming, drawing tighter together. He tried to expand, met solid resistance. He found himself inside a grid work of bone and flesh. A flash of light sizzled from the sky to the sea, thunder booming in its wake. Every detail of his previous visits to this place manifested at once. Strange the way that happened. It was always the same. One minute, he recalled nothing; the next, he knew everything. Memories waltzed before his eyes, beckoning him deeper into the mortal fold, the place where the People lived.

Their drums resonated in his blood, chants welding him to their realm. They had named him God of Wind and Sea, but commanded him to their will.

He concentrated on the shape of the People, flexing his arms, stretching his legs. Both too long, he had to adjust. The beach seemed far away, those gathered around the ceremonial fire stick figures. He blew out a breath, and the wind howled. He rethought his height. Finally, he achieved the Eyrael they expected to answer their Summons.

The sea played with his shoulders and his hair. Eryael smiled his Pleasure.

A scream gurgled in the waves ahead. A head split the churning ocean. One of the People. I must rescue. He shook the mane of hair back from his face and considered that, perhaps, he had too much hair. The tiny being reappeared frantically battling itself, spouting water from its mouth. Its cries stabbed him like splinters of darkness, and the pain, as much as any sense of duty, tugged him toward the drowning creature.

“Eyrael!” His name split the night sky, reverberating off the pinpoint stars.

He hated the mortal engaged in a hopeless skirmish with the water. Eyrael was irritated that its despair had somehow torn the curtain between the worlds and brought him over merely to sustain its brief flicker of life.

Silence. She no longer cried. Facedown, the waves washed a slender body toward the shore. A thrill shivered over his entire body. A woman, giver of the utmost Pleasure.

On the beach, dark shapes formed a half-circle around a blazing beacon fire. As one, they dropped to their knees and bent from the waist, their foreheads on the sand. A lone figure remained standing. The primal rainbow of feathers in the Shaman’s headdress danced in the wind of Eryael’s passage. Taino, young and virile, wiseman, witch doctor, a powerful magic user. The Indian sorcerer pinned Eyrael with eyes cold and hard as onyx.

Ah, the woman is a sacrifice. But not to me.

Buy link:  https://www.amazon.com/Summoning-Ancient-Gods-Book-ebook/dp/B075ZJWS9J/

Where to find Linda:

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/LNightingale

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LindaNightingaleAuthor

Web Site:  http://www.lindanightingale.com – Visit and look around. There’s a free continuing vampire story.

Blog:  https://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/ – Lots of interesting guests & prizes

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4839311.Linda_Nightingale

Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/lbnightingale1/

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Linda-Nightingale/e/B005OSOJ0U

Other books:

Love For Sale

Gambler’s Choice

Morgan D’Arcy: A Vampyre Rhapsody

Gylded Wings

Her General in Gray

The Summoning

Sinner’s Obsession

Cardinal Desires

 

Giveaway:  Linda will be giving away a $15 Gift Card through Rafflecopter! Winner will be announced 8/30.  Follow her on tour for more fun and chances to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

 

 

 

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The President’s Wife by Seelie Kay @SeelieKay On Tour #romanticsuspense #MFRWAuthor




The President’s Wife 
by Seelie Kay

Seelie will be giving away  an ebook of The Garage Dweller to three lucky winners drawn via Rafflecopter. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember there is a chance every day to enter to win. You may find all the tour locations here

About The President’s Wife: 
What happens when one of your best friends, the First Lady of the newly democratic Republic of Lodatia, appears to be an imposter? If you’re criminal defense attorney Julianna Constant, you pursue the truth like a rabid dog, then wage a battle to save your friend’s life.

When criminal defense attorney Julianna Constant travels to Washington, D.C. to join her former college roommate, Marella de la Aerelli, in celebrating her husband’s election as the first president of the newly democratic Republic of Lodatia, she is met with an unpleasant surprise. Her friend of almost 30 years not only looks unwell, she is cold and distant. After Julianna becomes convinced the woman is really an imposter, she attempts to expose the faux Marella by using a secret only she, Marella, and the sitting U.S. President share. In the process, Julianna helps to uncover an international conspiracy to seize control of the new country, using the president’s wife as a pawn in a dangerous and potentially deadly game. Will Marella be rescued before a coup takes place? Or will she become collateral damage in one tiny nation’s fight to be free?

BUY LINKS:
Publisher
Amazon: coming soon
Barnes & Noble: coming soon

Excerpt:

The state dinner at the White House was in full swing. Waiters were busy delivering food and pouring wine, as guests ate and chatted with others seated at their tables.

Julianna picked at her dinner, some sort of beef dish with quirky vegetables, and continued to study Lodatian President Georges and Mrs. Marella de la Aerelli, as they chatted quietly with the U.S. president and his wife. Marella barely looked up from her plate, and conversation with her hosts appeared to be minimal. God, that is so not the Marella I know. She hasn’t even acknowledged me and I sent her an email informing her that I would be here.

Julianna set her fork down on her plate and nudged her husband, Little River, Wisconsin Police Chief David Manders. “Something’s wrong.” Julianna whispered. “Marella looks wrong. Maybe she’s just tired after the campaign, but she looks sick. Too thin and too pale. And she isn’t smiling. Marella is always smiling, even when she feels like shit. And she hasn’t even looked at me. Why is she ignoring me? Something is not right. I can feel it.”

David looked at his wife and tried to hide his smile. “Jules, you find a conspiracy behind every door these days,” he said quietly. He looked around to ensure that the other four couples seated at their table were otherwise engaged. “I vote for tired, no, make that exhausted. My God, five months ago, she was a farm wife in Lodatia, now she’s been thrust into the international spotlight as the wife of the President. That would exhaust anyone. I know if you ran for president, it would have a negative impact on me.”

Julianna smirked. “If I became President, sir, it would have a negative impact on both of us.”
David sighed and ran a hand through his short, silver hair. His piercing blue eyes gazed at his wife, his fondness apparent. “Well, instead of jumping to conclusions, let’s wait until the reception at the Lodatian Embassy. There are a lot of rules and protocols for visiting dignitaries. Maybe it just isn’t appropriate to buddy up to an old friend at a state dinner. Once you get up close and personal with Marella, you can get a better fix on things. That woman has been through the wringer, what with that opposition group trying to assassinate her husband not once, but twice. I imagine the stress of clinging to Lodatia’s newly formed democratic government is a kind of like hanging on to a cliff, knowing that if you fall, there will be no net to catch you. Cut her some slack and do not tell her she looks awful.”

About Seelie Kay:

Seelie Kay writes about lawyers in love, with a dash of kink.

Writing under a nom de plume, the former lawyer and journalist draws her stories from more than 30 years in the legal world. Seelie’s wicked pen has resulted in nine works of fiction, including the Kinky Briefs series, The Garage Dweller, A Touchdown to Remember, and The President’s Wife, as well as the romance anthology, Pieces of Us.

When not spinning her kinky tales, Seelie ghostwrites nonfiction for lawyers and other professionals. Currently she resides in a bucolic exurb outside Milwaukee, WI, where she shares a home with her son and enjoys opera, the Green Bay Packers, gourmet cooking, organic gardening, and an occasional bottle of red wine.

Seelie is an MS warrior and ruthlessly battles the disease on a daily basis. Her message to those diagnosed with MS: Never give up. You define MS, it does not define you!

Seelie can be reached at www.seeliekay.com, www.seeliekay.blogspot.com,  Twitter or Facebook.

Author links:
www.seeliekay.com
www.seeliekay.blogspot.com
Twitter: @SeelieKay https://twitter.com/SeelieKay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seelie.kay.77
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Seelie-Kay/e/B074RDRWNZ/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1517848564&sr=1-2-ent

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Guest Bloggers

Out Now in eBook and Audio—Lottery Losers by Lucy Felthouse (@cw1985) #romance #steamy #SupportIA #IARTG



I fell in love with this fun story when it came out in a boxed set earlier this year – now it’s available as a stand-alone, and I know you’ll love it, too! I’m always happy to see romance re-kindled in a married couple (well, and sizzling sex doesn’t hurt, either!).

Blurb:

Winning the lottery is a dream come true… isn’t it?

Susie Parmenter and her husband of almost twenty years, Peter, are lottery jackpot winners. They’ve been able to do everything they’ve ever dreamed of—quit their jobs, design and build their perfect home, buy expensive cars, travel the world… So why is Susie bored out of her mind? She thought being a lady of leisure would be amazing, but unfortunately the reality is far from amazing. How can she possibly tell anyone that, though?

Climbing the walls, sinking deeper into irritation and misery, Susie can’t see a way forward. But what she’s not betting on is that Peter has noticed his beloved wife isn’t happy. And he’s taken steps—drastic steps—to turn things around. But will they live to tell the tale?

Note: Lottery Losers was previously published in the Love Me Hard boxed set.

All eBook and audio buy links here: https://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/published-works/lottery-losers/

Add to your Goodreads shelves: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40233468-lottery-losers

Excerpt:

Susie Parmenter let out a heavy sigh and closed her book, then put it down on the table beside her. She closed her eyes and let her head loll back on her shoulders, enjoying the warmth of the summer sunshine on her skin, which was pleasant but not too hot. It wasn’t the book that was boring her—under normal circumstances, she’d have been riveted by the crime fiction novel featuring a hunky lead detective—it was life. Just lately, her world had become so dull, so predictable, that she just couldn’t summon any enthusiasm for anything.

The worst of it was, she couldn’t tell anyone. It was a problem so utterly first world it was embarrassing. Humiliating, even. Admitting her permanent state of apathy would be ridiculous, and she doubted anyone would understand where she was coming from, anyway. After all, how could you possibly tell your friends, your family, your husband, that you were bored out of your damn mind when you had, quite literally, everything? Since winning a lottery jackpot twelve months ago, Susie and her husband, Peter, had had their worlds turned completely upside down.

At first, of course, it had been amazing. They had won more than enough money to live incredibly lavish lifestyles for the remainder of their years—even if they lived to be very old indeed. So, once the cash was safely in the bank, they’d quit their jobs. Then they’d taken off on an incredible round-the-world trip, spending much of their travel time plotting and planning what else they were going to spend their winnings on. By the time they arrived home, they were ready to hire an architect to draw up plans for a custom-build home. Another two weeks later, they’d found and purchased the plot of land, and were talking to builders. Things moved fast—but then, Susie had found that was often the case when large sums of money were involved.

Now their dream home was complete. It was, naturally, stunning. The huge house stood high on a hillside in the Derbyshire countryside, with only a handful of other properties in sight. It was situated so that from one side of the house, you could watch the sun rise in the morning, and from the other, you could watch it set in the evening. There was a covered and heated swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a sauna, a gym, a home cinema… everything a person could possibly need or want, and then some.

They employed a cleaner and a gardener, so aside from cooking meals three times a day—if they didn’t eat out or order takeaway, that was—there was nothing to do around the house. Susie had moved the furniture umpteen times, which was a novelty at first, given their old house had been so small that every single item had a place that it fitted into—barely, in some cases—and that was that. She now found herself swapping pictures around and tweaking the positions of ornaments on a regular basis, often putting them back where they’d been to start with.

She’d gotten into a routine of using the pool, gym, and sauna every morning, but that still left hours and hours of the day just waiting to be filled.

It was all right for Peter—he might have ditched his job, but these days his time was divided between playing golf, and being involved in a bunch of stuffy business boards. She didn’t really understand what he did at the meetings, if she was honest, but it didn’t matter. What did matter was that, only weeks after moving in to their beautiful new home, Susie’s boredom was at fever pitch. She was climbing the walls. Surely even board meetings were more exciting than this?

*****

Author Bio:

Lucy Felthouse is the award-winning author of erotic romance novels Stately Pleasures (named in the top 5 of Cliterati.co.uk’s 100 Modern Erotic Classics That You’ve Never Heard Of, and an Amazon bestseller), Eyes Wide Open (winner of the Love Romances Café’s Best Ménage Book 2015 award, and an Amazon bestseller), The Persecution of the Wolves, Hiding in Plain Sight and The Heiress’s Harem series. Including novels, short stories and novellas, she has over 170 publications to her name. Find out more about her writing at http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk, or on Twitter or Facebook. Join her Facebook group for exclusive cover reveals, sneak peeks and more! Sign up for automatic updates on Amazon or BookBub. Subscribe to her newsletter here: http://www.subscribepage.com/lfnewsletter

 

Release blitz organised by Writer Marketing Services.

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Guest Bloggers

Guest Lisabet Sarai: Burn, Baby: A Sapphic Six Pack @LisabetSarai #MFRWAuthor #LGBT #FF



Six-alarm lesbian lust

Blurb


Desire burns hot in these six sizzling tales by Lisabet Sarai. A high-powered executive and a Goth rocker collide on a rainy Manhattan night and succumb to the attraction of opposites. An  unorthodox therapist rekindles the libido of a traumatized fire-fighter.  A nun fights her forbidden lust for the voluptuous hooker resident at her women’s shelter. Burn, Baby includes many of Lisabet’s lesbian favorites as well as a searing, shocking new tale, “Countertransference”.

 

Approximately 26,000 words (75 pages)
Genre: Lesbian erotica – short stories
Heat level: Explicit (5 flames)
ISBN (Smashwords): 9780463292082
ASIN (Amazon):  B07DMYQCH9

Buy Links

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DMYQCH9

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DMYQCH9

Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/838852

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/burn-baby-lisabet-sarai/1128902422?ean=2940155289302

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40532328-burn-baby

ONLINE EXCERPT LINK (X rated): http://www.lisabetsarai.com/herowndevicesex.html

Excerpt

From “The First Stone”

“You’re kinda pretty, for a nun.”

The voice was low and throaty, laced with echoes of the ghetto.  It dragged me away from the columns of figures marching down the screen in front of me, out of the well-ordered realm of accounting and into the messiness of our inmates’ lives. Our guests, I corrected myself. Nobody was forced to stay at Serenity House.

“Um — excuse me? Can I help you?”

My interlocutor grinned at me. Her plump, mauve-painted lips framed teeth that were a shocking white in her ebony face. She shook her head. Cheap, brassy earrings dangled from her fleshy lobes, swinging back and forth over her bare shoulders.

“Just wanted to say hi. Oh, an’ to ask if I can stay out past curfew tonight. Heard you were in charge.” She extended a hand tipped with hot pink fingernails. “I’m Magnolia. Me and Moonbeam just got here yesterday.”

November in Boston, two weeks before Thanksgiving, but Magnolia’s skin felt August-hot. The woman’s breasts almost overflowed the sequined tube top that constrained them. Below, she wore baggy sweatpants with a Celtics logo that didn’t hide her more than ample curves. Her feet were crammed into open-toed high heels of scuffed gold-toned plastic. She towered over me. I felt pretty sure that would be true even if I were standing.

“Moonbeam?” Confronted by this apparition, I couldn’t seem to manage more than a couple of words.

“My kid.” Magnolia indicated a diminutive toddler with kinky pigtails, sprawled on the floor of the common room, surrounded by alphabet blocks. Hard to believe that delicate child was the offspring of this Amazon.

“Ah — um — well, you’re very welcome here, Magnolia. We’re glad to have you with us.” I struggled for the warm yet professional manner I’d learned to adopt with our guests. Rising from my chair, I gave her hand a firm squeeze before relinquishing it. My skin tingled in the aftermath. I’d been right; she stood half a head taller than my five feet six inches, and probably weighed nearly twice what I did. “Have a seat, please. I’m Sister Kathleen Patrick, the assistant director. But I guess you know that.”

She settled her bottom into the chair I’d indicated. “Yeah, the other gals told me. Pleased to meet you, Sister.” Her plucked eyebrows knotted into a frown. “That what I should call you? I ain’t had much experience with nuns.”

Her obvious concern made me chuckle. “’Sister’ would be fine. Or you can just call me Kathleen. We don’t stand on ceremony here at Serenity House.”

“Not like at Baystate Rehab. You forget to call one of the nurses ‘Miz’ or ‘Mister’, you lose privs for twenty-four hours.” She swiped the back of her hand across her brown forehead, which was beaded with sweat. The woman must have a furnace inside.

There was something lush and tropical about Magnolia. Her name fit her. She seemed totally out of place in this shabby office lit by the unrelenting gray of the late autumn sky. I could imagine her wrapped in a rainbow-hued sarong, dancing barefoot on a beach beneath swaying palms. Or swimming naked through the waves under a golden moon…

I hauled my thoughts back to the present. “Is that where you’ve just come from?” Not all our guests had substance abuse problems, but it was pretty common.

“Escaped is more like it.” She giggled. “This place’s like heaven after Bayhab. Six fucking weeks — oh, sorry, Sister — I mean, six long weeks in that hellhole! Away from my baby, too.  ‘Course, I deserved it. All the junk I pumped into my veins, not thinkin’ about who’d care for her if something happened to me. Then the OD — I really fucked up. Oh, I’m sorry, Sister!”

“Never mind. So you’ve made yourself comfortable, then? You’re happy with your room?”

Yesterday had been my day off. Rachel must have done the intake. I reminded myself to check Magnolia’s file after she’d left the office.

“It’s great. I’m sharing with Lou-Ellen and her little boy. He’s only a couple months older than Moonbeam.  Food’s good, too.” She flashed me another grin and glanced down at her generous body. “Not that I need it!”

Her laughter kindled mine. Our eyes met. Hers were espresso-brown, practically black, fringed with mascara-augmented lashes. They snagged me like magnets.

Something jolted through me — a lightning strike, a sudden storm, some personal earthquake. The floor dropped out from under my chair and I found myself suspended in space. My breath caught in my throat and perspiration soaked the armpits of my gray wool sweater. I’d been chilly before — we tried to stretch our donor’s generosity as far as possible — but now I burned. I couldn’t tear myself away from her gaze, though I knew I’d been staring far too long.

 

About Lisabet Sarai

 

LISABET SARAI writes in many genres, but F/F fiction is one of her favorites. Her lesbian erotica credits include contributions to Lambda Award winner Where the Girls Are, Ippie-winning Carnal Machines, Best Lesbian Romance 2012, Forbidden Fruit: Stories of Unwise Lesbian  Desire,  and Lammy-nominated Coming Together: Girl on Girl. Her story “The Late Show” appears in the recently released Best Lesbian Erotica 2015.

 

Lisabet holds more degrees than anyone would ever need, from prestigious educational institutions who would no doubt be deeply embarrassed by her explicit literary endeavors. She has traveled widely and currently lives in Southeast Asia, where she pursues an alternative career that is completely unrelated to her writing. For all the dirt on Lisabet, visit her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com) or her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com).

 

 

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True, by Ann Everett @talkintwang #MFRWAuthor #Giveaway


True
A Bluebird, Texas Romance
by Ann Everett

Ann is giving away five awesome prize packages. Please use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Remember you may enter every day for your chance to win one of the prize packages. You may find the tour locations here

About True:

Sometimes it takes losing everything…

True Shanahan must be the unluckiest woman in the world. Either that or she’s cursed. After another failed relationship, True leaves Dallas with a broken heart and new attitude. It’s time to walk on the wild side. But when she makes a wrong turn and ends up in Bluebird, Texas, the only man she wants is anything but reckless.

…to find all you’ve ever wanted.

Ritter Malone is the town’s favorite son and has the local hero awards to prove it. Seems he’s always in the right place at the right time. But when he crosses paths with True, his life takes a turn he never sees coming. Her songwriting skills may be questionable, but her ability to turn him inside out is indisputable.
Welcome to Bluebird, Texas.

Where a chance meeting gives two people a chance at love.

Amazon Buy Link

Excerpt:
When Ritter arrived at the gym, he spotted Cole jumping rope. He stopped and glanced at the wall clock. “You’re late. Roommate didn’t have you tied up, did she?”
“Very funny. We got a dog. Stayed up playing with him. I hit the snooze one time too many.”
Cole ran a towel over his face, then his lips curled. “That’s not good.”
“What? Getting a puppy?”
“Naw. The we in that sentence sounds like a contract extension.”
Ritter stretched. “I won’t lie. I’ve gone home to an empty house so long, thought having someone there would drive me nuts, but it hasn’t—for the most part.”
Cole stepped on the nearest treadmill, turned it on, and ran a steady pace. “I gotta hand it to you. You’ve managed to sleep with her and keep your hands to yourself. Or have you?”
Ritter climbed onto the machine next to Cole’s and matched his stride. No need to confess he hadn’t exactly resisted, but he’d not passed second base—by much. Had it not been for the phone call, he would have hit a home run. He’d had the wood for it. “No.”
“Come on. No way you haven’t hit that. Especially after what you told me about her coming on to you.”
“That’s why I can’t let her stay. My resistance is wearing thin.”
Ritter and Cole’s phones sounded a text at the same time. Ritter read his, then shot Cole a look. “Turns out, we’re off this afternoon.”
Cole dropped his cell back into the cupholder. “I’ve never been to New Jersey. You?”
“Nope but looks like the storm is calling us there.”
NAME THE TWINS CONTEST:
Submit your name choices via comment Ann’s blog post, http://www.anneverett.com/2018/06/15/contest-and-new-release/ or to her email ann.everett @rocketmail. com. (without spaces)
About the Author:
Award winning author, Ann Everett embraces her small town upbringing and thinks Texans are some of the funniest people on earth. When speaking to writing groups, businesses, book clubs, and non-profit organizations, she incorporates her special brand of wit, making her programs on marketing, self-publishing, and the benefits of laughter, informative and fun.
 
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Wolf Around the Corner by Aidee Ladnier On Tour #Giveaway #MFRWAuthor #M/M



Wolf Around The Corner
By Aidee Ladnier
 

Aidee is giving away a $5 Amazon GC, $10 Amazon GC, Ebooks from her backlist, print books from her backlist. The winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter. Please use the RaffleCopter below to enter. Don’t forget you have a chance to enter every day so be sure to visit all the stops on this tour. You may find those locations here.

About Wolf Around the Corner:

Frank’s family taught him that his wolf was dangerous, unwanted. Now his best friend’s brother wants him in bed and on stage. But giving into his wolf’s need for love could risk the quiet life Frank has created for himself—and his heart.

Settled in the small town of Waycroft Falls, Frank is content to be a lone wolf among the white picket fences and dollar book bins until he finds himself sniffing his best friend’s brother. Tom smells like hot apple pie and his Broadway smile has Frank lolling his tongue. But when the visiting actor learns Frank’s secret and plies him with hot kisses to get him to star in his play, Frank can’t help but wonder if Tom is only acting.

Tom ran away from family obligations to be a Broadway star. If he could make it there, he could make it anywhere…but he didn’t. Trudging home to Waycroft Falls to open his sister’s new performance space brings him face to face with a werewolf—a werewolf that would be perfect for Tom’s shoestring production of Beauty and the Beast. Staying in Tiny Town USA would be worth it if he can somehow convince the sexy wolf to expose his furry condition on stage and howl privately in Tom’s bed.

Wolf Around The Corner, a paranormal semi-finalist in Passionate Ink’s 2017 Sexy Scribbles Contest, is a full-length fairytale romance with a side of wolf shifter. If you like your romance with gorgeous men, humor, and small town magic, you’ll love Wolf Around the Corner! Buy your copy now and settle in to watch the drama unfold!


Genre: M/M Paranormal Shifter Contemporary

Buy Links:
Amazon  | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords | 24Symbols | Indigo | Angus & Robertson | Mondadori

~*~*~*~*~*~
Excerpt: 

The first thing he always did was take a large lungful of air. It reoriented him to the outside. His animal cataloged the smells—car exhaust, grass, tree pollen, and wait, a mouse skittering in the Dumpster out back. Frank’s urge to run built. He circled the apartments, looking for the storm drain near the landscaping wall. Inside him, his animal wiggled in excitement at the prospect of being freed. Frank shucked his clothes behind the wall and tucked them into the shelter of the pipe, out of view. Then he shifted, his hands lengthening, hair sprouting, and muzzle growing. His point of view shortened, now three feet from the ground as he blinked through the eyes of his wolflike animal. Frank couldn’t stand still any longer. He sprang into the woods.

Frank ran, crashing through the underbrush and into the darkening shelter of the trees. He leaped over a shrub, felt the give of a sapling as he plowed through the brushwood. The animals and birds quieted at his loud, headlong dash, knowing he wasn’t of the forest, only disguised and playing at being a creature of the wood.

His paws skidded on a pile of old leaves. Frank almost lost his balance as he skipped up and over a fallen log. Around him, the scents of the forest all pushed in on him. Here a whiff of mold, there an astringent sniff of decay, everywhere the menthol of evergreen sap and wild herbs growing scattered on the forest floor.

Dry twigs snapped beneath his paws. His tongue lolled from his mouth, the fresh taste of the woods painting the back of his throat. The sun dipped below the horizon, the sky inking the tops of the trees. And Frank ran on until his limbs stopped, shaky and trembling. He collapsed onto a blanket of pine needles and leaves, moss and fungi cradling him as he panted.

As he caught his breath, the sounds of the woods lapped back around him. Insects and birds first. A harsh caw from a crow shrieked a hundred yards to his right. The chirp of a cricket sawed a few feet away. The rat-a-tat of a woodpecker echoed above. And the still of twilight calmed him.

When he’d rested enough that his legs would support him again, Frank began the slow jog back to the apartments, letting his nose guide him through the darkening visibility of the woods. He could smell Mrs. Reynolds’s nighttime cocoa, and Mr. Reynolds’s liniment that stank of capsaicin. The lighted windows of the apartment building led him the last few feet, and he scurried up to the storm drain.

But his clothes weren’t there.

The sky darkened into night.

Frank knew Mrs. Anderson was out, but he could try to get the elderly Reynolds couple to buzz him inside. And hope they didn’t ask why he was naked trotting up the stairs.

Or he could stay in wolf form without a tag, which meant a night outside running from animal control and/or dodging every human that would mistake him for a stray dog.

Or wait, a third option. There was an oak that almost reached the ledge of his apartment window on the second floor. He never bothered to lock the window. Frank shifted back to human and sprinted across the yard.

He leaped for the lower boughs of the tree, grunting as the bark dug into the flesh of his palms. Frank swung himself up to straddle a branch, regretting it as the rough wood scraped his thighs. He crouched in the tree, awkwardly trying to shield his more delicate parts from the smaller whiplike twigs. He skirted around the trunk, grimacing as a low branch brushed a little too close to his groin. There. He was now on the side that faced the apartment house.

Frank balanced upright, his arms pinwheeling until he caught another branch higher up to steady himself. The leaves around him shivered on their stalks, the rustling loud. Please don’t let Mrs. Reynolds look out her window.

Using the taller branch as a guide, Frank placed one bare foot in front of the other and inched away from the security of the trunk. The limb beneath his feet shook as his weight tested its strength. He slid a foot farther out on the branch. It dipped, the leaves at the tip brushing against the side of his window. Just a few feet more.

An ominous crack sounded beneath him, and Frank froze. The branch popped again. It wouldn’t hold. He could make a jump for it. Frank swallowed hard. He should make a jump for it.

Frank jumped. And missed the house, falling into the azalea bushes.

Just as his hunky new neighbor from across the hall walked out of the apartment building and down the front steps.

Frank had seen Tom in the hall that morning, carrying boxes. Trying to be neighborly, Frank had introduced himself and offered to help. Tom had turned Frank down but flashed the whitest, most even teeth at him. Frank had seen nothing whiter outside of a movie theater big screen. They’d exchanged pleasantries, commented on the weather, and then gone their separate ways. Or rather, that was what Frank wished had happened. What went down was:

“Need help?” Frank barely got the words out when his new neighbor turned in the doorway. Frank froze. God, the man was gorgeous.

“Naw, man. I got it.” Tom shifted the box in his arms to hold out his hand. “I’m Tom Davidson.”

Frank wiped a clammy hand on his jeans and shook Tom’s hand. “Hot.” And Frank knew his mouth had disclosed the exact thing his brain was thinking. Idiot. Who said that to a guy he’d just met? A guy like Tom already knew he was hot.

Tom tilted his head as if he hadn’t heard Frank right. “Yeah. The temperatures are a little warm for this time of year.”

Frank didn’t dare correct him and kept his mouth shut, afraid he’d say something worse.

“Okay, well then, see you around, Frank.” Tom chuckled and continued into his apartment.

Meanwhile Frank beat it down the stairs, unsure how he managed not to walk into traffic as his mind ran over the exchange fail again and again.

So yeah. That was the less than stellar first impression he’d given Tom this morning. And now Frank followed that up by hunkering down naked in the azalea bushes.

“Are you okay?” The gleam from the safety light caught Tom’s dark gold hair as he tilted his head to peer over the shrubs. The shadows sank into his chiseled cheekbones. He looked like a brooding movie star ready to sweep a celluloid damsel off her feet.

Too bad Frank was a naked man trying to keep from exposing himself. Frank crouched down farther, making himself as small as possible, hoping the azalea’s pink blooms would distract Tom from looking at his hairy backside.

“I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Tom leaned closer. “Are you… Do you have any clothes on?”

Frank racked his brain for some reason he’d be naked and hiding in the bushes. “Um, I, uh, just got out of the shower, and I leaned too far out my window.”

“Oh my God. Did you fall from that height?” Tom glanced up to the second floor, to Frank’s closed window and then back down. “Do you need an ambulance?”

Frank sighed. This conversation was only getting worse. Cupping his hands over his privates, Frank rose from behind the bushes.

“I’m okay. Just need to get back inside. I have a hidden key if you can get me past the front security door.”

Tom’s eyes widened when Frank stood. Frank winced, sure he looked like one long scrape covered in leaves. He blew at the hair in his eyes. A twig dangled, caught in an auburn strand, but Frank was unwilling to expose himself to yank it out.

“Sure. Sure.” Tom fumbled for his key and opened the door. Frank half hopped over the acorns and chestnut burrs to slide past Tom. Tom wrinkled his nose as Frank passed. Good old wet dog smell. It always clung to him after a run in the woods.

Frank took the stairs two at a time to escape.

After a shower and shave—why did going furry always lead to needing a shave? The rest of his hair receded. Why didn’t his beard?—Frank spent thirty minutes in front of his bathroom mirror, trying to psych himself up to knock on Tom’s door and invite him over the next day for coffee or to watch football. He scratched behind an ear, feeling the healing scab from a graze he’d gotten when he’d fallen into the azalea bushes. Staring at his reflection, he tried to look earnest and approachable. He could do this. He had game.

“Hey, I know you don’t know many people in town, and I’m a loser, but would you like to spend time with me?” Frank made a face at himself. Probably shouldn’t label yourself as a loser.

“Yo, you want to watch football? No, how about basketball? Baseball? No? What about Mexican wrestlers?” Oh God, what if Tom doesn’t like sports?

“I ordered two large pizzas by mistake tonight, and I could use some help, or I’ll be gorging on pepperoni for a week.”

Lame. Frank’s own gaunt features stared back at him from the mirror. Who was he kidding? He’d always be the guy who lost the genetic lottery and ended up with the family curse.

Galen’s syndrome was rare, only affecting about one in 2,000, but well-known enough that most people had at least heard of it. The Greek surgeon Galen had coined the word lycanthropy to explain the shape-shifting curse that traveled down through a family tree. Like most recessive gene disorders, it only manifested when two genes were passed down to a child, leading early scholars to think the afflicted had been re-cursed or spared for a generation due to divine providence. It was only with modern medicine that curses were found to be attached to DNA, breaking and molding chromosomes like magical radiation. But despite better understanding of the disorder, the stigma remained, not helped by the occasional local television feature linking the disorder to werewolf mythology.

All Frank knew was the recessive curse gene made him even more different from his family. He’d already been pushing it when he came out as gay. Turning into a wolf at sixteen had been…well, more than his father and stepmother could handle. She wanted to protect the kids, she told him. He loved his half siblings, didn’t he? It wasn’t safe to have a wild animal around children.

It had gutted him. They turned him out of his own home. He’d been angry. He’d done something stupid, lashing out, snapping at his sister Robbie. It still hurt, remembering the tears on his baby sister’s face, her eyes wide and scared. Of him. It was then he knew his stepmother had been right. Dangerous animals didn’t belong in a family. So he’d left, traveling all the way across the state until he landed in Waycroft Falls. It had been hard that first year. There were a lot of adult things he still hadn’t figured out.

Like how to ask out a guy who he hadn’t known his whole life. Moving from one small town to another had been a bad idea. Frank bonked his head against the mirror, gazing down into the white porcelain sink. He rubbed at a stray hair that clung to the side.

But on the plus side, small towns meant he rarely needed a car. And he could shift and run if he needed. He should take his clothes with him

~*~*~*~*~*~
About the Author: 
Aidee Ladnier, an award-winning author of speculative fiction, believes that adventure is around every corner. In pursuit of new experiences she’s worked as a magician’s assistant, been a beauty pageant contestant, ridden in hot air balloons, produced independent movies, hiked up a volcano, and is a proud citizen scientist. A lover of genre fiction, Aidee’s perfect romance has a little science fiction, fantasy, mystery, or the paranormal thrown in to add a zing.

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