New Release! Fangs, Fur and the Single Girl By Lisabet Sarai

Please join me in welcoming Lisabet Sarai as she tells us about her latest release.

Soul Mates (Plural)

The notion of finding one’s soul mate—the one individual in the universe whom you’re destined to love—is possibly the most fundamental romance trope. I can understand the appeal of this concept. It’s both reassuring and thrilling to imagine a lover perfectly attuned to your needs, your ideal complement and companion, a person who makes you whole and vice versa.

I find it hard to write stories about soul mates, though. I’m always aware that reality is much messier than romantic fantasy. Mostly I create contemporary stories where the relationships are realistically complicated. My heroines are frequently unsure about their own feelings. Sometimes they’re attracted to more than one person, in different ways. That’s one reason my back list contains so many ménage tales, I think, to save my heroines from having to choose whom they should love!

Paranormal romance frees me from the constraints of realism. In a world infused with magic, I can suspend disbelief about forever-after perfect matings. Magic imposes structure and symmetry on the tale. Perfect love may be kindled by enchantment, or may reflect age-old connections. Old souls, old lovers, may meet again in a new life. A quest, a struggle against evil forces, may bind two characters together for eternity.

In paranormal erotic romance, you can recognize your soul mate by the transcendent and irrational lust he inspires. The author doesn’t need to explain the attraction; it’s magic, a given.

What happens, though, when more than one character feels like the One? That’s the situation in my new paranormal erotic romance Fangs, Fur and the Single Girl. My heroine Bianca is a hard-headed businesswoman, supremely self-controlled and immune to flights of fancy. When she succumbs to temptation and offers her blood to an emotionally wounded vampire, though, she finds herself bound to him, both physically and psychically. Meanwhile, she encounters a shy but potent wolf shifter whose scent overwhelms her with desire. Each of them wants to claim her. Each of them feels “right”.

Is it possible to have more than one soul mate? Read Fangs, Fur and the Single Girl and find out!

About the book!

A tragically attractive vampire, a hunky wolf-man and a skeptical but susceptible career gal. What could

possibly go wrong?

Bianca Sorenson understands obsession. Her phenomenally successful Vamp magazine feeds the popular fascination with the undead. The city is full of  fanatics who want to believe vampires are real. Bianca knows that’s a fantasy. Then a blond, blue-eyed blood drinker walks into her office looking for a model’s job and turns her universe upside down. Jim Bush hasn’t been a vampire for long, but his terrible history and seductive hunger undermine Bianca’s single-minded ambition and her cherished self-control.

Trying to escape from Jim’s disturbing influence, she collides with a shaggy giant of a man whose mere presence inspires irresistible lust. When Zack Kane reveals that he’s a wolf shifter and claims Bianca as his mate, she finds herself on the horns of a supernatural dilemma. How can she resolve her feelings for her two mutually hostile lovers while defusing a city-wide conflict between the vampire clique and the werewolf pack?    

Fans of Twilight: get ready for a wilder ride than you ever imagined!

Excerpt

The blond vampire reached over to her dressing table to pick up a leather-bound notebook. “It’s lucky you use a physical day planner instead of a calendar app.” He sighed again, apparently out of habit. “I admit, I came looking for you tonight. I was desperate to see you. I thought we should discuss—well, I’ll be honest, I was weak. I imagined that perhaps we could—I kept remembering your warmth, your scent…” He shook his head as his voice trailed off. “It’s so easy to deceive myself. To let the hunger think for me.”

“Oh, Jim!” She bounced off the bed and enfolded him in her arms. Though his skin was like cool marble, fire sizzled through her at the contact. A steady pulse beat between her legs. An ache grew in her chest, an echo of his pain. She could soothe him, heal him, if only he’d allow it. Leaning in, she pressed her lips to his, silently urging him to surrender.

For a fraction of a second, she felt his answering passion. Then he turned his head away to break the connection.

“Don’t. Please. Don’t tempt me, Bianca.” Extricating himself from her clutches, he pinned her with his gaze. His normally blue eyes deepened to wells of blackness. “Stay away from vampires, for your own safety. Away from me, and definitely away from that harpy at the club.”

“How did you arrange for the police? Did they really have a warrant?”

Jim’s embarrassment was obvious. “It seems I have some ability to plant ideas in the minds of suggestible individuals. I didn’t realize I had that kind of power, but when I saw that creature—Elena? —messing with your thoughts, I figured I had to try.”

“Well, I’m very grateful. I probably should have known better than to accept her invitation in the first place.”

Jim rose from his chair and began to pace. “I agree. You took a grave risk.”

Bianca slumped back down on the bed, her eyes following his back-and-forth progress. “But she’s a business associate. Elena Lazarescu’s a major force in the vampire ecosystem. She’s a wizard at branding. Just think about how many potential subscribers she could deliver…”

He whirled to face her. “Bianca! Just listen to yourself! ‘Vampire ecosystem’? ‘Wizard at branding’? After you came close to being Elena’s victim! Didn’t you see what was going on at her club? Pathetic humans being drained to feed her blood hunger and that of her clique. This isn’t about business or marketing, fashion or fads.”

“But—”

“Your readers live in a fantasy world, but vampires are real. And they’re not trendy, romantic or sexy. They’re monsters, driven by an insatiable craving they’ll do anything to satisfy.” The young man glared at her, fists clenched at his sides. “I’m a monster, Bianca—no matter how I try to fool myself.”

She was on her feet again, hand on his arm. “No, Jim—you’re not like her. You’d never hurt me.”

He yanked himself from her grasp. “I already have, don’t you see? This bond between us—”

“So you feel it, too…”

“It’s the blood, Bianca, the blood we’ve shared. Nothing more. And it will destroy us both if we let it.”

Buy Links

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/1508-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl/

Amazon  US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CXF755SM

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CXF755SM

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1540924

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-lisabet-sarai/1145179250?ean=2940167695276

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl

Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6480071026

Add on Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/210320373-fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl

Add on Bookbub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/fangs-fur-and-the-single-girl-by-lisabet-sarai

About Lisabet

Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story atfive years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketingbrochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica anderotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM,GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimateaphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html),along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog Beyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), sheshares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, BookBub and Twitter.Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

New Release! Wild About That Thing By Lisabet Sarai

Please join me in welcoming author LIsabet Sarai to Living After Midnight.

Not Me

Most authors put some of themselves into their characters. We can’t help it, really. We’re all shaped by our experience, in ways we can’t fully or consciously appreciate. Our characters are likely to share our assumptions, our biases and our values, whether this is our intention or not.

For instance, my female characters tend to be independent, well-educated and unapologetic about their sexuality. Anyone who knows me at all will recognize these traits also describe me. I don’t think I’ve ever written a helpless, timid virgin or a self-obsessed beauty queen. I don’t create violent characters, either, or at least not violent protagonists. You won’t find any mafia capos or special forces agents in my books. (The one exception is Cecily Harrowsmith in Rajasthani Moon, who is Queen Victoria’s spy, and she’s a slightly comic figure.)

Sometimes I deliberately try to create characters who are different from me, but that can be a struggle. The thing is, how can you imagine the inner life of someone whose background, priorities and goals deviate significantly from your own?

So my success varies. In that regard, I’m pretty proud of Wild About That Thing.

My heroine Ruby Jones is definitely not me. She’s a black woman, for one thing. As much as I try to empathize, I doubt I can really understand what it’s like to grow up black in America. She’s also a mother – a single mother, having divorced her cheating ex-husband. I’ve never had children, so it’s a stretch to imagine what it would be like to have total responsibility for someone else’s safety and well-being. Scary. My experience with marriage has been ninety nine percent positive. Ruby in contrast has been badly burned, and is naturally wary of new commitments.

Despite our differences, however, I feel that I know Ruby well. Early in the writing process, I learned about Ruby’s parents and came to see how her relationships with both her mother and her father shaped her personality and her behavior. Somehow these insights were not intellectual. Instead, I found myself in Ruby’s head, listening to her inner critic who often speaks with her mother’s voice.

Ruby is constantly torn between her analytical tendencies and her passionate nature. I suppose this is somewhat true of me, but in Ruby’s case the conflict is  particularly painful. One minute she’s a hard-headed businesswoman. The next, she’s a puddle of lust.

Anyway, I do hope my readers enjoy Ruby Jones. I feel that she’s one of the most realistic heroines I’ve created, as well as one of the most likable.

Note, though, that she still shares some attributes with me. She is independent and, as you might guess from the tag line, unapologetic about her sexuality..

---

Wild about that Thing

 Ruby Jones has clear priorities. Her teenage son comes first, then her struggling blues club. Her love life ranks as a distant third. Deserted by her cheating ex-husband, Ruby's determined she's going to make it on her own. She's not about to let any man into her heart. Now her hot blood seems to have landed her in an impossible situation. Two lovers…and she wants them both.

Kinky Literature – https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/1342-wild-about-that-thing-/

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CPDD3JR9

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CPDD3JR9

Smashwords – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1485627

Barnes and Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wild-about-that-thing-lisabet-sarai/1110738210?ean=2940167659858

Kobo  - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/wild-about-that-thing-4

Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6474285642

Add on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/203152943-wild-about-that-thing

Add on BookBub - https://www.bookbub.com/books/wild-about-that-thing-by-lisabet-sarai-2023-12-10

About Lisabet

Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wroteher first story at five years old and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials,scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundredpage dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearlyevery sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, LGBTQ, and more. Regardless of the genre, every oneof her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books on her website(http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along with more than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blogBeyond Romance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares her philosophy and her news and hosts lots ofother great authors. She’s also on Goodreads, BookBub and Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

CALEB, by Kate Hill

Please join me in welcoming Kate Hill to LAM to talk about her new story, CALEB.

~~~~~~~

Werewolf Willpower?

I think my fascination with werewolves began with the movie The Howling. To this day it's my favorite werewolf movie. What I liked best about it was that unlike many other werewolf stories, the werewolves in this movie had control over their shapeshifting abilities. They weren't lone hunters, but lived in a pack-like atmosphere.

I'd always considered werewolves to be the most frightening of the classic monsters, and that fear wasn't only because of their power, but because most werewolves seemed to have no control over it. You could argue that a werewolf that retained his human intelligence after changing shape is the most frightening of all, but that kind of werewolf opens up opportunities to explore plotlines beyond a monster hunting people and in turn being hunted by people. Best of all, werewolves with self-control allow them the chance to become heroes as well as villains. In the world of paranormal romance, werewolves make exciting main characters.

In my latest release Caleb, most of the characters are werewolves. The romance between alpha werewolf Caleb and his mate Tia shares equal time with his rivalry with the werewolf Mette whose main ambition is to destroy Caleb and take control of the pack. Creating their world and their opposing personalities was both fun and challenging. Caleb and Mette are both intelligent werewolves, but they have radically different ideas about how their power should be used.

Are you a fan of werewolves or other shifters? What do you like best about them?

Caleb
by Kate Hill
Series: Romantic Moments
Format(s): Ebook
Heat Level: Mild
Pairing(s): M/F
Genre/Themes: Werewolf, Hurt and Comfort, Urban Fantasy
Length: Short Story
Preorder Link:

https://www.amazon.com/Caleb-Romantic-Moments-Book-2-ebook/dp/B0CD9G6XL5

I'm a powerful and respected Alpha, but the wolf Mette covets my leadership. I'm injured when my conniving enemy challenges me.

After losing my pack and nearly my life, I go to lick my wounds in the human world, but my beloved mate Tia knows that a wolf's broken spirit can heal, and there is only one true leader of our pack.

Note: Caleb is a very short werewolf action romance story with a mild heat level, moderate violence, and a HEA. This Romantic Moments story is the perfect length for a lunch break, before bed, or any time you want a quick, romantic read.

Excerpt:

"Finally," Curtis snapped. "It's been a blood feast around here. Two more bodies were found today, ripped apart about a mile down the road."

"It's Mette." Silvan bared his teeth. Rage shone in his dark eyes. "He's gone crazy. He thinks we should feed on human flesh like in the old days."

Tia looked as disgusted as I felt. Though wolves at heart, we had also formed ties among humans. Coexisting with them wasn't just a theory to us. We'd done it. Blood, fear, and hatred didn't have to exist between them and us.

"What about the rest of the pack?" I demanded, my heart pounding. If wolves turned on humans again, I didn't want to think about the consequences to both species.

Author Bio:

Kate Hill is a vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies. When she's not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, watching horror movies, and researching vampires and Viking history. She runs the Compelling Beasts Blog that is dedicated to antagonists, antiheroes, and paranormal creatures. Kate also writes as Saloni Quinby.

Visit her online at https://www.kate-hill.com. Join her newsletter at https://kate-hill.com/index.php/newsletter.

Social Links:

Website: https://kate-hill.com/

Blog: https://kate-hill.com/blog/

Newsletter: https://kate-hill.com/index.php/newsletter/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kate-Hill/e/B002BLS7OW

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-hill

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16157.Kate_Hill

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/katehillromancewritingandmore/_saved/

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/katehillromancewritingandmore

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateHillRomance

Gale Stanley's The Bathhouse

Join me in welcoming Gale Stanley and her book, The Bathhouse!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE BATHHOUSE is a gay, multicultural, second chance romance. Enjoy!

BLURB

Reed Barton is a millionaire who can have anything he wants, except the one thing he desires most. His first love. He’s spent years trying to recreate the night they met in a San Francisco bathhouse. The image of the beautiful Filipino man who took his virginity is never far from his thoughts.

Reed’s life is turned upside down when his long-lost love reappears -- and not in a good way. Joseph Castro is not quite what he seems. Time and experience have changed both men, and there’s no going back. But maybe, together, they can go forward.

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/167085037-the-bathhouse

EXCERPT

The service center looked much as Reed remembered it. His eagle-eyed inspection didn’t miss much as he made his way around the crowded cubicles. Some workers weren’t as attentive as others and he made note of them.

Glancing up, he caught sight of a man entering a cubicle at the end of the aisle. Their eyes met and a shock of recognition hit Reed like a tidal wave.

No. It couldn’t be. Could it? Oh, God, let it be him.

The Filipino gave the barest nod of recognition and disappeared behind the wall of his workspace and just like that the years melted away and their night together seemed like only yesterday.

Reed’s heart beat fast and hard. Foolishly, he wondered if Babyboy felt the same electric charge that he did. Wishful thinking. More likely, the Filipino remembered him as just another encounter from the distant past. Did Reed want to find out? Yes, he needed to know. Reed took a few deep breaths and pulled himself together. It would be wrong to show too much interest in an employee. He forced himself to continue his tour and when he reached the man’s cubicle, he looked inside. The nameplate on the desk said Joseph Castro.

Joseph Castro had his headset on, apparently helping a customer. Reed stood transfixed, watching the Filipino at work. Joseph spoke calmly in slightly accented English that seemed to caress each word. It had been years, but Reed found himself getting hot just thinking of how that voice had whispered dirty talk in his ear.

Joseph ended his call and looked up. “Hello, Pogi.”

The words were so soft, Reed wondered if he’d really heard them. He mouthed back. “Babyboy.”

Joseph sighed, but didn’t speak another word. They stared at each other and it felt like a scene from a cheesy movie, where the room fades to a blur while the two heroes connect in a powerful silent dialog. Despite the intervening years, the emotions that washed over Reed were familiar. Caught in a time warp, Reed felt as if summer had finally arrived after a long severe winter.

AUTHOR INFO:

Gale Stanley grew up in Philadelphia PA. She was the kid who always had her nose in a book, her head in the clouds, and her hands on a pad and pencil.

Some things never change.

Blog: http://galestanley.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/galestanley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gale.stanley.author

Instagram: http://instagram.com/gale_stanley

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/GaleStanley107/

PRE-ORDER:

AMAZON:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6J9RXVW

CHANGELING PRESS:

https://www.changelingpress.com/the-bathhouse-it-should-have-been-you-2-b-3519

BARNES & NOBLE:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-bathhouse-gale-stanley/1143565487;jsessionid=C639F5792B20088BB69DFD4526A743C8.prodny_store02-atgap01

KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-bathhouse-2

SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1400253

THALIA: https://www.thalia.de/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1068873384

VIVLIO: https://shop.vivlio.com/product/9798223070238_9798223070238_10020/the-bathhouse

APPLE: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id6449651614

Adriana Kraft's Ripening Passion (Series: Passion Series, Book Two)

Title: Ripening Passion

Series: Passion Series, Book Two

Can Max melt the Ice Queen? Should he even try?

Claire Johnson’s dedication to sex—the cornerstone of her career—led her to help found the Center for Sexuality and Sex Practices. Now in her fifties, she knows the Center must keep pace with the rapidly growing Baby Boomer market, so she agrees to go back on camera for a series on sex and aging. But work with her nemesis?

Former English Professor Max Wilson has championed the cause of the Center ever since his now deceased wife sought the Center’s help to rekindle the nearly extinguished sexual flames of their relationship. He loves working on camera and welcomes the challenge to perform with the svelte but icy temptress.

Sparks fly immediately on and off camera. The jury is out on whether either Max or Claire can transform those sparks into a fire of sexual desire for their viewers—let alone for each other.

EXCERPT

Max glanced up at her. “Do you always eat like a bird?

Claire didn’t crack a smile. She used her fork to separate another flake of her tuna niçoise. Deliberately, she snagged a small bite and lifted it to her mouth. She glanced around the early dinner crowd and chewed thoroughly, wondering briefly how many patrons were meeting for business and how many were meeting with other thoughts on their minds. She smiled at two women at a nearby table holding hands while sharing a flambeed flan.

Claire looked back at Max. “If you approve of this body as much as you claim, then you’d better appreciate how I eat. I’m not telling you what to eat.”

“I’m sorry,” he quickly said. “I wasn’t putting you down. It’s just that I’ve never known anyone so disciplined about eating.”

“I enjoy my food. I just avoid sugars and saturated fats as much as possible.”

“You rarely eat dessert.”

“Perhaps I prefer a different sort of dessert.” She slid her bare foot up the inside of his leg.

UNIVERSAL BOOK LINK (BUY LINK)

https://books2read.com/u/4D82BP

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married pair of retired professors writing erotic romance and erotic romantic suspense together. We like to think we’ve broken the mold for staid, fusty academics, and we hope lots of former profs are enjoying life as much as we are.

Having lived in many states across the Midwest, we now make our home in southern Arizona, where we enjoy hiking, golf, and travel, especially to the many Arizona Native American historical sites.

Together we have published more than fifty romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews. Whether readers open our romantic suspense or our erotic romance, they can expect characters they care about, hot sex scenes, and a compelling story.

AUTHOR LINKS

Blog: https://www.adrianakraft.com/blog

Newsletter: Get your free copy of Swingers Light Up Vegas for Newsletter signups:

https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/d1c82f5e-9b43-11ed-8c5e-b712215e57d9

Twitter https://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adriana.kraft.5

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/adrianakraft

GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1578571.Adriana_Kraft

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kraftadriana/

MeWe https://mewe.com/i/adriana1kraft

Mastadon @AdrianaKraft@mastodon.otherworldsink.com 

Guest Author: Shiela Stewart, Paranormal Suspense Author

Hi all! Please join me in welcoming Shiela Stewart!

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Sometimes I think I was born to scare and be scared. Might be because the first horror movie I ever saw I was I think 5. It involved a woman wielding an axe and killing people. I snuck downstairs to see what my parents were watching. I was caught and put to bed. Or it could be my brothers who like to scare me with glow-in-the-dark skulls in my closet or lying in wait under my bed and grabbing my feet, scaring the crap out of me. I rarely had nightmares. What it did was encourage me to write scary stuff. Vampires, demons, witches, shifters and ghosts. Spirits are my favorite, having lived in a haunted house. The first story I wrote was called Too young Too Evil, about a teenage girl conjuring up a spirit to help her stop bullies and her brother who always made fun of her. I was 15.  

But back to ghosts. I’ve always been fascinated with life after death. Do we just become a void, not existing at all, or can our spirit, part of our soul, still linger, not able to cross over? No one can be certain. But it is fun to write about. Secrets of the Dead, book 1 in the Lost Souls series is about two ghosts, one good and one evil and two people locked in with them.

I love writing about haunted houses. As I said above, I lived in a haunted house as a child. The spirit of an elderly woman who died in the house still walked around like she was still alive. The house I live in now has a mischievous elderly gentleman who likes to play tricks. Occasionally a ball will roll across the room. He whispered my husband's name when he was the only one in the house. He also has a habit of leaving the toilet seat up, when I’ve home alone. I know, weird right! We also see him walk down the hallway and once, my daughter and I caught a glimpse of him sitting on the sofa. So now you can see why I am fascinated with ghosts.

I would love to hear from the readers, so leave a comment to win a copy of Secrets of the Dead. One lucky commenter will win.

Here’s a glimpse of Book 1 in the Lost Souls series.

Secrets of the Dead.

Blurb: Jessica Coltrane is a die-hard sceptic who believes that ghosts and paranormal activity are nothing more than a figment of an overactive imagination. That is until she finds herself locked inside a haunted house with the enigmatic paranormal investigator C.J. Dowling.

Born with the ability to see and speak to the dead, C.J. Dowling thought investigating a haunted house would be a job like many others. He’s prepared for anything—except smart and sexy Jessica.

Working together in close quarters, C.J. and Jessica discover it isn’t only negative tension between the two, but sexual as well. Giving into their desires seemed like a good idea at the time until they wake and find the spirits thought otherwise. Trapped with the ghost of a child long forgotten, an amorous entity that is threatening Jessica, and a powder keg of a spine-tingling mystery that might just be better left buried.

Bio

Shiela Stewart is a paranormal suspense author with a writing history that stems back to her youth.  Always a dreamer, wondering if her stories would ever reach an audience, she was finally published in 2006 and hasn’t stopped since.  It is rare to find a stand-alone book as she prefers series stories. Her longest running series to date is her Darkness series, which is a vampire romance.

Her joy for scary suspense is evident in each of her books. She has had several accomplishments, including fighting for the top spot in the rankings with author Stephanie Myers, receiving glowing reviews as well as interviews on local television and reviews and interviews in The Romantic Times Magazine.

When not writing, Shiela spends her time with the love of her life, William, and their children and grandchildren. Her strong affection for animals is evident in the many cats she cares for.

Her favorite time of the day is at sunset.

You can find me at.

Website: www.shielastewart.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shiela.stewart

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShielaSue

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@shielastewart

Apple Books. : https://books.apple.com/us/book/seducing-the-darkness/id1050480128

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Shiela-Stewart/e/B002BLN95E%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seducing-the-darkness-shiela-stewart/1014485332?ean=2940152679007

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/secrets-of-the-dead-17

Decadent Publishing:  http://decadentpublishing.com/secrets-of-the-dead/

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Release Blitz: Swingers Light Up Vegas, by Adriana Kraft

Join me in welcoming Adriana Kraft!

At 90? Really?

In case you missed it, Movie Star Rita Moreno, 91, recently owned up on TV to becoming aroused while filming her latestmovie. The scene? A men’s football locker room featuring, you guessed it, virile hunks changing clothes.

Meanwhile, I was recently chatting with a librarian friend about the erotic romance my husband and I co-author under our pen name, Adriana Kraft—at our age. My friend laughed and told me about an elderly woman who came to her library each week to request specific books. When she warned the woman how explicit one of the books was, the woman drew herself up and proclaimed, “I’m not dead yet!”

Both these women – Rita Moreno and our librarian’s patron – are three to four decades older than the happily married pair who star in our brand-new release, Swingers Light Up Vegas. Dan and Ginger have been swingers since their children grew up and left home a few years back, and they’re in Las Vegas to celebrate Ginger’s fiftieth birthday.

Swinging at 50? Feeling sexy (and desirable) at 50? Hardly a stretch of the imagination. There are lots of swingers age 50 and older. In some larger cities, there are clubs specifically by and for the older swing set, who’ve often aged out of more general lifestyle gatherings.

I think our fictional couple could easily have found such a club on their Las Vegas trip – in fact, they were referred to it by somewhat older friends back home in the Midwest.

We’ve created this short story to feed reader fantasies with a taste of the swing lifestyle. If you like this teaser, we hope you’ll come back for more!

What happens in Vegas…

Swingers Dan and Ginger head to Las Vegas to celebrate Ginger’s fiftieth birthday. Through their friends back home, they’ve scored a free week at a posh Vegas resort condominium. They fill their days with every iconic Las Vegas experience they can dream up. But by night? They’re determined not to leave Vegas without sampling what it has to offer in the erotically charged swing lifestyle. A Vegas swing club beckons – will it live up to their fantasies?

Excerpt

Déjà vu, all over again.

Ginger wasn’t sure if the thought was part of her dream or part of her waking up, but it made her smile. Her full-body stretch confirmed she had some aching muscles—not really sore, but a soft ache that brought back steamy memories. What a night!

She finally opened her eyes to the sight of Dan holding out a hot mug of coffee. If the scent had awakened her, she had no memory trace.

Dan settled in next to her on the bed, a broad smile on his face that she knew mirrored her own. “What a treat,” she said, “to watch you with Lai last night. She sure is a cracker jack. High energy—wonder if she’s insatiable.”

“Pretty close, I’d say. I’m so glad they want another round before we leave. If we do decide to buy a condo here, it looks like the swinging scene is pretty promising. And you’ve gotta know how much I loved watching you and Lai together. You two were so in sync.”

“I do know.” Ginger snuggled a bit closer and clasped Dan’s free hand with her own. “When we started this adventure, it was mostly so I could act on the bi identity I’d finally become aware of. I had no clue how much watching me with another woman would be a turn-on for you, too.”

Book Information:

• Swingers Light Up Vegas

• By Adriana Kraft

• Release Date: January 30, 2023

• Length: 5,500 words

• Tags: Short Story, Erotic Romance, Swing Lifestyle, Later in Life, LGBTQ

Buy Links:

FREE with subscription to Adriana Kraft’s Newsletter:

https://storyoriginapp.com/giveaways/d1c82f5e-9b43-11ed-8c5e-b712215e57d9

PURCHASE FOR 99 CENTS

Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/bQN2lZ

Available at Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, ScribD, Smashwords

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married pair of retired professors writing erotic romance and erotic romantic suspensetogether. We like to think we’ve broken the mold for staid, fusty academics, and we hope lots of former profs are enjoying life as much as we are. We believe that love is love is love, and weoften feature bisexual women and ménage in our erotic romance stories. Together we have published more than fifty erotic romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews.

During our academic careers, we lived in many states across the Midwest. We love to travel, so when we retired, we sold our house and took off in our motor home across the country. We now make our home in southern Arizona, where we enjoy hiking, golf, and travel, especially to the many Arizona Native American historical sites.

We’ve featured the swing lifestyle in a number of our erotic romance stories. We penned this short story to give readers a quick taste of swinging – erotically charged, always, and a safe place for bisexual women to express the full range of their sexuality. We’ve written an entire series of novellas set in the lifestyle, entitled Swinging Games. We hope you’ll check them out! And as always, reviews are the lifeblood of romance authors, so we hope you’ll leave one for us.

Website: https://adrianakraft.com

Blog: https://www.adrianakraft.com/blog

Newsletter: free download of our erotic romance novella Cherry Tune-Up for signing up.

Twitter https://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adriana.kraft.5

Facebook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/AdrianaKraftAuthor

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/adrianakraft

GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1578571.Adriana_Kraft

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kraftadriana/

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-kraft

Extasy Books Page https://www.extasybooks.com/adriana-kraft

Cover Reveal: Swingers Light Up Vegas by Adriana Kraft @AdrianaKraft #EroticRomance #SwingLifestyle

Please join me in welcoming Adriana Kraft to LAM. We’re excited to be a part of your cover reveal!

************

I am so excited about this cover from Veridian Rose Graphics for our upcoming release! My husband and I, who write together under this pen name, created a (very) short story to give our readers a sample of the highly charged erotic world enjoyed by a fictional mid-life couple in the swing lifestyle. Swingers Light Up Vegas will be released on January 30, and pre-order will be available later this week.

On our last trip to Las Vegas, we scoured the city for photos and adventures we could gift to those characters, hoping one of the pics could be used on our cover.

Did our cover artist use them?

No, but it wasn’t her fault.

We’d told her we wanted two things on the cover: something sexy, and something that anchored the cover explicitly in Las Vegas.

So even though all the photos say “Vegas” to me, none of them really scream it for anyone else. The fabulous High Roller LINQ? Lots of cities have those by now, and a nighttime shot says nothing about which city it is. Ditto a Lazy River. Pick a tropical setting anywhere (or even just a relatively warm one), and lots of resorts sport them. The view from the Stratosphere? We actually didn’t even send her that one; it does picture the famous strip, but from such a distance that it’s not distinctive. And the same with the view out our 8th floor window. It gave us lots of pleasure, every night, to watch the sun set over the south end of the strip, but the photo isn’t identifiably Vegas. You can catch all those photos at https://wp.me/p9O7pv-336

Valerie June Bondarenko of Veridian Rose Graphics is the artist we approached to create our cover. She began by offering us several “sexy” photo options to consider, and both Hubs and I were immediately drawn to the shot with a window, roses in a vase, and a partially clad female torso wearing black lace. Perfect. The swing lifestyle is focused on women and what women want; men may love to ogle, but women call the shots. We think our cover gives her the power to beckon, and the power to say no.

Next question: what to put in the window? That’s where we’d thought the High Roller LINQ could go, but it didn’t really work, and it would still have left us with the question of how to convey Vegas. Valerie came up with the idea of the iconic Las Vegas welcome sign in the window, and when we got the draft, we both said “wow.” It’s perfect.

Next dilemma: the window-roses-black lace pic wasn’t the right dimensions for a cover, and anyway we still needed placement for the title and author. We were clueless, but Valerie came up with the dark red lace on black borders top and bottom. This is why she's the artist.

Last issue: font for title and author. We thought about neon lights – we think she’s captured that spirit in the title font and colors. Plus it’s a fun touch that “light up” actually lights up the title. And who doesn’t love seeing their name in big bold letters?

So yes, we signed off on her first complete cover draft immediately and are thrilled we did. We highly recommend her:

Veridian Rose Graphics

BLURB

Swingers Light Up Vegas

What happens in Vegas…

Swingers Brett and Jen head to Las Vegas to celebrate Jen’s fiftieth birthday. Through their friends back home, they’ve scored a free week at a posh Vegas resort condominium. They fill their days with every iconic Las Vegas experience they can dream up. But by night? They’re determined not to leave Vegas without sampling what it has to offer in the erotically charged swing lifestyle. A Vegas swing club beckons – will it live up to their fantasies?

BOOK INFO

Genre: Erotic Romance, Bisexual, Later in Life

Release Date: January 30, 2023

Length: 5K words

Price: 99 cents

 BUY LINK

Pre-order coming soon at https://books2read.com/

 TAGS

Bisexual erotic romance, LGBTQ+, Swing Lifestyle, Ménage, Later in Life, Las Vegas

ABOUT ADRIANA KRAFT

Adriana Kraft is the pen name for a married pair of retired professors writing erotic romance and erotic romantic suspense together. We like to think we’ve broken the mold for staid, fusty academics, and we hope lots of former profs are enjoying life as much as we are. We believe that love is love is love, and we often feature bisexual women and ménage in our erotic romance stories. Together we have published more than fifty erotic romance novels and novellas to outstanding reviews.

During our academic careers, we lived in many states across the Midwest. We love to travel, so when we retired, we sold our house and took off in our motor home across the country. We now make our home in southern Arizona, where we enjoy hiking, golf, and travel, especially to the many Arizona Native American historical sites.

AUTHOR LINKS

https://linktr.ee/AdrianaKraft

Tagged: #swinglifestyle, #Menage, #laterinlife, #LasVegas

Welcome to Solange DewBerry, Guest Author!

It’s my pleasure to welcome Solange to Living After Midnight. We’re in the same writing/critique group, so I’ve read a great deal of her work and I am here to tell you—she rocks.

---

Thanks, Trevann, for the invitation to guest blog today.

So… I have a Fairy Godmother addiction and I’m not ashamed to admit it. There. I said it and I’m not taking it back.

In fact, I’m especially partial to well-meaning, slightly dotty, dear old things who misplace their magic wands in their lingerie drawers, and whose eyes sparkle every now and then when they’re on the verge of concocting the Perfect Romance for one of their charges and can’t quite contain their excitement (or their charms).

As my favorite Fairy Godmother has said countless times, ‘please allow me to introduce myself.’ I write as Solange DewBerry, and I’ve been at this for more than fifteen years. I first dreamed of writing romantic fiction when I was a tweenie and read my first bodice ripper. Literally, they ripped bodices back in those early days of romance writing. Now I know better, given that most corsets at the time were made from buckram and whalebone, and whoever deigned to do the ripping would end up with bloody hands. But I ramble on, a bit like my Fairy Godmother.

As an adult, I started writing straight up contemporary romance, but quickly grew bored retelling the same old story dressed up in new clothes. I needed something new. Not westerns, not regency, not medieval or the myriad of romantic genres. I’ve never been one for shifter drama, and for a while it seemed as if everyone was writing about vampires. Nope, not for me. Then there was urban fantasy. I like to read it but not write it. Aliens looking for human women to fill their harems, nuh-uh. Demons—well, not exactly my thing, but more on that in a moment. Evil pixies… maybe someday. Then one day, it was as if a magical being whispered in my ear: ‘what about us Fairy Godmothers, Dear Girl, don’t we deserve our turn?’ And thus Mrs. Florence Electra McGillicuddy, Order of Cinderella, Level 6, Emeritus, was, for lack of a better term, born.

To best describe her, I’d say Mrs. McG (as she likes to be called) is a cross between Mrs. Doubtfire, Aunt Bea, and Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, with maybe a bit of Amelia Peabody thrown in. She wears floral frocks with lace collars, half-moon glasses, and sensible shoes with sup hose. And when she goes calling, be it next door or to the next state, she always wears a hat with a bit of netting, and white gloves. She prides herself on her PHEAs—her Particularly Happily Ever Afters.

To her dismay, Mrs. McG, was after several hundred years and many thousand successfully executed romances, summarily retired from FaGoMA, the Fairy Godmother Guild, for being rather too radical and rambunctious for the normally staid association. As a consolation prize, they gifted her an old Queen Anne Mansion, hoping to keep her tucked out of the way and out of trouble. But retirement can’t keep the Old Girl Down, and she is now Proprietress of One-Nineteen Chestnut Street, a home for Deserving Young Women of Reduced Means (when speaking she tends to Emphasize some words more than others)…a renegade to the end. Which of course means she can now concentrate on creating PHEAs for her boarders, whether they want her to or not, and without the pesky oversight of The Guild.

I’ve published several short stories featuring Mrs. McG over the past three years and have perhaps a half dozen full-length manuscripts of her matchmaking tales which I hope to introduce to the world. The first of these is now available on Amazon: Dream a Little Dream of Me at One-Nineteen Chestnut Street (for Kindle. Here is the paperback link).

Dream a Little Dream Of Me.

This is the story of Poppy Jones, an orphan without family, struggling to make it in the big city. She’s a photographer who is searching for an elusive fountain in one of the city’s many parks. Poppy isn’t sure it’s real or if she might have once dreamt it. Poppy knows nothing about her own history. Her foster mother always had promised to tell her, but died before she revealed Poppy’s secret. Now, her foster mother left Poppy the worn-out house that sheltered innumerable children over the years. Poppy is cleaning it out to sell it but comes across more than one hidden surprise as she does.

Enter Hank Klein. Hank is a gymnast who competed in the Olympics and won Silver. He’s come back to the city, where his ailing mother lives. She’s asked him to look into a twenty-year old mystery: one of her students was murdered, and her toddler daughter went missing. Hank is trying to puzzle his way through that, and to put together a future for himself, when he quite literally runs into Poppy and breaks her camera lens. Not only that, but he swears Poppy is the woman who has been showing up in his dreams. He is immediately taken with her.

Romance, a few laughs, a couple of charms, and some sexy times ensue. The good times end when the Demon shows up and ruins everything. He not only demands Poppy turn the old house over to him, but he wants Poppy as well, and hints at a few peculiarities in Poppy’s family tree. Not only that, but Mrs. McG discovers Poppy is protected with layer upon layer of tattered but very powerful protective charms. The question becomes, are they protecting Poppy, or protecting the world from her?

Please join Poppy and Hank, along with Mrs. McG doing her well-meaning best to find romance for her favorite border, but it seems all her well-established charms are going haywire around ‘The Dear Girl.’

And if you love it, please leave me a fabulous review on Amazon.

Here are other titles by Solange, all available on Amazon. Mrs. McG makes a guest appearance in a few of them:

The Conrad Brothers:

You’re the One for Me: Berry Samuels, writing romance novels under the nom de plume Solange DewBerry, meets Maurice ‘Moe’ Conrad, contractor and all around great guy. Berry has this peculiar ability to bring her written characters into the world, including her first published hero and heroine, rancher Brad and fashion model Trista, as well as Privateer Captain Conrad and the sultry Svetlana. Unfortunately, Trista takes a liking to Moe instead of her love interest. Moe hasn’t a clue what to do when this gorgeous, larger than life blond goes after him. Berry brings the whole crew to life to get things straightened out.

Waitress in a Doughnut Shop: Jenny Ellsworth works in a coffeeshop. It’s the only life she’s ever wanted and things are great, except for one thing. Or perhaps two. The man she loves from afar: architect Joey Conrad. Joey can’t seem to say no, or break up with his annoying girlfriend until one foggy day. And then Jenny’s childhood best friend, Karma, comes to town. Or does she? Jenny can’t remember her at all. Everyone who knows about Berry’s secret ability swears Karma is one of her characters, but she swears that’s not so. There’s a mystery here even writer Berry can’t figure out, but she’s determined that Joey and Jenny will get their Happily Ever After.

Meetings in Moonlight: Ana is an ethereal beauty in Berry’s romance novel-in-progress. The writing isn’t going well. For some reason, all the words Berry write somehow get changed overnight, and not for the better. Middle brother Pete Conrad read the drafts and doesn’t care that Ana’s not real. He’s in love with her, and will do anything to be with her, including jumping into Berry’s computer so they can be together. After all, Ana’s love interest is a total bore and all wrong for her. Berry’s abilities to bring her characters into the world don’t include actually making them human. Will Berry spend the rest of her life writing scenes for the two of them? How in the world can true love prevail?

First We Kiss: Rhea Hansen-Chalmbers is tiptoeing through life and her work in her mother’s law practice, trying to maintain emotional neutrality. It’s imperative she do so, for terrible things happen when the applecart is upset—like knives flying through the air, or every dish in her cupboard dancing a conga-line before smashing themselves on the floor. Or hurting those she loves. Woodworker Paul Conrad, recovering from a car crash, has loved Rhea from afar, not knowing why she suddenly dropped him as a friend all those years ago. He’s about to find out. He’s asked Berry to stay out of the way of his romance but she can’t seem to help herself. When Paul discovers Rhea’s secret, will he run, or will he stay?

No One Else Will Do: Priya Kumar is doing her best to run the family Laundromat/bar, trying to stay out of sight of the man who loves her, lest he discover her secret. He wouldn’t be the first man to run when he learns she can read minds, and she doesn’t think she could bear to have it happen again. There’s also the fact her younger brother is determined to undermine the family business. Contractor and musician Sammy Conrad, youngest of the Conrad brothers, has loved Priya from afar from the first time he brought his lucky red drawers into her establishment. Is he brave enough to love her and save her from her fate?

Guest Author: Lisabet Sarai

Incognito: Secret Lives, Forbidden Loves

Shy and serious by day—insatiable by night.During the day, Miranda Cahill works diligently on her doctoral thesis. At night, she has sex with strangers.

Public coupling, multiple partners, age play, spankings, bondage, lesbian lust—each salacious adventure exposes new dimensions of her depravity. Her secret life explodes when she realizes her masked partner at a kink club and the charismatic colleague courting her are in fact the same man.

Dickens scholar Mark Anderson seems like an affable, uncomplicated Midwesterner, but he has hidden depths, myriad talents, and an unlimited appetite for erotic variety. With Mark as her guide,  Miranda comes to accept the intricacy of her own desires, as well as to trust her heart.

Reader Advisory: This novel is an erotic romance featuring a committed relationship and culminating in a wedding. Nevertheless, the main characters participate in a wide range of taboo sexual activities, both together and separately.

Excerpt: Rated R

“Lovely,” sighed a cultured feminine voice, close to her ear. “Don’t you agree?”

Miranda whirled round, startled and embarrassed. She hadn’t realized that she had companions in her blatant voyeurism.

They were young, close to her own age, and enough alike in stature and demeanor that they could have been siblings. Both had thick brunette hair. His was brushed back from his brow, while she wore hers in a bob with blunt bangs. They were both clad in tight black jeans and tank tops that highlighted every curve and swelling of their athletic bodies. Prominent nipples capped her small breasts, clearly visible through the clinging fabric. His half-engorged organ was equally obvious.

Of course both of them wore masks. Near-identical brown eyes gleamed behind their dominoes. It was their mouths, though, that captured Miranda’s attention, their ripe perfect lips inviting, sensuous, bowed in the perpetual promise of a smile.

Miranda ached to kiss those mouths, to trace their luscious curves with the tip of her tongue. She felt the ache in her throat, in her chest, in her painfully taut nipples, in the damp, hungry recesses of her sex. Her palms yearned to glide over those smooth thighs, those flat bellies. She wanted them, both of them, craved them in a visceral way that was totally new to her.

She stifled a moan, and took the hand the woman extended.

“I’m Marla,” the other woman said, her voice melodious and a bit husky. “And this is Marcus.” The young man smiled mysteriously but said nothing. “We were admiring your costume.”

It took Miranda a moment to recall the red velvet jumpsuit that she had chosen from Lucy’s wardrobe. It was defiantly flamboyant, clinging to her body like a sensuous second skin. A gold-colored zipper ran from the scoop neck down to her navel. Matching zippers adorned her wrists and ankles. She knew that the color suited her, contrasted with the hair spilling over her shoulders like a river of jet. She also knew how obvious it was that she was naked underneath the velvet. Not a shy garment, but perhaps just right for tonight.

Choked with desire, she found it difficult to speak. “Thank you,” she managed, finally, then couldn’t resist asking, “Are you twins?”

They gave similar, musical laughs. “Not exactly,” said the one called Marcus. “But we enjoy pretending.”

About Lisabet

Lisabet Sarai became addicted to words at an early age. She began reading when she was four. She wrote her first story at five yearsold and her first poem at seven. Since then, she has written plays, tutorials, scholarly articles, marketing brochures, software specifications, self-help books, press releases, a five-hundred page dissertation, and lots of erotica and erotic romance – over one hundred titles, and counting, in nearly every sub-genre—paranormal, scifi, ménage, BDSM, GLBT, and more. Regardless of the genre, every one of her stories illustrates her motto: Imagination is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

You’ll find information and excerpts from all Lisabet’s books onher website (http://www.lisabetsarai.com/books.html), along withmore than fifty free stories and lots more. At her blog BeyondRomance (http://lisabetsarai.blogspot.com), she shares herphilosophy and her news and hosts lots of other great authors.She’s also on Goodreads, Pinterest, and  Twitter. Join her VIP email list here: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

Buy Links

Kinky Literature: https://www.kinkyliterature.com/book/362-incognito-secret-lives-forbidden-loves

Amazon US:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1N7CTMQ

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B1N7CTMQ

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940165857058

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1147874

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/incognito-secret-lives-forbidden-loves

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61138791-incognito

Incognito New Release Giveaway

Win a $10 bookstore GC or free books in my INCOGNITO giveaway. Contest runs from June 1 to June 15.

To enter, do any or all of the following. (Each action is one entry.)

o Join my VIP email list: https://btn.ymlp.com/xgjjhmhugmgh

o Follow me on BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lisabet-sarai

o Email me, telling me what book of mine you’d like to read:  contest@lisabetsarai.com

On June 16th, I will randomly select one grand-prize winner who’ll get a $10 gift certificate, plus two runner-ups who can choose any ebook from my indie back list.

Kate Hill’s Warrior Priest

On sale until the end of June!

Warrior Priest

by Kate Hill

Science Fiction Romance

What happens when a warrior priest from a strict religion meets a free-spirited priestess from a new age commune?

Jade and Selena are as different as two people can be, but to facilitate an alliance between their worlds, they engage in a cultural exchange. With their galaxy in danger from a planet that wants to conquer or destroy all others, they realize the importance of their assignment, but it is difficult for a warrior priest and a nonviolent priestess to understand each other.

Selena is both attracted and appalled by his old school masculinity, and Jade is tempted to break his vow of celibacy until marriage due to his powerful desire for her. Will this unlikely pair not only find common ground, but unconditional love?

Excerpt:

“I thought I saw my father.” Jade couldn’t believe he was confessing to her. “Back there at the waterfall. I heard him, and I saw him.”

Selena reached for his hand and squeezed it. “That’s what upset you? I dreamed about a bakery, and you dreamed about your dad.”

“I wasn’t dreaming. I didn’t fall asleep.”

Selena tilted her gaze up to his. “I’m not sure what to say. Have you ever seen a ghost before?”

“No, Selena! No, I’ve never seen a ghost, and I’m not crazy. I’m thinking that maybe this head wound is—”

“The scan was fine, Jade. Once we’re out of here, I can check again, but if the way you’re trekking through this cave is any indication, there’s nothing wrong with you physically.”

“You think I’m crazy, then?”  

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy. I believe we might be able to communicate with spirits. My religion is based on a variety of beliefs that include the dead leaving imprints on the corporeal world. I also believe that sometimes ghosts aren’t about spirits reaching out from beyond, but about closure we need.”

“I never told him I loved him.” Jade’s stomached clenched. He felt more than a little embarrassed. There was no reason for him to tell her this. Still, he went on. “We didn’t talk much about feelings. Emotions are to be controlled. A lack of discipline can get you killed.”

“That’s true, I suppose. But pretending you don’t have emotions can kill you, too. Slowly. So you can’t ever be truly happy or even sad. It’s kind of like ignoring an injury. It won’t heal, or it’ll heal badly.”

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Purchase Links:

Warrior Priest is on sale for $0.99 until June 30, 2022 at Smashwords and Amazon

Author Bio:

Kate Hill is a vegetarian New Englander who started writing many years ago for pleasure.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, watching horror and action movies, working out, and spending time with her family and pets.

Social Links:

Website: https://kate-hill.com/

Blog: https://kate-hill.com/blog/

Newsletter: https://kate-hill.com/index.php/newsletter/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Kate-Hill/e/B002BLS7OW

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-hill

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16157.Kate_Hill

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/katehillromancewritingandmore/_saved/

Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/katehillromancewritingandmore

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KateHillRomance

A New Release by Vicki Batman!

Oh, look! A new release by the delightful Vicki Batman!

Temporarily out of Luck, a romantic comedy mystery

Tagline:  Hattie Cooks scrambles to exonerate her sister when all fingers point to Tracey as the murderer of her ex-husband.

Story blurb: Great job. What man? And murder. Newly employed at Wedding Wonderland, Hattie Cooks is learning the industry from a woman she greatly admires. When her former brother-in-law is found dead in his luxury SUV, all fingers point to Hattie’s sister, who is planning her own I Dos.

Detective Allan Wellborn is caught between a rock and a hard place—Hattie’s family and investigating the murder of a well-connected Sommerville resident, the same loser who was once married to Hattie’s sister. Determining who’s the bad guy—or gal—isn’t going to be easy and sure to piss off someone.

Can Hattie beat the clock to find out who murdered Tracey’s ex before she is charged with the crime and her wedding is ruined?

Excerpt:

Sometimes, I felt like a small white mouse housed in a cage with lots of small white mice, whose playground activities involved eating, sleeping, and continually revolving on the exercise wheel. Just like one rodent friend—who I named Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky, having a field day back-flipping from the top of the spinning wheel—something happened. Unexpectedly, I found myself airborne.

Not hurt, a sense of disappointment overcame me, plus a bit of confusion, and a whole lot of colorful adjectives too numerous to list. I, mostly known as Hattie Cooks, shook off the pine shavings and joined the rat race. Sometimes, life sucked.

But wallowing? Not a good solution.

Being positive? A better one.

In most cases, a pitstop was a good idea, and I found comfort in my chocolate stockpile. And in most cases, I found empty shelves, for I had little dough to supply my habit due to the loss of my adored job as an assistant buyer at Sommerville’s top-class department store, Tucker’s, and the subsequent low-paying temporary ones I reluctantly took in the interim. Due to the expenses of rent, food, utilities, budgeting became my new compadré. However, for my recent birthday, Mom suggested friends and family provide me with treats. They were generous—gifting lots and lots of my favorite M&Ms in vast colors and flavors.

Mom’s idea totally rocked as the best birthday gift ever.

From outside my door, I heard Allan Wellborn smack the doorframe.

“You know how to find me.”

I roused from my ruminations and banged my forehead against the wall.  

Author: Vicki Batman

Funny, sweet, and quirky, Vicki Batman’s stories are full of her hallmark humor, romance, and will delight all readers. She has sold many award-winning and bestselling romantic comedy works to magazines and most recently, three humorous romantic mysteries. An avid Jazzerciser. Handbag lover. Mahjong player. Yoga practitioner. Movie fan. Book devourer. Cat fancier. Best Mom ever. And adores Handsome Hubby.

Find Vicki Batman at:

Website: https://vickibatman.blogspot.com/p/more-about-me.html/

Blog: https://www.vickibatman.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vicki-Batman-sassy-writer-of-sexy-and-funny-fiction-133506590074451/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VickiBatman/  

Pinterest: https://pinterest.com/vickibatman/  

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/vickibatman/  

Email: vlmbatman@hotmail.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4814608.Vicki_Batman/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vickilbatman/

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/vicki-batman     

Find Temporarily out of Luck at:

E-book: https://www.amazon.com/Temporarily-Luck-Hattie-Cooks-Mystery-ebook/dp/B08T7YSSRJ/

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Temporarily-Luck-Hattie-Cooks-Mystery/dp/1509233377/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=temporarily+out+of+luck&qid=1612803759&s=books&sr=1-1/

Reviews:

-I loved it! It was a very entertaining and a fast read that kept me engaged throughout. The pacing was perfect. My only complaint is now I'm craving M&Ms and enchiladas. And donuts. And wedding cake. 

-I laughed. I wondered. Then I laughed some more. Every page of Temporarily Out of Luck delivers a satisfying story and heartfelt humor. Don’t miss this great read!

-Between a new job at a bridal shop, serving as her sister Tracey’s maid of honor, and learning to tango with hot cop Allan Wellborn, Hattie Cooks has her hands full. But when Tracey becomes the primary suspect in her ex-husband’s murder, Hattie knows it’s up to her to ensure her sister a happily ever after. Temporarily Out of Luck is the perfect pairing of romantic romp and cozy mystery.    

-Hattie Cooks has landed a great new job at Wedding Wonderland. With her sister Tracey poised to exchange nuptials, the timing couldn’t be better. And with sexy detective Allan Wellborn serving as the best man and Hattie as the maid of honor, the wedding promises to be an exciting event. Unfortunately, fate throws a monkey wrench in the happy couple’s plans when Tracey’s first husband, a cheater named Jonson Leggett the third, is found dead in the Super Saver parking lot. Can Hattie help clear her sister’s name in time for the big day? Readers will enjoy finding out in Temporarily Out of Luck.

-Temporarily Out of Luck is a light, funny mix of romance and suspense, set against the backdrop of a pending wedding. Say “I do!” to this delightful story!

-With charming characters, an intriguing murder plot, and lots of laughs, Vicki Batman’s latest book, Temporarily Out of Luck, is a total delight.

-A dead ex, a hot cop, and small-town secrets. Readers will enjoy spending time in Sommerville as Hattie Cooks attempts to prove her sister Tracey’s innocence—and learn the tango—before Tracey’s wedding day.  

-A romantic romp coupled with a cozy mystery, Temporarily Out of Luck will warm your heart, exercise your brain, and tickle your funny bone. Vicki Batman delivers pure entertainment--once again!

-Hattie Cooks might get lucky with investigator Allan Wellborn--if only his darn phone would stop getting in the way! Temporarily Out of Luck is a seamless blend of light murder mystery and romantic comedy that is sure to please readers of both genres.