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After Midnight: The Beginning @MFRWhooks

Her taboo relationships give her new life. Now there's a secret worth dying for.

After Midnight: The Beginning

Genre: LGBTQ+ Urban Fantasy Romance

***

Jewell spent her college years avoiding two threats: sunlight and her sadistic stepfather.

Ria hails from a family of old-world vamps who want her to fall in line. Fat chance, especially since being in that line includes not being gay.

Being in love is easy for Ria and Jewell—they belong together like vodka and tomato juice. Adding a sexy incubus to their union is the hot sauce in their Bloody Mary. The only problem? Jewell's stepfather.

He demands Jewell return home. He's supported her for her entire life, and tuition isn't cheap. She belongs to him. Her debt has come due.

If she refuses, he'll kill her. If she agrees, it could expose a secret that will result in worldwide carnage.

Jewell and Ria have until dawn to decide…

...and it's already After Midnight.

Warning: This book features spicy supernatural creatures, an attempted assault that makes the perp wish he'd just stayed home, and a secret that changes everything.

After Midnight: The Beginning
is the 2nd book in the LGBTQ urban fantasy series Living After Midnight. It can be read out of order and as a Happy for Now standalone.

Excerpt

“After a round of see you laters, Jewell followed Ria through a dozen mismatched and worn bistro tables to a group of yard sale loveseats tucked against the wall near the stage, and across the room from the entrance. Hand-sewn throws were strewn across the small sofas. It gave the space a shabby chic kind of look. Cute. Someone was trying to spruce the place up.

Jewell sat on the purple couch and patted the dusty cushion next to her to invite her girlfriend to sit. She liked this bar, despite the dirt and sticky floors. If the owner cleaned it up a bit, it might become one of those funky after-hours clubs that could put Unakite on the map.

"Could this be any lower to the ground?" Ria sat on the edge of the sofa and tugged at her red micro-mini-skirt. "I practically have to be a contortionist not to show my stuff to the creeps across the room." She flashed an insincere smile to the group of men leering at them, and whispered to Jewell through bared teeth, "Do you see that idiot coming over here? Start coughing like you have tuberculosis.“I don't have the patience for these pushy humans.”

“Pushy? The young man approaching them seemed more like a salmon in a den of grizzly bears, out of his element and nervous as hell. Jewell had to give him credit: he had the guts to head toward Ria.

Prey seldom made good decisions in the face of a predator.”

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Concerts in the Age of Covid

The last concert I attended pre-Covid was Richard Marx. It was great fun. Not only is he a talented singer/songwriter but he is funny and engaging.

I had no idea that would be my last, in-person show.

During Covid, musicians suffered. Touring is a major income stream for both bands and soloists. Responses to not being able to tour varied. Innovative performers found ways to perform. Online concerts were big deals. Some were free to keep fans engaged. Individuals frequently used social media to play for their fans in a more intimate way.

A few adventurous bands performed while they and their audiences were in bubbles, actual physical barriers against the virus. Don’t believe me? Check this out:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flaming-lips-concert-perform-inflatable-bubbles-oklahoma/

In the aftermath, many things are changing. People are back to work. Restaurants are busy again. Movie theaters have opened. Concerts are back, too. Big and small, indoor and outdoor venues fill to capacity (sometimes at extreme costs).

But as much as I love in-person concerts, they go on without me. I have not forgotten the devastation of Covid. The millions of people it killed—some of whom were my friends. I can’t forget how it’s spread—through the air primarily. To be at a venue surrounded by a crowd of unmasked people cheering and singing is a risk I’m not willing to take.

I just can’t forget. How can anyone?

National Library Lover's Month

Although I don’t regularly frequent libraries anymore, they were a big part of my life. The library was one of the biggest and newest buildings in my hometime. I remember how it felt to walk thought the doors…and how it smelled. Like books!

My mom would take my siblings and I there when we were very young. I was hooked on old books like Miss Piggle-Wiggle books, Pippi Longstocking, and Nancy Drew. As I got older, I could get to the library by myself, and I read tons of books I probably shouldn’t have read. Rubyfruit Jungle, Helter Skelter, s a biography of Alice Cooper , and ALL of Gordon Merrick’s books come to mind. Of course, the book that had the greatest impact on me at that time was Interview with a Vampire. I still think of it as one of the most erotic books I’d ever read.

In college, the library was humongous. Tables with bankers lamps were everywhere. There was a section that had dim lighting and vending machines. Between school work and reading for the sheer joy of it, I practically lived there.

Reading was my escape. Libraries were my sanctuary. Happy National Library Lover’s Month