Dark of the Night Release!

Guess what day it is!!! That’s right. It’s release day for Dark Of The Night!!! If you love enemies to lovers, vampire romances, witches, and lots of angst and snark, then this is going to be your next favorite book. First, here’s the blurb, and then I’ll tell you a little more about this book.

Henley Stark is no angel, but she is a survivor.

Disowned by her witch coven as a teenager, Henley was driven to Amos, a vampire loan shark. There’s little Henley hasn’t done to keep a roof over her head and food in her stomach as Amos trained her for his purposes. It all comes to a head when Amos assigns Henley and Alex, her newly found mate, to a job that can only lead to death.

Going up against the greatest threat the vampires have ever known, it’s clear one or both of them will not survive the encounter. However, as Alex begins to soften toward her, Henley must decide if giving them a chance is worth the effort, especially when she’ll likely be dead soon anyway.

Can Henley find her worth and true love before the mission ultimately claims her life?

For readers who enjoy books by K.F. Breene, Heather Hildebrand, Jaymin Eve, and Karen Lynch.

Now for the fun part. If you don’t know who Melanie Gilbert is, you should. 😉 I may be biased, but she’s an amazing author…and she’s my sister. Melanie started writing a year or two after I published my first book, and I’ve loved watching her books grow and become stronger. Actually, she’s been pushing me for about a year or so to write a book with her, and I finally relented (it wasn’t on this book). I’ve enjoyed writing with her. It actually goes faster than when we write individually.

Our writing style together is quite different than most I’ve heard of. Instead of writing one point of view each, or writing 3k words at a time, we write one paragraph at a time. This works especially well at the beginning of the story. Toward the middle, our sections can grow to several paragraphs, but that’s when we know exactly what’s about to happen and it all needs to be written together. Since we’ve been doing random projects together for about a year, and our writing voices are so similar anyway, it’s hard to tell who wrote what. Even for us this is true sometimes.

At the end of last year, Melanie moved to Madison for her husband’s new job, and she actually lives quite close to me. It’s been great to go over after work and write this together in the same room. It helped planning out certain parts easier. Now, you may notice the “certain parts” for planning. For the most part, we pantsed this book. What does that mean? We had no plan on what was coming next. It was one big surprise! Some parts had to be planned because we needed a blurb and title right away (why we were short on time was a huge fiasco, but we have to say our cover designer is the awesomest!). Melanie is a plotter and I’m a panster. Part of our writing over snippets of stories before this was practice in how we could mix both of our writing styles together, and I have to say, we succeeded with Henley’s book.

Overall, this has been a great experience, and the early reviews couldn’t be more positive. More than one person sat down and read it in one sitting into the wee hours of the morning- like 2-3am. We can’t wait to see what you think! Let us know by leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Bookbub!

Snippet Saturday: Oct 17

Here’s a snippet from the last book in the string of The Diner snippets that I have to spotlight (ironically it’s first in the set). This snippet is from M.S. Murray’s book, A Hold On The Stake. Less than a week left until release!

A sharp pain radiates up my entire left side. I scrunch my face up and pant through the agony until it’s bearable again.

“I think you might have a broken rib.”

“No shit I might have a broken rib. I think you pulverised my entire rib cage when you tackled me like Frank Farmer.”

“Who?” His brow furrows.

The BodyguardWhitney Houston?” He stares at me blankly. “Nevermind. Help me up.” With a loud sigh, he moves towards me. In a blink, I’m upright and slightly hunched as I begin to feel every bruise, cut and possibly broken bone. I’m pretty sure my wrist is fractured on the same side as my ribs.

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2ZWEYIy

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/33Lkjbu

Snippet Saturday: Oct 10

Today’s snippet comes from K.J. Lavalee’s book Revealing The Truth inside the shared world box set, The Diner. Just a few more weeks until release so pre-order your copy now! You don’t want to miss this box set if you love all things paranormal, fantasy, and romance!

Maverick 

I bolt up in bed. Panic fills me. Not from me, but she’s panicked. Something isn’t right. But she’s also resigned. 

The emotion subsides and I relax. She probably had a bad dream and is worrying about her life now, and then thinking of her uncle, mother and father. 

I get up and start putting my shit back into my duffle when a sharp pain pierces my gut. Not mine, Ella’s. 

I must have made a pained noise, because Gellevel is at my side in an instant. “What is it?”

“Ella. She’s hurting.” I groan. “It’s like, torture.” I don’t have anything else to compare it to. I was tortured before. This is like that. Like being stabbed in the gut repeatedly to see what you can withstand. 

“Did you see where she was?”

“No,” I say through gritted teeth. “When I… spoke to her… she didn’t want… me to find her.” I take a deep breath. “She wants to keep me safe.”

My brother growls. “You’re the warrior. You don’t need protection.”

The pain stops, I can feel her relief for a brief moment, then white light shoots through me. 

Gellevel drops to the floor, and rolls away. Afraid the light is going to hurt him. It very well might have. 

Several minutes pass when the light finally fades. I pat my body making sure I’m okay. That’s not my magic, and elves magic is green. Not white. That’s Ella’s. 

“I think the block has been removed.”

Gel grunts. “You think? I can’t imagine the destruction she can wreak if that much power came through you. You’re her mate, and you lit up like a fucking bonfire.”

“She is a Bennet witch,” I say, as if it’s obvious.

“So I saw. Guess she’ll be needing to learn how to control that magic.”

 Breathing as if I just ran a marathon, I flip him off. “Obviously. She hasn’t had her magic since she was a little girl. She isn’t going to be able to control it without extensive training.”

Even as I say the words, pride fills me. My mate, she’ll be a formidable foe. And she’s mine.

“What do we do now?” 

“We continue searching. But this time, we look online. Someone had to have reported that surge of light. We can narrow it down that way,” I tell him. I dig my laptop out of my duffle, and load it up. I will find you, Ella. And I will help protect you, whether you like it or not.     

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2ZWEYIy

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/33Lkjbu

Snippet Saturday: Sept 26

Today’s snippet is coming from my upcoming book in The Diner Box set. It’s called “Black Cat’s Curse” and I find this book hilarious. The dynamics between Lucky and Doris are beyond adorable as she tries to act like she doesn’t like him and he loves to annoy her.

Snippet

“Dear, I don’t know where those paws of yours have been, but that isn’t the place for them,” Doris stated, sliding in behind the bar on this side of the diner via a door to the left. “Now, take a seat on the stool.”

The woman’s voice jogged my witch’s attention from her laptop, and she finally noticed me. “Umm, nice kitty?” Her voice was so hesitant and uncertain that I had to wonder what about my small stature had her sounding like that. Did she think I was going to attack and try to scratch her eyes out?

Very nice kitty, I confirmed and watched as her bright, sapphire eyes widened and her mouth popped open.

“You talk.”

Doris chuckled, taking a drag on the cigarette still hanging out of her mouth. “Of course he talks. He’s a black cat. All they ever do is talk.”

I do not, I argued, sitting my butt down on the bar for emphasis. And this is my seat.

Snippet Saturday: Sept 19

Here’s another snippet from Negative Energy, my new release!

“See, it’s not so bad sitting by me, and this time it doesn’t appear like your shadow will be glaring at me. Boyfriend?”

“Cousin,” I corrected, already knowing that he was talking about Theodore.

“Really? Because he doesn’t act like a cousin to me.”

“Protective and always in my business, that doesn’t sound like a cousin to you?”

Jackson shrugged. “Put like that, I suppose he does. Is he the one who made you jump earlier?”

“No.” Not this again. “I like Theodore. He can be a bit much sometimes, but I like him. He’d never make me jump unless he meant to tease me.”

“This other person doesn’t mean to tease, then.”

“Not usually, and the teasing isn’t the fun form either. Okay-.”

“So, a bully,” Jackson cut me off, his voice low and harsh. “You’re being bullied.”

I covered my face. “If I tell you what’s going on will you leave me alone?”

“You mean will I stop being your friend?”

“I mean cut that friend crap out. You know we can’t be friends.”

“I know we can be friends,” he stated, more persistent than ever. “Why can’t we? Because our people say we can’t?”

“Are you always this stubborn?”

Jackson snickered beside me as the teacher, Mr. Henry, called out roll. “My mother would say yes, and I’d have to agree with her.” 

“Well stop being so stubborn and leave me alone.”

mybook.to/NegativeEnergy

Snippet Saturday: Sept 12

It’s release day for Negative Energy!!! Again, this is a standalone novel. Here’s the blurb, snippet to follow:

Shannon Dart’s magic is out of control. Rather, her flaring temper causes her magic to blow up the nearest object. With ninety days to learn control, and a bully set on making that impossible, Shannon is at her wits end. That is, until a wolf shifter appears in her first hour class after his pack moves to town. There’s something about this shifter that Shannon can’t put her finger on.

With Jackson’s help, Shannon is hopeful to learn control, especially when her magic responds to him. However, the rising tension between the magical coven and the wolf pack create problems for the two friends. If Jackson is the key to unlocking Shannon’s control, can they find a way to make it work while keeping their distance, or are they bound to fail?

Snippet:

Jackson’s grin grew wider as his steel eyes returned to me, their depths pulling me in. “My one goal today was to make a friend, and I chose you.”

“You chose me?” I stared openly. “You know what I am, right?”

He tapped his nose. “I smell that too. Which makes me wonder, what creature, or what person, makes someone like you so afraid?”

I ground my teeth together and stared back at the papers on my desk. “It’s no one.”

“Fine, if you don’t want to tell me, I’ll just have to figure it out for myself.”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I chose you as my friend, and no one is going to cause the amount of fear I smelled and the spiked heart rate I heard from my new friend. Not without me stepping in.”

“First-.”

“Welcome to class everyone,” Mrs. Gulf called from the doorway as the second bell rang and she closed the door. 

She began instructing us about the packets on our desks when Jackson leaned closer. “I’m still listening. Talk low, I’ll hear it.”

I looked down at my paper like I was listening to the teacher, though I was only half aware of what she was saying. Covering my mouth so she couldn’t see my lips move, I spoke as softly as I could, not worried he’d hear me. “First, you don’t just choose a friend like that. The other person has a choice. Second, you can’t help me with my problem. No one can.”

Jackson leaned over toward me, pretending he was digging in his bag for something, likely a pencil. “We’ll see about that. And you do have a choice to be my friend, but you’ll find I’m completely irresistible.”

“And cocky.”

“Self-aware.”

mybook.to/NegativeEnergy

Snippet Saturday: Sept 5th

I haven’t done a Snippet Saturday in forever, so let’s start again! This snippet comes from next week’s release, Negative Energy. It’s a standalone in the First Blood world, and reading the original trilogy is not required to understand it. You really don’t want to miss this one.

When I turned around, I spotted a new face sitting at the desk next to my usual place. It wasn’t the shaved sides of his head with a short, spiky mohawk running down the center of his head that first caught my attention. Nor was it the wide, wolfie grin he aimed at me. Nope, it was those deep pools of steel gray eyes that made me come up short when I saw him.

“Hey.” His light, tenor voice shook me from whatever trance those eyes had put me under.

I jerked out of it. “Hi.” Ignoring him, and Theodore’s odd stare, I took my seat and opened the textbook, pretending to read it as two sets of eyes continued to be preoccupied with me.

“The name’s Jackson,” the new boy stated, extending a hand in my direction, which I caught sight of in my peripheral vision.

Turning, I met those gray eyes again and swallowed. “Shannon,” I stated without taking his hand.

The boy’s nose flared, giving him away. Wolf boy. His grin grew wider as my lips pressed into a thin line and worry crept up my spine.

“It’s nice to meet you. I mean it.” Jackson shrugged and looked to the door as a strange female entered the room. The girl took one look at him, and then us, as she strode passed Jackson and took the seat behind him. Jackson ducked his head for a second before turning his attention back to me, the grin plastered back on his face. “So, what’s interesting to do here in town?”

“Nothing,” Theodore stated, voice hard and stern, not the usual tone for my cousin.

The tone didn’t faze Jackson, who stared at me. I shook my head. “Honestly, not much. Small town.”

“I see.” The first bell rang, cutting him off. “I guess I’ll just have to find something to do then.”

He winked at me. My cheeks heated as I turned away. It didn’t help that the girl behind Jackson snorted. The flush crept down my neck and I took a deep breath to steady my emotions, already feeling my power wanting to flare. It didn’t matter the emotion. As long as it was strong, my magic would react to it.

mybook.to/NegativeEnergy

#Freebie Alert!

#Freebie Alert!

If you’re like me right now in this time with the COVID 19 virus, you don’t have any more time available to you than you had before because you’re able to work from home the same hours you did before. Or you’re a medical professional, grocery store employee, or other essential worker who don’t have the choice but to go to work to help the rest of us. However, I know many people who don’t have the ability to work from home or their places of employment have closed and have more free time than they’ve had because of it. Many authors did sales to help those in this situation to have more books to read. Good for them, but I wasn’t ready to throw mine in yet.

Free Graphic 1

So, I held off, and now I have my freebie ready for those who are still looking for social isolating reads! It’s also a way to celebrate that Fourth Bunker, the next standalone in the series, has finished being written!! This book should be released this summer and more information will be given at a later time. However, I will say that this is Avery’s book and the events take place after Third House. Thus far, betas are loving it!

If you’ve read First Blood and enjoyed it, please reach out to your friends and let them know it’s free! Hopefully it can spread some good vibes during this rough time in our lives. I know I’m handling social isolation much better than so many of my friends and family, but many others are like them and this is a difficult time. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this book and it can bring some fun to your life.

Free Graphic 4

Like most other college students in the United States, Koda Niklane’s dream is to join the government’s most advanced military unit: the Elite. Since the President’s great reveal of supernaturals living amongst humans, every college student is required to Interview for the Elite. Being human and unable to fight are setbacks for Koda, but she soon learns she isn’t quite as human as she’d thought, or rather, she’s not human at all.

When a purple-eyed blood drinker named Raven Cartana, a Captain in the Elite, announces publicly that she’s one of his kind, Koda refuses to believe him. As her new Elite trainer, Raven’s job is to keep Koda alive and teach her the ropes. Teaching is the easy part as Raven, Koda, and their team work to keep the streets safe from Threats. It soon becomes apparent that keeping Koda alive will be much harder than Raven had anticipated as the attacks on her become more personal.

As Koda works with Raven and the Elite, she can’t help but wonder how much of herself will remain once her maturity has finished. Will she still be Koda, or will she be something different? And is that why someone has their sights set on her?

Click for your Free copy of First Blood

What is it Wednesday: Shifters

Before I get into my newly regular What is it Wednesday post, I’d like to explain this weekly (or so is the hope) post. In my books, I have a lot of different creatures, and they’re so fun to work with. Some of them are real (as in popular among the general public) and others I’ve completely made up. In my most recent series, there are so many different species of creatures that even my mom told me it was difficult to know what was real and what I’d invented. Hopefully these posts will be fun and informative at the same time! And let you know what’s real and what isn’t!

So, let’s start this off with Shifters!

painting mighty tiger and lion head on ornamental background and mystic woman face, computer collage.

Lately when explaining my books to people, I’ve found that quite a large majority have no idea what a shifter is when I tell them I write shifter novels. I then have to explain it. So, for those of you who have no idea what a shifter actually is, it’s a person who can shift into something, usually an animal of some kind, but it doesn’t have to be an animal. It’s kind of like the “Animorphs” series. And though it’s rare, I have seen where it’s an animal who can shift into a human (the biggest difference is that they started off as an animal but through magic or some sort of power became human and then have the ability to shift back and forth and must learn about their human side).

Silhouette of beautiful woman with shadow of wolf with crescent moon and stars isolated. Sticker, print or tattoo design vector illustration. Pagan totem, wiccan familiar spirit art

All of my books have shifters of some sort in them, whether it be tigers, dragons, polar bears, gargoyles, and let’s face it, the First Blood series is loaded with them (snow leopard, gorilla, fox, wolf, raccoon, etc). Why do I love writing shifters so much? Because there’s so much you can do with them! They have greater use of their senses. They’re not quite human or animal so anything is possible (like scenting emotion or hearing heartbeats). Their bodies might even be able to withstand more than a regular human and they could be stronger.

And who doesn’t love animals??? This allows me to write an animal-like character (such as when they’re in animal form) with a human intelligence. That’s fun. At least for me. It opens up so many possibilities!

What are some of your favorite shifters? Do you have characters from books that you absolutely love who can shift between forms?

More to come on my specific shifters in weeks to come!!

#Snippet Saturday: Nov 2

First Blood is still free through tomorrow night, so of course today’s snipped comes from that book! It’s also perfect that it’s time for Daylight Savings in the USA so you have an extra hour to read tonight!

Lovely background image with an antique clock face

“Can I ask a personal question?” I asked Shannon, who turned in her seat to stare at me. The wind blew her hair around her face, so she tucked it behind her ear. From the driver’s seat, I could see Luella’s eyes flicker to keep tabs on the conversation.

“Sure, ask away.”

I looked between Shannon and Jackson. “What exactly is your relationship?”

Jackson snorted. “I’m leaving this one to you, Shan.” With that, he turned away from me to curl his body into as much of a ball as he could with the seat belt restraining him. I wasn’t sure how long it would take him to fall asleep, but once he stopped moving, he didn’t move again.

“Well, it’s complicated,” Shannon giggled, answering my question once Jackson was asleep. “We’ve known each other since high school, and he’s been at my side ever since. We were seniors in college when he bonded himself to me as my familiar. Now he can belong to no one else. Me, I’m still free as a bird, but I can’t do that to him. He’s my best friend, and maybe someday more than that. Until then, he’s bound to protect me and assist with my needs.”

“Gotcha.”

“Speaking of men,” Luella crooned. “What about you and Raven? He sure has mellowed out since you drank his blood.”

“Maybe to you,” I grumbled, remembering Raven’s less than stellar mood this morning, “but to me he’s still the same old Raven.”

“Uh huh. That’s why he can’t keep his eyes off you whenever you aren’t looking.”

He did what?

“He likes my eye color.” My floundering retort only served to give Luella another case of the giggles. Even Shannon snickered.

“I hate to say it, Koda, but Luella has a point. He may have been grumpy this morning, but Raven was more mellow this morning than he has been in the years I’ve known him. What happened between you two yesterday?”

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QDBC837

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QDBC837