luninosity

April has been a very busy month so far – academic conferences, teaching, and my birthday! So this update is coming at the very end of the month… But now, the book news!

First, a new release!

“Sound the Fairy Call” is out now from JMS Books!

JMS Books

Amazon

BN

After three years of fighting in the service of his mercenary company, Eoan’s ready to lay down his sword and return home. He’s seen enough war and destruction and ruined villages; he only wants to find someplace peaceful and warm where he can figure out a new life.

But he’s a long way from home, in the pouring rain. And rumor says the forest around him contains inhuman magical creatures such as dragons, garwolves, fairies, and sprites. He should be safe if he doesn’t leave the path … but fairies have ways of tempting weary travelers.

Julian hadn’t actually meant to entice the tired soldier from the path. He’d only been playing music for himself, and it’s been so long since he’s introduced himself to anyone, he barely recalls his own name.

But now he has a human in his forest, and Eoan clearly needs care and comfort and healing. And Julian’s been very lonely for a very long time. But maybe he doesn’t have to be.

A cover reveal!

“A Leather and Tea Morning”  – which is, yes, the follow-up story for Ben & Simon, from “Leather and Tea”!  (which, by the way, was part of the JMS Books Top 10 bestselling gay romance short stories of 2018! I’m kind of hoping maybe we can get this one there too, for 2019?)

A retired spy, his romance-novelist husband, lots of loving kink, and a lazy morning at home – what more could you need? Release date May 11!

Here’s the pre-order link from JMS, where it is currently 20% off – only $1.59!

A book rec!

This month’s book rec: Dessa Lux’s Omega Required, which is actually a little outside my usual reading zone – I don’t read a lot of ABO – but this is really surprisingly sweet and heartfelt and poignant, and both characters grow so naturally together, and it’s lovely. So if you like m/m romance and werewolf shapeshifters and tenderness, you will likely enjoy this!

So it’s February 1, and cold and rainy here, but I like that – I’ve got coffee and a TARDIS blanket, and the world’s not so bad, at least not this little sofa-spot of it.

First, the news: JMS Books officially wants my other story from my old Ellora’s Cave publishing days – the one that was my first-ever pro romance sale! We’ve got the contract all signed and everything! That should be coming out in late March or April. I’m really excited about this for a LOT of reasons – of course I’m thrilled to see these characters and this world out there for you guys to read again! Also, I don’t write a lot of m/f romance, but this one is, so I hope you like it!

It’s still pretty heavily queer – bisexual hero (explicitly so), and the heroine’s ex is…basically pansexual and arguably genderfluid (he/him pronouns, but he can and does look however he wants at any given moment because magic, and his criteria for partners is, can they keep up/challenge him? the sequel, which we’ve discussed, will be his story, and it’ll most likely be m/m). And I LOVED having the opportunity to revisit and revise this first story – it’s now 3,000 words longer, for one thing, and I did a lot of polishing and smoothing-out of style. (And put back all my Oxford commas, which the EC copy-editor seemed to have a vendetta against! I’m so glad JMS and I agree on this one…)

We’re batting around new title ideas – it was first published as “Lily’s Enchantment,” which was the EC editor’s idea (I’m terrible with titles), and I always thought…it was…fine…but not exciting? But then I was a Brand New Child in this world and did not wish to argue. At the moment it’s being referred to as “Sorceress,” which may stick, though I’m rather fond of my far too long option of “The Sorceress, the Bastard, and the Dragon’s Heart”.

So I really hope you all like this one – it’s sort of a glimpse of early-writer me, as revised by now-writer me, and it’s got medieval-ish fantasy and a dragon and, obviously, a sorceress, and tea, and queer m/f romance, and probably more to come in this world.

Next, new releases! I have two original fic things out this month – within this week, in fact!

~First up – tomorrow! – is my story for the JMS Books Snowed In themed collection! For this one, I got to go back to the world of A Demon for Midwinter – it’s a historical prequel, so look for some familiar powers and family names, with all-new characters! It’ll stand alone, though, so no worries if you’ve not read Demon. (The covers are all the same for the collection, if you’re wondering why it’s not Regency-themed.)

Expect Regency-era wintertime, an ice elemental, a cheerful freckled young viscount and a cranky magical detective, and ALL the fabulous tropes involving bad weather and being snowed in and hurt/comfort and cuddling for warmth and grumpy falling in love…

Buy links:

Amazon

JMS Books

BN

~Second, my story “Sundown, Holiday, Beacon” for the Happiness in Numbers anthology, edited by Nicole Field, is available February 6! (Or very late on the 5th, I think, if you’ve already ordered?) Here’s the pre-order link, available from Less Than Three Press now!

This one contains a m/m/m triad of superheroes (well, one superhero, one former sidekick, and one reformed supervillain) in love! Plus lasagna, uses of superpowers for home renovation (and in bed), domestic fluff, and coming home to each other. The whole anthology’s centered around the themes of found families, polyamory and queerness, happy endings, and domesticity – and honestly this is still one of my favorite stories of mine, enough so that I ended up, purely for fun, writing a sequel…

Finally, a book rec! I’m going to start trying to do this more, maybe one a month - I may or may not mirror them all over here, but they'll definitely be on the Wordpress blog! They won’t all necessarily be new releases, but this month it’s going to have to be KJ Charles’ wonderful Any Old Diamonds, which just came out, and which I devoured and immediately wanted to reread, to bask in. Victorian jewel thieves! Plots within plots! Truly despicable family members and melodrama! Lush and delicious m/m romance with gorgeously written submission kink – AND emotions! One of the best love-confession moments EVER. (Jerry! Oh, my heart.) Here’s the Amazon link, but of course it’s available at all the usual book-selling places, too.