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Folks, we made it to December–and that is saying something.
Congratulations for making it to the Solstice festive season, in all its many incarnations–may this year get better after the dark of the solstice, and may the new year spring bright. (And wet–saying–California is looking a might crispy round these parts.)
I know I am looking forward to doing a little reading (or a little listening, since I’m up to my eyeballs in holiday knitting!) and we’ve got some good stuff here!
First off, there is Elle Brownlee, who has a delightfully subversive sense of humor. Elle’s offering this month is Say Yes to the Mess, and it looks like a FANTASTIC take on Say Yes to the Dress, the show that’s all about weddings! Who doesn’t love a good wedding, right?
Next, we’ve got Kim Fielding with a two-for. Kim’s sort of amazing–she’s been holding Zoomclasses as a college professor this year, and she’s been writing up a storm! I adore her writing, and she’s got a happy Carina Adores here in Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking for Love, as well as one of her gritty, wonderful urban fantasy Bureau stories, Caroled. Definitely give her a try!
Barbie, my PA, has been busy finding new writers–Raleigh Ruebins and Timothy Warren are new to me, but their books The Snow Prince, and True and Secret look fantastic and well worth the try!
And did you see the Fish?
Tell me you saw the Fish!
Yes! School of Fish is coming out next week, and I am SO EXCITED! Jackson and Ellery’s fifth adventure is out, and it’s got snark, action, and a soupçon more romance–but then, it IS their first full year working and fighting side by side. (Well, my FIFTH year, given that this is their fifth book!) Anyway– a cast of familiar characters, with an emphasis on a couple who don’t usually get front and center–I hope all my A-Fish-ianados get the kind of oomph they’ve come to expect from a Fish book, because I sure did have fun writing it!
So there we go–something to look forward to in December, and hopefully a WHOLE lot to look forward to going forward.
Hope is a thing, oh yes it is–May your Yule be merry, your Christmas be cheerful, your Hanukah be holy, and your Ramadan be full of peace. No matter what you celebrate, may it give you warmth in your heart and joy in your soul–happy December everyone.
We made it to here!
Say Yes to a Mess
Wiley Grey is stuck in a rut. He loves his picturesque hometown, helping in his best friend’s bakery, and the house his grandmother left him. But something’s missing.
Holt Leydon never intended to become a reality TV show host. When his flamboyant brother, Kit, needed a handyman on the set of I Do!, Holt fell into the role, using his expertise to make Kit’s wildest wedding designs come true. Now he’s ready to move on. Kit has agreed on one condition: they rescue Kit’s would-be ratings bonanza “coming home” episode by making Holt the groom.
The problem is Holt needs someone to marry, and fast. Something compels him to ask childhood friend Wiley—and Wiley agrees to the pretense.
Kit gets his dramatic last episode, Holt gets off the show, and Wiley gets some artificial excitement and a “honeymoon” on the show’s dime. It’s perfect—until the grooms start wishing their pretend engagement was more reality and less TV…
Caroled
Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking for Love
by Kim Fielding
Some people search their whole lives to find love. He just wants to avoid it.
Teddy Spenser spends his days selling design ideas to higher-ups, living or dying on each new pitch. Stodgy engineer types like Romeo Blue, his nemesis—if you can call someone who barely talks to you a nemesis—are a necessary evil. A cute necessary evil.
Working together is bad enough, but when their boss puts them both on a new high-stakes project, “working together” suddenly means:
• sitting uncomfortably close on the same plane
• staying in the same hotel room—with only one bed
• spending every waking minute together.
Turns out Mr. Starched Shirt has some hidden depths, and it’s getting harder to ignore the spark Teddy feels with every brush of their hands, with every knowing glance. He might not have been looking for this connection with Romeo, but will he ever be ready to let him go?
Barbie’s Corner–
The Snow Prince
by Raleigh Ruebins
He was Prince Sebastian Ambrose, heir to the throne of Frostmonte Kingdom.
But I knew him as my best friend… and hopeless crush.
My life was like a fairy tale. I grew up in the quaint little village
of Berrydale, one of the five towns ruled by Frostmonte Kingdom. I had
no money. Almost no family. But Prince Sebastian was still my best
friend.
Then the queen caught us kissing in the Christmas tree lot.
One night changed our lives forever. I was shipped off to the
mountains, and Sebastian was finally swept away to Frostmonte Castle.
Now eleven years later, I’m back in Berrydale, and I sure as hell
don’t want to be. Everything has changed. Sebastian has become an icy,
reclusive prince, set to marry a princess.
But then he’s in front of me. And I can see something broken in his
eyes. Everything in me wants to fix it. Knows I can fix it. The
feelings I’ve buried deep inside come rushing back all at once…
forbidden feelings included.
…And then I end up in his bed. His stupid, giant, four-poster, royal bed.
I swear the Sebastian I once knew is still in there, under the
frost-cold exterior. We can never be together, or he risks losing the
throne. But there’s no chance I can stay away.
——-
The Snow Prince is part of the MM Fairy Tale Romance series. All books
are completely standalone and are modern retellings of classic fairy
tales with a gay romance twist.
True
beautiful brownstone in DC’s gay mecca, Dupont Circle. But within a
single night, things change…
His best friend, Demarco, supports Alec’s bold decision of seeking a
new perspective… a change that begins across the country, in a cabin
atop Beulah Mountain.
Alec was not looking for a man… wanted nothing of the sort. But a
strong-willed cowboy named Tyler enters his life as spontaneous as the
snow of Montana’s winter.
Unpredictable as a mountain storm, Alec and Tyler soon find themselves
entwined in a fierce love affair… raw, real, and unlike any other Alec
has ever had.
But Tyler belongs to Montana.
Will their passion be enough to keep them together? Will Alec learn to
forgive his past missteps and accept that he deserves the happiness
that can only come from a man so genuine… so giving… and so TRUE?
Demarco Alford works for Chandelier—a high-profile escort agency
providing secret services to government officials, foreign
dignitaries, and the elite. One night, while attending an embassy
event, Demarco stumbles upon a… SECRET
Jack Keegan works for the Secret Service—a government policing agency
providing security to the upper echelon of national and international
VIPs. One night, while working an embassy event, Jack meets Demarco
and becomes part of the… SECRET
Demarco and Jack soon find themselves entwined in a mystery involving
the son of Middle-Eastern royalty. Will Jack’s obligation to protect
his country outweigh his fierce attraction to the handsome male
escort? Will Demarco get past his inner insecurities and allow his
beefy bodyguard access to a heart hardened by experience?
School of Fish
Jackson Rivers has been learning how to take care of himself so he can be there for Ellery Cramer, but after eight weeks of healing, body and soul, he’s itching to get back to work. Finally Ellery gives him a simple task: pick up a file on a kid who probably didn’t commit murder but who refuses to participate in his own defense.
Nothing is ever that easy.
A horrifying game of connect-the-dots leads one case to another, to the mob, to the local high school… and a bottomless list of potential suspects and victims. The case has a lot of moving parts, and Jackson and Ellery have to work fast to make sure the machinery of the mob doesn’t mow down everyone they care about—or rip them apart.
After a year of living together, Ellery is learning to accept that Jackson can’t let an injustice stand. Together they fight to keep kids out of jail while the streets of Sacramento threaten to explode. They’d better hope they’ve learned enough about each other to keep it together, because for this case, school is the most dangerous place to be.
