Monday, April 26, 2010

New Cover And A Couple Excerpts

Always fun to get new cover art!  Here is the cover for my June release from TEB, the next stand-alone story in the V&M&W series, Through The Red Door:

Just a demon's luck. Seth finally finds the perfect house...and it comes with an angel.


The last thing that demon Seth expects to come across while househunting is an injured angel...especially one who has no idea he's anything but human. Every instinct in him wants to stay far away, but Kyrian is being targeted by another demon, and Seth reluctantly find himself playing guardian to the irresistible male.

Kyrian has no idea what is 'haunting' his house, but after he breaks his ankle being shoved off the deck, he's had enough. Strong, handsome Seth is a godsend, making him feel safe and secure. But he alludes to secrets that will test everything Kyrian believes...and turns the tables on just who needs protecting.


My next release is a m/m/m menage short story in the Necking Anthology, Neighbors By Day, Naughty By Night: out May 10th.  Here is the blurb and an excerpt:

Normally, finding the hot neighbor in bed with your boyfriend would be the end, not the beginning, of a wonderful relationship.

Jason wakes up to find Marty in their bed, and it makes him wonder whether hes made a big mistake in committing to Kevin. Marty's mortified; he's loved Jason from afar for years, but never had the courage to act on it. And Kevin is plotting something naughty that will give all three men what they've wanted all along....

******

Dawn gave way to morning, gradually and imperceptibly lightening the room. Jason rolled blindly toward still-sleeping Kevin to spoon up behind him, pressing his morning wood up against that perfect, unbelievably rounded ass as he ran a hand slowly down Kevin's smooth flank. Kevin shifted in his sleep, mumbling something incoherent, arching back against Jason with a sexy subconscious rub. Jason stifled a groan as the counter-pressure had him bucking forward, his lassitude instantly evaporating. Feeling a slight prick of guilt for waking his night owl partner so early, he justified the green light to himself: since it was the weekend, they could go back to sleep afterwards.


He slid his hand around to search for Kevin's cock. But instead of that gorgeous, stiff prick he was expecting to find, his hand hit....

Jason's eyes flew open as adrenaline jolted through him.

Another ass?

What the fuck?

~*~
"KEVIN!"

His name being hissed urgently and way too loudly in his ear brought Kevin swimming up into a semblance of awareness.

He attempted to respond but only managed to make a slightly inquiring noise buried in the back of his throat.

He must've drifted right back to sleep again, because an increasingly pissed sounding, "Kevin, wake the fuck up right now," speared through an amazingly vivid dream he couldnt quite remember, something about a truck....

"Kev, the phone. If we go skiing..."

"Mmm hmm. Go to sleep, Marty."

"'Kay."

Marty wiggled and settled back into sleep in front of him, but behind him, Jase wasn't being nearly as cooperative, puffing and panting like the bull on that Bugs Bunny matador episode, and sending off palpable waves of upset. He really needed to relax. Chill out, babe. Sleeping here.

Jason's voice was taut as a bow string. "Chill out?" Oops, must've said that out loud. Jason's next whisper was just this side of a shout. "What is Marty doing in our bed?"

"Sleeping." Duh. Kevin had a dreamy smile curving his lips, thoroughly enjoying finally being the melty stuff in the middle of a Marty/Jason sandwich. Seriously hot thought, that. Marty should put it on the menu, it'd be an instant best-seller. If only Jase would just settle down and let him savor it....

"Okay, that's it."

Tidal waves of jerky movement behind him finally brought Kevin up to speed. Oh shit, I forgot to warn him. "Jase, babe. Shoot." He scrambled to get the necessary information across. "I forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Jase was already yanking on discarded jeans from last night, forgoing the whispers as he continued at normal volume. "I can't wait to hear this one."

"Shhh!" Kevin stage-whispered. "You'll wake him up."

Jason froze with his pants just below his crotch, and his jaw literally dropped. It wouldve been a comical look on him if Kevin didn't know how upset Jase was right now. Mental snapshot for later. He could see how damning it looked to have Marty in their bed, but it was a truly blameless situation.

"You did not just tell me to shhh..."


No cover yet for One Wild Wish, part of Dreamspinner's Daily Dose, Midsummer's Nightmare, in June, but the whole package is now available for presale, 30 stories, one a day, all hot paranormal guys. Buy in April for the best price! Individual stories will be available on June 1st.

Here is the blurb and an excerpt from One Wild Wish:

For Rory, his band landing a well-paid private gig at a wild, remote mountain lodge is a wish come true. He needs the money bad enough to go along with all the strange clauses in their contract with the mysterious group. The one that specifies everyone must be in committed relationships? Hell, he can just fake it for a week with his bandmate, Benny.


Jared has his hands full trying to manage this year's Solstice ceremony with his nephew and heir, Curtis, coming of age and into his powers. Giving in to Curtis's request to book the band was probably a huge mistake, but with ironclad rules in place, Jared should be able to keep the youngsters under control. Or so he thinks, until he meets Rory. Suddenly, he's fighting for his own control. And when Rory's past catches up with him, it threatens to expose Jared's biggest secret... his clan's very existence. The good news? Rory's nemesis has finally given up on him. The bad news? He's taken Curtis.....

*****

After a careful, and much less bumpy, descent to the grouping of buildings, Rory pulled up to the logical stopping point right in front of the stone entrance to the main lodge. Cars and trucks filled the parking lot and spaces in front of the other buildings, but there wasn't a soul in sight. The whole area had an abandoned feel to it.


Reaching for the door handle, he glanced at Benny, who shrugged, looking just as puzzled by the deserted area as Rory felt. As he turned to step out, his heart gave a jolt. A tall, muscular man had appeared out of nowhere, assisting him in holding open the door.

Rory jumped and swore. "Shit. Oh, sorry, you startled me." He automatically held out a hand. "Rory Dean." Rory recognized the serious visage as the guard who had appeared on the monitor at the gate. Then he really looked at the man.

His hand was swallowed in a firm grasp. "Welcome. I'm Jared Salinas. And this must be your partner, Benny Oshiro?"

Having momentarily forgotten the ruse, Rory just stood and gaped, speechless, hand forgotten in Jared's. On the video screen, he had looked like any other military type, but in person the details transformed him. Short hair was revealed to be chestnut, the red tones glinting warmly in the natural light. A touch of wave would prove troublesome at a longer length. The intense, serious eyes were a rich amber, almost the same color as his hair, warm and compelling. Rory was tempted to reach out and stroke the masculine jaw line, which begged to be traced, Jared's strong neck inviting Rory to come find his pulse with his tongue. The man was classically gorgeous and built, but more than that, he exuded a charismatic and commanding presence that had Rory weak at the knees.

Benny inserted himself into the conversation smoothly as he rounded the vehicle. "That's me. We spoke on the phone. Beautiful place you have here. Should we grab our stuff?" He pointedly removed Rory's hand from Jared's, pulling Rory up against his side in a possessive parody of ownership. Back in the right mindset, Rory had to work to fight back a grin. Live-and-let-love Benny was probably the least jealous guy he'd ever known. Thankfully, he was getting right into character.

The sudden, intense frown on Jared's handsome face would've been a little scary if he didn't immediately follow it with a rueful smile. "Sorry for staring. You guys aren't at all what I expected."

Benny laughed, letting his hand idly roam Rory's side and hip. Even though Rory wasn't romantically interested in Benny anymore, it still felt good, a caring, familiar touch. "We get that a lot. We look pretty ordinary without our stage makeup and wardrobe, I guess."

"Ordinary? Hardly." Jared's eyes flicked down to the vicinity of Benny's hand, now with fingers hooked through Rory's side-most belt loop. Though his smile remained, his eyes looked cool, and Rory began to wonder if their host had some latent homophobic tendencies. He'd seen that before, guys who were cool with you being gay, unless you had the temerity to actually look at or touch another guy in front of them. Then all bets were off.

"As for your bags, I'll have them brought up to your suite." Jared held a large hand out, evidently for the keys, continuing in an apparent non sequitur, "Curtis?"

"Yes, sir?"

This time, Benny jumped in tandem with Rory as the new, deep voice came unexpectedly from behind them. Damn, these guys were fast and quiet. He took a closer look at Curtis:  fast, quiet--and huge....

6 comments:

  1. Very nice present from the cover gods! :) Great excerpts, too!!

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  2. Love the cover and the excerpts!

    OMG! My veri word is peens!

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  3. Thanks for the excerpts. Looking forward to reading the stories.

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  4. Oh ye who are blessed with rockin' covers. Very very nice. :) And the stories are even better.

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  5. Everytime I see that Dreamspinners bargain daily Dose - I am more and more convince I should invest and get it before the end of April....

    Only two left to decide..

    Congrats on cover..

    E.H>

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  6. Thanks everyone! When you read the story (well, except for Editor Extraordinaire Jessica who already knows it forwards and backwards, lol), you will get a new appreciation for how well the cover matches the story!

    Eyre--that's an awesome veriword! Why do I always get ones like "bilge"?

    EH--Time to get off the schnide and decide!! ;)

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