Release Day

It’s been a long time since the last release day for me with a publisher. My self-publishing titles don’t make a splash and I’m not saying this one does either but a publisher published title sometimes does… It’s been over two years since I’ve had a Loose Id title too. The nerves y’all…

Then, of course, there’s the not so small fact that this release is a new genre for me. I felt similar nerves when I had a shifter release. And these are different nerves than that even… No less intense, but different.

Will people like it? Will people hate it? Will people get my voice when it comes to M/M writing? Will they not? I don’t write long books as it is, y’all know that, but that doesn’t take away from my wanting to write really good books. More than anything, I want to write really good books. People who read M/M seem very dedicated to it, just as those who are devoted shifter readers. That’s enough to send one’s nerve endings into frazzle. mode

M/M is a fun genre to write. It’s also intense and full of drama and stigma in a way that most M/F contemporary normally isn’t. I love exploring this genre. Reading it and writing it. I’ve found it has its own unique challenges and rewards.

I hope if you purchase Double Up that you’ll enjoy it and come back for more…

~lissa

Excerpt – Double Up

“You sure we should be doing this?” Even whispers sounded like yelling when all was quiet.

Bryson slanted a look at Walt. “I’m sure,” he said with finality. “It’s time for him to come to grips with this.”

Walt snorted. “I haven’t known him near as long as you have, but I have to say, I don’t think he wants to.”

“Tough shit, then,” Bryson returned hotly. And it was tough shit. For Jared. He’d been in charge of their lives for too long and continued to muck it up. Bryson and Walt had wanted to give Jared time and thought for sure Jared would come to his senses on his own. Evidently not. Jared could give a mule a run for his money in the stubborn department.

“He’ll say it won’t work, the three of us.” The uncertainty and edge of quiet resignation in Walt’s voice made Bryson’s chest ache. Walt wanted things to work out for all of them just as much as Bryson did. In his own way, maybe more so. While Jared and Bryson knew everything about each other, there was still so much for both of them to learn about Walt and vice versa.

“He’ll be wrong.” Bryson didn’t want to think about Jared not being able to come to grips with his feelings and to get over his damn fears and jealousy. Jared had never really told them what’d happened to make him want to end things. Bryson hadn’t thought he’d have to hold on to his questions for months, aching for answers.

“Even you don’t know that.”

“True, but I know him. I know how he feels about me, regardless of what he says. I know how he feels about you too. And it’s time for this shit to stop.” They couldn’t let Jared win or push them away again. Bryson loved him too much to let Jared’s fears win. Life just didn’t make sense without Jared, and while Bryson had been living without Jared on a day-to-day basis for three months, he wasn’t willing to live any more days without him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bryson saw Walt nod. They both knew this would be an uphill battle. Bry’s feelings for Jared hadn’t changed—not in the least?he just had feelings for Walt too. And he wasn’t the only one. Jared had feelings for the other man as well, which Walt returned in full measure.

Bryson turned the headlights off as he neared the house. He didn’t want Jared to refuse to open the door or greet them on the porch with a shotgun. Bryson stopped a good thousand feet or so from the front of the house and turned the engine off. They needed to be silent as the grave until the moment they knocked on the door. Or maybe…

“He might not answer the door, you know,” Walt said.

Bryson nodded at the other man’s whispered words, which mirrored Bry’s own thoughts moments earlier. “Hopefully he hasn’t started locking it.”

“Wouldn’t put it past him.”

They stepped quietly onto the wooden porch, and Bryson hesitated for just a second before opening the door and walking through as though he owned the place. He grinned in the darkness. Technically, he did. At least half of it. He and Walt had simply moved out to the small cabin when Jared refused to take the step that would have kept them all under the same roof and in the same bed. To tell them what was wrong.

The interior of the house was quiet, and save for the flicker of the television in the living room to the left, there was no other light. Three beer cans sat in a small pyramid on the coffee table, and Jared lay sleeping on the couch, one bare foot on the ground. He was shirtless, and his jeans were unbuttoned. He’d lost weight in the last few months, and the snoring he used to do had all but ceased. Something about that familiar sound being gone made Bryson sad.

Jared hadn’t been overweight, just a wall of solid muscle, but after Bryson and Walt moved out, Jared had worked himself just shy of exhaustion. It was how he battled being upset. Instead of talking things out or confronting what was wrong, he worked and slept and drank. It kind of pissed Bryson off, but in the past, given some time, Jared would usually get to a place where he was willing to talk. It seemed now that Bryson was going to have to force Jared into it.

“What’s the plan now?” Walt asked, quietly gathering up the beer cans.

“Wake his ass up,” Bryson offered to Walt’s retreating back. He leaned over Jared, unable to resist the other man’s lips. They were full and soft and split and bruised in the right corner where Bryson had punched him earlier. He tried to feel bad about it but didn’t.

He could kiss those lips now, though, and he did. The touch was tender, barely there, but enough that Jared shifted in his sleep.

Bryson missed sleeping with Jared in a way that sleeping with another man would never take the place of. Jared was his first love, his true love, his soul mate. Walt was as well, but it was a different kind of love. It was hard and rough and lustful. He could probably on some level live without Walt if he had to, but there was no way in hell he could ever live without Jared. That he’d tried to abide by Jared’s wishes for the last three months was testament to how much the other man meant to him. But Bryson was tired of it, tired of missing Jared, and he was going to make the stubborn cowboy see reason even if it killed all three of them.

Walt slipped silently back into the room and behind Bryson, his hands finding Bry’s hips. At this angle, with Bry bent over Jared as he was, he could continue kissing Jared, and Walt could slide easily into Bryson’s ass were they not dressed.

The ridge of Walt’s cock rubbed insistently against Bryson. “You want this?” Walt asked as his hand crept around and down the front of Bryson’s jeans to cup the cock straining there.

“Yes,” Bryson groaned, his mouth inches away from Jared’s lips. If the man woke up now, Bryson wasn’t sure what any of them would say. He had a fleeting image in his head that they would all be still as statues. Jared would be the first to move, erupting up from the couch in outrage, and Bryson wouldn’t be able to blame him. To keep that from happening, Bryson straightened and leaned back into Walt’s chest. Walt didn’t let go of Bryson’s cock, and Bryson didn’t ask him to.

“I know you love him,” Walt whispered against Bryson’s ear. “I know you love me too, but if it will—”

Bryson turned suddenly, nearly knocking them both off balance. He grabbed hold of Walt’s face in his hands and kissed the man soundly. “No,” he spoke softly against Walt’s lips, then pulled back, but stayed in Walt’s immediate, personal space. “No buts, no ifs. You aren’t leaving. I’m not letting you go. That’s not an option, Walt. Do you hear me? That’s not an option.”

“But letting me go was?”

Remember… Release day for this book is tomorrow, October 23.

~lissa

A New Release, Being Sick, Etc…

Yes, I had a new release this week from Loose Id. It’s part of their new Not Quite Christmas Collection. I’ve heard from some readers already that have enjoyed it, loved it, said it was hot, surprising, erotic, fun, unexpected, and naughty. What more could ya ask for, right?

I haven’t done a lot of promotion for it this week. Been sick. Came down with a sudden cold and it’s gotten worse by the hour. I can’t breathe, my ears are stopped up and hurting, my sinus’ are so painfully swollen, and I can’t stop coughing.

The writing has been a bit on the fuzzy side, but I’m working on it.

Next week I’ll be giving y’all a glimpse of my December 24th release from Ellora’s Cave, Ink Spots.

I hope all of you have had a great week and are getting ready for the upcoming holidays. We’ll be discussing wish lists and cookies and fudge and marshmallows and movies and all sorts of fun and yummy things when I’m feeling better.

And, check out my book, Arrested Holiday from Loose Id… complete with a naughty cop, spankings, handcuffs, hot chocolate, Yahtzee, grilled cheese sandwiches, snowball fights, and naps.

Blurb:

Holiday ‘Holli’ James looks forward the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is her one chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of her successful decorating business. The plan this year is a trip to New York City to see the sights and the lights.

The plan didn’t include a side trip to a small town jail in the middle of Pennsylvania. Nor did the plan include Officer Hunky.

However…

A single police officer, Michael is working the holidays — again. With no local family and no interest in accepting the pity invitations to Christmas dinner from his married friends, he’s content to work and earn extra cash. Besides, this year looks to be as uneventful as ever. Until he pulls Holli over for speeding, only to discover she’s wanted on charges of fraud.

Sexual tension spikes as Michael begins to investigate and discovers Holli isn’t who her record says she is. While they await answers, Michael is granted permission to remove Holli from the jail and place her under house arrest.

Only his idea of house arrest is much more personal than the law ever intended.

Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: anal play/intercourse, bondage, spanking.

~lissa

Snippet Saturday – Bad Dates

Bad dates. We’ve all had them. We’ve all gone drinking after them. We’ve all called our best friend and cried because of them. We’ve all laughed at them.

Now, the whole date doesn’t have to be bad, but how it ends can turn it into one all within the span of a few seconds. I’ve had some great dates until it was time to say goodnight and well, then everything just went downhill. An entire date can be ruined in hindsight if he doesn’t call back. It’s all in the perspective. At least that’s how I look at it.

So, let’s take a snippet from Sugar Rush, shall we…

Snippet:

“…willing to pay you if…”

Jane didn’t want to hear anymore. She was numb, speechless. She’d heard Edward and Graham talking out in the kitchen while she’d been in her room getting dressed and wanted to know what they were saying. In hindsight, she wished she hadn’t. Or at least a part of her wished that.

She stomped her way into the living room and glared at the two men that had turned stunned looks her way. She’d known better, but damn, all it had taken was his sexy voice, his even sexier kisses, and his… Best not to go there.

“Jane?”

“Oh don’t you ‘Jane’ me, Edward. You would have paid him? Am I so hideous that you would consider paying a man to be set up with me?”

“You came in at the tail end of a conversation. And I’ve never said anything about you being hideous.”

She almost felt bad at catching them in their very enlightening conversation. “But, you would have. How could you, Edward? Do you have any idea how humiliating this is? Not only were you setting me up on a blind date, you were willing to pay him to date me if…”

“Jane…”

Graham no longer looked stunned at her entrance. No, he looked ready to take her up against the wall and fuck again. He was so beautiful she just wanted to stamp her feet in righteous anger. And hurt. She couldn’t forget hurt. Anger she would get over; hurt had longer and better staying power “And you!” She rounded on Graham. “Were you willing to take money to take me out?”

“I didn’t agree to anything beyond meeting you, but no, I wouldn’t have taken money. You’ve taken it out of context.”

She sighed and buried her face in her hands. When she looked back up, it took all she had not to cry, or scream, or run across the room and jump his bones. “I can’t believe this. You,” she said, looking at Edward, “set me up with him and were willing to pay him for it if you couldn’t get him to agree. A gorgeous, and God, he is gorgeous, isn’t he…younger man, by a good ten years and…this is almost laughable, this part…I fell for him.” His age really didn’t bother her. He didn’t seem as immature as a man in his midtwenties might, but she was grasping at straws, and the age argument was a damn good one for the moment.

“Jane…” Both men spoke her name together, and she just shook her head, not wanting to hear from either of them.

“No. I had almost gotten over the embarrassment of being set up in the first place, as though I couldn’t find a date on my own. But, that I was so pathetic as to have my best friend willing to shell out cash for a date for me… I need some time. I need to think about this.” She looked at Graham and had to steel herself against crawling across the floor to him and undoing his jeans. He was that potent a draw to her. “Thanks for the fuck, but you really need to leave this time. I may not have meant it last night when I kept telling you to go, but that was just to keep me from making a fool of myself because I wanted you so much. I guess I didn’t do a very good job. I made a fool of myself anyway.” She couldn’t look at him anymore. Not when all she really wanted was to look at him every hour of every day for as long as he’d let her. She turned around and went back into her bedroom.

“Jane, honey…”

She stopped in the doorway and drew a shaky breath. “No, Edward. I don’t want to talk anymore, not until later, maybe tomorrow.” She walked in and slammed the door to her room, turning the lock. She had never felt so alone, so… At least after Phillip dumped her, she’d had Edward to turn to, Edward’s shoulder to cry on. This time, she had no one, dammit.

Looking over at her bed and the rumpled sheets, she just wanted to cry. They would smell like him. They would smell like sex. She closed her eyes against the wave of anger that roared through her body. Where in the hell was the hurt she was counting on? She needed the hurt, the pain… It would keep her safe. Anger would just…well, it would just piss her off and still allow her to want him, and want him she did. Naked and hard so they could have angry sex that would lead into makeup sex that would lead into the “let’s fight more often so we can fuck and make up again and again” sex.

She didn’t know what the hell to do with being mad.

She yanked the sheets from the bed. She wanted to toss them out the window onto the street below. She wanted to take them out into the living room and throw them at Graham. Humiliation still burned and tears still threatened to fall, but instead of what she wanted to do, she simply wrapped the sheet around her body and crawled onto the mattress, buried her head in the pillow he’d slept on, and screamed for all she was worth.

End snippet…

Don’t forget to check out these awesome authors and Bad Dates snippets:

Mari Carr
McKenna Jeffries
Taige Crenshaw
Vivian Arend
Ashley Ladd
Delilah Devlin
HelenKay Dimon
Shelley Munro
TJ Michaels
Shelli Stevens
Jody Wallace

~lissa

Arrested Holiday Cover Art Squee and Blurb

Howdy!

Now, during Snippet Saturday I promised new cover art and I am going to hold to that promise. I received it late Saturday afternoon and thought it might be a really good way to start off the week.

This is also the week when those of us here in the USA celebrate Thanksgiving and so I will be posting on Thursday the writerly/authorly things I am most thankful for.

For today, I am very very thankful for beautiful cover art from the Loose Id cover art department and artist Valerie Tibbs. So, without further ado…

This book should be available December 7th!

Now, the blurb is unofficial because it hasn’t gone through the final editing stage at Loose Id, but, it’s close enough…

Blurb:

Holiday ‘Holli’ James looks forward the week between Christmas and New Year’s. This is her one chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of the decorating business she owns and the plan this year is a trip to New York City to see the sights and the lights.

However, the original plan didn’t include a side trip to a small town jail in the middle of Pennsylvania. Nor did the plan include ‘Officer Hunky’. Talk about a sight worth seeing.

A single police officer, Michael is working the Christmas holidays again. With no local family and no interest in the pity invitations from his married friends to Christmas dinner, he’s content to work and earn extra cash. Besides, this year looks to be as uneventful as ever. Until, he pulls Holli over for speeding, only to discover she’s wanted on charges of fraud.

Sexual tension spikes as Michael begins to investigate and finds things aren’t adding up to Holli being who the computers say she is. While they await answers, Michael is granted permission to remove Holli from the jail and place her under house arrest.

Only, his idea of house arrest is much more personal than the law ever intended.

End Blurb…

I hope y’all will enjoy this story. It’s fun and rompy and yeah, contains a some naughty sex, the use of handcuffs, some light spanking, and a cop that can cook…

It’s back to writing for me… Have a great day!

~lissa

error: Content is protected !!