Posts in the New Adult genre

Guest Post

A Tour of London with Liz Jacobs!

Nick Melnikov doesn’t know where he belongs. He was just a kid when his Russian-Jewish family immigrated to Michigan. Now he’s in London for university, overwhelmed by unexpected memories. Socially anxious, intensely private, and closeted, Nick doesn’t expect to fall in so quickly with a tight-knit group of students from his college, and it’s both exhilarating and scary. Hanging out with them is a roller coaster of serious awkward and incredible longing, especially when the most intimidating of the group, Dex, looks his way.

Dex Cartwell knows exactly who he is: a black queer guy who doesn’t give a toss what anybody thinks of him. He is absolutely, one-hundred-percent, totally in control of his life. Apart, maybe, from the stress of his family’s abrupt move to an affluent, largely white town. And worrying about his younger brother feeling increasingly isolated as a result. And the persistent broken heart he’s been nursing for a while . . .

When Nick and Dex meet, both find themselves intrigued. Countless late-night conversations only sharpen their attraction. But the last thing Nick wants is to face his deepest secret, and the last thing Dex needs is another heartache. Dex has had to fight too hard for his right to be where he is. Nick isn’t even sure where he’s from. So how can either of them tell where this is going?

Now onto the tour!

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Q&A

Q&A: Tristan MacDougall from A STAR TO STEER HER BY

Love a man with a sexy accent, a good sense of humor, and a surprising wealth of knowledge on sailing? Meet Tristan of A Star To Steer Her By!

Beth: Tristan, thanks for taking a few minutes of your time in Puerto Rico to chat with me on the phone.

Tristan: I’ll always make time for you, Beth. (said in delightful Scottish burr).

Beth: swoons Thanks, Tristan. So, can you tell the readers a bit about yourself, where you’re from, that sort of thing?

Tristan: Sure. I’m twenty-one years old, and I’m from just outside of Glasgow, Scotland. I’m currently working as a deckhand on a schooner that runs a semester-at-sea program. We’re at various ports-of-call throughout the Caribbean for the next six weeks or so and then we head up the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. to New York.

Beth: Sounds pretty heavenly to be in the Caribbean right now, given the cold weather in New York.

Tristan: Aye, it is.

Beth: What’s it like to work with students who have never been sailing before? Do you get frustrated with them when they don’t know what they’re doing?

Tristan: I love it. I grew up sailing with my parents, and since I learned it as a lad, it’s always been second-nature to me. It gets a wee bit frustrating if students tend the wrong line, or aren’t paying attention, or sit around idle when there’s clearly work to be done, but for the most part, they all take to it really well, and I love watching them learn to love being out at sea. There’s nothing like being in a squall, with the ship flyin’ across the water and the wind tearin’ at your hair.

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “That One Time At The School Dance” by Jenny Holiday

1980s nostalgia is strong in my heart, which is funny because, objectively speaking, I didn’t enjoy the 1980s that much. I have this disorder, see, where the image of things I build up in my head doesn’t always accord with my actual lived experience of those same things. (See: That One Time At Camp.) Welcome to Reality Check: 1980s Edition.

This is how the 1980s actually went for me:

I’m in tenth grade. I am a straight-A student. I am a reporter for the school newspaper. I am the co-president of the school’s Amnesty International chapter. As you can probably tell, I am a barrel of laughs. As you can probably also tell, I am single. (I know: shocking.)

At our school, different student groups can apply to sponsor the school dances. This means that we take in the money from concessions and ticket sales but have to staff the concessions stand, hire the DJ, advertise, and all that. So the Amnesty International group gets itself lined up to have a dance. Yay! Ours peers would be able to have fun but also, like, be educated about the plight of prisoners of conscience across the world. Win-win!

So I get ready for the dance. I’m probably wearing my rolled-up-and-safety-pinned jeans, black flats, matching black rubber bracelets, and an Amnesty T-shirt with the sleeves rolled. And of course, I have teased my bangs into “the claw” that is so inexplicably popular here in 1988. My two Amnesty co-presidents and I (because when you’re sixteen years old and you’re running an Amnesty International Chapter, that’s how you roll—God forbid that one person should just be in charge) sit down with the DJ to go over our opening set. We remind him that this is an alternative music dance. You, good sir, will be playing Midnight Oil, REM, the Cure, Edie Brickell, and U2. Yes, says the DJ. Got it.

Things go downhill from there. To be honest, it’s all a little bit of a blur in my mind, and not because anyone spiked the punch. (I would not have allowed that. Because I was so much fun in those days.) First, we vastly underrated the demand for Orange Crush and potato chips. The fun of operating the machine that dispenses the pop soon gives way to grim determination as the lines get longer. Everything is sticky. It’s a thousand degrees in the crowded, windowless lunchroom. All the Aquanet that has been holding my claw-bangs in place starts running down my face. Also, I have to do a lot of math in my head to make change, which…cue panic. (There’s a reason I became a writer.)

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “The Wounds That Shape Us” by Toni J Strawn

We all carry wounds. The internal flaws that mark our character are created by events in our lives which form us…cause us to create shields or barriers to prevent getting hurt in the same way again. That is what a great hero or heroine is built of—their character arc sweeps them along from flawed and injured, through the story to find true love.

But what if a wound is more obvious that that? The external scars and flaws from injury and disease that confront our hero or heroine. A scarred face or noticeable limp, wasted limbs or ill-health that can often define our characters. There is something about the struggle to battle both a physical and physiological injury that grabs at our hearts and has us rooting for our hero to succeed against seemingly insurmountable odds to find love.

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Autumn Thorns Yasmine Galenorn
Exclusive Excerpt

Exclusive Excerpt: RUSH by Shae Ross

Okay, we had to stop ourselves from laughing long enough to get this exclusive excerpt of Rush, by Shae Ross, live! If you love amazingly snappy dialogue, this one’s for you! Rush is out now!

I’m going to kill my sister. Strike that. First, I’ll shave her bald, then I’ll kill her.

White ruffles billow around my legs. I’m following my best friend Jace to the entrance of the Rathskeller bar. It’s the night before Halloween and thanks to my sister Cate, who stole my badass ninja costume and left me hers, I’m dressed as Little Bo Peep. Despite the fact that I haven’t worn a dress in years and Cate doesn’t wear anything unless it’s fringed, feathered, or sequined, she thought this “stripper on her way to a carnival” look would work for me.

Double doors burst open, blasting the night air with riotous sounds from the crowd within. Anxiety bubbles in my swampy stomach as we sidestep the gang of sweaty men that are laughing and stumbling out. “Hey, look, it’s Cinderella,” one of them calls in a tone of drunken euphoria.

I locate the source—a stocky cowboy, grinning at me from under the brim of his Stetson. When I pass him, he turns and walks backward, opening his hands over an impressive beer belly. “Aw, where ya’ goin’? I got your Prince Charming right here.”

Jace loops her arm through mine and nods to his gut. “You need to reacquaint yourself with a mirror, my friend.” His buddies roar, nudging him toward the parking lot. I blow out a breath then instantly suck it back as Jace reaches for the door handle.

“Wait!” My palm slaps the door, and she pauses, staring at me with an expectant look. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry. I thought I could but—I just can’t.” I spin and lunge toward the parking lot but she catches the hem of my dress with a firm stomp. My corset tightens, pinching my ribs, and I jerk to a stop.

“Priscilla! Get your ruffled butt back here.”

I grab a fistful of fabric and yank. It springs loose, sending me staggering. I’m trying to make my getaway, but it’s like moving with a tent strapped to my waist. No wonder Little Bo Peep couldn’t find her sheep—she couldn’t fucking move. Jace pivots, squashing my split second of freedom with her other foot. Frustration rumbles up my throat and I glare at her, but she’s unfazed. Reddish-blonde bangs sweep low on her brow, enhancing the twinkle of victory in her blue eyes.

I twist and thrust my palms out. “Seriously, do you know how humiliating this is for me?”

“You oughta be owning that corset like Madonna in the eighties.”

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Guest Post, Reviews

My Never-Ending TBR List: Look At All The Pretty Edition

I’ll admit up front that I’ve had almost no time to read. I went to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention and then I had to do pesky stuff like write and pay attention to my family. Since we last met I was able to read Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole and Her Kind of Man by Elle Wright, but they weren’t on the list, so really we’re back to square one. Join me as I pile on.

I process things visually. If you try to give me instructions, I’ll probably turn around ask you for a diagram. In the films and TV shows I like, bright colors and stark contract are something they have in common. Jane the Virgin is visual crack for me, sooo many pretty colors. When I’m on the hunt for books I know better than to just hit that one-click based on cover alone. The blurb has got to snag me, which the blurbs for all the below titles did, once I read them. Here are a several books that have made me stop, do a double take and walk back to the shop window.

Sugar Love by Victoria H Smith

Sugar…

That’s some kind of name, isn’t it?

It wasn’t any type of name I’d heard of, but across the world, it seemed I was the only one.

You see, he’s an international superstar, talented, sexy, and one day, he comes walking into my record store. He tells me he wants to buy some music, and later on, wants to get to know me a little better.

I had no idea he was here for his American debut, nor that he was one of the most successful rappers South Korean music had ever seen. If I had, I might not have been so frazzled when I found out and accidentally kidnapped him.

But then again…

Maybe that wouldn’t have mattered anyway.

This cover is giving me sexy 80’s realness and I’m a sucker for a good interracial new adult romance.

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Steals & Deals

Deal Alert: Susan Kearney, Katie Cross, and Addison Moore

We bring you this Deal Alert with a satisfied sigh. Not to brag, but our sales sniffing prowess goes from the clothing rack straight to the bookshelf! We’ve found some amazing FREE and almost FREE titles from Susan Kearney, Katie Cross, and Addison Moore just for you. Enjoy!

The Challenge by Susan Kearney

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Guest Post

Guest Post: “The Dreaded Cliffy…” by J.L. Berg

When I sat down to write my first novel, I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would be a standalone. Every detail of my hero and heroine’s journey would be tied up in a nice neat bow by the last page.

Who wanted the hassle of a cliffhanger?

Not me.

Too messy.

I continued with this philosophy well into my contemporary series, always wrapping up each book nicely as I sent the hero and heroine into their happily every after.

Right around the publication of my fifth book, I had an idea.

A horrible, brilliant idea. It nagged at me for days until finally I typed up a brief synopsis and sent it to my agent.

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Guest Post

Guest Post: Katy Regnery on Fairytales and Love Stories

Why do fairytales have the basis for such amazing love stories?

This is a great question that lies, of course, at the heart of my choice to use fairy tales as inspiration for my contemporary romance collection. But, the answer isn’t as simple as you might expect. There are four reasons that I believe fairytales are the ideal inspiration for modern romance, and they are:

  1. (The obvious answer…) Many fairytales (not all!) include a beautiful love story.
  2. Love (and fairytales) are universal.
  3. Fairytales are no longer under copyright.

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Steals & Deals

Deal Alert: Jen Wylie, Julia Quinn, and Kae Elle Wheeler

Looking for a weekend escape? We’ve got something for everyone with these steals for books by Jen Wylie, Julia Quinn, and Kae Elle Wheeler!

Tales of Ever by Jen Wylie

A few months ago, I was a normal girl. Life sucked, and just like everyone else, I took the simple things for granted. At least until I got this new power, a “gift” my mom called it. Apparently, I’m a firestarter. I didn’t want to be. I didn’t ask to be. It would be cool if it wasn’t so dangerous and I knew how to control it. When an uncle I’d never heard of showed up to take care of me after my mom died, I should have been grateful. As it turned out, my whole family isn’t normal and more than a little bit crazy. I thought things couldn’t get any worse. I was wrong. They banished me to Ever.

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