Thursday, October 12, 2017

Books You Should Check Out: Lovesick Gods by Amanda Meuwissen


Heroes aren’t meant to act like their villains—or fall in love with them.

The elements touch everyone on Earth—Fire, Water, even Light—but every so often someone becomes more attuned to their elemental leaning and develops true power. When an evil Elemental known as Thanatos arrived in Olympus City, it saw the rise of its first hero—Zeus. But the death toll caused by defeating Thanatos changed Zeus, who by day is young detective Danny Grant. 

It’s been six months since Thanatos terrorized the city at the start of Lovesick Gods. Danny should be used to his duty behind the mask, but the recent past haunts him. His girlfriend left him, he snaps at the barest provocation, his life feels empty—he needs an outlet, any outlet to pull him out of his depression.

Enter notorious thief Malcolm Cho, the Ice Elemental Prometheus. There was a time when Danny welcomed a fight with Cho, filled with colorful banter and casual flirtations that were a relief compared to Thanatos. Even as a criminal, Cho had recognized the threat Thanatos posed and promised to help Danny stop him, but the day Danny needed Cho, he never showed. Cho was the reason so many people died that day—including Danny’s mother.

Danny decides to teach the man a lesson and fan the fire of their attraction into something more. At worst, he’ll get some no-strings-attached sex out of the deal and finally blow off steam; at best, he’ll get Cho to fall in love with him and then break his heart to spite him. Danny doesn’t expect to fall for Cho in the process, and he certainly can’t predict the much darker threat on the horizon.

Excerpt below Author Info.




About the Author:

Amanda Meuwissen has been writing and posting online for many years, including maintaining the website and blog for the software company Outsell. She is an avid writer and consumer of fiction through film, prose, and video games, and is the author of the paranormal romance trilogy The Incubus Saga and young adult novel Life as a Teenage Vampire. Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, John, and their two cats.







Excerpt: 

Danny had always assumed Cho’s subtle flirting was just to get a rise out of him. The man mocked him, lied to him, betrayed him. And all that, that got his crank turning? Even when he’d played nice with Danny in the past, he’d just been hoping to bend him over the nearest surface.
Cho wasn’t good or redeemable. When the city needed him, when Danny had needed him, he’d run away and hid, then dared to show his face right after and expected Danny to act like nothing had happened. Cho just wanted to use Danny like everybody else. Even Andre and Lynn wouldn’t look twice at him if he wasn’t Zeus.
Just like them, Cho only saw Danny suit deep, not even skin deep, just leather and lightning. No one cared about Danny Grant. His past relationships proved that. He’d never once been the one to end things; they’d always left him first. Vanessa left because he was too distant; he couldn’t tell her he was an Elemental, and it had only gotten worse after his mother’s death. Before that, his last boyfriend had been sweet and soft and loving, but he couldn’t handle Danny’s intensity.
“Maybe I need someone who isn’t Lightning leaning,” he’d said.
Danny didn’t care what element someone was, but he didn’t want sweet or soft right now. He definitely didn’t want loving. He shouldn’t have to always be the lonely superhero that couldn’t be honest about who he was without putting people in danger.
Cho wouldn’t be in danger. He could take care of himself. Danny wouldn’t have to hide that he was Zeus. He wouldn’t have to hide anything, worry about anything. He could take what he wanted and blow off some of that steam rising steadily within him.
Turning around, he spotted Cho in line, halfway to the counter now. Cho was smooth and handsome and exuded sex appeal. It wasn’t as if Danny was blind to that. This could be everything he needed. And he’d finally get his revenge.


Tuesday, October 3, 2017

New Release: magnifiqueNOIR Book 1: I Am Magical by Briana Lawrence


RELEASE DAY IS HERE! - A message from my wifey:

This time last year I was launching the Kickstarter for this little idea I had about a group of black, queer, magical girls. While the Kickstarter didn’t end up panning out, I told myself that I wouldn’t give up on the idea and that I’d finish the story and release it someday.

Today is that day.

“magnifiqueNOIR” is here and I am so thrilled to be presenting it to everyone!

If you’ve already preordered the book through the Indiegogo or our Etsy shop, you will be receiving it very soon! I got confirmation from UPS that the 15 boxes (yes, 15!) will be at my house this Friday! After that, I’ll be autographing all of them and then giving my post office a nightmare (just kidding, we already talked to them and came up with a plan).

If you haven’t ordered the book yet, now is your chance! Not just the physical copy, but the eBook as well! So here’s Bri’s somewhat comprehensive list of ways to have a little bit of black girl magic in your home, on your Kindle, and more important: in your hearts (boo Bri that was cheesy).

  1. The super special awesomely autographed copy! Follow the link here to get a physical copy of the book autographed by yours truly! We have a limited amount of numbers before we order batch #2 of the book in time for fall season conventions! http://etsy.me/2wgOepY
  2. The amazing Amazon physical copy! While it doesn’t come with my autograph, it is discounted for a limited time, and hey, free shipping through Prime is always nice! http://a.co/iLjp1os
  3. The magically fantastic eBook copy! Because who doesn’t want their electronic reading device to come packed with black girl magic? http://a.co/eTKiHSf
  4. Conventions! I’ll have a list of them up soon, but this Saturday, I’ll be at MSP Fall ComiCon at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, so if you’re local, you can come and get a copy of the book from me in person!
  5. Don't forget we have prints and a bunch of items with the girls on it. All of these can be found at our etsy store: http://snowtigra.etsy.com

Now comes the next part: promotion. If you are absolutely in love with the book, talk about it online! Use the hashtag #magnifiqueNOIR to share your love for these girls. Take pictures of your book/eBook, share this post everywhere, and definitely, most definitely, definitely definitely definitely LEAVE A REVIEW when you’re done reading! Let’s show the world that black girls with magical powers are spectacular!

As always, thank you from the bottom of my chubby black queer girl heart for all the support. When I came up with this idea last March, I had no idea it would grow so much. There may have been some hiccups along the way, but we’re here now, and you all are truly magical :)