Category Archives: Promo
Happy Book Birthday to Rosanna Leo!
Rosanna Leo’s awesome new paranormal romance Darke Music (Darke Paranormal Investigations 2) is now available!
She’s no stranger to ghosts. But love? That’s a mystery.
Historian Susannah Darke is no stranger to haunted houses. As one of a trio of ghost-hunting sisters, she’s had plenty of experience investigating the paranormal. When an opportunity arises to explore a haunted opera school in Toronto, she jumps at the chance, even though she once had her own frightening brush with its resident ghosts.
Noah Bellamy is the dean of the Asch Institute of Opera, and a former opera singer himself. He was once a student at the Asch and is well-acquainted with its boisterous spirits. But when the activity worsens, threatening one of his star students, he knows he has to take action.
The fact that Susannah and Noah have been hooking up for the past year complicates things, but they agreed long ago to keep things casual. As long as they both remember their boundaries, the investigation should go smoothly.
When the paranormal activity begins to target them personally, it becomes harder not to seek comfort in each other’s arms. For the first time ever, Susannah and Noah have to decide if it’s worth taking a chance on love.
The ghosts present a huge challenge, but battling their personal demons may be even harder.
In Search of Good Indie Reads?
Or perhaps you’re an indie author who would like to get your book out there on a website where people can browse some of the freshest titles in indie publishing?
Do I have a website for you! Pretty Bookshelf, run by Zoe Blessing, is a quickly growing resource for indie publications (and not just romance—Pretty Bookshelf hosts everything from mystery to historical fiction). If you’re a reader, you can browse by author, title, spice level if you’re looking for romance, or just wander through titles until you find something that interests you. Click on a title and you’ll be taken to a page with the book’s blurb, reviews, buy links, similar titles, and a place where you can leave your own review.
If you’re a writer, this is a fantastic (and free) way to get more eyes on your work. I currently have Crystal Shard listed there and I’ve submitted To My Muse, and will be sending the rest of my catalog once I have a moment to breathe this week. While submitting to the website is free, they do have a Ko-fi account where you can drop them a buck or two to help support the work they’re doing.
So if you want to read some great indie published fiction or submit your own indie published book, go check out Pretty Bookshelf!
Looking Disconsolately at TikTok
I really shouldn’t be surprised. I’ve posted videos about ECS:OE and Shifter Woods: Claw, and they’ve gotten a handful of views. I posted a video of me reacting to the Gen X Flute Call (aka the opening to Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer”) and I’m over a hundred views so far.
This is not unusual, nor is it isolated to me. A lot of romance writers I know have been complaining about how hard it is to get their book posts seen because—ta-da—the TikTok algorithm gives them a low weight. I understand that the clock app is heavily slanted towards content creators who post daily skits or duet with cooking/renovation/building videos, but writers used to get a fairly good slice of the pie. Not any more.
And now we have next week’s testimony of TikTok’s CEO to look forward to, then we find out whether or not TikTok will be banned in the US. That does have a lot of romance writers up in arms because low views or not they do make sales thanks to being on TT and this is going to hurt their bottom line. I know about the security threats associated with the app, but the fact that it allows writers to advertise to a wide audience of younger readers is incredibly valuable. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
TikTok is Definitely Pushing Sales
It’s time to admit that TikTok does have an affect on my sales, even if I can’t immediately see the link. Before this morning I posted my last TikTok last Thursday, then got caught up in other stuff over the weekend (okay, okay, I was quilting) that meant I wasn’t camera ready. In the intervening four days my KU pages reads dropped precipitously to the point where I am a good fifteen bucks behind where I should be in earnings by this point.
Apparently me acting like a loon on TikTok prompts enough people to check out my profile, hit my LinkTree and take my books out in KU. I know other authors have huge success with page flipping videos (or vids where they stand there and pretty much look beautiful at the screen while quotes from their books appear over their faces) but those don’t do anything for me.
Wearing a teal, green, and yellow wig and pretending to be a Muse or trying on different filters? Those get views, and then I get sales. Go figure. So I posted four TikToks today, and the shortest one where I mention how great it is to start the day off by writing a sex scene is already up to 245 views and four comments. I ask you.
Cover Reveal: Darke Passion (Darke Paranormal Investigations 1)
Hey folks! Rosanna Leo’s awesome new paranormal romance Darke Passion will be available on March 21, 2023 (pre-orders start February 7, 2023), and here’s the cover reveal!
Cover artist is Kelly Martin of KAM Design. If you want more information, here’s the Goodreads link!
The Greak TikTok Experiment, Day 6
As you may remember, Bob, I signed up for TikTok last week. As per the webinar’s instructions, I’ve been posting 2-3 videos a day, most of them on the subject of my books or writing but some of them just goofy little filips.
So far I have 324 followers, one of my posts from Sunday has crossed the thousand views mark (unsurprising as it stars J.J.), and I know for sure that I’ve sold six books from my posts. I’m also having a whale of a good time making these vids and learning a lot about the different filters, effects, and other visual goodies that come with TikTok. I’d also like to get some apps to help me with captioning, but I need a phone that can handle iOS13 first (come to me, iPhone 12).
I have to admit that this surprises me, but after a week of participating I have to say that joining TikTok was a good idea. I might change my mind in a month or two, but so far it’s been both a ball and surprisingly lucrative.
And if you want to see me in action, you can find me here.
So, TikTok…
I’m going to be posting this exact same blog entry at The Other Website, so if you subscribe to both my apologies.
@nicandmelatbelaurientThis one was inspired by Westworld, and I got to chat with one of the actors! ##booktok ##romance ##kindle ##spicybooks ##indieauthor ##romancebooks♬ original sound – NicolaCameron/MelanieFletcher
https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js
This week I attended a webinar led by Jayne Rylon and Lila Dubois about how authors can use TikTok to promote their work. Normally I’m a little meh about webinars, but this one was funny, effective, and reinforced a lot of stuff I’ve been hearing from authors about how being on TikTok can boost your sales. It also demonstrated some best practices, things not to do, and suggested a couple of tips that surprised me (like wearing crowns in videos. I mean, who would have guessed?).
Anyhoo, on Thursday I took the leap and signed up for a TikTok account. On the recommendation of Jayne and Lila, who said that TikTok readers are voracious and aren’t bound to genre, I decided to use my TikTok account for both my Melanie and Nicola books and came up with the username nicandmelatbelaurient. A little clumsy, yes, but the screen name can be changed as much as you like and I settled on Melanie Fletcher/Nicola Cameron for that, which seems to work. My first video was a cute little pan of all the proof copies I have on a bookshelf, with a voiceover that muses how I really should order real copies of all those books. Did a bit of editing, added on-screen text and a sticker, and uploaded it.
I then joined Authors of TikTok and TikTok for Beginners on Facebook. Right now the Authors group has been more useful because it gave me the opportunity to join in on a daily cross-promotion post where people post their latest TikTok. You can then go and like/follow/comment them, and they’ll do the same for your post and account. Not very organic, true, but TikTok is gamified where you get certain privileges when you get certain numbers of followers, and right now I’m in a growth phase in order to get some of those privileges.
So what’s the point of all this? Well, over the last two days I’ve posted four videos — the panning one of the proof copy shelf, one where I feature Behind the Iron Cross, one where I’m actually on camera saying hello (link at the beginning of this post), and one featuring the Two Thrones series. As of right now I have 85 followers, 73 likes, and I’ve gotten 567 views on the proof vid, 336 views on the BtIC vid, 494 views on the “Hello, it’s me” vid, and 12 views on the Two Thrones post (but that was only uploaded an hour ago). I’ve also gotten two people reading BtIC on KU, which I can only attribute to my TT post. I’m hoping that as I establish more of a presence on the platform I’ll be able to boost my sales even more.
Plus, I LOVE making videos. I’m already a frustrated screenwriter and videographer so to me TikTok is an absolute ball, especially if I can make my videos funny. I already have a series planned where Melanie and Nicola will both be in the videos bickering with each other about stuff (which will require costume changes and a lot of editing, but that’s okay).
And, erm, I may have purchased a ring light with automatic start button for my camera. Hey, it’s a tax write-off.
Marvelous Monday Reads: A Not-So-Indecent Proposal
Welcome to another edition of Marvelous Monday Reads, darlings! Today I’m featuring L.D. Blakeley and her wonderful new M/M romance A Not So Indecent Proposal, now available from Evernight Publishing and other retailers of fine romance. Take it away, L.D.!
A Not-So-Indecent Proposal is a spicy little May/December, CEO/intern, fake relationship bit of fun and I hope you’ll like it!
Bram Wilson has snagged his ideal internship at an exciting new app development company. The only downside? It’s unpaid. And like any recent graduate, he’s in debt up to his eyeballs.
Spencer Kemp, CEO of AppMedica, is thrilled to have just scored his first viral sensation. Not-so-thrilling is the extra cash he needs to find to keep developing his popular game while it’s hot. Of course, there’s always the money his grandmother willed him as a wedding gift. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a boyfriend, never mind a husband.
Surely a solution can’t be that hard to find.
Story Excerpt
“Can I ask you something?” Bram asked as the waitress left to fill their order.
“Sure.”
“Am I fired?”
The question threw Spencer for a loop. “F—no. Why would you think that?”
“I kissed you.” His voice was barely above a whisper. “Remember?”
Oh, he remembered. Vividly. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had taken him so completely off guard. He’d spent more time than he’d care to admit reliving the moment. But it sure as hell wasn’t a fireable offense. Okay, technically, it could have been. But in this case it had cemented his decision to go ahead with his ridiculous plan.
“No, Bram. You’re definitely not fired.”
Bram’s posture relaxed somewhat. Then he leaned forward and asked, “So what are we doing here, then?”
“Hang on a minute. You thought you were about to be fired and you came along anyway?”
“I mean, yeah. If you were going to fire me, you could have done it anywhere. At least this way, it wouldn’t have been in front of everyone at work.”
“Well, you can rest assured. Nobody is getting fired.”
As their waitress set their drinks down, they stared at each other intently. Neither man spoke until they both thanked her without breaking eye contact.
“So?” Bram prompted. “What did you want to talk about?”
After hesitating briefly, Spencer bit the bullet and dove right in. “I need to get married.”
Bram furrowed his brow and took a hearty swallow of wine. “You’ve lost me.”
“I need to get married and want to make you a proposal,” Spencer explained. “A business proposal,” he quickly added.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Spencer removed the contract from its folder, then slid it across the table toward Bram.
“My grandmother was a hateful old woman,” he began to explain. “And in order to meet the requirements put on the money she gifted me in her will, I have to show proof of marriage to her lawyers.”
“And you want me to…” Bram trailed off as he picked up the papers.
“You need help paying off a big chunk of student debt,” Spencer continued. “And I need the money to make a sizeable and timely investment in AppMedica. So what I’m proposing is we get married. In return for you agreeing to do this, I use a portion of the money to pay off your loans.”
“Get married.” Bram sounded out the phrase like it was in a foreign language. “Are you serious?”
“Quite,” Spencer answered. “Nothing as far as our respective lives go has to change. We wouldn’t have to live together or be a couple or anything like that. It would simply be a legal document we would both be signing.”
Bram was silent.
“I don’t expect you to give me an answer right away,” Spencer added.
Bram started to speak, then closed his mouth.
“Are you okay?” Spencer asked.
“I’ll be honest. I have a million things I want to say, but they all seem to want to come out as what the fuck.”
“Fair.”
“I mean. What the fuck?” Bram finished his wine in one swallow. “This is really … what the fuck.”
Where to Buy
Evernight Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple | Bookstrand | Scribd | Smashwords
About the Author
L.D. Blakeley is a multi-published, Amazon best-selling author from Canada who describes herself as a slightly neurotic, highly ambitious dreamer who enjoys dabbling in photography, and pretending she can carry a tune. Her house has been taken over by far too many crafty endeavors to list.
In another life, Lisa was a newspaper reporter, an entertainment and music industry writer, a travel magazine editor, a PR specialist, a website content developer, and a marketing shill. Now she prefers to spend her time writing hot, steamy fiction with a healthy dose of romance.
While she dreams of living some place isolated with an endless supply of wine and an infinite number of books, she currently lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and their rock star cat.
Marvelous Monday Reads: Love in Danger
Welcome to another edition of Marvelous Monday Reads, darlings! Today I’m featuring E.D. Parr and her wonderful new SF romance Love in Danger, now available from Evernight Publishing and other retailers of fine romance. Take it away, E.D.!
When I wrote Love in Danger, I wanted the story to have a completely different feel to my other stories.
Usually, my stories have the two main characters that are going to fall in love meeting in the first few chapters. Their meeting and falling in love is the story. There is always a happy ending, so often I will give readers a look at their future in a decision to stay together, marry, or a view of how happy they are after being committed partners for some time. I’m a big fan of love at first sight. Readers can blame it on Jane Austen, Shakespeare, and even Dickens to a certain extent.
So what’s different in Love in Danger? The two main romantic heroes are already together as Love in Danger starts. They’re warrior partners and lovers. They’ve been together for some time.
Writing this story with the heroes already in love gave me such pleasure, I might have to write another story where this is the case. (Smiles) The love between Corin and Marcus is obvious, but Corin can’t admit that he loves Marcus by saying the actual words, and that forms the romance ‘conflict’ within the story. This Sci-Fi story has horror themes, and adventure, including events that focus Corin on the need to tell Marcus besides showing him just how much he loves Marcus.
Marcus adores Corin and isn’t afraid to say so. He’s a sweetheart and it shows in how we see him assisting Corin.
Both heroes are special to me. Their origins and courage are epic. Their love is red hot and tender. I don’t know any authors who don’t fall in love with their characters. I always do, so I hope that readers love Corin and Marcus. I hope too, that readers enjoy the inclusion of another warrior in the story, Zeb, who used to be Corin’s lover. He’s a big part of the story without being part of the romance.
I hope readers enjoy Love in Danger as much I loved writing it.
Centuries ago, the planet they cherished was conquered, but now three warriors from an ancient race of gifted beings intend to remedy that.
Lovers, handsome Corin JaKobi and gorgeous Marcus D’Ath are members of an elite planetary squad that rid the city sectors of the mysterious and dangerous Fallen.
When an old friend uncovers the true horrific nature of the elders in the organization they work for, anger at their duplicity drives Corin, Marcus, and rogue squadron hunter Zeb to plan for the ruling group’s demise.
It won’t be easy, and when Marcus is captured and detained at the elders’ pleasure, Corin’s white-hot fury at the thought of losing the man he loves knows no bounds.
Will Corin get to his beloved, Marcus, in time to stop the horror that awaits him?
Can the warriors free the planet and return it to the lovely place it was before the aggressors arrived?
Story Excerpt
Corin received a call on his communicator just as he and Marcus loaded the crockery from their meal into the dishwasher. He looked over at Marcus as he listened to the order and gave his lover a stare to convey annoyance at the task they’d been given.
Marcus grinned in return at the silent communication and pressed the button on the panel to start the machine.
He leaned on the counter, arms folded, waiting for Corin.
Affection flowed over Corin as he looked at Marcus. He traced the handsome man’s face with appreciative eyes. He walked quickly to his lover, dropped the communicator onto the table as he passed, and slipped his hands around Marcus’s face. He kissed Marcus tenderly, until his lover grabbed his hips and thrust against him with a low moan. Passion surged through Corin and he rained hungry kisses on Marcus’s lips.
He broke to breathe and whisper. “We have a job over in the badlands. Some idiot’s crash landed over there.” Then he kissed Marcus again. He swept his hands along his lover’s shoulders and down his sides to pull off his lover’s soft shirt. Raw sexual need gripped him and he ran his fingers over Marcus’s muscled chest. Little sounds escaped him as Marcus returned his frantic kisses.
Marcus helped pull his shirt off, casting it aside, then resumed kissing Corin. He murmured against Corin’s mouth. “How close are you? I can feel your cock rock hard through your pants.” He bit softly along Corin’s bottom lip and palmed Corin’s erection.
Corin groaned and pushed against Marcus’s hand. The need to come made his voice thick. “Close.” He dotted kisses along Marcus’s bare shoulder breathing in the masculine aura and light rosemary scent of bath soap on his skin. He dropped his hands to between their bodies and opened Marcus’s pants, trembling, hardly able to wait for the feel of his lover’s cock. He dragged the cotton pants down around Marcus’s thighs and curled his fingers around the huge erection that sprang free.
Marcus groaned into his open-mouthed kiss. “Corin … you have no idea what you do to me…” He held the counter edge, leaning back and his dick leaked onto Corin’s thumb.
Corin’s stomach flipped with the feel of the pre-cum on his fingers as he circled the head of Marcus’s cock. He closed his eyes and pumped his lover’s dick, groaning a little at the pleasure that consumed him and pressing his lips to Marcus’s. His own cock leaked and grew so hard he thought he’d come just from the delicious feel of Marcus’s kiss and satin-skinned erection in his hand.
Marcus thrust into his palm. He gripped Corin’s shoulders and rested his forehead on Corin’s as his cum spurted. He moaned and gasped trying to kiss Corin as his hips jerked.
Corin smiled onto Marcus’s lips. He waited for his lover to finish coming and kissed him softly every time he felt a throb run through his lover’s cock.
Marcus slid his hands around Corin’s face and kissed him.
The tenderness in the kiss dropped a blanket of love over Corin. He sighed as Marcus drew away and with a gentle push to move Corin, dropped to his knees.
Where to Buy
Evernight Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Siren Bookstrand | Smashwords
About the Author
I write stories that pop into my head and hope that they will resonate with someone. I’d love to think that the love stories I write are what readers want. I don’t think there’s enough love in the world, but even so, my stories are character driven. I always have a happy ending. We all deserve one.
I like to think there’s originality in my work. When I look at the body of my work I see originality within the story plots, but the theme of finding love is always there.
Evernight Publishing | Twitter | Amazon | Blog | Facebook
Marvelous Monday Reads: Night Song
Welcome to another edition of Marvelous Monday Reads, darlings! Today I’m featuring E.D. Parr and her wonderful new holiday romance Night Song, now available from Evernight Publishing and other retailers of fine romance. Take it away, E.D.!
Twenty-five year old Oliver Honeycutt has no idea how handsome he is. He’s creative, brilliant at his job, and underused in the designer fashion store where he works. Behind the scenes, Oliver takes special care with orders for customer, rock star, Zane Highwood. When Zane is to be the main attraction in the store’s Christmas party, fashion show, Oliver hopes Zane will notice him.
Multi-millionaire, twenty-five year old Noah Somersby, made his first million before he was twenty-one and now owns a number of casual-chic menswear stores. He’s a designer, gorgeous, and desperate to find a man who will love him for himself and not see dollar signs as they kiss.
Noah doesn’t often take the train into the city, but one rainy day he does, as he settles into a seat opposite Oliver, the two men exchange interested glances.
In fact, Noah is super attracted to Oliver and Oliver thinks Noah is gorgeous.
As the store holiday season party approaches, can serendipity bring them together?
Story Excerpt
Noah felt Oliver shift in his arms as if to pull away, but then he winced, bent his head, and leaned on Noah.
Concerned, Noah tightened his hold on Oliver. “I’m worried about you.” A tingle of surprise raced along Noah’s body as Oliver raised his face to gaze at him with open desire in his eyes.
“I think I need another kiss … to make it all better.”
Noah smiled before he kissed Oliver, not even feeling a sliver of guilt at kissing a possibly dazed man.
This time Oliver returned the kisses.
Noah drifted in sensation. He lingered on Oliver’s lips, kissing him, then breathing, then kissing him again. His eyes closed and his mouth only a sigh away from Oliver’s, he rested his forehead on Oliver’s and murmured, “I wanted to kiss you the other morning on the train. I’m sorry I hurt you, but not sorry I jumped on you, because I want you … want to know you … get to know you.”
Oliver stirred in his arms again and Noah opened his eyes.
Oliver placed a soft kiss on Noah’s mouth. “I … feel the same about you. I wanted the kiss—craved it, in fact. Noah, I should probably go home and check my bruises, get cleaned up—if the ride is still on offer.”
Noah forced himself from the languor of Oliver’s kiss. “What if you stay here and I’ll race off and bring my car back? I’ll only be a few minutes.”
“I’m really okay, just sort of achy.”
Noah shook his head. “I’d feel better if you rested here.” He left Oliver leaning against the wall and dashed along the street to his store’s delivery space. Happiness shielded him from the cold, foggy night. Lingering delight from Oliver’s kisses protected him from the fine rain that drenched everything. Elated, Noah sped back for Oliver. He turned up the heat in his car, parked in the no-parking zone, and helped Oliver into the passenger seat.
Oliver smiled at him in the dim glow of the streetlights. “Thank you.”
The seasonal fairy lights in the adjacent store window penetrated the fog with hazy dots of color. The drizzle put a ring of sparkles around Christmas lanterns hanging from the decorative rope lights strung across the streets. Noah leaned to Oliver and kissed him gently.
“Where do you live?”
Where to Buy
Evernight Publishing | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Siren Bookstrand | Smashwords
About the Author
I write stories that pop into my head and hope that they will resonate with someone. I’d love to think that the love stories I write are what readers want. I don’t think there’s enough love in the world, but even so, my stories are character driven. I always have a happy ending. We all deserve one.
I like to think there’s originality in my work. When I look at the body of my work I see originality within the story plots, but the theme of finding love is always there.
Evernight Publishing | Twitter | Amazon | Blog | Facebook
Nicola Cameron Writes 