Powerful and Enchanting, Voodoo Priestess Edna Ersland has spent the majority of her life trapped under the watchful eye of her overprotective Grandfather, and Grand Vampire in his own right, Seth Ersland. But when her childhood friend and first love returns to their quiet coastal town a newly transformed Werewolf, it’s up to Edna to keep him safe from Seth and the brigade of Holy Warriors responsible for hunting his kind to extinction just a decade prior. And, if it wasn’t already hard enough keeping them both alive, an ancient, generational curse emerges, threatening to obliterate her from existence at every turn.
Self-Sacrificing and gentle, Byron Lee-Wallace returns to his hometown of Warwick after his overtly religious and abusive father is murdered by loan sharks, excited to reunite with his long lost love. When he happens upon a woman being mauled to death by a trio of ravenous Werewolves, he is left bloody and clinging to the remnants of his sanity, and his humanity. With mutilated bodies turning up in the streets all over town and his own mania brought about by the full moon, he can only blame himself for the recent carnage. But, when Hunters called in by Seth himself turn their sights on Edna, the monster he fights to suppress has no choice but to come out to play in defense of his Mate.
With the most dangerous immortals in existence stalking them through the streets of Rhode Island, their chances for survival are slim. But Edna isn’t the type of Witch to just throw in the towel, and her enemies are in for a world of hurt if they think otherwise. Armed with a deadly curse and an ancient, Inuit Wolf spirit, Byron and Edna are in for the fight of a lifetime and only fate will decide if they make it out alive.
If killing them with kindness doesn’t work, try Voodoo.
Winterbørn is a standalone AMBW Paranormal Romance Novel.
World-Renowned Tattoo Artist Tabitha Hawke is retired. An artist trained in the beautiful Irezumi style, she’s spent the better half of her career catering to Gangsters and corrupt Politicians alike. But after a vengeful ex-lover bombs a convention center and almost kills her and hundreds of others, she’s more focused on keeping herself alive than canoodling with the seedy underworld of Japanese organized crime. Hurt and still recovering from her emotional injuries more than anything, she’s hidden herself away in New York’s upper East Side. But with the Yakuza still on her heels for one reason or another, peace is about to get really hard to find.
Alluring and Resolute, Kaito Yamaguchi is the current head of the Yamaguchi-Gumi Crime Syndicate. A dastardly bastard who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, he knows just who was responsible for Tabitha’s assassination attempt and is hellbent on making him pay. Unrivaled in power, there are few who will cross the Mob Boss, and fewer still who know his dark secret. A one-thousand year old Fox Demon, he’s a God amongst men, and all he wants in this life is a spiritually-awakened artist who thinks she can outrun him.
With an ex-CIA agent returning to finish her off and a stubborn Yakuza who wants more of her than she’s ready to give, Tabitha quickly finds herself on the ropes. Never one to run from adversity, she’s only left with one option, but with guilt and the loss of a cherished life still looming over her head, escaping her demons may be a fight she just can’t win.
Brokenhearted and easily defeated, Nancy Weyr is fresh out of prison after a ten year stint for the murder of her abusive father. Her life has been hell and, as she leaves detention and enters the Criminal Justice System as a parolee, it’s about to get a helluva lot worse. With a vengeful Parole Officer on her heels and the threat of life in prison looming over her head, running from her problems is all she can do to stay alive. But, just when things can’t possibly go any further downhill, she’s abducted by a Demon and taken deep into the bowls of downtown Seattle.
Angelic and ruthless, Vikar the Decayer rules his Kingdom with an iron fist. A Necromancer serving a Dark God, it is his sole mission in life to cleanse the human world of sinners by sacrificing them back to the void. But when one of his Demonic sentinels returns with a tiny, terrified woman with hair like wildflowers, it’s clear that something in his system is terribly broken. He keeps her. And he heals her. But their newfound love comes at a cost.
With the Elder Wizards plotting mutiny and his empire crumbling before him, it’s up to Nancy to save Vikar from those who want his throne. And his life. Submissive and crestfallen, strength isn’t something she has in abundance. But when it comes to saving the one she loves, there’s nothing she won’t do to keep him safe. Even if it means unleashing a brutal side of herself she hoped to never see again.
Dead Like Me is a standalone AMBW novelette. This is not a novel.
Available Friday the 13th. Preorder your copy today!
Let me start off by saying that I adore my readers. I am in love with any person who takes time out of their schedule to pick up one of my stories and spend even the shortest amount of time in my worlds with my characters. As an author I love reviews, I love hearing about what you liked and even what you didn’t like about my stories, because most of the time we’re on the same page. But when your reviews become punishments for your personal preferences (the story wasn’t long enough, it wasn’t written in a style I liked, the woman on the cover is too light-skinned etc), they become a problem that affect me as an author and you as a reader of my future work.
Reviews are lifeblood for authors. They effect algorithms that put our books in front of more people and they give you, the reader, a voice when it comes to our work. But in this age of social media and being able to anonymously vomit opinions onto the internet, it’s becoming a trend to mindlessly bash, attack and demean authors and their work via “reviews”. Which is not okay, especially if you LIKE said work.
Yes, a review, whether positive or negative is your right as a reader to leave. But not reading descriptions and going on to leave off-base negative reviews on work that someone slaved over is just plain wrong. If you’re going to leave a review, at least have an informed opinion about the product. Because while it may have taken you ten seconds in a fit of anger to write, it will haunt and affect that authors career and future work for a lifetime. Let’s put it this way: if you worked hard on building a toaster and I told people not to buy it (by leaving a one star review) because it wasn’t a refrigerator, you would probably be upset.
Take for example my most recent Dragon God Erotic series. It’s my first real foray into the erotic short hemisphere and I genuinely enjoyed writing these four short stories. That being said, plenty of people are responding positively to them as well. Like all erotic stories they are meant to tease, to stir up emotion and get the blood pumping. They’re not really something you sink your teeth into story wise. But I pride myself on my world building and my character creation which means you’re going to get a bit of both in anything I write. Even if it’s only 8k words. And most of my readers new and old understand that.
Except for a few reviewers who don’t seem to get that they are not full length novels. I use the description and the “from the author” section of the amazon page to explain that they are indeed short stories. Amazon even has a handy little section beneath the description that tells you the page length of kindle books. You have plenty of warning before you buy and start reading the work. You even have the option of refunding the title.
That being said, why leave a negative review behind on a story that you admittedly like but want to see more of? That’s really not going to make me, or any author want to keep putting themselves in a position to be exposed to such devastation. And it’s not going to help the stories you love see continuations or expansion either. Quite the opposite, actually.
I said all of this to say that, reviews are wonderful things, ESPECIALLY when they are scathing and pointing out every plothole, annoying character, flaw and instance of purple prose. But when they are used simply to lash out at an author, to punish them because something didn’t go your way, they’re really affecting us both negatively. So I implore you, be constructive, but think before you review.
With everything going on in the world right now, from school shootings to the blatant rejection of social and scientific progress by a particular political party, as a Romance author I believe now more than ever love is something we desperately need to cling to.
I wrote Taken by the Dragon God for a plethora of reasons, the most important being to celebrate cultural differences and explore characters of color in ways we don’t typically get to see them. American media paints both Black women and Asian men in not so positive ways. From negative stereotypes, body-shaming and flat out racism; we need diversity in character types just as much as the characters themselves. Taken challenges racial stereotypes in the most thrilling way, making the characters human first and POC second.
Taken by the Dragon God is the first in the Dragon God series and follows a Nigerian Historian and archaeologist Risa Vance as she and her team travel rural China in search of the remains of an ancient Tang Dynasty princess. When she survives a car crash that is fatal for her colleagues, Risa is left to fend for herself. But, little does she know, a sip from an midnight Well will be her saving grace.
Xiao is capable and strong, but the laws that govern his kind are precise in what they expect from him. He is expected to claim a Mate, a human woman who survives the fire from the Black well, or he will lose his kingdom to his power-hungry sister forever. He may not have all the time in the world to woo his potential Mate, but he is a fearsome lover and protector of anyone he calls his own.
These characters are meant to be more than just fillers to meet some racial quota. They are real. They are whole. They are people who live, learn, love, make mistakes and most importantly remain true to themselves in the face of any adversity. This project is one that is dear to my heart and to my cause as an author of color dedicated to bringing you authenticity, diversity, and most of all love.
I look forward to your feedback!
If you want to check out the first book in the Dragon God series, check it out exclusively on Amazon.
I have a secret to confess. I’ve been working on a project for about six months now, steadily hacking away at it in secrecy. But, no more! I’m ready to share Winterborn with you in all its greatness and imperfection!
Winterborn was a project I started as a way to get back to my Paranormal Romance roots, so to speak. Growing up, I was enamored with Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches, the quintessential staple of Paranormal and fantasy literature. It’s been years since I’ve written about any of them and I thought it was high time that I featured them in my work. Thus, a dinky little five-thousand-word short story was birthed and promptly forgotten about. That is, until I realized the little nagging feeling I felt at the back of my brain wasn’t going to go away until I stared my characters in the face and said: “Okay, the hell do you want from me?”
Enter Winterborn’s main characters, Edna, Byron, and Seth. Old school names for an old school story and a plot rife with elements I haven’t touched for years. This blog post will serve as an introduction to the characters and plotline of a story that is not yet completed but is quickly cementing itself as one of my favorite books not yet written.
Main Characters:
Edna Deveaux Ersland:
The great granddaughter of Evelyn Deveaux, a Haitian Mambo (Voodoo
Edna Deveaux Ersland played by Amandla Stenberg
priestess) who brought black magic to the French Creole after migrating from Haiti in the midst of the Haitian-French Revolution and slave uprising started by Toussaint Louverture. She is the subject of a “Final Destination” style generational curse that’s actively trying to kill her. Head over heels for Byron Lee since they were kids, she’s dedicated to keeping the newly transformed wolf out of trouble, even when he’s more of a danger to himself than anyone else. Edna, although an adult at twenty-three, is a classic teenager dying to escape from a controlling parent. Having no real concept of time and being an Ancient, Seth quite literally treats her like a child, which is almost entirely to blame for her rebellion and her constant need to test the boundaries of their parent-child relationship. Part of her wants to see how far she can push the Vampire, the rest of her enjoys the danger it brings because she knows without a doubt that he would A, never hurt her, and B, he’ll always be there to have her back.
In a Nutshell: Edna is an extraordinarily powerful young woman in love with a man both her controlling father-figure and the world want dead. Having the power to keep him alive isn’t the issue, it’s fighting off her own demons that will determine their survival.
Byron Lee Wallace:
Byron is the literal boy next door. He grew up in Warwick Rhode Island beside the Ersland Manor and moved back recently after his alcoholic father was murdered by Ioan Sharks. This move comes years after the drunken brute beat
Byron Lee Wallace played by Joo Hyuk Nam
his sickly mother to death. Because of his hard, strictly religious, upbringing, Byron has always longed for a normal life (white picket fence, the whole nine yards), a prospect that was stolen from him permanently when he was attacked, bitten, and subsequently transformed into a Lycan. He was found one night by his childhood friend and crush Edna, clinging to the shreds of his humanity after accidentally mauling a young woman to death, and she’s been taking care of him ever since. He openly returns the witch’s feelings but, after several mishaps where he’s accidentally scratched and even bitten her, he tries to keep his distance. Much to her dismay. Byron lives in a perpetual whirlwind of guilt, self-pity, and self-deprecation because he blames himself not only for the woman he killed the night of his transformation but for the murders and missing persons cropping up all over town. He still has a very human mindset and has not yet completely transitioned into the realm of the supernatural. Where death, missing persons, and magic are an everyday occurrence for everyone else, he still sees things through the eyes (and morals) of a mortal. He’s a welpling, a literal puppy who’s still in the midst of learning to control his transformations and will be forced to grow up very, very soon.
In a Nutshell: Byron takes being a good person to an entirely new level, but he’s soon to realize that being a good guy and staying alive doesn’t always fall in line. Watch him grow into a formidable force as he realizes that protecting his mate means more to him than his father’s religon ever could.
Seth Ersland:
Seth is a very old Vampire. So old that his personal history is lost to antiquity. (Okay, let’s cut the crap, Seth is Dracula. Literally, the OG Vampire himself. But that’s just between you and me.) Rumor has it, he met Evelyn during the French Revolution and aided her escape to the American South. No one really knows the relationship they shared, but Seth took it upon himself to watch her cursed
Seth Ersland played by Valery Kovtun
family after her unfortunate passing. Some suspect that the two were lovers and her dealings in black magic allowed her to give birth to Seth’s children, thus creating the curse that has now all but wiped them out. The master Vampire has lovingly admitted to having been reduced to a “Housewife with fangs” and it is noted by Lenora Bulwer (a Huntress and agent of the Vatican) that bringing him out of “retirement” would be extremely bad for anyone who crossed his path. Lenora hints at his power and at the fact that he was born Vlad Dracul, the former ruler of Wallachia in what is now modern day Romania. Why he abandoned his life after his suspected death in 1476 is up for debate and is purely speculation. After Edna returns home covered in unexplained cuts and bruises he discovers her illicit relationship with Byron and contracts Lenora into hunting and killing the wolf. He is extremely protective over the last of Evelyn’s brood (and possibly the last of his living bloodline) and will stop at nothing to keep Edna alive. He also could or could not be responsible for all the disappearances in Rhode Island and has a fondness for burning beautiful houses to the ground.
In a Nutshell: Seth is daddy, by all meanings of the word, and someone you’ll want to keep your eye on. He loves his child, takes care of all who are indentured to him, and rains merciless hell on anyone who even thinks to abuse those he loves.
Stay tuned for more about Winterborn, including more character introductions, the Antagonists, Supporting Cast, and MUCH much more!
I am still at a complete and utter loss for words. I’ve attached the email sent by Mrs. Kim Burrows below because I am still firmly unable to process this. I was so worried when I released What’s Done in the Dark, because it was my first formal erotica effort. And it won a freaking award! I didn’t get first place, but that never matters to me. I am so completely honored and humbled that my work was even considered. I want to extend a big thank you to Literary Erotica Mag and a formal congratulations on opening their new website and having the courage to do so. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for remembering me!
In light of recent world events I thought it pertinent to reach out to you, my family of readers, whose opinions I find absolutely invaluable.
I’ve written in the past that a community of writers can, has been, and in certain aspects always will be, a place of joy, happiness and support. Every writer needs their team. Their support system. The people who are meant to catch them when they inevitably stumble and need help finding their light again. That being said, there are unfortunately a lot of people I simply can’t associate within my community.
In the circles that I follow, and once fervently participated in, all I see are issues that cause me to grow increasingly disheartened. Every day I see posts that are blatantly racist. Posts that are blatantly sexist. Entire books built on played out stereotypes and tired tropes about people of color; the timid, shy Asian woman or the loud, ghetto black woman, or the spicy sex-crazed Latina…And it needs to stop. Things need to change. I am completely for writing what you want, but when you fail to realize how these microagressions give people the wrong idea, which negatively impacts the demographics you so carelessly write about, I can’t willingly be a part of it. That is to say, that for my own mental well-being, I can’t allow myself to be around it nor play a part in ignoring or supporting it.
As a person of color who writes fantasy, I’m a rare sight. And in a world where the characters, subject matter, and authors themselves are dominated by a primarily white demographic who are uncomfortable speaking about race, privilege, sex, class, and having conversations that would change their unknowingly insensitive, oppressive behavior, I’m obviously not welcome. And that’s fine by me. Because I don’t do what I do for other writers. I do it for my readers.
My wonderful, tough as nails, readers. You guys are my stars. You light up all the darkness in my world and chase the shadows away. That’s why I continue to produce content. That’s why I limit my interaction with others who intentionally, and unintentionally, write, do, and say things that affect my people and, by extention, me. Because of you, I don’t care about anything else except for delivering the content you’ve come to know and love. And so, I thank you. Continually. For your support. I can never hope to repay you enough.
Most of you probably know that I’m hard at work making the sequel to Bad Grades happen. Bad Intentions is barely five chapters in and it’s already shaping up to be one of my favorite stories I’ve written this year.
In the wake of Claire and Daniel’s story, Jung In is off to Syracuse New York to investigate Paragon Genetic Solutions and potentially free the psychics he met during his ten-year captivity. Disguising himself as Henri Kang, med student from Korea, he goes undercover as a Neurology student and enters a residency program at a hospital co-owned by Dr. Edward Chang himself. It’s at this hospital that he meets Neurologist Alice Morgan, a beautiful, curvy, doctor with more confidence and attitude than the law should allow.
With her backstory still being developed at this point only two things are clear; she’s more than likely an incredibly powerful psychic, and she absolutely cannot stand Jung In. Having been hurt before she’s pretty mean on purpose, both due to the fact that she doesn’t want to do the residency and she wants to keep her heart protected just in case she starts to fall in love, but the genius Jung In has already recognized that and is using it against her. He knows that, the more he catches her off guard with his flirting, the closer he can get to her. Now, he’s extremely attracted to her and has already confessed that to himself AND to Daniel, but he also knows that getting close to her could mean finding the information he needs to free those psychics. Which is still his goal, despite having a perpetual hardon for Dr. Morgan.
It’s interesting watching this story and its characters develop, especially the budding romance between the emotionally stunted Jung In and the emotionally reclusive Alice. She has her fair share of past trauma, but it’s nothing compared to the torture he faced while living as Chang’s personal psychic slave. The more I listen to them banter, the more I feel like I’m watching an old school Tekken or Mortal Kombat match. Either fight or kiss each other already!
And of course I didn’t have this problem with Daniel and Claire because it was clear from the jump that Daniel would stop at NOTHING to have Claire by his side. He knew he was in love with her before I did! And I created them!
If you haven’t read Bad Grades yet, I implore you to do so. You really won’t want to miss all the action and romance that led up to Jung In being freed and him finally getting his own chance at happiness. I’m so stoked that I chose him to be the focal point of Bad Intentions. I mean, Daniel can’t have all the fun, can he?
Grab Bad Grades on Amazon and jump into this story! At the price of just 99cents, what do you have to lose?
July 1st 2016 marks #IndiePrideDay, a day when the Indie Authors of the world unite to to offer a real alternative for readers and lovers of books by offering special discounts on their books. There is a huge Indie Author community out there and they’re determined to take indie books mainstream. What does this mean for you? Well author, Sharon Lipman is offering her paranormal romance novel, Bound to Blackwood for free this weekend! Yes, that’s right, a great book, totally free. A proud indie author herself, she’ll be supporting the movement on July 1st, and you can too. Download your copy of Bound to Blackwood now and follow the #IndiePrideDay trend on twitter for some more amazing indie books and discover some new-to-you authors. You won’t regret it!
Bound to Blackwood Blurb:
Would you surrender your
soul for the love of the King?
Lena, a vampire and a Guardian of the Order, has been honour-bound to protect
human souls all her life. Acting first and thinking second is what’s saved her
skin time and again in the war against the Fallen, but her disregard for orders
soon catches up with her when her boss is seriously injured. Forced to take
responsibility for her actions, Lena is thrust into the path of her very own
kryptonite; Thorn. The raw power of his soul calls to her and his mere presence
lights a fire within her that she cannot contain.
With Vampire magic waning and the race in crisis, can either of them afford to
ignore Nature’s call? If they do, the future of the race is in jeopardy. If
they don’t, they will both lose the most precious part of themselves. Their
souls.
Excerpt:
Small, delicate hands butterflied across his chest as she leant forward to nuzzle his
neck. His hips arched towards her and one of her hands dipped lower. His cock
jumped as she ran her nails over his crotch, his jeans doing little to dull the
sensation. It was all he could do not to come there and then. And they still
had most of their clothes on. That needed to change. Right now.
As if reading his mind, Lena reached for his belt, then his fly. She lifted herself
off him to pull his jeans down his long legs. She damn near broke his ankles
when she wrenched his boots off and threw them halfway across the room. But the
look of pure hunger on her face as she raked her eyes up his body was its own
reward. If it meant he got to see that look again, he’d let her break every
fucking bone in his body.
She stood, staring at him, wearing just her tight combat trousers. And those boots.
Gods, he loved those boots.
She bent down to start tackling the umpteen buckles stretching from her ankles to
her knees.
“Uh uh. Those stay on.”
Lena’s head snapped up. “What did you say?”
Thorn’s eyes sparkled as he stared at her. “I said, the boots stay on.”
More of an order than a statement, it sent a tantalizing shudder through her, making
her clench her thighs at the promise of what was to come.
“The boots stay on?” she asked, in case she’d misheard. She didn’t know Thorn
could be so playful. It excited her.
There was one small problem. “Haven’t you forgotten about these?” she
asked, tugging at her combats. She’d like to know how she was supposed to get
them off and keep the boots on.
Thorn came up off the bed. Towering above her, he grabbed the front of her trousers
and gave one hard yank. Lena wobbled forward but gasped as the fabric split at
the seams. One more pull and what was left of her uniform and her underwear
fell to the floor in tatters.
She stood there watching Thorn as he drank her in with hungry, golden eyes. His
gaze went up her body from her boots to her lithe legs and lingered at the top
of her thighs. I can be playful too,
she thought as she widened her stance, a coy grin pulling her mouth.
Thorn’s white-hot gaze shot to her face, his eyes boring into her. Such heat, such
hunger.
Lena couldn’t stand it any longer. She reached into his dark hair and pulled him in
for a kiss. The kiss was hard, both their fangs fully extended, both needing,
each starving for the other.
A huge fan of the
paranormal romance genre, Sharon Lipman started writing in her teens. It wasn’t
until she was in her thirties that she found a story she was desperate to
share. House Blackwood was born and Bound to Blackwood is her debut novel.
She was born in west London and grew up in leafy Surrey in south-east England.
A lover of all things British, except the weather, she now lives in Almeria,
southern Spain with her husband and an ever growing collection of dogs.
Fiction for the Masses 