Books on Sale and an Update

I have a couple of books on sale, so if you haven't read them yet, now is a good time to pick them up. 

His Client is on sale for $0.99! 

Love wasn't supposed to be part of the bargain...

Amazon  -  Barnes & Noble  -  iBooks  -  Kobo  -  ARe

Brook Street: Thief (book #1 in the Brook Street trilogy) is on sale for $1.99.

A lord intent on his first decadent night with a man finds love when he picks up a thief in a gambling hall.

Amazon  -  Barnes & Noble  -  iBooks  -  Kobo

In other non-book sale news, I'm hard at work on Convincing the Secretary, the new 3rd novella in the London Legal series. The book includes a big growly lord, a secretary with a naughty imagination, and some kink and angst. Definitely a fun book to write.  

Monday 8/10 is a big day, as Viscount's Wager releases! There will be a blog tour with KJ Charles, and much running & flailing about on my part. I'll post the tour schedule to the blog on Monday. 

I will be sending out August's e-newsletter on Monday, so if you haven't signed up and are interested, the sign-up form in on my website. There's also a link to the form in the upper left of the blog. 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Random News - Updated Shorts, Release Dates, and Yummy Covers

First up, The Brook Street Collection is currently available. For anyone who hasn't read Thief, Fortune Hunter and Rogues, and who might be interested in checking out the books, they are now available in one collection. 

I finally finished updating both Bound series free short stories (and you can thank Lou Harper of Harper by Design for the yummy covers). The stories are now available at Smashwords, Kobo, B&N, and Amazon (though they are currently $0.99 there). I also updated the versions on All Romance eBooks and GoodReads. Check out the stories' pages on my website for links to the various resellers - Deliberately Unbound & Deliberately Bound.

In WIP news, I am still working on All In With the Duke, though I am SO close to the end. Like, half-way into the last chapter, close. The book will definitely be novel length - I've already pushed past the 75,000 word mark (but we'll see what gets trimmed in edits). And, I got release dates/months/seasons for the books in the upcoming Gambling on Love series:

• All In With the Duke = November 2013
• Sharp Love = Spring 2014
• Viscount's Wager = Fall 2014

And last but not least, Fortune Hunter has been nominated in the Best GLBT - Historical Romance  category of The Romance Reviews' Best Book of 2012. *pats Julian and Oscar on the back* If you're interested in voting, you can hop on over to http://www.theromancereviews.com/bookvote.php to cast your ballot for books in all the categories, though you do need to log in or create an account to vote for books. Voting open until March 31.

Happy Belated First Day of Spring!! I remain hopeful the weather gods will actually bring spring to Michigan, but so far...no such luck.  

Updates, and Ryan at the Tailor

I've been working on All In With the Duke, and it's coming along nicely. I'm gearing up for the major angst 'black moment' section, which is my favorite part of a book to write. I've already crossed the 55,000 word mark, so this one will definitely be my longest Ava book. I'd originally aimed for around 65,000-70,000 words, but given what's left to write, it will likely be closer to 75,000 words. So at least twice the length of one of my usual novellas. 

My upcoming series, Gambling on Love, got a lovely shout-out in RT Book Reviews Forewords post - "...what is most intriguing are the characters the author pairs together." That made me smile. 

What else is new? Thief, Fortune Hunter and Rogues are being bundled into a collection as part of a larger Harlequin initiative for erotic romance. The Brook Street Collection will be available on March 15th, for a price of $5.99. Definitely a deal. And I love the cover art. If you're interested, it's already up on Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon.ca and Barnes&Noble for pre-order. 

In other news, Kidlet is learning how to sew, and Ryan is her latest guinea pig. She's making him a new shirt. Not sure if she intended it to be a belly-baring shirt, but it looks good on him. 

And I'll leave you with another snap-shot from around the house. Kidlet got a label maker for Christmas, which means most everything has gotten labeled. Kitteh did not like her label at all, but the niece's dog was a very good sport about it. 

Rogues Release Day & a Sale

It's release day for Rogues, the 3rd book in the Brook Street series. The book features Robert Anderson & Linus Radcliffe, who have made appearances in the other books in the series. Alexander Norton & Thomas Bennett from My True Love Gave to Me (Brook Street #0.5) and Lord Benjamin Parker from Thief (#1) pop up in Rogues, though since the book takes place shortly after Fortune Hunter (#2), neither Oscar Woodhaven nor Julian Parker show their handsome faces in the book. 

I wrote the Brook Street series with the intent that each can be read as a stand-alone, though I think they're more fun when read in order since the main books in the series take place during the 1822 Season and most of the main characters move within the same circle of close friends. 

Rogues has a friends-with-benefits to lovers theme...which the blurb makes pretty obvious :)

Two of London's most notorious rakehells, Linus Radcliffe and Robert Anderson, are the best of friends. They share almost everything—clothes, servants, their homes, and even each other's bed on occasion. The one thing they don't share: lovers. For while Linus prefers men, Robert prefers women...except when it comes to Linus.

As another Season nears its end, Robert can't ignore his growing jealousy. He hates watching Linus disappear from balls to dally with other men. Women are lovely, but Linus rouses feelings he's never felt with another. Unwilling to share his gorgeous friend another night, Robert has a proposition for Linus.

A proposition Linus flatly refuses—but not for the reasons Robert thinks. Still, Robert won't take no for an answer. He sets out to prove a thing or two to his best friend—yet will learn something about the heart himself. 

Read an excerpt

Buy Links:  Carina Press  Amazon US  Amazon UK  Barnes and Noble  All Romance eBooks

Rogues will also be available soon from Audible.

eBook sale! For the month of May, Thief is $0.99 at Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and iTunes.  

Fortune Hunter - Release Day

Today is release day for Brook Street: Fortune Hunter! It's the second book in the Brook Street trilogy and features Oscar Woodhaven and Julian Parker, cousin to Benjamin Parker from the first book. I wrote the book late last summer/early fall, and it ended up being my longest Ava book to date, coming in around 44,000 words. 

Back when I used to gobble up m/f historicals like they were poptarts, I'd read many a book with a main character who needed/wanted to marry for money. The idea of doing a m/m take on the theme had been swirling in my head for a good few years, and finally last year I got the chance to write the book. Julian's the fortune hunter and Oscar's the one with a fortune. A huge fortune. 800,000 pounds in the book, which equates to approximately $82million in today's US dollars. Yeah, a hell of a lot of money, but as I was writing the book, I figured, go big or go home, you know? Speaking of homes, here's the town house that I used as inspiration for Oscar's town house on Brook Street - yep, I went with the 'go big' theme. Of course, men couldn't marry back in the Regency let alone marry for money (they unfortunately still can't marry in a lot of places in the world today), so it's not smooth sailing for Julian and Oscar. But the book's a romance, so rest assured it all works out in the end. 

I'll leave you with the blurb for the book:

Impoverished Julian Parker returns to London with one goal: marry an heiress. He'll do whatever it takes, even if it means denying his desire for men. After all, with a fortune comes happiness and social acceptance—which have eluded Julian his entire life.

The only things a vast fortune has brought Oscar Woodhaven are greedy relatives and loneliness. At twenty-one years of age, he has everything a man could possibly want—except someone to love him. When he meets devastatingly handsome Julian Parker, he believes his luck has turned.

Between Oscar's lavish gifts and their searing-hot nights, Julian is caught between what he thinks he needs and what his heart truly desires. But when a betrayal threatens to tear them apart, Julian discovers he'll do whatever it takes to convince Oscar the greatest fortune of all is love.

Buy links:

Carina Press   Amazon US   Amazon UK   Barnes & Noble Nook   All Romance eBooks

Gearing Up & Blog Updates

I'm gearing up, and starting to get geeked, for Fortune Hunter's release on Monday. 

Stop on by Stumbling Over Chaos to throw your name in the hat to win a copy of Brook Street: Fortune Hunter. Click HERE to enter. Contest open until 7pm CDT on 4/6, so only 2 days left. And the winner will get a copy of the book before release day :)

Fortune Hunter is also the featured excerpt on Carina Press's Facebook page for the next week and a half. You can download the first 20% of the book. Click HERE to check it out. Note - the link will prompt you to log into Facebook first, in order to download the excerpt. 

Um...what else is new? I've been messing with the blog settings a bit. There have been a few posts around the interwebz lately about blog settings & commenting that got me thinking about it. I disabled the stupid wordverification thing - my apologies to everyone who's had to endure it in the past in order to comment. I had no idea it was enabled, but now it's disabled. I do hate word-veri/captcha, especially since blogger 'updated' theirs and made it next to impossible to decode. I also took off the 'adult' warning thing - figured since I'm not flashing peen pics around the blog that I didn't really need it. Not that I have anything against peen pics...  Anyway, if anyone has any other helpful suggestions for blog setting, feel free to offer them up. I'm always on the lookout for new things to tweak, 'cause, you know, I like to tweak things. 

So that's about all for me for now. Hope everyone's been having a great week!

Double Cover Lovin' & Series Info

I've got covers! Well, I received the finals last week, but with all the fun of release week last week, I waited until today to show them off on the blog.

Brook Street: Fortune Hunter (book #2) - A man determined to obtain a fortune by marrying an heiress instead falls in love with an obscenely wealthy young gentleman.

Brook Street: Rogues (book #3) - Two of London's most notorious rakes are about to find out if their friendship can withstand the test of turning into something so much more.

For anyone wondering how the books relate to each other, in Fortune Hunter, the 'hunter' in question is Julian Parker, cousin of Benjamin Parker from Thief. The wealthy gentleman is Oscar Woodhaven, who made an appearance in Thief. Rogues features Linus Radcliffe and Robert Anderson, who made appearances in Thief and will also be in Fortune Hunter. Most of the guys were referenced in some manner in My True Love Gave to Me, which I think of as a #0.5 to the series. Alexander Norton and Thomas Bennett from that book pop up in the other books in the series. Most of the guys move in the same circle of close friends, in addition to a few of them living along Brook Street. And yes, Benjamin and Cavin from Thief pop up in Fortune Hunter and Rogues, as well. So there you have it - how the series books are related. They aren't direct sequels, so they can be read as stand-alone books, though I think they're more fun if read in order.

There's also a giveaway going on for Thief over at Fiction Vixen. Contest open until the end of the day, 3/30 (Friday), and there's also an exclusive excerpt of the book for your reading enjoyment. Click HERE to check out the excerpt and to throw your name into the giveaway hat.

Thanks to everyone who supported the Carina Press M/M Week blog tour last week (either by hosting a stop or a giveaway or checking out the posts). It made for a fabulous release week!

Thief Release Day and Tour Info

It's Monday, 3/19, and that means release day for Thief, the first book in the Brook Street trilogy! I contracted the trilogy back in May 2011, 10 mths ago, and it's rather surreal that release day for Thief is finally here.

I'll be all around the interwebz this week, doing my author-best to spread the word about book release day. Curious as to where I'll be? Here's the week's schedule:

Monday 3/19 - The Macaronis, as part of the Carina Press M/M Week Blog Tour. I'll be having some fun with Regency cant (slang). Stop on by to enter to win all 6 books.

Also, on Monday 3/19, Reviews by Jessewave is hosting a giveaway for the six books in M/M week. It's a one-day contest, so hop on over today to enter for a chance to win.

Wednesday 3/21 - The Manic Readers blog talking about series books.

Thursday 3/22 - The Carina blog, talking about The Pick-Up.

Saturday 3/24 - Fiction Vixen, book spotlight and giveaway for Thief, which also includes an exclusive excerpt from the book.

In celebration of the first ever Carina Press M/M Week, the authors are going on a blog tour. As part of the tour, each author is giving away an ebook bundle of all 6 book releases. Yes – all six! Check out the stops along the tour.

3/19 - Dev Bentham at Fiction Vixen
3/19 - Ava March at The Macaronis
3/20 - Larry Benjamin at Joyfully Jay
3/21 - Kim Knox at Rarely Dusty Books
3/22 - Erastes at The Macaronis
3/23 - KC Burn at Babbling About Books, and More

---------------

And I'll leave you today with the blurb for Brook Street: Thief:

It was only supposed to be one night. One night to determine once and for all if he truly preferred men. But the last thing Lord Benjamin Parker expected to find in a questionable gambling hell is a gorgeous young man who steals his heart.

It was only supposed to be a job. Cavin Fox has done it many times – select a prime mark, distract him with lust, and leave his pockets empty. Yet when Cavin slips away under the cover of darkness, the only part of Benjamin he leaves untouched is his pockets.

With a taste of his most wicked fantasies fulfilled, Benjamin wants more than one night with Cavin. But convincing the elusive young man to give them a chance proves difficult. Living with a band of thieves in the worst area of London, Cavin knows there’s no place for him in a gentleman’s life. As circumstances pull him to Benjamin’s Mayfair town house, Cavin keeps pulling away from the best man he’s ever known. Yet Benjamin isn’t about to let Cavin—and love— continue to slip away from him.

Thief is available at Carina Press, Amazon, BN Nook, iTunes, and all the other usual secondary seller sites.

Upcoming Happenings and Stuff

First off, warm weather...I love you. I love even a hint of you. Going to be in the 60's all week, and mostly sunny. OK, your midwest weather update is now done.

Fortune Hunter and Rogues, books #2 and #3 in the Brook Street trilogy, will be available from Audible sometime around each book's release date. So that means the entire trilogy will be available as audio books. Pretty cool.

If you're in the mood to throw your name in the virtual hat, Chris over at Stumbling Over Chaos is holding a giveaway for all 6 books in Carina Press' upcoming M/M Week. Yes, all six! Giveaway includes A Brush with Darkness, Bitter Harvest, First Time Forever, Moving in Rhythm, What Binds Us, and Brook Street: Thief. Click HERE to enter. Contest ends 3/16.

Starting March 19th, Carina Press will have an entire week of M/M releases. To celebrate, the authors (including yours truly) are going on a tour. At each stop, we'll be giving away books...all six releases, to be specific. For a tour schedule, you can check out this info blog - http://carinammweektour.blogspot.com/ - or you can just check out the actual schedule:

3/19 - Dev Bentham at Fiction Vixen
3/19 - Ava March at The Macaronis
3/20 - Larry Benjamin at Joyfully Jay
3/21 - Kim Knox at Rarely Dusty Books
3/22 - Erastes at The Macaronis
3/23 - KC Burn at Babbling About Books, and More

Today I received some love from my mailman. He delivered my new Pride and Prejudice Trivia Game! *big squee* I ordered it Friday and it showed up today - I was very impressed, especially since I elected for standard shipping (which usually equals really slow shipping).

As for how I found out about the game, Mandi over at Smexy Books had a coupon code for Gone Reading - 25% off. A sale? Oh, I checked it out. And found my new fav game. I played it with hubby today but his P&P knowledge is very limited. He answered 'Mr. Darcy' to every question. Little wonder I ended up schooling him with my vast P&P knowledge. I rock!

More Randomness

It's March! *squee* That means the possibility of bitter coldness should be behind us. I'm sure I'll still get some snow - it always snows at least once in the midwest in March - but OMIG-cold should officially be done. Though, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't all that bad this winter. Could have been much worse. ...and now I've just jinxed the entire midwest for 10 degree days and a snowpocalypse in March.

I've updated my website with a blurb and excerpt for Rogues, the third book in the Brook Street trilogy. It's the best-friends-to-lovers book in the trilogy (one of my fav themes for books). I also have a release date: May 7th. No cover yet for Rogues or for Fortune Hunter, but I should get them soon. And as soon as I do, I'll post them here because...I love shiny pretty book covers. Thief's now available for pre-order on most sites. It's been on AMZ and B&N for a bit, and it's now available for preorder at Carina Press.

And...that's about all for interesting things from me. I've been busy, catching up on a bunch of random stuff. I've been messing around with Shawn Lane, my awesome critique partner's website. If you want to check out the latest version, it's HERE. When I'm in the mood to play in photoshop and tweak things, she's kind enough to let me run amuck with her site. Oh, and I organized my closet over the weekend. I need a new shoe rack, one that can hold super-cute 5" heels. The shelves on my current shoe rack aren't tall enough, so a bunch of shoes are in boxes. :( I know, very sad state.

That's it for me for now. Happy March, and my apologies in advance if you get a snow storm in the coming weeks.

Two Down, One to Go!

Fortune Hunter is done! I finished it right after midnight. *pats self on the back* I got the thumbs up from Shawn Lane, my awesome crit partner, on the last chapter, then sent the book off to my editor. It's officially off my desk...until I get edits.

Next up is Rogues, the 3rd and final book in the Brook Street trilogy. The book features Linus Radcliffe and Robert Anderson, two best friends who become more than best friends by the end of the book...which shouldn't be a spoiler since the book is a romance.

Today's cookie was snagged from Cup'o Porn. The twink on the couch reminded me of Oscar Woodhaven, one of the heroes in Fortune Hunter (he's the one with the fortune, the 'fortune hunter' is Julian Parker). He has the same happy, sweet vibe and the same lean build as Oscar. I can totally picture Julian dragging his lips down the twink's chest. ;) So I thought him fitting to use in a '*squee* I've finished the book' post.

Schedule Change, Updates, & Back from Vacation

I'm back from vacation and it's great to be home, and it's SO wonderful to have a reliable wireless connection again. The wi-fi at the beach was intermittent at best, and even my phone didn't want to cooperate. The upside to sucky signal strength - I was amazingly productive. Got 2-1/2 chapters written on Thief. It's looking like the book will be a tad longer than anticipated, but I'm still ahead of schedule. Which is good, because my deadlines got moved ahead while on vacation.

The Brook Street trilogy was scheduled to be released April/May/June, but it will now release in March, April and May 2012. I had the option to keep the original dates, but since I'm ahead of schedule with Thief, I decided I'd be stupid to pass up the opportunity to move the dates ahead. So now the books are due sooner, which means you'll likely see me even less around the interwebz as I'll be busily typing away.

I got edits back on My True Love Gave to Me over vacation, and was able to get them turned in last night, so that's off my desk until I see copy edits sometime in September. My editor gave me a 'fantastic job!' on the book - *insert grinning Ava* - felt like she stuck a gold star on my forehead. LOL.

Um...what else? Oh, the Bound series got a lovely review from Dear Author last week. That put a stupid grin on my face for a couple of days. And also helped me to sometimes forget about the ouchy sunburn I got the 2nd day of vacation. Seriously ouchy, and my chest is still red though now it's peeling. Yep, I'm molting. Let me tell you, it's not an attractive look for me.

Speaking of Ollie and Vincent, starting Monday of next week I'll do a giveaway on the blog for a print copy of the Japenese language version of Bound by Deception/Bound to Him.

That's all for me. Hope everyone has a great week!

1 Down & a New Trilogy to Go

I did it! I finished My True Love Gave to Me on Sunday, which just happened to be my self-imposed deadline. The book isn't due until July, but I wanted it done early because...

I have three novellas to finish by the end of 2011. *G* It's a new trilogy that will release from Carina Press in April, May, and June 2012. The novellas are due 9/1, 11/1 and 1/1/12, which means I'll be a busy girl, typing away, until the end of the year.

I'm quite excited about the new novellas. It's my first real trilogy, releasing in back-to-back-to-back months, with related characters. A few of the guys run in the same social circle and live on Brook Street in Mayfair (London). In fact, My True Love Gave to Me is loosely related to the series - both opportunities popped up in the same week, so I couldn't resist loosely connecting them.

Here's the super short, high concept blurb from the proposal -

The Brook Street Trilogy

Regency London – where polite manners and spotless reputations reign supreme. Yet behind the closed doors of three elegant town houses along Brook Street, passion and lust reign as gentlemen dare to risk scandal by falling in love…

In Thief, a lord intent on his first decadent night with a man finds love when he picks up a thief in a gambling hell. In Fortune Hunter, a man determined to gain a fortune by marrying an heiress instead falls in love with an obscenely wealthy young gentleman. And in Rogues, two of London’s most notorious rakehells discover if their friendship can withstand the test of turning into something so much more.