A new publisher, new releases and lots of yummy lion shifters

I'm very happy to announce that I have signed my first two contracts with Resplendence Publishing! 

- Out of Control is scheduled to be published in August and features 5 (count them!) lion shifters. They've been waiting for years for their Mate to return to their Pride, and now that she's back...they're not going to take no for an answer. 

If you follow me on Twitter (@droptheglasses), you might remember me asking for suggestions of male characters' names. That's how Leo, the triplets Logan, Samuel and Trent, and their cousin Brian were born, so a big thanks to you guys!

- Rough It Up is another shape-shifter erotic romance but is not related to OOC in any way. It's actually the first book in a new series tentatively titled Grassroots. It should be released in October and followed by Suck It Up in December and Live It Up in March.

The trilogy is based on three brothers, the sons of the Alpha of the Red Rock Pride. Rough It Up is the story of Jay and Alexa. He's the future Alpha while she grew up hidden from the world, the only half-breed in a family of Pures. When the mating urge is too strong for them to ignore, they fall into bed together. It would have been fine except something goes wrong. Terribly wrong. What happens next will change the Pride forever...

Scary strikes again! The Romance Studio reviews Behind Locked Doors 3

Emma Hillman's third selection in her sex slave series truly delivers the one, two, three punch. We first met Thursday, Scary, and the other Masters in the first two books in this series, but this time we truly become intimate with both Thursday and Scary to the point we think we know them in person. Book 3 focuses on Thursday and her newly discovered revelation of her inner self's true desire to please the one man she thought she never would. As with the previous books, Thursday's first person point of view narration gives this book life. To truly appreciate the author's continued character development, reading books one and two in order is a plus. 

Scary has always been a powerful, dominant character and to witness his progression is beyond satisfying. In this fast paced, ninety page novel, the reader's love continues to grow for this tough, dark Master who greedily takes Thursday up on her offer to give him anything he wants. Not only is this novel full of graphically detailed sex, it is a powerful alluring trek into human emotions. Full of twists and turns, Ms. Hillman keeps the reader's interest and leaves a yearning for more, more, more. The transformation of Thursday from the first book to the third is a sign of a writer who truly knows her characters and what makes them tick. While there were times this reviewer wanted to wring Scary's neck, the HEA ending was definitely worth the ride. I look forward to more artistically crafted writing from this author. 

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Explicit

Reviewer: Susie Q.

... I'm so in love with this review I've read it at least a half dozen times over the weekend. I don't know whether anyone else does that but when I'm feeling blue, I go back to the reviews I've received over the past years and reread them. I guess we all need reassurance, and that one is perfect for that. 

At one point, I wasn't even sure I was going to finish the BLD series. Sales were okay, but nothing like my other books. Two emails from readers in the same week pushed me to finish the manuscript I'd started, and Behind Locked Doors 3 was born.

I ended up writing it in less than 3 weeks. It just flowed. I was a writing machine :) And ever since I typed THE END, I've known it's a pretty special book. I had no idea what I was going to write when I started it though, except that I wanted Thursday to beat Friday at her own game. The book turned out to be so much more than that! Hey, there even is a HEA. Who'd have thought?!

Thanks Susie for the lovely review and those words that made me gasp out loud: "artistically crafted writing." Who? Me? 

On real life Alphas...

The last couple weeks I had the chance to work with police and military officers. I was the only woman on the team and found myself picked on from pretty much the get-go. One man especially kept making fun of my use of "I think." You see, he wanted an absolute response to his questions - something I actually couldn't give. Believe me when I say he really irked me that first day! 

Later on that week, we had meetings with some colleagues of mine, including some female members of staff. When I asked them what they'd thought of the police officers, they all said the same thing: those guys were humorless! They only thought of work and nothing else. 
Turns out I couldn't disagree more. 

You see, something happened along the way. I started playing along, answering back, making fun of their mannerisms or their lack of communication skills...and our relationship shifted. Maybe I ended up being just one of the guys, or maybe they'd been thinking I was different than how I really am (I appear nice but I'm not a push-over, especially at work). I'm not sure what really happened but it did, and boy did I start having fun after that!

When that one man, who at first I hadn't liked at all, started laughing with me, "the week from hell" suddenly became a lot more fun. It became a game actually in which I tried to make him forget his badass image (imagine a 6'2 guy wearing a dark suit and an earpiece, standing at attention, a frown on his face and a stare that could kill -- seriously, I have pics!). If I hadn't tried to push past that image, I'd have missed out big time. 

I guess it's the same for everybody. If you don't take the time to get to know someone, if you only stick to their appearance or the way they portray themselves to the world, then what's the point? After all, even real life Alphas can be misunderstood. Who'd have thought?

Most of my heroes are Alphas, and yet I hadn't truly met one before (hey, I'm a writer -- I have a great imagination). It was quite a revelation, and let me tell you, these men are so going to end up in a book! Possibly a whole series, as a matter of fact. 

I'll work extra hard at describing that smirk that is unlike any I'd ever seen before (as if he knew everything about everything and wouldn't you like to know too?) or how when an Alpha to the core lets loose, you better beware. I'm happy to say that by the end of their visit, I quite happily hit them whenever they bugged me too much. After all, what's the point of being the only woman if you can't make up the rules?