First Course – The Amuse Bouche
Raven’s Cry (The Darkness Series, Book 3) (by Breanna Hayse) — Raven’s hunger to submit grows to the point of obsession. Don’t miss this dark BDSM novel.
His Winter Princess (by Adaline Raine) — Can Clay and Audra find a relationship or will his make-believe princess walk away?
Second Course – The Appetizer
Do you like box sets? Because I’ve come across one you won’t want to miss. Renee Rose has recently come out with a single-author anthology of three novellas, historical spanking romances. All together, it’s nearly 250 pages of yummy, sexy medieval romances, in the imitable style of Renee Rose. For $4.99, you can’t beat the price, nor will you find highter quality spanking romances anywhere. The set is called Medieval Discipline: A Medieval Romance Collection. Don’t miss these wonderful books – make them an early Christmas present for yourself.
Third Course – The Entrée
As you know by now, Surface: Sonata’s Moon Book One is now available at your favorite ebook retailers. What you might not realize is that it’s the first half of an ongoing story (well, duh, you can kind of tell that it goes on because it’s “book one”), but what’s significant about it is the “Surface” part of the title.
The book is about some twenty-somethings, living in the not-too-distant future, where a terrible war is plaguing the planet. It’s the North American Union (basically Canada, the US, and Mexico, but governed all by one body) versus the Assian Alliance (several Asian countries, tied together under one ruler). The war escalates to an awful nuclear precipice. The people in the story are losing friends and their whole way of life to this war.
In the meantime, drugs have become legal for those over the age of majority, and “free love” has cycled back in place – I’ve seen cycles in history, and I’m sure you have, too. People pair off rather easily and it’s socially acceptable, generally speaking. However, our heroine, Sonata McLir, has held herself apart, primarily from bad experiences in school, but also because she’s been very busy studying and hasn’t spent time socializing. When she finally breaks out of her shell, she finds herself with Charles Howell, a man who isn’t good for her. Charles’ best friend, Mikhail Andropov is attracted to Sonata, but he takes a hands-off approach because of his friend’s “claim” on the woman. However, Mikhail is troubled by what he sees Charles doing, manipulating Sonata to become jaded and submissive beyond what her natural tendencies seem to be. Charles hurts her, and Mikhail can’t stand that. He steps in when a good opportunity arises, and soon Sonata finds she’s lost her freedom for a weekend to Mikhail. She’d intended to spend that time with Charles, and now that hope is gone. And all because of Mikhail’s interference.
You have to wonder if this new twist on the Sonata/Charles/Mikhail triangle will lead to happiness for someone, and misery for someone else. But that’s what I want you to wonder! You’ll find out in book one. But there’s still the war to consider.
That’s where book two comes in. There’s an underground shelter, a place where this collection of friends can wait out the worst of things. But how will this close confinement affect these people? And who will end up with Sonata at the end of the sojourn underground? Or, more accurately, who will Sonata love when it all comes down to survival?
This is a serial set, meaning you’ll want to read both books. Book one ends on a good note (for the most part), but book two takes up where book one leaves off. It’s not like a series where the books are made to stand alone. I think you’ll find the ending of book one upbeat and hopeful, but you might wonder if these people will actually survive and thrive in their new world. Each book is full-length, over 60,000 words long.
So that’s what you didn’t know: there’s more after book one.
You can get book one, Surface, here. And read an extended excerpt, there. Try it. You’ll like it.
Fourth Course – The Dessert
The Book Gourmet will be on hiatus for the next three weeks as I celebrate my twentieth wedding anniversary by going on vacation with my husband to Las Vegas. We’ll be there for the holiday season, staying at the Venetian Hotel. We’ve stayed there before and really love the all-suite hotel, its amenities, and the services we can get without leaving the property. There are lots of restaurants shared by the Venetian and its sister property the Palazzo, and entertainment venues, nightclubs, and places to meet interesting people, including a very nice poker room for Hubby. We’ll see a few shows there and at other resorts, and soak up the atmosphere. Some Los Angeles friends will be coming to visit us while we’re there, and that will be fun. We’ve never spent the holidays in Las Vegas before, so in many ways, this will be a whole new experience for us, though (being from Los Angeles) we’ve both been to Vegas many, many times.
Instead of doing The Book Gourmet while I’m there, I thought I’d share some pictures and tidbits from our vacation. Something a little more personal than the usual. I hope you enjoy our travels with us.
Until then, happy holidays, and a bright, healthy and happy new year to you.
