A Couple of Reviews of Yummy Books!

Some good reads I’ve had lately:

Goalie Interference, by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn (release date Sept. 30, 2019)

A fun, mostly light M/M hockey romance. (Second in the Hat Trick series, but works fine as a stand-alone.) Both Emmitt and Ryu were sweet characters, underneath Emmitt’s brashness and Ryu’s cool quietness. While I love me an angstfest, sometimes it’s also great to read something like this where the conflicts aren’t earthshattering, the growing-up backstories aren’t horrific and teammates ARE chill about LGBTQ issues. (I also got a kick out of the not-quite-the-real-NHL team names. Pittsburgh Condors, indeed.)

Note: Emmitt is African-American and Ryu is Japanese. As near as I could tell the book was quite respectful and thoughtful about issues for POC in hockey, but I am the whitest of white girls and don’t get to make that call! The authors did note that they had sensitivity readers.

Once Upon a Haunted Moor–Tyack & Frayne #1, by Harper Fox

A delicious M/M mystery/romance with a side order of paranormal. Beautiful writing in a beautiful Cornwall setting (I looked up the Cheesewring wondering if it was real and 1. wow and 2. HOW. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesewring) Likeable main characters, interesting mystery, hot sex, creepy atmosphere. My only, tiniest quibble is that I think a couple of developments could have been more, er, developed.

VERY excited that both these books are in series–there WILL be more Hat Trick and there already IS more Tyack & Frayn, yay!

 

 

 

 

News and Whatnot!

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this already, but remember how Carina liked my pitch on Twitter and then requested a look at the partial manuscript and query? Well they took a look at it and THEY WANT TO SEE THE WHOLE MANUSCRIPT.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

So I have been pounding away on that book, tentatively named Business and the Beat, with much excitement.  And in the meantime have been enjoying the launch of In Another Country with Painted Hearts Publishing–it’s gotten some lovely reviews! Pink Heart Society said this:

There were moments of vulnerability that really clawed at my heart. Jeffries nailed            the ebb and flow of tension in new relationships. I must also mention the great use of        consent and safe sex practices as well. High five for that! I will be recommending this        book the next time I’m asked for something unique and full of the feels.

Plus they put the book on their finalist list for Best Romantic Suspense! Thanks, y’all.

And AND I made my first book, the f/f paranormal romance novelette Spark & Change into a paperback! Did it mostly for the learning experience but I was surprised at how much it meant to me to hold a physical edition of one of my books. Very cool.

I have ideas for the next two standalone full novels, plus two probably-shorter pieces (maybe it would be good to work on the shorter pieces for self-publishing while working on the Carina request?) And I keep thinking that I ought to write a series since everyone says that is what readers are really looking for, but standalones are what keep jumping into my brain and I hate to make those ideas wait. (Probably if I sat down with a piece of paper and a pen and brainstormed series idea, though, Things would Happen.)

And oh lord I have *so* much still to learn about the business end of things, and about advertising and other marketing, and aieeee. I’m listening to lots of podcasts on those subjects, and just bought a book about doing newsletters.

This is a full-time job, y’all! Unfortunately I already have one of those? (This is not a complaint. I’m having fun learning despite the overwhelm!)

Oh, and here’s some news for any Headstones fans out there–their old records are on Spotify now!

Affectionate forehead bumps,

 

Kellum