📣 I come bearing a story gift. 📣
Earlier this year, I released Into the Bargain, a fairy-tale-inspired romantasy. It's entirely from the heroine's point of view because the hero's got secrets, and she needs to discover them.
But the hero, Elliott, is lovely. I wanted you to get to hear from him, too ... and go beyond that moment at the end of Into the Bargain where they drive off into the sunset. What happens next?
One of my early readers had a request/demand about that after reading the original book, a plot point I couldn't incorporate there.
I did that here instead, in the free-for-you Hard Bargain. 🤗
His first impression of her had been utterly wrong.
Elliott’s ability to quickly size people up had rarely failed him before. At age five, he knew his next-door neighbor was not to be trusted months before the man disappeared with the savings of a half-dozen unsuspecting widows. At ten, he was sure that the smiling politician running for mayor would be awful before the man had uttered a word about plans for Elliott’s redlined part of town. And he’d clocked Montgomery Winston Porten Jr. as a rumbumptious fribble within three minutes of overhearing him at the Arlington Wizardry Academy, which was why he’d always avoided him at school—not that it mattered in the end.
Miss Novak had seemed equally easy to categorize.
But she was none of the things he’d expected.
(Word to the wise: This story skips over some major events of Into the Bargain, so it won't make much sense unless you read it after that book.)
Want to guess what request/demand I incorporated? Hit reply to this email after you've read the story.
I love short stories that let me spend more time in an author's cool world. Last month, I read one that made clear something I hadn't realized before: The love interest in a book I'd thoroughly enjoyed was the largely off-screen, formidable initials-only spymaster in a different series by the same author that I'd also thoroughly enjoyed. MIND BLOWN.
📚🌟📚🌟📚
More cool & bookish things
Elsie Winters' Live, Laugh, Lurk is a big ol' hug of a book with a mothman who is both figuratively and literally fluffy.
He's a researcher breeding new varieties of apple. He has a rooftop garden. He knits. Imagine the dilemma of the heroine, who isn't supposed to stay in town long ...
S.L. Prater's Coven of Consequence is book two of a delightfully spooky gothic romance series with a vampire detective and his witch partner.
I don't want to spoil anything if you're new to the series, so I'll just drop a quote from the first book that completely sold me on this couple. She's just told him she'll try to be less bossy, and his response:
"Less bossy? Don't do that." Lowering my head, I whispered in her ear, "I like it when you boss me."
Erin Vere's Finding Your Choux and Other Charming Pursuits is a Master Chef twist on Cinderella, and it is a laugh-out-loud good time that also deftly addresses mental health and caregiver burnout. Cemre is trying so hard to help everyone (but herself), swoony chef Massimo is the definition of a cinnamon-roll hero and the fairy godmother is the best.
I thought I was ferreting out all the clues, but the big reveal was a (fabulous) surprise.
Because one can never have too many fantasy romance options: A scout and hunter on opposite sides of a war get trapped in a snowstorm together. A cursed witch teams up with a hot detective to solve a murder. Read those books and more ⤵️
You made it to the end! You're awesome. (Of course.) And oh hey, here are my latest books.
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