Bestselling Author Delilah Devlin
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Gabbi Grey: When One Story is Not Enough (Contest)
Wednesday, January 17th, 2024

UPDATE: The winner is…Steph!
*~*~*

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for letting me drop by today to share my new release!  And, unsurprisingly, it’s another anthology.  When I heard about this one, I knew I wanted to be part of it!  My gay romance, Returning to You is set in my Mission City world.  The story is about two men who dated covertly in university. One wanted to make their relationship public, while the other needed to stay in the closet – for fear of his family’s reaction.  Fast forward half a dozen years and then men are in very different positions.  The question was, of course, could they make a go of a new relationship? Especially since one is now a single father and the other is a bachelor who now hooks up with guys regularly.  Well, my story is a romance, so you can guess the outcome.  Happy ending anyone?

Great.  Got the story written, edited, and off to the anthology people (two lovely women whom I adore).  Of course, I started working on another LGBTQ charity anthology novella for a project in June.  As I was writing it, though, I realized I had another story I needed to tell.  And it was a second chance romance story.  I contacted the anthology ladies and asked if they could squeeze in one more story.  They were like, uh, sure…?  So, I wrote Josette and the Count in a couple of hours.  I sent it off to be edited and submitted it to add to the anthology Second Time’s A Charm.  Now, Josette’s brother, Jacob, is important to the story. Don’t worry, his story is coming soon!  How he gets to his HEA will be quite a ride.

I love these charity projects.  Makes my heart swell when I know I’m helping.  Last year, we raised thousands of dollars for charities that are near and dear to my heart.  My aunt is a breast cancer survivor and although she’s recovered, that illness stuck with me.  If I can help raise money for Breast Cancer Research, then I’ll happily do it.

As a thank you for letting me drop by today, I’d love to give away a $5 Amazon Gift card to one randomly selected commenter. Are you a sucker for a good second chance story? Or is there another trope that you enjoy?  I’m in a bunch of anthologies over the next two years, so I suspect there will be one that might pique your interest.

Thanks, Delilah!

Second Time’s a Charm

Is love better the second time around or are we just repeating past mistakes? How do you know if you are falling back into bad habits or falling into your happily ever after?

Find out in this spicy collection containing enticing stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by The New Romance Cafe, with ALL proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Authors:

Sofia Aves
Rachel Abugov
MacKade
Melissa Kendall
Jane Suen
Niki Brazen
Sharon Michalove
Keighley Bradford
Kat Long
Laura M. Baird
Stacy-Deanne
Chelle Pimblott
C.M. Youngren
J.E. Parker
Katina J Rose
Tasha Blythe
JK Lycke
Bella Paige
Poppy Parkes
Amy Stephens
Kathleen Ryder
Marissa Frosch
Wynter Ryan
Katherine Moore
Dawn Patricia Bolton
Rachel Radner
Niki Trento
AK Landow
Annee Jones
Gabbi Grey
Gabbi Powell

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links: 
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2024secondtimesacharm
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWH3JY1K
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122923533-second-time-s-a-charm

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Martin Luther King Day
Monday, January 15th, 2024

“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

~ Again, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sunday Report Card & Open Contests
Sunday, January 14th, 2024

Well, today’s report card is rather embarrassing. I didn’t accomplish as much as I’d hoped this past week.

  • I did begin work on revising Warrior’s Touch, which I’m renaming and republishing later this month. I should have finished. It’s a damn novelette.
  • I did issue a newsletter with a one-day-only FREE read. I hope you didn’t miss it. Around 400 readers picked up their free copy of Animal.
  • I moved my publishing date for Malcolm to next month. 🙁
  • I spent an entire day on Art Guild business—a board meeting then planning binges—to get the next quarter’s business and programs set up.
  • I’ve worked on edits for one author’s story, and am nearly finished. I should finish today, actually. So, that at least is forward progress.
  • I didn’t write even one word on Malcolm.
  • I found cover art for Warrior’s Touch and an upcoming Brotherhood Protector’s book.

This next week, I have to do better, but I think it might be tough. Part of my distraction this past week was because we’re prepping for “snow-mageddon” here in central Arkansas.

What does this next week look like? I intend to accomplish the following:

  • 4 chapters of Malcolm
  • Complete one editing job
  • Complete revising Warrior’s Touch and get it ready for publication
  • Begin reading the stories for my next anthology, Secret Identities.

I’ll have the added joy of having the kids underfoot Monday (MLK Day) and possibly Tuesday and Wednesday (due to schools closing for the weather). I’ll have to persevere. The only thing I’ll let slow me down is a lengthy power outage. *knocking on wood*

Open Contests

  1. Cameron Allie: My Mistletoe Master (FREE Reads-Contest-Excerpt!) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE book + download FREE books!
  2. Word Search: Coffee Stream of Consciousness because… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
  3. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Ice Crystals on Glass — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
  4. You love cowboys, right? Well, help me decide… (Contest & Poll) — Win an Amazon gift card—and vote!
  5. Happy National Houseplant Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  6. Story Cubes: Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Snow-pocalypse! — Win an Amazon gift card!
You love cowboys, right? Well, help me decide… (Contest & Poll)
Monday, January 8th, 2024

UPDATE: The winner is…Annie!
*~*~*

Sometime in late spring/early summer, I’m going to write a book that will be the start of a new series. All I know about it is that it will be centered around a ranch and have elements of suspense or mystery. Maybe the books will be related with brothers or former soldiers coming together. The brothers might have second jobs (deputy sheriff, firefighter, pilot…). There will be suspense and danger, but that’s really all I have floating around in my head. I’ll try to give it some thought before I start writing (not my usual M.O.).

Help me out by letting me know where you’d like this series set. Enter your choices (you have two) in the poll then share any ideas you have for me in the comments for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card. They don’t have to be good. They can be entirely silly—I’d love that. Have fun!

Where would you like my cowboy/suspense series set?

View Results

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Sunday Report Card & Open Contests
Sunday, January 7th, 2024

Sunday Report Card

The last time I did a Sunday Report Card was back in 2013. I posted weekly updates about my work schedule and progress to keep me motivated to WORK. I’m going to try it again because, with all the planning I do, I am finding it really, really hard to stick to the plan. And I know it’s because I have front-loaded too much work, meaning I have too many items listed to accomplish, but I want to have a better first quarter than I had last year, where I didn’t publish a single book in January and February because I just didn’t feel like it.

So, this is my tough love for myself. I’m going to put it out there and, hopefully, shame myself into picking up the pace.

This snippet of my January calendar is very colorful—and jam-packed. I don’t expect you to understand what you’re seeing, although you might guess. The main thread throughout it is in purple and lists the chapters I am committing to write this week for my next book, Malcolm. Big in red in the center is “Move Malcolm release date in KDP!” That’s because I’m behind my original schedule to complete it (the one big motivator for this change!), so I have one opportunity to move my release date with KDP, and I have to do it this week. Depending on how well I keep to my schedule this week will determine how far back I push that date. So, you see my problem. Lots to accomplish. Too little time. And projects pulling me in several directions.

Ask me anything you like about my calendar. Maybe you can help me get in the right mindset with an attagirl or two…? Or a, “Delilah—WRITE THAT BOOK! You can’t push Malcolm back too far because I have it on pre-order, and you’re destroying my January TBR list!

Anyway, I’m going to try the weekly report card for a while and see if it shames me back into alignment. I’ll keep it brief, because I still plan to do my End of Month report and don’t want to bore you too much! 🙂

Open Contests

  1. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Undersea Fantasy (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
  2. December into January (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  3. Happy National Science Fiction Day! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  4. A look back at books from 2023…then a pie in the sky plan for 2024 (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  5. Cameron Allie: My Mistletoe Master (FREE Reads-Contest-Excerpt!) — 2 FREE books to download, and a contest to win a print book!
  6. Word Search: Coffee Stream of Consciousness because… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
  7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Ice Crystals on Glass — Win an Amazon gift card!
Cameron Allie: My Mistletoe Master (FREE Reads-Contest-Excerpt!)
Thursday, January 4th, 2024

UPDATE: The winner is…Stacey Kinzebach!
*~*~*

Happy New Year!

I started 2024 by publishing a new book! Well, I re-released a book, that is.

My Mistletoe Master was originally published in 2016. It was my first book. I recently got my rights back from the publisher and decided to try my hand at self-publishing. It has a brand-new cover, a fresh edit, and a prologue that’s included for the first time!

Plus…it’s FREE!

My Mistletoe Master is a spicy contemporary romance. It’s new adult, BDSM, forbidden romance, second chance, and older brother’s hot best friend all rolled into one holiday-themed novel.

I’m visiting the blog today to drop off an excerpt for My Mistletoe Master, along with a link for you to download it for FREE. (Please note, I’m waiting for Amazon to price match it. It’s currently .99 cent there, but free everywhere else. Hopefully, they will drop it to free soon.)

In addition to My Mistletoe Master, I also have a PNR wolf shifter-fated mate novel that’s FREE! Two free books to start off your reading list this January. You can get it here: get Drew for free!

And I’ve heard you all like contests. Leave me comment and tell me how you celebrate the New Year. One winner will be selected to receive a paperback book. Their choice between the following:

  • Love Spells, Full Moons, and Silver Bullets
  • Tails from the Clayridge Fountain
  • Drew
  • Callum (after it releases in paperback)
  • My Mistletoe Master (after it releases in paperback)

 

My Mistletoe Master

Three years ago, he broke her heart. Now, she’s back in town and he’ll do anything to keep her.

When Nick catches her watching a fetish porno, Amelia isn’t sure what to expect. It certainly wasn’t a proposition to indulge her kinky side with her brother’s best friend—the man who destroyed her heart and confidence in one swoop.

Amelia’s three-year absence had taught Nick one thing—he doesn’t want to live without her. Nick isn’t willing to make the same mistake twice. He’ll do whatever it takes to show Amelia he can make her happy, even if that means learning what it takes to keep her satisfied in the bedroom.

Sneaking around during the holidays, Amelia questions if she can move past their history and trust Nick again.

Excerpt

Three years later…

Low keening moans and sharp slaps came from the speakers on her tablet.

Alone yet subtly embarrassed in her parents’ big house, she turned the volume down just a touch.

With her dad at work and her mother and brother recently gone to finish their holiday shopping, the welcome home from university hadn’t been as momentous as she’d expected. She’d been absent for three years, barely coming home between semesters. She had thought some sort of conversation would have at least occurred, not the quick ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ as her family fled the house she had received.

It was a busy time, especially with her parents’ annual holiday party. Besides, they hadn’t expected her home until late afternoon anyway, so who could fault them for rushing out the door as soon as she’d arrived?

Having dumped her stuff in the foyer, she’d proceeded to make herself a cup of tea, then had settled on the couch to check her grades.

No updates.

After scrolling social media, she’d given up trying to find a distraction and, instead, pulled up one of her favorite softcore porn videos. This one featured a Dom, clad in black leather pants and nothing else as he restrained a woman. He raised one arm, then the other, locking them in place above her head with cuffs. Suspended from the ceiling, the man went about binding the woman’s feet to the floor. Naked and spread eagle, she moaned for him. As he slowly raked his hand over here exposed ass, he denied her any form of release.

Growing wet between her legs, Amelia realized it had been too long since she’d had a man. Her body strained for more than her simple touch, but since she and her boyfriend had split two months ago, she would have to make do. To heighten her pleasure, she resisted her own needs, merely watching the two on the screen.

Pressing her palm against her jean-covered crotch, she watched as the woman cried out in a mix of pain and pleasure as the man repeatedly spanked her. Moaning aloud with the video, Amelia abandoned her restraint, rocking against her hand. Her eyes drifted shut as she tugged on the button of her jeans, eager to touch herself and work herself toward climax.

A cough sounded behind her, and she froze. “What a great way to start my morning.”

Amelia squeezed her eyes shut. No. No. No.

“Please, Sir,” the woman’s voice rang out from the tablet.

Wide-eyed, Amelia scrambled to shut the device off, finally muting the sound and flipping the cover over the screen.

A key in the front door that she would have heard, but another person already in the house? Damn it!

For a humiliating minute, Amelia prayed the floor would open up and swallow her whole. After three long years, this was not how she had envisioned facing him for the first time.

Frankly, she had planned to wear something sexy and elegant, and she wouldn’t have acknowledged his existence either. Instead, this was what Fate had in store.

Fuck my life.

Clutching her tablet to her chest, Amelia gathered what was left of her courage, standing to face him.

Nick Fuller. Her brother’s best friend and the man she’d been miserably in love with for decades.

From behind her makeshift shield, she studied him. He still took her breath away, even after he’d destroyed her fragile heart. With an unwavering stance, he stood with sleep-tousled hair, wearing nothing but pajama bottoms, and blocked her escape. His chest was broad, his stomach chiseled, and his arms corded with long, lean muscles. His expression was dark and confused.

She realized he was waiting for an explanation. Rather than provide one, she led with, “What the hell are you doing here?”

He blinked. “I’m here for the holidays, like every year.”

Amelia groaned. “My mom didn’t tell me you were here yet,” she admitted lamely, as though that explained her sinful behavior. Granted, her mother had barely said two words to her when she arrived.

“Three days.”

At a standstill, they simply stared each other down. His gaze was curious as it examined her.

Her cheeks heated.

How long was he standing there watching me?

Rounding the couch, she wondered how many days she could hide in her room before her parents dragged her out forcibly. With a bit of luck, she could avoid him at least for a few days.

But that was the coward’s way out and she knew it. This year’s plan had centered on pride and confidence, no matter how much she had to fake it.

I guess that plan is out the window now.

Aiming to shoulder her way past him so she could get to the stairs, Amelia put on a brave face and stalked toward him. His big body didn’t budge as she tried to maneuver around him.

Attempting to edge by, she mumbled, “Maybe we could just forget about this. You know, pretend I’m just not here yet.” She tried for a bright smile, but it faded when she saw humor light his gaze. Growing up, he and Gabe had teased her endlessly, and now she’d handed him ammunition.

“I don’t think so,” he took a step closer.

She had to tilt her head to keep his gaze. Rascal that he was, he dared to smile at her discomfort. Her body was primed for the orgasm she’d denied herself and his nearness didn’t help matters. Masculinity and dominance rolled off him in waves. People had always taken notice when he entered a room. He wasn’t the broad and bulky type like her brother; he was lean with a natural grace that made women think: stamina.

“I can’t believe it. I would never have thought Gabe’s little sister was such a perv.”

Convinced he was merely trying to get a rise out of her, her eyes narrowed, and her determination to sock him grew. Casual as you please, she shrugged. “It’s just a little kink.”

His smile widened.

She knew better than to trust that smile.

“You’re not going to tell anyone.” She winced when her words sounded more like a plea than an order.

“What’s my silence worth to you?”

This was the Nick she remembered from her childhood. Rebel, tease…scoundrel.

She ground her teeth and insisted, “You won’t tell.”

“Well, that depends on you, sweetheart,” he whispered. And was it her imagination, or had he gotten closer?

A look back at books from 2023…then a pie in the sky plan for 2024 (Contest)
Wednesday, January 3rd, 2024

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

This will be the last look back at last year, I swear. It’s just I love to take a moment to brag about what I’ve accomplished. Aren’t you impressed with all my “pretties?” 🙂

Yes, these are the books and stories I published last year. If you missed one or two along the way, you can click on the covers and read more about them.

Mica Danger Zone Box Set Silver Soldiers
 

Cold, Hard Cash Along Came a Spider Jackson
 

Ripples Hard Knox Eye of the Storm
 

Gunn's Mission The Triplehorn Brand, Books 1-3 Little Green Dreams
 

Seven longer stories, two short stories, two box sets, and one anthology later…and now, here we are in 2024. What do I currently have planned? For sure, these two books are coming your way soon…

Malcolm What Happens in Bozeman
 

Beyond these two, I hope to write a new bounty hunter story set in a new Montana Bounty Hunter office in West Yellowstone, Montana—yes, my third MBH series! I do love those hunters. Dead Horse’s office was getting a bit cramped, and since there are so many criminals on the lam in the tri-state area of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, well, my hunters just have to open a new office… I also hope to write two more We are Dead Horse, MT stories because I can’t leave that town forever. And yes, we will see the Dead Horse hunters pop up in those stories, and I hope to figure out a romantic interest for my favorite Dead Horse resident, Nadine, the persnickety older waitress at the diner. Her story will percolate in the background of the We Are Dead Horse novels. It should take two or three stories before her romance wraps.

I want to get back to writing cowboys this year, too. What do you think about that idea? In what state should they be located? Any suggestions? 

And I do want to finally write the last book in the Beaux Reve Coven series, Dark Moon. I want to wrap up that series, and then look at which other series need to be completed and sit my butt down and do it.

Dark Moon

 

So, I know you’re only thinking about what’s new and what everyone’s talking about, but do you have any comments about my 2024 plans? Anything you want to see in particular? Comment below for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!