Spotlight & Excerpt: Change + Giveaway

Change tour banner

This is my stop during the blog tour for Change by Lyla Oweds. Change is the sixth book in The Grimm Cases series, a Young Adult/ New Adult Paranormal Mystery series.

This blog tour is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours and runs from 26 July till 8 August. See the tour schedule here.

Change book cover

Change (The Grimm Cases #6)
By Lyla Oweds
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Age category: Young Adult/ New Adult
Release day: 26 July 2021

Blurb:
A mate bond is stronger than any other force in the world.

At least, that’s what they say.

But what Titus and I have is… unique. Especially as, even though we’d been reborn so many times, the dragon has never had a mate. No one knows what to expect.

Outside of that, everything with Damen, Julian, and Miles is not all fun and games. Things are different now, and while that’s natural, I’m not entirely sure I’m ready to make that next level of commitment.

However, we might not have a choice.

When Titus’s investigation ramps up, becoming entangled with my debut case, I’ve run out of all other options. The reality is, my usual methods of coping won’t work anymore. But to live is to grow, and to change.

Links:
Goodreads
Bookbub
Amazon


Excerpt:

Even though I struggled, Damen had a firm grip on my backpack and wasn’t letting go. I was trying to ignore him, but I’d lost momentum and I slipped backward on the laminate floor. He continued to pull me toward him until my back rested against the hardness of his chest.
I could no longer ignore my predicament. “Damen, what are you doing? Let me go!”
Perhaps he was more like Titus than I’d thought, and he needed a dosage of the same deterrent.
He chuckled. “I’m holding you this way so you can’t escape. And, also, so you can’t attempt any underhanded tricks.”
“If you mean what I did to Titus, there was nothing underhanded about that,” I retorted. “It was self-defense.”
This was the worst. He knew—Titus had tattled on me. And he was angry.
“It was hilarious,” Damen said. His voice was a purr next to my ear—making it hard for me to focus. “And well deserved, I will admit. Titus can be overbearing. However, with you, I’d rather play it safe.”
Who was overbearing now?
“But there’s something else to discuss first.” His breath was warm against my ear.
I tried to ignore the shivers that shot down my spine as I focused on his words. “What?”
“How do you know Ms. Protean?” he asked. “Why would she need to talk to you?”
His questions caught me off guard, and I turned back to him in confusion. His face was both intense and worried.
“What does that have to do with anything?” I asked.
Damen sighed, releasing my backpack before turning me to face him. I hadn’t realized before now I had backed up to the end of the narrow aisle and was trapped between the edge of the bookshelf and his larger frame.
It should have been intimidating. Instead of being scared, I was only flustered. I couldn’t imagine why, because the only other person whoever made me feel this way was Finn…
Damen didn’t seem to notice my discomfort. “Ms. Protean,” he repeated. “What does she want with you?”
What was it to him, anyway? Did he loathe grandmotherly figures or something? But he seemed so concerned that I couldn’t get offended at the question. “She said she was going to help me. I was looking for some information.”
Damen gave me an appraising look. “Without me?”
Why did he have to seem so smug about this? It was as if he knew the effect he had on me. I opened my mouth to respond with something witty—which would probably have been embarrassing anyway—when the sounds of laughter drifted over from the next row.
The noise shattered the enchantment that had been cast over us, and my face burst with heat. There was no question as to how ridiculous we’d look to any passerby. The library was no place for games!
Damen’s gray eyes glinted mischievously—he must have had the same realization.
“Damen, let me go,” I hissed at him. But this only encouraged him, and he smiled, causing my heart to beat faster. “Someone is going to come down here and see us!”
“Really?” His grin grew wider. “So it’s all right if we don’t get caught, baby girl? Consider it noted.”
“No!” My mind screamed even though my words were a hiss. “You can’t play games with students. This is inappropriate. You are basically a professor.”
“Ah.” He ran his finger down my cheek. “But you aren’t my student.” His mouth dipped slightly. He tilted his head as his gaze continued to hold mine. “There’s just something about you.”
“Why are you so annoying?” I gritted out, trying to save face. Plus, was he kidding me with this? That sounded like a line from a cheesy romance novel. How many times had that worked for him in the past?
Finn’s stupid, horny brother. He could go flirt with someone else. No matter how much I wanted to lean into his touch, or melt under his scorching gaze—I wanted to poke him in the eyes that much more. What a quandary.
The sound of my name being called by a familiar voice saved Damen from getting hit where it hurt.
I tore my attention from Damen as I glanced in panic at the end of the aisle. This was the worst possible thing to happen. Finn could not know I was talking to his brother.
Finn called my name again, closer now. He was going to find us…
Damen, in the meantime, glanced over his shoulder—toward the direction of Finn’s voice. He frowned, muttering, “God, he still sounds like a douchebag. And not an ounce of courtesy, like he owns the place.” He didn’t seem all that concerned.
“Will you stop saying mean things?” I couldn’t stop the hysteria. “This is a disaster. Finn can’t find out I know you!”
“Why?” Damen’s eyes returned to me, flashing with something new. “Because you think he’d get angry?”
I didn’t think—I knew. And my heart raced at the thought.
There was a note of challenge in Damen’s voice, but there was something else too. It was almost as if he was hurt. It made me feel guilty on top of my fear. I had never wanted to hurt his feelings.
What was wrong with me?
I was just about to apologize, when he continued speaking—studying my face. “I’ll have you know my little brother doesn’t scare me.”
What did this mean? I was still trapped at the end of the aisle between him and the bookshelves. Finn could find us there at any second, and Damen didn’t seem to care. When that happened, Finn would not only know I had disregarded his wishes, but that I hadn’t listened to him about the other topic as well.
Every worst-case scenario flashed through my mind, and my breathing sped up.
“But he does scare you,” Damen said suddenly.
I blinked, his words crashing through my agonized thoughts. I was so fixated on Finn I had completely forgotten Damen was even there. Watching me.
He didn’t look very happy either—his face a mask of concern and fury. “Something stupid like this, and you’re afraid that you might anger him. What did he do to you?”
Oh no. No, no, no.
My eyes widened as I looked up at him. “I’m not scared,” I explained. “I’m just trying to prevent a confrontation. Can we leave, please? Before he finds us?”
Finn called out to me again. He had to be only seconds away from finding us.
I flinched. We had to move now.
“Liar.” Damen tore his gaze from mine and grabbed my hand. He seemed to have made up his mind. Stunned at his sudden action, I ended up just following along.
He pulled me after him, quickly approaching an opening between the bookcases to an adjacent doorway reserved for the library staff.
“I’ll help you,” he said, pulling me behind him. “But rest assured, we will be discussing this later. You deserve better than this.”


All books in the series:

Home (The Grimm Cases prequel novella)Origins (The Grimm Cases #1)Ghost (The Grimm Cases #2)Blood (The Grimm Cases #3)Hidden(The Grimm Cases #4)Balance (The Grimm Cases #5)Change (The Grimm Cases #6)

Home (The Grimm Cases prequel novella)
Origins (The Grimm Cases #1)
Ghost (The Grimm Cases #2)
Blood (The Grimm Cases #3)
Hidden(The Grimm Cases #4)
Balance (The Grimm Cases #5)
Change (The Grimm Cases #6)

Get the first 3 books and the novella Home as a box set!

Mu

Mu is the box set collection which combines books 1-3 as well as the novella Home in one handy box set. You can buy it here.


About the Author:
Lyla Oweds is a paranormal romance author who resides in the beautiful Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania. She grew up near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and is a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and has a deep appreciation for the paranormal, hauntings, and Edgar Allan Poe. As such, she loves all things fantasy, mystery, crime, and horror.

She is the author of the Paranormal Reverse Harem series, The Grimm Cases and related novellas. She has also published the first book of Gloria Protean’s story, The Red Trilogy. You can find out more about her current and upcoming works at her website, http://lylaoweds.com.

When not reading, writing, or working as a web programmer, Lyla can be found doing adult-y things such as being a mom, decorating the house, and baking. She also frequently enjoys makeup videos, massages, wine, and coffee.

Author links:
Website
Facebook
Instagram
Amazon
Goodreads


Giveaway
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Change. These are the prizes you can win:
– paperbacks of books 1-6 in The Grimm Cases series by Lyla Oweds (US Only)
– hardcopy of Origins by Lyla Oweds (US Only)
– ecopies of books 1-6 in The Grimm Cases series by Lyla Oweds (INT)

For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Change tour banner
Lola's Blog Tours graphic

Spotlight: To Poison a Prince + Giveaway

To poison a prince

BLOG TOUR

Book Title: To Poison a Prince

Author: Aldrea Alien

Publisher: Self-published

Cover Artist: Leonardo Borazio

Release Date: July 31, 2021

Genre: M/M Fantasy Romance

Trope/s: Hurt/Comfort, Man in Peril, Cultural Differences, Dysfunctional Family, Mystery Murderer, Opposites Attract

Themes: Royalty, Wedding, Revenge

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 269 231 words

It is book 2 in the A Tale of Two Princes series

Goodreads Link

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

to poison a prince

Someone is out to murder his husband and he might just be the reason they succeed.

Blurb 

Imperial Crown Prince Darshan knew his journey home wasn’t going to be the modest one he hoped for, especially not after eloping with Hamish, a former prince—and now exile—of Tirglas.

When he thwarts a clumsy attempt on his husband’s life during a soirée hosted by his long-standing rival and half-sister, he figures the worst is behind them.

Yet, the threat of death continues to shadow them across the empire. Someone is intent on making the rumours of his husband’s demise a reality, someone who can erase the memory of their very presence from people’s minds.

Darshan must discover who is behind the attempts before they succeed. But who can he trust when the culprit is capable of slipping by the most vigilant of guards?


About the Author 

Aldrea Alien is an award-winning, bisexual author of fantasy romance with varying heat levels. Born and raised in New Zealand, she lives on a small farm with her family, including a menagerie of animals, who are all convinced they’re just as human as the next person. Especially the cats. Since discovering a love of writing at the age of twelve, she hasn’t found an ounce of peace from the characters plaguing her mind with all of them clamouring for her to tell their story first.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website  |  Facebook  |  Facebook Group  |  Twitter

Newsletter Sign-Up  |  Instagram  |  BookBub

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

one of three ebook copies of To Target the Heart

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

Book Blitz & Excerpt: Let Your Heart Smile + Giveaway

Let Your Heart Smile by JB Buell

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Let Your Heart Smile 

Author: JB Buell

Publisher: JMS Books

Cover Artist: JM Snyder/JMS Books 

Release Date: July 31, 2021 

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Friends to lovers

Themes: Hurt/comfort, reunited, pining, happy ending, disability, interracial relationship, different languages, travelling circus, clowns.

Heat Rating:  1 flame   

Length: 15 015 words

It is a standalone story with no cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links

JMS Books  |  Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

 

let your heart smile

Who can make this sad clown smile again?

 

Blurb

Niki Georgiev lives and works in Draganov’s Flying circus as a disabled clown. Each day he paints a smile onto his face, though he hasn’t felt like smiling for some time.

When the circus gets a new act in, flashy stunt bike riders, Niki gets a surprise. His childhood friend Conner Flinn is one of the riders and has returned to the circus a big star.

Niki doesn’t expect Conner to remember him, much less want to spend time with him as he’s just one of the clowns.

But not only does Conner notice Niki, he also asks him to join his act. Will Niki finally have a reason to smile?

let your heart smile

Excerpt 

Niki turned around to see it was Conner, flanked by two more people. His stunt team, most likely, as they were all in costume.

The pretty Black woman with curly hair on Conner’s right was in a red catsuit with a zip up front, and white stars down her arms and legs. The cute Black guy on Conner’s left was in a similar suit of blue and white stars, with a deep V-cut on the chest held together by see-through mesh to show off pecs and abs.

And Conner, his suit had the same deep V-cut with the see-through panel, showing off some serious muscle definition there. Niki’s eyes didn’t know where to land. He noticed that Conner’s costume was red, white, and blue like the American flag.

“Niki,” Conner said, gesturing at his companions, “this is Jesse, and Dwight. Guys, this is Niki.”

“Nice to finally meet you,” Jesse said, offering out her hand. “Conner hasn’t shut up about you since we got here.”

Niki was mildly surprised, but he shook hands with her, forever thankful he had his right arm so he didn’t have to offer the wrong hand in social situations.

“Hey, man, how’s it going,” Dwight said, offering his hand next. “Looking forward to hearing any embarrassing stories you got about Conner.”

Niki smiled wickedly. “Oh, there’s plenty of those. Now please tell me you guys wear protective gear when you ride?”

This had them smiling and Dwight pointing a finger at Conner. “I told you people would ask!” Dwight said.

“We do, though,” Conner replied. “Yeah, don’t worry, Niki, we got the proper bike leathers to put on, and helmets of course.”

“Well, good,” Niki said, not quite able to let go of his old health and safety habits. “Make sure you wear them.”

“We will,” Jesse assured him. “We just came out to do some promo so we put on our pretty gear.”

He glanced between Conner and Dwight, then gestured at their chests. “You should cover up all those rippling muscles, there’s kids out here, y’know.”

He was only teasing. All the big acts wore revealing Spandex, that was half the attraction.

Conner and Dwight found his joke highly amusing and laughed about it.

“This is why I have a zip,” Jesse said, tugging the zipper on her chest. “Zip it down a bit for promo, and zip it up again later when there’s kids about. It’s so practical.”

“Yeah.” Dwight laughed. “And you can always tell if Jesse likes someone when the zipper comes down a little more while she’s talking to them.”

Jesse swatted him on the arm as she laughed. “Stop giving away all my secrets, man.”

“Uh, why don’t you guys go on ahead,” Conner said to them. “I’ll catch you up in a minute.”

“Sure, Flinn.” Dwight waggled his eyebrows at Conner, as Jesse pushed him away.

“C’mon, Dwight,” she said, tugging Dwight with her. “It was great meeting you!” she said to Niki as they left.

“You, too,” Niki replied, then looked at Conner. “What’s wrong?”

“Hm?” Conner blinked in confusion. “Nothing’s wrong. Why?”

“Oh. I thought something was wrong?”

“No?” Conner broke into a grin. “I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh,” Niki said, as a blush broke out over his face. Never had he been so thankful for his thick clown make-up.

“Do you want to hang out between shows tonight?” Conner asked.

“Um, sure.”

“Great!” Conner grinned at him. “I’ll come find you. Will you be in this outfit?”

“Yes,” Niki said, feeling shy all over again. “I’m Cho-cho the clown now.”

“I like this bit,” Conner said, reaching out to touch the ruffle around Niki’s neck. “You look like that little clown doll my mom used to collect.”

“Pierrot,” Niki said. “Yeah, that’s the idea.”

“It’s cute.” Conner smiled. “You make a cute clown.”

An approaching parent with a kid interrupted them, and Conner took his cue to leave. He waved to the little kid as he walked by. He really did look amazing in that figure hugging costume.

Niki noticed the mom gape after Conner’s retreating form, and he had to press his lips together so he didn’t smile.

Me, too, lady, he thought.

 

About the Author 

J.B. Buell is a non binary writer (they/them) of m/m romance and gay rom com stories. They are a cat person, and can’t decide if they’re more of a coffee or tea person but is quite happy to drink both.

 

Social Media Links

Blog/Website  |   Twitter

 

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win

an ebook copy of Let Your Heart Smile.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Hosted by Gay Book Promotions

Scroll Up