August | 2013 | Claire Gillian

Back of the Book

For a muse like Lucianíel, one story’s end is another’s beginning.

In the wake of his author’s sudden death, Luc takes ownership of her surviving creations—four fantastical characters with tales yet to be told—saving them from unwritten lives crumbling around them and giving them a second chance at a literary future.

Luc finds that chance in the unsuspecting mind of Annabelle Iole Gray, a quirky teen with her head in the clouds, nose in a book, and imagination ripe for a brilliant muse’s inspiration.

Or so he hopes.

Neither Luc nor Annabelle, however, realize all they’ve undertaken. Even with a to-write list including accounts of a shape-shifting cat creature, gentle knight-in-training, vigilante skater girl, and a mystery boy smothering in unspoken fear, the most remarkable saga created between author and muse just may turn out to be one stranger than fiction.

Their own.

Danielle E. Shipley

Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. …Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who homeschooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing young adult novels, she’s probably blogging about it.

I mentioned a while back that I had a new release cooking that might have crossover appeal. Most of you probably know by now that I write under multiple pen names. Lila Shaw is the pen name I use for my saucier tales (erotic romance, erotica and erotic horror) but also for most of my paranormal stories.

Sometimes my stories get handed off from one pen name to the other. Prometheus Unstitched, for example, was a book I wrote fully intending to publish as Claire, but given its paranormal (superhero) nature, I turned the reins over to Lila.

The same cannot be said for Wild West Succubus. That story was always Lila’s and given that the heroine was a succubus would have always remained Lila’s. BUT the longer the story ran, the less steamy it got, to the point to where its heat rating is a level 2 on a scale of 1 (sweet) to 4 (menage, kink, etc). Because of that, I feel confident recommending it to my readers, especially if you like urban fantasy, though 1869 Kansas was hardly urban.

So what’s it about? I rather like my publisher, Liquid Silver Book’s short blurb for the book:

The West has never been so wild! A determined gargoyle is on the hunt, but he didn’t count on falling for the beautiful succubus he was sent to destroy. She’ll never be tamed or broken, but can she be saved?

Here’s the longer one:

A woman damned…

Priscilla Goodnight, a widow in the harsh Kansas frontier, has a cattle ranch to run. She can’t afford to reveal any cracks in her tough exterior or indulge in sexual liaisons with her ranch hands. But a hungry succubus can only exercise so much self-restraint, making discretion, disguise, and memory-wiping her top managerial skills.

The mysterious stranger who knows her darkest secret…

Priscilla doesn’t remember hiring the man with the wily smile and the flannel voice. At all. Men as physically appealing as Hugo Desmond rarely escape her bed, let alone her memory. And how is he able to move so fast, yet nobody notices but her?

Is she his target, his mission, or his bait?

Hugo is a gargoyle—a specially-trained executioner—sent to purge the west of evil. With succubi falling squarely in demon territory, Priscilla has every reason to fear him…yet she can’t stay away. Hugo says he needs her help and wants to save her soul. But is redemption possible for a woman as wicked as Priscilla, or will love thaw her heart just enough for Hugo to crush it?

And if you’re a more visual / auditory person, here’s the book trailer I made Saturday night:

Yes, that’s my old voice you hear on the tinny sounding voiceover. LOL I needed ~~free~~ economically-priced talent to go with the free (attribution only) music and the public domain photos in it.

I hope you’ll consider adding it to your “to be read” pile!