Fave BoD Scenes in No Particular Order: Shep and Raven

 

Picking my favorite Beware of Dog scenes in no particular order, because this book has perhaps my favorite dialogue of any book in the series. Up first, Shep going to see Raven.

“You’re shouting at me!”

“You’re shouting at me!” he shot back. “And if you shout at Cass about this, you and me are gonna have a big goddamn problem!”

Raven gulped audibly. She looked like she’d been slapped. She settled her hand at her throat, where her pulse throbbed a visible tattoo, and said, voice hoarse, “I could cut off the money. I could tell her I won’t pay for school.”

“No you won’t. Get outta here with that shit.”

“I could…” She trailed off, eyes big and bright with tears.

“What?” he sneered. “Threaten me? Then you better have a gun in your purse and a body bag on standby, ‘cause you don’t have anything else to threaten me with, sister.”

She bowed her head, sniffled quietly, and wiped at her eyes. When she lifted her head, she was smiling.

She choked out a laugh. “Christ, you are such an asshole.”

“Yeah.”

She rolled her eyes and dabbed at the corners. To the air, she said, “I always knew she wanted a Dog. That she’d end up with one. She would eat a little rich boy alive.”

Then she stepped around the table.

Shep sat up straight, and relaxed his jaw; it would hurt less, and do less damage if he was loose when she struck him.

Instead, she reached for him, with both hands, slow and careful like he was a dog about to bite, and caught his jaw in her palms. She leaned down and pressed a damp kiss to his forehead.

Shep’s hands were shaking where they rested between his thighs. “I do love her,” he said.

“I know that, darling,” she sighed. “I’ve known that for a long while now.” 

BoD is two weeks old today! You can grab it here:

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Thank You!

 

She sighed again, and tucked her hair back when the wind swept it across her face. “I’m not upset with you,” she said, softening. “I know none of this was your idea. Shep was…well, Shep was being a good guard dog, but not with any kind of finesse.” Her gaze turned thoughtful as she studied Cass’s face. “But he wasn’t doing it on anyone’s orders, and if he had been, he definitely wouldn’t have had clearance to go into the Blackmons’ home and lay hands on a little rich boy flying his colors.”

Cass nodded. She knew that was true. But her pulse was still racing, and she didn’t know if she’d like the rest of what Melissa had to say.

“He did what he did on his own. It was an emotional response.” She tilted her head a fraction, hair blowing out to the side, blue gaze shrewd and too-knowing. “He really cares about you a lot.”

Inwardly, the statement filled Cass’s chest with warmth. It sent pleasant shivers down her arms and back. But it frightened her a little, too; cut too close to the bone of all that she’d been thinking and feeling lately. “If you say so.” She missed the mark on flippant. Her voice trembled at the edges.

Melissa wasn’t deterred. She was locked on, grave-faced, in full-on detective mode. “I don’t know Shep well,” she started.

“No,” Cass said. “You don’t.”

Melissa blinked, but otherwise took that statement in stride. “I have, though, learned a thing or two about the Lean Dogs in general in the last four years. Presidential orders are well and good, but if one of these guys thinks his woman is in danger, he’s going to do what he’s going to do, and he’ll deal with the fallout with Maverick afterward.”

“I’m not his woman,” Cass protested, but damn, it sounded good. Sent a thrill through her. 

It's been QUITE the busy week, so I'm behind on replies, emails, comments, etc. But I wanted to pop in and say THANK YOU, dear readers, for buying, supporting, and reading Beware of Dog, and leaving such lovely feedback. This book took much longer to publish than I anticipated, but I'm proud of it, and it wound up being tons of fun to write. So thank you, thank you 💖

If you haven't yet heard, book six in the Lean Dogs Legacy series is now available!

Kindle

Paperback

Nook

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I'll post a full debriefing sometime next week. Until then, happy reading. 

New Release: Beware of Dog

 

Now Available! 

Book Six in the Lean Dogs Legacy series, Beware of Dog, is now live across all my usual platforms.

Kindle

Paperback

Nook

Kobo

The novel takes place after the events of Lord Have Mercy, though they're only referenced in passing, here; and after Raven's book, Nothing More. Raven and Toly have a new baby, and Cass is living in the dorms and still calling on Shep when she needs help. The novel steps away from the big, overarching storylines of the last few Dartmoor books, now that Abacus is done and dusted, and it's instead a more focused, romance-centered story. It features some of my favorite dialogue, lots of banter, some great sister bonding moments, and Shep's foul-mouthed brand of sincerity. 

I hope you'll enjoy it! If you do, a review would be wildly appreciated!

The blurb: 

As the youngest of ten half-siblings, Cassandra Green worries she’ll always been seen as the “baby” of the family, even though she’s about to turn twenty. Life as an art student in New York is peaceful, steady, and with the club at its most powerful and settled, Cass ventures deeper into civilian life, trying to carve a niche for herself among her fellow students. But when her roommate is assaulted, she turns to her assigned Lean Dog protector, Shep, for support.

When he was first placed on Raven Blake’s security detail almost three years ago, Shepherd wanted no part of looking after her teenage sister. Now, though, he’s finding any excuse to stay in Manhattan to keep an eye on Cass. When she lands in the crosshairs of a rich and influential family, he realizes his feelings aren’t just protective anymore.

Book Six in the Lean Dogs Legacy series takes place after Lean Dogs Legacy Book Five, Nothing More, and Dartmoor Series Book Ten, Lord Have Mercy.

New Release: Lord Have Mercy Part Four

 Here we go!!

A kidnapped child.

A mother out for vengeance.

A father on the hunt.

 

This is Boyle’s reckoning.

 

In the fourth and final installment of Lord Have Mercy, the Louisiana swamp serves as backdrop for a no-holds-barred showdown of epic proportions. In Viriginia and New York, Ghost, Fox, and Ian seek to take down Abacus once and or all. In New Orleans, Mercy and Ava close in on Boyle, and finally learn the truth of his obsession. This is not a standalone, and must be read after the first three parts of the novel, available now: The Good Son, Fortunate Son, Rising Sun.

A Cure for Recovery: Debriefing

When they get back in, the sun is setting lavishly through the skyscrapers beyond their window, liquid orange and glittering with eye-watering ferocity off every metallic surface across the span of city that separates their thirtieth-floor room from the river. Tommy’s drawn to the window; his breath fogs the glass as he stares out at the vista, the cars crawling below like ants, boats moving on the Hudson. He counts five rooftop gardens, one strung with fairy lights that snap on as he watches, tiny people gathering at a table and toasting one another with tiny glasses.

Even at his most miserable during their twenty years apart, he always found a kind of bittersweet comfort in the sheer busyness of the city. The knowledge that, even if he was pining and lonely, there were so many others out there, just beyond his window, living, and loving, and enjoying themselves.

Now, he gets to be one of their number.

He catches the ghost of his own smile in his reflection as he turns, and puts his back to the view, and focuses instead on the view that’s for him only. 

I'll keep it brief - ha - because this is a novella and not a big doorstopper, but there are lots of little truth bombs and tender moments in A Cure for Recovery that make me happy I took the time to pen it. 

When I was wrapping up College Town, I wanted to dig a little deeper into Tommy's recovery, and the challenges therein, but ultimately decided to end the book on a high note. The story had reached a natural denouement, and I felt like digging too deep into "what comes next" would throw off the pacing of the rest of the narrative. But his recovery - and recovery in general - was a topic I wanted to write about, so here we have A Cure for Recovery, which is essentially 38k words of domestic fluff and angst, without the mystery/suspense angle of the original novel, but with its own kind of muted, what I think of as a very real-world plotline. 

While I'm very happy with the way College Town ends, I don't think it allowed Lawson or Tommy the chance to unbox their leftover anxieties with regard to finding a true permanence in one another's lives. Lawson's still worried that Tommy will wake up one day, wonder what the hell he's doing, and go back to New York. And Tommy's worried that, after twenty years apart, and finally getting together, Lawson's going to resent having to play both husband and caretaker, furious at his own body for what he sees as "failing" him. 

Their circumstances in College Town were a bit extreme - the forced separation, the deception, the mafia plot - and Cure feels like a chance to step back and approach the practical, day-to-day aspects of their relationship. Making things work when lives aren't on the line, and it's just drinks at Flanagan's and career frustration. 

As a writer, I don't know that I ever truly leave a project, a story, or a couple alone. There's always ideas left dangling. In this case, Cure was a chance to share some of those in a coherent novella, and to help my brain work through some of the more domestic challenges of Lord Have Mercy. I'll put Lawson and Tommy to bed - for now. No promises I won't ever revisit them again. And I really hope you enjoy their epilogue, which does, never fear, feature another happily ever after. 

You can purchase it here: 

Amazon (Kindle/paperback)

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New Release: A Cure for Recovery

The way they’re leaning together, it’s impossible to tell which of them has trouble balancing; who’s the steadying presence, and who needs help.

Lawson’s legs work fine, but they both do need steadying, even if it’s not of the same sort.

Tommy thought, at first, that their rings, and their vows, and their hands laced together in front of a hospital chapel altar would banish all doubts, all guilt. That each of them would be sure of the other’s commitment and love and willingness to stay and stick out the rough spots. Seven months, but most especially the past few weeks, have taught him that’s not the case. The rings, vows, and interlaced hands were a big and vital step toward the rest of their lives…but they’ve both been in recovery that whole time: from heartache, for one, and from almost dying, in Tommy’s case; in Lawson’s case, he supposes it’s a recovery from whatever future he envisioned when he thought Tommy wouldn’t pull through.

There’s not a cure for recovery. Only the slow, day in and day out work of nonlinear progress. And love. Love carries more than its fair share of weight.

“Do you wanna go in?” Tommy asks, and realizes Lawson is studying their reflection, too, expression heartbreakingly tender. 

“Yeah.” His voice is a little uneven, but Tommy doesn’t comment on it; strokes his arm, instead. “Yeah, let’s go in.”

It's here! The College Town follow-up novella, A Cure for Recovery, went live for Kindle yesterday, and is now available across the board this morning.

Amazon (Kindle/paperback)

Kobo

Nook

The novella picks up seven months from where College Town left off, and this time it's Tommy who steps (cautiously) into the role of narrator. He and Lawson are married, living and working in Eastman, and Lawson's querying his project and working on another. Tommy's going through physical therapy, and struggling to come to terms with the fact that he might not ever be able to walk and live the way he once did. It's a story about the ways that we can be so happy and thankful for the lives we have...but how that doesn't necessarily mean that we're "okay" all the time. It's a little bit slice of life, a little bit of domestic angst, and lots of love.

It's not a standalone, so you'll need to read College Town first:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

** M/M romance

**explicit content

Once More For the Evening Crowd: College Town is Live!

 

Because we have seen the fragility of happiness, we treasure the little things. Our hope is of a modest variety, but it’s still hope.

A hope for fresh starts. For first steps. For quiet, earnest words of love that are not confessions, nor declarations, because we know the love already exists, it is our constant companion, but hearing it still warms the cockles of our grownup, glued and taped-together hearts.

I suppose what I’m trying to say is: children think that only one thing will make them happy, but that simply isn’t true. Happiness is a tapestry, rather than a rare artifact. And so is love.

It takes us a little time, and no small amount of effort, to pick out all the knots and lay the threads. And that effort is what makes it ours. 

Hi, evening crowd! I want to work this year on posting more often, because all those pesky algorithms hide posts from followers across every social media platform. So in case you haven't seen the news already today, my latest release is now live! College Town is a sweet and spicy, emotional and angsty standalone M/M romance in which two childhood friends turned lovers get a second chance at happiness twenty years later, although thanks to scary and uncertain circumstances. The paperbacks just went live, and it's also available for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday, and I hope you'll enjoy Lawson and Tommy's story. 

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Kobo

New Release: College Town

 

The gross thing about love is the way it can make your whole life feel bigger. It makes you feel bigger. Like you’re important; like your feet barely touch the ground.

And then, when it’s snatched away – when it runs away – nothing cuts like the pain of being reminded how terribly small you are. 

Happy Valentine's Day! College Town is live! 

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You can read more about the book here. Hope you enjoy my sweet little standalone while you wait for the next Lord Have Mercy installment. 

#NewRelease: Lord Have Mercy, Dartmoor Book X

 

Lord Have Mercy Part I: The Good Son is now live! 

Kindle/Paperback

Nook

Kobo

I talked in a previous post about the reasons why I've decided to split Dartmoor Book 10 into four separate releases, so I won't go into exhaustive detail about that here, but long story short: she's gonna be a big, chunky book. Each installment will be a full-length novel unto itself, so you're definitely not being short-changed this way. 

I'll release each installment as it's finished, and, if all goes to plan, all four parts will be out before Christmas. Once complete, I plan to make a compiled digital edition, and hopefully a paperback and hardback edition, printing limits permitting. 

My goal with this novel is to revisit some of the themes, and all of the vibes of Fearless. I'm shooting for that sprawling, Southern epic feeling, and I think Mercy and Ava don't deserve anything less. There's twists and turns in store, a new character with a lot to learn about the club, and the world outside of it; there's a return of all our familiar characters, tackling these new challenges from very different places than they did the first time around. 

As always, I can't thank you all enough; we're here because of you! And your support, and your love of these characters. I hope you enjoy this new installment, and that, if you can, you can like, share, review, tell a friend, and help spread the word. The monster's back! And it's only going to get crazier and better from here. 

Blurb:

Deep in the swamps of New Orleans, the hunt for a predator leads local police to a cache of old, dumped bodies. Assigned to the case is FBI profiler Alex Bonfils, a New Orleans native with a knack for analyzing serial killers. The moment he sees the bodies, and learns their identities, Alex knows who dumped them in the bayou. The problem? These particular killings are the work of the older brother he never met: Felix Lécuyer.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, life within the club is busy, dangerous, and ever-expanding. Mercy and Ava are balancing parenthood and their marriage alongside the growing influence of the club. They know better than to think they’re safe, but they never expected the next threat to come in the form of another of Remy Lécuyer’s secret sons.

“The Good Son” is the first of a four-part serial that will altogether compose Dartmoor Book X, Lord Have Mercy, a truly “monstrous” endeavor that calls upon the sweeping, Southern epic style of book one, Fearless. Filled with suspense, intrigue, deception, and populated by all the beloved characters of the Dartmoor series, Lord Have Mercy brings the gator-hunting, storytelling Cajun killer, and his devoted fillette, back to the forefront of the action.

Be on the lookout for parts two through four, coming soon.