Hello !

Happy Tuesday! And if you hate Tuesdays like me, you're gonna need it... Just kidding! I'm having a fabulous Tuesday. After writing non-stop for a few weeks to make sure I meet all my book deadlines for October, I finally allowed myself a free day. And today is it! I even watched a movie, which I rarely do because... well, day job + book writing + parenting don't mesh well with having a life. (Kidding again. My books are my life. Cue a sinister laugh 💀)

Anyway, I watched Red, White & Royal Blue on Prime, and it was the perfect movie to relax to! So swoony and with all the feels 🥰 If you haven't yet, definitely check it out! I loved Stephen Fry as the king, Madame President stole my heart, and Alex and Henry were simply EVERYTHING. Love conquers all, my friend. Love conquers all.

🖤

While I have you, I also wanted to thank you for reading Wed to the Lich. So many people did since it came out almost a week ago, and I am so flabbergasted still! It's one thing to know you enjoy your own book, but to see so many readers around the world enjoying it too is absolutely terrific! Anyway - thank you!

Ready for Wed to the Bullman?

Book number 9 (!) in the Arranged Monster Mates series comes out tomorrow! Wed to the Bullman is a minotaur romance novella by Eden Ember set in the world of Alia Terra. Can't wait to read the love story of another couple matched through the temple? Definitely check this one out!

And can I tell you a secret? Eden, Cara and I are talking about extending the series into 2024. That means more books may come after the December Christmas round. This isn't 100% confirmed - not until the preorders are live - but it's fairly certain at this point!

Mask kink, anyone? 👀

And I teased some masked MMCs in the subject to this email, didn't I? Gotta deliver on this! Yesterday, I edged my Instagram followers with some visuals and quotes from Jacked, as well as a few tropes from the book. If you want to see my teasers, you can follow me here, but I'll give you something better. An excerpt heavy on the mask kink. Here we go!

They are men, and they wear masks. I shiver, my body responding automatically. All that… foreplay… priming me for something, and now I burn, wanting it viscerally. I crave more touch, more intimacy, for my clothes to be gone.

I shouldn’t, but I do.

The men stop and look at me. I pant in short, terrified breaths, my eyes fixed on their masks.

One is a skull, its skeletal mouth stretched in a grin. A pair of eyes flash in the eye sockets, seeming black in the shadow.

The man wearing the skull mask is shorter than the other one but taller than me. He’s sturdily built, with muscular arms and forearms, but the look of him isn’t gym-polished. He looks like a man who works with his hands, his skin tattooed and swarthy. His clothes are practical, faded jeans and a black T-shirt that stretches across his broad chest.

The other one is leaner and taller. His skin is fairer, and his mask is a strange thing. A white oval marked with uneven red lines, it has narrow slits for the eyes and a gaping hole for his mouth. It looks creepy and uncanny, even worse than the skull.

This one wears black pants and a black button-up that molds to his upper body. There is a flash of color at his throat, a silk peacock-blue scarf. He crosses his arms and moves his head slowly, studying me from feet to head. I can’t see his expression, but his posture seems scornful.

The one with the skull mask stands tall but relaxed, his hands at his sides, head cocked to the side. He watches me, too.

I squirm under their gazes, my body hot and tingly. The warm breath on my nape makes me shiver, and I shift from foot to foot, wincing when that puts pressure on my harness. It’s so hot, so uncomfortable, I’d love to just crawl out of my clothes and skin.

I feel too much.

“Meet your demons,” the voice in my ear whispers, intimate and soft. “The Skullboy over there is Strangler. And the one with red marks is Butcher.”

I shiver, cold dread flowing down my limbs. The pain in my right hand comes back in full force, a freezing pressure squeezing my phantom fingertips, and I whimper, clenching the prosthetic palm until the pain grows. Then I release the hold.

The pain doesn’t let go.

“And who are you?” I ask, my voice shaky. 

Mmm, right? There's more where that came from, and it will go live on October 3. You can preorder Jacked for $0.99 (or a corresponding amount in your currency) here.

And while you wait for this book to go live, the prequel to Jacked is available here for a free download.

Steamy freebies

Now, some of the covers on this list are a bit NSFW (not safe for work) so I advise to open at your discretion! But yes, here is a list of free steamy romance and erotica stories with over a hundred titles spanning contemporary and paranormal romance, among others. View here

Writing updates and book recs

So, I just finished writing a book yesterday, and since the preorder for that one isn't up yet, I can't tell you much. Though I will soon! That book is with my editor now getting that final polish, and tomorrow, I'll start writing Thick Beef. I've already picked out the flavor for this one, and the rest is a piece of cake. Well, not LITERALLY. If you want cake, better check out GRIM or CROW. Just saying 😂

Thick Beef is going to be a minotaur erotica story, heavy on the steam and with a romantic HEA. As the title suggests, it will be on the meaty side. (I just wrote that with a straight face. What's your superpower?)

In terms of reading, I have two loves right now. I just finished the audiobook of Bend Her by Cassie Alexander and looooved it so much 😍 I immediately got the other two in the series - those are some well spent credits! The male narrator's voice took some getting used to for me, but once I did, let me tell you - he's perfect. The female narrator is also amazing, and I enjoyed this combo so much! Definitely recommend the audio, though those books are great in every form. (It's a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns so good!)

As for my kindle, I keep rereading Soul Eater by Lily Mayne. I can't let this book go! Even though I already read Wyn (Soul Eater novella) and Edin (book two in the series), nothing compares to Soul Eater. I'm kinda worried about myself at this point, because I've never had such a book hangover. I'm starting Honeysuckles by January Rayne today, and I hope it will help me move on! (But Wyn and Danny are so perfect. God, I can't. I want to crawl inside that book and live there, even though I'd probably die on my first day in the Wastes.) And then I think I'll continue with Lily Mayne's Monstrous series. I'm really looking forward to Moth, but I'll read them in order now and get there slowly.

Okay, enough of my rambling. I hope you got something useful out of my email, and please accept my perfect Tuesday vibes! I have enough to share today 💜

Stay safe and horny,

~Layla