Hey !

So Jacked has been out for a few days, and it's made quite an impression! I've been following your posts and reactions on TikTok and Instagram, and I'm so happy you (mostly) enjoyed this spooky spicefest! Thanks to your interest, it's ranked as #1 New Release in a few Amazon categories, including Erotic Suspense (which I find so ironically fitting - cue evil laughter).

As a thank you, I wanted to offer you a super early sneak peek into Carved, but first, I have to talk about the minotaur book that comes out next week. Oh, and I also have to share with you the best monster romance I have ever read that I have reread consecutively six times in the past week (and am rereading for the seventh time right now. Talk about addiction!)

All right, let's get into it.

Spicy Minotaur Novella

Thick Beef comes out on Tuesday, and what can I say? It's a fun, spicy read that's both hilarious and romantic at the same time and includes kinky fun times (using toys, among others). It's short, it's spicy, and you can read it in under an hour, in which time you'll get all the feels and probably laugh a few times. You can still preorder the novella or wait until it's live and in Kindle Unlimited. I'll let you know when it's out!

So remember how the kink list in my email last week included ball slapping? Well, our MMC has a thing for mild ball sack violence, which is fortunate, since his acquaintance with Jude, the FMC, starts with a kick to the balls. But I mean, she's justified. He chases her in a dark labyrinth with his massive sausage fully on display. She has a right to be disgruntled.

So - this and more coming on Tuesday, October 10, when Thick Beef goes live!

The Most Perfect Monster Romance

Guys, no book has ever had me in such a chokehold as this one. I own the ebook, my paperback arrived today, and I've already preordered the audiobook that comes out in eleven days - I'm counting. And it's still not enough. I wish I could put this book in a syringe and inject it into my veins so it can suffuse my blood with its awesomeness. I'm seriously considering getting a tattoo related to it, though I haven't yet decided on the right design.

I'm talking about Moth by Lily Mayne. It's the fifth book in her Monstrous series and if you read my emails, you know I've been raving about this series for a month. It's excellent. But Moth is the freaking best, all right?

I can't even fully express what has me in such a chokehold. The book is perfectly written, with amazing world building an exciting plot full of twists and turns, humor and heartbreak (and spice! oh my God, the spice). But I think the part that makes me unable to let go are the characters and their love story. I simply love the charming, open, direct Charlie and the prickly, secretive, insecure, and total slayer Moth.

If you want to take my recommendation and read Moth (and you absolutely should! Btw, Lily Mayne doesn't even know I'm pimping her series so much. This isn't any shared promo or anything of the kind - I just can't shut up about these books), know that these are MM romances and should be read in order. Characters come back over time, so for example, we meet Moth in person in book 3, The Rycke.

So start with Soul Eater and thank me once you're done. And if you reach Moth and suffer like me when you can't let it go, drop me a line!

Carved goes live October 17

So Carved, book 2 in the Ghosts of Halloween series, goes live soon! Here is an exclusive preview of what's coming, and let me warn you: if you haven't read Jacked yet, this preview will be a massive spoiler!

So only read it if you've read Jacked! (which is out and free in Kindle Unlimited)

Ready?

Here's how Carved begins! I'm giving you the entire first chapter, so settle in and enjoy!

Carved: Chapter 1

He moves closer, gliding through the air like he weighs nothing, and I let out a terrified squeak. He’s dead. Jack’s dead, just like Noah, and I don’t… I can’t…

He reaches out his hands, face cruel, and I stop thinking. I duck under him and sprint down the stairs, my heart in my throat. Jack laughs behind me, and I whimper from terror.

Oh, God. I need out. A way out.

My legs take me to the kitchen. I’m so scared, I barely notice anything around me, and when I hit my shin against a broken piece of furniture, there’s no pain. Only terror.

Jack’s laugh follows me, and cold sweat pours down my neck.

I crash into the kitchen door, not even slowing down. I hope to barge through, but the door seems to be made of something sturdier than old wood. I cry out and land on the floor, sobbing out of fear and helplessness.

“You all right there, angel?” comes an amused voice, and I spring to my feet, facing the doorway.

I freeze, my eyes going wide with recognition.

“Silas,” I whisper. “Caden.”

They flank the doorway, both of them looking comfortable leaning against the wall. I have an urge to ask them for help, but then I realize they are dead, too. All three of them are dead, but… they are the ones who tied me up. Who touched me.

Jack is Groomer. Silas is Butcher. And Caden is Strangler.

I stare at them, my face blushing as my insides twist, terror, embarrassment, and awe mixing into an explosive cocktail that makes my knees shake and my cunt throb.

“You… But you…”

I can’t form words. It’s too much. They are dead, yet they are here, and just moments ago, they got me off. Silas guessed I was raped. Caden had his mouth on me. And Jack…

“Long time no see, little bird,” Caden says with a predatory smile, and I hiccup. “Tell you what. If you get caught, you’ll be fucked. Don’t want that? Don’t run.”

I gasp, my throat and chest too tight, my body thrumming with the electrifying fear. I’m confused, and at the same time, everything is so real. I am hyperaware of them, of the room, of the darkness pressing in, of how alive my body feels.

Silas takes a step closer, grinning, and then readies himself to pounce. I shrink against the back door, too terrified, too aroused, too everything to figure out what’s going on.

He makes as if he’ll jump at me, his wicked grin telling me he’s just playing, but at the same time, there is something so cruel in his eyes. I shiver from fear. I never even talked to Silas. Just a few words here and there. It blows my mind that he would be the one to… That he…

“But you’re dead!” I blurt out, my voice pleading. Begging them to make sense of it for me.

He takes a step to the side, and now, there’s an opening. Silas still looks like a prowling predator, his position braced for attack. He doesn’t say anything, only laughs, and a second later, he launches himself at me.

I don’t wait for him to reach me. I burst out through the door, brushing against Caden, chased by his whoop of triumph.

“Jack, she’s running!” he calls, following me, his heavy footsteps thudding behind me.

Jack. Of course, Jack is the one I ran from first. I dash ahead, picking the path to the stairs, knowing I can’t let myself get cornered. The last I saw, he was upstairs. Where is he?

Caden’s right behind me, his breath and steps a steady threat, and I run up the stairs, panicking. I’ll have to find a room to lock myself in, and even as I make this frantic plan, I can’t shake the fresh, terrifying memory of Jack gliding to me through the air.

What if he can go through walls?

But Caden’s on my heels, and I don’t have time to think. I tear through the upstairs landing and dive for a door at the end of the hallway. It’s ajar and still on its hinges. I run inside, slam it closed, and lean back against it with a sob.

A second later, someone pounds on the door so hard, it jumps against my back with every hit, and I close my eyes, tears streaming down my face.

“You got me good and hard, little bird,” comes Caden’s raspy voice. “The harder you make me fight for this, the better it’ll be.”

I shake my head, my body thrumming in rhythm with his every word, the terror feeling like a wild thrill. Blood rushes in my ears, my palm is sweaty, my chest tight, and I almost can’t stand it. The fear is like a vicious snake in my gut, slithering and biting, and I just want this to be over. It’s too much.

I wish he would catch me already.

Caden pounds on the door again, and I still can’t cope. He’s supposed to be dead! How is this real? Is it real? Am I hallucinating from the pills?

Suddenly, there is a pair of hands on my throat, wrapping around me from behind. I jolt, trying to get free, but they hold me good and tight, cutting off my air.

The door is still at my back, as solid as ever. As I thrash and fight, trying to break free, I also grapple with the realization that Caden’s hands…

Got me through the door.

“Ready to give up, baby girl?” he asks, his voice muffled even as his hands strangle me, and I pinch his palm as hard as I can, his skin warm and alive under my fingers.

Caden curses and loosens his grip just enough for me to shake him off. I stumble further into the room, frantically looking for a place to hide, taking in the bare walls, a broken bed frame without a mattress, and a window with jagged bits of the pane sticking out.

No closet, no hiding place, no weapons.

I turn around, thrilling terror buzzing through my body. I get ready to face him. To fight him. To give in.

As the door crashes into the wall, Caden’s dark silhouette filling the doorframe, another pair of arms wraps around my chest from behind. I breathe in Jack’s scent.

“Dibs,” he says, his voice triumphant.

Preorder Carved on Amazon - or just click to check out the cover! Caden's on it^^

All right, so this is it from me today! I'll briefly pop in your inbox on Tuesday to remind you when Thick Beef goes live, and then you'll hear more from me in a week. Stay safe and horny!

Layla