Hello !

Today I'm sharing the email my co-writer, Mia Sands, sent to her fans since I love how she's introduced our second novella in this series, Check Out that Billionaire.

Enjoy!

d

You know what to expect when you open your email. After last week's trip to Maple Valley, you're not the least bit surprised to find yourself in the Maple Valley Library meeting room surrounded by a group of vibrant older women. 

You are, however, a bit taken aback to find them all dressed like they’ve stepped out of Bridgerton (the popular Netflix series set in the Regency era). 

“Um…” you glance at me and find me wearing a yellow ball gown. 

“Yellow is my favorite color,” I explain.

“What’s your favorite color?” I ask. 

You tell me, and immediately find yourself in a glorious outfit in your favorite shade. 

“This is great,” you tell me, “but I didn’t think you wrote historical romances.”

I snort. “I don’t. I mean, I wish I could. I love reading historicals. I read all of Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton books when they first came out, long before the show. I’m a huge fan. But keeping track of all the details—tying a cravat, the ways of the ton—let’s just say I’m going to leave the writing to the pros. But…” I add. “I share that love for historicals with my co-author Danika Bloom, so we’ve decided our contemporary romance heroine would be as much of a historical romance fan as we are… and so would her book club.” 

“Ah, is that where we are? A book club meeting?” you ask.

“Yes, we’re at a book club meeting.” I nod and gesture around the table. “That’s Ruthanne,” I say, pointing at one of the older women, who’s wearing a handmade gown worthy of a duchess. “She’s a matchmaker at heart, and today, she’s up to no good.” 

“What do you mean?” you ask.

“And that’s Millie,” I add, ignoring your question. I gesture at the oldest woman in the group, who is dressed in a floor-length gown that looks suspiciously like a wedding dress. “Millie’s ninety-one, but don’t let her age—or her white gown—fool you. She’ll be the first to tell you about every one of her sexual escapades. In great, embarrassing detail.” 

“She sounds like quite a character.” 

“She is.” I grin. “And that there’s Sylvie,” I point out the woman who’s dressed in a black velvet pantsuit paired with a high-collared white blouse, a matching paisley vest, a cravat, and a walking stick, looking every inch a Duke as she scowls at everyone in the room. “She’s more bark than bite.” 

“That’s good to know,” you say, eyeing her wearily. 

“And that is Tabitha, the librarian,” I gesture at a younger woman who’s standing by the door. Unlike the rest of the group, she’s in her 20s. She’s dressed in a tight, red, floor-length Regency-era gown that looks like it’s squeezing the life out of her. 

“Can she breathe in that thing?” you ask.

“That is a great question.” I wink as Tabitha shushes the group and starts the book club meeting. She holds up a library copy of The Duke’s Treasure and you notice all the other book club members have copies, too. “This is going to be good.” 

"Shhh..." you hiss at me, waiting for the other book club members to send me annoyed looks. They don’t. 

"They can't hear us," I tell you. 

Your eyes widen in surprise. "They can't?"

"They can't see us either." I climb onto the meeting room table, my yellow Regency gown not hindering my movements in the least, and run across it. Logic dictates that my huge skirt should sweep all the table’s contents onto the floor, but it passes through them like a ghost. I even step on a few paperbacks, but leave them completely unharmed. “Wanna have a go at it?” 

You shake your head. Maybe running across the table isn’t your idea of fun. Or maybe, unlike me, you’re not willing to step on books, even knowing it won’t actually damage them. 

I climb off the table, grab two books from a book cart by the door, and reclaim the seat next to you. While I do this, the book club members arrange themselves by the wall, posing for a photo in their gowns. 

“Can we be in the photo?” you ask.

I shake my head. “Invisible, remember?” 

You nod.

I hand you a pink paperback—Shelve that Billionaire by Mia Sands and Danika Bloom—first. The tagline on the cover reads: He created the robot that stole her job... can she stop him from stealing her heart?. “It just released last week,” I tell you. “If you haven’t read it yet, you can grab an ebook or paperback on Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Apple, and Smashwords. A few other retailers too.”

You gesture at the women in regency garb. “Is that where they’re from?” 

I shake my head. “The book club meeting is from Book 2: Check Out that Billionaire by Mia Sands and Danika Bloom.”

I hand you a blue paperback, with the tagline He's been her ride or die since first grade… will her growing crush crash their good thing? 

“But both books are set in this library,” I add. 

You run your fingers over the book cover and gesture at my pen name. “Why Sands?” you ask. 

“I wanted to use a separate pen name for my contemporary romance,” I explain. "The beach is my favorite place in the whole, wide world. But at the start of the pandemic, we were living in a one-bedroom apartment in the middle of the city. It was concrete and high-rises and a tiny balcony slightly bigger than our bathtub. Pretty gloomy.

So I used to close my eyes and picture myself on the beach. I'd play the sound of waves on my phone, and I could almost feel the warm, golden sand between my toes.”

“Mia Sands,” you say softly.

I nod. “I started writing romances set on the beach. First Mister Fit, and then Mile High Librarian.

I also met my co-author, Danika Bloom during the pandemic. But that's a story for another time." I smile. "The real meeting is about to start.” 

“Didn’t it already start?” you ask.

“Yes, but we’re just getting to the good part.” I point at the title of the blue paperback, and whisper "Check out that Billionaire.” 

“Huh?” you ask. 

I gesture at the book title, and then at the man standing in the doorway.

“Wow,” you whisper as you check him out. He looks more like a quarterback than a billionaire, with his broad shoulders and muscles filling out his "Warning. May spontaneously start talking about literature" T-shirt.

“I need that shirt,” you tell me.  

“I need that shirt on the floor,” I say, wiping away some drool. What? Danika Bloom and I write them hot! And if you knew what he was hiding under those clothes, you’d want to see them on the floor, too. “That’s Cam,” I tell you. “He's Tabitha's best friend." 

You glance from him to Tabitha and back again and shake your head. “They’re definitely more than friends. Look at how he’s checking her out.” 

“You’d think, but they've been like that for years. They're in denial. Tabitha’s the most important person in Cam’s world, and he is in her’s. If they act on their feelings, and it doesn't work out..." I shake my head. “Anyway, the book club meeting is about to start. Let’s leave them to it, shall we?” 

Before you can protest, you find yourself back in front of your screen, staring at the blurb and links for Check Out That Billionaire. 

Check Out That Billionaire by Mia Sands and Danika Bloom

He's been her ride or die since first grade… will her growing crush crash their good thing?

The one constant in my life has been my best guy friend, Cam. He's trustworthy, sweet, and his no-occasion, literary gifts blow every romance hero's grand gesture out of the water.

Still, he's my best friend. And while he'd make the most swoon-worthy love interest for another girl, I don't see him that way. Until he shows up at my library book club meeting and reads the role of the hero in the best book series of all time.  

When we reenact my favorite scene, all the book club ladies think I fainted since my mail-order corset was one-size-too-small. The truth is, when Cam touched my arm, my heart stopped. 

And when I discover he has a spicy romance novel by my all-time favorite author hidden next to his bed? Now I can't look at Cam without imagining him as the hero of my own love story. I crave to role-play just one steamy scene with him, but how can I justify indulging when it could ruin this almost perfect thing we have?

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/checkout

Amazon Kindle:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5XNXJP8

Apple Books: 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/check-out-that-billionaire/id6502704130

Kobo: 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/check-out-that-billionaire/id6502704130

Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/check-out-that-billionaire-mia-sands/1145599326

Smashwords: 

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1564853

“I hope you love reading it as much as we loved writing it.” My voice echoes in your head. “Oh, and don’t forget to join me next week to meet my co-author, Danika Bloom. If you have any questions for us, leave a comment or hit reply. We’ll try to get to as many as we can!”

xo,

Danika

PS—If you now want to get all of Mia's super creative emails and hear about the books she writes without me (they are so-o good!), join her Miaverse here!