Blog Posts - I write sweet and steamy rom-coms with tear-jerker happy-ever-afters.

SNEAK PEEK: Billionaire Rancher Stepbrother

3/9/2020

"How does it feel, now that Foxtown's about to be unveiled to the world? Are you excited? Nervous?"
"I'm looking forward to its launch."
She couldn't help laughing at his matter-of-fact tone. "You so don't sound like it."
"Not everyone has to squeal and giggle like you used to do," the billionaire retorted, "to show excitement." A pause. "Or are you still like that now?"
"Mm." She gave him a mysterious look. "That's a secret."
"Careful, little Sarah," he murmured. "You know how I am with secrets."
Her heartbeat spiked up. Was it just her imagination or did he sound like he was flirting with her back there?
The billionaire arched a brow. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
And there it was again: a rich, velvety tone that was slowly and sinuously working to make her years-dormant body ache and swell back into life.
"Don't worry," she managed to say. "Everything's different now. I'm not going to jump on you the first chance I get---"
"I won't stop you if you would."
"Ha. Ha. Ha." Oh God, why was he saying these things?
"It wasn't a joke."

Hope you guys enjoyed the excerpt. :) It will be out sometime this week. Hope you guys are looking forward to it!

Updates

2/28/2020

MY VAMPIRE BILLIONAIRE BOSS IS NOW AVAILABLE.

2/28/2020

Spencer de Vries was tired of being in love with her billionaire boss, and not having him even realize she was a woman. So she went ahead and sold her virginity to a stranger as a symbolic way to end her feelings for him and move on for good. And it should've worked. It could've worked...except for one unforeseen twist of fate.
Etienne Hirsche was in a race against time, and the only hope of his race rested in the form of a human girl whose virginity he had purchased through an auction house. The girl had requested for anonymity, and while he had come to her under the cover of darkness, what she didn't know was that he wasn't human...and that the absence of light did nothing to impair his sight.
And it was then he found out that the woman waiting for him in bed was none other than the snarky brat who had been working for him for years.

Excerpt

Spencer's throat tightened the moment she felt the bed dip. No backing out, she reminded herself. No one had forced her to do this, and there was no way out now. But the moment she felt a large, strong hand settle on her knee, panic instantly struck, and a powerful tremor shook her body.
I don't think I can do this!
She pushed the hand away without thinking, but before she could even turn or crawl away, hands unerringly found her waist, and then she was being dragged down---
Her lips parted, but her scream was lost in the hard, hot mouth that was suddenly covering hers in a kiss that made not the slightest attempt to woo or soothe. She tried to fight back, tried to push him away, but he was too strong, so impossibly strong, and God, of course he wouldn't stop, not when he was only keeping to her third request: don't let me back out.
But even so, she tried to struggle, even tried to knee him in the groin. She tried everything, and everything failed, and even worse was the way she could feel her body already weakening, the arousing heat of his powerful, hard body making her feel things she had never thought possible she would feel for any other man. God. Oh God. Was this really going to happen? Was this really supposed to happen?
Confusion was starting to make her lose focus, her body starting to tremble for another reason under the relentless force of his kiss. God. Oh God. She felt the kiss deepen, demanding control and dominion, and as his mouth finally pried her lips to fully open, his tongue immediately drove past her teeth.
Oooooooooooh.
It was like...like sorcery at work, her resistance yielding little by little under every stroke of his tongue. This kiss demanded her total submission, but at the same time it promised something else and offered a seductive glimpse of the other thing she had asked for: this man would be so good in bed...she wouldn't want the night to end.
That promise was all hers, that promise could and would come true, and all she had to do was...surrender.

start reading today.

Belonging to Ioniko: Out Soon

1/20/2020

At first, I thought I was imagining things.
I was, after all, worse than ordinary, a 27-year-old bespectacled workaholic who cared so little about her appearance that she didn't mind leaving the house without taking a shower.
I never wore makeup and had my hair up all the time so I wouldn't have to drag a comb through the occasional knots. The only reason people didn't think I was a social misfit was because Korean fashion had claimed global domination; I could now leave the house in hoodies and sweat pants and still have my outfit considered as stylish.
So I was that kind of person, and Ioniko being another kind of person, you could see why I had to think I was imagining things.
There were times when I would be on my desk, tapping away on my iPad when I'd feel his gaze on me. Times when I would browse the latest magazines on the racks and I'd feel his eyes following every unconscious sway of my hips. Times when his stare would just burn so effing much that my body couldn't help reacting, and I'd start tingling and aching all over. Times when I wanted to forget all my inhibitions and be just like almost every other girl at Associate and imagine him making love to me.
There were lots of times that it almost felt undeniable he was staring at me, but even so. Every time I felt he might be staring at me, I simply told myself nope.
Just nope, nope, nope.
Could he really be staring at me while I was waiting for his sister to issue me a replacement card at the counter? Nope.
Were those his eyes digging holes into my back while I was chatting with Wyatt? Nope.
I was determined to never let myself think otherwise, thinking that would end things, but it didn't.

EXCERPT

"I told them you're the old-fashioned type of Greek," Kat confided to him, "and that's why everyone's on their best behavior now. So if there's something about Associate that you want to double check, now's the perfect time to do it..."
Her motives had then become clear, and Ioniko's gaze bored through hers. "In other words, you want me to make sure you're not going to lose money on this?"
His baby sister flashed him a cheeky grin. "And face. Don't forget how much I hate to lose face as well." And then she started pushing him out of her office. "Now go, and make sure you don't come back empty-handed. I want a thirty-page report---" She caught sight of the deadly glare Ioniko shot at her over the shoulder and said quickly, "I'm just kidding. A yes or no would also suffice, seriously." She finally managed to get her brother past the door. "Have fun!" And then she slammed the door on his face.
Damn brat.
But he was more amused than annoyed, just as how big brothers typically were, and a part of him was secretly pleased that his little sister still sought his help. Very well, he thought generously. He would---
A slender but full-breasted woman walked past him, head bent, gaze pinned to the book she was reading. He caught sight of her lips curved in a fond smile, and something about it was so intensely familiar that it had him spinning around to keep her in his line of vision.
The color of her hair was some divine shade between auburn and burgundy, with the lightest streaks of cinnamon, and her clothes were casual-slash-sporty, a black hoodie paired with matching sweat pants and shoes.
His gaze continued to follow her even as he tried to figure out what made her feel different and familiar at the same time.
Just something about her...
He watched her take one of the desks at the unreserved area. Watched her plug her ears and take a sip of her coffee before reaching for her iPad. She started typing. Kept typing. Was still typing even by the time he folded his length into one of the available desks across hers.
He pretended to read a book even as once in a while his hooded gaze would drift towards her. She had to know by now he was staring at her. But not once did she meet his gaze, and it didn't feel as if she was playing coy.
Interesting.
He came back to Associate the next day and tried to hide his impatience as he made some excuse to Katya about why he hadn't flown back to Athens as scheduled. He didn't want his little sister to know of his interest in the other woman; if she was what he believed she could be, then he didn't want to risk having Katya baulk at his plans to make the woman his mistress.
Days turned into weeks, but she still remained pretty much a mystery, mostly because she stuck to herself and the only time he saw her talking to another member, it had to be a man (fuck you, Wyatt-somebody).
It was also that one time he had heard her name mentioned - Schuyler - and had found himself savoring her name in his thoughts. Schuyler. The name perfectly fitted her, but he also felt instantly possessive about it. He wanted to be the only one to call her that and no one else.
And when it became clear to Ioniko that she was actually deliberately ignoring him, it only amused and intrigued him all the more. As soon as the perfect opportunity arose, he seized it and followed his beautiful little doll into the kitchen, just as a lion would corner a sweet unsuspecting lamb.
And in that moment, he found out everything he needed to know.
The way she had stiffened when he came close. The way she had held her breath and closed her eyes. The way he could practically feel her body throb into life at the mere proximity of him.
Ah, koukla mou.
That was when he knew.
She wanted him back.

I hope you enjoyed this one and only sneak peek of Belonging to Ioniko (The Greek Billionaire's Obsession). And for those who think Ioniko seems familiar, you're absolutely right - Ioniko first showed up in The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire, which is Damen & Mairi's story. And after so many years, we'll finally be able to see how his own love story unfolds.
As the story's all done, I'm just waiting for it to be formatted, uploaded, and approved for publishing. Fingers crossed we'll see it go live on all stores tomorrow.
Thank you again for everyone's patience!

THORNTON: Another sneak peek. ?

11/30/2019

After dinner, Thornton insisted on doing the dishes and had to remind Blake for the nth time that it was all part of their bargain, ever since she practically begged to take over cooking.
"But are you really sure?" Blake asked worriedly. "Because if you're already tired or anything, I could totally---"
"Blake."
Oops. It was his John Wick voice, and since he only ever used it as a polite way of shutting her up, Blake reluctantly took a step back and said with a sigh, "You're the boss."
He was indeed, Thornton thought in self-mocking irony ten minutes later, having seen Blake tiptoe out of her room in a fluffy little robe that barely hid anything. He was her boss, which meant he had absolutely no fucking business sporting a hard-on the moment he caught a glimpse of the tantalizing V of her cleavage and the shapely curves of her naked legs.
He really should have her unit extended, give Blake her own en-suite. The sooner, the better, too, Thornton thought grimly. Seeing her half-naked every damn evening was just pure fucking torture for his cock, with only cold showers to look forward to and not a single hope for sexual---
Shit.
Blake had suddenly looked his way, and their gazes collided as she caught him staring hungrily at her.
SHIT.
He abruptly turned away, but hearing Blake gasp told him it was already too late.
SHIT.
She had seen his erection, and life was going to be hell from here on, now that the damn girl knew her desire for him wasn't one-sided.

THORNTON: An Excerpt

11/28/2019

Blake felt like pinching herself the moment she saw what could be her future workplace. Although moonlight wasn't enough to give Hartland Books justice, what she saw was more than enough to make her heart skip a beat.
There were even more marvelously beautiful sights to sigh over once she was inside the shop; the ceiling-high bookshelves, the gorgeous first-edition tomes displayed in one corner, and the reading nook in another. It was like being transported to a bookish slice of heaven, and all she could do was stare and stare and stare---
"We're closed."
The words startled Blake, and as soon as her head jerked up, her gaze automatically clashed with a pair of onyx black eyes.

Oh my gosh.

A man stood behind the counter, tall, dark, and with a lean, hard build that his denim buttoned-up shirt and jeans only served to accentuate. He had the longish, raven locks of a Regency rake, the piercing eyes of a pirate, and the cruelly sensual lips of a poet.
Growing up, she had heard, seen, or read people saying that 'love at first sight' wasn't real, and because there were so many of them, it was the one thing Blake, despite being a hopeless romantic, had never allowed herself to believe in. True love was real. Second-chance love was possible. But love at first sight?
Never.
Until---
"Miss?"
---this moment, in which her dream man come to life was staring at her like she was a couple of bricks shy of a load.
Oops.
Blake quickly moved forward, eager to rectify his less than stellar first impression on her. "Mr. Blackwood?"
Instead of answering, Dream Guy asked mildly, "Who are you?"
"I'm Blake Golding, Mr. Blackwood. Frankie told me you were looking for a shop assistant and---"
"I didn't realize you were female."
"I..." His interruption had her blinking in distraction. There was something about the way he spoke - or rather, the way he drawled each word out, like he had all the time in the world to speak. It reminded her of something, no, someone---
"Oh my gosh!"

Shock-proof.

It was how his brothers often jokingly referred to Thornton, every time they tried pranking him...and failed. Nothing ever surprises you anymore, Ethan liked to grumble. Even if someone tells you the world would end in the next minute, I'd bet you'd go about calmly sipping your coffee while you plan to survive the apocalypse.
While the joke never failed to crack his brothers up, Thornton privately felt it was a little too close to the truth. Everything was too damn predictable these days - had been so for years, and it was why he had been sold on the spot once he found out what the Hartland Initiative meant to accomplish.
With its remote location and artificially low GDP, their small town in Wyoming could only be seen by many as a place to visit but never to stay in. Moreover, with signal jammers secretly installed to keep the place free from the shackles of the Internet, Hartland also allowed Thornton and his brothers to lead ordinary, private lives and never be pestered by the assholes, gold-diggers, and sycophants that were steadily gobbling up the cities.
There were still times, of course, when annoying tourists would find their way to his bookstore, but since they rarely stayed long, Thornton was able to tolerate their presence. It was only when he received Oliver's letter about a Hollywood crew filming in Hartland for three months that he knew he had to make a few changes.
The rules of Hartland Initiative were clear: in any situation where the truth about their precious town was in danger of being exposed, members were given two choices: leave until it was safe to return...or stay in character and play their respective roles to perfection until countermeasures had been put into place.
According to the local grapevine, Slade and Farica, co-owners of the Redwood Cafe, had already flown out of Wyoming. The American tycoon had taken with him his part-time waitress girlfriend Kady for a honeymoon (never mind if they weren't married) while the Dutch heiress had simply left a few days earlier for a scheduled business trip.
Thornton knew he could do the same. He just didn't want to. But at the same time, he also knew he still had to play by the rules. If filming were to take place at his street, and any of the crew members or even the cast decided to enter the shop...
Just thinking about it had been enough to have Thornton call Oliver's office to take the other man's offer. He definitely needed a shop assistant to take over during those crucially intolerable times. That way, he wouldn't need to control his temper and force himself to bear the presence of fools. And since the mayor's secretary, Frankie, was supposed to be extremely reliable and resourceful, he had been hoping that the recruitment process would be quick and painless.
Instead, it had been the opposite.
All the women Frankie had him interview were terrified of him, and Thornton hadn't the patience to wait for them to realize he wasn't quite the hardened brute his gruff demeanor made him out to be. He had been close to throwing the towel on the whole thing altogether when Frankie suggested one last candidate, and one she personally vouched for to boot.
Blake Golding.
The moment he heard the name, he had instructed Frankie to offer the person an employment contract, thinking that Blake was a bloke...
But obviously, she was not.
Instead, she was this petite brunette with nerdy-looking eyeglasses and a smile that lit up her entire face. The whole time they had been talking, her smile hadn't slipped a single time, and it was this which threw him off. For the first time in years, he found himself perplexed, off-kilter even, and when she suddenly gasped---
"Oh my gosh."
A rapid rewind of their entire encounter blitzed through his mind, but for the life of him, Thornton couldn't figure out what the girl was oh-my-goshing about.
"I just realized why your voice sounds so familiar..." Eyes sparkling with merriment lifted up to his.

"Has anyone told you how much you sound like John Wick?"

Thornton just stared at her, but this didn't seem to faze her at all.
"It's like every sentence you drop comes with a serious amount of gravitas," she told him helpfully.
"Really."
The girl was already grinning even before he was done speaking. "See?" she crowed. "You just did it again!"
Thornton frowned. "Did what?"
"That! A normal person would've said it like this - did what?"
Thornton winced. Those last two words had been uttered in a somewhat shrill, questioning tone that hurt his ears.
"But when you say it, it's like did what." This time, she intoned the words in a deep, grave voice like...
Thornton frowned. No. This girl's insanity was obviously contagious. She almost had him convinced he really did sound like John Wick.
Which he did not, he thought forcefully.
"I see it in your eyes," she teased. "You see it now, don't you?"
"No," he rejected flatly. "I don't." He punctuated his words with a cold, hard stare, but instead of having her run away like most others did, she just kept grinning and talking, enumerating all the ways he resembled a certain fictional assassin.
Thornton was incredulous. And amazed. Maybe she was a little dense, maybe it was something else, but either way it didn't matter. This girl was not scared of him at all, and while it was unfortunate that she had to be female, he could work with that.
"...and don't even get me started on your beard, Mr. Blackwood. It's as if your barber---"
"Ms. Golding?"
She immediately stopped speaking and flashed him a smile. "Yes, sir?"

"You're hired."

"So that's how it happened," Blake finished ruefully. "I think he was just so tired of hearing me talk, he decided to hire me just to shut me up."
Frankie knew her friend was just joking, but she had a feeling there was a grain of truth in Blake's words. She had once admitted to Oliver that Thornton was a little too intimidating for her, and her boss had told her that the bookstore owner was far from what most people imagined him to be. What didn't help, however, was Thornton's lack of patience and interest to correct everyone's first impressions of him.
Could that be why he had ended up hiring Blake over all the other candidates? Many of them had better qualifications than her friend did, and there was also the fact that he had been expecting Blake to be a guy.
He had every reason to reject Blake, but instead the opposite had happened, and the more she thought about it, the only reason Frankie could come up for this was the fact that Blake was the only one who wasn't intimidated by the ex-SAF billionaire.
There was just something about these two. Something undefinable but tremendously palpable...that it had all the locals talking. Like Frankie, everyone couldn't help noticing the way Blake was always all smiles whenever her boss was around, and how she tended to, well, glow a little less brightly when he wasn't.
While Hartland's secret tycoons and heiresses seemed able to easily shrug off Thronton's occasionally sinister ways, Frankie and the other ordinary folks working in town couldn't find it in themselves to be just as unconcerned. Or at least that was how it used to be...until Blake, who from the very first day appeared completely immune to the frightening impact of Thornton's scowls or the menacing softness of his voice.
Blake was just so obvious about so many things, so careless with having her heart so blatantly worn on her sleeve, that everyone in town became certain of two things.
All the signs pointed to Blake's infatuation with her boss...and Thornton saw all those signs, too.

THORNTON will be out soon! Hope you guys are looking forward to reading it!

Beast of Mine is now live!

11/20/2019

Screams and cries of terror rose amidst the unmistakably violent noise of a well-planned ambush - the scrambling sound of people trying to escape, the heavy thud of bodies falling to the ground, the swish of metal slicing into flesh. And above it all, another sound rose---
"LET GO!"
The twins tore off towards the sound of the princess' voice, unstoppable and cold-blooded in their pursuit even as they had to fight their way past what seemed like dozens of mercenaries. Heads rolled down and lifeless bodies crumpled in the twins' wake, but despite the impressive speed in which they had disposed of their enemies, by the time they finally found the princess, an armored truck had rammed the steel gates open, and masked abductors had already managed to shove Estrella halfway inside it.
Gunfire exploded as the princess' attackers tried to hold the twins off, and the two men disappeared from view in an instant. Invisibility was their race's most precious skill, but as it also consumed huge amounts of power, time was of the essence, and both men knew they had to find a way to get the princess to safety before they completely exhausted their powers.
Almost there. Aluin focused on dodging bullets. Almost---
A powerful growl rose in the distance.
What the hell?
Another roar followed. Louder this time. Nearer. Fiercer.
Estrella heard it, too, and just like the twins, she found herself turning immobile with shock, all thoughts of struggling free forgotten.
That sound...
There was something about that sound...
Almost as if...
"WHAAAAAT THE FUUUUU---" One of her abductors let out a scream of terror as he suddenly went flying in the air, almost as if someone had flung him away like he was no heavier or better than a piece of carcass. And it happened again and again, with Estrella only managing a startled gasp as the same fate befell the rest of her attackers.
A moment later, she saw the twins shed their invisibility, and she started to call out...when she realized it wasn't just them who was in the process of materializing.
Oh my God.
In front of her, another creature was revealing itself inch by inch - a beast that stood over twelve feet tall, with thick sharp horns and fangs and claws as sharp as blades. Its fur was as thick and rich as sable, and with the beast able to hold itself upright, one would be forgiven for imagining the beast might be the Minotaur coming to life.
But it wasn't.
Her heart started to race, and her feet began moving on its own. She saw the twins tense the moment she moved, and she shook her head at them even as her gaze remained at the beast.
Reinforcements came to arrive, but they were too late, and the twins sharply signaled for the men to keep their distance.
As Estrella came to stand just a few feet away from the beast, it slowly turned its head to look at her.
Violet.
Its eyes were violet.
And she would know those eyes anywhere.
Oh God.
Estrella's body started to shake.
"H-Husband?"

Two years ago, werewolf princess Estrella Moretti received a letter from the one and only man she had ever loved. In this letter, Fae prince Lysander Allard asked for her hand in marriage...and for her to keep his kingdom safe while he sought to conquer an ancient beast.

When Lysander came back, he was no longer man nor Fae. He was something monstrously different, and yet instead of running away in fear or disgust, his young and beautiful wife only looked at him with love in her eyes.

Estrella was every man's dream come true. It was just too bad that everything was a mistake, and the letter she received...had been intended for someone else.

Start reading today.

Estrella Moretti - Allard: A Modern-Day Penelope...But For How Long? by S.J. Wells

11/9/2019

If I had told you that we would one day live among blood drinkers, shapeshifters, and faeries, would you have believed me?

Probably not, and honestly?
I wouldn't have believed myself either.
But that's exactly what our world has come down to, and for many of us, acclimating to this new reality wasn't as inconceivable as one would've expected.
Then again, the clues had been around us all for ages. There's a reason why Game of Thrones was such a massive hit. It's the same reason why people dug Westworld even if they only understood a fraction of it, and it's also why The Walking Dead still isn't, well, dead.
Life as we knew it had become unbearably and uninspiringly mundane, and it used to be, Hollywood was the only way to even remember what words like adventure and magic meant. Or at least it had been so...until the preters.
Preters are the most commonly used term nowadays to refer to beings who look like but are not quite humans, and though they've been "out" for over two years now, our insights about them are still vastly limited.
Just as we have different races, so do preters, who - despite being vastly smaller in number - are a lot more diverse. We've got Lyccans and the Caros, the Souris and the Fae, and - if the rumors are true - a few more that remain hidden. Regardless of one's race, however, preters in general are viewed by many of our kind as the closest thing to having gods walk among us. And who can blame them, really?
Preters are faster and stronger, their senses a dozen times sharper, and in all honesty, I've yet to see a single preter who's unequivocally unattractive. So yes, it's understandable why they have humans so enamored...to the point that men have online shrines dedicated to female preters like, say, Estrella Moretti - Allard.
Despite being one of the younger sisters of billionaire heartthrob Domenico Moretti, Estrella had managed to lead a fairly private life. This all changed, however, when the preters' existence became public knowledge.
Aside from being a Lyccan princess by blood, Estrella had also become the ruling princess of the Faes and Faeries by virtue of her marriage to Lysander Allard. According to my sources, Fae society remains one of the most archaic among preters, and a good example of this are the factors that determine the legitimacy of a persons' claim to the throne.
Following the dissolution of the High Circle, the Fae had elected Lysander to become its ruling prince. This also meant that his bride, Estrella, could rule in his stead if the situation called for it...but only up to a certain point.
A female consort may only rule the Fae for twelve lunar eclipses. Afterwards, if the princess is unable to submit unquestionable proof that her husband still lives, she is to marry another before the thirteenth - or be forced to relinquish the throne.
In Estrella's case, eleven eclipses have already come to pass since Lysander last appeared before his people, and this had both humans and preters alike see the princess as some modern-day Penelope. With Estrella's Odysseus showing no signs of returning, the entire kingdom of Faes is now up for grabs, and the only way for any man to become its ruling prince is to have Estrella wear his ring on her finger.
Self-proclaimed experts of preter politics say that Estrella's Moretti upbringing is likely to have her choose a malleable male who wouldn't make the mistake of challenging her rule. And while such news had been scathingly dismissed by the princess' reps, it caused a stir nevertheless, with men (mostly humans) lining up outside the gates of her residence in Coral Springs.
To date, no official announcement has been provided by either the Lyccan or Fae camp, and so the world continues to wait with bated breath. Will Estrella choose to give up the throne in order to remain Lysander Allard's bride - or has the taste of power become so addictive, she would not hesitate to forsake her alleged first love in order to remain queen?

OUT NOVEMBER 2019

Hope you can all read my "comeback" book in the world of paranormal romance. <3

Carrots, eggs, coffee, and a sheikh.

10/6/2019

So...yesterday, I was able to attend a one-hour talk by Fr. Allan Samonte, a priest who occasionally finds his name mentioned in the dailies. In one of those articles, he was described by the writer as a priest who "turns mass into a party with God". The talk primarily centered in finding the purpose of God's trials in our lives, and he zoomed in on five particular points:

(Re)direct us
Inspect us
Correct us
Protect us
Perfect us

I'm not going to expound on all of those so that you have a reason - if possible - to seek him out at his parish and perhaps listen to one of his talks or homilies. But what I would like to share right now is an analogy he used in the talk.

life's trials are like being placed in boiling water...

And from it emerges three types of people.
There are people who, when put to test, turn soft like carrots. They lose their form. They..."give up".
The other type, on the other hand, when faced with trials turn tough - too tough - like hard-boiled eggs. They become angry. Bitter.
And then there's the best type. These people are like coffee, and when placed in boiling water, they turn...stronger. More delicious. Oh, and they smell better, too. ;)
Personally, I think I'm somewhere around the coffee-flavored egg / egg dipped in coffee range. There are times when trials make me better, but there are occasions when I just lose my temper...I forget how it is to be a daughter of God, and I just...I just become mean. =( So...yeah, work in progress at the moment, but I'm hoping with this realization, I'll gradually and eventually improve until I'm just like the coffee I love to drink.

IN OTHER NEWS...

I'm working on Altair right now, which I'm still hoping to release by next week. Wish me luck! <3

Excerpt: SLADE (Secret Tycoons of Wyoming #1)

8/14/2019

Tiny. Pale. Blonde. Like a toothpick version of his baby sister Lace or a shyer version of Farica. Either way, it was clear to Slade the girl was damn near petrified of him. She was shaking like a leaf, and if he had her speak, he hadn't any doubt the girl would end up stammering again.
So, yeah, petrified.
Petrified.
And when Farica turned to look at him over her shoulder, her wide-eyed expression told Slade that she had come to the same conclusion as he did.
The girl was petrified, just that.
And for both of them, that changed everything.
Farica quickly pasted a smile on her lips just as Slade got rid of his scowl, and throughout this they had also swiftly made their way to the newcomer, both of them intent on not letting this heaven-sent opportunity slip past their fingers.

OMG, finally, Farica was thinking. A girl who wasn't bowled over by Slade's looks!

Let this girl be the fucking last, Slade was thinking at the same time. He had gone through five waitresses in the past three months, and he was getting fucking tired of having to go through the whole recruitment and training process over and over.
"I'm so sorry you had to see us at each other's throats like that," Farica said ever so sweetly even as she determinedly took hold of the other girl's arm, just to make sure the latter wouldn't have any chance of escaping.
"It's mostly my business partner's fault, of course," Slade inserted smoothly as he pulled a chair for the girl he was determined to have working for him.
"Yeah right," Farica muttered.
Ignoring this, Slade flashed a wicked smile at the other girl's way, just to see how she'd react. "You believe me, don't you?" The simple banter would've made most women titter and come on to him, but instead the girl was fighting against a visible urge to shrink away.
Perfect.
Farica tried not to roll her eyes at the way her billionaire friend was practically purring in a mixture of satisfaction and fiendish amusement as he continued to question the girl, who was now seated between her and Slade.

What's your name, sweetheart?
K-Kady Abrams.
Do you have your résumé with you?
Y-yes, sir.
Please call me Slade.
S-S-S-S-S-S..

Taking pity at the way the billionaire had Kady near tears, Farica said quickly, "You can call him Mr. Wyndham, too, if it makes you more comfortable."
This had the girl throwing Farica a look of relief, and Slade, seeing this, said silkily, "I won't like it, though."
Kady looked like she was about to cry again, and Farica was torn between exasperation and irritation. Dammit, Slade. She shot him a look that silently demanded for an explanation. Couldn't he see how out of sorts Kady was around him?
But when Slade's massive shoulders only moved in a lazy shrug, Farica knew it would be no use arguing the point. The man could be annoyingly mercurial when he wanted to, and for whatever reason, it seemed as if he had developed a sudden but rather sadistic fondness for their future employee.
Turning back to Kady, Farica explained the rest of the specifications of the job and was surprised when the girl actually accepted her offer for free board and lodging. "Are you sure about that?" she couldn't help asking. "I'm not always here, you know, so there'll be times when it's just going to be you and Slade---"
"Making me sound like some sex-starved maniac won't benefit anyone here." The billionaire shot his business partner a warning look. Do you want this girl to start working for us or not? Because the way Steel's woman was painting him to look like some monstrous perv, the still adorably jittery Kady Abrams might just end up bolting out of their sight and never return.
Shit, Farica thought with a mental wince. Slade was right. If she wanted Kady to work for them, she had to focus on making the girl feel at ease rather than giving her more reasons to run away. She turned to face Kady, intending to apologize but was instead taken aback when the other girl seemed even more horrified. "I w-would n-never..." While the other girl's face had completely been without color a minute ago, her tomato-red cheeks now seemed fit to burst in what seemed like shock and mortification.

"I'm...me...and Mr. W-Wyndham...never...never..."

It took a while for Slade to make sense of the girl's unique way of speaking, but a smile slowly curved over his lips as understanding eventually dawned. Apparently, this girl thought he was so out of her league it would've been a mortal sin for her to even think he'd look her way.
Farica could feel her confusion growing as she saw the way her friend's blue eyes gleam at how the girl was fidgeting under his lazy gaze. While Kady's words absolutely made no sense to her, it was as if Slade had not only understood her but whatever those words meant had also caused the billionaire to take immense pleasure from the girl's obvious discomfort.
The man was enjoying himself a little too much, Farica observed uneasily. Hopefully, though, this was just a momentary diversion, and his interest in Kady would eventually wane.
He was Slade Wyndham, after all, and while he played the role of small cafe owner to perfection, it didn't mean anything about him had fundamentally changed. Outside Hartland, Slade was still the cynical, womanizing billionaire that he had always been.
And as far as Farica knew, a girl like Kady had never appealed to him.
Never.
And yet---

Farica tried not to be too conspicuous as she studied Slade, who was now (torturing) talking to Kady again, which of course had the other girl back to squirming. The whole thing almost seemed like a prelude to flirting but...
I'm probably just imagining things, Farica told herself. Right? 

I hope you enjoyed our cute little sneak peek into Slade and Kady's story, which I had SOOOOO much fun writing (can you tell? 😜). Last but not the least, please don't forget that SLADE IS AVAILABLE FOR A SPECIAL LIMITED-TIME PREORDER PRICE OF $2.99! Regular price is $3.99. :)
Hope you're looking forward to this!

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