I write sweet and steamy rom-coms with tear-jerker happy-ever-afters.
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where i play the role of romance author, reader, and geek

One last excerpt before Bought by The Billionaire Rancher goes live...

7/30/2019

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"So...let me see if I got everything right." The female CEO of Heart's Match eyed the billionaire's
list of requirements for his mail-order bride. "You want someone you can trust to raise your nephew, someone who's guaranteed to see to all of his emotional needs and ensure that he doesn't grow up a spoiled, useless millennial like all other trust fund babies seem to be."
"Precisely."
"You also want someone who understands that you're used to a certain way of living and appreciate that it's this very busy lifestyle of yours that is able to afford you, your future wife, and nephew everything that money can buy."
"Exactly."
"Your fidelity is guaranteed provided you two are sexually compatible. If not, you promise to seek satisfaction through other means very discreetly while she will be additionally compensated to remain celibate until your nephew reaches eighteen years of age."
"Perfect," Logan said approvingly. "When can I expect to meet your candidate?"
"You mean 'paragon' right? Or maybe 'martyr' is a more accurate term?"
"Charlotte." His tone held a note of warning.
"But to answer your question, let me check my contacts in Heaven first. I'll need to see if they have an angel or saint to spare, since no one else is likely to agree to something so one-sided."
Logan didn't even crack a smile. "My nephew will be with me in six weeks."
"I know that, okay? And as much as I want to help you..." What you're asking for is something only a selfish, heartless asshole would demand. That was what Charlotte was dying to say, but because Logan was both her childhood friend and her late husband's, she managed to withhold her tongue and finish with something more tactful. "It's going to be difficult."
"But not impossible."
Grrr. It was just so like Logan to interpret her words in the way that would benefit him. "I'll be level with you since you're my friend. With what you're asking, there can only be two kinds of women likely to agree to what you're asking."
Logan's gaze narrowed. "Go on."
"We'll either end up with a cold-blooded gold digger..."
The billionaire's upper lip curled in distaste.
"Or someone who comes with a lot of baggage."
Logan frowned. "Exactly what kind of baggage are we talking about?"
"No college degree, work history strictly in the domestic employment front, and she may come with a thirteen-year-old dependent who urgently needs to undergo kidney transplant surgery."
Since the things Charlotte mentioned were too specific to be random, Logan had a feeling his friend already had someone in mind. Someone she knew he would only consider if he were desperate enough...
"As long as she fits the mold," Logan said finally, "you can send her my way."

Hi everyone. I hope you enjoyed reading the excerpt and are looking forward to seeing it go live. I was actually supposed to release this the other day, but there was just something missing, so I held back. Last night, everything finally fell into place like magic, so now I'm just working on the "finishing touches" and it should be out really soon.
Last but not the least - if any of you have read the previous book, The Billionaire Rancher's Unwanted Wife (and enjoyed it), I would truly appreciate it if you could post even just a short / simple review on Amazon. Apparently, the way the site works, lower-rating books are automatically made less visible and vice versa. It would truly mean so much if you could take the time to review my work. Thank you so much!

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EXCERPT: Bought by the Billionaire Rancher (Evergreen's Mail Order Brides #4)

7/25/2019

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Stick to the timeline. You're still the nanny. I'm still the boss. Or at least that had been the plan. But then he saw the way his male executives were staring at Tilly like she was the pièce de résistance of a ten-course meal, and Logan thought, Fuck the timeline.
Since the billionaire had made no efforts to silence Tilly's cries of pleasure earlier, and Tilly herself hadn't been the type of lover to just lie back and think of England, Logan had no doubt that every employee working on his floor knew what took place the moment the door to his office closed behind Tilly.
That such a thing happened in the first place had probably come as a shock, considering Logan's rather notorious rule about not letting any of his former mistresses step a foot inside any of his company offices. It was fairly easy to see that his employees were itching to find out what made Tilly different, and it was just as obvious that they were wondering if the very nature of her employment had anything to do with Tilly being the exception to the rule.
Was she the nanny before she became the boss' lover, or was it the other way around?
What did the billionaire see in her that they didn't - or was she simply that good in bed?
How long was the billionaire likely to keep her - and might they have a shot once she was single again?
Logan's entire vision was fast turning a murderous shade of red. Over my fucking dead body, assholes.
Tilly almost lost her footing when the billionaire suddenly slipped a possessive arm around her waist as they headed down the elevator at the end of the hallway.
Logan saw Tilly's startled look and tried not to look defensive as he shrugged in response, saying offhandedly, "I didn't want anyone to notice."
Tilly blinked. "Notice what?"
"That you don't have---"
Realizing what he was about to say, Tilly simply acted without thinking, nearly stumbling in her haste to tiptoe and cup her hand over his mouth. Oh my God, what was he thinking, saying something like that out loud?
Her horrified gaze flew up to his, and that was when she saw the sexy, little smirk playing on the blatantly sensual lines of his lips.
Tilly choked back a laugh, realizing he had . "You jer---" And then she remembered where they were, and she hastily backtracked. "You just say, um, the most embarrassingly sweet words, Mr. Hardwall."
Amused approval gleamed in the his eyes even as he reached to gently pull her hand down. "Interestingly enough," the billionaire drawled, "an embarrassment is also what you might be suffering from if this isn't remedied." His other hand lazily drifted over her back as he spoke, settling down a moment later just a few inches over the hem of her dress. The hem, which had sneakily crept up when she tiptoed and was now dangerously close to flashing her butt in front of the dozens of executives making up Hardwall Industries' highest management tier.
OH MY GOD!
The billionaire chuckled softly at the flare of panic in her eyes. "Relax, babe. I've got you." His hand subtly smoothed the dress down at the same time Tilly slowly and carefully rocked back to her heels, and she nearly slumped in relief when the moment of danger finally passed without her butt suffering any visual casualties.
"Thank God that's over," she told him feelingly as they resumed walking,
"And?"
Huh?
"I'm still waiting," she heard the billionaire murmur languidly, and Tilly shot him a bewildered glance. Waiting for what?
A saintly smile unfolded over his lips, making him appear boyishly good-looking for an instance.
But then he said---
"For you to grovel in gratitude, of course."
A choked laugh escaped Tilly even as she came to appreciate the undeniable truth behind the most common of proverbs. Leopards could never change their spots, devils could never hide their horns, and such was the case with Logan Hardwall, who, despite what his utterly urbane appearance implied, could never be trusted to play the gentleman.
"Just to be clear---" Tilly waited until they were inside the elevator before turning to the billionaire with lips prudishly pursed in feigned censure. "I'm holding you completely accountable over what happened. If you hadn't threatened to speak about certain unmentionables---"
Logan smirked. Unmentionables? Hadn't that term been retired a couple centuries ago already?
"There wouldn't have been any risk of exposure in the first place, and so to answer your question---"
"I didn't actually ask anything," the billionaire pointed out.
She ignored that, saying, "No, Mr. Hardwall. I am not going to thank you."
"Because of what I did earlier?"
"Yes."
"Which you considered something only a jerk would do."
"Your words," she said primly, "not mine."
"But it's essentially what you're saying."
Her shoulders moved in a delicate shrug.
"Since you already think I'm a jerk," the billionaire drawled, "then I might as well act like it, don't you think?"
Tilly was bewildered at first, unsure of his meaning, but when the billionaire actually bent down to reach for the hem of her dress, and she realized he was threatening to flip it up --- she let out an incoherent sound, something between gasping, laughing, and squeaking.
Logan Hardwall really was a jerk, but God, he could be so cute about it!



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A very, very, very long update (you have been warned!)

7/18/2019

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Although The Art of Trusting a Greek Billionaire was my first self-published novel outside any boxed set, it was released December 8, 2013. As such, I tend to consider 2014 more as my first year in publishing.
In 2014, I published 15-17 books of varying lengths (number doesn't include when the same story makes its appearance in a boxed set), and in 2015 I was able to release the same number. It's 15 to 17, by the way, because I can't recall exactly how many, and I'm too lazy to double-check. > . <
But anyway, for those two years, my average was obviously more than 1 book / month.
For 2016 and 2017, I released about 11 new books for each year. Obviously not as good, but still not bad.
But then 2018 happened. And I released only two new books under Marian Tee.
​Two.
When I used to release 11-17.
Just two.
It wasn't that I stopped writing. I was writing all the time, actually. It was just that I no longer had any confidence in what I was writing, and I was listening too much to what everyone around me was saying. When I first started sharing my stories online (and this was way, way back in 2007 or 2008 I think, and I was posting my stories for free on a chat forum), I was able to post a new chapter each day, easily, and I was able to finish my stories quickly and easily, because I only had one goal in mind: write the kind of books that I personally want to read and which would make me, as a reader, feel good and fall in love with love.
Because no one was paying for those stories, I didn't feel like I owed anyone anything, and this was very liberating, in terms of creativity. I could just write what I want to write and how I want to write it.
But then I started e-publishing. It was the most incredible life-changing moment for me, and I'm still beyond thankful to God and to all the readers that I'm still able to do it to this day. It was just so amazing, being able to connect to so many readers all over the world, and because it was that amazing, I really wanted to make sure that every book I put out would make everyone happy.
In hindsight: yes, I do know now that is not possible.
You would think that with every book I put out, my confidence would soar, but the opposite actually happened. Every new release actually caused me to put more pressure on myself, and this was gradually eating at my confidence. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. 2018 happened.
From releasing - happily and confidently - more than one book each month, I was down to two new releases under Marian Tee (am not counting the Alice Boome cozies), and it obviously didn't help that my sales reflected this change, too. My 2018 earnings was 15% of what it used to be in 2015. It was a huge blow that left me reeling, and every time I'd think about how bad it was, about whether I could still make a living out of doing what I love, I'd have these sudden panic attacks that I never ever let anyone know about. I couldn't. I didn't want to. I considered them a weakness, something to feel ashamed about, and I didn't want anyone to worry about me.
Thankfully, though, I never really gave up. I had these flashes of anxiety, but deep down inside, I knew that they would pass. God was in my corner, and I knew I just had to keep working, praying, and eventually I'd find my way back. Of course, there were also things I did proactively to alleviate my stress and anxiety. I ditched social media for one thing - I honestly miss talking to everyone on FB, but I also knew, the way I am right now, I just wasn't equipped to handle the kind of negativity that I always end up exposing myself to. For every 10 nice comments, I'd get one that I'd lose sleep over because I wish I could make that reader feel good again...and because I keep stressing about that person's comment, I end up not releasing any new book, which of course is a lose-lose situation for both me and readers overall.
So in the end, I decided that it was better to simply pull back and just focus on writing. I prayed and continue to pray that while I might not be as actively interacting with readers in social media like I used to, readers would eventually understand if they realize that less social media activity means more books that I actually get to finish and have the confidence to publish.
This year, I was able to publish three new books (I'm not counting My Shameful Secret since that's something I wrote eons ago under one of my pen names), so obviously that's already a HUGE improvement compared to 2018. And it's just July, the start of the second half of the year. I'm really, really, really feeling good right now, and above all, I owe it to God and my husband, who has never lost faith in me, and of course to YOU guys who have been there for me all this time, patiently waiting even though I don't deserve it. > . <


So anyway, right now I'm dividing my time between several WIPs, namely
Andreus 2
Lysander and Estrella's story
Brimstone 2
Rancher 4
Altair
Steel March's story

...and the start of a possibly new series, connected to my Rancher and Billionaire books.
I know many of you are hoping for Andreus 2, and I continue to receive emails about my paranormal romances. While I'd like to promise that those are the ones I'm guaranteed to release next, I honestly can't tell. All I know is that everything that happens is according to God's perfect timing, so let's say if I end up writing Book X instead of Book Y, based on my previous experience and the power of hindsight, I'd always realize in the end that it had to happen that way. That if I hadn't written Book X first, Book Y wouldn't be as good because Book X taught me things that I would never have known if I didn't listen to what my heart was saying and insisted on writing Book Y first.
I wish I could explain why there are instances when I'd be in the middle of writing Book Y, when I'd suddenly quit, and switch to Book X, then Book Z, then Book Y again and finally I end up with Book X.
Just like Hallie Athanas says...
​Sometimes, you just know.
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