Updates: Mistletoe and Mages and more!

November 1, 2023November 1, 2023

Hello, fellow readers! I have some exciting news.

Releasing this month

Mistletoe and Mages: A Limited Edition Anthology releases…today! More below or… Download it FREE here.

From the Arcane: Relics of Legends and Lore (IFA Anthology) releases November 14. Preorder here.

Recently Read and Recommended

All Hallows Airship, by Liz Delton – Steampunk with a mystery, a Halloween party and one wonderful great aunt, plus some cute romance and chronic illness representation!

Fae Hunter, by Sarah K.L. Wilson – The whole series is phenomenal and I’ve been absolutely devouring it. Each of the books ends on some kind of cliffhanger so I’m glad I have the omnibus.

The Assassin Bride, by Anastasis Blythe – Releases later this month! I read an ARC and this is my honest, voluntary mini-review. I adored the magical palace setting in this story, the plot twists and the truly immersive world. Plus the love interest was fantastic. Add a dose of true friendship, some extremely high stakes and you’ve got a page-turning read.

On a podcast

Lord of the Hollow Court got the podcast treatment from one of the above authors (just a coincidence, I happened to download her book last year and read it this year!), Liz Delton. Her podcast, The Fictional Bookshop, is immersive story telling, and really relaxing. Every episode features a chapter from another book. Check out Lord of the Hollow Court’s episode here.

New release: Mistletoe and Mages

Mistletoe and Mages is a BookFunnel-only anthology with holiday/winter-themed paranormal romance (PNR) stories, put together by Laura Greenwood and Arizona Tape.

My addition to this anthology is the dystopian PNR novelette, To Thaw a Phoenix Heart, which is set in a future Cleveland and has forbidden romance, a phoenix shifter MMC and a STEM heroine. The two characters can’t seem to resist each other after meeting in the dead of winter, when survival is anything but guaranteed.

Download Free

This anthology is free, but readers must agree to subscribe to the newsletters of the authors inside it. You’ll get some emails from us telling you who we are (and you can always unsubscribe if it’s not your thing!), and you get stories from…

Arizona Tape

Demelza Carlton

Faedra Rose

Dariel Raye

Lulu M. Sylvian

Samantha Peppercorn

Lavinia Roseknight

C.K. Beggan (me!)

Iris Leigh

Jess Averill

Laura Greenwood

Rosie Wylor-Owen

That’s all from me for now!

Cheers,

CKB

Bound by Blood roundup: The Stars and the Stage, The Hawk and the Nightingale and The Magnolia and the Bleeding Heart

October 4, 2023October 1, 2023

As co-organizer of the Bound by Blood spicy vampire romance series, I’ve been a bit delinquent in telling you about our latest releases! All of the published books are available in Kindle Unlimited (KU) or for $2.99. (If you snag them before they release, they’re 99c.)

Below, you’ll find queer romance, second chance romance (a popular trope in our series!) and the fiercest of female main characters!

The Stars and the Stage, by D.N. Bryn

The Stars and the Stage is a kinky, queer second chance vampire urban romance, and a prequel to D.N. Bryn’s beloved vampire romance series. And it has quite the hook line!

When their traitorous ex begs forgiveness ten years too late, what’s a vengeful vampire to do but make him bleed?

Read it in KU

The Hawk and the Nightingale

Veteran author Jennifer Allis Provost has this short, spicy vampire romance between a vampire who’s more than she seems and a noctural night club owner, set in Prague. The tag line?

The voice of an angel. The heart of a devil.

Read it in KU

The Magnolia and the Bleeding Heart

I’m so pleased to say that this sapphic second-chance romance, set in Texas, is author River Bennet’s debut! River has an ongoing story on Kindle Vella and a full-length novel, Heroines of Olympus, coming soon, but this easy to read FFF mafia romance is her first published book, and it had me hooked as a beta reader. Here’s the hook line, and boy is “risk” an understatement for narrator Jesse:

What would you risk for a second chance at love?

Read it in KU

The next release will be from another debut author, Alora Black, with the FFM Sleeping Beauty retelling The Nettle and the Nightmare. For more on the series, please visit boundbybloodseries.com.

Cheers!

CKB

The Sacrifice and the Spare (Bound by Blood) is here!

September 1, 2023September 1, 2023

At long last, the first of the Bound by Blood spicy vampire romance novellas is here! For those of you who don’t know, Bound by Blood is the multi-author novella series I co-organized with Ophelia Wells Langley. We started planning this since January and I can’t believe it’s finally here!

Each of the 8 novellas are standalones by 8 unique authors. Many of our stories are also diverse, with LGBTQ+ rep, chronic illness representation and diverse characters.

The Sacrifice and the Spare is the first BBB novella to be released (today!). A new novella will launch every Friday from September 1st until October 20th. You will be able to read all of them in Kindle Unlimited, too!

Purchase here

About The Sacrifice and the Spare

An other world paranormal romantasy

Royal arranged marriage
Murder mystery
Vampire-human prince pairing
Political intrigue

Synopsis:

When a human prince takes a vampire bride, can love bloom where death is sown?

As the spare, Prince Kallan is duty-bound to wed the woman chosen for him–even if it means marrying a vampire. After Bria is selected from the neighboring vampire clan, Kallan can’t deny the heat that sparks between them, but his cautious optimism goes up in smoke when the heir to the throne is found dead and Bria is the top suspect.

Bria can’t remember her life before she became a vampire, but she knows she was made for one purpose: to wed the second prince of Dolbryn–a human prince. In a kingdom of strangers, Bria anticipates being a lamb to slaughter, but the last thing she expects is to be framed for killing the heir. Now, she must trust that the fledgling bond between her and Kallan is enough to see her rightfully freed.

Start reading The Sacrifice and the Spare here.

About the Author

Elle Backenstoe lives in Eastern Pennsylvania with her husband, son, and two dogs. She grew up with her nose buried in a book and sometimes emerges long enough to write some words of her own. She writes fantasy and romance, often together. Elle runs on pop punk music and Coke, and will always choose sweet over salty. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her at her home-away-from-home, the dance studio.

You can find Elle on:
Twitter
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Snow-Swept is up for preorder!

January 19, 2023January 19, 2023

I have a Valentine’s Day surprise for you all. Snow-Swept, a sweet, no-spice fantasy romance between a gargoyle and human, is arriving on Amazon (and KU!) February 14, 2023.

The novelette is available for preorder from Amazon for 99c.

Check out the pretty cover!

To learn more, please visit the book page for Snow-Swept.

And since word of mouth marketing is so powerful for an indie author like me, don’t forget to tell a friend or share on social media!

I came up with the idea for this story in a weekend and I’m so excited to share it with you all. This may just be a novelette, but it’s jam-packed with heart and emotion. I really hope you’ll love it!

Cheers!

CKB