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NEW RELEASE 
Book Title: Touched by Destiny (Arcane Havoc #1) Author and Publisher: Jessamyn Kingley Cover Artist: LJ Anderson of Mayhem Cover Creations Release Date: February 8, 2024 Genres: MM Paranormal Romance Tropes: Fated mates Themes: Love, resolving the past Heat Rating: 3 flames Length: 97 000 words It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger. Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited 
Without risk, finding a soulmate is impossible. But Gabriel and Eric quickly discover that the first step was the easiest. Blurb Gabriel Wolfebrier believes his honor is forever tarnished. For the first fifteen years of his resurrected life, he did whatever his necromancer told him. They were friends. Family. So, Gabriel asked no questions as he helped bury dead sorcerers he was told were enemies. Too late, Gabriel learns he’s been duped. But somehow, he is offered a second chance. Born with the mark of a skull on his hand, Eric Marwood has special talents. Unlike other necromancers, he can speak to the dead and help them find their way home. He is dedicated to two things—nurturing his skills and dreaming of a life with Gabriel. But not everyone reveres his gifts, and destiny-touched men and women like him are hunted. The Marwoods consider Gabriel one of their own, but his past is a heavy burden he cannot forget. Which is why it annoys him each time he notices how beautiful Eric is or how much fun they have together aiding ghosts. Sex is the only way to find a soulmate in their world, and Eric is determined to seduce Gabriel. As for Gabriel, he is desperate to ignore his own urges. Life has a funny way of changing in an instant, and neither man truly knows what the future holds. Excerpt Eager to be with Gabriel, Eric snatched the cookies he’d shoved in a plastic bag and closed his eyes. His hand tingled as he called to his magic and focused his energy on the silver crystal he’d given Gabriel. Sorcery flowed through him, along with the floaty feeling that accompanied teleportation. Moments later, his naked toes were no longer on plush carpet. Cool tiles replaced the soft threads. Eric grinned as his gaze landed on a blond inspirit dressed casually in jeans and a white T-shirt stretched deliciously over his thick muscles. Although Eric was pleased to be with Gabriel, he wondered what to do. Should he run up and grab a kiss? Or keep it cool with a wave or a cheery hello? His smile fell as he tensed with indecision. “What’s wrong?” Gabriel asked, concern alight in his vibrant green gaze. “Am I the only one feeling awkward right now?” “No, we’re new to this; it’s bound to feel strange.” “It’s weird to know someone your entire life and suddenly not know how to greet them.” Gabriel took a step closer to him. Like Eric, his feet were naked. “Go with your first instinct.” Lips curving again, Eric closed the distance between them. He sank a hand into Gabriel’s hair and their mouths met. Gabriel’s palms landed on Eric’s hips, but he didn’t embrace him. Their tongues met without urgency, and Eric relaxed into the lazy caress. Unlike during their previous kisses, he savored Gabriel’s enticing taste and filled his senses with his musky scent without feeling an immediate desire to strip off his underwear. Desire was there, but sweetness tempered it. Eric sighed as a wave of happiness bubbled through him. As much as Eric had loved those frantic encounters in the hotel room, he wanted to know if they could be more than two sweaty bodies seeking fulfillment. “What’s that sigh for?” Gabriel asked huskily, nibbling along Eric’s jaw to the tender skin of his earlobe. Unwilling to lay the raptures of his needy heart upon Gabriel’s shoulders so soon in their relationship, Eric chose a different truth to confess. “You’re a great kisser.” “I was just thinking the same thing about you.” Eric chuckled and pulled away so he didn’t give in to the urge to cling to Gabriel the entire night. They had a friendship to build. Although Eric had known Gabriel forever, their chats while he worked or at meals weren’t the same as laying a foundation for being soulmates. “I doubt that,” Eric replied. “I haven’t had much practice.” “You’ve kissed more than one pretty boy.” “And how many pretty boys are in your past?” Gabriel shrugged nonchalantly and stole the bag of cookies from Eric’s grasp. “A gentleman doesn’t count.” With a roll of his eyes, Eric rose to brush his lips against Gabriel’s, then surveyed his surroundings. It was the first time he’d been at Gabriel’s house, and he was shocked to find it completely devoid of personality. In fact, there was little in it, and everything was white or beige. The walls lacked art or any other décor. A long couch was anchored in the living area and faced a large screen television. On one end of the sofa was a single end table with an unremarkable lamp perched on it. No rug covered the white tiles that flowed throughout the open space. At the kitchen island there was a single bar stool, and the smooth countertops were bare except for a coffee maker tucked next to the stainless-steel fridge. If Eric didn’t know Gabriel lived there, he would’ve assumed the place was unoccupied. Since his mother insisted on kindness and using his manners, Eric wracked his brain for some compliment to give Gabriel about his home. “Your place is nice,” Eric finally commented. About the Author Jessamyn Kingley has published over forty titles and refuses to pick a favorite among them. With an extraordinary passion for her characters, Jessamyn eagerly crafts new tales and avidly re-reads them whenever her schedule allows. Jessamyn shares a home in Nevada with her husband and their three spoiled cats. When she is not writing or adding new ideas to her thick stack of beloved notebooks, she is gaming with family and friends. Website | Facebook | Facebook Group 
 There were tall metal barrels a few feet away. Raul purposefully strode to one of them and gave it a kick, knocking it over, making plenty of noise. Some burnt debris rolled free and a puff of ash boiled out then floated to the floor. He went to the next one and looked inside before stripping off his jacket and shirt. Returning to the van he tossed them inside. “Stay inside the van,” Raul said. Brandon opened his mouth—no doubt to issue protests—but Raul wasn’t making a request. He crowded Brandon in the driver’s side door with one hand on either side of him, so he was trapped. “There are people in this building,” he began in a low voice. “I can smell them and hear them. They were burning fires in those barrels. We don’t know anything about them and they might be involved with the traffickers. The parts we play? Those start now. You’re my meal ticket and I control you, remember?” Brandon nodded. “Yeah.”    
Lilian Zenzi has a new queer sci-fi romance out (nonbinary/pan/queer/gender-fluid): Spark & Tether. Working odd jobs across the Outer Ring gets a little lonely sometimes—not everyone loves having a synchronist with supraliminal perception around. But all Sacheri wants, he tells himself, is to wander the stars. Then he takes a salvage run to an abandoned moon where he meets the wry, reserved, strictly-by-the-rules archivist Jin. Mesmerized by their confidence and charm, Sacheri can’t resist showing off his abilities–and instead of the damaged ai he was tracking, he stumbles onto a signal left by a synchronist who went missing decades earlier. Sacheri knows from previous experience that pursuing the truth—never mind justice—could destroy everything he loves. He would defy his employers, the institution responsible for the myconeural networks that make him a synchronist, and the leadership of several worlds. And it would complicate his new, passionate, and impossibly sweet relationship with Jin. They might be the best thing that’s ever happened to him, but they work for the very entities that ended Sacheri’s last investigation. He knows better than to risk it. But he’s never been able to turn away from someone in need, and there’s a voice in the void calling for aid… Universal Buy LinkExcerpt Sacheri woke with a shiver in his nerves tracing his limbs like a lit fuse. His synplants drew his awareness out into the station, into the whisper of leaves and the low hum of the machines, endlessly seeking. He had no solace to offer them, so he tried to sleep through it. Maybe inebriant would douse the burn; he’d have to find one, which meant leaving bed… but then, a walk might also help. The drink could keep him company on the return. There was a certain maudlin poetry to wandering with the ghosts of memory, anyway. He regretted his choices before he could finish the first bottle. The empty corridors echoed, even the ones with lush vine-planted walls, fully surrounded by sound-absorbent tiling. The unsteady sound of his steps reminded him of less lonely times; the chatter of more populated halls made him sad. His synplants cleansed the inebriant from his system faster than he could drink, so he diminished them, set a timer on his standard implant, and ducked into a maintenance corridor, heading for the lifts that would return him to his temp residence. He’d forgotten how many ghosts were in his head. He drank more. He passed through too many familiar places, muttering curses to himself about the council for bringing him to Orinus Station in the first place. He should have departed with Paradis, gone away to her fancy little moon, where he could wallow in heartbreak on a lakeside beach while she teased him about his lack of ambition. She’d have been careful not to remind him of anything—anyone—else. Three more nights until he left for Elysia, into the far reaches of the Outer Rings, away from the myriad reminders, the constant calling of what should have been, all of his aching regrets. He avoided the halls that would have taken him past Paradis’s private suites and the memories lying in wait for him there, and then he wandered past the next set of lifts, because it was what he and Jin had always done: long walks and quiet talks, so close their shoulders touched, their bell-clear, mesmerizing voice low and loving. He tried not to think about how much he missed them, and, failing that, tried not to think at all. He trudged along, hugging the shadows at the edges of the walkways, arms heavy at his sides, until it was late enough that he could reasonably hope to get a lift to himself, and he had some hope of sleeping. The only humans he’d passed in maintenance took no notice of him, which was the whole point of using the back ways. But they might make small talk if they found him alone in a lift car, or, stars forbid, they might ask if he was okay. And then what was he supposed to do? Cry on them? Tell them to mind their own business? Explain how he helped bring something like justice to a few long-forgotten synchronists and how much it took from him? Or should he ask if they’d seen a certain lithe, black-haired investigator for the Council of the Outer Rings anywhere nearby? His eyes burned from both the inebriant and the exhaustion and the constant threat of tears. He wanted to sleep until the transport to Elysia was ready. The bottle was empty, but he wasn’t ready to let it go; he thought he might sleep better with it nearby, just for company, even if the synplants wiped all traces of the inebriant from his system. He leaned against the rounded corner of the lift alcove, one heel against the wall to hold him steady, arms crossed over his chest, bottle dangling loosely from the fingers of his right hand. His luck almost held. Author Bio Lilian Zenzi writes science fiction and fantasy, sometimes with romance and usually in queer normative worlds. Genre agnostic as a writer and a reader, she likes to keep space for comfort, hope, and joy along with the kissing, conflict, and big ideas. She resents having to write a bio and would rather be in the garden or making art. Author Website: https://www.lilianzenzi.com Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093325026648 Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093193813533 Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilianzenzi/ 
 My snippet this week is from Electric Candle, book 2 of The Sleepless City Shared Universe. (Series cowritten with Anne Barwell)  Blair looked out the window as Forge navigated the streets. “What’s the network?” Forge snorted. “Something Lucas invented to be dramatic. There are a few people who are skilled in providing basic socially acceptable necessities for us vampires. As you pointed out, there are mundane things we need, like ID, which are problematic since everything now requires a photo.” “You use fake IDs? Isn’t that illegal?” “Technically, but it’s not like there’s another choice, and I’m not using them to steal or commit fraud, and neither are you. It’s also illegal to drive without having your driver’s license on you.” He shrugged. “And they’re not really fake. I’m still me, just much older than is recorded on many of my personal documents.” There are many more wonderful and diverse snippets in the Rainbow Snippets Facebook group. Electric Candle is available in eBook,
paperback and through Kindle Unlimited. 
Patricia J. Esposito has a new MM paranormal romance out: Beside the Darker Shore. And there's a giveaway. What might the ethical Governor David Gedden give up for one man's exquisite beauty? It's terrifying to consider when the man is a destructive blood prostitute and David is responsible for the state's peaceful vampire community. Blood sales in Boston are up, blood taxes support a thriving new nightlife, neighborhoods have been refurbished, and deaths by vampires have plummeted. David is assured reelection. However, the blood addict Stephen Salando has returned from exile with one unalterable plan: to turn the good governor into a vampire. Stephen is an immortal dhampir, whose beauty obliterates reason, who rouses in David a fierce desire he's ignored his whole life. But for David to have Stephen, he must ally with an ancient vampire, the community's seductive archnemesis. To have him, he must become a killer himself. Will David hold on to his ethical public life? Or will he follow what he most desires, a kiss with a killer to become a vampire himself? Universal Buy LinkGiveaway Patricia is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour. Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47307/? Excerpt
Wetness enveloped him. It was exhilarating, this deep lake submersion. David hadn’t been told about the effects of water. Here, in this water, he wasn't sure he even needed blood. He wasn’t sure he needed anything. He dove under and swam toward Stephen. His body cleanly cut the surface, and he emerged before the bound liveblood. Blood streamed from a gash in Stephen’s chest. The vampires dipped white fingers in his blood, licking them. No one had bitten him, and his eyes held none of the ecstasy of bloodletting. They stared darkly at David. "You’re an irresistible pleasure," David said. The black rock shone glassy, Stephen's skin a warm contrast. David placed his hand flat on the bloody chest. He sniffed Stephen’s neck, up his cheek. His hair was cold satin. Water lapped at Stephen’s chest, drinking him. One of the two vampires bit into Stephen’s arm, making him gasp. But still he didn’t drink. They were waiting. Cupping water, David raised it to Stephen’s face. "You’re moonlight caught in darkness, but see how it slips away." The water slid over his palm. “What are you sacrificing on these rocks?” Placing both palms on Stephen's chest again, David felt the hard cavern of chest bone, smoothed his hands over the satin skin to the round nipples shocked at the touch. He could take this body he desired, take it and leave it. This blood was promised to him. He heard Stephen’s heart beating warmly even in this cold water. “David,” he whispered. With that, David froze. His heart that had calmed in the water became erratic again. Stephen’s skin blurred like a warm brown sheath over David’s eyes. His throat closed, and the vampire laughter around him grew muffled, like he was underwater. One word, one plea from Stephen and David couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t look at those eyes, couldn’t say what he needed to say. Fear clenched his stomach. Stephen’s breath burned David’s cheek. Cold water slid between them. And then Stephen lunged forward, and David felt the pain of blunt teeth on his neck. Stephen grabbed hold of him, biting hard, ripping David’s skin. “No!” He shoved Stephen off. He didn’t have to do this. He wouldn’t be slave to this kind of need. The water had been healing; he’d felt at peace until seeing Stephen. David slammed Stephen back against the rock. His legs quivered in the water. He backed away, letting water rush between them, and then Elena broke through, turning the water electric. "Are you with me then?" she asked. “Can you see there is but one point to him?” David scraped his leg against sharp rock as he backed away; seaweed twisted around his feet. "No," Stephen said. David couldn’t look at those eyes that pleaded with him. Stephen had propelled him to this point, whether deliberately or not. How much more could he make David do? He had to leave. He had to stay far from Stephen. “David,” Stephen called, but his voice faltered. Pushing tendrils of wet hair from Stephen’s neck, Elena sunk her teeth into him. Then David did look up, as Stephen closed his eyes, as he succumbed to what he couldn’t resist. David’s chest hurt, as if his ribs and chest bone had turned to iron mail. Clouds drifted across the moon, and Stephen's face fell into shadows. He heard Stephen’s voice in his head, words he’d said three years ago, "Exile," he’d said back then. "When did you go into this exile?” Long ago. David turned away, but Arturo was there, blocking his way. “You leave so soon?” Hate bruised his usually welcoming eyes. “When the festival has just begun?" "Whatever you do to me, Arturo, I won't let you live through me or love through me. I've found where my joy and peace are." "In water, like Alexandros?" "Not like Alex. I need to kill, and the only way I can find peace with that is in solitary existence. I can't be both mortal human and vampire. Maybe Alex can’t stand to be anything but what he was, a human. I think I can only be a vampire. I don’t want human connections. Consider your fledgling a success as a vampire. That's all that's left for you." Arturo's hand slapped David’s chest in an icy brand. "No, that isn't all. You think you need the kill, but you know nothing of need if you can't love." Pain seared David’s chest, a raw burn that shuddered through him. Arturo had cut him. His hand slapped again, and another slice tore through to David’s ribs. The pain was silent in his throat, blocked by the rush of blood, his legs buckling. Blood poured. "You bleed," Arturo whispered. "You bleed into your healing water. Water loves blood. It will drain you." Around his waist, the water warmed and thickened. For a moment he thought how short-lived his vampire life had been, and then his body swayed with the pain. Author Bio
Patricia Esposito lives by the notion Luis Alberto Urrea once expressed: When the world is so dark and bloody, be brave enough to broadcast innocent joy. Dare to be naive. She has written edgy paranormal fiction for most of her life, but always finds beneath it a romantic heart. Her most recent fiction and poetry reflect that enduring quest for love and joy beneath the human struggle. Patricia has received honorable mentions in Ellen Datlow's Year's Best Fantasy and Horror collections, is a two-time winner of Rhino’s Reader=Writer award, and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. With a Master’s degree in English, she edits law books and textbooks for income and tries to keep up with a retired husband and enjoy time with her two adult daughters—when she’s not off exploring the intoxicating realms of the imagination and chasing muses. Beside the Darker Shore is her first full-length work of fiction. She welcomes the chance to meet other writers and readers through her website or Facebook page. Author Website:https://patriciaesposito.com Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100016701095244 Author Facebook (Author page): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553640405983 Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@PatriciaEsposito Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/november_drift/ Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5033647.Patricia_J_Esposito Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/patricia-j-esposito/ Liminal Fiction: https://www.limfic.com/book/beside-the-darker-shore/ Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Patricia-J.-Esposito/author/B005Y54YHQ
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