For the Love of Chequered Shirts

March 13, 2017February 12, 2019 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I don’t see myself as a romance author. I’m fully aware of writing romance. It isn’t that I sit down and write about to two people falling in love thinking I’m writing a thriller – I’m not that delusional…yet. But, if someone asks me what I write I usually say that I’m mostly writing speculative fiction, horror and weird and that my format of choice is flash fiction.

Nortown Therefore it’s really funny that my most read stories are about lumberjacks who live in a fictive village in the middle of nowhere. Nortown is where they fall in love, most often with other lumberjacks. And don’t get me wrong, I love writing these stories, but I do so with a giggle.

It all started during NaNoWriMo 2015. I wrote Once in a Snowstorm during the first half of November, cramming as many tropes and cliches into one single story as I possibly could. Debbie McGowan, my editor/publisher, then waved her magic wand, and in December Aiden including Tristan saw the light of day.

I never meant for it to be more than that. I didn’t have any plans of making it into series, but something about Nortown stayed with me, and not long after I started writing Once in a Forest.

Since Once in a Snowstorm, I’ve concentrated on a few tropes for each story instead of trying to get as many as possible in there, at least if we’re talking theme tropes. All those other about looks, top vs bottom etc are still there. But what we have so far is:

Once in a Snowstorm: A mishmash of every possible trope ever found, but with stranded (trapped in a snowstorm) being the main trope.
Once in a Forest: Out for You, Bottom for You.
Once in May: The Healing Power of Sperm.

And between them, we have Aiden and Tristan shorts, and they’re just about one thing really. The Empty Egg and Happy Endings are more about moans and groans than plot.

Tomorrow, it’s time for two new men to see the world. Chris, we’ve already met in the previous books, he is the guy standing by the checkout counter in Nortown’s only shop and then we have Gabe who was born simply to become the main character in Once in the Underworld. Gabe is in witness protection and is being hidden in Nortown. So to add tropes to the list:

Once in the Underworld: Fish out of Water, Beautiful all along (or ugly duckling or whatever you want to call it)

And of course, there’s a little short Aiden and Tristan following. Just Words is smut in the woods where only the birds will hear you moan LOL.

Both Once in the Underworld and Just words are up for pre-order, though tomorrow they’ll be up for real. You find them here:

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Friday Reads | The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard

February 3, 2017February 12, 2019 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

I’m continuing my smutty paranormal romance phase with The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard by Liv Rider. I’ll be completely honest and admit to almost dismissing this story due to the title, but then I read a review that said something along those lines and how glad the reader was that they hadn’t skipped it so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m not sorry!

It all starts with the expected vampire hates werewolves and werewolves hate vampires thing, and we have the fine-limbed bratty bottom and the burly top – not so clearly stated, but almost.

If you like your paranormal tropes this is a book for you. It has all you can wish for plus a good mystery plot. Without meaning to sound like a bitch I’m surprised by how much like it. I haven’t read anything by Liv Rider before but I’ll definitely keep an eye on her from now on. A quick glance told me she has two more stories out.

Check it out!

books2read.com/TheVampiresWerewolf *

What happens when an out-of-control werewolf is hired to guard his immortal enemy?

Simon Caley barely survived an assassin’s strike. The reclusive vampire trusts no one, but he’s still in danger, and the attack left him too weak to defend himself. He needs protection while he hunts for the mastermind behind the attack.

Cody Weston’s werewolf instincts make him a good bodyguard—but only if he can control his wolf. After an accidental shift on the job, he’s on probation, until his boss calls about a very unusual client.

Instincts and tempers flare when they meet, along with something unexpected: desire. Simon’s not just Cody’s fated enemy, he’s his fated mate too. Can the vampire and his werewolf bodyguard work past their differences and save each other, or will Cody lose control—and hurt the man he’s sworn to protect?

The Vampire’s Werewolf Bodyguard is a standalone M/M paranormal vampire/wolf shifter romance with no cliffhangers.

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Friday Reads | Thirteen: Part One

January 20, 2017February 12, 2019 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

OMG! I read Thirteen: Part One (The Others Project #2) by Adrienne Wilder and I had promised myself not to, not until Part Two was out. Why did I?! *wail* Well, I know why. I really liked Seven and have been waiting for the next part of the series for ages (feels like ages at least), and every time I’ve gone through my TBR list I’ve seen that green number there.

I’m not overly big on Sci-Fi, or rather this is my kind of Sci-Fi. I tend to avoid the first contact alien invasion kind of stories but books like this grab hold of me and never let go until there is nothing left to read.

So why wait to read this book? Because it ends right in the middle, and when I say right in the middle, I mean right in the middle. I don’t think there was a single chapter ending with such a cliffhanger as the book did. There was a silent NO! bouncing around in my head when I came to the last line of the page and it said ‘End Book One.’ So now I almost wish I hadn’t read it *sigh*

It was awesome, though. I love the grittiness of the world presented and I really hope there will be more Others books…soon.

books2read.com/Thirteen *

Book Two (part one) of the Other’s Project.

Quinn Farlin’s life just went from the frying pan into the fire.

All because he made one stupid mistake: he fell in love. Then he was left behind by the love of his life as payment for her freedom. Now Quinn lives as a slave to the Kent Family Empire; counterfeiting, money, paintings, rare coins, and anything else to keep his knees intact and his heart beating.

There seems to be no way out until one night a fireball falls from the sky and a mysterious voice on the phone saves his life. All the stranger asks in return is help for friend.

A friend with scars down his spine. A tattoo of the number 13 on the back of his neck. A friend who upon meeting Quinn can read his mind and watches him with adoration.

And while Quinn is convinced he’s still in love with the woman who left him, his heart has other plans.

Now it’s just a matter of staying alive; a task easier said than done, since nothing is what it seems to be, and the world he’s always known just fell down the rabbit hole.

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.