Today, K.S. Murphy is on a visit to talk about their story, Trust with Glittering Eyes. Welcome!

Happy Winter Solstice, everyone! And thank you, Ofelia, for having me! I’m here today to talk a little about my recent release, “Trust with Glittering Eyes”, the Yuletide follow-up to “Watch with Glittering Eyes”. 

When we last left Travis and Niko, the witch and cat-familiar had come face-to-face with the insidious shade haunting the White Stag Inn, miraculously survived the ordeal in one piece, and finally declared their love for one another. 

Today, they’re getting ready to celebrate the Yule together for the first time as a couple. Which is a little hard to do together when Niko’s been gone all day, leaving most of the preparations to Travis, not to mention having to play hospitable host to a most unexpected–and not exactly welcomed—guest. Some conversations with Niko may be in order later. That is, if Travis finds the courage to bring it up to him later. 

No better way to spend the Sabbat than with a few (cathartic) emotional breakdowns, reaffirmations of love, and comfort sex, right? 

So if you’re in the mood for something wintery and magical, I hope you’ll curl up with Travis and Niko to celebrate the Winter Solstice! And thanks again to the lovely Ofelia Grand for letting me ramble today! Happy Winter! 

Blurb:

Sequel to Watch with Glittering Eyes

Life has been going well for Travis Grayweaver recently. The Grand Council of High Magick hasn’t summoned him for anything. For a witch without a Guild, he’s still getting plenty of work. And best of all, he’s spent the last six months falling more and more in love with his best friend Niko, a rambunctious and playful cat familiar, who happens to love him back.

Tonight, they’ll be celebrating the Yule with lots of candlelight and a feast for two and a festival in town as they honor the start of winter and wait for the sun’s return. Only Niko’s been acting a bit off lately, obviously keeping something from Travis.

Travis is trying to be patient with him, but this thing from Niko’s past might be more than he can handle. Old demons and long-kept secrets will be revealed, but can the love they have for one another endure these revelations during the longest night of the year?

Excerpt:

Travis snorted and slid his hands down Niko’s back, cupping his backside and hoisting him up to plop him down on the counter. Landing with a kitten whine in the back of this throat, Niko dissolved into giggles and nuzzled the top of his head to Travis’s chest. Travis took a moment to pet behind those soft ears and then went back to cooking.

Still on the counter, Niko dipped his finger in the jar of cream for their sauce and sucked it off with an exaggerated popping noise. When he went to do it again, Travis slapped his hand away. This earned him a soft hiss and then a wrinkle of Niko’s nose and whiskers when Travis turned with lifted eyebrows.

“Okay, okay, no more cream.” Niko looked at everything set up in the kitchen. All the spices out of the cabinets and pots and pans and cauldrons. “Then what can I do?”

“You can sit there and look pretty.”

“Obviously,” Niko concurred. Travis snickered. “But I’ll be pretty no matter what, so tell me what to do.”

Whether or not Niko phrased it that way intentionally, Travis didn’t know. He did know that it shot through his entire body. Buzzed through him. Tingled in the air. He needed to take a deep breath to keep from pouncing on Niko.

“You can start on the baked apples,” Travis said. “I cored them earlier, so all you have to do is add the filling.”

Niko hopped down from the counter. Said, cheerfully, “I can do that,” and pulled the bowl of apples closer.

“You remember what the filling’s made from?”

Niko, clicking his tongue against the back of his teeth, rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Travis,” he answered with an indignant lift of his chin. “Three ingredients aren’t all that difficult to remember.”

“Yeah? What are they?”

“Sugar, cinnamon, and oats, thank you very much. And then we put them in the baking pan and … and … um …”

“Top with –“

“Butter! Top with butter, add water to the pan, bake for thirty minutes. Do you have any other questions for me?”

Smiling to himself, Travis shook his head as he stirred the cream into the pan.

“Not at the moment, no.”

“I thought not.”

Despite the disgruntled tone in his voice, Niko slid a little closer to where Travis stood. They worked in silence for a while. Travis was rather content with this. With sharing the silence with Niko when they needed no words. Even better than that, Niko’s tail lifted and brushed gently along Travis’s arm. Travis turned his gaze to him, but Niko, still paying attention to what he was doing, simply smiled. Heart skipping a beat as it tended to do whenever Niko smiled like that, like he was the luckiest person in the world, Travis had the urge to drop to his knees, wrap his arms around him, and thank him over and over for loving him.

“So,” Travis said while he worked on their side dishes. Mashed potatoes. Roasted vegetables and pecans. “What’d you do today?”

“Ah …” Niko hesitated. Then chuckled, awkwardly. Nervous, even. “I told you this morning. Cat stuff. Local gossip. Chatting with other familiars.”

Other familiars?

As far as Travis knew, the only other familiar in the area was Penelope, a vixen who lived on the other end of Kings County in the Eastern Woods with a witch named Keiko. Keiko was a renowned alchemist who made potions that people traveled from all over the country to buy.

She and Penelope would be at the festival later but Travis couldn’t really imagine Niko seeking Penelope out. Maybe for a quick meet-up of some kind, but not for an entire day. They didn’t not get along, really. It was more a clash of personalities. A cat and a fox didn’t always make for good company.

Before Travis could ask for any further details, Niko said, “Oh, wait until you see the marketplace. It’s really quite brilliant this year. Lanterns floating in the fountain and the street lamps filled with faery lights and sun sigils in the — what?” he asked when he noticed Travis staring at him. “Why’re you looking at me like that?”

“You…you saw the marketplace already?” Travis questioned, unable to keep the silly hurt out of his throat. “We always see it together.”

“O-oh. I … right.” Niko bit his lip like someone who hadn’t meant to say something. “I’m sorry, I was just … passing through it, that’s all. And, anyway, I didn’t see it all lit up or anything. So … but, what did you do all day?”

A question sat heavy on Travis’s tongue, coiling around it tight and painful. He badly wanted to ask it — to ask Niko what he’d really been up to today or what had been bothering him recently or which other familiars, if any, he spoke with earlier — but it remained there. Stuck. Locked. Afraid to come out into the open. Scared of what the answer might be.

Buy links:

Amazon :: JMS

Where to reach me: ksmurphyswords.wordpress.com, K.S. Murphy’s Books FB

Bio:

K.S. Murphy was born and raised in New York with their rather large Irish/Italian family always encouraging them to go for their dreams. Over the past decade+, they’ve been a cook, a professional cleaner, a teacher, a nurse, a chauffeur, a photographer, and a librarian for their two mini-humans. One of their favorite things about writing is creating a world that readers will want to see and touch and know more about. In their spare time, they enjoy superheroes, epic space adventures, magical worlds, happily ever afters, and thunderstorms.

Today, Alexa Piper is on a visit, and she’s here to share a little about The Night Bartender. Welcome, Alexa!

The Things We Wish For 

December is for wishes, whether it be gifts we desire or things we hope for in the next year. And sometimes, we are given things we never knew to wish for. 

Take Aaron for example. He seems to have everything a person could want: he’s good-looking, a powerful witch, and his family is rich. He goes to wintry Fairview to look for a missing girl. 

Then there’s Ilya. Ilya’s a bartender who likes his job. He’s also a banshee and mildly psychic, but he doesn’t tell people about that, because it makes him a target, desirable for his skill. 

These two men run into each other, and while the reason for their meeting isn’t a happy one, they do get something out of it: each other. But not without a fight. Not without a risk. Not without some on-page steam you don’t want to miss. 

Meet Aaron and Ilya this holiday season in The Night Bartender. 

Excerpt:

The Night Bartender (Fairview Chronicles 9)

Alexa Piper

All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2021 Alexa Piper

Aaron buried his hands in his coat pockets and gave the bleak Fairview midday sky a hard look. Not that the sky gave much of a damn. It was late November, just after the Thanksgiving weekend, and for most of the morning, it had sleeted in a way Aaron had never before experienced in his life. It was like a hot shower, except the cold, freezing water got all the way through to your skin and passed the cold to every inch of your body.

“Damn city just might be cursed with bad weather,” Aaron mumbled as he walked along a street in the Old Town, which should lead him to a bar friendly to the not-quite-human clientele if his online research skills hadn’t failed him. A deep black cloud caught his attention. It zapped across the horizon as if blown by a particularly vicious breeze. Aaron frowned before he picked up his pace. The sooner I’m done here, the sooner I can go back to Morrowvale where November doesn’t suck so bad your balls want to freeze off in surrender, he thought.

In all honesty, Fairview wasn’t a bad place. The city itself was nice enough. The parks and trees here littered the streets with the bones of leaves turning to sludge in the puddles left from the earlier sleet showers, and the people, while ignoring both other people and the suck-tastic weather, dressed a little nicer than the average Morrowvaler. Aaron had also never had Japanese food as good as he’d had an hour ago in a small, unassuming place he’d accidentally walked into, at least not outside Japan. That counted for something, at least in Aaron’s book.

Traffic was in what passed for a bit of a midday lull in Fairview. The honking had ebbed to a not-eardrum-shattering noise, and Aaron managed to cross the street without it feeling like he was gambling with his life.

The Ragdoll was a basement bar, and if Aaron hadn’t been looking for it, he probably would have missed the small neon sign that was either broken or just off this early in the day. A wrought-iron fence further hid the sign and the door, which lay at the bottom of a flight of stairs. This could be a private gambling den or the hideout of a bunch of Russian spies, Aaron thought.

He walked down the stairs and pulled the door open just as another sleet shower was getting ready to wash the streets and everyone walking outside with icy wetness. Aaron shivered as he crossed the threshold and blinked into the softly lit bar.

Last week’s Thanksgiving paper turkeys and fall-colored garlands were still up, though a busboy collected the decorations into a cardboard box labeled “Turkey Day” in black sharpie. There were no Russian spies and no gambling going on here.

Surprisingly, there were several patrons in the bar this early in the day. Aaron spotted a handful starting their day’s drinking early, but most nursed mugs of coffee or were digging into sandwiches which, admittedly, looked better than was right in a basement bar. Judging by their business suits, those were just office workers who knew where the good sandwiches were at. The music was pop, playing just loud enough to offer background noise without becoming obnoxious. This place, despite the outward appearance, looked hip, trendy even. Fucking Fairview. This city is as confusing as a clown at a dinner party, Aaron thought.

Aaron’s fingers closed around the talisman in his pocket. With his touch and the smallest pinch of magic, he felt the worked metal coin activate and the spell bound to it sizzle to life. Three people, including the strawberry-blonde girl behind the bar, whipped their head around to look at him. So, this place really is supernatural friendly, Aaron thought. The talisman heated rapidly in his pocket. And Dora definitely was here before she disappeared.

That confirmed, he let go of the talisman and walked straight to the bartender. The other two patrons who’d noticed his magic had gone back to ignoring him like the good Fairviewers they were.

“Hi,” Aaron said, giving the strawberry blonde his best winning smile. “What’s good here?”

She shrugged. “Depends on whether it’s drink-o’clock in your world or not. If not, the pumpkin spice latte kills. If yes, you look like a Macallan kind of guy.”

Aaron grinned at her. “You’d be right about the whiskey, but I think I’ll go with the latte,” he told her.

He was doing his best with the charming vibes, which usually worked even if he turned it on women, but the bartender just nodded and went about preparing his coffee. Aaron watched her, more interested in the fact that she was making coffee at a bar decked out with an impressive assortment of liquor than anything else. The coffee machine was one of those intimidating ones that took up some primo counter real estate, and from the looks of it, it saw some use.

When she was done, she brought the latte over to him and puffed a dash of cinnamon over the foamy top right in front of him. The warm scent of the spice immediately made Aaron feel just a little more optimistic about everything. The mug was the cutesy kind with a grinning, red-nosed reindeer on the side.

“There you go,” she said with little enthusiasm, though not exactly unfriendly.

“Thanks, miss,” Aaron said. Before she could walk away again, he focused on her instead of the latte. “Could I ask you something?”

“I’m guessing I’m not your type, so go right ahead,” she said.

Aaron’s eyes widened, and it was the girl’s turn to chuckle. “Half-succubus,” she said on a whisper. “The gay-dar is practically built-in.”

He nodded, fighting the color rising to his cheeks. “Right. Makes sense.” Aaron cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you’ve seen this girl,” he said and pulled the photo Patrick had given him from his pocket. It showed Dora smiling, her blond hair shimmering in the sun.

The half-succubus took a look, then shook her head. “No, sorry. Friend of yours?”

“My ex’s sister, believe it or not,” Aaron said. “She went missing, and I tracked her first to Fairview, and now here.” Aaron had the cellphone gods to thank for that. It made using his magic almost unnecessary, although Aaron still liked to confirm the actual person had been to a place, not just their phone, hence his talisman.

Blurb:

Aaron has come to Fairview to find his ex’s teenage sister, who went missing in the city. As a witch both rich and powerful, Aaron follows a trail that leads him to a bar frequented by supernaturals and to a bartender who attracts Aaron’s attention — and not just because the bartender is keeping something from Aaron. When Aaron runs out of leads, he follows the mysterious and pretty bartender, and the next thing Aaron knows, he’s foiling an attempted abduction.

Ilya has built a quiet life in Fairview mixing drinks and flying under the radar. He is a banshee, and the psychic ability and mild telepathy that comes with that makes Ilya a sought-after commodity. That carefully constructed life Ilya built for himself breaks into a thousand pieces when a handsome witch starts asking questions and becomes Ilya’s rescuer mere hours after they meet.

The witch, Aaron, vows to protect Ilya and to keep his secret. Now Ilya has to decide whether he will give Aaron his trust and risk a lonely but safe life as a night bartender in a wintry city in which people disappear only to then turn up murdered.

The Night Bartender (Fairview Chronicles 9)

Release Date: Nov 12, 2021

Ilya stays safe by trusting no one, but Aaron, a wealthy witch, makes Ilya a want to trust.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3DjlWNU

Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3wLbmwQ

Apple: https://apple.co/3Di9UEK

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3qQMsLh

Changeling Press: https://bit.ly/3HwmLpj

#paranormalromance #romancereaders #paranormalbook #mmromance #gayromance #urbanfantasy #standalone #witchromance #magic #mystery #holidayreading #holidayromance

About Alexa Piper:

Alexa Piper writes steamy romance that ranges from light to dark, from straight to queer. She’s also a coffee addict. Alexa loves writing stories that make her readers laugh and fall in love with the characters in them.

Connect with Alexa: https://linktr.ee/AlexaPiper