Stay Sane During the Social Isolation

March 21, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Are you wondering how you will endure the isolation? Some of us are doing pretty well with it, some are going stir crazy. These last few days, I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media about how extroverts are suffering – I get that. Had the recommendations been the opposite and we were forced to stay in crowds at all times, I’d be a wreck by now.

But as long as you have access to the internet, the world isn’t that far away. So drag some people together and have an online party. It can be one where you open a bottle of wine and chat away with your closest friends or a more (sober) public one.

Join an Online Party

magazines If you feel that you need some social interaction, hop on over to M/M Book Rec on Facebook. They’re celebrating hitting 10.000 members and right now there’s a 10 Days of Giveaways Event running. 100 authors and other people in the business post a little something about themselves and do a giveaway where you are to comment with either an image, a recommendation, or something else. All giveaways run to the 30th of March so you can jump in on them all the way up till then.

I will run a giveaway on the 28th.

Read

Every author I know is trying to do something to help take the mind off the virus and the financial worry many are dealing with right now. It’s not easy, but reading helps you escape reality for a while, so stock up on books.

This week over 60 titles are free over JMS-Books so you still have a couple of days to grab those you find interesting. My contribution is Nine Stones, and you can get it here. And while you’re over at JMS, scroll down to the bottom and sign up for their newsletter. There will be a time after the virus where books still will be released, and by signing up, you’ll get the latest news.

Form yesterday and all the way up to April 20th, Smashwords is having an Authors Give Back Sale. You can get books for 30% off, 60% off, and some will be free. Here are links to my books that are in the sale:

Do a Reading Challenge

I like reading challenges. If you do too, you can find loads of them in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group, or you can join me in an A – Z Title challenge or why not Read a Rainbow where you pick books by the colour of their covers.

I’m a Pinterest kind of girl, so I’ve made a board called Read a Rainbow where I’ve sorted books by the colour of their cover. I also have boards for Titles and Character Names (if you want to do an A – Z Character Name Challenge).

So those are my suggestions, and yes I do realise they’re all book-related, but what did you expect? LOL

Or, you can do what I do right now, and plan your garden (if you have one) because like Marcus Tullius Cicero said:

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

A – Z | Landslide

March 16, 2020March 13, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 16 Comments

This was just what I needed! I got Landslide by Mary Calmes from a giveaway not too long ago. Every now and then I need me a Calmes fix, so I was snuggling up on the sofa with a glass of wine, and got ready to be swept away. Yes, you know what you get when reading Mary Calmes, but isn’t that sort of the point?

But, while this is typical Calmes with the big, strong, alpha male with a need to protect the man he loves, the other man in this story isn’t a copy of Jory from A Matter of Time. Frank is overweight and struggling with it, and people aren’t falling to their knees to worship him. No, he’s just a normal guy… well, almost. He’s a courier for the paranormal, friends with a werewolf, and in love with a demon, so not so normal.

I love the opening scene. Frank has been hurt and is bleeding, a lot. Cael, the demon who loves him, is standing on the other side of the front door trying to talk Frank into letting him in – he doesn’t.

Demons, can’t say I’ve ever been a fan. I’ve read a few M/F books (Lords of the Underworld, Demonica, some Jeaniene Frost books with demons), but I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and searched for a demon book the way I do with vampires, werewolves, magic users or whatever else I might fancy reading. I liked Cael, though. Always fun when a superior guy who can have everything he wants get frustrated.

This is a rather short story, and you can get it through Prolific Works, at least you could last time I checked.

Landslide For three years, paranormal courier Frank Corrigan has been working for incubus demon Cael Berith. Cael knows Frank is his mate, but Frank is pretty sure Cael doesn’t even like him, never mind want to spend the rest of his life with him, so their personal relationship is at an impasse. When Frank’s sister, Lindsey, gets bitten by a werewolf she’s sleeping with—and possibly witnesses a murder—Frank rides to her rescue. If he’s lucky, he might just save his love life too.

A-Z Title Challenge 2020

A – All I See

B – Bearly Dating

C – Champagne Kisses

G – A Gentle Shove of Human Kindness

H – Howl

I – I Will Meet You at Asphodel’s Pit

L – Landslide

P – Purrfect Harmony

W – Words

A – Z |Bearly Dating

March 12, 2020March 11, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 21 Comments

I used to do a lot of reading challenges in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. I’ve done A-Z challenges for titles, characters, and cover hunts, the Whips and Kisses game, the Shelfaton, the Around the Country in 50 Books Challenge, and probably some more I can’t remember.

It’s all great fun, and I get a bit manic when I can cross things off a list (For my everyday life I use Habitica.com, check it out if you like crossing things off a list LOL), but the more time I spend writing, the less time I spend reading. That’s not quite true, I still have periods when I read a lot, but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to.

So, I figured I’d do me an A-Z Title Challenge so I get to read and check thing off – two of my favourite things LOL.

For B, I’ve read Bearly Dating by Calandra Hunter. I was in the mood for some bear shifters. I wrote a bear shifter story, so now I figured I’d read one.

Jonathan is a bear shifter who doesn’t want to shift. He has the most annoying family, constantly pestering him about finding a mate and moving back home so he can be closer to other shifters. When Jonathan’s grandparents’ wedding anniversary comes up, he gets the brilliant idea of going with a fake boyfriend.

Eric recently broke up with his cheating ex so when his friend asks a favour – for him to play her boss’ boyfriend for a weekend – he says yes, thinking he could use a weekend to get away.

As often is with fake boyfriend stories, the attraction between the two grows, and when something happens that forces Jonathan to shift, things change forever.

Bearly Dating isn’t a story filled with surprises, but that’s okay. Shifters and pretend boyfriends, how else could it have turned out? I wanted to strangle Jonathan’s mother, though. So annoying LOL.

books2read.com/BearlyDating

Bearly Dating Jonathan Goddard is a bear shifter with three problems: 1, he doesn’t like shifting and has ignored his bear for years. 2, his family is pushing him to find a partner and settle down. 3, he’s just lied to his overbearing mother that he’s bringing a boyfriend to his grandparents’ wedding anniversary to stop her from setting him up with random guys. The solution? Bring a fake boyfriend and pretend to be in relationship for one weekend, then go back to his happy, single, bear-free life.

Eric Warden has recently broken up with his cheating ex-boyfriend, and a weekend of pretending to be someone else sounds like the perfect distraction from his heartbreak. Pretending to be the boyfriend of a fun, attractive guy like Jonathan will be easy — so long as Eric can ignore his growing, genuine attraction to the other man.

From the moment Jonathan meets Eric, he starts to wonder if maybe they could have more together than just one weekend. But first, he’ll have to deal with his bear who doesn’t want to be ignored any longer and a family that’s already planning their wedding.

Surrounded by dozens of nosy family members, a terrible thunderstorm and an aggressive inner bear, can Jonathan and Eric find a future together, or will they only be bear-ly dating?

This is a 45000 word stand alone bear shifter romance. No cliffhangers.