Delilah Devlin's Blog, page 36

Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Mary Church Terrell – Lifting As She Climbed (Contest + Excerpt)

Mary Eliza Church was born September 23, 1863, to a family of the Memphis, Tennessee, Black elite. Her father, Robert Reed Church, one of the first African American millionaires, made his fortune in real estate. Her mother, Louisa Ayres, was entrepreneurial too, running a beauty salon. Former slaves, Mary’s parents never let society tell them what they could do. Neither did their daughter. Mary chose the four-year gentlemen’s course at Oberlin College and became one of the first African American women to earn a Bachelor of Arts in 1884 and then a Master’s degree in 1888 as did Anna Julia Cooper (whom I blogged about here on April 27, 2022) with whom she remained lifelong comrades in the struggle for women’s rights and racial justice.

After graduating from Oberlin, Mary taught at Wilberforce University for two years before moving to Washington, D.C., to teach Latin. There, she married Robert Terrell in 1891. They had five children. Becoming married forced her to leave her teaching job, but she heeded the advice of Frederick Douglass to remain active in the fight for African American equality.

She was instrumental in founding several civic clubs and national associations dedicated to uplifting the race: the Colored Women’s League (CWL) in 1892, the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) in 1896, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909, the College Alumnae Club (now the National Association of University Women) in 1910, and the Delta Sigma Theta sorority in 1913-1914.

As an educator, she championed education as the way up and out of the double-yoke oppression of being African American and a woman. Through the CWL in Washington D.C., she started a training program and a kindergarten before any were started in the public school system. She continued this work by founding daycares and kindergartens through the NACW. As a journalist, she wrote articles exposing the lies of lynching, just like Ida B Wells Barnett, with whom she worked. Both women had close friends who were lynched because their businesses were successful. As a suffragist, she challenged white women to recognize the vote was not the be-all and end-all for African American women. As a boots-on-the-ground activist, she fought segregation and racism through boycotts, sit-ins, picketing, and lawsuits. In 1950, aged 87, she sued a Washington D.C. restaurant for refusing her service due to her race. The Supreme Court ruled in her favor in 1953.

Whenever the doom and gloom of today’s naysayers stink up the air, I turn aside and inhale the rich odors of the history left behind by Mary Eliza Church Terrell. Until her dying day, July 24, 1954, at age 90, she lived the motto of the NACW, “Lifting as we climb.” Here’s a PBS’ Unladylike 2020 video about Mary: https://www.pbs.org/video/she-was-civil-rights-activist-and-co-founder-naacp-q3ypkj/

For a chance at a $10 Amazon gift card, share what you find inspiring about Mary or some woman you’ve learned about who inspires you to lift while you climb.

“Her Heavenly Phantom” by Michal Scott
Secret Identities: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology

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Forced into a marriage of convenience neither wants, a mild-mannered banker with an intriguing secret discovers his reluctant bride has a secret, too.

Excerpt from “Her Heavenly Phantom”…

“Thought your bride might accompany you tonight.”

Harold adjusted the folds of black silk attached to the brim of his hat. “Don’t be ridiculous. She knows nothing about my secret life on the stage.”

“How do you plan to keep her in the dark? Won’t she be concerned where you go at night?”

“My marriage of convenience is just that. She doesn’t want to know anything about me. I want to know as little about her.” He adjusted the fit of the face mask that covered all of his face above his nose. “What’s my itinerary?”

“You’ll have off until Easter then you head for a three-week engagement in Philadelphia then to upstate New York for another three weeks in Buffalo before returning for your farewell engagement here.” Michael shook his head. “Pity you had to marry. I will sorely miss our lucrative partnership.”

Harold scanned his dressing room table. “Speaking of missing.”

“You won’t find a letter tonight,” Michael said.

A pang throbbed in Harold’s chest. Where was the air in this damned room? “What do you mean?”

“Your lady of the balcony only just arrived at intermission. Maybe she’ll leave you one when you return.” Michael closed the calendar and stood. “I wonder why she lurks behind that Mardi Gras mask of hers.”

“The manager of The Phantom doesn’t understand that his client isn’t the only one who needs to hide his identity from the outside world?”

The post Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Mary Church Terrell – Lifting As She Climbed (Contest + Excerpt) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

IGNITION canceled…for now

I’m poking my head in the door today to let you know that I’ve canceled the release of Ignition. I had hoped I’d be able to finish the final chapters and get it ready for release on October 1st, but that just wasn’t in the cards. I’m going to take that pressure off myself. For those looking forward to the release, I apologize. I’m hoping as I go through this journey that, I’ll be able and well enough to pick right up where I left off one day, but I think this entire process has been a bit of a wake-up call for me. I’ve worked hard for over twenty years. I have a backlist of books that readers can hopefully discover. I’ll continue being here, online, promoting other author-friends’ new work, and playing games, because I enjoy these things. I love the connection. I love seeing old friends pop into my comments. I’m still here, but new books won’t be coming anytime soon.

Happy reading! Love, Delilah

The post IGNITION canceled…for now first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

What does this mean to you? (Contest)

Clothing and courage have much to do with each other. ~ Sara Jeannette Duncan

I’m a quotes girl. I love affirmations and pithy sayings. I collect books of them. Every now and then, I open one to a random page, seeking inspiration. I opened one of the books to a random page today. This quote, I didn’t understand at first glance.

So, I looked up Sara JD. She was a female journalist in the late 1800s. Then she wrote popular novels that often contained bits about politics and societal norms, so maybe the quote meant something to her in her journey toward self-fulfillment as a writer and observer moving around in a more privileged set.

I read the quote and think about how my attitude toward clothing has changed for me. I had very little fashion courage as a grown woman. I dressed according to trends when in public. Being in the military for so long, wearing uniforms, took any fashion decisions away from me, and I really didn’t mind one bit. When I entered the corporate and academic worlds, I dressed according to those norms.

Not until I became an author did I dress a bit more flamboyantly—but only sparingly, mostly at conferences—because I grew used to being out of the public eye for long stints and dressed for comfort when at home.

These days, comfort is the only priority for me. At home, I wear loose, soft nightgowns. I want nothing cinching my waist where I imagine (perhaps) I can feel the cancer crowding my organs. When I go out, mostly to medical appointments, I wear the loosest shorts or joggers, usually in a size too large, so that I can pull the stretch waistband high above those organs. When I go to chemo appointments, I know I’ll be there for hours and hours, so it’s joggers and a spaghetti-strapped tank to give the medical personnel easy access to my port. I add a zip-up hoodie. And, of course, I add a pop of color—the loudest, most attention-grabbing chemo turban I have. It’s a middle finger to my cancer and to anyone who looks with pity at my bald head. I don’t need pity; I’d rather get a smile.

So, back to the quote. Does it mean something to you? Comment for a chance to win your choice of a download of any one of my books. 

The post What does this mean to you? (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

N.J. Walters: It’s Time to be Tempted by the Black Wolf (Excerpt)

I’m excited that Tempting the Black Wolf, the final book in the Lone Wolf Legacy series is now available. You’ve met the white and gray wolves in the first two books of the series—Taming the White Wolf and Protecting the Gray Wolf. Now, it’s time to meet the black wolf.

Tempting the Black Wolf
Lone Wolf Legacy, Book 3

I am an immortal predator, driven to hunt and protect the wolf packs from danger—especially rogue wolves. This destiny is my blood, my bone. My will.

There are two other lone wolves—one grey, one white—but I am the strongest. The most powerful. And we all share an enemy, who set a trap for each of us: a woman with our coloring, who will draw us into danger, and make our wolves howl with need.

But I won’t give into lust or passion.

I already know the face of the woman who is my supposed bait: a stunning and powerful mage named Onyx. We’ve been circling each other, wary, fueled by deeply intense attraction and fierce distrust.

But the enemy of my enemy is my ally…for now. It’s a brief truce, laced with raw, primal hunger.

Because when this is over—if we survive—we’ll have to go head-to-head one last time.

And I never lose.

An excerpt from Tempted by the Black Wolf…

The alarms and security cameras in the castle were no deterrent. As a mage, it was minor magic for her to disrupt them, but she hadn’t had to make the effort. They’d been down when she arrived. He’d beaten her here. She prayed he didn’t have the exact location of the journal.

Going as fast as she dared, she whipped down the hallway, staying near the walls when possible, doing her best to avoid the glow from the dim security lights. No need to make herself a bigger target than necessary.

The black wolf might kill her on sight or he might not. There was no way to determine his course of action, and she didn’t want to risk it. A battle between them would not be a quiet affair and would attract attention, something she desperately wanted to avoid.

Slamming her back against the wall, she closed her eyes and lowered her head, pulling in every vestige of her magic until there was a void, a dead space around her.

“You may as well come out.” The deep masculine voice penetrated the very cells of her body, demanding that she obey.

Digging her nails into her palms, Onyx fought the compulsion. She wasn’t ready to meet him face-to-face. Already her blood was humming and she was beginning to sweat.

“You’re stealthier than most, I’ll give you that, but I’m better.” No conceit, simply a deep understanding of who and what he was.

You can do this. There really wasn’t any other choice. If she tried to run, he’d be on her in a heartbeat like the predator he was. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the room. The library with its floor to ceiling shelves filled with priceless and rare tomes took a backseat to the man standing in front of the stone fireplace.

At almost seven feet tall, Dagen Kern was an intimidating sight. His jet black eyes tracked her from head to toe, missing nothing. She fought the urge to shuffle her feet and instead met his assessing gaze with one of her own, conveying a sense of detachment that was a lie. His black hair fell to his shoulders in a silky curtain that tempted a woman to run her fingers through it to see if it was as soft as it appeared. A long-sleeved black shirt was snug against muscular arms and broad shoulders. Black pants and boots completed his ensemble. They were dressed almost identically. She’d added a cape for extra protection against the chilly winter air and had shoved her distinctive red and black hair under a knitted cap.

“So you’re the tool destined to bring me to my knees.” His cynical smile chilled her blood. He’d already judged her and found her wanting. It stung deeper than she’d anticipated, stabbing vulnerable and tender spots inside her. She swallowed back the sense of inadequacy, of never being good enough. This was not the time to fall back into old habits. She’d worked too damn hard for her independence. She was nobody’s victim but a strong mage in her own right.

Tilting her chin up, she gave a curt not. “You know I am.”

Want to read more? Find Tempting the Black Wolf here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDJCJJG7/
Entangled Publishing: https://www.entangledpublishing.com/books/tempting-the-black-wolf
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tempting-the-black-wolf-n-j-walters/1146192600
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/tempting-the-black-wolf
iBooks: https://books.apple.com/us/book/tempting-the-black-wolf/id6642709646

Taming the White Wolf and Protecting the Gray Wolf are also available:
Series Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTKCDR77/

About the Author

N.J. Walters is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, assassins, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Visit her at:
Website: http://www.njwalters.com
Blog: http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/gdblg5
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/N.J.WaltersAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/njwaltersauthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/NJWalters
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/author/njwalters
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/n-j-walters

The post N.J. Walters: It’s Time to be Tempted by the Black Wolf (Excerpt) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

Report Card & Open Contests!

Report Card

Last week…

Last week was Chemo Week, beginning with the infusions on Monday. It hit me hard midweek, lingering through Saturday. All the usual symptoms: chemo flush, muscle and joint aches, difficulty sleeping, overall weakness, etc. Very uncomfortable. However, this time, depression did not set in. I medicated as minimally as I could and waited it out, working in short spurts in the mornings before throwing in the towel to rest. I feel like I napped the week away, which is a strategy, I guess. Once Upon a Legend , my Western novella, released this week! I hope you all picked up a copy!I worked on edits for one author and completed them.My daughter, the girls, and my SIL continue to be the best support I could ask for. They wait on me hand and foot when I need it, and encourage me to move when I need that nudge. I really am very, very lucky to have them.

This next week…

This week I only have to see my chemo clinic team once for a blood draw and a white blood cell booster shot. Yay!I have to wrap up Ignition . It’s the fourth and last book in the Delta Fire series. I moved the release date to October 1st. I hope I’ll have the energy to create, otherwise, I’ll have to cancel the release. It’s just two, maybe three chapters, but that feels like too much right now.I’m working on an editing project for one author this week.Open Contests

Be sure to check out these posts and enter to win the prizes that are still up for grabs!

Tell me a story: Sweet dreams are made of these… (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!Report Card, Open Contests, and a Puzzle Contest! — This one ends soon!  Win an Amazon gift card!Gabbi Grey: The Paranormal Story I’ve Always Wanted to Tell (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!Just a quick update and a Word Puzzle! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Are you ready for hot cocoa season? — Win an Amazon gift card!The post Report Card & Open Contests! first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Are you ready for hot cocoa season?

I’m finally exiting Chemo Week Hell. I had seven hours of sleep last night and woke feeling weak but not uncomfortable or hurting. Yay. Today, I’ll use every excuse to get up and move around to get my legs feeling stronger. Gosh, I’ll even shower. Just kidding. I do shower.

Today’s Puzzle Day! And what’s on my mind? Well, the weather. Here we are at the beginning of Fall, and yesterday, the temperature here in Arkansas was 95 degrees. Today, it’s supposed to get to 96.

I’m sorry. Pool season is over. It’s time for sweaters and hot chocolate. In fact, I’m making a grocery list and adding hot cocoa to it because it’s one of those things I love having during cooler weather.

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift certificate, tell me what you enjoy eating or imbibing when Fall weather truly arrives!

The post Saturday Puzzle-Contest: Are you ready for hot cocoa season? first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

Cecilia Tan: Bi Representation in Romance — Do’s and Don’ts

So you might be wondering, why is “Bisexual Day of Visibility” (Sept. 23) is a big deal? The short answer is that invisibility is actually a problem for bisexuals like me and for bisexual characters in my books. If you really believe “love is love,” that means everyone deserves a happily-ever-after, but bisexuals (and pansexuals) are often overlooked, ignored, or forgotten. To fight that, we have to find positive ways to include and represent bi characters.

Bisexuality typically means a person could be attracted to any gender. But when we are seen with an opposite-sex partner, people assume we’re straight, and when we’re with a same-sex partner, people assume we’re gay or lesbian. In real life, unless you’re literally in the midst of a threesome, or wearing a T-shirt that says “No One Knows I’m Bisexual,” no one knows you’re bisexual.

Even after you’ve told people, they’ll often “forget.” I’ve been a bi activist for over 30 years, I’ve been published in Best Bisexual Erotica and Best Bi Short Stories, and I’ve won a Bisexual Book Award, and people I’ve known for decades will still forget I’m bi, because if people aren’t given constant reminders, the weight of binary assumptions (“everyone is gay or straight”) exerts a gravitational force on people’s perceptions.

Same goes for fictional bisexuals. My policy in my books is that every character is bisexual unless proven otherwise, but sometimes the subject just doesn’t come up. I sometimes try to make it obvious. For example, I once wrote a bisexual rock star hero who was obviously based on David Bowie, who mentions a male ex-lover at one point, and who drops various other hints, but I am certain that most readers never thought of him as anything but het. This was the hero of probably my best-known book, James in Slow Surrender. I thought James being bi was obvious, but apparently, I was too subtle.

Karina, James’s submissive, is also bi, she’s just inexperienced. Slow Surrender really delves into the development of the erotic relationship between the two of them. While I was writing the book, a scene just for the sake of splashing their bisexual identities on the page felt like a side trip. But if I were going to rewrite that book today, I would have probably included a scene to make their bi natures more visible. Maybe at a play party where they get together with another couple?

Sometimes even a foursome isn’t enough, though! There’s a scene in Magic University, my “grown up” magic school series, where our hero and his then-girlfriend end up in a foursome with two other students. A fanfic writer pointed out to me when that book came out, though, that Kyle and the other guy in the scene are not described touching each other or kissing. That was totally an unintentional omission on my part (it’s a short scene). I didn’t think Kyle’s bisexuality was in question, but apparently, some readers felt that him declaring in book two that he could meet the bisexuality prerequisite for majoring in sex magic wasn’t enough “proof.” (Um, no spoilers, but… books three and four do eventually provide plenty of proof!)

So, what can you do to try to prevent bi erasure and bi invisibility in your book? Here are a few suggestions for do’s and don’ts.

Do use the “b word” at some point early in the character’s arc. I probably should have argued for the word “bisexual” to actually be included in Slow Surrender somewhere—at the time, my editor had said they tried to avoid “label words” in their romances. (Then again, this editor also didn’t want me to ever use the word “crotch”…? Is there something wrong with that word that I don’t know?) If not “bisexual,” then at least use “bi.”

Second, when a character reminisces about old relationships, have at least one of those relationships be the “proof”—especially if that relationship is remembered fondly! You don’t want it to seem like they had a bad experience and this is why now they are looking for the opposite. You risk it seeming like they think bisexuality was a mistake that they are going to “fix” with their current love interest. That wouldn’t be “good” representation. This also might make it seem like they had a “bi phase” that is over now. Unfortunately, “it’s just a phase” is one of the popular myths about bisexuality we need to fight.

Third, when the love interest hears about a previous bi relationship, have it be no big deal. I know, I know, you’d think it would be more “memorable” if they flip out about it, but again, the goal is to have healthy and positive representations of bisexuality and bi characters. I do not think it’s a positive thing if their love interest has to “get over” them being bi.

Definitely DON’T decide to demonstrate that a character is bi by having them cheat. That’s another one of those dangerous stereotypes. Bisexuals do NOT actually cheat any more often than monosexuals, but the myth persists. Don’t fall into that cliché. Related to that cliché is the “anything that moves” stereotype bisexual/pansexual. (Think Captain Jack Harkness.) I’ve written plenty of this type of bi, but they’re not typical. Probably the one with the most depth is Ziggy, the lead singer in Daron’s Guitar Chronicles, who has a lot of inappropriate sex with all kinds of people. He is a rock star, after all. Ultimately what Ziggy comes to learn, though, is that sex and love are not the same… and that’s a key thing to keep in mind when writing bi characters in a romance.

One other don’t: just because your bi character ultimately settles down in a monogamous relationship doesn’t change them from bi to gay or straight. They’re still bi! They don’t get “converted” to being monosexual just because they are monogamous. Sexual identity is about who people are, not what people do.

Thanks for reading my tips for Bisexual Visibility Day! If you have recommendations of books that have positive representations of bi characters in them, I’d love to hear wh at they are!

About the Author

Cecilia Tan is an award-winning writer of passionate fiction, romance, and erotica. She has written over 30 novels, including the Magic University series, the collection Black Feathers, and many other books. She was inducted into the LGBT Writers and Editors Hall of Fame in 2010. RT Book Reviews awarded her Career Achievement in Erotic Romance in 2015 and her novel Slow Surrender (Hachette/Forever, 2013) won RT Reviewers Choice and the Maggie Award.

LINKS to books mentioned:

Slow Surrender

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/1960/9781455529278
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dlg6h2

Magic University

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/1960/9781626011175
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yB9HiM

Daron’s Guitar Chronicles

Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/a/1960/9781963897012
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3yEiEYD

The post Cecilia Tan: Bi Representation in Romance — Do’s and Don’ts first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

Just a quick update and a Word Puzzle! (Contest)

Just popping in to say hi! This is chemo week, so I’m keeping it lowkey. Monday was boring, but not awful, waiting six hours for all the medicine to flow through my brand-new port into my body. The aftereffects started like they did the last time with the “chemo flush” (red face and neck) Tuesday afternoon. I took Pepcid and Benadryl to combat the reaction. In the middle of the night, the muscle and joint aches began. This time it wasn’t as bad because I have new medicine to help me sleep through some of it. Rest is key! Today, the aches continue, but I expect them to abate later tonight and for every day going forward to be a little better. There is a rhythm.

Unlike my last chemo week, I have been able to get some work done, in spurts. I’m happy about that. And I’ve spent more time with family rather than holed up in bed. I’m not comfortable, but I do find happiness in just listening to their noise and joy. My family is loud and boisterous, and it’s impossible not to enjoy and soak up the energy.

Trying to find a theme for today’s puzzle was tough until I glanced around my desk and realized I have seven candles scattered around the top of it. There are more in my bedroom. Most have floral or fruity scents. My daughter likes the ones that smell like baked goods. The 20-year-old likes fresh, grassy scents. Everyone likes different scents whether it’s a candle, a cleanser, or just the smell of fresh-cut grass… But let’s go with candle scents today for a theme. I don’t want to think too much. LOL

Solve the puzzle for a chance to exercise your gray matter, then tell me what sorts of scents you like in your home for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card.

 

The post Just a quick update and a Word Puzzle! (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

Gabbi Grey: The Paranormal Story I’ve Always Wanted to Tell (Contest)

Hello Delilah!  Thank you for welcoming me here today to talk about my new project.  Another anthology!  I have to say I hesitated when this one came up.  I don’t write a lot of paranormal stories, and this anthology was a shifter reality show.

I was like…HUH? What the hell do I know about shifters and reality shows?

But then the idea came to me and I knew what I wanted to write.  A lesbian owl shifter dating show paranormal romance.  Yep, you read that correctly.

Pretty soon I had the contours of a story.  A producer of a lesbian dating show discovers her best friend is up to no good.  The friend has submitted the producer’s ex-girlfriend to be on the show and the ex has agreed.  The producer’s confused because her best friend was the one who broke them up in the first place. Now it appears she’s trying to get them back together.

The other problem?  Humans aren’t supposed to know about shifters and certainly shifters aren’t allowed to have relationships with humans.

Okay, so plenty of conflict.  And also, lots of fun.  I turned my dating show into a bachelorette with a group of women vying for her attention.  I set the story in my favorite city of Vancouver, and I had an absolute blast writing it.  I’m really hoping readers will connect with Gillian and Tabbitha.

Thank you for hosting me today and letting me share my new release.  It’s in an anthology with ten other great shifter reality show stories.  They run the entire gamut, so I hope romance fans will check them out. Shifting Love is available from Amazon and Kindle Unlimited for a limited time.  As a thank you for hosting me, I’m happy to give a $5 Amazon gift card to a luck commenter.  Just answer—what animal do you want to see as a shifter?  Let me know in the comments and random will pick a winner!

Shifting Love

Lights, Camera, Shift. Oh, you sexy beast. Sparks (and maybe fur) fly when you mix the drama and competition of reality television with sexy shifters. Whether they are racing toward love, baking their hearts out, or surviving being stuck with the competition, you’re going to want to tune in and watch what happens!

Find out more in this spicy PNR collection containing exciting stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by The New Romance Café.

Authors:
Serafina Jax
Lisabel Chretien
Aurelia Foxx
Robin O’Connor
Suki McMinn
Gabbi Grey
Sabrina Silvers
Jade Thorn
Minda Knight
Harper Michaels
Kataya Moon

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2024shiftinglove
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Shifting-Love-Paranormal-Shifter-Collection-ebook/dp/B0CXY8H9K3
Add it to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218644534-shifting-love

 

About Gabbi’s Story inside Shifting Love—Finding Love in the Right Places by Gabbi Grey…

Tabitha

As the executive producer of a lesbian bachelorette reality-television show, I sometimes select contestants. My best friend submits my ex-girlfriend, Gillian, as a candidate to win the bachelorette’s hand. If I pick her, she might have the opportunity to find love. If I don’t, then I’ll never get to say a proper goodbye. As an owl shifter, I can never be with a human, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting Gillian with all my soul. She deserves to find true love and happiness, and it kills me the love can’t be mine.

Gillian

When I’m selected for Love in All the Right Places, I’m confused. My ex-girlfriend, Tabitha, is in charge of the production, and I can’t figure out why she would choose me. As nice as the bachelorette seems to be, it’s not her I really want. If I had my way, I’d pick Tabitha and we’d sail away into the sunset. But she has secrets that broke us apart before, and I’m terrified those secrets won’t allow us a second chance.

Love in All the Right Places is a 15k shifter paranormal lesbian story set on a reality show with a human, an owl shifter, and her lioness best friend.

About Gabbi Grey

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

The post Gabbi Grey: The Paranormal Story I’ve Always Wanted to Tell (Contest) first appeared on Delilah Devlin.

NEW RELEASE! ONCE UPON A LEGEND is here! FREE in KU! (Read an EXCERPT!)

A long, long time ago, I published a novella inside an anthology called Wild, Wild Women of the West II with Kensington Publishing. Well, I have the rights back to that story, so I’m offering it here, knowing that likely very few of you have ever read it! It’s fun and sexy. Very sexy, so be warned. Prudence is my favorite kind of heroine—too smart and curious for her own good. He’s my favorite kind of hero—brave and bemused when he meets the heroine. I think you’ll enjoy it! Happy reading! ~DD

When budding dime novelist Prudence Vogel travels west to meet legendary lawman Jake White Eagle, she discovers he really is the tall, handsome hero of her novel. Flustered and out of her element, Prudence is determined to shadow the handsome sheriff to lend authenticity to her next story.

While Jake certainly finds Prudence attractive, her constant presence is distracting. When things she has written seem to be coming true, he decides to get closer to see whether she’s involved in the criminal activities her story has foreseen.

Order your copy here!

Excerpt from Once Upon a Legend…

Serendipity, Montana 1883

Prudence Vogel didn’t want to miss a thing.

She wet the tip of a sharpened pencil on her tongue and steadied a writing tablet on her lap, ready to capture the last moments of her journey. But, as was her nature, her mind wandered, and instead, she began to write the adventure playing out in her imagination.

Katarina’s nose wrinkled at the smell of stale beer and dust as she slipped behind the saloon and peered into the darkened room—

The stagecoach jolted as a wheel slipped into another deep rut on the rough trail, sending her pencil scraping off the edge of the pad.

She sighed, resigned she’d have to commit the final moments of her journey to memory and pick up her heroine’s adventure after she arrived at her destination.

She slid her tablet into the pocket of her valise behind her dog-eared copy of The Adventures of Katarina, her latest, well only, publishing credit. She’d kept the novel in clear view in hopes of drawing a comment to give herself an opportunity to sell one of the many copies she’d brought with her.

Not the dog-eared copy—that one contained penciled notes of the details she’d gotten wrong. For that was the purpose of this journey. Prudence Vogel had never traveled outside the city of Chicago, yet her first novelistic experience was an adventure tale set in the wild frontier, featuring a tall, handsome hero she’d only fantasized about. She needed to know whether she’d been wrong.

For all she knew, the real Jake White Eagle was a short, squat man who could suck his whiskey through the space where his front teeth ought to be. She’d braced herself the entire journey for disappointment because she’d built such high hopes he’d be the hero she’d envisioned—the kind of man a real “Katarina” would admire.

Tales of his wild youth, his talent with a gun, and his time spent scouting with Wild Bill Cody for the 5th Cavalry had fired her imagination since she’d come across the first mention of his name in the Chicago Tribune.

After that she’d scoured every newspaper she could get her hands on, searching for a description of the man and his exploits.

Physical descriptions had been hard to come by—“burnished skin” and “the deadly stare of the black-eyed Indian” hadn’t told her whether his jaw was square or rounded, or his nose was a sculpted blade or broad and bumpy. And it would have been helpful to know whether Katarina would have to lift her patrician chin to kiss his lips. Since she’d lacked definitive answers to her questions, in her mind she’d created an image of the man she wanted him to be.

However, news of his dangerous exploits had been much easier to find. The man had earned quite a reputation as a gunslinger as he’d roamed the western territories. Then for some reason, last year, he’d settled in Serendipity, Montana. Not Deadwood or any number of more recognizable wild, western towns, but an unknown place with a whimsical name.

In her research, she’d missed the reason for his inexplicable move. Now, she wanted the truth for the sequel to her book, and detailed descriptions to bring her wild west adventures to life.

Prudence pulled back the curtain to take a look outside, blinking against a cloud of dirt stirred up by the stage’s team of horses.

Bright sunlight dispelled the gloom in the interior of the stagecoach. Everywhere around them endless blue sky filled the view. The golden tips of the prairie grass rimming the trail waved in a slight breeze. Cottonwood trees swayed in the distance.

“Close that curtain! You’re lettin’ in the dust.”

As if we aren’t already wearing a coat of gritty trail dirt? Prudence bit her tongue against the retort. Ever since Mrs. Waters had boarded the stage in Helena, she’d offered a contrary comment to every one of Prudence’s actions.

Prudence firmed her lips into a polite smile and turned to the stout woman sitting on the opposite seat. “Aren’t you the least bit curious about what’s happening outside this coach?”

Mrs. Waters snorted. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

Prudence lifted her brows, which sent her spectacles sliding down her nose. The woman had repeated the same tired old cliché as Mrs. Lake in the opening scene of her dime novel.

Just like the character of Mrs. Lake, the woman had a cliché for every occasion and nary an original thought.

Another coincidence! An odd prickling raised the fine hairs at Prudence’s nape.

While some of the less important details—the flora the fauna and the ruggedness of the trail—had mostly been wrong, the events in her story had been strikingly similar. The string of similarities between Katarina’s adventure and her own true life adventure had at first amused Prudence who’d been convinced she’d simply done her research and was an apt pupil of human nature.

But this time, the words were repeated as though they’d been scripted in advance.

As well, the more Prudence thought about it, Mrs. Waters was an exact physical replica of the irascible woman who’d complained throughout that first scene of her adventure novel.

Even Mr. Stanton who slept beside her resembled the handsome debauched gambler who’d managed to snore throughout the last leg of the fictional journey despite the bone-rattling thuds of the lumbering stagecoach.

The one jarring detail that didn’t match her story was the character of the heroine. Prudence was a far cry from the beautiful and spirited “Katarina.” Sadly, she wasn’t brunette, or possessed of a pure, porcelain complexion and soft, curvaceous figure. Her own hair was a muddy blonde, her nose sprinkled with an unfortunate quantity of mud-colored freckles, and her figure was as straight as a boy’s. Worse, she wasn’t the least bit adventurous.

Still, if the story was somehow unfolding…

A loud banging sounded from the top of the coach. “Folks, we’re comin’ up on Serendipity,” came the call from the driver.

Mrs. Waters patted her hair while Mr. Stanton snuffled and opened bloodshot eyes as he retied his string tie.

Surreptitiously, Prudence reached for the edge of the window casing and held on tight…just in case…

Shots rang out, the coach jerked forward and back, then shrill whinnies filled the air as the team lurched again and shot forward, sending a screaming Mrs. Waters headfirst into Mr. Stanton’s lap.

Prudence suppressed a squeal of fright and held on. Then just as quickly, she relaxed, suddenly unafraid, because she knew how this would end.

A hero rode to their rescue.

Sure enough, shouts sounded outside—from the driver and another man whose horse ate up the distance between them in a staccato flurry of sharp hooves.

Gradually, the team slowed, snorts and frightened whinnies settling like the dust sifting underneath the flapping leather curtains, until at last the stagecoach came to a stop.

Just like in her story.

Only Prudence didn’t wait for their rescuer to fling open the door. She stood and grasped the door handle, nervous but determined to see if the object of her obsession was indeed on the other side.

The door gave way unexpectedly, bringing her along with it, and she toppled out of the coach and straight into the arms of a very tall man. Thick, strong muscles surrounded her as he swept her off her feet and held her close to his solid chest.

Startled, Prudence glanced up, but his rasping breath fogged the lenses of her spectacles, and she groaned.

Why, oh why hadn’t she put them away? Better to be blinking at the man than looking like a startled, befuddled mouse. Around the rims of her glasses, she noted the breadth of his wide shoulders and the dark shadow from the hat shading his face.

“Ma’am, are you all right?” His voice was a deep, raspy bass that seemed to wrap around her like a raw caress.

“Jake?” she whispered, more sure of his identity than she’d ever been of anything in her life. She knew his voice—had heard it speaking in her imagination.

Naturally, he smelled of sage and soap. She’d written that as well.

“Do I know you?” he asked, amusement in his voice.

A wide, tremulous smile stretched her lips, and she slowly wound her arms around his shoulders. “No, but I know you, sir,” she said, too excited to give more than a passing thought to her forward behavior.

His head tilted as though he was scrutinizing her. “She bump her head?” He directed the question to the people stepping from the coach.

“I don’t think so,” Mrs. Waters said, her voice trembling and affronted at the same time. “But she’s a very strange young woman.”

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