Kelly Apple's Blog, page 33

What I’m reading…

OHMIGAWD, guys. OH.MI.GAWD. I wasn’t going to do a What I’m Reading post this week because I’m heading out of town early Saturday and have a TON to do before then. But. BUT. BUUUUUUT. I’m gaga over a couple books and I can’t keep it to myself.

The book I blew off writing for:

The Learning Hours (How to Date a Douchebag #3) by Sara Ney. *flaily hands and bambi eyes* I loved this book. LOVED IT. In fact the entire Douchebag series is one of my favorites. We had the perv in book 1. The grumpy asshole in book 2. And now we have the sweet gentleman. The sweet, CLUELESS gentleman. I’m a sucker for a guy who has a seriously hard time picking up on social cues. He just doesn’t see when someone’s flirting with him and it’s sad and sweet and somehow perfect all at the same time.

For the record, Sara Ney could write another fifty books in this series and I’d read every single one. Douchey comfort reads are the new standard I’m going to hold all future books to. (I’m just kidding about that. Maybe.)

Book I expected to like but didn’t expect to love and OMG I DID!:

Acting Lessons (Off Guard #1) by Katie Allen. First off, Katie Allen is the sexy pen name for Katie Ruggle. I ADORE Katie Ruggle’s romantic suspense series LIKE WHOA. While I enjoyed her writing as Katie Allen, I wasn’t blown away. I liked it. The books were fun and sexy. But they weren’t books I plan on going back to again and again.

That is no longer true. Acting Lessons was weirdly captivating. It involves age-play, which I’m not normally a big fan of, but it worked for the characters. Now, it might have been Jamie’s gruff, grumpy, scarred exterior, but I loved watching him loosen up around Topher while still maintaining that domineering undertone that turned her on.

I KNOW, I’m a huge sucker for big, grumpy dudes who find the loves of their lives and learn to live again. *swoon*

So there you have it. My two flaily-hands recent reads. Now I really do have to get ready to go out of town.

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A surprise Anderson High Wolves Bundle!

A while back I mentioned that I’ve accumulated a TON of little snippets and slice of life scenes for my various series. I tend to write those when I need a creative break from whatever WIP I’m currently working on and I’m a little embarrassed to admit I didn’t realize I had quite as many as I did.

After doing a quick inventory, I was playing around with different ideas on what to do with them. Put them on the blog? Post them in newsletters? Honestly, I had so many, I was a little overwhelmed figuring it out.

Then I remembered the good ole days when I released the Monstrous Tales bundles with added short scenes. BINGO! I had enough scenes in the various series to add a little oomph to whatever bundle I released next.

SURPRISE, GUYS! The Anderson High Wolves collection has half a dozen never-before-published scenes included in it. BONUS: It’s out now! As in, I didn’t put together a preorder, you can just pop over to the ebook store of your choice and snap it up.

Yesssssss.

Anderson High Wolves: The Complete Novella Collection

(Anderson High Wolves Complete Novella Collection #)

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo | Inktera

Add on Goodreads

Release Date: September 27, 2017

Pages: 250

Genre: New Adult, Paranormal Romance

Anderson High Wolves... Three complete novellas plus never-before-published bonus scenes

BOOK 1: BURIED BODIES

Jenny Reynolds may be a mere human, but her life is anything but ordinary.

She’s juggling her senior year of high school, a sick mom, a brother who depends on her, and, oh yeah, there’s the matter of a body in the trunk of her car. As if that isn’t enough, the werewolf quarterback of her high school’s all-shifter football team has started sniffing around.

What’s a girl to do when the most beautiful boy in school wants to help her out of her jam? If she’s smart, she takes him up on the offer…

BOOK 2: THE GIRL MOST LIKELY

Lane Tennyson’s greatest wish is to finish out her senior year and disappear into the big city where no one will know her name. Because this town won’t let the girl voted Most Likely to Commit Arson (again) escape her past even though she’s grown up since then and moved on.

Matthias Bridges is content with his place in life. As the second in command to a future alpha, he can see his path laid out for him and it’s a bright one. The only dark spot is the way the girl who intrigues his wolf avoids him like the plague.

So what if she once set a local trailer park on fire? Accidents happen and Lane has grown from a gangly, angry girl into a beautiful, sweet young woman.

Finding out she has every intention of leaving and never coming back after graduation is unacceptable.

Because when a wolf finds his mate, there are no limits to what he’ll do to keep her.

BOOK 3: ALL THE REASONS WHY

Natalie Lombard didn’t set out to be the queen bitch of Anderson High, but that’s what she is. She also never planned on letting everybody know how badly she wants a werewolf football player in her life, but it’s the worst kept secret at school.

What they don’t know is Natalie needs protection and the only ones she thinks stand a chance against her worst nightmare are the wolves.

Mason Armstrong held his tongue as Natalie dated her way through the team. He wants her to want him, not settle for the biggest, quietest wolf in the pack because he’s the only one who will have her.

Finding out what drives her serial dating makes his wolf see red.

But figuring out how to fix her problem is only the beginning. Once her issues get taken care of, will she even want a wolf?

{series page}

{box sets and bundles page}

{all books}

As for the other scenes and snippets…well, you might see a few popping up between now and the end of the year. In blog posts. In newsletters. On Facebook. Wherever I feel like sneaking them in.

So keep your eyes peeled because they’re coming!

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Psst. Look here!

I have some THINGS to share. Weird little things that I find interesting and have been meaning to mention, but haven’t. So here I am. Finally sharing.

Thing 1: If you like Day-in-the-Life style snippets featuring characters from older books, make sure you’ve signed up for my newsletter. I have a TON of off the cuff scenes and stories I’ve written over the years that I’m going to push out to newsletter subscribers once I get them polished up a bit. A TON, guys. So many.

Thing 2: If you’ve read one of my books, please consider leaving a review. Not only does it give an author (me!) a boost, it also helps other readers discover books and series. Reviews can have such a tremendous impact and I’m grateful for every one. (Even the not-so-great ones. Really.)

If you’re hesitating because you think you don’t have time to write out something deep and profound or you just don’t know what to write, short and sweet is just as valid as more in-depth. Seriously. You can just say you enjoyed the characters and liked their interactions or you thought the sexy times were so smokin’ you had to take a five-minute breather after reading.

I’m pretty sure the way to an author’s heart is through reviews. Or maybe that’s just me.

Thing 3: Do you remember what I said above about all those scenes and short stories I’ve accumulated over the years? Well, September’s release is going to be a box set of the Anderson High Wolves series WITH BONUS SHORT STORIES. I’m working on the cover now and then I just need to format the whole shebang and do the administrative stuff to get it out there. I’m aiming for this weekend for the release, but nothing’s official yet. I just like to have goals for myself.

So. Newsletter, short stories, reviews, upcoming release. That about covers things. You know, unless I remember something two seconds after I post this. Which happens. Welcome to a writer’s brain! It’s messy in here.

The post Psst. Look here! appeared first on Kelly Apple.

What I’m reading…

I meant to do this post LAST week, but I got distracted. By a full series reread of J.C. Daniels’ Colbana Files series. (Which I CONSTANTLY refer to as the Kit Colbana series when telling people about it. Oops.)

So…what am I reading? A lot of urban fantasy. Starting with the aforementioned Colbana Files series, which ROCKED MY SOCKS OFF. I was lucky enough to get an arc of the 6th book (SO GOOD) and reading that one reminded me how much I enjoyed the series as a whole. So I went back and reread it from beginning to end. Even the soul-crushing 2nd book that broke me when I read it the first time. Yes, it’s true. Book 2 forced my cold dead heart to beat once more as I cried dramatically along with Kit and crew. (Seriously, though, there are some ROUGH things that happened in book 2, but watching everyone come back from that in the next books made it worth it. SO WORTH IT. I’m deeply invested in the series and characters after living through their pain like that.)

I’ve also been dipping into my beloved sci-fi romance. As one does. Namely the Intergalactic Dating Agency series. I picked up the Loving the Alien anthology and got a giggle out of aliens and humans stumbling their way through romance. I just REALLY like that sexy sci-fi.

Now I’m off to squeeze in another book or two before the weekend!

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Treat yourself! Stuff your Kindle with FREEBIES!

Howdy, readers! I’m taking part in a HUGE multi-author event to help YOU  stuff your Kindle (or the reading device of your choosing!). For today ONLY, you can grab a TON of books in a variety of genres. (While, my books will be available for free past today, but the others might not be, SO JUMP ON THIS!)

TREAT YOURSELF! STUFF YOUR KINDLE FREEBIE EVENT!

Click the above link, choose your reading platform, GRAB BOOKS. It’s that’s simple.

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Looking for a freebie or two?

For the next couple days, the first books in the Wicked Pride series and Forgotten Monsters series are free! Both series are complete as of now and are FUN! (I might be biased, though, because, you know, I wrote them.)

Anywho, if you’re looking for sexy, fast-paced shenanigans this is an EXCELLENT place to start. Just saying.

No Reservations (Wicked Pride #1) 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

Wisp (Forgotten Monsters #1) 

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

The post Looking for a freebie or two? appeared first on Kelly Apple.

Looking back on August…

I KNOW I say this pretty much every month, but WHERE THE HECK DID AUGUST GO? I feel like I just did a looking back post for July and here we are again!

*laughs nervously and wonders when time started speeding up*

Anyway. Now that I’m over my shock, let’s take a look at what happened during the month.

On the personal side of things, I moved my son into his dorm last month and now he’s a couple weeks into his freshman year at college. TALK ABOUT TIME MOVING FAST! The kid was just a sprout and now he’s a full-blown human type thing. WEIRD! On the downside, his departure sort of derailed my writing for the month. Ultimately this isn’t an issue since I’m WAAAAAY ahead on books written, but it does make me a little blue that I haven’t been writing as much as I like to.

On the other hand, the final book in the Wicked Pride series is now out in the wild. Laid Bear is Ivan and Callie’s story and I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THEM. I feel like I say that about so many of my characters (which is I good thing, I think, because I like liking my crazy heroes and heroines), but I got such a kick out of writing their romance. He’s a typical growly bear and she’s a very tongue-ties hybrid. Until she’s not.

I’m taking part in a huge multi-author freebie event in September (more about that next week, though) and I put Wisp up as one of my freebies. So, you know, if you’ve been wanting to try Will and Kaitlin, now’s a fantastic time. Or you can wait until next week and grab it with a bunch of others. YOUR CHOICE!

There you have it. Not a lot done writing-wise for August, but things are STILL HAPPENING!

Here’s to a productive September!

The post Looking back on August… appeared first on Kelly Apple.

What I’m reading (the binge-worthy edition)…

I’m in full-on read-a-thon mode this week (Bout of Books, YO!) and I’ve been reading up a storm (and dabbling in a weird series of short scenes on the writing end, but that’s another story for another post. Maybe.).

Reading is GOOD. FUN. EXCITING. Especially when you pick up a BIG series you’ve never read before. Like, say, The Emperor’s Edge series by Lindsay Buroker (Yeah, I really can’t stop thinking about Sicarius and Amaranthe and the crazy shenanigans they get into. STILL!). Or the Dragon Kin series by G.A. Aiken. Both series are 9+ and a handful of novellas long and I’m SMITTEN (in entirely different ways) with both of them.

While I’m working my way through these two MONDO-HUMONGOUS series (and loving every minute of it, thankyouverymuch), I’m rubbing my hands gleefully together as I envision another day spent lounging around reading about stone-faced assassins and blood-thirsty dragons. Yessssssss!

I’m ready to get my BINGE on!

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The final Wicked Pride book is HERE!

Ivan and Callie are heeeeeere! A grumpy bear and a tongue-tied hybrid. Yesssssss!

It’s currently only NINETY-NINE PENNIES, so now’s the perfect time to grab it.

Laid Bear

(Wicked Pride #4)

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | iTunes | Kobo

Add on Goodreads

Release Date: August 23, 2017

Pages: 129

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Being a bear in cat territory isn’t easy, but Ivan Hearne is determined to put his best foot forward and show the people of Oak Haven that bear shifters aren’t the rampaging beasts everyone believes them out to be. Scouting the perfect location for the restaurant his clan plans on opening gives him reason to wander around town and show everyone just how non-threatening his people can be.

And if he happens to meet a beautiful, tongue-tied hybrid who bakes the best salmon biscuits he’d ever tasted, that’s just one of the perks.

Convincing the shy beauty to give him a chance is Ivan’s new mission in life. Showing her she’s the treasure he believes her to be is a task he’s glad to focus on.

Introducing her to his clan? That’s when things start getting hairy.

{series page}

{all books}

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What I’m reading…

I’m co-hosting the Bout of Books read-a-thon next week (PLENTY of time to sign up, if you’re interested!) and I *might* have gone a little crazy with an older series that’s been on my Kindle for AGES. See, I was trying to save my newer reads for the read-a-thon, so I picked up this older book and it’s SOOOOOO good. I’m seriously smitten. Added bonus, at 9 books and a couple of novellas I have a LOT to work through. Which is thrilling and exciting and a bunch of other fun things!

The series? The Emperor’s Edge by Lindsay Buroker. I’ve read several of her other series before and I adore her writing style and characters, so I fully expected to love Amaranthe and Sicarius. NO JOKE, they exceeded my expectations. Amaranthe is a little obsessive (about cleaning, at least) and she manages to pull together the craziest schemes, while Sicarius is the most STOIC assassin imaginable. His coldness makes sense and everything, considering his occupation, and I LOVE the little hints we get regarding his feelings toward Amaranthe.

They work for me, man. On so many levels.

I’m up to book 3 and I’m all but twitching to see how the story line plays out. Because it’s big and epic and I’m loving on it hard.

Plus, you know, the potential for kissy times is driving me crazy. Give me a hint of romance and I’m a mushy mess. Which makes sense considering the types of books I like to write.

Until next time!

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