ŷ������

MIXTAPE is now playing, and you can still score it for less than a dollar, but only for a few more days! Next week, the 99-cent price will go up, so get your 1-click finger ready and snag this Amazon bestseller!

What they’re saying��

“Mixtape hits all the right notes!!”�� �� Vixen Reads

“This one has something for everyone. You get M/M, F/F & M/F too. The heat levels varied between stories but all were page turners for me.”�� �� Claypot Reads

“The Mixtape Anthology was filled with amazing reads right down my alley. ”�� �� Bookgasms Book Blog

“What an anthology! I absolutely loved how each story was inspired by a song. Most of all I loved the variety of stories and tropes. There is something for everyone!”�� �� Moon Love

Available on: ,��,��,
, and .

!��

Did the All-Star game whet your whistle for some hockey romance? Pick up a copy of ROYCE, the latest from Kat Mizera!

Just because opposites attract, doesn’t mean they belong
�ٴDz���ٳ�����



Professional hockey player Royce Lenahan is no stranger to chaos. He grew up
surrounded by it, so as an adult he likes things nice and orderly: His
apartment, his hockey schedule, even his dates. When his best friend and
teammate asks him to take his visiting sister to a rock concert, he isn’t
expecting the sultry, leather-clad vixen that has his jaw dropping.



Force of nature Kristina Papadakis feels like two separate people sometimes:
The demure, proper Greek girl she was raised to be, and the badass rock
musician she could be. She’s never had a problem keeping her worlds apart until
her brother’s straight-laced but oh-so-hot teammate stumbles into both of them,
creating a collision she wasn’t looking for.



As Royce and Tina explore an unexpected but undeniable passion, they soon
discover that love isn’t always enough. Opposites might attract, but they’ll
have to learn to compromise if they want to last. Royce has to be willing to
give up control long enough to tame Tina’s gypsy soul, before she wanders away
for good.

, , , ,

Oh, my lovelies. It’s here! It’s finally here!

Happy FoX Friday, my lovelies! It’s been a little chilly here in the writing cave, but I have something that will warm us all up. Today’s FoX is my dear friend R.L. Merrill, and she’s here with her brand new release from Dreamspinner Press, . Before we meet Toby and Spencer, let’s learn a little bit more about our fabulous author in this delightful interview. Read on for a chance to win a $10 Amazon GC!

Hiya! Congrats on your new release.

THANK YOU!
I’m stupid excited about this book. It will hopefully make you laugh, cry, push
your buttons (both the happy ones and the uncomfortable ones) and leave you
feeling satisfied at the end�� maybe even ready to take in a tap class, go see a
show, or donate to your choice of mental health awareness/LGBTQ support
programs!

Absolutely! Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what else did you want to do?

There may have been a time when I was in elementary school when I wanted to be a writer. A few years ago, my mom pulled out a bunch of my old school work and there were some short stories in there that were actually quite funny. Even back then I wrote weird shit.

Haha!

But no, in college I wanted to be a therapist, and then switched to History teacher. I went to grad school three years later to earn my master’s so I could do school counseling. Through an internship, I ended up working in the police department as an advocate for victims of domestic violence. The department I worked for wanted me to apply to be an officer, so I did. I passed the test and interview with flying colors�� but I literally couldn’t get over the damn 6-foot wall during the test.

Oh no!��(facepalm)

I’d been practicing for weeks with female officers and I even tore my pec trying. So, I went home and said, “hey, babe? Let’s have kids instead.�� Here I am, a 25-year veteran educator, and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. Writing stories with happy endings that deal with real-life issues and emotional struggles has fulfilled me like nothing else. So yeah, I’m going to keep writing but never grow up.

And we’re so glad to hear that.

Happy New Year, my lovelies! I hope you had a lovely holiday season. We’re kicking off the new year with debut author, Moni Boyce. I’ve known Moni for about five years, and I was so thrilled when she told me she was publishing her first novel, .

Before we learn all about Gemma and Alex, let’s get to know Moni!

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing since elementary school. Usually, it was short stories. I started writing poetry once I got to middle school and in high school I was published in some poetry anthologies. Once I got to college, I didn’t write as much and that period lasted for a long time. Shortly after I was divorced some friends encouraged me to pick back up writing. It was very cathartic. I started writing poetry again and then found fan fiction and started writing Scandal fan fiction that I posted on a website. From there, I graduated to writing my own stories and actually started making money off writing by ghostwriting for other people.

Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what else did you want to do?

I’ve always been a storyteller, but I haven’t always wanted to be a writer. I wanted to be a filmmaker, so that’s what I did. I went to film school and became a producer and helped other people tell their stories. Eventually, I wanted to focus more on telling stories that I created, which is what drew me back to writing.

What inspired you to write your debut romance?

At the time, I’d been writing fan fiction. The thing is when it’s someone else’s characters, you have to stick to who everyone knows those characters are or you incur the wrath of the fans.

So true!��LOL

I wanted to start creating and developing characters and telling original stories. For weeks, I had these characters and this idea trying to claw it’s way out of my brain. I found this website where people were posting their original work and getting feedback and critiques. I would come home late at night from working a long production day on a film set, producing an event or working for Getty Images that was usually anywhere from 12-18 hours and I would write a chapter and post to this site. At the beginning I was consistent with doing a chapter a night and then life got in the way and it took me a little longer to post chapters, but after a year I realized I had a finished book.

����’s�������������Բ�����Ƿ����ٳ󲹳����󲹱���Բ�.��

It’s the time of year when everyone reflects on the last twelve months and the twelve to come. We also get a lot of ‘best of�� lists, which can be awesome �� for me at least. I miss so much during the year, and they serve as checklists of sorts.

Last year, I threw together my yearly faves at the last minute. This time, I wanted it to be something more comprehensive. Something a bit different. Here are my choices for films, albums, TV shows, and books, and those that I felt didn’t get enough love in 2018.

I started off the year anxiously awaiting the wide release of the screen adaptation of . When �䲹�������ѱ����������۴dzܰ����������� was finally released, I was not disappointed �� at all �� by the film. It was sumptuous, languid, and gave me the feeling I’d had a brief, passionate, Italian love affair. I was, however, left with a general sense of malaise after I’d seen the movie two or three times. I don’t go to the cinema often, and didn’t know what else could tempt me to venture out. (Aside from �������������ʲ��Գٳ���, of course.) I needn’t have worried. 2018 delivered big time.

The Film That Not Enough People Saw:

Sorry to Bother You is an impossible-to-categorize movie that caught me completely off-guard from the very first teaser.

I can’t tell you much about it without giving away its secrets, but please PLEASE watch this film when you can. It’s brainy, wacky, sardonic, and so very topical in today’s political and socio-economic climate.

Lakeith Stanfield (Atlanta, Get Out, Selma) is brilliant as Cash, an under-employed salesman trying to work his way up the ladder. And my celebrity BFF, Armie Hammer (Call Me By Your Name, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., On The Basis of Sex) is eerie as a psychopathic CEO who�� Wait, I can’t tell you any more. Just see it.

Other faves included Esteros, Crazy Rich Asians, Thelma, Love, Simon, Avengers: Infinity War, Incredibles 2, and Roma. And, yes, I know there are a lot of films missing from my list (Widows, A Quiet Place, The Favorite, The Bird Box,��Aquaman,��etc) but I haven’t seen them yet. They’re in my queue.

2018 was a wild one for music. After taking Hollywood by storm in �ᾱ��������󾱲��ܰ���� and Moonlight, Janelle Monae dropped the bomb that is �پ����ٲ�����dz���ܳٱ��, channeling everyone from Prince to Michael Jackson to Lauryn Hill. The album is celebratory, in-your-face, and dares you to question her unparalleled talent. People shouldn’t sleep on her as an artist any longer. And if you fall in love with these songs, go back and check out her earlier releases. I’ve been an FANdroid since the beginning, TYVM.

The Album That More People Need to Hear:
Oxnard, by Anderson.Paak, is funky, toe-tapping, old school soul filtered through the lens of 21st century, West Coast Hip Hop. Like Janelle Monae, Anderson .Paak’s giant personality shines through in this collection. He is lyrically clever, and rhythmically hypnotizing. And he knows how to write a hook. Seriously, I don’t understand how Tints didn’t become the song of the summer. Ah, well. Get this album in your ears.

Other faves include Forever Neverland ( MØ ), Beerbongs and Bentleys (Post Malone), ���������Ǵ������Ǿ����� (Metric), MARS (MARS), and A Modern Tragedy, vol. 1 (grandson).

Most of the television I watch is on my DVR or on Netflix. I rarely catch anything live, and often not even the week it aired. I have a few exceptions like Outlander, �ճ�����²����쾱�Բ����ٱ𲹻�, and �Ҳ��������Ǵ����ճ���DzԱ�� (though not recently, since it WASN’T ON! Ahem.) I like genre TV. I like comedy with a bite. This probably explains why I have two picks in this category.

�շɴ�������Ƿɲ����ٳ󲹳������ǰ��������DZ�������Ա������ٴ����ɲ��ٳ���.

The Good Place shouldn’t work. It really shouldn’t. A horrible woman dies and accidentally ends up in “the good place�� where she clearly doesn’t belong. It’s paradise, everything she could have ever wanted, except it isn’t. There’s something not-quite-right going on, and she just may be the reason. Kristen Bell is wonderful, but this is truly an ensemble-driven show. If there is a standout for me, it’s D’Arcy Carden, who plays the AI, Janet. She’s freaking brilliant, particularly this season. I DVR this and watch it the morning after.

My record-and-binge show this year was �����������Բ���������. Holy crap, is it good. I didn’t know what to expect. The teasers were wickedly funny, and it’s Sandra Oh. I mean, I’d watch her do pretty much anything. If you’re a fan of Luther, ������󲹲�������������, or any of those head-twisting BBC dramas, you’ll love this. It has humour, wit, and pulse-pounding action. Oh, and kick-ass women. This show has it all!

There were so many incredible books released in 2018, including The Ones Who Got Away by Roni Loren, �վ���첹����󲹲Գ������Dz����ѱ� by Suleikha Snyder, �ճ���������������ϳܴdzپ���Գ� by Helen Hoang, �³󲹳�������������’s������ by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, It Takes Two by Jenny Holiday, �����������Ի����մDzԾ���, by Rhys Ford, ���DzԲ����Ǵ��������Ǵǻ������Ի������ٴDzԱ� by L. Penelope, Riven by Roan Parrish, and �����ʰ����Գ���������������ճ��ǰ��� by Alyssa Cole. So many that I haven’t even had a chance to finish my TBR list, which I know includes gems like �ճ������������ڳܱ������������ by Vanessa Riley, �����ǰ����Բ����ٳ�����ʱ�������’s���������� by Naima Simone, and �������ʱ���ڱ𳦳������ڴڲ����� by Priscilla Oliveras.

The book that more people need to read, though, is Sinner by Sierra Simone.

Sierra snagged me a couple of years ago with the first in this series, Priest, about a man of the cloth named Father Tyler Bell whose…shall we say…appetites are awakened by one of his parishioners, Poppy Danforth. I’ll be honest, I wanted to hate the book on the premise alone. But I learned a valuable lesson about the power of storytelling to take you outside your comfort zone and alter your perceptions. Sierra’s very good at that and she’s done it again with Sinner,��in which we get to know Tyler’s brother, Sean.
Sierra excels at erotic prose. Her ability to marry the profane and the holy is sublime. This book delivers on that but it also introduces such complex, compelling characters that I sometimes forget that these aren’t people I knew from another lifetime.

Luckily, you don’t need to read Priest to enjoy Sinner. It’s a standalone, and it does absolutely stand on its own. And if you have a chance to grab the audio book, DO. IT.

Looking forward, 2019 promises to deliver even more delicious distractions like Helen Hoang’s �ճ����������������ձ����, �ճ�������Ա����۴dz����󾱲��������ǰ� by Roni Loren, Fumbled by Alexa Martin, Rebel from Beverly Jenkins, and �ճ�����±��徱�Բ����ʲ����ٲ�, by Jasmine Guillory, to name a few.

I admit, I’m not as excited about �䲹��ٲ��������Ѳ�������� as I probably should be, but I look forward to seeing it, and to finally being put out of my misery when ������Բ������:�����Ի岵������ releases. As far as 2019’s theatrical releases, I’m most looking forward to Glass and ���dz�����¾�������3.

Expect new music from Rihanna, Cezinando, Lady Gaga, Childish Gambino, The Chemical Brothers, The Cure, The Strokes, James Blake, Sierra Hurtt, The Weeknd, Missy Elliott, and more.

I’m both looking forward to and dreading the return of �Ҳ��������Ǵ����ճ���DzԱ��. I’m not ready for it to end.

Merry Solstice, my lovelies! FoX Friday will return on 11 January with debut author, Moni Boyce.

How was your Hanukkah? Are you all set for Christmas? Today may be the shortest day of the year, but I hope it’s long in tidings of comfort and joy for you and yours. The Axelrod household enjoys this extended holiday season with plenty of Scotch, baked goods, and the laughter of our friends and family.

Unfortunately, not everyone shares our blessings. This is why Mr. X and I always look for ways to help those in need. If you are able, I encourage you to donate to a local cause; be it a , a

If you follow me on or you’re a member of my reader group, , you know I’ve been sitting on some pretty incredible news all autumn. Well, I am thrilled to finally announce that I’ll be writing a four-book series for Sourcebooks Casablanca. The as-yet-untitled series will center on the the four members of an all-girl rock band. I promise lots of on-stage antics, behind-the-scenes drama, and hot-under-the-collar action. Look for the first book in early 2020.

Meanwhile, I’m working hard to get books two in both the and the out to you in the first half of 2019, hopefully before I see you in New Orleans for the first annual .

Welcome to another edition of FoX Friday, my lovelies! This fall, we’ve had some truly amazing guests join us here and today’s author is no exception. Priscilla Oliveras is one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met, and I’m proud to call her my friend.

Priscilla is here with her critically-acclaimed romance, . It’s the third book in her Matched to Perfection series, which  follows the lives of the Fernandez sisters. Before we meet la familia, let’s get to know Priscilla!

Bienvenido, Pris! I’m so glad to finally have you here for FoX Friday. Congratulations on all your recent success. It must feel so good, especially as a relatively new author. How did you come to write romance?

I started out writing short stories in high school and was encouraged by my English teacher. Years later, as a young wife, mom, and college coed, I had to take a semester off school due to a short-notice military move. Needing something to keep my brain challenged, I decided try writing a full-length novel. Needless  to say, it wasn’t as easy as I had expected.

My lovelies! I’m excited. Can you tell? This week, not only am I able to introduce a debut FoX to you but also a debut author! I’ve known Sophia Soames for about two years, though we only met in person earlier this year. Sophia was just as delightful as I thought she would be, and she is a hell of a storyteller. I’m so glad she took the plunge into publishing.

Before we get to her debut release,��, let’s learn a little about Sophia herself! I spoke with her while she had a layover in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

Can you believe how quickly this year is flying by, my lovelies? I sure can’t. Seems like only yesterday I was wishing you a happy summer. The weather has turned chilly here in Philly (hey, that rhymed!) but I have something to warm you up. Help me welcome Kelle Z. Riley to FoX Friday! She’s here with a sneak peek at book three in her Undercover Cat Series, , out January, 2019.

Before we get to the book, Kelle sat down to answer some fun questions.

Did you always want to be a writer?

From a very young age I always told myself stories. Back then, it was how I coped with a world where I didn’t fit in. I was awkward and shy, with a fractured family and struggles the children around me didn’t understand. Fortunately my fictional friends helped me “pretend�� to be outgoing and confident until—as if by magic—I finally became what I had pretended to be.

Not long after, I fell in love with words. How they sound. How they evoke emotions. The power they have to transform a blank page into a world of its own. But it wasn’t until my late 20s that I realized I was, at heart, a writer.

Since then, I’ve worked to hone my craft and create stories worthy of sharing with others. I’ve found my passion in storytelling and I can’t imagine giving it up.

What advice would you give to another author who’s struggling with procrastination?

First, learn the difference between positive and negative procrastination.

Positive procrastination happens when a writer is stressed or overwhelmed. Under these conditions, she simply cannot write. She needs to step back and let the subconscious creative process work for her. Positive procrastination is really a chance to fill your creative well. When you get back to work, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how much work the subconscious did for you while you were taking a conscious break.

Negative procrastination, on the other hand, is usually driven by fear. Specifically, the fear of being imperfect. At those times a writer simply needs to do two things: (1) give herself permission to write utter crap and (2) employ the technique of “BICHOK�� (butt in chair, hands on keyboard).

The trick, of course, is knowing yourself well enough to know which type of procrastination is the problem. Often your writer friends will be able to help you determine which type of procrastination you’re dealing with. Be sure to give them permission to drag your butt to the chair if need be!

It always helps to have a tribe to back you up.

Happy Holidays, my lovelies! It’s officially the season of giving, and I have some gifts for you. Later on, I’ll tell you about an amazing project I’m excited to announce. First, we have another brand new FoX!

The wonderful is here with her latest release,��. Before we dive into the book, Kay answered some fun questions about her life as an author.

How long have you been writing?

I started writing in as a child honestly. Around 6 or 7. Poetry, songs, fan fiction and short stories. I started writing professionally in 2014. And even in those 4 years, I learned so much.

I can relate! What does the area where you write look like?

I do have a desk, but I don’t use it as often as I like. My desk is pretty neat. Laptop, books, and some Funk Pops. When I’m not writing on my desk, I write on my love seat or writing chair.

How do you balance writing and your personal life?

I don’t know honestly. I was just thinking in 2017, I finally got my Bachelor’s Degree in Developmental Psychology. I pushed it off for so long so graduating Magna Cum Laude was like crazy to me.

That’s an incredible accomplishment.