#het romance

The third book in the Shivadh Romances, The Lady And The Tiger, is now available for purchase in print and epub! 

Already familiar and just want to buy it?

The Lady And The Tiger: Hardcopy | Epub

As with the first two books in the series, The Lady And The Tiger is $3.99USD for epub, $12.99USD for print; prices vary a bit by currency for the hardcopy but are generally between 12 and 17 of your local smackers.

Want to learn more? Read on!

Welcome to Askazer-Shivadlakia, a coastal micronation with one of the few democratic monarchies in the world, Europe’s only Jewish royal family, and a distinctly queer-friendly culture. The irreverent but earnest Shivadh people have recently elected a new king, and there are changes afoot for the country.

The Lady And The Tiger, the third book in the Shivadh Romances series, finds King Gregory III’s cousin and assistant, Lady Alanna Daskaz, transported across the border to Galia, a nearby micronation that claims she’s the heir to their throne. Bringing her best friend Gerald, Duke of Shivadlakia, along with her, Alanna sets to work figuring out how to escape becoming Duchess of Galia without destroying Galia in the process. Jerry, who has a complicated life at the best of times, is trying to solve a few problems of his own along with helping Alanna solve hers. None of this is made easier by the fact that Alanna’s had a secret crush on Jerry since they were at school together, and Jerry’s just starting to believe he might be someone worthy of the Lady Alanna.

Purchase The Lady And The Tiger: Hardcopy | Epub

Download The Lady And The Tiger: Free PDF

If you’re new to the Shivadh Romances, the previous two books are available here: 

Fete For A King introduces Crown Prince Gregory, who needs a caterer for his coronation and also could use a husband; it turns out he’s stuck with the American TV celebrity and kitsch connoisseur Eddie Rambler, who might want both jobs. Purchase Fete For A King: Hardcopy | Epub

Infinite Jes follows Gregory’s father Michaelis into retirement, and straight into the recording studio of nonbinary broadcast journalist Jes Deimos and Jes’s son Noah. Michaelis was just looking for a hobby; instead he might get a romance with Jes, as long as they can keep Noah out of trouble. Purchase Infinite Jes: Hardcopy | Epub

Download Fete For A King: Free PDF

“Just hold on.”

He looks up at her, blinded by tears, confusion; mind teetering on the very edge of insanity and catatonia. She’s the third?fourth?ninth? Jemma he’s seen. He’s seen her die again and again, shot and gutted, poisoned and choking, strangled and mutilated and murdered, sputtering in dirty water, gagging on her own blood. 

Then there’s another and another and another. 

All killed and dying and he useless to do anything but stand witness. 

“Just hold on,” she says again and drags him, stumbling down another hallway. It’s all he can do to keep his feet, weakness and grief and looming hysteria robbing him of both strength and coordination. The only thing that feels real is her hand in his, warm and sure (but then, so had the last Jemma’s and the one before that, and the one who had kissed him and tasted of desperation and fear).

He staggers to a knee and she jerks his grip hard, then spins and delivers a kick to his thigh. “Come on, Gene. Just a little further, a little more.” 

The words could be for either of them. He lurches up and follows. 

If it’s Jemma…he would follow her to the end of the world. If it’s the Domain…he doesn’t suppose refusing to play along with their twisted torture will actually work. 

She hesitates at a T junction. “Detention block,” she mutters. “The others are probably down there,” she half turns to the left. 

For the first time in three five?ten?eighteen? Jemmas, Gene speaks to her. “No.” His voice is rough, low, a mere whisper. 

“Gene?” She is instantly in front of him, all of her incisive focus on his face. The hand not crushed in his on his face. He can see the flicker of panic at the edges of her gaze, beneath the rock solid dependable strength he relies on.

“No,” he says again, a hair louder. “I can’t- can’t-” 

Can’t lose you again.

Can’t take the risk of seeing you interrogated because it really will drive me mad.

Can’t risk the others looking at you and telling me it’s someone…something else. 

“Are you hurt?” her eyes sharpen a little and the hand drops from his face to his chest then his ribs. 

That’s not exactly what he meant. He’s not wounded. He just…can’t.

Still, he nods. Darrow had left the first Jemma to die slowly on that cold floor instead of giving up any of his precious rebellion. Leave him. Gene has this Jemma and (for this lunatic moment at least) that is enough. 

my friend wrote another book! it's a stranded on a mountain romance story (@modpix-blog did the sensitivity reading for her!)

if you don't use amazon

it's climbing to the top of the charts on amazon and it'd make her day if it hits #1

At thirty-five, single mom Emily Wyatt's world revolves around her autistic son, Jude.

Emily rarely dreams of anything more than a school day without tears or dinners beyond mac and cheese. Life is small, routine, and, to be honest, boring.

Planes, palindromes, prime numbers, and Pokemon are Jude's absolute favorite things, and Emily is determined to make his double-digit birthday special.

Dino gave up being a taxi pilot a couple of years ago to concentrate on his new business. But when Dino's old friend, the owner of Top Spot Tours, begs him for a favor, Dino can't bring himself to say no.

Disaster.

Okay guys I honestly have not yet finished my book edits but I need a break from biblio and paragraphing so here’s a drama rec!! I don’t usually recommend like het dramas but I really love this one so far!!!

Plot: Zheng Xiao En is an editor working on some book plot - Chinese romance novels, which are usually centred on an arrogant, rich guy who’s also typically a rich CEO of a company. Anyway she finds herself transported into this very book and plot after fainting one day and she meets the guy of her dreams (in real life) in the novel, who’s also a successful, rich CEO in real life called He Tian XIng. 

In the book however, his name is Si Tu Ao Ran, and she thinks she’s playing the main female lead character but she was transported in as the evil side bitch who’s out to break up Ao Ran and the female lead, named Chu Chu. Cue some rom-com shenanigans, a whole lot of GOOD angst where Xiao En realizes halfway that no matter what she does, she can’t change her fate to become the main love interest for Ao Ran ;-; It’s hilarious AF because she’s watching a standard like Asian love drama where two men are trying to chase after the same female lead - all the terrible tropes man ALL OF EM - and she’s like damn it what the hell is this plot XD 

Side-plots: He Tian Xing, who’s the real-life version of Ao Ran, is also in a coma after his older half sister or something tried to wrestle control and power over the company (after their dad goes into a coma) - They haven’t actually gone in depth into this yet, except for showing how the sister is plotting and scheming and being evil. If Tian Xing was transported into the book for real, I don’t yet see like him being cognizant of it! 

Reasons why I love this: 

IT’S HILARIOUS. Like Xiao En judging every single time the female lead falls down and Ao Ran catches her in some gorgeous and beautiful scene, Ao Ran having some tragic backstory, the other guy who likes the female lead who’s Ao Ran’s secretary/best friend

OMG THE UNREQUITED BUT REQUITED LOVE TROPE IS DELICIOUS. DELICIOUS OKAY!!! 

She’s basically like the audience that’s jaded with dumbass weak-damsel-in-distress plots and she’s watching it unfold before her and going like wtf people actually write it like this (and as literally the EDITOR of this story she’s in, it’s even more hilarious)

MARCUS CHANG AS SI TU AO RAN/HE TIAN XING. Gosh he’s so damn handsome!!!

Have I already mentioned that I am a sucker for the unrequited but requited love thing?!!!

Assuming that Tian Xing remembers his love for Xiao En from in the novel later when he wakes up in the real world, I wonder how everything is going to pan out because he seems to have a mild love interest (a different girl) there as well.

Where to watch: Kissasian for now if you need subs! Not sure if Viki and the other places has it yet. Currently airing episode 8.

Characters!!!

Zheng Xiao En: She’s every one of us. We all want to be in that story where we get noticed by the rich other person and then have a series of coincidental but fated meetings with the person. Her celebrity crush is He Tian Xing, who’s this celebrity businessman (and then also all that inheritance problems I mentioned above with the older sister) because of what he says in interviews (you know that, when all seems hopeless, there is still a reason to keep going, that kinda shit) and because she was in a tough place, she was like YES MY IDOL YOU BROUGHT ME OUT OF A DARK PLACE. So when she gets dumped into her own novel, she feels a (misplaced?!!) affinity with Ao Ran who looks exactly like him (and was probably written in the image of him).

After lying her way into becoming Ao Ran’s housekeeper, spending time with him, arguing with him, trying to break up the romantic atmosphere between the two at the dinner table (below) etc. she realizes after that she can’t change the fact that she’s the side bitch in the novel and stops trying to break them up (not that she was trying very hard or you know being evil in the first place).

And she tries to make sure Chu Chu (who’s of course always bullied and isolated at the office) gets along better with everyone else, and being her friend. But Ao Ran is very sure that Xiao En is trying to harm Chu Chu, hence the angst and unrequited/requited thing going on. She & Chu Chu do get a kiss scene tho XD

I really like her character because she knows what’s going on and like I said  she’s cringing along with the rest of us as the audience at the ‘typical het romance plot devices’ present in most romance shows! She’s the epitome of “I tried” and “damn it who the fuck wrote this in” and I’m all here for it!!

He Tian Xing/Si Tu Ao Ran: As Tian Xing, he’s in a coma right now while his sister does dumb and evil shit outside. Within the novel, Ao Ran has a phobia of the dark because tragic story - he was locked up in the storage basement in the dark for as long as a day whenever he misbehaved by his father, and so he sleeps with all the lights on etc. 

He meets Chu Chu in the novel when she “TRIES TO CLIMB A TREE TO HELP A BIRD” and he catches her when she falls and says “YOU’RE SO KIND” and BOOM they fall in love like all male and female leads of shows/plots do while Xiao En (who was there because she wanted to BE THE FEMALE LEAD AND KNEW SHE NEEDED TO FALL FROM A TREE AT THIS PLACE) watched on and realized for the first time that FARK. SHE’S THAT CHARACTER. Anyway, as Ao Ran he obviously falls for Chu Chu, but he finds his mind all occupied by Xiao En because she literally keeps putting herself in front of him, but he thinks that she’s trying to harm Chu Chu all the time!!! 

It’s episode like 8 next airing tonight though and you can see how Ao Ran now realizes how much he thinks of Xiao En, just when she’s totally given up on him XD

Chu Chu: The typical cute, beautiful, small damsel in distress who comes from a poor family and had to work her way up but is also bullied by the people around her. She KEEPS FALLING. AO RAN KEEPS CATCHING HER. my god, it’s amazing. She’s not a terrible character (cuz we know as the audience that she was written like this as a caricature in a sense, as a character from this novel) and she really is the White Lotus flower type

She keeps dropping stuff too where Ao Ran can see them and that’s how their relationship is supposed to progress XD

Of course, he’s supposed to end up with Xiao En IN and OUT of the novel, I presume, but there aren’t much hints that I’ve seen so far on how they’re gonna explain the novel world + real world between them both!!! Either way I’m loving the angst right now.

Qing Feng:  AHAH! The fated non-requited love male character, who initially likes Chu Chu as well and teams up with Xiao En to try to break Ao Ran and Chu Chu up, but (spoilers, he ends up still a non-requited second male lead because he falls for Xiao En later)!! And he ends up being real sweet and supportive for Xiao En gosh I CRY.

Decided to do my own kind of Monster March! Let’s see how this goes.

Gender neutral narrator, siren, beach/cliffside setting, small village, fluff

Every night at the crack of twilight, when the blue-gray of bruises bloomed over sky and darkened freckles of clouds, a song rose up from the depths of encroaching dark. There were no words in any language to describe it: the melody was the most beautiful thing you would ever hear, wordless and powerful and soul-wrenchingly passionate. It was a song that screamed up at the empty sky for something, someone.