2024 COVERS

2024 covers

Welcome to the Dark Side!

We are writers mainly from Australia and New Zealand who write speculative fiction with romantic elements. Be it fantasy, paranormal, dark urban fantasy, futuristic and everything in between.

Tuesday 9 May 2023

DarkSider News: May 2023!

  



Time to snuggle up with a good book...






NEW RELEASES


The Virgin Hunt Games Volume 5
Mel Teshco
Book 5, The Virgin Hunt Games
Released: 15 April


EARTH, YEAR 2340

After the death of her parents, Larissa Lockheart is the first to admit she’s had too much loss in her life. That she now craves one more death, specifically the man who sent her parents to an early grave, is what makes her enter into the Virgin Hunt Games as one of the ten hunted. She’ll do whatever she can to make Felix pay for his sins and fall in love with her, then humiliate and degrade him in front of an audience of billions. If he also just happens to die a gruesome death in these violent and bloody Games, then so be it.
Felix Manson doesn’t need the huge prize money on offer to whoever wins the Virgin Hunt Games. He’s already wealthy beyond compare thanks to owning his own planet, where he holds elite weekend sex parties. He’s here for Larissa. He’s already spent a small fortune blackmailing the officials to ensure she’ll be his mate in these Games. A born risk taker, protecting Larissa with his life seems like a small sacrifice to finally take her body—again and again—and then win her love.
But nothing is what it seems in these Games, with powerful emotions distorting as the seven bloodthirsty days count down to the end. Only time will tell if love really does conquer all.

Each book in the Virgin Hunt Games series is a STANDALONE.

Buy

Cover by Eleni Konstantine's alter ego, HelzKat Designs.






One Wolf Next Door
Efthalia  
Book 1, The Willow Witch Chronicles
Released: 11 April


A Witch. A Wolf. And defective magic.

Samantha Willow is a defective witch. Her magical powers are useless, and her coven has turned its back on her. Her comfortable and serene lifestyle is short-lived when a new neighbor moves in next door. Romance was not on the agenda. To add to her problems, one of her customers ends up dead, and the police want answers.

Dex Lycophron, wolf, and immortal warrior has had enough of fighting for humanity. He wants to put his feet up and relax, but when he gets a whiff of his delectable witchy neighbor, he knows he's not going to rest until he claims her as his mate. But to do that he must return to the world and connections he left behind.

Will the Witch admit that they belong together?





Thornwood Academy: Dead to Me
LJ Swallow
Book 2, Thornwood Academy
Released: 6 April


Looking for an academy series where the girl has Wednesday vibes? Meet Violet Blackwood: half-vampire, half-witch, smart, sarcastic and slightly unhinged.

Dead to Me is the second book in Thornwood Academy, a new supernatural academy series from LJ Swallow, author of the bestselling Nightworld Academy books.

The series features a girl who isn't afraid to use her dark side, a magic school where humans mix with vampires and witches, and where murder stalks the academy and town. There are guys Violet would like to stay alive, but Thornwood Academy is a slow-burn romance… almost as glacial as our heroine.

Book one Never Say Die must be read first. Fuller details for book two coming very soon!







Wrath and Other Troubles
TJ Nichols
Book 6, Mytho
Released: 28 April


Fallout from the wild magic.

Book 6 in the gay urban fantasy series that follows Jordan and Edra as they solve crime and figure out how to improve mytho and human relations. For readers who like dragon shifters and forbidden romance.






Monster's Obsession
Mila Young and C.R. Jane
Book 2, Monster & Me
Released: 2 May in audio format


The monsters already own my body…but do they want my heart?

Left to die in a monstrous land, I’m saved by the monster I least expect. He hates me, but he loves what my body can do for him.

I shouldn’t want to keep him. I shouldn’t want to keep all of them. I’m just their plaything, after all. But, one by one, they find their way into my heart.

Even as the world falls apart around me, I realize that I’ve become just as obsessed with my monsters as they are with me.






The Sinner and the Scholar
Lana Pecherczyk
Book 1, Sinner Sisterhood
Released: 2 May


Amidst darkness and sin, two unlikely souls find themselves twisted in a forbidden affair that could cost them everything.

Ripped from an orphanage for her wicked ways, Thea was trained as a seductive assassin for the nuns of the Hildegard Sisterhood and given a purpose as a Sinner: to bring balance to a world designed by men. She never expected to be brought to her knees by the arrival of an arrogant scholar from the all-male Team Saint.

Wesley is a relentless demon hunter for the most mysterious entity in the world—the Vatican. His mission is simple: destroy evil wherever it may hide. But when he meets the sassy and smart Thea, he can’t resist falling into temptation. She's the one he’s searched for his entire life, but she belongs to an organization he’s sworn to destroy.

Danger, deception, and desire collide when they discover a lost prophecy has the key to saving a loved one in each of their lives—but it will only work for one.

“Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned… I killed a man.”

The Sinner Sisterhood is a dark, steamy paranormal romance series featuring five bad girls fated to save the world… but only if they first make peace with their dark sides. If you enjoy stories like Buffy, Constantine, The DaVinci Code, and Supernatural… but want more soul-shattering romance, found family shenanigans, unapologetic heroines, and the men who would sacrifice the world to love them, then this is for you.

**Please Note: This series touches on taboo and dark topics, has explicit sexual content, violence, and is unsuitable for the young or those sensitive about religion, horror, and demons. HEA guaranteed.


Buy





Beasts and Beauties
anthology including stories by
Lana Pecherczyk and Lilliana Rose
Released: 10 April for a limited time


A charity anthology featuring a selection of BABE 2023 attending authors. This anthology is designed to give BABE attendees a brief introduction to these authors and their stories. All stories within are brand new content, or otherwise unavailable anywhere else. They’re short stories, novellas, and prequels which don’t require any prior knowledge of the author or characters within. These stories are a broad range of romance, from high heat to closed door, and some will end on cliffhangers.

All profit from the BABE 2023 Anthologies will benefit the Hawkesbury Helping Hands charity.

These ebook editions will be withdrawn from sale in July and physical copies are only available at BABE 2023.

Beasts and Beauties Edition is a Paranormal and Fantasy Anthology.

Featured Stories - BEASTS AND BEAUTIES EDITION

Fallen Fae Gods - Jaymin Eve

A Discovery Of Demonology - Amelia Hutchins

Sunset Stakes - Sophie Davis

A Siren’s Story - Stephanie Hudson

Alpha Seeker - Lela Grayce

A Wish Of Ashes And Glass - Selina A Fenech

Bad Moon Rising - Steffanie Holmes and Katie May

Brianne - Kate Bonham

Dragon Flames - Stacey Brutger

Biker Bear - Miri Stone

Found By Fate - May Dawson

Frayed Bond - Kaydence Snow

Insatiable - Emma Dean

Fancy Fury - Margo Bond Collins

Of Ferns And Gullies - Lana Pecherczyk

On A Wing And A Prayer - Aaron L Speer

Shadows And Demons - Emma James

The Glass Court - Coralee June

Winter Ball - Leia Stone

Witch Moon - Lilliana Rose










Non spec-fic

Need You Tonight
Leisl Leighton
Released: 5 April


Not even fame will protect him from her violent past.

Reclusive music producer, Lexi Deningham, has worked hard to escape a violent past, building her reputation so world famous rock stars come to her at her isolated recording studio in the Victorian High Country. That includes the wildly talented Daemon Flagherty who has just arrived to discuss his band's next album. After a messy divorce, all Daemon wants is to focus on his music, even if that means going to the end of the world to work with the best, albeit mysterious, music producer there is.

When Lexi gets a call from her twin sister's secure mental health hospital telling her Cat has been attacked, Lexi has no choice but to bring her twin home. Lexi isn't ready to deal with both Cat and Daemon at the same time but if she wants to work with Daemon - and she does, desperately - she has no choice.

Romance should be the last thing on their minds, but it seems that neither Lexi nor Daemon can ignore the passion between them. Until the threat from Lexi's past comes crashing into the present, determined to make her pay and with no care for who might get in the way. Lexi is used to going it alone, but will she realise she needs help before it's too late?


The Lust Bunny
Helen Walton
Book 4, Hollywood Hearts: 
Holiday Romance Short Story
Released: 2 April


An actress with her first big break. A famous bad boy actor. When they kiss, will it spark love or death?

Natalie Klutz has dreamed of being a famous actress forever. Even if her family doesn’t support her career, she’s determined to make it. When she finally gets a role in a movie, she decides to arrive at the location a few days early so she doesn’t have to hear her family put her down all Easter.

Conrad Saint James has a bad boy reputation he can’t shake. He can’t help it if women throw themselves at him just because he’s a famous actor. When one woman doesn’t, he wants her more than any woman before her.

One dance leads them to a kiss that has catastrophic results. And Natalie is left wondering if she just killed the star of the movie.

The Lust Bunny is the hilarious fourth standalone book in the Hollywood Hearts short story series. If you like instalove, holiday romance, and a quick read then you’ll love Helen Walton’s charming romance.







The Highland Warrior Chronicles Special Edition
Christina Phillips
Books 1-4, Highland Warrior Chronicles
Released: April in Christina's Store



Her Savage Scot
Scots warrior Connor will do anything to protect Aila from the Vikings. But to save her he must defy his king, betray his country, and forsake his honor

Her Vengeful Scot
My enemies will pay for what they’ve done

Her Baseborn Scot
A warrior with cursed royal blood. A princess who will never submit to the enemy. A forbidden love that could cost them everything…

Her Wicked Scot
A warrior rumored to have no heart. An ice princess, who has vowed never to love again. A forced marriage that could break them both…







Excalibur
Anna Hackett
Book 5, Sentinel Security
Released: 27 April



He never should have touched her.

She’s beautiful, sweet, and all sunshine. He’s too old, too rough, and too grumpy.

Now she’s pregnant with his baby and in danger, and there is nothing he won’t do to keep her safe.

All Adaline Harris ever wanted to do was escape her small town and make it as a ballet dancer in New York. But luck is never on her side. Just when she’s found the big, gruff man of her dreams, he ghosts her…leaving her with a broken heart, pregnant, and unable to dance. Oh, and added to that, someone is sending her creepy notes.

But then Bram O’Donovan walks back into her life, takes one look at her, and sweeps her into his brawny arms.

Bram “Excalibur” O’Donovan knows he’s rough, curt, and isn’t good with people. The military suited him just fine, and now, so does working for Sentinel Security. He never expected to have a chance with sweet, gorgeous Addie. The week he spent in her bed was the best week of his life…until she disappeared without a trace.

Finding her working in a bar and pregnant with his baby is a shock.

But after discovering Addie thinks he abandoned her and that someone is hunting her, Bram is determined to uncover what’s going on. Someone is trying to keep them apart, and wants her for themselves. Bram will go all out, and use all his dangerous skill set, to keep Addie safe, and claim her as his, once and for all.








Steel
Anna Hackett
Book 4, Sentinel Security
Released: 14 April in audio format



His skills and ruthlessness made him a legend.

The dark, dangerous former spy.

Now the operative turned billionaire known as Steel collides with fiery agent Hellfire when they discover they’re both on the kill list of a deadly assassin.

CIA agent Devyn “Hellfire” Hayden came from nothing and made herself into one of the CIA’s best deep-cover agents. She’s dedicated to her country. She’s always on the move. She’s a loner. Just the way she likes it. Letting people close is a weakness and she’ll never be weak again.

But when she finds herself under attack by an assassin targeting the world’s best intelligence agents, it sends her straight into the path of the only man who tempts her. The dark, lethal Killian “Steel” Hawke.

Killian Hawke rose through the ranks of the CIA, and knows his name is whispered in fear by his enemies. But when his sister needed him, he left and started Sentinel Security. He protects all those he considers his: his sister, his friends, his employees, and his clients.

But there is one stubborn redhead he also wants to claim.

As Devyn and Killian work together to unmask the assassin hunting them, they are forced to confront their white-hot attraction and their violent need to protect each other. Killian is tired of dancing around what he feels for her. Now that she’s in danger, he’ll do whatever it takes to make her safe, claim her heart, and possess her soul.










Call Me Cowboy
Lilliana Rose
is in the limited edition anthology My Name is...
Released: 23 April



Circumstance brings these couples together, but things are not what they seem.
False Names.
Nicknames.
Creative ways of keeping their identities hidden.
Will they eventually learn what the other is hiding and why?
Participating Authors:

S.L. Davies

Danielle Sibarium

J.L. Belcher

Jakki Frances

J.A Melville

Lilliana Rose

S.C. Principale

Candace Dowds

















PRE-ORDERS




A Crown of Silver and Shadow
LJ Swallow
Book 2, Fae Fantasy Romance
Expected Release: 6 September



The courts are in ruin.
The fae realm shattered.
Jaren has claimed his throne but has he lost Tarlia?

A Crown of Silver and Shadows is the second book in a fae fantasy romance with a morally gray hero and a sheltered heroine who comes into her power. Part Rapunzel retelling, this series is perfect for fans of banter and tension leading to steamy scenes, set in a unique fantasy world of human and fae courts.
The first book, A Court Beyond The Mists must be read first.

The release date is temporary and will be changed.






Thornwood Academy: For Dear Life
LJ Swallow
Book 3, Thornwood Academy
Expected Release: 31 October


For Dear Life is the third in a new supernatural academy series from LJ Swallow,author of the Nightworld Academy books. The Thornwood Academy series features a girl who isn't afraid to use her dark side, a magic school where humans mix with vampires and witches, and three guys with secrets in a town stalked by a serial killer.

Thornwood Academy is also a slow-burn romance… almost as glacial as our slightly psychotic heroine.
Books 1 and 2 must be read first.

More details soon.
Release date will be moved forward.








Wings of Ivory and Ice
LJ Swallow
Book 3, Her Dragons Reborn
Expected Release: 2 December


Wings of Ivory and Ice is the final book in the dragon shifter romanceseries Her Dragons Reborn.

If you like sexy dragon shifters, steamy romance, fated mates, magic, courts and royalty, plus a strong heroine who doesn't have to choose her prince, start the series today with Wings of Ruby and Flame.

The book will be available much sooner than the listed date.





Winterfall Legacy
LJ Swallow
Book 3, Nightworld Academy
Expected Release: 19 May


Winterfall Legacy is the third book in the Nightworld Academy: Winterfall series. Other books in the series must be read first.

Now that the group are back together, they have new challenges to face—including finally confronting Gabriella.

But what is the First and how dangerous is she?

And what problems will Dorian Blackwood's involvement create?





Mark Me
Mila Young
Book 4, Immortal Vices and Virtues: 
Her Monstrous Mates
multi-author series
Expected Release: 30 August 


Description coming soon...






Hell or Highwater
Mila Young and Harper A. Brooks
Book 8, Sin Demons
Expected Release: 31 August 
(date expected to be moved up)


There's a baby on the way for Aria and her four demon lovers... so how about a tropical getaway before all hell breaks loose?

What could go wrong?






The Virgin Hunt Games Volume 6
Mel Teshco
Book 6, Virgin Hunt Games
Expected Release: 15 June


EARTH, YEAR 2344

Morgana Dion, Princess of Aladdia, is hiding a secret. Her biological mother isn’t the queen. But although Morgana has commoner blood running through her veins, it won’t stop her from sacrificing everything she is to be in the Virgin Hunt Games and stop a vicious enemy from destroying her planet and her people. If that means submitting to King Leon—another royal from another, far more powerful world—and signing a contract to impregnate herself to his son, Garrett, who is one of ten hunters in the Games, then so be it. That Garrett is now more cyborg than man shouldn’t matter, he has more royal blood flowing through his veins than she’ll ever have.

Garrett might know his first name, but he has no clue who he really is. Only that he woke up with cyborg parts after an explosion all but tore him apart. These days he has more pressing concerns, thanks to living in a squalid, dog-eat-dog prison ship in the middle of space. When he’s given as opportunity to fight for his place as a hunter in the Virgin Hunt Games, he jumps at it. After all, the victor will never again return to the space prison.

But though he’s prepared for a society who will never really accept him, nothing can prepare him for the one hunted he wants in the games, a woman who looks at him with equal parts loathing and desire.
But if beauty really is skin deep, can he convince Morgana that there is more to him than what she sees?

Each book in the Virgin Hunt Games series is a STANDALONE.

Pre-Order


Cover by Eleni Konstantine's alter ego, HelzKat Designs.






Sienna
Mel Teshco
Book 2, Alien Fugitives
Expected Release: 10 May



He’s a bounty hunter sent to Earth to capture her. She’ll fight tooth and nail for her freedom.

Sienna Moore is a revered rare—a Strazan native with unique powers—burdened with grief and guilt after her species died in battle against vicious Dronians while she and six other rares escaped to Earth. Sienna takes up residence in the carriage of an ever-moving train, where she uses her mind powers to conceal her true identity. But nothing can stop the Dronians from closing in on her and the last few rares.

Gray Bastine has tracked down Sienna with the goal to capture her before the Dronians find and kill her. With his own planet in danger of becoming the Dronians next world to destroy and conquer he will force Sienna to uncover everything there is to know about their common enemy. Except Sienna isn’t so easy to acquire and the longer it takes to claim her the more he realizes their attraction is making this a mission impossible.

Pre-order





Japser
Mel Teshco
Book 3, Alien Fugitives
Expected Release: 1 July


She’s fed up with her mundane life. He yearns to escape the danger that surrounds him.

Jasper Finch wants to leave the Earth city of New Faxian behind where he and six other rares—the last surviving Strazans with extraordinary powers—are forced to live thanks to the freshwater river cutting through the city. Water nourishes his species and stabilizes their powers, which are volatile on Earth. A pity his relentless enemy is tracking him down. Then he meets an intriguing woman, and leaving becomes the furthest thing on his mind.

Suzy Grant is over her career as a car saleswoman, but then it’s fair to say she’s over everything and everyone…until a young man with afro hair and a ripped body walks into the car yard. That she is too old for him is as painfully obvious as his reluctance to buy a car. So why is he so reluctant to leave? But getting to know the real him comes at a price. He isn’t what he seems…and he has pitiless alien enemies that make her reconsider the serenity of her humdrum life.

Pre-order








Gluttony and Other Hungers
TJ Nichols
Book 7, Mytho
Expected Release: 28 June


You are invited to the wedding of Jordan and Edra...of course it will go smoothly.

The final book in the gay urban fantasy crime series that follows Jordan and Edra as they solve crime and figure out how to improve mytho and human relations. For readers who like dragon shifters and fated mates romance.







Wicked Dreams
M.J. Scott
Book 4, Techwitch
Expected Release: 6 June


In exciting dark and sexy futuristic urban fantasy series from RITA® Award nominated author M.J. Scott.

I never dreamed of magic. Having a mother who dabbled in the darker side of witchcraft made sure of that. But magic found me anyway. And the world of power is stranger and more dangerous than I ever could have imagined. So if I don't want it to turn into a nightmare, I have to take what magic offers me…

Wicked Dreams is the fourth book in the TechWitch series, exciting dark and sexy futuristic urban fantasy from RITA® Award nominated author M.J. Scott. This series has witches, demons, an ongoing relationship that will have an HEA, sexy times, and a lot of computer geeks. Perfect if you like the idea of a strong heroine, a hot protective billionaire and magic and technology colliding. Enjoy!







Wicked Ways
M.J. Scott
Book 5, Techwitch
Expected Release: 28 May 2024


An exciting dark and sexy futuristic urban fantasy series from RITA® Award nominated author M.J. Scott.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the magical world, it’s that you never know what’s coming next. Monsters lurk in the dark, and even in the light, danger is never far away. And when you get caught between old troubles and new loyalties, there’s no guarantee you’ll find a way out…

Wicked Ways is the fifth book in the TechWitch series, exciting dark and sexy futuristic urban fantasy from RITA® Award nominated author M.J. Scott. This series has witches, demons, an ongoing relationship that will have an HEA, sexy times, and a lot of computer geeks. Perfect if you like the idea of a strong heroine, a hot protective billionaire and magic and technology colliding. Enjoy!

Author's note: For tropes and CW, please check the author's website.






Soul Cursed
Leisl Leighton
Book 2, Gods Cursed
Expected Release: 6 June


Cursed to never be loved; fated to never be alone …

Cursed cupid, Tamuel, has been told he will never love or be loved, a fate he’s long been resigned to. Yet, from the moment he meets powerful trainee witch Korinna Soteira at the Amazonian training camp deep in the Ceraunian Mountains, he knows this to be a lie. For he loves Korinna like he’s loved nothing and no-one in his life. But his curse is right in one respect: he may be able to love, but he can never be loved. Korinna will only ever be his friend, a fact he has spent the last twenty years coming to terms with.

Korinna lives in turmoil. She loves Tamuel with everything in her, but how can she tell him when her duty lies elsewhere, as does his? Not to mention, there is his curse – which means he cannot love anyone, not even her. Their future is set and she cannot change it.

However, an ancient evil is trying to get back into the Earthly Realm to destroy what the Gods have built and finally rule over all. The only thing that can stop it is the cursed cupid and an impossible love – a love, Korinna has discovered, that if allowed to come into being now, could destroy everything she’s worked so hard to protect. 

How can she break Tamuel’s curse and save their present without also breaking the future?  





Brute
Lauren Rose
Expected Release: 23 May


Handsome. Strapping. Revered. It seems like Narcisse has it all – and he does. That is, until he sets his sights on Bluebell, the local beauty, and making her his wife. And Narcisse always gets his way. But you know what they say - happy wife, happy life. And his new wife is decidedly unhappy.

Things only get worse when people from the village begin disappearing and fear begins to haunt their movements, as an evil enchantress comes to claim old debts.

Can this brute win over his wife, and stop the evil plaguing his home?






Marked Wolf
Lilliana Rose
Book 2, Protector Wolf Shifter
Expected Release: 11 May


Marked by the vampires, Tamaska doesn’t realize the danger she is in. Kodiak is pressured by his pack to fight the vampires and forget about Tamaska. But a bond is forming between him and Tamaska which he can’t ignore.

His pack rejects Tamaska, making it harder for him to be with her.

Can he find a way to protect Tamaska, and fight for his pack?









Non Spec-Fic


The Sheikh's Royal Widow
Mel Teshco
Book 7, Desert Kings Alliance
Expected Release: 31 September


He’s running from the past. She’s afraid to face the future. Can they create a perfect today?

Princess Takisha Hakim never thought she’d desire another man again. Not after Sheikh Fayez’s rejection, and certainly not after her sick and depraved marriage to Sheikh Arif. She’s learned the hard way that wealth and power comes at a cost and accepts she doesn’t deserve to be loved. Then she sees gardener, Akeem Al-Jalal, and all her doubts fade away. Perhaps a commoner is just what she needs?

Akeem enjoys his simple life as a gardener. For the most part, hard, physical labor drowns out the memories of his past and helps him to forget about his family and the brutal war that made him the hero he never wanted to be. He might have been a killer in the past, but nurturing plants soothes his black soul. A pity his life gets complicated the moment the princess begins to take a personal interest.

He doesn’t belong in her world anymore…does he?



Cover by Eleni Konstantine's alter ego, HelzKat Designs.




Love is in the Air: 
a limited edition second chance 
romance collection
contains story by
Helen Walton
Expected Release: 8 August


Sometimes we don't get it right the first time around. That's why life gives us second chances.

This limited edition romance collection features 20+ stories of hope, happy ever afters, and the second chances it took to get there.

In this collection you will find stories of second chances at love and life as our heroes and heroines embark on life changing journeys, whether changing careers or moving half way across the globe.

What second chance have you been longing for? These stories just might inspire you to go out there and grab it.

About the collection:

All NET Author proceeds are being pledged to Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the highest rated breast cancer organization in the United States and largest private funder of breast cancer research worldwide.

The organizer of this collection, Mandy Melanson of Amaryllis Media, LLC, watched her aunt go through diagnosis, treatment, remission, then it returned as Stage 4. It was in that moment she watched her aunt refuse additional treatment because it made her so sick she felt the alternative was a better choice for her and she resigned herself to her diagnosis.

It is our collective hope no one will ever have to feel that way again. That is why she's brought together these 20+ romance authors, who build their careers on hope and happy ever afters, to write this collection of second chances.

Our mission, as the participating authors in this collection, is to use our voices to help BCRF in their mission to prevent and cure breast cancer by advancing the world's most promising research.

Scroll up now and claim your copy of this collection to help us make a difference in other people's lives!













COVERS


Yet We Sleep, We dream
JL Peridot
Expected Release: 23 September


Love triangles get bent out of shape when restless gods come out to play.

Relationships are complicated enough when only humans are involved — something the crew of the starship Athenia know plenty about. These children of a changing climate are no strangers to conflicts of the heart. And it seems there's a lot of conflict going on, even out in space.

When an alien dust finds its way on board, the veil between realms begins to fray. Old gods of a long dead planet resume their own romantic bickering while ancient magic wreaks havoc across the ship. Grudges resurface, friends turn to enemies, unrequited love turns to passion — or does it? It's kinda hard to tell with everyone at each other's throats.

Gentles, perchance you wonder at this show; but wonder on, till truth make all things plain. Yet We Sleep, We Dream is a romantic space-fantasy inspired by Shakespeare's endearing hot mess, A Midsummer Night's Dream.

"I have had a most rare vision. I have had a dream, past the wit of man to say what dream it was."
— Bottom, A Midsummer Night's Dream

Contains:
- Friends to lovers
- Second chances
- Aussies in space (casual swears)
- Sex, weed & waking dreams
- Hot robot love action

Content advisory: Strong language. Drug use. On-page sexual encounters. References to harassment and infertility. Depictions of perilous situations. Depictions of marital disharmony. Awkward social situations. Technical language.





Adrift in Retribution Bay
Claire Boston
Book 6, Aussie Heroes: Retribution Bay
Expected Release: 30 May


She's fighting for the security she's found. He's trying to figure out how to live again. Can two wounded souls be healed by helping each other?

After a lifetime in the army, Arthur 'Sherlock' Hammond has been cast adrift. Struggling to cope after being medically discharged, his friends drag him to Retribution Bay to face life, and a sister he's not seen for a decade.

After years of struggle, Gretchen Wintie has found a home in Retribution Bay for her and her son. With a secure job, friends she can count on and the end of her university degree in sight, life is looking up. Until her low-life ex walks back into her life demanding she betray all she holds dear. Adding to her stress is the bitter, injured ex-soldier she's forced to work with, and who thinks a smile is a sin against humanity.

But when her ex's threats escalate, Gretchen discovers a sweet man underneath Arthur's prickly exterior. He might just be the solution to all of her problems, as long as she doesn't lose her heart to him.
When a cyclone threatens the town, will their dark secrets be revealed, or will it blow all of their issues away?

Adrift in Retribution Bay is the sixth book in the Aussie Heroes: Retribution Bay series. If you like wounded heroes, feisty heroines and odds stacked against them, you'll love Adrift in Retribution Bay.






FREE READS



Fractured Curse
Leisl Leighton
Prequel, Gods Cursed
Free when you sign up to Leisl's newsletter


Cursed to never be loved; fated to never be alone …

Cursed cupid, Tamuel, has been told he will never love or be loved, a fate he’s long been resigned to. Yet, from the moment he meets powerful trainee witch Korinna Soteira at the Amazonian training camp deep in the Ceraunian Mountains, he knows this to be a lie. For he loves Korinna like he’s loved nothing and no-one in his life. But his curse is right in one respect: he may be able to love, but he can never be loved. Korinna will only ever be his friend, a fact he has spent the last twenty years coming to terms with.

Korinna lives in turmoil. She loves Tamuel with everything in her, but how can she tell him when her duty lies elsewhere, as does his? Not to mention, there is his curse – which means he cannot love anyone, not even her. Their future is set and she cannot change it.

However, an ancient evil is trying to get back into the Earthly Realm to destroy what the Gods have built and finally rule over all. The only thing that can stop it is the cursed cupid and an impossible love – a love, Korinna has discovered, that if allowed to come into being now, could destroy everything she’s worked so hard to protect. 

How can she break Tamuel’s curse and save their present without also breaking the future?  






Wicked Games
M.J. Scott
Book 1, Techwitch
is currently free!


My mother was a wicked witch. And all her spells ever brought was trouble. Since her death, with no power of my own, I’ve stayed far, far away from magic . . .

In a San Francisco struggling to recover from earthquakes and rising seas, and where technology can do things that are close enough to magic anyway, Maggie Lachlan is a computer whisperer. The one they call when no one else can find the elusive bug bringing a complex system to its knees. They call her the Techwitch. But she knows there’s nothing magical about what she does. It’s just hard-earned skill.

So when Damon Riley, owner of the world’s biggest virtual reality gaming company comes calling with a problem that his entire empire of geeks can’t fix, Maggie leaps at the job. Riley Arts is the kind of place she feels at home. Wall-to-wall tech. No magic. Except, perhaps, for the unsettling chemistry she has with the man in charge.

But she never imagined stepping into one of Damon’s games would reveal her mother lied about Maggie’s magic. Or that technology could break a spell she never knew she was under. Now she has a demon hunting her and a whole world she knows nothing about to navigate. To save herself—and the world—she needs to learn fast.

Because, when it comes to magic, too many games are wicked. And if you lose, the price can be very, very high . . .






 OTHER



M.J. Scott

M.J. now has a store on her website for her indie ebooks. 




Lilliana Rose

If you want to review an ARC of Marked Wolf, sign up here.





TJ Nichols


You can now get signed paperback copies from TJ's store.
Leisl Leighton

Leisl is over at Romance.com.au talking about the Sexiest Rock Musicians of all time




Helen Walton

Helen will be signing at the Fiction and Friction Indie Book Signing event in Adelaide on 30 September. Details of event not yet available. 




Helen in now on Goodreads.


Anna Hackett

Anna was interviewed on Amazing Stories in their Profiles in Science Fiction Romance


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Congratulations to our DarkSiders.

Thanks for joining us. Until next time, be safe and well.


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