Dear humans,
The male got the female a light for Christmas. It arrived today. It changes color at her whim. She uses the tiny glowy box to control it. She likes it very much, and keeps taking it off its stand to show the male.
The first five or so times, this amused him. He is no longer amused, but the female is too excited to care much about this. Right now, it’s a very soothing golden yellow color.
This snippet is from Devon Monk’s Sealed with a Tryst in the Dirty Deeds anthology. (This story is good, and you want to read it.)
I parked the Jeep and stared through the rain at my almost-uncle, Crow, who was actually the trickster god Raven. He was waiting just inside the mouth of the tent he’d set up in front of his glassblowing studio. As if he’d been expecting us.
“Ten bucks it’s all stolen.” My youngest sister, Jean, wore a beanie over her blue hair, the bangs across her forehead making her eyes sky bright. She had on a puffy jacket with her badge on it, just like me. Although my badge said Chief Reed and hers just said Officer Reed.
Crow wiggled his fingers at both of us. His smile was white against his russet-tan skin, and his dark hair hung past his shoulders. He’d braided that hair and added a feather earring to his outfit today. Crow feather, of course.
“I mean, sure,” I said. “At least some of that stuff must be hot. This is Crow we’re talking about. But what I can’t figure out is the whale.”
We both leaned forward to better see out the windshield.
The January wind buffeted the Jeep hard, rocking it on its springs. Rain hammered down on the metal roof like rocks thrown from the heavens. A storm front was pushing in off the Pacific. Torrential rain would hit by tonight. Then we’d see winds clocking in at sixty miles an hour and gusting to eighty.
Just another wet, windy, possibly deadly January day in Ordinary, Oregon.
“The whale I understand,” Jean said, as we stared at the tent. “It’s a tent, we’re a beach town. Matchy-match. But why is it that… color?”
“Lurid pink?” I suggested.
She nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, I love me some color, but there’s something about that thing that makes me want to stab it.”
The hot pink whale flapped its obscenely large mouth, flailed its flippers, and flipped its tail like it’d just heard Jean’s threat and was trying to swim away.
But no matter what Jean or I thought about the thing, there were people moving around inside that ridiculous tent. Shoppers couldn’t resist a bargain, even in this weather.
Crow, still watching us, pointed upward with both hands.
The whale’s head was topped with a blow hole, and out of that sprayed blood red streamers. An additional banner near the startled whale eye declared: whale of a sale
“Is this an exploding whale thing?” Jean asked. “Because we weren’t the town that blew up that rotting whale in the seventies.”
If you’re an e-book reader, here is where you go to preorder yours: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo
You can get non-signed versions from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The trade paperback is $15.99, while the mass market version is $18.99. Both use a large font for easier reading, which is why they’re so expensive. See our post about the Liberty Book Company if you’re interested in a signed copy. (We don’t know if there are any left.)
- Mass market (unsigned) on Amazon
- Trade paperback (unsigned) on Amazon
- Mass Market (unsigned) at Barnes & Noble
- Trade paperback (unsigned) at Barnes & Noble
The female is tired again, because she’s trying really hard to get Wild Wolf out on time, so there’s only one book today. (Sorry! It wouldn’t surprise us kitties if there’s only one book faire book most days of the week moving forward, because the tired is real by the end of the day, and she tries to give her best working hours to Wild Wolf. In good news, she’s really enjoying the book. It’s just not done yet.)
Thorn of the Night Blossoms by JC Kang (Epic/Sword and Sorcery)
Purchase Link: Amazon (Kindle Unlimited)
Price: $0.99
Age Rating: 18+
Note(s) from the Publisher: Adult content, sexual coercion. (AKA, serious trigger warnings, so be aware.)
Raised in a clan of imperial spies and assassins, half-elf orphan Jie has only known a love for the blade… until now.
During a deep cover mission, a forbidden affection blossoms with a fellow clan member.
When rebels learn their true identity, and Jie uncovers a plot against the emperor, she must choose between love and duty.
Because when faced with brewing rebellion, your decisions could save an empire…
Or topple it.
Our Thoughts: The artwork on this cover is absolutely incredible. The female bought the book, without caring about the cost, because of this cover. She will be sad if the cover is ever updated, which sometimes happens, but there is a paperback version with similar art but different colors, and as a result, the female now broke the rule about not buying paper books. Oops.
What’s the book about again? The female didn’t even check. (Will the female actually read this book? Possibly, but with caution, because the reader advisory definitely applies to her… but daaayyyuuummmmmm this cover.)
Happy reading, Humans!
Hi, so when I clicked on the link for ‘Thorn of the Night Blossoms by JC Kang ‘, I was directed to ‘The Everly Davis chronicles: Books 1-3 Kindle Edition’
PS. The 12th, can’t wait 🙂
Arrgh. I’ll fix it. Thanks. (That whole REALLY tired thing. link must not have taken when I saved it. Oy.)