Two-Man Advantage has arrived!!!

The wait is finally over - Two-Man Advantage, my first Seattle Marauders book, is now on sale HERE at Loose Id! I hope you all enjoy reading Two-Man Advantage as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

When Professor Nathan Troy walks into his cabin and finds a naked man in his bed, he figures his one-man vacation to snowy Lake Tahoe can’t get any worse. It’s not that Nate doesn’t appreciate the view...he’d just prefer he knew the man in question.

Kyle Harper has come to Lake Tahoe to escape the memories of his former life -- one where he was a star hockey player until a career-ending injury shattered his dreams forever. All Kyle wants is peace, and he certainly isn’t going to get it with a prickly, stubborn man waking him up, insisting that Kyle is in his cabin.

An accidental double-booking and a wary compromise puts the two in close quarters. Attraction heats things up, but Nate’s not about to let his libido lead him into making the mistake of getting involved with his unexpected roommate. Kyle, however, seems determined to get under his skin at every turn. Both men soon learn that they can’t outrun desire. But lust is easy; it’s opening their hearts that’s hard. Each will have to let go of the past before they can take advantage of the future the two of them could have together.

Buy Link: http://www.loose-id.com/Two-Man-Advantage.aspx

First Lines

We’re only ONE day away from the release of Two-Man Advantage. Nervousness has set in, but as I was anxiously reviewing the manuscript for the eight billionth time I got to thinking about first lines. For example, the first line of Two-Man Advantage is:

“There was a naked man in his bed.”

Now, I’m fairly attached to this sentence, mostly because I can clearly hear Nate in my head (unavoidable author bias). But, looking at that sentence made me think about my general affection for the first sentence (or even first few sentences) of a book. Great first line(s) can be a breath of fresh air, the herald of good things to come. Quite honestly, there’s something just plain fun about a fantastic hook.

Here are four of my favorites:

“Yesterday, Carl Hades had been shot at by a man wearing a black thong and a pink silk nightie. Even in his line of work, that was hard for a devout heterosexual male to digest.” – Weddings Can Be Murder by Christie Craig

“The voice on the phone rasped, ‘Bones of anger, bones of dust, full of fury, revenge is just. I scatter these bones, these bones of rage, enemy mine, I bring you pain. Torment, fire, death the toll, with this hex I curse your soul. So mote it be.’
“I handed the receiver to Angus, who was facing out the ‘We Recommend’ stand by the counter. ‘It’s for you.’” - The Hell You Say by Josh Lanyon

“Being dead didn’t make Jack Mercy less of a son of a bitch.” - Montana Sky by Nora Roberts

And the granddaddy of them all:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.” - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Do you have any favorite opening lines? Let me know in the comments (and since I’m always looking for book recommendations, let me know if the book as a whole is something I should be adding to my TBR pile).

Oh, and if Two-Man Advantage’s first line intrigued you, check out the entire excerpt here ;)

What's on your nightstand?

We're only 5 days away from the release of Two-Man Advantage and I'm doing two things to keep myself from climbing the walls: 1) Working on the sequel (Samson's story - you'll hear a bit about him in Two-Man Advantage) and 2) reading.

So what's on my virtual nightstand this week? Well, I just finished Melinda Barron's Master of the Sun (I always enjoy Mel's work) and now I'm reading the His for the Holidays anthology. Four talented male/male romance authors' stories in one anthology? I'm game ;)

Note: Each of the stories are also sold individually by the publisher, Carina Press.

His for the Holidays by LB Gregg, Harper Fox, Z.A. Maxfield, and Josh Lanyon
Carina Press
Contemporary Male/Male Romance
Click here to buy.
ISBN: 9781426890833

Hope brightens a bleak Edinburgh December. A man gets a second chance with his high school crush. A decade-long game of cat and mouse comes to a passionate conclusion. And Santa Claus drives a red muscle car. Heat up your holidays with this collection of four festive tales from some of the top talent in the male/male genre.

Friend's New Release: Master of the Sun

We're only ONE WEEK away from the release of Two-Man Advantage, and I can't tell you how excited I am!!!!

But there's another book I've been highly anticipating and it's out today at Loose Id: Melinda Barron's Master of the Sun.

If you haven't read Melinda Barron's work before, you're missing out. So what are you waiting for? Check this out:

Master of the Sun by Melinda Barron
Loose Id
Erotic BDSM Contemporary Romance
Buy Link: http://www.loose-id.com/Master-of-the-Sun.aspx
ISBN: 978-1-60737-932-4

Calliope Ingalls had it all: a loving Dom who was also her husband, and a great job that took her all over the country. But it all came crashing down when her husband died unexpectedly. Not sure what to do, she retreated inside herself, shutting off everyone as she wished for the impossible. But there was still work to be done.

When Calliope finally agreed to photograph the construction at his new hotel, Silas Hope was thrilled. His attraction to the sub was strong, and he wanted nothing more than to see her bound in his dungeon for both their pleasure.

To do that, though, Silas would have to convince her to open up to him, mind, body and soul. He knew what Calliope liked, because he’d witnessed her submission firsthand. Now all he had to do was get her to let him wrap his ropes around her wrists and put the kiss of his leather on her bottom.

But while the two of them are exploring a new Dom/sub relationship, another force is at work in Augstown, one that shows that some spirits don’t like change...especially when they’ve been around for four hundred years.

Cover Love

We're only eight days away from the release of Two-Man Advantage and while www.rileyshane.com has been revamped to include all of Two-Man Advantage's info, I thought I'd share bits and pieces here as well.

To start off your Monday right, how about I share something gorgeous? It's the cover for Two-Man Advantage, created by the very talented April Martinez:

What's on your nightstand?

1) Slipping in a short(ish) plug: my first Seattle Marauders book, Two-Man Advantage comes out in just 12 days at Loose Id! I've done an overhaul on www.rileyshane.com to coordinate with Two-Man Advantage's cover (neurotic author alert) and you can find the cover, blurb, and an excerpt of Two-Man Advantage here.

2) I'm not asking what's literally on your nightstand, so don't worry ;)

I'm always looking for something interesting to read and can think of no better way to add to my enormous TBR pile than to ask what people are currently reading and loving.

On my virtual nightstand is Strange Familiar by Cassidy Hunter. I've never read Ms. Hunter's work before and this book sounded too fun to resist

Strange Familiar by Cassidy Hunter
Etopia Press
Erotic Paranormal Romance/Romantic Comedy
Buy Link: http://etopia-press.net/shopping/pgm-more_information.php?id=8&=SID
ISBN: 978-1-936751-06-8

Fate finally brings Olivia her Familiar… too bad fate is a bored bitch with a dark sense of humor.

At last, Olivia Brew’s Familiar has found her. Now that the search is over, her weakened powers and strength will be restored, and she can get on with her witchy life. But there’s a problem. Her familiar’s not exactly what she expected. And she just might be falling in love with him.

Kane Oliver’s got problems of his own. He’s not interested in being anyone’s pet, and he’s got secrets so deeply buried even he isn’t aware of them. Though he can’t deny the powerful connection between himself and Olivia, he’s not exactly Familiar material. And there are beings more powerful than either of them who want to keep it that way…