It's (still) April!
I took a big, long breath before writing this, and will go on a walk, buy some black beans and corn, and then make burrito bowls later to just sort of calm my day out.
The Leshy’s Lover is here. The full novella is up, you can read it. It doesn’t look like it, which is great. Um.
Okay, deep breaths. I’m holding my own hands here. The description should update, but it’s not. It may take a few hours, but that’s not as bad as…
You know, the cover.
Whenever we talk about Whynne versus Alice, I always kind of have to explain the cover situation and why it is that while many people love the original Whynne covers, I moved to simpler styled covers and a very very short list of artists I use— and like, don’t get me wrong, I love the Alice covers. I love most of my covers.
Like Ink and Foxglove is beautiful, Alice has a really stark image. They’re great.
Most mainline Whynne covers are gorgeous with Ink and Foxglove being my favorite, followed by Starlit Coast and Quill and Cobweb’s covers.
And in theory, when the World of Whynne series was pitched, I was pretty sure that the novella covers were going to be in the same style with less editing and quicker to have made— because I really, really just wanted to focus on writing these Whynne novellas one after another, researching norse mythology to build out the world for the new new adult release, and just having the World of Whynne be a very fun series of novellas that generated no stress while I wrote another 130,000 words of the university of the unseen, five hundred pages of this arranged marriage god romance, got duel of shadows out of the way so that the idea would stop bothering me and just, you know, lived.
My original goal was to send out arcs the fifth, but Whynne covers are always… tedious. It’s also sort of my bare minimum to send out arcs with a cover and most rounds of editing complete, and yet, well here we are.
When we talk about Whynne, we’re talking about in my mind a pretty clear visual identity that speaks to how fairytale esq the books are, so like, everything had a sort of similar look to it, though the novellas have had different coverers and in some cases, I had to cycle through artists. But, um.
Well, I still don’t have a cover. The book is out. I still don’t have a cover.
I love the book, I love the story, I was foreshadowing more full novels in Whynne at the end— we’re gonna see on that. But the cover that I have now that we’re trying to work through is sort of looking like one of those alien sci-fi action books that are pulp printed and, it’s bad. We’re about 13 days out from when I initially anticipated having this cover, I don’t see an end in sight, and I cannot breathe.
Pretty much my current approach is— leave the blacks up until I get something vaguely okay, because holy hell the alternative is bad, then I will probably do a free book day/blast on the novella as well as the first book in the World of Whynne novella series just as an apology for this. I’m kind of at my wit’s end— the issues with covers being so beautiful and yet always rolling in late for Whynne is sort of why I stepped away from the brand, and I am debating just calling it a day and re-covering absolutely everything in the collection.
Which sucks, because my main hope for Wed to the Harvest God was to have the same frilly, overly pastel style that I had for the original Whynne books.
The collected anthology with all of the world of whynne books available in print will likely be covered by the Duel of Shadows artist and available next month. It’s literally just all five novellas collected in one volume. Around June or July, my norse mythology inspired god romance will be coming out. I have a cover commissioned right now but I’m shopping cover designers and putting in multiple bids everywhere right now, so if you see me online sliding into artist dms and holding up my e-paddle like it’s no one’s business, just know that it is no one’s business and you’ll get to see the results of this insane anxiety induced spending spree soon enough.
I’m reading books.
Yes, I am still reading books.
This month I’m doing a quick re-read of the bridgerton series in preparation for my life to begin, but I read a few other books this month, including Under Cold Moons, which I read just to get a taste for norse mythology fantasy and sort of dip my toes into how I’m approaching Wed to the Harvest God.
HEIRESS TO A LOST REALM
Aisla Iarkis is the Gheall Ceann, the promised one, prophesied to wield an immense power with the potential to save or end the nine realms of Talam. She finds herself burdened by the pressures of a prophecy that has been lost and mistranslated through generations. As she enters adulthood, Aisla has come to fear the power gnawing beneath her skin and lacks the skill to control it. When a mysterious disease, ailing her land and her people, sinks its claws into her best friend, Aisla rushes into enemy lands—a land with no magic—in search of a cure.
She must rely on her training as a warrior and her own ingenuity to save her continent, but what will it cost?
HEIR TO THE WORLDLY REALMS
Weylin Myrkor has spent his entire life preparing to sit the Arden Throne, the throne stolen from the Iarkis family during the War for Descendants. His family has fought against the doom foretold in the prophecy of the norns since its contents first spread. Following his betrothal to the daughter of a powerful dynasty, Weylin feels more confident than ever that he will be the one to unite the realms. A scream in the woods stalls his journey home, and Weylin finds himself saving a mysterious female from beasts of Hel.
With secrets, vulnerabilities, and betrayals knotted between them, will his travels change him for better or worse?
It’s a little bit convoluted. It’s full Norse fantasy, it has dragons and elves, and I do have to note that it has romance. Overall, I think it was a really strong start to reviewing the genre and sort of seeing how I want to carry this series through. You might not be super duper into norse mythology romance yet, though, so, I’m going to recommend you a few other things.
First and foremost, if you like fairytale fantasy, I really think you should check out this list. If you don’t like fairytale retellings, then don’t worry because I’ve got you covered.
Drumroll, please. Fae romances. Click the images to go there.
Wed to the Harvest God and associated titles will be a lot like fae fantasy, just with a stronger scandanavian tilt. Also I’m doubling back down on the romance and trying to get out of the funk I’ve been in lately that’s made my kissing books less kissy. I’m trying to lean more romance less fantasy again.
How have I been doing this? Let me introduce you to my latest obsession, F1 racing romances.
Spencer Riggs is sexy, intense and driven in his pursuit of all things racing.
That pursuit now includes me.
The cocky bad boy of racing struts onto my father's team like he owns it. One look from him and I can tell he thinks he owns the boss's daughter too.
I'm determined to resist that panty-melting smile he keeps flashing my way. I have no time for distractions. Fulfilling a last promise to my father is my only goal.
Race after race, city after city, I do my best to keep it professional. I swear I do. But one night after a hard-fought win, we're celebrating, and Riggs claims his own sweet victory. Me.
His sizzling touch owns my body, but it’s the broken man beneath the public façade who slowly wins my heart.
Before I realize it, Riggs is the one I’m willing to risk everything for. Even if it means breaking a promise. But with our hearts on the line, will he risk everything for me?
I read this bad boy in a day, and then the second one, and then I read the worst book that I’ve ever read in my life that I literally think might be a joke on the whole publishing industry— self and traditional. But, that’s beyond the point. I don’t tell you guys my one star reviews because I think that as an author, it would be tacky of me.
But I do tell you the books I like.
And you, my dear readers, click the links, read them, and keep coming back for more.
Which tells me that you’re looking for book recs, and encourages me to keep posting more. And so I said, okay, here’s a link for you guys to make book recommendations at so we can one day have a newsletter that is just collective book recommendations for you guys, because about fifty of you will click on books you’re recommended within the first day of a newsletter.
And, drumroll please.
Readers. I am speechless. I genuinely stared at that like oh my god, you book recommendation thieves— not a single one of you filled this out? None? How dare you not make content for me at little to no gain for yourself. You should be ashamed.
And so, I’m trying again. Don’t make me make the book recommendation only newsletter all on my own. You know you’re going to see some weird books.
It has been pitched to me that I could incentivize via making it so that if you fill out the form it goes straight to a preview of the first chapter of Wed to the Harvest God. I don’t want to do this so far because I think it’s going to lead to a few of you repeatedly spamming the shark shifter Viktor Krum inspired romance where he ate a part of her body that is infamously the only novel in existence I will voice audible terror at.
He. ate. her. lips.
WHY.