The Dragon's Devotion comes out in just four days (oh my gosh, how did it get so close?), and there's going to be a blog tour with posts about the book and writing, interviews, and excerpts starting on release day. I'm excited to share more about Bastien and Corentin with you, and I thought I'd give you the schedule a little early. I hope you you visit each stop and say hello.

Corentin is a scholar with a secret—his magical Talent allows him to turn into a dragon, and he isn’t alone in that ability. Long ago, dragons were hunted fiercely, until they went into hiding, becoming things of legend. Corentin has traveled the world with one aim—to protect his people and keep their secret safe. Drawn to the principality of Tournai by news of someone close to discovering that secret, he hopes to avert suspicion. His attraction to the too-serious Bastien isn’t convenient for his purpose, but it isn’t something he can ignore either.

Lord Bastien, Earl of Ardesia, inherited his title unexpectedly when his parents were killed in a sailing accident along with the parents of his cousin, Prince Philip. Since then, Bastien has devoted his life to the obligations of his family and estate—so much so, that it has caused tension between him and his siblings. His world is further shaken when he receives an anonymous letter informing him that the tragic boating accident may, in fact, have been murder. Bastien throws himself into investigating whether the allegations are true and finding out who killed his parents.

As Corentin and Bastien become closer, the mystery of Bastien’s parents’ death draws him further into danger. Corentin feels compelled to protect Bastien, but the threat is closer than they know. Now, Corentin must decide whether preserving his secret—and potentially his people’s safety—is more important than saving the man he loves.

Preorder The Dragon's Devotion:
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Add The Dragon's Devotion to your Goodreads shelf.

​Find preorder links and read an excerpt here.

The Dragon's Devotion is on Coming Soon Sunday at Thianna Durston's blog this week!

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

I'm continuing with snippets from The Dragon's Devotion, which is out in nine days (September 4th! Oh my gosh!). The last couple of weeks, I gave you snippets from when Corentin and Bastien first saw each other. Today, I thought I'd share a snippet from their second meeting. (It's a little over six sentences—sorry!)

If you'd like to know more about The Dragon's Devotion (or preorder!), you can find that here. Thanks for reading today!

I have some news and updates for you. First off, The Dragon's Devotion will be out on September 4th! A little over a week, oh my gosh! As always, I am so excited and so anxious to see this book out in the world. It has romance and magic and political intrigue and family drama and, of course, dragons, and I hope you'll enjoy (but, really, dragons!). You can find preorder links and an excerpt over here, if you'd like to take a look. I just finished writing my posts for the blog tour which will begin on release day. I'll put the schedule up for you next week.

Other than preparing for release day, I'm still working on the next Tournai book. Maxen and Faelen haven't been as cooperative as I'd like (or perhaps it's my own brain that hasn't been cooperative), but I'm working to get back on track. I also got bitten by another contemporary plot bunny while out for my walk this morning that I absolutely cannot work on until I've finished Faelen and Maxen's story at least. I need to write faster!

In other news, registration for the NJ Romance Writers conference is open. If you're a writer in the area and looking for a great writers conference, this is definitely one. I've been going every year since 2011, and I've learned a lot and met wonderful people. And if you're a reader or a blogger, registration for the Hearts & Sparks brunch is also open. Come have brunch with me and lots of other romance authors in New Jersey in October. I'd love to see you there!

Finally, I need to announce my birthday giveaway winner. I'm sorry I'm so late in doing this! I put all the names in a hat and pulled out...Rian! I'll email you shortly about your prize. Thank you to everyone who entered! Your birthday wishes were so sweet, and I loved hearing about all the books you've been reading.

​Preorder links and an excerpt are over here.

It's weekend, and time for more Rainbow Snippets. The Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook asks its members to share six sentence snippets from their work each weekend. Check out the group's Facebook page to read all the snippets and add lots of great books to your tbr. You'll find all sorts of books with the common thread that the main character identifies as LGBTQ+.

I'm continuing snippets from The Dragon's Devotion today, leading up to release day on September 4th. Last week, I shared the snippet of Bastien first seeing Corentin. Today, I thought I would give you Corentin's perspective on the moment. He noticed Bastien and has been watching him for a couple minutes.

If you'd like to know more about The Dragon's Devotion or to preorder, you can find it here. There's also still time to enter my Birthday Giveaway for a chance to win a backlist book of mine (go enter!). Thanks for stopping by!

It's my birthday today, so I thought you should have gifts as well. And what better gift than a book? Or, at least, I've always thought books make wonderful gifts, and it's my birthday so you can't argue with me. :-)

So, comment with the last book you read and loved for a chance to win one of my backlist books in your choice of paperback or ebook (ebook only for international people. Sorry! International shipping is a bit much now, but I will mail you Tournai postcards if you like). Extra entries if you follow me on Twitter or like my Facebook page. Just let me know in the comments.

Giveaway open through Monday August 21st.

I'm a little later than usual with my monthly reading post, but I have some books that I really enjoyed to share with you.

Benny's Carnival by Lissa Kasey: I was excited to stumble upon this novella that continues the paranormal Hidden Gem trilogy. It revisits favorite characters and reveals more about the world that has me intrigued. I really hope there's more coming soon. (This won't stand alone well, so start at the beginning with Hidden Gem.)

Coach's Challenge by Avon Gale: I devoured this latest book in the Scoring Chances series. It ranks up there with my favorites in the series, and I can't wait for more. It's part of a series, but it does stand alone, so you can jump in here for all sorts of hockey romance goodness.

The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian: I adored this book. By the end I wanted to cuddle Courtenay and Julian and all the kittens too. It's the last book in a trilogy, but it can standalone. That said, the trilogy is excellent (this and the second are my favorites), so go read them all.

Warlock in Training by TJ Nichols: This was an intriguing beginning to an urban fantasy series with demons and magic and parallel worlds. I don't believe there's any more out yet, but I'm hoping we'll see another book soon because I want to know what happens next.

Antisocial by Heidi Cullinan: Antisocial is sweet and romantic and sensual, despite having almost no content that most people would term explicit sex. It has on-page asexual rep in the character of Skylar, who I just adored. It left me smiling so much.

Pansies by Alexis Hall: Pansies was lovely, which doesn't surprise me at all with this author's work. I've had it on my Kindle since it came out and just never read it until July. It was nominated for a RITA (very much deserved), and it seemed a good time to finally read. I have no idea why I waited so long.

Forged by Desire and Of Silk and Steam by Bec McMaster: I've had these paperbacks for a while and finally decided to dive in to these two. Be aware, they are the last two books in the series. I started here (oops) and figured out what was going on, but starting at the beginning might help everything make sense. It's an interesting steampunk world, a bit dark, with a twist on vampires.

I also listened to a couple of audiobooks on the road trip to Orlando for RWA. My mom came with me, so we picked some audiobooks that we both would enjoy (all romance and all books we'd already read) by favorite authors:

​Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas: I love this book. So much. It is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, historical romances. The audiobook was excellent, and I was happy to revisit Evie and Sebastian (with the new perspective of audio). 

Love in the Afternoon: Another Lisa Kleypas! This is from the Hathaways series and is excellent as well. I now have to go back and reread the entire Hathaways series, and the entire Wallflowers series too.

Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts: Listening to Savor the Moment reminded me how much I loved the Brides Quartet. I'm going to have to reread these soon as well!

What have you been reading lately?

​Read an excerpt and find a preorder link here.