HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
First, let me start by wishing everyone a happy holiday
and expressing my gratitude for another wonderful year. December 16th
marks my fifth publishing anniversary, and I am so very grateful to all the
wonderful people who’ve come along on this journey with me and made my dreams
come true. Not unlike a marriage, we’ve seen some really great times and some
rough ones too. You’ve been my friends during my breast cancer battle in 2016
and other illnesses this year. You’ve lifted my spirits and cheered me on, and
because of you, I get to wake up and write love stories each day. Sometimes
they’re comedies, sometimes they’re a mysteries, and sometimes there’s a paranormal
element, but love is at the core of every story. From the bottom of my heart,
thank you! May 2020 bring good health and positivity into our lives.
DEVIL’S HOUR
I am so excited to announce that Devil’s Hour (Zero Hour
Book Two) is LIVE!!!
You guys humbled me with your response to Ground Zero,
and I genuinely hope Devil’s Hour lives up to your expectations. I stayed true
to Royce, who narrates the POV in this one. ARCs have been out for a week now,
and I’m already getting asked when the final book, Zero Divergence, will release.
I’m planning on a mid-February release, and since I’ve signed a contract for
the audiobooks (more on that below), I am working hard to meet my writing
deadline.
CURL UP AND DYE MAKEOVER
In other news, I recently put my Curl Up and Dye Mystery novels
in one complete set, including the prequel, Fatal Reaction. The series turned
three in November, and I wanted to do something special to celebrate. Jay Aheer
of Simply Defined Art gave the box set a makeover, but the interior of the
books is the same, including the model pictures at the beginning of each
chapter. If you’ve never read them, the box set allows you to get six books for
less than the cost of three.
You can order Curl Up and Dye: The Complete Set here: mybook.to/CurlUpAndDyeBoxSet
AUDIOBOOKS
We have two Curl Up and Dye audiobooks releasing soon! I
Do or Dye Trying releases on December 24, 2019, and A Dye Hard Holiday releases
on Jan 24, 2020. I Do is available for preorder, so I will drop the link below.
I am so honored to work with Joel Leslie on this series, as well as my Road to
Blissville series. I cannot begin to express how much I appreciate Joel’s dedication
to his craft. He doesn’t just read the words; he performs them. Joel is a
perfectionist, and it shows in the finished project.
I Do or Dye Trying: https://www.amazon.com/Do-Dye-Trying-Curl-Mysteries/dp/B082BG74C6/
As I mentioned, the Zero Hour Series is coming to audio
in 2020. Ground Zero is scheduled to release on April 14, 2020, with Tristan
James narrating. I am so giddy with excitement over this project, and I cannot
wait to hear Tristan reading my words. I hope you're excited too!
BONUS ZERO HOURS SCENE
This little vignette takes place between books one and
two. It’s super short but also very cute and sweet. Without further ado, I give
you: Bonding with Bones: Becoming His Bitch.
Meow.
Royce
cracked open one eye and looked at the ginormous, gray beast staring at him from
his perch on the bedside table.
Meow.
“Nice
try, big guy. Your dad told me he already fed you before going to work. He
warned me about the stunts you’d pull today. I heard all about the big,
pleading eyes and pitiful yowls. He called it kitty opera. Are you gonna sing
for me, pretty boy?”
Meow.
His outrage was a little louder this time, and
the tip of his big, bushy tail started twitching from right to left,
broadcasting his irritation that this human wasn’t instantly obeying his
commands. Sawyer had educated him on the difference between canine and feline
tail wagging. A dog wagging its tail was a good sign, but a cat’s swishing tail
translated to ‘gird your loins.”
Royce
chuckled, then immediately regretted it when the vibrations caused his gunshot
wound to ache. Sawyer had taken a week off from work to play nurse but had to
go back that morning, leaving Royce all alone.
As if reading
Royce’s mind, Bones let out an indignant, screechy meow that had Royce
sitting up far faster than his injured body allowed. The skin surrounding the
entrance and exit wounds pulled tight and then spasmed painfully, making him
question his sanity for refusing pain meds. Bones jumped onto his lap, purring
and rubbing the top of his head against Royce’s chin.
“Not alone,” Royce amended, running
a hand over the cat’s silky fur. Bones purred even louder when Royce found the
sweet spot on his back near his tail. “Your dad makes those kinds of noises for
me too.” God, Royce was a goner for
Sawyer Key and his cat.
Bones jumped off his lap and
landed gracefully on the floor. Meow!
“Kitty opera time, huh?”
Meow!
“I’m tempted to see how long you
can keep this up. According to your human, you’ll give up once you realize your
shenanigans won’t work on me.”
Bones didn’t let up; his outrage
got louder and more screechy, making Royce wonder if Sawyer had forgotten to
feed him after all.
“Okay, okay,” Royce said,
holding up his good arm. “I’ll go investigate the situation. I am a detective,
after all.”
Bones perked up and darted out
the door. Royce gingerly followed and found Bones waiting for him in the
hallway. The cat was clearly waiting to see if Royce needed more incentive to pursue
him.
“I’m coming, King Bones.”
Bones regally pranced to the
kitchen with his tail standing loftily in the air. He waited for Royce in the
doorway leading to the utility room where Sawyer kept his bowls and litter box.
Bones’s eyes grew large with excitement as Royce approached, then he spun
around in a circle Royce would’ve thought beneath the magnificent creature.
Royce stepped inside the utility room and noticed there was plenty of food and
water in his dishes.
Pointing
to the dish, Royce said, “You have food.”
Meow.
“Don’t
sass me, you charlatan. There is food in your bowl. Right there.” Royce moved
closer and pointed again.
Meow!
Royce was tempted to call Sawyer
and ask what he should do. Then he noticed a sticky note stuck to the wall.
Dickhead,
If Bones won’t stop pestering
you, just add a tiny little amount of dry food to his bowl. He likes to keep it
at a certain level.
Asshole
Royce picked up the bag from the
shelf and did what Sawyer suggested. Bones attacked the food as if he hadn’t eaten
in a month. The boy had once been a feral cat, so Royce wondered if that played
into his quirky behavior.
Royce left the cat to do his
thing and went to make a cup of coffee. He’d just had his first sip when Bones sauntered
into the room, licking his chops in feline satisfaction. He jumped up on the
kitchen counter, parking his big ass beneath a cabinet and started yowling
again.
“You just ate,” Royce said. “I
bet there’s still a ton of food in that bowl.”
Bones spun around then screeched
again. Royce knew damned well what was in the cabinet above him.
“Fine,” Royce said, crossing the
kitchen and opening the cupboard door. He pulled out the bag of soft, chewy
treats that stunk like dead fish. “You’re only getting one tuna treat.”
Bones made a growling noise the
entire time he ate the fishy snack but immediately started to purr and rub
against Royce when he finished.
“I know who’s really in charge
around here,” Royce told the beast.
He’d left his cell phone on the kitchen
counter to charge the previous night, and it beeped with an incoming text.
Royce was ridiculously happy to see Sawyer’s name on the screen.
How’s it going, Sawyer
asked.
Great. Bonding with Bones.
Becoming his bitch, you mean?
Sawyer punctuated the question with a laughing cat emoji.
Yep.
There was no point denying how
much Royce adored Bones or how hard he was falling for the cat’s human.
I hope you've enjoyed this bonus scene and are looking forward to more Royce, Sawyer, and Bones. Until next time, happy reading...
xoxo
Aimee
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