A Wolf’s Hunger: Kendall ~ Sneak Peek

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If you have read Ax: A Wolf Hunger Alpha Shifter Romance, you’ve already met his brother Kendall, who is dealt the worst possible hand. In the same week, he buries his father and his betrothed runs away with his brother Ax. Several readers asked in their reviews for Kendall’s story, and I listened. I don’t have a cover for Kendall yet, but here is a snippet from the book that should come out in the next month.

A Wolf’s Hunger Series

Prologue

Kendall grabbed his fishing vest from the back of the chair and headed out of his office, thanking the Goddess it was Friday and a whole weekend of much-deserved solitude awaited him.

A week dealing with the aftermath of yet another renegade attack on the Seattle Pack’s property would be enough to sap any alpha’s energies, but combine marauders with two weddings and you have the perfect storm. Kendall would’ve rather confronted murderers and thieves than doling out good wishes and smiles to the newly-married couples. The look of happiness on those faces mocked his true feelings regarding mating. Although he couldn’t prohibit people from looking disgustingly cheerful in his presence, they could, at least, show a fucking bit of respect for him. He wasn’t asking that much, was he? But no, members of his pack insisted in getting hitched and wanted the alpha to perform the ceremony.

He was already closing the heavy wooden door of his office when the phone on his desk rang, interrupting his morose thoughts. Any call coming from the landline meant business, so he lowered the handle and stepped into the large foyer, eager to start his weekend. Every month, he reserved a few days away from the pack, and only Little Wolf, his beta, knew his whereabouts. Kendall never went far—his sense of duty wouldn’t allow him to forget his responsibilities—but he was free to get drunk without anyone pitying him.

“Are you going to answer that?” Little Wolf asked from the veranda.

“It’s past five pm.” Kendall walked past his beta, who lounged on the comfortable glider bench with a cold beer handy.

“It’s still ringing.” Little Wolf looked over his shoulder.

Damned their sensitive ears and that blasted phone.

“It’ll stop.” Kendall grabbed his cowboy hat from the hook on the porch column.

“It could be important.”

“They’ll call back on Monday.” Kendall brought a finger to the brim of his hat and lowered it to shield his eyes from the afternoon glare.

The long days of summer made for good fishing and hunting trips, or just good, old-fashioned hideouts from society. A man deserved some privacy to nurse a hangover, and he couldn’t wait to start his drinking project. The vest and the poles hanging from the frame of his Rubicon Jeep were just for show.

“I don’t know about that.” His beta scratched his mane, his brow furrowed. The persistent rings cut through the peace and quiet like screeching banshees. “Did you turn off the answering machine again?”

“It’s the fucking weekend.” They had this conversation before and agreed to disagree on the holiness of Saturdays and Sundays. “The pack has priority, but the rest of the world can go—”

“I’ll go and see who it is.” Little Wolf raised his big body to his full height and stomped inside, taking a long swig from his beer.

“Suit yourself.” Kendall walked to the front of his Jeep and grabbed the bar to hoist himself up on his seat. His foot itched to press on the accelerator, but he waited until his beta reappeared at the porch. It might be important and Little Wolf would call him soon after while he was driving.

“So?” Kendall leaned out of the door-less frame, giving his friend a raised brow and added a scowl for good measure.

Little Wolf stopped under the shade of the porch, a smug smile on his large face.

“What did you do?” Kendall growled.

“I accepted Juliette Kewada’s invitation for you.”

“You did what?” Kendall purposely didn’t answer Juliette’s email about the Summer Solstice Celebration organized by the Honolulu Wolves, her pack. He didn’t want to fly to Honolulu for the weeklong party and spend the entire time fending off questions about the disgraceful end of his betrothal to Aimee.

Even though almost a year had passed since his dear brother stormed in and stole his future bride, people still felt necessary to pester Kendall with friendly advices and unrequested words of wisdom about the Hunger. No, he definitely didn’t want to hear anything else about how Ax and Aimee didn’t have a choice because the Hunger marked them as soulmates. He didn’t care about old folklore or fated mates’ tales. His heart lay broken in his chest and only darkness resided in it.

Little Wolf answered his rhetorical question with a shrug. “I couldn’t say no.” He finished his beer before adding, “She says, ‘He’s coming, right?’ and you know how those alphas are, they’re all bossy and make demands, and I says, ‘Of course. He wouldn’t miss it for the world.’”

“I’m going to have your hide—”

“Some Hawaiian diet will do you good.” Chuckling, Little Wolf winked at him. “I don’t think there’s another woman from here to Seattle that you haven’t bedded already.” Little Wolf reached down into the beer cooler to pick up another can. “You need a change of scenery.”

“And you need to find another pack and soon.” Kendall floored the accelerator and left before he would strangle his beta.

A Wolf’s Hunger: Kendall ~ Sneak Peek

The Fifth Moon’s Dragon: Cover Reveal

Dragon subtleThe High Lord of Solaria, Dragon Sol has recently returned to his planet to marry his two promised brides, but instead of savoring the pleasures of his wedding night, he finds himself fighting an enigmatic assassin sent to kill him.
A skilled mercenary, Jade belongs to the Assassin Academy and lives for the thrill of the chase, but her latest mission goes awry since the moment she throws that first arrow at her intended target.
Dragon proves to be Jade’s worthiest opponent yet, and what starts as any other mission becomes so much more, reversing the roles of hunter and prey. Before either of them can stop the inevitable, a deep connection takes roots until their hearts and not their lives are at stakes.

The First Moon’s Dragon, first book in the second Fifth Moon’s Tales trilogy series will be published in the box set Creatures, alongside 21 more novels, and it’s available for preorder for only 99 cents.

The Fifth Moon’s Dragon: Cover Reveal

Creatures Highlights: Monica La Porta

Image One (Intro)

MONICA LA PORTA

Creatures.jpg

Image Two (Purchase Link)

 

Creatures AmazonCreatures iTunes
Creatures KoboCreatures B & N

Image Three (Blog Post)

Dragons are my favorite mythical creatures. When I was a kid, I spent long hours imagining what it would be like to own a pet dragon and fly over the clouds, looking at the world from above. I’ve read countless books about dragons, and I never seem to have enough of those stories. From fantasy to steamy paranormal, if there is a dragon, I will read it. There is a sense of freedom I experience any time I find a good dragon novel that leaves me at peace with the world. The sheer power, and at the same time grace and elegance, of such creature when combined with a shifter is an explosive union, and it gives an author plenty of opportunities to write an epic story. When I introduced Dragon Sol in the Fifth Moon’s Tales, all I wanted was a badass sidekick for my werewolf, but Dragon’s character grew sentence by sentence, acquiring all the traits typical of its namesake: loyalty, strength, charm, wittiness. Soon, I couldn’t deny him the story he demanded any longer, and I finally gave in and started writing The Fifth Moon’s Dragon. In the process, I realized that I’ve never truly forgotten my dream as a child. I still want a pet dragon, especially if he comes in the shape of a hunk shape shifter.

Monica La Porta is the Author of The Fifth Moon’s Dragon. You can find out more about Monica here!

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Image Four (Blurb)

The High Lord of Solaria, Dragon Sol has recently returned to his planet to marry his two promised brides, but instead of savoring the pleasures of his wedding night, he finds himself fighting an enigmatic assassin sent to kill him.
A skilled mercenary, Jade belongs to the Assassin Academy and lives for the thrill of the chase, but her latest mission goes awry since the moment she throws that first arrow at her intended target.
Dragon proves to be Jade’s worthiest opponent yet, and what starts as any other mission becomes so much more, reversing the roles of hunter and prey. Before either of them can stop the inevitable, a deep connection takes roots until their hearts and not their lives are at stakes.

Facebook Post 4.jpg

Creatures Highlights: Monica La Porta

Creatures: Cover Reveal

CreaturesA long time in the making, but I’m finally able to reveal the cover for the box set I am in: Creatures. For this project, I wrote The Fifth Moon’s Dragon, the first book in the brand-new exciting trilogy set in the distant future in a far away galaxy. You have already read Valentine and Mirella’s story, not it’s time for Dragon and Jade to shine.

And now, a few words about this box set:

CREATURES is a collection of otherworldly tales from today’s indie-favorite New York Times, USA Today, and International bestselling authors!
You are about to enter the realm of Creatures, a boxed set packed with more than twenty enthralling tales of urban fantasy and paranormal romance! From witches to vampires, shifters to fae, and every dark creature known to lurk the pages of fantasy fiction, you’re sure to find yourself up past your bedtime and reading well into the witching hour!

So curl up on your sofa with a steaming cup of tea and PreOrder today if you dare brave the beasts!

Including stories from…

New York Times bestselling author A K Michaels
USA Today bestselling authors Gina Kincade and Kimberly Gould
USA Today bestselling author Bianca D’Arc
Boone Brux
Morgan Wylie
Felicia Beasley
Kyoko M
Jules Barnard
Monica La Porta
Heather Marie Adkins
Aoife Marie Sheridan
Alex Owens
Juliana Haygert
E. M. Moore
Skye Knizley
Shelique Lize
Lydia Sherrer
Wendy Owens
S.M. Blooding
Stephanie Marks
J & L Wells writing with Laura Greenwood
USA Today bestselling author Erzabet Bishop

You can buy your copy here:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon CA

Amazon DE

Amazon AU

iTunes

Nook

Kobo

Creatures: Cover Reveal

Release Day for Ax: A Wolf’s Hunger Alpha Shifter Romance

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I’m pleased to announce that my contribution to A K Michaels’ A Wolf’s Hunger world is live. Writing Ax and Aimee’s story was a nice change of pace and a a much-needed break from my other series. I’ve had lots of fun creating a Wolf Pack living in Washington State, and I’m planning to write more stories set in the same universe.

Ax: A Wolf’s Hunger Alpha Shifter Romance

A Wolf’s Hunger: It can’t be stopped
Axelrod McKenzie left the Seattle’s Wolf Pack ten years ago, swearing never to return. The sudden death of his adoptive father and alpha of the pack forces Ax to go back on his word.
Suddenly plagued by a gnawing hunger that consumes him from within, Ax must confront his inner demons and his half-brother, Kendall; a brother Ax resents because by pack laws Kendall will inherit the alpha seat vacated by their father.
Little does Ax know that his life is going to get way worse before it gets any better. But the moment he has a glimpse of Aimee, Kendall’s fiancée, Ax’s life is forever changed by the revelation that the she-wolf is his fated soulmate.
Passions run high as the three of them must come to terms with their fates. Will love triumph over a family feud that has lasted for decades?

Release Day for Ax: A Wolf’s Hunger Alpha Shifter Romance

The Lost Centurion: Bookbub–Day Three

This is the last Bookbub-related post for this week. I might come back next week with more data if the numbers change, but so far, the post promo isn’t looking  anything to write back home.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Demons & Devils

This is it, in a few hours, The Lost Centurion will be out of the Top 100, and it will become invisible again.

Amazon Downloads: 671

Amazon Sales: $48.43

Smashwords Downloads: 91 Nook, 3 Smashwords, but the data is incomplete.

D2D  Sales: $116.43 – $105.74= $10.69

Reviews: 0

Conclusions: After three days, I’m still losing money on this promo. The Lost Centurion will be out of permafree as soon as the downloads dwindle, and it will get back to $3.99 like the rest of the novels in the series. It’s time to find another strategy to promote my books. Permafree gets stale after a while and it isn’t sustainable in the long run. Back to the drawing board.

The Lost Centurion: Bookbub–Day Three

The Lost Centurion: The Day After the Bookbub

Let’s start today’s post by saying that I am not impressed by the data I collected at the end of the first day post-Bookbub. The day’s earnings were lukewarm at best, something I’ve achieved by myself on a good day without any promo.

At the moment, ranking for The Lost Centurion have disappeared from its Amazon page, but the last time I checked, it was lingering at #40. I will add the latest ranking as soon as I have it.

Amazon Downloads: 1,865

Amazon sales: $38,11

I’ve realized only now that The Lost Centurion is still available through Smashwords and not D2D, while the rest of the Immortals series is sold wide through D2D.

Smashwords Downloads, data from the last three days: iTunes 1,575, Nook 1,032, Kobo 35. Frankly, those numbers have pleasantly surprised me. I didn’t expect the promo to be so successful wide. This is definitely uplifting and mitigate what I said a few sentences ago, at the beginning of this post.

D2D Sales: 105.74 – 95.39= $10.4

Reviews received on the day after the Bookbub: 3 – ranging from 5* to 1*, bringing the total number of reviews to 213, with an average of 4.2 out of 5.

I’ll post again tomorrow with a final report about this promo.

PS

Amazon ranks reappeared:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Vampires
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Angels
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts
The Lost Centurion: The Day After the Bookbub

The Lost Centurion: Bookbub–First Day Results

Here is the data at the end of the first day of The Lost Centurion’s Bookbub promo:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > New Adult & College

So it went from #130 up to #14, not the podium, but at least in the first 20 free bestsellers page.

Amazon downloads: 8,417

Amazon sales: 33 books (mainly in the Immortals series) = $79.17 earned on April 25th.

Wide downloads: I’m waiting for D2D’s results.

Wide sales: I’m waiting for D2D’s results, but as of yesterday, the whole month’s earnings totaled $95.39.

Reviews: 1 review off the bat: 4*, lucky number 210 (It’s probably from the Freebooksy promo)

Conclusions so far: In the past, I made the Bookbub money back on the first day, but as I said in yesterday’s post, The Lost Centurion has been free for a while, and I’ve promoted it at least once every other month. Plus, it’s 2:01 am in the US as I write, and there are already 419 downloads on Amazon. I’ll report later in the day with more stats.

The Lost Centurion: Bookbub–First Day Results

The Lost Centurion’s Stats, Pre-Bookbub

Before the Bookbub starts, and with the Freebooksy just ended, I’ll write down a few numbers to keep the data straight.

First of all, a few details about this promo. The Lost Centurion has been permafree for a while, and I’ve promoted this title several times. Recently, free downloads have dwindled to a handful a day, and a change of promotional strategy was called for. In the indie-publishing world, there’s no time to linger, we must study the market and make changes rapidly.

Monday, April 24th: my paid promo with Freebooksy totaled 923 downloads. Overall, a good result for a book that has been promoted several times already and it has been free for probably 2 years (I’ll have to find out when exactly I put The Lost Centurion for free the first time.)

Monday, April 25th: at 12:01 am, The Lost Centurion is #146 in the Free Amazon Best Seller List, #1 in demons & devils, psychic, and angels.

I paid $100 for the Freebooksy promo, and $226 for the Bookbub.

Money earned this month, before the Bookbub starts: $565.78 on Amazon, and $95.39 wide. So far,  this has been a poor month for sales, and it’s the end of it.

Now, I wait for the Bookbub to start…

PS

Monday, April 25th, at 2:05 am:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #130 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)

  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Angels
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Psychics
  • #2 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Romance > Paranormal > Ghosts
The Lost Centurion’s Stats, Pre-Bookbub

The Lost Centurion’s Last Hurrah

61Gc7i5E7ZLIn the indie authors’ world, smart minds have been wondering  for a while if the era of the permafree has passed its prime. At the moment, I can’t remember when I first put The Lost Centurion for free, but it’s definitely longer than a year, probably two. The number of free downloads per day has dramatically decreased, which translates in fewer sales for the rest of the series. When I was accepted for a Bookbub for today, I decided it was time to put The Lost Centurion back to paid as soon as the promotion ends. Because Bookbub accepted me just before I was about to leave for two weeks, I only had two days to look for additional advertising venues, and only Freebooksy was available. Bookgorilla was all taken for the month, and Robin Reads rejected me. So, I stacked a Freebooksy yesterday, April the 24th,  Bookbub today, April the 25th, and I’ll send my newsletter on the following day. I am in Europe as I write, and Bookbub will start in six hours. I’ll write back in a few days to report final numbers. Meanwhile, thanks to the 936 downloads brought by Freebooksy, The Lost Centurion starts at #146 in the Amazon Free chart, and it’s #1 in a few categories: angels, psychics, demons and devils. I don’t expect spectacular results with Bookbub because this is the third time this title is promoted by them (the first time it was by itself, and the second as part of a boxed set), but it’s a good way to end a permafree nonetheless. Talk to you soon.

The Lost Centurion’s Last Hurrah