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A Year of Bramble

February 12, 2024May 1, 2024Rachel Taylor2 Comments

By Monique Patterson

I can hardly believe it’s already been a year since we announced the launch of Tor Publishing Group’s newest imprint, Bramble.

Let me take you back…way back in time. Ok, I’m exaggerating for dramatic effect.

In 2022, my friend and long time colleague, Devi Pillai, whom you all know as the Dark Lord and Emperor of the Tor Publishing Group approached me with the idea for a romance imprint. Tor has made itself the home for every other genre—from horror to SFF to mystery and women’s fiction—and she felt it was high time for Tor to add romance to its stellar line up.

I had spent 25 years publishing romance novels (and snatching SFF ARCs—with permission!—whenever I could), so this seemed like a perfect challenge. We pulled everything together behind the scenes and announced Bramble on Valentine’s Day 2023.

Since then, what’s happened?

I’m far from the only editor at Tor in love with romance, and Ali Fisher’s New York Times bestselling author, Jennifer Armentrout, has been writing romantasy before romantasy was a thing. We announced Bramble with Fall of Ruin and Wrath. Fall of Ruin and Wrath, an Indie Next Pick, is full of breathtaking suspense, scorching romance, and twisty court politics, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas… and to our extreme delight, but not surprise, it became a New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestseller (Run, don’t walk to get this book).

Then the immensely talented Constance Fay joined the Bramble line up. Constance writes space opera romances that read like Becky Chambers with the heat turned up, and all the riotous adventure of Firefly. She’s just sent us book 3 in her Uncharted Hearts series and I’m blown away by how every book is more amazing than the last. Constance describes Calamity,—another Indie Next Pick!—the first Uncharted Hearts book, as “sex, love, and hijinks.”

Then, right on time for Christmas, there was Carissa Broadbent and The Serpent & the Wings of Night which reads like a Court of Thorns and Roses with vampires. New fans clamored on board the Carissa Broadbent train and Serpent was an instant New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Carissa is an author to watch, and we’re publishing the next chapter of Oraya and Raihn’s story in The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King in June 2024.

And I’m sure many of you have heard about this intriguing author and her simply iconic novel (with those deep purple edges!), because RuNyx is like no one else, and Gothikana is like nothing else. Even though it’s ceaselessly modern, don’t think this dark academia romance is anything less than the real, original Gothic-with-a-big-G deal. RuNyx absolutely knows her chops, and you will be utterly immersed in the dark romance between Corvina and Vad and the mysterious world of Verenmore University riddled with secrets and danger. At Bramble, we’ve been obsessed with Gothikana since last May, but it only published three weeks ago, to become an instant New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestseller. One early reviewer said this book “changed [her] brain chemistry.” Join the cult.

Melissa Marr’s delightful lesbian witch romance is publishing next week (only six days!!!) and it was top of mind throughout last spring, because Melissa and I were in the thick of editing Remedial Magic. The incomparable Melissa first made her mark in 2007 with the iconic Wicked Lovely and has been publishing lovely contemporary fantasy ever since. I knew from the start that Remedial Magic would be perfect for Bramble, not the least because of Tor’s famously lesbian-rich catalog. Remedial Magic has the charming magic school dynamics of The Magicians and the magical lesbian romance of One Last Stop. The Terry Pratchett fans in the audience will adore Prospero, who reads as a sort of hot young Granny Weatherwax—the same talent for “headology,” the same resistance to change, the same terrifying determination to do what’s right, no matter what the cost.

New York Times bestseller, Lora Leigh is literally blazing back onto the scene with hard-bodied, steely eyed Navy SEALs with Play Dirty. I’ve been working with Lora Leigh since Dangerous Games and it’s been a wild ride ever since. With Play Dirty you get everything that your dark romance heart desires. A four on the heat scale!

Similarly, last summer we co-acquired Rebecca Thorne’s charming Tomes and Tea quartet with Tor UK. Rebecca is a delight, with an amazing TikTok presence, who writes coffee shop AUs of fantasy tropes, and of course, they’re all lesbians (see, I told you!). Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea and its sequel A Pirate’s Life for Tea follow Kianthe and Reyna as they nope out of the violence and politics of high court life to run away and open a bookstore (!) that sells tea (!!), where readers of Legends & Lattes (!!!) will feel right at home. Because these were initially self-published, they’re available as ebooks now, though we’re releasing trade paperback editions with gorgeous stained edges and a bonus short story in May (for Treason) and August (for Pirates). Check them out—you won’t regret it.

All you cozy fantasy romance fans will continue to rejoice with Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, also coming this summer, about a librarian and her assistant, Caz the sentient spider plant, as Kiela navigates the low stakes market of illegal spellmaking and the high risk business of starting over both in life and love. For this one, we wanted you to feel like you had entered this special world the moment you looked at the cover. Those lavender sprayed edges are the bonus!

The business of starting a new imprint is always a whirlwind and there are constantly consequential decisions to make that will hopefully lead to the book and the author’s success. One of the many things that is key to a book knocking it out of the park is for the cover to be just as stunning as the story itself. Our art department, working with highly talented artists, has produced one amazing cover after another, but I want to call out The Friend Zone Experiment by Zen Cho, because it came out perfect, pretty much on the first try. We knew from day one that the artist needed to be Bo Feng Lin, and he absolutely hit it out of the park. The Friend Zone Experiment is the product of author Zen Cho’s covid k-drama obsession, combined with her other job as a high-powered London lawyer. It combines the ritzy family politics of Crazy Rich Asians with a charming second-chance love story, Zen’s amazing prose, and an energetic, snappy plot about misbehavior amongst the most powerful businessmen in Malaysia.

The other was Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen, a sexy, fantastically funny novel about the perils of online dating (who doesn’t have a story or two that they can tell?). It’s also a story where Danielle Allen explores the dating scene for a big, beautiful Black woman and everything that brings. I absolutely adore the cover by Keo Majoy who knocked it out of the park.

But that’s not all, we also signed The Coven and The Cursed by Harper L. Woods. These were originally indie published and took TikTok by storm with their combination of unspeakably spicy romance, dark academia, magic schools, and demonic lover to seal the deal. These are getting the kind of stenciled edges the readers have been begging for. Brace yourself for The Coven. It’s so steamy we had trouble even finding an excerpt for the back cover that didn’t set off the fire alarm.

There are icons, and then there’s J.T. Geissinger. J.T. writes the sort of deep, dark romance with a twist that will leave you breathless, stunned…and wanting more. And it just gets wilder and steamier from there, with the standalone Pen Pal, reading like It Ends With Us meets Momento. No spoilers…but whatever you’re expecting, you’re going to be fabulously wrong and left asking “what just happened?” in the best way possible. Soon after in a back-to-back extravaganza J. T. kicks off her Queens and Monsters series –no holds barred mafia romance–with Ruthless Creatures, where a woman realizes the debt this mysterious stranger has come to collect…is her. And yes, you’ll want to collect all four books in the series with their amazing packaging and beautiful sprayed edges.

The nature of publishing timelines means that we’re working on several years worth of books on any given day. Today, I was looking at the paperback edition of a book that was published last year while planning the announcements of incredibly exciting new projects and authors. Don’t worry. These delicious secrets will be revealed soon!

So, what’s a year of Bramble been? We started with a name and a vision and now we have a star-studded, BookTok buzzy list of superstars and potential superstars. More importantly, we have authors we hope will give you all the feels and keep you wide awake into the small hours of the morning as you joyfully turn the pages, falling in love every step of the way. We hope your list of Bramble book boyfriends and book girlfriends is long by the end of 2024.

Sometimes I feel like I’ve stumbled into fairyland and a century passed in the blink of an eye. Sometimes I feel like I’m still dreaming—certainly, it’s not possible that all three hardcover books we’ve published hit the Times? Certainly, the cover and edges for The Stars are Dying by USA Today bestseller Chloe C. Peñaranda, aren’t that beautiful? Certainly The Nightmare Before Kissmas by YA rockstar, Sara Raasch, isn’t the cutest thing I’ve ever read? We definitely don’t have my favorite Australian (well, not named Hemsworth), Freya Marske writing, Swordcrossed, the most perfect fencing love story for us?

No one wake me up.

Monique Patterson is vice president and editorial director of Bramble. The quote “All great literature is one of two stories; a man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town,” by Leo Tolstoy is one of her favorites, because it immediately sets to mind all the possibilities of a fantastic story. Finding books and authors that reach across the breadth of our experiences as humans is important to her. Publishing a wide array of romance, commercial women’s fiction, and a select amount of nonfiction allows Monique to explore all of those experiences. Some of her upcoming titles are The Ashes & the Star-Cursed Kingby Carissa Broadbent, Remedial Magicby Melissa Marr, Pen Pal by J.T. Geissinger, and The Coven and The Cursed by Harper L. Woods.

Extras

It’s Trivia Time with BRAMBLE ROMANCE!!!

February 10, 2024February 8, 2024Rachel Taylor

Who’s ready for some trivia?! To celebrate one year of Bramble and everything *romance*, we’re giving YOU a fun trivia game to play with the loved ones in your life this Valentine’s Day. Enjoy, and let us know if you play!

Round 1: Film & TV

Nicholas Galitzine, who stars as Prince Henry in Red, White, and Royal Blue, is also starring in another gay romcom–which one is it (extra points if you can name his character)?
In Miss Congeniality, what does Miss Rhode Island consider “the perfect date?”
What song does Patrick sing to Kat on the bleachers in 10 Things I Hate About You?
Which of William Shakespeare’s plays was the 2006 classic, She’s The Man, based on?
Which bad boy vampire heartthrob hit TV screens in 2009?
Why does Sandra Bullock’s character want to marry Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal?
In the film Bridget Jones’ Diary, what color is the eponymous diary?
In what movie does leading lady Amanda describe herself as “loner loser, complicated wreck?”
Towards the end of the movie Crazy Rich Asians, Rachel plays (and beats) Nick’s mother in what game?
In the Breakfast Club, Molly Ringwald’s character Claire Standish has a unique party trick. What is it?

Round 2: Books

In Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennnifer L. Armentrout, what is Callista’s magical power?
In Carissa Broadbent’s paranormal romance Crowns of Nyaxia series, what is the vampire death tournament called?
Adelaide Forrest is the author of many spicy contemporary mafia series. But she ALSO writes dark romantasy novels under a different name. What is that name, and bonus points if you can also name the books?
Bramble author Lora Leigh is writing about one of romancelandia’s favorite kind of leading men in her upcoming novel Play Dirty. What is the profession (technically former profession, but who cares) of this hero?
What is the name of the girl who will live forever but is cursed to always be forgotten?
In The Hating Game, the main character Lucy wears a particular shade of lipstick. What’s it called?
How did the Bridgerton family lose their father?
Name the author who created the grumpy Scottish blacksmith known as #swordbae. Extra points if you can name the book in which #swordbae first appears?
In what iconic romantasy series is the phrase “love as thou wilt” a religious directive? Double points for author & series or book name.
Melissa Marr is an upcoming Bramble romance author but she is also the author of a popular YA series about fae. What is that series called?
Gilded age romance author Joanna Shupe just “came out” as the author of the popular mafia romance “Kings of Italy” series. What is the name of her mafia-romance author alias?

Round 3: Tropes & Miscellany

What fanfiction archive was nominated for a Hugo Award?
Bestselling author Kit Rocha is actually two people (gasp!). What are their names?
Which trope combines weather patterns with one of the Seven Dwarves?
Which Bramble author was first discovered because of their male/male original fic called The Course of Honor? Bonus points if you can name both the author and the name of the book this was turned into.
Fated Mates is an (excellent) romance podcast co-hosted by romance critic Jen Prokop and which bestselling romance author?
Whomst is Taylor Swift dating and what team does he play for, and what sportsball does he do?
What delightful romance blog has the tagline “all of the romance, none of the bullshit?”

Answers

Round 1: Film & TV

[Bottoms/Jeff]
[April 25th]
[“Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” by Frankie Valli]
[Twelfth Night]
[Damon Salvatore]
[She doesn’t want to get deported]
[Red]
[The Holiday]
[Mahjong]
[Applying lipstick using her cleavage]

Round 2: Books

[Intuition/predict the future]
[Kejari]
[Harper L. Woods/The Cursed, The Coven]
[Navy SEAL]
[Addie LaRue]
[Flamethrower red]
[A bee sting]
[Alyssa Cole, A Duke by Default]
[Jacqueline Carey & the Kushiel’s Legacy series]
[The Wicked Lovely series]
[Mila Fineli]

Round 3: Tropes & Miscellany

[AO3]
[Donna Herren and Bree Bridges]
[Grumpy/Sunshine]
[Everina Maxwell/Winter’s Orbit]
[Sarah MacLean]
[Travis Kelcee, Kansas City Chiefs, football]
[Smart Bittches, Trashy Books]

Lists / What's New

Slow Burn: Delectable Suffering

December 12, 2022December 8, 2022a cat4 Comments

By Becky Yeager

Of all of the many romantic tropes in existence, is there any that generates as much suffering and absolute bliss as the slow burn? Many readers will shake their fists at characters who could be so perfect together if only they would realize their burgeoning feelings. Below is a list of six recent books or series that feature slow burn relationships (all of which are queer—sorry, not sorry), some of which are still inching their way to resolution.

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

This book takes fake dating to the next level. Tennal is a flirtatious socialite and an absolute disaster in his family’s eyes. He also happens to be a neuromodified “reader,” which means a) he can read minds, b) he’s a security threat, and c) an immensely valuable asset for navigating chaotic space.

Lieutenant Surit Yeni is the lawful good son of a notorious traitor, who has dedicated himself to making up for his mother’s past mistakes. He is also a neuromodified “architects,” which means a) he can impose his will onto others and b) if he forms a sync with a reader, they’ll be locked into a permanent bond.

Tennal is forcibly conscripted by the military, and Surit is given orders to merge their minds. Neither is thrilled by the situation. So, logically, their solution is to fake it and desperately try to secretly figure out a way to help Tennal escape. But in the meanwhile, they are roommates. The tension between these two is palpable!

The Locked Tomb Series by Tamsyn Muir

Some may question whether this series constitutes a slow burn. In our optimistic hearts, it does! We have one more book to go and who knows what could happen. Now, to avoid any spoilers, we’ll stick with how the bond between a necromancer and a cavalier is very special. And if you go around saying things like “One flesh, one end, bitch,” and “I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it,” then we’re going to have strong feelings. Be still our beating heart! (Any necromancers who happen to be reading, please don’t take that literally.) Add in the element of how they’re childhood friends (enemies), and hello, we’re sold.

A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland

There is nothing like the longing between a prince and his bodyguard. Where is the line between loyal devotion and love? What happens when you’re tempted to cross it? Twist that Yearning Dial up to 100 and sit back to watch the drama.

A Taste of Gold and Iron is set in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire. Prince Kadou is more capable than he realizes and gifted with the ability to touch-taste metal, but he struggles with anxiety. Evemer is his newly appointed bodyguard whose stoicism makes him nearly impossible to read. The pair of them find themselves drawn into court drama and life-threatening conspiracies that threaten to ruin the kingdom. So, yes, there’s danger and misunderstandings and longing. But just wait until the hair washing scene.

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Imagine if Scrooge was a middle-aged lawyer who died, and his ghost was sent to a tea shop run by a man who helps the dead cross over. And now…imagine if the two of them fell in love. Wallace was The Worst in life. He should know. He attended his own funeral. Hugo, meanwhile, spends his days brewing tea and making pastries on top of working with a reaper and a mysterious manager to assist ghosts with moving on.

Under the Whispering Door manages to be both hilarious and heart-wrenching. It’s so hard when your OTP can’t physically touch each other, but one can’t help being touched as Wallace and Hugo are gradually drawn to each other despite their circumstances.

The Cemeteries of Amalo Series by Katherine Addison

Thara Celehar is a Witness for the Dead. It is his job to help speak with the recently dead. Sometimes this is to assist with resolving disputes. Other times it is to track down murderers. He is a quiet and solemn individual and far kinder than anyone realizes. Tragedy has befallen him in the past, and his current life is rather lacking in romance. And yet one cannot help hoping there could be a cherished companion waiting in the wings for him.

“I put the honey spoon in the second cup (which the staff of the River-Cat could not be trained out of bringing—unlike at the Hanevo Tree, where you had to specify if you wanted more than one) and briefly tormented myself by imagining a companion who would smile across at me and happily lick the spoon clean. Neither of my lovers had had such a sweet tooth—that was the only thing that made my imaginings even remotely safe. A purely made-up lover was foolish; conjuring the dead was something else entirely.”

And then, y’all, in the course of an investigation he meets someone who uses honey liberally. This is among the slowest of slow burns, but it’s sweet and heartwarming.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Now, here’s a case where the two main characters end up married right at the start of the book and then spend the rest of the story playing will they or won’t they about whether they’ll actually fall in love. Prince Kiem isn’t very important in his family. In fact, he’s the Emperor’s least favorite grandchild. Now he’s under orders to marry Count Jainan, a widower (and murder suspect), who is vital for maintaining a planetary alliance. The two tie the knot, pose for the paparazzi, and prepare for a marital relationship lacking in anything resembling affection.

But their hearts have other plans as they are gradually drawn together to deal with court intrigue, the machinations of war, and the ghosts of Jainan’s past. As The New York Times Book Review put it so aptly, you’ll be yelling “Now kiss!” before you realize it.

Lists

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with our Favorite Relationships in SF/F

February 13, 2018May 10, 2024torforge1 Comment

The term shipping doesn’t just refer to boats or how fast you can get your package. These days, it also has meaning in relationships—fictional ones, that is. Ships are the couples from fiction, whether books, tv, or movies, that you desperately want to get together in a romantic way—whether the creator intended them to or not. Over time, fans have created some pretty famous ships (cough*Harry-and-Draco*cough) and some super bizarre ships (Elsa and Jack Frost, really?). Many have gained a life of their own, with fan art, fan fic, and more.

Since it’s Valentine’s Day, we started thinking about our favorite relationships as well as our favorite ships in science fiction and fantasy. We’re celebrating the holiday by sharing our list with you! What couples are your list?

Phèdre nó Delaunay and Joscelin Verreuil

One of the things we love about Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Legacy series is the number of relationships to wish for, root for, and cry buckets over. Alcuin and Delaney, Ysandra and Drustan, Phèdre and Hyacinthe, Phèdre and Melisande, Phèdre and Joscelin…okay, really Phèdre and anyone who can make her happy. But we polled the Tor staff, and found that most of us were rooting for the opposites attract relationship of Phèdre, courtesan to kings, and Joscelin, warrior-priest and sworn virgin (at least, at the beginning). Those crazy kids belong together, and they prove it by supporting each other through increasingly dire and dangerous situations, all the way to the ends of the world.

Mat Cauthon and Tuon (Fortuona Athaem Devi Paendrag, Daughter of the Nine Moons)

The Wheel of Time is full of relationships, both good and bad. How could it not be, with 14 books spanning years? And while Rand and his relationship with Elayne, Aviendha, and Min was fun to read, our favorite relationship in WoT is the one between Mat and Tuon. The scene where Mat accidentally marries Tuon (be careful what you repeat three times in fantasy novels, guys!) made some of us laugh, and when she finally completes the ceremony, there may have been tears. Their elaborate courtship dance in between, and the sense that Tuon is always one step ahead of Mat, just makes their romance even better.

Baru Cormorant and Tain Hu

Sometimes you just want a relationship that makes you cry. Amid all the politics, intrigue and plot twists that made The Traitor Baru Cormorant such a fantastic read, the budding—and forbidden—romance between Baru Cormorant and Tain Hu was definitely a highlight. Two ruthless, competent women who begin on opposite sides, but come together to start a revolution against an ever-growing colonial force—what more could you want? Of course, love in wartime is never easy, and there are plenty of hidden agendas at play that make it even harder. Fair warning: not every favorite romance has a happy ending.

Eddi McCandry and the Phouka

This classic urban fantasy is both a slice of rock life in the 80s (you know Prince was totally one of the fey), and a delightful story of learning who you are accompanied by a wonderful romance. We’ve all been Eddi McCandry at some point—juggling the one-two punch of a bad ex and trying to figure out your life—and the Phouka is a babe.

Richard St. Vier and Alec

Not only is this a wonderful, tangled world of duels fought with swords and over tea in parlors, but the heart of the story is the tangled, snarled, tricky, unlikely and utterly swoon-worthy pairing of a sword for hire and his difficult inamorata. Fireworks, banter, tension (all kinds), and so much more in a beloved m/m pair. As Jo Walton says in her Tor.com review, is Richard and Alec’s relationship love, or is it a duel? Finding out is part of the fun.

Nienna and Ulmo

Two literary characters who we think deserve one another are Nienna and Ulmo from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. Nienna is one of the Valar, whose purview is grief, mourning, and mercy, ever turning sorrow to wisdom. While Ulmo, the Lord of the Waters, is the Vala who was fondest of the Children of Ilúvatar (Elves and Men). But like Nienna, Ulmo is a loner. All the other godlike Valar were married—why not these two?

Quick Ben and Kalam

If ever there was a “they argue like an old married couple” in Epic Fantasy, it is Quick Ben and Kalam. One is a trickster mage who might be the most powerful magician around, the other is an Assassin that really distrusts magic. They’ve been together since they were rebels fighting the empire, so long that they’re reached the pinnacle of couple-dom in fiction: they can finish each other’s sentences.

Author Features

The Conflict Between Public and Private

June 1, 2016May 10, 2024torforge

Written by Stacey Kade

When I was twelve, I yelled at a lifeguard.

To be fair, he yelled at me first. Screamed at me, actually, for standing in the baby pool while visiting the infant sister of a friend and her mother, who was my chaperone at the pool that day.

I was humiliated and indignant. I was there talking to a mom, not messing around or hurting anyone. Plus, I knew the lifeguard. He was only a few years older, the (jerky) teenage son of my teacher. He could have just asked me to leave. But instead he was clearly on a power high from having been endowed with some authority and his own personal whistle.

Normally, I’m terrible with confrontation. I won’t even speak up if the restaurant gets my order wrong. But in this case, the perceived injustice lit a fire in me and I shouted back at him.

I don’t remember what I said, but I do remember his face going red and him telling me that I had a temper on me. At the time, I was pleased. I’d told him. I marched back to the “adult” pool, triumphant. That was the end of the encounter in my mind.

But it wasn’t, not really. A couple days later, my dad pulled me aside and asked me if I had yelled at the lifeguard. I admitted it readily and explained my reasoning. But he told me I had to apologize. Because the teacher and his son went to our church and my dad was the pastor. The lifeguard had told his father on me and his father had gone to mine. Whether I was right or wrong (my perspective now as an adult is more nuanced) didn’t matter, it was the principal of the thing. I was supposed to set a good example.

That was the first time I experienced the conflict between public and personal identity. Between “Pastor’s Daughter” and “Stacey.”

I’m fascinated by identity, particularly the clash between public and personal. We all have public personas. Every post on Facebook or Twitter is weighed consciously or unconsciously against the idea we want people to have of us.

For most of us, the differences between our public and private faces are relatively minor, and the choice to make that distinction is ours. But for others, that’s not the case.

In 738 Days, Amanda Grace is a former abductee. At fifteen, she was kidnapped on her way home from school. Her parents, desperate to find her, opened up their lives up to the media, to keep her case in the spotlight and to get the public invested in finding their daughter. And it worked—Amanda’s face and her story were on every newspaper, magazine, news site and channel in the country.

But when she’s found, two years later, that investment doesn’t just go away. Everyone knows Amanda’s story, the horrific details of what happened to her during her captivity. Amanda is now a public figure, of sorts, and not by choice. People feel they know her, that they own her in some way, this “miracle girl” who survived. Her private identity has become a very public one. And now it’s hard for her to let her guard down, to trust anyone with the sliver of personal life she has left.

Chase Henry is a former teen star whose poster kept Amanda sane during her years of captivity. Chase’s public image has taken a beating, thanks to a series of less-than-awesome choices he made (drugs, alcohol, fights, excessive spending.) He’s sober now but washed up, a Hollywood pariah at twenty-four, unless he can convince the media to portray him in a better light. He doesn’t want the public attention, but he needs it if his career is going to continue. For Chase, a true private identity is a luxury he can’t afford at the moment. What Chase Henry, the man, wants has to be less important than what Chase Henry, the star, does.

Amanda and Chase’s identity needs conflict, of course, which makes it all the more complicated when they fall for each other. I had so much fun playing with the public/private lines, which are often blurred when it comes to famous and infamous in this country.

And for the record, I have never yelled at another water-safety official, whistle-bearing or no.

Buy 738 Days today:

Find out more about Stacey Kade on Twitter, Facebook, and on her website.

What's New

April #TorChat Lineup Revealed

April 15, 2013January 25, 2024torforge

This month, #TorChat is looking at love! Join us as we chat about falling in, falling out of, and writing about love with Deborah Coonts and the writing team of Aimée and David Thurlo on April 17th at 4 PM Eastern.

Tor Books (@torbooks) is thrilled to announce the April #TorChat, part of a monthly series of genre-themed, hour-long chats created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter.

TThis month, #TorChat is tacking a tough topic: love. What it’s like falling in love, falling out of love, and most of all: how do you write a believable love story or storyline? Joining us to talk about love are three people who write all about it, and will share their insights. First up: Deborah Coonts (@DeborahCoonts) is the author of the Lucky O’Toole series. Lucky Bastard, the next book in the series, publishes next month. Lucky has fallen in love, been dumped, done some dumping of her own, and come through it with her heart intact – well, more or less. Joining Deborah will be Aimée and David Thurlo, tweeting from @AimeeThurlo. The Thurlos have written more than seventy novels, together and separately, including the Ella Clah mysteries and their new novel, A Time of Change, which came out April 9th. As writing partners and husband and wife, the Thurlos know all about writing – and living – love!

The chat will be loosely moderated by Tor Publicist Aisha Cloud (@acloudy). We hope fans of romance novels, romantic subplots, and hell, fans of real-life romance will join us using the Twitter hashtag #TorChat!

About the Authors
DEBORAH COONTS (@DeborahCoonts) was born in Texas, according to her mother, though she’s not totally sure—her mother can’t be trusted. But she was definitely raised in Texas on barbeque, Mexican food, and beer. She currently resides in Las Vegas, where family and friends tell her she can’t get into too much trouble. Silly people. Coonts has built her own business, practiced law, flown airplanes, written a humor column for a national magazine, and survived a teenager. Her next novel, Lucky Bastard, will be published on May 14th.

AIMÉE and DAVID THURLO (@AimeeThurlo) have, together and separately, written more than seventy novels in a variety of genres. The Thurlos’ writing career began when Aimée was inspired to write a novel while David was teaching middle school. She sat down with legal pad and pencil, began a romantic intrigue, and soon found David looking over her shoulder whenever class was out. They quickly discovered that they could write with one voice, and their combined efforts resulted in books characterized by the unique stamp that defined their partnership in life and work. In addition to many romantic suspense novels, the Thurlos have written three different mystery series, including their flagship series of Ella Clah police procedurals, set on the Navajo Reservation. Their latest novel, A Time of Change, published on April 9th.

About #Torchat
#TorChat is a genre-themed, hour-long chat series created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter. Guest authors join fans in lively, informative and entertaining discussions of all that’s hot in genre fiction, 140 characters at a time, from 4 – 5 PM EST on the third Wednesday of every month. Each #TorChat revolves around a different genre topic of interest, often of a timely nature, and strives to provide a new media opportunity for readers to connect with their favorite authors.

About Tor Books
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Starred Kirkus Review: Lucky Bastard by Deborah Coonts

April 1, 2013April 8, 2024torforge

“If you’re entertained by sex, innuendo and a few fantasies you’d like to see played out—and who isn’t?—you ought to have Lucky and her extended Vegas family (So Damn Lucky, 2012, etc.) on speed dial.”

Lucky Bastard, by Deborah Coonts, gets a starred review in Kirkus Reviews!*

Here’s the full review, from the April 1 issue:

Like everything else in Vegas, the corpse is displayed extravagantly, draped over the hood of a candy apple red Ferrari, the heel of a Jimmy Choo stiletto embedded in her neck.

Lucky O’Toole, that lusty, wryly self-deprecating troubleshooter for the glitzy Babylon Casino, is patching up the ding the departing cabaret singer Teddie left in her heart by drooling over French chef Jean Charles. She’s just fired the much-loathed poker room manager and secured a seat at the high-stakes table for a deaf young man when she’s called on to deal with the dead woman perched on the pricey Ferrari spotlighted in the casino’s dealership. Babylon security tapes show the soon-to-be-dead gal cheating but losing big anyway, then getting followed from the card table by Dane, her soon-to-be ex. As Lucky and Detective Romeo try to round him up, other problems surface. The poker room manager is poisoned. Shady Slim Grady, who always shows up for the big-stakes poker tournament, turns up dead in his plane, and his wife, bimbo Betty Sue, insists on sending him off with a gaudy Celebration of Life party. The deaf kid disappears. Offshore betting sites come into play. A storm makes Lucky traipse through Vegas sewer pipes after a mystery woman. Jean Charles’ 5-year-old son is due to arrive from France, and Lucky is scared to meet him. The Department of Justice is running a sting operation that has as much a chance of succeeding as the mayoral campaign of Lucky’s mom, a former madam now hitched to the Babylon’s Big Boss. Then, just as matters are simmering down, Teddie returns.

If you’re entertained by sex, innuendo and a few fantasies you’d like to see played out—and who isn’t?—you ought to have Lucky and her extended Vegas family (So Damn Lucky, 2012, etc.) on speed dial.

Lucky Bastard will be published on May 14th.

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