Tag: Release Day

**RELEASE DAY** THE KAROBIS CALLS

Posted on by Siobhan Muir

It’s Release Day for THE IVORY ROAD: THE KAROBIS CALLS, the exciting conclusion to The Ivory Road serial. This is a 23 year old story that’s been reworked and changed into something new, even for me. I hope you’ve enjoyed Ivory’s journey. When I started this story, I was in the Aleutian Islands, working on my Master’s Thesis in volcanology. But in the evenings after fieldwork was done, my Muse refused to be quiet any longer (I’d ignored her all through college). So this story was born. But it evolved in 2022 and surprised even me. Here’s the blurb: Rushing to her home world to save a friend brought only heartache. Can Iliana now save Brandon? A desperate return to her world has left Iliana shaken, but a gut feeling that something’s wrong in Brandon’s world sends her riding hard for the Ivory School. When she arrives in Los Arboles, the campus is a smoking ruin and bodies litter the grounds. She finds a few survivors and learns Brandon—and others from the school—have been kidnapped…by an enemy everyone thought was dead. The only way to rescue Brandon is to use the skills she honed at his school. But she has no way of knowing if he survived the attack or if he even wants her rescue, and it’s not like she can text or track him with GPS. With the help of the only uninjured student, she heads back to the Karobis Desert, hoping she’s not too late to save everything that matters to her in this—or any—world. The Karobis Calls is the fourth story and dramatic conclusion to the four-part serial recounting Iliana’s journey along the Ivory Road. EXCERPT OF THE KAROBIS CALLS The world was still. Sunshine of early evening burnished the sunflowers in the fields around her and crickets sang in the grasses. Warmth as real as the freezing cold of Australia enveloped her and she took a deep breath of relief. “Do you ever get used to the sharp changes in weather and temperature?” She shook herself to release all the tension in her body from the harrowing ride. “Iliana…” Aristotle’s voice held caution as he trotted ahead. “What?” “Look ahead.” She swung her gaze ahead and all the comfort and heat left her body in a rush. Black smoke billowed in thick oily plumes from the smoldering trees around the main house of the Ivory School of Tactics and Warfare. The breeze painted the sky with streaks of black as fear ran with little cold feet up her spine. “Sweet glory, what the fuck? Run, Aristotle!” The horse launched into a pounding gallop up the road to the school and Iliana tried to come to grips with what she saw. The unfolding ruin made her stomach tighten and she hauled back on the reins as they made it to the smoking yard. Both the house and the stables had been set ablaze and now stood in blackened ruins, studs and beams sticking up like the ribs of huge animals. The fountain in the center was smashed to nothing but fragments, the water dribbling sluggishly from bent pipes. “Oh, my glory.” Iliana dismounted but couldn’t move a step away from Aristotle as her gaze took in everything. The doors to the house were burned away to nothing but the hinges. Inside, blackened rubble was all that remained of the tile floors and the furnishings. The dorms and outbuildings still smoldered sullenly as she turned slowly to look at the estate. Her gaze caught on something lying on the threshold of the burned-out house. Something vaguely familiar. “Aristotle, is that…is that a body?” His head reared back and his nostrils flared in surprise. “Yes.” “Oh sweet glory…” She swallowed hard and took a few steps closer, cataloging every detail like the props manager on a movie set. The body lay belly-down with one hand extended into the house as if the owner had been running inside before being stopped, violently. As she drew closer, she recognized Master Vasily’s Slavic features turned to the side, his eyes still open despite the charred skin. What little she’d eaten that morning came up in a rush and she turned to the side to keep from vomiting on the body. No, no, no. This can’t be happening. If Vasily is dead, then… Her body heaved again, emptying her stomach before she wiped her mouth on her arm, tears running down her face. “We have to check for more bodies, Iliana.” Aristotle’s voice sounded as shaken as she felt. “Survivors. We have to check for survivors.” She gritted her teeth. “There have to be survivors because I can’t accept that I wasn’t here to help Brandon when he needed me.” “The world doesn’t work that way.” “Yes, it damn well does. At least in my world, right now.” She raised her chin and stepped over Vasily’s body, ignoring the dull pain from her knee with each stride. She wiped her eyes on her black silks and focused on finding the residents of the school; anyone who could tell her what had happened. Broken tile and charred wood met each step as she searched the remains of the house. The second floor was completely gone, the smoke filling the air above the ground floor. She picked her way around burned and discarded furniture to discover Brandon’s library was nothing but ash. Her eyes filled with more tears, but she wasn’t sure if it was grief or smoke affecting them. The dining hall had suffered the most damage, both in furniture and in bodies. Iliana blinked back tears as she wrapped her silks around her face. She didn’t recognize every body, but Señora Cruz lay bristling with crossbow bolts surrounded by students missing limbs. “Oh dear sweet glory.” She turned away and heaved again, but nothing came up. Grief roared inside her as she moved through the rest of the house, searching for any survivors. She found Temujin inside a ring of bodies…

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New Release: MR. FIXIT’S BILLIONAIRE

Posted on by Siobhan Muir

It’s Release Day for MR. FIXIT’S BILLIONAIRE, a flipped trope contemporary romance previously published in the Flip the Trope: Endless Summer anthology. This was my first billionaire romance and I had a blast writing it. I hope it makes you smile, too. Last year, I was invited to be part of the second Flip the Trope anthology and thought I’d try writing billionaire romance. But this time, the billionaire is a very successful woman, and the struggling single parent is a working-class dad. It has been re-edited and put out under its own cover. Here’s the blurb: Amanda Pendleton is more than just a pretty face. She’s the president of a wildly successful office supply company, a doting single mom, and a billionaire. All great qualities. Too bad they weren’t enough to keep her deceased father from making stipulations in his will. If she wants to retain ownership of her company, she must find a husband before the next board meeting. Easy peasy, right? Mike Everslee is a single dad, the manager at Mr. Fixit Hardware, and a hard-working guy just trying to make ends meet. But none of it affords him the discretionary income to pay the fees at his daughter’s preparatory school. When his daughter’s friend’s mom offers to pay the theatre fees and take them out to dinner, he’s just glad for a rare night out. But Amanda shows up with an astounding proposal—marry her in the next five weeks and stay with her for a year so she can save her company. If he does, she’ll set him up with a new house, a new truck, and pay his daughter’s fees and tuition until high school. Get a ready-made family, a sister for his daughter, and a beautiful successful wife, all for the price of a year-long marriage. What could go wrong? EXCERPT OF MR. FIXIT’S BILLIONAIRE Mike Everslee stared at the bills in front of him and sighed. They were never-ending and he just barely made enough to cover the important ones. Like his truck payment, the insurance, the electricity for his rental house, and his cellphone/internet. Thank goodness both he and Sierra were healthy. Goddess only knew what would happen if emergency medical bills dropped on top of everything else. Orthodontia for Sierra would be bad enough. “Aren’t you gonna eat, Daddy? I don’t wanna be late.” Sierra swallowed her mac and cheese, from the box as per her insistence, and fixed him with a gimlet eye. “I’m not hungry, but you eat up. I’ll be ready to go when you finish.” He set the bills aside and waved at her plate. “Aww, do I have to?” Her lips pulled into a pout. “Yup, and you’ll have to wash your hands and your face afterwards. Are you wearing your mac and cheese or eating it?” He wrinkled his nose at the cascade of orange cheese goop everywhere. “I’m eating it, Daddy.” She picked up her fork. “Hmm, coulda fooled me. Here.” He helped her use a napkin to wipe the worst of it off her hands. “Finish up and we’ll go.” “Okay.” Sierra tucked into her food again and he smiled. It didn’t matter how hard things got, Sierra was worth every effort and worry. He rose and grabbed himself a protein bar from the pantry. It wasn’t supper, not really, but it would hold him until Sierra was in bed. When I can start worrying about the bills again. Yeah, stressing over them had given him a new layer of fat on his gut and he’d have to start going to the gym before he officially achieved a dad-bod. He already had Sierra’s coat, shoes, and costume ready to go, so all they needed to do was wash up and get in the truck. He’d learned the hard way to be prepared so nothing was forgotten, and they avoided meltdowns. “I’m done, Daddy. May I be excused?” “Yes, you may, Snowdrop. Take your plate into the dishwasher and wash your hands and face so we don’t get cheesy goop on your costume.” “Cheesy goop? It’s mac and cheese, Daddy!” It’s orange sludge with a vaguely cheesy flavor. But he kept his thoughts to himself as Sierra followed his instructions, and they finally loaded up into the truck. He checked his pockets for his keys, phone, and wallet, before turning on the engine. “Ready?” “Yeah. I’m so excited. Did you know my friend Valentina got the part of Annie’s best friend in the play?” Sierra bounced in her car seat from the back of the truck. “Just like in real life. And did you know she’s almost exactly the same age? She was born the same day, only two months after me. We’re gonna be friends forever.” “That’s amazing, Snowdrop.” This was the first time he’d heard about Valentina, but he was glad Sierra found a friend at the school. They’d been lucky to get her into Rocky Mountain Preparatory Academy. As the manager of the local hardware store in a posh part of town, he made decent money, but he could never afford the tuition. Some of the wealthy parents from the school became friendly with him at the store and recommended Sierra for their scholarship program. She’d just started attending that fall and had impressed her teachers with her work ethic. His daughter was smart and creative, just like her egg-donor, and it didn’t surprise him in the least to see her thrive. He worried her economic status might make her a target of the privileged and entitled rich kids, but there hadn’t been any problems. Sierra continued to chatter about her friend until she stopped mid-sentence and gasped. “Daddy! I saw a bobcat! Stop the truck!” Grab a Copy

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**RELEASE DAY** Flip The Trope: Endless Summer

Posted on by Siobhan Muir

It’s Release Day for FLIP THE TROPE: ENDLESS SUMMER anthology. Woohoo! I’m so pleased this anthology is out in time for the sit-bundled-up-and-read season! 😀 I’ve been waiting a long time for this day and so glad it’s finally here. This is the second flipped trope anthology, but it’s the first time I’ve written a contemporary billionaire romance. But it’s not your typical billionaire romance. She’s the billionaire, he’s the blue collar single dad who needs a rescue. Here’s the blurb: Some of us are feeling the fall vibes, but is it too late to enjoy some vacation fun? Never! Let’s go back to the beach with these eight brand-new romances—and each one flips at least one trope. From sweet contemporary romance to spicy paranormals, with LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC representation, this anthology has a little bit of everything. Each story is marked with genre, heat level, and romantic pairing, so settle down to have your expectations twisted and fall in love with unusual heroes. Excerpt of Mr. Fixit’s Billionaire After Michelle left, Amanda settled herself in her chair and straightened her clothes. “Show time.” “Are you sure you want to mention why you need this meeting short? It will just play into Walter’s biases about single mothers and business.” Zoe settled herself into a chair just to Amanda’s right and crossed her legs. Amanda bit her lip. “I suppose I could say I have a prior engagement that can’t be missed.” “Go with that.” Zoe nodded. “Subterfuge might work better in this instance, at least until you know what game you’re playing.” “Got it.” Amanda took a deep breath. “Here we go.” She pressed the intercom button to alert Michelle she was ready. Thirty seconds later, Walter and his bejeweled and be-gelled son Evan sauntered into the office. Walter kept a polite smile on his face, but Evan smirked like he’d just been given a new Ducati for winning a spelling bee. And that’s pretty much all he’s good at these days. Well, that and spending money on drugs and alcohol. “Thank you for seeing us so promptly, Amanda. You ran out so quickly from the lawyer’s office, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you.” The mild rebuke after his underhanded actions grated over her like nails against a chalkboard. “Yes, well, I had arrangements to make, and they couldn’t wait since pertinent information was knowingly withheld from me.” She didn’t even bother to smile. Walter pretended to be contrite. “Ah, yes, sorry about that. The lawyer wasn’t supposed to wait quite this long, but you’re just so busy, it was hard to get a hearing date.” Oh, hell no, you’re not going to pin this on me. “Amazing that we have so many modes of communication in this century, isn’t it? Email, telephone. I understand texting is now a thing. Have you heard of it?” She picked up her phone and waved it. “You can even carry your phone in your pocket or purse. Amazing.” She dropped the false light note in her voice. “What do you want, Walter?” “So direct.” He tsked like she was an errant child. “If I was a man, you wouldn’t be censorious or dismissive, so cut the crap and get to the point. Why are you here?” He settled an earnest expression on his face. “Ah yes, well, given the new parameters of the company remaining in your hands, I thought I’d make it easy for you and suggest an amicable solution for everyone involved.” “An amicable solution? What would that be?” She didn’t move, resisting the urge to hurl her blown glass paperweight at his head. “The company has always been profitable when run by a single family, and given your need for a husband, and Evan’s need for a wife, it would be easiest if you married him.” Walter smiled as if he’d solved all the riddles of the universe. “I’d be honored to have you as a daughter-in-law.” Amanda immediately bit her tongue to keep from barking out a guffaw. Marry Evan Tisdale? Not in a million years, not for all of China’s gold, not if Evan was the last male on the planet. She’d marry Zoe first, and she didn’t even swing that way. “Thank you for the offer, Walter, but as it happens, I already have a boyfriend. He wouldn’t take kindly to me throwing him over for your son.” Amanda shrugged. “So, there’ll be no need for Evan to sacrifice his freedom to be married to me.” “Oh, I won’t be sacrificing anything—” “Evan, please, let me finish this negotiation.” Walter cut his son off and lost some of his warm smile. “Amanda, be reasonable. Five weeks isn’t a lot of time to get a wedding together that befits a woman of your stature.” She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “What are you suggesting?” “Agree to marry Evan and the shares remain in your possession. No harm, no foul.” And Walter gets the company either way. She pretended to consider. “I’ll need some time to think about it. I’ll call you with my answer as soon as I have one.” He narrowed his eyes. “How much time are we talking here? A few days? A week?” She gave him her best winning smile. “As soon as I have an answer for you, I’ll call you. Or email. Maybe even text. Now, you’ll have to excuse me. I have a prior engagement that cannot be missed, and I can’t be late. As you noted, I’m a very busy woman.” She rose and gestured toward the door. “Oh, yes, of course.” Walter rose as well while Evan leisurely climbed to his feet, leering at her. Walter straightened his tie and his shoulders. “Please, take all the time you need to consider all your options. This could be a very lucrative partnership.” Amanda nodded with her smile cemented in place as the two men sauntered out the door. As soon as it closed, she lost her smile…

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