New Book Release: The Walled Garden (a.k.a. Jazz Age!)

Hi PD,

I'm very happy to announce the release of my newest dev romance, The Walled Garden. "Jazz Age" has always been the story that received the most requests for a sequel, and I've finally expanded it into a 43,000-word novella! It's chock-full of romantic longing, 1920s glamour, eccentric friends and family, and of course devvy details.

• Buy the ebook/paperback on Amazon

• Preview: read the original "Jazz Age" on the PD stories blog

1922: Helena De Vries is an East Coast heiress dispatched to Southern California, where she wants to help her eccentric aunt establish a museum—while her parents aim for her to court young men of suitable stature. Lonely and dissatisfied, Helena flees a glittering soirée, only to encounter a man who presents her with an impossible appeal.

Thoughtful, witty, and kind, Michael Byrne is a son of one of the nation’s wealthiest families, yet has lived his entire life confined to one wing of the Byrne mansion. Born with cerebral palsy and deemed incapable of public appearance, Michael has never been allowed to meet anyone like Helena. For him, their friendship is an unexpected gift.

But after the first sparks of warmth—and desire—Helena finds herself longing for more. Equally afraid to expose their affection to public censure and to give Michael promises that she might not be able to fulfill, Helena faces an irresolvable dilemma: how can you confess your love for a man who isn’t supposed to exist?

The Walled Garden is a sparkling, lush, and sensual Jazz Age romance novella, featuring a rich cast of characters who struggle to reconcile exacting social expectations and the demands of the heart.

Please read and enjoy -- and if you can, leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads to help the book get off the ground! <3

- R

New short story: The Cove

Hi, PD folks -


I'm still around and writing, just busy and easily distracted by different projects. But I'm happy to say that the upshot of being easily distracted is that I'm now almost done with not one, but two dev novels/novellas that I'll be publishing as ebooks. One is the long-delayed expansion of Jazz Age (~40k words), and one is the complete Bérénice (~30k words). So, both historical romances featuring male leads with cerebral palsy. (But yes, Bérénice's flirty, blind former lover Vincent shows up more, too. :) )

In the meantime, here's yet another product of distraction... I wrote a short story in the same setting as Bérénice, bohemian Paris in the 1930s. This is probably also the horniest thing I've ever written, soooo... I hope you all enjoy it?! I'll be posting it in two parts:

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The Cove, part 1

Sofie was in bed with a stomachache and a headache, and cross about it; she wasn’t used to being ill and slothful.

Luc was incredulous at first and teased her when he found her still in bed. But she snapped back at him, and when he realized she really was feeling poorly, he apologized a dozen times, covered her face with kisses, and brought her tea. He put in too many leaves and steeped them too long, so it was bitter, but she drank it anyway.

He leaned forward in his wheelchair with puppyish eagerness and watched her.

When she finished her tea, set aside the mug, and eased back onto her pillows, Luc offered: “I can tell you about one of my adventures you haven’t heard before.” He gave a winsome smile. He had wide-set eyes of a dark blue in a square, boyish, tanned face, topped with curling dark-blond hair.

Bérénice: Table of Contents

Bérénice is a spunky Belgian who moves to bohemian Paris in the 1930s to pursue her career as an artists' model. There, she becomes intrigued by Jean-Claude, a shy artist with cerebral palsy who uses his feet to paint.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7 

 

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If you enjoy my stories, my devvy M/M romance novel, Shadowboxing, is available as both an ebook & paperback. Shadowboxing features a romance between Asher, a sweet nerd who has cerebral palsy, and Roy, a loner with a stammer. Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading it!

Amazon ebook | Amazon paperback | Barnes & Noble paperback

New story: Mara, part 1

Hi PD folks, I'm back with a new short story. I've been poking at this one for a year and a half (!), so it's time to finally release it into the wild. :) Hope you enjoy...

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MARA

There’s a storm coming and inside the store, under the buzz of fluorescent lights, third in line for the register, Mara is restless. Her attention is fixed on the sensation of building pressure, the humidity that the air conditioning can’t manage to suck out. Beneath the no-brand pop music that the convenience store pipes in overhead, she thinks she can hear a roll of distant thunder; it presses in against the hum of the lights. Her bare arms prickle, up and down their lengths.