Catholic Sad Boy Summer is HERE
ASCENSION hits shelves + SAVAGE BLOOMS on Netgalley UK!
Welcome, beautiful friends! At long last, ASCENSION, the second full-length book in the Summoner’s Circle Series, is out on shelves. It’s a dark and dramatic all about Rhys: ambitious, paranoid, loyal, anxious, high-minded, soft-hearted, awkward, brilliant Rhys.
If you’re ready for even more secret society drama and ceremonial magic, way too many demons, a sprinkle of kink and a drizzle of spice, the messiest polycule in Boston and of course, the power of love, this queer urban fantasy romance is for you. If you’re new here, start at the beginning of the series! You can read the vampire books in whatever order you want, but the wizards demand chronology.
Welcome to the World, Rhys!
Gosh, he’s gorgeous! And there are still a few signed Waterstones special editions available to match the Waterstones EVOCATION and ODD SPIRITS, plus the Book in a Box EU special edition! Rumors swirl of Book in a Box re-printing more EVOCATION specials to match ASCENSION because you folks got so excited about having a matching set <3.
Ever since Rhys McGowan was a boy, he's only wanted two things: power and love.
Now, as High Priest of Boston's premiere Secret Society, husband to his adoring witch wife Moira, and partner to David - his psychic rival-turned-boyfriend, Rhys is finally at peace. But when a strange ritual rocks Boston's occult community, and opens the Society up to sabotage, Rhys delves even deeper into the dark world of demon-summoning. He's used to carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but the strain of managing so many spirits (not to mention the stress of his loved ones exploring other people) will push him to the brink.
As heaven and hell play tug of war for Rhys' soul, he'll have to face the greatest demon of all: his own insatiable ambition.
Official Playlist
You know I love doing Too Much, and you know I love making thank-you treats for reader. Please enjoy the free ASCENSION playlist, with each song matched to a chapter, and each chapter paired with a teaser quote in far-too detailed 8Tracks-style liner notes.
Come to the Show!
Sydney Shields, author of THE HONEY WITCH, is gonna be IN MY CITY on launch day, and we’re gonna make it everybody’s problem! Join us for a post-martini IG live to celebrate ASCENSION! It’s gonna be a lot of giggling and kicking our feet and we hope you join us and giggle along.
I’m not touring or doing live events this month for ASCENSION; I’m simply too wiped. But I’m very pleased to announce that there are September Summoner’s Circle tour dates being announced soon for Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. And of course, I’ll be at RomanceCon in Milwaukee September 5-6! Can’t wait to celebrate this next sorcererous installment with my Midwestern readers 💋
I’m so grateful for Sydney making this night so special for me in a way that meets my energy and honors my joy; there is little more you can ask for from a friend. And I’m grateful to y’all for coming! Mark your calendars, pour your cosmopolitans, and get ready to YAP!
Savage Blooms on Netgalley UK
The rumors are true: so many American readers requested the first book in my new dark romance trilogy, SAVAGE BLOOMS, on Netgalley that Orbit had to shut down the request form. You cleaned them out!
But my beautiful Brits, now it’s your turn to suffer exquisitely. SAVAGE BLOOMS, book 1 in the Unearthly Delights trilogy, is live on Netgalley! Please enjoy this sampling of some of my favorite Netgalley US reviews screenshotted before the listing went dark, and scurry to request your copy of this gothic erotic tragiromance before its gone.
If you know me, you know I love Sierra Simone. She’s the reason I started writing erotic romance, and she’s shouted out in the acknowledgements for SAVAGE BLOOMS not once but twice. So it was a true over-the-moon honor to have her blurb this book. Sierra said:
“A drizzly, moody, and lustrously carnal rendition of a storybook tale, Savage Blooms is the holy grail for lovers of dark academia and faery magic alike. By the time I got to the epilogue, I was ready to bite into the pages like they were made of faery fruit, just so I'd never have to leave.”
What are you waiting for? The mists have parted. Craigmar manor is calling you home.
Everything I’ve Been Loving Lately
It’s shaping up to be a Gemini rising summer of academic exploration over here! I’ve had so many beautiful experiences lately: researching folklore for the next Unearthly Delights book in the jaw-dropping New York Public Library, picnics in the Central Park with fireflies and beautiful people, late-night historical rabbit-holes under my weighted blanket, teaching myself baby French and amateur Latin, picking out the perfect spray roses at the bodega, and of course, taking myself out for my favorite dirty ginger gin martini after going release day outfit shopping.
There so much loveliness in this life, and so much to learn from so many amazing people. This summer, I wish a spirit of joyful inquiry upon you. I hope that you meet the world with bottomless curiosity, and that she opens so many of her wonders to your heart and mind.
I’ll be back with a proper favorites round-up soon, more reads and smells and flicks, and I’m once again Doing Too Much by working on a paid Substack essay about Hozier, Orpheus, Dante, and mythic masculinity. I’m taking this far too seriously; I have an obsidian web about it for God’s sake.
You don’t want to miss all of THAT, so sign up at the paid tier to get two bonus essays in your inbox every month.
As always, thank you so, so much for being here. I’m actually so overwhelmed with gratitude and appreciation for my readers that I’m just gonna call it here before I babble. Buy and borrow and review your favorite books, be loud about what and who you love, and be safe and well now and always!
-S
Congrats on your launch!!! So exciting!