Aliens and an Oops from Holley

I goofed, and I’m sorry. I sort of fell off the planet in the last few weeks and missed my biweekly LL&L check-ins. Suffice it to say I’ve been on the go a lot and doing some personal and business travel. I’m not quite done yet, but right now, I’m in front of my computer and can catch you up on news.

How’s this?

smErstwhile

*cackles darkly*

The Jekh Saga will start rolling on on August 9. These are big, meaty, sci-fi romances with some colonization politics and a lot of hard-up guys (this sentence reads dirtier than I intended) on a planet where few women remain.

Here’s the summary for the first story, Erstwhile:

As an adamant opponent of Terran settlement on the planet Jekh, Owen McGarry made his family name synonymous with “traitor” on Earth. Lobbyists standing to profit from off-world colonization hinted that the Jekhans were preparing to declare war. Nearly twenty years after Owen’s supposed death, his granddaughter Courtney wants to learn the truth—even if she has to travel to the far-flung colony to do it.

Court soon learns that not only was her grandfather right about the Jekhans, but that conditions on their world are far more hostile than she feared. Terran forces decimated the population of the resident human-alien hybrids, and the people who remain seem to be all out of fight. That is, except for the pair of men Court finds hiding in her basement.

Fugitives Murki and Trigrian see a future in Court. On a planet where so few women remain, she has the potential to be the mate the lovers need. And more, she could become the advocate for their people that her grandfather didn’t get the chance to be.

When the corrupt local government seeks to punish Court’s friends and family for her actions, she has no choice but to make a stand. If it takes a riot to make the people on Earth see that they were misled about Jekh, she’s more than willing to start one. After all, her reputation couldn’t possibly get any worse.

Look for Erstwhile on August 9! You can pre-order it now.

(Read on Apple devices? You can now download a free three-chapter sample from iBooks.)

A new Reedsville story from Holley Trent

I just couldn’t resist, so here’s another broke minor league baseball player for you. (You’re welcome!) You may have met Gary in my previous Reedsville Roosters story Designated Hitter. I brought him back in his own novel, because a novella just wouldn’t do for his trio. Gary’s got more issues than Sports Illustrated Magazine, and his lovers aren’t doing much better.

I love when romances have messy people. 🙂

Out of Bounds mmf romance Holley Trent

Gary Morstad has had more than his fair share of intimate encounters with married women, but he thought he’d left that promiscuous lifestyle behind when he hightailed it out of the Miami manservant scene. He wants love, not more meaningless encounters. So, it’s just his luck that a greasy mechanic with the charm of a turnip has hooked the only woman Gary has ever wanted to behave himself for.

When the taciturn mechanic—Dean Yeats—vengefully volunteers to chaperone Gary during his mortifying return to his former minor league team, their antagonistic exchanges segue to a smoldering two-way attraction…and then a three-way one.

Gary’s over-the-top antics and larger-than-life personality get Dean loose and laughing in the way Dean’s wife Lorena craves seeing, however Lorena worries their ménage arrangement won’t outlast the season. Gary is endearing and unforgettable, but he’s also reckless. Men like him rarely play by the rules, and she’s not so sure she and Dean can help him make the new ones Gary so desperately needs.

Get Out of Bounds now at Amazon:

Amazon US
Amazon CA
Amazon UK
Amazon AU

And sometimes Holley writes sci-fi romance.

Deep Space Banner

©Nikki Zalewski – Adobe Stock

I have a secret identity. Sort of.

I mean, it’s not really a secret so much as…obscure right now. It’ll be less obscure in the next month or so. I hope.

I spun off the pen name H.E. Trent because sometimes I want to write books that don’t fit my established style and tone. Also, sometimes I want to write books that don’t have an  established percentage of romantic content in them. Sometimes, I need there be as much pain and suffering as there is love.

So.

Starting in August, I’m rolling out a new series called The Jekh Saga. It’s set in the near-future on a colony of Earth called Jekh…and suffice it to say, all isn’t well. Space is the new [corporate] Wild West, and it’s dog-eat-dog on the frontier.

The series is a little more political than my typical fare, a little darker, and a little more episodic. So, while each [long] book will contain a full romance, it’ll also have a bunch of other stuff happening that won’t necessarily resolve quickly. The first three books will all be out by December, because I know how infuriating having to wait for series installments is.

Sorry to be vague! In the coming weeks, though, I’ll be telling you more about Jekh and the headstrong, meddling McGarry siblings who end up there. I’m excited to be heading in a newer, more noir direction, and I hope a few of you hop on for the ride!

(And don’t worry – I’ll still have plenty of Holley stories coming out, too. After all, variety is the spice of life.)

More modern Vikings from Holley Trent! (And a cat.)

VikingFlameIf you haven’t plowed your way through my back list yet, let me tell you a not-so-secret factoid about my books: I’m a sucker for a running gag, especially in series. In The Afótama Legacy, which is my witchy modern Viking series, one of the gags is a cat.

Viking kitty. Technically, his name is Destructo. I’m not entirely sure how Destructo came into being, but I’m guessing he was spawned from an editorial conversation gone wrong.

Destructo belongs to a former bar owner named Jeff. He was pawned off on him by a vet tech and Jeff couldn’t get rid of him, which is probably a good thing seeing as how Destructo is Jeff’s familiar. He’s also something of a turncoat, much to Jeff’s chagrin, seeing as how his would-be lover seems to like the cat more than she likes Jeff. Here’s some proof to his claim from the newest series installment Viking Flame (to set the scene, our anxious heroine–Nadia–is being confronted in a particular way by her two men about her avoidance tactics):

“I…sometimes when I steal the cat at night, I touch his hair,” she confessed [to Thom].

Jeff’s cocky expression neutralized, and his brow furrowed.

“I mean, Destructo burrows and sprawls out on top of his hair sometimes. When I fetch the cat, I cop a feel.”

“You tiptoe into my suite to take my cat?”

She swallowed. “Afótama don’t do well sleeping alone for too many nights. The cat’s better than nothing.”

Jeff narrowed his eyes. “You took the cat instead of taking my bed.”

“Maybe that choice doesn’t make sense to you.”

“That wouldn’t make sense to anyone.”

Destructo first turns up in a previous installment of The Afótama Legacy, The Chieftain’s Daughter, and you can be pretty certain he’ll be flinging his fur around in future books, too.

Afotama3

In the meantime, catch up on the saga. The first in the series, The Viking Queen’s Men, is just a buck right now, and you get to see Nadia stabbing her cousin in the neck with a tranquilizer. Skol, Vikings!

Bound to be Tamed!

BoundToBeTamed300The second book in my Emergence series releases next week, July 29. Bound to be Tamed continues the story of our two heroes and one heroine from book one, Bound to be Taken. Aiden, Dane, and Stephanie continue on their journey toward a life of dominance and submission. This book, like the first one, is mmf. It’s super steamy! Not for the faint of heart… 🙂

Blurb:

Stephanie Parkins has decided to take a chance.

After a whirlwind week under the tutelage of two hot Doms who make her feel more than she’s ever experienced, she’s taking up the ultimate exercise in trust: quitting her job to put herself completely in their capable hands. Even when it pushes her way beyond her comfort zone.

Aiden Collins and Dane Whitman have fallen hard and fast.

Their unexpected submissive presents them with a challenge of their own: to train her to embrace her new lifestyle in an atmosphere of security and safety. Even when it means hiding a shocking secret until the right moment presents itself.

Her Doms push, and sometimes Stephanie pushes back, with deliciously wicked consequences. But just as her red-hot learning curve reaches its peak, secrets from her past come to searing light. Threatening to send her running back to familiar territory—alone.

Warning: This book contains intense bondage scenes, hot masturbation, man-on-man action, restraints, explicit use of sex toys, spanking, flogging, public nudity, and a photo shoot that gives a whole new meaning to “exposure”.

Excerpt:

The snick of Dane and Aiden’s apartment door behind Stephanie’s back resonated like a gunshot in her mind. She leaned into the solid wood and stared at her feet. Her heart pounded so hard and so fast her ears rang.

Had she made the right decision coming to this penthouse apartment this morning, giving herself over to two sexy men who proposed training her to be their full-time sub?

After the toughest weekend of her life, she now stood before her two Doms with fear traveling up her spine until her body shook. And man, did the two of them ever look hot. They were dressed in worn jeans and T-shirts, but since she usually only saw them ready for work, they were mouthwatering this morning.

Dane spoke first. “Are you sure? You can still leave.”

She shook her head. She couldn’t leave. In fact, she had no idea why she’d spent the weekend fretting over the decision. There was only one choice.

The nail-biting, pacing and exasperating struggle to quit her job and choose these two men over her previous life had all been a result of preconceived notions that there was something inherently wrong with this choice.

Who in their right mind gives up their free will to another human being, or two?

The answer? Someone who recognizes the amazing freedom total submission brings to her life.

“Please, come sit down,” Aiden said. “You look petrified.”

Stephanie released her grip on the door behind her. She’d flattened her hands against the wood as though she could hold on to the outside world for one more minute with physical contact to the barrier. Or perhaps her molecules could seep through the thick door and back out into the corridor where she’d previously stood for twenty minutes, building up the courage to knock.

Gaze still lowered, Stephanie slid her purse from her shoulder and set it on the small table next to the door. She then stepped farther into the room, shuffled really. Her feet barely registered the commands from her brain.

She knew enough about what this arrangement would entail to be both confident and terrified.

After the weirdest week of her life, she was well-versed in the world of submission. However, no amount of research could possibly prepare her for the day-to-day experience she would encounter.

Stephanie sat on the edge of a leather armchair, perched with her hands on her knees. She wasn’t following any rules yet. Would they give her some leeway for the first few minutes?

Neither man said a word about her stance. She breathed easy, in and out of her mouth, a desperate attempt to slow her pounding heart.

Dane strolled out of the room and returned moments later with a clinking glass. He handed it to her. “Water. You look faint.” He knelt in front of her and met her gaze.

She sipped the cool liquid, the glass shaking in her hand and threatening to spill over the sides. Dane took the precarious water from her and set it on the coffee table.

Aiden crouched next to Dane, his hand resting on Dane’s shoulder. “Tell us what you’ve decided, Steph. We don’t want you to feel pressured.”

She cleared her throat, but her voice still squeaked when she spoke. “I’d like to be your sub, Sir.” She glanced at Aiden. “And yours, Sir.” She turned her gaze toward Dane.

“You’ve read the letter we left and thought about our requests then?” Dane asked.

“Yes, Sir.” She gripped her knees together, something they would certainly not allow in the future. They were extreme sticklers about her thighs being open. But for now, she was safe. No one reprimanded her…yet. She clenched her pussy against the onslaught of arousal pulsing in her lower lips from the declaration of her submission.

Aiden continued, “We didn’t come to this decision lightly. We consulted Lori Polluck, our sponsor, and came up with a plan we feel is the best fit for all of us.” Aiden set his hand on her knee, stilling her bouncing leg.

Dane gripped her other knee. “Just so we’re clear. We’ll use this morning to negotiate a plan for your training. Lori is coming over to meet with the three of us. We want you to get to know her and use her as a resource for any questions you might have.

“Life as a full-time sexual submissive is intense at first. There is so much for you to learn. Aiden and I will be learning at the same time. What we know for sure after spending the week with you is that we adore you and can’t think of anything we’d rather do than include you in our lives as our submissive.” Dane gripped her leg tighter.

There was only one viable choice. Submit.

As she’d spent the last forty-eight hours attempting to list all the reasons she shouldn’t do this, she’d been bombarded with that one word over and over. Submit. Submit. Submit.

The sexual energy she felt when those two syllables were uttered or thought was palpable. She’d never felt more alive than this past week under the care of Aiden and Dane. When they commanded, her body responded physically. A low ball of tight need lodged in her belly. Her pussy pulsed and squeezed with want. Her nipples hardened and abraded against whatever she wore.

Hell, when she even watched the two men interact with each other, her mouth watered. She’d never been so turned on in her life as she had seeing them fuck or suck each other off.

She would forever regret any other choice than the one to give herself to them completely and comply with their requests.

“I’m yours, Sirs.”