UPDATE: The winner is…Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

Readers still love their niches, and medical romance is still an incredibly popular one — even though expectations have changed considerably. I know! You’re thinking — surely not. Readers like to read within their niche because they know what they like, and they don’t like change. Maybe you’re a medical romance reader, and you know the genre upside-down and back-to-front, and I bet you do, too. There are still the same markers and expectations medical romance writers are expected to hit, and that’ll always be true — whether it’s a small-town sweet romance within a doctor’s surgery or a fast-paced city-hospital romance that bares all. But the genre has changed in one incredible way, and that is…it’s gotten hotter.

Way, way hotter.

You must have noticed it yourself. We’re talking medical romance meets erotica; there’s a story without the sex, but the sex is the cherry on top. We’re seeing every aspect of our medical staff; all those unprofessional moments of lust, of kisses in the medicine room, romps in the break room, moments that were traditionally fade-to-black. Thank you, Grey’s Anatomy! I fully expect it myself when I read medical romances, and I actually feel something is missing when I don’t find enough of it. Like all genres within romance, we’ve gotten much bolder with the spicy elements — we proudly call it smut, right?

But for medical romance, this is a big deal. My first introduction to medical romance as a genre was — like many — via those pocket Mills and Boon books, which are still going strong today with the die-hard subscribers who receive a handful of books in the mail every month. They’re eaten up like Smarties — and they’re definitely sexier than they used to be. When it comes to self-published medical romances, however — it isn’t even the same ball game anymore. The indie writers — who of course started as medical romance readers — knew what was missing. We knew what we wanted. Now, they’re delivering medical smut in spades — and I’m proud to say, I am too.

Lovers of sweet romances may not think it’s their cup of tea, and that’s okay. I think medical romance readers who prefer the fast-paced, heart-stopping city hospital stories — as opposed to the sweet small-town ones I mentioned — might like a little more action in the round. This is medical romance, after all. We like details. The spicy elements are desired in equal measure with the trauma, the patient cases, and those high-octane medical emergencies that have us rapidly turning the pages.

Many writers of the genre are themselves nurses, doctors, paramedics, carers, admins, staff of all disciplines. Personally, I’m an experienced patient (huge congrats on your treatment success, Delilah!) I’ve spent weeks upon weeks in hospital, endured several major surgeries — including open abdominal surgery — and years on medications to treat a dangerous condition. Countless procedures for all kinds of things. For a time, hospital was my second home, and I loved to watch everybody around me work. I even had the privilege of being a guinea-pig for student doctors in their exam, where they were tasked with examining me and diagnosing my condition. Staying in a London hospital, with St. Paul’s Cathedral outside my window, wasn’t all that bad, because the staff made me so comfortable.

I guess you could say that those difficult days were the first kernels of inspiration. My experiences made me feel much more comfortable writing about the genre. I developed a fascination with the different professions I came into contact with, and I began to read medical memoirs voraciously. Lucky for me, these memoirs became suddenly very popular, and I could read everything from brain surgery to forensic pathology and forensic anthropology. I saw the humans behind the profession, including their personal failings, mistakes, relationship problems, you name it. It’s no wonder medical romance is hugely popular today — there are so many variables, so many opportunities for relationships to blossom, and so many wild ways for that to happen!

My first attempt at medical romance was within a three-book-series called Professionals Gone Wild. I wrote about a financier’s son, a barrister, and a neurosurgeon. All books were received well by reviewers, but the medical romance one was by far the one I most enjoyed, the one best reviewed, and it was the best-seller of the three. I realized, then, that I was being given a pretty clear sign — I needed to fine-tune my genre-writing skills, lean hard into the medical niche, and really go for it.

In three weeks, I wrote The Nurse and the Neonatal Surgeon, the first of my London children’s hospital series of spicy medical romances. Writing about two medical heroes falling in love on the neonatal unit was not an easy start, let me tell you — but the readers really loved it. Even my worst review — and there aren’t many of those, thankfully — states that they still enjoyed the patient cases involving the babies, even when the love story wasn’t for them. I take that as a win, because not only is medical romance difficult to get right, but neonatal surgery was a very tough balancing act.

How to give detail, without giving too much detail? How to include heart-wrenching aspects without upsetting the reader so much that they put the book down? The fact is, I wanted to go there, and write something I loved and found meaningful — but doing so without overstepping the mark or going too far was like walking a tight-rope in some respects.

Maybe it’s because I’m a mother myself now, and because I’ve experienced loss in the past — like many of us — but I felt it was a task I was up to. I decided my old-fashioned-style titles — my nod to the old pocket-books I talked about — was a good way to let the reader know exactly what medical scenarios they’d be encountering. If a reader isn’t comfortable with reading about a neonatal unit, then they know immediately that this book won’t be for them. The same goes for the second in the series (all stand-alones with cameos, references to each other, etc.) The Intern and the Plastic Surgeon. If a reader isn’t comfortable reading about craniofacial surgery in detail, or who finds the subject difficult for any reason, they know what they’re getting before they buy or download.

I’m now releasing the third in the series, The Intern and the Orthopaedic Surgeon, TODAY! This one is the spiciest yet; an opposites-attract, teacher-student story with BDSM-flavours and, of course, medical details and patient cases. Gabriel Grant is my favourite medical hero of the series so far. He’s like Peter Steele meets Gideon Cross in appearance, but with Peter Steele’s sense of humour and a hint of the Labrador about him. Personally, I just loved writing him. My leading lady, Connie, is a faith-led woman who is dedicated to her job and her alcoholic father who, through Gabriel, finds a way of nourishing her body and soul in the ways she deserves, and craves.

I always write about dishy-daddy-doctors, but trust me, you don’t want to miss Gabriel Grant!

To celebrate its release day, I’m giving away an ebook copy of The Intern and the Orthopaedic Surgeon! Comment below for your chance to win!

The Intern and the Orthopaedic Surgeon

“I’m a good girl who follows the rules, due to graduate the orthopaedic surgical programme and start my dream career. But when mischievous rogue Gabriel Grant becomes my mentor, he shows me a deeply sensual world that threatens to derail my perfect plans…and awaken my deepest desires.”

Gabriel Grant is a young buck when it comes to Orthopaedic surgery, but he’s making waves as a maverick. Beautiful, sharp and virile, eyes linger on Gabriel wherever he goes – but his eyes are fixed on me.

I’m determined to keep focused, but he thrives on challenge – and I’m proving to be his biggest yet.

My obvious desire permits him to show me he can be what I crave; romantic, tender…as well as white-hot and dominating.

I’m a faith-led woman who craves his searing heat as much as his tenderness, but Gabriel has a thing or two to learn about that. The question is: can he be taught?

Get ready for some alpha male, forced proximity, opposites attract awakenings against a backdrop of the children’s orthopaedics department.

Gabriel Grant knows he’s God’s gift to women; there’s a reason they called him the Bone Daddy. But when his intern demands more than just his body, Gabriel must face his dark past. Will he dare to confront the abuse that still haunts him, so he can offer his heart and soul as well?

*This book is part of a series but works as a standalone novel. Contains 18+ spicy scenes throughout. Mature readers only.

About the author

Liza Collins is a wife and mother of two from the UK. She writes about medical heroes falling in love in a critical care context – and some other stuff too, just for fun.

Keep in touch:
Amazon: Liza Collins
Website: Liza Collins Books
Facebook: /Lizacollinsbooks
Liza’s Newsletter: Liza’s Subscriber Club

UPDATE: The winner is…flchen!
*~*~*

Hello, Delilah! Thank you for welcoming me here to share my new release! Rayne Check is a short story in my Love in Mission City world.  So here’s the secret…I didn’t plan the world as it is. I didn’t plan a series. I’ll share with you how things evolved into what is now 5 books, 3 novellas, and 6 short stories with more to come.

Okay…so I’ve written and MF series set in the fictional town of Mission City, British Columbia — which may or may not resemble Mission, British Columbia — I’m not all that clever.  But my fictional world has, of course, people and places that come from my mind.  And yeah, Fifties diner in real life is Rocko’s (best burgers ever).  Much of the rest, though, is in my head.  As I would want a town to be.  I eventually published a prequel and three books in my Love in Cedar Valley series under my penname Gabbi Powell.  Same town, just I wanted to differentiate.  But there’s a huge amount of cross-pollination.  Characters and locations overlap and interact (and just to make things interesting, I tossed in some characters from my Gabbi Black In Their Eyes series).

Now, I’ve written about 20 books in what is now the Cedar Valley series — but I need to get them edited and I never have the time because I’m always writing new stories.

I hadn’t intended to transition from writing MF to queer books — but it happened.  The fifth anniversary of my novella, My Past, Your Future is in February.  I had a couple of short stories published before then, but I consider that release date as my stepping into the big leagues (relatively).  That book was for a series for The Wild Rose Press.  Then I wrote another gay novella for them for their ice cream series.  Then came the Christmas cookie books and I was all in.

Somehow, I came up with the title Ginger Snapping All the Way, and I sat down to write the novella.  I won’t bore you with the nitty gritty, but I quickly realized two things: this was a novel, not a novella, and…there was something magical about this book. In the end, I wrote the book as it was meant to be — 72k — and self-published.

Magic.  I had a launch strategy.  I had a discounted price.  I had audio release at the same time as the ebook and the audio was amazing (I still listen to it as a comfort read).  Ginger was my entry into what I saw as the big leagues.

So what next?

Just before it launched, I was presented with the chance to write a short story for a charity anthology.  I had literally a weekend.  I was like…HUH?  Then I remembered one of my lead characters from Ginger had an asshat ex.  I didn’t know it, but I was about to write my first redemption MM story.  And I did.  Stanley’s Christmas Redemption was 17k.  And reviews were mixed, but the anthology sold well and we raised a bunch of money.

First lesson — be careful when you name people.  Stanley was never meant to get a book. It’s not a name some people might associate with a hero. Second lesson — be careful when you name a book.  If I could do it over, I wouldn’t have chosen to put Stanley’s name in the title.  Anyway, long story short – the rights reverted and I wrote the story I mean to tell and released Stanley as a full length 85k novel.  Third lesson — be careful when you expand a story — fans will come to expect that with all your short work.

Suddenly, I had a series.  Well, two books.  By then I was writing short stories and novellas for promos and charity anthologies  I was writing up a storm — always short and always in the Mission City universe.

But I needed another big book.

I’ve talked about the genesis of Sleigh Bells and Second Chances before.  I had an image of a wounded soldier returning from a war he was never meant to fight in.  With the help of my plot whisperer, we came up with a story.  And I wrote it.  The rawest book I’ve ever written — and that’s saying something because I am the Queen of Angst.

Okay — book 3 released — all three in ebook, audio, and paperback.

So what next?

Well, I had a story I’d written for a traditional publisher.  The story was sitting on an editor’s desk when he quit and he never passed it along to anyone.  So I was screwed.  But I LOVE the story.  It just needs work (too short and written in third person point of view while I write in first…).  The plan was to fix it up and it would become book 4.

Right…except fate intervened.

I was asked to write a short story (don’t snicker, I said hell, yes to everyone who asked last year).  But who to write…?  I remembered a secondary character from book 3 (as well as books 2.5 and 3.5 which I won’t even get into because I’ve yapped enough).

Everett called to me.  So I came up with a short story to introduce him.  I had to find the perfect guy for him.  I had an idea (the only parameters were short and Halloween).  I knew I needed a professional cover, so I went to my favorite designer’s site and found Rayne Check.  Perfect!  I loved the name, the cover…everything.  So she slapped my name on it and I had my other guy — Rayne.  Then came magic again — a short story that has just the right touch of mystery.  Intrigue.  Hopefully enough to make people want to pick up book 4.

Which is Everett and Rayne’s book.

Oops.  Time to get a cover and start writing.

I’ve done both and the book is in edits — called Rayne’s Return.

Meanwhile, I’ve published Rayne Check.  It’s a short — meant to entice readers into nabbing the next book.  Or, if they aren’t familiar with Mission City, going back to the beginning to see how the stories have come together.

The book I wrote for the publisher will be book 5.  Books 6 and 7 are plotted.

And that, my friends, is how you make a series (although I don’t recommend this method to anyone).   Well, how I make a series — haphazard, no idea what’s going on, with stuff slotted in everywhere with characters who pop in and out.  You’ll never know who might drop by in one of my Love in Mission City books.  I hope that anticipation is what keeps readers coming back.

Many of the short stories I’ve written over the past year are part of Mission City and I have plans for another boxset.  Not a single word gets wasted, no character goes unloved, no opportunity missed…

Okay, that was — admittedly — a lot.

Rayne Check is free with most retailers.  Still working with Amazon to get the price dropped.  The audio is in quality control with Audible.  That’s next up.  I have to say, Michael Dean did a great job!

Thanks, Delilah, for hosting me! I’d love to give a prize to a lucky commenter.  I’ll happily give a copy of Ginger Snapping All the Way.  If you have that book, I can offer up something from my back catalogue from any of my three pennames — that’s more than thirty-five titles to pick from. (All published since February 2020 and man, have I been busy…)  So let me know — is there a series you just loved.  Or is there a book you wish the author would turn into a series.  Drop a comment in and random will pick a winner!

Rayne Check

Everett

I meet an intriguing man at Quinton’s annual Halloween Extravaganza. That wicked smile and the tawny-brown eyes behind his mask hold my gaze. Under his costume, the restless energy of his body promises to do explosive, unexpected things to me. So we indulge in a little fun, but when the clock strikes midnight, the man I know only as Rayne disappears into the crowd.

My straitlaced Mission City friends tell me to chalk it up to experience, but I can’t get that man off my mind, or stop hoping we’ll meet again one day.

Rayne Check is a smoking-hot 7k word short story about a buttoned-up lawyer who lets go of his iron control for one night, the man he can’t forget, and the friends who have his back. The story is set in the Love in Mission City world.

Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DTJLMGQ5
KOBO: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rayne-check
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rayne-check-gabbi-grey/1146877924
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/rayne-check-a-love-in-mission-city-short-story/id6740942266
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=elBAEQAAQBAJ
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1693304
Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/RayneCheck

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

Personal links:
Website: https://gabbigrey.com/
Newsletter sign-up: https://sendfox.com/gabbigrey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorgabbigrey/
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/gabbi-grey
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15456297.Gabbi_Grey
Amazon Author Central: https://www.amazon.com/Gabbi-Grey/e/B07SJVFX1M
Audible Profile: https://www.audible.com/author/Gabbi-Grey/B07SJVFX1M
Facebook (page): https://www.facebook.com/AuthorGabbiGrey

UPDATE: The winner is…Christine!
*~*~*

This is definitely a holiday I can get behind! I looooove ice cream. Ice cream with waffles, crepes, or pancakes sounds divine!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me how you would eat your ice cream for breakfast!

Open Contests

Since I have a guest on my blog tomorrow, I’m posting the contest list early. Be sure to enter while you still can!

1. Flashback: Tailgating at the Cedar Inn (Contest–3 Winners!) — Last day to enter! Win a FREE story! THREE winners!
2. Word Search: Hot Sauce Day (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Anna Taylor Sweringen/Michal Scott: Ellen F. Eglin — Inventor of the Wringer Washer (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest: A Wishing Well — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
5. A Tale of Two Cats (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Flashback: Hook (Contest–3 Winners!) — Win a FREE book! THREE winners!
7. Memory Game: Happy Chinese New Year! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. Get your F*R*E*E download! — Everyone, get your FREE download!
9. Tell me a story… (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…Cindy!
*~*~*

It’s Friday! My, how this week has flown. I’ve gotten very little work done. I’ve spent way too much time watching the horrible news about the crash and all the cabinet hearings in Washington, D.C. I wish I could unplug, but I’m a newshound. Always have been. I was a history major in college simply because I loved knowing how things came to be. I lived in foreign countries and visited their historical sites and their museums. I met with and befriended ordinary people and often, over a beer, would talk about politics and learn more about their lives. Although my travel days are mostly over now, I continue to learn to this day. *sigh*

Well, let’s have some fun on this Friday. I love contests. I love hearing what you come up with when I give you a challenge. Here we go…

It’s such a pretty picture, isn’t it? Well, look at it and try to think of a story you might tell about what is happening in this picture. Your story doesn’t have to be long—or any good. Just have fun with it! Describe it in the comments for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card! 

UPDATE: The winner is…Theresa Privette!
*~*~*

For those who don’t know, the Lunar New Year celebration marks the first new moon of the lunar calendar. It’s a 15-day festival period that happens this year between January 29th and February 4th. This year, millions of Chinese communities are celebrating the start of the Year of the Snake. There are parades, quiet moments of prayer, and lots of food. In fact, I’m going to talk my daughter into picking up Chinese food tonight so we can have a little celebration and introduce the kids to another holiday that I think needs to be added to our rotation. Any excuse to celebrate, right? More like, any excuse to eat good food. I’ll also light some incense and think about the family members we’ve lost in recent years and to wish luck and happiness to all my family and friends.

Most of us know our traditional Horoscope/Zodiac signs, right? Do you know what your Chinese Zodiac symbol is? The Independant has a nice summary for you to figure out what your zodiac symbol is. Follow the link to find out what yours is. I was born in 1958, in the Year of the Dog.  Here are some of the qualities a “dog” possesses: “Loyal and friendly, they make the best companions a person can have. Sometimes they can be stubborn but always find their way back to balance.”

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then find out what Chinese Zodiac animal you are. Do the qualities your symbol represents fit you? And are you ready to add the Lunar New Year to your yearly calendar of celebrations?

The Memory Puzzle

UPDATE: The winners are…Roxie Jones, Steph, and Debra Guyette!

*~*~*

I’ve told you all before that I love my Montana Bounty Hunters. From the first stories in the original series set in Bear Lodge, MT, I tried hard to make each of the bounty hunters individual rather than cookie-cutter characters with different names. I loved devising unique takedowns because they’re fun to write, and they showcase who these men are. I especially loved writing Hook because I got a chance to take a deep dive into the research to make his disability real and still make him sexy as hell. I hope you enjoy his story!

Hook

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: Authentic Men… Real Adventures…

Former Army Ranger, Dylan “Hook” Hoecker, has a new job along with a new prosthetic arm. Being a bounty hunter is the closest career field he could find as a civilian that gives him the adrenaline rush that is his addiction. So, when his first solo assignment is to keep an eye on a flight risk the boss bonded out of jail, he’s not thrilled. However, he soon discovers a fresh addiction—one mouthy, nerdy redhead, who resists his attempts to keep her out of trouble.

Felicity Gronkowski is grateful for the bone the head of Montana Bounty Hunter threw her. She didn’t have the money to pay for bail, but he has a soft spot for former military, and she bartered to install a new computer system in his satellite office in Bear Lodge. Being on the outside of jail was her first imperative because she has to figure out who framed her for a series of high-end robberies while she worked installing home security systems. However, her bounty-hunting babysitter isn’t giving her any slack. Every time she thinks she’s given him the slip, he’s one step ahead of her. Either she has to find the perfect method of distraction to escape him or she has to enlist his help to clear her name.

Contest

Are you all caught up reading the original Montana Bounty Hunters series?

For a chance to win a download of one of the stories you may have missed
(I’ll pick three winners!), tell me this:
I am currently thinking about stories to add to my MBH Yellowstone series. Do you have any ideas for fun stories or perils my hunters might face in Yellowstone?

Here are all the Bear Lodge Montana Bounty Hunters! Yes, it’s an old meme, but do you really care? 

MONTANA BOUNTY HUNTERS: Bear Lodge, MT
Authentic Men… Real Adventures…
Reaper: https://amzn.to/2NztLpv
Dagger: https://amzn.to/2zo6Dav
Reaper’s Ride: https://amzn.to/2KKkisI
Cochise: https://amzn.to/2zq4avV
Hook: https://amzn.to/2UrpyYh
Wolf: https://amzn.to/2yUTjr5
Animal: https://amzn.to/2H4Roob
Big Sky Wedding: https://amzn.to/33GprwK
Quincy: https://amzn.to/2QlleM8
Brian: https://amzn.to/2ZV8m2G

Excerpt from Hook:

Dylan “Hook” Hoecker had no problem keeping pace with Dagger and Cochise as they raced along the dark alleyway, following the skip they’d tracked to a gun shop in Libby. Scooter James had made the crew the moment Dagger entered the premise. Perhaps it was Dagger’s burly physique that had tipped him off, or maybe he was just nervous having three intense-looking dudes enter the store, but he’d run for the back exit.

No, Hook’s legs had never been an issue. He ran like the wind, easily leaping over a barrel Scooter dumped on its side, hoping to trip them. Beside him, Dagger cursed, and Hook couldn’t help smiling as the big guy went down. This skip was his. When he reached the end of the alley, Scooter veered left and ran through a stand of motorcycles, tipping over one, which sent the rest slowly falling like dominoes. Bikers sitting at outdoor café tables nearby rose and filled the street, shouting and moving toward their Harleys, forcing Cochise and Hook to push past them.

Cochise went down when one biker stuck out a foot, perhaps angry that their chase had scratched his ride.

Hook waved his prosthetic arm, which, sometimes, had even those who weren’t so tight with the law pausing and giving him a break. He didn’t mind one bit using his disability to give him an advantage. He shouted out a “Thanks, man,” when one biker rolled his bike forward to clear his path.

Now, it was just him following the slap of Scooter’s Adidas on the pavement. Hook paced himself, forcing himself to keep his breathing even so he’d outlast his target. He didn’t use every bit of his strength to close the gap, because he knew he’d need anything extra to take the fucker down once he began to slow.

In his mind, Hook thanked his physical therapist, who’d concentrated on helping him make the adjustment to his new circumstance, learning to use his prosthetic, but who also continued to meet him on the track three or four mornings a week to make sure he worked out the rest of his body to help, not only keep him toned for the work he did, but to keep his dark moods at bay. Raydeen Pickering was a hero in his mind, because she went the extra mile for every man and woman she accepted into her treatment program.

Ahead of him, Scooter ducked into another alley.

“He’s turned again,” he said, knowing the others could hear him through the radio in his earpiece. “Left, into an alley.”

“I’m behind you,” Cochise said. “Don’t let him out of your sight.”

“I’m cutting through another alley. Will try to get to the street before he does,” Dagger said in his ear.

Hook went left and entered an alley lit by a single golden bulb at the back door of a restaurant. He ran past rank-smelling trash bins and plastic bags but didn’t see his mark ahead. “Don’t see him,” he said, and then slowed and turned.

Something dark swung at his head, and he held up his right arm to deflect the blow from a two-by-four from a pallet, no doubt. But the board hit plastic and metal and bounced off. Hook swung under it with his left, catching Scooter in the chin. Their target dropped like a sack of rocks across a row of trash bags lined up on the dirty, smelly pavement. Read the rest of this entry »

UPDATE: The winner is…Deb Brown.
*~*~*

It’s Saturday—so, it’s puzzle time! I promise the picture in the puzzle is much prettier than this one.

I know what wish I would flip my quarter into a wishing well for, but I’d love to know what your wish would be. So, for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then tell me what you’d wish for.