The Romance Reviews

The Romance Reviews
Showing posts with label Army of You and Me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Army of You and Me. Show all posts

Tuesday, 29 August 2017

Army


Look how pretty!?

I like shiny new things and this is the first shiny new thing I've had in a while! Okay, not that long, I did replace the usurper with another model, but that was necessary. For real.

So! To the wonder and delight that is Madeline and Cain's story, with a side of marc de champagne chocolates. To survival and discovery. To new beginnings and love across the distance. To a bit of a banger to Mariah Carey getting back to the sexy I've always loved.

This is the soundtrack to Army of Me and You:


  1. Together - The xx 
  2. Can't Hold Us -  Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton
  3. #Beautiful - Mariah Carey ft Miguel 
  4. Human - Daughter 
  5. You & I (Nobody in the World) John Legend
  6. Chevaliers De Sangreal - Hans Zimmer 
  7. Fire We Make - Alicia Keys ft Maxwell 
  8. Explosions - Ellie Golding 

Sunday, 3 May 2015

Old Days


This year is the 21st anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda and it made me, obviously, think about the Madelines in the world who were lucky to escape with their lives. I've met some of those women and the shadow in their eyes will never go away. The things they've seen, experienced, survived, will inevitably haunt them. But there are people who have stayed, returned and have made herculean efforts to revive the country; to rebuild lives; to make things better for those who suffered the devastation of their home being torn apart. I suppose it's part of what makes me feel proud of this story. That I gave my Rwandan a happy ending. Even though it's supposed to be about the soldier, it's really about Madeline and giving her centre stage.

I'm trying to get all my books soundtracks finished and public asap, and I almost didn't with this one because the soundtrack is pretty damn short. I honestly couldn't write a lot of this story to music. I wouldn't have finished it, because my river of tears would have killed my laptop dead. If you haven't read it, it's not that depressing, you may be a little in your feels, but you will be as happy by the end as Madeline and Cain. Army of You and Me on Amazon

Army of You and Me on Spotify

  1. The xx - Together
  2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us
  3. Mariah Carey ft Miguel - Beautiful
  4. Daughter - Human
  5. John Legend - You & I (Nobody In The World) 
  6. Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers De Sangreal 
  7. Alicia Keys ft Maxwell - The Fire We Make
  8. Ellie Goulding - Explosions

Sunday, 1 June 2014

Start Over Again


All aboard the change train! I'm sprucing up quite a few books and getting the all shiny and new for you. Apart from a little extra editing, there won't be many changes to the book itself but these won't be available for a few months until they're ready for a re-release - straight onto Amazon and ARe:

  1. Windows
  2. On Caristo's Watch
  3. A Life Sublime
  4. The Claim
  5. Best Laid Plans
  6. An Old Cake Tale
  7. @ Last
  8. Shibah's Monster
  9. Put Out The Zombie
  10. Addicted to Witch
  11. Kissing the Canvas

But in the meantime, you can distract yourself with other releases and get yourself in the mood for something unexpected. I'm delving back into young adult. I don't know. All those good times at university and having a retro night has made me feel slightly nostalgic for my youth and all the inherent problems therein. LOL! As if I'd go back to that!

Vintage Pleasures

A little light BDSM 


The Baby Gift

A little pregnancy


Army of Me and You

A little military sweetness


Sweet Child of Mine

A little single father heat


Nights of Roshan

A little tiger tale 


Season of Love Vol One

A lot of little free tales


Playing Dead

A little ghostly 

Friday, 3 January 2014

Goodbye and Hello!

So ends 2013. It's been a year of travel, of trials, challenges, illnesses and the all important value of family. Not just the one I have by blood but family formed of very dear and very understanding friends. I can't entirely say goodbye to the year without a brief look over the works I committed to screen and when Hank wasn't playing ball, I committed to paper. Variety is the spice of life, eh? I thought I'd been a bit lazy this year, but giving it a second, cursory glance, it seems I have spent rather a lot of time typing...


First came Vintage Pleasures - a little whipping a little burlesque and snappy talk. I brought out toys. Canes, harnesses, clothes pegs and several strands of pearls. Baby making work apparently!



Then quite conveniently considering the first release, The Baby Gift came along - my personal surprise of the year. All it takes is a piƱa colada and I'm all about gay best friends, IVF, sexy sperm donors and the trouble with abstinence! I haven't had so much fun with a story in a long time!




Shibah's Monster arrived next, echoing my eternal desire to just talk to people I've lost. Marek Kaszinski is the bad boy given every resource to turn good and very nearly loses his battle to stay on the side of what's right. He needs Shibah to do that. And to rise from his untimely grave to give her what she's always needed - Him. Dark and light, sad and funny, from Poland to France, London to Rio the story travels physically and emotionally. That and I got several martinis out of friends getting medical and legal information from people!





Army of Me and You, delivered to you in June, established a previously unknown skill of typing through tears as I told the story of Madeline and Cain - the refugee and the soldier who guide each other to a well deserved happy ending. Mostly on a green in Dulwich... I've never wanted to give a heroine a HEA more than Madeline. She embodies friends whom I've done my best to help and represents the best of this country in welcoming those escaping war to find peace. 




Then at last I was able to release A Life Sublime, the fifth in the Italian knights series (well technically IK3 just a bit delayed see this blog entry http://sobillysaysshesays.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/blurred-lines.html?m=0 for an explanation!) Family interferes with everything. Absolutely everything but sometimes, family can lead you to everything you've ever wanted. Weddings, funerals, blessings, churches, nunneries, restaurants, clinics, opera and one yacht ride to remember in the Neapolitan Riviera features in this mature reveal.




With the falling leaves of October came the sequel to Said the Demon to Little Miss Eva. Manoeuvring around with a baby attached to my hip (not my own!) I became quite adept at typing one handed whenever ideas came to me. Sleep deprivation and being an empath would never be a good combination but for someone who is a paranormal magnet, Evangeline Mensah struggles. Motherhood isn't easy by a long shot. It would have been wrong for me to write it otherwise. http://www.amazon.com/Angels-Baby-ebook/dp/B00G4U69AU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1382607414&sr=1-1&keywords=Angel%27s+baby




In November I completed Sweet Child of Mine. Single dad, his confused daughter and a wary cafe owner form their own family and find their own happiness together. This just reminded me on how much of a treasure I must have been aged thirteen. Parentals! You have my apologies. It was mostly fascinating to write about a relationship that's confused me, but as Abigail admits, if you love the man, you should love the child. http://www.sharaazod.com/ebook/sweet-child-mine.html



Finally, Nights of Roshan ended a trial of a year with a luscious Egyptian dentist recalling an ancient ritual for the fertility of a very male, very alpha white tiger. Those ancient Egyptians. They didn't skimp on the rituals... And what's nice is to share the holidays with people who care about you. Enough to move your Christmas tree to your exact specifications. http://www.sharaazod.com/ebook/nights-roshan.html

There we are. I hope you all enjoyed my literary year as much as I did. It's been a bit of mental torture combined with the excited joy of connecting with you the reader. I know I'm not particularly all here on the same planet as you but trust me - it works out better this way. 

Happy New Year and all the best for 2014! It's about to get crazy... 

Coming up in 2014

Addicted to Witch
Kissing the Canvas
Murano

And a few more surprises...






Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Thursday, 25 July 2013

I Hear You



Rather conversely, I didn't listen to much music while I wrote this. Probably because every time I did, I'd burst into tears. So while it's brief, these songs were the echo resounding in my ears as I told the story of Madeline and Cain.

  1. The xx - Together
  2. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us
  3. Mariah Carey ft Miguel - Beautiful
  4. Daughter - Human
  5. John Legend - Who Did That To You? 
  6. Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers De Sangreal 
  7. Alicia Keys ft Maxwell - The Fire We Make
  8. Ellie Goulding - Explosions

Sunday, 21 July 2013

Can't Hold Us


An Army of Me and You is now available on Shara Azod's site! This story means a lot to me. I said in another post how I've military family and corrupted a few military men. (No, that's a lie, they corrupted me.) More than that, I hope I've conveyed just how difficult it is to leave behind everything to start a new life in another country to save your life. How it never goes away, but like most things, gets easier. No preaching. Just two people coming together after extraordinary circumstances. 

Here's the blurb:

The irony of Madeline Mpoyi's choice in a career was never lost on her. Being that her days as a girl in a war torn village, suffering the horrors of an innocent Rwandan child started off as anything but sweet most would find it incredibly funny that as a woman she'd be manufacturing treats to send to the soldier that saved her life. Or at least she thought it was the soldier that saved her life. Errr...technically it is...being that he has the same name and comes from the same bloodline. Although Major Nathaniel Goldsmith Sr. has long retired, his son is carrying on the family tradition as a Captain in the army. A Captain that has come to depend on both Madeline's sweet letters and even sweeter care packages. And it would seem that said Captain has Madeline in his sights...eager to sample whatever else she's willing to offer...

And this is the excerpt:

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m driving. Borrowing my father’s run around for a bit. He barely uses the other three.”
Madeline tucked a twist under her scarf. “You’re quite privileged, aren’t you?”
“In many ways, yes. Not many people come home to a few cars in the garage that they can borrow.”
“A few?”
“Five.”
“Who needs five cars?” she blurted.
He ticked them off his hand. “The Land Rover, the truck that pulls the horsebox, a Mercedes, a Jaguar, and my mother’s Bentley.”
“No one needs five cars.”
Cain gave a shrug. “They’re all old enough and ragged enough to be worthless in today’s value. I won’t say it’s not nice being privileged. I wouldn’t get free sweets otherwise.”
“Or free truffles,” she added.
“Or kisses.”
Madeline’s eyebrows drew together. “I don’t have anything called kisses...” Her voice trailed off as she took in their circumstances. That sweet chin of hers was balanced on the edge of his left hand, and his right cradled the small of her back. Until he’d touched her, he hadn’t fully appreciated just how badly he wanted to kiss her. He watched as the rise and fall of her chest increased in speed, mimicking his uneven breaths. Her mouth parted, and the flash of her pink tongue flicked off his brain switch. All instinct based, he lowered his head and pressed his mouth to hers. He’d only meant to kiss her goodbye. Or rather, see you later.
As soon as he tasted her, all his thoughts were on Madeline naked, underneath him, thighs parted and cradling him against her soaked sex. His hand moved from her chin to lightly stroke her face, the skin so soft beneath his fingers. He trailed his hand over her side, tracing the shape of her waist and the flare of her hips. Madeline moaned under his mouth, the sound sending a thrill over his body.
“Um,” she gasped. “Can we... Not in the street?”
He barely lifted his lips from hers to send her a frown. “Where?” With her lower body pressed to his, his mind transported him to the back room of her shop. He could sweep the chocolate aside, perch her on the edge of the table, and lift the skirts of her vintage dress. Within moments, he could be buried inside her, rocking them both to satisfaction.

army-you-me.html