#k.l. Gallagher

[byliviajanes]

what i read this week, pt. I

last year, I fell out of the habit of reading before bed and into the habit of doom-scrolling before bed instead. not to say I stopped reading, period—it just turned into sitting down and reading an entire book in one sitting once of month, instead of being a consistent habit.

so! 2025 resolution! start reading consistently again. to help with this, I thought I'd start keeping a log of what I read each week, with some of my thoughts included. thus, what I read this week is:

Gwen & Art Are Not In Love, by Lex Croucher

impeccable vibes.

love the way that Croucher pays homage to Arthurian legend without the book being an official retelling of any of the legends!

basically the premise is that the two main characters are betrothed, but neither of them are heterosexual OR interested in each other. after a series of mishaps they decide to pretend to fall in love with each other to disguise the fact that they want other people who may not be socially acceptable (although homophobia is NOT over-emphasized in the book, it does exist)

to elaborate: Gwen and Art are not romantically in love (as indicated by the title lol). however. HOWEVER.

I do think that their relationship is very close to the enemies-to-lovers trope. they start out absolutely despising each other, and throughout the book get closer as they learn more about each other, ending in a very sweet (and dare I say loving?) friendship

tl;dr, I think the best way to say it is, Gwen & Art is an excellent inversion of the enemies-to-lovers trope!

10/10, would recommend, GO READ IT NOW

Hat Trick, by Ali Spooner & K.L. Gallagher

DISCLAIMER: I’ve not finished reading this one yet!

I’m about five chapters in, so I’m still getting a feel for the characters

it’s a hockey romance! except with wlw! which is exciting because I feel like all the hockey romances I’ve read have either been heterosexual or mlm.

one of the characters, Janelle, is the first female hockey coach (HEAD coach, specifically) in the NHL—for the Islanders, but we’ll forgive her for that

Alex is a badass New York lawyer who knows nothing about hockey, but I imagine Janelle’s going to be teaching her a few things about that :)

again: emphasizing: only five chapters in!

that being said, our two main characters’ backstories are incredibly fleshed out, and I have an excellent idea of where they’re coming from as they enter into this new romance/relationship

tune in next week to see if I manage to finish reading it, or if I get absolutely killed by the first week of classes!

[readingpastmybedtimeblog]

#NewRelease #1Click Crazy Sexy Love by K.L. Grayson US: http://amzn.to/2FYf0bw UK: http://amzn.to/2IcSahU CA: http://amzn.to/2tsPTvM AU: http://amzn.to/2FkRMQp B&N: http://bit.ly/2oZChCD Kobo: http://bit.ly/2GaTrFL iBooks: https://apple.co/2FHWMhz Three-time world champion bull rider Rhett Allen has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. Hard work, sweat, and determination have gotten him where he is today—and that’s holed up in a hospital room, wondering how he let that damn bull buck him off. He’s also wondering why he thought it was a good idea to let his twin brother talk him into returning home to heal. Rhett has a million reasons to come home to Heaven, Texas, and only one reason to stay away. That reason comes in the form of a sweet and feisty girl who stole his heart long before he ever thought to give it away. The only problem…that girl has turned into a stunning woman. Monroe Gallagher is downright sexy with more curves than he has notches in his bed post. It’s been six years since he’s seen her, six years since he’s felt any form of peace, and six years since she gripped his heart in her delicate little hands and squeezed the life out of it. The longer he’s in Heaven, the more he starts to realize that the heart she took from him—the one she crushed into a million pieces—she also never gave back. GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38214788-crazy-sexy-love

[shhmomsreading]

New Release Review: Crazy Sexy Love by K.L. Grayson

New Release Review: Crazy Sexy Love by K.L. Grayson

I don’t read a ton of cowboy type books but I will read anything K.L. Grayson writes. I devoured Crazy Sexy Love. This sexy bull rider hero made me swoon and oh my heart!

Rhett Allen is a champion bull rider and seems to have it all until he gets hurt and has to return home to Heaven to recuperate and finally face his past.

Monroe “Mo” Gallagher was the love of his life. Never leaving her…

[ruthlessbookfish]

Cover Reveal for Crazy Sexy Love by K.L. Grayson

Title: Crazy Sexy Love A Dirty Dicks Novel

Author: K.L. Grayson

Genre: Contemporary Romance Cover Design: Kari March Designs

Release Date: March 21, 2018

Blurb

Three-time world champion bull rider Rhett Allen has never been afraid to get his hands dirty. Hard work, sweat, and determination have gotten him where he is today—and that’s holed up in a hospital room, wondering how he let that damn bull buck him off. He’s also wondering why he thought it was a good idea to let his twin brother talk him into returning home to heal.

Rhett has a million reasons to come home to Heaven, Texas, and only one reason to stay away. That reason comes in the form of a sweet and feisty girl who stole his heart long before he ever thought to give it away. The only problem…that girl has turned into a stunning woman.

Monroe Gallagher is downright sexy with more curves than he has notches in his bed post. It’s been six years since he’s seen her, six years since he’s felt any form of peace, and six years since she gripped his heart in her delicate little hands and squeezed the life out of it. The longer he’s in Heaven, the more he starts to realize that the heart she took from him—the one she crushed into a million pieces—she also never gave back.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Pre-order Links

$2.99 for a limited time

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / iBOOKS

READ CHAPTER ONE NOW

Early Reviews

"KL Grayson's writing is intoxicating. She effortlessly sweeps you away into a world of love, humor and tenderness. I love her!" - New York Times Bestselling Author, Kristen Proby

"KL Grayson delivers with an emotional second chance romance with laugh out loud poignant moments to capture every type of reader." - New York Times Bestselling Author, Heidi McLaughlin

"Crazy Sexy Love is KL Grayson's best work to date. Plan to fall helplessly in love with this swoony cowboy and his first love. 10 + stars!" - Rebecca Shea, USA Today Bestselling Author

Excerpt

There are a few moments in my life that have left me breathless—falling off a bull for the first time in competition, getting kicked by a bull, the day Mo broke my heart, and subsequently, the moment she stole every piece of it back.

This moment.

She’s an angel, brought to Earth for the soul purpose of torturing me, and like the devil I am, I enjoy every minute of it.

Pulling her hair over one shoulder, Mo peeks at me. Her cheeks are stained the most delicious color of red as she slowly, deliberately lifts her shirt over her head. The flimsy material falls to the ground as she reaches behind her back to unhook her bra. The straps slip down her arms before joining her shirt on the grassy bank of the pond, and when she shimmies out of her panties and jeans, I nearly lose it.

Her body is breathtaking, a work of art meant to be examined and explored, and I’m the lucky son of a bitch who gets the privilege of doing just that.

I’ve seen Mo naked more times than I can count, but not once has it been like this. Not once has she seduced me with the soft sway of her hips or this hungry look in her eyes.

She’s no longer the girl I knew all those years ago. She’s turned into a beautiful, confident woman who I want to lay before me again. She’s all-consuming: the rise and fall of her chest as she turns to face me, the goosebumps that scatter over her arms when my gaze traces her body, and the vulnerability in her eyes as she comes over to join me on the blanket.

I hold out my hand. Her fingers lace with mine as she straddles my legs and lowers herself to her knees.

Her hand, gentle and steady, cups the side of my face. “There might be six years of pain between us, but nothing has changed. I feel the same way today as I did back then.” She hooks her fingers under the hem of my shirt, dragging it over my head, being extra careful with my shoulder. “And I can’t wait another second to be with you, Rhett.” She smiles. “In fact, I need it more than I need my next breath.”

“Mo.” I push my fingers into her hair, pulling her face to mine, and I kiss her with everything I have. Her tongue pushes between my lips, and we kiss until we’re both panting and breathless.

With her forehead pressed to mine, she searches my eyes. I let her see everything—all the pain and love and happiness she’s brought me. With her hands on my chest, she gently pushes me back onto the blanket. Her hair falls forward, brushing against my chest, creating a curtain. She kisses me once, twice, and then a third time before scooting back. My boots and socks are the first to go, followed by my jeans.

Author Bio

K.L. Grayson resides in a small town outside of St. Louis, MO.  She is entertained daily by her extraordinary husband, who will forever inspire every good quality she writes in a man.  Her entire life rests in the palms of six dirty little hands, and when the day is over and those pint-sized cherubs have been washed and tucked into bed, you can find her typing away furiously on her computer.  She has a love for alpha-males, brownies, reading, tattoos, sunglasses, and happy endings…and not particularly in that order.

Author Links

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[byliviajanes]

the utter shock and befuddlement of actually getting a publisher

I first made this blog back in 2021, when I'd just finished the first draft of All That Pride and was thinking ahead to that nebulous time when it would be published. I had no idea how getting published worked, but it was very important to me that I had a Tumblr, because any author hoping to be published is in need of an audience, and I thought I could find mine on Tumblr.

Of course, I was also eighteen, with a short attention span and no idea of what I wanted to do with my life. This blog fell by the wayside, much like All That Pride, as I retreated into the anonymity of my fanfiction Tumblr account and was caught in the whirlwind of real life college applications and papers and deadlines. Despite the fact that All That Pride was complete, and professionally edited, I let myself be defeated by a few rounds of query letter rejections. My excuse? It was a lot of work to research agents, compile lists, and send out query letters. I was starting my first year at university, and I didn't feel I could concentrate on more than that at the time. Beyond my going in and doing a few edits every now and again, All That Pride languished alone on my laptop.

Two years (!!) later, I decided enough was enough. I allowed myself one more round of edits, got a friend to read it for me (thank you Hailey), and put querying on my summer schedule. But before I could get started on a fresh round of querying, I met K.L. Gallagher. K.L. is an author with Affinity Rainbow Publications, a publishing company which specializes in publishing lesbian literature. She told me that All That Pride would be a good fit with Affinity, and encouraged me to submit to them. So I did.

And they signed me! Even two months later, it doesn't feel quite real. My book—my COVID baby—is actually getting published.

So here I am, back with this blog after years. My sister is handling my Instagram—she's making me film reels—but Tumblr is all mine. My goal is to blog my experience as the publishing process continues somewhere where I don't have to video myself talking (I mean, I can do it, but it's not my favorite). I'm so excited to start this journey, and see where it takes me.

And the book? All That Pride?

All That Pride is a YA LGBTQ+ novel, featuring wlw romance, background mlm romance, the beach, and an absolute absence of the COVID-19 pandemic. More on the pinned post on my blog!