Jocelynn Drake's Blog: Announcements

It’s time for a little holiday craziness. While things might be hectic for you, don’t forget to treat yourself to a break and some magical giggles brought to you by a sweet necromancer and his grumpy boyfriend.

The Necromancer’s Christmas Tree of Terror is now available far and wide. (ie Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords, and my shop! We’re still waiting on Barnes & Noble to get its act together.) Fall in love with Sky and Nolan all over again.

Here is a quick description of the book:

The tree knocked on the front door, begging to be let in…

It was Sky and Nolan’s first Christmas together.

Nolan was hoping to make lots of cozy memories with his new family.

But nothing goes quite how you might expect when you date a necromancer.

A “Christmas” tree shows up on their doorstep—a gift from the king of the underworld—and it turns their holidays upside down.

Can Nolan and Sky make it through the holiday season with their unexpected guest?

Fall in love with sunshine-y necromancer Sky and his grumpy boyfriend Nolan in this holiday novella as they tackle the holidays with a sprinkle of magic and lots of chaos.

You can find at various vendors here: https://mybook.to/NecromancersTree

Or grab it directly from my shop: https://jocelynndrake.com/product/the-necromancers-christmas-tree-of-terror/

I mentioned it in an earlier newsletter but you might have missed it; this novella won’t be appearing in Kindle Unlimited.

Because of the shortness of the book, I would be paid only about 25 cents per read through KU, and I feel that the entertainment you get out of this story and the work I and others put into it is worth more than 25 cents.

This is a novella, but it also includes a bonus short story. The paperback comes in to 120 pages. So, it’s about an hour or two-hour read, depending on how quickly you read.

However, if you haven’t read Sky and Nolan’s story yet, you can read that collection in KU to get caught up on their silliness. The reading order is:

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life:

· Disaster #1 – Fun with Family

· Disaster #2 – Pet Problems

· Disaster #3 – Date Night

· Disaster #4 – Who Woke the Dead?

or you can grab the Collected Works to read them all in one place.

More News!
Other than a brand new book being released, I do have a couple of new sales going on that you might want to check out.

First, this is the time of year when people want to give books as gifts or maybe want to collect goodies for themselves. I’m not gonna judge. If you would like some signed books or other fun swag, check out my shop.

And don’t forget to use coupon code: Holiday20 to get 20% off your order. (Enter the code while checking out.)

I’ll be processing orders daily so the sooner you get your order in, the higher the chance I’ll be able to get it to you before Christmas. This coupon code expires December 13.

I am not currently shipping internationally. However, you can sign up to receive free signed bookplates to place in books that you’ve ordered from Amazon in your home country. You can sign up here. I make no promises about when they will arrive. But I promise to drop these into the mail daily through the month of December.

Patreon!

I know a lot of people have been very reluctant to try it. However, to give you a little extra enticement to just check it out, I am running a great sale. Sign up for any of my tiers and get 50% off your first month. That means, my Izzie’s Cinnamon Rolls changes from $5 to just $2.50 for a month. Sky’s Sammich Shop tier drops from $10 to $5. You can cancel at any time!

Jump in and get access to:

Rumple Me – I have the first 18 chapters of the Rumpelstiltskin retelling uploaded right now and 2 more chapters are coming next week.
Broken Prince of Ice – book 1 of the Forgotten Gods series – This one has the first nine chapters up and will getting more in January.
Wanted: Rogues & Bards – all the rough draft chapters of my new book with AJ Sherwood are uploaded.
Just buckets of bonus short stories, lost chapters, and other strange things.
And a new cover reveal should becoming in January.
Even if you don’t want to join, you can follow me for free and get weekly updates on things I’m doing and what’s coming soon. The Patreon Sale end December 10.

Luke and the demons are now available on Amazon! Grab up your copy and start reading about the crazy adventures Luke is having with a houseful of demons and some very helpful crows.

You can also pick up the paperback on Amazon or my shop. The paperback in both locations has interior chapter images and the cute skull forced edge images if you’re looking for something fun to add to your bookshelf.

If you’ve not grabbed up Demon Dating Service yet, here is a quick description:

Even demons get bored…

Luke is a poor grad student, desperate for a cheap place to live.

Desperate enough even to live in a house full of demons.

(Anything is better than his last roommate.)

When the demons find it’s nearly impossible to scare Luke away, they decide on a new plan to amuse themselves.

They’re going to help Luke with his love life.

Can they really aid Luke’s efforts to catch his college crush? Or are they headed for a disaster that neither heaven nor hell can fix?

Demon Dating Service is a fluffy, chaotic stand-alone novel about a sweet guy making friends with the misfits of the demon world, trying to survive grad school, and snagging the hottest guy on campus.

In addition, we have also seen the release of the audiobook for The Bargain. This audiobook is extra special because it includes the prequel novella The Interview, The Bargain, and a bonus short story, After Hours. That’s more than nine hours of fun narrated by the amazing Kale Williams for just one credit on audible. Check it out!

Happy reading!

Jocelynn

It’s here! It’s finally here!

Pierce and Simon’s crazy romance is now available. Learn all the dark secrets Pierce has been keeping. Not to mention a few of Simon’s!

I’ve been teasing their trouble ever since The Bargain , and now you get all the details in The Temptation.

Plus! If you love to curl up and binge read an entire series, now it the time to dive into the Executive Suite Secrets series.

It is full of:

Fluffy silliness
Cuddles
Comfort
Helpful friends/found family
Blind Date
Boss/Assistant
Friends to Lovers
Single Dad
Revenge
Best friend’s younger brother
Forbidden Romance
SECRETS!

This is my fluffy, warm blanket series. If you’ve been having a hard day, week, month, or year, this is candy for your brain and a warm bowl of soup for your soul. I had so much fun writing these stories. They were a wonderful break from the dark world and gave me lots of laughs.

The reading order for the series is:

The Interview

The Bargain

The Complication

The Arrangement

The Temptation

And don’t forget, you can find all the free bonus short stories here.

Looking ahead, the audiobook for The Bargain is slated to be released on October 28. We are hoping to have the audiobook for The Complication out in late December.

I haven’t added the paperback of The Temptation to my shop yet. I’m waiting for Amazon to finally send me my copies, which should be late next week. Once I have them, I’ll add the book to my shop and create a bundle so you can get all the paperback for the series signed at a discount!

Happy reading!

Jocelynn

Are you excited for the release of The Temptation?

I didn't want you to wait until December to get your hands on this lovely book. My editors have been working hard. Pierce and Simon are currently with my proofer. After the proofer, the book will receive one final look to make sure it is hunky dory.

Because we are so close to being done, I am ready to finally move up the release date.
Instead of releasing December 12 (on my shop) and December 19 (on Amazon), The Temptation is now coming out October 3 (on my shop) and October 10 (on Amazon)!

Isn't that fantastic!?!

That also means that you need to jump on the pre-order now to make sure your copy is locked in. Don't miss a second of the exciting conclusion to the Executive Suite Secrets series.

Here is a quick description of the book:

There was no escape.

Pierce had been running from me for years.

No more.

This time, Pierce needs me to play the role of doting boyfriend to keep his parents from dragging him back to Boston.

With the help of some sneaky accomplices, I’m turning this fake boyfriend into something real.

I will finally understand all his secrets and the haunted look that darts through his eyes every time my brother is mentioned.

Preferably before Pierce learns the truth behind too many of my own secrets.

The Temptation is the fourth and final full-length novel in the Executive Suite Secrets series, which includes a grumpy, too-serious billionaire, a sassy world-class violinist, evil schemes, fake boyfriend, best friend’s brother, snark, teasing, stolen kisses, “helpful” friends, hurt/comfort, caretaking, and finally getting to the bottom of an old mystery so we can have that sweet, forever kind of love.

Grab at my shop for October 3 delivery.

Grab on Amazon for October 10 delivery.

So much is happening as we head into the wonderful fall months. We've started decorating for Halloween around the Drake household and I'll try to share some picture in the next newsletter. We picked up a six-pack of 5-foot-tall posable skeletons and I've been having fun setting them up in weird places around the house to scare my husband. They'll be moved outside soon, but for now, I'm having fun with them around the house.

This week, we had the release of the audiobook for SOAR, the final book of the Wings N Wands series. If you haven't picked it up yet, go grab it now. Joel Leslie is amazing with our dragons. And if you haven't started my collaboration with AJ Sherwood yet, the audiobooks for all of Scales N Spells and Wings N Wands are available now.

In my shop, the Variks all have stickers now if you want to collect them all. They are available as a bundle. In addition, I have the art for Xiao Dan and Huli from the Kings of Chaos series. I have the mini print ordered and I will be adding them to the shop as soon as the shipment arrives. Be sure to check out all the goodies I have available in my shop.

The Temptation will be out in October. It's the final book of the Executive Suite Secrets series and I'm a little sad to be finishing the series. I had a lot of fun with Sebastian and all the boys. They're crazy and so very sweet.

After the release of The Temptation , I have another book that I am hoping to have out in October as well -- Demon Dating Service. This is the free novel that I posted over on Patreon and Ream for the past year. It had been edited and slightly expanded. (I think I added about 10,000 to 15,000 new words to the original.) I'm also planning some very special things for the paperback. My goal is to have the official cover reveal and pre-order up in the next newsletter. The book is already working its way through copyedits.

Speaking of free stories, I'm going to be starting a new one soon. Readers are voting on the details every week. Right now, we've decided that it's going to be a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and we are currently voting on the time period for the story. I believe we will have at least one more vote this Sunday. Pop in to Patreon or Ream to participate.

In December, I will also be releasing a fun holiday-season novella for Sky and Nolan from the Princes of Mayhem series. More details on that will likely come in late October or early November.

I'm also working on some new short stories for the Shadow Elite series that I will be posting on Patreon and Ream.

But the next new series is going to be the Godstone Saga spin-off, the Forgotten Gods series. I am starting to work on that now and will have more release and story details in October.

I think that gets us caught up for at least a little while. Lots of awesome things coming in the next few months.

Happy reading!
Jocelynn

It has been a crazy couple of weeks, but I am happy to announce that The Arrangement , book 3 of Executive Suite Secrets, is now out on Amazon! It’s time to get your binge on. Especially with these two lunatics out for a little revenge.

With just a kiss, he ruined my life.
I never wanted to see Rome Ashbridge again.

So, of course, I now need his help to save my job at the museum.

Rome has cooked up a scheme to torment me before he’s willing to make the job-saving donation to my department.

But this arrangement is poised to backfire and pull us together in the most unexpected way.

Can we move past the years of hate to find something even sweeter than the friendship we’d both cherished as children?

The Arrangement is the third full-length novel in the Executive Suite Secrets series, which includes a somewhat flighty billionaire librarian, an angry paleontologist, evil schemes, bisexual awakening, snark, teasing, stolen kisses, “helpful” friends, resolving a twenty-year-old argument, and a sweet, forever kind of love.

If you’re in the mood to get your binge on this weekend, I’ve got a few stories for you to enjoy now from this series. Here is the complete reading order plus the free bonus short stories.

The Interview

The Bargain

After Hours

The Complication

Not Ready

The Arrangement

Kidnapped by a Billionaire

The Temptation (coming soon!)

And yes, after a lot of pain and frustration, The Complication is now back live in ebook form and in Kindle Unlimited for your reading pleasure!

The Temptation
Yes! The Temptation , the final book of the Executive Suite Secrets series is done and off to the editors. I am so excited for you to get the full story of Simon and Pierce.

I will say the characters turned out a little different from how I originally thought they would, but they are a perfect match for each other.

Next week I’m planning to do the official cover reveal for The Temptation on social media, and I will have the blurb done then. However, I have a list of tropes to tempt you right now:

Billionaire, age gap, best friend’s brother, forbidden romance, burden of talent, and hurt/comfort.

Don’t forget to pre-order your copy now. I’m hoping to move the release date to this fall. If you pre-order now, you won’t have to worry about missing the release.

As an added bit of fun, I have also started an Executive Suite Secrets inspirational pics board over on Pinterest. I still need to add a few more character shots, but I am using the cover pics as the inspiration for my billionaires.

Happy reading!
Jocelynn

Whooohooo!

Best day in the world is always new book day! The Complication, book 2 of Executive Suite Secrets, is now out on Amazon. You can grab your own ebook or start reading it in Kindle Unlimited.

If you’ve not checked out the book yet, here is a quick description:

It was just a fling.

A bit of fun on the weekends. Definitely not permanent.

Not that I wouldn’t love to crack the ice around rich and sexy Declan Foster’s heart.
And he was the last person I expected to ride to my rescue when I found myself suddenly homeless and a father.

Now he’s spoiling my daughter and me at every turn, offering the perfect life on a silver platter.

Should I risk my heart on a man who once said he never wanted kids?

The Complication is the second full-length novel in the Executive Suite Secrets series, which includes a billionaire, a suddenly homeless single dad, snark, teasing, stolen kisses, “helpful” friends, a little princess who’s going to steal your heart, and a sweet, forever kind of love.

This is what some of the early reviewers are saying:

“They made a fantastic couple – hot, steamy, romantic, misguided. Going about everything backwards.”

“Sweet fun and flirty all wrapped up in this story. Returning characters are always a plus so this adds that strength to an already strong book.”

“The story line was refreshing. I really liked the characters, and I caught myself grinning while reading the story multiple times.”

“Fabulous!! Love this series and absolutely love Declan’s story!”

“Declan and Parker story was amazing. It had teasing and laughter, but also emotion and a little heartbreak. I liked their evolution, how they got over their obstacles and insecurities, but most of all the moment they realized the depth of their feelings and how they fought for their happiness.”

“I love this world and cannot wait to read the next one.”

“I loved their story! How protective Declan was over Parker, and how it was reciprocated, too. There are moments of realism (Joy’s diaper!) and moments of sheer romanticism that made my heart flutter….A fantastic story with amazing supporting characters and a world I can’t wait to return to. Absolutely brilliant and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by me.”

This is a great chance to relax with some sweet, funny, low-angst romance. Escape from the world with some good, warm-hearted, generous billionaires.

The reading order for Executive Suite Secrets is:

The Interview – a fun blind date

The Bargain – a fluffy boss / assistant

The Complication – grumpy / sunshine, single dad romp

I also wrote a quick little bonus short story for Declan and Parker. This story flashes several years into the future and is full of cuteness.

There’s a link at the end of The Complication, but if you missed it or what to grab it before you finish the book, just click here.

And don’t forget that you can always check the Free Stories page on my website to make sure that you never miss a bonus short.

More to Come!
You’ve met Rome in the first two novels. Now you’re going to get your chance to watch him fall in love with the last person he ever wants to see.

I am nearly finished writing The Arrangement and it is set to shoot off to the editors in June. I am having so much fun with this book. Rome and Liam are great at driving each other crazy, while being completely oblivious to the fact that their falling in love with each other.

Here’s a quick description of the book:

With just a kiss, he ruined my life.

I never wanted to see Rome Ashbridge again.

So, of course, I now need his help to save my job at the museum.

Rome has cooked up a scheme to torment me before he’s willing to make the job-saving donation to my department.

But this arrangement is poised to backfire and pull us together in the most unexpected way.

Can we move past the years of hate to find something even sweeter than the friendship we’d both cherished as children?

The Arrangement is the third full-length novel in the Executive Suite Secrets series, which includes a somewhat flighty billionaire librarian, an angry paleontologist, evil schemes, bisexual awakening, snark, teasing, stolen kisses, “helpful” friends, resolving a twenty-year-old argument, and a sweet, forever kind of love.

The Arrangement will be out August 8 through my shop and release on Amazon on August 15.

Happy reading!

Jocelynn

I’m so excited!

Sebastian and Byron’s book is now available on ebook!

You get to see this big golden retriever try to win out the stubborn man who has been his assistant for the past three years.

He wants to spoil Byron soooo much that it’s freaking adorable.

In case you missed it, here is a quick description of the book:

He’s a golden retriever with a billion-dollar bank account.

Sebastian is a brilliant, thoughtful boss who’s also too sexy for words.

And for some crazy reason he has set his sights on me—his lowly, boring, always-proper assistant.

I should say NO.

I need to say NO.

But YES is so much more delicious and fun.

The Bargain is the first full-length novel in the Executive Suite Secrets series, which includes a billionaire boss, a very proper assistant, a high-stakes bargain, stolen kisses, forbidden romance, meddling friends, and a sweet, forever kind of love.

At the end of the book, there is also a link to the free bonus story for Sebastian and Byron, called After Hours. Sebastian helps Byron live out a naughty fantasy.

And don’t forget to read the first little snippet of Sebastian in The Interview . He was the sneaky devil who set up his assistant Kaylan on his blind date with Arden.

The current reading order for the Executive Suite Secrets is

The Interview

The Bargain

And coming next month, The Complication!

There are 3 ways to get your hands on The Complication.

You can start reading it today on my Patreon and Ream. I’m posting the first chapter today! Any subscribers at the Sky tier or higher will receive the final ebook on May 16.

Or you can pre-order it in my shop and receive your ebook copy on May 23.

Or you can pre-order it on Amazon and receive your ebook copy on May 30.

Happy reading!
Jocelynn

Way back in 2005, I start writing a novel. Certainly not my first novel ever, but it turned out the first one I would ever get published. It was called Nightwalker.

Nightwalker was the first book in the Dark Days series, and it followed the adventures of a fire-wielding vampire by the name of Mira and her love/hate relationship with vampire hunter Danaus. Nightwalker was published by HarperCollins in 2018. It actually sat on the New York Times extended bestseller list and USA Today bestseller list for four weeks. The series had six novels and two novellas.

Afterward, I went on to published another series, Asylum Tales, which was about a warlock-in-hiding turned tattoo artist named Gage and his elf tattoo artist girlfriend. They also had a friend/coworker troll named Bronx.

Well, at the start of the month, I got the rights back for all of those books!

That means I can go back, make some editing tweaks, slap some more current covers on them, and re-release them!

It also means that I could potentially add to them and write some spin-offs. There’s also the potential for audiobooks and translations.

Right now, my hope is to have Nightwalker revised and edited in time to celebrate its 20th anniversary in the fall. After that, I’d like to regularly release the rest of the series. All of Dark Days would start out in Kindle Unlimited since it has never been in there before. I’m not sure about spin-offs, but in my opinion, Dark Days series is complete.

However, I would like to revamp Asylum Tales. The series was supposed to have more books and end very differently. After Dark Days is re-released, I would start work on Asylum Tales.

Now, Dark Days and Asylum Tales were written originally as MF (though both Mira and Gage are bi) and they are staying MF.

Will I write more MF after I revise these books? I honestly don’t know. Right now, my passion is for MM. I’m happy in my little niche here. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t be happy writing both.

Lots of exciting things on the horizon.

Happy reading & stay tuned for more news!

Jocelynn

You’re here because of one thing: you love books.

I’m here because I love writing books.

We’re a match made in heaven. But to make sure we maintain a happy relationship, I have to continue to find new and interesting ways to get stories into your hands.

Last year, I launched Patreon and Ream subscription services. I am planning to continue to add to those services with more stories, more bonus material, and new merch.

This year, I’ve had several readers say that they don’t want to purchase from Amazon and would prefer to purchase directly from me. So…(drumroll, please)…

I am launching my own shop!

I know, probably not a huge shock.

When I launch the shop, it will have a small selection of ebooks and some of my paperbacks.

After I’m confident that everything is running smoothly, I will add the rest of my paperbacks and my hardbacks as well as merch. I’m already scouting out interesting merch items and hiring artists.

There are some big questions that go along with shop:

Will I be able to pre-order new books from your shop?

YES! I am planning to include pre-orders in my shop and those books will have an earlier release date than Amazon as incentive to buy from me. Since the pre-order for The Bargain is already up on Amazon, I’m not going to mess with that one. I am planning to start my pre-orders with book 2, The Complication, which will be posted next month.

The proposed release schedule would be:

May 16 – Patreon & Ream subs get their copy

May 23 – Pre-Orders from my store sent out

May 30 – Book releases on Amazon

Pretty nifty, right?

Since you’re opening your own shop, does this mean you’re pulling books from Kindle Unlimted (KU)?

Yes and no.

On average , 50% – 65% of my royalties come from KU, so I wouldn’t be able to survive if I left KU completely. I also recognize that KU is the only way a lot of my readers can afford to read books and I don’t want to abandon them.

That being said, I am in the process of moving the Exit Strategy series from KU. The newest book of the series, Accidental Lover, is over three years old. Some of the books are more than five years old. It’s time to let people who don’t use KU have a chance to meet G Love and Justin. Accidental Lover has already left KU and the other books will be rolling out in April and May. As they leave KU, I will move them wide — Kobo, Kobo+, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Smashwords, libraries, etc — and put them in my shop.

My Ice & Snow Christmas Collection is already wide and in my shop.

After Exit Strategy comes out, I don’t have any immediate plans to take out anything else. The next oldest is Lords of Discord, but I’m not ready to move that one yet.

I don’t live in the US. Will you ship internationally?

Eventually.

The scariest thing about opening a shop is making sure the taxes are handled correctly.

When the store launches, I will ship physical books only within the US. The next step is to add Australia, because that country has a lovely high threshold for taxes that I will probably never, ever meet. I hope to add Europe after that, but the rules have become complicated in the last year and I gotta make sure I get this right.

I will send out regular updates when new things are added to the store and when new shipping zones open up.

Is the shop open now?!?!?

No. But I am soooooooo close. I have just one more thing to tackle – taxes. I also have to test the order for print books and need to locate a guinea pig or two to test for me.

My goal is to have shop live before <The Bargain releases on April 11. I will make an announcement in my newsletter and online when it goes live.

Is there anyway I can get an ebook copy The Bargain without buying it on Amazon?

Right now, the only option I have is for you to subscribe to Patreon or Ream at the Sky’s Sammich Shop tier or higher. Those subscribers get an advanced ebook copy. But if you subscribe to Patreon or Ream, you’ll also be able to start reading the book now and get access to a bunch of other stories.

How will your ebooks be delivered? Can I still read them on my kindle?

I will be using bookfunnel for my delivery method. You will be able to read the ebook in the bookfunnel app or send the ebooks to your kindle. I’ve actually been using bookfunnel for my free stories for a few months now. If you want to test out how it would work on something free, grab any of my free stories here.

I think this covers the basics at least. There will be more information coming when the store launches and as I add new items.

YAY! It’s time to go on a somewhat strange and unexpected Valentine’s Day date!

Kaylan has been set up on a blind date by his meddling boss Sebastian. He doesn’t want to go, but he also doesn’t want to hurt his boss’s feelings.

He’s just gonna have to suck it up and tell the guy that he’s just not into this.

Except that Arden is hotter and sweet than he expected.

Maybe this date isn’t such a bad idea after all.

The Interview is a prequel novella to the new Executive Suite series. It will give you just a little taste of the main characters for the first full-length novel, The Bargain , with an introduction of meddling Sebastian and his unflappable assistant, Byron.

Read The Interview today and pre-order your copy of The Bargain , which comes out April 11 — just 3 weeks away!