Aidan Willows's Blog

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Hello my lovelies!

It's been far too long since I've posted on here. Just a quick message to tell you about one of the new co-writes I'm doing with the hilarious Grace Risata.

It's called Unexpected Treasure and it's funny, wacky, sexy and odd at times, but I love it. Grace and I are hoping to release sometime next month, though we don't have an exact release date at the moment.



Unexpected Treasure



The ARC sign up is open to both bloggers and readers, but please note by signing up you are agreeing to review within a month of receiving the ARC.

ARC Form: https://goo.gl/forms/yaFD7jVkfSKHWcP63

Hope you all have awesome weekends,

Aidan. X

Hello, my lovelies!

So, it's been a weird couple of weeks. Writing for Falling Sweetly had to be put on hold, as life got in the way, and the release date I was aiming for had to be pushed back.

Life is slowly getting back to normal now, and I have resumed writing Jake and Niki's story.

I have been blown away by the amount of kind words that people have shown through reviews and messages for Falling Completely, and to anyone who has made any kind of pun in their review about "falling" for Falling Completely, please know that you complete me! ❤ ☺

I have finally had time to finish the snippet I started a while ago. It's free on Smashwords, as is Valentine's Day (Starling Falls Snippets #1).

It's called 'Home', and is about Caleb, Liya and their new house.
As with the first Snippet, Falling Completely should be read first in order to fully appreciate this short little freebie.

Goodreads Link: Home - (Starling Falls Snippets #2)

SMASHWORDS LINK:

Home -(Starling Falls Snippets #2)

The free snippets are my thank you to the readers who have been so lovely and supportive, and have developed a fondness for my strange little characters and asked for more.

I hope you enjoy reading 'Home' and I will be posting updates about the progress of 'Falling Sweetly' as I write, there is no specific release date at the moment.

Once again, thank you all so, so much!

Aidan. X

The lovely ladies at Nice Ladies, Naughty Books are hosting a giveaway!

Enter for your chance to win an ebook copy of Falling Completely and to see my guest blog post!

Aidan Willows Guest Blog and Ebook Giveaway

Good luck! ^_^

Hugs,
Aidan. X

Hello all

^_^

Three things; firstly here is the ARC Sign up form for Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2):

Falling Sweetly ARC Sign Up

The sign up is for both bloggers and readers. All I ask is that after reading a review is posted on both Goodreads and Amazon.

I do not have a specific release date yet for the book, I am still aiming for sometime in April.

If you've read the synopsis for Falling Sweetly and want to read it but haven't read/don't want to read Falling Completely, it is not necessary in order to enjoy/understand Falling Sweetly.

All the book in the series will be interconnected standalones focusing on different couples.

Secondly, I am looking for volunteer beta-readers for Falling Sweetly and (if I don't scare you off) hopefully for future books as well. No previous beta experience is necessary.

I'm merely looking for readers who enjoyed the series and are willing to read an initial draft of the finished manuscript and provide feedback (so almost like getting a pre-ARC version of the book?).

If you are interested please either PM or email me at; aidanwillows@gmail.com

Lastly, Falling Completely is now on Kindle Unlimited and I hope all readers who purchased their books on Amazon have received the updated version (or at least the email telling them about the updated version of the book).

I'll hopefully be posting some teasers soon.
Thank you once again to everyone who's posted reviews or even just rated the book.

Also, I'm trying to spend time with Jake and Niki, but Caleb and Liya are being attention whores and not leaving me alone, so there may be a second Starling Falls Snippet coming out sometime soon :-D

As always I love hearing from reader, so please feel free to contact me via any form of social media:
Social Media Links:
Facebook Page
Twitter
Instagram
Aidan Willows - Starling Falls Boards


Hugs to all,

Aidan. X

The updating drama with Amazon continues (see previous blog post for full details), I am still in the process of trying to have the book updated, but it will take quite some time.

In the meanwhile, to all readers who have purchased the version with typos and errors, if you email me at aidanwillows@gmail.com with a screenshot of the purchase, I will personally send you an updated copy of the book.

In addition, I've decided to start publishing a 'Starling Falls Snippets Series.

This will be free (very) short stories featuring the characters in Starling Falls.

The first story as linked below, is about Caleb and Liya's first Valentine's Day together.

Valentine's Day (Starling Falls Snippets #1) - Aidan Willows

Goodreads Link to Valentine's Day

The stories will be available to download via Smashwords. You can download epub, mobi and pdf formats of the story and then read them however you choose.

I hope you enjoy.

Hugs,
Aidan. X

So, this blog seems to be transforming into a Dear Diary type of situation for me... ah well...

Long story short, I posted an updated version of Falling Completely at the beginning of the month (nothing major has changed, just some typos/some grammar stuff had been corrected) and there was an extended sneak peek of Falling Sweetly.

Today, in addition to trying to get pirated copies of my book taken down from a website, I downloaded a copy of Falling Completely from Amazon, only to find it was not the copy I had uploaded. This is not the first time I've encountered this problem and for the life of me, I can't figure out what is happening.

To all the lovely people leaving reviews and who have enjoyed the book despite all the issues, a massive thank you.

In all honesty, being a first time author, I didn't expect my writing to be perfect, but I did want it to be the best it could possibly be for readers.

I am trying to sort out what went wrong, and will attempt to upload the copy again today. It will take up to 12 hours (if not more) for the newer version to go live, fingers crossed it will work and the copies on your kindles should automatically update after. (thank you to Nic from Sizzling Pages and Laura from IScream books for pointing this out to me).

If these issues have in any way affected your enjoyment of reading Falling Completely, I can only apologise profusely.

The newer copy has a slightly longer sneak peek of Falling Sweetly, so I decided to just post it here instead as a thank you to everyone who had read and reviewed the book so far...

Hugs to all,

From a very stressed and confused Aidan, who is much in need of cake and a bottle of Bourbon (and is desperately trying not to set everything on fire).


P.S.- If you happen across this blog and are planning to read Falling Completely, you may not want to read ahead, cos you know... spoilers...

2nd P.S. - It's my birthday in a couple of weeks, and I'm thinking I'm probably going to get a little merry and post a second Sneak Peek of Chapter 2...




**Please note this version is unedited and may differ in the final finished product***


Falling Sweetly - Extended Sneak Peek


Chapter 1

Annika


How is he still talking? He hasn’t stopped for the last twenty minutes.
Does he remember he’s still on a date?
Does he realise I’ve not actually spoken for the entire conversation?
He has lettuce stuck in his teeth. Should I tell him?
There’s not even any lettuce on his plate… How long has that lettuce been stuck there?
Oh crap. He just asked a question… Focus!

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite get what you just said. Could you repeat the question?” I asked taking a sip of water, in an attempt to regroup and see if it was possible to salvage this disaster of a date.

“I said.” he paused to let out a burp that near enough shook the table “I’m not usually into bigger women, but you looked hot enough that I said ‘why the hell not’. Your rack is great by the way, are they real?” he added with a self-satisfied smirk, as his eyes hovered over the small amount of cleavage exposed by the neckline of my dress.

And I’m out. Emergency escape phone call it is.

“Would you excuse me for a moment, I have to visit the restroom.” I said with a fake smile, nearly tripping in my hurry to leave the table.

I brought up my sister’s number and dialled it as I walked to the bathroom. Maliya answered on the third ring with a laugh “Caleb! Stop it! Someone is going to see. Niki? What’s up?”

“Liya, are you two having sex in public again? You remember Sherriff Turner said that if he catches you guys again, he will have to arrest you this time.”

“Well, I’m trying to avoid jail time, but I think my boyfriend is a bit of an exhibitionist.” Liya said and I heard her trying to slap Caleb’s hands away.

“Fiancé! Get it right, baby!” Caleb called out in the background distance.

Liya huffed “Whatever. You know I hate that word. It sounds so phoney.”

I cut her off before an argument could begin between them and I would be stranded in my nightmare date all night “HEY! Sister in need here! Call me in five minutes and say the cat is ill or something.”

“Wow. Hasn’t it only been like fifteen minutes? That has to be some kind of new record. Where is he on the scale from Mildly Creepy to Serial Killer?” Liya asked as I heard loud kisses echoing in the distance.

“I would say he rates about a Complete and Utter Sleazeball on the scale.” I said with a sigh.

“Eeep. Okay, sweet sister. Help is on the way.” Liya said before hanging up as I heard Caleb tell her how beautiful she would look naked in the moonlight.

I didn’t think the moon was actually visible in the sky tonight, but I had to applaud his tactics.

My sister and her fiancé Caleb hadn’t always had the most straightforward relationship, due in large part to Liya’s issues. But looking at them now, my heart melted a little at how sweet they were together. Though, I refrained from sharing this opinion with my sister as it usually resulted in something being thrown at me.

Liya hadn’t had the easiest of lives and neither had Caleb, if any two people had deserved a chance at happiness it was them.

Seeing my sister having the courage to work through her own issues persuaded me to do the same, hence the reason I was currently on Disastrous Date No. 3.

I paused to stare at my reflection in the mirror. Oval face, button nose, creamy light brown skin, wide, almond shaped light brown eyes, black hair cut to a long bob.

I resisted the urge to check under my side fringe, and make sure that there was no sign on my forehead that said “Now available for dates! Only freaky losers need apply.”

It has to be me. I’m like a beacon in the dark for all creepy, weirdos, drawing them to me from far and wide…

I sighed again when I realised that hiding out in the bathroom would be too pathetic, even for me, and geared myself up for returning to Weirdo No. 3.

He smiled sleazily as he saw me wind my way through the tables back to where we were seated by the window. I gave him a small, very fake smile as I sat back opposite him.

“This place is pretty fancy, don’t often do fancy for first dates. You seem kinda worth it though.” he rubbed the thinning spot at the back of his head “I’m thinking after we split the bill, we should head back to mine for dessert?” he said waggling his eyebrows.

Good God, no. Hurry up, Liya. Call my damn phone.

I stared at him blankly and shook my head. “Uhm. No, I don’t think so. I’ve got to be at work early tomorrow.” I picked up my fork and pushed around the insipid leaves on my plate.

I’m sure I had more grilled chicken than this on my salad… Oh my God. Weirdo No. 3 stole chicken from my plate while I was gone…

He frowned at my refusal and was about to respond, when my phone started to ring. Thank the heavens.

“Sorry, it’s my sister. I need to get this.” I said in an over exaggeratedly apologetic tone. I tapped on the green button flashing on the screen of the phone. “Hello?”

“So, I’m thinking you make the worst decisions when it comes to choosing your dates. It may be time for an intervention.” Liya’s amused voice said.

I let out a small gasp “What’s wrong with Shadow?”

“No. Seriously. First, it was the wannabe drug dealer with the face tattoos, and then it was the taxidermist with all the stuffed, dead animals in his house, who looked like he wouldn’t have minded adding a stuffed, dead Niki to his collection.” Liya said bluntly.

I let out an ever bigger gasp “Oh no, poor baby. I can’t believe he’s been sick for that long. I hope he doesn’t throw up all over you. I’m going to come home now to take him to the vet.”

Liya chuckled. “Be careful when you drive home, make sure that winner you’re on a date with doesn’t follow you. See you soon, little bug.”

I hung up and glanced over at the man whose name I couldn’t remember.
“I’m so sorry… Todd?”

“Tad.” he said looking put out.

“Right. Tad. Sorry. I have to go. My cat is ill. Thanks for an… interesting dinner.” I said as I threw down some bills to cover my meal.

He frowned again “We should finish up this date properly sometime. Let me give you my address.”

“Oh. No. That’s okay. Thanks anyway.” I blurted as I turned so quickly, I almost knocked over a waiter carrying a large tray of food.

“Sorry.” I said breathlessly to the annoyed waiter, before I power-walked over to the coat check and thrust my ticket at the attendant.

She smiled kindly “Did you have a pleasant meal here at Canatta's?” she asked, as she handed me my coat.

Not really. The chicken was dry, the miserly portion of salad didn’t have enough dressing on it and what little dressing it did have, wasn’t seasoned at all. The tomatoes were unripe and I’m pretty sure they forgot to put the avocado and cucumber on my plate, unless my chicken thief of a date ate that too…

“Sure.” I lied, as I pulled on my coat hurriedly. “Everything was great.”

“Perfect.” the attendant grinned widely at me “We hope to see you here again!”

Don’t hold your breath, lady. That won’t be happening anytime soon.

“Sure. Bye.” I rushed out the door, looking back to see my date eyeing up a waitress, as he finished the rest of my salad. I snorted. At least he’s not wasteful.

I found my keys and hurried over to the new small green car I’d bought a couple of months ago and started the drive back home thinking about how much my life had changed in the last year.

If someone had told me a year and a half ago that I would be running my own bakery and living a different country, I would have told that person that drugs are very, very bad, and that they should probably stop taking whatever they were on, before it permanently altered their mental state.

My sister and I were born in London to two loving, parents who were both brilliant doctors. Our lives were pretty much idyllic, until my mother had passed away in a car crash and our father a week later from a stroke. I was fourteen and my sister, Maliya, had been eighteen. She dropped out of college, got a job and applied for custody of me.

Growing up, I had always had a close relationship to my sister, a fact that had never changed over the years, so when I had made the slightly impetuous decision to quit my job and move countries to run our grandaunt’s bakery, she had decided to come with me.

Our grandaunt, Aunt Trudy, was a bad-tempered, coarse, cranky, straight-talking old lady but I had loved her dearly. She had passed away four months ago and I still missed her.

Prior to the move to Starling Falls, I had only met her once ten years ago when she had come to England for our parent’s funerals, and after I had kept in touch a couple of times a year through brief phone calls.

Early last year, she had broken a hip and after running the bakery for over fifty years she had made the heart-breaking decision to sell it, as she simply couldn’t manage running the business anymore. During one of the phone calls I had heard in her voice, how upset she was at having to sell her pride and joy.

Baking had always been a passion of mine. After finishing secondary school, I had enrolled in Pastry School, and after graduating I had managed to get a highly sought after job in a stylish, trendy bakery in Chelsea, working under the tutelage of an amazing pastry chef named Paulette St. Pierre. It had been a job I had loved, but the unchanging role had grown stale (no baking pun intended) over the years, and I found my passion for baking began to waver.

My offer to run the bakery had been instantaneous; it had slipped out of my mouth before I had even thought about it.

Liya had thought I’d gone mad when I told her, but it was one of the best decisions I had ever made. When Aunt Trudy passed away she had left me her house and she had left both me and Liya the bakery.

Thus two lonely girls from London had wound up in the small town of Starling Falls. I had rediscovered my love of baking and my sister had found the love of her life. My sister had been even more reluctant than I had been with letting people in, so the fact that she was now in a relationship was a pleasant surprise.

Liya and Caleb had met on the day the bakery reopened. He had pushed a child out of the way of an oncoming car and been hit. When he had fallen, he had hit his head on the road and developed a concussion. Liya, who is a nurse, ran out to help him. In his semi-conscious state he had kissed her.

Long story short; he pursued her, she turned him down. He kept on pursuing her, and she finally admitted her feelings for him. They had gotten together officially just before Thanksgiving, but early in the New Year, Caleb had gotten hurt on his job as a firefighter.

My sister had some emotional hang-ups about the people she loved always leaving her, so she had freaked out and stupidly broken up with him. A month later after Aunt Trudy’s funeral, Liya had been given a letter, written by Aunt Trudy, that had finally made her see sense.

Apparently, life-changing letters were Aunt Trudy’s speciality.

Four months later and Liya and Caleb were blissfully engaged, and I couldn't have been happier for them. However, seeing them so in love had made me realise that I wanted that for myself too.

Aunt Trudy’s letter had hit the nail on the head. I had always been a shy child, but it had grown worse as I had gotten older, especially after my parent’s death. Due to this shyness, the few dates I had been on while living in London had never led anywhere. I would withdraw into myself as soon as I met someone. No one apart from Liya ever really knew me.

After reading Aunt Trudy’s letter, I knew I needed to make a change if I wanted to find love. So I had signed up to an online dating website, though with each man I had met, it had seemed like an increasingly horrible idea.

I was still cautiously optimistic that the perfect guy was out there. However, after the last couple of dates, I was beginning to think crazy cat and fish lady was the only future I had left in store.

Copyright © 2016 by Aidan Willows
End of Sneak Peek


Social Media Links:
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The synopsis for Falling Sweetly is up!!!

Falling Sweetly (Starling Falls #2)

Hopefully the cover won't be too far behind.
Once again a huge thank you to everyone who had rated/reviewed/spread the word about Falling Completely. I am humbled by how lovely people have been.

Also, if you are interested in receiving an ARC of Falling Sweetly, please either message me via Goodreads or email me: aidanwillows@gmail.com

Even if you aren't a book blogger, but are willing to read and leave a review, I'd be happy to send you an ARC when the book is ready. I'm aiming for early April for a release, though it may be earlier.

Be sure to add Falling Sweetly to your TBR, and if you're curious about what the characters/settings of Starling Falls looks like, make sure to check out my Pinterest page.

I'll be adding to the board as I write.

Aidan Willows - Falling Sweetly Board


Once again, If you want to follow me on any social media, links are:

Facebook Page

Twitter

Instagram

As always, I love hearing from readers, so any feedback/comments/questions are more than welcome ^_^

Hugs and Cookies,
Aidan.

So, it's been a little over a week since I pressed publish on Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Nobles. Hands down, one of the scariest things I've ever done, but the lovely messages I've been sent have shown me that it was so worth it.

To the lovely people who have taken time to contact me, promo the book on their blogs, left a rating, left a review or agreed to read and review the book, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

I thought that I would share a link to my Pinterest board. I've decided to pin people/places that I pictured when writing the book, and I hope you'll like the little sneak peek into my mind (especially when you see the model who was the inspiration behind Caleb)

Aidan Willows - Starling Falls Board

Also keep an eye out on this blog/Facebook page/Twitter/Instagram accounts, as I will be posting an ARC sign up sheet details for 'Falling Sweetly' sometime in February. And the blurb should be up in a couple of weeks (maybe earlier!)

If you want to follow me on any social media, links are:

Facebook Page

Twitter

Instagram


I am typing away, working on the next book of the series. Also, I loved Caleb, but Jake is so winning me over right now ^_^ (is it weird to be falling for a fictional character you created?)

And to all the lovely ladies expressing interest in Nate; Not to worry, I won't make you wait too long for his book, it's the third book I plan to write in the series. ;-)

I love, love hearing any feedback from readers so please do get in contact if you want to.

Hugs and Cookies,
Aidan. X

Goodreads says to write a blog post, so write a blog post I shall.

I was asked how I would define 'Falling Completely', and I would say that it is; a funny, smutty, sweet story with heart.

I loved every moment of writing this book. It has been a real learning experience. I loved creating the characters, the town and loved telling Liya and Caleb's story.

I set out to write a female character that was strong but vulnerable, real and funny and who stood out as much as the hot, Alpha Male lead and I hope I succeeded.

I want to thank everyone who has added it onto the TBR lists and to everyone who has agreed to read and review.

I appreciate it more than I can say. I would love to hear what you think about my first foray into the world of writing, so please do leave a review or don't hesitate to get in contact.

Hugs and Cookies,
Aidan. X