Santino Hassell's Blog - Posts Tagged "stygian"

As I’ve stated a bazillion times, I have a few books coming out in the near future (6 in the next year and a half actually), but you might not know 5 out of 6 of those planned novels are in my new Five Boroughs series. The first of which—SUTPHIN BOULEVARD—was released on Friday. Keep in mind—all books can be read as standalones. Characters will pop up all over the series but you don’t need to read them in a particular order if you don’t want to, and each couple gets a happy ending by the end of their book.

I’ve had a semi rough release weekend (broke my phone, argued with family, screamed at disappearing GR ratings before being reassured they will return, agonized over promo and wondering how to accrue Amazon reviews—hey this is Real Talk w/ Santino), but the reviews rolling in are… fucking phenomenal. Here are some of my favorite quotes:

“The chemistry between these two fairly sizzles the pages. This book is sexy. The love scenes are dirty in all the best ways.” — Fiction Vixen

“This book and these characters offer a gritty and realistic view of life while offering a complex and multi-layered story of true friends that become lovers.” — Joyfully Jay Reviews

“Hassell’s storytelling is raw and gritty, but utterly perfect. It’s been a while since I had a book hangover of this magnitude, but it’s here in full force.” — JesseWave

"It's a book that makes you want to read it over and over again, and I've read its final pivotal and epiphanous scene so many times I almost know it word for word now." — The Novel Approach Reviews

“I couldn’t be happier with this book. Though it’s written in first person in Michael’s point of view, Santino Hassell writes it in a way that lets you see all that Michael is blind to.” — LoveBytes

“This book is special, in an extraordinary, I’m kind of in awe of how special it is way. I was totally captivated by Santino Hassell’s voice, and no nonsense writing style, wow, the man really is such an incredibly talented author, and I’m excited by his potential and of what's to come in the future.” — Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews

“I love Santino’s style of writing, which is definitely not slushy, or overtly romantic, he expresses emotion in a very visceral way, which stays with you a long time.” — Prism Book Alliance

I am utterly thrilled by the response. It’s a personal book (in a purely thematic sense), and one that was difficult to write for various reasons, so reading these reviews has been amazing.

In case you missed it, I also talked about inspiration and future plans over on the Dreamspinner FB page! I did a post on Stygian (my October release) with inspiration photos and I also talked a bit about the YA short story (and potential series) that spawned McCleary High School--the school some of the characters in SUTPHIN BOULEVARD work at. I can't tell you how excited I am to be talking about this book and this series. I love the characters and I want you all to get to know them. I even love Michael's students. I created an entire roster for his History class!

So, what IS the Five Boroughs series?

Read more on my blog.

My upcoming novel STYGIAN is up for preorder on the Dreamspinner website! You can also add it on GR: Stygian

Jeremy has been isolated and adrift since the death of his brother. Most people just see him as the skinny emo kid who wears eyeliner and plays drums. No one gets him. Nobody tries. He thought the indie rock band Stygian would become his anchor, but—lost in their own problems—they’re far from the family he sought.

Still, hoping to get close to Kennedy, the band's enigmatic guitarist, he follows Stygian to northern Louisiana for a summer retreat. They had planned to spend six weeks focusing on new music but things go awry as soon as they arrive at the long-deserted Caroway mansion. Tempers flare, sexual tension boils over into frustration, and Jeremy turns away from the band to find a friend in his eerily beautiful landlord Hunter Caroway.

Kennedy suspects there’s something off about the creepy mansion and its mysterious owners, but Jeremy thinks he's finally found somewhere he fits. It isn’t until Kennedy forces the Caroway’s secrets into the light that Jeremy realizes belonging sometimes comes with a price.

This book is different than anything I’ve ever written and I’m really excited about sharing it with everyone. There are mysterious strangers, paranormal elements, and sex in the drippy heat of northern Louisiana in the dead of summer, but STYGIAN is also about four young guys who have scraped through their adolescence in horrible circumstances and are trying desperately to make their band work. But it's not that easy. They've found each other, but they're still not sure how to trust and love each other, and that is the primary plot of the book besides the mystery and the paranormal.

For teasers and more information about the characters, go to my blog!

A lot has been going on in the past couple of weeks in terms of my RL (death in the family, another family member in the hospital) and my job, so I somehow neglected to update my own blog after STYGIAN’s release. -_- I’m rectifying that now with a roundup of book sales, free reads, and my Queer Romance post.

STYGIAN:



STYGIAN, my gothic paranormal romance, released on Tuesday. If you haven’t already purchased it, now would be a good time because it’s 60% off at Dreamspinner and there’s a 50% rebate at All Romance ebooks (sales end on 10/31). You can also purchase it on Amazon and the other third party websites! A couple of people have asked me why I wanted my new release to be included in a big-ass sale and the short answer to that is: because books are fucking expensive.

If you want a taste of STYGIAN before actually diving into the full novel, I’ve also written a series of free shorts for your reading pleasure.



Prequels:
Feeling You
A Night in the Life

These take place before the novel and feature lots of UST between Jeremy and Kennedy.

Follow-ups (contains all the spoilers):
Finding You
Take You Farther (part of the free LEAD ME INTO DARKNESS anthology)

The stories are full of sexual tension, longing, and intense rockers. Enjoy. :)

Other news:

My Queer Romance post is up today and it kind of means a lot to me, so I hope you all check it out. I worked with Ashley Kaye Hayes to come up with our response to the recent conversations relating to diversity, and lack thereof in romance, and we did so in the form of a short webcomic. Let me know what you think. Here's the first panel:

Soo, I haven't blogged in forever BUT I can't avoid it now. There's too much stuff to inform readers about.

First of all--SUNSET PARK releases on FRIDAY. Whoa, where did the time go? And it's also 25% off at the Dreamspinner website until the end of the week! It's also up for preorder on Amazon.



Secondly, EVERY other book I have written is also on sale.

SUTPHIN BOULEVARD will be $0.99 until the end of December on Dreamspinner and Amazon.



AFTER MIDNIGHT will also be $0.99 for one more day on Amazon, before it goes up slowly for the next couple of days.



And STYGIAN is also 25% off because of Dreamspinner's holiday sale.



Enjoy folks! I'll uh, see you in another blog post at the end of the week >.>