It’s New Year’s Eve and three weeks away from the release of Doves, book 2 in the Love in Los Angeles series.

Below is an excerpt from a New Year’s Eve party that takes place relatively late in Starling, the first book in the series. Everyone’s kind of a mess, nothing’s been resolved yet, and while our protagonists are starting to figure out what they want out of the new year, none of them are sure just how to get it yet. This excerpt is written from the viewpoint of Carly, the polyamorous girlfriend of one of the main characters who often finds herself sorting out everyone else’s relationship dramas, failures, and foibles. She loves her chosen family. She just finds them wildly inefficient, is all:

Liam greets Carly at the door with a wild hug and an enthusiastic kiss, and then grabs her hand and drags her into the room. New Year’s with Liam’s family—all generations of it, all packed into a reconstructed black box theatre on 42nd Street—is a must for the holidays, and totally worth flying out for.

When she finally finds Alex—his hair is fucking useful sometimes—she wraps him in a hug too and rocks a little until he finally relaxes and hugs her back.

“Hi, Carly,” he says, his voice drily amused, when she lets him go.

“Hello, Alex.”

“…That’s not a good voice.”

“Come with me,” she says and hooks an arm through his elbow. She drags him to the back of the room, where it’s darker and quieter and there’s less chance of an audience, because none of this really needs one.

“Okay, real talk time,” she says.

Alex looks a little scared. “Yes?”

“So, the genius thing where you called Paul about Liam? Total asshole move. I mean, I am sorry you were messed up about that, because Liam really does adore you. You guys are good now, right?”

“I thought that’s what you were going to yell at me for.”

Carly waves that off. “Oh, no, honey. I’m glad you had a good time. I am going to yell at you about Paul, though, because he’s fucking Craig again which is actually more bullshit than you thinking Liam should be your boyfriend—”

“I didn’t—”

“Rounding up! Let me finish, then you can talk. Look. We are all crazy and fucked up, but we also all adore you. And you’re being fucking crazy and also an asshole, so you should be patient and good and decide what you want and what you’re doing so you have a plan when Paul is done with this self-injury routine he has going on.”

Alex’s eyes go a little wide, and it’s the exact opposite of the cute squinty thing he does when he smiles.

“Oh, sweetie,” Carly says, and grabs his hand to squeeze it. She wonders how much Paul has told him, but he’s a smart kid in any case. “Paul’s fine. He’s just stupid. But please, figure out what you’re doing with him.”

“He’s back with Craig?” Alex asks.

“Total bullshit,” she says firmly, because it is. She squeezes his hand again before she drops it. “Which is why you need to figure your shit out. Now come on, baby boy, you need a drink.”

If you enjoyed this excerpt, please consider picking up Starling so you can be ready to slide into Doves come January 21st.  If you need a fix while you wait, we also have a Liam-centered story available called Evergreen.

If you buy them from Torquere Press (Starling: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=97&products_id=4269 /

Evergreen: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79_108&products_id=4328) use code Endof2014 now through January 3rd to get 25% off your entire cart.

Otherwise, consider visiting Amazon, All Romance, or your favorite print and ebook retailers.