Summer Romances, Or a Little Mermaid retelling, a bruja novella and a santa erotica walk into a romance conference
“She was Ariel del Mar, and her whole life was waiting.” This is how chapter 1 of Kiss the Girl, my modern-day remix of Disney’s The Little Mermaid ends. I love this book. I was ~*meant*~ to write this book, no pun intended.
Writing this book was my homage to a story that has meant so much to me. I could ramble about how Ariel does make choices, and her bargain was for her own freedom and not just a man, and how Eric is a himbo, but unlike other princes, he has my favorite dialogue and I love him. But I’ll spare you. Instead, you can read it in Kiss the Girl.
A few months ago, the book came out in audiobook, but due to internal cover snafus beyond my control, I couldn’t bring myself to promote something with that many typos. Many months later, it has been updated and I’m happy to share it here. Kiss the Girl audio is available at your favorite audiobook retailer, but might I recommend Libro.FM, which supports indie bookstores. Kiss the Girl is narrated by Inés del Castillo and Anthony Rey Perez who do a phenomenal job.
Buy the Kiss the Girl audiobook at these retailers:
So, a few years ago I self-published the Santa Claus-inspired holiday romance I’d been talking about forever. At first it was just for funsies. Something to keep away the sadness demons during the first year we realized the Covid pandemic was here to stay. I used the name Rizzo Rose, inspired by my maternal grandmother’s last name, and an appropriate flower for alliteration.
The book was called The Heart of Winter, and I told only a handful of people. I meant to write a sequel right away, but then I got slammed with traditional publishing contract after contract, which I’m not complaining about. Times are rough for most writers, so I take job security whenever I can. Usually, I keep a “just for me” project I work on slowly, but 2022-2023 was so intense with drafting and terrible brain feelings that I wasn’t able to write the sequel. The reason I’m telling you is because I have sold two new audiobooks!
One is The Captive Merman’s Promise, a novella I wrote for the first Bonker’s Romance Kickstarter in 2022. I have a brand new cover by Emily Wittig (who did both of these). The text is still the same with “preferred text” updates.
The second book is The Heart of Winter, which will now be published as Zoey Castile, just like my other high-heat romances. The book was featured on this episode of Fated Mates, so perhaps some of you have already picked it up. I’ve added about 5k words in preferred text.
It feels a little strange republishing WINTER after almost three years under a new name, but I’m finally writing again as part of #FantasyGirlSummer. Book two is called The Heart of Shadow and follows the eldest Espinoza sister, who makes a guest appearance in book one.
The audiobooks for Winter and Merman will be available in the fall! Links and things will be up later but for now, you can get them in ebook and print online or when you see me at SteamyLit Con!
If you’re coming to SteamyLit this year in Anaheim, be sure to say stop by. My booth number is M72. I’ll have all three of these books, plus a few other titles at the convention signing! You can reserve your copies by filling out my pre-order form.
Love,
Zoraida