Forbidden love in the White House!

My contemporary gay romance about forbidden love in the White House is now available!


He’d give his life to protect the president’s son. But he never expected to risk his heart.

Growing up gay in the White House hasn’t been easy for Rafael Castillo. Codenamed “Valor” by the Secret Service, Rafa feels anything but brave as he hides in the closet and tries to stay below the radar in his last year of college. His father’s presidency is almost over, and he just needs to stick to his carefully crafted plan. Once his family’s out of the spotlight, he can be honest with his conservative parents about his sexuality and his dream of being a chef. It’s definitely not part of Rafa’s plan to get a new Secret Service agent who’s a walking wet dream, but he’s made it this long keeping his desires to himself. Besides, it’s not like Shane Kendrick would even look at him twice if it wasn’t his job.

Shane’s worked his way up through the Secret Service ranks, and while protecting the president’s shy, boring son isn’t his dream White House assignment, it’s an easy enough task since no one pays Rafa much attention. He discovers there’s a vibrant young man beneath the timid public shell, and while he knows Rafa has a crush on him, he assures himself it’s harmless. Shane’s never had room for romance in his life, and he’d certainly never cross that line with a protectee. Keeping Rafa safe at any cost is Shane’s mission.

But as Rafa gets under his skin, will they both put their hearts on the line?

Buy now:

All Romance | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords

September? Wow.

I really hate letting so much time pass between posts, but the day job is exceptionally time-consuming right now. I do like trying to get in at least one post a month, so let's see if I can keep that up. (Spoiler: maybe.)

The release month for the third book in the Never Too Early series is November! No exact date yet, but I'll be sure and let you know as soon as I get the word. In the meantime, have a little excerpt. See you next month!

***

Tucker shut the water off just as it was starting to cool and tossed Tor a fluffy blue towel. "Can fix you guys omelettes for breakfast. Or if that's too fancy for your cowboy asses, I'll let you have some of my Corn Pops."

"Hell, toast is about all we really need, but I'm not going to turn down eggs." Tor couldn't remember the last time he'd had a breakfast cereal that was coated in sugar; Jake had forbidden it from the house shortly after Jacob had moved in. Now that the kid was off to college and not even coming home for summers, maybe Tor could sneak some back in.

Probably not.

"Good. Wasn't really gonna give you my Pops. If you want Chance's healthy stuff, be my guest." Tucker laughed and gave Tor one more kiss. "Mushroom and avocado omelettes, comin' up."

They toweled off and parted in the hall, Tucker going to his own room for clothes, and Tor back to the guest room. Jake hadn't even moved, as far as Tor could tell. He was still buried in a blanket, his eyes closed.

"Time to get your ass up," Tor told him, rummaging around for his clothes. "The day is getting old."

"Coffee?" Jake sounded only slightly more awake than he looked.

Tor snorted and grinned. "It'll happen. C'mon, up you get."

Jake rolled over and stretched, long and hard, then melted back onto the bed. "You've been up long enough to mess around in the shower and make coffee."

Jeans found, Tor pulled them on and nodded at Jake. "Yep. But only one got done." He could almost feel the endorphins in his bloodstream like little glittery bits of happy. "Come on, don't let Chance come home and find out how lazy you are."

It was both adorable and amusing how quickly Jake scowled at him, growled that he wasn't lazy, and got up. "You are mean and rude, and I'm going to clean up," he mumbled, heading out and toward the guest bathroom. He was wearing pale blue boxers and his hair was all stuck up on one side. It was almost enough to entice Tor back into the bathroom. "Coffee. You go make."

Tor's urge to go maul Jake dissolved in a fit of laughing. "Yes, yes. Coffee. Chance will be home soon."

Jake waved a hand in the general direction of the hallway wall and left.

Shaking his head, Tor sat on the bed to pull on his socks. So far this surprise visit was going along great -- he'd had time with Tucker, he'd woken up around Jake, and aside from the overly thoughtful look on Tucker's face, things were smooth and wonderful.

That look, though. That was something to find out about. Tor had a feeling that this thing they were building was too important to let things slide for long. Maybe Chance being home would help conversations happen.

Two to tango

I got nothin', so I offer this short video from Objective Tango's Facebook page:

Men's Tango

Enjoy. :-)

Get-Up and Write

I haven’t written since the editing rounds required to get Fallen back to the market.

Sad statement. Yet, I’m not devastated. Sure, I want to write. I crave it. But I also have to pay the bills, and my royalties weren’t anywhere close to that kind of value. So, the day job – the day career – has been the priority, and rightly so.

Some writers would give up sleep to write, getting up early or staying up late. I’ve done that, and I’ve seen the difference of seven to eight hours of sleep. Some writers go from working in an office job all day, right to the laptop. I have arthritis in my neck and understand the benefits of exercise, so I go from the office to the box, and I don’t regret a single minute of it. Even when I pull muscles, feel like I’m going to vomit, or curse the owners for avoiding the excessive cost of air conditioning.

Could I find the time? Sure, I’m working on it. I’m shooting for quality time so the result will be a quality story, but for now I’ll settle for time. Drop by my blog for more on that. I will warn you, however, that since it seems that all I do is work, exercise, and sleep, you’re likely to get more than a handful of health-related blog posts. For security reasons, I can’t write about work, and sleep, well it’s not all that restful and my dreams don’t make sense, even to me, so yes, what’s left is an attempt to eat clean while still enjoying good food, and the challenge and tribulations of pushing my body to its limits.

I’m a Crossfitter. You’ve been warned. But if you’re at all curious, drop on by next weekend. My goal is a blog post every Sunday. I’m just you’re average Joe(tte). I’m not super strong. I’m not flexible. I’m certainly not fast. I just want to pass through this decade with painless grace. Let’s see how it goes. And if writing returns through the need to write something besides blather on a blog, then that’s the icing on the gluten-free non-GMO cake.

Pia Veleno
http://piaveleno.com

View image | gettyimages.com

An anti-social werewolf and snotty college freshman face the zombie apocalypse

Man, I have fallen down on the job when it comes to blogging here! I'm excited to say that I have a new release coming September 9 called Valor on the Move. In the meantime, here's the info on my last book from late May.

To live through the zombie apocalypse they have to survive each other first.

College freshman Parker Osborne is having the worst day ever. He humiliated himself trying to pick up a cute guy, he hasn’t made any friends at school, and his stupidly hot jerk of a TA gave him a crappy grade on his paper. He’s going to drop Adam Hawkins’ film class and start fresh tomorrow after he’s had a good sulk.

But Parker’s about to find out what a bad day really looks like—if he can survive the night.

A virus is unleashed, transforming infected people into zombie-like killers. After these quick and deadly creepers swarm campus, Parker only escapes thanks to Adam swooping him onto the back of his trusty motorcycle. Now they’re on the run—and stuck with each other.

When they’re not bickering, they’re fighting off the infected in a bloody battle for survival. Their only hope is to head east to Parker’s family, but orphaned Adam has a secret he’s not sure Parker will accept: he’s a werewolf. Can they trust each other enough to find some light in these dark days?

Buy now:

All Romance | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
iTunes | Kobo | Smashwords