We’re on the eve of another Olympics, and I have made another Olympics bingo card, this time for the Winter Games!

I had to make some last minute edits after NBC announced it wouldn’t be sending commentators to Beijing, and I’m still not 100% sure everything will apply to our second COVID Olympics, but that’s kind of the fun of bingo anyway.

No prizes. This is just for fun.

And I get it if you’re sitting out the games. There was a good segment on the most recent episode of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel about how problematic it is for the IOC to have grated the games to an authoritarian government guilty of human rights abuses. I’m sure China got the games because they will spare no expense. Luckily the next few hosts will be far less problematic! (Paris, Milan, LA, and Brisbane are listed as the next host cities on the IOC website.)

But you guys know I’m an Olympics super fan, so I’ll be watching. If you want to play along with the bingo card, you can download a printable pdf here.

It’s finally here!

Get your paws on Like Cats and Dogs, the first book in the Whitman Street Cat Cafe series! There’s a cat cafe! There’s a grumpy vet! It’s enemies to lovers! Make with the one-clicking!

Here’s the full description:

Can you fight like cats and dogs, and still be perfect for each other?

Things are getting ruff in this Brooklyn neighborhood when new veterinarian Caleb Fitch moves in next door to the Whitman Street Cat Cafe and gets on the wrong side of cafe owner Lauren Harlow. Lauren has a few things to teach the new vet on the block, and rescuing kittens is only the start…

Lauren can’t ignore the fact that she is instantly attracted to Caleb, but he gets her even more riled up when he argues with her about how best to treat the cats in her care. Determined to smooth things over, Caleb comes to the rescue when a new litter of abandoned kittens is left on Lauren’s doorstep, and they confront the fiery attraction that’s been building between them from the start. But saving the baby kittens is only the first challenge Lauren and Caleb have to face, and when a real estate developer comes sniffing around their block, they’ll have to work together, or risk losing everything…

It’s available in ebook, print, and audio! You can buy it here!

Publisher’s Weekly says, “McMurray offers up some irresistible animal magnetism in this quirky romance… Colorful locals and the leads’ convincing chemistry give this romance its sizzle, but it’s the four-legged costars that steal the show. Animal lovers are sure to be charmed.”

Booklist says, “Readers craving a rom-com that offers both sensual heat and snappy humor will find this to be literary catnip.”

Hitting shelves today: Domestic Do-Over, my home renovation TV show romance. Here’s the description:

Can a prickly carpenter build a reality TV host a way out of the closet?

Real estate guru Brandon Chase knows what “family friendly” means in the biz, and it’s not being open about his sexuality.

The end of Brandon’s marriage is still making headlines when the Restoration Channel makes him an offer: helm a show about flipping houses in New York City’s risky market. Still smarting from the bad press, Brandon is reluctant to get involved—until he falls in love with an old Victorian.

Except the house isn’t the only thing that catches his eye.

It’s contractor Travis Rogers’s job to enumerate every way a renovation could go wrong, which leads to a lot of on-set sparring and mutual frustration between him and Brandon. But when the simmering attraction underneath boils over, the show and their relationship hang in the balance.

Travis hates the media attention that follows Brandon, and the network has a history of firing LGBTQ personalities. Like the houses Brandon makes over, this relationship has potential. But if Brandon can’t convince Travis to take a chance, their chemistry might stay on-screen only.

Available wherever you buy ebooks today, mass market paperbacks coming soon!

Buy it here!

(This is the first book in a new series about the people who star on the shows of a home-and-self improvement channel. Book 2, Residential Rehab, coming soon!)

In case you missed the social media rollout last week, here’s the cover for Like Cats and Dogs!

I am so stoked to be rolling out this book. It’s my first published m/f rom com! It’s a trade paperback! It will be in bookstores everywhere in May!

This book features:

• A cat cafe!
• A grumpy veterinarian!
• Enemies to lovers!
• Snappy dialog!
• Sex in a supply closet!

You can pre-order! Or add on Goodreads!

In honor of June being not only Pride Month, but also the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, I thought it might be fun to put together a list of recommended reads. Not romance, though; books you should read to celebrate the long history of LGBTQ people, which is fascinating an surprising.

So bone up on your history for this Pride!

Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940 by George Chauncey

Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century by Graham Robb

Love Stories: Sex Between Men Before Homosexuality by Jonathan Ned Katz

When Brooklyn Was Queer by Hugh Ryan

Gay Gotham: Art and Underground Culture in New York by Donald Albrecht and Stephen Vider (companion to the exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York)

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd

I also recently started reading We Are Everywhere by Matthew Reimer and Leighton Brown, the team behind the @lgbt_history account on Instagram, and it’s a wealth of interesting photos, definitely worth a look.

This list is a little male-centric and is composed only of books I’ve actually read; I’m sure there are many other great history books that I would love for you to recommend in the comments!

PS: I wrote some historical gay romances!

In Such a Dance, vaudeville dancer Eddie gets involved with bootlegger Lane in Jazz Age Times Square.

In Ten Days in August, homicide detective Hank meets female impersonator Nicky while investigating a mysterious death at a dance hall.

It’s about that time! I’m flying to Atlanta this Sunday for the RT Booklovers Convention, and I am super excited! I can’t wait to see old friends, meet new people, and squee about books. And, of course, I have a lot of cute outfits planned. 😉

Here’s where I’m scheduled to be:

On Monday and Tuesday, I’ll be teaching at the pre-convention writers boot camp.

On Wednesday at 4pm, I’m on a panel about American historical romance with an all-star group of writers including Kianna Alexander, Alyssa Cole, Piper Huguley, Beverly Jenkins, and Joanna Shupe.

On Thursday at 11:15am, I’m playing Apples to Apples with the crew from Dreamspinner Press.

On Thursday at 5:15, I’ll be signing copies of Ten Days in August at the Kensington Peaches and Cream party.

On Saturday, I’ll be signing at the Giant Book Fair and will be roaming around the FAN-tastic Day Party.

You can find my full schedule here.

I’m also donating prizes to Cinema Craptastique and Wheel of Romance, and I’ll have lots of cool goodies to give away. And I’ll be around all week, obviously, so if you’re there, too, be sure to say hi!

I wrote a story for the Dreamspinner Press newsletter, which you can read at the Dreamspinner blog. It’s a flash fiction meet cute involving two guys in the park and a very big dog (illustrated here). So if you need a little romance today, check it out.

This is as good a time as any to point out that all of my freebies can be found under the “free stories” tab in the menu bar up top.

So this is happening! Come see me read on October 7 at 7pm at the Stonewall Inn. Bring your friends!

Sports Week continues! Today, I’m happy to host Lex Valentine, who I also just met at GRL. She’s got a new book out that tackles football. (Tackles, geddit?) Read on to learn how to enter to win a copy of her new book!

What is an author to do when presented with characters who cling to their childhood fears? What do we do when they don’t react as adults? Well, you write a book about characters who let fear rule their lives until they finally grow up, grow a pair, and get down to the business of love.

In my novel Scrambling, my two main characters both fear the same thing, losing their best friend. They will sacrifice anything for that relationship because it means everything to them. What they end up sacrificing is the truth and the chance to be together. You see, they are in love with each other and afraid to say so. They fear that they will lose the one relationship they have come to rely on…their friendship.

So how did a book about the first two out players in the NFL end up being a tale of fear? My characters. They wouldn’t get it together. They stayed locked in their fears, afraid of being alone, afraid of losing a relationship that defined their lives. Each man deliberately gives up the chance to be with the man he loves in order to preserve a friendship he can’t live without. Childish? Yes. Stubborn? Yes. Irrational? Sure. But love isn’t always rational and characters can often do and think stupid things.

Scrambling shows how the PR director of an NFL team spins the coming out of two newly drafted players into a positive thing for the team. My heroes walk the red carpet at every LGBT event she can send them to. They become poster boys for being out. As professional athletes who are also gay, they become trailblazers in an industry that has closet doors firmly shut. And while I originally envisioned this story being about the prejudices that these men have to overcome, once the writing began to flow, it quickly became a story about how even men who are out have things that they still hide in the closet.

Thanks to Kate for having me here today. If you leave a comment here, I’ll put your name in a drawing to win a copy of Scrambling. I’ll draw a name Thursday night at midnight Pacific time.

Here’s the blurb and an excerpt from Scrambling.

Scrambling

BUY LINKS

Loose Id

Amazon

Book Trailer

Blurb:

Evan McAdam has two constants in his life–football and his friendship with Reed Matthews. From the age of six, Evan’s played football alongside Reed. In his teens, he realized he was gay and loved Reed, but fear kept him from confiding his deepest emotions to his best friend.

When he and Reed are drafted to the L.A. Stars, Evan decides to come out. His decision impacts Reed who’s been in the closet too. The two men struggle with secrets of unrequited love while facing the world as the first two openly gay NFL players.

When injury forces Evan to retire, the love he bears Reed can no longer be hidden. But will Reed be able to reciprocate, or will Evan lose both football and the man he’s always loved?

Excerpt Under the Cut:

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