Audiobook News!

DESIRE ME is here!

No, not in ebook. That's been around for a while. But audio... I don't know if any of us were ready for this.

Jason Clarke and Stella Hunter have continued their phenomenal work on the Southern Nights: Enigma series. They bring Saint and Rae to life in a way that has sent chills up my spine every time I listen. Not to mention making the “hot” in Enigma even hotter! If you love audiobooks, even if you haven't heard the rest of the Southern Nights series, you've got to grab this one.

How about a sample?

What are early listeners saying about DESIRE ME?

A lot! Here’s just a sample from Twitter users:

“This is so good — one helluva ride!”

“Only a few chapters in and I'm hooked! Amazing work from Stella Hunter & Jason Clarke.”

“Have plenty of water with this one.”

“I love Ella Sheridan’s writing. She has some of the best romantic suspense books in the biz.”

“More Stella and Jason? Yes please!”

Don’t wait! Grab your copy at your fave audiobook retailer:

I recently spent a week with my critique partner, Gina L Maxwell, talking writing and actually writing at her home with her fantastic clowder of kitties and her super-affectionate boxer, Nova, who couldn't seem to stay out of my lap.

But I didn't just spend the week cuddling Nova. I also spent it working on the very next Silver Foxes of Black Wolf’s Bluff book, now titled 40 AND (SO OVER) FIXING IT. Erin and Carter are sparking off each other like you would not believe. I hope to have this book finished by the end of this month and out to you in June. Then it's time to dig into some serious progress on PHOENIX FALLING. I'm also right now in the process of working out the next story arc for Assassins and Nix's team backstory.

One of the most frequently asked questions I get about Assassins is whether or not Levi and Abby’s storyline will continue. I'm happy to say that you won't lose the original brothers in the continuing arc. Much in the vein of J. R. Ward and similar authors, I intend to include storylines from the brothers as well as the ongoing stories about the new team in each new novel. Will we see Levi and Abby get married? Have that baby they didn't realize they wanted until it was no longer a possibility? Well, you'll have to read to find out the details, but I can assure you there will be details. (insert evil author laughter here)

Lastly, I have something exciting to share!

I’ve joined forces with Romance Devoured and thirteen other Bestselling Romance Authors to bring you an amazing giveaway! The best part? EVERYONE WINS! 

Everyone who enters will automatically receive all 14 books free! And one lucky winner will also get a $25 Amazon gift card. How cool is that? Almost like a gift from your favorite romance hero!

But it won't last forever, so RUN, don't walk!

Click here to enter -> https://promos.romancedevoured.com/lnk/scg-ella-sheridan

That's all the news for now. Keep an eye out for next month's newsletter and release information for FIXING IT. Sneak peeks of PHOENIX FALLING. Details about the next hero and heroine in Assassins (and maybe even a book title if it will finally come to me!). There's so much to look forward to this year. In the meantime, happy reading!

~ Ella

What I've Been Reading: Tempting Her Best Friend by Gina Maxwell

Let's just say, this summer hasn't been the easiest for me. In fact sometimes I thought my to-do list was trying to drown me. :) So to say that I needed a little lightening up was a drastic understatement. And my good friend Gina L. Maxwell's new release, Tempting Her Best Friend, did just that!

If she had to dress like Nightclub Barbie for a few days to get Dillon to see her as a woman and not some asexual being, then that was what she'd do. Anything to ensure success for Operation: Damn, Aly's Hot and I Totally Want To Do Her.

I quoted this line on Facebook too, probably because it almost made Coke shoot out my nose. This is the kind of snarky humor Gina provides -- and that I love. I'm not your typical romantic comedy reader, and I admire those writers a great deal because humor is so hard to get across, but Gina just has the right wit for my funny bone. :) Putting the hero in a Tarzan costume and dumping him in the midst of a horde of ravenous romance readers is hilarious. There's just so much about this book that is fun that I spent most of the time sniggering behind my Kindle while I waited for my kids to finish all the activities I'd dropped them off for around town. Yes, I got a lot of sidelong, oddball looks, but who cares -- I was enjoying a book! I think you would enjoy it too.

And lest you think that humor is all this book has going for it, think again -- the sex is hot and steamy and intimately emotional. Gina is known for her intensely erotic love scenes, and Tempting Her Best Friend delivers on that front as well as it delivers on humor.

Her vision started to blur at the edges until all she could see was the ruggedly handsome face above her. So much like the friend she'd known her whole life, and yet so very different. As her brain struggled to reconcile the old and the new, her body shorted everything out that wasn't necessary for surviving a tactile flood of epic proportions.

She vaguely heard herself repeatedly begging for "more" sprinkled with the occasional commands for "faster" and "harder."

Alyssa had never been one to talk during sex. She'd always thought it was because she wasn't one to lose her composure, even in the bedroom. Apparently she'd just never been given the proper inspiration.

Tempting Her Best Friend is the first book in Entangled's new Lovestruck line, and while I'm the first to admit I don't usually enjoy "category" romance, this book doesn't read category to me any more than Gina's other books do. It's a fun, flirty read with characters I related to, and their journey into love was supremely satisfying to this reader. You can check the book out today (because it releases today -- woot!) at Amazon for only $0.99. The sale price is ONLY FOR THIS WEEK, so get it while you can!

Don't forget, if you’d like to keep up-to-date with all the exciting things I've got going on these days -- besides taking time out to read great books! -- be sure and sign up for my newsletter. I'm not quite as funny as Gina, but I do promise man candy that will make you smile. ;)

~ Ella

Those Who Walk Beside You

My first published book comes out on Tuesday. Dirty Little Secret will release from Loose Id, and it's one of the most exciting moments of my career as an author, one of those "firsts" I'll remember for the rest of my life. And it wouldn't have happened without the people who walk beside me in this writing life.

I've been blessed to have one very important influence in my life as an author beside me since the moment I was conceived. My twin sister, Dani Wade, didn't look at me funny when I spent some of our teenage years writing stories. She went to college with me, almost all the same classes even, earning identical degrees in English Literature. She has loved me and allowed me to lean on her when life got in the way and I was trying to find myself, to grow and discover who I really was -- heck, when I was just trying to keep my head above water sometimes! And when I followed her on this path to writing and sent her my first novel, she didn't poo-poo the idea or put down my skill or jump down my throat about crowding into what had been "her" area of expertise for so long.

She encouraged me. She taught me. She still serves as guide and mentor and critique partner and plotting partner and accountability partner and so much more. I would not be where I am today without her. When I think of my best friend, it has always been her, and I can't thank her enough for all she has meant in my life. I love you, sis! You have given me so much; I can't express how much you mean to me.

I was also blessed a couple of years ago (God, has it really been that long?) to meet an amazing writer who has been a source of encouragement to me on a leg of this journey that has involved a lot of rejection, frustration, and confusion. Gina L. Maxwell came into my life when I sent her an e-mail out of the blue one day in response to an old ad for a critique partner she'd posted online. I didn't even know if she'd answer me, but she did, and we struck up a friendship. We've only managed to meet twice in "real" life, but I have learned a lot from this friend. She is something I definitely am not -- outgoing, lol! She connects with people, with readers in a way I don't know if I ever can (she has a gift, let me tell ya!). I admire the way the most beautiful writing just flows from her fingertips, the just-right turn of phrase, the totally HOT alpha males she can create. But most of all I admire how genuine she is. She's all out there, and gives of herself generously to readers and friends alike. She's the one who read Dirty Little Secret and said, "I love this book! But girlfriend...that ending? Uh, no, it's gotta go!" :) So it did. This book would not have sold without her honesty and her encouragement. Thanks, girlie! I'm grateful we were born at a time when becoming friends didn't rely on living close together, because I wouldn't want my life to lack your spark. ;)

Writing is a journey. It doesn't happen overnight, and (hopefully) it doesn't end with the publishing of a single book. To be an author, you have to be in it for the long haul, and I am. But as much as I have the drive to do what I love, my family doesn't love writing! They have their own loves, but guess what? They get dragged along behind my job, just like all our families have to deal with the peculiarities of our jobs. But they have stepped up to support me in every way they can. My two kids ask about how my books are going, do their best not to interrupt when I'm on a deadline, step up to help out when I'm in a crunch and need extra hands to get everything done. My husband is...amazing. I know many authors whose husbands do not support their writing, who get jealous of the time this work takes despite the fact that those same husbands get to do the jobs they want to do. My husband has a demanding job, but he doesn't begrudge me the pursuit of my dream. He doesn't complain that my work makes me as busy as him at times. He doesn't give me a hard time when I disappear for hours with my computer and my characters and leave him holding the responsibility for the household. We work together to make our family all it can be, and he gives my work the same respect I give his. I could not ask for more when it comes to a life mate. I am truly blessed with my children and my husband. They "get" me in a way many writers are not gifted with in their family. Thank you so much, guys. Thank you for enduring the fast-food dinners, the distraction when I'm off in my own world, the stress when I'm trying to meet a deadline. I love you all more than I can say. I can only pray I support your dreams as much as you have supported mine.

On Tuesday, when Dirty Little Secret is released, it will have my name on the cover. The words inside will be mine (well, along with suggestions from my editor -- thanks, Rory!). But in reality, it wasn't just me that wrote this book. It was me, and all the people who walk beside me, every day, every step. They'll walk beside me during this special moment and hopefully many more. They say it takes a village to raise a child; maybe it takes a village to raise and support an author as well. I know I'm very thankful for mine.