Tabby's Pride blog tour and giveaway starts here!

Hi and welcome to the first stop in my Tabby's Pride blog tour. Tabby comes out on May 18 from Amber Quill so I thought I'd make the rounds before I set him free.

This will be my first release that is part of a PAX collection with Amber Quill—that means you can buy all 5 titles in the Purrfect Tales Collection for a reduced price. 

I'm feeling a little humbled at being associated with the other authors in this group of cat shifter stories - Sean Michael, Deirdre O'Dare, A.J. Llewelyn, D.J. Manly, and Carolyn Valdez. They're all fabulous authors. Make sure you check them out. If you click the Purrfect Tales link, it will take you to the collection.

~*~*~

Now back to Tabby's Pride - here's the blurb. 

Levi is ready to do anything to make his rock star—and hopefully, personal—dreams come true.

Levi Tabberton has dreamed of being a rock star ever since his brother's best friend, Alexander, showed him his guitar when he was young. But becoming a member of his boyhood crush's band, Lion's Pride, is even more important.

Growing up, Levi emulated Alexander Morrison and, years later, his feelings remain unchanged when he auditions for the band. Xan is laid-back, caring, gorgeous, and takes Levi under his wing—paw. But Levi's guilt and insecurity hold him back from letting Xan see the real him.

Levi needs to prove himself worthy of the band and deserving of Xan's attention, but the lengths he's gone to have left him reeling with anxiety and exhaustion. Levi's not sure how much longer he can pull off the charade he's been acting out to reach his goals and to keep Xan's affections.

Has he made the right choice or will his dreams fade in a catastrophe of lies and uncertainty?

~~Buy Link—All ebook formats will be available at a sale price on May 18th from Amber Quill. It will be available later through Amazon on other third party sites. ~~

~*~*~

This will be the main page and I'll link all the other stops here once they've become live. Some of those posts will find me talking about rock stars and shifters, waxing poetic about being an emotional writer, talking about photo inspiration, and answering very in-depth interview questions. And you can enter the giveaway at each one as well. So make sure you come along for the ride. I'll see you there. ;)

The tour runs from May 12-20 and I'm offering three prizes—2 ebook copies of Tabby's Pride, as well as a $10.00 gift card from Amazon. You can enter by clicking the Rafflecopter link, plus earn extra entries by commenting on this post—make sure you comment with your email address. Thanks for stopping by.

~*~*~

Excerpt from Tabby's Pride

Levi inhaled a big breath through his nose and leaned back against the cool concrete wall. The advertisement hadn’t been anything special, but it was very specific: Lead guitarist with panthera-leo mutator tendencies wanted. Levi knew the shifter classification, but he also knew he had no intention of making the band send him home before they heard what he could do. At least he hoped not.

“Okay, Levi. You’re on. Break a leg, dude.”

Levi was unceremoniously shoved through the intimidating black door. It banged shut behind him with a resounding echo that could have woken the dead, figuratively of course. The point was, it was fucking loud. He took a few steps, then another big inhale before he turned to face the table in the middle of the room.

“Hey. Levi, right?”

He couldn’t believe he was there, couldn’t believe he was standing in front of goddamn Lion’s Pride. The three hotter-than-hell members sat in a row behind the table, the top cluttered with papers, pens and water bottles—all of them staring directly at Levi.

Don Jorgensen was first, his spiky, platinum hair painted in a multitude of funky splashes of color that Levi knew glowed in the dark when he was behind his drum kit. He was over six feet and built, with a plethora of piercings dotting his face, many matching the strange silver-hue of his eyes.

At the other end of the table, Kevin Brown leaned back in his chair. He was Australian with the sexiest accent ever, a head of wild blond hair, and he was a damn good bass player, too. Levi had memorized the list of songs he’d co-written for Lion’s Pride, as well as all the instruments he could play and the A-list celebrities he escorted around town—both female and male. Kevin wasn’t the most popular band member, but he was the one most widely known for his sexual appetite. Had Levi not already been totally gone on another, he would have had strong images of Kevin on his knees, even stronger than the ones trying to push through right now.

The middle seat was taken up by the heart and soul of the band, Alexander—Xan—Morrison. Levi snuck a peek from under the brim of his hat, letting the image of the lead singer settle in his brain. Xan’s hair was longer than his bass player’s, almost identical in its golden color with streaks of dark here and there. It fell in sexy roped braids around his face and over his shoulders.

Just being in the same room as him made everything that much more real for Levi.

Xan was a god among gods, at least in all of Levi’s fantasies. He wasn’t as tall as his buddies, but he was broader across the shoulders. His body wasn’t overly muscled, but he filled out his pale blue T-shirt in ways that jolted Levi’s dick inside his pants.

He nearly bent double when waves of anxiety and fear twisted and turned his gut inside out in a tangent of nauseating movement. He watched, waited, as Xan tilted his head, tapping a pen against his full lips, the determined yet tired look in his eyes a silent, shouting question in Levi’s head. “Don’t I know you?”

Levi forced his gaze away before adjusting his hat and setting his guitar case on the floor beside him. He shuffled his feet in hopes of soothing the electric nerves zapping him from head to toe, and even more so, to adjust the sudden tightness in his pants. He’d swear his dick had gone from zero to eighty in the time it took to walk across the room. It pulsed and pressed against the uncomfortable zipper of the denim as aching desire took up residence with all his other current maladies. Talk about the perfect day to not go commando.

What the hell were they waiting for? Was torture an actual part of the audition or did the band just take some sick pleasure from seeing people sweat and crumble? And for God’s sake, why was it so damn hot in there?

“Levi, right? Cool name, bro.” He was drawn from his impatient internal rant by the smooth Australian accent. “But what’s with the hat, man? Bad hair day?” Laughter followed and Levi had to admit the bass player’s voice was sexy even when it was making fun of him.

“Um, yeah. Sorry about that.”

Xan smiled up at Levi, his startling turquoise eyes lined expertly with black kohl. He looked amused, but a little tired. “I hope you’ve brought your A-game, kid, because we’ve had a long day.” Levi buzzed with his words, his voice so familiar yet so far removed from memory he couldn’t be entirely sure it was a memory at all.

Don spoke next, his voice a booming echo in the empty rectangular room. “Just ignore the grumpy bastard. Tell us about yourself, Levi.”

“I um…” He paused to clear his throat, forcing his voice down an octave. It wasn’t comfortable on his throat, but felt necessary. “I’m from Bakersfield. Been playing since I was ten years old.”

“You with a band now?”

“Until four months ago.”

“Fired?”

Levi quickly shook his head. “Mutual break-up. Too many egos fighting over too much crap.” Levi bit his tongue when he realized he might have said too much. “Sorry.”

Xan leaned forward on the table, his head cocked to the right as he stared unblinkingly at Levi. His braids fell perfectly around his face as he frowned.

Levi lowered his head again, tugging on his cap until he could barely see anything.

Dammit. Everything was going to hell. Levi could just feel it in the rolling stress of his muscles, the muddled flailing of his thoughts, and the rapidly growing haste of the blood running through his veins.

“Levi?” Kevin was talking to him again and Levi recognized that he was acting like a big dumb idiot. “I asked if you were one of those egos.”

“Um, no. I’m good with just going with the flow.” What a stupid thing to say.

“You look really familiar to me. Have we met before?” Xan gazed unblinkingly at him.

Levi shifted a little more in his stance, shaking his head and licking across his suddenly parched lips.

“Can you take the hat off, man?”

Kevin’s accent interrupted the flow of Xan’s words. “Since when are we basing this on looks, Xan? It’s an audition, not goddamn Grindr.”

Xan whispered in his ear, but it was loud enough for Levi to hear as well. “There’s just something about him.”

“Okay,” Kevin said through clenched teeth. “How about taking the hat off for a sec, mate? That okay?”

Levi’s heart dropped into his stomach and the menagerie settled there, immediately attacking. Raising a hand to his head, he gripped the brim between two fingers and tugged it off. His long, black bangs slipped over his eyes, and he habitually pushed them aside.

“You look just like…”

~*~*~

(Please know if you choose the Leave Comment option on the Rafflecopter

but don't leave a comment, that entry will be deleted. Thanks.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Links for other stops

(to be filled in as available)

May 13 - L.Dean Pace-Frech

May 14 - Jade Crystal

May 15 - Joyfully Jay

May 16 - Piper Vaughn

May 17 - Cheekypee Reads & Reviews

MAY 18 - RELEASE DAY!

May 18 - Rainbow Gold Reviews

May 19 - Parker Williams

May 19 - Sue's Reveals & Promotions

May 20 - GGR Reviews