Welcome to our Grand Finale celebrations for the amazing
Happy Thanksgiving!! Hopefully, you're spending some time with your families today. Thank you for being here with us.
We're taking a break from the turkey and fixings to bring you info on four more books by Leta Blake, two of which were written under the pen name Blake Moreno. We also have our author interview and one more chance to win one of Leta's books.
Shall we get started?
First up today, from the Heat Of Love series, Slow Heat
A lustful young alpha meets his match in an older omega with a past.
Professor Vale Aman has crafted a good life for himself. An unbonded omega in his mid-thirties, he's long since given up hope that he'll meet a compatible alpha, let alone his destined mate. He's fulfilled by his career, his poetry, his cat, and his friends.
When Jason Sabel, a much younger alpha, imprints on Vale in a shocking and public way, longings are ignited that can't be ignored. Fighting their strong sexual urges, Jason and Vale must agree to contract with each other before they can consummate their passion.
But for Vale, being with Jason means giving up his independence and placing his future in the hands of an untested alpha--as well as facing the scars of his own tumultuous past. He isn't sure it's worth it. But Jason isn't giving up his destined mate without a fight.
This is a stand alone gay romance novel, 118,000 words, with a strong happy ending, as well as a well-crafted, non-shifter omegaverse, with alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. Content warning for pregnancy loss and aftermath.
Excerpt:
One moment Jason had his arm around Xan, and the next his life as he knew it ended.
A raw, musky scent flooded Jason’s nose and throat, coating his mucous membranes. His eyes rolled up in his head as the scent drilled deep into his brain, awakening him with a soul-deep shiver. Pounding, urgent lust peeled his humanity away, leaving only animal instinct. His cock roared with blood. His body screamed with raw need and yearning.
Shrieks of shock barely registered in his pheromone-focused drive to get his hands and mouth on source of that mind-warpingly perfect scent. He grabbed his delicious-smelling omega, buried his face in the curve of his neck, and rutted his hips against him, growling as strong hands tried to pull him away.
His omega fought, shoving desperately, until Jason gripped his throat, stilling his struggles. He smelled his omega’s terror and confusion, rolling off him in waves of stench that nearly overpowered the sweet, musky aroma that had triggered Jason’s whirl of madness. Needing to touch skin, he tore at his omega’s clothing, his cock pulsing wetly in his pants, echoing the musky scent of slick slipping from his omega’s ass. He wanted to drown himself in that smell, rub it all over himself, die with his cock buried deep in his omega’s sweet ass and dripping with his omega’s slick.
His omega let loose a wild cry.
Jason released his hold on his omega’s throat, color and sound spinning around him, torn between comforting his terrified omega and lashing out in rage at the hands still trying to tug him away.
“Shh.” The hushing sound cut through the whirlpool of his mind. His omega gripped his hair and tugged at him, trying to meet his eyes. “Calm down now. Shh. I’ve got you. You’re all right.”
That voice.
Like honey and sand pouring over him, gritty and warm, sweet and itchy. Jason wanted to hear that voice every second of every day for the rest of his life. He wanted to strip this man until he was naked and pleading beneath him, begging for his cock and crying to carry Jason’s babies.
But hands kept grabbing at him, voices kept calling to him, and he was really starting to get pissed off.
“Let him go!” his omega snarled. “Or he’ll rip me to pieces, for fuck’s sake.”
“Jason, buddy. Not here.” Xan’s desperate voice rang in the air around him. “You need to calm down now. This isn’t how it’s supposed to work.”
Who gave a shit about supposed to? He had his omega right beside him, and he was never letting him go.
Xan put his hand carefully on Jason’s arm, and Jason growled at him, barely hearing his words. “You have to register first, contract with his family, or he can press assault charges. You know the rules. You need to calm down. Right now.”
Jason’s cells screamed to possess the man he held protectively in his arms and had backed up to the table. He wanted to kiss his omega’s pink, lush, gaping mouth. He wanted to rip his pants down and get his fingers drenched in the slick seeping from the man’s anus in readiness for Jason’s cock.
It was the fear in his omega’s arresting moss-green eyes that held Jason back more than Xan’s tugging grip, or his sensible words, or the strong arm of another alpha laid across Jason’s chest. More than the security guards hustling into the library with syringes at the ready to prick him with alpha sedative, more than the quelling lull of the drug rushing into his system as they reached him and jabbed those sharp points into his neck, arm, and thigh. No, it was the glint of terror in those beautiful, perfect, soft green eyes that made Jason stand down.
He couldn’t look away as his knees went weak and he collapsed onto the stretcher the security guards had rolled up to catch his fall. He held out his hand, a cold horror enveloping him as the room grew fuzzy and distant, like in a dream. Fingers took hold of his, and he blinked his eyes open again, grateful to see his omega holding his hand.
“Get his information,” Xan said to one of the guards harshly. “We’ll need it for his alpha’s parents.”
“Wolf-god,” the alpha standing next to Jason’s omega whispered. “How the hell…?”
Jason snarled at the man groggily, tried to lift up from the stretcher to tear the alpha’s eyes out for daring to speak to his omega when he was slick and opening for a cock. He’d rip the man’s eyes out and then tear his testicles to shreds. He’d kill him for looking at his omega, for smelling his aroma.
“Shh,” his omega soothed him. “He’s a friend.”
Jason didn’t like the sound of that, but his omega’s calming hand on his shoulder was almost as soothing as the alpha-sedative the guards had hit him with.
“How is this possible?” the other alpha asked, and Jason lunged again, but his omega stilled him by pressing him back onto the stretcher. “He can’t be old enough for you.”
“Apparently, he is, Urho,” his omega murmured, stroking his thumb soothingly against Jason’s wrist. Jason shuddered at the lush, velvet heat of his omega’s voice, and he offered up a grateful smile that felt like it was going to melt off his face and slide to the floor. His omega smiled back tentatively, his teeth white and straight, his eyes still glinting with fear. “It’s fine. Don’t say anything more right now.”
Jason tried to get a good look at his omega, but the world was hazing in and out now. He gripped his omega’s fingers and let his eyes fall closed, listening hard to what he could make out around him.
“Name and address where you can be reached for the next few days?” a security guard asked, and Jason peeled his eyes open to see the beta standing close, a notepad in hand, and a serious expression on his face.
“Vale Aman,” his omega said.
Vale.
Such a beautiful name. Jason’s heart constricted and released, a twisting ache that made him gasp.
Get the book:
Second in the series, Alpha Heat
A desperate young alpha. An older alpha with a hero complex. A forbidden love that can’t be denied.
Young Xan Heelies knows he can never have what he truly wants: a passionate romance and happy-ever-after with another alpha. It’s not only forbidden by the prevailing faith of the land, but such acts are illegal.
Urho Chase is a middle-aged alpha with a heartbreaking past. Careful, controlled, and steadfast, his friends dub him old-fashioned and staid. When Urho discovers a dangerous side to Xan’s life that he never imagined, his world is rocked and he’s consumed by desire. The carefully sewn seams that held him together after the loss of his omega and son come apart—and so does he.
But to love each other and make a life together, Xan and Urho risk utter ruin. With the acceptance and support of Caleb, Xan’s asexual and aromantic omega and dear friend, they must find the strength to embrace danger and build the family they deserve.
This gay romance novel by Leta Blake is the second in the Slow Heat universe. It’s 130,000 words, with a strong happy ending and a well-crafted, non-shifter Omegaverse. It features alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. No cheating. Content warning for brief sexual violence.
Excerpt:
“This is a big library,” Xan said, changing the subject, but not daring to broach the one he actually came to address. “Mostly science books, I guess?”
“Quite a few. But I have some literature in my collection too.”
“I’m more of a comics and nickel-novel type, myself.”
Urho’s lips quirked in the first evidence of a smile he’d shown since he’d first come in. “I have some of those as well.” He rose and walked over to a bookcase near the door, ran his finger along the spines, and then came away with a blue book as thick as two finger-widths. “Here, this one is from before your time, I’d bet. But you might enjoy it.”
Xan took the book as Urho returned to his seat on the sofa. He flipped it open and colorful images leapt forth, along with the usual comic cells and speech bubbles. He glanced back at the cover: Cervantes and Snail, a complete collection. “I’ve heard of this, but you’re right, I’ve never read it.”
“Take it with you. It was a favorite of Riki’s, but it’ll just molder here. You should enjoy it.”
Xan licked his lips, a breathless, strange feeling descending. He’d never heard Urho mention his omega’s name, but there was no doubt that Riki was the blond man in the portrait. He cleared his throat. “I wouldn’t want to take something special of his.”
“It shouldn’t go to waste. Take it.”
Xan nodded and tucked the book into the pocket of his jacket. It fit perfectly. “So,” he said, an unusual shyness creeping over him. He glanced up at Urho through his lashes, surprised to find his friend’s dark complexion had gone vaguely pink.
Was Urho also remembering how Xan had grown hard as he’d pressed his finger inside and moved it around? Xan’s own face flushed hot and his cock thickened against his thigh. “You must be wondering why I’m here.”
Urho attempted a real smile, white teeth against dark skin, and then sighed. “I’m just glad that you are. I’ve wanted to see you again. Needed to, really.”
Xan’s throat went dry. “Why’s that?”
“I’ve been thinking about your situation. Truth be told, I’ve thought of little else.”
Xan shifted miserably in his seat. His stomach churned.
Urho held up a hand. “I’m not going to lecture again. I want to understand your predicament.”
“No one can.”
“I want to try. You need this?”
“Most humans need sexual release,” Xan said defensively. “Not all, but most.”
“And your omega—”
“Doesn’t interest me.”
Urho cocked his head. “But what of his needs?”
Xan glanced away. “We have an agreement.” He wasn’t about to mention the truth about Caleb. That was Caleb’s secret to share if and when he wanted to.
“I see.”
But Xan could tell that Urho didn’t truly see.
“He has a lover?” Urho asked. “A beta, perhaps? Someone you find unthreatening to your relationship?”
Xan pushed out a breath. “I didn’t come here to talk about him.” Though he had, hadn’t he? In a way? The pills he wanted to ask Urho for were only necessary because of his obligation to Caleb. “I wondered if you’d prescribe something for me. Something for stamina.”
Urho frowned, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “Stamina? Sexual stamina?”
“Yes. I have a hard time keeping up with Caleb during his heats. There isn’t another one coming for a few months, but I want to be prepared. I heard there were new pills that allow alphas to last a long time and rebound more quickly.”
“He suffers from nympho—I mean, interminable heat?”
“No. The problem is me.”
Urho’s dark eyes narrowed. “Because what you want isn’t what Caleb offers,” he said quietly. “His pheromones don’t arouse you?”
“They do.” But the smell of Caleb in heat only made him crave being penetrated all the more. He’d been a mess during their first heat together. Horny and full of longing, unable to take care of Caleb’s suffering and unable to fulfill his own needs either. He dreaded it coming round again. He had nearly gone mad listening to Caleb’s cries of pain. “But not in the…right way.”
He shook off the veil of sickening guilt that dropped over him, focused on Urho again, and said, “I need help. It’s hard for me to admit—even harder to ask—but you know our situation better than most, and so I’m asking you. Please, help me.”
Urho’s body tensed, and he closed his eyes, taking a ragged breath. When his lids popped open again, Xan didn’t recognize staid, old-fashioned Urho in the wildness he saw in the depths there. “I can give you the pills.”
“Thank you!”
“But I can offer more than that.”
Xan swallowed thickly. Was he going to suggest himself as an alpha surrogate for Caleb’s heat? He let out a shuddery breath, not sure what he hoped for, but signaling for Urho to continue.
“You can’t continue to see the man who hurt you.”
Xan groaned. “We’ve already—”
“Listen to me!” Urho commanded and Xan’s mouth snapped shut. “If you need this so badly, come to me for it.”
Xan gaped, taking in Urho’s pounding pulse, visible in the dark hollow at the base of his neck. He ran his gaze over Urho’s messy hair and his earnest—so intensely earnest—eyes. He sucked in a harsh breath. “What are you saying?”
“If you need—” Urho wiped a trembling hand over his mouth and then started again. “If you need help with your cravings, come to me instead of that man who abuses you.”
“Come to you for what?” Xan asked, blinking rapidly. “For a lecture? Tea? Medicine of some kind? What exactly do you plan to give me?”
“Sex. I’ll give you sex.”
Get the book:
When Leta is writing as Blake Moreno, the books tend to be a little darker. Set in a similar A/B/O non-shifter universe, we start off with Heat For Sale
Heat can be sold but love is earned.
In a world where omegas sell their heats for profit, Adrien is a university student in need of funding. With no family to fall back on, he reluctantly allows the university's matcher to offer his virgin heat for auction online. Anxious, but aware this is the reality of life for all omegas, Adrien hopes whoever wins his heat will be kind.
Heath—a wealthy, older alpha—is rocked by the young man's resemblance to his dead lover, Nathan. When Heath discovers Adrien is Nathan’s lost son from his first heat years before they met, he becomes obsessed with the idea of reclaiming a piece of Nathan.
Heath buys Adrien’s heat with only one motivation: to impregnate Adrien, claim the child, and move on. But their undeniable passion shocks him. Adrien doesn't know what to make of the handsome, mysterious stranger he's pledged his body to, but he’s soon swept away in the heat of the moment and surrenders to Heath entirely.
Once Adrien is pregnant, Heath secrets him away to his immense and secluded home. As the birth draws near, Heath grows to love Adrien for the man he is, not just for his connection to Nathan. Unaware of Heath's past with his omega parent and coming to depend on him heart and soul, Adrien begins to fall as well.
But as their love blossoms, Nathan's shadow looms. Can Heath keep his new love and the child they've made together once Adrien discovers his secrets?
Heat for Sale is a stand-alone m/m romance by Leta Blake, writing as Blake Moreno. Infused with a du Maurier Rebecca-style secret, it features a well-realized omegaverse, an age-gap, dominance and submission, heats, knotting, and scorching sex scenes.
Excerpt:
Adrien paced by the window of his dorm room with his cell phone pressed to his ear. He’d known it was coming. Every omega did, but somehow between his day-to-day studies and his research into Hontu tribal materials, he’d managed to forget about it most of the time. But Ron Finch, his university’s professional matcher, had removed any ambiguity about the matter. With a firm and undeniable voice, he’d made it quite clear: the time had come for Adrien to sell his first heat.
