November's Featured Authors
Maggie Eliot
Katharine Sweet
After spending 25 years performing, writing, teaching, and founding programs in improv and sketch comedy, Maggie Eliot turned her creative attention toward writing what she loves to read—romance. With a BFA in acting, a decade of playwriting, and having performed in every type of venue from black boxes to cruise ships, Maggie brings a wide variety of experience to her passion for writing RomComs with spice and laughs. She’s a proud member of the Greater Detroit Romance Writers. She won a Wilde Award (Detroit theatre awards) for best new script in 2013, a Put Your Heart in a Book award from New Jersey Romance writers and the Maggie Award from the Georgia Romance Writers. In 2021 she was selected as a mentee in RWA’s RAMP program, having the great fortune to work closely with her mentor, New York Times best seller Annika Martin. Maggie’s debut novel Humor Me is the first in the Detroiters In Love series.
I’m the typical fall-loving girl, please give me cool nights, falling leaves, hoodies, and hot caramel apple cider (However, I am in the 'pumpkin spice is not for me' crowd). I grew up in Onondaga, but now I live in Leslie and while I love travelling the quiet of a mid-Michigan small town draws me home. I'm constantly learning about different cultures and experiences, seeing how empathy and community are the things that unite us. If you meet me at a book event, you'll hear me happily yapping away about my books and characters. If I'm quiet, I'm either asleep or hyper-focused on my newest project (or the one that's about to go to the editor). The triple Virgo in me loves spreadsheet organization, but the rest of me is kind of joyful chaos gremlin.
I’ve loved to read and write since I was a child, which stems from a little escapism and a lot of listening to characters “talking” in my head. I'm powered by caffeine, hockey, nerd culture, giving gifts, and just a splash of spite. I've been telling stories for as long as I can remember and I love the way stories can open you up to new thoughts and ideas. Admittedly, I've always been a fan of horror and suspense and reading in that genre gave me an affinity for complex characters and complicated storylines. I studied theater in college and I feel like it sharpened my wit and taught me how to write dialogue in a way that draws readers into my stories. I want people to enjoy my writing and find themselves in my books.
J.G. Gates
J. G. Gates (also writing as J. Gabriel Gates) is the author of fantasy, horror, and sci-fi books, including Dragons and Aces, the Luck Gods Series, The Lamplighters, The Sleepwalkers, and Blood Zero Sky. He is also co-author of The Tracks Series, a YA contemporary fantasy trilogy.
After receiving his B.A. in theater from Florida State University, Gates moved from Michigan to Los Angeles, where he acted in a dozen national TV commercials and wrote screenplays that were optioned by Hollywood producers. He is an alum of Spalding University’s MFA in writing program and has taught college writing at Kellogg Community College and Olivet College. He has also worked as a ghostwriter and editor.
Gates is a dad of three and a city council representative in his hometown of Marshall, Michigan. When not writing books, he works as the executive director of a prominent regional arts organization. He also enjoys live storytelling and has appeared on stage at The Moth.
November's Featured Books
Imagine a sexy, notoriously romance-dodging, workaholic US Senator finding a seat among the audience of your five-dollar improv show. Even more baffling—this governmental hottie has been secretly fanboying on you for over a year. Well, that's what happens to Jennifer "Pal" Palcoski. And once she locks eyes with Mason Weller, she can't deny her overwhelming insta-crush. With his breathtaking good looks, polished charisma, and power-lunch lifestyle, the Senator is nothing like Pal’s usual slacker boyfriends.
And Pal is nothing like the powerful, decisive go-getter. She's an unconventional and irreverent comedian, sharply contrasting the poised political elite. Despite their differences, he's enchanted by her wit and charm and wastes no time in pursuing her. So much so, by the end of their first date, he's determined to leave his bachelor days behind.
However, as their worlds collide so do the realities of their vastly different lifestyles. His frequent out of town travel and the invasive media his career attracts threaten their fragile romance. But when Pal becomes the target of an online troll turned terrifying stalker, everything changes.
He's won the hearts of the voters...will his campaign to win hers be triumphant?
If you enjoy an opposites attract story with a strong female main character, an upstanding and caring male main character who falls first, insta-crush with spice, some suspense, top notch banter, and a whole lot of humor, check out this laugh-out-loud romcom.
Russell Hulston really knows how to screw up. Five years ago, he landed in prison after beating up the wrong guy in a bar fight. Recently paroled and on house arrest, he starts a new job at the local hospital cafeteria, searching for a fresh start. Sitting in his car in the summer sun, waiting for his first shift to start, Russ notices a single mom in distress. Despite her feisty son's best efforts, Russ intervenes and carries the woman into the hospital, having no clue how much this one decision will alter his life.
Aster Reign desperately wants to start over. She finally left her emotionally abusive husband with her son in tow, and the last thing she needs is to end up in the hospital. But when the sarcastic, soft-spoken tattooed man from the cafeteria offers her safety and shelter for the summer, she jumps at the chance to find some stability for herself and her son.
If anyone doesn't belong in a trailer park, it's Aster. Yet, somehow, she and her son seem to fit right in, building treehouses, learning to cook, and making friends. Russ starts thinking that maybe he can do something truly meaningful for once, that maybe he finally found where he belongs.
Can this trailer park be safe harbor that allows them to overcome the ghosts of their pasts?
If you love found family, forced proximity, and watching two characters find their way to each other in spite of the utter blindness to what's right in front of them...this cozy romance is for you.
A dragon rider. A biplane pilot. Two enemy nations, one epic love story.
Essa may be the queen’s daughter, but she’s the lowest ranked of all the Skrathan—the corps of elite dragon riders tasked with defending her kingdom. When her sister is killed, Essa has a chance to compete in a deadly challenge to replace her as leader of the Skrathan. But because she has only one arm, no one believes she can win.
When a handsome stranger from the enemy nation washes up on the shore, he offers to train Essa in the ways of flying. It soon becomes clear he’s much more than the reporter he seems to be. Unbeknownst to Essa, he is the famed Silver Wraith, the greatest ace in history, who crash-landed in enemy territory. Essa can’t trust him—but he seems to be the only one who believes in her.
As the final challenge approaches, the attraction between Essa and Kit becomes unbearable. And malevolent factions within the court are watching and plotting. Will Essa win the challenge and claim the crown, or will her desire for Kit bring ruin upon her—and the entire kingdom?
Dragons and Aces is an enemies-to-lovers romantasy series featuring a morally gray love interest, mistaken identity, court intrigue, and spice. It is for readers 18 years old and up.