The extracts and snippets for my published books and new titles will be added here on the appropriate days according to the Advent Calendar.

Day 7: Extract From The Alpha Highwayman

Kit’s POV

After leaving the omega on the road, Kit and Eclipse had headed north, but as they rounded each corner, the alpha reined in the horse and stared back at the way they had come. I have left part of myself with him.

Each dawn and dusk, the alpha gazed upward and wondered if Quill was looking at the same patch of sky. Countless times, he made to turn back but reasoned he would be no mate to the omega if he were swinging from a tree. Lifting one sleeve, he ran his eyes over his mate’s lips, stamped on his forearm in blackberry juice. You are always with me, Quill.

The pair kept to the back roads away from towns and villages and only traveled after sundown. But as they trotted around a bend or galloped over a stream, he expected a sheriff or bailiff to be lying in wait as he himself had done on so many evenings.

Kit spent the autumn, winter and the early spring hiding on a windswept moor, living off the money he had taken from Quill. He rented a small cottage and spent the long months sitting by the fire picturing the omega’s face in the flames as sorrow seared his body. With his head in his hands, he relived his time with Quill from the moment he opened the carriage door to when he rode off the following morning.

“I should have stayed,” he shouted, not for the first time, and his voice echoed around the small room. Bottles of ale and rum dulled his pain until dawn, when he fell into a dreamless sleep, only to repeat the process again once the sun set.

The alpha had been alone since his omega father’s death, apart from brief interludes where he fucked omegas in brothels or fancy houses. But the deep ache of loneliness that slithered inside him and kept him captive had the nobleman wondering if he was headed for the grave. Is this what they mean by dying of a broken heart? The blackberry stain on his arm had faded, and with it the alpha’s hopes of being reunited with his mate.

Late one evening as he chugged rum, and the tiny room with a bed, table, chair and fireplace swayed before his eyes, Kit chastised himself for accepting Quill’s excuse about his father. Any other alpha would have bound and gagged him and ignored his bleating about responsibility. Inwardly, Kit seethed at taking His Lordship at his word.

The alcohol preyed on his insecurities and led him to suspect his mate had misled him. One night as he threw ale down his throat, the alpha’s fist slammed on a small wooden table, and it collapsed with shards and splinters exploding over the dirty stone floor. Broken and with little purpose—just like me.

He staggered to bed yelling Quill’s name in a drunken haze, but by the morning, with his head pounding from the previous night’s drinking, his temper mellowed, and he whispered to his mate to forgive him.

Day 13: Extract From The Rogue’s Baby

Nate’s POV

Vulcan carefully stepped over the rotting boughs that covered the narrow, overgrown path. A jumble of green, brown and gray blurred together, and Nate ducked his head when low-hanging branches draped their limbs over the track. As the horse’s hooves paced and crunched over the pine needles, they released a crisp fragrance that reminded Nate of being curled up in Mrs Markham’s kitchen when she made delicious, buttery toffee.


He sighed, wishing he were back in Longmead Hall with the cook spoiling him and Frederick hovering over him while he sat painting in the summer house. He longed to hear Eleanor shooing her brother away and then nattering with her about Frederick’s childhood. But thinking of the duke and his sister had Nate fuming after their argument.


The omega wondered if their life would ever return to the easy-going, playful camaraderie of the early days after his and the duke’s bonding. While the alpha had been taken aback at the swiftness of his mate’s pregnancy, and could be overbearing, he had nurtured and protected Nate since he had planted his seed inside him. Now with the burden of their safety weighing on him, Frederick was almost unrecognizable. 


Frederick, the duke.


Frederick, the alpha.


Frederick, the landowner.


Not Freddie the loving mate and father-to-be.


Nate stung with indignation and inwardly seethed as he recalled Frederick’s harsh words and it reminded him of his father. No, he is nothing like Papa. The late marquis was a mean drunkard whose temper tantrums terrified his family and the servants, and everyone tiptoed around him hoping to not cause an outburst.

Day 17 Extract From The Alpha’s Game

Theo’s POV

The alpha paced in front of the hotel entrance while he waited for Oliver to arrive. He’d not seen the omega since the day they mated and his stomach was doing backflips as he scanned the crowds. You’re a coward, Theo. The alpha berated himself for not picking the phone or going to the omega’s house. But no, you had to fumble through each day refusing to make a decision. 


After waking up the morning after they bonded, the alpha had struggled with what had happened and feared he’d lost his best friend. Their relationship had always been one of equals—more or less. How will that dynamic change now we’re bound to one another? Gazing at his mate sleeping beside him in the rumpled graying sheets, he feared their mating would quash Ollie’s personality.


He’d gotten dressed and snuck out of the apartment. He spent an hour at a tea shop doing little except checking his watch and wondering if Oliver was awake while sucking the finger where the omega had bitten it.


Afterwards he wandered to the park opposite the yum cha restaurant. The leaves and branches that provided little shade over the hard concrete were still. Maybe’s Ollie’s popo was right. The winds were creating mischief. The alpha observed old men playing Chinese chess until he summoned enough courage to go home.


The omega had left. Theo searched for a note but found nothing. That’s fine. We both need to process this. I’ll call him later.


But as the sun set and the alpha headed home after work, the omega had not contacted his mate. Mate! I’ll never get used to saying that word. It’s so weird.

Day 19 Extract: The Omega’s Scorching Hot Christmas

Dan’s POV

“Hey!”
Huh? Am I late for work? Feels like I just went to sleep.
Something nudged his foot.
“Is that you, Sophie?” You’re supposed to be staying with Mike for Christmas. The omega’s former college roommate had a cocker spaniel the same age as Sophie and had offered to take her for the holidays. “Come here, little girl.”
“Hey you.”
Dan groaned as the sun tapped on his eyelids and tried to peek underneath. “I don’t want to. Let me go back to sleep.”
A towel flicked over his chest, and he opened one eye and squinted at the dark shape outlined against the brilliant, blue sky. “Where am I?”
“Are you drunk?”
Am I? The omega’s head was woozy and his dry mouth had him fumbling for the water bottle beside him. “I-I don’t think so.”
“You remind me of a lobster that’s been stuck in boiling water.”
“I do?” What’s he talking about? Dan rubbed his eyes but only succeeded in getting sand in them. “Ouch! Shit.” The gritty granules scratched his eyeballs, and he grabbed the corner of the towel and brushed them off his face.
“Jesus! Didn’t your parents teach you about sun sense?”
“Ummm, maybe. We don’t get many sunny days where I come from.” Daniel blinked and prying open one watery eye, peered at the hulking shape standing near his feet.

Day 23 Extract From The Omega’s Triumph

Jake’s POV

Hours later, Jake stood on the deck of a boat as it made its way along the river. In the city center, the water was clear, but by the time it reached the factories, it was little more than sludge. He grimaced at the stench and thought of how he’d told Liam he used to jog by the river and walk in the park during his free time. I fibbed. I was never allowed to go as far as the water and there were no parks nearby.


“Ready? Holding hands with Nora, the omega stared into the blackness that was the river.


“Not really. Can we…?”


The beta yanked him forward, and the two plunged into the freezing water. 
“Ahhh ahhh!” Jake let go of Nora’s hand as he sank below the surface, his hands flailing. Which way is up? He kicked and as his lungs screamed at him, he clawed his way forward.


But as the water crushed his chest, an image of his mate and daughter floated in front of him. He flung out a hand but he couldn’t grasp them. They waved and beckoned him. “Come on. Don’t give up,” the pair mouthed.


I—I can’t.


But as the omega’s body slumped, and he slipped lower into the depths, Liam’s voice whispered in his head, “Do this for me. For our daughter. And for you, my love. Live!”


Jake flung out his arms and crawled through the water with his feet fluttering underneath. As his fingers broke the surface, and then his head, he gulped mouthfuls of air and a hand dragged him to the river bank. He lay on his stomach, his chest heaving, and wept.


Nora stroked the omega’s drenched hair. “You made it, Jake.”


I want my mate and baby. I can’t do this without them.