Category Archives: Romance

‘Tis the season to be haunting!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! And this year I even found a black T-shirt with that quote and witches and pumpkins and bats, etc., in orange on it. I bought one for Morgana for her birthday, too, because she has always been my partner in crime to go wandering through Michaels and Halloween stories cooing over things and singing that very phrase.

Related to this, I saw Crimson Peak last week, a movie I’d been slavering to see ever since reports came out that it wasn’t a horror movie, but a gothic. I love me some gothic. I eat up gothic novels with a spoon. I can’t stop thinking about Crimson Peak, and I’ll write something up about it soon-ish. I mostly loved it, but the wrong parts were wrong, and I want to see it again just to watch one particular arc because I wasn’t paying attention to it the first time ’round. When I told Ken I wanted to see it again, he said “For the setting?” and yes, I want to drool all over the costumes (which were, from what I’ve read, more period than I realized) and the houses, especially that house.

Because of the workshop I just came home from (see my last blog post), I’m behind in mentioning, pursuant to the season, I have several novels and short stories you might be interested in.

Although not as historically gothy as, say, Crimson Peak, What Beck’ning Ghost (romance) and Waking the Witch (mystery/women’s fiction) have old houses and ghosts and spookiness. Plus, What Beck’ning Ghost culminates in an All Hallow’s Eve ball, and Waking the Witch takes place in autumn, so they’re doubly season-appropriate.

WBG cover ebookTouch not the cat bot a glove…

The MacPherson family crest above the door gives Rachael de Young, genealogist and psychic, an unexpected chill. She doesn’t know that by crossing the threshold, her life will change forever. Because the MacPhersons are a family cursed by jealousy, betrayal, and fire….

Rachael grows closer to the truth even as she grows closer to the ghost of Jordan MacPherson, who died in the tragic fire…and could very well be the person sabotaging her research. But she must trust Jordan’s love in order to find the strength to face her own fears, break her one cardinal rule, and stop a madman before he can kill again.

wtw cover ebookWhat happens when four boys confess to the murder of a woman who died a hundred years ago…?

The violent encounter Rowan Everly survived in college jolted awake her psychic power to see past images while holding a related object. At the behest of a friend, she comes to the privileged prep school town of Millburn, New York, to investigate the current rape and murder, and hopefully clear her friend’s son’s name.

Rowan’s not sure she’s up to the task. Her deeply ingrained mistrust of men makes her question where her loyalties lie. The deeper she investigates, the less anything makes sense. The boys seem truly horrified by what happened—almost as if they hadn’t had control over it.

Her initial encounter with sheriff Toby Candusco isn’t pleasant for either of them. But his calm support of her, and his unwavering desire to see justice done, gives her the strength to not only face her fears, but to reexamine the core beliefs that shape who she is.

Only then can she face and destroy the real menace…and save everyone around her.

Short Fiction

My short-short contemporary fantasy story “The Pumpkin-Carving Contest” is in my collection Small Wonders: A Delightful Collection of Ten Short-Short Speculative Fiction Stories (it was originally published in Crossed Genres magazine).

Speaking of contemporary fantasy stories, how about the inconvenient haunting by “Some Old Lover’s Ghost”?

I’ve written a trifecta of stories about the Devil…all of which are funny:

Or if the spicier side of my writing is more to your bent, may I recommend “The Witch of Venice” by Andrea Dale. It includes a drink recipe…indulge and enjoy!

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A sweet little holiday romance

GivingNightCover webAlone in Glastonbury for the Winter Solstice, American Maggie misses her family, who doesn’t accept her pagan beliefs. Before she can accept herself and be open to love, she’ll have to give up something in the Solstice bonfire. A romantic short story about finding your heart.

“Giving to the Night” is a brand new piece of short romantic fiction, never before published!

Available in ebook format from these fine establishments:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords | AllRomanceEbooks | iBooks

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A Little Night Music back in print!

It’s finally back in print! ::tosses Styx confetti everywhere::

ALNM cover web

At seventeen, Hannah Montgomery tripped down the stairs into the arms of her favorite rock god, Nathaniel Fox. So she kissed him, of course. But Nate reluctantly said she was too young, Hannah swore that one day, she’d have him, just once.

Nine years later, when his career hits rock bottom, Nate needs Hannah’s PR talents and passion to get him back on top of the music world. Their vow of “just once” to get the lust out of their systems spills over into explosive sexual encounters hotter than anything Hannah ever fantasized about.

But Hannah’s job of making Nate a superstar again clashes with the image of a working girl on his arm—and worse, without Hannah by his side, the temptations of the road might send Nate back into a downward spiral.

Will their final song be a ballad of heartbreak or a chart-topping rocker about the power of true love?

Order from Amazon
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Available in ebook format from these fine establishments:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords |AllRomanceEbooks | iBooks

Reviews

“Dale’s story is a strong romance with a bit of angst and some well-executed character development. The characters engage in sexual antics, including consensual bondage and sex toys, and secondary characters help the plot develop.”
Romantic Times Book Review (4 stars), October 2007

Come celebrate with me on Facebook or Twitter! Wooh!

::tosses more confetti, rocks around the room::

The 7 meme

I was tagged to do this 7-7-7 me!me!, which involves going to the seventh page of your manuscript, counting down seven lines, and posting the next seven full sentences. I don’t usually do these, but this one seemed like fun. I’m not, however, tagging anyone else—writer-friends, if you’d like to participate, I look forward to reading your entries!

From urban fantasy Ghosted:

I did not know that acoustic tile ceiling.

Everything came into focus slowly, including my brain. I took in the IV—the source of the pinching—the whiteboard on the wall across from the foot of my bed with the date and time and “your nurse’s name is Jeannie”; the annoying puffs of air in my nose that turned out to be an oxygen feed; the streaking sunbeams that made me squint.

I felt kinda floaty, and yet my head hurt, which seemed unfair.

I’d learn later that I had a very nice private room in a wing of the hospital most people don’t even know about. The rich-and-famous wing. The spare-no-expenses wing.

From spicy romance Love, in Stitches (the “sequel” to Out of the Frying Pan, both written with Teresa Noelle Roberts under the name Sophie Mouette):

She was tempted to stop at Starbucks, a familiar one between the parking garage and Luscious Couture, but the usual barista didn’t know how to make proper sweet tea, and technically Luanna couldn’t even afford a bottle of water right now. Tap water for this girl, damn the contaminants, full steam ahead.

Tears prickled behind her eyes (where had she found the moisture?), but she fought them back, pressing her lips firmly together and straightening her back. Her parents wouldn’t approve of her getting hysterical in public, though they’d have different reasons for it. Daddy would remind her that she’d made the honorable choice, even if it was hard, and that meant there was no point in crying. He’d also recommend a bourbon and branch water once she got home to make the hard choice easier to swallow.

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Leave a Candle Burning: romantic fantasy

I’m not sure if this one is a romantic fantasy, or a paranormal romance, or… What do you think?

leave a candle cover webClaudia lives a vagabond life, crisscrossing the country doing research for a reality show about American myths and legends. Christmas finds her in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York, at a small hotel allegedly haunted by the Lady in White, who leaves a candle burning for her husband, lost in the snow. The ghost might not be real, but Claudia’s attraction to the mysterious Reese, who once lived in the Victorian house, definitely is. Will he be what it takes for Claudia to change her wandering ways?

“Leave a Candle Burning” originally appeared in Fantasy Adrift (Fiction River, 2014).

Available at many online retailers:
Kindle  |  Nook  |  Kobo  |  Omnilit  |  Smashwords
And coming soon from iBooks as well!

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Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess

Possessed, Undressed, and in a Mess sounds like the story of my life sometimes, but in fact it’s a brand new novel from my pen name Sophie Mouette (which is myself and the glorious Teresa Noelle Roberts).

I love this novel. There were times when one or both of us hated this novel, because it went through a lot of changes over the years (yes, years) as we worked on it on and off. We started it back when we wrote for Black Lace and Cheek, completely changing the tone of it a our editor’s request, and then the lines folded, and we had this idea that we loved, but weren’t sure what to do with.

We got busy with other projects, came back to it, tore it apart, threw out a bunch of stuff, and moved forward. Had long phone conversations about tone (is it erotica? erotic romance? spicy romance? We decided on spicy romance.) and the heart of the mystery (as usual, we started the book by adding way too many plot elements). Finished it, sent it to beta readers, got great comments that made us go back and tear some sections apart again.

But my favorite part was very early on in the process, during a phone call where we were bouncing ideas back and forth. I said something, Teresa built on that, I built on that, etc., until suddenly I felt an actual chill come over me as this crazy, different, no-idea-where-it-was-coming-from thought burst into my brain like a firework going off. And I said it out loud, and Teresa actually gasped, and said, “Oh, yes!” and we both laughed and laughed. I never would have come up with the idea if it hadn’t been for the back-and-forth brainstorming that lead to it. The meeting of creative minds. It’s what makes collaboration worth its weight in gold.

(No, I’m not going to say what the idea was. You’ll have to read the book, and see if you can figure it out.  😉  )

And without further ado, the book!

PUM cover webA séance gone wildly wrong leaves hotelier Angela Georgenes sharing her body with a randy Victorian ghost. Someone’s after a treasure allegedly hidden in the hotel and the ghost wants to tell Angela—but can only communicate when Angela’s on the verge of orgasm.

Talk about awkward.

Angela—and the ghost—are both hot for new handyman Tyler Woodruff, but is he a knight in a shining pickup or the thief? In truth, he is there under false pretenses: he’s a fortune hunter who liberates unappreciated artifacts. Distracted by Angela’s wicked imagination and uninhibited bedroom antics, he doesn’t want to fall in love with her any more than she does with him.

But admitting their true feelings is the only way the ghost can reveal the nature of the treasure—and the real threat.

It’s got some spicy scenes—fairly conventional ones for romance, I’d say—but the focus is on the romance and mystery. And it’s funny. Did I mention it’s funny?

Available in print at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and soon at other venues such as Powells and Bank of Books.

Available at many online retailers:
Kindle  |  Nook  |  Kobo  |  Smashwords

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Who am I today?

This question has come up in different forms: Why do I have so many pseudonyms? How do I find your non-erotic stuff/how do I tell the difference between your erotica vs non-erotic works?

Here’s a handy reference guide!

I have different pseudonyms because I write in different genres. It’s to help my readers easily find what they’re interested in. I also try very hard to be clear when I’m promoting something, what genre it’s in. If I say fantasy, I mean fantasy, not erotica. And so forth.

Dayle A. Dermatis – fantasy, science fiction, occasional non-fiction. I did sell one short, sweet romance story under this name, but it appeared in small presses a long time ago. When I put it up for sale as an e-book soon, I’ll use my sweet romance pseudonym (and if anyone is confused and buys the story and then realizes they’ve already read it, I’ll happily refund their money because if they’ve been a fan of mine for that long, they totally deserve it!).

Andrea Dale – erotica and erotic romance

Sophie Mouette – erotica and erotic romance co-authored with Teresa Noelle Roberts

Sarah Dale – spicy romance co-authored by with Sarah J. Husch

Kendra Wayne – erotica and erotic romance. An alternate name for Andrea Dale, really, for when I’m going to have two stories in the same anthology. Also the name I write under for Custom Erotica Source.

Andrea Loewen – romance, some with paranormal elements. There may be some sexual scenes, but if there are, they’re not full-on erotic. I haven’t yet sold anything under this name, but I have several things making the rounds.

All of my publications are listed on my Bibliography page, divided up by pseudonym with the genre noted.

Questions? Comments? Fire away!