Today I am so pleased to welcome Cooper Davis to Joyfully Jay. Cooper has come to talk to us about her latest release, A King Undone (Noble Pleasures Book 1). She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving Cooper a big welcome!
Years ago, I went through a season where I stopped writing and focused on my profession. I told myself, “That was another time for you. You’ve set it aside now.” But as a friend of mine later told me, when I once again tried to walk away from my creative self, “Good luck with that. You’re not going to be able to stop the ideas if you tried.” She just laughed. Without getting too woo-woo, this friend is a psychic and paranormal investigator. I looked at her like she was crazy.
So I stopped writing four years ago, burnt out from writing under two pen names, raising my kids and so forth. But much like that time years ago, the ideas always bleed back in when you’re a writer. It’s like trying to maintain a levee that just won’t hold, and the words and the characters ultimately overwhelm you. I kept telling my friend and myself, “I’m done! I can’t write anymore.”
But then…ah, muse, you little strumpet, you came singing your siren song. And oddly enough? Once I’d taken time to refill my well, to creatively regroup, I suddenly found myself working on something utterly different than anything I’d written before. Thus enters, A KING UNDONE: THE NOBLE PLEASURES BOOK ONE. Muse managed to stealthily whisper this new book in my ear, despite all my insistence that I wasn’t going to write again.
It happened like this: last summer, I was looking for old deleted scenes from a much older series. And then, oddly enough, I discovered an entire novella (or most of one) that I’d saved in the wrong place and had forgotten about completely. It was a ménage, about a young prince and his bedroom tutor, and how the newlyweds fell in love with the man they’d hired to teach them the ways of love. The idea, when it originally came to me, was always something of a guilty pleasure. And when I read it again last year, it wasn’t a story I wanted to publish, but as I lay by the pool on vacation, I thought, “You know, the prince’s FATHER really intrigues me.” He was a man who’d been denied a youthful love for another young man, because he was made to marry a female and sire heirs. And I thought, “What if…I wrote the king’s story? What if he hired a bedroom tutor from that same temple?”
The backstory novella won’t ever be published because it became obsolete in the current framework (no ménage for King Arend’s son! He’s too in love with Prince Garrick!). But what intrigues me in this process is the way ideas are born. How when they come from the most unexpected places within us, we just have to listen to the whisper. And obviously I now stand very corrected by my friend who told me, “You couldn’t stop the stories if you tried.” She was more than right, and I’m so glad because I’m having a huge blast with this new series.
If you love kings and princes and fairy tales…and you love the idea of those men falling in love and openly courting? Then give A KING UNDONE a try.
Blurb
Noble Pleasures, Book 1
In a world where gentlemen openly court and marry fellow noblemen, the threat of scandal still lurks behind every velvet drape for kings and princes. Such has been the fate for King Arend Tollemach, forced to sacrifice his heart on the altar of regal duty.
Now that his wife is dead and his royal obligations are at an end, he’s ready to take an unthinkable risk. King Arend seeks a concubine from Temple Sapphor, a secretive, gated world where he will finally shed his virginity—as least as it pertains to making love to a man.
Julian never thought he’d spend ten years on the temple shelf, passed over again and again. Just when he despairs of ever finding placement in a nobleman’s bed, Arend walks into the temple. A lonely eyed, beautiful king who could easily steal his heart.
Arend discovers he has no problem opening his bed to the exquisite concubine. The problem lies in finding the key to his long-shuttered heart.
Warning: Contains a beautiful, virgin king desperate to bed another man, a concubine who fantasizes about being claimed and revered by a strong monarch, and a sea of scandal set against a sensual, palatial backdrop.
Bio
Cooper Davis first discovered the allure of m/m storytelling when she watched My Beautiful Launderette with a college roommate. Later, her passion for stories about men falling in love and finding their HEA together was stoked by online slash fiction. After years as an avid fan of m/m and slash, Cooper finally decided to try her hand at penning her own stories about same-gender romance and love.
A voracious reader across all subgenres of m/m fiction, Cooper is particularly fond of courtships set against the breathless backdrop of scandal and intrigue found in period drawing rooms. She is thrilled that her first historically themed m/m romance series debuts this December with A KING UNDONE (Samhain).
Giveaway
Cooper has brought a copy of A King Undone, plus a $10 Amazon gift card to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on at Wednesday, December 31st at 11:59 pm EST.
- By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
- Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
- Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
- By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
- Readers may only enter once for each contest. Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
- Void where prohibited by law.
I actually have this on my kindle from the library right now. I am so intrigued by the blurb and the backstory. I would love to have my own copy so I don’t have to worry about the due date or checking it out again to reread!
A friend recommended me this book, thanks for the chance to win!
This sounds like a wonderful read. I’ll have to add this to my TBR!
I’d love to read this, sounds great, thank you.
This sounds really good and different from what I’ve been reading lately. Thank you for the chance to win a copy!
Looking forward to reading this! Thanks for a shot at winning a copy.
Please count me in. Thanks.
Please count me in too. I already have the book and plan to read it over the weekend. 🙂
Sounds like a good read.
I like alternative universe stories and this one sound good.
I have seen this one on a few blogs and the more I see the more I want it.
Really looking forward to reading this! It sounds great. Thanks for the post and the chance to win!
This sounds really fantastic! I’ve seen it on a number of other blogs and it sounds more and more appealing as I learn more about it.
It does sound really good!
I love fairy tales with princes and kings, and this book sounds like the sort of book I would love. Thank you for the giveaway
Thanks for this chance. this book sounds really good
Hey, Guys!
Awesome! Thanks for all the kind words! Sorry to be slow to reply, but the holidays have had my head spinning. Thanks to everyone for entering and the nice comments on my new book! Cooper
Aww, how wonderful for you, Cooper! I understand (from an outside perspective) how authors HAVE to keep writing to satisfy certain needs, whether it’s financial, reader expectations, personal drive, but I think sometimes there needs to be a break to fuel the cells. I’m glad that was true for you because I’ve so been looking forward to reading A King Undone. I’m a huge fan of historical romance, so I’m selfishly happy there’s more out there. Thanks so much for sharing!
Count me in too!
Thanks for the post and contest! I have this one on my TBR list – sounds good.
jen.f {at} mac {dot} com