new release – Liz Durano

A 2020 First! A New Book!

Well, I did it! I released my first book for 2020 and that is HUGE for me. It’s a novella at 25k words but it’s still a HUGE deal for me and so I’m celebrating.

How?

I’m spending it home because after two weeks of dodging whatever the boys were taking home with them from work or school, I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and I don’t feel too good. So I’m spending the day at home and celebrating my release with a cuppa! I did start with a cup of ginger tea and honey but I need my coffee so…

I just realized it’s also been a while since I blogged so here’s my recap of January so far. I didn’t do much other than write this book which was originally supposed to be about one couple’s Valentine celebration. A slice-of-life, basically. Easy 7k words, I figured.

Then I decided to make it about FIVE couples because I told myself, “Nah, that’s easy. Just five stories. How hard can it be?”

How hard?

Oy vey.

Well, if all I had to do was write erotica pieces, it would have been easy peasy. Just do 1,000 words of setup and then go straight to the sexy times. But because I was writing about couples who had their own books already, there’s back story—lots of back story—and now we’re basically just catching up with them since we last saw them in their respective books.

Tying together five stories spanning 24 hours while they’re all in the same location wasn’t as easy as I thought but since this year, I told myself I would face challenges with a positive mindset, I took a deep breath, put on my big girl panties and told myself, “well, no one twisted your arm to write about FIVE couples…”

When it was all over, it felt like I’d just spent the best time with ten of my favorite people in the world. It was tough, yes, but it also helped me get over a few losses from the past year. Loss of my creativity, loss of trust, loss of faith in humanity. In my stories, I started to find them, little glimpses here and there that have helped me process those and many other losses. Also fear.

So while Nothing but Love isn’t a full novel, it’s five short stories with a lot of heart and soul… and sexy times to boot! They go from 2/5 jalapeño hot to 4/5 jalapeño heat levels. I couldn’t go all the way to 5/5 jalapeños because, well, I just couldn’t go there with this book. I’ll reserve that for Naughty Pen!

Before I end this post so I can hit Publish (you have no idea how many posts I write and forget to hit Publish and so they sit in Draft forever!), here’s the inspiration for the title of the book. I’d always wanted the title to go to one of the side characters Gabe but it always escaped me when the time came. Until the idea for this book came to me…

Have an awesome week!

February 10, 2020 by Liz

Celebrating my New Release with a Giveaway and Some Balance!

I wish I planned things better but it’s better late than never, right? So one day after the release of my latest book OTHER SIDE OF LOVE, I’m celebrating with a giveaway!

To enter, just click on the image above or this link. And good luck!

I had a really good reason for being late, actually. I spent yesterday morning walking with a dear friend, feeding ducks, and catching up on things. Jackie used to be my walking buddy until I simply dropped off the face of the earth this year… basically burnout and other stuff.

But I’m back on the schedule and tomorrow I get to attend my first Tai-chi class! It’s the balance I desperately need after the imbalance of the last year and I may even have found my sweet spot as far as writing goes. Instead of sitting at my desk for hours at a time only to end up spending most of that time surfing the Internet, I get up at around six in the morning and write for about an hour. No checking email or opening the browser. Just me and my Ulysses app putting down the words.

Then at seven or so, I get up from my desk and start making breakfast for the LilDude. After I drop him off at school, I then go for my walk and then run errands. Then when I return home from the walk or errands, I sit down and write for another hour. Maybe I’ll spend that hour doing marketing/promotion stuff. Maybe some personal stuff like renewing my passport or whatever, but I’ve been more mindful about my time since I felt like myself again in the last two weeks. I’ve even reached out to people to let them know I’m back.

It’s the balance I need and so far, it’s going good. I’m going to be printing out the schedule soon and laminating it, just like I laminate my kid’s schedule! Who knew I need those things more than he does?!

Who knows?! I might even finally delegate!

November 13, 2019 by Liz

Other Side of Love is LIVE!

I’m combining #teasertuesday with a #newrelease post today because… well, why not?! I’ll also keep it short and sweet!

If you like your contemporary romance with family life and emotional angst, then Sarah and Benny’s got your number. Here’s the blurb with the links to major retailers.

Half-Navajo Benny Turner has lived his life straddling two worlds, never quite feeling he belongs to either one without constantly having to prove himself.

But just when he decides to settle down on the reservation for good, he runs into Sarah Drexel, the only woman he’s always wanted but convinced himself he could never have… until now.

Duty or love? Which one will he choose?

AMAZON ➭ https://geni.us/RPsOtk

IBOOKS ➭ https://geni.us/NzGS32

NOOK ➭ https://geni.us/4oG6

KOBO ➭ https://geni.us/dpwOAN

November 12, 2019November 11, 2019 by Liz

Hold Up! Look Who’s Got a New Book Coming Out in Four Days!

Yup, that’s me!

Other Side of Love is finally uploaded and waiting for release day on November 12! It’s also available on most platforms (iBooks, Amazon, Nook, and Kobo) and all you have to do is select the retailer when you click this link to preorder.

As some of you reading this blog know, I’ve been dealing with some pretty dark stuff that affected my creativity and my peace of mind. For the past seven months, I didn’t realize how deep I was processing a friend’s decision to do something that went against everything I believed in until I realized I had to stop listening (and not saying anything) to doing something about it. And that’s exactly what I did. It resulted in the end of our friendship and me walking away completely. Nineteen years of friendship gone.

I should be sad and in a way, I was. But after that moment passed, I looked at the lessons learned for that experience taught me many things.

It taught me to reclaim my time and my life and my peace of mind. My conscience, most of all. It taught me to accept that I did everything I could at the expense of my emotional and physical health but also to accept the outcome, good or bad.

It was a huge lesson and one I’m not going to forget. It means me guarding my personal space, physical, emotional, spiritual from this moment forward. It means standing up for what I believe in and no longer questioning my gut feeling day in and day out. It means trusting myself and ridding myself of toxic energy and people, even if they happen to be a “best” friend. It means knowing it’s okay to say no and walk away.

It means finally taking care of myself and the ones I love.

So… TLDR; I’m back and I’ve got a new book coming out in four days! And boy, am I excited!

How about you? How’s your day going?

November 8, 2019November 7, 2019 by Liz

It’s a New Release: Her Lucky Charm 🍀🍺

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, Her Lucky Charm, a lighthearted (though with a little bit of angst) is now LIVE!

I had originally written Falling for Jordan‘s Addison and Jordan’s St. Patrick’s Day wedding and honeymoon but before I knew it, Roxy and Kodi, (the bridesmaid and groomsman respectively) took over!

Suddenly, it was the morning after the wedding and Roxy’s alleged “walk of shame” from Kodi’s townhouse goes viral.

Oh, what to do, what to do, right?

So I kept going and Her Lucky Charm came to be. I hope you like it!

Here’s the blurb:

HER LUCKY CHARM
A St. Patrick’s Day Romance

Did we or didn’t we?
That’s the million-dollar question when I wake up next to Kodiak “Kodi” Donovan the morning after a mutual friend’s St. Patrick’s Day wedding.

Forget that he’s one of the hottest bachelors in Manhattan, a billionaire, and as the founder of the nonprofit ReBuild to Heal, a philanthropist to boot.

And so we agree to go on with our respective lives and pretend nothing happened.

Too bad my walk of shame ends up getting plastered all over social media and the next thing I know, I’ve become #walkofshameroxy.

As if that isn’t bad enough, my job as an ICU nurse is in jeopardy, too.

Suddenly whether we did it or not is the least of our worries. To save my reputation, the only other question becomes…

Should we or shouldn’t we just take it all the way?

Her Lucky Charm is also part of Steamy Sensations Holiday Love: 10 Authors. 10 Holidays. 10 Steamy Romances and please do check my fellow authors’ stories out, too!

March 17, 2019May 19, 2019 by Liz

A Valentine’s Day Steamy Shorts and A Giveaway!

I’m so behind on everything that I almost forgot to wish everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day! As a romance author, I’d be remiss to miss this day, right?

I even treated myself to one of these cookies when I was buying a cupcake (with a similar cookie on top!) for LilDude’s homeroom teacher.

51854151_798018197225475_313444239360917504_n

Today is also the day that my Valentine’s Day novella Every Breath launches as part of Steamy Sensations Holiday Love, a project where ten authors get together to write ten steamy stories for ten holidays in 2019.

Ambitious, no? But I’m actually having a lot of fun and I’m thrilled to be in the company of these amazing authors!

You can find all the stories here: Steamy Sensations Holiday Love

I’ve also got a few giveaways going on! Three of them can be found on my Facebook page while this one, which is a Valentine gift pack that includes a signed copy of Everything She Ever Wanted (or if you already have a copy, another one of my books), a Phenomenal Woman drink neoprene wrap, a notepad/pen set, a Papaya Arts coin purse AND a $15 Amazon Gift Card ends at midnight! And yes, that memo pad/pen set is upside down. I didn’t even notice it until right now...

52286681_798085273885434_45786979895345152_n

What about you? Any plans for Valentine’s Day?

February 14, 2019 by Liz

Happy Book Birthday to Me!

Yup! Every Breath is live early and that’s the first story done and dusted for 2019. Twelve more to go!

Celebrations have so far included home-brewed coffee and breakfast that’s yet to be decided on. Toast or oatmeal… or bagel with cream cheese? Nothing too fancy because I have to get back to work on the next story.

Right now, Every Breath is $0.99 for a limited time and it’s also free to read in Kindle Unlimited!

February 7, 2019February 7, 2019 by Liz