Category Archives: romance

Hawk’s Heart (Stranger Creatures book 5) is coming soon! #RomanceNovels #BooksToRead #ParanormalRomance #ShapeShifterRomance

Hawk’s Heart (Stranger Creatures book 5) is finally finished! I had a couple of unexpected health issues, followed by some unexpected inspiration for a couple of short dystopian science fiction stories, as well as a ton of poetry, but I’m happy to say Hawk’s Heart is with my publisher and editor now, and will be available soon!

About Hawk’s Heart:

Interior designer and empathic psy, Jordan Hayes, is overworked and stressed out. With her best friend and business partner, Val, away on her honeymoon and their office manager out on medical leave, work is piling up into a nearly unmanageable mess. Even worse, her ex is blackmailing her with a cryptic threat about exposing the fact that she’s an empathic psy. Jordan has never met anyone with abilities like hers until she crosses paths with a sexy, scarred, and seemingly cold-hearted man who is intent on bursting her bubble of safety. 

Nobody’s ever accused empathic psy and hawk shifter, Luke Daniels, of being a cinnamon roll but he’s not as cold and mean as he appears. Life has made him guarded, but when he meets interior designer Jordan, he falls fast and hard for the kind, beautiful psy. But would she ever want a guy like him?

An entrepreneur attempting to create an indestructible empire of greed has his sights set on Jordan, convinced she’s an easy target. Jordan and Luke will have to put everything on the line to survive and save the lives of dozens of captives. Will the bond growing between the two of them get severed or will they win the fight against everyone and everything standing in their way? 

Short excerpt:

Luke was a rare hawk shifter, which came with an unusual capability. People in the shifter community seemed to look upon shifters who could become something in between shifter and human with a mixture of fear, awe, and mistrust. Would Jordan be afraid of him? Would she even want him knowing who he was and what he could become? For more than a few nights?

For reasons he couldn’t explain, he didn’t want to jump into an arrangement where he and Jordan both had a little fun and agreed to walk away. He didn’t know if he could walk away from her. And that was a problem.

Hawk’s Heart will be available soon, but in the meantime, you can get caught up on the rest of the series. The best part? Each book can stand alone because each story in my Stranger Creatures series features a different couple on their road to happily-ever-after.

Welcome to the town of Great Oaks, where the road to love is full of strange and wonderful surprises.

Wolf’s Challenge (Stranger Creatures book 1)

When Sydney left Seattle two years ago, she was scared, traumatized, and done with men for good. Now, she has a good job, a hobby that’s fast becoming a second career, and best of all, she’s adopted a little girl named Angel. Life is good and Sydney’s not about to let charming lawyer Derrick mess that up, no matter how sexy he is, or how sweet he seems. 

Things aren’t always as they appear in the town of Great Oaks, Virginia. Derrick isn’t the ladies’ man Sydney thinks he is, but he does have a few secrets, such as his ability to transform into a powerful wolf at will. 

Can Derrick convince Sydney to give him a chance, something more than her elusive maybe? More importantly, should he? He’s still trying to forgive himself for being at the wheel during the accident that killed his son.

A troubled woman running from her guilty conscience has Sydney and Derrick in her crosshairs, and she’ll do whatever it takes to win her game. Will Sydney and Derrick survive long enough to be together?

Excerpt:

“We’ll meet soon to discuss progress.” The rich, deep tone of his voice filled the room and surrounded her like a favorite song. He looked straight at her. His bloodshot, blue-gray eyes were unlike any color she had ever mixed with her watercolors or oil paints. While she was trying to decide which shades of gray she could mix with the blue, Derrick had finished talking. She’d been in Sydneyland, mixing paint colors and listening to the timbre of his voice like it was a background song.

“Uh, what? Sorry.” Her cheeks got hot at being caught not paying attention, though he would never need to know why her mind had drifted.

He laughed, the sound beautiful and…kind of rusty. “We’ll plan on meeting up again soon to discuss progress,” he told her.

Meet? Soon? The man made her break out into a sweat when she had to talk with him. She liked him, didn’t want to like him, and hated making small talk with people she didn’t know well. Ignoring him when they were running would be simple, but business meetings were different, especially if they weren’t as mercifully short as the one she’d just endured. Sydney chided herself for being so silly. Derrick was merely a ridiculously attractive man with whom she would be meeting about purely professional matters. Why couldn’t she make herself feel like it was no big deal? Why did the universe want to make things difficult? Can’t anything ever be easy?

She nodded and politely showed him the door.

“It was nice to see you again, Sydney.” His voice made her knees weak. Clearly, something was wrong with her. They could handle business by e-mail. She could send him files. Yet, she wanted to hear the sound of his voice again. Soon.

Bear’s Edge (book 2):

A boss can’t date her employee—simple as that. No matter how much Shayla wants to unravel a few of Grant’s mysteries and take her friendship with the shy, sarcastic man to the next level, she’s determined to keep her fantasies of him to herself. 

After bear shifter Grant lost his girlfriend and three best friends in a fire, he did his best to shut himself off from everyone around him. Falling for Shayla wasn’t part of his plan, but after a kiss that leaves them both speechless and hungry for more, Grant can’t keep his desire for his boss under wraps any longer. 

When things between the two of them get hotter than he could have imagined, Grant wonders if some of his darker desires will be too much for Shayla or will she embrace the needs he’s kept hidden for so long?

An obnoxious reporter and Shayla’s bitter ex have teamed up to chase down conspiracy theories that could destroy Shayla’s business and worse, put her life in danger. To find their happily ever after, Shayla and Grant will have to trust in each other and find a way to crush all the obstacles standing in their way.

Excerpt:

What is it about Grant? Looking at the man beside her was no hardship; that was for damn sure. He had the tall, broad body of a heavyweight UFC fighter, but he never used his size to intimidate the people around him. Shayla wanted to sweep his wavy, slightly shaggy dark hair out of his gorgeous brown eyes. His dark hair and eyes complemented his bronze skin. He was hot, in a serious, dangerous kind of way. But in the two and a half years he had worked for her, she had hardly learned anything about him.

The waitress at the popular nature-themed restaurant, the Greenhouse Effect, showed them to their table. The plants growing around all the walls and columns made the place look like a wild garden. The smell of lavender and jasmine mixed with the delicious scents drifting from the kitchen. She tried not to drool, but breakfast seemed like eons ago. Shayla sat next to Sydney and across from Grant. A too-tall centerpiece of yellow-and-purple flowers blocked most of her view. Being short occasionally sucked. Grant moved the centerpiece to the side and gave her a shy smile. His smile made her want answers, among other things.

Grant the mystery man—a delicious mystery Shayla would like to unravel, piece by piece, layer by layer. Ah, but I can’t. I’m his boss. In a different lifetime, if we didn’t have the whole boss-employee obstacle going on…. No harm in looking, though, just a little, since he sat so close. She promised herself to keep her thoughts G-rated—okay, maybe PG-13. Grant had a talent with numbers and paid attention to detail. Also, he was a little shy and standoffish to a lot of people when it came to anything other than work. Shayla wondered where he sometimes went in his head, because, every now and then, his smile slipped from his face, just for a second, before being replaced with one a little harder. None of my business, she reminded herself.

She had really wanted to hug him this morning after seeing him so frustrated but decided it might be wiser and more appropriate to show him there were a few people on his side. Seeing him break things and try to be all strong and humorous about it made Shayla want to unravel the Grant mystery even more. It kind of hurt to watch him pretending to be fine, but all she could offer him was lunch and good conversation. Hopefully, Mr. Strong and Silent—Sydney called him that sometimes, although never to his face—knew Shayla and Sydney cared. And Shayla did care. Because he’s a friend. Just a friend.

Grant raised his soda in a toast. “To things not being worse,” he announced with a rueful half smile. “And, uh”—he cleared his throat—“to good company.” He nodded at Sydney, and when he met Shayla’s gaze, he held it. In his dark eyes, she saw hunger, wide-open desire, and about a million other things she couldn’t puzzle out. Grant looked at her that way sometimes, and she did her best to ignore it. He might have a small crush on her, or he could have a thing for petite, small-breasted girls possessing a great fashion sense.

Shayla forced a smile as they toasted, pretending she wasn’t experiencing several different kinds of inappropriate thoughts and feelings for a sexy, complicated man who was her employee and also her friend. She needed to behave and remember things could never go any further than a panty-melting gaze.

Tiger’s Last Chance (book 3):

An investigation into missing shifters leads Detective Nikki Jackson to the discovery of a radical political group’s horrifying plot for dominance. Traitors are embedded within the very organizations meant to keep shifters safe. As the list of people she can trust dwindles, she calls on private investigator Sean Whitman to help her unravel a web of deceit.

As Nikki and Sean fight for survival, his fear of losing her could become a reality. Will he get one last chance to show her he loves her?

Excerpt:

For the briefest moment, Nikki felt the depth to which Sean might be capable of pushing her. His kiss was crushing and brutal. His tongue pushed past her lips and his grip in her hair tightened. If desire were a vine, it would have wrapped itself around her veins and encased her heart. The heat between them flooded her. There was a sweetness, too, in his kiss, and the sweetness made her burn hotter.

A polite cough from inside the waiting car put a quick end to things. Sean pulled away and met her gaze. No words, but she got the message. She wasn’t alone. Comfort and friendship; he’d probably meant the kiss to comfort her and had gotten carried away in the heat of the moment. He’d carried her away with him, and she wanted to take him so much further into the unknown.

With each second, each step towards the waiting car, she tried to find reasons and more reasons to ignore her growing attraction to Sean. The number one reason to forget about the kiss they’d shared—relationships were trouble. She had plenty of other amazing things in her life, including her career, her volunteer work, and her band, even though the band rarely played anywhere because the members had trouble aligning their schedules. She didn’t need a man. Besides, he was probably still messed up over Sydney. Also, he was a regular. Or mostly regular. Not to mention he lived over a thousand miles away in Texas. She should tell him the kiss was a mistake. One look at him and she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. The kiss they shared had been anything but a mistake.

Coyote’s Vow (book 4):

A brutal experiment left Kylie Claremont with telekinetic abilities and she wants answers. The position she’s offered as a liaison between Shifters United and the Psy Guild will give her the chance to find the elusive research company that disappeared after experimenting on her. The only thing standing in her way is an arrogant coyote shifter who is convinced that Kylie is a threat to shifters. She never expected to fall for the gruff, mistrusting man.

Coyote shifter Trevor Ryland will never trust the psy. Still, he knows the time has come to strengthen the tentative alliance between shifters and psy. He fully intends to ignore his attraction to the beautiful psy liaison, but he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her. His plan to protect Kylie from afar is wrecked when they’re forced to work together. She could be his mate but Trevor can’t let that happen. The struggle to deny his need for the one woman with the power to destroy him gets harder every day.

Trevor and Kylie uncover a web of greed and deceit during their search for a travelling research group. They’ll have to work fast and fight hard to stop the CEO’s latest plans or shifters and psy everywhere will suffer.

Excerpt:

Kylie’s strength and fire as well as her obvious intelligence appealed to Trevor on a level he couldn’t describe. I can’t be with her. His reminder to himself lacked certainty. As soon as his time watching out for her came to an end, he’d get her out of his mind. Until then, how hard could it be to ignore his attraction to her? He was strong. He’d been on countless dangerous missions for the Shifter Enforcement Army and Shifters United. He’d been injured, lost team members, been down roads of grief and sadness that seemed to have no end, but he’d survived. A pretty woman with a smart mouth and intensely beautiful brown eyes wouldn’t be his downfall. He could handle occasionally working with Kylie. He could handle having a massive crush on her and he could ignore the fantasies of her that liked to invade his dreams. He would be fine. Everything would be fine.

You can visit my amazon author page for buy links and to learn more about the books in my Stranger Creatures series and my Haven Forest Resort series. Both series are also available at other e-book sellers like Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, iBooks, Google Books, and Kobo.

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Christina-Lynn-Lambert/e/B01MCYK0K7

If you’d like to follow me on social media for my latest book updates, poems, contest info, book recommendations, and other fun stuff, you can find me at:

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The Forests After Fire #shortstory #romance #lovestory #flashfiction #romantasy

There’s always a little bit of magic, even in the most ordinary things. In my flash fiction story, The Forests After Fire, a song, along with some help from the universe, brings two strangers together.

#shortstory #romantasy #romance #seasons #lovestory #flashfiction #healingafterheartbreak

The Forests After Fire

The weather was still warm enough for one last weekend at the ocean when Caletta’s world fell apart. Well, not her whole world, just enough of it to ruin her weekend getaway and take half the stuff in her house. He left a huge mess in his wake and Caletta was too tired to clean. She had to duck underneath all the questions that hung in the doorway. Numb habits— a gift from a universe that understood that healing isn’t instantaneous, like striking a match or pouring water over a fire.

Trees and people take time, and by the time the autopilot light burnt out and woke Caletta from her sleep-walking life-dance, the leaves had changed colors. The trash can full of microwave dinner containers was full and she found herself craving something cooked on the stove. She soaked chicken thighs in butter and seasoned them with parmesan, crushed red peppers, and oregano. Spicy and savory. How long had it been since she’d been able to cook with red pepper flakes? He had hated spicy foods. Dinner tasted so good she cried at the tragedy of eating it alone. Then she cried harder at how the pitiful sound echoed through her half empty house.

The memories and the emptiness burned. Her tears burned too, long into the night. By morning, her tears tasted like the ocean and she wrapped herself inside her blankets to shake off the cold. Things were fine while she took a shower and got dressed. Her playlist begged her to sing, not quietly like she used to, but at top volume, until the lyrics were an anthem. She was happy for a few minutes, but then, the walls made her mad.

Every room in the house was some shade of beige. He’d convinced her that the bland tone would go with everything. Then, he’d made sure everything went with the beige, no contrasts, no vivid splashes of brightness— including her. Somewhere along the way, she’d learned to keep everything on mute, including her thoughts and ideas, because only soft, gentle things got space and love, at least with him. No more. Time to paint the walls.

Caletta dug around the boxes in the back of her closet and found her purple jacket, frayed jeans, and multicolor Doc Martens. Dressed like the Caletta that had been forced into hibernation for stupid reasons, she went to Best Mart. On the way to the paint aisle, she spotted the clearance section for Halloween stuff. Damn, I missed my favorite holiday! She’d missed that time of year when the veil was weak and two different worlds walked together, for those who wished to see. After Halloween, the magic was softer, quieter. But the veil that she felt open every Halloween wasn’t the only veil, nor the only kind of magic that wound through what seemed like ordinary days.

She found a bracelet of tiny silver skulls that jingled and a necklace of red leaves and alternating white beads that gleamed like little snowflakes. The necklace didn’t seem to be in the right place. She checked the price tag. Definitely not on sale. She put the necklace in her basket along with the bracelet, anyway. As she walked down to the paint aisle, she heard a song she couldn’t place but found she couldn’t turn in the direction of the sound. She didn’t feel… ready to hear the whole song. She shook off the strange feeling and picked out paint colors that would make her house feel alive again.

Matteo heard a soulful song playing through static. He wished Best Mart would fix their speakers because the music was… he didn’t know what it was. He needed to hear more of the saxophone notes and the singer’s powerful voice, but the sound faded out completely. He went on about the chore of stocking up on groceries and finding everything on his list for repairing the damage she’d done to the house when she’d left. Ordinary chores and an ordinary day mixed with memories and pain, and questions he’d never have answers to, but that song stayed on his mind. Songs were for hope while the forests healed.

On a night so hot, his ancient air conditioner gasped and tapped out, Matteo dreamed of red leaves blowing in the wind, of snow falling, and soft bells jingling. He heard the song again and found himself on a path of oak trees, lit by fairy lights. Something purple caught his eye, just a flash, then gone before his dream-self could get a better glimpse. When he woke to a broken air conditioner, he opened his bedroom windows and memories slipped out. Fireflies ate the worst parts and lit them up inside their bellies, one last, bright, awful time, then flew off into the night.

That November, the red leaf wind blew quickly into the first snow. The Autumn Festival of Lights in Great Oaks, Virginia began at sunset and Matteo, though he was running late, still managed to snag a good parking spot. He texted his friends that he would meet them soon at the arena for the outdoor concert. Strings of colorful fairy lights lit up the trees at the entrance to the festival. The sound of something softly jingling caught his attention.

A woman in a purple coat crossed his path. Her brown hair and lovely green eyes stole his breath and his words. He could have sworn that he’d seen her before. Somewhere. But he couldn’t find the words to ask. In the distance, he heard the band introduce themselves and their first song began.

“That song!” she said. “I’ve been dreaming of that song for over a year but I couldn’t remember more than a few notes.”

Matteo nodded. “I’ve been hearing it, too.”

They found a seat together and listened to the band play. The snow fell on the concert and the universe wove her magic through the forest and trees, and into the two people who were ready to see.

I typically write paranormal romance novels with a ton of steam and suspense. Over the past couple of years, I have been writing poetry as well as dystopian, horror, and fantasy short stories. I am just beginning to get the hang of writing flash fiction. It’s been a challenge to condense an entire story into less than 1,500 words, but I feel like I’m starting to fall in love with writing flash fiction.

 If you’d like to follow me on social media for my latest book information and excerpts, poems, contest info, book recommendations, and other fun stuff, you can follow me here on my blog. You can also find me at:

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Christina-Lynn-Lambert/e/B01MCYK0K7

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/authors/christina-lynn-lambert

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinalynnlambert

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15900423.Christina_Lynn_Lambert

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinalynnlambert

Trick or Treat Book Bonanza #bookish #SpookyReads #GiveawayContests #ParanormalRomance #NNLBH

Trick or Treat! ‘Tis the month to celebrate all things paranormal, supernatural, suspenseful and mystical. If you’re like me, you’ll want to accept this very special invitation to join the festivities at N. N. Light’s Book Heaven’s 6th annual Trick or Treat Book Bonanza. 24 authors share what they’d dress up as for Halloween as well as 33 books featured plus a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card.

I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My book, Coyote’s Vow, will be featured on October 31, 2024. Wait until you read what my Halloween costume would be. You won’t want to miss it. The Trick or Treat Book Bonanza runs from October 1 – 31, 2024

Bookmark this event and tell your friends:

https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/trick-or-treat-book-bonanza

Image Description: a graphic of a spooky grey mansion surrounded by grave markers, pumpkins, and leafless trees. At the top of the graphic is written in white letters- A N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Trick or Treat Book Bonanza Pick. At the bottom of the graphic is an image of a smart phone with a book cover picture shown of my paranormal romance novel, Coyote’s Vow. The book cover image features a couple embracing in the forest at night. Below the book title is a coyote peering out of the trees.