💥 Ricochet

Set in a world where BDSM is the norm, and featuring one hot mess of a dom and one control freak sub battling fame, desire, and each other to find the love that was right under their noses all along!

KU | Ebook | Paperback

🌐Translations

🇩🇪 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇪🇸

Ricochet is now available in FOUR new languages. A German translation of Dark Water is also in the pipeline. Click on the flag below to read in your preferred language. FREE ON KU!

👱🏻‍♀️ Xanthe’s Exploits

I went to my first EVER book signing event in Birmingham at the end of June, and it was awesome. The ShiMMer organisers were so friendly and welcoming, and everything was beautifully organised. The hotel and venue were exceptional, and I really appreciated all the thought, time, and energy that had gone into making the event run so smoothly.

What didn’t go smoothly was our trip up there. The motorway was closed while we were on it, and a two-and-a-half-hour journey took six — so we arrived too late to set up in the evening, which did nothing for my nerves.

Emma came with me, and I really couldn’t have managed without her. She designed the stand and all the fliers and put together an amazing iPad display of my book covers and a couple of short videos — none of which I could have done myself, and it really gave my stand the wow factor. She also nipped out to the car to restock whenever we ran low on books, and was generally such a help. I’m so lucky to have her.

We’d spent a lot of time and energy (and money!) putting together a decent stand and swag, and I’d braced myself to discover we’d brought all the wrong things. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find we hadn’t at all, and I felt very proud of how the stand looked once it was all set up. In my previous life I worked MANY expos and always really enjoyed them, so I had some idea of what to expect.

It was wonderful to meet my Golden Ticket winners, Lisa and Theresa, who were both lovely. A big shout-out too to Caro, who won my table raffle and received a box of Xanthe Walter goodies she tells me she’s already putting to good use. There were so many other fabulous people I wish I’d had more chance to chat to — Valentine, Debbie, and many more — and I hope to catch up with them at future events.

Everyone was so lovely. Aren’t MM romance readers the best? So friendly, and so interested in all things MM romance. I learned a great deal just from talking to them.

I even discovered there’s a bookshop in Hay-on-Wye called Gay-on-Wye. It’s about two and a half hours away, so Emma and I are planning a trip there before I head back to London in the autumn.

After the signing there was a fabulous party, with a genres-and-tropes theme — so Emma and I went as Grumpy/Sunshine! This in no way reflects our personalities (!), but I had a gorgeous 1950s dress I’d bought for a 50s night and wanted an excuse to wear it more than once.

One of the authors, the fabulous CF White, brought along her audiobook narrator — and I’m SO GLAD SHE DID. It introduced me to her wonderful work, and the narrator has such a sexy voice that I’m delighted to be reccing one of her series in my audiobook rec section below.

All in all, my first ever book signing couldn’t have gone better. A huge thank you to all the organisers and volunteers, especially the lovely Viva.

📣 Previous Poll Results

The winner of the Who is your favourite Dark Water character? poll is…(drumroll) JOSIAH!

Alex was just three votes behind, and I’ll admit I’d expected him to take it. But much as I love Alex, Josiah deserves all the love too — not least for what he did for Alex in The Quarterlands. I’m delighted to learn he has so many fans 💖.

In third place, a long way behind, was Solange with five votes. A big shout out to Hattie who received four votes – and it’s not hard to see why! I was surprised that Gideon mustered three votes though. Peter had two, and Cam had one. I’m not surprised that George didn’t get a single vote, although I remain very fond of that monster!

 📊 Poll Time

Which Xanthe Walter world would you most like to live in?

🎧 Audiobook Rec

 This is an occasional series, but I haven’t done one for quite some time. I’m doing this one because I came across something SPECIAL.

CF White brought her audiobook narrator, Piers Ryman, to ShiMMer. He gave a reading of a chapter from her To Love a Psycho series at the after-party, and I was hooked! I immediately downloaded Book One, Dream a Little Dream, and have listened to it, and it’s superb. I’m on Book Two now. If you like dark, plotty MM romantic thrillers with broken boys (and if you don’t, why are you here!), then you’ll love her work. She’s also a UK author, like me, and her stories have a distinctive British tone. 

Piers Ryman has a gorgeous, sexy voice and does brilliant character work.

Dream a Little Dream by CF White. Go check it out. You won’t regret it! 

🏆 The Winning Captions

Thank you to everyone who joined in and shared your hilarious ideas. You had me laughing from start to finish, and choosing the winners was no easy task.

Here are the best captions that had me laughing the most. Congratulations to the winner, Dea, and the fabulous runners-up, Ilona and Debbie D.

The runners-up first:

“Who are you calling a pussy? I’ll have you know I’m the fiercest Kitty alive.” – Ilona

“Leave me alone hooman! Can’t u c I’m napping. Grrr!!!” – Debbie D

Dea’s winning captions (I can’t choose between them!):

🧑🏻‍🤝‍🧑🏻 Featured Author

River Beck

A surveillance hacker. A photographer who craves an audience. A blizzard traps them together while millions watch.

Asher never noticed the cameras. Grayson built the system to stay hidden.

But some obsessions are impossible to turn off.

🐈‍⬛ Coco Photobomb!

She’s such a nutter! She always HAS to be included. Emma and I can’t chat anywhere without her popping up and inserting herself in the conversation somehow ❤️. By all means, caption this one too! The last one was such a laugh.

📎 Useless Fact About Me 🏓

I LOVE pickleball and play every week. I have a wicked backhand spin but am a sadly inconsistent server.

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👋 That’s All, Folks!

Until next time, my lovelies!

XOXO
Xanthe
P.S. Did you vote in the poll?!