What Are AmberPax™ Collections?

Simply put, AmberPax™ Collections are groups of five stories centered around a specific theme. Each story within an AmberPax™ is released individually, on the same day as the others, and can be purchased separately, but these five stories can also be purchased as a single unit (the full AmberPax™) at a discount, currently 25%. Generally, an AmberPax™ is similar to an "anthology" of stories, but instead of the titles being released in only a single volume (file), they are also available individually. These AmberPax™ Collections are sold exclusively through our website and only in electronic format.

THIS BLOG is for news about the Pax Collections - follow it to keep up with releases, find early news of the upcoming collections, and share Pax fun and chat with the authors!

All Amber Paxes can be bought at Amber Quill HERE.

Thursday 22 May 2014

Stranger Rice by A.J. Llewellyn & D.J. Manly

A.J.:
A couple of years ago, a reader sent me an article from a local newspaper here in Los Angeles about a very successful, highly intelligent student from Tokyo who'd come here on a student visa for his final year of college. This is a very common practice with Asian families, but this young man was not given much money before he left home (not so very common) and struggled to finance both his studies, rent, and little luxuries like food.

He wound up homeless and on skid row. For a while, he was able to dupe his family into believing he was doing well. Then the calls stopped. They hired a detective to find him, hardly able to believe the end result. Their beloved son had slipped into mental illness and would not return home for fear of shaming his family. I never found out what happened to him, and frankly I was afraid to learn the truth. But his story stuck in my mind and I borrowed the germ of the idea for my new cat shifter book Stranger Rice, co-written with D.J. Manly.

In our story, the hero, Basho, has moved to Hong Kong to work for a rich, mysterious man named Kanji little suspecting he's a tiger shifter. Basho feels he is failing at his job and is lonely and over-worked in the incredible, fast-paced, but daunting world of Hong Kong business.

Basho's mom is a force to be reckoned with. She suddenly announces she's going to visit. How can Basho possibly convince her he is all the things he's lied about in his calls and emails - including being a straight man involved with a successful businesswoman?

To top things off, his unrequited crush on Kanji suddenly looks like it's mutual. Will he be preparing batches of his family's traditional stranger rice when his mom arrives? Or will he be um…meowing for his supper?

DJ:
When A.J. told me about this story, I was intrigued. I read the first part and thought what in the heck am I supposed to do with this? It's really good but where do I take it? It didn't take me long to figure it out. This story was so rich in character and detail. I just dove right in like one would to a good bowl of rice. 

What is it about rice anyway? Well, it's so versatile and filling. You can eat it with just about anything, or on its own, or you can throw things into it, and dress it up. There are different kinds, some really fragrant or grainy. And that's what it was with this story. It had such richness, and it in the end, it was filling just like that bowl of rice.

And of course, let's not forget the domineering Mom, who hasn't been exposed to that, either to your own or someone else's mother? 

But the most intriguing character is Kanji, sexy, sleek, a real animal in the bedroom, roar!

Enjoy. D.J. ☺

*_*_*

Stranger Rice by A.J. Llewellyn & D.J. Manly is now available at Amber Allure.

If you'd like the chance to win the entire pax collection, just leave a comment on today's post. On Saturday, a winner will be picked at random from all the comments made this week on the blog. Comment on all, and that's multiple chances to win!

8 comments:

  1. I'm a huge fan of rice and cats, so this sounds perfect to me!

    skadlec1@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. rhonda woodburn22 May 2014 at 12:46

    I love collections !! nothing drives me battier then to wait for them to come out one by one however and much rather buy the whole series at once rather then fall in love with characters then have to wait to see them again !!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds absolutely... delicious! I love the crap out of AJ and DJ stories and can't wait to get this one.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMG!!!! I can not wait to get this book!!! I love when you two write shifters.. ok lets be honest I love anything the two of you write... Just wanted to check in and Say Congrats and give you all the best wishes for another Hit!! I know it will be

    oxoxoxox

    Silver

    ReplyDelete
  5. You two are at it again I see. Cannot wait to get it! The story of the young man was so sad. Thanks for giving us an opportunity to win .

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you guys! Good luck to you all! xxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've wanted to read something by these two authors for a while. This is the perfect opportunity. Thanks for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Enjoyed reading the article infor which gave you the story idea. Thanks
    for sharing how you came about to write Stranger Rice

    ReplyDelete