Celebrating the Release of my 2nd Novel: Broken Prince, Mismatched Eyes plus Today is Freebie Friday

So, so very excited today. Broken Prince, Mismatched Eyes was released today and is now available for sale, well, at all the usual places. Working with Wayward Ink on this latest project has been wonderful, I love the attention to detail and care they give to my work. Broken Prince, Mismatched Eyes begun as a writing prompt and to be honest, without lots of encouragement, never would have grown past that. I will forever be grateful to Mann Ramblings for encouraging me to continue the story. Caden and Rhys grew into brilliantly unique characters that I came to love writing. I hope you will all enjoy their story too.

BLURB

All of his life, Caden DeMott’s mismatched eyes have made him the target of superstition and scorn. Though he is the son of a nobleman, he’s been allowed to run free over the hills and moors, mostly ignored by his family. No one ever thought to inform him that he had been betrothed since infancy, until the day his fiancé, Prince Rhys Gwyther arrived to marry him.

Rhys is the prince of the small island country of Mauritania, a land rich in gems, rose oil, and pearls, but poor in skilled artisans and seeds to grow crops. In order to further cement the trade route to the mainland, he’s been sent to marry a man he’s never met, and bring him back to Mauritania. Unfortunately, an accident years before has left Rhys with a lot of emotional baggage and very little trust in strangers.

But trust is exactly what Caden and Rhys are going to need if they are to make a life together, and help unravel the mystery of who’s been smuggling valuable gems and pearls off the island. Add in the realization that Caden’s stepmother, Mildred and her island representative, Maxwell, have been importing inferior goods for years, forcing Mauritania to become more dependent on them, and trust becomes even more difficult.
Caden possesses the knowledge to finally allow Rhys’ father to unravel the plot to ruin Mauritania, but only if the king and his son are willing to put their faith in Caden’s loyalty to his new home. Something that is difficult to do after Caden is accused of cheating on his marriage vows to Rhys with his guard, Luc. Will Rhys believe him innocent? Or will their marriage be over before it truly has a chance to begin?

Buy Now

Don’t miss the WIP Christmas Sale! 30% off all titles from December 4 to December 24.
WIP: http://www.waywardinkpublishing.com/product/broken-prince-mismatched-eyes-by-layla-dorine/

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017WXGBM8/
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B017WXGBM8/
Amazon AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B017WXGBM8/
Amazon DE: http://www.amazon.de/dp/B017WXGBM8/
ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-brokenprincemismatchedeyes-1929493-143.html
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/broken-prince-mismatched-eyes-layla-dorine/1122960557?ean=9781925222685

Video Trailer

Excerpt

Jackson had watched a medley of emotions play across Caden’s face as the story unfolded, but now the young man sat with his hand still upon the head of his hound, a blank, almost expressionless look in his eyes. Jackson lingered with bated breath, waiting on Caden’s response.

Caden blinked several times and resumed scratching Brutes’ ears. “Will I ever see you again?”
Jackson tried to give his son a smile but was certain it came out a grimace. “I will do my best to come to Mauritania and visit with you each year around the time of your birth.”

Caden dropped his gaze, but not before Jackson saw the shimmer of tears forming there. He should have known Caden would not be fooled by such a flimsy lie.

“And what about them?” Caden asked, stroking Titus’ head now as well. Jackson heard the hitch in his son’s voice and the shaky exhale of breath that revealed just how flimsy a hold he had on his emotions.

“I honestly can’t answer that,” Jackson told him. “You will have to ask Prince Rhys if he will allow you to keep them. I promise you that they will have a home here for the rest of their days if he will not.”

Caden ducked his head, hiding the tears that now flowed freely. With some difficulty, Jackson swallowed down the lump in his throat and reached out to pull his son into an embrace. For several long minutes, no other words were spoken.

“I have never disobeyed you father,” Caden’s soft voice whispered in his ear. “I will marry the prince and do my best not to shame you.”

“I am proud of you, my son,” Jackson whispered back, hugging him tighter, “and I have faith in you. I know you will do your best.”

“Is he kind? Is he going to be afraid of me? Perhaps he won’t want me because of my eyes.”

“He faces the same repercussions as you do if he refuses to honor the contract. As for whether he is a kind man or not, I cannot say, for I have never met him. All I know of Prince Rhys is that he is two years older than you.”

Caden pulled out of his father’s embrace and laid his head on Titus’ back as a loud horn sounded in the distance. There was no more time for words; the prince had arrived.

About the author

LAYLA DORINE lives among the sprawling prairies of Midwestern America, in a house with more cats than people. She loves hiking, fishing, swimming, martial arts, camping out, photography, cooking, and dabbling with several artistic mediums. In addition, she loves to travel and visit museums, historic, and haunted places.

Layla got hooked on writing as a child, starting with poetry and then branching out, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Hard times, troubled times, the lives of her characters are never easy, but then what life is? The story is in the struggle, the journey, the triumphs and the falls. She writes about artists, musicians, loners, drifters, dreamers, hippies, bikers, truckers, hunters and all the other folks that she’s met and fallen in love with over the years. Sometimes she writes urban romance and sometimes its aliens crash landing near a roadside bar. When she isn’t writing, or wandering somewhere outdoors, she can often be found curled up with a good book and a kitty on her lap.

Layla Dorine can be found at:
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005197938547&fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/layladorine
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/layladorine/

And Now for Freebie Friday

Inside of his apartment, Danny ran his fingers through his hair, wandered into the kitchen then back out again after he realized he’d forgotten what he’d gone in there for.

Jax had kissed him.

He touched his fingertips to his lips, and smiled.

Jax had kissed him.

Lyric and Chorus wound around his feet, mewing loudly, while Inferno paced between him and the cat bowl like a circling shark, tail lashing angrily over the empty condition of the dish.

“Okay, okay, I hear you,” Danny told them, then knelt and gave each of their heads a pat before heading back into the kitchen to fill their dish. It’s what he’d meant to do when he’d gone in there.

Jax had kissed him.

He felt so giddy he wanted to laugh out loud. His stomach fluttered and he couldn’t stop reaching up to touch his lips, still imaging the softness of Jax’s lips against his own. No one had ever kissed him like that. Sean’s kisses had always been rough, aggressive, more of a punishment then a turn on. Jax kissed like he asking, coaxing, exploring and savoring every moment of the unknown.  For that brief moment, Danny had felt cherished, desired, and his stomach fluttered again.

As the cats dug into their meal, Danny flopped on the couch and snatched up the phone, dialing Herman’s number even as he reached up to touch his lips again.

Unbelievable. Jax. Had. Kissed. Him.

“Hey, didn’t expect to hear from you tonight.”

 “Jax kissed me,” Danny blurted as soon as Herman finished speaking.

“Was it any good?”

“It was, different, a really good different”

Herman chuckled.

“That explains why you sound like a twelve year old right now.”

“Oh, fuck you, I do not.”

“I don’t know, wouldn’t want your tatted up biker to get pissed off at me. I’m a lover, not a fighter, man and the way you describe this guy, he could punt me across the street without even breaking a sweat. And yes, you do. You totally do.”

“Asshole.”

Laughter, and Danny couldn’t help but laugh too.

“So what else happened?”

“We went to Gaslight Books, then over to the Ice Age Exhibit, then we had lunch at Giuseppe’s and…”

“Wait, Wait, backup…you took him to Gaslight’s? What were you doing, picking something up?”

“No, we were browsing, we ended up being in there for almost two hours and….”

“Hold the phone. You had him in a bookstore for two hours? What did he do, get bored and fall asleep in a chair?”

“If you would stop interrupting me, maybe I’d be able to tell you!” Danny snapped. “Damn. Turns out he’s a huge Fantasy nut and somewhat of an amateur archeologist, loves fiddling around with a metal detector in his spare time. He raided the place for books, his backpack had to be pretty heavy carrying it around the rest of the day. “

“So you found yourself a smart biker who likes digging in dirt and piercing people. That’s…really kind of cool actually.”

“Yeah, he’s awesome. And he didn’t get frustrated when I started going on and on about the play over Lunch. In fact, he started asking questions, he was actually interested in not just hearing about it, but he said he’d come see if too, when we open.”

“Sure he wasn’t just saying that shit to get in your pants?”

“He didn’t kiss like he was trying to get in my pants. He kissed like he wanted to leave something new to discover the next time we got together.”

“So when are you going out again?”

Danny groaned, remembering the way they were interrupted.

“No clue. He asked if I wanted to go out ‘sometime’ and I said yes, but before we could iron out the details one of his buddies showed up looking for him and well, I said goodnight and came in before it could get awkward.”

“Awkward how?”

“Oh, I don’t know, I just, didn’t want to feel like a third wheel, you know.”

“I know you’re not very social, but didn’t you say his friends lived in the building? Maybe you could get to know them too, hang out together while you get to know him more. You can tell a lot about someone by the people they hang out with.”

“True, and one of them is studying to be a writer. The other’s in art school.”

“Damn, seems like our kind of people.”

“I just…something’s been bothering me all night.”

“Ohhhh fuck, come on Danny, you have got to stop doing this. Every time you meet a nice guy you have to stop nit picking until you find something wrong with him. Live a little, for once, stop looking for the bad and just have fun.”

“It’s nothing like that.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m serious, it isn’t about finding something wrong with him, not in that way anyways.”

“But…”

“But he’s really hot. Like totally ripped, but he’s kind of obsessive about food, it’s really weird.”

“Obsessive how?”

“Like anytime he eats something sweet or goes to order something, he talks about how much extra he’ll have to work out if he has it.”

“So, are we talking narcissism here, or just your typical self-obsessed asshole?”

“No, nothing like that, more like someone who’s scared of gaining weight or something. With everything he ordered I could see him looking at other stuff, like really eyeing it, but aside from some muffins, he ordered the healthiest things on the menu, no deserts, one diet soda which he called a treat, and the rest water or juice. He wouldn’t even have an ice cream cone at Greenwalls, even though he studied the flavors intently then  stared at me while I ate mine.”

“Maybe he’s just a health food nut.”

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Then leave it alone. You barely know the guy. Get to know him, and then if something’s up, maybe he’ll feel comfortable talking to you about it.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

“Of course I’m right. That’s why you call me.”

“No, I call you ‘cause you’re the only one I know who’s home every night.”

Danny laughed when Herman began sputtering, unable to formulate a response.

“Seriously though, thanks for listening. I’m still trying to wrap my head around that amazing kiss.”

“Long as you get it out of your system tonight. Last thing I want to here about all day tomorrow is some ‘magic kiss.’”

Laughing again, Danny swore he wouldn’t mention it during rehearsals, then he said goodnight and headed for the shower. Still, as he lay in bed, memories of the day with Jax and the kiss kept him awake far, far into the night.