When all-star pitcher and shapeshifter Jason Falco buys a small apartment building, he sees it not only as an investment, but as a place to escape the demands of major league baseball.
That is, until he meets his tenants! A vigilante vampire: a wereraven with a morbid sense of humor; a werewolf thief who poses as a security expert; and two witches who work as phone sex actresses and own an owl familiar. Not to mention a beautiful, all too human nurse who gets Jason's blood pumping overtime.
With all the hooting, howling and hollering going on, how can an All-American guy get some peace and sweep a girl off her feet?
Reviews for Strange Neighbors
"I really enjoyed this story. The characters range from menacing to hysterically funny. I particularly liked the two witches with the phone sex business and the building's ghost. Jason and Merry are great characters with sizzling chemistry and their love story is very well written. Jason's worry about his unique talents and heritage is ironic considering the tenants both known and unknown in his building. Aunt Dotty is just that and I wonder at both Jason and his Uncle Ralph's patience with her, particularly when she breaks into one tenant's apartment. The subplots of the ghost's murder mystery and Merry's biological parents add a few twists to an already great story. The plot is fast moving and totally engrossing. I just could not put this one down." - Maura Frankman, The Romance Studio
"Strange Neighbors is amusing, witty and has a pretty good plot too, though it is as strange as the neighbors. It’s all part of the fun, as are the neighbors. The characters are well developed considering they are comedic devises, well designed to keep the plot moving two steps forward and one step back, until the time is right for all to be revealed. The decidedly quirky cast helps Merry to catch up quickly on any worldliness she missed while living at home. Jason hides from the public eye and is afraid to tell Merry how he feels because his family condition makes him a freak of nature. He wants to tell her before he gets close, but their attraction is too strong. Jason is proficient at sex, as a sex idol he's had lots of practice. Merry is in heaven about their sex life, but finding out about the family condition the way she did almost ruined everything, except for the reader who won't be able to stop laughing. Merry is perfect to help Jason accept his special condition. She teaches him to trust and is the one woman for whom he’d give up all the baseball groupies. If only the people of the world could learn to respect the differences in others the way these strange neighbors grew to do by accepting each other for who they are, instead of what they are. Strange Neighbors is a sneaky, romantic fable that you’ll laugh your way through." - Karen Haas, JERR
"When nurse Merry MacKenzie rents an apartment in a historic Boston home, she's taken with her new landlord, sexy baseball pitcher Jason Falco, and intrigued by the possibility of a ghost on the premises. It doesn't take long to figure out that her neighbors are an odd bunch: a couple of witches who run a phone sex business, several shape-shifters, a werewolf, and a vampire in (of course) the basement. The scariest entity by far is determined reporter Lila Crum, whose pursuit of Jason knows no boundaries. Add in Jason's snoopy and decidedly nonsupernatural aunt and the good-natured fun never stops. Chase (/Vampire Vintage/) brings on plenty of laughs along with steamy sex scenes as Merry and Jason bewitch each other amid the supernatural mayhem. /(June)/" - Publisher's Weekly
"A sweet and playful romance, STRANGE NEIGHBORS tosses an ostensibly unsuspecting human into a supernatural scenario her parents never prepared her for. Merry is quickly involved in all sorts of building hijinks while trying to figure out her feelings for Jason and his for her. A woman who has gone through much already in life, Merry is well prepared to handle her new situation if only she has the confidence in herself and her relationship to see things through."
"Join Merry, Jason, and their fabulously dysfunctional apartment building mates on their spectacularly unique journey to becoming a family in STRANGE NEIGHBORS." - Romance Reviews Today
Ashlyn Chase describes herself as an Almond Joy bar. A little nutty, a little flaky, but basically sweet, wanting only to give her readers a scrumptious, satisfying, reading experience.
She holds a degree in behavioral sciences, worked as a psychiatric RN for several years and spent a few more years working for the American Red Cross where she still volunteers as an instructor. She credits her sense of humor to her former careers since comedy helped preserve whatever was left of her sanity. She is a multi-published, award-winning author of humorous erotic romances.
Represented by the Nancy Yost agency in New York, NY, she lives in beautiful New Hampshire with her true-life hero husband and a spoiled brat cat.
TITLE: Nectar of the Gods (Anthology)
PUBLISHER: Total-e-Bound
RELEASE DATE: 9/29/08
URL FOR EXCERPTS: http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?CAT_ID=&P_ID=355
ISBN: 978-1-906811-07-5
GENRE: Fantasy, Greek Gods
LENGTH: Five short stories
Oh My God
What happens when a Greek God has amnesia--especially Dionysus, the biggest bad boy of Mount Olympus?
The Greek God of wine, women, and party, falls off a balcony and lands on his head during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Now he has amnesia and has to rely on witnesses to tell him about his life. All he knows is that they call him 'Big D,' and he's a party animal who drinks too much and ought to give up alcohol for Lent.
Mandy and Brandy flashed Dionysus right before he fell and feel partially responsible for his amnesia. They're nice enough to take him to an AA meeting, and then back to their homes until he recovers his memory. Fortunately, they're not too nice to be naughty. They all agree that replacing a bad habit with a healthy one is the key to sobriety, and what could be healthier than sex? Will he come between friends before they know who he is? Will Zeus separate all of them, forever?
At thirty-eight, Hope Daniels is a Jersey cop with superhuman hearing, a controlling mother, and she's about to marry any sane woman's last choice of a groom. Right before she walks down the aisle, she hears distant screams. Figuring someone should be rescued, she bolts from her mother's vision of a royal wedding. But when she busts down the door of a BDSM club, she's the one who winds up in handcuffs.
Dorian Markoff is intent on using a hypnotist to wipe the beautiful cop's mind of his-and his club's-existence. But the hypnotist is in Vegas so a mad romp ensues, involving lots of hot vanilla-ish sex that turns his BDSM lifestyle upside down.
Neither guesses what an adventure it will be to find the hypnotist, avoid one unintentionally snubbed Dominatrix, and explain it all to Hope's mother. All while falling in love.
Delilah Mills, a navy enlistee, is on the verge of finding true love. All she needs is a little push or so her grandmother believes. The elder Delilah can't resist the urge to meddle with her namesake-even if she's a ghost and her influence is limited.
Joshua Sparks, a naval officer attracted to Delilah since their teens, discovers the crush has been mutual all these years. Back then, he let her mixed race and his parents stop him. Now, the Navy says they can't date. One night they throw caution to the winds and not only can't undo what they did, but don't want to.
Can two Navy lovers, equal in resolve but not in rank, secretly live together off base, without discovery getting one of them transferred to the Middle East?
Publisher Note: A shorter version of this book was previously published elsewhere under the same title.
Kendra Dempsey took her gangster boyfriend's money and ran. The problem is, it was supposed to be split three ways. Going back to Las Vegas is out of the question, so she goes after the fresh start she needs. Indulging her fantasy of living in paradise, escaping the mob and having a career that utilizes her drawing talent, she moves to Hawaii and apprentices as a tattoo artist. Since all the mobsters are in prison now, she can finally relax, right?
Jake Jensen is a cop assigned to work his first undercover assignment at a suspected chop shop, Bump and Grind Auto Body, but he doesn't look the part. The quickest thing he can do to roughen his clean-cut edges is to let his hair grow and get some cool tattoos. When the dyslexic tattoo apprentice makes a mistake in the lettering, will he be a laughing stock? Should he blow his cover and help her when she's in more danger than he is?
Even though she's a nurse at a sperm bank, meeting young, virile professionals every day, Natalie Watson's relationships always seem to suffer from "stress fractures." With a hopeless prognosis, she seeks metaphysical help. The tealeaf reader tells her there's a perfect man for her, but she might have to change her definition of perfect.
Shane (Crusher) Derby, owner of Derby Demolition, takes out his aggressions all day long by blowing up buildings and smashing the contents. He couldn't be mellower until the nurse in the adjacent building tells him to keep it down. He's making her donors jump and miss their cups.
Imagine thirteen attractive crime-fighting women with super powers-and PMS!
Joell, aka Wonder Witch of the League of Amazing Women, gets a desperate call for the League's help. She tries to explain to their contact that they're unable to work right now since they have to lock up their weapons when it's-ahem-that time. Unfortunately, he plays to her weakness. The victims are male models kidnapped from a romance convention! Since all the members of the League write sizzling romance novels in their spare time and can't resist a pretty face on a hunky body, she agrees.
But who's the hero in all of this? The models' agent, willing to pay big bucks to get them back? The undercover cop, hired to work with them since he can pass for a model and be trusted with weapons? Or will it be someone else? Someone with superpowers of his own?
A randy coyote howling at the moon from a hilltop is struck by lightning. Though a shape-shifter he's had no use for his human form. When struck he changed to survive, but sadly can't change back. Unprepared for life as a man, he walks naked into civilization to find food, shelter and discrimination!
Sky, a nurse in Arizona, meets Randy in the psychiatric ward. Where else would an under-socialized naked man who claims to be a coyote wind up? Sky's Apache ancestry tells her to believe him and she breaks him out of the hospital. But what do you do with a charming coyote stuck in a randy man suit?
What do tattooed butts, the Mafia, and a medical student have in common? Tonia Fuller!
Tonia, a blonde bombshell with a bust to make a Barbie doll weep, is a klutz. Wearing four-inch spike heels, and already top heavy, her center of gravity is elusive. When hunky medical student Raphael Beauchamp comes to her rescue twice, he thinks he knows why Tonia's falling. It's those ridiculous designer stilettos.
Tonia takes a tumble down some stairs, resulting in a nasty concussion. Since she's new in Boston she has no one to stay with her. Raphael opts to look after this headstrong beauty rather than risk second impact syndrome, which can be fatal. Raphael discovers that Tonia's the ex-wife of a Las Vegas mafia don. She has half an offshore bank account number tattooed on her butt, and someone's after her. A normal person would don a pair of running shoes and get the hell out of Boston. But it's too late for Raphael. Tonia's not the only one who's been falling.
Maura Keegan, addicted to vampire romance novels, decides to add a Gothic section to her vintage clothing store in SoHo. What better way to get a tax-deductible trip to Romania-and meet her future vampire mate?
Adrian, a sexy vampire living right under her nose in New York, owns a vineyard in France producing very special wine for exclusive clients. It allows him and others like him to walk in daylight and avoid snacking on strangers.
He's horrified to learn that the redhead he admires is planning to visit Romania to summon a 'real' vampire. Adrian has every intention of being that vampire. Only trouble is, she thinks he's a wino tourist intent on spoiling her fun. A visit to his wacky Romanian family might help convince her he's for real, or send her screaming into the night.
An Interview with Ashlyn Chase
By Holly Hewson for The Romance Studio
HH: Ashlyn, thank you for talking with us at TRS! Please tell us about your featured book, Strange Neighbors.
AC: TThanks for having me, Holly!
I'm in love with this new series. It's about an apartment building full of paranormal misfits in Boston's Back Bay. As you might expect, it's another one of my romantic comedies. The building is a typical nineteenth century brownstone mansion, converted to six apartments, plus a top floor penthouse.
Our series includes some really fun characters. A were-raven with a morbid sense of humor, an Alpha were-wolf who was kicked out of his pack for being too nice and now drums up business for his security-system business by moonlighting as a thief, two witches with an owl familiar who work as phone-sex actresses, a sarcastic ghost, and an "unofficial" resident in the basement-a vampire who fancies himself the neighborhood watch-dog and vigilante crime-fighter. The new landlord, occupying the penthouse, is a professional baseball pitcher with a secret of his own. But being only half-shapeshifter, he doesn't have the greatest control over his shifts. He hired his busybody aunt and unemployed uncle to manage and maintain the building.
As they say, birds of a feather flock together, and with the exception of the latest tenant, a very human nurse on her own for the first time, all the hooting, howling, and hollering that goes on drives the busybody building manager a little nuts.
Book one is about the romance between the nurse and the landlord. As soon as she moves out of Apt 1B, her best friend, a lawyer, moves in. Our human lawyer hooks up with the werewolf thief in book two. Book three involves a witch-war over the vampire. Our witches are cousins from opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, and for a while it's a bit like the civil war all over again.
HH: Your hero has inherited quite a situation. <g> Where did you get the idea for this fascinating and fun story?
AC: As with all my stories, I blame it on Thalia, the muse of comedy. She puts these ideas in my head, and I have to write or she bugs me until I do.
HH: What do you like best about Jason and how do you relate to him?
AC: I love that he's really a nice guy despite the paparazzi trying to make him out to be a playboy. Then he has to convince our nurse that it's all lies.
HH: This is your first release with Sourcebooks. What can you tell us about this?
AC: I was at a writer's conference and met a Border's Bookseller. She said she had a friend who was an editor and asked if I had anything interesting in the works. I told her about Strange Neighbors and she urged me to submit it to her friend. Basically, I was in the right place at the right time with the right idea. When I received "the call" I was overjoyed. Then I needed an agent to help me interpret my fifteen page contract! Again, I was fortunate and found an agent who was looking for clients at that time.
HH: What else do you have in store for lucky readers?
AC: I have a short erotic romance, Strokes, written with Dalton Diaz coming from Ellora's Cave in August. It's in their Arts series and features an Italian painter.
But I'd also like to write "the rest" of a series that began with my most popular novel to date, Vampire Vintage. It's about four friends-thirty-something women in New York City tired of being thrown over for the twenty-somethings, so they decide to summon immortal lovers who might prefer women with a little more experience.
HH: What do you think today's readers are looking for and how do you fill that demand in your writing?
AC: I'd say the world needs laughter and love with their fictional adventures right about now. I try to inject a little humor into all my romances.
HH: What you most like to accomplish in your writing career?
AC: My goal is while doing my day to day errands to spot one of my novels for sale in whatever store I happen to be shopping. It won't count if I go out looking for it. I'll have to experience that "Huh? That looks like one of my books," moment before I jump up and down and squee right in the store.
HH: What makes it all worth it to you as an author?
AC: Knowing I gave someone a giggle. Again, it doesn't count if I ask for their opinion. What makes my day is getting a fan email from someone I don't know, or hearing from a bookseller that they'd like some promos and they plan to recommend my books to their customers. Okay -- I lied. Getting a great review makes my day too, and that could be considered asking for someone's opinion.
HH: What are you reading right now?
AC: I usually have several stories going and once and pick up whatever I'm in the mood for. Every Tuesday, I get to read my fabulous critique partner's work in progress. Look for books by Mia Marlowe in the future. I'm also addicted to anthologies. I love the Ellora's Cavemen series and Secrets by Red Sage. I'm also reading a hardcover my Mary Janice Davidson called Undead and Unwelcome. And my latest guilty pleasure is having an audiobook to turn to when my eyes are tired. I'm listening to Monsoon Fever from total-e-bound. Very hot!
HH: Any big plans for the summer?
AC: I have a bunch of booksignings in June and can't really think beyond that right now. Here's where I'll be if anyone would like to know.
June Book Signings:
Sat. June 5th 2 to 4 p.m. Lori Foster's Reader/Author Get Together,
Cincinnati Marriott North, West Chester, OH
Sat. 6/12 12 to 3 p.m. Well Read Books
37 Plaistow Rd (Rte 125,) Elm Plaza, Plaistow, NH 603-819-5116
Sat. 6/19 6:30 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Manchester, NH
1741 South Willow Street, Manchester, NH 603-668-5557
Thurs. 6/25 7:00 p.m. Barnes and Noble, Nashua, NH
235 Daniel Webster Hwy., Nashua, NH 603-888-0533
Sat. 6/26 12 to 3 p.m. Ancient Moon
W.Pearl St. Nashua, NH 603-882-8013
