by Lyla Payne

Why Not Try Something New?!

Hey, y’all!

So, the majority of you came to read my writing through Broken at Love, the first (and by far most read) installment of the Whitman University series. They’re standard New Adult contemporary romance fare, although I like to think I bring a little something different to the table with my gender-swapped storylines (and of course, my obsessions with tennis and Gossip Girl).

A few months ago I decided to try something different, and released a ghost story-romance-history-mystery-Southern small town tale that tackles the issues of family and friends and the age old question of whether or not it’s possible to go home again with Not Quite Dead.

Guys. I’m so proud of this book. I love Graciela, my main character, with my whole heart and the majority of the book’s reviews make me so happy, because they’re loving the book, too.

It’s ON SALE right now across all platforms for just $.99, and I’d love it if you’d check it out! I know how easy it is to say “meh, doesn’t sound like my thing,” but if I’d stuck to my thing, I would have missed out on some of my absolute favorite books in the past 5 years – Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, Graceline, Shadow and Bone, If I Stay – and my life would be less rich.

Which is not to say my books will change your life, but I have confidence that Gracie will make you smile at least once, and maybe make you cry, too.

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And you know what else? If you like it, there’s good news – the sequel, Not Quite Cold, is available now.

Happy Reading!

xoxo

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 by Lyla Payne

Different is Good. And also Scary!

Today is the release of not only my first adult title, but my first book that’s not set on or around the Whitman University campus. After writing Staying On Top, I felt as though the both the series and I were a little fatigued. Trying something new and exciting and different really appealed to me, which is how Not Quite Dead found its way into your hot little hands today.

It’s not New Adult. It’s not contemporary or particularly sexy. It’s not set on a college campus.

But it DOES have so many things I hope you’ll love:

1. A smartass, depressed, lovable, foul-mouthed main character looking for her path in life.

2. A ghost story that’s based on Southern history, and includes the heyday of Caribbean piracy to boot!

3. Family relationships and lifelong friendships, and all of the wonderful complications that ensue.

4. Mystery

5. A hot young mayor who, I feel certain, will be bringing the sexytimes in future installments.

To make a long story short (too late), although Not Quite Dead is different, and I’m terrified no one is going to read it/love it/recommend it to their friends, I am so happy I wrote it. So excited to share it with you. Because sometimes we need a fresh page, a blank slate, a new direction. Like Graciela, the protagonist of the story, I’m wandering a little bit while finding my way.

If you come along, I hope you enjoy the stroll.

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Not Quite Dead is available today on every outlet except iBooks, but they should be on board soon!

Amazon – Barnes and Noble – Kobo

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 by Lyla Payne

Find Out What’s Coming Your Way April 1!

Hey readers! As some of you know, I’ve decided to take a break from the lives and scandals streaking through Whitman University. The series is not finished, and I have promised a book from Sebastian Blair’s point-of-view – I assure you I have no intention on reneging on that!

I felt a little stale, and a lot like it was time to branch out and try something a little bit different. What came out of those feelings is a book that’s not a simple contemporary romance – although there’s plenty of sexiness offered up by my newest hero, Beauregard Drayton – and lets me explore some of the things I love best…history and ghosts.

In short, the first book in my new series, titled LOWCOUNTRY GHOSTS, will release April 1, 2014. It stars a girl whose life has been upended, leaving her a little angry and a lot lost, whose days get infinitely more complicated when she can’t shake a local ghost whose decided they should be best friends.

The title of the first installment is NOT QUITE DEAD. The synopsis is below, and the cover reveal is scheduled for March 1st (if you’re a blogger and would like to help with the reveal, please email me! lylapayneauthor at gmail).

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A broken engagement sends Graciela Harper crawling back to Heron Creek with her tail between her legs, but finds the sleepy little town too changed to set her life right. Not even her budding drinking problem can obscure her Gramps’s failing health, or erase the mental picture of her first love happily married to her childhood best friend. To top it all off, she’s having a heck of time convincing the town’s dashing young mayor of her unfit-for-dating status.

 

When the ghost of 18th century lady pirate Anne Bonny starts insisting on a near daily audience, Graciela has to confront something else she never expected—being certifiably nuts at twenty-five years old.

Her brand new “I don’t give a crap” attitude makes it easy to dismiss the mysterious threats that seem to be tied to her search for more information on the long dead pirate, but when her family becomes a target, Gracie knows she needs to find out why the ghost insists on being a constant, reeking companion.

 

If Graciela can put aside her prejudice against people without a pulse, she may discover that Anne Bonny’s problems are intricately linked with her own. The past harbors answers could help the cantankerous spirit find closure, but she is, after all, already dead. If Graciela doesn’t move fast, she might find herself doing the haunting, instead of the other way around.

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What do you think? Are you excited to take a new path along with me, because I hope to keep entertaining all of you beautiful readers for as long as you’ll have me!

If the book sounds like something you’d want to read, make sure and add it to your to-be-read list on Goodreads!

xoxo

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