Author, A. J. Llewellyn

I‘ve just re-released three new editions of books 5,6, and 7 in my Phantom Lover series. All have been re-edited, revised, and given spanky-new luscious covers by the amazing Karrie Jax!

To celebrate, I have made My Hawaiian Song of Love, one of my favorites in the series FREE for the next five days on Kindle!

Grab your copy here!

https://tinyurl.com/y49ujq6r

Here are details of all three books!

Rent Boy, Phantom Lover #5

Kimo Wilder, Hawaii’s number one hula dancer and powerful kahuna, is booked into a lavish hotel in Maui during a July 4th weekend break…with a Rent Boy. Would he really cheat on his beloved husband Lopaka? With their baby twins on the way, Kimo has always been the model of the doting husband and parent.

With the sound of the surf crashing around Kimo’s hotel room and the family on its way to visit him, will the Independence Day fireworks display, set for sunset, be the only explosion Maui’s going to see over the weekend?

Purchase Link: https://tinyurl.com/y6mnau8m

My Hawaiian Song of Love, Phantom Lover #6

Katie Garrison’s boyfriend dumps her on the eve of their big move from California to balmy Waikiki. When she arrives, she meets not just one mystery man, but two! The first, Nohea, is a seafaring man who seduces her during a turbulent storm on the floor of a double-hull canoe. The second man, Kahanu, is an Aloha Patrol officer who harbors a deep secret she just can’t penetrate, despite their blossoming, passionate relationship.

Afraid he will lose Katie, Kahanu asks if she would love him no matter what she discovers about him, and she tells him she would. What Katie is not expecting, however, is that Kahanu’s big secret is that he is bisexual and has been in a long-term gay relationship with Nohea.

Although shocked and initially appalled, Katie realizes she loves Kahanu. When both men invite her into a three-way relationship with them, she wonders how happy she really wants to be. Is she ready for the ultimate romantic ménage with two virile men who love her and want to be with her?

Soon, Katie discovers unimaginable bliss beneath the stars, under tropic palms and in their arms, her Hawaiian Song of Love…

Purchase/Free Download Link: https://tinyurl.com/y49ujq6r

Beguiled, Phantom Lover, #7

It’s Halloween in Hawaii. Those sexy hula dancers Kimo and Lopaka are hiding their endangered children in the secret, mysterious Kahuna (high priest) Village on the Big Island. Most Hawaiian residents think this ancient village is pure myth. But it is very real. For hundreds of years, it has been the refuge of the sick, the injured…and those in mortal peril.

While Kimo, the Keeper of Secrets of the old Hawaiian way has managed to protect his family from the living, he hadn’t banked on the hundred year old obake (ghost) of a lost, murdered female Japanese obon dancer. Taking refuge in the body of his beloved husband Lopaka, Aoi refuses to leave. Kimo and the residents of the Kahuna Village must help her find her way to what she calls The Pureland…except that Aoi’s starting to like being alive again. Featuring all the lovable, familiar characters from the sexy and exciting Phantom Lover series, Beguiled lifts the veil on some of the old ghosts of Hawaii’s plantation past and often turbulent cultural history.

Purchase Link: https://tinyurl.com/yy7e8yn3

Ti Leaves and Moon Cakes, formerly part of the Kindle Words Lei Crime Series is now my own series featuring Maui Arson Investigator, Solomon Tua– who goes by Tua– in a whole new adventure set on the island of Oahu!

Purchase Link: https://tinyurl.com/y4e74d4b

In this follow-up to Coffee and Kukui Nuts, Maui arson investigator expert Solomon Tua wants his sister Meleny’s wedding to go off without a bang on the beach at Waikiki. But before the kahuna can bless the big day with a traditional ‘awa and ti leaf ceremony, a suspicious buoy washes ashore, threatening to wreck the celebration.

Not only that, but a shocking photo snapped by Tua’s date for the wedding, his Lieutenant, Josette Crawford, reveals a surprising face in the crowd.

When somebody starts taking potshots at Tua, he once again joins forces with U.S. Marshal Tony McCracken to track down a master criminal. Can Tua keep his shirt and his underpants on this time? Can he figure out why he offered Josette a date involving moon cakes? And most of all, can he get to the er, bottom of why he hates Tony’s new boyfriend?

Check it out today! https://tinyurl.com/y4e74d4b

By A.J. Llewellyn

Three years ago I had a life-changing experience seeing Norwegian superstar Caroline Waters’ searing musical, Finding Venus. Every moment is still in my brain and last night she launched the CD of Finding Venus at Kulak’s Woodshed in the NoHo Arts District in LA.

Having seen the show a few times in the past and blogging about it: http://www.ajllewellyn.com/site/2013/02/25/2016/ I was excited to see how much it has changed in three years. It’s changed a lot.

In some ways it hasn’t. The amazing Katisse Buckingham is still there playing flute, sax, clarinet, and being part of every second of the performance. Jennifer Richardson was still on hand, but sitting in the audience.

For the uninitiated, Kulak’s Woodshed is as stripped-down as you can get. Interestingly, it’s also the perfect space for a show like Finding Venus, allowing the words and music to fill the space like nothing else can.

Waters shines like a Pollia berry, or perhaps many of them, in this show that has evolved since I first saw it. It’s a deeply personal telling of a terrible bicycle accident that sidelined her for over a year when she was a child star in Norway, touring with her father, Per Asplin, the Norwegian equivalent of Frank Sinatra.

For months, Waters lingered in a dark mental and emotional cloud. Even as her smashed left leg slowly healed, traumatic brain injury left her with no memory and a lingering depression she hid from doctors, afraid of what they would do to her if they knew. “I had no idea who I was,” she said. Music school helped ease her soul until she confessed her truth and a couple of teachers staged an exorcism that was devastating. They burned her journals, the only things keeping her sane.

As Waters opens her soul to the world, the musicians performing with her are truly astonishing. For me, the wonderful cellist Ruti Celli was an astonishing, brilliant addition. Her artistry is in perfect sync with Waters.

At the center of this piece is Waters, who has no idea she was mentally wandering during this time period and responds to the name Venus. Waters reveals that with her brain in turmoil, other facets of life came into focus, such as psychic ability and prescience.

Caroline is an unknown entity until she travels with her parents to San Francisco at the age of 16 to perform, because her father believed work was the answer to all her problems. It was there that she met Stefanie Stroh, who became her best friend and the woman she came to love.  This is the fathomless, dark, glorious, tragic heart of the show. Just as Venus/Caroline is finding herself and embracing her sexual identity, Stefanie disappears during a year-long backpacking trip.

Waters had dreams before this and warned her beloved not to backpack alone. She knew something bad was going to happen. Stefanie survived India, Pakistan, and other far-flung places but was last seen in Nevada one day before she was due to travel home.

As shocking as this revelation is, there are funny moments in the show such as an astrologer telling Caroline the way to finding herself was dancing naked in front of the mirror every morning. Great advice!

Waters left Norway and traveled to the town of Wells, Nevada, the last known sighting of Stefanie. Armed with a machete in one hand, and a gun in the other, she walked for a year, searching for Stefanie. She also carried a pick to dig the earth. “I was searching for a body at this point. I knew she was dead.”

According to serial killer Tommy Lynn Sells,  he picked up Stefanie who was hitchhiking to Reno. They shared some LSD, allegedly, and he strangled her. Stefanie’s body has never been found, but while authorities do believe she’s gone, they don’t necessarily believe Sells’ version of the events.

It was here in the high desert that Waters did a private ceremony releasing the spirit of Stefanie Stroh to the winds and sky. She let her go home. In letting her go, Venus and Caroline found themselves. These moments in the show remain unforgettable and tear-provoking. In allowing Stefanie’s soul to fly, Caroline found her own wings. And the courage and passion to live.

Caroline and Venus are focused on a Finding Venus Broadway show and I can’t wait to fly to New York to see it. The final song I am Venus says it all.

The lyrics in part say:

I am Venus.

I am love.

I am sugar from above.

Yes, Miss Waters, you are. All that, and more.

http://carolinewaters.com/music

Aloha oe,

A. J.

LOVE FOR SALE IS OUT TODAY!

Purchase Link: https://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2438-1-love-for-sale/

Can Killian save Dane and show him that sex isn’t love and love isn’t sex…that love is amazing and is not for sale?

When Matt Killian, an LAPD cop-turned-private-eye, is approached one rainy day in Hollywood to take on a missing person case, he initially wants to say “no” when the potential client tells him he chose Killian because he’s gay. Killian changes his mind, however, when he learns the man is distraught because his son, Dane Marks—AKA notorious gay porn director, Danny Dark—is missing. Matt is further surprised to learn that Dane has already tried to take his own life, twice, and has now disappeared, possibly to escape interference in his third attempt.

It’s a race against time as Killian tracks down Danny Dark and attempts to short-circuit the man’s desire for self-destruction. Plunged headlong into the sometimes-amusing, sometimes-terrifying world of gay porn, Killian is mistaken for a go-go dancer and performs in a live show to get close to Dane.

This book has been previously published.

Purchase Link: http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=AJL_OSCL

Can a lost love ever find its way home again?

Rudy Keller’s always felt like a bit of a misfit. Growing up, he felt different from everyone around him. Somehow every toy he was given at Christmas was either missing parts or just didn’t work. As an adult, he’s taken a weird pleasure in collecting toy farm animals that are broken, especially reindeer called Rudolph. Meeting Boris, his Finnish boyfriend and one of the few vets in the town of Kemi, Rudy feels like an outsider all over again in the tiny, freezing town close to the Arctic Circle.

Somehow though, he and Boris fit perfectly and now that gay marriage is legal in Finland, Rudy’s keen to tie the knot. But now, after a decade of waiting, Boris is balking at the idea. In fact, he ends his relationship with Rudy, who flies home to Santa Claus Lane, a tiny eccentric neighborhood in Santa Barbara, California. He seeks comfort from his family and the familiarity of his idyllic enclave, which is actually only a street. But everything’s changed and Rudy’s in for one shock after another. Can his anguished heart reclaim what he’s lost, and what is his, on Santa Claus Lane?

I haven’t blogged for a while but a recent author retreat in Pigeon Point–a remote central coast lighthouse here in California– reminded me how much I enjoyed it. So I’m diving in again.

We did a writing exercise that prompted this blog and I can’t get it out of my head.

We had to write for five minutes on our most favorite obsessions (and our least favorite) and the results were hilarious. I can only talk about my own weird obsession…and I won’t name the author who is into guy’s feet. That’s fine except I had a huge crush on actor Thomas Jane until I learned he walks the streets barefoot. I used to do that because I’m Australian and we’re stupid, then I stepped on crushed glass so the idea of “walkabout” isn’t so hot anymore in the big city. Besides, somebody took a photo of Thomas’s feet and they were dirty!

But I digress. I have plenty of obsessions but my main one is Pyrex. Vintage pyrex to be precise. I had no real passion until I came across the nesting bowls pictured above right after I moved to L.A. in 1984. I saw these bowls in a corner of Treasures of Ojai, a fantastic antique store in Ojai, California (and the only one left standing after all the other vintage stores in that cute little country town became art galleries and high-end jewelry boutiques.

I bought the bowls because they reminded me of my mother and I remember she had the same mixing bowls. Same colors and sizes. She died when I was six and my grief-stricken dad threw out almost everything we owned, including my books and toys, and my brothers’s things too.

No wonder we are so demented.

Anyway, I bought the bowls and have used them ever since. This led to an obsession to mid-century kitchenware  I’ve found online. I wonder about who owned the pieces and why they are selling them. I will forever hang on to the ones I’ve purchased because the hold sacred memories–the very few that I have–of my mother. I recall her mixing bechamel sauce. I can still remember the tang of hers. Her secret ingredient was a dash of fresh ground nutmeg. She was a very typical modern Greek woman, but her cooking was pure tradition. I also recall her singing Tom Jones’ The Green, Green Grass of Home along with the radio while she worked. She kept her radio on the windowsill and I still have mine there, too. We had so much in common now that I think of it.

I’ve often wondered what happened to her collection of bowls. I believe they were a wedding present. Does the person who got them ever know this? And what about the bowls I’ve seen in second-hand shops? Who owned and loved them? And how did they come to be abandoned? Did someone die? Or did they just stop loving their bowls? I’ve bought others since then. They started showing up and I found them cheaper by the way than the initial set I bought, but I found many of them at the fabulous Ros0e Bowl Flea Market. If you live in LA and you’ve never been, do yourself a favor and go. It’s on the second Sunday of every month. I’ve come to discover this is where Pyrex bowls go to die. Er, I mean, where they go looking for a second chance at culinary love. I found a wonderful bowl there years ago called the Friendship pattern. Others call it Cinderella but Pyrex calls it Friendship. My bowl was white with red and yellow pictures of birds and a floral design. Very 50s.

It was a thrill to buy it for $10 and I adored that bowl! I used it to mix pancake batter when my nieces and nephews came to stay and I loved the pouring handles. A couple of years ago I inexplicably broke it. I was stunned. I thought those things were indestructible.

I immediately set out to find a replacement but the world has caught up with my Pyrex obsession and everything online was $50 and up. The Rose Bowl didn’t have them. I passed countless sellers with all kinds of Pyrex. I even found a set of bowls I’d never seen before and was thrilled to take them home. One is a lavender color and it’s my new favorite.

So I kept looking for Friendship but couldn’t find one cheap enough. I couldn’t justify the cost. I kept checking eBay and local antique malls hoping I’d find some seller desperate enough one at a reasonable price — and then I gave up. Oddly, once I stopped obsessing and no longer looked, I found one.

I was walking my dog one Saturday morning and a woman who lives at the end of the street was having a mini yard sale. I knew Ruth well because I walked by her place daily and we’d talk. She is an Orthodox Jewish woman who cooks all day for her family. She became the victim of urban development and her landlord evicted her so he could demolish the property an build a McMansion. She fought it for two years and I even went to court to speak on her behalf. But she lost the case and she and her invalid husband were forced to move.

So there she was selling off kitchen items and I saw the devastation in her eyes. She had a Friendship bowl and she wanted two bucks for it. As much as I wanted it, I was worried I was taking a precious heirloom.

“I’ll buy it and give it back to you,” I said. She wouldn’t hear of it. I gave her $5 which still wasn’t enough to be honest, but I took home the bowl, a huge grin on my face. I had to laugh because there was still food stuck on the outside of it. Maybe she gave it a quick rinse and really wanted to get rid of it. I don’t know.  All I know is she is the same age my mother would have been if she were alive, and I feel I have strong tangible connections to both of them.

The new Friendship has replaced the old one, but I still love them both. And with every meal I prepare with this well-loved bowl, I will think of Ruth and I will think of my mother. And the green, green grass of home.

Do you have a favorite obsession? Please share and you will enter the draw to win a $10 Amazon Gift Card and a $25 gift card for yummy See’s Candies (available for us online and in-store).

Purchase Link: http://www.extasybooks.com/a-j-llewellyn/978-1-4874-1899-1-the-fluffer/

Being a fluffer for a magazine’s male centerfolds should be a dream job for Jack, or will it be a ticket to hell?

Jack Casey has a communications degree and a ton of experience in the journalism field, but can’t land a full-time job. When one crops up for a mysterious new men’s magazine, he meets the hottest man he’s ever seen in his life. Somebody submitted garlic farmer Luke Silverfall to Men’s World as a centerfold. But it wasn’t Luke himself. Can Jack persuade him to model and let Jack er, fluff him up for the camera? Or is fate about to take a nasty turn for Jack?

Luke Silverfall had no idea he’d been submitted for a centerfold spread for a magazine. When Jack Casey calls him and asks about Luke’s new line of peeled onions, he assumes the guy’s a chef of some kind. Well, Jack likes to cook all right. He cooks up lies and subterfuge, or so Luke thinks. Can he trust the fluffer? Or will he have to give up the career he once wanted so desperately? Will it lie, with all his other wishes in a field of broken dreams?

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DNKFLTT

Pelo is a troubled man whose mixed ancestry of Hawaiian and Filipino has always made him feel like he has no place in either culture. He’s back home on the Big Island of Hawaii after serving time for manslaughter—a crime he did not commit. And now, a chance encounter with a newly widowed Filipina turns Pelo’s life upside down.

From helping her family undertake the huge preparations necessary for a traditional Filipino funeral to finding a new chance at love with the woman’s sexy and passionate son, Adan, Pelo finds he might finally have a chance for strong roots. On the single biggest festival day in the islands, King Kamehameha Day, will Pelo find his heart?

This story was previously published under the title Pelo’s Heart. This reissued version of the story has been revised and reedited.

Night School Vampire – Get Him While He’s Hot!

Purchase Link: http://www.extasybooks.com/978-1-4874-2039-0-night-school-vampire/

Being the teacher’s pet is one thing…being his evening meal is another.

Purchase Link: http://www.extasybooks.com/hes-gone-home/

Diego Cabrera thought his turbulent life in Ventura was behind him.

Diego Cabrera gave up his life on the police force, drugs, drink, and a toxic relationship with his family to start a new, sober existence in Hollywood with a fantastic job in creative development at a major studio. But the opportunity for a blind date leads Diego back to the beach and a catastrophic decision to try Tokyo Tea.

Diego’s quickly arrested and charged with a DUI. Ventura is notoriously tough on drunk driving convictions, and in spite of it being Diego’s first offense, he’s given 48 hours in the slammer.

Petrified that his new carefully crafted world is about to be destroyed, Diego receives unexpected support from the sexy Vincent Eagle, the probation officer with whom he had the blind date. Can Diego juggle his newfound feelings for Vincent, memories of an abusive father, his job with a volatile boss, and remain sober? And why did he go home in the first place?