Below are the books that I read in December and my thoughts on each. 

I tried to do the Fold Reading Challenge to diversify my reading this year, but didn't meet the December challenge. It definitely made a difference in my reading, and I plan to continue to read diversely while tackling the pile of books I have n my shelves, both digital and physical.

Today's Teaser Tuesday is from the third book in my Alien Next Door series, Alien Attraction. The FMC of this story, Rachel, is the daughter of Luke and Rachel from Alien Adoration, and sister to Adam from Alien Admirer. This story is a little more action-packed than the first two. Read and excerpt from Alien Attraction below...

​Soul mate. The one person Angela would marry, spend the rest of her life with. Did she have one somewhere on this planet, or was she destined to spend the rest of her life alone?

Holding the crystal orb passed down to her by her father over a year earlier, she willed it to give her a sign, flash red or blue. Or any other color for all she cared. The extraterrestrial sphere hadn’t provided any guidance in her life decisions as it had her father and brother, hadn’t shared its thoughts on the two guys she’d dated since moving to the city, not even whether she should stay there. Had the battery died? Or was she too human to make it work? Her brother Adam, had told her to be thankful she shared little of the extraterrestrial DNA, that her life would be easier. Instead, she didn’t fit in. Anywhere.

The last few years had been brutal as she waited to locate her one true love, especially after Adam had married Sera. Angela had given up on all the guys she’d gone to high school with, none of them interested in anything other than drinking and one-night stands. Moving far from home had been the best decision she’d made in her life, but hadn’t brought her any closer to finding love.

Tempted to slam the orb on the floor and smash it to pieces, she instead tucked it into a nest of tissue paper inside a cardboard box. Next time she drove the four-hour trip to visit her family, she would return it to her father and give up on the idea of celestial intervention. After fitting the lid on top, she shoved the box into the rear of her bedroom closet. No point in leaving it out for another year to collect dust.

With a sigh, she plodded over to the bay view window in the main room of her tiny apartment, the only saving grace to being on the fifteenth floor. She picked up her plum-colored pillow and plopped onto the matching foam seat. Glancing across the city, she gazed at the setting sun, the end of another day on her own. Growing up, she’d never imagined living so far from her parents, in a city full of concrete, steel, glass, and people. So many people. Yet, she failed to make a connection with very many of them, save for the sweet old lady next door who had passed away from a heart attack a month earlier. Angela didn’t regret her decision to move though, not when the friends she’d grown up with were alcoholics, or in prison for dealing drugs.

Knock, knock.

She jumped. Except for her former neighbor, no one visited her. Plus, the building had a controlled entrance, so anyone who did decide to pop over had to call up first.

The sound came again. She rushed to the entrance, curious as to who stood on the other side. No one at work had mentioned stopping by. Heck, she was lucky if her co-workers remembered her name for an entire day.

Peeking through the peephole, she gasped. A guy. And a damn hot one from what she could tell through the tiny hole. Shoulder-length brown hair, a prominent nose, and radiant green eyes. Though his scowl left her wanting to sneak away from the entrance and pretend she wasn’t at home.

When he raised his fist to knock again, a burst of courage swept through her. She yanked the door open before he made contact. “Can I help you?”

He jumped, his scowl momentarily gone. “You’re Angela Jones?”

“Yes....” How did he know her name when she’d never met him before? Usually it was the other way around. People knew her face, but couldn’t get her name right if their lives depended on it.

The stranger held out a couple of envelopes. “I believe this is your mail. Seems the postal carrier put them in my box instead of yours.”

She took them from him. “Thank you.” Maybe it was a good thing the mail lady kept mixing up Angela’s box in the lobby with the one next to hers. That was how she’d ended up meeting sweet Mrs. Kersley, her neighbor before the handsome man in front of her had moved in. She could get to know him better. “You.... You’re new here, right? Would you like to come in for coffee?”

“No.” He furrowed his brows, looking even more disgusted than he had through the peephole. “See that this mix up doesn’t happen again. I don’t want this to be a daily trip. I have better things to do.”

What an asshole! Like she had any control over which slot her mail ended up in. As he turned away, she slammed the door behind him. The mail snafu had happened for as long as she’d lived there. Mrs. Kersley hadn’t minded bringing the misdirected letters and packages to her. She would often make extra food and invite her for dinner when the older woman did stop by. Angela doubted the same would ever happen with Mr. Too Busy. Time to get the computer out and switch everything to e-billing with the hopes of never running into him again.

With a huff, she headed back to the window. Lights flickered to her left. She spun toward her bedroom, where blue and red beams danced across her walls and ceiling. What the hell?

A few cautious steps and she reached the entrance. Peeking inside, she searched for the source of the luminescence. Inside her closet, the box she’d tucked in the back corner less than an hour earlier, lay on its side, with the orb in the middle of the floor, lighting up her bedroom like a disco ball. What had caused it to fall over? And why was it flashing two colors? According to her father and Adam, it pulsed with lights of red or blue, not both. Knowing Angela’s luck, the orb had little life remaining, giving one last show before it finally died.
​
Shaking her head, she picked up the extraterrestrial object, not at all surprised it stopped flashing with her touch. Why would it start working for her after so many years anyway? Stupid ball. She tossed it in the box and used her foot to shove it to the far corner of her closet. Time to face the fact she lived alone in the big city, with no help from anyone or anything. And when her work contract expired in a few weeks, she would consider moving elsewhere rather than sign a new offer of employment. Because she had no chance of stumbling upon her soul mate here, not when people chose to ignore her rather than invite her to group events. Didn’t seem to matter she carried more human DNA than Adam.

Today's first Teaser Tuesday post is from the second book in my Alien Next Door series, Alien Admirer. I've switched to Tuesdays, as Friday was already a busy posting day for me on social media. Plus, I can't always share the first chapters of my books due to length or lack of chapters. 

The hero from Alien Admirer, Adam, is the son of Luke and Rachel from Alien Adoration. And he has a huge crush on his recently widowed neighbor. But can anything ever come of it? Read the beginning of Alien Admirer below...

Staring out the window at his next door neighbor, Adam cringed. His buddies had already left for Morty’s Pub, needing a break from a week of twelve hour days to finish building another house. He was the only licensed carpenter among them, though they all put in the same effort. Instead of spending his Friday night with them, he’d chosen to lounge in nothing but boxer briefs, and pine over the woman of his desires, but not his reality. Not because one of his parents came from a planet many light years away—a part of his life that he kept secret from everyone. Neither did their eight-year difference in age weigh into his decision to stay away from her.

No, Sera’s husband had died about a year ago and she’d refused to start dating again, saying her kids didn’t want a replacement for their father.

Adam longed for a way to convince her to take a chance on him. Her children, Melody and Zach, clung to him every time he offered to take them swimming in the lake, or treated them to ice cream from the convenience store up the road, or any other time they spotted him outside.

He adored them.

Sure, Sera needed time to grieve. He understood that, but his mental comprehension didn’t stop his dick from stiffening every time he had her in his sight. No woman had left his body humming with one simple glance in her direction. Except Sera.

He yearned to read her thoughts, sense more than her emotions. Her sadness and grief he empathized with, but nothing explained the confusion he sensed around her. In the few moments alone he’d had with her, she always changed the subject when asked if she’d considered dating again. Sure, she trusted him with her kids, but that trust didn’t extend enough to open up to him. She remained a mystery, one he desperately wanted to solve.

Adam groaned, grabbing a shirt. I’m going out. He’d been through all of this before. No point waiting forever for her to change her mind. So what if his dad said his ability to read her emotions pointed to Sera as his soul mate. She’d probably never view him as anything more than a handy sitter.

Pulling on a pair of jeans, he considered a trip to the local pub. The same women always frequented the place, but at least he’d be guaranteed some action. His fist, and fantasies of the woman next door, no longer brought him much satisfaction. He craved the real thing.

Not going to happen.

After a quick spray of cologne, he peeked out his window one last time. And froze. His neighbor stood naked on the dock, her luscious body glowing in the moonlight. That image ingrained in his mind, his cock stiffened. Screw going to the bar. He either finished the job based on the recent sighting, or acted fast to get even closer to her.
​
No harm in trying. He rushed down the stairs.