Today I start my new internship at Seneca Women and I am beyond excited to be working for this amazing organization. It's a huge time commitment, but it's totally worth it and I couldn't be happier. If you don't know much about the organization, check out their website and social media, and don't forget to read the book that started it all (links below, including my book review of Fast Forward by cofounders Melanne Verveer and Kim Azzarelli).

I normally don't review the non-fiction books I read because you kind of run out of things to say about writing books after a while, but this was a book recommended by my cousin and is not only a great book, but is by my new bosses at Seneca Women. I read this back when I was still studying for my finals this semester and was blown away not only by how much women really impact the economy (something I never really thought about before my women's studies class this semester), but also the individual stories of these empowered women were so moving and inspiring that I just have to share this here.

If you read my last personal blog post, you'll know that I had some big news. I released it to my newsletter yesterday, and now I'm sharing it with everyone:

1. The Belgrave Legacy will finally be getting its print cover this summer, which means you'll be able to read Fawn and Caleb's story in print for the first time! (Well, second time if you count The Belgrave Daughter, but you get the idea).
2. I am (slowly) working on a set of short stories set in The Belgrave Legacy world. It is currently a side project until I finish and publish The Matchmakers, but it is coming.
3. Lastly, The Belgrave Legacy is getting 2 stand-alone (ish) sequels. The first will feature Alec and Ivy, Fawn's brother and best friend. The second will feature Dylan's story, Fawn's good friend and ex-boyfriend. These will be written and released after The Matchmakers and the short story collection.

From New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack comes her debut young adult fantasy, ROAR! Releasing June 13, 2017, ROAR takes readers on an adventure filled with charismatic characters in an enthralling world sure to keep them turning the pages. Don’t miss the amazing excerpt below!

​There was a hole in her chest, an awful, gaping hole that screamed like she wanted to. Like a cyclone, it seemed to suck up everything in its path until her knees were curled into her chest and her body hunched, and she just kept collapsing in and in and in. Suddenly unable to breathe, she clawed at the beaded fastenings that connected her headdress and necklace. One of her fingernails bent and splintered as she scrabbled for the hooks; when she could not find them, she took hold of the beaded cord and pulled until it broke, beads scattering across the stone floor around her.

The headdress tipped sideways, tugging painfully on her hair. Again and again, she pulled at the ties until her palms felt raw and beads littered the floor around her. The headdress began to sag, and she was nearly done, nearly free when someone stepped through the archway, and she froze. 

Novaya.

Thank the skies. The dark-haired servant held an urn full of steaming water in her hands, and she stared in horror as if she had stumbled upon a monster rather than a crying girl. Nova had been Rora’s closest friend before she cut herself off from everyone at her mother’s command. Girls with secrets the size of Rora’s could not have friends. Nova took a step forward, paused, then knelt down, her large brown eyes carefully blank. 

“Should I call for your guards? The queen?” Nova asked. 

“No!” Softer, Aurora said, “No. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Once upon a time, Nova had kept all her secrets. Now the two rarely even looked at each other in the eye when their paths crossed, and it was all Aurora’s fault. 

“Your Highness? What happened?”

Rora shook her head and returned to tugging at the headdress still tangled in her hair. She couldn’t say the words aloud, couldn’t let anyone see how much of a fool she was. Aurora had become accustomed to her shortcomings as a Stormling, as an heir. But she’d thought she had her mother’s strength, tenacity, and intelligence. But maybe that was wishful thinking. Maybe she was altogether…inadequate.

​“We didn’t have sex,” I tell her as her eyes dart to mine with a look I can’t quite decipher.

“Oh. My. God! You didn’t want to have sex with me?” She looks almost more devastated at that thought than she did when she first saw the pictures. She grabs the top of her robe, clutching it in her fist to hold it closed just below her neck.

“Are you daft?” I blurt out before I can think the better of it. “Last night the farthest limits of my restraint were tested, love. It took everything I had in me not to take you up on what you were offering. Especially after you tried to do the Karate Kid kick.” I laugh as I recall it was at that moment I knew she was too far gone for anything to happen.

Her hands go straight to her face. “Okay, we can stop talking about this.” Her voice comes muffled through her hands. I take her hands from her face.

“It wasn’t that bad.” I try to tell her. “I was really impressed with how high you managed to kick.” I try to make light of it. “What really scared me was when you tried to do ninja moves in the elevator. Thank God, there wasn’t enough room for you to get a good running start. You were convinced you could run up the wall and do one of those flips.” I shake my head and chuckle at the memory of her running face first into the wall. I think it’s best if I leave that little detail out, though.

She mumbles under her breath as she groans and tosses her head back. “Why isn’t the ground opening and swallowing me up? Why am I not dead from acute humiliation?”

“It wasn’t as bad as you think.” I smirk at her.

“Are you insane?” She looks pointedly at me. “I did karate kicks and ninja moves, and then I tried to throw myself at you! It can’t get much worse than that, can it?”

“Well”—I smile with my lips closed—“it’s funny you say that...”

“Oh, just spit it out, Bradley.” She hisses.

As you can tell from the title of this post, I will be talking about the end of my sophomore year of college, my first semester at Boston University, and my plans for this summer.

First, the end of school was on a relatively high note. I wasn't stressed by my exams, finished them all quickly, got good grades on my final papers, and in my classes in general. Being in Boston was such a different experience than being in Waltham and I'm so glad I decided to transfer, even though it was scary at first.

Second, what next?

Laken gives me an accusing stare as if I have some grand scheme in choosing her. “Why me?”

“Why not?”

“That’s not an answer,” she argues shaking her head. “What’s in it for me?”

“You said you need a job, right? I have connections, and I can get you in front of people who make those kinds of decisions for my company.” Frustrated this isn’t going as easily as I’d hoped, I slump back into my chair. “Bloody hell, woman, anyone else would do it just for the opportunity to walk into a Tate & Cane party.”

Laken suddenly stills. “I’m sorry, did you say Tate & Cane?”

“Yes, and for some reason, I also want to help you. I think you deserve a break.” I let out a harsh breath and start packing up my shit to leave. “But if you aren’t interested, then—”

“Yes!” she screams, causing more than a couple patrons to glance our way.

“Are you sure you don’t want to think about it?”

“It’s just one night, right? It shouldn’t be that hard. A few hours of pretending to like each other won’t kill me.”

I scowl at her. “You’re amazing for a guy’s ego, you know that?”

I really enjoyed this book. Not only was Cate and Ash's story awesome, but we got to see more of Jim and Noelle, and all the other couples from the past books, and readers finally get to see the conclusion of Sully and Liam's story (though I'm kind of disappointed they didn't get their own book like all the heterosexual couples did).