Tour Stop/Giveaway: Tilthos Pack by Emily Carrington

Title: Tilthos Pack

Author: Emily Carrington

Publisher: Changeling Press

Cover Art: Angela Knight

Genres: Action Adventure, Box Sets, Dark Fantasy, Mystery & Suspense, New Releases, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy

Themes: Elves, Dragons & Magical Creatures, LGBTQ+ /Gay, Multicultural & Interracial, Vampires, Werewolves & Wolf Shifters

Series: Tilthos Pack (#4)

Multiverse: SearchLight Academy (#10)

Book Length: Box Set

Page Count: 334

Synopsis

Lovers who have stood the test of time find themselves on unsteady ground. Can their love prevail despite the terror working its way through the pack?

Wedding a Genie: Mark and Luke are getting married… or are they? Mark’s pride may not allow him to show how he feels to a roomful of his nearest and dearest.

The Mating Ceremony: Ethan and Jeremy have been forced into a mating ceremony. Can their love survive their pack traditions?

The Separation: Separated by hundreds of miles and a promise, Charlie and Luis long for each other. Will their love survive?

A Solstice Sundering: When Ethan is ordered back to the pack, his strained relationship with Jeremy comes to the forefront. Can they weather this storm?

Uncertain Foundations: Lovers who have stood the test of time find themselves on unsteady ground. Can their love prevail?

Excerpt

Tilthos Pack
Emily Carrington
All rights reserved.
Copyright ©2026 Emily Carrington
Excerpt from Wedding a Genie

Mark paced. He was dressed, finally, in his coat and tie, his hair tamed. He looked almost the same as he did every day for work, except this was a tux, not just a suit. And it wasn’t black, like the majority of his dress clothes. Luke had picked out a soft brown garment that complemented Mark’s deep tan and his dark brown hair. The tie he wore was the same blue as his eyes. The tie clip, which he hadn’t even known was a thing until Luke produced it, was golden and in the shape of a dragon.

He looked good.

But he longed to rip off all his clothes and go for a swim in the Gulf of Mexico.

Someone knocked on the door to the “groom’s” changing room on the boat he and Luke had rented for their wedding. Mark quit pacing and forced his hands not to shake. “Come in.”

His brother, Jonathan, stepped in and shut the door. “Are you all right?”

Mark scowled. “Why?”

To his surprise, Jonathan didn’t snap right back. “Because I was nervous as hell when I got married to Becca,” he said quietly “And you haven’t known Luke half as long as I knew Becca before I proposed.

“Besides, Mark,” he added, “I know you. Making a change like this is difficult at the best of times and you’ve just been promoted. You’re trying to get your feet under you.”

Mark let out a long sigh. “You’re right, I’m nervous. I love him, I want to be with him for the rest of my life. Why am I so jittery?”

“Like I said, it’s a big change.” Jonathan turned for the door.

“That’s it? You’re going to come in here, confront me about my nerves, and then just walk out?”

“You’re calmer now,” Jonathan pointed out.

Mark huffed a laugh. “I still want to go for a swim in the gulf.”

“As long as you get back here in time to dry yourself off, I don’t see why that’s a problem. It’s almost an hour before…” Jonathan tilted his head and said, “Or maybe Luke’s presence would help.”

Mark’s tension rocketed up from a five all the way to a ten. “Luke?” he squeaked.

Jonathan left the room and Luke stood in the doorway with two tall glasses in his hands. “I know we’re not supposed to see each other before the wedding,” Luke said, sounding apologetic. “But do you mind if I come in?”

Mark took two steps back and gestured his soon-to-be-husband inside. Luke used his magic to close the door without touching it.

“Showoff,” Mark teased weakly.

“Genie prerogative,” Luke answered. He took a sip from the glass in his left hand and offered Mark the other one.

It was a rum and Coke; Mark sensed that even before he could smell the contents. Luke knew what relaxed him. “You could feel my agitation all the way from the other side of the boat, huh?” he asked as he sipped. And then took a little more because Luke just made this particular drink so perfectly.

Luke, being a genie, Mark’s former genie, had a connection to Mark’s emotions. Sort of like the telepathic link Mark had to Luke, although in that case it was because of Mark’s dragon genetics. For Luke, it had everything to do with the rules that governed his species. Or at least that was what he and Mark had decided. Probably, if SearchLight ever chose to study genies more thoroughly, they would find a different, or at least more exact, answer.

Luke nodded, his golden eyebrows drawn together in a worried frown. He set his glass on a handy table and crossed to Mark. “What’s wrong?”

Damn, but Luke looked good. Mark traced the lapel of his lover’s tux. Brown, like Mark’s, but a lighter shade. Luke had really coordinated everything. “You look like a sex god,” Mark murmured.

That got him a brief smile but then Luke’s serious expression returned. “Talk to me, my Mark. What’s making you so jumpy?”

Mark didn’t know how to lay hands on the source of his nervousness and so he simply shook his head. He, too, set his glass down and wrapped his arms tightly around Luke, resting his cheek against his lover’s shoulder. His whole body wanted to shake and he held it at bay. He felt so safe in Luke’s embrace.

“Okay, so this is helping,” Luke correctly interpreted. “I can just hold you during the whole ceremony if you want.”

Mark tensed. “I don’t want…” He stepped back.

The look on Luke’s face was that of a stricken calf.

Mark hugged him close again. “It’s not you, it’s me, and I know that sounds like a crock of shit but…” He rubbed Luke’s back. “Please understand… I’m sorry… I don’t know how to explain but I’m so sorry…” He let his words fade away as Luke placed a gentle kiss on his hair. Mark couldn’t help thinking he shouldn’t feel this way, not when he was the head of a whole damned department, he’d known Luke for three plus years, and he all but worshiped the ground his genie lover walked on. Why was he feeling so defensive?

“I’m feeling vulnerable,” he whispered as the truth made itself known.

Luke’s voice in his ear was unfailingly soothing and warm. “If you want, we can postpone or…” His swallow was audible in Mark’s ear.

Purchase at Changeling Press

Meet the Author

Emily Carrington is a multipublished author of male/male and transgender women’s speculative fiction. Seeking a world made of equality, she created SearchLight to live out her dreams. But even SearchLight has its problems, and Emily is looking forward to working all of these out with a host of characters from dragons and genies to psychic vampires. And in the contemporary world she’s named “Sticks & Stones,” Emily has vowed to create small towns where prejudice is challenged by a passionate quest for equality. Find her on Facebook at Shapeshifter Central or on her website.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Shapeshifter Central

   

Book Tour Stop: The Arrangement by S.D. Lettie

 

A forced engagement binds them, but the secrets simmering between them threaten to implode their lives far sooner than any wedding bells—part one of a slow-burn duet…

 

Title: THE ARRANGEMENT

Author: S.D. Lettie

Publisher: Independent

Pages: 298

Genre: New Adult, Romantic Suspense

Format: Paperback, Kindle, FREE with Kindle Unlimited

You know that guy you fell for at sixteen—the one who vanished without explanation, leaving behind enough damage to last years? Now imagine being forced into an engagement with him because your parents decided you’re more useful as leverage than as a daughter. 

And the part he forgot to mention? He’s heir to a Bratva empire with blood on its hands. 

That’s Emilia’s life. Her future is not her own, and her fiancé, Nikolai Volkov, is a man whose silence is more dangerous than his words. Their past is a wound. Their engagement is a threat. And what grows between them is something neither of them should let happen. 

The Arrangement is a dark, slow-burn story of buried truths, political corruption, and a connection that pulls two damaged people toward a collision neither may survive unscathed.

Read sample.

The Arrangement is available at Amazon.

 

Book Excerpt

My phone buzzes in my shorts pocket. I ignore it, thinking it’s a text, but then it buzzes again. I look down and see my father’s name lighting up the screen. Groaning, I answer. 

“Emilia.” His voice is calm, clipped. Not cold, just clean, like everything else he controls. He says my name like punctuation. 

“Yes, sir.” 

“Your mother asked me to check on the brunch.” 

She didn’t want to ask herself. She never does. She strategically delegates through him, like always. “It’s done,” I say. “Final headcount is confirmed. Catering’s squared. My remarks are short and already vetted.” There’s a pause, the sound of him moving paper in the background, or maybe pouring a drink. I can’t tell. He’s always multitasking, even when he speaks like everything is a priority. 

“She wants it to go smoothly.” 

It will. He knows that. He wouldn’t have called if he didn’t already trust it was handled. 

“There’s something else,” my father says right as I think we’re done, his voice flat and clipped in the way he reserves for things that aren’t up for discussion. “I’ve arranged a meeting with Nikolai and his father next week at the Four Seasons. I’d like you to be there. We have some important things to discuss.” 

– Excerpted from The Arrangement by S.D. Lettie, Independent, 2025. Reprinted with permission.

Author Interview with S.D. Lettie

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Are you a full time author?

I’m a Texas-based author who's attempting to make writing my full-time career. I’ve loved writing since I was little, and it only got worse - in a good way - when my seventh grade Language Arts teacher made us write short stories every day in a composition notebook. I guess you could say she fueled the creativity.

In my corporate life, I’ve worked in inbound marketing. You’d assume that means I know exactly how to market my own book, but that assumption would be wrong. Very wrong. Moving from B2B to B2C feels like going from riding a bike to riding a unicycle while juggling. I’m learning, but it’s a process.

Can you tell us about The Arrangement?

The Arrangement is a blend of dark romance, suspense, and new adult vibes all wrapped into one story. It’s also book one of a duet, so this is just the beginning of the craziness. Think Gossip Girl levels of elite drama combined with the underworld tension of The Sopranos - but if the mobsters were Russian and really, really hot.

Emilia, my main female character, has spent her entire life performing: cameras, politics, expectations... you name it. She’s the VP’s daughter, Chi Omega chapter president, and the girl everyone thinks they want to be. Meanwhile, she’s quietly falling apart.  She’s finally about to escape all of it (hello senior year)… but then Nikolai Volkov walks back into her life. He’s supposed to be a ghost from her past, not her suddenly arranged fiancé. But apparently, deals were made without her input. Shocking, right?

Throw in political secrets, family drama that could give the Lodges from Riverdale a run for their money, and the early sparks of a love triangle, and that’s The Arrangement.

Where is this book set and why did you choose that location?

I’ve always loved espionage shows and movies - Jack Ryan, Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher. That whole world of secrets, agencies, and hidden agendas fascinates me. So when I started outlining this story, I wanted a setting that highlighted how opposite Emilia and Nikolai's lives were. And really, what better place than the capital of American politics? D.C. practically hands you drama on a silver platter.

How can people benefit from reading The Arrangement?

I think the big themes in The Arrangement are “love conquers all” and “good vs. evil.”

We see Emilia wrestling with her feelings for Nikolai - there’s history there, and a kind of connection she’s never had with anyone else. He was the first person she ever opened up to, even if it was only through letters. And that mattered, especially because Emilia has never gotten real affection from her parents. Everything in her world has always felt transactional.

There’s also this bigger moral thread running through the book. I’m not trying to say politics are inherently bad, but in this story, Emilia sees the corruption up close and wants to tear it down from the inside. That fight between right and wrong is woven through her whole journey.

At its core, the story is about breaking cycles - emotional, political, familial, all of it. Emilia’s life is basically one giant checklist of what she “should” do, and readers get to watch her slowly burn that list. There’s something really satisfying about that.

Is The Arrangement your only book?

It’s the only book I have published right now, but it’s definitely not the only one I’ll write. Book two of the Bancroft University Chronicles comes out in Spring 2026 and will wrap up Emilia and Nikolai’s story. And who knows... some of the side characters might get their own books down the line.

Thank you so much for this interview, S.D.. What’s next for you?

Book two - The Unraveling - comes out in Spring 2026. After that, I’m already working on another story, so there’s definitely more to come.

Where to purchase the book:

The Arrangement is available at the following retailers:

Ebook / KU:

Amazon: https://a.co/d/6sN5s9X

Paperback:

Amazon: https://a.co/d/ecGeVSC

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-arrangement-s-d-lettie/1148355895?ean=9798993185606

Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Arrangement/S-D-Lettie/9798993185606

Where to find S.D.:

Follow or connect with me here:

Website: https://www.sdlettieauthor.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sdlettieauthor/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sdlettieauthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/59067073.S_D_Lettie

About the Author

Before she ever had “author” next to her name, S.D. Lettie was—and still is—an avid reader first; the kind who would finish a book in a day and beg her parents to take her back to the bookstore. Reading started as a hobby and, as she got older, became her source of entertainment, escape, and comfort. Over the years, she found herself wanting to write the kind of worlds readers could get excited about—a world that could grow into a fandom of its own. 

Today, Lettie writes slow-burn romances—stories about characters who are imperfectly perfect, the hard moments that shape them, and the plot twists that leave readers reeling. Outside her writing life, she’s a wife and mom of two, roles that influence both her time and perspective. She’s also a dedicated soccer fan, the kind who will plan her day around a match and openly admit she’ll yell at the TV when things get heated.

Through all of it, her goal as an author is simple: she wants her characters to stay with readers long after the book ends. 

Her latest book is the new adult romantic suspense, The Arrangement (Bancroft University Chronicles Book 1).

Visit her website at www.sdlettieauthor.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, BookBub and Goodreads.

Sponsored By:

New Release Spotlight: Carrie Ann Ryan's Legacy is here!

 

Legacy

Series: Ashford Creek Book 1

Contemporary Romance

Series Information and Buy Links HERE

Release Date: January 5th, 2026

With one scowl, I fell just that much harder for Callum Ashford—NFL star turned small town brewer. He’s not only older, but he’s my brother’s best friend. Two very important reasons I should stay away.

Only two years ago, after the worst night of my life, he kissed me and I can’t keep him off my mind.

When the only house available to rent in town happens to be the one across the street from him, the close proximity does its work.

We can’t keep our hands off each other. Yet as the heat rises, so do feelings. He might want me, but he wants peace more.

There’s a darkness within him I know he fights. Just as there are secrets his family needs to uncover. But when the danger comes full force, it won’t be from the obvious corner. No, we both have our pasts we chose to hide.

And our fears.

Yet when I break, he catches me.

And I hope I have the strength to do the same.

**Legacy is an age gap, best friend’s little sister, small town romance and the first in the Ashford Creek series featuring Callum and Felicity. Each one can be read as a complete standalone. A HEA is guaranteed!**

Teaser Excerpt:

Ashford Creek. Home of small town lore, single dads, a bakery that judged you, a brewery owned by a former NFL linebacker, a couple of restaurants without a rivalry, family drama, secrets, and most likely a murderer.

And why the hell did I continue to live in a town that my family had not only founded long ago but tried to destroy multiple times? I’d run from what crawled beneath and moved out of town. Gone to college, played a sport to the best of my abilities, had a career in which thousands upon thousands of people knew my name.

Found a life.

Lost that life.

Then, I moved back to this hellhole known as Ashford Creek.

Yay.

“What’s crawled up your butt?”

I narrowed my gaze at my best friend Rune before going back to pull the tap. A customer needed a beer, a shit beer since it wasn’t one of mine, but the customer was always right. At least, that’s what they told me.

“Nothing,” I finally answered, since Rune wasn’t about to let me off with just a glare. The man was damn persuasive and annoyed the hell out of you until he got the answers he wanted.

That was probably why we were still best friends after all these years, despite the fact I’d lived far from the area for over a decade, and why he was such a damn good bartender. It didn’t matter that he owned the bar and grill. He was at his best when he was behind the bar, watching over the town residents and making sure we stopped fucking things up. We weren’t always great at it, but Rune did his best.

I much preferred my brewery. Yes, we served beer behind the bar and some small eats, but we weren’t open as late as the Summit Grill, nor were we open every day for the public. The scent of scarcity made reservations a top hit, and we sold more beer because of it. People would line up for hours for just a taste of the latest small batch in whatever four packs we sold that month.

I didn’t need to be behind the bar in order to get my job done. The fact that I was behind the bar today just to help Rune notwithstanding.

Rune finally shoved my shoulder, lifting his brow as the light above us glinted off his septum ring. “I totally believe that ‘nothing’ you just said. Seriously, what’s going on with you?”

I shrugged. “Not a damn thing. I’m just being myself. I’m sorry that I’m too much of an asshole for you right now.”

Rune rolled his eyes. “Well, now that you mention it, you’re always an asshole, so you looking like you want to stab my customers is pretty much on brand for you. However, if you could stop looking like you want to stab my customers, that would be wonderful.”

“He looks like that when he walks into Ashy Buns, so I assume it’s just his face.”

I turned and looked at the familiar voice and did my best not to roll my eyes. Fiona, said owner of Ashy Buns, loved to get under my skin. First off, who the hell named a bakery Ashy Buns? It made no sense, and frankly, it felt rude. She hated her job, hated her bakery, and hated the town. Sure, I might complain about the town, and I might hate some people within the town for good reasons, but I didn’t actually hate Ashford Creek. I was just an asshole sometimes.

Fiona, however, was just completely ridiculous. Her icy blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun on the top of her head, and she had this new cat eye makeup thing going on that I didn’t understand. She glared at me as she pointed to the wine behind me.

“Can I get you something, Fiona?”

“You can get me a few things, Callum,” she purred. “In fact, why don’t you get out from behind that bar, and we finish what we should have after high school?”

I resisted the urge to look over at Rune, who snickered behind me. Asshole. Fiona and I had never dated. Not in high school, and sure as hell not when I’d come back home. She’d always wanted to date the quarterback of the football team, and since Rune had turned her down, she’d tried for the tight end. I’d run faster away from her than I had on the field, and she’d never truly forgiven me. Even when I’d been playing in the NFL, she’d tried to find a way to hit on me and treat me like shit at the same time. I never quite understood her. Nor did I feel the need to any longer.

“Fiona, what do you want to drink?”

The edge in my voice was not lost on her, and her gaze narrowed. “Are you really going to let this man continue to work here?” the woman asked as if she hadn’t just been hitting on me.

“Sure. I’m good like that. What do you want, Fiona?” Rune said, this time his voice was not as sweet.

The bakery owner rolled her eyes. “Chardonnay. The buttery kind, not the kind that tastes like olive juice. You would think you would learn by now.”

I pasted on a grin, poured her a Chardonnay, being sure to fill up the proper amount and not giving a single drop extra like I might have with nearly anyone else in town, and handed it over. “Are you opening a tab?”

“Maybe. It depends on what I have going on later.”

This time, Rune just threw his head back and laughed, and I flipped him off.

“Let me ring you up,” I said dryly in answer.

There was just something diabolical about that woman, and one day, I hoped she would eventually just close up that bakery of hers like she kept promising and go away. Of course, she wasn’t the only person in Ashford Creek I would wish would go away, but I just needed to get over it.

By the time she went back to her table, my head ached, and I knew I was done for the night.

“Stop glaring at me,” Rune said after a moment. “You’re all done for the night. Now we can get on to being customers and let my staff do what they’re supposed to.”

“It’s about damn time,” I snarled, though I smiled as I said it.

I did like helping out Rune. He helped me out at the brewery all the time. He was my best friend, and we’d been friends since we were kids. Between him and his brother Atlas, we’d run Ashford Creek scared when we’d been kids. My brothers Bodhi and Malcolm had joined us, as well as a couple of other town mainstays like Kellan and Thatcher. We’d been a menace on our small town, and I knew our reputation still tended to be a little loud for some of the town’s residents.

Series Reading Order:

Book 0.5: Careless (Prequel)

Book 1: Legacy

Book 2: Crossroads

Book 3: Westward

Book 4: Patience

Book 5: TBA