We’re so pleased to have author Michelle Osgood joining us today on the tour for her latest release, Moon Illusion, book three in the Better to Kiss You With series. She’s here to chat about her pairings in the series, and there’s also a chance to win an eCopy of the book so be sure to check out how to enter to win below.

Welcome, Michelle!

Writing Different Pairings

MOON ILLUSION is the third book in my werewolf series, and focuses on human Nathan and werewolf Cole as they deal with a chilling murder in Nathan’s building and the fallout from the first two books. The first book, THE BETTER TO KISS YOU WITH follows Deanna as she falls for her sexy and mysterious upstairs neighbor, Jamie, while receiving online threats from a Wolf’s Run player claiming to be an actual werewolf. In HUNTSMEN, Alpha Kiara is forced to come to terms with the feelings she still has for her genderqueer, lone-wolf ex-lover Ryn as the pack is on the run from a group of werewolf hunting humans.

I feel so lucky to be able to write a series where I can move between characters, and between pairings. THE BETTER TO KISS YOU WITH is F/F, HUNTSMEN is F/enby (non-binary), and MOON ILLUSION is M/M—with some M/F/M on the side, as Nathan is polyamorous.

THE BETTER TO KISS YOU WITH was my first novel, and through Deanna and Jamie I was exploring for myself what a relationship between two women could look like. I came to realize I was queer and attracted to more than just men not long before I began to write Jamie and Deanna’s story. Growing up I had devoured every romance novel I could get my hands on—but all of those novels were straight. With KISS, I look back now and see the ways in which I wrote this pairing very much for myself, to prove that a queer relationship could be the heart of a paranormal romance as easily as straight relationships have.

In HUNTSMEN Kiara struggles with aligning her love for Ryn, and Ryn’s rebellion against the rules that Kiara was raised with. Kiara feels a fierce sense of responsibility for her pack and to GNAAW (the General North American Assembly of Werewolves), and Ryn’s resistance to that unquestioning loyalty forces Kiara to reevaluate who, and what, deserves her allegiance. For many queer folks, we often face pushback from society at large for who we choose to love, and how. Writing HUNTSMEN allowed me to recognize that pushback in my life, and gave me the strength to push back against it.

With MOON ILLUSION, I really wanted to celebrate the queer community. As Nathan fights to uncover the truth of a brutal murder, he seeks support from the people in his life. He discusses his theories with his friends, argues with his boyfriend, takes comfort from his lovers, and even when he is struggling, or unable to be fully truthful, this community of found and chosen family is there to support him as best they can.

All these pairings reflect the world I live in and the pairings I see around me in my life and in the lives of my friends and lovers. In real life, our communities aren’t divided by M/M or F/F. Our lives overlap, our struggles overlap, and our greatest strength is in supporting each other.

About the Book

Title: Moon Illusion

Series: The Better to Kiss You With: Book Three

Publisher: Interlude Press

Release Date (Print & Ebook): March 22, 2018

Length (Print & Ebook): 210 pages / 51,000 words

Subgenre: Contemporary Romance: Paranormal, LGBT/Urban Fantasy

Author’s content warnings:

Chapter 5: Graphic violence and an animal death during a dream sequence
Chapters 7-8: Gore
Chapter 16: Animal death
Chapters 18-20: Graphic violence during a dream sequence
Chapters 33-44: Domestic abuse, graphic violence, stalking

Additional Themes: Insomnia, paranoia, alcohol and marijuana use

Blurb: Nathan Roberts was just your average polyamorous librarian living in Vancouver until his best friend, Deanna started dating a werewolf. While hosting the small pack in his apartment while they hid from the underground network of Huntsmen, Nathan enjoyed a casual fling with Cole, the pack leader’s brother. But now, he may just be falling for him.

When his neighbor is murdered, Nathan is convinced the death is linked to the supernatural, but Cole and their friends deny any paranormal connection. This leads to a fracture of trust in their relationship, and Cole’s pack is left to deal with an unknown killer on the loose. As Nathan pursues answers on his own, he must come to terms with the truth, and his feelings for Cole.

Buy Links: Interlude Press Web Store || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Apple || Smashwords || Kobo || Book Depository || Indiebound

About the Author

Michelle Osgood writes queer, feminist romance from her tiny apartment in Vancouver, BC. She loves stories in all media, especially those created by Shonda Rhimes, and dreams of one day owning a wine cellar to rival Olivia Pope’s. She is active in Vancouver’s poly and LGBTQ communities, never turns down a debate about pop culture, and is trying to learn how to cook. Her novels The Better to Kiss You With (2016) and Huntsmen (2017) were published by Interlude Press.