🖤 HAPPY SEPTEMBER, REBELS!
Happy Friday, Rebels!
We've officially entered the “-ber” months, which apparently means sweaters, crisp mornings, pumpkin spice, and cooler weather for some of you.
Here in Southern Louisiana?
Absolutely freaking not.
We're still flirting with triple digits, and frankly, I'm offended. 😂
So if Mother Nature refuses to cool things down, I see no reason why we should.
Especially because you may have noticed things around here are looking a little different lately.
New newsletter home.
New Lily R. Steele website.
A cleaner, darker look for the Rebellion.
And now... we're changing something else, too.
The books I put in front of you.
🥀 THE REBELLION IS GETTING PICKIER
Here's a little behind-the-scenes indie-author secret: we generally market ourselves.
One way indie authors do that is through newsletter swaps. I share another author’s book with all of you Rebels, and in return, that author shares one of mine with their readers.
It's a great way for us to find new readers—and for you to discover authors you might never have stumbled across otherwise.
But...
I'm going to say what I've been thinking for a while.
I'm fucking sick of the same old, same old shit. 😂
There. I said it.
I've opened some of these swap requests lately and thought, Didn’t I just see this book? Or this exact trope? Or basically this exact cover?
And that's not what I want the Rebellion to become.
I don't want to throw ten random books into your inbox just to fulfill swaps. If I'm asking you to spend your time—or your money—on something, I want to actually think you might love it.
So we’re getting a whole lot pickier.
I already have commitments scheduled that I'll absolutely honor, so you'll still see some of the old-style swaps trickling through over the next few weeks.
But after that?
You're going to notice a difference.
I want the dangerous ones. The unusual ones. The books with a premise that makes me stop scrolling and go...
Okay... what the fuck is THIS?
Give me morally gray.
Give me possessive.
Give me twisted.
Give me a hero I probably wouldn't trust with my drink—or my freedom—but will happily spend six hours reading about.
Basically?
If I'm putting another author's book inside the Rebellion, it needs to earn its spot.
And I think your TBR is going to be a hell of a lot more fun because of it. 🖤
Which brings me to our first obsession of September...
Because apparently somebody decided to put a mafia man on a cruise ship.
I had questions.
🔥 THIS WEEK'S OBSESSION
MAFIA STEAM
 (affiliate link)
by Dawn Scola
⭐ 4.6 stars on Amazon
Enemies to Lovers • Mafia Romance • Forced Proximity • Danger • High-Seas Heat
Dante Marchetti doesn't simply work aboard Luxoria Cruises.
It's his empire.
And underneath all that polished luxury is an underworld built on secrets, power, and stakes Fiona was never supposed to discover.
She's sunshine walking straight into his shadows—and unfortunately for Dante, she's also smart enough to start uncovering things that were meant to stay buried.
Then someone threatens them both.
Now they're trapped aboard the same floating kingdom while enemies close in, secrets surface, and Dante has to decide exactly how far he's willing to go to protect the woman who's becoming far more dangerous to him than any enemy.
Rebels...
A mafia man.
Enemies to lovers.
Danger.
Forced proximity.
And they're stuck together on a freaking cruise ship.
Where exactly is she supposed to run?
Overboard? 😂
Nope.
This one definitely made me stop scrolling.
🔥 SURVIVE THE STORM... OR DROWN IN DESIRE.
🖤 REBEL APPROVED
Okay, full disclosure—some of these were already on the calendar before I decided to get a whole lot pickier. 😂 So no, they weren’t all personally handpicked by me... but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some very yummy possibilities waiting for you. 😏
Now let's get to those extra-special pickings I promised you.
Our mafia man isn't the only temptation waiting in today's email.
I've started going through the books I'm offered with one very important question:
Would my Rebels actually want this?
Give me something special.
Something that'll have you breathing a little harder, clenching those thighs, and wondering...
What the fuck did I just read?
Or perhaps the question we've all asked at least once:
Why the fuck can't real-life men be like this?
Although, considering what some of our fictional men actually do...
Maybe we're better off keeping them safely inside the Kindle. 😂
These are the men—and stories—waiting for you this weekend.
👇 MEET THIS WEEK'S TEMPTATIONS
 (affiliate link) |  |  (affiliate link) |
 |  (affiliate link) |  (affiliate link) |
🥃 YOUR WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT
I want to try something with these new Rebellion Fridays.
Pick the book in today's newsletter that made you stop scrolling.
Not necessarily the darkest.
Not necessarily the hottest.
The one that made your little reader brain go:
Yep. Him.
Then reply to this email and tell me which one got you.
Because if I'm going to start handpicking more of what comes through these doors, I want to know what you want more of.
Stalkers?
Mafia?
Secret societies?
Touch-her-and-die?
Enemies to lovers?
Obsessive psychopaths who should probably come with their own criminal defense attorney?
Tell me.
The darker your answer, the less likely I am to judge you.
Probably. 😏
🖤 HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW HOME?
The newsletter isn't the only thing that's gotten a makeover.
Lily R. Steele has a brand-new home on the web, too.
And y'all...
It finally feels like us.
Darker. Sexier. Cleaner.
Bourbon & Blood.
The Blackstones.
The Rebellion.
And everything that's coming next.
It's finally beginning to feel like all the pieces belong inside the same world.
So go snoop around.
See what's new.
And yes...
You absolutely have my permission to wander somewhere you probably shouldn't.
Until next time, Rebels...
Fill that Kindle.
Choose questionable men.
And never apologize for the fictional red flags you willingly collect. 😂
Stay rebellious. Read dangerously.
Because around here...
Morally gray was only the beginning.
🖤 XoXo,
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