I'm delighted to share that my latest novel, Leap! A Love Story, is now available in both paperback and ebook format.

This is my second Minoan-themed historical novel, the first one being The Last Priestess of Malia. Last Priestess is set at the end of the Minoan era, during the Mycenaean occupation. It provides a deep look into Minoan religion and culture, but it's a pretty heavy book.

Leap! is a much lighter read.

It is, in fact, a romance, as you might have guessed from the title. Adelphos, the Cattle Master at the Minoan city of Phaistos, is still grieving the death of his longtime lover when a new young man catches his eye: one of the bull leapers, a particularly talented and charismatic one.

But Adelphos is weighed down by more than simple grief. His last words to his deceased lover were spoken in anger, and in his anger he also insulted a powerful goddess. Now he grapples with the consequences of his actions, trying to find a way forward.

When even his closest friends and family can’t get through to him, will this new love be powerful enough to break the hold of the anguish in his heart?

A gentle tale of grief and redemption, this story is very lightly steamy, heavily angsty, and full of longed-for happy endings.

Here's a little taste for you, the bull leaper trials in the practice ring, the moment the main character first sees his new love interest:

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The air was warm, the dust beginning to rise as the Sun hovered high in the spring sky. The loincloth-clad athletes lined up along the far side of the ring, the trainers organizing them according to some system Adelphos wasn’t privy to. Then they began to leap.

One after another, they ran at the practice bull, grabbing the horns that were attached to the front of the wobbly contraption. One athlete ran up to the contraption, grabbed the horns, then let go, backing off and shaking his head. He turned and walked toward the gate, his shoulders bowed. Adelphos knew the young man would be headed back to his family in the morning, to some life other that of a leaper.

Some of the athletes sprang upward from the horns and flew completely past the “bull,” while others flipped over to stand briefly on the cowhide-covered back before leaping off behind the “animal.” A few brave Calves curled into a tight somersault as they leapt from the fake bull’s back to the ground. 

“Amazing,” Adelphos breathed. No matter how many times he watched the leaping, either here or in the festival arena, it never failed to astound him.

Then one broad-shouldered young woman ran up to the practice bull, flipped over the horns, and flung herself high into the air. She drew her arms in tight against her chest, pulled her knees up against her body, and twisted around sideways while somersaulting. Her curled-up body drew a spiral in the air as she sailed past the contraption, finally landing behind it, facing the “bull.”

Adelphos gasped while the athletes behind him—the Yearlings and Leapers—offered a small round of applause. He heard a few smart-ass comments as well, but they were quiet enough not to draw the trainers’ ire. 

The young leaper had indeed been impressive. Adelphos’s gaze was still absently following her as she confidently strode across to the other side of the ring when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see a golden eagle—a bird sacred to both the Sun Goddess Therasia and the Mountain Mother, the goddess Rhea—silhouetted against the Sun, sailing across the sky above him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, goosebumps prickling despite the heat of the day. He shook himself to dispel the feeling.

When he looked back to the ring, the young woman was going again, same as before. How odd. None of the other Calves had done a second round. The same smooth launch as before, the same almost effortless spiral through the air, the same elegant landing facing the rear end of the fake bull. The leaper turned to the onlookers, grinning, and that’s when Adelphos saw: It wasn’t the girl, but a young man who looked just like her. An astoundingly beautiful young man. Adelphos sucked in a sharp breath, suddenly overwhelmed, as the spectators offered a round of applause and a few sarcastic comments to this leaper as well, the final one in the day’s trials.

As the applause continued, the young woman ran up to her twin brother, ecstatic, and they embraced, laughing and hugging, alternately lifting each other off the ground. Their joy was contagious, and soon all the Calves—now Yearlings—gathered in a tumultuous group hug in the center of the ring. The older leapers strode over to them, singing the Leapers’ Song, the one the athletes sang to celebrate dedicating their lives to the Horned Ones. The new Yearlings joined in for the first time, now that they were allowed to do so, and their voices filled the ring with joy.