Hi guys, we have Aidan Wayne popping in today with their new release Making Love, we have a brilliant guest post from Aidan, a great excerpt and a fantastic giveaway, so check out the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~

Making Love

Aidan Wayne

Carla the cupid is an excellent shot, but her chemistry is so bad that most of her matches don’t last. Her dream is to shoot a True Love pair, but until her scores improve, she’s relegated to the Puppy Love division of Aphrodite Agency.

Leeta, a succubus, is looking for a True Love match. Which is highly unusual, as most succubi are aromantic. But Aphrodite Agency—her only hope—turns her away because the receptionist can’t believe she’s not just looking for an easy meal.

Carla agrees to take Leeta’s case on freelance. She figures it’s a win-win: Carla gets to put a succubus’s True Love match on her résumé, and Leeta gets to find her True Love! Except as Carla tries to find a match for Leeta, she finds herself maybe . . . relieved when the matches don’t end well. And Leeta seems to be getting pickier and pickier. Things will never work out until Carla learns enough about chemistry to figure out who’s truly best for Leeta, and until Leeta can admit what—or who—she truly wants.

Aidan Wayne

Hey everyone, Aidan Wayne here! Wanted to welcome you to the blog tour for my latest release, Making Love. Throughout the week I will be sharing behind-the-scenes information about Making Love, and the inspiration behind it. Please feel free to participate in and comment on the tour. By doing so, you also get the chance to receive a $15 Riptide gift card!

Leeta

Leeta didn’t grow up knowing she was different, or feeling all that out of the ordinary around succubi and incubi peers. She enjoyed sex, both out of necessity to eat and as a recreational activity and, looking the way she did, she never wanted for either.

The thing about interacting with other succubi and incubi however, is that most of them seemed happy with just sex. No relationships. And many of them also preferred multiple partners; the better to have meal variety.

Leeta had her share of partners but over the years she began to long for something else. More of a bond with the person she was seeing. She didn’t want just someone to have sex with, but someone she could date romantically. Someone she might be able to settle down with and wake up to. A True Love.

It was after this discovery about herself that Leeta started to realize that she might be different from others of her kind. She wondered a bit if she was broken, or something was wrong with her, wanting to be romantic, wanting to be monogamous.

She knew more than anything, however, that what she wanted was important. And she was nothing if not a person who went after her desires. She left her previous job as a sex worker (easy and fun to do, plus a way to get plenty of food) and got one at an art gallery, wanting to have some other form of employment before pursuing a True Love match. And, once she was ready, she steeled herself and went to Aphrodite Agency to request one.

And she was denied.

It was a low blow for Leeta, who had done so much for that moment, spent so much time agonizing over whether or not she was doing the right thing for herself, if this was what she truly wanted out of her life… and to be told “no,” just because she was a succubus, was incredibly hard.

And then she came across Carla. Carla who was enthusiastic about everything, but especially about True Love. Carla who heard Leeta’s story and was so sad for her. Carla who wanted to help. And Carla who, up until this point, had never successfully matched someone up for the long term.

But Carla who was willing to try.

Maybe it wasn’t such a surprise that Leeta started to look at Carla a little differently.

Excerpt

Carla hopped out of the elevator, black curls bouncing, as she pulled open the door to the central office. She practically skipped up to the front desk.

“Morning, Tristan!”

Tristan looked up from his computer to grin at her. “Morning, sweetheart. Ready for your quarterly review?”

Carla blushed. “Don’t jinx me! I’m not a Sweetheart yet. But I’ve got a good feeling this time! At last check-in, one of the couples I hit made it to the two month mark, so . . .”

“Two, huh?” Tristan nodded encouragingly. “That’s—that’s good. I mean, two, hey, that’s great. That’s practically years, in high school time.”

“I really like the Puppy Love division,” Carla babbled on, trying to cover the flip-flops she’d felt at Tristan’s response, “but I’ve been in it for so long. I’ve been dreaming of being a Sweetheart cupid for ages. It’s so much more romantic, and it’s better when you’re working with older targets, and that’s just one step behind True Love, and there’s so much overlap anyway—”

“Breathe, Carla.”

Carla obligingly closed her mouth, taking a deep breath through her nose. Her wings fluttered anxiously.

“You’ll be fine,” Tristan said, with a warm smile. “You’re a hard worker, and you love what you do. That counts for a lot here.”

“Yeah . . .”

Tristan glanced back down at his computer. “Looks like Angel’s ready for you. Remember, think cupid: caring confidence—”

“—because we’re confident we care,” Carla finished. She gave Tristan a thumbs-up. “Wish me luck!”

Tristan matched her, then nodded his head toward Angel’s office. Carla skipped to it, trying to make herself feel as positive as she could, and went inside.

“Good morning, Carla,” Angel said. The head of Aphrodite Agency waved her to a chair. “Please take a seat.”

Carla hurried forward and sat in the low-backed chair, her quiver just brushing the top of it. “Morning, Angel! I’m here for my quarterly review.” And possible promotion. Please, please, please, possible promotion!

Angel nodded. “Yes. And you worked very hard this quarter.” The cupid shuffled through some papers. “You almost made your quota this time.”

“Almost?” Carla faltered. “But I thought—”

“Well, you were close! It just looks like five or six of your solo arrows didn’t take.” Angel made a mark on another piece of paper. “I think it’s just about time for you to take another training class in chemistry, but otherwise we’re on the right track. I’ll put you back on partner work with a Matchmaker for the time being, and if all your matches stay together by next evaluation, I’ll take you off your current probation.”

“Oh.” Carla looked at her shoes. “Thank you. But I thought I was off probation. Um, my last one.”

“It was reinstated last quarter, remember? You spent two weeks of solo work trying to match your target with that little aromantic girl.”

Carla swallowed. She had tried to forget about that. It hadn’t ended well for anyone. “Oh. Right. Okay.” She took a breath and just went for it. “What about my application?”

“. . . Yes, I saw that you submitted an application to be transferred up to Sweetheart.” Angel sighed. “I’m sorry, Carla, but my prior decision still stands. You do decently when you’re working with another cupid, but you still don’t meet the solo Puppy Love quota regularly enough to be moved anywhere else.”

“But— I hit everyone dead-on. I’m a really good shot.”

Angel nodded. “Yes. But frankly, Carla, that’s the only reason I haven’t reassigned you back to Playful Banter. When you were training and working with a team, everything went well. When you’re partnering with a Matchmaker, you exceed expectations. But you’re still having trouble with chemistry, and that’s the most important part of working solo.”

The phone rang, startling Carla so badly that her wings almost took her out of the chair.

“Excuse me.” Angel smiled at her and picked up the phone “This is Angel.”

Carla let her thoughts drift as Angel took the call. Matchmakers worked with Requests, the people who came to Aphrodite Agency specifically for a match. They had nothing to do with Random Matches, the people who just pinged ready for love, or trial runs of it, like Puppy Love. Even though Matchmakers were cupids themselves, they focused exclusively on chemistry and didn’t use arrows of their own to shoot. That task was left to other cupids whose marksmanship was good enough to shoot in the exact right moment. Cupids like Carla.

And there was nothing wrong with matching up Requests! Often they were people who had been in a Sweetheart relationship that didn’t evolve into True Love, and had come to the agency looking for more. Carla was always happy to see them eventually get a True Love match.

But her dream was to find True Love for Random Matches. There was something so romantic about two people meeting eyes and just knowing they were destined to be together. True Love was wonderful no matter how it evolved, but Random Matches were special. No one came in and planned to meet someone; it just . . . happened.

That is, if things evolved right. A cupid’s arrow only held the Spark of Interest. It got two (or more, depending on the situation) targets thinking about love and started them on the path toward True Love. But not every Spark grew into a Flame; if the chemistry wasn’t there, the Spark fizzled. That was the whole point of Puppy Love: it was a trial run, and a way for Aphrodite Agency to collect chemistry data so they could eventually form a True Love match.

Carla glanced up. Angel was still talking on the phone. Her eyes fell to the folder on Angel’s desk, and she sighed.

Carla was . . . not so good at chemistry. Her parents used to say that she’d been born with an arrow in her hand, conjuring them up to match up her dolls and friends (luckily the actual magic in arrows that caused Sparks didn’t develop until after puberty). But she just couldn’t get her arrows for Puppy Love to take long enough to collect data. Puppy Love matches were supposed to last two to ten months usually. Carla’s record was two months.

“Carla?”

Carla startled and looked up again. Angel was watching her over clasped hands.

“I—I know I’m not the best cupid ever,” she blurted out, “and that I’m not the best at making my quota, but I think it’s partly because I know the matches I make aren’t meant to last. I just know that if I got assigned to a long-term Sweetheart project, I’d do so much better . . .”

Angel frowned. “Carla, you know that’s not how it works. Every match should be treated like it’s top tier, because there’s always the possibility that it will be. Is there a special arrow for the True Love sector?”

Carla shook her head. “No. No, I know there isn’t. It’s all about the right person, the right chemistry, and the right moment.”

“Exactly.” Angel nodded. “And that is all about understanding your targets and tailoring your choices. You can’t just point and shoot. People don’t work that way. The Spark is going to fizzle if the chemistry isn’t there, even if everything else is spot-on.” Angel held out a card. “Report tomorrow for training. Once you finish your week, I’ll pair you with a Matchmaker. Everyone you’ve worked with in the past has expressed interest in working with you again. They’ve all been very impressed.”

“Oh, that’s . . . that’s nice.” Her wings fluttered anxiously, and she forced them to stop. “I’m glad that they think I do good work.”

Angel smiled at her. “It might be worth reconsidering that permanent partnership with the matchmaking division. There are a number of split-second opportunities that could use your targeting skills.”

Carla managed a watery smile, trying to take the compliment for what it was.

Permanent placement with a Matchmaker meant more chances to be part of a True Love match but . . . she wanted to be assigned to Random Matches. To find love for people who hadn’t even been looking for it or didn’t know they could. Aphrodite Agency was open to all magic and fae creatures, but it wasn’t as though humans could walk through their doors to request a match. And they deserved love just as much as anyone else. Carla loved to work with humans, knowing that she would help them find matches even if they couldn’t request them. “I’ll think about it, Angel. Thank you.”

“Good. You’d be of much use to them.” Angel nodded a final time, and then returned to the papers on the desk, a clear dismissal. Carla got up and carefully walked out, holding herself stiff so that she didn’t start to cry.

“You’d be of much use to them”? Meaning you’re not so much use right now, on your own.

When she shut the door and glanced at Tristan, he took one look at her and got up.

“Did it not go well?” he asked softly.

“I’m still not fit to work solo,” Carla said, looking up to keep her tears in. “And if I can’t work solo, I can’t be a Sweetheart. Angel wants to pair me permanently with Matchmaking. They pick the targets, I just point and shoot.” She was crying, she was crying, and she didn’t want to. “I’ll be right back.”

Read more at: http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/making-love (Just click the excerpt tab)

About Aidan

Aidan Wayne is a big believer in character-driven stories with happy endings. This is not to say that stories can’t contain a little (or a lot) of grief, just that at the end of it all expect there to be bandages and hugs. They particularly like to write about minority characters because damn it, they deserve happy endings too.

When not writing, Aidan enjoys practicing aerial, martial arts, and ASL, and watching reality cooking shows. They are probably in the middle of twelve projects as you read this.

• Tumblr: tumblr.com
  Twitter: @justsayins
  Website: aidanwayne.wordpress.com

Giveaway!

To celebrate the release of Making Love, one lucky winner will receive a $15 Riptide credit!

Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!

Check out the other blogs on the blog tour