Angelina M. Lopez
LATEST NEWS
Contemporary Romance Author, Hyperromantic
Listen to the Filthy Rich series on audiobook
I’m thrilled to announce that today — with the release of Serving Sin in audiobook — you can now listen to the entire Filthy Rich series.
The whole series was produced by Dreamscape Media, who produced audiobook versions of Helen Hoang’s The Bride Test, Veronica Roth’s Divergent, and Candace Bushnell’s Is There Still Sex in the City?, and narrated by the astonishing Scarlette Hayes.
Over the years, many of you have reached out personally to let me know how much you enjoyed Scarlette’s re-creation of these books. I say “re-creation” because that’s exactly what Scarlette did with them — make them come alive in a new way, even for me, the author! I remember the first time I heard Scarlette read one of my love scenes. I was laughing, blushing and shocked — and I wrote it!
Here’s what Audiofile Magazine had to say about her work on Lush Money: While their relationship is initially quite contentious, Hayes lets listeners hear how it gradually develops into something far more complex and passionate as they get to know each other.
As fantastic as her work was on it, she took it even in further in Hate Crush. I don’t know if at that point she knew my tone and the characters better, but listening to her reading Hate Crush is like listening to an audio play of it. She completely sweeps you away. And her reading from my hero’s point of view is so hot that I forget that it’s not a hot guy in my ear!
Audiofile Magazine said Hayes perfectly captures Sofia's incandescent rage at not being taken seriously despite her demonstrated excellence in her chosen field simply because she has the misfortune and audacity to be a woman.
Scarlette has over six years of voiceover experience and specializes in stories that are sassy, sophisticated, and sexy. Passionate about bringing characters to life, she has narrated titles in both English and Spanish as well as some in Greek. Give her a follow on Instagram!
I can’t wait to see what she pulls out for Serving Sin!
Purchase the Filthy Rich audiobooks at your vendor of choice!
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My interview with Supernatural's bodyguard, Clif Kosterman
On Saturday, June 12, a dream came true for me when I got to interview Clif Kosterman, the close protection specialist for Supernatural’s Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki for the last 15 years. Anyone who’s followed me on social media for long knows what a huge fan I am of the CW’s Supernatural, a fun horror-fantasy series that has the distinction of being the longest-running horror series in history.
I didn’t interview Clif for pure fan’s sake. I’d become fascinated about the job of close protection specialists — or bodyguards — when researching my bodyguard romance, Serving Sin.
Clif is a true good-guy hero in real life!
Some highlights from our interview include:
How he got involved with Supernatural way back in the first season
That time he had to go rescue Jensen, who’d been abandoned on the side of the road
The first time he knew Jared was head-over-heels for a woman on the show
How he and the guys feel about the enthusiastic Supernatural fandom
The incident when police handcuffed a man for trying to enter Jared’s house
Why this close relationship works for these “three musketeers”
Click below to watch full video!
Win a paperback copy of SERVING SIN signed by Clif Kosterman!
On Thursday, June 24, I’ll be releasing my monthly newsletter with an opportunity to win one of four paperback copies of Serving Sin with Clif’s signature! Sign up now and enter Thursday!
Celebrating endings
When Serving Sin comes out in one month, it will mark the end of my debut romance series. In the hustle of writing, publishing, promoting and deadlines, it’s so easy to lose sight of accomplishments like these. I’m trying to take a moment to celebrate and be grateful.
When Serving Sin comes out in one month, it will mark the end of my debut romance series. In the hustle of writing, publishing, promoting and deadlines, it’s so easy to lose sight of accomplishments like these. I’m trying to take a moment to celebrate and be grateful.
I WROTE THREE BOOKS, PEOPLE!!!!
When Serving Sin releases on May 25, I will have three books out in the world with my name on it. I will have successfully completed a three-story arc about the loves and lives of a wine-growing royal family in the mountains of Spain. I will have told a series of stories based on a theme intensely important to me: What does power look like when strong, worthy, alpha heroines wield it, and strong, worthy, alpha heroes support them?
I was a 20-year aspiring author, but I wanted this job for my whole life. As a longtime romance fan, I can’t help but reflect on series that I’ve loved – Cecilia Grant’s Blackshear Family series, Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s Chicago Stars series, J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood – and hope that someday, somehow, some way, my Filthy Rich series joins their ranks.
Hey, I write fantasies for a living!
With the publication of Serving Sin, I say goodbye to:
Roxanne and Mateo, the billionaire businesswoman and winegrowing prince of Lush Money, who are now the responsible royals and semi-frazzled parents they were always meant to be
Sofia and Aish, the star-crossed ex-lovers of Hate Crush, who’ve grown out of their childish, tempestuous love affair and into their strong, focused, and happy forever
Roman, the former Army Ranger and reluctant prince with secret wounds finally healed
the Monte del Vino Real, the beautiful winegrowing village in the mountains of Northern Spain, and the hardworking people who populated it, who at long last are prosperous and excited about their futures
incredible side characters who enriched the Filthy Rich universe – bodyguard Henry and his barrel-making wife Gina, friend and grower Carmen Louisa, the best nanny in the world Titi, and the awesome priest and father figure, Father Juan.
Wrapping up all of their stories in the Epilogue of Serving Sin was one of the proudest moments of my life. It was so wonderful seeing them all on the page together, toasting what they’ve (and I’ve) created.
I’ve never cried harder.
Want a sneak peek of the Epilogue?
Join me as I chat with Supernatural's bodyguard Clif Kosterman
I am thrilled -- beyond thrilled, actually, more flabbergasted and still in shock -- to announce that, to celebrate the release of my bodyguard romance, Serving Sin, I will be chatting with bodyguard-to-the-stars Clif Kosterman, close protection specialist for Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, stars of the TV show, Supernatural.
(Author’s note: You can watch my interview with Clif Kosterman here.)
Calling all Supernatural fans!!
I am thrilled -- beyond thrilled, actually, more flabbergasted and still in shock -- to announce that, to celebrate the release of my bodyguard romance, Serving Sin, I will be chatting with bodyguard-to-the-stars Clif Kosterman, close protection specialist for Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, stars of the TV show, Supernatural.
The event will be Saturday, June 12 at 5 pm CT/6 pm ET, and will be streamed live over the YouTube page of my favorite indie bookstore, One More Page Books in Falls Church, VA. Signed copies of Serving Sin will only be available through One More Page Books in June.
I contacted Clif because Roman Sheppard, the hero of Serving Sin, is the head of an elite security firm and the protector of the Mexican CEO heroine he tries hard not to fall in love with. Clif and I will be chatting about the perils and rewards of being a bodyguard to the rich and famous.
Clif Kosterman was already recognized as one of the top close-protection specialist’s out of Vancouver -- having protected celebrities like Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez, and Morgan Freeman -- when he was hired to protect Jared Padalecki's visiting family during the show's first season. On that day, Kosterman’s life changed. For the last 13 years, Kosterman has worked exclusively to protect stars Jared and Jensen and their families, a unique role of longevity in his constantly shifting industry.
Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Clif Kosterman, and Genevieve Padalecki at Jared and Gen’s wedding
Jensen Ackles and Clif Kosterman at Clif’s wedding
Clif and I will chat about his journey to becoming a close protection specialist, the fascinating ups and downs of the job, and his role protecting two popular TV stars and their families for the last thirteen years.
"I've always been a defender," he told me. "When I played football, I played defense. When I played hockey, I played defense. When you're dedicated to something you love, it isn't hard to do."
It was at this moment that I felt super blessed to connect this awesome guy to my hero!
Clif is well known by Supernatural fans, having appeared in two episodes of the show as well as always appearing at Supernatural conventions to keep the stars safe. He's an understated and laidback celebrity in his own right, with 45K followers on Instagram and 94K followers on Twitter. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
I can't wait for you all to meet him!
The Alpha Roll: The Perfect Man?
The Alpha Roll. Hard and tough on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside. In my opinion, the perfect man.
The former military protection specialist from Serving Sin also cooks and makes sure everyone gets enough sleep. He’s the prefect Alpha Role!
I had a blog all planned out for the week.
And then the brilliant romance author Charish Reid had to go and ruin it with this excellent Tweet.
To explain, a “cinnamon roll” is a romance character who is all soft on the inside. This term came into play as a contrast to “alpha,” a lead character who displays a dominant, take-no-prisoners attitude.
More often than not, these terms are applied to male heroes: Mr. Ooey-Gooey-Sensitive vs. Mr. “I will shove you up against a wall and take you.”
Charish plucked a prefect kumquat from the air when everybody else was looking at the apples and oranges. The Alpha Roll. Hard and tough on the outside, soft and sweet on the inside.
In my opinion, the perfect man.
Evolution of the Alpha and the Cinnamon Roll
The romance genre has been flooded with alphas since the dawn of its creation. Kathleen Woodiwiss’ The Flame and the Flower, which catapulted romance into a genre-fiction leader, featured a strapping ship’s captain who raped his soon-to-be-wife (I know; that’s for another blog) because he thought she was a prostitute just playing coy. In the modern era, Fifty Shades of Grey cemented the alpha into the modern consciousness. Alphas were rich, powerful, grunty, closed-off emotionally except for that one special woman who thought that all of his single-word sexual commands were charming, and great in bed.
After a lot of books with single, suggestive objects on the cover (a tie, an apple, a rose, what does it mean?), authors and readers were ready for a change. Thus was birthed the cinnamon role: Sweet guys who didn’t base their egos on being the biggest dick in the room. Or sweet ladies who were fine with being ooey and gooey. Jen DeLuca’s Well Played, Roan Parrish’s The Remaking of Corbin Wale, Alisha Rai’s Girl Gone Viral, and, like, all of Talia Hibbert’s phenomenal books have cinnamon-role characters.
But the alpha roll?
In her tweet, Charish Reid, author of the contemporary romances The Write Escape and Hearts on Hold, realized she was writing one.
Her tweet made me realize I’d written one, too.
Hero in Serving Sin = Alpha Roll
Roman Sheppard, my taciturn prince bodyguard in my upcoming release, Serving Sin, is without a doubt an alpha roll.
On paper, Roman’s totally an alpha. He’s a former Army Ranger who saved his squad, head of an elite security firm that protects the wealthy and the vulnerable, and a reluctant prince. He likes action more than words, and every action is exacting. His words are few, and his smiles are practically non-existent.
But the big, big heart on this guy. Readers who got to know Roman in Lush Money and Hate Crush will remember him swooping in to help save the kingdom for a half-brother and half-sister he didn’t even know very well. “I don’t want your kingdom, man,” he told his brother in Lush Money. “I’m a soldier, not a king. I had to pick a side and I pick yours.”
In those two books, we got to see Roman’s loyalty, love, and need to protect.
But in Serving Sin, we get to see his inclination to nurture.
Cenobia “Cen” Trujillo, the Mexican-heiress-turned-CEO who Roman is in Mexico to protect in Serving Sin, is so busy launching the first made-in-Mexico-by-Mexicans-for-Mexicans car company that she doesn’t worry too much about food. Or sleep. Roman makes sure she has good meals. He urges her to forgo the late night café de ollas she adores and get a good night’s rest. One of the sexiest scenes without any sex in it is when he feeds her from a ballroom hors d'oeuvres table while she’s distracted.
With his thick, capable fingers, this warrior prince had been feeding her. Right now, he was holding up a small taco and she’d been about to take a bite.
“What are you doing?” she asked, rearing back.
His green eyes looked darker in the shadows here at the edge of the gilded room. “Have you eaten today?”
She realized she’d skipped lunch. “No.”
“Then you need to eat, Cenobia.” His voice was like black silk over sand. “I said I’d take care of you.”
To any curious eyes, they simply looked like two longtime friends juggling a plate and two champagne glasses.
Heart pounding, she slowly tilted her head and opened her mouth. He kept his eyes on hers as she fit her lips around the corn tortilla and bit into it. She’d never been more aware of the simple mechanics of eating. He lifted the rest of the taco to his mouth and finished it in one bite. He’d been sharing food with her as if their mouths had already shared other intimacies.
When the threats against Cenobia and her family ratchet up, and Roman takes her, her little brother Adán, and her brother’s bodyguard to his sister-in-law’s lake-side home in Kansas, Cenobia quickly realizes that he is a great cook, a well-organized event coordinator, and an excellent trail guide. Her taciturn warrior prince has all the makings of an ideal camp counselor.
He worked so hard to convince her, the world, and himself that he was nothing more than a stone-faced soldier. But in the Monte del Vino Real, he had a royal brother who trusted him as second-in-command, a royal sister who’d embraced him as a big brother, and a niece and nephew who feted him with homemade jewelry. With their little family here, he’d become head chef and entertainment director, grocery list maker and boardgame referee.
He wasn’t a taciturn soldier. He was a den mother. He was a devoted son and a beloved brother and a leader of heroes and the savior of lost causes.
In Spain, Roman (who not-so-secretely loves high-end men’s fashion) helps 12-year-old Adán pick out just the right outfit when he’s going to meet the king.
I mean…
Romance aficionados have their favorites — alpha or cinnamon roll — and will fight to the death on their hills. But with the alpha roll, we can all get along.
Because I’ve decided. The alpha roll is the perfect man.
Take a tour of Guanajuato, Mexico in SERVING SIN
In Serving Sin, I get to show readers the beautiful city of Guanajuato, Mexico.
In two months, my third book in the Filthy Rich series, Serving Sin, will be out in the world.
One of the things I’ve loved about the series is taking readers to places and settings I adore: the mountains and villages of Northern Spain, downtown San Francisco, small towns in the Midwest.
In Serving Sin, I get to show readers the beautiful city of Guanajuato, Mexico.
Guanajuato is the home of Cenobia Trujillo, a Mexican-heiress who is now the CEO of her family’s automotive manufacturing conglomerate. Cenobia asks reluctant prince Roman Sheppard, head of a top security firm, to come to Guanajuato to protect her from growing threats while she prepares for the launch of her company’s first designed-and-made-in-Mexico eco-car.
Roman rescued her from her kidnappers when she was eighteen, and although they haven’t seen each other since, there’s still a connection.
Readers get to explore the beautiful canyon city of Guanajuato along with Roman and Cenobia. My family and I got to explore Guanajuato in 2019.
Guanajuato is five hours north of Mexico City in an area called the Bajío, an area in the central plains of Mexico known for its quality of life, agriculture, and colonial architecture. The Bajío was also where the spark of the Mexican Revolution began. And the state of Guanajuato was where my father’s family immigrated from in the early 1900s to work on the railroad in Kansas.
Driving into Guanajuato is truly shocking. It’s built in a canyon – you can’t even see the city without driving through tunnels. American tourists will head straight to San Miguel de Allende from the León airport without even knowing what they’re missing! Roads are practically non-existent in the interior of Guanajuato – or at least, roads you can see. Spaniards re-routed the river that flowed through the bottom of the canyon because of persistent flooding. Now, those old river shafts through the limestone are the roads.
Once through the tunnels, you’re instantly greeted with the shock of candy-colored homes climbing the canyon walls, and Baroque churches, hotels, and museums in the central plaza paid for by its wealthy silver-mining past.
Many of the homes up the canyon walls are only accessible by the narrow winding alleys and stairwells called callejones. As we walked up (and up and up and up) to get to the top of a canyon, we realized why all the Guanajuatans were in great shape!
The indigenous people were a group of tribes known collectively as Chichimecans. They were nomads described as barbarians by the Spaniards. Well, these “barbarians” gave the Spaniards the longest war and the only war they never won during their Mexican conquest!
The University of Guanajuato gives the city a college-town feel, and the Cervantes Festival brings people from all over the world to Guanajuato every October to celebrate the writer. They actually began painting their homes the bright colors to beautify them for the Cervantes Festival! We didn’t see many European or American tourists while we were there, but there were many Mexican tourists visiting the beautiful city.
Discover more about this incredible city in my upcoming book, Serving Sin.
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SERVING SIN cover reveal!
The reveal of this gorgeous cover for Serving Sin is bittersweet: While it is my next book release (YAY!!!), it is also the last book in the Filthy Rich series (😢).
The reveal of this gorgeous cover for Serving Sin is bittersweet: While it is my next book release (YAY!!!), it is also the last book in the Filthy Rich series (😢).
Serving Sin wraps up my debut, stand-alone series about the royal family of the Monte del Vino Real and the three powerful women who got what they want because they'd earned it. I love these three couples -- my alpha heroines and their strong heroes who stand by them -- and the wine growing community in the mountains that they've made their home.
I wrote an epilogue in Serving Sin that wraps the whole series up. There was ugly crying. I hope you enjoy it, too!
BUT, before we get to the end, we have the story of Roman and Cenobia...
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, DECORATED FORMER ARMY RANGER ROMAN SHEPPARD RESCUED MEXICAN HEIRESS CENOBIA TRUJILLO FROM A SHOCKING KIDNAPPING THAT RIVETED THE WORLD.
In the years since, Roman’s risen from his humble Texas roots: he is now the head of an elite security firm and the reluctant half prince of a glamorous wine-growing Spanish kingdom.
And today, Cenobia—"Cen"—is finally in the CEO role she’s trained for her whole life. But serious, growing threats against her are derailing a product launch that will change the Mexican industrial landscape forever. She’s done the hard work to recover from her kidnapping, but therapy has't changed the fact that Roman Sheppard will forever represent safety in her mind.
He's the only one she can trust.
And his coming to Mexico will allow Cenobia to finally figure out if what she feels is a teenager’s daydream or a grown woman’s reality…
But there’s a reason Roman has stayed a continent away. His mission is to save people. And nothing—not duty to family, not the mistakes of his past and certainly not love—is going to get in his way.
He'll go to Mexico. He'll help Cen. He'll keep her safe.
What he won't allow himself to do?
Desire Cenobia Trujillo. He won’t allow her to become his sweet Cen.
Serving Sin, available May 25
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The last five years and the conclusion of the Filthy Rich series
Last night I “finished” Serving Sin, the third book in the Filthy Rich series. Finished gets quote marks because there are a couple of revisions with my editor and copyedits to look forward to. But I emailed it to my editor, Carina Press’s amazing Kerri Buckley.
And then I cried.
I cried because the conclusion of this series marks an amazing, awful, dream-fulfilling, endurance-test-running time in my life. I can’t believe what the last five years have involved.
Five years ago today, my father died in a truly awful highway accident. I put aside the book I’d been working on because of my father’s death and at Christmas of that year, came up with the idea for The Billionaire’s Prince, which later became Lush Money.
After twenty years of writing and a lifetime spent wanting to be a fiction writer, Lush Money became the book that got me my agent and my very first three-book publishing contract.
I can’t believe my dad has missed all of it. He would have gotten such a kick out of my publishing journey. Although I would have been very specific about what pages he needed to skip reading.
“I cried because the conclusion of this series marks an amazing, awful, dream-fulfilling, endurance-test-running time in my life. I can’t believe what the last five years have involved.”
Four years ago, The Billionaire’s Prince was humming along. But my husband’s job was sputtering. And we knew our oldest son, a just-graduated senior, was unhappy. But we didn’t have the experience or vocabulary to help him understand why.
Three years ago, my husband was unemployed for a year and our incredible awesome-sauce of a son came home from his freshman year in college, diagnosed with a life-stopping social anxiety disorder.
Over the last three years, our whole family has learned to be different. More understanding. Less judgmental. With a broader view of how people in the world work. My sadly narrow view of mental health has grown exponentially.
I wrote Lush Money and Hate Crush while we were learning to support our son and help him understand how his brain ticks. Lush Money debuted to the world during one of the most harrowing times of his mental health journey.
Two years ago, I signed with my incredible agent, Sara Megibow.
A year ago, I signed a three-book deal with Carina Press.
When the writing organization I’d relied on for 20 years, the Romance Writers of America, imploded right after my book debuted, I thought that was the worst thing that was going to happen in 2020.
Heh.
But while I wrote Serving Sin, the last book in the series, during a pandemic I:
Sold a house (during a pandemic)
Promoted the release of the second book in the series, Hate Crush, while defying the sophomore curse with good reviews (during a pandemic)
Kept my family balanced and emotionally healthy (during a pandemic)
Moved halfway across the country (during a pandemic)
Did I mention that all that happened during a pandemic?
So, yeah, yesterday as I sent Serving Sin off to my editor, there were a tears. A decent level of ugly crying. The book is going to be dedicated to my dad. And to my son. Next week, he returns to Rice University to continue pursuing his physics degree.
What an incredible five years it’s been.
A RELUCTANT WARRIOR PRINCE MUST AGAIN PROTECT THE MEXICAN-HEIRESS-TURNED-CEO HE RESCUED WHEN SHE WAS A TEEN.
Announcing next book in Filthy Rich series...
In Lush Money, book 1 of my Filthy Rich series — about powerful, wealthy women who get what they want because they’ve earned it — we met self-made Mexican-American billionaire, Roxanne Medina.
In book 2, Hate Crush, coming June 29, you’ll get to read about millionaire winemaking princesa, Sofia de Esperanza y Santos.
Now, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Mexican heiress-turned-CEO, Cenobia “Cen” Trujillo, in book 3, Serving Sin. Serving Sin will be available early 2021.
Serving Sin is about Roman Sheppard, the half-brother of the royal family of the Monte del Vino Real, who we met in Lush Money and Hate Crush. He’s a decorated ex-Army Ranger raised in a Texas trailer park. Thirteen years ago, he became internationally famous for rescuing a kidnapped Mexican teenage heiress. Now, he's the head of a successful security firm and, although he's been named advisor to his kingly brother, he's known in the media as the "reluctant prince," unwilling to fully accept his place in his family and the small wine-growing kingdom in Northern Spain.
The teen heiress, Cenobia Trujillo, is now a 30-year-old CEO of the largest automobile manufacturer in Mexico who needs Roman's help again. There have been serious threats against her, and with a month until the launch of her car that will change the Mexican auto industry for the better, she doesn’t have the time to be distracted. She asks him to come to Mexico to protect her.
Protection isn’t the only reason Cenobia – who asks people to call her “Cen” – wants Roman around. She’s ready to dispel the teenage fantasy notion that he’s her “one” with some womanly real-life pleasure. And there’s a reason Roman has stayed a continent away. He’d been a 26-year-old soldier who knew better than to be fascinated by the girl on the cusp of 18. He’ll go and protect her. But the last thing he’s ever going to call her is “Cen.”
Serving Sin will be available from Carina Press early 2021.
Inspiration for Roman Sheppard and Cenobia Trujillo. To see more inspiration, check out my Pinterest board
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Angelina M. Lopez,
contemporary romance Author
Writing ferocious love stories
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