From the desk of lesbian romance author Lee Winter
WHAT is it about a good narrator who elevates a book so much? Australian Cat Gould took to the microphone for Vengeance Planning for Amateurs which is out now as an audiobook. The experience is a wild ride. There’s a scene where a motley group of crime book club members try to talk their way past the security guard of a secure building, and even though I’m the author and knew exactly what was coming, I actually laughed till I cried. So, I know I’m biased, but yes, the audiobook is so worth it, even if you’ve read the book!
AMAZING! Chaos Agent has just won the Romantic Blend award at the 2024 Golden Crown Literary Society awards and…drum roll… the top prize, the Gold Ann Bannon Popular Choice award. Lee was in some brilliant company with the finalists, too. You can watch a video of the awards night here. Lee’s awards are at 0:28mins and at 2hrs10mins. It turns out readers DO love a villain. Well, a redeemed one at least! Thanks to all the readers who voted for Lee in the Ann Bannons.
FUN fact – there is now merchandise available for Vengeance Planning for Amateurs! It’s a bit of “punny” fun inspired by Olivia Roberts’s button pins in the romantic comedy. And proceeds go to feeding our backyard wild quendas, lizards, and birds. 
https://www.redbubble.com/people/slkx/shop
If you check out this thread on Twitter, you’ll see some of the beautiful wildlife from our backyard that I’m talking about. Up to and including the kickboxing birds!
FRENCH publisher Reines de Coeur has put out a French-language version of Lee Winter’s most popular lesbian romance, The Brutal Truth. Called
L’Impitoyable Vérité, here’s the blurb in French:
Deux femmes qui travaillent dans des empires hôteliers concurrents se rencontrent et mentent sur leur identité. Leur immédiate alchimie s’avère vite compliquée à gérer…
THE first (official) romantic comedy by Lee Winter, Vengeance Planning for Amateurs is out now everywhere. I say “official” because it’s been pointed out to me that The Awkward Truth could well be read as a romantic comedy too. It’s all a bit silly and eccentric and quirky—but of course there’s still a glorious ice queen. It’s a Lee Winter book, after all! Here’s the blurb:
An offbeat lesbian romantic comedy starring penguins, plotting, and payback.
Muffin maker Olivia Roberts has had it with her awful exes taking advantage of her good nature. The theft of her nana’s beloved stuffed penguin is the absolute last straw.
She puts up an ad at her local crime bookstore for a henchperson to help her enact a little mild revenge. To her astonishment, Margaret Blackwood, the mysterious, icy, and annoyingly opinionated bookstore owner, applies.
For two clever, capable women, they turn out to be woeful at vengeance. But much to their dismay, they discover they’re pretty good at falling in love!
LEE Winter’s first Portuguese book is out now thanks to Brazilian publishing house Editora Sinna. A Verdade Brutal, aka The Brutal Truth, is available in Amazon Brazil’s Kindle Unlimited. No word yet on paperbacks, but keep checking the Amazon site to see if it appears as an option. Read all about Lee’s non-English books, here.
Meanwhile if you act fast, you can be in the running to win a copy at Editora Sinna’s Instagram page.
OUT now in German is The Awkward Truth, aka Nichts als die unbequeme Wahrheit.
Also out now is the German version of the sci-fi superhero book Shattered (Shattered – Zerbrochen).
Read all about Lee’s non-English books here.
BOTH books of The Villains Series are out now everywhere, including Amazon.
For those interested in the audiobooks, The Fixer and Chaos Agent are narrated by the wonderful Angela Dawe. And the result is perfection.
The Villains Series comprises two books, one story about a naïve activist who accidentally finds herself employed by a corporate villain (as you do). Cue one awkward farce, a twisty puzzle, and the slowest of slow burns in this opposites-attract, ice queen romance.
You may recognize the ice queen protagonist’s name: Michelle Hastings (aka Stephanie) was the villain in the On the Record series (The Red Files and Under Your Skin). Writing this book involved a lot of fun and angst trying to see if she could be redeemed after the hell she put Catherine Ayers through.
So far these books have had some amazing reviews at Goodreads along with this wonderful deep-dive critique by Autostraddle.
Recently released
Jeux de Pouvoir
, aka Hotel Queens, is out now in French at Reines de Coeur. It’s a great addition to the Lee Winter non-English books collection. Reines de Coeur also put out Breaking Character in French in 2022.
Deux femmes qui travaillent dans des empires hôteliers concurrents se rencontrent et mentent sur leur identité. Leur immédiate alchimie s’avère vite compliquée à gérer…
Available in ebook and paperback.
OUT at the end of last year was The Ultimate Boss Set, which includes The Brutal Truth and The Awkward Truth novels.
Here’s 
the blurb: Two hot bosses, one company, all the stories in one place…
Formidable boss Elena Bartell (The Brutal Truth) and her ambitious deputy Felicity Simmons (The Awkward Truth) rule Bartell Corp with dedication and brilliance. Now the best-selling ice queen lesbian romances are available in one e-book for the first time. Included are three bonus short stories: Five Times Felicity Met Elena, Aliens of New York, and The Brutal Lie.
In The Brutal Truth, take one media mogul, throw in a truth bet with her assistant, and as their secrets pour out, neither woman will be the same. A beautiful story about the lies we tell ourselves.
The Awkward Truth sees Felicity hunting a missing donation to an animal charity. She tries hard not to notice a soft-butch vet or her adorable dog. This funny opposites-attract tale digs up the truth about what really matters in life.
Discover Lee Winter’s inspirations
WANT to know where my characters live, work, how I saw them, and all the other trivia that filled my brain when writing my books? Readers can now check out the inspirational and/or research pictures I’ve posted on my Pinterest page. Vengeance Planning for Amateurs has just gone up and that page joins The Villains Series, The Awkward Truth, Hotel Queens, Changing the Script, Breaking Character, The Brutal Truth, Shattered, and The Red Files.
As always, my newsletter readers were the first to see all my latest book’s “Pinspirations”, so subscribe for content like this and other goodies.
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Subscribe to my newsletter here.
EVERY month or two I’ll share any new-release info or other writing stuff I have on the boil. No spamming ever, Scout’s honor. I occasionally also drop free short stories for my subscribers. Each newsletter includes links to previous subscriber freebies, which includes an exclusive Angela Dawes-narrated short scene The Ice Queens Meet. It’s between two of my ice queens, Elena (The Brutal Truth) and Elizabeth (Breaking Character)
New subscribers will also be emailed a free short story set in the Red Files universe, When DC Met Iowa in the welcome letter. What’s the story about? It’s the day after Lauren and Catherine’s wedding. Mega DC bitch Cynthia Redwell wakes to find she’s maybe slept with Suze, the beer-pong-loving Iowan softballer. It’s a funny old morning, that’s for sure.
IF you want to buy a signed copy of a Lee Winter book, the website has been updated to explain how. Click here for details.