Ash & Marcus Kusi have Romances Galore for You.
Welcome Ash & Marcus Kusi. I am so glad to interview you. You are my first husband and wife writing team AND you use Booktok!
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
We’re Ash and Marcus Kusi, a wife-and-husband author team under the pen name A. M. Kusi. We enjoy writing romance novels that are inspired by our experiences as an interracial/multicultural couple. Our novels are about strong women and the sexy heroes they fall in love with, are emotionally satisfying, and always have a happy ending.
Is there an event in your life that affected you as a writer?
Ash: I have always used reading and writing as a form of escapism since childhood. Creating worlds where I could be anything and go anywhere away from the difficult reality I lived in was what saved me a lot of times.
Marcus: Definitely, the moment when we got feedback about one of our books changing someone’s life. That makes it all worth it.
What do you do when you are not writing?
We are usually at the beach with our kiddos, buried under a pile of Legos, or cooking/baking. We have a lot of food allergies in our family so we have to make a lot of things ourselves.
How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre?
TikTok! We make a fool out of ourselves (Marcus even tried a labor simulator) and share a lot of laughs on Booktok. We’ve gotten a ton of engagement and people interested in our Shattered Cove series from there. Our favorite part is when readers make a TikTok about one of our books and how it affected them.
Can you tell us about any other upcoming books, series, or writing plans?
In The Grey, which is book 6 of our Shattered Cove series, is coming out in August. This book was extremely difficult to write for Ash as it’s literally so much of her on the page. Our heroine is dealing with undiagnosed depression and self-harm. These are two topics that Ash has experienced personally so writing it was both therapeutic and triggering. We poured our hearts and souls into this series, and this book and our third, Defying Gravity, were especially hard for us to write. The feedback however, has been phenomenal.
We strive to face difficult topics, surrounding trauma or different lived experiences that are socially relevant and bring them to the reader in a way they can empathize. We don’t shy away from difficult topics, but we try to write them as respectfully as possible. Of course we add some humor and light-hearted scenes, and we always promise a HEA.
We will finish writing the Shattered Cove series this year, with the last book being published in January 2022. Then we will be staying in the same town and writing some spin off series.
Defying Gravity
by A. M. Kusi
A Black nurse with a teenager to raise.
A white cop hiding a tender heart.
Do they have what it takes to indulge their forbidden passion?
Caregiver Belle Jones always puts her own needs last on the list. As a busy nurse and sole provider for her teenage brother, she has no time for meaningless hookups. And when her younger sibling arrives home in the backseat of a police car, the fury she feels for his strutting uniformed escort far outweighs her spark of desire.
Sheriff Bently Evans works hard to protect his town… and keep his emotions locked away. When it comes to relationships, that means burying his real feelings behind crass humor and his flirtatious playboy reputation. But after driving a stranded African American teen home, he meets a stunning woman who makes it impossible to sustain his act.
As Belle slowly falls for the rugged lawman’s true gentle nature, she fears he’s not the type to ever commit. And just as Bently is ready to be vulnerable, an ominous warning forces him to push the woman he desires away from a deadly risk.
Will a judgmental society drive a wedge between them, or can they conquer all with their powerful love?
Defying Gravity is the tantalizing third standalone novel in the Shattered Cove contemporary romance series. If you like off-limits passions, socially relevant reads, and couples who triumph over adversity, then you’ll adore A. M. Kusi’s page-turning tale.
***No cheating. HEA guaranteed. ***
Buy Defying Gravity to find hope and healing today!
I love the sound of the story! We need to read more of those. Best of luck to both of you!
Thanks so much! Each of the stories in the Shattered Cove series focuses on different social issues that are important to us. Hope you have a great day!
What an innovative fun couple! How awesome to have readers making little response pieces about how your books have touched them — awesome!
Aww, thank you! It really is the best feeling in the world.