I’ve written so much on this blog about book reviews- my own and those I write for other authors/books. I even have a page on Writing is My Oxygen devoted to reviews of my books. A good review can garner you more sales on your work, just like a bad one can hinder them. A great review can do many things, but what a really great review does for me is make me cry happy, ugly tears.
Why?
The validation that I’ve done what I set out to do -move someone with my story – hits home and just makes me thankful I did my job.
I won’t lie about this like some writers do: I read my reviews. Every. Single One. On Goodreads,bookbub,Amazon, even other authors’ blogging sites when I happen to find them.
I’ve received glowing 5-star-plus reviews that had me dancing in my office like Elaine Benes and a few 1 stars that have left me running to the cabinet for emergency chocolate.
I have a review for A PRIDE OF BROTHERS; DYLAN that I recently received which left me exhausted from crying those happy tears. Really. My body not only had the tired cry exhaustion going on after I read it three times ( you know – lungs hurt, fingers tingly, chest sore), but that ugly cry as well.
For any bookreader to take the time and write or give one of my books a review – whether they liked it or not, is something that I appreciated greatly. And even if they didn’t like I am thankful. Why? Because they still read it…
If you are an author do you – truthfully – read your reviews? Even the bad ones?
Since Dylan just released on Monday, I’m choosing him.
“She’s a sweetie,” his soon-to-be-sister-in-law whispered in his ear. “But fragile. Take care with her.”
Dylan nodded again.
As soon as the door closed behind them, he turned back around to Harper. Her color was still off, and she looked like she hadn’t slept for a week. A defeated stance embraced her body in the stooped shoulders and chest-hugging head. He wanted to gather her up in his arms and love away all the horror she’d endured for the past day. Hell, the past thirty-plus years.
Before he did, he had to make sure she’d freely receive it. The way she’d so easily walked away from him in the bedroom had been a hit to his ego, and he didn’t want a repeat of that feeling.
He wanted Harper. Had since the moment he’d bumped into her and she’d tossed him a pissed-off glare. And what the hell did that say about him, he wondered, that he found snarky and annoyed so alluring?
“Your younger brother is very…”
“Annoying? Obnoxious? A pain in the ass?”
He grew pleased when a small smile bloomed on her face at his joking, since that had been his intention.
“I was going to say knowledgeable about being poisoned. I don’t want to be nosy, but has he been?”
“No. Not like you were. Aiden had a brain tumor as a kid. Spent a great deal of time in the hospital having all sorts of meds shot into his system. He got pretty smart about how to ward off any side effects like dehydration, nausea. Vomiting.”
“Oh, dear Lord, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”
He shrugged. His brother’s diagnosis had hit the family hard when it came. But his mother was a natural warrior and vowed nothing, not even a pesky tumor, was going to take one of her children away from her.
“He’s fine now. As soon as the tumor was removed and he got on a good medical regimen, he was basically cured. Every now and then, though, he’s hit with a killer migraine, especially if he doesn’t drink a good amount of water every day. So he’s being truthful when he says you should drink and flush your system. Bronte is his service dog, by the way. She can detect a migraine aura starting before Aiden can and allow him to treat it before it gets incapacitating.”
She nodded, said, “Wow,” and then took a large gulp of the water.
“I don’t know about you, but even though it’s almost one in the morning, I could eat something.” He turned away so she wouldn’t see him smile. “It’s been a long time since my last meal. You hungry?”
It’s that time of year: holiday book release season. I’m part of the Dickens Holiday Romance series once again and this year my contribution is DON’T MESS WITH THE MISTLETOE, Michael Charles’ story.
It’s the holiday season in the tiny town of Dickens and pilot Michael Charles is home for his annual visit. His wanderlust has him itching to get back up in the skies as soon as possible, especially since he’s got a full schedule of rich and famous clients waiting to be transported to warm, exotic locales for the winter.
When his heavily pregnant sisters present him with a plan to give their workaholic mother some time off from managing the family diner, he balks. But one look at how tired the woman who took him into her home and heart is, and Michael agrees to run Dorrit’s Diner for a month so Amy Charles can get some well-deserved rest.
He’ll be back in the skies by the New Year.
The diner staff functions like a well-oiled machine, most of them long-term employees. The exception is new waitress Julia Maryland. The beautiful blonde has a past filled with heartache, a charming six-year-old daughter, and a smile Michael could spend the day getting lost in. But starting a relationship with her wouldn’t be wise because his visit is temporary and Julia seems like a permanent kind of girl.
When a family emergency requires him to rethink and reassess his life, Michael wonders if it’s time he becomes a permanent kind of man.
The complete cover will be revealed – along with the preorder link – on October 1st.
7 new stories will be added to the DICKENS HOLIDAY ROMANCE series this year, starting with mine on 11.2.2023.
DON’T MESS WITH THE MISTLETOE by Peggy Jaeger
Pilot Michael Charles is more comfortable up in the skies than on the ground. Waitress Julia Maryland has her feet planted firmly in Dickens.
Will a family emergency make Michael trade his vagabond lifestyle for a permanent one…with Julia?
KRINGLE ALL THE WAY by Judy Kentrus
Freja Sorensen is content baking prize-winning Kringle…until Axel Frost opens a hobby shop in Dickens.
Once a loving couple, they’d both suffered the pain of betrayal and heartbreak.
Is it possible Christmas is a time for forgiveness and maybe a second chance at love?
A SONG FOR CHRISTMAS by Lori DiAnni
Music teacher, Noelle Daniels, needs the perfect song for the annual Christmas fundraiser.
Rising country star, Matthew Carter, needs inspiration to write his next big hit and finds it in the small town of Dickens.
As they co-chair the school’s Christmas play, will they realize they make perfect music together?
A VERY MERRY MONDAY by Gracie Guy
What happens when you force together two competitive co-workers from the metro-New York area by assigning them to an offsite location in a charming New England town just weeks before Christmas? Bets get made, skiing accidents happen, sparks fly, and walls crumble. Is it coincidence or the magic of Dickens?
GAMES OF LOVE by Morgan Malone
It’s been a year of change.
Ruth adopted her best friend’s little girl and moved from Chicago to Dickens needing her family’s support. Bo’s job brought him from Texas, with hope for a new beginning to ease his grief. They’re not looking for love, but Hanukkah is all about miracles.
CHRISTMAS AT NORTH HILL by Jan Scarbrough
Sparks flew from the moment they met, but Joni’s independence has Chris wondering if he’s enough for her. Joni knows God loves her, but is she ready for a different kind of love? Can Joni and Chris discover that, just like Christmas presents, love comes wrapped in many packages?
STAGING CHRISTMAS by Kathryn Hills
A comeback queen with a tarnished tiara. A computer nerd in over his head. All it takes is a car crash, a rescue dog, and a century-old ski lodge to make them believe in holiday magic.
I will be at Books Books Books 2023 tomorrow in Lititz, PA, signing, selling, and talking about my books to wonderful readers of romance, and all genres of fiction.
Here are 5 reasons why I think you should come out and see me (LOL, such narcissism!!!)
You can not only meet me, you can meet over 70+ authors
I’ll have all these books available for purchase and signing.
3. Books make great gifts and the holidays are coming! Giving a reader a signed copy of their newest release is a great gift.
4. It’s a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, especially since I heard it’s going to rain, hee hee.
I’d like to say I’ve started moving on from my grief and guilt.
I’d like to say I’ve accepted everything that happened and am now at peace with it.
I’d like to say I still don’t have periods where I suddenly burst into tears, or feel my heart pounding like a drum line marching o n a football field.
I’d like to say I am moving on. That I’m not paralyzed at times with indecision, or making choices I will either come to regret or instantly do.
I’d really like to say my life has finally gotten manageable again.
But I can’t.
I can’t say any of those things and be telling the truth.
What I can say is that I am taking it one day – sometimes one hour – at a time.
What I can say, truthfully, is that talking about it helps. Saying my feelings aloud not only validates them but fills me with a strange sense of purpose.
What I can say, is that each day is slightly better than the day before.
What I’ll never be able to say is that I don’t miss my mother.
Because I do. Every hour of every day.
Despite our tortured relationship…maybe even because of it…I miss her.
Terribly.
I miss the crazy malapropisms she unconsciously made almost daily.
I miss the way she’d ask me a thousand questions about the same thing.
I miss the way she referred to herself in third person when she was speaking hypothetically.
Does it make me sound crazy to say I miss fighting with her? Verbally sparring with her? Getting her to understand a different point of view than just hers?
I’m sad she only got to meet her great-grandson once.
I’m sad she’ll never meet her great-granddaughter when she arrives this winter.
I’m sad she’s not around to cook for anymore.
I’m just…sad.
6 months today.
The time flew by in a blink and yet dragged mercilessly.
Tomorrow, 9.18,2023, I’ll be taking over the Facebook Page of BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS 2023 at 7pm EST. I’m an attending author for this wonderful event, taking place on September 23rd, and this is my opportunity to introduce myself to readers who may not know me ( which, believe me – there are millions, LOL!)
If you’re free, come join me. I’ll be playing games, talking about my books – the new and the upcoming – and maybe even gifting a few prizes along the way!!!
here’s the link to the FB page – please join it so you can take advantage of all the fun: BBB
As a reader, I know that some books leave you with a book hangover or the notion you wish you could go re-read it again for the very first time.
This book did both those to me – and I wrote it!!
I think Harper and Dylan are my favorite love match so far. And I know you’re not supposed to pick favorites among your kids, but…
This little gem releases on Monday, 9.18, and I just put so much of my heart and soul into writing it. I was penning it at the time I was going through a huge upheaval in my life this past year and just being able to escape into the lives of Harper and Dylan helped me barrel through that tumultuous time.
I truly hope if you read the book you enjoy their journey to their HEA as much as I did writing it for them.
Cyber Security specialist Dylan Keene is working undercover to suss out a corporate thief. The client wants answers – yesterday – and Dylan’s getting close. When he zeros in on coding expert Harper Vale, he thinks he’s found his mole and sets out to prove it.
Harper has a reputation as a coding savant and an introvert. As a woman competing in a male-dominated industry, Harper doesn’t make waves. Dylan’s interest in her is flattering, but after she’s implicated in the theft of the company’s protected software, she begins to doubt everything he’s told her.
When a series of potentially deadly accidents occur, all surrounding Harper, Dylan starts to wonder if she truly is guilty, or being made to take the fall. One thing is certain, though. The more time the two of them spend together, the more Dylan realizes he’s the one who’s falling – for Harper.
He slid his free hand into hers so he held both of them. “I hope you had a good time today.”
“I did. Surprisingly.”
He winced and winked an eye closed. “Ouch.”
“Oh, God, no. That’s not what I meant.”
Her cheeks turned five shades darker than the rest of her face.
“I meant I didn’t think tossing an ax around or beating up on inanimate objects was going to be fun, but it was. Really fun. Thank you for taking me. I’ve lived in this area for a while and never knew that place existed.”
Her nerves were adorable, another facet of her personality he shouldn’t be thinking about, because when he did it solidified he really wanted to kiss her.
Like, kiss-her-socks-off kiss her.
He nodded, then squeezed her hands. “Well, I’ve gotta head out. My brother gets testy when he’s kept waiting.” He shook his head and blew out a breath filled with dramatic exasperation.
When she grinned up at him, the free and easy laughter in her eyes warming his soul, he thought, what the hell, and let go of her hands to cup her chin.
The soft sigh of surprise that shot from her was almost his undoing. Leisurely, he rubbed her rosy cheeks with his thumbs as he watched her pupils dilate in the afternoon sun.
“Just for the record,” he murmured as he brought his head down, “I had fun today, too. More than I’ve had in a long, long time.”
And the funny thing was it was the truth.
Right before his lips touched hers, the notion to pull back and retreat from this madness blew into the front of his mind and was instantly kicked to the curb.
He knew he was playing a dangerous game, that one of them was sure to wind up hurt. But right now, with this gorgeous, fascinating, enigma of a woman standing toe to toe with him and looking for all the world like she was on board with the idea of kissing him back, he simply didn’t give a shit.
The moment his lips touched hers he knew a simple kiss would never be enough.
While his thumbs continued caressing her smooth, silky cheeks, Dylan let himself enjoy the delicate flash of desire he felt push from her.
If pressed before this moment, he would have admitted that while he liked kissing a woman and exploring all the ways he could stoke a flame of lust, what it ultimately led to was always more preferable.
But right now? That thought went out the proverbial window, because this simple kiss was more exciting, more pleasurable, more downright erotic than any other he’d ever given or received. He wanted to kiss her straight up the steps of her building, through her apartment door, and then in every room where she lived.
He’d thought her skin was soft, but her mouth, warm and responsive, was by far the softest thing he’d ever touched. He took a step closer, willing his hands to remain on her cheeks lest they’d drop and haul her flat against them.
The feel of Harper’s hands resting on his chest was twenty shades of delicious. She had to feel his heart banging against his ribs; had to know how excited he was. When she opened her mouth, the intoxicating taste of her drifting into him assured him he had to stop this madness, when all he wanted to do was…plunder.
On a sigh, he pulled back.
Her eyes, half closed and heavy-lidded told him she was as moved by the kiss as he was.
Slowly, he slid his hands from her face, hating he was no longer touching her.
The overpowering emotions careening through him made him nervous, something he never was with a woman. He cleared his throat and searched for something to say that didn’t sound lame or juvenile.
Harper opened her eyes fully, surprise jumping through them as she stared up at him.
Yeah, I know how ya feel, babe. Kinda shocked me, too.
Dylan cleared his throat. “Thanks again for coming with me today.”
Toady’s #fridayfive is an exciting one for me. Tomorrow, I will be at the Boston Marriott Peabody for GETTING WITCHY WITH IT 2023 as an attending and book-signing author! I’ll be at table #44 in the Centennial Room
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, 9.16-17, 2023 THE BOSTON MARRIOT PEABODY NEAR SALEM, MA
So, here are 5 reasons why you should come on down:
300 authors – spread over two days, Saturday and Sunday. I’m a Saturday author, so I’ll see you tomorrow!
Models – many of the authors are bringing their cover models with them to take pictures with fans. How many people do you know who have their picture with a famous book cover model? It could be you!!
Harper Vale is my kind of woman and heroine: smart, snarky, doesn’t suffer fools, introverted, and has a dream.
Here’s a little insight into what happens after she’s fired…
In the elevator, the guard demanded her badge and security code card, which she handed over without a word into his meaty outstretched hand. Harper was too furious to feel embarrassed when the questioning stares and raised eyebrow glances of co-workers shot at her as she was escorted through the lobby and out the front doors. She was met at the entrance by another guard holding her backpack and told it contained everything in her desk of a personal nature, including her bike helmet.
The pack was unzipped, indicating they’d searched through it. A sense of violation shot through her and the anger swimming inside her intensified.
“Don’t try to come back into the building,” the Neanderthal said. “You’ll be stopped, detained, and handed over to the police for trespassing.”
“Don’t worry, Dickhead,” she said, her voice carrying clearly into the lobby. “I have no intention of ever coming back here.”
He tossed her a speaking glance and it took every ounce of will she could summon not to shoot him a middle finger salute as he strode back into the building on legs ridiculously too large for his pants.
Seething, she made her way to the bike rack and slipped her helmet on. After searching her backpack she found her wallet, phone, house keys, an emergency bike repair kit, and an old pack of peppermints, everything she typically carried with her. She’d never brought any pictures or other personal items into her workspace to clutter it and make it homey. To her, it was merely a space to work.
Ten years, she muttered, as she wove her bike through traffic. Ten years of her life devoted to a company that never appreciated her and now accused her of being a thief.
Lunch hour traffic was unusually thick and it took her an extra half hour of zipping in and out of traffic before she made it safely to her apartment. Throughout the trek, her anger grew to a boiling point.
She wanted to hit something. Hard.
Paying for a session at SCHMASH blew into her mind but was quickly discarded. She’d been fired which meant her income was now gone.
Fired.
How in the world had this happened? She’d done nothing—certainly never stolen from him. Or anyone.
And where had that bank account with her social security number attached to it come from?
If she possessed fifty thousand available dollars it certainly wouldn’t have been in a bank in another country. She’d have invested it in her project, not socked it away on foreign soil.
Someone had set her up. That was the only explanation. Someone had stolen something from Kirkpatrick, sold it, and made it look like she was responsible.
Why? Who the hell hated her so much?
She may not be best friends with anyone at K.I. but she’d certainly never done anything to warrant this.
As she pulled her bike off the elevator, Ginger’s door flew open.
“Oh, Harper. I thought you might be the delivery person. I’m waiting for my new fruit of the month delivery. Whatever are you doing home in the middle of a workday?”
Nerves raw and emotions in chaos, the last thing Harper wanted was to get into a gabfest with her nosy, however nice, neighbor.
“Just taking some personal time,” she said, shoving her bike through her apartment door. With a forced smile, she added, “I’ve got a bunch of vacation time saved and if I don’t use it I lose it.”
Ginger’s expression told Harper if given the slightest indication she wanted company, the woman would be in her place in a heartbeat.
“Oh, well, enjoy the afternoon, then, dear. I’m off to pack for a visit with one of my sons for a few days.”
“Enjoy.”
“You as well.”
She shut herself into her apartment, fell back against the closed door after slamming it against the stuck portion, then slid down it to the floor. The tears she’d been valiantly holding back were finally allowed to rain down her cheeks.
Harper dropped her head against her knees and let them free.
~~Intrigued? Preorder here: Amazon Watch the trailer here: You tube
Add it to your GOODREADS WANT TO READ LIST here: goodreads
