The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,700 times in 2015. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.
If it’s Wednesday, It’s MFRW Book Hooks! Click here to blog hop with some great authors – you just may find your next favorite writer!
I’ve got a Candy Hearts romance coming out on 2/8/16 just in time for Valentine’s Day, so here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to whet your romantic tastebuds.
I spotted him through the horde of people milling about the store. Valentine’s Day was tomorrow, and the shop was its usual day-before packed.
Gesu!
He looked even better in the bright light of day than he had in the shade of darkness. A fine line of stubble trailed up his jaw and cheeks, and he had tiny blue- tinged disks under his eyes like he’d had a late night, but, holy cow, he was still a major hunk-a-doodle.
Then he caught me looking at him. His smile came so quickly I nearly dropped the strawberries. He put up a finger and crooked it, beckoning me over.
3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Romance, coming soon from the Wild Rose Press. Here’s the preorder link:
Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.
You will be seeing the above banner every Monday and Wednesday on my blog beginning in January and going ’til February. I will be highlighting each of the 40 CANDY HEARTS SERIES books that the Wild Rose Press is issuing, including their purchase links, author bios, book covers, blurbs and excerpts.
This is a huge undertaking not only for WRP but me as well, since there are so many books and variety of authors. I will have a range of Sweet romance authors all the way up to hot and spicy. All excerpts, tho, will be no hotter than PG-13.
My addition doesn’t release until 2/8/16, but that’s close to Valentine’s day for me, and the book is all about the V-day love. Here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ to whet your reading appetites:
3 Wishes
Blurb:
Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.
Excerpt:
At about five minutes of ten I was almost ready to turn the Closed sign on the door when it opened. I heard Janie’s breath hitch and turned from where I was sweeping up. Staying open late is always a risk, with the thought thieves will invade at the end of the day.
If the guy standing at the door glancing around the shop was a thief, then Dio mio, I wanted to be robbed.
About six foot, his hair was the color of a deer’s pelt, with autumnal golds and browns shot together in a glorious patchwork that grazed the collar of his jacket and curled a little at the ends. He wore a faded brown bomber jacket over a shirt I couldn’t see, but he had shoulders almost as wide as my doorway. A pair of well-worn jeans covered his mile long legs, and the fabric on the stress points at his knees was practically white.
“We’re about to close,” I heard myself say. “Can I help you?”
It was at that moment he looked over at me.
His face could have been sculpted by Da Vinci or Michelangelo. A broad, smooth, forehead housed naturally arched eyebrows I knew some of my gay guy friends would have paid a fortune to have on their own faces. His cheeks were carved from marble, high, smooth and deep. And his mouth, mother-of-God, his mouth. Full, thick beautiful lips sat perfectly over a chin with a dent you could shove a button into and have it stay put.
“Sorry,” he said, those fabulous lips pulling up a little shyly at the corners. “I got stuck at work and couldn’t get here until now. I’ll be quick. Promise.”
So here’s the thing: the guy was gorgeous. But even if he’d looked like a frog with raw antipasto smothering his face, I would have dropped to my knees when he opened his mouth. Warm honey, a shot of raw whiskey, and a little hot puff of smoke wafted from his mouth like a fine and rare brandy being decanted.
Buy links” Coming soon ( like next week!! for pre-order. Yippie)
Welcome to the 121st week of My Sexy Saturday. Click on this link to tour all the fabulous authors participating in this weeks’ hop. Who knows? You just may find you next favorite author.
This week’s theme: Her Sexy Fantasy.
3 Wishes is being released on 2/8/16 just in time for Valentine’s Day. Here’s a little fantasy time in Chloe’s head:
Chocolate, like death, waits for no man.
Habit had me in my shop kitchen at four a.m. despite never getting to sleep at all. I fell into bed the moment I came back from the hospital but couldn’t shut my mind off.
The image of Matt’s face wouldn’t leave me alone.
I could still taste him on my lips despite the salt of saline laden tears cascading down my cheeks. I could still feel his plush, luxuriant, thick hair between my fingers. And, Dio mio, there was no way I could tear my mind from how rock hard with desire he’d been, pressing against the most private part of me.
A cold shower, two cups of espresso, and a thick layer of cold cream to stave off the puffiness around my eyes prepared me to start my day.
Available on 2/8/16 from the Wild Rose Press
I was in Target the other day doing a little Christmas shopping and I found myself – surprise surprise – in the Book department. There were no fewer than 15 brand-new Christmas romance novels from 15 different authors. Was I surprised? Not really. We all know romance sells… And a Christmas romance sells even better.
This got me to thinking: Why is it that romance readers love a Christmas romance?
In the purest sense, Christmas is a joyous time. We all want to be happy, in love, be loved, and give love. The basic Christmas romance novel uses that universal desire for love and amplifies it. How you ask? Well, I’m going to tell you.
Typically, a romance novel set during the Christmas season will involve a heroine who is just not feeling the love. The love of the season, or the love of a good man. Enter our hero. He, too, may not be feeling the love of the season. He isn’t looking for his soul-mate; doesn’t think Santa is going to hand deliver a girl for him down the chimney and leave her under the tree. BUT. It’s Christmas after all. The time of miracles; the time of wishes being fulfilled.
When our hero and our heroine do meet, it may not be love at first sight, or even second. Possibly not third, either. Some intangible thing, though, will bring them together and when they do find their love ( usually on Christmas morning or under the mistletoe) then the story gets resolved, because Christmas is the time for love to wash away all the evil, all the hurt, all the pain of the year before it.
I will admit freely and unabashedly I am a total sap for a Christmas romance story. The Hallmark channel and Lifetime Movie Network were made especially for me ( or so I tell myself). Their 24 hour a day holiday movies and specials – all about some sort of love/romance as the theme surrounding the Christmas season are favorites with romance novel readers from every walk of life. Happily ever afters abound, and Santa comes on Christmas morning, bringing you exactly what you wanted and wished for (usually a hunky guy in Christmas boxers…but I digress and that’s for another blog post).
Yeah, I know it’s kinda sappy and syrupy and maybe even schmaltzy, but I don’t care. Neither do the millions of others who support ( read: spend their money on!) this cottage holiday industry.
So, while I settle down in front of my roaring fireplace where I’m all warm and comfy with new Nora Roberts’ CHRISTMAS WIH YOU book, after just finishing Jill Shalvis’ MERRY CHIRTSMAS BABY , I hope you can take an hour or two this week and read a new holiday romance or watch the Hallmark Channel and/or Lifetime Movie Network. After all, we deserve a break from shopping, wrapping, cooking and decorating, don’t we?
Yeah…we do!
Christmas is coming and so is VALENTINE’S DAY!!!! Coming soon:: 3 Wishes, A Candy Hearts Story from the Wild Rose Press 2/8/16 release. Buy Links available soon!
Blurb: Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.
Filed under 3 Wishes, Author, Candy Hearts, Contemporary Romance, Friends, love, Romance, Romance Books, WIld Rose Press AUthor
This is the weekly #MFRWBookHooksBlogStop. Click on this link and visit other fabulous authors who are part of this worthwhile BlogHop. You just may find your next favorite author!
I know Christmas is still 3 weeks away and I’m already on to Valentine’s day, but I’ve got a new release dropping 2/8/16 called 3 Wishes and I can’t wait for you all to meet Chole San Valentino and her family.This family is as near and dear to me as my own! Enjoy a little sumthin’ sumthin’ from the book.
Blurb: Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.
Excerpt:
As I slipped the broken lock open, an errant page fell out and drifted down to the tabletop. I grabbed it and saw the date: my fifteenth birthday. As I had for every birthday since my eighth, I’d written down three wishes. All of them had to do with a guy. My dream guy. I’d wished he’d have one blue eye and one green, just like I had so I wouldn’t be the only freak I knew, he’d be a healer (I was big on watching reruns of old television shows like Marcus Welby, M.D. and E.R. at this age) and he’d fall in love with me in an instant.
Hey, I was fifteen.
Buy Links: Coming soon! Check back – Often!!
If it’s Wednesday, it’s MFRWBook Hooks day! Click on this link to discover your next favorite author and take a blog tour through their listed websites. You’ll be glad you did!
Starting in January 2016, my publisher, The Wild Rose Press, is beginning a two-month series titled CANDY HEARTS to celebrate Valentine’s Day, the lover in all of us, and those little delicious candies we never can seem to eat enough of.
My Candy Hearts title is 3 Wishes, releases on 2/8/16, and here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ about it.
Blurb:
Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.
Excerpt:
At about five minutes of ten I was almost ready to turn the Closed sign on the door when it opened. I heard Janie’s breath hitch and turned from where I was sweeping up. Staying open late is always a risk, with the thought thieves will invade at the end of the day.
If the guy standing at the door glancing around the shop was a thief, then Dio mio, I wanted to be robbed.
About six foot, his hair was the color of a deer’s pelt, with autumnal golds and browns shot together in a glorious patchwork that grazed the collar of his jacket and curled a little at the ends. He wore a faded brown bomber jacket over a shirt I couldn’t see, but he had shoulders almost as wide as my doorway. A pair of well-worn jeans covered his mile long legs, and the fabric on the stress points at his knees was practically white.
“We’re about to close,” I heard myself say. “Can I help you?”
It was at that moment he looked over at me.
His face could have been sculpted by Da Vinci or Michelangelo. A broad, smooth, forehead housed naturally arched eyebrows I knew some of my gay guy friends would have paid a fortune to have on their own faces. His cheeks were carved from marble, high, smooth and deep. And his mouth, mother-of-God, his mouth. Full, thick beautiful lips sat perfectly over a chin with a dent you could shove a button into and have it stay put.
“Sorry,” he said, those fabulous lips pulling up a little shyly at the corners. “I got stuck at work and couldn’t get here until now. I’ll be quick. Promise.”
So here’s the thing: the guy was gorgeous. But even if he’d looked like a frog with raw antipasto smothering his face, I would have dropped to my knees when he opened his mouth. Warm honey, a shot of raw whiskey, and a little hot puff of smoke wafted from his mouth like a fine and rare brandy being decanted.
Buylinks: Coming soon! Check back OFTEN!!
It’s official: another November has come and gone and along with it NaNoWriMo.
By midnight tonite hundreds of thousands of writers around the globe who have been participating in what is charmingly called “NaNo Word Wars” will stop typing, lay down their pens, surrender their pencils and hit Save, then Submit and verify into the NaNo site to confirm they have at least written 50,000 words of a work in progress.
So, if you participated where did you wind up today? 50,000 words? More? Less? Were you able to write every day, at least a few words, or did you fall into plot holes, POV problems, or just plain writing inertia somewhere along the way? Or did your everyday life and the responsibilities and obligations that go along with it get in the way of your writing? Don’t be upset if you didn’t make the mark for whatever reason. The fact you tried and got something down makes you a winner in my book.
50,000 words is a lot. A. Lot. Figuring that most romance novels fall between 65,000 and 90,000, 50 K could be considered almost done with your next novel. And novellas can top off between 25 and 35,000.
I made my goal during the third week because I was on a role and have no other life but writing. No kids home to disturb me, and a husband who works 90+ hours per week, leaves me with a great deal of time to do this. And luckily, the book I was working on is the fifth in a series so I knew my characters and where I wanted to take them fairly well. Plus, I’m a plotter. Enough said.
Congratulations on the effort, the success, and the blood, sweat and tears for this year’s challenge. Onward to 2016. It’s only 365 days away!
Welcome to the 119th week of My Sexy Saturday. This week’s theme: Imagine Sexy Click on this link to see the slew of sexy writing authors on this blog hop. Who knows…you might find your next favorite author.
This week’s theme is Imagine Sexy. As writers of sexy books, we have all imagined sexy. Whether he comes riding in on a horse or in a space ship, we know sexy. We know how it looks, we know how it tastes and feels and the sounds associated with sexy. We can imagine each and every one of them. And this week we want you to share what you’ve imagined as an author about sexy. Readers can’t wait to read more about your sexy imagination.
Sexy can be anything, such as romantic moments like walks on the beach, a home cooked meal or even in another galaxy. It could be two lovers here on Earth dreaming about the day where they go on a magical vacation to another planet. Or staying right here at one of those wonderful places we can find in our own world.
Readers want to see those characters, the ones who can’t get enough of each other as well as ones who are fighting their way back to being part of the world once again. These are the types of characters they can’t forget, the one they want to take home and keep forever. Readers love the kisses, the looks or touch of each and every one of our characters.
Sexy has nothing to do with looks or status or even wealth. It doesn’t demand perfection and it isn’t pretentious but it does make us want to read those books.
We know that everyone has their own idea of sexy and we all love sexy!
Here’s a little sumthin sumthin’ from my newest release FIRST IMPRESSIONS.
From the doorway, he went unnoticed as his eyes scanned the room. His mother was at the stove, his father next to her, his arms crossed over his chest, listening intently to something Alastair was saying. Dennis Cleary, Pat’s other brother, home for the weekend from college, sat at the table in conversation with Quentin Stapleton. His brand new wife, Moira, Pat’s twin sister, stood next to him. Each sported a deep tan and Moira had one hand on her husband’s shoulder, her hip snuggled against him, as she spoke with Clarissa Rogers.
The good doctor’s attention was focused on his sister, a small smile dancing across her utterly desirable and kissable mouth. A mouth he’d almost kissed yesterday in the hallway of her clinic.
Pat remembered in graphic detail how the thought to take those lips with his had blossomed in his mind while they’d been speaking about his father. Her perfect mouth was plump and naturally pink, and all he could think about was what it would taste and feel like against his own.
Clarissa had mistaken his momentary lust-filled lapse for something else, and worry for him had quickly risen in her eyes. He’d pleaded a quick retreat to save himself further embarrassment, when in truth, he’d wanted nothing more than to stand there, all afternoon, and be with her.
As she stood so casually in his parent’s kitchen, Pat was struck with the notion she looked like she belonged there, with his family, as one of them.
Buy Links:
It’s Wednesday and besides being Prince Spaghetti day, it’s MFRW Book Hooks. Click on this link to see the other MFRW authors participating, read their blogs and maybe you’ll find your new favorite author.
Here’s a little snippet from my debut romance novel SKATER’S WALTZ.
When Tiffany declares her feelings for Cole, he’s anything but receptive…
Heat oozed from her body as she glowered at him. “And to think,” she said, glaring hard at his laughing face, her voice quiet and tight, “I fell hopelessly, endlessly in love with you that day. I should have known you’d turn out to be such a creep. What a waste my life has been, pining after you, waiting for you to notice me, longing after you with every breath. God, what a moron …”
Tiffany stopped. Mouth agape, eyes wide and clear, she stopped tugging on the towel and opened her hand in surrender.
Cole didn’t let go of her wrist. He couldn’t, not after what she’d just confessed. Her face had gone pale again, her lips turning to chalk. He dropped the ring back to its chain and saw it glinting in the light, lying over the small upsweep of her breasts made bare by their struggle. Breasts he suddenly felt an intense need to cup, kiss, and nuzzle.
He didn’t know how to respond. Her words were true; there was no doubt about it. No explanation necessary.
“Tiffany, I…don’t know what to say.”
With a jagged breath, she threw back her head. Choking on a sob, she told him, “You don’t have to say anything, Cole. Really.”
Buy Links:
Peggy Jaeger, Author 