Category Archives: Writing

January 19, 2022 · 2:00 am

A New Release from Bonnie Edwards…

One of my favorite people – and authors – Bonnie Edwards has a new addition to her RETURN TO WELCOME Series, CLAIMING SHANDY and she graciously allowed me to help her get the word out. Check out the wonderful cover:

She thought her divorce was final…

Welcome WA, where rumor, gossip, and old grudges endure long past their best before date.

Justin Camden wants his life back. His wife back. His son back. And he’s returned to Welcome to get them. Justin has a plan for the Christmas season and moving in with his ex and his boy is just the beginning.

Shandy Camden is stuck. Her big oaf of an ex-husband has finagled his way into her home for the entire month of December. He claims to want an old-fashioned family Christmas with their son. She’s forced to let Justin stay because refusing will break her son’s heart.

Slowly, Shandy sees that her ex may have another agenda. But she doesn’t believe in the magic of Christmas the way their son does. Helpless and forced to live with her ex, Shandy struggles to overcome her growing attraction to the only man who’s ever left her. The only man she’s ever loved. But Justin left once and if he leaves again, she’ll never recover, and neither will their son…

When the truth comes out, Shandy and Justin may well have discovered that more than anything, Christmas is about love.

Warning: This book has lots of groveling in it. If you don’t want to read about a divorced man making things right, then this romance isn’t for you.

December 1 Welcome WA

Justin Camden was no quitter. Never had been and he wasn’t about to give up now. But first he had to do battle against the dragons breathing fire in his gut. He’d never been this scared. Not even at fourteen when his dad caught him out driving his mom’s car at midnight.

He parked outside the Welcome Bar & Grill and called his buddy, Jake Morrow who was inside with a group of friends. Friends who included Justin’s wife, Shandy.

Everything he wanted to accomplish tonight hinged on whatever BS line Jake had come up with. “It’s me. I’m here. What did you tell her?”

In the background, Justin heard happy people greeting each other over the distant sound of a Christmas song. The season had begun. He climbed out of his car while he heard Jake excuse himself to take the call.

“Bedbugs.”

The background noise had receded, but Justin couldn’t have heard right. “What?”

“Every hotel in the area’s infested. Didn’t you know?” Jake said with a smirk in his voice.

“She’ll never believe that.” He had his hand on the brass door pull. Yanked it toward him.

“I believe she does believe me.”

He shook his head. No way. Shandy was the smartest woman he’d ever met and for the past three years, she’d been made of stone. He had to make her crack, but nonsense about bedbugs wouldn’t do it. The flame-thrower in his belly belched. Maybe he should turn around and leave.

“Plus, I told Shandy how much Brianna and I are enjoying our honeymoon period,” Jake was saying. “She can’t force you to stay with us. She has to let you stay at her place. She’ll have no choice.”

“Our place.” The home they’d bought together, to raise their family in. “You ass. Bedbugs?” He was inside the vestibule now, looking through the stained-glass partition, searching the restaurant side of the building. “I see the table.”

Jake stood a few feet away from the group. “Don’t worry, you got this,” he said, looking right at him through the multi-colored pane.

“My best and only shot.” He ended the call, plastered a smile on his face and made his way through the tables to where Shandy sat beside an empty chair. If this crazy bedbug story worked, he’d have a chance to get her angry. He needed her angry.

If she were angry with him, it was a sign that she still cared. That he could still make her feel something for him.

An angry Shandy was honest, and open. Angry Shandy was not a stone angel, cold and remote, the way she’d been for too long. He needed honest and open or his plan to return to Welcome and be the husband and father he wanted to be would fail.

Justin Camden was no quitter. He doused the flames in his gut.

Bonnie Edwards has been writing all her life, starting with a poem about Santa suffering with gout. She was seven, Santa was a thousandteen years old. Delighted with writing, she went on to write family sagas, humorous contemporary romance, romantic suspense, erotic paranormal ghost romances and more.

She may jump around within romance, but all her stories come with a tear, a laugh, and a happy ending. Published by Kensington Books, Harlequin Books, Carina Press, and Robinson (UK) Bonnie’s stories stretch from short stories to novellas and novels. Now, she’s happy to be publishing her work herself.

With 40 titles to her credit, she has been translated into several languages and sold books worldwide. Aside from standalone romances, she has 6 romance series that include Christmas romances and beach reads. Contemporary family sagas find a home in Return to Welcome. Learn about more exciting releases and get a free romance by subscribing to her newsletter, Bonnie’s Newsy Bits

Cheers and happy reading!

Bonnie Edwards

Follow her online:  Amazon     Website     BookBub     Twitter     Facebook

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January 14, 2022 · 12:28 am

New release: BEN ( The Dawsons of Montana) by Jan Scarbrough

On January 17, a new book by my friend Jan Scarbrough hits the book-reading world – and you don’t want to miss it! Jan is prolific writer and embodies that old saw write what you know!

Here’s a little about BEN and Jan….

Blurb:

Ben Dawson is a loner with a chip on his shoulder as big as the blue Montana skies he rides under every day. His widowed father’s marriage had been too quick, his stepbrother is a pain, and his stepmother turned his mother’s family ranch into a dude ranch. Ben has only returned to Six Buckles Guest Ranch to keep a promise to his late father, to watch over the ranch and his stepmother. He’s not there to get involved in a relationship, especially with a girl he knew back in high school.

Leigh Weston just wants to do her job as an event planner at Six Buckles and stay far away from entanglements. No good has ever come from them. Her father cheated on her mother, just like her ex-husband cheated on her. Her reunion with Ben leads to more than she expected, but she’s not ready to risk her heart. She exacts a promise from him that their relationship will be strictly hands-off. But when she needs a fake date to an event, Ben looks like the perfect choice. He understands the boundaries she’s set, right?

But even fake dates can ignite real romances. Are some promises worth breaking if it leads to a second chance at love?

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09PVFQT4B

Release Date 1/17/2022

Whether it is the Bluegrass of Kentucky, the mountains of Montana, or Medieval England, Jan Scarbrough brings you home with romances from the heart.

Hi! My name is Jan Scarbrough. After a life-threatening illness when I was thirty-eight, I decided it was time to make my dream of being a novelist come true. So, I did!

I’ll print my website biography, then comment on it so you’ll get to know me better.

The author of two popular Bluegrass series, Jan writes heartwarming contemporary romances about home and family, single moms and children, and if the plot allows, about another passion—horses. Living in the horse country of Kentucky makes it easy for Jan to add small town, Southern charm to her books and the excitement of a Bluegrass horse race or a competitive horse show.

“They” say to write what you know. I live in Kentucky, so I set many of my books in my home state. I’ve been a single mom and raised two children. I like to ride American Saddlebred horses, so some of my books involve the horse show world. I also own a very small percentage (think ½ per cent) of a few thoroughbred racehorses. I’ve stood with other owners in the paddock of Churchill Downs and walked with them to the owner’s seats. I haven’t been in the winner’s circle yet for a group picture, but there’s time.

The Ghost Mountain Ranch series contains a trilogy of three contemporary western books with a good blend of mystery and happily-ever-after romance.

You need to read at least three books of the Ghost Mountain Ranch series to find “who done it.”

I have two contemporary western series on KindleUnlimited. The Dawsons of Montana series is about the ramifications of a father’s death on his family. My new release BEN is the fourth book in the series.

Jan leaves her contemporary voice behind with two paranormal gothic romances, Timeless and Tangled Memories, a Romance Writers of America (RWA) Golden Heart finalist. Her historical romance, My Lord Raven, is a medieval story of honor and betrayal.

Most of my writing career I couldn’t decide what I wanted to write, so besides contemporary romances, I wrote two gothic romances and one medieval. I love all three of these books.

A member of Novelist, Inc., Jan self-publishes her books with her husband’s help.

Without Bill’s help, I couldn’t self-publish my titles. He’s the tech guy. I have a great editor named Karen. That’s my team. I hope you’ll download a few of my books and tell me what you think at jan@janscarbrough.com.

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January 11, 2022 · 3:48 am

#TeaserTuesday, 1.11.2021

#TeaserTuesday

From the upcoming MIX & MATCH, dropping on 3.1.2022

“What’s wrong with this one?” Donovan asked when she shook her head. “Seems fine to me.”

“It’s too hard.” Jasmine pressed down on the mattress with both hands and met resistance.

“Aye, and you said the other was too soft. I feel like we’re starring in a Grimm’s tale instead of shopping for a guest bedroom mattress.”

“You don’t want your parents or anyone else who comes to visit to be uncomfortable, do you?”

“No. But we’ve been to three stores already and found nothing to your liking.”

“That’s why they call it shopping.” She rolled her eyes. “You can’t pick the very first one you see. You’ve got to shop around. You’ve got to try them out. You don’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive to see how it handles, do you? A bed is the same way.”

“What do you propose we do to take it for a drive? Sleep on it?”

“Don’t be snide. Here.” She led him to one labeled comfort sleeper. After pressing down on it with her hands and noting how firm, yet supple it was, she said, “This one looks promising. Lie down.”

“What? Here? On that?”

“How else are you going to know how it feels?” She sat on the bed, bounced a few times, then assumed a supine position, her feet pointed toward the bottom. Patting the mattress, she said, “Come on. Hop on. Take it for a spin.”

With his hands fisted on his hips and his brows glued together over his eyes, he shook his head. Then he shrugged and settled down next to her.

They were on a bare, king-sized mattress in the middle of a commercial bed store, surrounded by other shoppers and salespeople. It never occurred to Jasmine there was anything remotely sexual about reclining on the bed with him.  They were merely shopping for an item he needed.

The moment his back hit the mattress and he turned his head to look at her, that notion flew out the proverbial window and her pulse started racing. 

The bed was big enough they could stretch out their arms and only barely touch fingers, but to Jasmine it suddenly felt small and intimate.

Too intimate.

She bolted upright then threw her legs over the side so she could sit on the edge. For some reason sitting on the bed seemed less… carnal.

“Aye, this feels brilliant,” he said. “More comfortable and cushy than me own bed, for sure.”  Donovan was oblivious to her discomfort as he rolled side to side, testing the coils and springs.

Jasmine stood, her face feeling as if she’d stayed out in the sun for days.

“Can I help you two?” A salesman with an I-hope-to-make-a-sale cheek-wide smile approached them.

Donovan pulled off the bed to stand. The salesman stuck out his hand, which Donovan took.

“If you two are looking for a bed that’s gonna last a lifetime, you’ve found it,” he said. “I’ve gotten letters from dozens of couples who’ve told me how pleased they are with this mattress brand. Everyone from the kids who come in on cold mornings to cuddle to the pets who find their way at the bottom of the bed during the night love the comfort of this brand.”

For some reason Jasmine felt the urge to clarify the situation.

“Oh, we’re not together.”

“I thought—”

“I mean, we’re together, here and now, just not together like a couple. The bed’s not for us. It’s for him.” She pointed at Donovan. “For his guest bedroom. His parents are coming for an extended visit and he wants them to be comfortable. We’re not a couple. Just friends,” she added.

Donovan’s brows were kissing again by the time she finished babbling. The salesman’s smile dimmed, when he turned his attention to Donovan.

With a nod, Van explained what he was looking for in the way of cost and availability.

Me thinks the lady doth protest too much, hee hee!

here’s the preorder link if you’re intrigued: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09P48WPZC

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January 9, 2022 · 7:00 am

#SundaySnippet 1.9.2022

from the upcoming MIX & MATCH 3.1.2022

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09P48WPZC

The Friday night social scene in Heaven N.H. wasn’t the eclectic, happening, busy one she’d grown used to while living in Manhattan. She and her ex had routinely made Friday a date night when his work schedule allowed and they’d attended many a packed jazz bar or bistro over the years. Mood lighting, expensive décor and a drink menu that boasted thousand dollar bottles of wine and champagne had been the norm, along with cocktails going for upwards of twenty-five dollars a glass.

The Love Shack, Heaven’s own answer to the bar scene, was a wooden, rustic, brightly lit establishment with butcher block tables covered in gingham tablecloths and where the most expensive bottle of wine topped out at sixteen dollars. The costliest cocktail served was a four dollar cranberry Cosmo that was heavy on the Ocean Spray and light on the vodka and Cointreau.

Jasmine scanned the bar where Olivia told her her date would be waiting. There were three men scattered down along the rail. Two she recognized from high school and one guy whose face she couldn’t see because his back was to her. When he turned she realized immediately this was not the man she was due to have drinks with.First there was no way this guy was 36 years old. Her mother would have called him Gramps.Clue number two was the wedding band on the hand holding his beer. It was so tight, the skin surrounding it swollen, his knuckle hair squeezed around it, indicating it had been there for decades.Nope. This wasn’t her guy. A cursory glance around the place showed most of the tables were taken with couples.Her date had yet to arrive.

“Hey, Jazz,” the bartender and owner, Kick Loomis said from his perch drying beer glasses behind the bar.

“Kick.”

“You squattin’ or sittin’, sweetheart?”She’d been in the place enough times in her life to know he meant was she going to sit at the bar or take a table.

Jasmine was self-conscious enough she didn’t want to be seated on a bar stool, sitting alone while waiting for her date, especially when one of the guys she’d gone to school with tossed her an inquiring eye and a raised eyebrow. She didn’t want to get into a how-you-doing-what-you-been-up-to-since-high school chat. If her memory served, and it always did, the guy had been one of the football heroes of Heaven High back in the day. Those glory days were long gone and she had no desire to listen to him dredge them up.

She spotted an empty table in the corner and nodded toward it.

“I’ll send Raylynn over with a menu.”

She nodded and as she was about to head for it felt a tap on her arm.

“Excuse me. Jasmine?”

She turned at the sound of her name, spoken in a deep, soft voice blessed with a charming accent and found herself face to face with the gorgeous guy she’d spotted in her mom’s office. The one Sharmaine had been sucked on to like a tick

.Good Lord, he was even better looking up close and personal than he’d been, seated, and ten feet away from her. Stunning blue eyes, the color of freshly laid Robin’s eggs topped a face with high cut cheeks and a jaw forged from granite. Midnight hair curled around his ears and caressed the nape of his neck. Layered waves fell across his head in a chaos of perfection.

She’d been right about his height. Most men she could stare straight in the eyes due to her own long legs. But she had to tilt her head back a bit to look into this man’s striking ones.“You are Jasmine, aye?” Even his voice was gorgeous, the song of Ireland singing through it.

She nodded, her own voice deciding now would be a good time to leave on vacation. And when his smile took a slow stroll from one corner of his full, thick lips to the other, showing perfect, straight white teeth, the tips of her fingertips began to tingle like she’d fallen asleep on them and spent the night with them cuddled beneath the weight of her body.

He-of-the-handsome-face stuck out his hand and declared, “Good. Olivia said to meet you here. Donovan Boyd, but everyone calls me Van. Lovely to meet you.”

Jasmine knew she should shake his hand. It was the polite thing to do, wasn’t it? For some reason, her brain wasn’t sending any signals down her arm to lift it up to his outstretched one.

Donovan, or Van, kept his hand out, his smile in place, and ticked his head to the left a hair. A clap of booming laughter rang out from somewhere behind her and finally propelled the gears in her brain to start turning again.

After a head shake where she actually heard her brains rattle, she extended her hand and slipped it into his.

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January 1, 2022 · 4:25 am

New year and something new…

Happy 2022, peeps.

So last January 1 I posted a picture almost identical to this one

– the only difference was my glasses.

It’s 2 am here on the East Coast. The New year rang in officially here 2 hours ago. I can’t say I am sad to see 2021 go. There were some highlights to be sure – the birth of my first grandson the biggest and happiest, but for the most part, 2021 wasn’t one I will remember with a great deal of pleasure. Here’s hoping 2022 sees us out of this pandemic ( get vaccinated, people) and that we can learn to love one another again, remembering our differences are our strengths.

I’m starting something new in 2022 on my Instagram account to get me to remember to smile more. Every day I’ll post one new picture of something going on in my life that’s a positive. It could be a picture of my crazy dog, the beautiful area I live in, or even just a picture of me doing something that makes me happy, like baking or cooking. By validating every day that there is something to smile about in life, I hope to give you all a reason to smile, too. So, enjoy today. Hope you got some sleep ( unlike me, the chronic insomniac) and that 2022 starts in a wonderful way for you. ~ Peg

here’s my Instagram link so you can follow me on my journey:

Instagram

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December 31, 2021 · 12:00 am

Looking back, looking ahead. 2021 in review and a glimpse at the future.

2021 was, for me, a weird year. Personal losses, professional highlights, and a mix of mental and physical ailments marked 365 days that should have brought us out of the pandemic and back into normalcy.

Nope.

As I sit here in my office writing this, I think reflecting on the past year is one way to plan for the next, so here goes.

2021 in review.

Professional stuff:

wrote and published 4 full-length books and one prequel/novella

won 2 writing awards

got a new contract for 5 books with a new publisher

entered the Kindle Vella world and am kicking it!!

Attended my first writing conference/book signing since 2019, the Fall in Love New England conference

Had two book signings in my local Toadstool Bookshop for new releases.

Personal stuff:

lost 22 pounds ( of the 50 I need to lose)

welcomed my first grandson

saw my nephew married

kept my parents covid-free and healthy

had a negative mammogram but a positive melanoma biopsy that resulted in 1 Mohs surgery on my face and one excision on my shoulder. ( not fun!)

Lost my father-in-law to a myriad of medical issues.

For the first time since I started doing it, I was unable to complete the Goodreads reading challenge this year. Time, as they say, just flew.

I turned 61. Unbelievable.

Not bad. Not great, either, when you consider I could have written a lot more since I’m home for the pandemic and retirement.

So, looking toward 2022

First and foremost I have to lose the rest of the 50 pounds for my daughter’s big – 3 times delayed – super wedding reception in May.

I have 7 books on the docket to write for 2022 and am seriously hunkering down to start them in January

I have 3 conference/book signings booked for the year starting in July.

I am going on a family cruise (covid-permitting)

I want to be a better person in every way so I am going to start meditating daily

I want to be around for my grandson’s life so I am eating healthier.

I want to grow my book sales, online presence, and reader loyalty.

Some of these are lofty goals, some are not. Either way, I sincerely hope 2022 is better than 2019/2020/2021 has been. We need a break. I need a break.

Happy New Year, peeps.

~Peg

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December 25, 2021 · 12:01 am

Day 25 of the 25 Days of Christmas Ornaments

Whew!
I got it done. 25 posts in 25 days is the most I’ve posted all in a row in a few years.

I hope you enjoyed my ornament journey and the stories that went with all my favorites. This is the last one and it was given to me by my Sister-in-Law Mary when we moved into our current house.

I want to wish all of you the happiest of holidays, merriest of Christmas’s and a new year filled with love, laughter, light, and – most of all – health.

Thanks for taking this journey with me.

~Peg

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December 24, 2021 · 12:00 am

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments, day 24

Happy Christmas Eve!

Before I show you my final ornament tomorrow, I thought I’d show you the two trees I put up this year. One is our family and friends tree ( the big one), the other is the traveling tree.

You’ll recognize many of the ornaments I’ve already shown you on both of these!!!

Santa comes tonight, kids!

~Peg

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December 23, 2021 · 12:00 am

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments, Day 23

From Frank Sinatra and Alicia Keys singing about it, to all the wonderful movies that have been made in it, New York is one of the world’s favorite places.

I’m so proud to have been born and bred there. I was a real NYC girl until 27 when I married and moved away. But whenever we go back to visit the relatives I slip back into forgetting to pronounce my “Rs” and speaking really, really fast!

This ornament was purchased during the 2011 holiday season when hubby, daughter and I were back for Christmas. We took my niece, Alison, and my in-laws to see Chicago on Broadway and I just had to have an ornament to commemorate the great day we all had. The one blight? The apostrophe in Jaegers. I never noticed it until the street artist was finished. The writer in me is appalled, but the New Yorker in my just finds it funny.

Two more days to go, peeps.

~Peg

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December 22, 2021 · 12:00 am

25 Days of Christmas Ornaments, day 22

So…traveling.

Before Covid – when we could actually go to another country – my husband, daughter, and I traveled several times to England and Ireland ( my two favorite travel places on earth!) The first time was when my daughter was 8. We took my sister-in-law Kathleen with us because she’s a great traveler, and a good navigator in the car.

I am not.

My husband used her for a co-pilot the entire time we drove around the Ring of Kerry while I sat in the back with my 8 year old. It was a great trip.

The second time was when my daughter was deciding where she wanted to go to college during her sophomore high school year. She applied to Oxford and wanted to study literature there. We combined that trip with one to Ireland again.

Yet another trip was when my daughter did a summer semester at one of the Oxford colleges- I forget which.

The last time we visited the British and Emerald Isles was when she was a sophomore at Dartmouth because she was doing a semester abroad in Dublin. That trip sparked the following ornament that she brought back to the US as a present for me.

I have a few England ones as well, but this one is so pretty I wanted to spotlight it today.

More tomorrow, peeps. We’re almost done. Promise. LOL

~ Peg

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