Tag Archives: #RomanceGems

May 27, 2022 · 7:31 am

Reinventing Riley, new from #LizFlaherty #secondchance #bookish #read

My dear writing friend, the amazing, talented, and prolific Liz Flaherty has a brand new book out, titled REINVENTING RILEY and I’m giving you all a sneak peek today!

Rye Winters grew up in Chicago, and she loves it there. After many years in a small-town subdivision, the forty-something widow is champing at the bit to go back. She’s sold her business and her house and made plans right down to the kind of apartment she wants to lease or buy—no more lawn-mowing or weed-eating for her! She’s not going to need a car—which is great because she hates to drive. She’d reinvented herself once—she could hardly wait to do it again.

But before making her final move, she goes to Fallen Soldier, Pennsylvania, population 2922, to be her best friend’s “widow of honor” in her wedding.

Where she meets the preacher, falls in love with a cottage on the lake, and can’t stop looking at a downtown building that has so many possibilities. Hmm…

He’s afraid a second time at love wouldn’t live up to his first. She’s afraid a second round would be exactly like her first.

Pastor Jake McAlister and businesswoman Riley Winters are in their forties and widowed. Neither is interested in a relationship. They both love Fallen Soldier, the small Pennsylvania town where they met, even though Rye plans to move to Chicago, and Jake sees a change in pastorates not too far down the road. Enjoying a few-weeks friendship is something they both look forward to.

However, there is an indisputable attraction between the green-eyed pastor and the woman with a shining sweep of chestnut hair. Then there’s the Culp, an old downtown building that calls unrelentingly to Rye’s entrepreneurial soul. And when a young man named Griff visits Jake, life changes in the blink of a dark green eye.

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B2FT1JLR

About the Author:

USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty started writing in the fourth grade when her Aunt Gladys allowed her to use her portable Royal typewriter. The truth was that her aunt would have let her do anything to get her out of her hair, but the typewriter and the stories it could produce caught on, and Liz never again had a day without a what if… in it.

She and Duane, her husband of at least forever, live in a farmhouse in central Indiana, sharing grown children, spoiled cats, and their grandkids, the Magnificent Seven. (Don’t get her started on them—you’ll be here all day.) To find out more about her, stop by http://lizflaherty.net/ or sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/df7dhP.

Social media links:

http://lizflaherty.net/

http://www.facebook.com/lizkflaherty

http://wordwranglers.blogspot.com/

http://windowoverthesink.blogspot.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3336348.Liz_Flaherty

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/liz-flaherty

https://www.instagram.com/lizkflaherty/?hl=en

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Tagged as #bookish, #Contemporaryromance, #newbookrelease #authorpromo, #readromance, #RomanceGems, Liz Flaherty

February 2, 2022 · 2:10 am

A new release from friend and author, M.J. Schiller is out today!

I love when someone I know has a new book release. M.J. Schiller‘s series Love and Chaos has a new addition, out today: ROCK OF SALVATION. Here’s a little glimpse to whet your reading appetite!

Sometimes it takes a bad boy to redeem a good girl. But will she end up being his Salvation in the end?

Jericho Tyler was comfortable in his role as the wild man of Just Short Of Chaos.

Different gorgeous women throwing themselves at him every night? What self-respecting hetero male wouldn’t dream of that? But when Salvation steps out of his shower and into his life, things start to change.

Oh, yeah. I knew the second I saw her that she didn’t belong backstage. And she didn’t belong with a man like me, for sure. But I didn’t let that stop me from seeing just how far she was willing to go to keep up her little naughty girl charade. And if she had something to prove, why not prove it with me?

Salvation Jones was not like the rest of her family.

In a parcel of toe-the-line, conservative preacher’s kids, she stood out like a piece of her costume jewelry at the Inaugural Ball.

I must have had a far-sighted stork reading the directions for my delivery. I was louder than they were. More boisterous. I got into more trouble. I’d heard, “Oh, Salvation,” in my mom’s disappointed voice for so long I began to think the O stood for Olivia, or something. It’s not like I meant to misbehave, but it just came naturally to me. I’d tried to be who they wanted; now it was time for me to truly be myself. They say, “Go big or go home,” so why not start out by seducing a rock star? And not just any rock star, the luscious, womanizing Jericho Tyler. Now that was somebody worth sinning for!

Sometimes it takes a bad boy to redeem a good girl. But will she become his Salvation in the end?

I stepped away from the door and peeled my sweaty shirt off. A shower was going to feel amazing. And I was moving in that direction, until I was brought up short, realizing my shower was already running.

Did Dex get our dressing rooms confused?

It wouldn’t be the first time something like that had happened. I started to cross to rap on the door and it opened, a big ball of steam rolling out. A form emerged through the mist. A beautiful, womanly form. As the steam dissipated, I got a better idea of what I was looking at. She stood with a towel wrapped around her and one twisted on her head. Her gaze lifted to mine.

“Oh.” Her mouth became a perfect circle for a moment. Then she cleared her throat. “Uhh…hello—” She stopped abruptly and ran a hand up the door frame. As what appeared like an afterthought, she cocked the opposite hip awkwardly, in a position that she seemed to think was sexy. And, while it had its merits, her shaky voice, in fact, her whole demeanor told me she was an amateur.

What sort of rebellious preacher’s daughter have we got here, pretending to be a dirty girl?

She wet her lips nervously, which was probably the most provocative thing she had done, even though she did that as if without thinking. “Hello, handsome.”

I stifled a laugh. Her come-on was straight from a movie. No, she didn’t belong here at all. “Okay. Get your clothes on.”

“But don’t you want to….” She gestured vaguely.

It suddenly irritated me. She waltzes in and uses my shower. If I’d done the same to her, I would have been arrested. That flash of anger made me want to embarrass her. I finished her sentence. “Slap the sheets? Screw? Get laid?”

It did knock her back a bit. She blinked. “Yes. All those. I guess….” She chewed on a nail.

I inwardly rolled my eyes. I’d put money on this chick being a virgin. I felt an urge to play with her. It was mean and beneath me, but I had a strong desire to see just how far she would go with this miserable charade of a seduction.

“Okay. Let’s get at it then.” I crossed to her in two big strides. “You won’t be needing this.” I plucked the towel from her and tossed it aside, then pulled her against me.

She gasped and fear shadowed her features. It made me feel sorry for her and wonder what her story was, but I needed to teach her a lesson.

“So, what are you waiting for?” An edge cut through my words, because now that I was near her, and could smell the floral innocence of her fragrance, see her pretty, pouty lips, look into what had to be the most doe-like, amazing eyes I had ever seen, my body awoke.

Oh, shit. I want her. I could so have her without a single worry about whether it was right or not. She was in my shower. But I already knew I wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t do it, to her.

I grasped her chin, tilting her head back. “I thought you wanted to do me?”

She blinked rapidly and I could feel her tremble, which freaking made me yearn for her even more. The towel on her head fell off, exposing red hair with a hint of curl to it.

Shit.

Redheads were my weakness. I brushed my lips over hers. “Come on.” I swallowed but kept trying to push her buttons without engaging mine. “What’s making you wait?” I ran my tongue around her lips and kissed them softly. “Isn’t this what you want?”

Holy shit! I haven’t felt this turned on in a long time, if ever. And it has to be for the virgin I’m unwilling to hurt. This sucks.

I angled my head and lowered my lips until I was a breath apart from her. “This is what you wanted, isn’t it? Huh?” My voice sounded husky. “You want to do it, right?” I kissed her again, longer this time, and deeper. I made the mistake of lifting my gaze to hers, and suddenly I felt weak. Because, in that one moment, I couldn’t see the little girl trying to pretend to be something she wasn’t. All I could see was the desire I had ignited in her.

Her nails raked the skin of my neck and scalp as she threaded her fingers through my hair. With a flick of her tongue, she lashed my lips. Then did it again, searing me with her mouth. Branding me. I let my hand drift down to brush along the skin of her hip. Each new contact with her stirred me all the more. In a rush, I scooped her up from beneath her thighs, and we banged into the wall. I brought my mouth to her neck, grazing her with my teeth, tasting her with my tongue. Her heat against my straining crotch made me even harder.

It was going to take all of my scarce self-restraint to resist her.

She’s somebody’s daughter. She’s somebody’s daughter. She doesn’t know what she’s doing. Although it freaking feels like she knows what she’s doing. She’s simply acting out. She’ll regret giving herself for the first time to a guy like me.

My entire being groaned.

She’s just another girl. Like all the rest. There’s nothing special about her, even if it feels a tad different this time. For me, it will be like every other time. I don’t need this. I don’t need her.

I pushed away, getting a glimpse of a killer body before turning from my temptation. But I could tell she was determined, and she wouldn’t leave unless I forced her to. Scared her. She was a novice. She would crumble. I could handle her. She was a kitten, and I was the king of the jungle. I was freaking Jericho Tyler.

Links:

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/Rock-Of-Salvation

Amazon: https://mybook.to/RockOfSalvation

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rock-of-salvation-m-j-schiller/1138588067

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/rock-of-salvation-3

iTunes: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1548110155

Book One, ROCKED BY GRACE, is on sale for 99¢.

Book Two, ROCKED BY LOVE, is on sale for $1.99.

Book Three, ROCK IT TO THE MOON, is up sale for $2.50.

M.J. Schiller is a lunch lady/romance-romantic suspense writer. She enjoys writing novels whose characters include rock stars, desert princes, teachers, futuristic Knights, construction workers, cops, and a wide variety of others. In her mind everybody has a romance. She is the mother of a twenty-seven-year-old and three twenty-five-year-olds. That’s right, triplets! So having recently taught four children to drive, she likes to escape from life on occasion by pretending to be a rock star at karaoke. However…you won’t be seeing her name on any record labels soon.

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Tagged as #authorpromo #bookpromo, #MJSchiller, #newbookrelease, #readromance, #rockstarromance, #RomanceGems

November 18, 2021 · 12:05 am

Author Liz Flaherty looks out of the Window Over the Desk…

“Some of the joys in being a septuagenarian are unexpected. Google is one—how else did you think I knew how to spell septuagenarian? Dressing however you want is another. It’s especially fun to wear what a blonde twenty-something on Facebook assures you is completely wrong for you.” – Liz Flaherty, Window Over the Desk

Getting romance novels published is hard for me these days—not so much because I’m the age I am, I guess, or because I look the age I am, but because I sound the age I am. The editors I’ve worked with in past years are kind in their assessments, but they either say no or they edit my work to the point that it really doesn’t look so much like my work anymore.

That’s hard. I won’t deny that. But publishing a book of essays that have previously appeared in newspapers and blog posts and magazines—that’s “dressing how you want.” And the age you are. No one who reads the Window books ever mentions that I sound old.

Let me know. Do I?

In 2020, I released the first collection of Window Over the Sink columns. It was for my family, really, and to give my own ego a boost. (Any writer who says she doesn’t need that now and then is lying, by the way.)

It was so much fun.

Which is why I decided to open the Window Over the Desk. My view out this particular window is a favorite—even today, when I’m drying…things…on the clothesline. Also today, the hay bales in the field that have given me pleasure for several weeks have been gathered and stored for the long winter.

I hope the essays in this book give you some pleasant reading time over that winter. I hope they make you remember things, laugh sometimes, and refill your cup and sit down and read “just one more.”

As I mention way more often than is necessary, I’m kind of old. The years have dimmed some reflections through the window, brightened others, and changed a whole bunch of them. What a trip it’s been.

Thanks—again—for joining me on the journey.

The Woman in the Mirror

Do you ever feel as if you lost yourself somewhere along the way? If you’ve had a bad time or an extraordinarily good one, do you ever look in the mirror and wonder exactly who’s looking back at you? Because you’ve changed, and you’re not sure what to do with the person who’s there.

I’m feeling thoughty here—can you tell? I’m always, always whining about how much I hate change, yet when I look back—over bad times and extraordinarily good ones, it’s an ongoing cycle, isn’t it? It’s what keeps life new and interesting. And, yeah, sometimes awful.

But if it weren’t for change, and my kicking-and-screaming caving to it, I would:

Never have changed jobs and I’d have been stuck with working one I hated.

Never have married the man I did because he wasn’t the first person I loved.

I’d never have had a third child.

I’d have given up the first time a publisher said Nope.

Or maybe the second.

For sure by the twenty-third.

I’d have kept my hair short.

And let it go gray.

I’d still be writing longhand on lined paper and thinking I wasn’t good enough.

For anything,

So, no, I don’t always know the woman in the mirror, or, for that matter, the man I’m married to. I don’t always like either of us. There are days when I do feel like I’ve lost the person I was. Because I have. Because every re-invention in every time of life is change, it’s often hard, and it’s always necessary. I think maybe I like it.

Buy Links

https://books2read.com/u/m2lDzo

Retired from the post office, Liz Flaherty spends non-writing time sewing, quilting, and wanting to travel. The author of 20-some books and her husband Duane share an old farmhouse in North Central Indiana that they talk about leaving. However, that would require clearing baseball trophies from the attic and dusting the pictures of the Magnificent Seven, their grandchildren, so they’ll probably stay where they are. Liz can be reached at lizkflaherty@gmail.com or found at http://lizflaherty.net

https://www.facebook.com/lizkflaherty/

https://www.facebook.com/authorlizflaherty

https://www.instagram.com/lizkflaherty/

https://www.pinterest.com/lizkf/_saved/

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Filed under Uncategorized, Writing

Tagged as #agism, #autobiographicalessay, #essays, #lifeexperiences, #non-fiction, #RomanceGems, #Writinglife, Liz Flahety

June 27, 2021 · 4:56 am

It’s my turn over on the Romance Gems….

and I’m seeing Brides everywhere!

Come check out the post, here: RG

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Tagged as #Bridesandgrooms, #realitytv, #RomanceGems, brides

May 20, 2021 · 1:28 am

FREE from Jan Scarbrough, May 19-22

My fellow Romance Gems sistah, Jan Scarbrough is giving her readers a real gift for a limited time. Her DAWSONS OF MONTANA series edition BRODY is free from May 19-22. Here’s a little about the book and series….

Brody: Dawsons of Montana

Blurb

When champion bull rider Brody Caldera learns his stepfather has suffered a serious accident, he heads home to the ranch he’d left behind years before. Maybe the clean Montana air of the Six Buckles Ranch, near Yellowstone Park, will help him forget his cheating ex-girlfriend. But returning will also force him to confront another woman, the one he deserted when she needed him most.

Ten years ago, Brody had chosen bucking bulls over booties and bottles, leaving ranch worker Stef Chambers to raise their daughter alone. She’s done her best to cowboy up for the sake of her daughter and build a good life for them. She can’t let Brody’s return change that. Damn the man for breaking her heart once. It won’t happen again. But Stef’s hero-worshipping ten-year-old is enamored by the famous cowboy, and Stef’s best intentions are side-tracked from day one.

Is Brody ready to be the man Stef needs, or is he just taking her for a ride? Brody has troubles of his own, dealing with his injured stepfather and a stepbrother enraged that the family cattle ranch is now a dude ranch. Is he ready to settle down and trade bull riding for a bride?

Excerpt:

Two o’clock a.m.

May 2017

Chicago, Illinois

He was home.

Brody Caldera’s heart quickened as he turned the key to the door of his high-rise apartment on North Sheridan Road. When his girlfriend Lori Ann helped him pick it out soon after they met two years ago, she’d loved the apartment’s million-dollar view of Lake Michigan. The location was trendy and close to downtown and her job at an up-and-coming ad agency. The apartment was to-die-for, and she said she’d be very happy living there alone between Brody’s business trips.

Yeah, Lori Ann was spoiled, all right. He gave her anything and everything she wanted. But why not? He could afford it. What else did he have to spend his money on but the woman he loved? Since the day he met her at a promotional event for his professional bull riders’ organization, he’d been head-over-heels in love with her. And she with him. They were a perfect match for each other. He was athletic, craved excitement, and took chances. She was sweet and calm, a great grounding rock for him. There was just something right about them together. And one day they’d get married and make beautiful blond babies together. Maybe sooner than she thought.

Even after all this time, he adored her. Still bought her clothes and jewelry. Still had hot sex with her. That’s why he’d caught an early plane home. He wanted to surprise her this morning and kiss her awake. And give her the ring he carried in his pocket.

His adrenalin surged just like it did when he was about to climb down on the back of a seventeen-hundred-pound bull. Brody slowly turned the doorknob, so he wouldn’t make noise and wake Lori Ann. She wasn’t expecting him.

What the hell?

Dawsons of Montana Series are available in KU https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZM6V8H8

Brody: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016XI57SW

Mercer: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B016EMSSDI

Liz: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08ZM6V8H8

A little about Jan…

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

Jan is the author of two popular Bluegrass series, writing 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.

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

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.

A member of Novelist, Inc., Jan self-publishes her books with her husband’s help. She has published 25 romances.

Join Jan’s mailing list at http://www.janscarbrough.com/ for news about new books.

Website http://janscarbrough.com/

Blog http://janscarbrough.com/blog/

Newsletter http://janscarbrough.com/contact/

Amazon Author URL https://www.amazon.com/Jan-Scarbrough/e/B001K8768A

Bookbub Author URL https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jan-scarbrough

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Romancerider/

Twitter https://twitter.com/romancerider

AllAuthor https://allauthor.com/profile/romancerider/

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Tagged as #cowboys #montana #readromance, #freebies #freeBooks #prizes, #KU, #readromance #romanceauthors #amwriting, #RomanceGems, Jan Scarbrough

April 27, 2021 · 1:07 am

A 99Cent ebook sale from Constance Bretes

Operation Code Name: Desert Love by Constance Bretes

Her best hope for survival is the one man she never wants to see again.

Clarissa Maasen is a humanitarian relief worker who’s stationed in Afghanistan. When she and two of her coworkers are kidnapped by insurgents and held hostage, she can only hope that her father, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will send his best men to rescue them—more specifically, Len Roberts of the Delta Force.

The last time Len saw Clarissa, it did not end on good terms. But he will risk his life to rescue this woman who is never far from his thoughts.

Can he rescue her in time? And will they be able to control the passion erupting between them?

Content Warning: contains sexual content

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/u/3Gvola

A little about Constance Bretes:

Constance started writing contemporary romance and romantic suspense fifteen years ago. She was born and raised in Michigan. After working for the State of Michigan for 38 years, she retired. She and her husband moved to Montana and lived in the mountainside of a small town. There, locked in her office overlooking the mountains, was where this story, Operation Code Name: Desert Love, was written. After living in Montana for three years, they moved to Alabama with her cat, Sunny, who owns both her and her husband. Her hobbies include basket weaving, reading mafia romance books, diamond painting, and fiddling at the piano.

Constance’s Website: www.constancebretes.com

Reader eMail: cbretes@constancebretes.com

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Tagged as #booksale, #readromance #romanceauthors #amwriting, #RomanceGems, Constance Bretes, Ebooks #99centsale

April 9, 2021 · 2:00 am

BRODY’S BRIDE by Kathleen Lawless is #onsale for #99cents

One of my fabulous Romance Gems sistahs, Kathleen Lawless is having a sale on the first book in her Seven Brides for Seven Brothers series, BRODY’S BRIDE. Check this out:

BRODY’S BRIDE

99cents all of April 2021

Blurb:

Brody has his hands full with a murderer next door trying to take over his ranch. Laura broke his heart ten years earlier. Now she’s back, and right in the crosshairs of his sworn enemy.

Laura never stopped loving Brody. And when she learns of his unscrupulous rival’s plan to take his home, she can’t stay away. Even though he rebuffs her help, she is determined to make amends for the past.

Can Brody save the ranch, keep its secrets, extract vengeance and protect Laura? All without losing his heart to her all over again?

Excerpt:

A week passed during which Brody never left the ranch, using a multitude of excuses to himself to stick close. Never far from mind was the ridiculous task he’d been set. What did he know about wooing a woman? Unsuccessfully, he tried to stop his mind from going down that dark pathway to the last time he saw Laura.

Or the first.

He’d known right from the get-go that she was above his station, but his ego got the better of him. Made sure she was intrigued by his eighteen-year-old swagger and confidence.

He heaved a sigh. Maybe this little exercise, to woo the schoolmarm, would shake off those cobwebbed memories once and for all.

Brody took his time getting ready. Shaved, slicked down his hair, put on his best shirt and polished his boots. Without a word to anyone he saddled up Phoenix and made his way to Bullet.

The schoolhouse stood off to one side, next to a field where the kids could run around and play, shiny as a new pin. He tilted back his head and studied the exterior of the building. It looked nicer than the one in Yuma. Cleaner too. Red brick must have cost Hawkes a fortune, but the man surely did like to flaunt his wealth.

Slowly Brody dismounted and tied Phoenix to the hitching post out front. Feeling like he was facing his executioner, he made his way up two steps to the front door, only to find it locked tight.

His heart lightened, feeling a reprieve. His steps were lighter, too, as he made his way back to his horse. He’d barely touched the reins, when he heard a female voice behind him.

“Brody. Brody is that you?”

Slowly he turned. Laura stood before him like a vision from the past, one he wasn’t sure was real or imagined. All the pain and confusion from ten years ago rushed through him, filling his head with so much chatter he couldn’t hear a thing.

Don’t miss the great First-in-a-series sale!

About Kathleen Lawless:

Kathleen blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys. Historical or contemporary, cowboys continue to resonate with her today.

One of her heroes, Steele, is a modern-day cowboy, so when she was dating on-line and met a man called Steel– Well, he’s not a cowboy but his is an alpha male and her forever hero. Which is why all of her stories end Happily Ever After.

Not that she can ever stick to just one genre. So many stories to tell–never enough time.
With close to 30 published novels to her credit, she enjoys pushing the boundaries of traditional romance into historical romance, erotic romance, romantic suspense, women’s fiction and stories for young adults.

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Tagged as #authorpromo #bookpromo, #RomanceGems, Ebooks #99centsale, ebooksale, Katheleen Lawless

March 27, 2021 · 4:43 am

Lucky in Love is this month’s theme on The Romance Gems…

It’s my turn to blog over on the Romance Gems blog today and out topic is LUCKY IN LOVE. Stop by and read about some of the ways my Irish roots have shaped my writing.

Here’s the link: ROMANCE GEMS

Happy reading! ~ peg