Tag Archives: second chance at love

June 14, 2022 · 8:30 am

#teasertuesday from CHANCE (Last Man Standing) Available for #preorder

#TeaserTuesday

From my upcoming addition to the Last Man Standing series, CHANCE ( book 13)

Available for preorder: https://amzn.to/3tVIylh

The next morning Chance wasn’t surprised to see a line already forming behind the counter of A Hug in a Mug. From what he’d sampled the day before, the coffee was the best he’d ever tasted. He’d woken that morning with a craving for another cup to jumpstart his day.

The hope that the ponytailed pixie would be the one to make it for him was also a major contributor to his desire to start the day with a hot cup of caffeinated comfort.

Like the day before, she was busy seeing to the coffee orders while her much younger cohort ran the register. When it was Chance’s turn the girl, who couldn’t have been out of high school yet, stared at him for a moment, a look of pique on her pretty face, then asked, “Anyone gonna toss anything in your face this morning? ’Cuz I don’t want to have to mop it all up again.”

Chance winced at the decided testiness in her voice and said, “No worries about that today. I just want a cup of coffee and I’ll be on my way.”

From the way she pursed her lips, he didn’t think she believed him. But she took his order, wrote his name on the cup, and handed him back the change from the twenty he’d given her. Chance stuffed it into the tip jar again and moved down the counter to the pickup section.

Without ever turning toward him, the pixie grabbed the cup, perused the iPad order, and went to work, Chance watching.

She moved effortlessly between the coffee brewer, the foam dispenser, even the milk machine, as she made the order to his specifications. Only when she was done did she glance up and call his name.

He didn’t think she recognized it until their eyes locked. That hurt just a little since he’d been thinking of her for the better part of his night and morning.

“Well, good morning,” she said, a slow and easy smile trailing across her lips. She started to hand him the coffee, when she suddenly pulled her hand back and asked with a decidedly playful pitch in her voice, “No one’s going to be tossing this at you today, are they?”

He grinned back at her and nodded toward the counter. “Your coworker already grilled me about that and I assured her there was nothing to worry about.”

The way her mouth pulled into a thin line had his breath catching.

“Sorry about that. Lindsey’s not used to dealing with the public and she needs to work on her people skills. How’d your suit survive the attack?”

Her word choice charmed him. “My dry cleaning guy says it’ll be costly, but salvageable. The shirt’s toast, though. I’m billing my client’s husband for the cost since her anger at him was really displaced on me.”

Her eyebrows lifted at that, while she shook her head a few times. “Lawyer fees are never cheap.”

“Experience talking?”
 Her subtle eye roll told him it was.
“So,” he said while she wiped down one of the machines, “I know your coworker’s name is Lindsey, and you know my name,” he lifted the coffee cup to where it was written, “is Chance. What’s yours?”

The way she cocked her head at him and the line that popped up between her brows proved she was reluctant to give it. She opened her mouth but before she could say anything the counter girl called, “Freddie, the line’s empty so I’m gonna take five, okay?”

She nodded and moved toward the front of the station. “Freddie?” he said as he followed her.


“Short for Fredrika.”


“Beautiful name.”

Her eye roll charmed him. “I’ve always thought it sounded like it should belong to a racehorse. Freddie’s what most people call me.”

Intrigued? Heehee I hope so…

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December 15, 2019 · 3:52 am

#sundaySnippet 12.15.19

So with the release of TODAY, TOMORROW, ALWAYS on 12.4.19, I’m still in present book mode to share! Here’s a little sexy sumthin’ sumthin’ from the book.

 

With that, I lifted my chin back up and reclaimed his lips. If I thought about it, I could probably trace this uncharacteristic boldness straight back to Nanny’s influence. The woman was nothing if not audacious and daring in her romantic life, two things I’ve never been nor even considered before meeting this man.

In the time it takes for a finger snap to echo, Frayne skillfully seduced my lips apart and then, with a slow, steady, and determined exploration that left me panting and aching, proceeded to make me forget I was anything other than a woman. Lawyer, daughter, widow, be damned.

I was a woman who wanted…craved….hungered for the man my legs were wound around. And from the feel of the material straining below his waist against me, he was ravenous as well. I squeezed my thighs tighter.

He dropped his hands to my thighs—my naked thighs—the roughened pads of his fingers pressing into them. Behind his back, my toes flexed.

I slid my hands up and around his shoulders, cupping his neck all the while nipping and sipping at his delicious lips. The thought sailed through me that I could get used to a daily diet of the taste of this man.

Frayne slid his mouth across my jaw, trailing tiny, wet kisses down the column of my throat. When he took my ear lobe between his teeth and bit down, my butt vaulted up from the counter.
“Your skin is like velvet,” he whispered as he cuddled my ass in his hands. “I’ve never felt anything as soft in my life.”

“Good genes,” I managed to say, while he nuzzled the hollow behind my ear. How I was even able to form a sentence was mind-boggling.

His shoulders shook, and when I pulled back to see his face, my heart stuttered. The dark and sad shadows in his eyes were a memory, replaced now with a glow that turned the pale blue to a brilliant crystal. His mouth was plump and wet—Holy Mother!—and the corners were lifted, two deep and adorable dimples crevassing his cheeks. The thatch of hair had fallen across his brow, delicately shading one eye. I reached up and feathered it back with my fingers. My hand settled across his cheek and temple as I did, and once again Frayne nuzzled against it, as if seeking warmth and solace. The gesture was so tender, so damn endearing, I sighed before I could stop myself.

This man, this damaged, mercurial, heartbroken man, stirred a myriad of emotions within me I was powerless to fight against. His abhorrence of my profession provoked anger and outrage. The tenderhearted manner he exhibited toward my grandmother filled me with a sense of intense joy. The single-minded and focused way he went about his research awed and impressed me. And the attention he gave to everything but himself made me want to pull him into my arms, hold on tight, and do everything I could to care for him and show him how special he was.

Frayne touched my heart in ways no man ever had. The realization was both profound and terrifying.

If I’d learned anything in life, though, fear could either paralyze you or propel you into actions you never knew you were capable of.

The kiss he gave me now was gentle and soft, his eyes open and focused on me. A question flashed in them, and I answered it the only way I could.

The only way I wanted to.

I gave him a gentle shove. When he moved, I slid out of his hold and stood, barefoot, on my kitchen floor.

“Come on.” I grabbed his hand and tugged him out of the kitchen.

Intrigued? God, I hope so!!!! If you want to, you can get  your copy here:

Available at these fine online retailers in Ecopy or Print: Amazon // B&N // Applebooks   // Rakuten-Kobo // google play // Books-a-million //

Also available at the TOADSTOOL BOOKSHOP in Keene, NH

Please enjoy the lovely Book Trailer my friend Nancy Fraser made for the book: TTA

Add it to your Goodreads List: TTA

Add it to you BookBub List: TTA

Off to shop for gifts, now!!

Until next time ~ Peg

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December 4, 2019 · 1:13 am

#Bookrelease Day!!! TODAY, TOMORROW, ALWAYS is here!

I can’t fully explain how excited I am to finally have this story in print! Cathy O’Dowd’s path to an HEA was tortuous for her – and me!!!! This book wrung me dry so many times! I’m thrilled to finally be able to share it with the romance reading world.

Blurb:

Lawyer Cathleen O’Dowd wants to break free from her boring image. Widowed young, she’s toed the good-girl line but now wants a little fun and laughter in her days…and nights. Living in a small town, though, she can’t do anything that would tarnish her professional reputation.

Mac Frayne’s tragic past has turned him into a sullen loner. In town to write a book on the city’s founder, his plan is to get it done, then head home to his solitary existence.

When circumstances force them to work together, their opposing personalities clash, but the sexual attraction between them is palpable.

Can a simple affair with an end date be just the thing to brighten up their lives?

Excerpt 

Frayne was alone at one of the computer workstations, sheets of paper and files scattered about the desk next to him.

I took a moment to observe him before announcing myself. Thick-lensed reading glasses perched on the very tip of his nose, a millimeter from falling from his face. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why that was so endearing, but it was. His hair fell over the collar of his shirt, today covered with a jet-black pullover. A tiny moth hole crossed over his bicep. The notion he needed someone looking out for him, caring for him, making him take care of himself, bounded through me.

The story Maureen related spilled back to me, and my heart sighed. I knew the emotional devastation losing loved ones could wreak, and since I was now aware of what had happened to Frayne’s family, I understood the perpetual grief in his eyes.

Another striking thing about Frayne was that for all his awkwardness, some might even say shy demeanor, he was an extremely attractive man, and the very fact I noticed it was astounding. I hadn’t looked at nor thought about another man in all the years of my marriage, even while Danny had been away for years on end on active duty.

The only man I’d ever loved, ever considered being with, ever looked at, was Danny Mulvaney. Picturing Mac Frayne as someone I could see myself getting to know on a purely personal and physical level was behavior so far out of my emotional wheelhouse it startled me.

“I’m sorry I kept you waiting.” I tossed my coat and bag on a chair “I came as soon as the ceremony ended.”

Frayne peered at me over the tops of his glasses through eyes a little unfocused, a little startled, and a whole lot of befuddled cute.

He blinked, and then his gaze swept from my face down to what Maureen calls my marriage duds. When I officiate, I pair a plain white silk blouse with a black double-breasted jacket and either a black A-line skirt or trousers, depending on the season. On one lapel of my jacket, I always wear a 14-karat-gold, single rose pin, gifted to me by Colleen, to symbolize the love and affection of the couples I marry.

With a quick flick of his hand, Frayne swiped the glasses from his face, and tucked one of the bows into the vee of his sweater. His gaze made its way up to my face again, and he cocked his head in a move I was coming to recognize signaled he was going to ask a question. “You didn’t stay for the reception?”

“Like I told you yesterday, sometimes I do, but most times I simply sign the paperwork, take a few photos with the happy couple, and then let them have their party. If I stayed at every wedding, I’d never get anything done on the weekends.”

“I’ve been to my share of weddings”—he stood and tilted his head to one side—“but I’ve never had to sign papers at one, other than my own. Are there that many people you know getting married that your weekends are typically so full?”

A grin split my face at his words. “They are when I’m performing the ceremonies.”

It took him a second, then the cloud of cute confusion cleared in his eyes. “You’re a wedding officiant?”

“Technically, I’m a justice of the peace. But yes, I officiate at weddings. I came here from Inn Heaven after performing a ceremony.”

“Well, that certainly explains it.” His lips twitched at the corners, and for a brief moment, an image of pressing my own against them burned quick and bright in my head. “I saw them setting up the ballroom for some kind of event before I left this morning. Your sister was everywhere.”

“I know that’s the truth because I’ve seen it for myself. Maureen is exceptionally organized, a trait that runs rampant in our family.”

His gaze swept down my attire again, the small grin tugging on his mouth, broadening. “I spotted another redhead in commando mode, too. She resembled you and Maureen.” His grin grew. “I’ve never actually seen someone bark orders before.”

“The barker was Colleen, my middle sister. She’s a wedding planner and was in charge of today’s event. I officiate at a lot of her non-religious ceremonies.”

Available at these fine online retailers in Ecopy or Print: Amazon // B&N // Applebooks   // Rakuten-Kobo // google play // Books-a-million //

Also available at the TOADSTOOL BOOKSHOP in Keene, NH

Please enjoy the lovely Book Trailer my friend Nancy Fraser made for the book: TTA

Add it to your Goodreads List: TTA

Add it to you BookBub List: TTA

Now, I’m off to read TTA again!
Until next time ~Peg

 

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November 19, 2019 · 12:41 am

Preorders, book links, &promo ( Oh, my!)

Do you hear the tag line to the Wizard of Oz when you read the title of this blog ( Lions, and Tigers, and Bears! Oh, my!)

Heehee.

I digress….

I’ve already posted that TODAY, TOMORROW, ALWAYS (A Match Made in Heaven, bk 2) will be released into the romance reading world on December 4. I finally have the 3 major purchase/preorder links available, so here ya go:

Lawyer Cathleen O’Dowd wants to break free from her boring image. Widowed young, she’s toed the good-girl line but now wants a little fun and laughter in her days…and nights. Living in a small town, though, she can’t do anything that would tarnish her professional reputation.

Mac Frayne’s tragic past has turned him into a sullen loner. In town to write a book on the city’s founder, his plan is to get it done, then head home to his solitary existence.

When circumstances force them to work together, their opposing personalities clash, but the sexual attraction between them is palpable.

Can a simple affair with an end date be just the thing to brighten up their lives?

Preoder/Purchase Links:
Amazon // B&N // AppleBooks(Itunes)

Available in Ebook and Print!

Can you tell I lovelovelove this cover!!! hee hee

Until next time ~ Peg

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March 27, 2019 · 12:18 am

A new #DeerbourneInn release by #Author Laura Boon

 

Today, another wonderful Deerbourne Inn book releases. This one is titled LION DANCING FOR LOVE and it’s by WRP sistah, Laura Boon.

When I knew the book was going to be released into the romance reading world, I asked Laura to write up a little sumthin’ sumthin. on research she did for the book because she’s not a native Vermonter ( the book’s locale). In fact, she lives outside the U.S. so I knew her research story was going to be a goodie! Allow me to let her tell it in her own words. Here’s Laura…

When The Wild Rose Press put out a call for submissions for their Deerbourne Inn series, I was intrigued. I liked the collaborative nature of the series which meant I would be working with other writers (such as the wonderful Peggy Jaeger who is hosting me today) as well as the team at WRP. In the story bible, I read about Corey Duncan, third generation business owner and a man widowed too early in life. I had found my hero. I just needed a heroine to pull him out of the bubble he had withdrawn into. Up popped Caitlin and Lion Dancing for Love was born. Time to get to work! There was just one problem. I live in Australia and have never been to Vermont. (Peggy here: yes, that would be a problem, hee hee!)

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to study in Kansas many years ago, courtesy of a tennis scholarship. The team travelled around a good bit, but mostly in the Midwest and South. I never got to New England. So, I knew something about America and Americans but nothing specific about Vermont.

Thank goodness for Google!

I started by researching the geography of Vermont. What was the weather like in February and March (the time period covering my story)? What drives the economy? What is its history? Is a particular architectural style favored? What transport is favored? Who are its people? What sports do they play? What do they do for fun? What are their values? One of my characters is half Chinese, so I wanted to know how people in Vermont would treat her.

I approached the Vermont travel board, who were extremely helpful and mailed me a package, which reminded me that Vermont is a foodie state, committed to local produce and so I disappeared down another, mouthwatering, rabbit hole, exploring the menus of Vermont restaurants. I downloaded images to create an electronic pin board so I could look at visuals and maps for when I need to imagine the Inn, Main Street and Town Square in Willow Springs. And I read books like Peggy’s Hope’s Dream to see how she portrayed Willow Springs.

Fingers crossed, readers will enjoy my interpretation of Willow Springs. My editor, who doubles as my first American reader, seemed to (more finger crossing). However, for me, the most important thing to remember is that people are people. We may differ on the surface in terms of accent, cultural backgrounds, education and ethnicity – all of which provide wonderful color and diversity to our world – but on the inside, we have the same hopes, fears and passions, the same conflicted relationships with our mothers, and the same appreciation for loyalty, kindness, strength – and a good-looking man in a pair of blue jeans. 😉

Peggy here, again: OMG! I love how you did your research. I live next door to Vermont in New Hampshire and I didn’t know they were considered a foodie state. I’m gonna have to spend more time in Vermont, for sure! Thanks so much for joining me today, Laura. Now, let’s hear about LION DANCING FOR LOVE and your wonderful characters!

 

 

Licking her wounds after a bad relationship, San Diego accountant Caitlyn Summers travels to Willow Springs to help her friend gear up for the annual Maple Sugar Ball. She isn’t planning on staying long, but one encounter with the delicious Corey Duncan has her re-evaluating her plans. 

Corey swore off love when his wife Annie died from breast cancer. Caitlyn is too young, too citified, and vibrates with a passion and energy that will upend the safe, comfortable rhythm of his life. Corey has to choose between playing it safe and taking a risk on love. Caitlyn needs to find the patience to let Corey lead. If not, the Maple Sugar Ball might end in a sticky mess, instead of a slow dance with the man who has captured her heart.

Will their fire burn hot enough to erase doubts and past hurts?

Excerpt:

“You don’t have to be good at it. You have to be able to follow and count to three.”

She put her hands on her hips. It was his turn to raise a brow. “I can follow—if I choose to.”

He chuckled. “Such sass. Prove it.”

He held out his left hand, and she moved forward and placed her right inside it. He twined their fingers and pulled her into position. A heady combination of scents rose from her, vanilla and pheromones and something uniquely Caitlin. Her skin was slick against his. “Rest your head against my chest,” he murmured.

“I don’t recall that as an official position.”

“It’s the one I favor. Stand on my feet. That’s it.” He adjusted her arm, so she had a good hold around his neck and drew her even closer. “Step with your right foot first…back across, together. Forward, across, together. Back, across, together. Forward, across, together.”

Halfway through the song, he let her feet slip to the ground. At the end he kept a firm grip on her waist while he hit replay, then led her through a series of fast twirls, their bodies so close they were almost one. When the song ended, they collapsed in a heap against the wall. She was giggling.

“What?”

“I get why it was considered scandalous when it was first introduced.”

He smiled and tipped her chin toward him with a finger. “It’s only scandalous if you do it properly.” He brushed his lips softly across hers, then claimed her mouth as she breathed into him.

You can purchase LION DANCING FOR LOVE here:

Amazon // i tunes // Kobo // GooglePlay // Deerbourne Series ( WRP)

A little about Laura Boon….

Laura Boon stole her first romance from her father’s bookshelves as a teenager, The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, and was immediately captivated. After holding a variety of positions in publishing, from bookseller to sales rep and publicist, she eventually found the courage to write her own stories. She was born in Zambia, grew up in South Africa, and went to university in America. She now lives in Australia with her husband and their fur babies Beau and Arro. When she is not reading or writing, she enjoys sleuthing for artisan chocolate and beautiful stationery, watching tennis, and walking alongside Sydney’s beautiful harbor. You can find Laura online via her blog or Facebook page and on Twitter, Instagram, GoodReads, Bookbub and Amazon.

Peggy here: click here to read my review of LION DANCING FOR LOVE.

Be sure to discover the other, already released books of the Deerbourne Inn series – and watch for more releases in 2019 and 2010!

By Reservation Only      Hope’s Dream     Freedom’s Path   

      

Lyrical Embrace     Spirited Quest       Soul of the Storm

              

 

 

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November 6, 2018 · 4:00 am

The importance of #Voting, reporting #bullies, and #secondchances, featuring #author Katie O’Sullivan

Every now and then you find an author – and meet a new friend – who you know you were destined to get to know. Katie O’Sullivan is that person to  me.  We originally “met” as Wild Rose Press sistahs and from the first time I ever read any of her books, she quickly became one of my favorite one-click/pre-order authors. She’s recently had a new book released, BENDING THE RULES and it’s more than a goodie!! I consumed it on one rainy afternoon because it was un-putdown-able and put my review up on Amazon and Goodreads – and on my website lickity split because I wanted to tell everyone I knew about how good the book is. Katie recently consented to write a blog post for me and it’s very timely that it’s on this day- Election Day here in the US – on a very timely topic.

Come, meet my friend Katie – you’re gonna love her as much as I do.

Katie: Huge thanks to Peggy for hosting me today! ( Peggy here – my absolute pleasure!)

It’s Election Day here in the U.S. and I encourage everyone to get out there and vote. Make your voice heard and your choices matter. Everyone should be able to stand up for what they believe in.

Actually that’s one of the themes I tried to weave into my new book. Standing up for what’s right.

As writers, we don’t live in a bubble – we live in the real world, and everything that goes on affects not only how we think about our characters, but also what they say and do. This includes what happens within our families and circles of friends, as well as what happens on the national and global stage. As an author, it’s a fine line between weaving issues into the storyline and preaching your own point of view.

One of the themes of my new second-chance romance, Bending the Rules, is about the effects of bullying. Rumors and lies have followed my heroine, Bella Costa, from high school into the present day, and affected many of the choices in her life, both her own and those of the hero of the story, Dylan MacDonald. Bella has been told so many times over the years that the harassment isn’t illegal, she even hesitates to report it when her bully crosses the line into more dangerous territory.

We all need to remember to stand up to our bullies, whether it’s an actual bully spreading rumors around the neighborhood or the internet, or your school system who doesn’t want to pay for the extra help your child may need (and deserve under the law). Or in the case of Dylan MacDonald, the broken hero in Bending the Rules, speaking out against a corporation who cares more about the bottom line than about their employees.

Stand up and make your voice heard. It’s not the easy thing to do, but it’s the right thing to do.

Get out there and vote for what you believe in. Voting is a right in the U.S., not a privilege, and you should exercise that right. Stand up and make your voice heard.

Peggy, thanks again for hosting me today! (Again, darling girl – it was my absolute delight!!!)

BENDING THE RULES, by Katie O’Sullivan

She has rules to keep her heart safe. He’s the one who inspired the rules.

Blurb:

Investment analyst Dylan MacDonald has been away from Cape Cod so long it no longer feels like home, despite deep roots and a large extended family. After a routine assignment in Africa becomes life or death, the former workaholic is back home and unemployed. Getting entangled with his high school crush is definitely not in his plans… Even if she was the one woman who made him think outside the spreadsheet.

Co-owner of a successful Chatham boutique, friendly and popular Bella Costa seems to have it all… Except a real relationship. She has a rule against dating local boys, keeping her love life limited to summer flings. The only guy she truly cared about left the Cape and never looked back. Until this summer. Now he’s re-igniting all kinds of unresolved feelings.

Will the past stand in their way, or can they bend the rules to find a future together?

Excerpt 

 

“One more confession, before I lose my nerve.” Bella took a step closer, placing both of her hands flat on his chest, looking up into his face. He could smell the beer on her breath, but she didn’t seem drunk. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to kiss you.”

“Bella…”

Her eyes dropped and so did her hands. “It’s okay, I understand.”

He wrapped his hands around her waist before she could turn away. “No, I don’t think you do.” He pulled her flush to his body, bending his head to meet her soft lips, capturing her gasp of surprise with his mouth, teasing her tongue with his own. Heat and electricity surged through his body, leaving every part of him yearning for more. Her soft, luscious breasts crushed against his chest, her hands burrowing under his sweatshirt to caress the skin above his swimsuit, teasing along the elastic waist. Nothing in his life thus far prepared him for the sudden intensity of his feelings, or the effect her touch had on his body. He wanted the kiss to last forever, to hold her close and never let her go.

When their mouths finally parted, the dazed look on Bella’s face made Dylan frown. “Are you okay?” His whisper sounded hoarse even to his own ears, as if the kiss robbed his ability to speak clearly. Or think clearly, for that matter.

She blinked, the shock slowly fading before she grinned up at him. “I didn’t expect…” She lowered her eyes and shook her head.

“What?”

“It’s going to sound silly.”

He gently kissed her forehead, tasting the salt of the ocean and inhaling the smoky scent of bonfire tangled in her hair. “Try me.”

“You know how when you think about something too much, you build it up in your mind? Like when you’re a kid and you want a new toy? And then, when you finally get it, it’s not nearly as exciting as you thought it would be?”

His gut tightened. He took a deep breath, putting a finger under her chin and raising her face so their eyes met, the moonlight reflecting back at him from those dark pools. She was not about to tell him that kiss was disappointing. No way.

“Kissing you was nothing like I dreamed it would be.”

He vowed to change her mind if it was the last thing he ever did. He barely recognized his own voice as it growled, “How can I make it better?”

Bella shook her head, tightening her grip on his waist. “What I meant was… I always thought your kiss would be sweet… like cotton candy. Like you. But in reality, it’s more like a wildfire, the taste so much hotter than I ever imagined… More dangerous… Like I could lose myself completely…”

Available at Amazon

About the Author:Katie O’Sullivan is an award-winning writer, whose ten novels include My Kind of Crazy, Ghosts Don’t Lie, Crazy About You, and the Son of a Mermaid series for teen readers: Descent, Defiance, and Deception. A recovering English major, she earned her degree at Colgate University and now lives on Cape Cod with her family and big dogs, drinking way too much coffee and inventing new excuses not to dust. She writes YA and romantic suspense novels, as well as working as an editor and full-time technical writer. Which explains all the coffee.

 

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon Author Page

 

 

 

Want to see my review of this fab book? Click here: Bending the Rules 

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August 2, 2017 · 8:48 am

A fiery Artist and a Horse Whisperer find love in Passion’s Palette; #MFRWBookHooks

PASSION’S PALETTE, book 5 in the MacQuire Women series, releases on 8.4.17.

Blurb: Talented and witty portrait artist Serena MacQuire is successful in everything but love. Her gift for capturing people on canvas is rivaled only by her fiery and legendary temper. A tragedy from the past keeps her heart securely locked away, preventing any man from getting close enough to claim it.

But Seamus Cleary isn’t just any man. After he left his professional football career to become a veterinarian, his bitter wife ended their marriage. Now, as he starts his life over in a new town, love is the last thing he’s looking for. The more he tends to Serena’s horses, though, the more he realizes her own heart needs tender care and healing as well.

Will he be the man who finally unlocks and claims her heart?

Excerpt:

Standing before her, his hands in the back pockets of his jeans, he wore a look of bashful sheepishness. “I guess I owe you an apology,” he said, tilting his head to one side. The sun was full force on his face, one eye winked closed from its glare.

“You don’t look apologetic. You could have told me you were David’s partner,” she said, cringing when she heard the whine in her tone, “instead of allowing me to believe you were one of the moving men.”

“Now, hang on a sec,” he said, moving closer to her. “You were the one who assumed that. I never told you I was one of the movers. In fact, you never gave me a chance to tell you who I was. You just assumed. Incorrectly, it turns out.”

“You could have said something,” Serena blurted, her lower lip pouting outward.

Links: Amazon // Wild Rose Press

Check out the other authors in this Book Hook Blog Hop:

 

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Filed under #Mfrwauthors, Author, Characters, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, female friends, Life challenges, love, MacQuire Women, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, The Wild Rose Press, WIld Rose Press AUthor

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July 14, 2017 · 12:51 pm

A 99cent Sale for the VOICES OF ANGELS before PASSION’S PALETTE releases!

I lovelovelove a good sale – especially when it’s a book I’ve been waiting for!
For the next 2 weeks, my lovely publisher, THE WILD ROSE PRESS has put THE VOICES OF ANGELS on sale for the the ecopy at just  .99Cents. If you haven’t read it yet, or any of the MAcQuire Women, here’s your lucky chance. When PASSION’S PALETTE releases on 8.4.17, and you’ve read Voices, you’ll already be an expert on the MacQuire sisters.

To whet your sale-buying appetite, here’s a little sumthin’ sumthin’ from VOICES:

Blurb:

Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.

Excerpt:

“I…” Carly began, then stopped. “Oh, hell. I’m not good with words in situations like this.”

His laugh came quick, charmed by her nerves. “Pretty pathetic declaration for a writer.”

Carly stuck out her bottom lip in a very alluring pout. He was tempted to stop and take her mouth with his again.

“Don’t mock me. When it’s on paper I can get it right. Real life has no re-writes, no editing.”

“Granted.”

The sunlight played with the alternating auburn and fire-red highlights in her hair as they began to walk again. He was convinced no color had ever been so alive.

Carly squared her shoulders. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression about me. Concerning men.”

When he didn’t comment, she continued. “It’s only, well…I haven’t been involved with anyone since my husband died. I’ve been busy with my daughter and my writing. I haven’t met anyone I’ve been interested in, I guess.”

“Until now.”

Carly turned to look at him. Irritation crossed in her narrowed eyes. “You’re pretty sure of yourself.”

“No,” he replied. “I’m more sure of you, though.”

“Excuse me?”

Mike laughed again. He stopped and cupped her cheeks. “You’re even more beautiful when you’re angry. Your left eyebrow arches ever so slightly and your eyes turn the most incredible forest green.” He kissed her and felt her pulse trip again under his fingers.

Sale Buy Links

Amazon // WILD ROSE PRESS // Nook //

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Filed under Author, Characters, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, Life challenges, love, MacQuire Women, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, The Voices of Angels, The Wild Rose Press, WIld Rose Press AUthor

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March 19, 2016 · 8:59 am

Why I need a wingman…

kne-womens-expo

Today I am attending an event where I will be selling ( hopefully!) and signing my books. The 2016 Monadnock Women’s Expo is being held at the Zorn Dining Commons at Keene State College from 10 am until 2 pm and there are over 40 vendors hawking their wares, one of which will be me. By myself.  Alone. Solo.

This is the first time I have attended such a huge event for a signing and I will be at my table all by lonesome. The thought is absolutely terrifying. Why, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you….

First of all, I have to get dressed up and by dressed up I mean I have to wear my hair fixed in a  style other than my typical messy bun or ponytail. Then I have to wear makeup, which as I am getting older, I find cakes more into those lovely little wisdom lines around my eyes and mouth like nobody’s business. Then I have to find something in my wardrobe that actually fits and looks good. Two almost impossible tasks at this point because menopause has put twenty pounds on my already chubby frame, and I haven’t shopped for any kind of clothing in over three, almost 4 years. Purses and shoes don’t count because you can be a size zero or 22 and they always look good. My dressing room looked like a tornado and hurricane Hazel both blew through it last night as I pulled almost every article of clothing from my closet and tried it on desperately hoping to find something, ANYTHING, that would fit.

SO, hair, makeup and clothes that fit aside, I’m also terrified of being alone at my table because: a – I am afraid no one will stop and see me, buy a book, or have me autograph one and I will look like a total loser, and b – I am terrified someone will stop at my booth and ask me questions and want to purchase a book which I will have to autograph and then charge them for. And see, this is the biggest thing terrifying me: I have to ask people for money to pay for something I wrote and then take it, hoping they will like what they have purchased and not rant on Goodreads about what a waste of money the book really was.

Whew! I wrote that last paragraph without drawing a breath!

So, now you know my nasty little secret: despite giving an air of confidence and self-assurance to one and all sundry, I am really just a mass of nervous, anxious, neurotic jello ( can a food be neurotic??) wanting to please, hoping I will, and horrified I won’t.

And this is why I need a wingman: someone who will take the money and usher the next person on. Say a prayer for me – or several, maybe even a novena – that I don’t totally f**k this day up, and that I survive unscathed to write about the experience in the next several days.

Pathetic, thy name is Margaret-Mary.

This is the book I’ll be selling:

THE VOICES OF ANGELS

Blurb:

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The last thing Carly Lennox is looking for as she sets out on her new book tour is love. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine show based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is an ambitious man-and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else, and as he tells her, he’s a patient guy. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. No. Carly is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him- may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.

 

Amazon /// TWRP /// Kobo /// Nook

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Filed under Author, Characters, Contemporary Romance, Family Saga, Life challenges, love, MacQuire Women, Romance, Romance Books, The Voices of Angels, The Wild Rose Press, WIld Rose Press AUthor

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January 24, 2016 · 10:40 am

A visit with Misty Simon, Candy Hearts Author

Today I get to interview MISTY SIMON, author of the Candy Hearts romance  ONE KISS which releases tomorrow! Getting to know Misty I realize we share a lot in common: our love for Stephanie Plum, our need for tunnelvision when working, and the fact we both think a bare wrist can be a turn on! Here’s Misty:

mistysimon

Misty,  The Writer 

  1. What drives you to write? I have so many stories running around through my head and things I’d like to share.
  1. What genre(s) of Romance do your write, and why? I write contemporary and romance with mystery because I love happy endings!
  1. What genre(s) of Romance do you read, and why? I read historical because they are the one genre I’ll never write so I get to just enjoy them for what the are. Plus, who doesn’t love when a bare wrist can turn a guy on?
  1. What’s your writing schedule? Do you write everyday? I write every day and try to hit at least 1500 words around my day job and family.
  1. Give us a glimpse of the surroundings where you write. Separate room? In the kitchen? At the dining room table? I have a huge desk that’s actually supposed to a breakfast bar. LOL. It’s in the library surrounded by shelves of books.
  1. Are you the kind of writer who needs total quiet to compose, or are you able to filter out the typical sounds of the day and use your tunnelvision? Tunnelvision, baby! There are too many things going on with three dogs a teenager and a husband to find total quiet, but I do love my iPod with earbuds.
  1. Do you listen to music while you write, and if so, what kind? If not, why not? And that answered this question, partially  I listen to everything and anything that strikes my fancy at the moment from the 20’s to current plus a ton of classical.
  1. How did you come up with the plotline/idea for your current WIP? Because it’s the next book in my Kissinger Kisses story the couple was already there, I just had to come up with their obstacles. I think one very serious woman and one fun-loving guy can create their own shenanigans.
  1. Which comes first for you – character or plot? And why? Character for romance but plot is super important for the mysteries.
  1. What 3 words describes you, the writer? Romance, Mystery, Sass

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Misty – The Person 

  1. Tell us one unusual thing about yourself – not related to writing! I was classically trained to sing opera
  2. Who was your first love and what age were you? Wil Wheaton and I was twelve ( Awww! Love that! PJ)
  3. If you could relive one day, which one would it be? Think GROUNDHOG DAY, the movie for this one – you’ll have to live it over and over and…. The day I signed my first contract.
  4. Do you like a guy in boxers, briefs, or commando? Well, not that depends…but I really like boxers.
  5. If you had to give up one necessary-can’t-live-without-it beauty item, what would it be? Lip gloss
  6. What three words describes you, the person? Fun, outgoing, dependable
  7. If you could sing a song with Jimmy Fallon, what would it be? I Want You Now by Depeche Mode
  8. If you could hang out with any literary character from any book penned at any time line, who would it by, why, and what would you do together? Stephanie Plum who I would teach to shot and help her remember to get her gun out of her cookie jar

Bonus round

I love the Actor’s Studio show on Bravo, so this is my version of it:

  1. Favorite sound – rain on a tin roof
  2. Least favorite sound – nails on the chalkboard
  3. Best song every written – Somebody
  4. Worst song ever written – That one about the shoes at Christmas
  5. Favorite actor and actress – Harrison Ford and Sandra Bullock
  6. Who would you want to be for 1 day and why? ( It can be anyone living or dead) A duchess in the 1700s just to see what it was like
  7. What turns you on? Intelligence and laughter
  8. What turns you off? Arrogance
  9. Give me the worst 5 words ever heard on a first date ( here’s mine: “Is that your real hair?”) You can’t put that way…
  10. What’s your version of a perfect day? Reading, writing, talking, napping and snuggling.

ONE KISS

Blurb:

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The last place Lorena Weber wants to be on Valentine’s Day is a singles party thrown by her newlywed best friend. But how can she say no? She’ll give it an hour—two, tops—and then she’s heading back to her normal life. But she didn’t plan on seeing the one man who had turned her world on its side New Year’s Eve with one kiss that opened doors she had firmly locked.

Caleb Manning got coerced into attending this ridiculous party by a co-worker. He’ll stay for an hour at most and then he’ll head home. That was the plan until he recognized Lorena across the room and had to see if that kiss was only New Year’s Eve magic or something more.

Excerpt:

By thirty-three he was on the verge of a divorce. The heart attack never came to pass, but the divorce had finalized just before New Year’s Eve, in time for the taxes to be screwed up.

But at least it was over. And he had celebrated New Year’s by going downtown to a local celebration where his new town actually dropped an eight-foot wrench from a crane in celebration of the New Year. The absurdity of the eight-foot wrench had distracted him from his loneliness for the moment. But then he’d been alone while everyone else was hugging and kissing at the stroke of midnight. He’d turned and seen the woman next to him was alone, too. They’d both laughed, shrugged, and then hugged. He hadn’t meant to kiss her, but she’d looked up at him with her mismatched eyes, and he couldn’t resist. Something had flared between them, something impossible to deny. Hell, he hadn’t even tried. It had been short, as kisses went, but it had packed a wallop. He hadn’t been able to get her name, and that was his only regret.

“Caleb!”

He hadn’t moved fast enough into the room for the ball of energy that was Melanie. She must have thought he wasn’t doing enough to immerse himself in her party. “Hey, Mel.”

“Did Dillon get your coat?”

“Yep.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and hunched a little. He felt gargantuan next to her.

“Well, come in and get something to drink. Mingle. The games are going to start in a few minutes, and I want you hydrated.” She smiled, and he blew out a soft breath. He’d had no idea what to expect, and the prospect of games did not exactly inspire confidence in him. But he could always step outside into the frigid February air if he had to. At least she’d calmed down on the exclamation points that had infused her voice for the last ten days. She was like one of the perpetually happy people he wanted to throttle except they were just too cute for him to actually do anything like that.

“Are you sure I can’t help you with anything?” He wasn’t above offering himself to kitchen duty to get out of playing games with a roomful of single people. Knowing Melanie, it would probably be something like Spin the Bottle.

“No, you can’t.” She grabbed his elbow, and he let her lead him out into the living room. “Mingle. And I can find you if you try to sneak away, so don’t.”

With that, she walked away in her four-inch heels like a drill sergeant on a mission, to greet more people coming through the door.

He made no eye contact as he headed for the buffet set up in the spacious dining room. He’d promised Melanie he’d come to her party to get her off his back about finding someone, but he had not agreed to participate in party games. An hour tops and he was leaving.

A woman laughed at the front of the line with a bunch of other women. The husky sound shot like one of Cupid’s arrows down his spine and landed in his gut. Where had he heard that laugh before?

He didn’t place it for a moment. But it all zinged into place when she turned toward him and he caught a full-faced glimpse of her mismatched eyes.

About Misty

Laughter and Love are two main components of any story I write. Laughter really is the best medicine and my heroines always figure that out at some point, though perhaps some later than others. I live in Central Pennsylvania with my family and two rambunctious dogs in a house that is about to celebrate its two hundredth birthday.

Buy Links for One Kiss:

Amazon    Wild Rose Press

Find Misty here:  Website / Facebook / Twitter / Amazon Author Page

Here’s a review for One Kiss from a happy reader

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Filed under Candy Hearts, Contemporary Romance, love, Romance, Romance Books, The Wild Rose Press, WIld Rose Press AUthor

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