Spies Don't Fall For Their Neighbors by Meg Easton

 How can a cozy-sounding town like Cipher Springs contain a company of spies and a plumber that need each other?  

Charlie typically spends her day at her computer directing spy operatives out of dangerous positions as they attempt to take out the illegal activities of criminals.  At night, she relaxes with a shower and a dinner with her BFF roommate.  The night her relaxation is interrupted with a wet floor and water spouting out of the wall of her townhome, she is forced to confront her new neighbor, Owen.

The wall in question is also Owen's wall of his temporary townhome.  It doesn't matter that Owen is a totally hot and maybe available man, but it does matter that he's a plumber and is proficient in construction.  

Forced into approaching Owen, Charlie confronts him about the leak in the shared wall.  

The first sparks fly when the wall needs to be taken out to expose and fix the leak.  Now, except for a plastic wall, they share a home.  

Getting to know each other and to diminish the uncomfortable closeness, Charlie leaves Owen small treats, notes, and gifts.  He reciprocates, which allows them to learn fun things about one another.  

Owen plans to be in town only until a historical building makeover is complete, so a relationship isn't welcome.  Charlie has a well-hidden job making it possibly dangerous to allow romance into her life.  The plumbing dilemma may change their minds.    

When the owner of the building Owen is working on appears on Charlie's work radar, things get complicated and their relationship gets closer.  We can only hope the closeness is amicable and tender feelings result versus it exploding like a leaky pipe.  

Happy reading,

Dawn

Rewrites! Rewrites! Rewrites!

 

        Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!

        As you all know, I sent The Madam and Mr. MacLean to my beta readers…and I got it back so now, I’m in rewrites. And it’s all good. I think I remember telling you all they see things I do not…and they did. So…I am brutally ripping out scenes and replacing them with new. It’s harder than expected but must be done. I like to submit a manuscript as close to perfect as I can get it. I’m still working on my cover sheet, too! I have the main blurb down. Now I’m trying to figure out the short blurb (some call it a tag line). I think I may have it, but it’s still a work in progress so…

        Wife Unexpected has been put on hold until I finish those rewrites which is kinda sad in a way because I was just getting into the story. Again, it’s all good. More time to percolate in my head, where it’s currently living.

        The oddest thing I’ve found (or maybe it’s just odd to me) but the more I work on one story, the more scenes and dialogue appear for another. I know! Crazy, right? I keep a notebook with me at all times just in case something comes to me (and yes, those things come to me at the strangest times…like in the middle of a supermarket while I’m grocery shopping). Those voices in my head? Yeah, they can get downright demanding!

        The day job is still making me crazy. Deadlines and deliveries wait for no one! Retirement is sounding better and better every day.  

        And I gotta go. It’s Sunday, which means all my Sunday chores need to be done…so I can get back to writing. Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie

Beside the Long River by Louella Bryant

 A fictional view of the war between the English settlers and the Pequot Indians in 1636.  Thinking of wars is mostly about the fighting, death, and attainment of property.  Love does exist during war.

Sarah Lyman, a teenager, and her family is led by her father from England to the promise of Puritan freedom in America.  The land is rough and untamed.  Their dream of a productive farm isn't exactly as simple as portrayed.  Hard, physical work is a new life.  The family lands by boat at the Massachusetts Bay.  In short time, they travel on foot to a more promising and fertile property in Hartford, Connecticut.  

The Pequot Indians live on the land just outside the property Sarah's family chooses to farm.  Many settlers, out of fear, deem the Indians a threat.  With an open mind, Sarah befriends a young Pequot girl along with Ayaks, a Pequot who steals her heart.

Sarah continues her secret friendships until the pressure in the village turns into a plan to massacre the Pequot.  She does the only thing she can think of and joins the English Militia with the intent to save the Pequot Indians, specifically those she loves.

True to history, the war is a massacre, horrible to many and a victory for others.  

Sarah and her family survive, but she keeps her heart hidden as she watches for any indication that her girlfriend and the man who has her heart are still alive.  If or when Ayaks finds Sarah, she will stand up for herself to follow the one she fought for.  Love is stronger than war.

Happy reading,

Dawn

 

An Update

 

        Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!

        I actually have no topic today but that’s all right. I figured I’d give you all an update (and seriously, I don’t want to talk about the weather – it’s been in the 90s here in Arizona and truthfully, I am NOT ready for this heat!).

        As you know, I have finished The Madam and Mr. MacLean. It’s going through beta read right now, which is fantastic (I love my beta readers! They are so good at seeing things that I don’t!). I do still need to work on the cover sheet request—that’s the paperwork that accompanies the manuscript when I submit it to my publisher. There’s a few other things I need to work on, too, like the ‘long’ blurb and the short ‘tagline’. Believe it or not, those are really hard. I can write an 86-thousand-word story but condensing it down to 350 words is a little daunting. Oh, and the cover! I have an idea in my head on what I'd like to see but need to finalize it (my publisher does the best covers!).

        I am making great headway with Wife Unexpected, the next story in The Wives of Bravado County series. So far, I’m at 10 thousand words. Now, if all those words were in a linear fashion that would be great, but I gotta write the scenes as they come to me so, in all truthfulness, I am all over the place, but I’ll puzzle it all together as I reach those scenes. I know! Crazy, but that’s how I do it…and so far, it has worked for me.

        What else? Today (Sunday, when I’m writing this), the DH and I are going to a birthday party. This isn’t just any birthday party. It’s for our lovely, beautiful, so very young at heart friend. She is turning…wait for it…one hundred years old. Or I should say one hundred years young. To look at her, to spend any time with her, one would never guess she has reached this milestone. Truthfully, the woman doesn’t sit still. She’s very active in the community, thinks nothing of hopping on a plane to visit friends and family, and this past summer, she spent a couple weeks in Alaska. She sent pictures of all the fish she caught. I love that woman!

        And that’s all for me. Still a lot of things to do before we head off to that celebration. Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie

Unafraid by Nyssa Kathryn

 Amber Ridge is a quaint and cozy town.  Just where Aspen Davies can travel several states, room with a friend, and leave her ex and controlling mom behind.  She can find a nice cafe and continue to write her romance novels.

Jesse Hayes feels he's doing the right thing by letting a room to his friend, Aspen.  The long and unusual hours he works as a police officer will give her privacy while she familiarizes herself with the town.  He prefers to keep a distance between them.  After all, she is hurt from a breakup, and it is impossible not to be interested in her. 

For such a cute town, not a single restaurant or cafe serves good coffee.  Matter of fact, it is awful.  The English lady who owns a tea and coffee house makes the best pies but needs lessons on how to make a good brew.   It will be a great hangout for writing and a place to keep her away from gorgeous and wonderful Jesse.

Aspen begins receiving texts from her hard-to-handle mom.  After replying with her new address, her mom claims Luke, former boyfriend, needs to see Aspen.  That would not happen on her watch.  Why did Aspen give her mom the address?  Mistake number one.

Space in town is tight when her mom shows up.  Discovering that Luke has a criminal record, Jesse's hackles rise when Luke is also spotted.  Aspen pretends it's manageable, but her nerves are shivering, her writing is not happening, and doors and windows need to be locked. 

A hug and more attention are offered from Jesse, when the danger mounts.  It's okay, they're just friends.  Really good friends, which is a perfect way to start something more if they can both drop their guards at the same time. 

At the same time, Luke, with the help from another, plots to have or let no one else have Aspen. 

Increasing danger, Aspen's faltering confidence, and Jesse's badge make a combination of safety and an opening for romance.

Happy reading, 

Dawn

 

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A COWBOY by Lexi Post on Sale for 99¢ only through Feb 26th

 

Between a Rock and a Cowboy (Rocky Road Ranch: Book 1) on sale for 99¢ only through February 26th.

When Amanda Hayden becomes the first Hayden to step onto Rocky Road Ranch in twenty years, sparks fly.

Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon AU 

Tanner Dunn must take the reins of the Rocky Road cattle ranch after his father’s stroke. With a brother long gone, a brother deployed, and his youngest brother wanting to leave for his own career, he has his hands full. Still, he’s adamant his father receives the best care. But when their adversary’s daughter, Amanda Hayden Davis, arrives to provide his father’s therapy because she’s the best, it becomes more than he’s willing to shoulder.

Amanda is not happy she’s been assigned to the patriarch of the Dunn family, nor that she is the first Hayden to step foot on Rocky Road Ranch in over twenty years. But she’s a ray of sunshine compared to the grumpy eldest son. When she’s told to leave before she’s started her work, she doesn’t budge. No one tells her what to do. She willingly argues with Tanner, often winning. Despite that, she finds herself respecting his work ethic, his moral compass, and his heart. It doesn’t help that he also has the shoulders of her dreams and looks amazing in a suit.

Tanner admits he’s grateful for Amanda’s efforts with his dad, but that doesn’t mitigate the damage her family has done to them over the years. It’s the Hayden’s fault Rocky Road may have to become a Dude ranch, something Tanner has fought against for the last year. The problem is, he’s fighting his attraction to Amanda as well. Not only is she kind, but she has a zest for life that he can’t resist. But if he gives in to her, will he lose the ranch? Or will resisting her be the biggest mistake of his life?

About Lexi:

Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan Poe's short story “The Masque of the Red Death” to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, she's read, studied, and taught wonderful classics.

But Lexi's first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance and the classics. Whether it’s sizzling cowboys, dashing dukes, hot immortals, or hunks from out of this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a “whole lotta story.”

Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her two cats in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and you’ll never see her without a hat.

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The Madam & Mr. MacLean

 

        Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe!

        As you may know, the first draft of The Madam & Mr. MacLean, the third book in the Matchmaker Mischief series is done and as of right now, the last critique has come in so…

        What are my next steps? A read through, from beginning to end, to see what I’m missing, to fix any holes, to make sure my word choices are appropriate.

        I think I might try something different. Normally, I print out the entire thing, sit at the kitchen table with my dictionary, thesaurus, and several ‘writing’ books and read it out loud but I think, this time, I want to try the ‘read aloud’ option provided by MicroSoft Word (besides, my printer is broken and I haven’t replaced it yet. It’s not quite in the budget). I’ve never done that. Might be interesting.

        I’ve also been told that saving the story as a PDF can help finding mistakes. I might try that, too.

        And then, I send it off to my beta readers. Honestly, I depend on their read through (and they’re both excellent at this task). Of course, I depend on my critique partner, too. I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without them. I’m serious.

        In addition, I have started Wife Unexpected, the fourth story in the Wives of Bravado County series. It’s going pretty well. My characters aren’t quite talking to me yet, but they will. I have faith. Incidentally, that’s my heroine’s name. Faith. It’s appropriate for who she is.

        The day job is still kicking my butt and I admit to being exhausted at the end of every week but it’s all good. Less than two years before I retire (and believe me, I’m really looking forward to that). More time to write. More time to read. More time to experiment with cooking (I have to be careful about what I make because the DH has a sensitive stomach, but seriously, I’m tired of making the same things all the time). I’ve been collecting recipes from Facebook. Some of them look really good!

        And that’s about all for me. Gotta get back to the writing. Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie