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

The Honey Pot Plot by Jennifer Cruise and Bob Mayer

 Rose is trying to settle in Rocky Start.  The difficult part is that she's a former assassin and so are many of the other residents.  Tough crowd.  Many are of the retirement age except for her daughter Poppy who is another worry on her mind as an unknown assassin has attempted to disrupt and kill the current crowd of retirees.

Rose's new and hopefully permanent mate, Max, is hiking the Appalachian Trail.  He's claiming to hike the treacherous snowy path for the exercise and beauty, but there's also the suspicion of a hidden treasure somewhere in the trees.

Poppy helps her mom with an incognito second-hand shop while a quiet newcomer, Marley, parks his truck in the alley behind Rose and Poppy's home for protection.  It takes a while for Poppy and Marley to trust each other.  It's a town that trust needs to be earned, yet each laugh, coffee, lasagna, and meeting advances the romance.

After several attempted murders on multiple residents, the "good" assassins collaborate and weed out the bad.  Just in time to allow social activities to resume in a semi-normal romantic venue.  Makes me believe romance can prevail in almost any situation!   

Happy reading,

Dawn

 

To Write or Not To Write

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

       Well, the day job kicked my butt again these past two weeks. Too much to do and not enough time, but you all know what that’s like.

       Still, I survived and actually got some stuff done that I haven’t been able to get to and this makes me happy.

       What else makes me happy? Well, the writing, of course. I admit, I would be lost without it and I know this because…

        I didn’t write for over ten years. I know, that’s a long time. Why? Well, a few reasons, but looking back, none of them were good. We all have our own self-editors in our heads. You know the nasty, little voices that say “Who wrote this drivel? Why do you even try?”

        And then, there are the external voices. In my case, it was a particularly devastating rejection letter. In the past, I let those things bother me (lots of tears and then self-soothing chocolate) so I decided I was going to stop writing at all.

        And I did. For ten long years.

        I noticed something about myself when I wasn’t writing. I’m not the same person as when I do write. There is a need in me to get those words on paper (or on the computer), a passion for making up stories that keeps me sane. And, if it can bring joy to someone else, all the better.

        So, what made me start writing again?

        I was cleaning out my file cabinet and I came across that rejection letter, the one that made me put down my pen. In a clearer frame of mind (and ten years of personal growth and developing a thicker skin), I read it again. And again. No, I was not torturing myself. I was learning, seeing what that agent saw that I hadn’t seen before.

        And suddenly, two things clicked in my brain at once. An epiphany, if you will. I realized how much I missed writing and how much I was denying that part of me.

        What was the other thing? Plain old stubbornness. Yes, I said that and I mean that. I am stubborn. Have been all my life (and believe me, sometimes stubbornness will see you through a situation more than anything else).

        So…I sat down to write. A story so full of conflict that there could never be any doubt (which is what the agent had pointed out in the letter…that I didn’t have enough conflict).

        Finding and reading that letter again happened in 2006. In 2008, I published my first story. That was eighteen years ago. Since then, I’ve published fourteen stories, finished the first draft of another, and started four more.

        I still have that rejection letter. It’s framed on my wall. And it reminds me…never let go of your dreams.

        Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go! Marie

COWBOYS OF POKER FLAT boxed set by Lexi Post is on Sale for $3.99!

Cowboys of Poker Flat

(Poker Flat Series: Books 1, 2 & 3)
 

I like starting the year off with a sale, and what could be better than a boxed set sale? How about a boxed set sale at half price! That's right, the cowboys that started it all for $6.99 are only $3.99. But this is for a very limited time, so grab the first 3 books in this series for a bargain.

Welcome to Poker Flat nudist resort, where for guests, it’s clothing optional, but for the misfit staff, baring their souls for love is mandatory. 

Amazon | AppleBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA

Kendra Lowe hires cowboy Wade Johnson as the new stable manager for her soon-to-open nudist resort. She soon discovers when the odds are stacked against them, Cowboys Never Fold. Good thing too, because he’s determined to find out who is trying to sabotage her resort even if he loses his heart.

Cowboy firefighter Cole Hatcher suspects Lacey Winters, his ex-girlfriend, of arson…again. But it’s soon made clear that the resort’s bookkeeper is still this Cowboy’s Match. So as the heat rises, he needs to find the real arsonist or his love will go down in flames.

Security guard and Army veteran, Hunter McKade lost his wife, but he can’t deny his attraction to the hot bartender, Adriana Perez. Indulging his curiosity, he discovers she doesn’t want a relationship. But when she becomes the target of an angry guest, only he can help her…if she’ll accept that she’s this Cowboy’s Best Shot at happiness.

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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Saving the Lakeside Hotel by Melinda Huber

A double shot of fun and romance in the warmth of a summer in Switzerland.  This country always makes me think of winter, but they have summer, too.  

Stacy and Emily are gifted a week at the Lakeside Hotel, formerly an unaffordable location for a young nurse and teacher from England.  It's a great break they both need.

Stacy is engaged to a med-student and Emily is recovering from a knee injury.  Both have bigger problems than it sounds like.  

The grand hotel is nearly deserted when they arrive.  Quite peculiar with all its amenities.  

The son's owner, Rico, understands the financial distress of the business as Alan is a multi-tasker with the restaurant and lobby.  Alan becomes immediately fascinated with Emily and Rico holds back interest in Stacy.  He'll honor the engagement ring she wears.  

Stacy feels a rift with her fiancé.  Emily "isn't in the mood", but rather her mind is on a lot of pain and limited mobility.  

Things change on vacation, though.  The stunning scenery and traveling through mountains and forests lend to a feeling of comfort and new beginnings.  

Find out what relationships end and begin.  

Happy reading,

Dawn  

Just Another Week

 

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

Well, the day job kicked my butt this past week (and I get to do it all over again next week). My fire extinguisher just wasn’t big enough to put out all the fires! My brain hurts! Retirement can’t come soon enough!

Anyway…despite the dumpster fire, the writing seems to be going well. And that’s a good thing. I think, at this point, if I didn’t have the writing, I’d be stark raving mad, you know? My stories are the only place I have control.

Hahahahahaha! Oh my gosh! I just read what I wrote and the statement that I have control in my writing is pure and utter nonsense.

I do not have control. At all.

I have barely begun Wife Unexpected and already, my hero Tysen, is upset with me. He’s telling me that I’m wrong. The way I’m writing him is not who he is at all. Why did I make him a bad guy? He’s telling me he’s not. He has a heart and a soul and he’s just looking for someone to love him for who he is, that he just sorta fell into being a hired gun.

What?

How does one fall into being a hired gun? Isn’t that a choice?

He’s telling me he didn’t have a choice. Not then, but he’s walking away from that life. No, not walking. Running. He doesn’t even want to think about his life before he met Faith.

Ah, is that why he’s upset? He thinks I’m going to make him confess to Faith. Will she reject him once she finds out what he is? Or was? 

Hmmm, I think I understand but sometimes, we gotta go through the bad to find the good. Trust me, Ty, it’ll all turn out right in the end and you’ll find that person who loves you despite everything.

Now, just let me write you the way I see you. I’ll be kind. You’ll see.

And since I just made that promise to him, I should go do it. Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie

A Copenhagen Snowmance by Pernille Hughes

 Always check the weather before traveling, especially if your destination is undesirable during December.

A short flight from London to Copenhagen shouldn't be a problem.  Anna Lundhom figures a couple hours to pick up an eighteen month delayed project in Copenhagen is a doable plan.  The snowstorm chasing her plane into the airport proves otherwise.  All flights are cancelled.

Sure that the airport will be functioning in a few hours, Anna sets out to accomplish her mission.  

Hour after hour, the airport reports no progress on opening.  Hotels are already full.  She has friends, she has an apartment, and she has a former fiancé.  Although, she hasn't contacted her friends in the eighteen months, her apartment is rented to a man, and her fiancé is getting married to a former best friend.  

Jamie is wary when she knocks on his door.  He never met his landlord, and he wasn't looking for a roommate even for a short time.  With an uncomfortable beginning, Anna and Jamie spend time together during the storm along with repeated delays of planes.

In payment, Anna shows Jamie highlights of Copenhagen during this snowy and festive season.  She gives the reader a grand tour, also, of the customs, food and drink, and activities.  It's a magical arena, and the goodwill gets absorbed in romantic ways.

Happy reading,

Dawn