Countdown to Valentine’s Day–meet cutes

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What the heck is a “meet cute?” In the world of romance writing, it’s the first meeting of the two main characters who will eventually become a love interest. The meet cute sets up the circumstances, and usually gives the hero and heroine a chance to size each other up, whether the meet starts with intrigue, annoyance, a spike in blood pressure, or a tingle up the spine.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I’ll be sharing a few of the meet cute scenes in my romance novels. Here’s the meeting between Kristen and Reed in The Story Between Us. Enjoy!

meet cute TSBU

The sound of clapping filled the room. The manager beamed at Kristen then unhooked the small velvet rope, signaling the event was under way.

For more than an hour, Kristen hardly put down the marker or drank any of the water the store provided. No awkward gaps appeared in the line. While she visited with the customer in front of her, movement in her periphery vision caught Kristen’s attention.

A young boy bounced in line waiting for his turn.

Kristen smiled but kept focused on the customer at the table.

“Christmas gifts.” The woman presented three copies of the new book.

Kristen mentally pinched herself. Three copies to a single customer had to be a first. “Thank you so much. I sure hope they enjoy the books.” Turning back toward the line, Kristen was surprised to find the fidgeting boy already standing at the table.

With both hands, he placed a copy of What Will You Be? on the table and shoved it forward with a lopsided grin, his bright blue eyes shining.

“Hello there,” Kristen said. “What’s your name, my friend?”

He put his chin in a hand and leaned in close.

The bill of his Rangers baseball cap pushed into Kristen’s personal space.

“Dylan.”

“Pleased to meet you, Dylan.” She flicked her glance to the man standing beside the boy, who she assumed was Dylan’s dad. Wow. No wonder the kid was such a cutie. With a tall, solid build and unruly curls, the man looked as if he’d come straight off a professional soccer field—except for the suit and marigold-yellow tie that dangled around his neck. At seven forty-five. Had he just come from work?

Beneath raised brows, his slate-blue eyes stared.

Oops. She might have lingered a bit too long with her assessment.

“Dylan wanted to get his book signed.”

His deep voice reminded Kristen why she was there, and heat rushed to her face. She grabbed for the orange pen. “Yes, of course.”

“You’re coming to my class tomorrow.” Dylan said.

“Oh, my gosh. “Mrs. Baxter is your teacher?”

Dylan bobbed his head vigorously.”

“I sure am looking forward to being there.” Her schedule included an appearance in the classroom of her longtime friend Jana Baxter the following afternoon. School visits were always a fun time. While Kristen appreciated parents bringing kids to the bookstore—and buying her books—she preferred the low-key time with the kids in a classroom setting.

Kristen glanced at the boy’s dad, surprised to see a hint of impatience in his otherwise gorgeous eyes. Apparently, he wasn’t excited about being dragged out tonight. From the looks of things, he’d only gone home long enough to pick up Dylan. Maybe he hadn’t eaten dinner and felt a little grumpy.

Turning to the inside title page of the book, she wrote, “For Dylan, a very special book buddy.” She signed her name then stood and extended a hand. “I’m Kristen. You must be Dylan’s father. Thanks so much for coming this evening.”

With a slight nod, he grasped her hand. “Good to meet you, Kristen. I’m Reed Armstrong, Dylan’s uncle.”

Ah. He must’ve promised the kid some kind of outing, thinking it’d be baseball or ice cream, not a trip to the bookstore. Kristen stifled a laugh, not sure whether to feel sorry for him or annoyed he didn’t seem to appreciate time spent in a bookstore. Pulling away her gaze, Kristen turned back to her young fan. She lifted the book and held it toward Dylan. “Have fun reading that with your mom and dad or your uncle,” she told him.

Dylan’s smile disappeared, and he looked down. “Thank you,” he mumbled.

His uncle leaned forward, clearing his throat. “I’m Dylan’s guardian.”

The Story Between Us is a sweet romance that takes place primarily in Texas. It’s available in ebook and paperback formats from most online retailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple.

Happy reading! And Happy Valentine’s Day to all, whether you’re celebrating with friends, a spouse or significant other!

Darlene

The Story Between Us:

Her agent warned her not to get attached to a fan. But children’s book author Kristen Hanover is about to break the rules. Kristen meets a young boy who is a victim of a tragic accident and is drawn into the heartbreaking situation.

Six years ago, Reed Armstrong never imagined he’d actually become guardian of his sister’s boy. Now he is, and most days he’s not sure he’s up to the task.

When he and Dylan meet Kristen, Reed downplays his nephew’s crush on the author. But as their lives become unexpectedly intertwined, he finds himself captivated as well. Trouble is, she sells stories for a living. Does she truly care about Dylan…and Reed, or is she using them for her own career advancement?

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-story-between-us-darlene-deluca/1137387092?ean=2940162985785

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-story-between-us/id1525107147

Is Love at First Sight for Real?

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Hello, friends! Today I wrap up my series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors. I hope you’ve had fun learning a little about them and their books. I asked them each to answer some holiday-related questions. For the grand finale, here’s Chloe Holiday. Welcome, Chloe!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? I find that just as scents do, music can transport me to another place, and I love holiday music of all kinds. We have an old 25-disc CD changer, and I load it up on the first of December with my favorites. It’s an eclectic mix of tunes: a Jazz Nutcracker Suite, instrumental carols in brass, sax, steel drum, and hammered dulcimer as well as full orchestral versions of Baroque Christmas music, and even one made from different pitches of frog croaks. Those with vocals range from old Nat King Cole songs to modern pop stars to the Vienna Children’s Chorus. It always gets me in the mood for all the holiday preparations.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  We grew up well-fed, but with not much left over, and the Christmas stockings were a big part of the celebrations, since the gifts were modest and limited. How we savored the treats, and traded them! My mother made each of us a custom, handmade stocking, and I’ve continued that tradition with my own family. They don’t match, but were made with love and laden with symbolism meaningful for each person.

Chloe is a military physician-turned-novelist who writes the things she loves to read: steamy, fun stories about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, smart women and men who aren’t jerks. About friendships, whether close women or a good bromance. She wants to bring you all the feels: the thrill of a smoldering gaze or the barest brush of fingertips, the shocked gasp at the underhanded villain, the angst of heartbreak, the joy of reunion, and of course, happily ever after!

A bit of danger always gets her going, so many of her Romances have a suspense subplot, and they all contain a dose of humor.

She hates to read the same old thing, with only the names and places changed, so her goal is to bring you a fresh, fun, NEW story every time, with NO CLIFFHANGERS– a rollicking, great story you can’t put down, where love prevails in the end, that will whisk you away from your own tribulations. Escape, relax, indulge—you deserve a Holiday!

FK cover

Finders Keepers Book blurb:  Convinced her boyfriend is cheating, free-spirited Farrah flees a holiday party and dodges into a bar where straitlaced Caleb indulges in one drink. Charmed, she goes home with him, but her boyfriend’s later texts persuade her she was mistaken. Horrified by what she’s done, she sneaks out in the night, leaving Caleb with a single mitten …

A favorite short quote from the book:  He didn’t believe in love at first sight. His parents had gotten engaged after only two days, but that was a one-in-a-million thing. Still, Caleb felt her pull, more intense than simple lust. Like a solar flare, disrupting everything around her, white-hot.

Connect with Chloe:  https://www.chloeholiday.com/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088GSS28W

Thanks so much for joining us, Chloe. Love how your last name goes with the theme! 🙂  I, too, made handmade Christmas stockings for my kids. Makes them one-of-a-kind! I love hanging–and filling–them every year even though the kids are grown!

Happy holidays to all, and best wishes for a joyous season and new year.

Darlene

Romance and intrigue in the Australian Outback

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Hello, friends! Today we have another guest visiting the blog. Throughout the next week I’ll feature a series of holiday posts from authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer a few holiday-related questions. Let’s meet author Meryl Brown Tobin. Welcome, Meryl!

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  My mum used to make shortbreads, I make shortbreads and I taught my children and grandchildren to make them.  We pummel the dough the way we’d pummel playdough and make balls into shapes, such as our initials or snowmen, snakes, tarts or whatever or use cookies cutters to cut shapes such as Christmas trees, birds or shortbread men or women. Then we’d decorate them with cut pieces of glace cherry.

–A favorite holiday travel story to share? This is a prose poem I wrote about a true funny Christmas ‘disaster’ that happened in our rural area shortly before one of our Christmas school holidays which occur in summer in Australia.

A Rural Christmas

Faces as expectant as cattle

welcoming rain after drought

schoolchildren face the school gate

sing Jingle Bells

pause, wait.

Cupping his ear, the teacher calls,

“Sing louder, children––

Santa can’t hear you.”

Children sing louder, pause again.

Still no Santa.

Frowning, the teacher leads the children

parents into another carol, and another.

He tries Jingle Bells again.

It’s deafening.

A fire engine roars into the school ground.

On its back, like a frenzied windmill

a red-faced Santa waves.

The teacher reaches up to pump his hand.

Santa leans down, whispers, “Sorry.

One of my cows decided to calve

and I couldn’t leave her.”

      Meryl Brown Tobin is an Australian writer who writes fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, poetry and educational puzzles.  She has published 21 books and had hundreds of poems, puzzles, short stories and articles published in more than 150 publications.

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Book blurb: On a working holiday in Australia’s cosmopolitan Outback town of Broome in 1986, Jodie, a young book designer and artist is open to romance and adventure.

At the holiday village where she is staying, she meets Joe, a young man who works there. Despite the strong attraction between them, the many unknowns about his earlier life keep them apart. To try to uncover his mysterious past, they travel to Perth and back to Broome and are drawn into not only bizarre but also dangerous situations.

Is Joe the person she thinks he is, or is he some alter ego? Can Jodie and Joe stop their relationship from developing until they have answers and know if he is free to love her?

A favorite short quote from the book:

The storm whined and screeched about her, and the roof creaked and scraped.

“Oh, my god, the roof’s going to take off any minute!”

Joe’s arms enveloped her. “Hush, everything will be all right. But will you be okay if we have to make a run for it?”

“Yes.” She let out a sob. “But I like our chances better in here than out there.”

Joe kissed her forehead. He pulled her closer, and they lay locked against each other while the storm raged around them.

Connect with Meryl: https://sites.google.com/view/merylbrowntobin-author

Amazon.com : broome enigma

Thanks for joining us, Meryl! Love the Santa-and-the-cow story! Happy holidays, everyone! And happy reading!

Darlene

Are these Christmas cookies to die for?!

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Hello, friends! Today please welcome author Wendy Kendall as part of my holiday guest series featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer a few holiday-related questions. Let’s meet Wendy!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? Besides all the delicious food on our table for Christmas, at each place setting there is also a colorfully wrapped and tied-with-a-ribbon tube at every place setting. What are these? They’re Christmas Crackers – but not the kind of cracker you eat. These are the kind you pop open. You grab one end, and another person at the table grabs the other end and when you each pull there’s actually a loud bang of a pop as it opens. Inside are the fun goodies including: a paper crown, a corny joke, and a fun surprise little gift.

Christmas crackers are a British tradition dating back to the early 1850s, London confectioner Tom Smith started adding a motto to his sugared almond bon-bons which he sold wrapped in a twisted paper package. As many of his bon-bons were bought by men to give to women, many of the mottos were simple love poems. He was inspired to add the “bang” when he heard the crackle of a log he had just put on the fire. He decided to make a log shaped package that would produce a surprise bang and inside would be an almond and a motto. Soon the sugared almond was replaced with a small gift. The paper crown was added to the cracker in the early 1900s by his sons and by the end of the 1930s, the love poems had been replaced by jokes.

Our family and friends always enjoy the fun of our Christmas Crackers, and of course we want to hear all the jokes.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?” It’s such a fun family activity to cook and bake together especially in the holiday season. As my sons were growing up we put together gingerbread houses, cut out cookies, and my specialty – homemade lasagna warms up the whole house. When I plotted this romantic suspense novel, it was inspired initially by a vision I had of what a delicious Snow Kiss cookie could mean. I shared my inspiration with my son Brad and he created the completely original, melt-your-soul, delectable cookie recipe. These cookies are all I’d hoped for, just like the story. Brad Riggs’ original recipe is included in the book.

SnowKissCookiesToDieFor_w15575_ib

The result of Wendy Kendall’s passion for purses, mystery and romance is the intriguing In Purse-Suit Mysteries published by The Wild Rose Press. Kat Out of the Bag introduces Katherine Watson purse designer/sleuth, also published by Harlequin at Harper Collins, available February 20, 2024.  Finalist for Best Romantic Suspense at Killer Nashville, Snow Kiss Cookies To Die For creates a tangle of mystery and love, raising suspicions about a teacher’s romantic new sweetheart.  Wendy enjoys investigating the Pacific Northwest life, and she leaves a trail of her own clues as a blogger, YouTube podcaster, speaker, and syndicated columnist.

Book blurb:

This holiday season Desiree, teacher at Bayside’s elementary school starts a fun secret Santa game for her first grade class. Danger hits when each day someone leaves creepy secret Santa gifts addressed to Desiree in her classroom. The gift giver threatens to reveal who they are soon. Time is ticking before school is out for the holidays, and Desiree’s threatening stalker may strike with deadly force. Among several suspects, is her romantic new love Leo who is on the school’s maintenance staff. While the children learn the wonderful lesson of kindness in giving, Desiree is on the edge of her seat. Who is threatening her? Is Leo The One, or The Stalker?

A favorite line/short quote from the book: Dez looked around. Was anyone watching? The idea of anyone putting up a stocking with her name was odd enough, but with this inside? Her phone vibrated. It was from the anonymous sender.

Her hand shook as she clicked on the text and read. How did you like your card?

Connect with Wendy:  Wendywritesbooks.com

Amazon Link

Wow, impressive that your son developed the recipe for Snow Kiss cookies! How fun! Thanks for sharing with us today, Wendy!

Darlene

Going Home and Finding Love

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Hello, friends! Today I continue a series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer some holiday-related questions. Let’s get to know author Maria Imbalzano. Welcome, Maria!

–What’s your favorite holiday movie and why? I love “The Holiday” with Cameron Diaz, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Jack Black. It’s a “swapping homes” story where two women, one a wealthy California producer who lives in a mansion and one an English journalist who lives in the countryside, find each other through a house exchange website. Each of them is nursing a heartbreak and want to get away for the Christmas holiday. And of course, each of them finds love in their home away from home. This movie has just the right amount of conflict, humor, tenderness, and spirit without being the normal fare we usually see around the holidays.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  I’m not much of a cook, but I do like to bake—probably because I’m addicted to sugar. Christmas cookies are my favorite, so I guess that’s my specialty, although I want to be clear that I really don’t belong in the kitchen. I always baked these treats with my mom, and now I do it with my daughters and granddaughters. Of course, they don’t come out as good as when my mom was involved.  The problem with my baking in general is that I’m a little casual with quantities. My mother, daughters and husband have all commented on my methods of measuring water, flour, sugar etc. My response: Is there really a difference between dry measuring cups and wet? And do the measurements actually have to be exact?

Despite my shortcomings, we make butterballs, kiefli, chocolate walnut, and recently added red velvet crinkles (in honor of my book). In my opinion, they are all delicious.

Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels.

Maria is a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and has received many honors and awards for her work including the Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award, the Write Touch Readers Award, The NEST (National Excellence In Story Telling) Award, the Carolyn Award, The Stiletto Reader’s Choice Award, Book Buyers Best Award, Long & Short Reviews Book of the Month Award, and Still Moments Magazine Reader’s Choice Award.

When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states.  Maria lives in Lawrenceville with her husband–not far from her two daughters and granddaughters.

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Book blurb:

Competitive, work-obsessed Bella Simonetti has just been fired from her high-paying job at a Manhattan law firm. At an all-time low, she returns home and helps her parents at their small-town gift shop, but the business is failing and may not make it past the Christmas holidays.

Successful landscape architect Dean Jackson is like a son to Bella’s parents. But he’s a persistent annoyance to her—he seems to have forgotten his unforgivable blunder thirteen years earlier.

When Bella transforms her parents’ gift shop into a cookie cottage, Dean’s generosity and magnetic smile are hard to resist, and those feelings of unrequited adolescent love come rushing back. But can Bella let go of the past and accept Dean for the man he is today?

A favorite line from the book: Some women fear the fire. Some simply become it.

Connect with Maria:  http://www.mariaimbalzano.com

https://books2read.com/u/38d09r

Thanks for joining us today, Maria! I also enjoy The Holiday and have already seen it a couple of times this season! And I love your quote from the book! Readers, what’s your favorite holiday movie?

Darlene

A Santa in need of a Gift

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Hello, friends! Today I continue a series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer some holiday-related questions. Let’s get to know author Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy. Welcome, Lee Ann!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? I love all the traditions but one of my favorites is choosing an ornament each year. Over the years, thanks to my mom’s idea the year I was born, I have a lovely collection of unique and special Christmas ornaments. I’ve continued the tradition with my children as well.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?” Cookies! I always bake several flavors of cookies. The tradition began one year when my mom was at a loss what to get my grandfather, Pop, for Christmas. She decided I could help bake cookies, including sugar cookie cutouts. Snickerdoodles are another favorite!

Food always figures into my novels. In The Scarred Santa, Rafe’s mom bakes snickerdoodles, one of my favorite cookies. Here’s the recipe to enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

 

Heat oven to 400°F.

Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl.

Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.

Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon.

Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy, author bio: I am a native of St. Joseph, Missouri, the former frontier town where the Pony Express began and outlaw Jesse James met his end. I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood as a third-generation American in a close-knit family. I am a widow with three grown children and spent much of my career in media, first in broadcast media (radio) and then newspapers. My first novel appeared in 2010 . I write primarily romance in all flavors from sweet to heat, from paranormal to suspense, from contemporary to historical.

scarred santa cover

Book blurb: Once handsome Rafe Sullivan is left scarred, injured, and with PTSD from his Marine Corps service in Afghanistan, returning to civilian life is far from smooth, and the burn scars on his right side are extensive. Although he lives close to family, he lives a solitary life and changes jobs more often than most people change their socks. A temporary job as Santa at the mall is presented, but Rafe first rebels, then relents. His Santa gig affects his PTSD. Then he meets Sheena Dunmore. When she doesn’t run from his scars or issues, she intrigues him. An unmasking by some rowdy children is a test of his stamina and spirit. His greatest fear is fire. Will Rafe conquer the fear so he can move forward into the new life he desires?

A favorite quote from the book: “You’re my hero and I love you, Angel Face,” Mike said when he released Rafe.

As soon as Mike spoke the nickname, the one their dad had put an end to long ago, his expression changed as he realized his error.

“Oh, man. I shouldn’t have used the old nickname. Rafe, I’m so sorry. I know it’s a sore spot now and…”

Rafe laughed. “It’s fine, Mike. I probably look more like a singed devil.”

Connect with Lee Ann: https://leeannsontheimer.blogspot.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Scarred-Santa-Lee-Sontheimer-Murphy-ebook/dp/B0CHG2JPKX

Thanks for being here, Lee Ann! Your book sounds heartwarming and the cookies sound amazing! I love snickerdoodles, but frosted sugar cookies are my specialty. Readers, what foods or desserts do you make for the holidays?

Darlene 

A Ghostly Christmas Honeymoon

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Hello, friends! Today please welcome author Randy Overbeck as part of my holiday guest series featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer a few holiday-related questions. Let’s meet Randy!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? When I was in grade school, I attended a special “choir school” where we would prepare music for the church service as part of every school day. We sang at every holiday including Christmas, especially the Midnight Mass service. Even decades later, I still remember being in the choir loft, singing beautiful Christmas hymns with the church looking and smelling like Christmas. A few of my favorite Christmas carols we sang back then can still bring tears to my eyes even today.

–What’s your favorite holiday movie and why? I enjoy several of the classic movies, but I love Christmas on 42th Street, with its unbelieving child and Thanksgiving parade Santa. I’ve seen several versions of the movie and have enjoyed them all, just the child in me, I guess.

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades. He has turned this experience into captivating fiction, authoring the bestselling series, the Haunted Shores Mysteries, winner of nine national awards. This past fall, the Wild Rose Press released his newest work, an atmospheric amateur sleuth mystery, CRUEL LESSONS, the first installment in a new series set in schools, “Lessons in Peril.” He is the host of the podcast, “Great Stories about Great Storytellers,” which reveals the unusual and sometimes strange backstories of famous authors, directors and poets. He is also a speaker in much demand, sharing his multi-media presentations, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” “A Few Favorite Haunts,” and “Everything You Wanted to Know About Publishing” with audiences all over the country.

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Book blurb: All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help.

When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids get their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.

A favorite line from the book:  “Remember Christmas is for the children…especially the two who need your help.”

Connect with Randy: http://www.authorrandyoverbeck.com

https://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Crystal-Haunted-Shores-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B09B5Q2GQS

Thanks for sharing with us today, Randy! I’ve been known to get teary over Christmas tunes, too! Happy reading, everyone! Hope you’re enjoying my author guests! How is your holiday prep going?

Darlene

Heat is building in the wintry Minnesota woods

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Hello, friends! Today we have another guest visiting the blog. Throughout the next couple of weeks I’ll feature a series of holiday posts from authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer a few holiday-related questions. Let’s meet author Jana Richards. Welcome, Jana!

–What’s your favorite holiday movie and why? I love the old black and white version of A Christmas Carol from 1951. The special effects are cheesy, but for me, Alastair Sim is the quintessential Ebenezer Scrooge. He makes me believe he really is that character. He’s ruined me for all other Ebenezers!

–What’s your holiday “specialty?” I’ve got a couple of holiday specialties. Every year I make butter tarts, which are a sweet concoction of butter, brown sugar and raisins. I make them mostly because they’re my favorite and just so darn good. The other thing I make every year is a salad with cranberries, mandarin oranges, and pineapple, set in raspberry Jell-o. When I was a kid, jellied salads were very popular and we ate them all year long. Nowadays, this is the only jellied salad I make, and only at Christmas. It was my Mom’s recipe, and I guess it’s my way of paying tribute to her now that she’s gone.

Jana Richards writes romantic suspense, historicals set during WW2, and contemporary romance, including small town romance and romantic comedy. She loves to create characters with a sense of humor, but also a serious side. She believes there’s nothing better than peeling back the layers to see what makes a character tick.

When she’s not writing or keeping the dust bunnies at bay, she can be found reading a book. Jana lives in Western Canada with her husband Warren.

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Book blurb: CHRISTMAS AT SOLACE LAKE

An emergency brings Drew Barnes to Solace Lake Lodge, an inn deep in the Minnesota woods owned by his aunt and uncle. He’s sure desperation is the only reason they’d allow him to fill in as their bookkeeper. No one in his family has believed in him since his mistake got him fired from his previous job. Soon after he arrives, Drew is disheartened to discover thefts and financial irregularities. The last thing he wants is to be put in the middle of another crime.

Sous chef Celeste Bishop has made a good life for herself and her nine-year-old daughter in the three years she’s worked, and lived, at Solace Lake Lodge. After being unfairly fired, this was the only job she could get, and she’s grateful her gamble on the lodge paid off. The only sticking point is the isolation since she never learned to drive. How can she show her daughter independence when she’s always relying on others?

Drew sees Celeste’s frustration and offers to teach her to drive. A powerful attraction ignites between them, and soon deeper, stronger emotions blossom. Drew is all in, but Celeste resists her feelings. She’s nine years older than Drew. An interracial relationship didn’t work for her parents. And loving Drew feels like a betrayal of her deceased husband.

As Christmas approaches, the thefts escalate. Can Drew stop the thief and redeem himself in his family’s eyes—and his own? And can he convince Celeste they deserve the gift of a happily ever after this Christmas?

A favorite quote from the book:

The wonder in her eyes, the relief and joy, made him smile. Though he’d promised himself not to touch her today, he simply couldn’t resist. He pulled off his glove and, leaning across the console, laid his hand on her soft cheek. Drew stared into her beautiful dark eyes. The intoxicating combination of her warm, welcoming scent and the silky feel of her skin made his heart soar and his body catch fire. The need to kiss her nearly overpowered him, but he held back, knowing it wasn’t what she wanted.

Connect with Jana:  https://www.janarichards.com

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Solace-Lake-Love-Romance-ebook/dp/B0CH5DTYNS

Thanks for joining us, Jana. The book sounds amazing, and so does that Jell-o salad! Hey, readers, do you have a favorite holiday tradition? Please share!

Happy reading!

Darlene

Discover winter charm in a Crystal Castle!

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Hello, friends! Today kicks off a series of holiday guest posts featuring talented authors who will share a little about themselves and their books. I asked them each to answer a few holiday-related questions. Let’s get started with author Jennifer Ivy Walker. Welcome, Jennifer!

–What’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? I love making homemade Christmas Spice Cookies with my children—and now my grandchildren. I love sharing my own grandmother’s recipe and have been passing down this tradition for over thirty years now.

–What’s your favorite holiday movie and why? I love “It’s A Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. It’s poignant and emphasizes the value of love, family, and friendship, especially during the holidays.

–What’s your holiday “specialty?”  My holiday specialty is homemade pecan pie!

–A favorite holiday travel story to share? It’s always fun when out of state family members come to Florida for Christmas. We wear tank tops and go to the beach to enjoy the balmy weather!

    Enthralled with legends of medieval knights and ladies, dark fairy tales and fantasies about Druids, wizards and magic, Jennifer Ivy Walker always dreamed of becoming a writer. She fell in love with French in junior high school, continuing her study of the language throughout college, eventually becoming a high school teacher and college professor of French.
     Her new release, “Winter Solstice in the Crystal Castle,” is a steamy medieval romance between a flame-haired, fire-hearted French princess descended from Viking Valkyrie and the solitary, sullen knight who suffers an impossible love for her. Readers who enjoyed The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven trilogy will recognize several of the main characters in this new novel as well.
     Explore her realm of Medieval French Fantasy. She hopes her novels will enchant you.

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Book blurb:

Gabrielle is a flame haired, fire hearted French princess who dreams of becoming a Valkyrie warrior queen like her Viking ancestors from Normandy. Sent to Paris to learn the proper etiquette for a future French queen, she is called home to le Château de Beaufort for a forced marriage to a man she loathes when her father the king’s precarious health takes a sudden turn for the worse.

Chivalrous, solitary knight Sir Bastien de Landuc suffers an impossible love for Gabrielle, the unattainable princess he can never have. Without a title of nobility, he is ineligible to compete in the tournament for her hand in marriage, despite his unparalleled equestrian skills and inimitable swordsmanship.

Yet, Yuletide wishes for a wondrous winter solstice in the glorious Crystal Castle might make impossible dreams come true.

Can the valiant knight win the coveted hand of his Viking Valkyrie?

A favorite quote from the book:

“I shall be a warrior queen,” she’d told him, emerald eyes ablaze with fierce pride as she’d blocked and parried his blows. “A Valkyrie shield maiden, like my ancestor, Brunnhild.” Agile and graceful as a dancer, she’d spun with stunning elegance and surprising force, disarming him with a glorious, gloating grin. “And I shall defend this kingdom with my sword… thanks to you.”

Connect with Jennifer at https://jenniferivywalker.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Winter-Solstice-Crystal-Castle-Christmas-ebook/dp/B0CHG3ZQ8J/

Sounds enchanting, right? Tell us about your holiday traditions or books!

Happy reading, everyone!

Darlene

Make it a merry month!

darlenedeluca A Writer's Life, Books, Guests , , , , , ,

Hello to all and happy December! It’s officially holiday season! And I’m kicking it off with some guest bloggers talking about holiday traditions, recipes, books and more! Hope you’ll join us over the next couple of weeks and share your thoughts! We love to chat with readers!

On Dec. 21, I’ll draw a prize winner from everyone who’s commented or shared the holiday guest posts on this page! But first, I’m visiting author Liz Flaherty’s Kitchen Window blog today. Link is below. Stop on over and say hello!

Darlene DeLuca (1)

https://windowoverthesink.blogspot.com/2023/12/snow-magic-or-havoc-by-darlene-deluca.html

It’s such a fun season. And whatever holidays you celebrate, I hope you are surrounded by festivities and people you love! Hope to see you throughout this merriest month!

Darlene