Marie
Marie
It doesn't matter who you are, reading is a sanctuary and everyone has a need and purpose to read.
In the Kentucky Appalachians, Cussy Mary Carter is the Book Woman. She travels by donkey with books, magazines, pamphlets, and any other reading material the local library can scrounge up and send to the hill people.
Cussy Mary lives with her dear father. Working in the coal mines, her father is fearful of an early death while he attempts to get a mate for Cussy. Mating season in the hills is noted by placing a burning candle in the window. A lit candle means an available bride.
With little faith in the candle, she knows her unique blue skin places her status on the lowest rung of humanity. Cussy's job as Book Woman gives her all the freedom she can hope for. She teaches the mountain people to read and surprises them with materials of interest, when available, to keep them excited about knowledge.
On Cussy's route, Jackson Lovett settled himself in a cabin after traveling the country. He appears to have an eye for Cussy, which she refuses to acknowledge. No man of such wondrous standing would want anything to do with a blue woman.
The local doctor repeatedly requests testing on Cussy's color. Maybe there's hope to change from blue to white. Or is the color of a person a vanity issue while the person remains the same? Another problem for Cussy to encounter.
Jackson is held back from approaching Cussy, but he does show interest in simple ways when she approaches his home with her reading materials. A bouquet of wildflowers confuses her. Yet, does she sense his interest?
Tragedy's are exchanged for hope. Hope in life, reading, and love. With each show of anger, jealousy, and prejudice, a page turns with strengthened friendship and love.
Richardson's story is an intelligent, hopeful, and heartwarming tale. It's easy to get involved with Cussy's life and wish her the best.
Happy reading,
Dawn
Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread
kindness wherever you go!
Marie
East St. Louis, Illinois is nothing like its step-sister, St. Louis, Missouri. East St. Louis is where things happen and no one sees. Samantha Jones lives in the shit-hole in Illinois, but she has the love of her life, a young son, and a job as a
That's all she cares about, and she carries a Smith and Wesson to make sure she stays alive to care for her son.
Daniel Panterro is living a nightmare at the same time, only he's bound and bloody in the back of Sam's next repo job. The classy looks of the BMW she drives her cranky repo truck to, holds him in the trunk when she pops the lid.
Sam wants nothing to do with the streets of East St. Louis, and Danny cannot reveal his true identity. Doesn't matter. She's entangled in his troubles whether she saw who put him in the trunk or not.
It's a crazy ride. Danny takes Sam hostage, yet he protects her relative to the situation.
Sam chastises herself for noticing Danny's good looks beneath the dirt and blood. The fact that he doesn't want her dead is a relief, too.
Could it be more than just survival? Could something good and loving come from a frightening hide-and-seek with the thugs after them? Will Sam and Danny live to find out?
Robards delivers another one of her high-octane romantic suspense novels, and I recommend opening the cover!
Happy reading,
Dawn
Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread
kindness wherever you go!
Marie
A failing farm and a father failing in his ability to keep the farm together is a growing problem for Autumn Messina. She has a dream of becoming a teacher, yet at the same time keeping the farm running is running her down.
On a frustratingly hot day while at work on the farm, Sam Russell appears. Autumn is not in the mood for her former crush to show up.
Sam completes ten years of special forces and returns home. He owes his life to Autumn's brother and intends on repaying the family.
Sam left Autumn behind when she was a teenager, and her anger erupts in a fresh barrage of doing whatever it takes to keep him out of her business. Although, he has a lot of good ideas.
Meanwhile, as Sam attempts to help the farm, he also joins a local group of veterans. He learns how to help them through rough patches, which includes making them feel useful.
Sam's knowledge of the farm, hardworking veterans, and continual kindness to Autumn start to crack her guard against him.
It's only a matter of bumping into each other a few times, results on the farm, and a constantly changing plan that draws Autumn into Sam's arms for good.
Happy reading,
Dawn
on sale for only 99¢
until Halloween
Recluse Braeden Van Brunt is not happy to be the Headless
Horseman…until he meets Katrina Van Tassel, owner of the Sleepy Hollow Inn,
whose allure bewitches him from the front desk into the bedroom. When he
discovers Kat and the village of Sleepy Hollow are cursed to exist only in the
present day for one weekend a year, he realizes the sacrifice he must make if
he wants to keep her.
Katrina Van Tassel lives between slivers of time. She
thought she was through grieving her betrothed’s death, but her dreams flare to
life when his mirror-image arrives requesting a room. Drawn to Braeden,
she is taken to greater heights of intimacy than she ever imagined, but she
can’t be sure if her heart is with him or with the love from her past.
Knowing he must conquer both time and ghosts to keep the
only woman he’s ever loved, Braeden must put the past to rest. But the dead
won’t rest in Sleepy Hollow.
Amazon | B&N | AppleBooks | Kobo |
Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
About Lexi:
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.
Marie
You may wonder why I'm presenting an older version of a romance, yet the novel isn't quite in the classic genre. I thought it would be fun to experience the difference in writing from the 1980's and now.
If Tomorrow Comes was a best-seller just as there are many current best-sellers. The story is fast paced, loaded with adventure, and what isn't better than romance ripping the seams out of any character's plans?
Tracy Whitney has a career in Philadelphia banking and is engaged to a rich man with a rich family. Their unborn baby will have a brilliant future.
When her mother commits suicide in New Orleans, Tracy abruptly leaves to find out why. She quickly, and kind of irrationally, comes up with a plan to get back at the men who she feels caused her mom to lose it.
Her first plan against the local Mafia ends her up in prison. Getting worse, her fiancé cuts her out of his life, and she loses the baby. Tracy will never give up, though.
A greatly imaginable scheme to break out of prison starts her new career as a thief. She loves it, and she takes away money and assets from people who really don't deserve what they have.
Jeff Stevens turns up repeatedly during her encounters for stolen goods. Like many men, she doesn't trust him and thinks he wants to step in on her plans. Surprisingly, he gives her tips as a co-thief. Interest and a relationship begin to hatch. They travel the globe as thieves until they decide to retire in South America.
Granted, it's so much fun being bad!
Happy reading,
Dawn
Revealing the Viscount (Marrying a Mabry: Book 3) has released. This regency romance is the third in a series inspired by Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I hope you enjoy!
Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
Lady Mariel Mabry Beaumont is shocked to discover the man she loved, who died in the war, isn’t actually dead and has been in hiding for the last three years. Furious, hurt, and determined to have answers, she sets out to confront him, but the spontaneous, energetic man she used to know has truly disappeared, leaving her to face a cold, hardened stranger.
Marcus Stratton, the new Viscount of Blackmore, curses the fact his older brother died for many reasons, one of which is it has revealed him to society. Now there will be expectations, expectations he cannot fulfill, but what he can fulfill is his oath to bring the last of his men to justice…once he finds him. When the woman he hoped to avoid seeks him out, his true torture begins. Despite his love for her, or rather because of it, he must turn her away. She deserves far more than he can give her.
Yet unable to resist, he finds himself agreeing to Mariel’s proposition of a fake betrothal in which she’ll happily throw him over in mere weeks to avoid being pitied by the ton. But as they spend time together, his fear becomes reality and he falls even deeper in love, putting her life in danger. Now, the only way to end their façade is to reveal his personal war wounds, but will that be all that’s revealed?
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.
The season of witches, pumpkins, and black cats is looming. Katherine Howe puts together a story rich with history, witches, paranormal, romance, and thriller.
As a Harvard graduate, Connie Goodwin has the summer to create a dissertation for her doctorate. The hard part is coming up with a topic. Another hard part is created when her mother insists Connie clean up her grandmother's abandoned house near Salem, Massachusetts in order to sell it.
Connie is overwhelmed with the work at the house, which she chooses to live at for the summer. The topic of her dissertation, well, that is found among the old books and papers her grandmother collected.
A centuries old Bible with a key and scrap of paper with the name Deliverance Dane enacts Connie's curiosity. She finds out Deliverance was a witch from 1691, and her story is astounding. Deliverance created the Physick Book of remedies. All Connie needs to do is find the book and her dissertation is complete.
Many hours of consideration and wondering with a mind in need of information to fill the blanks, Connie meets Sam who's high up on a steeple. Turns out he repairs steeples for historical buildings. They become close friends, both interested in the history of Salem.
One other person with great interest in Connie's thesis, is Professor Chilton Manning. his interest is exaggerated, and he pressures Connie to find the Physick Book. He has ulterior motives, and the friendship and love from Sam is a great help in Connie's multiple projects, some of which are unknown dangers.
Actual history of the Salem witch trials, a little magic, and intertwined romance produce an exciting read for the Autumn.
Happy reading,
Dawn
(Marrying a Mabry:
Book 3)
99¢ for only 3 more days
Lady Mariel Mabry Beaumont is shocked to discover the
man she loved, who died in the war, isn’t actually dead and has been in hiding for
the last three years. Furious, hurt, and determined to have answers, she sets
out to confront him, but the spontaneous, energetic man she used to know has
truly disappeared, leaving her to face a cold, hardened stranger.
Marcus Stratton, the new Viscount of Blackmore, curses
the fact his older brother died for many reasons, one of which is it has
revealed him to society. Now there will be expectations, expectations he cannot
fulfill, but what he can fulfill is his oath to bring the last of his men to
justice…once he finds him. When the woman he hoped to avoid seeks him out, his
true torture begins. Despite his love for her, or rather because of it, he must
turn her away. She deserves far more than he can give her.
Yet unable to resist, he finds himself agreeing to Mariel’s
proposition of a fake betrothal in which she’ll happily throw him over in mere
weeks to avoid being pitied by the ton. But as they spend time together, his
fear becomes reality and he falls even deeper in love, putting her life in
danger. Now, the only way to end their façade is to reveal his personal war
wounds, but will that be all that’s revealed?
Buy Links:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Amazon CA
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.
Hey, gang, how the hell are ya? Doing good here, just busy as all get out trying to work my way through Kickstarter and now BackerKit. But I’m getting there!
So, today I wanted to tell you about what I faced last week at home…a dog. To be specific, a little “wack-job” of a dog that can’t weigh even 20 pounds. He’s (I think) a chihuahua / Jack Russell cross and is crazy as a goat that’s been loosed in an LSD lab. Seriously! The dog is a freak. Nothing this animal does makes sense.
Okay, let me back up. Here’s a cartoon picture of the little guy from a couple Christmases ago. I know…he’s cute. Don’t let that fool you. He’s not all there, and he's a bad judge of character. He actually belongs to my son and DIL, and he’s a total mommy’s boy…and the biggest fraidy cat I’ve ever seen. His name is Zeus. I think they were hoping he would live up to that, but I honestly don’t see that ever happening.
Anyway, here is where being a poor judge of character comes in…Zeus is afraid of me. Terrified, actually. Or at least that is how it would appear to the casual observer. But the truth of the matter is…the dog just ain’t right. He’s so terrified of me that he won’t let me catch him to go outside, so we have to leave his leash on him the whole time he is here…because he’s not smart enough to know that just because he’s under the bed, the leash is still out there where that woman can get to it.
I have never abused the poor little thing, nor have I even threatened him and no one in the family can figure out why he has fixated on me. But Zeus has been part of the family for…hell, I think about eight years, and yet you would think every time he sees me that he is seeing some big, hairy monster for the very first time ever. They pull into the driveway, and he gets out of the car all excited to be here and I step out the front door and say, “Hi”, and he freaks the hell out. It’s the same routine every time and is so funny and weird that it has become the family joke that Zeus loves going to gramma’s house until he learns who lives there…because clearly, no one has ever told him before who lives at this house.
Recently, he’s surprised us all, as he’s begun to warm up to me—well, sort of. His mom and dad will bring him and his sister, Zoe, by and leave them with me to babysit for a few days. Zoe…no problem. She’s in my lap the minute they are gone and, while she will cry a little bit over them leaving, she does great with me.
Zeus, on the other hand, needs time to warm up to this stranger he’s clearly never seen before ever in his whole life. Who could be so heartless as to expect a sensitive young man like him to just jump into the lap of a perfect stranger?!
Well, the newest thing is that within an hour of his parents leaving, a switch flips in his brain. He spends the first hour he’s here cowering behind a chair, peeking out to see if I’ve left yet. Then he just can’t stand it anymore and when he sees me sit down in the recliner in my room and Zoe getting all the pets, here he comes, launching himself into my lap. Scared the bejeebies outta me the first time he did it. I saw him flying at me and worried that he'd finally snapped.
Apparently, when he sleeps, his brain does a “clear storage” operation and he’s the living embodiment of 50 First Dates. I go to get them out of their kennel, and he is cowering in the back, avoids me like the plague all the way to the door, then hides behind a chair the minute I take his lead off and snap the short leash on him. Yes, he still has to drag the leash because friendship is a very fleeting thing with this wackadoodle.
This photo is the morning after he has just spent the entire day following me and laying in my lap. Now, all this said, keep in mind that I do spend most of my day in my bedroom, working—either in the bedroom recliner or at my desk. If I move into the living room mid-day, all bets are off…the dog that has just been in my lap all morning is now terrified of me again. I go to the bedroom, we are buddies. Move back to the living room later and I’m dead to him. His friendship seems to be very location-specific…again, only with me.
We have tried to sort it out and the only thing we can come up with is that he really only likes the woman in the bedroom. Apparently, the woman in the living room is a terrifying, mean person that is NOT to be trusted.
Have I mentioned yet that he is NOT
right?
Well, that’s my story, weird and wacky,
and I’m stickin’ to it. Hang on tight now ‘cuz we’re gonna go real, real fast!
Love
ya,
Did you miss the Butterscotch Martini Girl Kickstarter? Worried about
what new items we have added that you may have missed? You can still get in on
the fun and pick up some great items either by backing a tier or choosing ala
carte! Go to the BackerKit platform NOW at the link below, as you only have a
short time and some of the new items are limited quantity only. When they’re
gone, they’re gone.
Marie