I Love Early Mornings!

 

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

        It’s a beautiful morning here in sunny Arizona. The sun is just starting to come up. I love this time of day (I must because I’m up early to greet the sun every morning!).

        Actually, I started getting up early so I could write…without taking anything away from family time (our son was young at the time) and before the day job takes whatever brain power I have. It’s just me and dogs at this hour. They’re sleeping on the futon behind me, having already been fed, given fresh water and their treat (hahahahaha, yes I am well trained by my dogs). I’ve been doing it so long that I can no longer sleep in, even on weekends (sleeping in means 4:45 or 5 o’clock).

        It’s all good. After doing it so long, my brain is trained. It knows that this is the time to write and sometimes, I’ll wake up with words already in my head. I love that!

        So what am I working on? The next book in the Wives of Bravado County series. It's called Wife Unexpected. This is Faith’s story. You might remember her from the last book. She was the best friend of the heroine in Wife by Surprise and well, she needs her own story. The words are flowing, which is always a good thing BUT after completing Chapter One, I realized I started in the wrong place. This happens (all too often, it seems). It’s a little frustrating but a story has to start in the right place so after finishing the corrections/edits in The Madam and Mr. MacLean so I can submit it on time, I got right back into it…and ripped out the entire first chapter to rewrite it. Works better now though the loss of all those words hurt my heart! I am now back on track and much happier. The daily word count has been surprising, even for me (I’m a slow but steady writer). I have an hour to write before I need to get ready for the day job and not to toot my own horn but I have been nailing it! That makes me happy, too!

        That being said, I should get back to it before I need to start my Sunday chores. 

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

 Marie

Discovering the Marquess by Lexi Post has released!

 

 Discovering the Marquess (Courting a Curious Lady: Book 4) 

by Lexi Post 

has released!

His secret is dark. Can she bring him into the light?

Amazon | Amazon UK  | Amazon AU | Amazon CA 

Free on Kindle Unlimited

Lady Eleanor is convinced she will never be asked to marry, and not because she loves astronomy. Her bright red hair, tendency to speak loudly, and penchant for clumsiness has only the oldest lords bothering to even talk to her. So as the Belinda School for Curious Ladies closes for the holidays, she accepts a marriage proposal sight unseen from Lord Darius Taylour, the Marquess of Ferncroft—a widower. All she knows about him is that he is looking for a mother for his two children and is younger than her father.

Darius’s “black moods” are a secret known to only a handful of people, and he plans to keep it that way. Since his first wife was not what she’d first appeared, he is pleased that his younger brother arranged a marriage for him with an intelligent woman who will welcome his two children. It doesn’t take long for him to discover that Ellie is not only nothing like his first wife, but also not like other women.

As Ellie disrupts his house, plans an elaborate Christmastide, and takes over the education of his children, he finds himself too distracted to become melancholy. Just as he begins to appreciate her many attributes, he’s reminded of why he must never relax his guard. His wife may well reach for the stars, but his feet are stuck deep in the mud, and he can see no way out.

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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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

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.

Website

Lexi Post Updates

Facebook

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D2D

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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

Happy 2026

 

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

        Happy New Year! I am hoping that 2026 will be a good year, and I seem to have started it off with a bang (a muted bang…the dogs and I are tired of the fireworks they’re shooting off around here. They’re still doing it although New Year’s Eve is long over).

        Why do I say I started off with a (muted) bang? Because I finished the first draft of The Madam and Mr. MacLean! Yay! That was a goal I set for myself at the beginning of 2025 (I’m a slow but steady writer with limited time so I’m pretty pleased with myself). It’s almost ready for my edit (it’s still going through critique) then off to my beta readers.

        The other thing that made this New Years great? I signed a contract with my publisher (LOVE my publisher) for four more books – two more in the Wives of Bravado County series and two more in the Matchmaker Mischief series. I’m excited and so happy and yes, I have started all four stories because that’s just how I roll.

        It’s my favorite part, actually. I love the start of a new story (the middle is where I run into problems, but the beginning? It’s totally fun). I love creating the setting, and the plot points and most especially, my characters. If I’m really lucky, my characters will tell me who they are, what they stand for (i.e., what they will or will not do), and what their goals are. Sometimes, they talk to me. No, I’m not crazy but I do have voices in my head…such is the life of a writer! I kinda consider it crazy if I don’t have voices or scenes or dialogue running through my head.

        Speaking of scenes, I just got an inkling of a new one so I’m gonna go write.

        Stay well! Stay safe! Have a beautiful 2026 and remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie