Eloise and the Grump Next Door by Emma St. Claire and Jenny Proctor

 Eloise, let's call her Lo, presents us with a humorous and delightful summer romance.

She recently graduated from college, and the post-graduate degree she hopes for isn't available.

To add to her non-acceptance for a masters, her beloved grandmother passes.  The grandmother she always promised to visit yet couldn't find the time or air fare to get there.  Lo did write to grandma, which is a tiny consolation in Lo's mind.  

Her and her two successful sisters inherit grandma's old home on Oakley Island with the codicil that they revamp the construction and open a B&B.  After that, keep or sell.  Her sisters decide Lo should stay and take care of the situation because she has nothing better to do.

Grandma's lawyer poses another issue.  Jake accidently meets Lo on her twenty-first birthday.  I won't say more about that embarrassing scene, but you get the idea, I'm sure.  

Jake keeps his friendly, inner self hidden well under a grumpy exterior.  Even if he needs to be close at side to Lo through the remodeling and spending.  Not to mention he lives in the duplex next to where she will stay.  

Lo's kind and innocent heart may be a catalyst to melt the ice at Jake's core.  Although, she hasn't given up getting her masters degree, and Jake won't stand in her way.

What happens when life, work, education, and love entangle themselves?  It may take more time to make a plan, but it's definitely a possibility to fit the puzzle together and make everything happily fit together.

Happy reading,

Dawn

A chance for 18 historical romances and an eReader!

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The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

As Europe enters the war in 1939, Alma Belasco's parents send her to relatives in San Fransico where she continues the rest of her life.

Alma befriends Ichimei Fukuda, the Japanese gardener's son.  The friendship turns into a love affair hidden from their community and everyone around them because even in America, it's not acceptable.  

Alma and Ichimei continue their lives on the outside along with a hidden romance for seven decades.

When Alma is near the end of her life, Irina, her caretaker, and Alma's grandson, Seth, find a mystery in the flowers, notes, and secret escapades dependably repeated by Alma.

With a little spying and digging around, Irina and Seth discover the relationship.  

To hide such a beautiful love should never need to happen.   The funny thing about love is that you don't choose it, it chooses you.  True love always brings peace and conquers war.  Spread the word.

Happy reading,

Dawn

And the Ideas Just Keep Coming

 

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

Well, I have just been writing up a storm! Just pounding the keyboard (and hoping what I’m saying makes sense). I’m working on The Marshall and Mrs. Morgan at the moment (along little snippets of other stories that are in my head).

I so love this part of the process, where I’m learning about my characters—who they are and what makes them do the things they do. What do they look like? What’s their personal history? Did they have happy childhoods? What happened to them to get them where they are now, meeting each other for the first time? It’s fun finding out!

I’m learning about the town where the story is set as well because the town is just as much a character as the people who inhabit it.

As with the beginning of any new story for me, the ideas are coming fast and furious. Funny where inspiration hits and little bits of dialogue or scenes come to me. Take yesterday, for instance. I was grocery shopping (as I usually do on Sundays) when an idea hit me. Fortunately, I always carry a small notebook in my purse for such occasions so there I stood, in the middle of the detergent aisle, jotting down notes so I wouldn’t lose them. I may have even giggled a time or two as I wrote (did other shoppers look at me like I was nuts? Yes, I’m sure they did). How long did I stand there, blocking the aisle before I moved my cart aside? I honestly have no idea. Certainly not long enough for my ice cream to melt into a puddle but definitely long enough for it to get soft.

Of course, those ideas and scenes aren’t in any particular order and neither is my manuscript at the moment (I haven’t even finished Chapter Two yet and here I am, jotting down scenes for the epilogue!). But this is how my mind works. Scary, isn’t it? I’ll puzzle it all together later (which again, is how my mind works).

Oooh, just got another glimpse of a scene. Gotta go write it down before I forget!

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

Marie

UNCOVERING THE LORD by Lexi Post has released at only 99¢

 

UNCOVERING THE LORD

(Courting a Curious Lady: Book 1)

by Lexi Post

is now out and only 99¢!

She turned him down once. Dare he risk his heart again?

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On the eve of her trip to the Dragon Caves in Mallorca, Spain, Lady Elsbeth Rawley of Astor discovers that her classmates at The Belinda School for Curious Ladies will be pulled from school unless one of them marries by the end of the season. Heartsick this could happen, she promises she will marry for their benefit. Unfortunately, she has no prospects which means she will have to cut her trip short and return to England quickly to find a suitor. So while digging among the stalagmites, the last thing she expects to find is Lord Theodore Mabry, the heir to the Earl of Lansdowne, and the man whose proposal she rejected last season.

For the last year and a half, Teddy has buried his heartbreak over Lady Elsbeth in willing women on the Continent. But his happy-go-lucky ways were halted when one of those women gave him a baby girl before dying of illness just weeks later. Now, ready to go home with his daughter, he needs a “dragon tooth” for the wet nurse who refuses to travel aboard a ship unless she has one to wish upon for safe passage. Coming face to face with Lady Elsbeth is not in his plan, and while at first, it appears it will be a fortunate event, he soon discovers she is not who he thought she was as he is forced to take the same ship headed for England.

Now in each other’s daily company, Teddy finds he did not bury his love for Elsbeth deep enough. But he can’t ask for her hand in marriage. He has no wish to be rejected again. So he enjoys their time together as temporary, until hope rears its ugly head. Unfortunately, not all is as it seems and despite his defenses, he must decide if loving Lady Elsbeth is worth the destruction of his heart.

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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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First Kiss Train Wreck by Michelle Pennington

 Rian has a problem with first kisses, so first dates are her specialty because there's never a second date.

She works at Booms and Nibbles and flips houses with her best friend, Troy. You wouldn't think she has time for dates, but they are always around the corner.

The new marketing man immediately finds her attractive and asks for a date.

                                         

Troy to the rescue.  Riana accepts the offer of a lesson on first kisses.  Friends can do this, right?  With a blush from Troy, the lesson begins.  Rian isn't nervous this time, so that must be why it is the best kiss ever experienced from her point of view.  

She's ready for the next first date.  Granted, more lessons may be in order.

Does this make it two men on her roster, the new marketing guy and Troy?  Maybe she should narrow the field down and pick the new and exciting or the known and dependable amongst other attributes.

She has a work relationship with both, both handsome, both desirable...  What will she do?

Romantic comedy can always lift your spirits and leave a good feeling in your heart.

Happy reading,

Dawn

New Contract

 

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

So, I have fabulous news to share! I have finished writing Wife By Surprise, the third and final book in the Wives of Bravado County series. Now all that’s left to do is start my first-round edits, send it to my beta readers and make their corrections. I’m so looking forward to that process. I really enjoyed this story! It was a lot of fun to write.

Even bigger news! I have signed a three-book contract with Oliver Heber Books and I’m so stoked! After six years of writing, writing, writing, submitting, submitting, submitting, I have found a new publishing home! Whooo-hooo! This is cause for celebration! Here's the announcement.

As of this moment, I don’t know the exact publishing date for The Maverick and Miss Miller, but I would imagine it would be sometime later this year and I’m already working on The Marshall and Mrs. Morgan, the second book in the series. I love this part of the process…starting a new story, developing my characters, figuring out my plot points even though I know my characters will do whatever they want.  

I can’t tell you how excited I am! Also a little nervous, which is to be expected I think. I’ve never signed a contract for more than one book and now I have one for three! Oh my gosh! Happy days, indeed!

And being that that is the case, I should get back to writing.  

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

Marie