Royal Shade of Blue (the modern royals series) by Aven Ellis

A fun and light-hearted romance can capture any readers attention!

Clementine is a student at Stanford, studying art and antiques.  Her social life is quiet, or should I say, non-existent.  She has a well-guarded, by her family, former medical condition, which keeps her “better safe than sorry” on her excursions.  Then a message on Instagram catches her attention. Can’t hurt her without a physical connection.

CP messages Clementine just to tell her she’s incredibly interesting, and no, he’s not a stalker.                                       

Messaging back and forth, an intense interest grows between the two. CP tells her he’ll come from the UK to meet her.

How exciting!  Will it happen?  Will an online relationship bring a man eleven hours by air to Northern California just to be disappointed in her? 

Such a sweet and complete romance blossoms.

Until Clementine finds out who CP is.  Maybe it doesn’t matter.  He’ll fly her to England to meet his family, who everyone knows or at least has heard of.

The perfect romance does have a few snags along the way.  One member of CP’s family, his Mum (can’t give away her title!), doesn’t feel Clementine fits in.  Clementine’s family has a rough time believing the incredible connection is for real, and she has to make sure CP likes her for herself.  CP wants to make sure she stays herself.

So many issues, so little time to ferret out the bumps.  Love can do wonderful things, though!

Happy reading,

Dawn

Can UPS Drivers Get Any Hotter?

Hey gang, it’s me, Kayce Lassiter, and I’m here today to talk about a much under-appreciated group of guys—UPS drivers…the guys who deliver your packages to your front door.  You know ‘em…they wear brown outfits, often with shorts that show off their muscular legs.  They knock on your door, smile politely, don’t leave skid marks on your driveway.  They’re easy on the eyes, polite and courteous, and major H-O-T.

Seriously, have you ever seen an ugly one?  Nope, no one has…it’s like a unicorn…it doesn’t exist.

But did you know that the beauty of these guys goes deeper than their skin?  Well, I’m here to tell you it does.  In fact, I saw something today that told me the beauty of this species goes much deeper—and in the case of the guy who jumped out of his truck at 55^th Avenue/Thunderbird in Glendale, AZ on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 22^nd, that beauty goes straight to his core.  That man has a heart of gold.

Okay, I’ve jumped ahead of myself a bit, so here’s what unfolded.

I pulled up to the traffic light and stopped.  There was a UPS truck waiting across the intersection for the light to change, headed in the opposite direction from me.

On the corner across from the UPS truck was a little old woman with a walker.  She was also waiting for the light to change when a gust of wind curled around her, whipping the paperwork she held from her hand, to scatter it across the road.

I was still trying to decide what to do when the UPS driver sprung from his vehicle, collected the paperwork, and carried it to her, sweetly waiting as she took it from his hand.  Then, without waiting for a word of thanks, he sprinted back to his vehicle to slide in behind the wheel.

The sweet old lady standing at the side of the road was so dumbstruck by his kindness that she could only stare at him, paperwork in hand.

The light changed and he went about his day, probably completely unaware of what a wonderful, loving, generous thing he had just done.

It’s entirely possible that the woman was headed to the pharmacy on the opposite corner and the paperwork in her hand was a prescription she had just spent weeks trying to obtain from one of her doctors…perhaps for truly life-saving medication that could be a matter of life-or-death to her if she had lost the paperwork.  (We all know how unforgiving the medical industry can be if you've lost your documentation.)

Anyway, my point here is that this beautiful man took a moment out of his busy day to help an old woman, with no thought of thanks or accolades.  He saw her need, and he leapt to her assistance.  It was a small act of kindness to him, but no one knows what it might have meant to her.

He’s my hero for the day!  And I will forever be reminded every time I see one of those brown delivery trucks that those gorgeous guys also come with hearts of gold.

Hooray for the good guys!  Thank you, HOT UPS GUY for being such a stud!

That’s my story, sweet and satisfying, and I’m stickin’ to it.  Hang on tight now, ‘cuz we’re gonna go real, real fast!

Love ya,

Kayce

Labor Day Weekend!

         Hello, gentle readers!

It’s Sunday afternoon of Labor Day Weekend (though you’ll read this on Wednesday) and yes, I have labored. What have I done? The usual Saturday and Sunday chores (you know, all the stuff you don’t have a chance to do during the work week), but this weekend, I’m also making a big batch of spaghetti sauce (with meatballs and sausage), which is simmering as I write and I’ve got a roast in the crock pot that I’m going to shred for chili.

The pot I use is about four times this size...and it's full!
 

The aromas coming from the kitchen are driving my dog nuts. She’s not sleeping in her usual places, which is the loveseat or the futon behind me. Nope, right now, she is sprawled on the living room floor, her front paws and her nose in the kitchen. She really hasn’t moved from this spot (and yes, I’ve tripped over her a time or two…I always apologize though, especially when she looks at me like “Didn’t you see me here?”. Is she hoping I’ll drop something? Oh yeah, that’s what she’s waiting for. Eventually, she’ll be rewarded for her patience.

The other thing I did (in between the cooking and the cleaning)? I finished reading To Save a Sinner by Adele Clee. Ms. Clee is a new author for me and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this story. So much so, that I’m gonna have to pick up her backlist. I love it when I find a new author! Especially if she (or he) has a backlist!

Now that I have all that done (well, almost done….I’ll be divvying up the sauce later to freeze and shredding that roast) but tomorrow (which is Monday and Labor Day and a day off from the day job), I plan to indulge in my passion for movies. We have free Showtime this weekend (whoooo-hooo!). I’ve made a list and hope to get as many movies in as I can (Any suggestions? I like just about anything). Doesn’t that sound great? A total veg day for me...

Unless inspiration strikes and my current characters start talking to me, which would be great. I love it when my characters tell me things. I’m working on a Mail Order Bride story and it’s been fun. She’s kinda spunky and I like that.

And that’s it for me….gotta go stir that sauce.                   

Until next time, remember to spread kindness wherever you go.

Marie

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

Tough story to rate.  Well written and interesting along with dark and alarming in the revelations of personal problems prevalent today.

Camille Preaker has more problems than the usual person.  She’s a journalist, not a very good one, in Chicago and is sent home to Missouri to cover a story which brings back the demons of her problems.

A serial killer is taking the lives of young girls and saving the teeth as mementos.  Camille needs to get this story in order to keep her profession alive.  She hooks up with a Kansas City detective, Richard, who’s interested in more than giving her a story.

Richard truly likes Camille and attempts to break through her barriers to men.  Another problem of hers, she has no idea how to construct a relationship.

Camille’s issues started as the daughter of a hypochondriac mother, Adora.  Adora repeatedly claimed her three daughters were sick and she had to nurse them.  One’s dead, another, Amma, is still under control of the mother, and Camille had tried to get away and become a “normal” person.

It’s funny how the murders in a small town circle around Camille’s life, dragging her personally into the crime and reviving her addictive nature.  Camille has to sort through the bad and find the good in herself.

Richard is willing to give her a chance, but is she able to be “normal?”  Is she able to separate her problems, the problems of the murders, and let Richard touch her physically and mentally?

Happy reading,

Dawn

New Book Release: Last Hand

New Book Release!!!

Nadia Wolf arrives in Las Vegas, knowing her bad luck will return as soon as the plane lands. While Caleb is quite talented at keeping her mind off nearly everything, not even he can stop a past threat that continues to plague them. One by one her friends begin to disappear. When Caleb vanishes next, Nadia must fight to find him and the others before time runs out and all is lost.

This novella is filled with favorite series characters. Everyone is here for the finale.

Where will you be?

Get your copy now and buckle up for a fun, exhilarating ride.

Didn't start the series yet? What are you waiting for? Get the series starter: No Limit.

Enjoy!

Nicolette Pierce

www.NicolettePierce.com

We’re Talkin’ Milk Here.

Hey gang, it’s me, Kayce Lassiter, and I’m tickled as a speckled pup to be here again.  It’s been a rough couple of months, but I think I’m seeing daylight at the end of the tunnel.  At least, I’m feeling better about it maybe not being a train.  LOL  Hope you all are doing fabulous.  Have I mentioned yet that you are looking quite mahvelous?  Well, you most certainly are!

Anyway, I thought I’d stick my head in and chat for just a bit to bring everyone up to speed on milk.  Yep, you read that right—MILK.  Why?  Because it’s come to my attention that not everyone understands what milk is and where it comes from.  Then, just to complicate things further, there is more than one kind of milk these days…and here’s where things go off the rails when you’re talkin’ milk.

So, pull up a milk stool and take a sit while this daughter of a dairy farmer shares her wealth of useless information.

The trigger for this discussion was when I pulled into a drive-thru donut shop the other day and ordered a plain frosted donut and a carton of milk.  Seemed easy to me.  But au contraire.

The sweet young lady working the speaker asked, “What kind of milk would you like?”

I asked, “What kinds do you have?”  (Thinking perhaps I might have the opportunity to choose between skim, whole, and two-percent.)

Uh…no.

The sweet young lady behind the curtain replied, “Chocolate and Vanilla.”

Huh?

I hesitated a moment, and then replied, “I was actually hoping for just regular old white milk.”

Cross my heart and hope to die, she answered, “Yeah, that’s the vanilla milk.”

Huh?

Seriously?

I smiled to myself and told her the plain old white milk would be just fine.  Then I pulled to the window to pick up my donut and “vanilla milk”.  Now, I understand that Almond Milk comes in Vanilla flavor, but I wanted plain old milk…real milk, not fake milk, milk that comes from a cow—not an almond, not a coconut, not a vanilla tree.  (And yes, I know it’s actually an orchid…how?...because I have access to the internet…which donut girl must not have.)

As I pulled away from the store, I wondered if she knew where that “vanilla” milk came from.  Did she know it came from cows and not vanilla beans?  I’ve heard of people who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows, but where must she think vanilla milk comes from?  Vanilla cows?  It brings to mind visions of rows and rows of teeny weeny vanilla beans hooked up to little tiny milking machines.  I wonder how many vanilla beans it takes to get a gallon of vanilla milk.

Hmmmm…

Okay, say it with me…all together now…milk comes from COWS.  White cows, black cows, brown cows, red cows, black and white cows, brown and white cows…cows of all sizes, shapes, and ages.  Milk is milk, is milk, is milk.  To make it brown, we add chocolate.  To make it pink, we add strawberry.  And to make it vanilla, we would add vanilla extract.  But if you’re talkin’ about “milk”, it originally comes only in white (unless there’s a problem with your cow).  Everything else has been processed to the point where its very nature has changed…it is no longer “milk”…it’s now “chocolate milk”, “strawberry milk”, or…wait for it… “vanilla milk”.

But plain old white milk ain’t “vanilla milk”…it’s just milk, people!  And it’s the only thing that truly is.

That’s my story, silly and superfluous, and I’m stickin’ to it.  Hang on tight now, ‘cuz we’re gonna go real, real fast!

Love ya,

Kayce

Writing Styles

         Hello, gentle readers!

I so admire authors who can write a story from beginning to end without stopping or editing as they go. They save all that once they finish their first, rough draft.

I have never been able to do this. I am constantly going back to what I’ve already written, tweaking, changing words or sentences or…gasp…whole pages! However, when I’m done with a chapter, I’m pretty much done. I’m not a pantster (an author who writes by the seat of their pants). I’m not a plotter. I don’t meticulously outline my entire story although I do have plot points…things I want to have happen but they’re not in any particular order.

What I am…is a puzzler. I write scenes as they come to me then kinda puzzle it all together. This works for me. Not sure why.

As a puzzler, I never know when a scene will come to mind. Or dialogue. Or another plot point that needs to be made and I’m fortunate that I can write anywhere. Noise doesn’t bother me. Neither does movement out of the corner of my eye. Once I’m writing, I can pretty much ignore everything.  

So…I make provisions for that. I carry notebooks in my purse and I always, always have multiple tablets available. I prefer colored, lined paper. Currently, I have yellow, blue, purple and pink. I also have some writing tablets that are multicolored (on the same page) and some that have little designs on them. I like colored ink, too, but mostly, I write with a mechanical pencil. I don’t use the eraser….takes too much time. I simply cross out and keep going. I use a lot of arrows, too, because one thought begets another thought, but it may not be where it needs to be. I’ll also write up the side of the page (in the margin).

Here’s an example. This page was written while I was in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles, waiting to have my car emissions tested! Admittedly, the technician looked at me strangely, probably because I was mumbling to myself as I wrote…and laughing a little bit, too. I'm not crazy...I swear!

 

Until next time, remember to spread kindness wherever you go.

Marie