Category Archives: Fiction

On Ocean Boulevard

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On Ocean Boulevard by Mary Alice Monroe

Have you ever worked hard for a worthy cause?

This is a delightful secular title. I believe that most Christian fiction readers can read this title without being easily offended. There is sex, but no sex scenes, and there is a tiny amount of mild profanity. This is the sequel to The Beach House. It was nice seeing some of the characters again.

When twenty-something Linnea returns home to the beachy shore of South Carolina, she’s upset. Her life is not going as planned and she doesn’t know what to do about it. She solicits her Aunt Cara – a business woman – for advice.

While Linnea and Cara work together for a worthy cause, so much happens in their lives. Cara is engaged, but, is it the right choice for her? Widowed, and single mom to an adopted child, she wonders if she’d be happier remaining an independent business woman. She does wonder if she should be spending more time with her adopted daughter instead of working so many hours. Her relationship with her fiancé and daughter is somewhat complex. The complexity of her relationships with them stem in part from Cara’s troubled upbringing and her workaholic attitude.

Linnea is finding it hard to fit in with her old friends, so, she makes a couple of new friends. The new people who are introduced into her life bring about drastic changes in her career and her love life.

I think environmentalists would find this book profoundly interesting. Both Linnea and Cara are passionate about the well-being of the sea turtles. There’s an emotional scene where we actually see the sea turtles hatching in the middle of the night. It sounded so amazing that I wanted to be there to see it myself.

There is a vignette at the beginning of each chapter. These vignettes highlight the beauty and plight of the sea turtles, the oceans and the environment. Reading this book will make you think about recycling, and doing things to help preserve the earth’s wildlife.

This was such a cozy, wonderful read. The characters and the situations they face may make you laugh and cry. For me, this was an emotional book. 00 I highly recommend it.

So, have you ever campaigned for a worthy cause? If so, what was the cause and what did you do to support it?

Question From a Reader

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Milk Chocolate Kisses

The following book review for Milk Chocolate Kisses was posted on Amazon.com on March 30, 2020 by Kindle Customer:

I know your face…
I too live in Maryland, wow I love African American writers. Your books are places I know about, being home. You have great faith, WONDERFUL BOOKS I’m going to read The Candy Beach Series . I love Ocean City. I have a small question, why don’t you have on your cover African American people? For great reading and you being a fantastic writer, why wouldn’t you find a beautiful woman and man of Color. Just a question, I probably won’t hear from you but just think about it, thank you be blessed😇

Well, Kindle Customer in Maryland, I could not find a direct way to contact you via Amazon, so, am resorting to respond to your question via this blog post.

I’d contemplated placing an African-American couple on the cover of my novels, but, was hesitant. From my experience, SOME Caucasians MAY mistakenly feel that books with an AA couple may only be written for AA readers.

I wanted ALL folks to enjoy my books. So, in the end I decided to simply use silhouettes on my covers. I wanted to appeal to all races, so, that’s why I did that. My books are categorized as African-American, and, with the exception of Sweet Delights, my main characters are African-American. So, I’m hoping most folks who enjoy a good romance will give my books a try! I hope that explanation helps! May God bless you! Thank you for your question!

Carolina Breeze

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Carolina Breeze

Have you ever had a broken engagement?

Movie star Mia Emerson is spending her honeymoon, alone, at the Bluebell Inn. Suffering through a broken engagement, and untrue tabloid rumors, she’s anxious to spend some time alone on her honeymoon. After all, the Bluebell Inn used to belong to her grandparents. She longs for a nice, loving family since she’s never had any strong familial roots in her life.

Innkeeper Levi is stunned when movie star Mia Emerson stays at his family’s inn. She’s beautiful and they hit it off so well…but Levi has a lot of problems – both familial and financial.

I thought that both Mia and Levi had a lot of emotional baggage to work through. Both of them had deceased (or estranged) parent(s) – and the deaths/estrangement of their parent(s) caused strife in their lives. Family problems can filter down to generations, which can prove hurtful.

A secret necklace and a diary were added twists to this lovely story. It was also different to see a famous person as a heroine. I seldom see famous folks in romance novels. From my experience, publishers tend to shy away from movie star characters. I believe they (publishers) shy away from that subject matter because readers cannot relate to being a famous person.

I felt that Mia was relatable since most of her struggles dealt with familial issues – and lots of folks have family problems.

So, have you ever suffered from a broken engagement? If so, were you able to resolve your differences?

Milk Chocolate Kisses and Milk Money

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Milk Chocolate Kisses

Isn’t it refreshing to hear kind words?

My novel, Milk Money, which was published years ago, is out of print. Milk Money was published by Barbour, a Christian publisher, and it was distributed all over the world. I even had a fan to state she’d seen it in an Australian bookstore (Koorong). I received the rights back to that story (meaning Barbour allowed me to publish it on my own since they no longer had any use for it). I republished Milk Money and re-titled it as Milk Chocolate Kisses.

I also revised Milk Money and made it more current – before publishing it as Milk Chocolate Kisses. Anyhow, a reader recently acquired Milk Money and she sent me this wonderful email which I’ve been encouraged to share:

Dear Ms. Dowdy,

At my church we have a book exchange box that several of us share

our reading material. I picked up “Milk Money” on Sunday and stuffed in

my purse to read while my mechanic changed my oil and filter yesterday.

I began reading while waiting – he finished too quickly! I marked my place

and as soon as I got home I picked it back up. It’s the first time in many

months that I really didn’t want to put the book down. I finally realized I

needed to sleep some but finished it this morning.

I believe this is the first of your books I have had the pleasure of reading.

I loved every part about it. I wasn’t blessed to be a dairy farmer but my

Mom and Grandparents were long before I came along. I grew up in a

small town and attended church all my life. God didn’t send my husband

until I was 26 so I spent much time seeking his will for my life. He sent

my husband along after I had surrendered to be single if that’s what HE wanted.

Thank you for writing this book. I will be watching for more from you as

I shop. May God continue to bless your writing and your witness for the Lord.

Mary

Such refreshing words! Made me smile today!

Cecelia Dowdy’s Dessert Reader and Reviewer Group

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Are you ready for a good, sweet book?

Cecelia Dowdy’s Dessert Reader and Reviewer Group

I’m seeking readers/reviewers for my sweet, inspirational romance novels. I will provide the e-book versions of my books to you for free. If you are able to read the e-book, and you like the story, then you may leave a review on Amazon (and any other place you wish, such as Goodreads, Bookbub, etc.).

Come join if you are interested! If you know of others who are interested in reviewing some sweet, inspirational romance novels, then spread the word! Please share with all of your friends!

A Couple of Sweet Books

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The Texan’s Secret Daughter

Have You Read Any Good Books Lately?

The Texan’s Secret Daughter is a book that I briefly mention on this blog post.

This was a nice sweet book. I enjoyed reading it. It’s a book about second chances. The book also dealt with alcoholism, and that is a subject on which I’ve often focused on with my own writing. I thought the hero (Elijah) was so hard on himself regarding his past mistakes. The heroine (Jazmine) has made mistakes as well. I thought the second-chance lesson pertained to Jazmine’s and Elijah’s relationship, as well as our relationship with our Creator. The biggest takeaway from this book is that God gives all of us a second, third, fourth…etc. chance. Forgiveness is also a major lesson learned from reading this insightful novel.

I initially sold a novel (First Mates) to Love Inspired back in 2003. My novel was released in 2005. At the time, Love Inspired did not publish many romances with ethnic characters. There were a few Love Inspireds which were released within the span of a few years, with African-American characters. I only sold one book to Love Inspired. I kept submitting, but was not able to sell another book to them. I was glad to see Love Inspired publish The Texan’s Secret Daughter. If you know of any other Love Inspired novels with ethnic (non-Caucasian) hero or heroine, then please share the titles.

I recently received the publishing rights back to First Mates (it’s out of print) and am re-releasing it as Coffee and Kisses.

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Sealed With a Kiss

This was a nice, sweet story about a billionaire and his young daughter’s live-in schoolteacher. I honestly believe this was the first billionaire romance I’ve ever read. (I’m not counting Fifty Shades – which is not really a romance). Sure, I’ve read countless romances with rich heroes, but, not one with a billionaire.

The billionaire lived in a regular house. He’s renting his current home, waiting for his mansion to be built. So, although you know this guy is mega-rich, with his body guards and successful business, he still lives like a regular guy, otherwise. You don’t see expensive fixtures and tons of servants, as you may see in other rich-hero romances.

There’s also a bit of suspense in this novel. I liked the relationship between the hero and his daughter. He’s a bit overprotective of her, but, given his background his temperament is understandable.

Both of these novels are nice, sweet cozy reads to enjoy at the beach.

So have you read any good romances, lately? If so, please share!