Monthly Archives: June 2017

Dancing With Fireflies

2 Replies 

18126898
Dancing With Fireflies by Denise Hunter

Have you, or someone you know, ever had an unplanned pregnancy?

After a traumatic experience, Jade returns to Chapel Springs, her hometown. The first person she visits is Daniel, the town mayor/ her pretend brother/close-family friend. Jade is broke, and she needs a job. Can Daniel help her find employment as she goes through her unplanned pregnancy?

 

Daniel has been in love with Jade for years. But, Jade has only seen him as a “brother”. Jade is hurting and Daniel wants to support her, and help her heal.

Jade is scared to love again. Can she open up her heart and trust Daniel?

Daniel is also dealing with a lot. He’s determined to go beyond the mayor-ship and get a senate position, possibly going all the way to the White House. His rich parents are determined to make his political aspirations come true. So, how can he even think of pursuing politics and leave Jade behind? He knows how lonely it is to be part of a political family. Can he even think about exposing Jade to such a life?

I loved this book so much! Daniel was a man who was too good to be true. I wanted to package him up and marry him myself! He’s so sweet and kind and he really loves Jade. Jade is not aware of Daniel’s feelings, which causes some sticky situations between them.

I highly recommend this story. I also read the Chapel Springs Book 1, too, and I enjoyed that one too!

So, have you, or someone you know, ever had an unplanned pregnancy? If so, how did you cope? Did you have family to help you out by offering support?

The Cake Therapist

Leave a reply

25385213

The Cake Therapist

***This is a secular title

Are there any foods that bring back vivid memories of your childhood when you taste them?

Neely is struggling since she’s separated from her famous football-star husband. A pastry chef, she opens a bakery in her hometown. Her treats are so delicious! She has scheduled wedding cake tastings in her home. When Neely eats foods, she can see into people’s lives. She can get a glimpse of what may be bothering a person, sensing if they have secrets.

Sometimes her sightings can bring strength to couples who are about to get married. Some of these cake tastings proved shocking, just letting you know if you should decide to read the book.

What I liked most about this book was the descriptions of the bakery and the sweets. The tastes of orange, salt, sugar, chocolate… You can almost taste these delicious flavors – they are described so well in this book.

This novel has two stories, one in the past and Neely’s story which is present day. The stories intersect in a unique and very surprising way!

So, when you taste certain foods, do they bring back vivid memories of your childhood? Please tell me about them!

This book reminded me of another secular title I read awhile back:

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Both The Cake Therapist and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake involve tasty food and how food is connected to our emotions.

Picnics and Promises – Coming July 2017

Leave a reply

Image may contain: one or more people and text

 

Image may contain: one or more people and text

Picnics and Promises – a pie-loving boxed set is coming next month! Each tasty story features a romantic picnic and a delicious pie! Each story features a pie recipe at the end!

Sweet Dreams – The Bakery Romance Series (Book 6) will be featured in this wonderful collection!

Patty-Lynn Palmer loves creating mouth-watering pies in her bakery, Patty’s Pie Palace. She’s recently won the prestigious French International Pie Competition for her banana cream pie, and now she’s determined to save up enough money to buy the nostalgic house of her dreams.

She’s stunned when she runs into her wealthy ex-boyfriend, Sam Richardson. Sam has recently relocated to her hometown, Crystal Spring, to open a new office for his family’s food distribution company, Richardson Enterprises. Running into Sam awakens both wonderful and painful memories. Sam’s upper-class family never accepted her. Their contempt of her poor, country, foster-care upbringing caused her great pain, leading to Sam’s earth-shattering breakup with her seven years ago.

Sam is shocked when he encounters Patty-Lynn. He feels awful about their painful breakup, and he now longs to fix their broken relationship. Recently widowed, he desperately longs for his father’s approval on his new business venture. He’s unhappy working for his dad and seeing Patty-Lynn, happy in her pie shop, gives him hope. By using her prize-winning pie recipe, it appears that Patty-Lynn may be able to help him with his quest to gain his father’s approval. Can he find the courage to rekindle their romance and finally stand up to his domineering dad?

Why Do People Join Cults?

Leave a reply

Have you, or any of your loved ones, been involved in a cult? If so, what happened? Did he/she/they get out of the cult? Or, are they still involved in it?

Since I was raised Jehovah’s Witness, I find the subject of cults interesting. This is a good video that tells why people join cults.

I’ve often thought about doing a series about someone/some folks in a cult. I’d tell how each person got out of the organization. Not sure if I’ll ever write this series, but, it’s in the back of my mind.

So, have you ever known anybody who was involved in a cult? Please share details.

The Writing Desk

Leave a reply

32977776

The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck

Have you ever been estranged from your parent(s)? So estranged that you barely spoke to one another for years?

This book focuses on two women, Tenley’s story takes place during modern times. Birdie’s story is a historical.

Tenley is floored, literally, when she receives a marriage proposal right before she receives a prestigious writing award. Suffering from writers’ block, she struggles with making decisions – should she go to Paris with her boyfriend or travel to Florida to care for her estranged mom. Isn’t it too late to try and fix their broken familial relationship?

Birdie wants to publish her romance novel. But, her parents aren’t aware of her writing aspirations. They want her to marry a well-to-do man that they’ve chosen. I almost felt as if Birdie had been born 100 years too early – she seemed like a modern woman.

Both Birdie’s and Tenley’s stories are related in a unique and appealing way. This was a light, enjoyable summer read.

So, have you ever been estranged from your parent(s) – so estranged that you barely spoke to one another for years? What did you do about it? Did you reconcile?

 

 

Barbour Publishing – Agreement For Underground Railroad Novella Collection

2 Replies

Do you like to read historical romance novels?

Well, it’s been a long time, but, I’ve finally received a contract for a commercially published novel. The Underground Railroad Brides Collection (tentative title) will feature my novella The Bakery Bride. The tentative release date is June 2018.

I’ve been focusing on my indie published books for the last few years. Before that, I was seeking commercial publication for about four years (last commercial contract I received was probably in 2008 or 2009). Like most authors, I found the indie/self-pubbed market to be lucrative only after releasing several books. I love releasing my own works myself as e-books. However when approached about doing this project, I agreed to submit something. Reason why? I’ve been itching to see one of my books in a bookstore (or places like Walmart, Target, etc.). Seeing this novella collection on the shelf will cure that itch.

I’ll still be releasing my own works since I love doing that! I’m unclear as to if I’ll continue to seek other commercial/traditional contracts though.

Doing this book is a leap of faith for me. This will be my first historical novel. Prior to this, all of my works have been contemporary.

So do you like to read historical novels? If so, do you have a favorite time period?

What Happened to Harlequin Romance?

4 Replies

2667886

Do you read Harlequin romance novels?

I thought this article was interesting. Granted it’s three years old, but, we’ve been talking about this subject in writers’ circles over the last five years, give or take. I only had one book out with Harlequin, and am open to submitting to them again, time permitting. I like having my book on a store shelf (including Walmart, Kmart, grocery stores, etc.). But, indie books have really been taking off!

Authors are publishing their own works and are actually making good money doing that. From my experience, and from speaking to other authors, most of the money from indie-published e-books comes from Amazon (mostly their Kindle Unlimited program).

So, do you read Harlequin romance novels? If so, which lines do you read? Do you purchase them in the store or as an e-book?

Saturday Matinee – The Shack

2 Replies

Image result for the shack movie

Have you read the novel, The Shack? Have you seen the movie? Which do you prefer?

I reviewed The Shack, the novel, years ago!

I enjoyed the movie MUCH MORE than the book. Seriously. I think I enjoyed the movie more because I believe it gave some background information about Mack, the main character. I don’t recall there being any information about Mack’s childhood and his dysfunctional relationship with his father in the book?

***Spoiler alert!

 

 

When Mack goes on a camping trip with his family, sans his wife, his little girl (Missy), goes missing. Turns out she’s been murdered. Mack’s wife refers to God as Papa, and Missy uses the same term of endearment for God. The murder happens in a secluded Shack and when Mack receives a mysterious note in his mailbox, telling him to come to the Shack to meet Papa (God), he thinks it’s a joke.

The movie is about Mack meeting Papa, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the Shack. He has conversations with each of them, working through his grief. I believe the movie makers added the part of Wisdom. I don’t recall Wisdom in the novel, but, I could be mistaken since I read it so long ago.

I really enjoyed this movie. It shows how hard it’d be to work through grief when losing a child. I know if I were to lose my child, I’d struggle with forgiveness. I’d have been a lot like Mack in the movie (and the book).

Oh, another thing they did in the movie, which they did not do in the book, Mack gets accidentally hit by a semi-truck. The movie indicates in the beginning that he escaped the on-coming truck, then goes to the Shack to meet Papa. But, at the end, after he leaves Papa and the rest of the Holy Trinity, the movie backtracks and he’s then hit by the truck.

When he awakens in the hospital, he tells his friend that he’d gone to the Shack. The friend says it’s impossible – the accident occurred shortly after he left his home to go to the Shack. Apparently, Mack had been in a coma all weekend. The movie indicated the Shack visit occurred in his mind in dreamlike state – kind of like Dorothy waking up at the end of The Wizard of Oz.

So, have you ever read the book The Shack? If so, how do you think it compares to the movie?