We had a wonderful time last weekend visiting our son at Towson University. He played in the marching band. This was their last home game of the season.
Here’s a pic of my son, me, husband, and father-in-law before the game. Our son was getting ready to suit up into his uniform!
Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is coming up. What do you have planned for the holiday? Are you serving anything special?
Butterscotch Bliss
I’m finishing Butterscotch Bliss – my exclusive Christmas novella. Thanks so much to the beta readers who’ve responded so far. Your feedback has been a great help! If things go as planned, I should have a download link available in my next newsletter – or the week after Thanksgiving at the latest! The link will not be provided on this blog! In order to receive the link – you must sign up for my newsletter – the newsletters will come via email – as well as the download link!
Speaking of holidays – books make fantastic gifts! The books are gift-wrapped and include extra goodies! Since you’re on my mailing list, if you order, you would receive an extra paperback book since you will automatically receive Butterscotch Bliss once it’s released. If you need me to clarify, send me an email! Consider gifting some to a friend or loved one!
Don’t forget to download one of my novels for some cool autumn reading! The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later. I’m so excited to be working on a new story!
I hope you have a fantastic week! Let me know if anything exciting happens! I’d love to hear about it!
The weather has been inconsistent lately – which often happens in autumn. It’s been cold, and then it gets warm. My basil plants are still alive, but are slowly dying. My peppermint will usually stay alive until Christmas. Here’s a couple of pics. The first is my marigolds and the other is of some late tomatoes that recently sprouted.
Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is coming up. What do you have planned for the holiday?
The Blacksmith’s Bride – Preorder
The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later. I’m so excited to be working on a new story!
Butterscotch Bliss
I hope to have Butterscotch Bliss, a Christmas novella, available within the next few weeks! A download link will be included in one of my newsletters.
Speaking of Christmas – books make fantastic gifts! The books are gift-wrapped and include extra goodies! Consider gifting some to a friend or loved one!
Don’t forget to download one of my novels for some cool autumn reading!
I hope your week will be fantastic! Let me know if anything exciting happens! I’d love to hear about it!
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing. If you enjoy warm, comfortable, feel-good reads then check out our amazing titles!
Do you have siblings? If you do, are you close to them?
This book was such a treat to read! It’s about three half sisters (different mothers, same father) who spend summers together with their paternal grandmother. Their father is deceased and the story shows how each sister had to go through a unique struggle – partially stemming from their irresponsible alcoholic father. Carson is the main character and she loves swimming and surfing. When she has an accident, she becomes acquainted with a dolphin, and then the story takes on unique twists and turns after that.
She meets Blake, and they share a special bond and love for the ocean. However, their bond proves tenuous as they discover secrets and new information about sea creatures.
I highly recommend this book if you want a nice, comforting read.
So, do you have siblings? If you do, are you close to them?
This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing. If you enjoy warm, comfortable, feel-good reads then check out our amazing titles!
As already mentioned last week – remember to vote! Tomorrow is Election Day!
Halloween!
We only had one trick-or-treater this year. Most of the houses on my street had their lights off. Did you have any trick-or-treaters?
Here’s a little treat for you! My little grandniece with her friend from church on Halloween!
Autumn!
I’ve been enjoying the beautiful fall weather during my daily walks. Here’s a pic of a beautiful tree in our neighborhood. I love seeing the beautiful colors of the leaves this time of the year.
The Blacksmith’s Bride – Preorder
The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later. I’m so excited to be working on a new story!
Butterscotch Bliss
I hope to have Butterscotch Bliss available within the next few weeks!
Don’t forget to download one of my novels for some cool autumn reading!
I hope your week will be fantastic! Let me know if anything exciting happens! I’d love to hear about it!
#romance #beachread #beachreads #newsletter #ceceliadowdy #romancenovel #romancenovels #cleanandwholesome #Christian #inspirational We’ve been back for a week and I still miss the beach! I wish we’d stayed for two weeks instead of one! Here’s a pic of the living room of our beach rented condo. The place felt like home. I loved walking outside straight to the beach each morning! Perhaps we can retire here someday!
Condo – Beach Rental – Living Room
I recently read the sweetest book – The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden! Have you ever wondered about how your life would have been like if you’d made a different decision? Imagine if someone had asked you to get married and you said no – do you ever wonder what would’ve happened if you’d said yes?
Well, this sweet story delves into that very question! Plus, the book had lots of food – and candy – and pie! Give my podcast a listen! If you’ve read The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie, I’d love to know what you thought about it!
This novel is going to be made into a Hallmark movie. I Listened! Many of you have pinged me, wanting to know when/if I would be able to accept credit card payments via my website. I’ve finally updated my site and made the appropriate changes.
Candy Beach Series – $50 for entire set Bakery Romance Series – $75 for entire set Payment can be made with credit card. Email me if you have any questions! Candy Beach Speaking of beaches, be sure to check out The Candy Beach Series for a cool, emotional, delicious and pleasant read during your beach vacation!
Candy Beach & Bakery Romance Paperbacks! As mentioned previously, I’m having a sale on the paperbacks – and it’s now been extended to both of my series!The Candy Beach Series – $50 for the entire 6-book series & The Bakery Romance Series – $75 for the entire 8-book series – must be ordered directly from me – price includes domestic US postage. This deal is cheaper than Amazon’s price. I take payment via credit card, check, or money order. Ping me if you’d like to pay with an alternate method!
Spread the word about my books! Social media is a writer’s best friend! Rocky Road Dreams I hope you have a fantastic week! Let me know if you have any fun plans for the summer!
I celebrated my graduation a month ago & shared photos taken by family members. I recently received the professional video & the pics! I’m sharing with all! Thanks for all the kind words, gifts, and congrats for my major accomplishment!
I hope all of you have been enjoying the first couple of weeks in the New Year!
Thursday was a bit strange in our neck of the woods. Our power went out due to a car accident. I believe someone hit a pole or something.
I’ve been working remotely since the beginning of Covid.
Since I need internet access for my day job, I drove to my workplace – just as I pulled up to my workplace, my son texted me. He told me the power was back on!
So, I ended up returning home. My workplace is only five miles from my house, so, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
But, later, that same day, we lost our internet connection. The lost connection is only affecting our household – our neighbors still have their connection. We can’t watch TV or connect to the internet. What a drag!
We called our provider and was told that something short-circuited and that the earliest they could come out was Sunday.
We’ve been using a hot spot to connect.
It’s funny how you don’t appreciate the simple day-to-day pleasures that are taken for granted, until they are broken or gone.
Working Late & Butterscotch Bliss
My day job continues to be hectic. Yes, it’s great that I’m finally done with my Master’s Degree, but work continues to take up a lot of my free time. I’ve been working 12-hour days and I’m ready for a break!
Some of you have asked what ever happened to Butterscotch Bliss, the free story that I was working on that will only be available to newsletter subscribers. I plan on getting that done later this year. I will keep you posted.
Stress Eating!
Since things have been so hectic lately, I’ve been doing some stress eating. Since I was sick over the holidays, I didn’t get a chance to do any baking.
I made THE BEST CAKE! The cake is so buttery. The recipe calls for 4 sticks of butter – 2 for the cake – 2 for the frosting.
I wish the icing looked smoother. I might take a cake decorating class, when I have time, to learn simple decorating techniques. I googled some methods to smooth the icing – but I was too tired to try! I made this cake on a weekday!
I’m sharing the recipe. If you try it, let me know if you like it! I gobbled 4 pieces of cake in one day! I’m not kidding! This cake was so addictive!
Yellow Butter Cake:
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans or line them with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until well combined.
Add the softened butter to the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed with a hand mixer or in a stand mixer until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, ensuring each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Pour in the milk and vanilla extract, then beat the batter on medium speed for about 2 minutes until smooth and well combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Frosting:
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream or milk
Instructions:
In a mixing bowl, beat the softened butter until creamy.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt to the butter, mixing on low speed until combined.
Add the vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons of heavy cream or milk, then increase the speed to medium-high and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add more cream or milk if needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Assembly:
Once the cakes have cooled completely, place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread a layer of chocolate frosting evenly over the top. Place the second cake layer on top and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining chocolate frosting.
Decorate as desired and enjoy your delicious moist buttery yellow cake with chocolate frosting!
Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend
I hope all of you enjoy your 3-day weekend. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is so special. Take some time to relax, think and reflect on this special day.
If you have a craving for a book, keep The Candy Beach Series in mind. So many nice reviews have been posted on Amazon for this series. All of them are available in both paperback and e-book. Treat yourself, and if you’ve already read them, then purchase copies for your friends!
5-star Amazon review for Bittersweet Dreams – book 3 in the series:
This book was so good I had to read it to the end before I could stop. I even read while eating lunch and supper. This author knows how to write a fantastic story. Great job!!
Have a blessed week! Let me know if you try the cake recipe! If you’ve read The Candy Beach Series, I’d love to know which novel was your favorite! I love hearing from all of you!
As mentioned in my last newsletter, we had cornbread, black-eyed peas, greens, and chicken for New Year’s.
Here’s a picture of our meal! It was delicious! I had purchased a huge bag of greens from the store. The bag was about twice the size of what I’d normally purchase. I don’t think I’ve ever made such a big pot of greens in my life! We were eating greens for days. They were delicious!
We cooked the chicken in the air fryer.
Now that Christmas is over, and winter is here, many of you may have time to settle down and read a good book during the cold winter months!
I wanted to share how I came up with the premise for my novella Sugar and Spice.
Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?
When my son was young, between the ages of 3-7, he suffered from stuttering. His stutter was quite strong, and we had to go to speech therapy for years. We ended up seeing three different therapists for long blocks of time.
When my son was having sessions with his last therapist, I was speaking with her. I asked her if she’d ever had any male adult patients who stuttered. She told me that she had one. She said that this man had stuttered his entire life. The only reason he was seeking help was because he had a high-level corporate job and they required that he get help for his stutter. I believe she said he had to speak to many people, and his stutter caused issues.
Of course, she didn’t tell me the identity of this person. She may not have been at liberty to share the details outlined above.
After our conversation, I thought about it. I thought, how terrible for this poor man! What if he wanted to go out on a date with someone? What if he stuttered so badly that he couldn’t even ask a woman out?
That thought stayed planted in the background of my mind for years. Sometimes, I might get a kernel of an idea and it’s rooted into my head for a long time. I might not even realize I’m actually thinking of a story until years later.
My one conversation with my son’s speech therapist grew into Sugar and Spice. In Sugar and Spice, Mason is a stutterer. He’s also an identical twin. Here are more details about this amazing love story:
Sheila Parks is stunned when Mason Smith, the identical twin brother of her ex-boyfriend Reese, moves to Blue Spring and opens a bakery. Reese’s cruel breakup still bothers her and seeing somebody who looks just like him is a painful reminder of her predicament. Unemployed, Sheila needs financial help and it appears that Mason can assist her with her problem. Can she learn to trust a man who looks just like her ex?
Mason is stunned when Sheila storms into his bakery, mistakenly thinking that he’s Reese. Mason is used to comforting his womanizing brother’s ex-girlfriends. A stutterer, Mason has always had a hard time socializing with others. However, he finds himself smitten with beautiful Sheila. Can he control his stutter so that he can ask Sheila to be his date to his grandmother’s Christmas birthday party?
Both Sheila and Mason deal with past pains as they work together during the Christmas season.
Sugar and Spice is a sweet, emotional Christmas romance that you will always remember! Download now! This is a nice treat for you and all of your friends!
Have you ever known anybody who stutters? Do you know what they did to overcome their stutter?
Have a blessed week! Let me know if there’s anything exciting or troublesome going on in your life right now! I love hearing from all of you!
I’m writing this from a hotel room in Durham North Carolina.
Do you have favorite Christmas shows that you watch each year?
I didn’t celebrate Christmas as a child, so, I embrace traditions as an adult. Some of these shows, I’ve been watching since I was a kid. Although Christmas was not celebrated, we were allowed to watch Christmas shows.
Here’s a list of a few of my favorite movies.
A Charlie Brown Christmas – I love this cute short Christmas show! I especially like it when Linus tells Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas! Plus, the music is wonderful. Charlie Brown has some nice jazzy tunes!
The Polar Express. I love this magical story. From the very beginning of my childhood, I was told that Santa didn’t exist. I’ve often wondered what it would’ve been like to believe in Santa. I believe this movie gives us a taste of what it’s like to believe in Santa as a child! This belief even grows into adulthood!
Home Alone 1 & 2. I love both of these because they are hilarious!
Here’s the rest of my list:
Santa Claus is Coming to Town
The Year Without a Santa Claus
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
The Nutcracker – The Ballet – NOT the Disney Movie. I watch several versions of this. One of my favorites was made in the seventies and features Mikhail Baryshnikov.
I Believe in Santa – this is one of the newer additions to my list – since it was just made in 2022. It’s about a grown man, a lawyer, who believes in Santa Claus!
This list includes some of my faves. There are others, too. However, those are at the top of my list.
So, what are your favorite Christmas shows? Email me & tell me about them!
Our son made it home for Christmas! How wonderful to have his company for a month!
Since I’m finished with graduate school, I can focus on getting him prepared to take his driving test to get his license. He got his learner’s permit over a year ago, but I was so focused on school and work, we never found the time to take him for his driving test!
Speaking of people coming home for Christmas – Jamal in Cinnamon Kisses has returned home for Christmas! He has a dream! His dream is to own his own bakery – and he’s anxious to pursue it! As a professional cruise-ship pastry chef he shares his passion by creating delicious desserts! I think all of us can relate to Jamal. We might have dreams, and we’d love to see those dreams come true. Christmas is a time for love, baking, and good times with family. It’s also a time to re-connect with old friends. Cinnamon Kisses is a sweet, delicious Christmas novel – it will warm your heart and soul during the holiday season. When Jamal returns home – he finds out that his mom is sick & struggling. He wants to help her and take care of her. Worried, he prays for his mom’s healing as he runs into Kelly, his first love. Kelly has always resented her overbearing father – and longs to escape from her home. She’s never lived on her own. She feels that it’s time to make some important changes in her life. She reconnects with Jamal. He’s like a breath of fresh air that brightens up her life. Jamal has a problem, and it appears that Kelly is one of the few people who can help him to solve it. Cinnamon Kisses is a novel that will tug at your heartstrings. If you’ve already read it, then purchase a copy for a friend! Download all of my Christmas novels for fun, emotional holiday reading!
