Winter Blogfest: Charlotte O’Shay

December 28, 2020 By 9 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook or audible version of FOREVER IN A MOMENT.

Attitude Is Everything

2020 has been one giant round of cancelled plans and foiled celebrations. I don’t know about you but sometimes it’s hard to find a silver lining. But I believe attitude is everything. With the winter holiday season upon us, I’m eager to celebrate.

Our family continues to search for ways to connect while still protecting those most vulnerable— elderly grandparents, immune comprised family and friends, new moms and babies. 

Do I dare complain when so far our family has maintained our good health when so many others worldwide have suffered devasting loss? Absolutely not. Attitude is everything.

Fingers crossed we’ll enjoy a ten person gathering for Thanksgiving, an outdoors, back porch celebration. Christmas and New Year celebrations will look different—smaller, but whatever we do, we will look forward to better times. We’re determined to adapt and be grateful. We’ll share music, stories, recipes and laughter, via Zoom and FaceTime, if necessary. 

In FOREVER IN A MOMENT, Samantha De Martino is jilted two weeks before her Christmas wedding. But when life hands Samantha a giant lemon, Samantha is all about attitude. Yes, she’s crushed, she’s disappointed, in fact she’s downright angry her fiancé dumped her but she refuses to let it ruin the holiday season for her. She decides to get out of her comfort zone by traveling alone on her honeymoon to a remote country inn during the week between Christmas and New Year. And wouldn’t you know it, her decision to have a good attitude, to adapt to circumstances is key. Her attitude leads Sam toward a future she never expected.

In FOREVER IN A MOMENT, Samantha takes a leap of faith. She faces an unknown future with positivity. She takes the pain of being a jilted bride, and chooses to learn from it. Samantha finds love again and a new career. Sam takes the lemons life and her fiancé threw at her and turns them into… lemon bars.

My family is blessed with great cooks and bakers on both sides, oldest to youngest and among all of the branches. My gift to you is guaranteed to sweeten your holiday celebrations. 

Aunt Chris’s Lemon Bars

Ingredients

1 C. all purpose flour

¼ C. sifted powdered sugar

½ C. butter

2 eggs

¾  C. granulated sugar

½ t. shredded lemon peel

3 T. lemon juice

2 T. all purpose flour

¼ t. baking powder
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powdered sugar

Process

Stir 1 C. flour and ¼ C. powdered sugar.

Cut in butter till mixture clings together.

Pat into ungreased 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

***

In mixer bowl beat eggs: add granulated sugar, lemon peel, and juice.

Beat till slightly thick and smooth, 8 -10 minutes. Stir together 2 T. flour and baking powder. Add to egg mixture. Blend just till all is moistened.

Pour over baked layer. Bake at 350 for 20 -25 minutes.

Sift powdered sugar over the top. Cool. 

Cut into bars. Makes 20.

 

A stormy encounter…

Samantha DeMartino’s Christmas wedding is two weeks away when her fiancé calls the whole thing off. Word on the street: his cold feet are being heated by an old flame. With her well-ordered world in complete disarray, Sam's friends convince her to go on her honeymoon—alone. A week at a charming Vermont inn away from the city and her demanding corporate career could be just what she needs to figure out her next steps.

Between his twenty-four seven work schedule on his family's dairy farm and teaching tourists to ski, Jed Armstrong's too busy to think about how lonely he is…until Sam sings her way into his life during a Christmas blizzard. Now he has to figure out a way to convince her to stay.

Can a vivacious city girl find forever with a reclusive farmer?
Will her secret keep her from trying?

The only thing Charlotte O’Shay loves more than reading steamy, emotional romance is writing them.

Award winning author Charlotte O’Shay’s writing has been called “intoxicating, emotional and irresistible.” NNLightsBookHeaven.com

Charlotte believes home is where the heart is and hers is in NYC. She lives with Mac, her IRL hero, 3 subway stops from her childhood neighborhood, where walks along the Hudson River serve up fresh story ideas every day.

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Winter Blogfest: Heidi Wessman Kneale

December 25, 2020 By 5 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win one pre-release ebook copy of my Regency Romance “Currently Unchaperoned” in your choice of .epub, .mobi or .pdf. Official launch date 13 January 2021.

Twelve Days of Christmas in Regency England

During the Regency Era, Christmas celebrations in England lasted for twelve days,  starting on Christmas Eve. The family decorates house in greenery: evergreen boughs (though no Christmas trees; that was a German tradition), holly, ivy and mistletoe of course, but also bay or rosemary–pretty much whatever the family could find. This greenery remained up for the full twelve days of Christmas. 

The Yule Log would be lit, and kept alight as long as possible, hopefully for the full twelve days. Fragments of the Yule Log were kept for kindling next year’s Yule Log, representing the connection from one year to the next.

Christmas Day was considered the First Day of Christmas, and the Twelfth Day of Christmas fell on Epiphany or Three Kings Day, the 6th of January, honouring the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child. In between was a celebration of feasting, gift-giving and games.

The First Day of Christmas was reserved for the Christmas Dinner, with everyone invited to the meal, even servants. Boar’s head and roast goose were traditional.  Parlour games like Snapdragon and Charades were also popular. This was a time for enjoying the company of those around you.

Leftovers were a must! Mince pies of every kind were made from leftovers and everyone enjoyed these pies for the next twelve days.

The Second Day of Christmas was the Feast of St Stephen. Christmas was considered a time of great generosity, with the focus more on the giving, rather than the receiving of gifts. Gifts were given on this day, primarily the wealthier giving boxes of gifts to the poor of the parish. Because of this boxing of gifts, this day is known as Boxing Day.

New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were considered part of the Christmas celebration with many games and regional traditions hoping to ensure good luck and prosperity for the coming year.

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Felicity Abbot is frustrated that she is to be denied yet another London Season. Dreadfully unfair. When an opportunity arises to defy both her parents and Society, she sneaks off–unchaperoned–to attend the neighbours' party. Surely no one will notice her amid the crowds and she can finally see what all the fuss is about.

Victor Wyndell has been coerced by his desperate mother to attend the Chesters' crush of a party. She wants her son to find two things: a bride and something called The Agreement. He has no idea what The Agreement is about, only that it could ruin his family and thus his chances for a decent marriage.

The plan is simple–get in, find The Agreement, get out. (Easier said than done, as his mother refuses to part with any more clues.)

Instead, he finds Felicity Abbot, a young lady with a secret who's more than happy to extricate him from a few awkward social encounters in exchange for his help in navigating Society.

Yet for all her greenness and lack of social connexions, Miss Abbot sure has a way of finding trouble.

The Agreement is trouble; maybe she could find it. Or has it found her already?

Scandal abounds and secrets are revealed in this Regency Romance with magic.

Heidi Wessman Kneale is an Australian author of moderate repute. She writes Regency Romance with magic and other fantastical stories. She believes that a key to good health during These Times is to lose oneself in a good book, preferably every day.

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Winter Blogfest: Megan Slayer

December 25, 2020 By 2 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Believe by Megan Slayer.

This Christmas by Megan Slayer

I’m the kind of gal who doesn’t play Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. It’s not that I don’t like Christmas music. I do. Every time I hear A Marshmallow World by Dean Martin, I think of my cat because he’s got white marshmallowy puffy furry feet. 

That said, I don’t want inundated with it for two whole months. I just can’t do it. I don’t even like to watch the Hallmark Christmas marathons until Thanksgiving – of course most of them are all reruns by then, but whatever. 

This year? It’s a little different. Not only am I willing to listen to Christmas music, but I’m game to watch those movies, too. I started back in November. Why? I wanted the guaranteed joy and the guaranteed happy ending. 

Does that sound silly? I hope not.

It’s 2020 and we all need some good. Really. It’s a stressful time and fraught with all sorts of upset. In the midst of this, there needs to be some positive. I find it in Christmas music and Christmas movies. I need that guaranteed happy ending. I want to know everyone will get their heart’s desire at the end and it’ll be satisfying. 

Sure, there are non-Christmas movies and songs that are just as uplifting, but when it’s raining instead of snowing, when it’s windy instead of being just nicely chilly…when the ground is mucky and we’re all stuck inside, it’s nice to have something that’s comfort food for the ears and eyes. 

Plus, I get some great decorating ideas from the movies and songs to add to my holiday playlist. 

What about you? Are you the one who decorates the day after Halloween? Or are you the one who waits? I’d love to know!
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Two men, one kid and the frayed nerves that come with the holidays…can they make it through to Christmas without a blow-up?

Colt Harrison knew when he met Ashley Willis that he’d found the one man for him. He loves Ashley’s son, Wyatt, as if he were his own son. But the stress of living together, compounded with buying a home and adopting pets has worn him down…not to mention the aggravation that comes with the diner he owns. He wants to make Christmas special for his family, but how can they have a great holiday when Colt’s never home?

Ashley’s got a two-week vacation from his job at the elementary school teaching art. All he wants is time with Colt and Wyatt. He loves Colt, but not the long hours spent at the diner, especially around the holidays. Can he be honest about what he wants from Colt and keep the man he loves?

Anything is possible if they embrace the magic of Christmas.

Reader advisory: This book was previously released elsewhere. It has been expanded and reedited for release with Pride Publishing. 

Megan Slayer, aka Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and white hot themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been nominated at the Love Romance Cafe for Best Author, Best Contemporary, Best Ménage, Best BDSM and Best Anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com.

When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library. Find out more about Megan and Wendi at: http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm Sign up for the newsletter here: http://ymlp.com/xgjmjumygmgj

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter

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Winter Blogfest: Tory Richards

December 25, 2020 By 16 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 GC from Amazon.  I’m offering everyone who reads this post a free download of my holiday romance A Soldier’s Promise from Smashwords. Coupon code below.

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Fond Family Memories at Christmas

It all began on Christmas Eve. Every year my sister and I and our families would go to our parent’s house for my Mom’s traditional spam salad finger sandwiches. I can hear you laugh now but Mom had perfected the spread with mayo, onions and relish and we loved it. There were other goodies there to eat because she cooked for a straight week making pies, and cookies, and homemade bread. But the spam salad sandwiches were a yearly tradition and a must on Christmas Eve. 

Next, we would all gather around the tree in the family room which had mountains of presents for everyone. My dad always played Santa, sitting on the floor by the tree with his red Santa hat on. He would hand the gifts out one at a time. We would all sit back while someone opened their present and when they were done, he would hand out another one. It was a slow process but half the fun was watching everyone open presents and see their expressions on what they received. 

This tradition began when my sister and I were little girls. It continued after we grew up and had our own daughters until our mom passed thirteen years ago. Christmas is quite different for all of us now. My sister moved away, our daughters grew up and have their own thing going on with their families. We don’t get together at Christmas like we used to do, but Thanksgiving is still a family holiday where we do. 
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He’s a soldier home for the holidays, his brother’;s last wish for him to take care of his wife and baby weighing heavily on his mind. Keeping promises are important, but this one will be hard. Ryan has been secretly in love with Shannon for years. Their attraction is hot and consuming, but will they be able to get over the guilt that threatens to keep them apart?

 

 

 

 

 

Tory Richards is an author who writes smut with a plot. Born in Maine, she’s lived most of her life in Florida where she went to school, married, and raised her daughter. She’s retired from Disney and spends her time with family and friends, traveling, and writing.

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Winter Blogfest: Jana Richards

December 24, 2020 By 8 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an E-copy of Lies and Solace.

A Different Christmas

This Christmas will be different. Because of the pandemic we’re being asked to stay home in our small household bubbles and not congregate with extended family and friends over the Christmas holidays. Even shopping is different this year. As I write this, non-essential stores are closed in my city and province. I have to say I missed seeing the stores decked out in their holiday finest. 

Christmas is steeped in tradition. Things will be different this year but it doesn’t mean it has to be bad. Maybe, for this year, we can create some new traditions.

Almost anything can be purchased online. Most stores have an online component that is easy to navigate. Technology has stepped up to help us celebrate the season. Parents can bring the magic of Santa to their kids in electronic ways. Families can play games together, even if they’re not in the same house. There’s no end to the games; some are free (and even more free games) while others need to be purchased, but they all provide a sense of getting together with friends to have fun, even while we’re apart.

When we’re feeling down, often the best antidote is to help someone else. If you’re financially able, donate to a local charity such as a food bank. Find a safe way to volunteer your time. Support local businesses like restaurants by ordering take out. One thing the pandemic has taught us is to find creative ways to do things.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Garrett Saunders’ world changed two years ago on a road in Afghanistan. Back home, he feels like a stranger. As he struggles to find his place in the world, he meets a horse destined for the slaughterhouse and a woman bent on rescuing the strays of the world, including him.
Blair Greyson moves to Masonville to look after her ailing grandfather and give her rescue horses a home. Right away she butts heads with a surly former Marine. Despite a rocky start, they come to an agreement: Blair will board Garrett’s rescue horse and he’ll help with repairs around her farm.

Garrett finds purpose working with Blair—and falls in love with her. But she’s hiding a secret. Can she forgive herself and accept Garrett’s love, or will she let guilt and regret continue to rule her life?

When Jana Richards read her first romance novel, she immediately knew two things: she had to commit the stories running through her head to paper, and they had to end with a happily ever after. She also knew she’d found what she was meant to do. Since then she’s never met a romance genre she didn’t like. She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical romance set in World War Two, in lengths ranging from short story to full length novel. Just for fun, she throws in generous helpings of humor, and the occasional dash of the paranormal. Her paranormal romantic suspense “Seeing Things” was a 2008 EPPIE finalist, and in 2018 “Lies and Solace” won Best Contemporary romance in the I Heart Indie contest.

In her life away from writing, Jana is an admin assistant, a mother to two grown daughters, and a wife to her husband Warren. She enjoys golf, yoga, movies, concerts, travel and reading, not necessarily in that order. She and her husband live in Winnipeg, Canada. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.janarichards.com

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Winter Blogfest: Wendi Zwaduk

December 24, 2020 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of Saturday Night Special by Wendi Zwaduk.

The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

Every year my family goes for our annual Christmas tree hunt. Now, this doesn’t seem like it would be that hard, but it can be. We have a couple of fake trees, but there’s something about the smell of pine, the feel of the real needles and the idea of going out to find just the right one that’s fun. 

I know, I know. It’s tree cutting. The thing about where we go is that the tree farm really does plant new trees every year, two for every one cut down. So there’s at least that. 

Now this story has to do with a couple years ago. We were hunting for that elusive tree and it was a particularly soggy day. I mean like, it’d been raining most of the day. Yuck. But it’d stopped when we set out and we opted to hunt for the tree because it was one of the few days we could all go together. I mean, why not go together as a family? So we head out and it’s mucky. We start strolling and I find a decent tree. I point it out and as poor DH heads over to it…he found a huge puddle. His boots gave way in the mud and before we know it, he’s down. Now, I’m the type of person that physical comedy makes me laugh. I can’t help it. So, I’m laughing. The tot is laughing. DH? He’s laughing, too. Shrugs. We’re strange. But we decided it was THE tree, so we cut it down and made the sojourn home. Thank goodness the seats in the truck are plastic and we could get the mud off. 

What about you? Fake or real trees? Got any good stories about going after that elusive real or fake tree? I want to hear ‘em!

He never knew what he was missing until he came home to find his place to belong—with her.

Sullavan Tanner walked away from Jarvis, Ohio, afraid to give his heart to the woman he loved. He lived the rock and roll lifestyle, but never quite made it to the big time. Fifteen years later, he’s back and ready to claim what’s his—if she’ll accept his help.
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Marley Lockwood’s done asking for help. The family farm is more than she can handle, but if she can survive a cancer scare, the loss of her parents, the abandonment by her first love, and a messy divorce, she can handle anything.

Until Sully shows up.

Although she’s not interested in rekindling the love affair, she’s not above accepting Sully’s hands on the farm. What’s the worst that could happen? They get the farm out of the red and into the black? That’s her plan. They actually fall in love? The past says it won’t work, so she’s not hedging her bets.

Too bad Sully’s not giving up this time.

Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and BDSM themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been the runner up in the Kink Category at Love Romances Café as well as nominated at the LRC for best author, best contemporary, best ménage and best anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on Amazon.com.

When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter

Buy the book at Books2Read.

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Winter Blogfest: Mona Sedrak

December 23, 2020 By 4 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook of both of my books, Gravity and Six Months.

Family Is Everything

This year we may all be celebrating the holidays in a different way than we normally do. Some may be having much smaller family gatherings by choice, and some may have lost precious loved ones who will be missing around the table. It certainly has been a challenging year for all of us. We have learned so much from this difficult year––some lessons we wish we could have been spared.

Still, the holidays, Christmas in particular, will always be a time I count my blessings––naming them one by one. Have I experienced loss and life altering change this year? Yes, like many, I do not possess super-powers to ward the bad away, and this year has taught me to pray for grace and mercy. So, what is there to be thankful for?

Like Leila, the heroine in my new novel Gravity, says, “Family is everything!” In many ways Leila’s story is my story, and those words couldn’t be truer. Nothing is more important to me than my family. Even in these difficult times, I do my best to make my family the priority. In the evenings, I call family and precious friends, checking that they are well. I start with a Facetime call to my 2 ½ year old grand-daughter, and she repeats after me, “May the angels of heaven watch over your head as you sleep through the night,” then giggles hysterically. My heart swells with love and all-consuming joy.

Next is the newest edition to my family, baby Jacob who prefers to be naked, and so we call him Nakey Jakey. I’ve only held Jacob in my arms for one brief week shortly after he was born, and my, the days have flown, and he has grown. Although I have the honor of singing him to sleep almost every night, my heart breaks when I have to say goodbye. Still, he is a 2020 blessing and fills my world with hope for a new generation that embodies the true definition of love, forgiveness, and tolerance.
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This holiday season my family will do as we have done for a few years now. Although Santa will come for the kids, the adults will give each other a priceless gift that cannot be bought––the gift of time spent with one another. We will gather in our PJs, whether by phone or virtually and laugh and share stories of days gone by. When the pandemic began, we started a group on an app that we all use to share celebrations and pictures from the past and present. It is a wonderful experience, and we will, I am certain, continue to share even more embarrassing pictures. We will text, talk, Zoom, and Facetime. But most of all, we will love one another because, “Family IS everything!” When Christmas Day comes to an end, I will lay my head down, close my eyes, and know––I am blessed, and all is well with my soul. 

Gravity: A force pulling together people and hearts.

After being shunned by her Middle Eastern family, medical assistant Leila Solomon struggles to build a life for herself and her child. Landscape photographer Aiden Stone built a career seeing what others miss, and the second he meets Leila, he is drawn to her unassuming beauty and fragile strength.

Leila cannot defy the gravitational forces pulling her toward Aiden and to the family who cast her out. To build a future with Aiden, she must face the past but is she strong enough to resist being pulled back into the family fold?

AUTHOR BIO

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Winter Blogfest: Maya Tyler

December 23, 2020 By 18 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $15 Amazon GC.

The Just Before Christmas Proposal

It was the last day of university classes before winter break. December 2002. After class, I met a friend at the gym on campus, and we had plans to go out for lunch afterward. When I returned to the locker room, I found my locker had been broken into, and everything had been taken—my white Guess purse with wallet, keys, and cell phone; my Columbia winter coat; my street clothes; my leather messenger bag—everything except my size five winter boots. My first thought was that, using the remote alarm, the thief could have easily found my car (actually my boyfriend’s car) in the parking lot and taken it too. My friend went to check the lot while I called my boyfriend at work. I heard his voice, and I cried—every ounce of composure just evaporated. He arranged for a friend to keep an eye on our apartment and took a cab to the gym to pick me up. Locksmith. Police report. Replacement winter coat. Replacement bank and ID cards. Replacement cell phone. It was an expensive and stressful day. Especially right before Christmas.

We had our traditional end-of-term dinner booked for that evening. After the crazy day, we decided to still go out. We had reservations at an upscale restaurant overlooking the city. Some moments just stand out in your memory. We ordered dinner, and I can’t tell you what we ate that night. But I remember, clear as day, pausing to sit on a bench outside the restaurant. He said something—it’s funny I remember everything I had in my gym locker and I have no idea what he said—I can even remember his lips moving and the expression on his face, a cross between earnest and nervous. Then he handed me a burgundy ring box, holding the diamond ring that we had picked out months ago and he’d told me he couldn’t afford to buy yet. When I saw the ring, I was definitely surprised. A marriage proposal wasn’t even on my radar. We’d talked about the eventuality, but more in terms of a few years into the future when we were more financially stable. And all along he’d had a plan that not even a pre-Christmas robbery could deter.

Love—real, enduring love—is special. It’s more than the art of romance. It’s leaving work to pick up your girlfriend after she’s been robbed. It’s carting your girlfriend around all afternoon so she can replace the things that were stolen. It’s a promise to stick together—good times and bad. Because the times won’t always be good. Life doesn’t work like that. But having a special someone in your corner makes all the difference. There’s no crisis we can’t face together. I am a huge fan of the happily-ever-after which is probably why it’s a prerequisite in all the stories I write. True love can triumph over any adversity. I truly believe it. I’m living proof. The day I was robbed at the gym became the day we got engaged. My new fiancé wouldn’t talk dates until after Christmas, but I got to show off my sparkly new ring at all the get-togethers. At the end of the holiday season, we decided on a summer wedding.
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And, just in case, on gym days, I left my ring at home.

Ancient and powerful vampire Corgan has been influencing struggling writer Marisa’s life path. He wants to tell his story, before ending his existence, and chooses her to author his tale. But it’s complicated. Corgan knows his request will place her in grave danger. She doesn’t.

Maya Tyler is a multi-published author of paranormal romance novels and blogger at Maya’s Musings. An avid reader, Maya writes the books she loves to read—romances! Her paranormal romances come with complex plot twists and happily-ever-afters.

When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, listening to music (alternative rock, especially from the 1990s), practicing yoga, and watching movies and TV.

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Winter Blogfest: C.A. Masterson

December 23, 2020 By 17 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win a $15 Amazon gift card.

Christmas Traditions

Holidays are all about family, aren’t they? Showing the people you love how much you care for them, and spending precious time together. 

In our family, traditions carried through generations make the season extra special. I decorate the entire house so everyone will feel the good cheer of the holidays. 

I’ve collected ornaments since the year I married, and hanging those on the tree brings back wonderful memories. Maybe that’s why our tree fills half the room! For each of my three children, I collected a new ornament every year for them to hang on their own Christmas trees when they grew up.

Even though they’re now adults with kids of their own, the ornaments they crafted for me still go on my tree every year – the glue-and-glitter snowflake, the slightly crooked ceramic house, the cinnamon dough star that somehow hasn’t crumbled. I hope they’ll continue the tradition for my grandchildren so the youngest generation will grow up to hear the stories connected with every ornament.

More like a http://www.donssite.com/steertech/Castle-Autochem-Products.htm levitra on line practical day to day cause that my readers can identify with. The male disorder can occur at young and old age, between the age group of 40 and 79. shop viagra online Dark chocolate is great because it is not only a treatment option but also a diagnostic procedure to identify underlying problems not detected yet. cialis tadalafil 50mg Full Report Profits of Tentex Royal : It is Continue to site soft generic viagra competitive. Family is at the heart of every good story! Especially if your family has a few… quirks. Like the family of my latest heroine, Marissa Tahy.

In Secret Spirit Guardians of Santa Fe, Marissa is my favorite kind of heroine – smart, feisty, brave (maybe to a fault), and a little flawed. She lost her brother at a tender age, and is distrustful of love, and even a little distrustful of family. All her life, she knew they’ve kept secrets from her, but when she finds out the real reason, she puts her personal life aside to do what’s necessary for everyone’s good. The experience brings her family closer than she thought possible.

That’s what make the holidays so special. From our family to yours, we wish you a wonderful holiday filled with precious memories.

After Marissa Tahy returns home to Santa Fe, she is haunted by visions and glimpses of danger no one else sees: Old Man Gloom in his true form. For over a century, people have burned their troubles in the spirit’s effigy at the Zozobra festival, making the spirit angrier and more powerful. This year, Old Man Gloom demands his due. The vengeful spirit targets those Marissa loves.

Even when Marissa discovers the secret history binding her family to Zozobra, joining their forces may not be enough to prevent the furious spirit from burying Santa Fe beneath an avalanche of misery.

Award-winning author C.A. Masterson loves stories of any genre. Multi-published in contemporary to historical, fantasy/dark fantasy to paranormal/speculative, she sometimes mashes genres.

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Winter Blogfest: Laura Strickland

December 23, 2020 By 7 Comments

This post is part of Long and Short Reviews’ Winter Blogfest. Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of my Christmas story, Northern Magic.

The Past is With Us at the Holidays

Is there anyone who, at this time of year, doesn’t look back toward childhood? No matter how you celebrated, or whether childhood was happy or otherwise, memories of the holiday season stand out so vividly.

In my home, we celebrated Christmas. My mom saved up all year to give us a wonderful holiday. Each time my dad got paid, she would squirrel away a dollar or two in an envelope clearly marked Christmas. Having gone without a lot of things as a child, she’d learned to be frugal. But when Christmas came, all that changed. We would have cookies wall to wall (some of my best memories are of baking with her, in a fragrant kitchen) and gift-wishes would somehow, miraculously, come true. Looking back, I’m not sure how she managed it, and I’m certain there was a little magic, as well as a lot of love, involved.

And that gets me thinking…where did my mom, deprived of so much, including her own mother at a young age, get the desire to make us a magical Christmas? How did she come by her cookie recipes, if not via memories of watching her mother, who once ran a tearoom, bake? And where did my grandmother learn to bake, except from her own mother? In all this I see a woven chain of tradition, stretching back through the ages—an unbroken connection of love.

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Just because she’ll be alone this Christmas, is no reason for Beth Manning to feel sorry for herself. A busy nurse with plenty of friends, she knows she can keep occupied and have a good holiday. But when a tiny package containing an antique locket arrives, she tumbles into a century-old mystery. Is it intended for her, or for a relation of the same name, who lived four generations ago? Why does the image of the young soldier, inside, tug so hard at her heartstrings?

When Tommy Rafferty accompanies his injured friend to the hospital, he’s not thinking about romance. Yet as soon as he meets nurse Beth, his heart gets its own ideas. He’s sure he wants to see her again. But what a strange coincidence, that the tiny package he found and mailed just days ago, while cleaning out a relative’s property should have been addressed to this woman he’s just met. And what about the dreams of past battles he’s been having, that hint at promises and sacrifice?
Is it possible for two lovers parted a century ago to be reunited in time for Christmas? In the blossoming of a new love, will an old promise be kept?

Multi award-winning author Laura Strickland delights in time traveling to the past and searching out settings for her books, be they Historical Romance, Steampunk or something in between. Her first Scottish Historical hero, Devil Black, battled his way onto the publishing scene in 2013, and the author never looked back. Nor has she tapped the limits of her imagination. Venturing beyond Historical and Contemporary Romance, she created a new world with her ground-breaking Buffalo Steampunk Adventure series set in her native city, in Western New York. Married and the parent of one grown daughter, Laura has also been privileged to mother a number of very special rescue dogs, and is intensely interested in animal welfare. These days while she's writing, you can always find her latest rescue, Lacy, nearby. Her love of dogs, and her lifelong interest in Celtic history, magic and music, are all reflected in her writing. Laura's mantra is Lore, Legend, Love, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

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