Image by Vincent Ciro from Pixabay
This is going to be an unusual holiday season, (meaning Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.)
My question: In this time of covid, what holiday traditions in your family and friends are you going to preserve?
I’m already planning my holidays to be safe but not lose my holiday spirit or those treasured traditions. Click here to read and see what I'll be keeping.
Let’s encourage one another!
So still don't have them?
The upcoming December issue of our quarterly newsletter will offer one bundle of all six to one fortunate subscriber.
SO ARE YOU A SUBSCRIBER? IF NOT, WHY NOT?
Here are the six novellas. Click to find out more.
Oct 1st-Beneath Northern Lights by Lyn Cote
Oct 8th-Mistletoe Puppy by Roxanne Rustand
Oct 15th-Christmas Redemption by Laura Scott
Oct 22nd-Puppy Love and Jingle Bells by Merrillee Whren
Oct 29th-Joy Comes to Bedford Falls by Susan Aylworth
Nov 5th-A Christmas Puppy to Cherish by Josie Riviera
So do you love puppies? Christmas? Why not subscribe or invite a friend to and perhaps win all six?--Lyn Cote
PS: JUST LOOK TO THE TOP OF THE RIGHT COLUMN, AND THAT'S WHERE YOU CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE. You can do it!
Decorating for Christmas!
Hello! Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. Our group around the table was smaller this year, thanks to that which shall not be named, but we still had a nice time.
I'm not a Black Friday shopper, even in normal years. But I do generally decorate the house for Christmas right after Thanksgiving.
This is not a small job by any means. I have five large tubs of Christmas decorations that I lug up from the basement. Takes me pretty much one entire day to do the house decorating and another day for the tree.
What do you think?
I love decorating for the holiday and even though I'm not sure if we'll be gathering at my house this year or not, I wanted to surround myself with Christmas joy.
So my question of the day is: Are you decorating this year? Drop me a picture of your tree!
I have a new release coming out on December 1, 2020. True Blue K-9 unit: Brooklyn Christmas - $4.99 Take a moment to check it out.
Their mission: saving Christmas
Two exciting new True Blue K-9 Unit: Brooklyn novellas
In Holiday Stalker by Laura Scott, Max Santelli and his furry partner protect the team’s tech guru, Eden Chang, when she becomes the target of deadly attention. And in Gift-Wrapped Danger by Maggie K. Black, army veteran Adam Jolly teams up with Noelle Orton and her keen-nosed K-9 to take down someone smuggling drugs using toys donated to the single dad’s Christmas charity.
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Laura Scott
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| Photo by Bob Ricca on Unsplash |
Hi, Gang! It's me again.
And I have a question for you.
Have you put holiday lights in your windows?
On your landscaping?
Dripping from your roof?
Okay, maybe that's three questions, but you get the gist.
Some of my neighbors have had Christmas lights going since Halloween. In any other year, I'd have muttered to myself that it was way too early.
But this year, I smile each evening when I look out the window and see the pretty, colorful lights outlining their roof, a little tree, and the driveway.
Holiday lights are just so happy.
So hopeful.
I read in the paper this week that lots of folks in the U.S. were early this year with their Christmas lights. The article also pointed out that outdoor holiday decorating is an unselfish endeavor. Most of the time the homeowner isn't able to enjoy their own handiwork.
Instead, it's being savored by the folks who drive past,
many of whom are probably total strangers.
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| Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash |
So I wanted to say thank you to those who've already lit up their corner of the world. And for the rest of us, it's not too late to do our part. There's still way too much darkness out there.
Website: https://magdalenascott.com/
An update for those of you who have been following the saga of Ben Kincaid's story. It is written and is on my editor's calendar. Happy dance!
Hi all,
It’s almost Thanksgiving, and I’m not about to watch hours of football games. I enjoy board games, but this year…I’m taking my skills to a new level.
Zoom just isn’t not for meetings and conferences. When it comes to having fun, it’s a whole new world!
How about Watch Your Mouth? A group of us played this on Zoom. The images look scary, but the game was a hoot! Divided into teams, the captains had to insert this plastic mouthpiece that stretched the lips. My group had to figure out the phrase I was saying. #TeamSimmons won.
Not your cup of tea? Okay, let’s move on. What about bingo? Book bingo that is. Create your own at Bingobaker.com.
On sale for 99¢ Fri-Mon, Nov 27-30
Sweet Romance Reads author
Laura Ashwood is a little under the weather. She wants YOU to know that she
will be offering AN AGENT FOR CLARISSA for $2 off the regular cover price
starting Friday, November 27th. The sale will continue through Monday, November
30th. Here’s a little more about the book:
Clarissa Ferguson craves a
life of adventure. The last thing she wants is to become a socialite and marry
a curmudgeon to appease her mother. When she sees an advertisement for female
Pinkerton Agents, she leaves on the next available train to Denver Colorado.
What she doesn't expect is to meet a handsome man on the train who ends up being
her new trainer.
Noah Harding is recovering
from the loss of his wife and family, and vows never to marry again. He throws
himself into his work as a Pinkerton agent and has finally found a sense of
purpose. He prides himself on being able to read people, that is until he
observes a peculiar woman on a train headed west. What he didn't count on was
that she is the newest Pinkerton Agent and he is required to marry her to solve
a murder.
Will Noah be able to stay focused on the case with Clarissa distracting him? Will he be able to protect her when the case puts Clarissa's life in danger? When the case forces them to pretend to be something they aren't, what happens when their feelings become real?
Find this eBook:
Available as a free read for Kindle Unlimited members.
Don’t miss this sale! Happy Reading!
Laura wishes each and every one of you a very happy Thanksgiving.
And that's all! My historical Journey to Victory is free on Amazon Only the 22nd and 23rd.
Here's the scoop:
In the early 1770's, Christiane Pelletier, an extraordinarily beautiful young woman, is next in a line of courtesans who have been favorites at the French court during the reigns of two monarchs. Yet she longs to be the beloved wife of one man, not a lovely piece of human art passed from one noble to another. And the winds of change are sweeping Europe.
Christiane flees France with her renegade father. In the Canadian wilderness, she survives the shock of leaving a life of wealth and privilege. To escape frontier violence, she moves southward only to become involved in the burgeoning American Revolution. Circumstances move Christiane into the very heart of the American rebel elite.
But one man in her life can never be forgotten. John Eastham, who’d also left Europe behind, had protected her as the captain at a Canadian frontier fort. Then he’d been a friend. Now when they meet again, he has become the enemy. Both of them must face the history they left behind. Both of them must face the vagaries of war and also of peace. How do enemies lay down arms and forge a future. a dynasty?
Three generations-a family saga, a young nation’s story~
A fascinating book, well worth reading, difficult to put down and gave me a new insight into the early history of the US.—a UK reader
For more info, click here.
Lord willing, I'm looking forward to other upcoming Christmas events. In December, another small Tennessee town (Bell Buckle) is having a Christmas festival where there's going to be lots of fun things going on and sleigh rides. My hometown has a Christmas parade, a tree lighting, and an on-the-square event where there are vendors and there's been sleigh rides, as well.
I'm so blessed that I get to write for Hallmark and incorporated all the things I love about Christmas into my stories. Wrapped Up in Christmas has a sleigh ride and an on-the-square Christmas festival. Wrapped Up in Christmas Joy has us back at the Christmas festival but from a new perspective. Some of the fun Christmas traditions I've experienced first hand either in my hometown or via traveling. Others are things that are on my Christmas bucket list to someday do.
Does your home town have community events? A tree lighting service, a Christmas parade, or some other fun way of bringing the community together at Christmas?
One commenter will win a Joy Christmas ornament exactly like this one hanging on my tree and autographed bookmarks.
by Fran McNabb
Holiday Season means festivals. Even with paranoia over the pandemic, I set up my booths, stayed behind my tables masked, and sold my books and art. I love talking with people about my books. This year, as always, I had many to ask me to point out my favorite book. You’d think after fifteen books, I’d quickly shout out my favorite, but, nope, that’s not the case.
Authors love their books and their characters. If they don’t, I think it shows up in their writing. How do you pick a favorite when they all are loved? I finally came up with a solution. I focus on my books with my favorite heroes: Jake in ON THE CREST OF A WAVE https://www.amazon.com/Crest-Wave-Fran-McNabb-ebook/dp/B009K2A6ZI and Tucker in PARADISE FOUND https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-Found-Contemporary-romance-Romance-ebook/dp/B0868R3514
Both of these characters have characteristics that make a wonderful hero—courageous but flawed, gentle but tough, and, of course, handsome and loving.
Who
is your favorite hero? Is it one you created or is it on you found in someone
else’s book?
Every morning our school day starts with announcements. First, we recite the Pledge of Allegiance. When people are seated, the routine continues with the word of the day. It’s cute because our student announcer gives a shout-out to one of the teachers. “This is a word the such and such teacher would like.” He pauses to give us time to chuckle. Then he announces the “National day of.” Again he gives a shout-out to someone in the school.
One time he skipped the “National Day of.” A student under the guise of going to the bathroom to a side trip to the office to ask that the oversight be remedied. It hasn’t been missed since.
Well, today is National Play Monopoly Day. All of us are supposed to gather a group of friends and break out the Monopoly board. My first inclination was to balk. On a weekday?
Then I recalled that I played two variations of Monopoly with my boys when they were younger. One way was to set a timer for thirty minutes. Whoever had the most money and assets at the end of that time won.
The other variation was to play for fifteen minutes the usual way. After that, we played in reverse for the next fifteen minutes.
Regardless of how we played, the end was always the same. We’d finish with a treat of fresh-baked cookies and cocoa. It was the perfect way to end the day.
I have a question. What is your favorite Monopoly piece? The choices are: the dog, the iron, the shoe, the car, the thimble, the ship, or the top hat. Share your answer in the comments.
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The friends and family in my Paradise Hills series love playing games. In Paradise Hills Thanksgiving, the brothers have an epic ping pong competition that sends the women of the family ducking for cover.
Gibson is the visionary. Sam is his anchor. Gibson had this great idea. What if he and Sam were to pretend they were a couple? Everyone would believe it. They already did everything together anyway. It took some persuasion, but Sam agreed to the ruse.
Sam's father, Charles Ellis, deciding that Gibson was not good enough for his daughter, introduced her to the perfect person to prove it. His new apprentice, Greg.
A simple charade, meant to make Gibson and Sam’s lives easier, takes the two best friends through twists and turns that test the foundation of their friendship.
Paradise Hills Thanksgiving is a small town, feel-good, love story that readers of Hallmark Channel stories
would enjoy.
Amazon | Apple | B & N | Kobo |
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Merri lives on a family farm with her husband in rural Montana. When she isn't crafting small-town romance stories, she is either in the school library with the next generation of readers or in the classroom inspiring them to write their stories.
As I read my fellow bloggers posts, I'm always fascinated whatever national day they are posting about. Who knew there was something for pretty much every day of the year.
Today is national fast food day. Since going Gluten free by necessity I eat little to no fast food anymore as it's too risky for my health, but in my book Sara's Gift they do enjoy quite a bit of fast food take out lol. I think I was living vicariously through my characters when I wrote the book.
Sara's Gift is part of the Small Town Christmas Wishes Series that several bloggers here at Sweet Romance Reads releases in 2019. As it happens Sara's Gift is on a 99¢ Kindle Countdown deal. Today, Nov. 16th, is the final day to snag this deal.
Christmas is the season of giving, but Sara isn’t sure she is up to the task.
Playing secret angel in high school was fun, and now, years later, Sara has the opportunity to do it once more on a bigger scale. She enlists the help of Gabe, her long-time best friend, to come up with a deserving recipient. But something is off with Gabe—he’s more attentive than usual.
The Christmas season has put Gabe in a reflective mood. His evaluation of his life has left him lonely and wanting more. But can his heart have its desire? That’s up to Sara.
Can these two long-time best friends navigate their changing relationship, or will the romance Grinch steal their Christmas joy?
In honor of National Fast Food Day, what is your favorite fast food?
Mine is pizza.
Award winning author Kimberly Rose Johnson married her college sweetheart and lives in the Pacific Northwest. From a young child Kimberly has been an avid reader. That love of reading fostered a creative mind and led to her passion for writing. She especially loves romance and writes contemporary romance and romantic mystery and suspense with a heart.
Kimberly holds a degree in Behavioral Science from Northwest University in Kirkland, Washington, and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.
You can sign up for Kimberly's newsletter via her website at: https://kimberlyrjohnson.com/
In my latest book, Puppy Love and Jingle Bells, the young boy in the story is the catalyst for this romance. But near the end he does something that blows up the budding romance, and just like him, I wasn't sure how to repair it. That's what we authors call the "black moment," when everything seems lost. A boy and his dog stumble into the perfect solution and brought me along for the ride. You need to pick up and copy and find out how he managed to bring everyone back together.
Be sure to check out all the novellas in the Puppies for Christmas. They are all 99 cents. So get your copies now! You can find them at these links.
Oct 1st-Beneath Northern Lights by Lyn Cote
Oct 8th-Mistletoe Puppy by Roxanne Rustand
Oct 15th-Christmas Redemption by Laura Scott
Oct 22nd-Puppy Love and Jingle Bells by Merrillee Whren
Oct 29th-Joy Comes to Bedford Falls by Susan Aylworth
Nov 5th-A Christmas Puppy to Cherish by Josie Riviera
Are you good at wasting time? How do you accomplish it?
