Moving up to 2007 ~ Jean C. Gordon

It's retrospective time again. Yes, there's a significant gap in my published books at this point. I was still writing for Avalon Books. But I was going through a difficult time. From early 2004 through fall 2005, my Mom and our dads were failing, and we were spending many of our weekends (my writing time, since I also had a full-time day job) driving 300 miles to Western NY to help care for them and relieve siblings. I didn't feel much like writing. Mom dies in early 2004 and the dads in August and September of 2005. As an aside, Dad would have been 100 years old today! Sometime in 2006, I picked up writing the rest of Candy Kisses, a fun story that came out in hardcover on April 1, 2007.

Inside Tidbits

To be truthful, I can't remember much about writing Candy Kisses, except that writing helped me deal with my grief. And my Avalon editor couldn't understand why the heroine would "out of the blue" come up with the candy contest that I thought was key to the story. She wanted to cut it. Somehow, I justified keeping it in. Not entirely sure how, except that I had my heroine see the game in a popular magazine. 

For those of you who've read it, tell me if you think the story would have fallen apart without the candy kisses contest.

Also, the hardcover book's cover is the first Avalon cover that was kept for the paper and ebook versions that were later republished by Montlake Publishing (in 2012) after it bought Avalon Books.

Candy Price is tired. Tired of her three older brothers talking her into blind dates with their friends; tired of living in Albany, New York; and tired of her overbearing boss. She'd love to break away and quit her job as a media assistant for a gubernatorial candidate. But that would only validate her brothers' view that she's flighty.

As a diversion, she decides to help her landlord---witty, gorgeous Mike Wheeler---find a new woman. Mike has a diversion of his own in mind: convincing Candy that there's more to life than out-succeeding her brothers. And if something develops between them, well, he certainly won't fight it.

The result? A contest to find the perfect kiss. The rules? Points per kiss are paid in candy kisses. And winner takes all as Candy and Mike begin to fall for each other in this sweet game of love.

You might be able to still find a hardcover copy available used somewhere or in a library, but because Montlake Publishing was owned by Amazon, the paperback and ebook are only available on Amazon. The ebook is also included in Kindle Unlimited.

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