Does Age Make a Difference by Merrillee Whren

The books I’ve written have a variety of ages for the hero and heroine. I’ve written stories with heroes in their thirties and the heroines in their twenties. I’ve written stories with heroines who are older than the heroes. I’ve written stories with heroes and heroines who are close to the same age.

 

When I first started reading romances many years ago, I would say all the heroes were older and the heroines younger. I married a younger man, although only a couple of years younger, but I have a friend who married a man seven years younger than she is. I wanted to read a story with an older heroine and a younger hero, so I wrote one. That book never sold, however, I did eventually write and sell a book to Love Inspired with an older heroine and a younger hero. That book was Love Walked In, now reissued as Second Chance Gift, the second book in my Pinecrest series.

 

 

 

I also wrote two more books with older heroines, A Place to Find Love and Kirsten’s Mission, first published by Love Inspired as Nursing the Soldier’s Heart.

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes the age difference is something the hero and heroine think about as the relationship grows, especially when the age difference is more than a couple of years. In other books age is barely mentioned. Currently, I'm working on a story in which the hero is over twenty years older than the heroine. 

 

Do you have a favorite age combination in the romances you read? 

 

 

Merrillee Whren is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award presented by Romance Writers of American. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of forty-plus years, and has two grown daughters. Connect with her on her Facebook page and sign up for her newsletter.

October Adventures and Golden Anniversary Surprises by Josie Riviera

I can't believe it's already October! This month feels extra special because my husband and I are celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary with a cruise to Tahiti. Fifty years—how is that even possible? I swear we just got married yesterday, but then I look at old photos and realize we actually were babies back then.

The cruise starts in Hawaii, which we've never visited, and ends in Australia—another first for us. I'm trying not to think about that incredibly long flight back to the Carolinas from Australia. Or the fact that I tend to get seasick.

But at our age, when else are we going to do something this adventurous? Below is a photo of my husband and me at a surprise anniversary party that our son and his wife hosted for us.

I keep thinking about how much has changed in five decades. When we got married, I never imagined I'd be writing romance novels or that we'd still be planning adventures together at this stage of life. But here we are, still surprising each other and still believing in happily ever after.

My husband still makes me laugh, and we continue to plan adventures together after all these years.

I'm also working on something special for you—more details coming soon, but let's just say winter is going to bring some exciting new releases. Sometimes the best surprises are worth the wait.

Here's a sneak peek at my second sweet inspirational romantasy, A Season Out of Time, now on preorder.

Are you doing anything special this October? I'd love to hear about your fall plans! Please comment below.

Josie Riviera is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary, historical, and inspirational romances that read like Hallmark movies. She lives in the Charlotte, NC, area with her wonderfully supportive husband. They share their home with an adorable Shih Tzu, who constantly needs grooming, and live in an old house forever needing renovation.

Sign up for her newsletter and get a FREE ebook on her website: josieriviera.com

Lyn Cote says: You Can Still Save a Dollar!

 My newest book, A LIFE BY FAITH, will be on pre-order for $3.99. On Friday the price increases to $4.99. This is the final book in my “Three Women of Courage” series . Click here to purchase.  

Here’s the scoop:

A Union Civil War nurse with a secret agenda~

The final book in this series features Honor’s youngest daughter Faith. After a family tragedy, Faith searches for a way to undo this terrible wrong. Faith is a woman much like her mother and older sister. She will not be deterred from doing what she sees as her duty. And the only way she can continue her search which must take her southward is to become a nurse with the Union Army.

There she meets an unlikely, often unwilling ally, Colonel Dev Knight, a man as divided as the nation. He’s from a border state and fights for the Union but owns a slave. However, he thinks that Faith needs to be protected. Why would her parents let a defenseless woman go to a war? As a gentleman, he cannot let her go it alone so begins their relationship. 

But in the midst of war is Colonel Knight correct? Is Faith’s mission impossible? Click here for more info.—Lyn

2018: A Full-time Author ~ Jean C. Gordon

The year 2018 was my first as a full-time romance author with the release of my first Indigo Bay series book, Sweet Entanglement, and my second Team Macachek series book, A Team Macachek Christmas.

Writing/Publishing Tidbits

Both of my 2018 releases feature the same hero and heroine, Lauren Cooper and Jesse Cooper. A Team Macachek Christmas is a happy-for-now novella and Sweet Entanglement  is a happily ever after.

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TEAM MACACHEK: Fall in love with the strong women and fearless men of the motocross circuit.

Sparks fly from a Christmastime reunion of motocross racer Jesse Brewster and his ex-girlfriend Lauren Cooper. Being thrown together to plan the race team’s Christmas party reignites a flame Lauren thought she’d extinguished when she broke up with Jesse six months earlier. But will Jesse’s well-meaning secret Christmas gift—meant to help win her back—compromise the independence Lauren is fighting to establish? Is it, as she maintains, the wrong time for their love?

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Is three the charm?
Lauren Cooper is on her way to her life’s dream. She’s financed and finished college and law school all on her own. And she’s up for partner at the largest law firm in Indigo Bay. There’s nothing to stop her from concentrating everything on achieving that goal. Until Jesse Brewster, the man who broke her heart twice, shows up sleeping off the night before on the beach, and she’s called in to serve as his public defender.
Sparks fly between them, and Jesse vows to fan those sparks once he’s got the project successfully underway. But someone starts sabotaging it, putting Jesse behind on the deadline he has to meet to get the property off the Indigo Bay Planning Board’s condemned property list. And Lauren has a sick suspicion that her bosses are somehow involved.

Looking to make a new start after the racing accident that ended his lucrative motocross career and sent him spiraling into darkness, the former champion had envisioned an entirely different scenario if he ever saw Lauren again. That vision was more along the lines of the successful businessman he’d be once he rehabbed the seaside mansion he’s inherited from his uncle and sold it to open a custom bike shop.

Jesse and Lauren had once promised they’d wait for each other while they pursued their career dreams. Despite that broken promise, neither can deny the love that’s still between them. But now that they are on the cusp of reaching those dreams, are they willing to risk everything to renew that love?

This is the 12th novel in the Indigo Bay series, but all books can be read as standalones.

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