July Book Bash 7/19 ~ Summer Reads SALE

I write books set in Emerald Isle, NC and books set in central Virginia (that area west of Richmond and reaching into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We all know summer is a prime time for beach reading, but those books don’t have to be set at the beach, right? In celebration of the Sweet Romance Reads “July Book Blast” I’d like to shine a little summer sun on my VIRGINIA COUNTRY ROADS NOVELS by putting a couple of them on sale for 99 cents.

The Virginia Country Roads Novels are standalone, single-title novels (except for LEAVING CUB CREEK which is the sequel to CUB CREEK, but CUB CREEK can be read as a standalone).

A STRANGER IN WYNNEDOWER will be on sale for 99 cents on 7/19 - 7/20. CUB CREEK will be on sale for 99 cents on 7/21 -7/22. I’ve included their book blurbs below, but if you’d like more information about these, as well as my other books, check them out here: www.GraceGreene.com

Happy Summer Reading! 

A STRANGER IN WYNNEDOWER

Rachel Sevier, a lonely thirty-two-year-old inventory specialist, travels to Wynnedower Mansion in rural Virginia seeking her brother who has stopped returning her calls. Instead, she finds Jack Wynne, the mansion’s bad-tempered owner. He isn’t happy to meet her. Her brother took off without notice and left Jack in a lurch. Rachel has doubts. Did her brother really leave? Where would he have gone?

Jack has his own plans. He’s tired of being responsible for everyone and everything. He wants to shake those obligations, including the old mansion. The last thing he needs is another complication, including his former caretaker’s sister, but he allows Rachel to stay for a few days while she figures out what to do next.

At Wynnedower, Rachel becomes curious about the house and its owner. If rumors are true, the means to save Wynnedower Mansion from demolition are hidden within its walls, but the other inhabitants of Wynnedower have agendas, too. Not only may Wynnedower’s treasure be stolen, but also the life of its arrogant master, unless Rachel can save them. 

CUB CREEK

In the heart of Virginia, where the forests hide secrets and the creeks run strong and deep ~

Libbie Havens is fine on her own. She doesn’t need anyone, including the approval of her family. When she chances upon the secluded house on Cub Creek she purchases it. She’ll show her cousin Liz, and other doubters, that she can rise above her past and live happily and successfully on her own terms.

Libbie has emotional problems born of a troubled childhood. Raised by a grandmother she could never please, Libbie is more comfortable not being comfortable with people. She knows she’s different from most. She has special gifts, or curses, but are they real? Or are they products of her history and dysfunction?

At Cub Creek Libbie makes friends and attracts the romantic interest of two local men, Dan Wheeler and Jim Mitchell. Relationships with her cousin and other family members improve dramatically and Libbie experiences true happiness—until tragedy occurs.

Having lost the good things gained at Cub Creek, Libbie must find a way to overcome her troubles, to finally rise above them and seize control of her life and future, or risk losing everything, including herself.

Thanks for joining us here today at Sweet Romance Reads. I’d love to hear from you and hear your thoughts. If you visit my website at www.GraceGreene.com I hope you’ll subscribe to my newsletter. And while you’re here at this blog, please sign up for the Sweet Romance Reads newsletter, too.

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"Stories of heart and hope ~ from the Outer Banks to the Blue Ridge."

Grace Greene writes women's fiction and contemporary romance with suspense. A Virginia native, Grace has family ties to North Carolina. She writes books set in both locations. Please visit Grace at www.GraceGreene.com and sign up for her newsletter there.

The Emerald Isle books, BEACH RENTAL and BEACH WINDS, are set in North Carolina where "It's always a good time for a love story and a trip to the beach." Or travel down Virginia Country Roads in KINCAID'S HOPE, ASTRANGER IN WYNNEDOWER, and CUB CREEK and "Take a trip to love, mystery and suspense. Her most recent release is THE HAPPINESS IN BETWEEN and her next will be THE MEMORY OFBUTTERFLIES due for release on 9/5/17.

BEACH RENTAL, her debut novel, won the Booksellers Best contest in both the Traditional and Best First Book categories. BEACH RENTAL and BEACH WINDS were each awarded 4.5 stars, Top Pick by RT Book Reviews magazine. Grace lives in central Virginia. You'll also find her here:

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Sometimes You Need to Get Away

Sometimes you need to get away. 

They (the people who form the generic “they”) say “Don’t dream, just do it.” Others say “Never stop dreaming.” I think there must be a balance. There are tasks we must do, appointments to be kept, yet we have that open ticket ready in our heads – the ticket that takes us to places we’d rather be, at least for a short visit. 

 

I was thinking today about the places I like to go when I want to get away, but can’t actually, physically, go. One of those places is a wide, clean sandy beach – a peaceful and beautiful beach in Emerald Isle, NC that nature allows me to share while the waves set the rhythm and high-level winds direct the clouds to other venues. Another place I like to visit is a path in the woods amid rolling hills. Nearby a creek is gurgling over rocks and around tree roots, making liquid music, and the scent of tall pines fills the air and their needles create a fresh carpet underfoot. Or I might visit a dock at a mountain lake where a boat and a breeze awaits me, where life’s cares are left behind on shore.  

 

These are ordinary places. Places like this are easy to find in any number of locales, but my favorite spots exist only in my head. And in my books. And I go there when I can, and when I write.

 

I presume that’s true for most story tellers, and story lovers, too. It's not just for those who write the stories down. We tell ourselves stories or imagine exotic locations or peaceful scenes. Maybe it’s a form of meditation, but I’ve never studied or tried meditation, so I don’t know. I do know that when I’m in the dentist’s chair for more than a simple cleaning, I can visit those and other locations. Sometimes I hear music with the visuals – strains of Vivaldi and Corelli long ago engrained in my auditory memory. It’s impossible to pay attention to what the dentist is doing in your mouth when a Baroque orchestral arrangement is tuning your brain.  

 

Where do you go on your “dream” trips? Do you have special destinations? Are they special to you because of memories you made there? Or maybe a destination inspired by a picture you saw in a magazine that caught your attention and got caught in your brain? Or is there a location in a book you read that took root in your imagination and won’t let go? Please let me know in the comments. Maybe there's a great destination I'm missing!

 

Thanks for visiting Sweet Romance Reads today. I hope you'll subscribe to our newsletter while you're here. Also, join us at the Sweet Romance Reads Café on Facebook on May 6 from 2PM to 8PM for our Mother's Day Party.

 

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Grace Greene writes Women's Fiction with romance, mystery and suspense. The Emerald Isle, NC novels feature romance and sweet inspiration. The Virginia Country Roads Novels offer romance with more mystery and suspense. Please visit her website and she'd love it if you signed up for her newsletter.

 

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A Beachy Anniversary by Grace Greene

This is my anniversary month. Not an engagement or wedding anniversary, or the day I met my husband, etc., but rather July is the anniversary of the publication of my debut novel, Beach Rental. Four years ago, after many years of writing and hoping, my first novel was published. Beach Rental was the first of the Emerald Isle, NC stories series and in celebration of the anniversary—and in celebration of summer, summer vacations and beach trips—I want to share some of my beach photos from past trips to Emerald Isle. Even if you’re stuck at home this summer (as I am) there’s more than one way to enjoy the beach!

First, to find Emerald Isle on the map, go to the Outer Banks and travel south. When you get to Cape Hatteras, bear southwest across Ocracoke Island and down to Cape Lookout, then turn right and skip lightly over Shackleford Banks to the Bogue Banks on the Crystal Coast. Emerald Isle is on the island of Bogue Banks which runs east-west. I’m mostly a beach walker (as opposed to a sunbather or swimmer) so this suits me very well. I walk to the sunrise in the morning and the sunset in the evening.

Some mornings are misty, some are cloudy, but all are beautiful with a special mystery in the pre-dawn hours. I’m not usually an early riser if I have the choice, but as the sea birds skim the water hunting for breakfast and the sun begins to lighten the sky, I want to be out there with them.

These pictures are from my sunrise walks, but beach sunsets are extra special for color and drama, and for how they usher in the night. The nighttime ocean is dark with light captured only in the foaming waves. You are surrounded by dark in the eternal roar of tides moving in and out, while overhead a net of brilliant, countless stars blink on to rule the night.

In the sunny hours between dawn and dusk, you can appreciate the wide pristine beaches that stretch the length of Bogue Banks. These beaches are perfect for families. On the other side of the island is Bogue Sound with its own special character, but for me, it’s the ocean I love—its rhythm, its eternity. Regardless of what’s happening in the rest of the world, the ocean does its own thing. It does what it does without anger or censure or approval. It is inspiring and it is also deadly. I know that’s true because when I was thirteen I almost drowned—not at Emerald Isle, but at another beach. I used some of my memories of that event in Beach Rental.

It doesn’t look like I’ll make it to the beach this summer due to family responsibilities, but one of the joys of photos, and the written word too, is their ability to call to mind memories, including how it feels to have the warm sand beneath my bare feet and the cool leading fringe of waves tickling my toes, or, in particular, the memories of loved ones and sunny days of fun.