Summer Plans

Do you have a trip planned for this summer? Memorial Day weekend is just ahead. My wedding anniversary is coming up in June. Father’s Day is shortly thereafter. Then the Fourth of July… Official holidays, personal celebrations, or a getaway – maybe you have a special go-to place like a mountain cabin or a beach house, or do you like to see new places and fresh faces when you get away? 

My husband and I have been talking about getting away. Several times over the past year we’ve discussed and planned, but stopped short of actually booking a trip. Life, I guess. Family obligations that can’t be accounted for within a schedule like my mom in a memory care unit, or job obligations, or – you name it – there’s always something ready to hold you back from taking off on adventure. 

We planned to take a trip to the UK in May but didn’t go through with it. We’ve looked at cruises, not really caring where it sails, but only wanting to be on the ship and watch the ocean go by. We’ve considered short, more local trips to the shore or to the mountains, but each time I pull my Go-For-It finger back from the keyboard. Not yet. 

So when? Will it be when this current book project is finished? There’ll be another to write. As for family – there’s no guarantee of health and stability on any given day or week regardless of age or condition, so timing may be a gamble, but waiting is a sure way to never get away. Or do you just enjoy the planning more than the actual trip? Many do.

What holds you back? Whether it’s from traveling or doing something else you’ve dreamed of? What keeps you anchored in the planning stage, never to take off and do it? Where would you go if you had the chance to travel without restriction?

~:~:~

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.

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, A STRANGER IN WYNNEDOWER, and CUB CREEK and "Take a trip to love, mystery and suspense." Her newest release, LEAVING CUB CREEK, is the sequel to CUB CREEK.

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. KINCAID'S HOPE received a 4 star review from that same magazine.

 

Grace lives in central Virginia. Stay current with Grace's releases and appearances at www.GraceGreene.com and sign up for her newsletter. Grace loves to hear from readers.

You'll also find Grace here:
Twitter: @Grace_Greene
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GraceGreeneBooks
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/Grace_Greene
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/gracegreeneauth/
Amazon's Author Central: amazon.com/author/gracegreene

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.

 

~:~

 

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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Pumpkin Addiction by Shanna Hatfield

Admittedly, I have a thing for pumpkin sweets.
It's a lifelong affliction that seems to get worse instead of better because there are so many delicious pumpkin goodies available that didn't used to exist.
From September until December, I indulge my pumpkin cravings with a variety of tasty treats.
I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with you today.

Bigelow's Pumpkin Spice tea is incredibly good. I may or may not inhale the fragrant steam as it wafts upward in aromatic tendrils before I ever take a sip of the rich, spicy brew. Made with black tea, delicate spices and pumpkin flavors, the tea has become a staple of fall in my tea cupboard.

How about pumpkin cookies that are moist, flavorful, spicy - and only require two ingredients?
These are so, so easy to make.

Pumpkin Cookies
1 box of spice cake mix
1 small can of pumpkin pie filling
1 cup cream cheese frosting
toppings (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix cake mix and pumpkin until thoroughly blended.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment and drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the cookie sheet.
Bake about eight minutes, until the cookies are  set but not yet starting to brown.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Warm cream cheese frosting in the microwave for about 12 seconds, until thin enough to pour.
Drizzle over cookies.
Top with toffee bits, cinnamon, sprinkles or candied nuts.

Pumpkin Pie Bites, anyone?
Make your favorite pumpkin pie filling, but bake it in mini-muffin pans. You can freeze these (if any last that long).
The recipe for the crust is simple:
Crust:
1/2 cup butter
3-4 ounce of cream cheese (3 oz. if you have a small pack or cut a large pack in half)
1 cup flour
Soften butter and cream cheese, blend together with flour until a soft dough forms. It will be sticky. Cover and chill for one hour or overnight. Press a walnut-size lump of dough into each muffin cup (a tart tamper or a small shot glass makes this job easy. Fill 3/4 full of pie filling and bake about 15-20 minutes in 350 degree oven.

This might be my favorite pumpkin dessert of all time - Pumpkin Bundt Cake with a cream cheese layer.
Moist, packed with pumpkin flavor, and accented with that cheesecake-like layer in the middle.

You can find the full recipe at Savvy Entertaining.

In The Cowboy's Autumn Fall, my heroine loves all things pumpkin.
Bailey Bishop attends her cousin’s wedding with no intention of extending her brief visit to Oregon. Married to her career as a paleontologist, she tries to ignore her intense attraction to her cousin’s best friend, Brice.  Brice Morgan thought love at first sight was some ridiculous notion of school girls and old ladies who read too many romance novels. At least he does until he meets Bailey Bishop and falls hard and fast for the intriguing woman.


I'm a little jealous because Brice brings Bailey pumpkin truffles. Yum!

What's your favorite flavor of fall? Pumpkin? Caramel? All things apple?

 ~*~

Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, hopeless romantic Shanna Hatfield is out to make it happen one story at a time. Her bestselling sweet historical and contemporary romances combine humor and heart-pumping moments with realistic characters.

When she isn’t writing or consuming copious amounts of chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller, and fondly recalls the days of her youth spent on an Eastern Oregon farm.

She is a member of Western Writers of America, Women Writing the West, and Romance Writers of America.

Find Shanna’s books at:
Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | Apple

Shanna loves to hear from readers! Follow her online:
ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter

Her newest novella, The Christmas Crusade, is included in  Sweet Christmas Kisses 2, an exciting anthology of  19 sweet Christmas novellas by award winning authors found right here on Sweet Romance Reads.  Get your copy today for only 99 cents! 

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