Coming Soon! The Encore Bride by Denise Devine

Do you like romantic comedies? My next release is a sweet story about Jenny Landon, a woman who is never going to get married again because she "doesn't believe in happy endings."

This story is part of a boxed set titled "Wedding Pets and Kisses" coming this April, but I've decided to start celebrating it now! I'm giving away a 6" x 9" wire bound notebook (same size as the future paperback) with the full-sized cover of the book on the front to one lucky poster who leaves a comment below. And if you don't win it, you'll get another chance to win one at the Sweet Romance Reads Valentine Party on February 9th!

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Click here to be magically transported to the Valentine's party page! Be sure to save it in your favorites to join us on that day!

 

 

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How many national parks have you visited? by Denise Devine

Have you ever been to a national park? Chances are that you have visited one of America’s landmarks. Did you know that on August 25^th, the National Park Service will celebrate its centennial anniversary? That’s right, one hundred years! In 1916 president Woodrow Wilson signed the act that created the national park service and placed it under the Department of Interior. At the time, there were only 35 national parks. Now there are over 400. (Photo of Joshua Tree at sunset - NPS Brad Sutton)

Do you know which park was established first? If you guessed Yellowstone National Park, you’re absolutely right. Yellowstone was established in 1872 when Wyoming and Montana were still territories. Have you ever been to Yellowstone? I have, multiple times and it is one of my favorite parks in the entire country (along with the Grand Canyon).

I dug through my pictures and found a few of our trips across the U.S. I have no idea what happened to many of those pictures, but here are a few of my memories…

 

This is a picture of my daughter and her friend in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Have you ever been there?

 

This is Misty standing I front of the Grand Canyon. It was a raining day and we watched wall clouds of rain sweep across the canyon.

 



Sorry about this one! It's kind of blurry (my husband took this pic). This is a picture of me years ago standing next to a giant redwood in Redwood National Park.

I’d love to see your pictures! Come on over to the Sweet Romance Reads Café and post your memories of fun times with your friends and families.

 

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Denise Devine is a USA Today bestselling author who wrote her first book, a mystery, at age thirteen and has been writing ever since. (Here she is with Steve at Pueblo National Park.)

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My Garden of Earthly Delights - by Denise Devine

For me, the Minnesota State Fair signals the end of summer. It’s ten days long and ends on Labor Day. I love the fair and look forward to going each year, but it’s bittersweet because it means that summer is officially over. I love fall and the beautiful colors, but it seems to go by so fast, doesn’t it? You just get used to fall and suddenly it’s Halloween. Then you’re putting away your decorations and pulling out Thanksgiving décor.

My garden is winding down, too. I still have plenty of flowers, but it won’t be long before one frosty night takes them all. Even though I’ve been gardening for 30+ years, I still learn something new every year. This year I started a path through the woods behind my house using mulched oak leaves. I didn’t get very far, but I plan to finish it next spring, adding a stone bench and trail markers. I’ve been looking through the woods and found some interesting wild flowers that I didn’t know I had, like a giant Jack in the Pulpit.

Wild Blueberries

I also found a lot of wild blueberries. I’d like to cultivate a large patch someday, but it’s a lot of work and you have to find the right spot, so that is one of those “someday” projects. They grow well in oak forests because they like acidic soil.

Here is a wild columbine that simply grew out of a crack in my retaining wall.

Here are some gardening tidbits I would like to pass on to you:

Cardinal Flower

If you want to attract a lot of hummingbirds into your yard, plant a cardinal flower. I planted one last year, in the fall, and it was really small, fit into my palm. It is now about 5 feet tall and 3 feet around! The hummers fight over it all day long. So you can bet I’m getting another one this fall to put somewhere in my yard.

If you want to attract a lot of bees and butterflies, coneflowers and blazing stars are your best bet. Coneflowers are hardy and come in a lot of colors. I currently have at least five colors and am looking for more, but the bees seem to like the pink ones best. Blazing stars (especially the wild variety) attracts butterflies, including monarchs.

Coneflowers

One thing I learned this year (by accident) is that if you want to attract a lot of orioles, you need to get a jelly feeder. They don’t seem to care too much for the nectar feeders but they love grape jelly. I didn’t get many Orioles until I ran out of the cheap jelly and had to use Welches. Yikes, the Orioles were fighting over the feeder six birds at a time! So we went strictly with Welches and Smuckers and our results have been fantastic.

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Denise Devine is a USA TODAY bestselling author who has writes sweet romantic comedy and inspirational romance. You can visit her at www.deniseannettedevine.com. She is currently writing two series, Forever Yours (Inspirational) and Counting Your Blessings (Christmas romantic comedy). Merry Christmas, Darling is the first book in this series.

 

Hey, it’s party time! Join us tomorrow, September 1st, at the Sweet Romance Reads Café for the kickoff party of our 2015 Sweet Christmas Kisses2 boxed set. The fun begins at noon (EST). We’re giving away a lot of great prizes so see ya there!