Old Photos and a Cover Release ~ Jean C. Gordon

I love old photos and, evidently, so does my granddaughter. For Christmas, she asked if I could have prints made of some of the old family photos I have so she could frame and hang them in her new house. I had such fun with the project, I thought I'd share some with you as part of my new cover release blog post. These pictures are in chronological order, starting sometime in the early 1900s.

My Husband's Paternal Grandparents and Oldest Uncle

My Paternal Grandmother

My Teenage Mom's Extended Family

She's fourth from your right. That's my great-grandparents in the center and my grandparents behind them in the flowered dress and suit.

My Dad's Family
That's him to your left.

Mom and Dad's Wedding

My Baby Husband and His Siblings

My Husband's Extended Family
That's him in the bottom center on his dad's lap. His mom is in the first standing row in the dress with the big buttons.

I'll let you guess the last three. Which picture is your favorite? I like the first two the best--today. 

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And now to the newest picture, the reveal of the cover for my next Paradox Lake Sweet Romance. 

Trusting Her Heart is the first full-length romance in Jean C. Gordon's new Paradox Lake Sweet Romance series.

Spending time in the small town of Paradox Lake, NY, is the last thing that Emily Hazard wants to do. Her childhood memories, including the despised nickname Jinx, are anything but fond. However, Emily’s brother Neal is deploying overseas and needs someone to stay with his teenage daughter Autumn while she finishes her senior year. Emily is going to attempt to juggle working remotely as an assistant art director for an advertising agency in New York City and keeping an eye on her niece.

With his career and life in flux, Drew Stacey is currently working for a group of non-profits that is planning to rent the Hazard family's campgrounds on Paradox Lake for a summer program. Deciding it's a good idea to have a man around while he is gone, Neal has asked Drew to stay at the house with Emily and Autumn while Drew prepares the campgrounds.

A minor fender-bender as soon as she hits town, has Emily battling old insecurities. However one person doesn’t view her as a slightly klutzy disaster magnet, and that's the disturbingly attractive Drew. The spark between them is immediate, but Emily’s emotional blinders regarding the town, threaten to derail any prospect of a relationship. Can Emily see beyond the past?

Welcome to Paradox Lake


Any fan of sweet romance will love settling into the stories of small-town love in the Paradox Lake Sweet Romance series. Grab your tea or coffee, settle into your favorite chair, and be swept away into the cozy Adirondack town where complex characters navigate challenging situations as they find their way to love. Whether it’s love at first blush, old flames reuniting, or second chance romance, you’ll find pure reading enjoyment and satisfy your craving for sweet, wholesome romance. 

Part of an ongoing series full of familiar faces, each story will stand on its own. With novel and novella lengths available, there’s something for everyone. Paradox Lake is written by USA Today Bestselling sweet romance author, Jean C. Gordon, who’s penned stories for the No Brides Clubs Series, Indigo Bay Series, and Harlequin Love Inspired, as well as for multiple sweet romance collections.

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Another Road Trip with Jean C. Gordon

I'm just back from the Rebels and Readers 2019 Author event in Huntington, WV. (Who can find me?) What a great group of authors and readers. My only disappointment was a lack of historical romance authors. Although I write contemporary romance, I really like to read historical novels -- romance and non-romance. I love history and have a few favorite time period, one of which is the US Civil War period.

So of course, we had to check out the Guyandotte Civil War Days re-enactment that just happened to be last weekend when we were in Huntington. We've been to two re-enactments in Western New York and Eastern New York, and wanted to see things from the other side. We've also been to Gettysburg and Chickamauga Battlefields. 

Unfortunately, we weren't able to fit in any of the scheduled re-enactments in Huntington, but we visited the camps.

Have you ever seen a battle re-enactment? Have a favorite historical period?

Another of my favorite periods is 17th-18th century Scotland. And look what I found at the readers event -- cover model Scott Nova. 

For those of you who've read my Sweet Horizons, what do you think about Scott as Eric Slade if I do his story as my next Indigo Bay book?

And if you haven't read it, check out Sweet Horizons on Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, or Kobo.

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Look What We Have ~ Jean C. Gordon

According to the National Kennel Association, the most popular dog breed in the US is the labrador retriever. It has been since 1991. And my family and I have done our parts to put and keep labs (or lab mixes) at the top. Our most recent addition (to our daughter's family's side of our shared house) is Bundaberg, above. Bunda or Bundy for short.

 

On our side of the house, Bunda joins our Xena, a lab/boxer and probably shepherd mix, who tuned 11 this year. Xena is not ecstatic to have Bunda in the fold. This is her tolerating one of his visits to our living room.

 

 

Bunda also joins my grandson's Mr. Buttons, a 10-year-old lab/boxer mix, who adores the new puppy.

Bunda is preceded by our Colossus, a lab/mini-rottweiler mix, who was anything but mini. He liked to decorate the yard with six-foot tree limbs when he could find them. We got Xena, when Colossus was 14 and his health seemed to be declining. He perked right up and personally took on the job of training the puppy and lived two more years to age 16.

Our son-in law brought his lab/shepherd Toke with him into the family. Toke was Colossus' mother. Our son-in-law's mother had a yellow lab named Tucker, who used to come over and play with Toke and Colossus. His father had a black lab named Rupert, who lived to the ripe old age of 14. And, finally, our son-in-law's childhood pet was a white English lab who came from Australia, where our son-in-law and his parents lived until he finally.

Finally, our daughter's family also has Appa and Zori, Guam rescue dogs from the year our daughter worked at a clinic on Guam. Neither make any claims to being labs.

Do you have a favorite dog breed? Do you like dogs or other pets in romance books? It's funny that for being a dog person, I haven't included many dogs in my books. But I do in my two Indigo Bay books. Which of our dogs do you think it is. I'll come back later and say in the comments.

 

What are the Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series?

They’re tons of fun for readers! But more specifically, they’re two series of books written by authors who love romance. Grab a glass of sweet tea, sit on the porch, and get ready to be swept away into this charming South Carolina Beach town.

The Indigo Bay world has been written so readers can dive in anywhere in the series without missing a beat. Read one or all—they’re all sweet, fun rides that you won’t soon forget. Also as special treats, you’ll see some recurring characters. 

 

Visit Indigo Bay

 

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Sneak Peek at Jean C. Gordon's June 11 New Release

This month I'm sharing my excitement about being part of the Spring 2018 launch of the Indigo Bay Sweet Romance series with an excerpt from my Sweet Entanglement. It releases next Monday, June 11 (available for preorder now).

What is the Indigo Bay Sweet Romance Series? It’s tons of fun for readers! But more specifically, it’s a set of books written by authors who love romance. Grab a glass of sweet tea, head to the porch, and get ready to be swept away into this charming South Carolina Beach town.

The Indigo Bay world has been written so readers can dive in anywhere in the series without missing a beat. Read one or all—they’re all sweet, fun rides that you won’t soon forget. Also as special treats, you’ll see some recurring characters.

Excerpt: From Chapter One

Jesse Brewster ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth and tried to swallow the grit. He didn’t know if it was actual sand from the South Carolina beach he tried to sleep on last night or the tequila shots he’d downed like water after he’d gotten a good look at the monstrosity that was supposed to be his life-saving legacy.

“Sir, your public defender is here,” a male voice said.

Jesse opened his eyes to the neon yellow walls surrounding him, reflecting back every sharp ray of light from the inside lighting and small window. He squinted against the pain to his head. Someone here at the Indigo Bay, South Carolina, police department had some sense of humor painting the combination interrogation room/holding cell walls bright yellow with royal blue trim. The sleeping block and covers he was sitting on the and the table and chairs were the same blue. 

 “Thanks.” Jesse squinted again at the police officer’s name badge. “Officer Andrews” The man looked vaguely familiar. Probably his arresting officer. That would make sense, him being here for his arraignment.

“The dispatcher will bring you some breakfast. You can eat while you talk with your lawyer. The judge will be over as soon as he finishes her coffee at Caroline’s.”

“Coffee will be fine,” Jesse said. He closed his eyes against the yellow and held his head in his palms.

A minute later footsteps sounded. “Sir.”

What was with all this sir? Jesse shook his head to clear it. The bright paint hadn’t just affected his sight. His ears were also hallucinating.

“I’m Lauren Cooper, the public defender.”

He raised his head. No, his ears were right. It was Lauren.

“Jesse?” 

Her voice dripped with disbelief that matched his own. And he’d thought things couldn’t get any worse. “In the flesh.” He flexed his bicep, unable to resist going full obnoxious, in case she still harbored any positive thoughts about who, what he was.

“You didn’t have any ID on you, and apparently declined to identify yourself to the officer.”
By reflex, Jesse patted the back pocket of his jeans. No wallet. A vague picture of it on bar swam before his eyes.

Lauren dropped the folder she’d held to the table and pulled out one of the chairs, giving him a moment to study her. He raked his hand though his matted hair. She looked good. But when didn’t Lauren look good? Her crisp power suit did nothing to hinder his memories of the soft curves beneath them. His stomach churned with something that had nothing to do with his excess of tequila.

She motioned to the other chair. “If you’d care to join me, I’ll go over the charges. Ben … Officer Andrews said you may not have had the capacity to understand them last night.”

Ben, was it? Jesse’s gaze darted from Lauren to the hallway the officer had disappeared into. He stood, letting the spinning in his head stop before he took the two steps from the sleeping block to the table. What did he care? He and Lauren were over. He’d made sure of that. They’d been growing apart, going in different directions. He didn’t need to get into the direction he’d been headed after his accident and his mother’s death—with himself or anyone else. Jesse looked around. He’d arrived at his destination. There was nowhere to go now, but up.

“Any questions?” Lauren pinned his gaze with hers. “Let me rephrase that. Did you listen to a word I said?”

“Public intoxication. Vagrancy. How’d I do?”

Officer Andrews appeared at the door. “Lauren, the judge is here.”

She rose. “We’re ready.”

He didn’t get a say? Jesse wasn’t sure he liked this take-charge Lauren. But wasn’t that one of the reasons he’d let her go? So, she could reach her potential, as his Mom might have said. His throat clogged with the loss that would always be too fresh.

“Before we go into the court room, I have an ID for your vagrant. Jesse Brewster and I are old friends.” She handed the officer a sheet from her folder.

So, they were still friends. Some of the darkness in Jess’s soul lifted, not that meant much. There was plenty left. He gauged the other man’s reaction. Aside from a raised brow, he didn’t have any outward reaction to Lauren’s statement.

“Brewster,” the man said, offering his hand.

Jesse wiped his gritty palm against the pant-leg of his jeans. “Under different circumstances, I’d say nice to meet you.” He forced a smile.

“Brewster,” the officer repeated. “You used to race. Motocross.”

“Yes, yes, I did,” Jesse said tightly, bracing for the judgmental look from the officer and Lauren. 

“We shouldn’t keep Judge Trexler waiting,” Lauren said.

If she’d interrupted for his benefit, because of their friendship, she shouldn’t have bothered. He knew what he’d done, who he was now far better than she did, and he was a big boy, ready to move past it.

They walked upstairs to the city hall adjoining the police department and into a large room with rows of chairs facing the court bench. A middle-aged woman sat behind it with another woman seated to her right and a man in a suit standing in front of the bench talking to them.

“Judge Trexler, the court clerk, and the city attorney,” Lauren explained as they entered the room.
 
Officer Andrews led Jesse to the front row, where the three of them took their seats, Lauren on one side of him and the officer on the other. The city attorney sat next to officer Andrews. 

The judge called the court into session. “Mr. Johnson and Ms. Cooper, please approach the bench.”

Jesse shifted in his chair as bits of the conversation drifted back to him. “Identified. No damage. Vagrancy. Vouch.”

“Mr. Brewster.” 

The judge’s voice jerked Jesse’s gaze from where it rested on Lauren’s back.

“Please join us.”

Officer Andrews walked him the few feet to the bench, as if he were going to make a break for it.

“You honor.” Jesse nodded in respect.

“The city attorney has agreed to drop the vagrancy charges since your wallet with ID has been found and turned into the court and to reduce the other charge to sleeping on the beach, a violation with a fine. How do you plead to the charge? You can consult with your attorney.”

“Guilty.” He had several things he’d like to consult with Lauren about, but his sleeping on the beach wasn’t one.

“Your plea is accepted. You can settle the fine with my clerk. Any questions?”

“No, but I want to clarify that I definitely am not a vagrant, and further, I’m not a tourist. I’m Indigo Bay’s newest property-owner.”

Team Macachek: Fall in love with the strong women and fearless men of the motocross circuit.

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

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Say It with Flowers by Jean C. Gordon

Does your area have an annual event to celebrate Mother's Day? Here it's the Albany Tulip Festival, which takes place in Washington Park near the state capitol on Mother's Day weekend. This year it features 150 different kinds of tulips.

According to the Albany Institute of History and Art, the city of Albany started the festival to celebrate its Dutch heritage. In 1940, Mayor John Boyd Thacher II proclaimed the week of May 18 to 26 “Albany Tulip Week,” with festivities centered around the tulips planted in Washington Park. World War II interrupted celebrations. After the war, Albany adopted the Dutch city of Nijmegen as a sister city and sent supplies to help the residents rebuild their war-ravaged city. In return, they sent Albany thousands of tulip bulbs. Mayor Erastus Corning, who took a leave of absence from his mayoral position to serve in the armed forces during the war, proclaimed the tulip Albany’s official flower in 1948. He sent a request to Queen Wilhemina of the Netherlands to name a variety of the flower as Albany’s tulip. The Queen selected Orange Wonder, a bronze-orange and shaded-scarlet variety. The first official Tulip Festival took place May 14 to 22, 1949.

Today's three-day event still begins with the traditional scrubbing of State Street by young women wearing costumes inspired by traditional
Dutch dress. The tradition of cleaning the street is based on the perception associated with the cleanliness of Dutch housewives. The rest of the festivities and the crowning of the Tulip Queen take place in Washington Park where more than 100,000 tulips radiate a rainbow of color.

As a personal aside, for many years, my daughter's mother-in-law was the Albany city gardener in charge of designing and supervising the planting of all the city park tulips. She traveled to the Netherlands several times to buy bulbs for the yearly planting.

But the Tulip Festival isn't the only thing going on here this week. I also have a new sweet romance out for pre-order practically everywhere. Both the ebook and the print book will release June 11.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Team Macachek: Fall in love with the strong women and fearless men of the motocross circuit.

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

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A Peek at Jean C. Gordon's Upcoming Sweet Romance

Cover reveal for Sweet Entanglement, my Indigo Bay Series debut novel. I'm so excited about this June release in the multi-author Indigo Bay sweet romance series. If you aren't familiar with Indigo Bay, check out the series here. Each 2017 and 2018 release is a standalone novel. For those familiar with Indigo Bay, I'm sure you love this year's releases as much as you loved last year's.

As for Sweet Entanglement, if you've read my Team Macachek Mending the Motocross Champion or Team Macachek Christmas, this is Jesse and Lauren's final story. If you haven't read either, don't worry. Sweet Entanglement is a stand-alone reunion romance.

What do you think?

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.

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.

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.

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?

Team Macachek: Fall in love with the strong women and fearless men of the motocross circuit.

Special Early iBooks Pre-order: iBooks

More pre-order offers coming soon | Release date June 11, 2018

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