Hello, January by Merrillee Whren

January 2025 is nearly half over. January can be warm or cold, depending on where you live. I live in southern Arizona, and January in this part of the world is not especially cold. January in the southern hemisphere brings with it warm, if not hot, temperatures. We occasionally get snow in the valley, but that is rare. We definitely get snow in the nearby mountains, as you can see from the photos above. Southern Florida has a warmer winter climate than southern Arizona. We recently enjoyed those two sunsets while in southern Florida near the beach as we took in a few warm days.

In January, people think about new beginnings. Some make resolutions or goals for the new year. In my book, A Match to Call Ours, my heroine Brittany Gorman is definitely looking for a new beginning. She has recently lost her job and broken up with her boyfriend of eight years. It is time for a new start, and it's January in Montana, where you find lots of cold and snow. You can find buy links for this book by clicking on the title of the book above. 

Here is a photo taken by a friend who lives in western Montana.

I lived in Montana when I was in elementary school. I walked to school in some really cold weather, dressed in so many clothes I looked like the Michelin Man. We skated, sledded and built snowmen. We had a great time in the cold, cold weather. Now I choose to live where the winters aren't so cold. I like to see snow once at Christmas and then not again unless it's in the mountains near us. Here is the snow we experienced in Massachusetts just before Christmas.

So whatever your weather is in January, enjoy this beginning of a new year and be sure to check out A Match to Call Ours, the first book in my Front Porch Promises series.

What kind of January weather are you having?

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.

Old and New Resolutions by Mona Risk

On December 31, I wrote my new resolutions. As I do every year. And every year I promise myself I will do my best to put them in practice all year long. Usually I manage to reach the end of February before I slack.

This year starts as an absolute disaster and I'm afraid I will fail.

1- Dieting: no bread or wheat.
Unfortunately, I cooked and baked so much for the kids and friends. Seriously, I can't just throw the leftovers. Someone has to finish all the delicious sweets before I can start dieting. Guess who's doing her best to clean the fridge of cakes, baklavas, chocolates, special breads... Oh my stomach!

2- Walk 10,000 steps: I have been walking and walking...in my house, but there is no way to reach that number. My new “fitbit” is slower than a turtle, beside walking outside is out of the question. So far the weather has been stormy.

3- Write three new books.
Last year I published three new books and I managed to start a new story a month ago. If the weather continues to be nasty, I am sure I will finish my current story soon.

4- Talk to my kids every day. Hmm... Shouldn't they be the ones calling their old mom? When I told them that, the answer was, "Mom, you're far from old. I wish I had your energy. Can you babysit on Tuesday?"
Maybe I should call once a week or once a month!

I look at the card on which I used my best penmanship to write my resolutions and sigh. It's only January 4. Maybe I can start on these resolutions on February 1st?

Did you write your resolutions? Do you manage to keep them?

Available at Amazon

Dr. Sylvia Reynolds promised to be at her parents’ house, in time for Christmas dinner. Her priorities change when she stumbles on a baby rattle and meets the gorgeous man who rescues her and his baby niece.

James Alexander, a successful lawyer, who doesn’t know the ABC of baby’s care, must deliver his five-months-old niece to her grandmother. Because of the blizzard paralyzing the Midwest, flights are canceled and passengers are trapped in airports for endless hours. At the end of his wit with a crying baby, James begs the lovely pediatrician for help.

Can Sylvia turn her life and career upside down for a motherless baby who holds on to her for sheer survival and for James who wants her to stay with him for different reasons?

Babies in Books

“This is not a monkey. It’s an o-ran-gu-tan.” The three-year-old boy pointed at the picture on his electronic tablet. “You don’t know anything, Mon-Mon,” Scott added as his brothers, Brian and Ethan scowled at me suspiciously. The little sweethearts are triplets.

“Okay, I see. Maybe we can play the orangutan game,” I said with my most amiable tone of voice. I badly wanted to cooperate with the triplets I was babysitting while their mother, my young cousin, was at the doctor.

“No, too tricky for you.” Brian shook his head and Ethan protected his tablet behind his back.

Playing on the tablet was too tricky for a writer and grandmother!!!

A month ago I had the pleasure of hosting fourteen children under twelve for Christmas dinner and their week vacation. Among them we had two sets of twins and one set of triplets. All adorable and so good at using their ipads and their parents’ iphones! Even the three-year old triplets tapped their little fingers faster than I can ever do it.  

I also regularly babysit my grandchildren. The exhausted young parents never hesitate to bring their little angels—or monsters, depending if I’m full of energy or at the end of my patience—to spend two to four weeks with Grandma and Grandpa’s. I love chatting with them.

Is it any wonder that I have become quite an expert at taking care of young children?

“Write what you know,” a well-known editor advised during one of her workshops.

Have you ever featured children in your story?

I had several babies in BABIES IN THE BARGAIN; a teenager in NO MORE LIES; a baby girl and four little boys in AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS.

Children add a touch of humor and emotion to our stories, and bring smiles in our lives.

Babies play a major role in my Holiday Babies series.

Books in this series can be read in order or as stand-alone reads.

Holiday Babies Series:

Holly Jolly Christmas: Prequel to the series.

Christmas Babies: A sweet and powerful Christmas Story.

Valentine Babies: Can he love a woman expecting another man's baby?

Mother's Day Babies: Never too late to find love and happiness.

Wedding Surprise: Is it the worst or best wedding surprise?

Christmas Papa: Who's my Papa, Mommy?

On Christmas Eve: We want a mommy for Christmas.

“Mona Risk knows how to pull a reader into the minds of her well-crafted characters. Her work takes us on a journey be it local or overseas.”~Night Owl Reviews.

Let It Snow! ~ Alicia Street

I wait all year for snow and when it comes I can't help pressing my face to the window and watching how beautiful it looks as it dances through the air.

Then I have to go out and breathe in its cold freshness and let the flakes brush my cheeks and make me smile.

And in the evening I love the hush of the winter's blue shadows.

Do you love snow as much as I do?

If you enjoy stories about the snow you can download Snow Dance for free. It’s about a woman trying to start over, a family at risk, and love. (Sweet romance with a bit of spice, but closed bedroom door.)

Kindle  KindleUK   Nook   iBooks    Kobo   Smashwords

Alicia Street is a USA Today bestselling author

and a Daphne du Maurier award-winner.

A compulsive reader of every genre, she writes

both sweet and steamy romance. She spent many

years as a dancer, choreographer and teacher.

                   ~*~

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