2015!!!

What are your thoughts on 2014 and what do you wish for 2015? More of the same? A change? More travel? More champagne? Less pizza?

For me, I'd like more unconventional love stories like "The one plus one", "The hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared", "Murder @ Play", "Color Blind". I'd like more books like "Wonder". More movies like "Limitless". Fewer movies like "Lucy".

But wait...

Christmas has been canceled! And it's your fault because I told Santa you had been good and he died laughing!

Here's to a Loving Christmas, Everybody!

Wishing you hit the jackpot

for health, wealth, and happiness 

this holiday season 

and throughout the New Year!

Early Christmas Cheer

Cheers!

Saving the Soldier’s Heart By Jane Beckenham

Saving the Soldier’s Heart by Jane Beckenham is the second book in the Emerald Quest Trilogy, although it can be read as a stand-alone. And read it should be. With her beautiful turn of phrase and clever plotting, Ms Beckenham has created a real winner.

Personally, I'm a sucker for independent heroines, and it was my pleasure to get to know Maggie Francis, the protagonist of this story. The hero is a damaged man, and while I prefer my book crushes to be irresponsible bad boys, I found myself drawn to Clayton's quiet strength and bravery.

Whether it's laughter or tears you want in a romance, flirty humour or depth of emotion, you will find it in this book. You will find space to philosophize about the pointlessness of war. And you will find yourself glued to your seat, not even aware you're turning the pages.

From the blurb:

Maggie Francis has survived four years of horror of the Great War. She has lost her family and her home. She takes on the position of caring for a recovering soldier at stately Bellerose Manor. 
Lord Clayton Abbott doesn't care about the title, nor his beautiful manor house which unbeknownst to them holds many family secrets. 

All Maggie wants is peace and quiet while Clayton is desperate for the demons of war that revisit every night to disappear. But the discovery of a mysterious diary and the mention of emerald treasure draws them closer. Will they survive the events that follow?

The Cat Who Stole Christmas - in the Sweet Somethings anthology

Excerpt:

Phoebe’s fingers reached for a tin of pet tuna and her fingers brushed the back of somebody else’s hand.

“Oh, hello!” The voice was male, deep and full, like a cup of strong hot chocolate. “You must be my new neighbor. I’ve seen you around.”

Phoebe looked up. His face was angular, softened only by a pair of dark and broad eyebrows that looked as silky as the wings of a swallow. She had the crazy desire to reach upwards and run her forefinger along their arcs.

Suddenly, she became aware of the silence. The shop’s audio speakers were blaring out ’Tis the season to be jolly, a toddler wanted his Mama at the very top of his eardrum-puncturing voice, the meat department was having a sale for the next three minutes only, but between the two of them all was silent. Special. Anticipating.

“Um, yes. Hi.” Three words. After two weeks of fantasizing about her neighbor, all Phoebe managed was three words. Not very original words, nothing like: String theory rocks. Nothing that indicated her interest, like: Let’s do coffee, or, at the very least, My name’s Phoebe. It was as though the years of pushing people away had made her forget how to do small talk.

Her neighbor must have read her mind. “My name’s Josh. Josh McKenzie.” He extended his hand, large and tanned despite the winter season.

“Phoebe Jordan.”

His hand was warm and the skin pleasantly rough. Definitely not a man who used moisturizer.

“You have a cat, too, Phoebe?”

“Um, I guess. Or, more accurately, a cat has me.”

His laughter was as chocolate–rich as his voice. “Don’t they all. I’ll see you around, Phoebe Jordan.”

Buy Link: Sweet Somethings

Christmas Hope - in the Sweet Somethings Anthology

Hope Robinson, soon to be Hope Clark again, is freshly separated from her husband. The Christmas Caribbean Cruise that was meant to be their 10th wedding anniversary is now a trial run for their new lives as single people. Hope even has a list of objectives: meet new people, sleep with someone other than her husband. When playboy Giuseppe Moretti offers to buy her a drink and help her enjoy the cruise, Hope has a choice to make….

Excerpt:

 His fingers squeezed hers in a warm, comfortable handshake, and a spark of excitement shot up her shoulder.

How long since Josh’s touch elicited anything remotely as exhilarating as this?

      “Hope,” she introduced herself. Then, after a tiny hesitation, she added, “Clark. Hope Clark.” There. She’d done it. Used her maiden name again and the world hadn’t collapsed in a tearful heap around her.

      “May I buy you a drink, Hope Clark?”

      “You may.” With that, she put a big, fat, Giuseppe-shaped tick next to Action Point Two on the list. Action Point Two, Meet Other People.

      Action Point One had been Going On This Cruise As A Single Person. Originally, she had booked it as their tenth wedding anniversary celebration, a deluxe stateroom with a huge bed and a balcony, lured by the photo of a couple taking their morning coffee on their private sun-drenched deck. To Hope, the picture represented the very essence of contentment. A lazy day spent with the man she loved….

      “Do you like Club Penguin?”

      The question brought Hope back from her dreamland. “Pardon?”

      “Club Penguin,” Giuseppe repeated. His voice, thick and rich, made Hope think of Christmas eggnog. “The bar on Level Eight. Shall we?”

      She nodded. Didn’t care which bar. Tick the box next to Action Point Two, that’s all she wanted.

Buy Link: Sweet Somethings