So, there’s this book fair – lots of books, most of which are .99 to $2.99. Check it out!
And if you haven’t grabbed Guarded Star yet, it goes back up to full price on June 1st – so get it while you can!
More later, lovelies – I’m in the middle of a deadline. Sending love and hugs, always.
http://beccahamiltonbooks.com/may-book-fair/
It’s true! Guarded Star, the first full-length book in the StarTide Agency series with Boroughs Publishing Group, is on sale for the ENTIRE month of May across ALL platforms!
Bestselling author Louisa Bacio said this: “Guard your heart because Christine Ashworth has done it again. Despite all their differences, Evie and Jake share combustible chemistry, and a past that won’t stay behind. You’ll enjoy the sweet music of this romance.”
BLURB:
Singer/songwriter Evie Marcherand is about to begin her first three-city tour when someone threatens to stop her music—permanently. Private investigator Jake Wells is about to give up his vacation—and his heart—to see that doesn’t happen.
MAKE A WISH
Everyone leaves twenty-five-year-old Evie Marcherand, but with her naturally husky voice and musical talent she’s done okay, and her star is rising. Her songs and her guitar? Those she can count on. She’s just booked her first three-city tour. Too bad someone else wants to stop her music. Permanently.
Jake Wells. 39. Private investigator. Tall and lanky, with brown hair that’s going silver at his temples. What does he want? To go on vacation. But with four younger sisters, “protective” doesn’t begin to describe him, so a promise to a dead man means he’ll play bodyguard instead. Threats of violence against an up-and-coming singer/songwriter have been escalating, and there’s just no way that’s going to happen. But after he gets a taste of Evie’s music—and her lips—there’s no saying what will.
Find Guarded Star here: (sorry, I couldn’t figure out how to copy the link to iBooks! sigh.)
Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble,
There’s been a lot of personal turmoil in my life, and I haven’t been here very much at all. I aim to change that. As well, I have a newsletter that was sent out today for the very first time. If you read that newsletter and are here because of the super sekrit contest, then you know what to do. *vbg*
If you aren’t on my newsletter list but want to be (freebies, etc), leave a comment here with your email address and I will add you to the list. Right now, I have no idea how many I’ll be sending out, but I swear unless I have amazing news or giveaways, it won’t be more than once a month, and probably a lot less.
A huge thank you to Boroughs Publishing Group who have worked with me on this promotion. Another huge thank you to Rebecca Hamilton, and to all the friends and family who have been there for me during a really rough patch. Sending love to all.
)O(
Now…go on and grab Guarded Star! You know you want to…
I do not think it is his time. But he hurts, and seeing your parent in pain is just as impossibly frustrating and heart-wrenching as seeing your child in pain.
I am here, bearing witness. Talking when he wants to talk, watching over him as he sleeps. Soon I will head for home…but for now, I am here.
Sharing space with him. Guarding his sleep. Watching as his hands work, searching for something that he doesn’t find before coming to a rest.
My heart aches even as I am profoundly grateful for being able to be here with him for the past three days.
Precious Time – photo by Christine Ashworth, image arrangement by Mary Bogue
I’m fully planning on him being around for at least another decade. I just need him to get with that program, too.
)O(
It’s happened again, that arbitrary day we call “January 1” of whatever year. I have begun the great cleaning out of my office, as well as my closets and dressers and kitchen cupboards. Found my raspberry beret, which had gone missing, as well as some colored pencils and a small bag of electronics that I travel with, so that was a good thing.
I have let blogging slide, for whatever reason; but it is past time to get back into gear. There are wines that need discussing, and books, and recipes…oh yes, recipes!
And there’s a freebie going on, in case you haven’t read anything I’ve written yet (except this here blog)…but just until January 4th, so grab it while you can!
Three Times More Lucky, Sizzling Stories of Menage and More, from Louisa Bacio, Erzabet Bishop, Kim Carmichael, Sascha Illyvich, Solera Winters, and me. Get it here…
But for today, I just want to say Happy New Year. There’s a lot of life to live…may your 2017 hold love, and strength, growth and change for you…in the very best ways possible.
And have a sip of champagne for me, will you?
I spent the past weekend resting my thumb and reading three books that I had picked up from Romance Writers of America’s National Conference.
So I had the unique privilege of visiting New York City and Santa Barbara; a magical land called Raea; and Blessings, Kansas.
I hadn’t read any of these authors before. I have met Joan, and she’s a publishing sister of mine, so it was with interest that I sat down to spend a bit of time reading two short novellas by Joan Bird.
Both stories are set in a small publishing company. The editors are men; the writers, women whose work changes their lives. Sam’s Gift has the delicious Lizzie shoving her manuscript under the door of an editor. Jake is transformed by this novel and must have it, so he goes to great lengths to find Lizzie and meet up with her. But with Lizzie comes Jake’s realization; that his wife, Sam, whom he lost on 9/11 when the South Tower went down, has left him the gift of his future; and that he’d darned well better take advantage of it, instead of continuing to live like a ghost. Joan’s way with witty and intelligent dialog will have you giggling in delight.
Amy’s Wish, set in Santa Barbara, is another heart-tugging, witty and intelligent novella. Eric, the editor, is in Santa Barbara only to get Amy to sign a contract for her novel. Amy is certain he doesn’t mean it. It takes them both to bare their souls, and their secrets, before he can convince her that he means everything he says, especially when he says “I love you.”
Both stories give you that warm, happy-ever-afterglow that a good romance imparts, and I thoroughly enjoyed them.
This story had me by the first sentence.
“I craft influential cake.”
Right??? Yeah. This is a magical puzzle of three people (well, let’s go with that) that are entwined together.
Maire has no memory of her past beyond the five years she’s been in the town of Carmine. She is a baker who bakes influence into her cakes and tarts and pies. Whether it be love, or luck, or strength, or courage, she crafts her edibles with these emotions and abilities. Those who consume them receive those gifts, which is why her bakeshop is well known in her small town.
But when marauders come through Carmine, she is captured and sold…to Allemas, a strong man who then sets her to make treats for others. He whirls them from place to place, holding her captive when she is not actively baking.
When she is down in the cellar, waiting for Allemas to set her to another task, she is visited by a spirit named Fyel. The more she spends time with him, the more her memory returns…and the angrier Allemas becomes.
I have never read a novel like this before. I loved it. It was like falling into a dream, and I wished I could taste the cakes, the tarts, the petit fours. And the reveal toward the end was breathtaking. I will definitely be reading more of Charlie N. Holberg’s works.
I fell in love, reading this book. I had never read any of the Blessings novels, but I didn’t feel lost at all. I loved Bernadine and her Mal, I loved the feisty 10 year old Zoey, and I absolutely adored her mama Roni Garland and her man Reggie.
Life in a small town can be very interesting, especially when you’re the one who owns it the way Bernadine Brown owns Blessings, Kansas. Add in a furious mayor’s wife in the nearby small town of Franklin, and you’ve got some mayhem tossed in.
This book immersed me in warmth and love as I read and got to know lots of people in the town, from the impossible Devon who will eventually learn not to be an ass (and Zoey will learn not to beat him up), to Bernadine and her love for most everyone.
I will, most definitely, be going back to Blessings, Kansas at the first opportunity.
It was a wonderful way to spend a weekend, refilling my writer’s well, and getting to share these books and these writers with you is another joy.