Friday, May 29, 2020

THE HEALING SUMMER - LIZ FLAHERTY!

By Liz Flaherty


One of the very best things about life is how interesting it all is. Even if you get bored you can always go somewhere else, do something else, or if you're a writer, you can look at the same old things in brand new ways and, voila!, a story is born.

Now that I've made that landmark statement, I'm trying to think of a way to illustrate it. While I sat here staring at the screen (it stares back; have you noticed?), my phone clanged a message received and Facebook dinged in a notification on the computer.

I know very well the phone message is from the pastor and the Facebook notification is a new comment on a post I'm following. But if I were sitting here unable to think of anything to write—and the screen was staring back blankly—that clanging message could be from "the guy who got away" years ago or a doctor's office with a scary "call me Monday" message or even an "I was born on this date. Were you there?" warning. The notification could be from someone from school. Who died junior year. Didn't she?

I'm not one of those who have so many ideas teeming in their writers' minds that they won't have time to get all their stories written, so it's important that I find things interesting. In 2012, Carina Press published One More Summer. It's the only book I ever wrote that "wrote itself." Its first draft was 83 days of getting up at 3:00 to write before work. It took more than 10 years and I have no idea how many submissions to sell it. Its publication is still one of my favorite parts of my writing career.

I never intended to write a sequel.

But a few years after One More Summer, I saw a tall guy walk across a hospital parking lot. He was moving quickly, impatiently. He got in his car and just sat there. In retrospect, I'm not sure if I actually saw this scene or dreamed it, because I can't tell you what hospital it was, but it gave birth to the sequel I never intended to write. Both my Carina editor and I were shocked when it didn't sell there, and for a long time, I let it lie under my virtual bed while I sulked. And then I started it on the rounds, and like the book that came before it, it's been through more submissions than I can remember.

Like the book before it, it still holds more of my heart than any one book should hold. It's all well and good to say I don't have a favorite, and I don't, but there are some that still make my heart ache for the people within them. Still have protagonists who, even in their happily-ever-afters, come back to visit and remind me that the happily-ever-after road has potholes in it.



I am so very happy that the sequel, The Healing Summer, was released by The Wild Rose Press.

I can't begin to say how much this means to me. My husband laughs because of my goals over the years. You know how they went: If I could just sell a story. If I could just sell a book. If I could just sell another book. A series. Make one of the lists. With The Healing SummerI feel as if the last goal has been reached.

So I guess I better make another one. Goal, that is. Because writing, like life, is much too interesting to stop now.


It’s a summer romance--what happens come September?

When Steven Elliott accidentally rides his bike into Carol Whitney’s car at the cemetery, the summer takes on new and exciting possibilities. Long friendship wends its way into something deeper when their hearts get involved. Feelings neither of them had expected to experience again enrich their days and nights.  But what happens when the long summer ends? When Carol wants a family and commitment and a future, Steven isn't so sure. He’s had his heart broken before—can he risk it again?





Liz Flaherty, Author



Retired from the post office and married to Duane for…a really long time, USA Today bestselling author Liz Flaherty has had a heart-shaped adult life, populated with kids and grands and wonderful friends. She admits she can be boring, but hopes her curiosity about everyone and everything around her keeps her from it. She likes traveling and quilting and reading. And she loves writing.



Buy links:



  

Tuesday, May 26, 2020

KATHLEEN LAWLESS


Please welcome Kathleen Lawless today. Kathleen has a special deal for us. The four book box set is only 99 cents through May 27




FOUR COMPLETE AWARD-WINNING WESTERN HISTORICAL ROMANCES!

CALLIE'S HONOR

Recently widowed Callie wants nothing to do with any man, particularly a handsome drifter with his own agenda.

MADDY'S FUGITIVE

Isolated farm girl Maddy finds herself swept up in a dangerous adventure with an escaped convict trying to clear his name.

ANORA'S PRIDE

There's a new marshal in town who thinks Anora is married, a ruse she wishes she'd never entertained.

They try to keep their distance, but fate decrees otherwise amidst a town riot.

GRACE'S FOLLY

Imagine how Grace feels when the man she hires to masquerade as her husband turns out to be the Pinkerton detective sent by her father to find her.

LINK:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086GGVGP2

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathleen Lawless, Author


Kathleen Lawless blames a misspent youth watching Rawhide, Maverick, and Bonanza for her fascination with cowboys. Historical or contemporary, cowboys continue to resonate with her today.
 
Sign up for Kathleen’s VIP Reader Newsletter to receive a free novella, updates, special giveaways and fan-priced offers.    http://eepurl.com/bV0sb1




Monday, May 25, 2020

THE UNEXPECTED WEDDING


Don't forget the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!


The Unexpected Wedding 
Loving a Billionaire Book 2 
by
Debra Elizabeth 
Genre: Contemporary Romance 


Lady Elizabeth Tyndale has endured a string of bad dates. She’s not sure if sharing her opinions and business sense scared potential boyfriends away, but what’s the point of having an opinion if she never expresses it? When her brother and sister-in-law invite her to join them on a trip to San Diego, she reluctantly agrees. Besides, what does she have to lose? She’s certainly not burning up the dating scene in England.

Computer Programmer Jackson ‘Jack’ Stanfield doesn’t date much. He’d rather bury himself in code because computers are simple, but people are complicated. When his college buddy invites him to a BBQ, Jack reluctantly agrees to attend. He’s not prepared for his intense reaction when he meets Elizabeth Tyndale. Can the British beauty draw Jack out of his shell and open his heart to love?



Jack walked toward the back door. When he was almost there, he saw a vision—a stunning young woman with blonde curls cascading down her back. When she turned at his approach, the last rays of the sun enveloped her silhouette, giving her an ethereal dreamy quality. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and he felt the breath leave his body as he stood staring open-mouthed. He’d never had such a reaction to a woman before. It was new and an unnerving experience.

“Did you want something?” she asked.

Jack continued to stare, totally captivated by this woman and her beautiful cornflower blue eyes. He knew she was talking, but he didn’t hear a word, just a lyrical melody.

The young woman waved her hand in front of his face. “Hello, can I get you something?”

That broke his trance and Jack felt heat climb up his neck. “Huh? Oh god. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to stare,” he stammered.

“It’s quite all right. Now do you want something, a beer perhaps?” she asked.

“You’re British?”

The young woman’s eyes traveled down to her feet and back up again before she looked at him. “Last time I looked, yes,” she chuckled.

What an asinine thing to say!

“Shall we start again?” she asked. “I’m Elizabeth and you are?”

Jack gave himself a mental shake. “Oh, please forgive me. I’m not used to making a complete fool of myself before I’ve even uttered a single word. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Elizabeth. I’m Jackson, um Jack, that is.”

“Well, Jackson um Jack, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Now, would you like a beer?”

He chuckled. “Yes, please. That would be good.”

**Only .99 cents!! **



**Get the first book for only .99 cents!!**

The Accidental Wedding
Loving a Billionaire Book 1




Debra Elizabeth, Author

Debra writes sweet romance in contemporary romance and historical romance. She enjoys telling stories and has been pouring out her passion for romance since her teenage years.

Debra lives in New England with her husband and one very exhausted kitty. 




$20 Amazon 

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Friday, May 22, 2020

LOUISA: IRON DOVE OF THE FRONTIER


Don't forget the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!


LouIsa: Iron Dove of the Frontier 
by
Will Edwinson 
Genre: Western Historical Fiction 


THE IRON DOVE OF THE FRONTIER...

At twenty-one, LouIsa was already a sagacious woman. She had been privileged to attend finishing schools in the East where she learned the ways of "Ladyship" and studied piano under the tutorship of masters, becoming proficient with the classical works of Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, and many others.

LouIsa: Iron Dove of the Frontier is a story about a tough, but well-educated genteel woman of quiet strength who, when it became necessary, could get down and dirty and fight as adeptly as the best gutter rats. But also, when necessary, she could don a party dress and be perfectly comfortable with Vassar graduates. 




LouIsa, entertainer extraordinaire was halfway through the1st movement of a piano concerto that she was playing at the Cattlemen’s Saloon in Wichita when she saw him approach the bar. He was big and ugly.

“A bottle of whiskey,” he yelled at the bartender.

All eyes focused on Bart Ricklin. He looked mean and sullen, and there was no mistaking he was liquored up.

LouIsa stopped playing.

Bart focused his gaze on her. “So you’re the little squaw lady I been hearin’ about that plays them fancy high brow tunes. People’re a talkin’ about you all across the state of Kansas, Lady. I must say you’re purtyer’n even I imagined. I always wanted to taste me some squaw meat, and by damn tonight I aim to have me some – high class stuff to boot.”

This statement brought some of the local cowboys to their feet, hands on their gun butts. Drunk as he was, the rowdy was still fast. His sidepiece cleared leather, and he fired a shot at their feet before they could blink.

“Any of you fellers thinkin’ of tryin’ to interfere with me and this little lady havin’ us some fun?”

His cold, mean eyes bore right through them. They all backed down and took their seats. He uttered a mean laugh. “That’s more like it,” he barked. “Bunch o’ lily livered cowards.”

He holstered his pistol and turned his attention back to LouIsa only to find himself staring down the barrel of her pistol. She had seized the opportunity of his temporary distraction with the cowboys to retrieve her small .38 “LouIsa Special” she kept hidden beside her on the piano bench under her full skirt.

Her father Samuel Houston had it custom made for her by the Colt Company. It was on a smaller frame than most .38’s, and many a foe were lulled into thinking it was less menacing than it really was. Bart Ricklin made that same mistake.

Bart laughed at the sight of it. “You aimin’ to stop me with that little pea shooter?” he asked.

He reached out and snatched a bottle of whiskey from the bar and pulled a long horn from it. He felt the whiskey spray, and the glass sting his face, before he heard the shot. He looked at her with incredulousness.

“You daughter of a bitch,” he roared. “You shot me.” He growled like a mad dog and lunged toward her; . . .



What inspired you to write this book?
Actually it was a neighbor. We were talking about one of my other books and she said, “You ought to write a book about my great grand-aunt. And I said, who might that be? She said, “LouIsa Houston-Earp. She was Sam Houston’s granddaughter, and she was also a Harvey girl”. And not knowing what a Harvey girl was, I asked her, “What was a Harvey girl.”

She explained to me that Fred Harvey owned and operated high end restaurants in several railroad depots during the 19th century, and these girls were waitresses in those restaurants. Then she went on to tell me that LouIsa had also been married to Morgan Earp, Wyatt Earp’s younger brother. This piqued my interest. We talked a bit more and my creative juices began to flow. Since not much had been written about the real-life LouIsa, I had to create my own character. She was a real person, but not exactly the same person as the one in my story.

How did you come up with the concept of the characters for the book?

Actually, I didn’t. They just came into the story as I was writing it. I don’t write from outlines. I agree with Stephen King. He says outlines kill the creative spirit. He says, “Just write the damn story” so that’s what I did. The characters came into the story as needed.

What did you enjoy most about writing the book?
Anticipating where the characters were going to take me. They actually wrote the book. I just went along for the ride, but I have to say it was a fun and exciting ride. Full of exciting experiences and surprises.

Who designed your book cover?
The publisher.

Do you feel the characters high jacked your story?
I wouldn’t go so far as to say they high-jacked the story, but they did play a great role. I’d have an idea for a scene in my mind and would start to write the scene. The characters said to me: “Sorry, Will, but we don’t agree with what you have in mind. Just sit back and write what we tell you. It will be much better.”

Convince us why your book is a must read.
Because I believe it’s full of interesting situations.

When did you first consider yourself as a writer.
For most of my life I felt I didn’t have the talent to be a writer. Then at age 55, I said to myself, “Will, if you’re ever going to do it, you’d better get started, or it will be too late. So at age 55 I wrote my first book (which, as of this time, I have not submitted for publication).”

Have you written any other books that are not published?
As of this date, the one mentioned in the previous question is the only one.

Who is your favorite author?
I really don’t have a favorite. I have read multiple books by many authors ranging from Robert B. Parker, Jack Higgins, Agatha Christie, Richard Paul Evans, Rosemund Pilcher, Adel Abbot, David Baldacci, Jonathan Cahn, Raymond Chandler, Don Coldsmith, Sydney Sheldon, George Orwell, Janet Evanovich, John Grisham, Winston Groom, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sue Grafton, and many others too numerous to include here.

How would you describe your writing style?
Light—and I hope—interesting.

Do your characters come to you all at the same time?
No, they just appear as the story progresses. They all seem to know when it’s the right time to enter the story.


Buddy... His Trials and Treasures 
by
Will Edwinson 
Genre: Contemporary Historical Fiction 


Do you need a little stress relief in your life?
Travel back to the world of Buddy Crawford, a simpler, slower- paced world where Cokes were a nickel, movie tickets were a dime, and ten cents bought you a double dip ice cream cone. These engaging, award-winning stories about a young boy growing up in rural America during the 1940s provide a relaxing respite from today's fast-paced world. They may even revive old memories of your own childhood.

Follow Buddy and Cousin Mont as they gather beer and pop bottles from the roadway barrowpits. Join him and his friends at the river swimming hole for a swim, or go fishing for carp in the irrigation canal. Experience the fun as he tours the countryside in an old Model T Ford with his friends. What better way to spend a relaxing two hours than immersing yourself in these stories.

Buddy is somewhat reminiscent of Tom Sawyer in that he quite often finds himself in hot water. Unlike Tom, Buddy's misdeeds are without forethought. They happen because Buddy is...well...he's just Buddy. 





Will Edwinson, Author

Will Edwinson is an award-winning storyteller for his fiction, and an award winning columnist. His second book, Buddy ... His Trials and Treasures, won a first place in state competition, and a second place at national. His "A Bit Of Nostalgia" column that he wrote under another name, won second and first place, awards in two separate competitions from the Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association.

Edwinson grew up in rural Southeast Idaho during the 1940s. After his college stint, he made his living on the family farm in Southeast Idaho as a dry land farmer raising barley and wheat, always holding onto the dream he had harbored for most of his life-that of being a writer-but still not confident that he had the necessary abilities and skills for such a career. After reaching mid-life, he determined that if he were ever going to be a writer, it was time to begin. His first book was launched when he was in his mid-fifties.

Edwinson is basically a self-taught author. His passion lay toward storytelling, so he began reading fiction of every genre to get a grasp of different writing styles and writing techniques. He also took advantage of the many books and manuals on writing that were available. These are mentioned on his Links & Lists page at his website, www.willedwinson.com. He is also a graduate of Writer's Digest Short Story Writing course.

In his younger years, Edwinson was also a semi-professional singer, performing on stages from Sun Valley, Idaho, to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He also demonstrates a flair as an inventor. Out of necessity, to teach his two youngest daughters some rudimentary money management skills, he invented and Trademarked a children's allowance management system, "The Child's Checkmaster." which enabled parents and children to keep better track of the children's allowance draws and which also taught the children some rudimentary money management skills.

Will Edwinson currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. 




Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!




Wednesday, May 20, 2020

VANILLA WITH A TWIST




1.    Tell us something about your early life—where did you grow up, family, etc.

I was born and bred in Brooklyn, NY for the first 8 years of my life then moved to Staten Island. This was way back when, when the Staten Island Ferry costs a nickel both ways to ride. Now, I understand, it’s free.

2.    What other jobs have your held?

I have a Master’s Degree in geriatric psychology with a minor in Nursing Administration. I’ve been a floor Registered Nurse, the head nurse of a nursing home Alzheimer unit and for 20 + years I worked as a contact lens technician for my husband’s clinic.

3.    What initiated your publishing career?

 I entered a contest in 2014, won my division, and Rhonda Penders, the publisher of Wild Rose press was the final judge. She emailed me after my win and asked to see the entire manuscript.

4.    What genre/genres do you write?
RomComs, and everything from sweet to sensual to steamy contemporary romance. I’ve recently branched out into romantic suspense.

5.    What are you working on now?
My next Christmas novel which will be out in October 2020

6.    What will we see from you in the future?
On July 1 of this year I have a standalone romance titled WOKE releasing. It is a reconstructed version of a sleeping beauty fairtytale. In my version, though, loves first kiss isn’t what wakes the heroine up!

7.    What do you have for us today?



VANILLA WITH A TWIST


Tandy Blakemore spends her days running her New England ice cream parlor, single-parenting her teenage son, and trying to keep her head above financial water. No easy feat when the shop's machinery is aging and her son is thinking about college. Tandy hasn't had a day off in a decade and wonders if she'll ever be able to live a worry-free life.
Engineer Deacon Withers is on an enforced vacation in the tiny seaside town of Beacher's Cove. Overworked, stressed, and lonely, he walks into Tandy's shop for a midday ice cream cone and gets embroiled in helping her fix a broken piece of equipment.
Can the budding friendship that follows lead to something everlasting?


For a few moments, she regarded him with a look his mother would have called insightful. The corners of her eyes narrowed, she dipped her chin a hair, and she pulled her mouth into another appealing pout he was tempted to kiss.
“I bet,” she said after a long, drawn-out sigh, “you were the kind of kid who took apart clocks and fans and vacuum cleaners to see how they worked.”
“It was more washing machines and lawn mowers and anything with a motor, but yeah. I was.”
She shook her head, her own lips forming a lopsided grin. “Your poor mother.”
“She survived.”
Tandy rolled her eyes and shot her hands to her hips. “So it’s working again?” She thrust her chin at the ice cream machine.
“For now.”
“Okay, well, I can live with for now. And you think you know the real reason it’s been acting up?”
“I definitely do. But like I said, the water to the machine needs to be shut off to fix it.”
“Okay. Well, we close at nine.”
“I’ll come back a little before then. Get things ready. Is that okay with you?”
“I guess it’ll have to be.” She bit down on the inside of her cheek as her brows pulled together. “And you’re sure you want to do this?”
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t offer, Tandy.”
Why her reluctance to have him help was such a turn-on was something he considered while he waited for his ice cream.



Peggy Jaeger, Author


Peggy Jaeger is a contemporary romance writer who writes Romantic Comedies about strong women, the families who support them, and the men who can’t live without them. If she can make you cry on one page and bring you out of tears rolling with laughter the next, she’s done her job as a writer!

Family and food play huge roles in Peggy’s stories because she believes there is nothing that holds a family structure together like sharing a meal…or two…or ten. Dotted with humor and characters that are as real as they are loving, she brings all topics of daily life into her stories: life, death, sibling rivalry, illness and the desire for everyone to find their own happily ever after. Growing up the only child of divorced parents she longed for sisters, brothers and a family that vowed to stick together no matter what came their way. Through her books, she’s created the families she wanted as that lonely child.

When she’s not writing Peggy is usually painting, crafting, scrapbooking or decoupaging old steamer trunks she finds at rummage stores and garage sales.

A lifelong and avid romance reader and writer, Peggy is a member of RWA and her local New Hampshire RWA Chapter.

As a lifelong diarist, she caught the blogging bug early on, and you can visit her at https://peggyjaeger.com where she blogs daily about life, writing, and stuff that makes her go "What??!"

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00T8E5LN0

Monday, May 18, 2020

SINGLE CHICAS



This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Sandra C. Lopez will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour! The book is free during the tour! Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.


Single Chicas is a collection of stories about modern Latinas being in, out, and around the zany hurdles of relationships.
One woman receives strange calls from a lonely soul, another seeks advice on how to love herself, and another wakes up in a parallel universe to a man she's never met. These chicas will make painstaking effort to survive the complexities with humor and grace.

Once again, López dazzles audiences with her brilliantly candid craft. Smart, witty, and funny, these stories will explore the true endurance of singlehood.

Read the Excerpt

I'll never forget the day my brother gave me a stroke. Of course, being that he was my little brother, a stroke should've been classified a recurring condition by then. Instead, the most he had ever given me was a chronic eye twitch, which, now that I think about it, may have been an indicator of an on-coming stroke. But, yes, it was definitely a stroke I had when Benito (I always called him Benny) came over that day to tell me he was getting married.

My brain blew a short and my whole body went numb. I think, at one point, the world before me was engulfed in a white flash, and then somehow I ended up on the floor. When I finally got the feeling back in my jaw, the only thing I could muster to say was: "Are you a moron?" The clear answer was "yes." He was a moron. Getting married? Was he out of his freaking mind? Oh, hell yeah! Let's put aside that he was only 19, not even old enough to drink, for god sakes; let's put aside that he'd only known the girl for 6 months, at most; let's even put aside how annoying the girl was and how I couldn't stand her. Why in the hell would he want to hang himself like that? Had he forgotten that marriage is basically a prison? Had he not paid attention to all the disaster stories I'd told him? Broken marriages from all around the table, starting with our parents and going all the way to our grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, to damn near everyone else we knew. It all ended the same: divorce, the blissful release from a life sentence.

"Why, Benny, why?"

"Oh, Bea, don't you even start," he retorted with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't want to hear your putdowns on marriage…again. I've heard them over and over and over."

"Well, have you heard that marriages basically suck the big weenie?"

"I believe I did hear that from you, yes."

"Well, then tell me why? Why the fuck would you do something like that!?" Oh, I could feel my poor blood pressure rising. Good grief, the boy was going to give me a heart attack. I tried taking in a few calming breaths, but the whole thing was basically useless. I was in total freak-out mode. "C’mon, Benny, tell me, please, because I'm not understanding here. What, did she pull that voodoo-hoodoo crap on you? Did you crack your head on something? Have you just completely lost your mind? C'mon, you gotta give me something here."

With an easy shrug, he said, "Oh...you know."

"No, I don't know!" Okay...one, two, three...breathe. I shot him a stern glance and asked directly, "Did you knock her up?"

He looked at me accusingly, his dark eyes narrowing. "You would think that, wouldn't you?"

"Well, I don't know what else to think."

Benny shook his head with a petulant eye roll. I know that eye roll. It's the same one he pulls whenever someone tells him to pick up his socks or wash his hands. In a huff, he simply stated, "No. I didn't knock her up."

"Then why?"

"Because she's just..."

"What? Say something."

"You know..." At a loss for words, he paused then added, "she's just so...you know...great."

A literary master at work here. "Great? What's so great about her?"

He shrugged his shoulders.

"That's a good answer," I inserted wryly.

"Well, I can't think with all these questions," he snapped.

"I'm sorry, do you need a minute? I mean, I know I'm throwing really hard questions at you. Worse than poking your nose or scratching your balls, evidently."

"Why you gotta be like that, huh?"

"Hey, I'm not the one ruining my life here. I'm not the one going after those little titties."

Pulling his "talk to the hand" gesture, Benny turned to walk away.


About the Author


Sandra C. López is a writer, artist, blogger, and book reviewer. She is one of today's funny and influential authors in YA and chick lit. Her first novel, Esperanza, was published in March 2008 WHILE she was still in college. Her most recent and bestselling book is Single Chicas, a collection of humorous short stories about zany chicas. She is currently working on the next installment of the Single Chicas series called Holiday Chicas. Release date coming soon! When not writing her stories, Sandra supports the art and literary communities with freelance work and book promotion.

Website: http://www.sandra-lopez.com

Book Review Blog: http://sandrasbookclub.blogspot.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandraLopezAuthorArtist/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtistSandraL


Purchase Links: https://www.amazon.com/Single-Chicas-Sandra-C-Lopez-ebook/dp/B01KG85F1Y/





Please note: The book is free during the tour.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, May 15, 2020

SAILOR TAKE WARNING -- AND COZY MYSTERY BIG SALE!



Don't forget the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post!





Sailor Take Warning 
The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries Book 11 
by
M K Scott 
Genre: Cozy Mystery 


The commissioner banned citizen interference in police investigations, but that’s never stopped Donna before and won’t stop her now.

A race yacht has capsized. A millionaire has gone missing. If that and the involvement of a would-be psychic aren’t reason enough to worry, adding Donna’s meddling mother to the mix will jeopardize Legacy’s reputation even further.

Can Donna rein in the chaos before it spells disaster for everyone involved? 


The round golden sun glistened in the pristine blue skies rather like a Christmas ornament, except it was May. The low hum of the waves punctuated with an occasional childish scream of joy as a child met the ocean for the first time provided background sound. Donna Tollhouse, innkeeper, and her sister-in-law Maria stood on The Painted Lady Inn’s wraparound porch while peering in the direction of the ocean, which would have been visible if the trees hadn’t leafed out so much.

“I could help with your regatta-themed dishes,” Maria offered with a grin.

There were a few more screams, not so childish but equally playful. Donna, who had been holding Baby Cici, her niece, cut her eyes to her sister-in-law Maria and asked, “Did they hire another half dozen hot life guards this year?”

“Oh, my!” Maria rolled her eyes and waved her hand in front of her face as if the thought heated her up. “You should see them. I doubt they’ll be here long. Most probably aspire to be models or actors.”

“Well then,” Donna began, then cast a mischievous glance behind her where her husband, Mark, was seated in one of the wicker chairs reading the local newspaper. “It’s been quite a while since I’ve taken a stroll on the beach.”

Mark lowered his newspaper to reply, “I’ll be more than glad to take a walk on the beach with you. No reason for you to join the mob of Legacy women drooling over boys young enough to be your son.”

A derisive snort erupted from Maria. “There’s a female lifeguard, or maybe two, attracting all the old geezers’ attention.”                  







**Books 1-4 are on Kindle Unlimited! **

**Christmas Calamity is FREE May 17th – 20th!!**




M. K. Scott, Author

M. K. Scott is the husband and wife writing team behind The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries. Morgan K Wyatt is the general wordsmith, while her husband, Scott, is the grammar hammer and physics specialist. He uses his engineering skills to explain how fast a body falls when pushed over a cliff and various other felonious activities. The Internet and experts in the field provide forensic information, while the recipes and B and B details require a more hands on approach. Morgan's daughter, who manages a hotel, provides guest horror stories to fuel the plot lines. The couple's dog, Chance, is the inspiration behind Jasper, Donna's dog. Murder Mansion is the first book in The Painted Lady Inn Mysteries. Overall, it is a fun series to create and read. Drop Dead Handsome is the second book in the series.  




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