Friday, November 26, 2021

#NewRelease by Margot Johnson - LET IT SNOWBALL

My friend Margot Johnson is back on Journeys with Jana. She just released LET IT SNOWBALL, a new Christmas story in the Christmas cookie series from The Wild Rose Press. I had a look at the Chocolate Snowball recipe that Margot provided. I'm going to have try this one for Christmas! Take it away, Margot!


I write feel-good stories about women who chase their dreams and bump into romance along the way. They live in small communities near my home in the Canadian prairies, and they count on an eclectic mix of family and friends to make their lives interesting and fun. 

My new release is available as an eBook on Amazon and major online bookstores. I hope you agree it’s a fun way to celebrate the Christmas season!

In my story, the heroine, Merilee, shares her famous cookie recipe for chocolate snowballs – see below). Maybe you’ll want to add it to your Christmas baking list.


Author Bio:

Margot Johnson grew up in a family of writers and has always loved books and writing. She is the author of two, sweet romance novels--LOVE TAKES FLIGHT and LOVE LEADS THE WAY and the Christmas novella LET IT SNOWBALL. Her characters can't possibly find their happy endings...or can they? 

Before turning her focus to the fun writing life, Margot held leadership roles in human resources and communications. Her motto is "Dream big and work hard." When not writing, she loves to connect with family and friends, volunteer with SK Writers Guild, and walk at least 10,000 steps a day (except when it's minus 40!)

 She lives in the Canadian prairies with her amazing husband and beloved golden retriever.


Blurb:

Christmas tours brim with lights, cookies, and…unexpected romance?

Divorced, empty nester Merilee is on a roll. Filled with scrumptious cookies and old-fashioned fun, her Christmas bus tours aim to add festive spirit to her hometown and new meaning to her lackluster life. Too bad her reserved driver slams the brakes on fun.

Widowed farmer Ross needs a little joy to combat his December blues. Behind the wheel, he wears a Santa suit but can't muster a convincing ho-ho-ho. Too many memories block his road to happiness…until irrepressible Merilee sparks a snowstorm of unexpected feelings.

In two weeks of holiday tours, Ross might drive Merilee crazy…or will romance snowball inside their lonely hearts?


Excerpt:

After a short drive, the busload arrived at their first stop. “You’re in for a treat.” Merilee leapt up, leaned over, and gave directions on where to park. Absorbing Ross’s delicious scent, clean like snow infused with a trace of peppermint, she jerked back and steadied her breath. Sudden, shocking warmth flooded her insides. Now where was she?  She paused to gather her wayward thoughts. 

“These rules apply for each stop so we can all enjoy the goodies inside and still keep the tour on schedule. You are free to choose from several platters of cookies. If you would like to sample other kinds or take some home, you can purchase as many as you’d like. We’ll stay for thirty minutes, and then I’ll jingle.” She demonstrated with a string of bells. “Last one back on the bus has to tell a joke or lead a song. If you agree, shout snowball.”  

“Snowball.” In a chorus of voices, the group hollered back the right answer. 

She lowered the mic. “What about you, Santa?”

He shifted the gear into Park. “Nobody’s going anywhere without me.” He straightened his hat and quirked a fluffy eyebrow. 

She smiled, folded her arms, and tapped a foot. Her boots were pretty eye-catching covered in green and red toppers with bells on the toes. Maybe she could cajole him into some good-natured joking. “Santa, you know what happens to kids who don’t behave. You don’t want to end up on the Naughty List, do you?” 

“Snowball.” He kept a straight face. 


Links: 

Let it Snowball

Love Takes Flight  

Love Leads the Way

Website: margotjohnson.ca  Facebook: MargotJohnsonAuthor  Twitter: @AuthorMargot 


A Review from New York Times Bestselling Author Mary Balogh:

“I loved LET IT SNOWBALL. From the first page I wanted to book a place on Merilee’s nightly Season’s Eatings Christmas tour bus with its three stops at cookie shops to sample and buy. On the last page I wanted to book ahead for the Valentine’s tour! Margot Johnson has a way of making a festive atmosphere seem very real. Combine that with a warm and gentle love story that feels truly authentic, and you have a winner of a story.”


My writing tip: Don’t wait for the perfect idea or ideal moment. Just sit at your keyboard and write!

Inspiration for this story: I live in a place where winter storms and frigid weather are common. I also love Christmas. 

Last year during lockdown, my husband and I couldn’t visit friends and family in person, so we delivered Christmas light necklaces to their doors and then connected online. We also bundled up for a walk on a minus forty degree day. I can imagine my characters Merilee and Ross sharing similar adventures.


One wish: I love hearing feedback from readers. I wish everyone who reads Let it Snowball would post a review.

Merilee’s Famous Chocolate Snowballs

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

1/4 cup 2% or whole milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Icing sugar


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Add egg, milk, and vanilla and mix well.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Shape into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake until tops crackle (7-8 minutes).

Remove to wire racks and cool. Roll in icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Favorite Secondary Character in Adriana Kraft's #NewRelease

I am thrilled to welcome Adriana Kraft back to my blog. Today she's talking about one of my favorite blog topics -- secondary characters. We get to meet one of the secondary characters in Adriana's #newrelease I AM NOT FOR SALE. Welcome Adriana!


Meet our heroine’s Aunt Ivett #NewRelease #Excerpt #RomanticSuspense #MFRWAuthor

I Am Not For Sale ~ A desperate espresso café owner, a determined coffee franchise rep, a quiet Midwestern town, anonymous threats out of the blue—where does the true danger lie?


How to describe Nadja’s aunt, Ivett Chambers? A few words come to mind – hard working, high energy, bubbly, fiercely loyal, bold, traditional, deeply spiritual, sometimes unpredictable.

Best to introduce her, perhaps, with the excerpt where the reader first meets her:

Excerpt:

Set Up: Nadja’s cafe, just after Kevin proposed buying her out and then left.

Blocking the annoying stranger from her mind, Nadja busied herself by packing the leftover bakery goods she would drop off at the local food bank. She glanced up to see her aunt leaning against the doorjamb separating their two stores.

How long had Ivett been standing there? What had she seen? Her dark eyes sparkled as if she possessed a tantalizing secret. Nadja sighed, girding herself for a grilling. 

She hoped when she was forty-three she’d look as attractive as her aunt. Ivett’s clear, heart-shaped face was framed by dark flowing hair and set off by the most expressive eyes. But Nadja knew she’d never bubble like her aunt—that kind of free spirit didn’t lurk anywhere in her body.

“Hmm, who’s the tall dark handsome stranger?” Ivett quipped, stepping into the coffee shop. “I don’t think I remember seeing him around. And if I had, I think I’d have noticed. He seemed quite engrossed in you.”

“Nonsense. He was just a customer.” There was no need to tell Ivett about the man’s outlandish proposition. The man had no manners—or maybe he was merely another example of American bluntness.

“Few customers, even male customers, stand at the counter and blatantly undress you in their minds.”

Nadja gasped. “He wasn’t.”

She frowned. Or was he? Her cheeks warmed. She wasn’t blind. She’d noticed his broad chest pulling at his shirt. But she hadn’t considered him any more thoroughly than that. And she didn’t think it wise to do so now.

She shook her head. “You must be wrong. He was only interested in the coffee business.”

“Right! I don’t believe that for a minute, but if you must, go ahead. Your mother has been gone for nearly two years now, Nadja. It’s time for you to get on with your life.”

“I am. Look at this place.” She swept her gaze around the shop. “This was only a dream eighteen months ago. But with the inheritance from my mother and your and Uncle Steve’s help—this is a reality.”

“Your dream is a reality because you worked twenty-six hours a day on it with very little help for the first eight months.”

“I couldn’t hire help until I got the place up and running.” 

Ivett blew air through pursed lips, and Nadja prepared herself for what had become an all-too-familiar lecture. 

“You could at least show some interest in a man.”

“I don’t even know his name.”

“I don’t only mean him. But he’ll be back.”

~ o ~

As a romance reader, how much attention do you pay to so-called “secondary” characters? Naturally, two main characters (at least) will fall in love, and there may be some red herrings to pull the reader astray (sort of an also-ran hero), but beyond that, is there anyone else who really matters?

As authors, Mr. Kraft and I pay a LOT of attention to those background characters. Sometimes they’re a best friend. Sometimes they’re more of a provocateur or a foil. Sometimes they don’t look like much, but they’re a sort of glue that holds the threads of the story together. 

Our story takes place in 2005. Both Nadja and her aunt are fairly recent immigrants to the U.S., from Ukraine. Now twenty-nine, Nadja grew up under the communist regime; she was fifteen when Ukraine became independent, in 1991. Nadja and her mother immigrated to the U.S. seeking medical treatment in 2000, shortly after her mother became ill, but treatment was unsuccessful and her mother died in 2003.

Her mother’s younger sister, Ivett, successfully fled the country in 1990, just ahead of the regime change. She was welcomed by the eastern European community in central Iowa, where she eventually met and married local real estate agent Steve Chambers. 

Now part mother-substitute and part older sister, Ivett needles Nadja about making time in her life for a man before it’s too late. She lights a candle at her church when Nadja – or anyone they care about – is in danger. Happily married, and in spite of being traditional, she supplies Nadja with explicit videos to improve her lovemaking skills and give her ideas; clearly these are materials she has also taken advantage of…

So yes – provocateur, Nadja’s sharpest critic and strongest support, fiercely loyal, and full of surprises. We think readers will enjoy Ivett’s role and may even chuckle at her resemblance to familiar figures in their own lives.


Blurb:

It’s nothing personal…

It all seems simple enough—Ukrainian immigrant Nadja Petrov is determined to hold on to her thriving new coffee shop, Nadja’s Literary Cappuccino, and Java Beans District Rep Kevin Langley is equally determined to move into her North Iowa town with a franchise and run her out of business. 

He scopes her out, she keeps a watchful eye on him, and the sparring begins. But there are other players involved, and the web of intrigue soon threatens Nadja, her shop, and her aunt as well as Kevin, his potential franchise, and his son. 

Within this cauldron simmers a sexual attraction between Nadja and Kevin that catapults them to overcome their fears of intimacy and commitment. Their lovemaking is tender and raw. Their love is nearly lost in tragedy—can it survive doubts, fire, and even a death?


Buy Links:

Extasy Books https://www.extasybooks.com/I-am-Not-for-Sale 

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09L7WQH12/ 

BookReads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59582104


About Adriana Kraft:

When it’s Time to Heat Things Up

Award winning author Adriana Kraft is a married couple writing Sizzling Romantic Suspense and Erotic Romance for Two, Three, or More. Whether readers open our romantic suspense or our erotic romance, they can expect characters they care about, hot sex scenes, and a compelling story. Our suspense stories deliver one man, one woman, danger and intrigue. Our erotic romance is edgier and nearly always includes ménage or polyamory, sometimes with two women and a man, sometimes with two (or more) couples. We write our Erotic Romance stories to entertain, of course, but most of all we write them because we believe in happy endings for all who fall in love, whatever their gender, sexual orientation or numerical combination.


Links

Website: http://adrianakraft.com

Blog: http://www.adrianakraft.com/blog 

Newsletter: free download of our erotic romance novella Cherry Tune-Up for signing up.

Twitter http://twitter.com/AdrianaKraft 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adriana.kraft.5 

FaceBook Fan Page https://www.facebook.com/AdrianaKraftAuthor 

Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/author/adrianakraft

Extasy author page https://www.extasybooks.com/adriana-kraft 

GoodReads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1578571.Adriana_Kraft

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/kraftadriana/ 

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/adriana-kraft

Friday, November 19, 2021

Kimberly Baer's Cookie Story: Snowdrop Dreams, Cherry Thumbprint Screams

This Christmas, The Wild Rose Press is offering a series of holiday-themed stories. The title of each book contains the name of a Christmas cookie. Today we're taking a look at Kimberly Baer's SNOWDROP DREAMS, CHERRY THUMBPRINT SCREAMS, which releases November 29, 2021. Thanks for visiting, Kimberly. This looks like a great read! 


5 random facts about Snowdrop Dreams, Cherry Thumbprint Screams

1. A noise in my attic inspired this book. The noise was probably just boards settling, but my imagination went wild: What if somebody was living up there? What if they waited for me to go to work each day and then dropped down through the trap door to raid my pantry and root though my dresser drawers? What circumstances might drive somebody to hide out in a stranger’s attic? How would they have gotten in? Before I knew it, I had a rudimentary plot for a romantic suspense story.

2. This book is part of The Wild Rose Press’s Christmas Cookies series, and all the book titles contain the names of cookies. The cookie names I chose tie in with plot points. “Snowdrop Dreams” refers to Annie’s long-time crush on Sam and an incident from their youth in which they took a tumble (a DROP) into a SNOWbank while sled-riding. “Cherry Thumbprint Screams” is meant to evoke something more horrific: bloody fingerprints.

3. I put my own experiences into the story. The stunt Annie pulled at age fourteen to get the attention of the guy she liked is the same one I pulled at the same age and for the same reason. The abuse she suffered at the hands (literally!) of the guy who sat behind her in tenth grade homeroom? That happened to me, too. 

4. If Annie seems bitter, it’s because she is. Long ago, she lost her only child, an infant son. Over the years, her grief has solidified into resentment toward peers who have attained the one thing she wants above all else: parenthood. She’s brusque with her pregnant employee. She disdains parents who post about their children’s accomplishments on social media. Go easy on her, okay? Her hostility is coming from a place of great pain.

5. Snowdrop Dreams isn’t a fantasy story, but some subtle mystical elements are woven into the plot. Of course, fiction isn’t the only place you’ll find such elements. I believe that the supernatural is all around us, and we can find it if we look hard enough. (If you’ve never heard the story of my mystical calendar, check out my blog “The Calendar That Predicted My Husband’s Death.”)

Blurb:

When Annie Barkley discovers a boy living in the attic of her cookie shop, she’s stunned—and oddly elated. She can almost believe the universe is giving her back the infant son she lost eleven years ago.

Annie senses that something bad happened to the boy, but he won’t talk. All she knows is that he’s terrified of being found. When her long-ago crush, police captain Sam Stern, stops by to inquire about a missing boy, Annie says she hasn’t seen him.

Big mistake. Because that lie might cost her more than a romance with Sam. It also leaves her vulnerable to a ruthless pursuer, one who’s determined to silence the boy for good.

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giM9IljM448

Excerpt:

She was startled by a thump from above, followed by the muffled slide of the attic window, first up, then down. The groan of floorboards beneath traipsing feet.

Goosebumps prickled across her scalp. Why hadn’t she thought to grab something to use for self-defense? A knife or a fork or Gram’s old cast-iron baking pan, which maybe, just maybe, would deflect bullets. There might be a metal nail file in her purse, except she had no time to hunt for it, because the trap door was creaking open, and—oh, God!—someone was coming down the stairs.

Footfalls thudded across the floor, mere feet from where she was hunkered behind the island. Squinting through the grainy dimness, she peeked around the corner in time to glimpse a slight, dark figure creeping into the room out front. She got to her feet and followed.

She came to a halt just beyond the doorway. The big neon clock on the rear wall glowed blue, giving the room a bar-like ambience. The cookie burglar was standing behind the counter to her left, cramming snowdrop cookies into his mouth.

God in heaven, it was a boy. The cookie burglar was a boy. And he was eleven. She was sure of that, even though the light was dim and she was seeing him only in profile. Something about him seemed familiar—his slouched shoulders, perhaps, or the long, straight slope of his nose. He was slender like her, though a few inches shorter. His hair was matted and dark but with a good shampooing would probably be the same tawny shade as her own.

An eleven-year-old brown-haired boy, come down from above to burgle her cookie shop…

She stepped forward with a gasp. “Jonah?”


Pre-order link:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Snowdrop-Thumbprint-Screams-Christmas-Cookies-ebook/dp/B09GXM27PR


Author Bio:


Kimberly Baer wrote her first story at age six. It was about a baby chick that hatched out of a little girl's Easter egg after somehow surviving the hard-boiling process. Nowadays, she writes in a variety of genres. Her paranormal young-adult novel The Haunted Purse was the third-place winner in the 2021 National Excellence in Story Telling Contest (YA category), sponsored by the Central Region Oklahoma Writers. Her middle-grade novel Mall Girl Meets the Shadow Vandal was the bronze medal winner in the 2021 Reader’s Favorite Book Award Contest, Children’s Mystery category.

Snowdrop Dreams, Cherry Thumbprint Screams is Kim’s first foray into adult romantic suspense. The novella is part of The Wild Rose Press’s 2021 Christmas Cookies series.

In addition to being an author, Kim has worked as a professional editor for the past sixteen years. She lives in Virginia, where she likes to go power-walking on days when it's not too hot, too cold, too rainy, too snowy, or too windy. On indoor days, you might find her binge-watching one of her favorite TV shows: Gilmore Girls, Friends, The Office, or Breaking Bad. 

Social media links:

Website: www.kimberlybaer.com 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KimberlyBaer14 

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

Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Baer/e/B08D3RVKCH/

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/kimberly_baer 


Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Join Me on Secret Santa Day!

Join over 150 authors for Secret Santa Day on December 3, 2021! Every author (including me!) will have at least one prize to give away and you can enter at each author's post. Easy peasy!

To participate in Secret Santa Day, join the Dangerously Dark Darlings FB page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/DangerouslyDarkDarlings and then come back on December 3 and join the fun. See you then! 



Tuesday, November 16, 2021

Savage Bloodline Boxed Set Preorder!

 


Give Thanks to a Savage!

Welcome to November where the air is cool and the men are hot. 

We’re entering a month full of things to be thankful for, like crisp weather, pumpkin spice lattes, sweaters, boots, and, of course, hot savages! There's an art to being thankful. The DeLuca men don't care how you show your gratitude: on your knees, bending over, against a wall, or while begging for mercy. In return, they’ll keep you warm on those chilly November nights.

Preorder the Savage Bloodline Boxset: https://books2read.com/SavageBloodlineBoxset

Add it to your TBR list on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57656059-savage-bloodline 

Download the prequel, Brutal Bloodline for FREE!

https://BookHip.com/PQVFCMB 

Keep tabs on the sexy men of the DeLuca family by joining the Savage Bloodline Readers' Group. We’ll keep you up all month long. 

Book Info

Release Date: 3/15/22

ASIN- B092D9RGRW

Taglines 

In the streets and in the sheets, there’s one word that describes them best. SAVAGE.

The men of the DeLuca family are proof that the bigger the alpha, the harder they fall… in love.

Buy Links

Universal Buy Link - https://books2read.com/SavageBloodlineBoxset

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B092D9RGRW/ 

Nook - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/savage-bloodline-kenya-wright/1139270630 

Apple - https://books.apple.com/us/book/savage-bloodline/id1561989851 

About the Series

Darkness lurks behind their gazes. There’s something sinister about their smiles. Their name incites fear in their enemies. Their touch arouses passion in the women they love. They are the DeLucas. In the streets and in the sheets, there’s one word that describes them best. SAVAGE.

The men of the DeLuca family are proof that the bigger the alpha, the harder they fall… in love.

Download this exclusive anthology featuring 20+ BRAND NEW mafia romances to find out which DeLuca you will fall in love with. But first, you must ask yourself one question: Are you ready to give your heart and body to a savage?

Immerse yourself in this dangerously seductive collection that includes:

*Arranged Marriages.

*Billionaire.

*Enemies to lovers.

*Forced Proximity

*Friends to lovers.

*One Bed

*Second-chance.

*And more!

They are an international organized crime family known for their lethality and chivalry. Only a fool will mistake their genteel ways for weakness. Cross any of them, and expect to spend the rest of your life watching your back and sleeping with one eye open!


Preorder the Savage Bloodline Boxset: https://books2read.com/SavageBloodlineBoxset

Add it to your TBR list on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57656059-savage-bloodline

Savage Alert!

What’s better than one hot savage? A family of them! Prepare to fall in love with the DeLuca crime family.

https://books2read.com/SavageBloodlineBoxset

Download the prequel, Brutal Bloodline, for Free: https://BookHip.comPQVFCMB 

#savagebloodlineboxset

Tears or Rain?

 Someone was going to die tonight.

Someone’s life was going to end before the clock struck twelve. Midnight. Their death would be painful, brutal. No mercy would be shown to them. Anyone who tried to defend them, anyone who got in the way, they too would die. That was the promise Enzo DeLuca had made to his grandfather.

And it was a promise he intended to keep, even if he had to burn the entire city to the ground to do so. Before he could keep his pledge, he first had to bury their fallen. He had to say his final goodbye to the man who’d been more like a father than a grandfather to him. The man who’d raised him. The man who’d nurtured him. The man who’d shaped him into the person he was today.

To this man, he owed his life. For this man, tonight, he was going to take a life. Rain fell in sheets on that cold and dreary January day in Bari, Italy. It was as if even mother nature was mourning the loss of Ermanno Deluca. Unlike most of those around him, Enzo DeLuca refused to stand under the shield of an umbrella.

He wanted to feel the cold rain against his skin. He wanted it to drip down his face like tears. Tears he refused to shed. There would be no crying for him. Not yet. Not until he’d kept his promise to his grandfather. Not until he’d put a bullet in the heart of the bastard responsible for the pain the DeLuca family was feeling today.

Perhaps this rain was a parting gift from his grandfather, who knew Enzo would not feel worthy of crying over his death, not until the person responsible was dead too. Enzo refused to allow his grandfather’s body to grow cold in the earth while his killer lived life to the fullest, making money, eating, sleeping, fucking, living as if he hadn’t caused the death of a Don. As if he hadn’t taken the patriarch of the DeLuca family away from them.

He refused to allow the DeLuca name to be made weak by the actions of a coward. Though he’d yet to kill the person responsible, those who knew Enzo knew that the coward was a dead man walking. A zombie. He could see, he could feel, he could hear, but he was already dead. There was already a bullet chosen for him.

A bullet blessed by his grandfather before he’d taken his final breath and left Enzo to deal with the chaos the coward had created. Yes, the coward was still moving around in the world of the living, but he was on borrowed time. And that time would expire tonight. It had taken Enzo a few days, but he now knew who the killer was and where to find him.

A life for a life. That was the code they lived by. The bastard would pay for his sins with his life. Not only because of the promise Enzo had made his grandfather but also to prove to their enemies that the DeLuca family was still a family of savages. Under his grandfather’s rule, they’d been nicknamed savage gentleman by some.

They kept to themselves and handled their business as gentlemen, Men of Honor. But when fucked with, they revealed just how brutal their bloodline was, how ruthless their organization was. He knew other families were watching and waiting to see if they’d live up to that title. They were watching to see if they would fall apart or rise up now that Ermanno DeLuca was no longer around.

It wasn’t only their enemies who were watching them. Members of the family were also paying close attention. Today, family members from all around the world were attending the funeral of their Don. Yet, half of them hadn’t shown their faces in Italy in years. They’d moved away and only returned home for funerals and weddings.

Some didn’t even come for that. Yet, they’d come for the funeral of Don DeLuca. Not out of respect, love, or loyalty. They came to see if there would be drama and to see if the passing of the title would cause chaos amongst the organization. Already there was speculation of who the new Don would be.

Whispers of who some wanted it to be had already reached Enzo’s ears. Whispering and talking behind backs were actions of weak men. Enzo liked to handle things face to face. And those who were whispering behind his back would soon have to face him. There was another group of people who’d come to the funeral. His grandfather always referred to people like them as vultures.

They were the ones who’d shown up so they could sidle up to the new Leader and try to get on his good side early so they could make requests of him later. Then there were those who were happy the old Don was dead. They were there to verify it for themselves and to silently gloat that they’d outlived Ermanno DeLuca.

If Enzo could, he’d put a bullet in all those who felt that way. Then he’d bury them underneath his grandfather’s grave so that he could rest in peace the same way he’d lived, with his enemies beneath his feet. As Enzo stared around him, he noted that there was one last group of people present. The loyal.

They were the ones who’d truly come to pay their respects to their fallen Leader. Ermanno DeLuca had been hated by many but loved by more. He’d been a fair Don, who’d steered the organization away from wars and into alliances that benefited them. Some had been happy with the changes he’d made. Others had wanted to go back to the old ways.

They wanted to go back to the old days. The days when organizations fought against organizations regularly to prove who was the more ruthless, to prove who should be the king of the streets. Don DeLuca had won that war and claimed that title. He’d found no need to fight continuously.

However, there were some who’d enjoyed the wars, the chaos, the death, and destruction. It was true. The wars had led to the respect their organization and family enjoyed today. It led to them becoming the most feared family in Italy. The name, DeLuca, was feared and respected worldwide. Yet, the wars hadn’t only brought them glory.

It had brought death and destruction to so many of their people. A lot of blood and tears had been shed for them to hold the position they held today. The Don had taught Enzo to respect those who’d died so that he could stand where he stood. He’d told Enzo not to let those blood and tears be shed in vain.

Some of the family didn’t feel the same way. The problem was determining the motives of those around him. It was hard to tell who was for you and who was against you at a time like this. How was he to know who was crying and who wasn’t? Tears or rain? That was the guessing game he was playing. And he was losing.

The voice of his right-hand man, Stefano Masiello, sounded over the comm-link in his ear. “Enzo, after the funeral, you must go to the reception. You have to show your face there. We all do. As soon as the funeral is over, we can head there.”

Enzo was impatient. He didn’t give a damn about a reception. If he could, he’d skip the entire event. It would only be a bunch of motherfuckers, smiling in his face, telling him stories of the old days and things Don DeLuca had done. He’d heard those stories. He’d seen those smiles. Why the fuck did he need to see and hear them again?

“Nod if you agree, Enzo.”

His gaze darted to the other side of the burial site where Stefan stood. He knew Stefan was only looking out for him. He knew he needed to attend the reception to keep up appearances. However, there were more important things he needed to do. He wouldn’t be able to rest until his fingers were coated with the blood of his enemy.

He wouldn’t be able to rest until his grandfather was avenged and the entire world knew it. But the reception was not something he could skip. Therefore, he nodded. A shadow crept overhead, and the chill of the rain ceased descending upon him. From the corner of his eye, he saw his cousin, Vito DeLuca, stepping forward, holding an umbrella.

“The rain is getting harder,” Vito told him.

“I know.”

“But you don’t care, right?”

Enzo nodded. Vito sighed. Both men stood there, silent once more as they listened to the preacher.

“Sorry, I got here late,” Vito apologized.

“At least you came. Some did not. They will pay the penalty.”

“Not everyone was as close to Grandfather as you and I.”

“But we’re all of his blood. And we’re all supposed to come home when we’re called.”

“You’re right. Family is family. We’re bound together by blood. When needed, we must come.”

“You sound like Grandfather.”

“That’s because those are his words. I’m going to miss our monthly chats over the phone.”

“When did you last talk to him?”

“A week before he was shot. If I’d known then what I do now, I would’ve stayed on the phone with him longer.”

Like his cousin, he’d also been playing the ‘If I’d known game’. If he’d known what he knew now, he would’ve spent more time with his grandfather. He would’ve made time to travel with him.

Every time the Don mentioned taking a trip to the States, Enzo’s excuse was always that he was too busy. He’d give anything to take that trip with him now. Enzo swallowed the lump of aguish rising from within him. No tears. Not yet. It wasn’t time.

Facing Vito, he asked, “What were Grandfather’s last words to you?”

“He told me to always remain true to what I believe in. He told me that he trusted me to do what was right for the family, even if it wasn’t of popular opinion.”

“Grandfather talked about you a lot. He liked the road you’d chosen. He said we needed more men like you to keep us on the right path.”

For a while, neither of them said a word. Then Vito asked, “What were his last words to you?”

The Don’s last words to Enzo were much different from what he’d said to Vito. That was because he expected something different from Enzo. Though the weight of his Grandfather’s expectations of him was heavy, Enzo wouldn’t let him down, and he wouldn’t fold under the pressure.

He’d do exactly as he was told. His eyes were glued to the casket as it was lowered into the ground. Goodbye Grandfather. Rest in peace, Don Ermanno DeLuca. No crying. It still wasn’t time for that yet.

“Enzo,” Vito called to him. “What were Grandfather’s last words to you?”

As the casket disappeared, Enzo responded. “He told me to remind them of who we are.”

Savages.

Kenya Wright, Amarie Avant, Xavier Neal, Keta Kendric, Sonja B, Courtney Dean, L Loren, Sage Young, M’Renee Allen, Tiye, Shani Greene-Dowdell, Tamika Brown, Lyndell Williams, Imani Jay, Siera London, PE Kavanagh, Cassie Verano, Amaya Black, Theresa Hodge, Kasey Martin

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Friday, November 12, 2021

Christmas in Florida by Randy Overbeck

Today Randy Overbeck is my guest to talk about the latest installment in his Haunted Shores series, and why he set the book in Florida. Thanks for being here today Randy!

Why set a Christmas mystery in sunny Florida, of all places?

This is one the first questions I’ve received from readers of my new ghost story/mystery, SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER. That is, after they share how much they love the two kids, and the romantic honeymoon, and Luis, and the manatees

And it’s a fair question. 

When you mention a Christmas mystery, images of snow-covered cabins and frosty mugs of hot cocoa spring to mind. Of feet stomping the frozen ground and breaths expelling a white cloud while questioning suspects. Not swimming in the warm surf or lounging on the porch in only a shirt.


Before beginning the first draft of SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER, I’d read quite a number of Christmas mysteries, from Agatha Christie’s Hercule Parole’s Christmas to Mary Higgins Clark’s The Christmas Thief to Anne Perry’s A Christmas Escape. And all—well, almost all—have a frosted winterscape as their setting. I certainly could have gone that way. 


For this third entry in my Haunted Shores Mysteries series, Darrell, my teacher, coach and reluctant ghost sensitive, is taking his wife on their honeymoon over the Christmas holidays. He could easily have chosen some beautiful, snow-covered getaway for their romantic vacation, say Maine or Nova Scotia. But as I pondered my story as I wanted to tell it, I decided I wanted to do something different. I thought it might be fun to explore the holidays in a warmer clime.

Oh, readers will find all the essential Christmas elements—the Christmas shopping and Christmas carols, Santa Claus and beautifully decorated Christmas trees and even a meticulous display of the perfect Lionel Christmas train. (Insert pic of Christmas tree)  But, like the other books in my series, they will also encounter a cold case murder—a particularly heinous crime this time—wrapped inside a ghost story with a nice helping of romance and they will discover another beautiful resort location. My tale whisks readers to a quaint, small “old Florida” town on the sunny Gulf Coast they will fall in love with. With Darrell and Erin, they will discover the perfect Christmas presents, attend midnight Christmas eve service, and put donations into the big red kettle of the Salvation army. But they will also run a grueling, but gorgeous 5K through woods, across swamps and along the shoreline. Readers will get to follow Darrell and Erin as they swim with manatees, huge, magnificent, gentle creatures, and play in the gurgling surf on the white sand beach.  


“Overbeck’s writing transports you into real-life landscapes and imagined locations with a seamlessness that makes it hard to tell one from the other. The beauties of the Florida Gulf coast, the swampy growth that borders the greenery of well-fertilized fields, the posh interior of an ag magnate’s two story, all create a land that is seen, heard, smelled and felt.”—KRL News and Reviews

Not to mention, readers will help Darrell unravel the mystery of the unspeakable deaths of two young children.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, which calls for a snowy, blustery Christmas and beyond, we may all pine for a warm, sunny getaway this winter. That would make SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER the perfect Christmas treat. (Insert cover of Scarlet)

Blurb:

All Darrell Henshaw wanted was to enjoy his honeymoon with his beautiful wife, Erin, in the charming town of Crystal River on the sunny Gulf Coast of Florida. Only a pair of ghosts decide to intrude on their celebration. And not just any ghosts, the spirits of two young Latino children. Unwilling at first to derail the honeymoon for yet another ghost hunt, Darrell finally concedes when a painting of the kids comes alive, weeping and pleading for his help. 

When he and Erin track down the artist, they discover the children’s family were migrant workers the next county over. But when they travel there, their questions about the kids gets their car shot up and Erin hospitalized. Torn between fear and rage, Darrell must decide how far he will go to get justice for two young children he never even knew.


Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLhuf7RGtCs


Review Blurbs:

“Scarlet at Crystal River is an eerie paranormal mystery I couldn't stop reading. Randy Overbeck is a masterful writer of the paranormal, drawing the reader in before instilling shivers down the spine. 5+ stars." –N. N. Light's Book Heaven

“A rollercoaster of a mystery, hurtling up and down hills and sharp corners until the very end, when the reader is left slightly breathless, waiting for their hearts to beat back to a normal rhythm. ★★★★★—ReadersView

“Scarlet at Crystal River is a suspenseful paranormal novel with compelling characters and an enigmatic mystery that drives the story to a riveting conclusion. Overbeck is a master at building tension–-this is easily a one-sitting read.” ★★★★★—Literary Titan

“This is another masterpiece from Randy Overbeck. His excellent writing style has left me speechless for one more time. He writes in a way that makes you feel what the characters feel and you have no choice but to partake in the journey with them.” ★★★★★—Ioanna’s Reviews, Greece


Purchase Links: 

https://www.amazon.com/Scarlet-Crystal-Haunted-Shores-Mysteries/dp/1509237879/ref=sr_1_

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scarlet-at-crystal-river-randy-overbeck/1139873947?ean=9781509237876

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57841458-scarlet-at-crystal-river?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RTpsYLU6mO&rank=3

https://www.bookbub.com/books/scarlet-at-crystal-river-by-randy-overbeck


Author Bio:

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for four decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, the Amazon No. 1 Best Seller, Blood on the Chesapeake, Crimson at Cape May and Scarlet at Crystal River have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year--ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation, “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Author Interview with Alison Lohans

 I'm very excited to welcome my friend Alison Lohans to my blog. Alison and I are both members of the Saskatchewan Romance Writers and have known each other for a few years now. She's a fabulous writer and an even better person. Welcome Alison!


Where did you get the idea for your new novel? 

I was driving one of my dogs to his regular grooming appointment, in somewhat heavy traffic on a street that’s always quite busy. A riveting What if….?!!! came from “nowhere”:  WHAT IF both heroine and hero are driving on this street, and she slams on her brakes to avoid hitting a stray dog? WHAT IF he rear-ends her? Not a usual scenario for a “first meet”! After I dropped my dog Sebastian off for his appointment, and then again as I returned to pick him up, the ideas kept percolating. And that was the start of Canine Cupid.


Was there anything unusual, any anecdote about this book you’d like to share?

The setting for their (very muddy) first kiss is at an off-leash dog park. In real life, I took my two dogs, Bailey and Sebastian, to the dog park one day. Sebastian - my Shih Tzu cross, and smaller than Bailey (after whom Pablo was modelled) – disappeared suddenly. Without my realizing, he’d followed some bigger dogs into the water on one border of the dog park. I got scared because there was no sign of Sebastian anywhere! Finally I found him, mired in mud on the embankment. I had to help my frightened little guy back up. I didn’t slip in myself (as Kara does in Canine Cupid) and there also wasn’t a hero nearby to help me get back up… 

Sebastian

Did you always want to be a writer?

Absolutely. I started making up stories in my head at age 5, as a means of entertaining myself when falling asleep. When I was 7, my parents decided I was old enough to use my dad’s typewriter for my stories (which I also illustrated, at that stage). 

My mother, Mildred Lohans, was a wonderful “encourager”. She had hopes of being a writer, herself, but as a semi-farm wife with five children, there really was no time to devote to her writing. When I was 4, she had me do crayon illustrations for one of her picture book ideas…which she actually submitted to a New York publisher. Some years later, she did a picture book manuscript of the life cycle of the California poppy, with her own lovely coloured pencil drawings. I feel sad when I came across saved rejection slips for her stories. She also wrote poetry, and had a few poems published. With this background, when I was 10 she encouraged me to submit my stories to children’s magazines; and when I was 14, she enrolled in a year-long creative writing class in the local community college, and made arrangements for me to be there as well. Later, a couple of my own middle-grade and YA novels hinged on Mother’s experiences. Picturing Alyssa is a time-slip novel that takes a present-day pre-teen into the Iowa Quaker farm-based childhood of my mother’s earlier years. This Land We Call Home came about thanks to my mother’s first teaching job, which was in the Poston, Arizona Japanese internment Camp 3. In both cases, my mother generously shared her experiences and saved materials as I was researching the two books (and it was an absolute thrill to be able to phone her from an awards ceremony when This Land We Call Home ended up being a winner!)


Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Yes! For me it’s a way of moving ahead more efficiently. With two books on the go, I’ll move as far along as I can on one, until I get stuck – and then do the same with another book.


When were you first published and how did that happen? Was it a long or short journey?

I was first published at age 12, in a children’s magazine – then published again at age 14. After this early start, there was a long hiatus. My first young adult novel was published when I was 34.


How did you get started writing romance?

In the early 1980s, my first YA novels were getting published and I was having some success with short fiction too. Because I love reading romances, I really yearned to try writing romance! I completed one and sent it off to Harlequin, and got a (typed) personalized rejection letter. I made a couple of other starts at romance novels, but couldn’t bring them to a satisfactory ending. Because my books for children and young adults started taking off, I decided that it would be unwise to spread myself too thin. So I pushed back that yearning, and continued with what was already working. Every now and then, I’d make another stab at a romance, but eventually lost the courage. However, after a tour of Egypt in 2013, I got the idea for yet another romance novel. While I was working on it, I was invited to take part in a writing retreat hosted in 2016 by the Saskatchewan Romance Writers (of which Jana Richards is a member). I was invited to join this dynamic and hard-working group (whose roster also includes Mary Balogh, Ryshia Kennie, Karyn Good, Annette Bower, Donna Bickle Gartshore, and a number of other talented and multi-published writers). I absolutely love this connection! I finished my "Egypt” novel in 2018, and soon afterwards began Canine Cupid, published this year by BWL Publishing. BWL has also accepted my Egypt-set novel for June 2022 release – the working title (likely to be changed) is “Strong as a Pharaoh”. 


What book for you has been the easiest to write? The hardest? The most fun?

So far, the easiest (and most fun) book to write has been a children’s picture book, The 1-Dogpower Garden Team, just released in September 2021. It’s based on a true “game” I used to play with my Aussie shepherd, Bailey, to get him to dig in places I needed to be dug up (i.e., weedy patches) as opposed to random digging-for-the-fun-of-it. The hardest to write have been my two mature YA novels, Don’t Think Twice, and Timefall. Also in the “hardest” category is one of my works in progress, “Murder at Glencoe”, which is even more complex, with three overlapping narratives, in three different chronological settings. This may (or may not?) turn out to be a romance, featuring characters in their fifties.


Tell us a bit about you. Where do you live, and how long have you been writing?

After growing up in Central California and then earning my undergraduate degree (in Music Education) in Southern California, my late husband and I emigrated to Canada in 1971. I was so revolted by the many moral injustices of the Vietnam War that I couldn’t, in good conscience, continue living in the US – and my husband, looking to get into a PhD program, was accepted at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia. His best job offer came from the University of Regina, here in the Canadian Prairie of Saskatchewan, and I’ve really enjoyed living here since first arriving 45 years ago. We have a very strong arts community, with many opportunities to participate in all sorts of fields. I quickly joined the Saskatchewan Writers’ Guild – and, with my music training, taught beginning band in elementary schools until starting our family three years later. (While I’ve been writing since childhood, during my junior high years I realized it would be good to prepare for another job as well, ideally doing something that I also loved.) While I’m no longer teaching music, I enjoy playing four different instruments (cornet, recorder, cello, and piano) in amateur community groups – which provides a really nice balance to all the time spent at the computer!


How do you think your life experiences have prepared you for writing?

As a child, my writing provided a type of escapism – just as reading a good book does. We spent hours reading, drawing pictures, playing outside, and in my case, writing stories. However, my teen life, and then adult life, posed a number of important issues which potentially served as good launching points for fiction – whether questions of conscience, or the lengthy illness and eventual death of my husband (during which time he was paralyzed for his last nine months, so I learned about wheelchairs as well.) Cancer, the grieving process, and wheelchairs – they all found places in some of my early young adult novels published in the 1980s and early 90s. Dealing with these painful issues in a fictional context provided raw, authentic material, and helped with my own healing as well. My first child was adopted, with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome – which has been a very tough ride all along; my second partner took his life, another huge trauma. These experiences of our human frailties definitely show us different aspects of life, and they can provide potent material for fiction.

On the brighter side, I’ve had the privilege of being able to travel to interesting places. My younger son did his Postdoctoral studies (in biochemistry) at Oxford, UK, so naturally I was delighted to travel to England a number of times over that five-year span! My next-to-be-published romance novel, “Strong as a Pharaoh” (working title) came about after having been on a fascinating tour of Egypt. One of my middle-grade novels got going thanks to a cruise that took in Greece and Turkey, as well as a couple of other Aegean ports. Another middle-grade novel was sparked by an author tour of Saskatchewan’s far north (where I placed a child in a wheelchair in a challenging environment, made even more difficult because she was terrified of dogs, which roamed free in the northern communities I visited). One of my present works-in-progress got started thanks to a tour of Scotland, where I first learned about the Glencoe Massacre. I find that when we are suddenly out of our “daily-ness” of our home lives, we come to see, and understand, the world differently.  Music often finds its way into my books as well – as is the case in Canine Cupid, where the hero, Peter, is a professional cellist. And the hero of my next novel is a choral conductor…


A genie grants you one wish. What is it?

A multi-talented and enthusiastic assistant! S/he would have brilliant computer skills (for website formatting & maintenance, and many other types of formatting, etc.); brilliant PR and marketing skills; excellent record-keeping skills; and also a gentle de-clutterer.

 

Do you have any pets? Are you cat person or a dog person? Or are you into totally different pets, like goldfish? What do you like best about your pet?

I’m both a dog person and a cat person, though I haven’t had any cats for about 20 years. Canine Cupid features both of my dogs as characters! – although Bailey, a very smart and adventurous Australian cross who inspired the stray in this book, unfortunately passed away in June 2020, a victim of undiagnosed cancer. Sebastian (who inspired Beckett, Kara’s dog) is loving, loyal and undemanding, and has been with me for 11 years. I also have one zebra finch (my finch population has dwindled over the past couple of years).

Bailey

What do you like best about your hero in Canine Cupid? 

Peter McMahon is a man of great integrity, and empathy. 


What do you like best about your heroine in Canine Cupid? 

Kara Ames perseveres in her determination to give her best, despite the many unfair disadvantages inflicted on her by her conman ex-husband.


How do you choose the names and physical characteristics of your characters? Do you base them on real people?

This is a complicated process for me. A lot of it is intuitive, in the alchemy of a fictional world-in-progress. Sometimes the characters “tell me their names”, but in other cases it becomes a matter of trial-and-error. If a character doesn’t have the absolute right name, she or he often won’t come to life on the page. And then there’ve been occasional instances when I inadvertently give a character the name of someone I know. If this character is a negative force in the story, I always change her name – which I did, in the case of Peter McMahon’s domineering mother, whom I re-named at the last minute, pre-publication! 

It’s hard to explain how I work out characters’ physical appearances; it’s usually something that I just “know”. I always try to avoid basing my characters on real people – although when I was first getting my bearings as a writer in the 1980s, I sometimes combined traits of real people to create characters. This said, Kara’s conman ex-husband was constructed as a grossly exaggerated composite of a few less-than-honest people I’ve known over the decades – sometimes with cash disappearing (in the case of a “sketchy” contractor); loans never repaid; and annoying phone calls from collection agencies regarding people who gave my name and number as a reference without consulting me first. 

One curious real-life incident occurred during a Sunday lunch at a restaurant: two young men came in, who looked exactly like the two brothers in my novel Don’t Think Twice – except the wrong brother was wearing the glasses. It was a really uncanny experience!


Tell us a little about your current work in progress.

I have two current works in progress.

One of them is “Free to Come Home” (working title), a “forbidden love” novel set in 1945, when interned Japanese Americans were finally free to return home after having spent three years in what, essentially, were prison camps in the desert. This is an unofficial sequel to This Land We Call Home (published in 2007 by Pearson Education New Zealand).  Characters Ken and Paula have always lived on neighbouring farms, and have been very close since early childhood. Now, they are in their older teens. Ken, returning from Poston Camp 3 in Arizona, faces a sometimes-hostile, racist environment. Meanwhile, his father has always told him to stay away from the “Hakujin” (Caucasian) girls. Paula has hopes of going to college to become a teacher, and thus break free of her farm existence. Their relationship has to work out, because these two will eventually become the parents of the hero of my next romance novel, to be released in June 2022!

My other work in progress is “Murder at Glencoe” which features the 1692 Glencoe Massacre in the Scottish Highlands – an atrocity instigated by the British throne, on the advice of those who wanted to “make an example of” the unruly Highland clans, particularly the Catholic clans. This time-slip novel has been on the go for quite a while due to its complexity. The story line consists of three narrative voices, each in a different time. Present-day Elspeth suffers horrific nightmare flashbacks from repressed trauma – which her 15-year-old self experiences during a time slip while on a bus tour of Scotland. The third narrative voice is Will, an elderly Scotsman of 1692, who also happens to be a direct ancestor of a man of the same name who appears in the life of present-day Elspeth.

If I was a first time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start with and why?

I would recommend either Don’t Think Twice (2nd edition, Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing, 2009) and/or Timefall (2nd edition, Kindle Direct Publishing, 2020). Both feature strong characters trying to find their way in uncertain world. Adult readers speak very highly of these two books.

Don’t Think Twice has two parallel narratives – from the perspective of an older teen girl dealing with questions of conscience and finding love for the first time; and, additionally, from the perspective of the same character as a middle-aged mother who is frantically trying to reach out to her runaway teenaged daughter, by writing down the story of her own teen rebellion and coming-of-age. The first edition was a finalist for the 1998 Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award, and also for the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year Award.

Timefall likewise has two parallel narratives – from the perspective of a 15-year-old teen mom who has no inkling that her baby is the long-prophesied “saviour” of a primitive dying community 1000 years in the future; and also from the perspective of an older teen Seer (with flawed Sight) whose task is to summon “the T’laaure” from the doomed, distant past. Katie’s world is on the cusp of climate apocalypse; Iannik’s world is doomed due to male infertility, and the people all fear his unruly psychic powers. Psychic phenomena, time travel, and complex human interactions play crucial roles in this book. The first edition was a finalist for the 2019 Prix Aurora Award, Young Adult category.


Tell us about your current release.

Canine Cupid is my 27th published book, and my first romance novel.

Kara’s vengeful con-man ex-husband has left her with a mountain of fraudulent debt – and now he’s begun stalking her, too! What is a hardworking elementary school teacher to do, simply to stay afloat, let alone trust someone new? Is Kara even safe?

Peter is still grieving the deaths of his beloved wife and daughter. Even so, his self-pitying widowed mother keeps escalating her unreasonable demands – and his stand partner in the symphony comes on to him, although he’s tried hard to make it clear that he’s not interested, in anyone.

When Kara slams on the brakes to avoid hitting a stray dog and Peter rear-ends her, an unexpected and unwelcome attraction begins to flare…

Released July 1, 2021 by BWL Publishing; available in ebook and print formats.

Parts of Canine Cupid were great fun to write, particularly in terms of using my own dogs as characters! On the other hand, a lot of heart went into developing the characters of Kara and Peter, both of whom have tragic pasts, major wounds to heal, and ongoing stresses as they attempt to live normal, productive lives. I’m gratified to hear responses from a number of readers who’ve said the characters are authentic, and seem like real people they’ve met:

“Your hero and heroine come across as very real people and very ordinary in many ways—ordinary in a good sense. It is very easy to identify with them, to understand what they are going through, to root for them, to hope they will make the right decisions and to want to shake them when they don’t—yet all the time understanding, knowing that their reactions are those of real people.” 

Mary Balogh, NY Times bestselling author of Regency romances 

“I felt like I was immersed in the lives of two people I’ve actually met—people who juggle a relationship with the demands of their careers, the ghosts of past relationships, the good or bad advice of well-meaning friends or colleagues, and the pressures of supporting and caring for a parent. This is romance with a healthy and refreshing dose of realism.”

Maureen Ulrich, author of the Jessie Mac Hockey Series – Power Plays; Face Off, and more.

“From the moment we meet (Kara and Peter), we like them. In this emotion-packed story, these characters are people we want to root for. You can tell a lot about people by the way they treat animals, and these two are definitely good people who deserve a happy ending. Both have faced terrible pain, and we want them to find happiness together. We can truly identify with what they’ve experienced in the past and what they’re still going through. When they fall in love, it feels like the most natural thing in the world, as if they were made for each other.” 

Jana Richards, author of more than 25 romance novels.


Kara is an elementary school teacher. While I trained as a classroom teacher, my own teaching experience consisted of teaching beginner band. Many of my students were the same age as Kara’s pupils – and of course as a mother, I also became very familiar with how children of that age behave! Peter, meanwhile, is a professional cellist. My own experiences with the cello (apart from a long-ago university class) began when my younger son enrolled as a cello student at the local Conservatory. I  quickly fell in love with the instrument, and started taking cello lessons too, at the age of 47. I’ve been playing for about 25 years now in various amateur groups, and it was great fun to work in the cello aspects of Canine Cupid! I’ve actually studied the Elgar Concerto (which features prominently here) and performed two of the movements in Conservatory recitals. Likewise, it was fun creating the symphony scenes – though the orchestras I’ve played in are never up to the calibre of our local symphony; meanwhile, I know some of our local symphony musicians very well, and of course have been to many concerts).


The city of “Manitou Plains” is comfortably based on the city Buy Regina, Saskatchewan, where I’ve now lived for more than half my life. However, I took the liberty of inserting certain businesses in places where they aren’t. As I work on a novel, I often use the setting as a type of “silent character”. In the case of Canine Cupid, as suspense really builds in the latter part of the novel, it was really helpful to have a setting that I’m extremely familiar with, rather than having to puzzle out an imaginary place to the extent that it seems real.


In Canine Cupid, as in all of my novels, the greatest satisfaction comes of working with characters who come to life – their psyches, their dreams and goals, their fears, and the complex interplay of all of these as they work out their ways of being in the world(s) they inhabit. Hoping you’ll take a look at Canine Cupid, and enjoy my new romance novel!


Some buy links for Canine Cupid:

For ebooks:   https://books2read.com/Canine-Cupid-Alison-Lohans

Note – Smashwords has the ebook on special for $1.50 US, for most of November 2021:    https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1088124

For print copies of Canine Cupid

https://www.amazon.com/Canine-Cupid-Alison-Lohans/dp/0228618517


Alison Lohans

How can readers reach you or find you online?

My website:

https://alisonlohans.wordpress.com/

Also:

https://www.facebook.com/alisonlohanswriter

https://skwriter.com/find-saskatchewan-writers/alison-lohans

https://bwlpublishing.ca/lohans-alison/

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/bwllohans

https://www.canscaip.org/Sys/PublicProfile/5889721/1160952

https://www.amazon.com/Alison-Lohans/e/B001K7ZEYO%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/563063.Alison_Lohans

https://www.writersunion.ca/member/alison-lohans