All new series! Willow Branch Romances ... beginning January 2021 and ending in June
Books in Order:
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
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Lauren
First in Series
First Responder's Novella
$2.99
Lauren
She's a rich girl from a large city, he's an EMT in a small town. What could go wrong?
After a whirlwind relationship, Justin and Lauren are married and move to the small town in Montana where Justin was born and raised. It's a bit of a culture shock for a modern rich girl. Lauren struggles to fit in as Justin becomes increasingly tired of feeling as if he isn't enough for her.Can they reconcile their differences before it's too late?Join the women of Sapphire Ridge as they work through the joys and struggles of being married to their First Responder husbands. Lauren is the first in a six novella series.
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
Nora's Heart
A Willow Branch Romance, Volume 1
$3.99
Nora's Heart
Journals. Once discovered, they have the power to destroy and encourage.
Nora Cavanaugh was a force to be reckoned with and her life is revealed when the journals she kept from her wedding day until her death are passed around between the generations of women who come after her.
The comfortable lives that each of these women had been enjoying is flipped upside down as secrets are revealed and mistakes are made.
Nora’s Heart is opened and laid bare for those who come after her. Her journals become something of a therapy session for her great-granddaughter, Ami, who is struggling in a stagnant marriage. Nora’s granddaughter, Charlotte, has a second chance for love. Her daughter, Harriet, learns a secret that will devastate a loved one.
As the three women reach back into the past to glean and grow from their beloved matriarch’s life, Nora reaches out from beyond the grave to show them the way. Causing these women to question their lives up until now and what their future holds.
** Grab your copy today to begin your journey with these women who face love and loss with strength and joy! **
NORA’S HEART is a contemporary women’s fiction served with a generous portion of romance, full of joy, betrayal, and second chances.
Fans of Debbie Macomber and Nora Roberts will adore this series!
Check out my Amazon Author Page!
Ava's Heart
A Willow Branch Romance, Volume 2
$3.99
Ava's Heart
Senator Brandt Andersons thinks it will be child’s’ play to close a small town library and move his offices there. That is until he meets Ava.
The feisty librarian has enjoyed her settled and structured existence until she gets the letter telling her of his intentions. She is furious and demands that he come talk to her face to face. This ‘enemies to lovers’ tale take both of them on a wild ride of the many efforts of the community to save the library.
As the senator falls for Ava, there is more than the library between them. Ava has a new boyfriend. Ava’s warm, funny, and slightly crazy band of supporters work together to thwart his plans.
Small towns are no joke when it comes to outsiders coming in to take over something they love.
** Grab your copy today to begin your journey with these women who face love and loss with strength and joy! **
AVA’S HEART is a contemporary women’s fiction served with a generous portion of romance, with a fun cast of characters.
Tina's Heart
A Willow Branch Romance, Volume 3
$3.99
Tina's Heart
An antique locket finds its way into the hands of a young, single mother. Who are the boys in the photos and how did the locket end up at the second-hand store?
A journey of discovery leads Tina to a family torn apart by tragedy with the hope of reconciliation. As she struggles with the father of her child trying to insert himself into their lives after running when he found out she was pregnant, she vows to find the boys in the locket. She battles with whether to forgive her ex-boyfriend and allow him access to their daughter or to do everything in her power to keep them apart.
The road to redemption and discovery will lead Tina to an unexpected place. Will she embrace it or flee from it?
** Grab your copy today to continue your journey with these women who face life with strength and joy! **
TINA’S HEART is a contemporary women’s fiction served with a generous portion of romance … full of joy, betrayal, and found love.
Holly's Heart
A Willow Branch Romance, Volume 4
Holly's Heart
What if you’re whole plan for your life was disrupted by one simple request? Holly makes the decision to be a companion for her elderly Great Aunt and finds a life worth living and a love worth fighting
Unwanted by her parents with nowhere to go, and no job, she receives a letter from her estranged great aunt, and finds she has a choice to make. Stay where she is, biding her time until a good offer comes her way, or live with her elderly aunt as a companion for the summer.
Holly decides to go. She arrives expecting to find a frail and sickly old woman wasting away in a hospital bed in a dusty old house. What she finds is a lively woman in poor health who lives in a mansion.
All seems to be going well until Holly finds out the true purpose behind her aunt seeking her out after years of separation.
** Grab your copy today to continue your journey with these women who face love and loss with strength and joy! **
HOLLY’S HEART is a contemporary women’s fiction served with a generous portion of romance, full of joy, betrayal, and second chances.
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Natalie's Heart
A Willow Branch Romance, Volume 5
Natalie's Heart
What if everything you had ever hoped for ended in sorrow?
A devastating announcement moves a loving couple into the abyss of betrayals and broken hearts, with only a whisper of hope for reconciliation.
Christopher had been promised to them while he was forming in his mother’s womb. When she tells them that she has decided to keep the baby, Natalie and Ryan spiral into a well of anguish and bad decisions.
Natalie needs a breather, so she books a stay at the Willow Branch Bed and Breakfast where, for the first time in a long time, she begins to heal.
Is there hope for reconciliation between them or will their past mistakes define them forever?
** Grab your copy today to begin your journey with these women who face love and loss with strength and joy! **
NATALIE’S HEART is a continuation of this contemporary women’s fiction series, served with a generous portion of romance. Full of joy, betrayal, and second chances.
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Jenny's Heart
A Willow Branch Romance, Volume 5
Preorder at the special $2.99 price! This deal is available until June 7. when the book is "live".
Jenny's Heart
Setting up a bakery was a natural thing for Jenny. She had been cooking and baking for as long as she could remember as had her mother and grandmother before her. She got her feet wet professionally when she cooked and baked at the Myrna Sinclair Home for Boys and Girls and was ready to open her own place.
Things were going great until a new coffee shop opened across the street. What should have been a beautifully symbiotic relationship between pastry and coffee soon became a disaster as the arrogant owner came to sample her treats. When he declared that he could make his own pastries better, she laughed, and it was ON!
They try to outdo each other, and it isn’t long until the whole community is embroiled in a baking competition. Things get so heated that a local television station gets involved and the challenge is officially started. A week of ups and downs for Jenny cause her to doubt herself, but when a tragedy occurs, they both realize that maybe they might need each other.
** Grab your copy today to continue your journey with these women who face love and loss with strength and joy! **
JENNY’S HEART is a contemporary women’s fiction served with a generous portion of romance and fun!.
THE WILLOW BRANCH ROMANCES READING ORDER:
Volume 1: Nora’s Heart (January 2021)
Volume 2: Ava’s Heart (February 2021)
Volume 3: Tina's Heart (March 2021)
Volume 4: Holly’s Heart (April 2021)
Volume 5: Natalie’s Heart (May 2021)
Volume 6: Jenny’s Heart (June 2021)
And look for “The Heart of Christmas” in November 2021!
Now Available!!!
Their mission was to right wrongs, to help the helpless, and to make the world a better place for those who would come after them. Never once veering off the path. Secret kept. Mission accomplished.
- The Liliths is an elite group of female assassins who clean up messes the police can’t touch. In operation since 1813, they have infiltrated, judged, and assassinated those who harm the innocent and escape traditional justice.
Cleo has been tasked with the assignment of partnering with Detective Adrian Jeffers to put him off of their scent. He is trying to find the organization responsible for his boss’s death, which was ruled a suicide. He knows better.
While Cleo is on the job, one of the Lilith’s on assignment is found murdered. Was she betrayed by a current Lilith?
Loyalties are tested and chaos in the organization erupts as Cleo and her friends try to get to the bottom of Morgana’s murder and who betrayed them.
Cleo finds herself attracted to Detective Jeffers, even as she is constantly putting him off of their trail.
Time is running out for her to find the truth before she becomes the next target.
Fatal Search, Fatal Hunt, and Fatal Decision
All Three Volumes Available!!
In a quiet rural town, things are changing. Girls are missing, mutilated bodies are discovered. The race is on to save the lives of two girls who vanished in the blink of an eye. Will they be found in time? It turns personal when one of these girls turns out to be the daughter of Kacey's lifetime friend. Time is running out for young Katie as The Search leads the two detectives in a bi-state investigation which ends up focusing on an off the grid community. Can the answers be found there? Will the girls be found before it's too late? In the meantime, Katie faces the ultimate sacrifice.
Willow Branch Volumes 1 and 2 available for Kindle and Paperback.
Fatal Hunt
The second book in the "Willow Branch" series is now available on kindle and for free on kindle unlimited. You can also find it in paperback!
Willow Branch seems like such a peaceful town. Unfortunately, someone is preying on young women who are just looking for a soul mate.
Detectives Kacey Yates and Mike Parker find themselves in charge of finding a brutal killer. Someone is targeting women who are seeking love on a dating site. He lures them in and leaves behind a ruined life.
As if that weren't bad enough, someone is targeting the men and women in blue by killing their loved ones! Captain Wells has decided that this is one case that he will not leave to his detectives, but that he and one of his best detectives will solve before more men and women are killed.
Kacey struggles with her decisions as the new life grows inside of her. Still a grieving widow, Kacey struggles to find her place in this new world.
Fall Into A Good Book
I don't get it.
Ah, fall. Pumpkins, haybales, scarecrows, corn mazes, hot apple cider, bonfires.
I get it, I get it. But why is fall seemingly everyone's favorite season?
Cozy Sweaters? No thanks! I'm at the point in my life I'm at werewolf temperature 24 hours a day. I'm pretty sure I'd implode if I wore a sweater. The thought of me in a "cozy" sweater with my hands wrapped around a mug of hot spiced apple cider makes my feel like I will burst into flames at any moment!
Now, pumpkin spice anything I can get behind! Starbucks has the BEST thing ever! A cold brew pumpkin spice is the most delicious thing and I truly thought I would hate it. And if you are lucky enough to live in the Alton, Illinois area, Maeva's Coffee has the #1 best best best pumpkin spice latte you will ever drink.
My favorite season is summer, but my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Family and friends with nothing to do but have fun and be together. No pressure of the perfect gift and it's before the hectic schedule that is the Christmas Season begins.
So, enjoy those sweaters, but leave me out of it. I'll be enjoying Thanksgiving with my favorite people in the world, pumpkin pie in one hand and pecan pie in the other. Stack of great books by my side.
Happy Fall, ya'll!
My "Day" Job
What's a "Programming Specialist"?
Good question!
In April 2018, I was promoted to the "Adult Programmer". I absolutely loved it! The short description is that I got paid to plan things that I wanted to do and then get paid to do them. Awesome, right? The long description is that I thought of fun and interesting activities, planned them from start to finish (so many details!), and then played hostess as people enjoyed the fruits of my labor Loved it!
Then, our Children's Programmer left for another opportunity and I took on both jobs. Daunting, to say the least!
Now, I really love kids. They are so innocent and eager to learn and explore. My wheelhouse is definitely 3rd - 6th, but … Now I found myself doing story times for preschoolers and toddlers. Much to my surprise, I loved it!
So, now I get paid to plan things that I want to do and that I think people of all ages will enjoy, and get paid to do them!
I would say that I have the best job in the library, wouldn't you?
Probably, what I enjoy the most is the community aspect that we provide.
Just a few examples of events we have hosted:
A Community Panel - We invited leaders in the community to come for an open forum. We had questions that people submitted online, and those that were asked in person.
A Car Show - We partnered with our town to present a car show for all classic show cars. So much fun!
A Ladies Night Out - We closed a couple of streets, but due to the weather, moved inside. We LOVED watching everyone have fun and shop, shop, shop. Our area is honored to have many female business owners and in leadership, so it was a great opportunity to celebrate that with other women.
It's such a great thing to love your job, isn't it?
It's Summertime!
My Favorite Summer Reads
Ah, summer … warm evenings on the back deck, vacations, pool parties, and, in my opinion, the best time to pull out a book.
Let me share a few of my favorite past beach/summer reads in no particular order.
Anything by:
Elin Hildebrand
Wendy Wax
Dorothea Benton Frank
Mary Kay Andrews
Mary Alice Monroe
Nancy Thayer
These women know how to lay down a sweet summer read. Plentiful beaches, romance, relationships between sisters, friends, enemies, and love interests.
Each and every one of their books has been personally read by my and I couldn't recommend them highly enough.
Now, if you are looking for murder … and face it, who isn't … check out my Willow Branch Series. You will NOT be disappointed.
Hope this summer finds you happy, healthy, and very relaxed. :)
It's Not As Easy As You Think
From Idea to Publication
I thought it would be so easy. Take that idea that's been brewing in my head for years, write it out, and BAM! Agents would be beating down my door.
Not quite.
It took three months to just get the words down. Then I read it and it was GARBAGE! So, I rewrote it. then I read it again, and it was upgraded to the compost pile. Third times a charm, I guess … now I'm in the recycle bin.
The it took weeks of asking family and friends to read it for me and tell me what changes should be made, making those changes, and asking again. (I have the most patient people in my life).
Finally, I gave it to a friend who did an amazing editing job for me and it was ready.
REJECTION! REJECTION! REJECTION! Very nice ones, but still ...
I'm not a patient person, so off to Kindle Direct Publishing I go. Should be easy, right?
NO! Despite what you might've heard, it's NOT user friendly. At last not to anyone who wasn't born with a smart phone in their hand.
After much trial and error, I finally got the Kindle version up and running. Hallelujah! Of course, errors were found and corrected. Then, I got brave and put it out in paperback.
If I thought the Kindle process was bad, that was nothing compared to this!
Formatting is my enemy now and forevermore.
After all of this waiting and labor, my book baby is finally born and I'm ready to show it off to the world.
And all I can say is Thank you Thank you Thank you for loving it!
Thank you for constantly asking when book two will be out. But, like babies, books come out in their own sweet time. And mine will be born in early June, format willing. :)
Why Everyone Should Have A Library Card
I remember the day when the Bookmobile first came to my grade school. They gave us the speech about how we needed to take great care of the card and the books that it allowed us access to.
I don't remember if my parents signed their permission or not … but every week that wonderful converted bus came to our school and we would pile in, five at a time, and gaze in rapture at the selection and carefully choose .. knowing that we wouldn't get this chance again for seven whole days!
I've been working at our local library for over ten years now and I'm always so amazed when people come in to use our computers and when asked, say they don't have a card … why would they need one?
Gasp?! Horror! I'm coming home, Martha!!!
Get a library card, already! Free access to books, movies, games (yes, our wonderful library has table and card games galore), audio books, magazines, programming.
So really, the question isn't 'why should you', but 'why WOULDN'T you?' Do you enjoy blowing your money on things you could get for free? (Don't go all crazy on me … I have a book collection, too.).
There are so many great kids programs at your local library. Our library has wonderful events for the kids and adults, as well as many family events like Easter Egg Hunts, Car Shows, Ladies Night Out, Spooktacular, and so many more.
Don't walk … RUN to your local library! Heck, you're paying for it through your taxes anyway … don't let it go to waste.
On that note ... what's your favorite thing about your local library??
Happy reading!
I'm glad you're here!
Click here to go to my Amazon Author Page for a complete list of titles.