I am thrilled to be hosting Robin Patchen today for coffee with Paula Marie! She is a new to me author, and I was wowed by her Beauty series! Thank you for joining us today, Robin!
PM: If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be, and why?
RP: Besides Jesus, the obvious answer… Hmm, right at this moment, I think it would be wonderful to have dinner with Queen Victoria. Then, I could meet a famous historical figure and enjoy a royal meal in an amazing place.
PM: If you couldn’t be a writer, what career path do you think you’d choose to be on?
RP: I always thought it would be fun to be a college professor. I love to teach, but I don’t think I’d enjoy the “classroom management” aspect of teaching children—nor do I think I’d be very good at it. I’m not the best disciplinarian.
PM: Do you write stories more from your own experiences, or do you spend a lot time doing research on the type of characters your creating?
RP: I know authors who’ll spend a lot of time figuring out their characters’ Myers-Briggs personalities and Enneagram scores. Not me. My characters evolve as I write. I’m not a huge fan of research, so I try to write stories that require as little as possible. For instance, for the story I’m writing right now, I was going to have the heroine living in a halfway house (a bridge between prison and freedom), but since I know nothing about halfway houses, I changed it and have her living in a sober living house. Having walked with a loved one through addiction, I have some experience with those.
PM: I see you have a love of traveling, can you tell us a few of the favorite places you have had the pleasure of visiting?
RP: Traveling—my favorite subject. I haven’t done as much as I’d like to have. I’ve been to Europe, Canada, Mexico, a few places in Central America, and many parts of the US. I’ve found something I loved about everywhere I’ve visited. As to favorites, my husband and I went to Paris for our twentieth anniversary. It’s my favorite city in the world. It’s weird that a place where I don’t speak the language could feel so much like home.
A few years back I went to Mt. Hermon, a writers conference near San Jose, California. I loved those giant redwoods. It was as if my soul had found its home.
Another favorite I discovered when I was in high school. Our family went to Switzerland one year to ski, then Austria another year. Both were absolutely gorgeous. I’d love to see them in the summertime—or go back skiing again. The mountains were magnificent.
PM: Do you have any family pets that currently own you?
RP: Dixie is an eleven-year-old light-haired 40-pound mutt. We don’t know exactly what breeds she comes from, but she has a face like a German shepherd and the bull legs of a pit bull. She’s beautiful and sweet as can be.
In contrast to Dixie, we have a fifteen-year-old cat that’ll let you pet him if he’s in a good mood and attack you if he’s not. Everybody, including the dog that outweighs him by 30 pounds, is mildly afraid of Tiger.
PM: Tell us what you enjoy doing the most when you are not writing or reading?
RP: Traveling is my favorite pastime. I also love hiking and skiing. I don’t get to do any of them as much as I would like.
PM: I see on your website you do speaking engagements – I am terrified to speak in front of people, how do that? LOL, I find it amazing!
RP: I love speaking and teaching! When I was a kid, like most kids, I was afraid of it. I worried people were judging me and finding me lacking. But as I’ve grown more mature and more confident in my faith, I’ve gotten past a lot of those fears. The Lord has blessed me with a gift for public speaking and given me the courage to pursue it. Now, I truly love being able to share the lessons I’ve learned about life and writing. God’s given me a true passion for it.
PM: What was the last movie you went to see/favorite movie/favorite song?
RP: Last movie I went to see… This is really sad, but it’s been so long, I don’t remember. Apparently, it wasn’t very memorable. Favorite movie? Depends on the genre. Romantic comedy, When Harry Met Sally. Suspense, I loved The Fugitive. Favorite song… Right now, Defender by Francesca Battistelli.
PM: How can readers keep up with you and your new releases?
RP: Join my newsletter list! And when you do, you’ll get a free copy of Beauty in Flight, book 1 in a three-book serial story. Visit my website at http://robinpatchen.com or click here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/e3pxzvsrz6
PM: Finally, coffee or tea? Cream, sugar?
RP: I start my day with coffee. Often, in the midafternoon when I’m starting to fade and need a caffeine boost, I’ll have a cup of tea. I drink both with sweetener.
Robin’s first book in the Beauty series is free on Amazon! Get yours here:
About Beauty in Flight:
Her beauty once opened doors, but the felony conviction slams them shut.
Harper Cloud used to love the gilded glamour of Las Vegas, but on the far side of prison, she sees the cracks in the veneer. These days, she keeps her head down and focuses on the elderly patients in her care. Even her new wealthy east-coast boyfriend, Derrick, can’t entice her away. She’s trusted men before, and look where that got her.
She tries to brush off the feeling that she’s being watched. But when she’s followed home one night and her pursuer gets within a hair’s breadth of grabbing her, she knows it’s time to get away from Las Vegas.
Maybe Derrick can be trusted. Maybe his job offer—to care for his aging grandfather in Maryland—will be the second chance she needs.
But Derrick has secrets of his own, secrets that could take him down–and take Harper with him.
Can there be a second chance for someone like her?
About Robin Patchen
Aside from her family and her Savior, Robin Patchen has two loves—writing and traveling. If she could combine them, she’d spend a lot of time sitting in front of her laptop at sidewalk cafes and ski lodges and beachside burger joints. She’d visit every place in the entire world—twice, if possible—and craft stories and tell people about her Savior. Alas, time is too short and money is too scarce for Robin to traipse all over the globe, even if her husband and kids wanted to go with her. So she stays in Oklahoma, shares the Good News when she can, and writes to illustrate the unending grace of God through the power and magic of story.
The journeys in life take you to unexpected destinations. The love of a good person brings you home.
Kierra Madden, proprietor of the Kindred Lake Inn, struggles for stability after her engagement ends, family strife continues, and business slows. When her mom, sister and teenage niece move in with her, life becomes a lot more complicated. There’s certainly spare room…until one guest arrives…on his bicycle.
Ryan Delaney is fit and trim…quite the eye candy.Ryan, a TV news anchor on a leave of absence following a horrific incident, enjoys the peace long-distance biking offers. Only in town to mend his strained relationship with his teen daughter, he never expects to fall for Kierra fast and hard. Despite her policy of separating business and pleasure, mutual attraction pulls them closer until unforeseen consequences threaten to wedge between them.
Surrounded by springtime beauty, will the temptation of desire bloom into a more powerful and lasting love?
my point of view:
This is an awesome new book that can be read alone, even though it is book two in a lovely series by this author! Mrs. Stock has such a way with characters – especially family relationships that work along side the romance! I just adore her writing and cannot get enough of these beautiful stories centered first and foremost on our relationship with God, family, AND romance!
The family dynamics involved in this romance are wonderful, mother-daughter, sister-sister, father daughter, and teenage girls to mix it up some! Kierra is such a sweetheart to open her home (and business) to her family. I have always dreamed of owning a bed and breakfast, and this story has me dreaming again, lol!
I enjoyed how the author was able to give us a glimpse into the world of hospitality, all while the B&B owner is trying to run a successful business, mend her family, and, oh yeah, fall in love with a guest, lol! Ryan is a hurting dad trying to reconnect with his teen daughter…all while trying to recover from being involved in a horribly sad incident. He is certainly not looking for love or romance, in fact that would be at the very bottom of his list! He is having a hard enough time trying to deal with misplaced guilt, an ex-wife, and a teenager who seems to run hot and cold with him from one day to the next.
If that isn’t enough for you, there is also an element of mystery and suspense that grabs a hold of you! No spoilers, you just need to read it!
About Elaine Stock
Thank you so much for joining me today, Sally! It is an honor to get to know you better!
PM: Tell us what are you reading for fun right now?
SB: Hi, Paula Marie! I’m delighted to be here today. Thank you so much for inviting me! Right now I’m reading “Within My Heart” by Tamera Alexander. It’s the third book in a historical Christian romance series. I thought I’d read all of 
Tamera’s books, but was delighted to learn I’d missed this series so there were three more books to enjoy!
PM: What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite gender?
SB: Keeping the dialogue short and not apologizing much. From what I’ve been taught about writing for male characters, they don’t talk in long sentences and they don’t use the words “I’m sorry” nearly as often as women do. I also sometimes have to ask my husband to make sure I get things correct. So I come to him with questions like “Do you know what color mauve is?” (Answer: “Some kind of purple.”) “Would you ever describe something as mauve?” (Answer: “Uh, nope.”)
PM: That is so funny, I love it! So great that he is a sounding board for you. I just adored Love at Sunset Lake and I am curious to know if your fictional town of Abundance resembles the town you grew up in in Missouri?
SB: I’m so glad you liked that story! Abundance is smaller than my hometown of Rolla, Missouri, but shares the characteristics that people always know each other’s business and know exactly how each person in town is related to the others. (Why, yes, those two people did date in high school, twenty years ago.) Sunset Lake itself is based on a lake near my hometown, Little Prairie Lake, where my dad used to take me fishing when I was kid. I don’t think there are actually any houses on the real lake, at least there weren’t when I was little, but when I think of the size and the landscape, that’s what I see.
PM: Have you always known you had the writing bug (and ability)?
SB: I’ve always loved books and writing. I studied journalism in school and worked as a newspaper copy editor and in corporate communications for several years before I became an at-home mom. Except for a brief attempt at writing a murder mystery when I was 23, I never wrote fiction until 2009.
PM: Tell us what you enjoy doing the most when you are not writing or reading?
SB: I love spending time with my husband and grown children, playing cards, doing crosswords, and going kayaking. I also love the beach.
PM: I was reviewing your website and see you were an Alex P. Keaton fan too, so we definitely have that in common! What were some of your other favorite shows growing up?
SB: The Dukes of Hazard, M*A*S*H, and the old Dick Van Dyke Show with Mary Tyler Moore.
PM: Wow, we definitely have a lot in common! I still enjoy those reruns, lol. If you could have dinner with anyone from history, who would it be, and why?
SB: I guess everyone probably says “Jesus,” right? He’d be my first choice. If He already has dinner plans, I’d love to dine with Jane Austen.
PM: I see you enjoy Italian food as well, what is your favorite Italian meal, and do you like cooking?
SB: My favorite Italian meal is spaghetti with meatballs. I enjoy cooking, but I’d rather bake than make the entrée. Just say the words “Olive Garden” and I’m in the car.
PM: Okay, as an Italian, I am just going to say I really like their salad….lol. What was your most beloved book to read as a child?
SB: Just one? Hmmmm… One of the Trixie Belden mysteries. I wore the covers off mine.
PM: I will admit, I needed to look this one up, never heard of them. They look very interesting! I will have to recommend them to my cousins. I have to know – do you bake the pies you write about? I bet your friends and family love being taste testers!
SB: I do bake pies, but not as much now that it’s just my husband and I living at home. He would sadly tell you that most nights I serve fruit as dessert, trying to keep us both healthy. I know myself well enough to know that if I make a pie, I’ll eat a sizable serving every day!
PM: How can readers keep up with you and your new releases?
SB: Join my newsletter! It comes out about every two months and includes information about my new releases, special promotions, Christian fiction I’ve enjoyed reading, and any interesting news in my writing world. Readers who subscribe to my newsletter receive a free family tree for the characters in my books and an insider’s guide to my series.
To sign up, please visit http://eepurl.com/grrCZH
PM: Finally, coffee or tea? Cream, sugar?
SB: Tea, please. In the winter, I like hot English Breakfast tea with no sugar or cream. In the summer, I like iced tea, unsweet with lemon, even at breakfast.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog!
Now for some very exciting news:
Sally’s Love at Sunset Lake is going to be on sale starting in two days! From June 12th through the 16th it will be ONLY $0.99!! Do NOT miss out on this opportunity!!
Hi and thank you for visiting with us today!
We’re having fun with our latest series, Chapel Cove Romances, set in a small Oregon coastal town, where for many of our characters, life begins at 40. The first three books all feature heroines about to turn 40, and all facing big changes in their lives.
I asked Marion, Alexa, and Autumn to each t
ell me something about turning 40, and here it is!
MARION: Way back in September 2000, I turned forty with a bash! Surrounded by family and close friends, I hosted a fun “Color Me Forty” party. I donned my brightest, most colorful blouse, and we had a lamb roasting on the spit while we sat outside under our large willow tree drinking brightly colored sodas, playing kids games, and painting our faces. Everyone also painted a square cloth depicting me. After all these years, I still haven’t figured out what to do with those pieces of painted fabric, but they’re nice to look at from time to time.
ALEXA: I’m one of those women who thinks that instead of celebrating forty, one should celebrate one’s 39th birthday for at least five times. Or seven. Good things about turning 40 for me are:
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I realized that what matters is not what other people think of me but what God thinks of me.
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I don’t need to impress anyone.
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I don’t have as much energy as I used to, so I can allow myself some lazy days.
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I can treat myself to good chocolate and not feel guilty about it (no longer self-conscious about my weight).
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Considering that some people live a hundred years now, I hopefully still have most of my life ahead of me. Sometimes life does start at forty!
AUTUMN: LOL, Alexa wrote exactly what I was thinking too. Yay for 40 and being our own and God’s own women at last! That has to be a good thing!
Turning 40 for me was… um… interesting. The potentially most romantic dinner of my life in the most romantic setting, something my long-term boyfriend and I had planned well in advance. A holiday in a lovely hotel in a gorgeous small French village, all sweet little old stone cottages with flower-filled gardens. A little arched bridge over the river lined with weeping willows. A candle-lit champagne dinner in the internationally renowned chef’s restaurant booked for my birthday.
Perfect place for a proposal, right?
Wrong.
My darling boyfriend chose that vacation to tell me that instead of working late, he’d been seeing someone else for months, fallen crazy in love with her, and it was time for us to say goodbye. The champagne dinner ended up far more about drowning my sorrows than celebrating!
Now, I can laugh about it. Life really did begin at forty for me, too. Two years later I met the man God intended for me all along.
And now, I’m also wondering – how can I use this in a book? It will appear, somehow, somewhere, in one of my stories!
In the three currently available books, Remember Me, Love Me, and Cherish Me – first of hopefully twelve stand alone romances in the series – each heroine turns 40 in a different way.
One is treated to a truly romantic dinner – spoiler – he doesn’t tell her he’s been cheating on her!
One – guess whose! – wants to cancel her birthday altogether.
And one has a fun get-together with her best friends.
So, how did you turn 40, what’s good about being over 40, or if you aren’t there yet, how do you hope 40 will be for you?
One comment made before 6 pm Sunday June 23rd 2019 will be chosen at random to win paperback copies of all three books. The winner must provide a US mailing address to receive the paperbacks, or alternatively they will receive all three books in ebook.
Get a bonus entry by following Chapel Cove Romances on Amazon and saying so in your comment!
About Chapel Cove Romances
Here are the links to each of the three books:
Hope needs more hope. Faith needs more faith. They both need a whole lot of love.Two sisters. One summer. Multiple problems.Younger sister Hope has lost her job, her car, and her boyfriend all in one day. Her well-laid plans for life have gone sideways, as has her hope in God. Older sister Faith is finally getting her dream-come-true after years of struggles and prayers. But when her mom talks her into letting Hope move in for the summer, will the stress turn her dream into a nightmare? Is her faith in God strong enough to handle everything?For two sisters who haven’t gotten along in years, this summer together could be a disaster, or it could lead them to a closer relationship with each other and God. Can they overcome all life is throwing at them? Or is this going to destroy their relationship for good?
my point of view:
This is without a doubt a wonderful read. I love a great story that involves faith and hope, and this one personifies it completely. When I can read a book that makes me actually feel something, even if that something is sadness or stress over what is happening in the character’s life, well, that to me is a sign of a great author!
To me this was a story of two sisters…yes, there is some romance and a love story in there, but I loved the sister relationship just as much as the romance part of the novel! Faith and Hope have not been close since their childhood, and when their mother pretty much pushes them together, well, this is their chance to get that sister bond back.
One of the most beautiful things is how Faith is struggling with faith, and Hope seems to have lost hope……their lives are going through very different and difficult times, and being able to finally find a way to rely on one another is such a heartwarming scenario. I admit I have never been through any of the circumstances that these two sisters had to face, but it sure felt like I had by the time I finished reading this lovely book. I am so grateful to have read this story and look forward to more from this author!
About Amy R Anguish
Amy is being so generous, she is offering one commenter on this post a free ebook version of Faith and Hope, so let’s hear what your super power would be! Contest will run for one week from today, winner will be notified via email!
Rivers Sullivan bears both visible and invisible scars—those on her shoulder from a bullet wound and those on her heart from the loss of her fiancé during the same brutal attack. Not even her background as an art therapist can help her regain her faith in humanity. Still, she scrapes together the courage to travel to St. Simons Island to see the beach cottage and art gallery she’s inherited from her fiancé. When she stumbles upon recovering addicts running her gallery, she’s forced to reckon with her own healing.
After the tragic drowning of his cousin, James Cooper Knight spends his days trying to make up for his past mistakes. He not only dedicates his life to addiction counseling, but guilt drives him to the water, searching for others who’ve been caught unaware of the quickly rising tides of St. Simons. When he rescues a peculiar blond woman and her sketch pad from a sandbar, then delivers this same woman to his deceased grandmother’s properties, he knows things are about to get even more complicated.
Tragic circumstances draw Cooper and Rivers closer, but they fight their growing feelings. Though Cooper’s been sober for years, Rivers can’t imagine trusting her heart to someone in recovery, and he knows a relationship with her will only rip his family further apart. Distrust and guilt are only the first roadblocks they must overcome if they take a chance on love.
my point of view:
Honestly, I am so blessed that Janet Ferguson has allowed me to read this story prior to release date. I can tell you this book got to me in so many ways, the realism behind addiction and sorrow and rehabilitation is so spot on, Janet sincerely nailed this story from all angles. This work of fiction is so much more than a love story…it is the story of anyone who has been touched by addiction, the wife of an alcoholic, the mother of a drug addict, the survivor of a brutal, senseless attack, the parents who have lost a child much to young, or someone struggling with their own guilt ….……goodness, I do not think there is a soul out there that has not experienced some sort of the tragedies this book entails.
And yet…..and yet, there is hope. There is God and forgiveness and recovery. I cannot even begin to tell you how personally emotional this book was to me, I have struggled as a family member in a few of these tragedies covered, and still continue to pray and fight for my loved ones every single day. There are no easy answers, and there is no magic button. There is Jesus. He is the answer for all the struggles….there is no promises that this life will be easy, but He does promise to walk with us every step of the way. I cannot emphasize enough that while this is a work of fiction, it truly addresses real life issues in a non-fiction way.
I struggle every single day with what addiction has done to members of my family. It frustrates me and makes me angry and scared……reading a novel such as this one has truly opened my eyes and heart to what others go through, including the recovering addict themselves. Thank you, Janet Ferguson, for putting pen to paper and bringing this story to life…even now, days later I sit here and cry as I write this review.
About Janet W. Ferguson
Thank you so much, Caryl, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to spend a few minutes with us today! I must say, I am amazed at the number of books you have published and all you do (see bio below, lol)! I am honored to have you join me for coffee! I cannot express how grateful I am for your openness in sharing so much with all of us!
CM: It’s my pleasure, Paula Marie I love chatting and I love coffee, so this is a great place to be, especially here with you!
PM: When do you find the time to write? Where is your favorite place to write?
CM: Notice green walls, window treatments, bed set, etc. ) Well, I write pretty much every day. For me it’s like talking and you asking, “When do you find time to talk?” And there’s really only one place, and that’s at my husband’s desk on his computer. Both our desks are in our bedroom. I’m always busy on mine. It’s used mostly for marketing, staying in touch, making memes, organizing and planning Facebook cover reveal and launch parties, creating newsletters, and “thinking about” updating my website
When I’m on his computer writing, he plays spider solitaire on mine. He’s a grand master now or something at 97% with all four suits. We write together, taking turns and going over each other’s writing. Plus, we like everything being in the same room, because I’m sitting right there when he goes to bed at 8 or 9pm. And while I’m sleeping until 8 or 9 in the morning, he’s right beside me at either desk!
On the average last year, we wrote about fourteen hundred words a day. There’s an average of two hundred fifty on a page, so that’s about 5 or 6 pages a day or almost twenty-two hundred pages a year and that means over a half million words a year—which was our goal.
PM: What is one thing about you that your readers would be shocked to know?
CM: This is a hard question because, as Ron says of me, I go around pretty much all the time with my zipper undone. I’m liable to tell anybody anything at any given time.
This isn’t a secret, I’ve mentioned it before, but some might be shocked to know that after five and a half years of marriage, I filed for divorce from my beloved. We were legally divorced for six months but only lived apart for two then remarried on our sixth wedding anniversary. We don’t even count it as bad time, and celebrated fifty years in 2018. (married at age eighteen—both of us—in 1968 after one year dating and another engaged)
I’ve long since repented for going against God’s Word—”“And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:” 1 Corinthians 7:10 My faithful God has forgiven me. (See one of my latest blog posts “Wives Submit to Your Husbands” at http://www.heartwingsblog.com/2019/05/wives-submit/ )
PM: Who was your greatest influence when you decided to become an author?
CM: I can’t remember that far back as I wrote an essay in the seventh grade, age twelve, that I would be a inter-galactically famous author rocketing from planet to planet to sign books! I can say it was in my blood as my maternal granddaddy wrote a book and so did my mother Neither of those was ever published.
PM: If there was a news story about your life, what would the headline say?
CM: At the age of one hundred eighteen, prolific Christian author Caryl McAdoo releases ANOTHER book to bring God glory! That brings her total to one thousand eight hundred eighty-eight books. Caryl giggled and reported, “The number eight is for new beginnings, you know.”
PM: I see you have lived in the great state of Texas a long time, what is your favorite thing about Texas? I am a Jersey girl and have never been, so what would I absolutely have to learn about Texas in your opinion?
CM: Texas is an absolutely grand state with beautiful forests, beaches, desserts, prairies and mountains. She has it all, and the most interesting history of any state, my favorite thing about it, hands down. Texas is beloved around the world and like people here reenact the Renaissance period at festivals and mountain men gear up to live as our country’s first explorers, folks all over the WORLD play Wild West Cowboys, associated everywhere with Texas alone.
We lived fifty-plus years in the DFW area, then ten years ago, God brought us three hours north and east to Red River County, Clarksville, Texas “The Gateway to Texas” and we have never regretted moving to the country!
PM: What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite gender?
CM: See, I don’t have that problem at all. I make the heroines as feminine as I desire, and Ron keeps my heroes strong, brave, and totally awesome! Ask my readers!
What we tell other female writers when teaching dialogue, is write on then go back and cut fifty percent of your male’s dialogue. Before going on to the next chapter, do that again!
PM: If we were to open you your refrigerator right now, what would we find in it?
CM: A gallon of Vitamin D whole cow’s milk (or two), real butter. Two or four kinds of cheese, a big bottle of V-8 juice, all the normal condiments with jalapenos and picante sauce, Echridge jalapeno and cheese dogs (several packs), sour cream, cottage cheese, cranberry juice, apple juice, homemade pear preserves (by Ron and me), and a bottle of pro-biotics.
PM: What’s your favorite color? Any reason why?
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CM: SO EASY! GREEN! It’s been my fav since I was a little girl and my eyes were so green, perfect strangers often commented on them. Born in May, emerald is my birth stone. And I used to also say, “It’s the color of money.” But that isn’t appropriate as a Christian adult, so I replaced that one with, it’s the color that represents Life. Jesus said He is the Life, so having green all around me is having Him all around me!
I went through a time in my mid years where I only wore green. Ron finally asked did I dress for him or myself, because he liked me in other colors as well. SO I started adding other colors and now HE wears green! AH ha ha ha ha! That sort of backfired on my sweetestheart.
My car, roof, purse, brush, mirror, toothbrush, phone, coin purse, checkbook, notebooks, folders, bathroom sin, kitchen counters, walls, suitcase, dishes, drinking glasses, pans, serving trays . . . are all SO green! Have plans for more. I REALLY love green
PM: I love mixing my reading between historical and contemporary, but how do you get in the mindset for writing the two different genres?
CM: I’ve never really thought about it. It isn’t difficult. When writing historical, prior to WW II, you cannot use “okay.” But like the word ‘bossy meant the best, really great in the mid-1800s, like it does today. I do a lot of slang research and sprinkle some of the fun ones in, liked characters who got drunk, got ‘soaked’ back then.
PM: How can readers keep up with you and your new releases?
CM: Read fast and review quick!
PM: Finally, coffee or tea? Cream, sugar?
CM: Black coffee for me, but I’m done with it by ten in the morning and on my Bragg’s Organic ACV (apple cider vinegar) water, iced, with a squirt of those calorie-less water enhancers, my favorite being Southern Sweet Tea. I drink as many as four of those (thirty-two ounces each) a day. It makes my hair grow, helps my eyesight (I quit wearing readers after using it), and enhances my cast-iron stomach/digestive tract
Paula Marie, it has been an utter pleasure visitin’ with you this morning and I thank you for inviting me over!
I’d love to tout my new release REMI, book two of the Prairie Roses Collection, a multi-author covered-wagon-themed series this year! I organized the collection and plan to do another next year. Here’s some info about it. (See attached promo page)
Coming up is BIPARTISAN LOVE in June, a “Companion Book” to my popular Texas Romance Family Saga. Readers met Cody Wayne Buckmeyer in SON OF PROMISE as a twelve-year-old. It’s eighteen years later and his kissing-cousin Cindy comes home!
Coming in July is JEWEL’S GOLD, another multi-author collection of mine The Gold Diggers. It picks up ancestors of characters in SINS OF THE MOTHERS, book four in that same Texas Romance Family Saga!
She can’t escape the mistakes of her past…
Callie Stillman has done everything she can to bury the memories of a tiny, baby-sized coffin. She lives life one day at a time, basking in the love of a good man and doting on her grandchildren. Until she crosses paths with a little girl who is obviously in trouble—but tries to hide it.
They can’t trust anyone…
Iris and Samantha Evans are living on borrowed time. Deserted, orphaned, betrayed, and deceived, they need rescuing in the worst way.
He’s praying for a miracle…
Steve Evans had his life changed by God. A reformed drug addict, he’s searching for the family he abandoned ten years ago…
When Callie can no longer ignore the signs that Iris needs help, her interference sends four people on a collision course that will force her to face the past she’d rather forget.
my point of view:
I was absolutely blown away by this book! That says a lot coming from me, especially when it is the first time I am reading a new to me author! It’s just that I read so many books all the time, that when something really stands out, well, I like to make sure I let everyone know (hence the blog, lol).
One of the things I really enjoyed is that the this story is more of a “women’s fiction” that romance. It is about a married woman who is a mother, grandmother, full time employee who happens to have an awesome group of female friends that support and help her through everyday life. I mean, every now and then it is great to get in a wonderful story that isn’t all about the romance struggle, right?
That and the fact that I could so identify with Callie (having just turned 54 myself this year)! But honestly, Callie is such a beautiful spirit, and I just adored her. She has a wonderful husband and family, a great church family and a healthy relationship with God. Watching her have to struggle with misplaced guilt and a burden she feels is laid upon her now was so touching to me. How many times do we want to say, no, I just can’t do this …..too…..please give it to someone else to handle? Then enter Iris, a new friend if Callie’s grand daughter….Samantha is an amazing teen trying her best to keep her family together, and Iris is a little girl with too many adult worries on her little shoulders.
I seriously did not want this story to end, I felt as though Callie became a friend….luckily Sharon Srock has written several stories in this series, and I can keep getting my fill <grins>! The characters are all so well written, they truly feel like real people, and Sam and Iris are just precious.
About Sharon Srock
Sharon is so kind to have Callie as free to all on Amazon, but she is ALSO doing a giveaway of book two in the series – Terri! Simply comment on this post and tell us what you like best about reading a story not sole based on romance!
She’s always longed for more…
Running a thriving daycare keeps Terri Hayes busy. Add a new foster daughter to the mix and Terri shouldn’t have time to want more—but she does. At twenty-nine, her biological clock is ticking away. When a busted pipe floods her home, she finds temporary sanctuary in a basement apartment—one that just happens to be owned by her long-time crush, single dad Steve Evans.
Is he ready to date again?
Steve is widower, a father of two teenaged girls, and a successful writer. His life is full, but he wouldn’t mind exploring a romance with Terri. But when lines of communication get crossed, the budding relationship grounds to a halt.
Two matchmakers to the rescue…
Iris and Samantha Evans want a stepmother and have set their sights on Terri. Their matchmaking includes equal parts prayer and deception. Will their scheming result in the wedding of their dreams, or will the harsh confrontation between Steve and the parents of Terri’s foster child be an obstacle they can’t overcome?
Miss Olivia Jane Kennedy is something of a child prodigy when she becomes a published author earlier than anyone could have expected. She also finds herself with a broken heart by the time she’s nineteen. When an opportunity arises to study abroad in England at The London Writing Academy on scholarship, she takes the chance, hoping a change of scenery will do her some good. “Ollie,” as her kid sister, Kendra, has nicknamed her, takes up residence in a Victorian terrace flat on a scenic street in Chelsea.
Four years later, she’s a successful writer, age twenty-three, and about to graduate, but maybe dreams only come true for the characters she writes about in her Christian historical romance novels, her “Beloved Britannia” series.
When the handsome twenty-eight-year-old, His Royal Highness Prince Stephen, asks to share her London cab to throw the paparazzi off, the country girl who grew up on a quiet farm in Minnesota is in for the ride of her life! The Prince is everything she could have hoped for and so much more, but falling in love means risking her once broken heart on high stakes far beyond her wildest dreams.
my point of view:
Hands down this was a delightful and super fun read! It is my first ever book of Lisa Prysock’s, but definitely not my last! I enjoyed every moment of this fun filled fast paced romance. I completely admit to being a Royal fan, and yes, I watched the Royal weddings of Diana and both her sons. Cried during the boys weddings too, wishing their momma was there to see what amazing men her sons turned out to be….sigh.
This story was so touching it made me wish for more Royal weddings, lol! What little girl doesn’t dream of being a Princess? As adults we come to realize the heavy burden that is placed on celebrities and royals, so unlike the fairy tale dreams of childhood…..or is it? Reading this lovely book gives me hope, that maybe the Royal family are just regular people too!
Olivia is a darling character, so faith driven and loving, as a friend, daughter and sister. I also appreciated her frugalness and love of all things fashionable, hahaha! She’s a child protege, but not conceited in the least – so refreshing. I loved how Prince Stephen is so down to earth, yet still a king in the making. He is a wonderful hero in this novel, and a character worth reading. I was especially drawn to the way he endeared himself to Olivia’s family, both her parents and siblings. It’s important to know when you become serious with someone, you are gaining the whole family, lol!
About Lisa M. Prysock
Sprouts of Love by Valerie Comer! Sump’n Speshul Sale for a few days only!
May 8, 2019 in sump'n speshul on sale
Single mom Evelyn Felton takes on a third part-time job managing a greenhouse and garden project for Grace Fellowship. Formerly homeless, she’s thrilled to offer truckloads of fresh produce to the Arcadia Valley food bank.
If only Ben Kujak weren’t running Corinna’s Cupboard singlehandedly, he’d be delighted to be on the receiving end. But Evelyn and her dynamo daughter, Maisie, won’t take no for an answer, even if it means restructuring Ben’s charity.
Soon Ben finds himself wishing they’d transform his personal life, too, but can true love sprout when their pasts collide with the present?
Pick up your copy of Sprouts of Love before the price reverts to $3.99 on Friday!
Better yet, pick up the entire series: Sown in Love, Sprouts of Love, Rooted in Love, and Harvest of Love, either singly or bundled together in one download.
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