Author: Marsha

A Dash of Christmas by Samantha Chase

Posted October 12, 2019 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Connection to another series, Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

With a dash of Christmas magic…
Two people who have spent most of their lives being rivals…
Learn a little something about following their hearts…

Carter Montgomery broke the family mold when he went to culinary school. Now a successful restauranteur, he’s at a crossroads: should he continue on his successful path or look for a new challenge? What he needs is time alone to think things through. But his matchmaking family has other ideas…

Emery Monaghan’s no-good fiancé has embroiled her in scandal and she needs a way out. When mentor Eliza Montgomery offers her a place to recoup, perhaps hide, she’s relieved―until she realizes that the deal means rubbing elbows with Eliza’s son Carter―Emery’s childhood nemesis.

Titles in the Montgomery Brothers series include — Wait For Me – Trust In Me – Stay With Me – More of Me (#3.5)– Return to You – Meant for You – I’ll Be There – Until There Was Us – Suddenly Mine – A Dash of Christmas

Claiming the Cowboy for Christmas by Kadie Scott

Posted October 11, 2019 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Modern Western Romance, Series, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments

Her thermostat was set to frosty until her Christmas cowboy cranks up the heat.

Ashley Hughes would love to cancel Christmas this year. Instead of holiday plans, she’s back in her Texas hometown planning her twin sister’s wedding — to her ex! Nothing like small town speculation to make her life cheery and bright. No one believes that she’s over the groom, until a certain cowboy secret crush steps in to be her plus one. Ashley’s tried to friend zone Jennings since high school because she’s always known kissing the casual charmer would lead to a love she’d never forget.

Jennings Hill would be the first to admit that his feelings for his ex-best friend are more likely to land him on the naughty list. When he sees Ashley again, he only wants to help but then a rumor links them romantically and that’s when their lives get complicated.

The more time they spend together, the more Jennings worries she’s not over her ex, but Ashley starts wishing Jennings was her present wrapped under the Christmas tree.

Titles in The Hills of Texas series include: Saving the Sheriff – Resisting the Rancher – Taming the Troublemaker – Claiming the Cowboy for Christmas –

Finn by Melody Anne

Posted October 9, 2019 by Marsha in Connection to another series, Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Finn Anderson is a loyal military veteran who has no desire to live a life of luxury and ease, but sometimes a person doesn’t get a choice. His life is flipped upside down when he and his four brothers learn they’re long-lost relatives of the absurdly famous and wealthy Joseph Anderson. The eccentric but generous billionaire puts the brothers to work building a new veterans center, and that’s not all: Joseph won’t stop until each nephew finds love.

Finn has never expected or wanted an easy life, and he struggles with his early retirement from the elite SEAL team. But when a very confident Brooke Garrison literally sweeps him off his feet during a self-defense class he’s teaching, he thinks less about his past and more about a brand-new future.

If Finn knows anything for certain, it’s that he can’t let this woman get away. Though Brooke is tough and compassionate, the loss of her brother has left her vulnerable. She isn’t sure she can risk loving and losing another person in her life, including a very determined ex-SEAL. Can the two of them look beyond their past wounds and embrace what they’re feeling?

Titles in the Anderson Billionaires series include — Finn – Noah –

This series is part of the larger set of connected series about the branches of the Anderson family – to see a list of titles and series please visit our Melody Anne page.

Here Comes Santa Paws by Laurien Berenson

Posted October 9, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

It’s the most wonderful time of the year in Connecticut, but Melanie Travis finds surviving this December may take a real Christmas miracle when a yuletide murderer comes to town

As Melanie attempts to deck the halls in a house overrun by pampered Poodles, her event planner friend, Claire, is busy playing Santa—beard, and belly not included—for the wealthiest clientele on Connecticut’s Gold Coast. A personal shopper gig in the affluent town of New Canaan seems like business as usual. Except Claire’s stylish stint comes at a higher price than she bargains for when she stumbles over her newest customer’s dead body on the job. Named a prime suspect for murder, she begs for Melanie’s help, then vanishes like cookies and milk on Christmas Eve . . .

Determined to track down Claire, Melanie, and her nosy Aunt Peg dash into a dizzying investigation that leads to even more questions. Why was homicide victim Lila Moran, a secretive woman with an untraceable past, permitted to live on a well-known socialite-turned-recluse’s private estate, and is Claire keeping her own incriminating secrets under wraps? Now, with a grinchy New Canaan detective on their case and disturbing clues piling up like presents beneath the tree, the crime-solving duo must rein in a sinister Kris Kringle before they’re the next ones on someone’s deadly wish list.

Titles in the Melanie Travis Canine Mystery series include – Underdog – Dog Eat Dog – Hair of the Dog – Watchdog – Hush Puppy – Unleashed – Once Bitten – Hot Dog – Best in Show – Jingle Bell Bark – Raining Cats & Dogs – Chow Down – Hounded to Death – Doggie Day Care Murder – Gone with the Woof – Death of a Dog Whisperer – The Bark Before Christmas – Live and Let Growl – Murder at the Puppy Fest – Wagging Through the Snow – Ruff Justice – Bite Club – Here Comes Santa Paws –

Slay Bells Ring by Nancy Robards Thompson

Posted October 9, 2019 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Series, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments

It’s one thing to write a mystery, but when your daughter is the suspect — you solve it.

Wedding planner Jenna Bell doesn’t panic when the groom is a no-show to the ceremony – even though he is her former high school sweetheart and this wedding is the small town’s event of the year. However, when he turns up dead and she is falsely accused… well, yeah, now it’s the time to panic.

Jenna’s mother, Maddie, puts her cozy mystery-writing skills to use to try to clear her daughter’s name, stepping on by-the-book Chief of Police Jackson Bradley’s toes in the process. No matter how enticing he finds her, he doesn’t want this writer-turned-amateur-sleuth interfering with his murder investigation.

With nearly all of Hemlock, North Carolina, picking sides and the town’s own Gossip Brigade churning out the rumors, Maddie discovers the mystery isn’t very cozy when it hits this close to home.

Titles in The Wedding Bell Mysteries series include – Slay Bells Ring –

Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish by Grace Burrowes

Posted October 9, 2019 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Connection to another series, Historical Romance, Regency Romance, Series / 0 Comments

All she wants is a little peace.
But Sophie’s holiday is about to heat up.

Lady Sophie Windham has maneuvered a few days to herself at the ducal mansion in London before she must join her family for Christmas in Kent. Suddenly trapped in Town by a snowstorm, she finds herself with an abandoned baby and only the assistance of a kind, handsome stranger standing between her and complete disaster.

With his estate in chaos, Vim Charpentier expected complications this holiday season, but he couldn’t have predicted that Sophie Windham would be among them. His growing attraction for Sophie is the only thing that warms his spirits. But Sophie’s been keeping secrets, and it will take more than a kiss under the mistletoe to make her wishes come true.

The Windham series contains three sub-series:

The Duke’s Obsession (about the Duke’s three sons), – The Heir, The Soldier, The Virtuoso

The Duke’s Daughters (about his five daughters), – Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish – Lady Maggie’s Secret Scandal – Lady Louisa’s Christmas Knight – Lady Eve’s Indiscretion – Lady Jenny’s Christmas Portrait

The Courtship and The Duke and His Duchess, two prequel novellas. (list information from Goodreads)

Fudge Bites by Nancy Coco

Posted October 8, 2019 by Marsha in Cozy Mystery, Series / 0 Comments

Halloween on Mackinac Island is a season of fun tricks, but finding a corpse is no treat for fudge shop owner Allie McMurphy . . .

NIGHT OF THE REALLY DEAD

It’s late October, the off-season for tourists, but locals are up and lurching for the annual zombie walk charity event. Though everyone’s living it up, trouble is just a few pawprints away.

Allie’s followed the bloody tracks of her calico cat, Carmella, to a body in the alley behind the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop. Unlike the island’s other walking dead, this one’s flatlined for good. It seems that someone is using the zombie fest as the perfect backdrop for murder.

Now amateur sleuth Allie and dreamboat officer Rex Manning must use every trick in their treat bag to unmask a killer in disguise.

Titles in the Candy-Coated Mysteries series include – All Fudged Up – To Fudge or Not To Fudge – Oh Say Can You Fudge – All I Want for Christmas is Fudge (3.5) – All You Need is Fudge – Oh, Fudge! – Deck the Halls with Fudge (5.5) – Forever Fudge – Fudge Bites –

Home for the Holidays by Terry Spear

Posted October 8, 2019 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Paranormal Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Silver Town is howling with Christmas cheer

Gray wolves Meghan MacTire and Sheriff Peter Jorgenson plan to spend the rest of their lives together, and what better time to start forever than Christmas?

But they are both harboring dark secrets that are about to surface and threaten their future together.

With holiday magic in the air and all Silver Town ready to celebrate, Meghan and Peter have to conquer the past if they’re to have any hope of celebrating this Christmas together.

Titles in the Silver Town Wolf series (part of the larger Heart of the Wolf series) include: Destiny of the Wolf – Wolf Fever – Dreaming of the Wolf -Silence of the Wolf – A Silver Wolf Christmas – Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply – Between a Wolf and a Hard Place – All’s Fair in Love and Wolf – Home for the Holidays –

Holidays in Manhattan by Jennifer Gracen

Posted October 8, 2019 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Series, Tule Publishing / 0 Comments

They didn’t believe in holiday magic… until it happens to them.

Anna McKinnon is a free spirit. As a bartender in New York City, she answers to no one, keeps what she calls “vampire hours” – and likes it that way. She secretly wishes to find real love, the forever kind her brothers have all found. But love has not only eluded her, but it’s also burned her badly. Keeping things light is how Anna copes.

David Beren is a high-powered, intense investment banker in the heart of Manhattan. His 80-hour workweeks took over his life long ago, but now, at 35, he’s ready for something more. But what? And then he meets Anna. She’s unexpected – full of light, color, and laughter. Anna knocks him off his game and his feet, and he’s never been happier.

Can total opposites – a feisty, bold girl from Ireland and a quiet, straight-laced Jewish guy from New Jersey – find love at the holidays? With the double whammy of a Hanukkah miracle and some Christmas magic, they just might.

Titles in The McKinnon Brothers series include – All I Want For Christmas – A Doctor’s Love – Marrying His Best Friend – Love In Dublin – Holidays in Manhattan

The Cliff House by RayAnne Thayne

Posted October 8, 2019 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series, Women's Fiction / 0 Comments

Three women—two sisters and their aunt—and the cliff house on the northern California coast that served as a beacon to them all…

After the death of their mother, sisters Daisy and Beatriz Davenport found a home with their aunt Stella in the beautiful and welcoming town of Cape Sanctuary. They never knew all the dreams that Stella sacrificed to ensure they had everything they’d ever need. Now, with Daisy and Bea grown up, it’s time for Stella to reveal the secret she’s been keeping from them—a secret that will change their family forever.

Bea thought she’d sown all her wild oats when she got pregnant far too young. The marriage that followed was rocky and not destined to last, but it gave Bea her wonderful, mature, now eleven-year-old daughter, Marisol. But just as she’s beginning to pursue a new love with an old friend, Bea’s ex-husband resurfaces and turns their lives completely upside down.

Then there’s Daisy—sensible, rational, financially prudent Daisy. She’s never taken a risk in her life—until she meets a man who makes her question everything she thought she knew about life, love and the power of taking chances.

Task It Tuesday Update – Well, sorta kinda

Posted October 8, 2019 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 2 Comments

January 1st looms and I immediately start making plans to do “whatever” better next year. You, too? I think it’s a contagious leftover mindset from getting ready for the holidays and all I didn’t get done. Anyway. I had plans to keep up with the monthly Task It Tuesday! over at Because Reading — it sounded like a great way to get better organized, and do I ever need that in my life.

And then life got in my way, both reviewing life and the other, the real everyday life. And, well, things did not go as intended. But… I did get some things better organized and will simply have to work on better habits going forward.

I managed to keep up with –

Combining or deleting categories from my blog
Streamlining the “tags”/shelves I use most often on Goodreads (that was getting out of control)
Keeping better track of books I’ve actually purchased (not on the one day TBR) — now if I could just get those books read and or reviewed on a better schedule
Using Google Calander more efficiently

I think of what I’ve managed to get a better handle on using the Google Calander is the best all-purpose reminder that I have. I keep track of release dates, review due dates, when to read to get that review up in a timely fashion, purchased books, pre-ordered books… and even a reminder to water my poor plants that often are screaming for a drink of water. It’s not perfect, things still slip through the cracks in life but it’s better – and I’ll gladly take that.

I haven’t done as well with Task It Tuesday! as I had wanted – but I’m not really disappointed either for I have made changes, and will continue to streamline my blogging routine. I will definitely do better next year, for yes, I’m a glutton for punishment (mental) and I’ll do this again in 2020. But for now, I’m good with what I’ve done. I’ll update again the end of the year but as long as I keep this schedule/habit I should be on a good track to add more in the future.

So, how about you? Have you made better blogging/real-life habits this year? Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t kept up – life happens. Picking myself up and beginning again is a habit I hope I never give up on. 🙂