A Free Book for Regency Romance Fans!

I know it's not quite Freebie Friday, but I couldn't resist passing along this deal! I loved this book by Joanna Barker! Enemies to lovers. Great supporting cast. Lots of swoony romance. If you love all of that, you should definitely pick this one up.

Get your free copy HERE

Here's the back copy:

If you can't join them, beat them.

Marigold Cartwell has only one goal: to defeat her long-time rival on the archery field. She knows she can outshoot irritating, cynical Tristan Gates, but the local bowmen’s society—the one he belongs to—refuses to allow women to compete. Spurred on by their rejection, Marigold decides to start a new society. Naturally, it has only one rule: no men.

Tristan Gates is used to Marigold Cartwell always getting her way, so he is far from surprised when she forms her own society. He knows how relentless she can be, something he learned firsthand facing her at the targets. But Tristan has enough worries of his own, what with his bachelor uncle falling in love with a fortune hunter. He has no time to entertain Marigold’s ambitions.

However, after a visit to the seashore ends in disaster—and scandal—Marigold and Tristan soon realize how little they know about each other. The strained tension between them quickly turns to simmering attraction, but an important archery competition looms ahead. Lines are drawn all around them, with Marigold and Tristan on opposite sides, and neither can afford to lose. Yet winning might be the very thing to tear them apart.

Monday Morning Book Report

Monday Morning Book Report: Well, it was a crazy week.

I got a deal on a trilogy set in the 1840s, and two of the books take place in Central Asia (I love learning about new places and other cultures) and the romances looked really interesting, so I dove in. 

Each of the three books was around 500 pages, but I sort of took that as a personal challenge and read them all in the last week. The storylines were compelling and the setting was amazing, but if you are a sensitive reader, there was a little spice in all the books and two of the books dealt with really difficult material that was hard for me to get through. (One of the heroes endures horrible torture, another book describes some horrific child abuse). 

The middle book in the series was enjoyable for me because it was an action adventure romance featuring a couple who had married years ago in London, but the bride ran away. Twelve years later her groom finds her in a remote area of Central Asia, and they're trying to make their way back to each other while on a rescue mission. 

So, in the end, I guess what I'm telling you is that I've had a lot of late nights in the last week, but I read three books! What book are you reading? Have you been up late reading this past weekend?

It's Freebie Friday for Romance Fans!

I love the Freebie Friday we have today! 

One of my favorite Mimi Matthews books is free today, The Matrimonial Advertisement! A battle-scarred former soldier and a woman with a secret try to find their way to love, but with so many obstacles in their way can they find what they're looking for?

Get your free copy HERE

Here's the back copy:

She Wanted Sanctuary...

Helena Reynolds will do anything to escape her life in London, even if that means traveling to a remote cliffside estate on the North Devon coast and marrying a complete stranger. But Greyfriar's Abbey isn't the sort of refuge she imagined. And ex-army captain Justin Thornhill--though he may be tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome--is anything but a romantic hero.

He Needed Redemption...

Justin has spent the last two decades making his fortune, settling scores, and suffering a prolonged period of torture in an Indian prison. Now, he needs someone to smooth the way for him with the villagers. Someone to manage his household--and warm his bed on occasion. What he needs, in short, is a wife and a matrimonial advertisement seems the perfect way to acquire one.

Their marriage was meant to be a business arrangement and nothing more. A dispassionate union free from the entanglements of love and affection. But when Helena's past threatens, will Justin's burgeoning feelings for his new bride compel him to come to her rescue? Or will dark secrets of his own force him to let her go?

Monday Morning Book Report on a Tuesday!

Monday morning book report (on Tuesday, since yesterday was a holiday, haha!) I started reading The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly and I'm just in the setting up the mystery part of the book and I have to say, I'm intrigued! I love mysteries. 

What did you read over the weekend?

Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

I love this quote. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day!

Free Regency Romance!

It's Freebie Friday! If you love regency romance, the To Kiss a Wallflower collection of novellas is free today!

Get your free copy HERE

Here's the back copy:

Eventually, all wallflowers will have their chance at love . . . This is where it begins.

The Wallflower’s Dance by Jen Geigle Johnson
Lottie Hughes likes people, as long as they aren't too close. Does it bother her that no one asks her to dance? Yes, but she's not sure how to drum up dance partners when she has almost no dowry, no title, and freezes up when anyone tries to talk to her. When she suddenly inherits a huge amount and is the new center of attention all over London, her secret dreams might come true but also her worst nightmares. Suddenly everyone wants to talk to her. Men ask her to dance. And she is inundated with interested suitors. She fights to stay close to the few friends she knows are true. One man saw her before her life changed forever. But does she want to accept his help when he, too, might be insincere?

Letters to a Wallflower by Heather B. Moore
Ellen might be beautiful and considered a diamond of the first water by Society, but she is so very tired of the pressure to marry a titled gentleman so that her beauty won’t go to waste. When her cousin Dinah dares Ellen to attend a ball with no frills and to stand with the wallflowers, Ellen takes on the dare. What’s in the wager for her? The prize cuttings of her aunt’s extraordinary roses. But what Ellen isn’t expecting is Lord Ravenshire to engage her in the most interesting conversation. When she confesses to him of her opposition in marrying for a title, he confesses his distaste of the London scene. They strike a bargain together, one which will either push them apart or lead to a future sweeter than either of them could have imagined.

To Marry a Wallflower by Anneka R. Walker
Charlotte Winters is destined to spinsterhood until she turns down an unwanted proposal and everything changes. With gossip rampant, her father attempts to salvage her reputation by betrothing her to another. Soon she is sent off to her aunt’s to meet Lord Templeton, her intended. Anxiety-ridden, Charlotte begs her aunt to let her observe Lord Templeton from afar before their introduction. She never planned to pretend to be her fictional cousin to learn more about him, or to fall in love with Lord Templeton’s friend in the process. Lord Templeton dreads returning to the empty halls of Newcliff Manor. When his father’s old friend, Mr. Winters reaches out for assistance, Lord Templeton finds himself returning home engaged to a woman he has never met. Desperate to learn more about Miss Winters, he befriends her cousin. He wouldn’t have spoken to her, or lied about his identity, if he’d known the quiet woman would sneak into his heart.

2025 Reading Challenge!

I thought it might be fun to do a 2025 Reading Challenge with my book friends this year! Whenever you do one of the challenges, cross it off, and at the end of the year, I'll do a drawing for anyone who completed it. Let's have some bookish fun together! 

Are you in?

World Logic Day

 Yesterday was World Logic Day! Let's have some fun. Can you answer these three questions?

Scroll down for the answers.

Scroll.

Keep scrolling.

Here they are:

1. A quarter and a nickel. The nickel is the one that isn’t a quarter. 2. A fire. 3. Darkness

I'm A Finalist!

As all of you know, back in 2021, the plan was for my new book, Second Guess, to be released that fall. But then I got sick. So sick I nearly died. And though I recovered, I came home from the hospital on an oxygen tank, my body exhausted to the point that I couldn't stay awake for very long for months afterward. 

I couldn't write. 

I couldn't finish Second Guess no matter how much I wanted to. The doctor told me to be patient and let my body heal, so I really tried hard to do that. It took two years--a year longer than the doctor thought it would--but my body healed and I was able to write again! 

I finished Second Guess with the love and encouragement of my husband and family, my faithful beta readers Jeni, Jon, and Robyn, my author friends Michele Bell, Becky Monson, and Jennifer Peel, and my dedicated fans who never stopped asking about it. I couldn't have done it without all of you! 

Second Guess was released in March 2024, and guess what? Today I found out that it is a Whitney Award finalist for Best Mystery/Suspense! (Thank you to everyone who read it, reviewed it, and nominated it. I seriously have the best family and book friends!) This is kind of a full circle day for me and I'm definitely going to celebrate!

Monday Morning Book Report

Well, it's the Monday Morning Book Report! I'm still reading A.L. Sowards Beyond the Crescent Sky. 

Usually I can get through a book pretty quickly, but this one is full of secrets and intrigues during the Balkan wars in the 1300s--a time period I don't know very much about. There are changing loyalties and lots of treachery, as well as some romance, and the author does such a great job setting the scene, I've been taking it all in and really absorbing the story. 

Do you ever have books do that to you? When you just can't rush through it? What did you read this past weekend?

Growing Up in the 80s

 I loved growing up in the 80s. I love the 80s music (maybe not the fashions so much, haha. Leg warmers anyone?) But it just seemed like a really great time to grow up in. As a mom, though, when I talk about growing up in the 80s, my kids look at me like I've lived through something awful (no cell phone? no internet? No laptops? How did you SURVIVE?)

It sort of feels like this. LOL

Anyone else feel this way?

Monday Morning Book Report

It's so hard to get back to real life now that the Christmas break is over. I did do a lot of reading over the break, though, and I loved that. There's just something about snuggling up in a soft blanket on a cold day with a great book, am I right?

So, for today's Monday morning book report, what book did you read over the weekend/break? I just started A.L. Sowards Beyond the Crescent Sky. I am loving her Balkan Legends series and so far, this one is amazing. 

Now tell me what YOU'RE reading!

Do You Do This?

There is just something about a new year that makes me want to declutter! I've been working on paper piles today (do you have those?) and just getting things put away that I've been procrastinating. 

Do you ever get into a decluttering mood?

It's 2025!

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 is filled with so much happiness and lots of great books to read!