Calling all readers! Spring has sprung and you’re all invited to N. N. Light’s Book Heaven Spring Break Bookapalooza!
Celebrate your love of books all month long with 23 books, 16 bestselling and award-winning authors, a $25 Amazon giveaway, plus authors share what they love about spring and where they’d love to travel to on their fantasy spring break. Leave your passport and sunscreen at home and join in the fun.
I’m thrilled to be a part of this event. My books, Water Dreams and Water Desires, will be featured on April 8andApril 16. You won’t want to miss this!
Water Dreams and Water Desires are Books 1 and 2 in the Love’s Siren Song Series (paranormal romance)
Open internationally.
Runs April 1 – 30, 2024
Drawing will be held on May 1, 2024.
Bookmark this bookish get-together and tell your friends:
I just finished Druid, by Sydney Brianna, and I highly recommend this unique blend of epic fantasy and contemporary romance! Druid is like getting two books in one.
Druid includes steamy scenes with explicit sex. It is meant for adults. All sex is consensual, male/female, and there is no BDSM (bondage, domination, sadism, masochism).
There are so many things to love about Druid. First, the characters. Cináed is a fabulous hero. He’s protective, powerful, and kind. Scarlet is my favorite kind of heroine, smart, feisty and strong enough to hold her own. Though Cináed has his Druid magic and centuries of experience with life, he does not understand modern society and needs Scarlet’s help in negotiating the contemporary world. Scarlet thinks she is a normal woman, but there is much more to her than she knows. They are perfectly matched.
The plot contains plenty of conflict with Cináed’s group, the Custodes Pacis, striving to prevent Ragnorak, the battle foretold by Norse mythology that will destroy the gods and end the world.
World building in Druid is detailed and immersive with a well-developed magic system and an intricate history including characters from Norse and Greek mythology who come across as realistic and complex.
Most of all, the journey that Cináed and Scarlet make, both outwardly and inwardly, to save themselves and those they love, the sacrifices they make for each other, and the courage they show as they overcome one obstacle after another, kept me rooting for them from beginning to end.
I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, Titan, release date April 30, 2023.
About Sydney Brianna
As a 40-something lover, I wanted to create a series that I could personally identify with.
We do not stop yearning for love, or lust, after our twenties, and not every female is 5′ 4″ and perfectly proportioned. It was my goal to make everyone who reads my books feel welcome and valued, not in spite of their differences, but because of them.
I sincerely hope you find the range of inclusivity within the Custodes Pacis series refreshing and entertaining.
Today’s snippet is Sybilla’s vision from Witch Trial Legacy.
Sybilla Sanborn must break a centuries old curse before everything she cares about goes up in smoke.
Sybilla is a nurse gifted with the ability to heal with her touch but cursed with visions of future tragedies she cannot prevent because no one heeds her warnings. With help from the mediums of the spiritualist town of Cassadaga, Florida, she learns she is descended from both the first person executed for witchcraft in this country and the man who accused her.
Conn Ahern is an Iraq war vet dealing with pain and PTSD while working as a paramedic and struggling to save the ranch his grandmother founded. He’s an atheist who wants nothing to do with the people of the town.
When Conn and Sybilla meet, sparks fly, but not always in a good way, and their relationship fans the flames of jealousy and revenge in someone who doesn’t want them to work things out.
During a séance, her ancestor’s spirit reveals how Sybilla can rid herself of the curse and save Conn, but the price may be too high.
Sybilla’s Vision
Something tickled Sybilla’s pharynx, then clogged her chest.
Neelie turned to her. “Are you okay?”
Sybilla’s eyes burned and watered. Her lungs constricted, and she gasped. The contaminated air sent her into a coughing jag. Finally, she caught her breath and cleared her throat. “Smoke.”
Neelie sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.”
Tears streamed from Sybilla’s eyes and blurred her vision. She blinked and brushed away the moisture. Flashes of orange light, searing heat, and acrid fumes spewed forth around her. Where is it?
Neelie led her to a bench next to the store. “Sit down.” Grabbing a pamphlet from a nearby table, she fanned Sybilla.
Old wooden structures are tinderboxes. The whole town is in danger, but where do I tell the fire department to go to? Sybilla swiped at her eyes again and stood. With panicked glances around her, she searched for the source of the flames.
Neelie shook her. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Fire. Call 911.”
Neelie turned in all directions. “Nothing’s burning.”
Sybilla’s eyes cleared. The suffocating odor disappeared. Oh no, not again. Her gut churned. Must find out more, but I don’t want to worry Neelie and I know better than to tell anyone about the visions. The people I confide in always react the same way.
Brow furrowed and lips pursed, Neelie stared at her.
Sybilla strained her lips into a grin. “Sorry, something made me dizzy for a minute, but I’m okay now. Let’s eat.”
Jennifer Taylor is a friend and one of the finest writers I know. Her books flow with lyrical, beautiful prose. This month I’m featuring her because I love her novels and think you will too.
Reading this series will take you on a fascinating journey even if you’re staying at home.
Here is my review of the first book in her Rhythm of the Moon Series, Mercy of the Moon:
Mercy of the Moon, Jennifer Taylor’s elegant, engrossing novel of a midwife in eighteenth century England, compels the reader to turn page after page.
Maggie Wilson, the midwife who the townspeople of King’s Harbour consider a spinster workhorse, cares for the women of the town as they labor and deliver, always putting their needs ahead of her own. However, when her pregnant sister’s time arrives, Maggie is away and cannot assist with the delivery. When she comes home, she learns of the tragedy—her sister died during childbirth. When Maggie visits her grave, she encounters an intriguing man whose mournful singing reduces her to grief-stricken sobs.
Ian Pierce has returned to England from a trip abroad, only to discover his brother, the town apothecary, died during his absence. As he sings a lament for his brother at the cemetery, he meets Maggie, who soothes his compulsions with her presence. He walks her home and cannot stop thinking of her.
Mercy of the Moon is an enchanting historical romance with a hint of paranormal, which adds a fascinating layer to the tale.
Jennifer Taylor does a magnificent job of bringing the place and time to life, incorporating eighteenth century terms into her lyrical style, so the reader feels transported, and sees, hears, smells, and tastes what it must have been like there and then. She also presents an accurate medical picture of Ian’s “affliction” and the treatment for it.
I picked up this book while dealing with an episode of insomnia. Reading about Ian’s struggle with his condition, which included insomnia, helped me pass the long, dark, hours. I felt like I had a companion to share my misery. I couldn’t have put it down, even if I had been sleepy.
Be warned: read Mercy of the Moon in the daytime, or risk staying up all night to find out what happens to Maggie and Ian.
Blurb: Strange things are happening in King’s Harbour. Midwife Maggie Wilson vows to find the person who almost murdered her sister. When her sister’s behavior ignites old superstitions, the townspeople threaten to send her to an asylum. Maggie turns to handsome Ian for help in a town where everybody is against her.
Apothecary Ian Pierce wants nothing more than to feel whole, as he does when he is near the beautiful midwife, singing to her soul with his music. Only then can he forget the horrors from his past when false accusations sent him to Bedlam.
When they unearth the deeds of a sinister killer, Ian’s most daunting battle will be to safeguard his sanity . . . and win Maggie’s heart.
Jennifer Taylor is the award-winning author of the Rhythm of the Moon series, historical romance set in an 18th Century English port town. She blends love, music, humor, and the supernatural with a lively, lyrical voice similar to Diana Gabaldon and Susanna Kearsley. Jennifer spent her childhood running wild on an Idaho mountainside, and has worked as a roofer, a stay-at-home mom and a professional dancer and singer. Music plays a huge part in her books, and she can often be heard singing at her desk… unless her heroine midwife is delivering a baby, and screaming is more appropriate.
She lives in rural Florida with her husband of thirty-seven years, and an entitled Great Dane.
Cowgirl Courage is a western romance about Jenny Morriston, a young Texan woman in 1883 who is determined to clear her father of a murder charge from 10 years previously. To do so, she must return to the small town of Rio Hondo where he was framed by the real killer. However, she must use a disguise or she will be arrested herself for busting her father out of his cell in the middle of the night. Jenny carries a scar from a bullet that grazed her face during the jailbreak. Although it’s long and disfiguring, she doesn’t let it bother her or stand in the way of anything she wants to do.
Lucas McCain was Jenny’s best friend from childhood and the one man who tempts her to reveal her true identity. He owns the ranch next to the one she and her father had to abandon when they fled, and he has taken in her horses and cared for them ever since.
Although Lucas doesn’t recognize Jenny, and she keeps her secret from him in order to protect him, they strike up a friendship that rekindles her old feelings for him.
Jenny is one of the toughest heroines you will ever meet! She dresses up like a man, takes on a fake name and persona, and boldly saunters back into town. She can ride, rope, and shoot as well as or better than most of the cowboys in town, but it doesn’t take long before she stirs up so much buried dirt that she is in deep trouble. With her life on the line, and only one man in town she truly trusts, Jenny digs relentlessly into the past.
This book is a fast-paced page-turner with a mystery that will keep you guessing and more twists and turns than a sidewinder. You’ll love the gutsy Jenny and true-blue Lucas and you’ll root for them all the way to the satisfying end. Free in KU or buy for $1.99.
Loretta C. Rogers (who also writes as L.W. Rogers) is a fourth generation Floridian, and proud of her Scots-Irish, German heritage. She admits to using writing as an excuse to avoid cleaning house. In her younger days, she and her pinto mare busted cattle out of the brush. She trailer-trained horses, and competed in a couple of 25-mile trail endurance rides. These days, she rides a rocking chair.
When asked why she writes in different genres, Loretta doesn’t mind telling readers that she lets the characters inside her head tell their own story. From Old West lawmen to Contemporary rival drug cartels, Loretta crafts the plot. She calls it, ‘getting out of the way,’ and letting creativity take over. This is why her tagline is: Romance with a Twist…Expect the Unexpected!
Although I loved How Sweet It Is, which is also set in the fictional town of Wellsville in western New York and starred Imani’s friends Kate and Drake, I think All Fired Up is even better! This book includes plenty of fun and laugh-out-loud moments from Imani’s wise-cracking grandmother and her card-playing, whiskey-drinking friends to her foul-mouthed African gray parrot named Lancelot who steals every scene he’s in. Yet, it’s a book that deals unflinchingly with difficult issues including mental health problems and grief and loss. The characters are so well crafted I feel like I know them well. Zander, especially, is one of the most endearing romantic heroes ever. Although he’s a tough, alpha male, strong, capable of handling anything life throws at him and helps Imani over and over, he’s also sensitive, artistic, understanding, and never acts like a jerk.
Imani Lewis is the publicist for horror writer Drake Matthews, known as the Knight of Nightmares, and best friend to his wife, Kate Sweet. Imani has come to Wellsville for the summer to help out her grandmother, who needs knee surgery, and Kate, who is pregnant. Imani carries the weight of guilt over the loss of her mother sixteen years ago in a fire while Imani was away at dance camp. She believes if she had been home, she could have saved her mother. Now, she plans every detail of her life, determined not to make any more mistakes.
Zander Matthews is Drake’s younger brother and owner of three pottery studios. His motto is to enjoy the present to the fullest because there’s no guarantee of tomorrow. As a marine who served in Afghanistan, he knows how precarious life can be, and he’s determined not to miss out on anything by worrying about the future or fretting about the past.
Imani and Zander are deeply attracted to one another from the moment they meet. However, they are complete opposites, and their philosophies about life conflict. Imani and Zander both have a long journey and fundamental changes they must make before they can be right for each other.
All Fired Up releases on May 17, 2022 and is available for preorder. This book can be read as a stand-alone or as the sequel to How Sweet It Is. Both are spectacular reads, and I can’t wait for the next book from Dylan Newton! I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Author Dylan Newton was born and raised in a small town where the library was her favorite hang-out. After over a decade working in corporate America, Dylan quit to pursue her passion: writing books. When she isn’t writing her next romantic comedy, Dylan is pursuing her own happily ever after with her high school sweetheart as they split time between Florida and Upstate New York with their two much cooler daughters and a tone-deaf cockatiel.
This post was originally published on the Pen Dames Blog. For a chance to win a surprise gift, visit the page and leave a comment before Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 25): https://pendames.blogspot.com/
Thanksgiving is one of the holidays I love best! Every year, I cook a huge dinner with all the trimmings and at least four pies. Our family has expanded to six adults and two children, and I make everyone’s favorite dish.
Amanda, Amelia, and Abby love my original recipe Cran-raspberry Gelatin Fluff. Jennifer adores mashed potatoes. Dan wants pumpkin pie. Drew loves spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. Everyone insists on apple pie. For me, it’s the turkey, particularly after roasting and basting it all day with that heavenly aroma wafting through the house.
While I’m cooking this enormous meal, I think about all the things I’m grateful for and remember the fun we had in years past, including events that are more amusing now than at the time.
When our daughter was young, we rescued two adorable tuxedo kittens from the local shelter. One was tiny, the runt of the litter, with short hair. She was black with white paws. We named her Boots. The other was plump with long, luxurious black fur and white front paws. We called her Mittens.
Being kittens, the two had no manners. Boots went after anything she wanted. She tried to steal sandwiches off our plates. Several times we caught her dumpster diving in the garbage can, feasting on left over spaghetti. When we pulled her out, she was orange from the pasta sauce!
Their first Thanksgiving with us, Boots weighed no more than three or four pounds. She fit in the palm of my hand, but she had the heart and mind of a tiger. She feared nothing and no one.
Mittens was the opposite. She’d gone from plump to pudgy. Though sweet-natured and loving, she found the world terrifying and raced under the bed at the first unusual noise. When she wasn’t hiding, her preferred spot was a basket where I kept paper napkins. It was much too small for her, but she wedged herself in and acted completely content. I had to put the napkins elsewhere.
That morning, both the kittens hung out with me while I worked, Mittens in her woven retreat and Boots watching intently from a perch on a chair at the dining table.
I got the 25-pound turkey out of the refrigerator and set it in the sink to rinse and begin preparations, but I had to leave the room for some reason. I don’t remember why, but I was only gone for a few minutes.
When I returned, Boots was on the counter licking the raw turkey! She was so miniscule, she could have tucked herself inside the bird, but she clearly intended to eat as much as she could hold.
I shooed her away, but I had a problem. It was too late to buy another turkey. Boots hadn’t taken any bites out of it, and besides, heat would kill any germs she left behind. However, my husband, who grew up on a farm, was not a fan of animals in the house. I was afraid if he found out what Boots did, he would kick the cats out. They would not have been safe outdoors, so I decided not to tell him.
The meal was delicious, and no one was the wiser.
The next year, Boots found a way to outwit me again and gave our main entree a few slurps when I wasn’t watching.
In fact, every year afterwards, Boots did the same thing. I think it became a game. We always gave her a little of the cooked meat, but she never seemed to like it quite as much as the stolen tastes.
Mittens never acted interested in stealing food. She plopped herself in her basket and watched Boots outsmart me time after time. Great entertainment!
After many wonderful years, Mittens and Boots both passed on. We miss them, but it is lovely to remember them, especially during the holidays.
A year or so ago, a strange thing happened.
I still have the basket that Mittens loved to sit in. After she died, I started storing napkins in it again.
It was in its usual place, and I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Our daughter, now grown, was helping.
Suddenly, the napkin holder fell to the floor and spilled out all the napkins. No one else was in the kitchen, and no one was near it when it fell. It had been sitting there for months without incident until that moment.
A little chill ran over me, and I got goosebumps.
My daughter said, “Mom, I think Mittens just came to visit.”
I believe she did.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Oh, by the way, we did eventually tell hubby about the turkey incident. He didn’t react much at the time, but when I mentioned this blog, he said it was gross, and I shouldn’t write about it. (So of course, that’s exactly what I’m doing.)
Here’s the recipe for Kathy’s Cran-raspberry Gelatin Fluff: I serve it as a side dish because it’s sweet with a hint of tartness that enhances the cranberry sauce, but it could be a dessert. It comes out bright pink and the fresh raspberries add a fancy flourish.
Ingredients
1 package frozen raspberries thawed and drained.
1 1/3 cups cranberry-raspberry juice (I prefer sugar free)
3 oz pk raspberry gelatin
8 oz cream cheese (softened)
1-pint whipped topping (thawed)
fresh raspberries for garnish
Preparation:
Heat cran-raspberry juice to boiling and pour into bowl
Dissolve gelatin in juice
Cool to semi-solid state (This is the most critical part. If it is too solid, it won’t whip. If it isn’t solid enough, it will be runny. You have to check it and shake the bowl until it wiggles a little but isn’t set.)
Using hand mixer, beat until foamy.
Beat softened cream cheese into gelatin. (Cream cheese should be very soft from sitting at room temperature for a couple of hours, but not runny, so don’t use microwave to soften.)
Stir in raspberries.
Fold in thawed whipped topping.
Spray mold with nonstick cooking spray and pour mixture into mold.
Chill until firm, several hours or overnight.
About 10 minutes before serving, tip mold upside down onto large plate and let rest for several minutes. Salad should unmold onto plate. If it sticks, tap gently on the outside of the mold to dislodge.
Garnish with fresh raspberries and serve.
Remember! Comment on the Pen Dames Blog before Thanksgiving Day to enter for a special gift!What would you have done: cook the turkey or throw it out?Here’s the link again https://pendames.blogspot.com/
Veterans hold a truly special place in my heart. My grandfather was an Army veteran of WWI and a Navy veteran of WWII. My father was an Air Force veteran. My husband is an Army Viet Nam veteran, and my son is a Navy, OEF/OIF veteran who served two tours in Iraq, one on assignment to the Army. For over 20 years, I worked as a clinical social worker at four different VA Medical Centers with veterans and their families.
I feel so much respect for veterans. They all make many sacrifices for our country, most of which go unnoticed, and I wanted to honor them by including a veteran in one of my books.
Conn Ahern, one of the main characters of Witch Trial Legacy grew out of that aspiration. He’s a true hero left with physical and mental scars from Iraq.
While veterans are capable and courageous, some things are beyond anyone’s ability to handle without help. I wanted to spotlight a few major hurdles wounded warriors may experience and call attention to the VA, an incredible resource for veterans, not only for war related issues, but for all their medical treatment. I hope anyone who reads this book will urge the veterans they know to seek care from the top-notch professionals there.
Here’s a little about Conn in his own words.
***
While I was in the sandbox, my girlfriend sent me a letter breaking up with me. Then, she married my best friend from high school, the dick.
I sustained injuries when an IED blew up the vehicle I was in which left me struggling with chronic back spasms and nightmares. I can’t understand why I came home when my buddy got shipped back in a box.
My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps with a career in law, but I couldn’t stand the idea of being cooped up inside all day.
Plus, I was racking up traffic tickets because cops don’t understand why you have to swerve all over the road to avoid a piece of trash or drive a hundred miles an hour to get out of range when the back of your neck starts to prickle.
So, I became a paramedic. The job gives me the rush I need to feel alive, and it helps people whose lives depend on me.
However, I don’t have much to do with my family, even my mother. She’s so involved with my brother-the-doctor’s kids that she doesn’t have time for anyone else.
I moved to my grandmother’s ranch outside of Cassadaga, Florida and got a job with EMS. Unfortunately, Gran sunk all her money into a medium aka scam artist there who claimed to contact my grandfather on the other side. Soon, she was in debt up to her ears and had mortgaged the property to the hilt. Gran died not long ago, and I miss her every day.
I took over her place and paid off everything she owed, but it pretty much wiped me out, and I scramble to keep things going. My salary isn’t enough to meet expenses, so I also raise cattle. That brings in some income, but between the two jobs and my back trouble, I can barely make it through the day. Lucky for me I have a wonderful best friend, Tucker, a Shepherd Terrier mutt who I brought home from the local shelter. He was the ugliest pup in the bunch, but he snagged me with his sweet brown eyes, and I couldn’t walk away. Now he has my six when I hit the sack.
Since I got off pills, I drink Jameson to function during my shift, to sleep when I’m off, and to forget about all my worries. If I’m honest, the alcohol might be a problem, but opiates take you to a place I never want to go. I’ve seen too many O.D.’s in my line of work. This is a somewhat better choice.
All I want is to maintain the ranch and keep my job so I can help people. I don’t want any emotional entanglements, especially not with a stuck-up, judgmental nurse who tries to boss me around and thinks the Cassadaga medium (the same one who bilked Gran out of her life savings) holds the answers to her problems. Oh, hell, no.
***
I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into Conn. He’s a strong, amazing man, who knows what he wants, although maybe not what he needs. I absolutely love him because he embodies so many of the great qualities I admire about veterans: their work ethic, sense of honor, and loyalty.
Though he has many admirable traits, he’s not perfect. He’s blunt and cynical regarding the residents of Cassadaga and Spiritualism; he doesn’t hold back with his opinions; and he still has battles to fight before he heals.
He’s not the man for a fragile, fainting flower. But for a smart, tough woman who won’t give up on him? Oh, hell, yes!
A salute to our nation’s veterans on this 2021 Veteran’s Day!
Who was the first person executed for witchcraft in this country? When and where did it happen?
If you said Bridget Bishop in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, you would be wrong.
Although the Salem witch trials are the most well-known, Alse (Alice) Young was the first person executed for witchcraft in this country in the colony of Connecticut on May 26, 1647, around 45 years before the hysteria in Salem. Like most of those victims, Alse was hanged.
Little is known about her. She lived in Windsor and had a daughter also named Alse who was accused of the same crime about 30 years after her mother’s death but was never indicted. It was common practice at that time to name daughters after their mothers. Sadly, family members of the people arrested were frequently persecuted as well.
Historians believe the senior Alse’s husband was John Young. However, the only substantiation of this was a notation on the back of an alchemical physician’s note stating Young had been married to a woman who was executed for witchcraft in Hartford.
There is no record of why Alse was denounced, or any evidence presented against her. There was an outbreak of influenza at the time and many people died. Alse may have been blamed due to superstition and fear.
The Windsor town council formally exonerated Alse on February 6, 2017. A memorial service for her was held there on May 26, 2017, and a brick engraved with her name is among the memorial bricks beneath the flagpole near town hall.
Here are a couple of references to learn more about Alse.
In my recently released novel, Witch Trial Legacy, Alse appears in spirit form to help the heroine, who is a descendant of hers, break a curse which gives her visions of future tragedies but prevents anyone from believing her when she tries to warn them.
I took some writer’s license with Alse’s story. I made her an attractive, well-to-do widow pursued by a greedy neighbor and changed her daughter’s name to “Truth”. Having mother and daughter characters with the same name could be confusing for readers, and since Puritans often named babies after virtues, I thought “Truth” would be the perfect name for Alse’s daughter. She is the only one who acknowledges the real reasons behind Alse’s execution. She also manipulates the town’s perceptions of reality in order to obtain her revenge.
It’s a shame that Alse and other victims from Connecticut are not better known today. We hear a lot about Salem, but little about other areas. Too many lives were lost due to superstition. I’m hoping to help spread the word so that more people realize the tragic circumstances and commemorate these little known victims.
katherinesmits Word Siren 