Sparked By Love - Virtual Tour & Giveaway

Sparked by Love

A Holiday for Romance Series

By: Peggy Bird

Blurb

Some fussy artist is making Shannon Morgan’s job with the city of Vancouver, Washington harder than it should be. She’s organizing the huge annual Independence Day celebration and he’s being impossible. But then, he’s like a couple other men she’s known—her mostly absent father and her disappearing ex-boyfriend, for example.

All Leo Wilson wants is an okay for his plans to install glass fireworks at Fort Vancouver on the Fourth of July. With thousands of people there to see his work, it could be his big career break. If the crabby bureaucrat will get him the permits he needs.

When Leo confronts the cause of his trouble in person he’s surprised to find a beautiful young woman. Shannon is equally surprised at meeting a sweet, sexy man. Dinner, a movie and a few torrid kisses take it from spark to flame.

But then the father she’s always wanted as part of her life reappears, accompanied by her ex-boyfriend. Shannon has to decide how far she’s willing to go to have her father around. And find out why he’s with her ex.

If she makes the right decisions, she and Leo will create fireworks that rival the pyrotechnics that light up the sky on July Fourth. Privately.

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Guest Post by Peggy Bird

Holiday for Romance

            I’m a sucker for a holiday. Name any one and I can pull out decorations and special menus for the day so fast your head will spin like that possessed kid in “The Exorcist.” I have hearts to string for Valentine’s Day (and a heart shaped brownie dessert to make), flags to fly for the Fourth of July (and a red-white-and-blue cake to serve at the picnic), ghosts and goblins to display for Halloween (and a graveyard cake for the family to share) and boxes of Christmas decorations and cookie recipes.

            Every now and then, as I sort my way through the Easter egg tree strand to find the New Year’s Eve hats and horns, I wonder why I’m so obsessed. Then I remember the pleasure I get from looking around my clean, decorated house, smelling whatever I’ve cooked for the meal ahead, anticipating the arrival of loved ones and friends to mark a pause in our ordinary lives for something special. Or as Wikopedia says, to mark “a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work, are suspended or reduced.”

            It’s also true I think sharing those special days with someone you love is romantic. How many engagements begin with a ring as a birthday gift? Or romances start with a kiss on New Year’s Eve? How many friends turn into lovers after a special Valentine’s Day dinner? Or deeper feelings get unmasked at a Halloween party?

            That’s the reason I wanted to write a series of holiday romances. But more than just acknowledging the romance of Christmas and New Year’s Eve, I wanted to explore the possibilities of romance connected with other holidays. So, the first book in the series, “Sparked By Love,” centers on a Fourth of July celebration. That will be followed by Halloween, New Year’s Eve and a birthday. I have a couple ideas for Thanksgiving and St. Patrick’s Day, too. Haven’t figured out how to make Arbor Day romantic but I’m open to suggestions.

            What do you think? What’s the most romantic holiday? 

About the Author:

Peggy Bird lives in the Pacific Northwest where she sets most of her novels. To stay out of trouble—and the rain—she writes stories about smart women and sexy men and creates the occasional piece of glass art.

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Grand Prize: Print Set of Books 1-3 of Second Chance Series, a $15.00 Amazon Gift Card and Custom Pendent 

Two Runner’s Up will receive a Digital Backlist Romance from Peggy Bird and a $5.00 Amazon Gift Card

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Love, Lies and Lemon Cake - Review

Review by Marlene Engel

For the past twenty years, Faye Dobson has been a devoted wife and loving mother.  But when her daughter goes off to university and her husband would rather curl up with a plumbing magazine than her, she realizes that her life has become a bit stale.  When she was younger, she made a “living list” that consisted of all of her hopes and dreams.  When she comes across the list and realizes that the only two things that she’s ticked off of it was becoming a bride and being a mom, she decides to leave her husband and her old life behind.

What she didn’t expect was to get the hots for the young, Australian surfer who works at the deli.  But there’s just something about the tanned hottie from down under that gets Faye all giddy and saying all sorts of crazy things.   Although he’s ten years her junior, he has paid more attention to her in the short time that they’ve known each other than her husband has in years.  And when he gets a wind of her living list, he’s determined to be the one to help her break out of her shell and throw caution to the wind.  But is Faye being unrealistic?  What would a guy like him want with a middle-aged woman like her? 

Come on a hilarious journey with Faye as she learns that life can be sweeter if you have the right person by your side and who brings cake along for the ride.

Love, Lies and Lemon Cake is a deliciously hilarious book that will have you laughing out loud and rooting for the new Faye!  From vajazzled lady parts to fake bake, orange self-tanners, Sue Watson’s humor is brilliant and spot on!  This is the perfect books for summer!  Don’t walk, but run out and get this book.  You will be glad that you did!

                

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Amazon * Barnes & Noble 

About the Author: 

I was a journalist on women’s magazines and national newspapers before leaving it all behind for a career in TV. As a producer with the BBC I worked on garden makeovers, kitchen takeovers and daytime sofas – all the time making copious notes so that one day I might escape to the country and turn it all into a book.

After much deliberation and copious consumption of cake, I left my life in TV to write. My first novel was Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes about a woman struggling with weight, work, marriage and motherhood. My second novel Younger, Thinner, Blonder, is about a talk show host who has the perfect ‘Hello Magazine’ life… or does she?

My latest novel, Love, Lies and Lemon Cake is about hairdresser Faye Dobson, who’s lost her sparkle. She dreams of being whisked to Paris for dinner, making three wishes at the Trevi Fountain and having sex under the stars. But her wrinkles are multiplying, her husband’s passion is only for plumbing, and the nearest she’ll get to Rome is a take-away pizza. Can Faye get her life back before it’s too late?

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Wicked Sexy - Excerpt & Giveaway

Wicked Sexy

Uniformly Hot!

By: Anne Marsh

Releasing June 17^th, 2014

Harlequin Blaze

Blurb

Too sexy to resist?

Danielle Andrews was supposed to be on her honeymoon. Instead, she's back on Discovery Island licking her wounds and running for shelter when she sees Daeg Ross coming her way. Years ago, on this very beach, Dani started something with the special ops aviation rescue swimmer. But she refuses to be tempted by the wickedly hot military hunk again.

Daeg Ross is used to jumping into treacherous waters. But his feelings for relationship-shy Dani are a whole new type of risk. They are volatile—and irresistible. When their lives are threatened by the invading winds and endless rain of a tropical storm, Daeg and Dani are forced to take shelter and ride out a wild night. Together, will they sink…or swim?

Uniformly Hot! The few, the proud, the sexy as hell!

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Excerpt – Wicked Sexy

Standing there on the beach, staring up at him, Dani Andrews looked confused, as if she wasn’t sure if she wanted to haul off and hit him—or if she’d decided he wasn’t worth the bother. She certainly knew who he was. After all, she’d come over from the mainland and spent every summer at her grandparents’ place for as long as he’d been on the island. She’d worked at the ice cream joint at the end of the boardwalk, making cones, and he’d eaten his weight in ice cream just for the excuse to chat her up some. Those brown eyes of hers looked decidedly less friendly by the minute, her head already shaking back and forth. Or maybe that was the effect of the wind picking up as the storm offshore gathered steam.

“Daeg Ross,” she said and, from the way she pronounced his name, she was still plenty upset about how their last encounter ended ten years ago.

He, meanwhile, still wanted to kiss her and kiss her and that was the problem, wasn’t it?

He’d already kissed her—just once—all those years ago, not too far from this very spot. Fresh out of the search and rescue training program, he’d had two weeks’ leave before he shipped out to the Middle East. Cal's family had been the closest thing to family Daeg had; his own father had never been part of the picture and he'd lost his mother in a car accident a few years before. So, when his leave came up, returning to Discovery Island had seemed natural.

It had been prom night when he'd last seen Dani and she’d been seventeen—too young for the likes of him, ice cream aside. He hadn’t been the one to take her to prom—she hadn’t asked and honestly, he didn’t even know if she knew his name, although he’d caught her looking at him a few times. Prom night he’d found her walking alone on the beach. She hadn’t started out the evening alone and they both knew it.

One look at her sad, disappointed face and he’d broken every rule in his book right then and there.

About the Author:

After ten years of graduate school and too many degrees, Anne Marsh escaped to become a technical writer. When not planted firmly in front of the laptop translating Engineer into English, Anne enjoys gardening, running (even if it’s just to the 7-11 for slurpees), and reading books curled up with her kids. The best part of writing romance, however, is finally being able to answer the question: “So… what do you do with a PhD in Slavic Languages and Literatures?” She lives in Northern California with her husband, two kids and four cats.

You can reach Anne Marsh at www.anne-marsh.com or email her at annemarsh@ymail.com

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In The Mood For Love - Book Blast & Giveaway

In the Mood for Love

By: Beth Ciotta

St. Martin’s Press

Releasing July 1^st, 2014

Blurb

THE ONLY THING BETTER THAN A SURPRISE FLING…

Sugar Creek, Vermont, is a world away from Los Angeles for high-powered, media-obsessed Harper Day. When she took the job doing publicity for the Cupcake Lovers, she never expected to be won over by the town’s old-fashioned charms. But that was before she moved into the Victorian vacation home of her dreams and fell in with a man whose good looks and irresistible ways are anything but small-town…

IS FINDING TRUE AND LASTING LOVE.

Sam McCloud is a widowed father of two. He and bossy, big-city Harper appear to have nothing in common… though the attraction they feel toward one another cannot be denied. But will their romance last longer than the day’s headlines? There’s more to Harper than meets the eye, and as it turns out, she needs to get married—fast. Little does Harper know that family-man Sam will do whatever it takes to keep her in Sugar Creek—even if that means taking matters into his own hands. And never letting her go…in the fourth novel in the Cupcake Lovers series, In the Mood For Love.

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About the Author:

Storytelling comes naturally to award-winning author Beth Ciotta. Dubbed "fun and sexy" by Publisher's Weekly, Beth specializes in contemporary, historical, steampunk, and paranormal romantic fiction. 

Beth lives in NJ with her husband, two zany dogs, and a crazy cat. A retired professional performer, Beth now pours her artistic passion into her writing.

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Cupcake Lovers Tote Bag w/ Print copy of ANYTHING BUT LOVE 

& Signed Cover Flat of IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

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The Right Design - Review

Review by Marlene Engel

Carrie was excited to be celebrating her six year anniversary with her boyfriend, Roger.  Secretly she was hoping that a proposal was in store for their special night.  Deciding to do something completely out of character, she got dressed in sexy lingerie, high heels and topped it off with a trench coat.  She headed to the house that they shared to surprise him, but she was the one who got the surprise.  When she walked in, she found Roger in a compromised position with another woman!  Hurt and confused, she fled to her sister’s house.  But she knew that she couldn’t hide out there forever.  She knew that she needed a change.  A change that didn’t include staying in Texas.  That’s when she decided to pack up her things and move to Palm Beach, Florida.  She needed a new start, in a new town, where memories of Roger wouldn’t haunt her. 

Carrie was fortunate to land a job soon after her move.  But her luck seems to run out when she learns that her first client is the same drunken guy who was hitting on her the night before at the bar.  Determined to be the professional that she is, she dodges advances from him and keeps herself focused on business.  But the more time they spend together, the more she starts to see a different side of him.  His once ungentlemanly behavior has turned into something more desirable and sweet.  But is she ready to consider another romantic relationship so soon after the hurt that Roger has caused her? 

I started reading this book and couldn’t put it down.  It’s a fun, fast read with relatable characters and an amazing story!  It’s the perfect book to take to the beach or to read pool-side.  Much praise to Isabella Louise Anderson on her first novel.  I look forward to reading more of her books in the future!

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About the Author:

Isabella grew up with a book in her hand, and to this day nothing has changed. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and has been featured on several blogs. While Isabella doesn’t blog a lot, she focuses her time on featuring other writers, along with writing and editing.

Isabella Louise Anderson created Chick Lit Goddess to share the love of the following genres: Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance, Romance, and Romantic Comedies!  She loves featuring authors and their books.

She lives in Dallas with her husband and cat. She enjoys spicy Mexican food and drinking margaritas, and can be found spending time with family and friends, cheering on the Texas Rangers, and reading.

Isabella’s short story, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe, was featured in Simon & Fig’s Christmas anthology, Merry & Bright, in November 2013. The Right Design is her first novel.

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Chasing The Sun - Review

Review by Darcie Czajkowski

Andres Jimenez’s wife is gone. She’s left him for a second time, and this time she’s not coming back.

Andres finds a note in the mail from Marabella. This is it, he thinks. She’s gone forever. But instead of confirming that she left him, Andres is blindsided by the news that she was kidnapped. He is horrified. His hometown of Lima, Peru is notorious for kidnappings, sadistic people looking to pilfer money anywhere they can, regardless of who gets hurt. But Andres never thought it would happen to him. To his wife. To his family which includes his young daughter, Cynthia, and teenage son, Ignacio.

One million dollars. That’s the ransom price. How is he expected to come up with that amount of money? His printing business is successful by Peruvian standards, but he’s not a millionaire by American standards.

With the aid of a kidnapping consultant, Andres attempts to negotiate a lower price for his wife’s return, all the while wondering how he can put a price on her life. Adding to his mounting stress is the knowledge that he and his wife have been embroiled in a strained, distant marriage for some time now and he wonders: if she returns, will she just leave again, this time of her own volition and for good? Will his childhood best friend, Elena, be able to offer insight into Marabella’s experience given that she was kidnapped years prior?

Natalia Sylvester uses the vehicle of a kidnapping to delve into the inner workings of a troubled marriage. Even though I was perplexed by the blend of English and Spanish in the characters’ conversations in a Spanish-speaking country, I was captivated by the drama of how the negotiations would unspool and how the situation would affect Andres’s and Marabella’s marriage. Would Marabella be so violated and traumatized by the event that she would never be the same again? Would the event rekindle a common bond between them? Or perhaps she wouldn’t even make it back to her family alive? I voraciously read this book to learn how these issues would be resolved. While I was startled by the abruptness of the ending, I appreciate a believable, realistic conclusion which I believe is what I got. I recommend this book to lovers of literary fiction, those curious about Lima in the nineties during a time of political unrest, and those interested in a pleasurable amalgam of drama and suspense. A solid, satisfying first novel from Natalia Sylvester.

About the Author:

Born in Lima, Peru, Natalia Sylvester came to the U.S. at age four and grew up in South Florida, where she received a B.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Miami. A former magazine editor, she now works as a freelance writer in Austin, Texas. CHASING THE SUN, partially inspired by family events, is her first novel.

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The Pink Suit - Review

Review by Rachel Hamm

It’s the early 1960s and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy is the style icon of the decade.  Even after some bad publicity during her husband’s run for office (the amount of money she spent on foreign-made clothes didn’t exactly go over well), she’s still the woman the country looks to when determining fashion trends.  And Kate is the lucky seamstress at the fashionable copy-cat shop Chez Ninon who gets to make “The Wife’s” smart suits and gorgeous dresses.

                               

For Kate, a single woman, an Irish immigrant, living in a quiet Catholic neighborhood in northern Manhattan, the Wife is her passion.  She keeps clippings of the outfits she’s made for her.  She copies the outfits for her sister, who is the same size as the Wife.  She gets the opportunity of a lifetime when the Husband places a direct order through Chez Ninon for a Chanel suit.  The infamous pink suit the Wife would be wearing when the Husband was assassinated.

As Kate prepares the suit, she deals with personal troubles of her own.  Falling in love and deciding if that is enough to get married to fellow Irish Catholic Patrick Harris.  Contemplating an offer to go into business with her mentor and leave the shop she’s dedicated years to.  Discovering her sister doesn’t actually like having replicas of the Wife’s clothes.  Through it all, the suit grounds her while also allowing her to live out a fantasy – one where the Wife is not an untouchable public figure, but the girl from County Cork who isn’t all that different from Kate herself.

After reading this, I felt like chastising myself for not reading more historical fiction.  The entire book was wonderfully done.  The period details were subtle and accurate and made me want to grab Doc Brown’s Delorian and head back in time.  Everything was simpler, the world slower, but fashion was having a revolution.

Kate loves her work.  She loves the fabrics and the tiny stitches, and the way garments can be designed to hide the flaws our bodies come by naturally.  I found myself really routing for Kate.  She was relatable in having this passion that made her a bit of an outcast in her neighborhood, and at times within her own family.

Her friend-turned-boyfriend, Patrick, is as adorable as possible.  A sweet Irish butcher who loved his mam and misses her now that she’s gone, does everything in his power to show Kate that despite what everyone else may think, he loves her and celebrates her passion for the Wife and the Suit (and whatever else she wants to be passionate about) – all he asks is she take an interest in his passion as well.  It’s a great message about love, which I found surprising given the time period of the novel.

I don’t dog-ear books.  It’s just not something I do.  But there was one particular passage of this book that HAD to be remembered.  Kate is thinking about her nephew and how he’ll be associated with her unique ways.

Poor Little Mike, Kate thought, but knew there were worse things in life than having an aunt who didn’t always obey the rules – like having an aunt who mindlessly obeyed them.  What a frightful way to be.

Maybe this struck me because I’m an aunt who doesn’t always follow the rules of how my family thinks I should act.  Or maybe because it just seemed to sum up the entire book so well.  Kate actually DOES do some mindless rule-following at her job – coming in early and staying late to complete orders that absolutely must be done – but throughout the story, we see her coming into her own.  Once she realizes that there are people who see her as something undesirable, she kinda lets loose.  She allows herself to be reckless.  She becomes that person who doesn’t mindlessly follow rules.

My one complaint about the book is that, because of the genre, it is light on dialogue.  This makes it move along a little more slowly than I prefer.  I didn’t get “sucked in.”  But I really enjoyed the story and the cast of characters and most definitely appreciated the way the story was told.  The actual pink suit is now an icon.  The (fictional) Pink Suit could very well become a classic.

About the Author:

Brought up in Florida, Kelby has worked as a reporter, editor and educator. Initially a playwright, she later turned to novels and short stories. She is the author of Murder at the Bad Girl’s Bar and Grill, Whale Season, In the Company of Angels, and Theater of the Stars.

Her short stories have appeared in many publications including Zoetrope All-Story Extra, One Story, Minnesota Monthly, Verb, and The Mississippi Review. One was recorded by actress Joanne Woodward for the NPR CD Travel Tales, and included in New Stories from the South: Best of 2006.

Kelby has been the recipient of a Bush Artist Fellowship in Literature, the Heekin Group Foundation’s James Fellowship for the Novel, both a Florida and Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in fiction, two Jerome Travel Study Grants, and a Jewish Arts Endowment Fellowship. She was named "Outstanding Southern Artist" by The Southern Arts Federation and her work has been translated into several languages. She has been a Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Award finalist for fiction three times and placed twice in the Nelson Algren Award for the Short Story.

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