Merry Christmas and Looking ahead to the new year

Thank you to all the people who support my work. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate in December.

First order of business - Smashwords is doing a year-end sale for all those people who received new e-readers as gifts, and I've included three of my books in the sale. My very first two books (when I was cutting my teeth as an author, so be kind) TOUCHED BY THE SUN and INTIMATE DISTANCE are for sale over there, along with MIST ON THE MEADOW. FREE. If you don't have copies of these books, now's your chance. Be sure to use the promo codes at checkout.

Second - I've been taking some time off to prepare the next EPITAPH book for sale, and to minimize holiday stress, but I'm getting antsy to start writing again. While I've started the next Epitaph book (Liam's story), and I've actually bounced around some ideas for Thad's book (his will be the final installment), I've also been sidetracked by another series idea. The Northwest Suburbs series was fun to write, and I had a thought to write another similar type series about a group of people - friends and neighbors. As my readers, I thought I'd give you the chance to steer my creative process. Sometimes there are just too many stories floating around inside my head, so feel free to let me know which one you think I should pull out first!

Best wishes for the New Year ahead - wishing you peace and prosperity, love and happiness.

My favorite books of 2017

As an author, I'm also an avid reader. Last year, I highlighted my favorite reads for the year, and I thought I'd continue that tradition. I keep a list over at Goodreads of books that are on my Kindle and on my bookshelf, along with the books I've read and reviewed. I have to say I'm disappointed in Goodreads this year - Amazon owns them and they've changed some of their rules. I also play around over at Librarything. Some habits are hard to change. I'm considering a wholesale changeover, but we'll have to see as time goes on. Maybe Amazon will realize readers (and authors) shouldn't be trifled with.

I'm ranking these based on when I finished them, and on the basis that I gave each of them 5 stars. I give books 5 stars if I would happily read each of these books a second time. There were many excellent books that didn't get 5 stars, which doesn't mean they aren't worthy of the list, but there has to be a line of demarcation. You can find out more about the books I read at My Goodreads Review Page. Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017! (Keeping in mind some of these are "older" books and not books released in 2017)

The Duchess Deal - Tessa Dare

Perfectly Honest, - Linda O'Connor

The Cinderella Deal - Jennifer Cruisie

The Girl with the Make Believe Husband - Julia Quinn

Until There Was You - Kristan Higgins

Not Even Past: A Tai & Trey Short Story - Tina Whittle

Perfectly Planned - Linda O'Connor

First Star I See Tonight - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Heather and Velvet - Teresa Medeiros

Ravished - Amanda Quick

Animal Magnetism - Jill Shalvis

Blatant Self Promotion

I'm entitled to a little self-promotion, right? I mean I DO have a new release hitting the shelves in a couple of weeks. Help support a struggling author so she can retire and crank out more of those books you love. The links to preorder are under the book cover.

Two families, nine siblings. Read the books in the Epitaph series individually or in any order. Each book stands alone. THE ARCHITECT is the fourth in the series.

A | BN | iB | K

A high-profile contract in the famed New Orleans Garden District can bring architect Kathleen McCormick’s dream of owning her own home that much closer, but she’ll have to stifle her fiery temper while she’s on location. The senior project manager is a notorious workaholic and the last associate to work with him got fired amid controversy. Still, Kathleen can’t resist the urge to push his buttons.

Sebastian Brooks’ father likes to remind him that he founded his own firm by the time he was thirty. As Sebastian nears that same milestone, he's checking off the boxes for promotion at a more prestigious architectural firm, including contemplating an engagement with an acceptable socialite. The pursuit feels hollow, especially when his boss lobs an attractive, unpredictable new associate into his path to derail his promotion, a woman who reminds him of all the compromises he’s made in the interest of living up to expectations.

A mischievous ghost in a NOLA hotel decides to play matchmaker, but with a strict non-fraternization policy at work, getting involved could get both Kathleen and Sebastian fired. Caught up in the city’s steamy atmosphere, their unexpected connection throws all their plans into a tailspin.

It's that time of year

Welcome to December.

Christmas is coming early for me this year, so I've been getting into the spirit by listening to Christmas carols and watching Christmas movies. Generally, I only get the "second-rate" Hallmark channels, the also-ran movies that are less interesting and trite and poorly acted... I've been very disappointed in most of those, but Hallmark, in it's holiday spirit, unblocks their channel for a couple of weeks every year at Christmas, so I've actually been seeing their "Gold" movies, and I have to say I've enjoyed the ones I've seen.

Christmas cookie baking day isn't for another week, but I'm already thumbing through my recipes looking for which ones I want to make, and I've decided to share my favorites - my goal is one a day on Facebook and on Twitter until Christmas, so if you need ideas, check it out. Or you can check out all my favorites on Pinterest.

A | BN | iB | K

But wait. There's more! I have a release date for Epitaph 4, THE ARCHITECT - January 2. This is Kathleen's story, and I had a ton of fun writing her. It is available for pre-order, so feel free to go ahead and buy it so you don't forget, and tell all your friends! Links to your favorite outlets are beneath the cover.