My new love!

Come on over to Pistols and Petticoats today (Friday)to see about my new love! Win a signed book from my backlist and this metal art bookmark from Arizona!

The Cure for Spring Fever !

This from Eharlequin this week.

I'm pleased to see Taming the Texan included!

Top 10 Books That Cure Spring Fever

1. Taming the Texan by Charlene Sands

2. The Blackmail Baby by Penny Jordan

3. The Sheikh's Convenient Virgin by Trish Morey

4. A Risky Affair by Maureen Smith

5. Naughty Paris by Jina Bacarr

6. The Spanish Aristocrat's Woman by Katherine Garbera

7. Dark Seduction by Kathleen Korbel

8. The Italian's Seduction by Karen Van Der Zee

9. Operation: Rescue by Anne Woodard

10. Sealed with a Kiss by Carly Phillips

Buy any 6 featured books and get 2 additional titles FREE with our Spring Fever offer!

Midnight Bride

Here's my friend Tanya's book. I hope you get a chance to read this story, it's great! She's also giving a chance at a free copy.

Read on:

Broke and alone, Carrie Smith vows to hold on to her ramshackle West Texas ranch. Once she locates her late granddaddy’s will, she’s sure to find a way out of the predicament his gambling debts have thrust on her.

She sure doesn’t expect a handsome stranger showing up in Sweetcream, bearing legal documents forcing their marriage by midnight tonight. Carrie must take on cowboy Jed Jones—and his full pocketbook—or lose her ranch.

All Jed wants is the land rightfully due him. And to find out if his beautiful bride’s father killed his own.

Coffee Time Romance calls Midnight Bride a four-cup “Outstanding Great Read.”

Midnight Bride is available now at http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/midnightbride.htm

To win a free copy in your choice of formats, enter “Carrie’s Crypto Contest.” Details at http://www.tanyahanson.net/ Deadline March 31

Visit Tanya at her website, blog or MySpace.

http://www.tanyahanson.net/
www.myspace.com/tanyahansonbooks
http://tanyahanson.blogspot.com

Humor For Lexophiles ... that's lovers of words.

From my friend Mary who knows I'm a lover of words!


I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.



Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.



Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.



The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.



The butcher backed up into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.



To write with a broken pencil is pointless.



When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.



The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.



A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.



A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.



Thieves who steal corn from a garden could be charged with stalking.



We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply



When the smog lifts in Los Angeles, U.C.L.A. (how true!)



The math professor went crazy with the blackboard. He did a number on it.



The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.



The dead batteries were given out free of charge. (clever)



If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.



A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail. (corny!)



A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.



A will is a dead giveaway.



Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.



A backward poet writes inverse.



In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.



A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.



If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.



With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.



Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner. (when would you ever see that?)



He had a photographic memory which was never developed



When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall



Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.



Acupuncture: a jab well done.

MyTop Ten Favorite Shows this Season

When I'm pooped and a little burned out from writing, reading, researching and promoting, these are the television shows that entertain me. These are the shows I watch when I need to vegge out. These are the shows that I DVR when I'm not home.

See how many of these you enjoy.
I'm rating them in order of importance to me.

1. Lost ( I don't miss an episode and haven't since the beginning)

2. American Idol ( I will admit to fast forwarding thru Paula's comments at times)

3. The Biggest Loser ( I like Alison Sweeney from Days and tuned in just to see her, but wound up being a big fan of the show. Very informative health tips and work outs. I'm learning a lot. I do love the weigh-ins.)

4. Celebrity Apprentice ( I'm not a Donald fan, but like the show, mainly because of Trace Atkins and the others who have diverse dynamics)

5. Desperate Housewives ( A fan from inception and miss it terribly)

6. Men In Trees ( There's something about that show, great characters)

7. One Tree Hill (family ties here and a very good show)

8. Numbers ( very underrated show, great characters and plots)

9. Deal or No Deal ( I like game shows and Howie makes me laugh)

10. Martha Stewart ( love cooking and craft shows )

I'm also blogging today at Petticoats and Pistols.

Stop by for a visit!

And now for the commercial...

If you want added savings to all of your purchases at Eharlequin from now until March 12, use this code.

Maybe, you'll even pick up Taming the Texan as one of your sale items. Click here to my site and click on Eharlequin under the hunky Texan's cover if you'd like the additonal discount. Simply use the code 3DAYSALE when you check out.

I'm always in the mood for a bargain, aren't you?

Happy Reading!

KEEPING HEALTHY - DISPELLING MYTHS

Everyone is very health conscious these days but often we don't know what to believe. What's true and what's not true?

Here's a list of the Top Health Myths that might help us all decide.

Myth 1: Potatoes and bread are fattening.

Actually: It's just the opposite. Starchy vegetables and bread (whole-grain bread, that is) are quality carbs needed to fuel every part of you, from your brain to your muscles. Where you can get into trouble is how you eat them: Smear butter on a slice of whole wheat bread or deep-fry potatoes and you can double, triple, or quadruple their calories.

Myth 2: Drinking a glass of water before a meal curbs appetite.

Actually: Yes and no. Water tames appetite if it's incorporated into food, such as soup or a thick drink (think V8 juice). Apparently, when water is bound to food, digestion is slower, explains Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman's Diet. That's why in one study women found chicken-rice soup more satisfying than chicken-rice casserole and a glass of water--even though the soup had 27% fewer calories! One exception to this rule: Because it's easy to confuse hunger and thirst, if you find yourself craving something--but what?--drink a big glass of water and wait a few minutes. You may find that's what you really wanted.

Myth 3: Shellfish is high in cholesterol.

Actually: On one hand it's true, just three ounces of shrimp deliver more than a third of your daily cholesterol, but there's a surprising flip side to this story: Shrimp are low in saturated fat--the kind that becomes artery-clogging bad cholesterol--and they have a smidgeon of heart-healthy omega-3s. In fact, University of Southern California researchers discovered eating shellfish, such as shrimp, every week reduced heart attack risk by 59%!

Myth 4: The occasional burger and fries won't kill you.

Actually: If "occasional" means every Friday night, then no. But if it means every few months, and you're fit, and you've got good "numbers" (weight, waist size, cholesterol, blood pressure) AND you're chowing down on vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and other nutritious fare most other days, hey, you'll live. But few of us are that perfect. If you do occasionally indulge? Offset the effects of a fat fiesta with a brisk, 90-minute walk afterward.

Myth 5: Women naturally gain weight after menopause.

Actually: While you can blame a lot of things on hormones (from acne to PMS), in this case slowing down physically is far more likely at fault. Study after study has found that older women who exercise regularly and vigorously maintain their girlish figures. What about those charts that say as you get older, you need to eat fewer calories to simply maintain your weight? Same story. The research doesn't show that age (instead of inactivity) accounts for the drop.

Myth 6: Diet soda is worse than the real thing.
Actually: Soft drinks now outrank coffee as America's favorite beverage, but we all would be better off switching to water, diluted juice, and green tea than drinking either diet or regular soda. Both increase kidney and heart disease risk, plus they contain acids that erode tooth enamel, inviting cavities.

Final fact (this one's no myth): Maintaining your weight and body mass index at a desirable level can make your RealAge as much as 6 years younger.