Maui Wowie Wild Card Weekend at Pink Heart Society

I'm blogging today at the Pink Heart Society. Be sure to stop by and post a comment. You'll learn about my inspiration for Reserved for the Tycoon and a free book giveaway!

Free Books Friday and More !

Did you know that Harlequin is offering up to 16 free books for downloads to celebrate their 60th Anniversary.
Click here to check it out!

Every Friday on http://www.eharlequin.com/ , if you buy a book or two, you get free books too! Today is Friday...

And check out our new Petticoats and Pistols Chance in A Million Hits Contest with 2 ways to win! Stop by and say hello today

And my Suite Valentine's Contest is up and running too. You could win a pretty necklace and an Amazon gift card!



TGIF!


Lots of good things happening today!

Been Busy Blogging!

Having a February release means lots of time on the blogs. February is, after all, the month for romance! And I'm grateful to have the opportunity to guest blog on three very prestigious websites.



There'll be book giveaways on some of these, so stop on over:



My Favorite Hero - written by my hero Brock Tyler and ongoing this month.
Eharlequin.com



Wild Card Weekend at the Pink Heart Society coming this Saturday, January 31st. Free book giveaway.
Pink Heart Society





Valentine's Day Fun at Nicola Marsh's site on Wednesday February 11th.
Free book giveaway.
Nicola Marsh






Hope to see you at some of these fun blogs!

Contest Ended

Our Suite Secrets Part II Contest has ended! Congrats to Kim Keithline!

Look for my Suite Valentine's Day Contest coming soon in honor of Reserved for the Tycoon's release! You'll be eligible to win a pretty necklace and earring set and an Amazon Gift Card!

And another great contest is coming your way soon from Petticoats and Pistols! I'll be posting about it next week, so keep an eye out!

My Favorite Hero

For those of you interested in learning more about Reserved for the Tycoon's hero, Brock Tyler, you can visit his blog here and see what he has to say about the cunning, gorgeous Vanessa Dupree. Is he on to her game of cat and mouse or simply in lust with her?
Find out here:
http://community.eharlequin.com/content/my-favorite-hero-brock-tyler

Reserved For The Tycoon Available Now!

Available on Eharlequin.

Read the third book and final story of the Suite Secrets Series, RESERVED FOR THE TYCOON. Excerpt Below.


Seduction and Sabotage
This elegant hotel on the lush Hawaiian island of Maui was everything Vanessa Dupree had dreamed of. Working here meant she could take the sweet revenge she had reserved for Brock Tyler, the ruthless tycoon who owned the resort. She’d destroy his business, paying him back for what he’d done to her family. But was this devastatingly handsome—and dangerously charming—man beginning to suspect his new “right-hand woman”? And was that the real reason for the sizzling seduction that was making it so hard to keep her mind on sabotage…?
Read Excerpt

Free Reads from Tanya Hanson

Dear Readers and Friends,

My good friend, Tanya Hanson has posted an adorable Free Read from Wild Rose Press, all about Christmas.


To read His Christmas Angel click on the link below:

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=180

Christmas at Our House

We love our fake trees. This tinsel tree we forgot that we purchased last year after Christmas. It's pre-lit and we keep no ornaments on it. It's a reminder of the trees our parents had when we were growing up. Don't you love it? We've always wanted a tree in our family/TV room. We spend a lot of time in there.


This one belonged to my mother. When she got too old to put a big tree, she decorated this tiny one with small ornaments. It sits in my living room now on a tabletop.





After 30 years of real trees, we decided to avoid the hassle and cost of getting a live tree - my husband worried about the dry pine needles causing a house fire as one house in our neighborhood burned to the ground that way. What can you do? In California our warm temps during winter causes problems. This tree is our mainstay and houses all of our favorite ornaments.

Oh and if you'd love a really great free online read, our fellow Filly from Petticoats and Pistols is offering up a daily serial of a great western!
Check Pot Potter's story out HERE.

Favorite Holiday Movies

Do you have a favorite or two?

Here's my list.

It's a Wonderful Life

Miracle on 34th Street

Love Actually

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas

Scrooged

Trading Places

I've Been Nominated!

I'm pretty excited to have been nominated by Romantic Times Magazine for the Reviewer's Choice for Best Silhouette Desire of 2008!

This is my first nomination from RT. Do Not Disturb Until Christmas has been doing so well, thanks to all of you!! I'm so glad to know the book has been enjoyed by so many.

Thank YOU!!

Something You Don't See Very Much in California

Our friends just sent up this picture from their home in Palmdale, California. Palmdale is considered the high desert, just 6o miles from Los Angeles. Wednesday, my friend was snowed in at her daughter's house. It took a four-wheeler to get her home.

Snow in this area happens rarely, so it's a treat to see their Winter Wonderland. Pretty, but oh so dangerous if you're not prepared.

We have to drive up north to see snow normally.
Do you get snow where you live?

It's a Petticoats Day!

Stop on over at Petticoats and Pistols today. I'll be talking about Vintage Harlequins and 2 Christmas Giveaways!

Loves Western Romances

Voting has begun for the Best Western Romance of 2008!

Western Weddings, my anthology with Kate Bridges and Jillian Hart has been nominated!

If you cast your vote, you'll be eligible to win a very nice prize from their site. Vote here and good luck!

Happy Thanksgiving and Anniversay to Mills and Boon!

Yes, a two-part blog today.

Can you see anything wrong with this picture above? Look hard. I'll tell you at the end of this blog ... it's really funny!

First, I'd love to thank you all for our support in my writing endeavors. I'm thankful to each and every one of you who stop by to read my blog and visit my website! And of course, read my books!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday as well.




We had an especially wonderful Thanksgiving this year with our family and friends. After a few scares, we are all thankfully healthy and safe. Below are pictures of the Adult table and our Kids table. Notice the kids are outnumbering the adults now! We had the biggest group ever, 18 for dinner and we went thru 2 turkeys very fast!

Notice the "kids" are all in college or beyond now!

Okay, now for the silliness. In our traditional "carving the turkey" picture, did you notice that the Butterball turkey, was upside down? We didn't realize it, since the bird was soooo round all over, that we prepared the turkey on it's breast so that the backside was exposed. When my hubby went to carve, he was stunned that the "Butterball" had NO meat on it. It was all bone! We couldn't figure it out, until my daughter noticed the white meat was on bottom!! Oh my goodness, after years of cooking turkeys, we've Never done that before. I still laugh when I think about our shock to find the usually plentiful Butterball was meatless. I nearly panicked, with 18 to feed. But all went well, the breast was plentiful, once we turned the bird over!!

It's Mills and Boon 100 Year Anniversary and I just found out that Between the Ceo's Sheets has been paired with Michelle Celmer's House Calls.

Two Desires in One and we are on for December 2008 on the Mills and Boon site. If you haven't read these books, you can find the details here!

Have a safe and restful weekend!

Check out my Always and Never Rules for new writers!

I've been invited to blog today about "Advice to Myself as a Newbie Author."

If you have a minute, check it out today at my Romance Writers of America's Chapter at OCC Blog

You'll get a sneak peak at my new February cover too!

Changes in the Air for Fans of Soaps and Dancing with the Stars

Okay, I admit it, I love soap operas. I remember some twenty plus years ago having a roommate in my hospital room after I gave birth to my son who was an avid Days of Our Lives fan. Not only was I learning from the nurses how to diaper and bath my new baby, but my roommate taught me all I needed to know about the backstory of Days of Our Lives ! We'd watch it together in our hospital room and I became a fan as well.

I was a new mother with a baby and housebound. Very shortly those soap opera characters became my new friends as I changed diapers, washed clothes and paid the bills while I had the show on during the noon hour.

I've been a big Days fan, and though there are criticisms that the acting is bad, the storylines are phony and unbelievable, I don't always agree. What's great about soaps is that there's always something new happening. No repeats to name. We get a new show every day, five days a week. I think of the actors that are GOOD, and the ones who have moved on to become major television and movie stars.

But it seems there isn't a viewing audience for soaps like there used to be. The soaps were geared to housewives. But nowadays, it's rare that a woman is home during those hours. So even the soap stars are subject to budget cuts. Marlena and John, (above) who have been on the show more than 25 years and I imagine are the top wage earners, have been laid off.

For some, this spells doom for the soap as many view those two as the mainstay of the show. I'll still watch Days, but it won't be the same.

How about you? Are you a fan of soaps?

Do you love Dancing with Stars? My favorite, Julianne has decided not to come back in the spring. She's multi-talented and has sought a career in country music. She's good too, if you caught her performance last week on DWTS. I'm a huge country music fan, so I'm torn, because I love watching her dance. But she's persuing her dreams and you can never fault that!

A Nomination and A Chance for you to win!

Dear Readers,

I just got word that my anthology with Jillian Hart and Kate Bridges, Western Weddings, is a contender for Love Western Romances’ Best Western Romance of 2008 by being awarded a 5 Spur review by Love Western Romance.com and published in the year 2008.

Starting December 1, 2008 visitors to Love Western Romances.com will be able to vote for the Best Western Romance of 2008 from the list of books awarded 5 spurs. The voting will run until January 11, 2009 to give fans plenty of time to vote. Each visitor can only vote once.

Below is the link to Love Western Romances.com. http://www.lovewesternromances.com/index.html

Here's the best part for my readers and friends:

Voters will be entered into a contest for a basket of goodies and a Barnes and Noble gift card.

This is a great honor and I hope you take the time to vote starting December 1st. I'll be reminding you all again!

Maybe we both will win!

Don't forget to enter my Suite Secrets Part Two contest today, if you haven't already. You can only enter once. Contest ends after the holidays!

A Thankgiving Funny

Thanksgiving Divorce

A man in Phoenix calls his son in New York two days before Thanksgiving and says, 'I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough.

'Pop, what are you talking about?' the son screams.

'We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the father says. 'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her.'

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.

'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts, 'I'll take care of this,'

She calls Phoenix immediately, and screams at her father, 'You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?' and hangs up.

The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. 'Okay,' he says, 'they're coming for Thanksgiving and paying their own way.'

James Bond - couldn't wait to see it!

Are you a fan? I have to admit that unlike my hubby, who loved Sean Connery, my tastes are more for Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. I loved Casino Royale that came out last year with Daniel Craig (0r was that two years ago?) At any rate I couldn't wait for this new installment and we pre-bought tickets and saw the movie on Saturday night.

I was totally entertained. Thought the pacing between action scenes and more sedate storytelling scenes was good, but what this movie lacked, was what normally separates it from any other hero/action film.

Gone are the clever James Bond one-liners that make your face twitch with amusement. That tell you, he knows much more than he's saying. That tell you he's in trouble, but he knows how he'll get out of it. This new James Bond is deadly serious. He's way above ALPHA. There's no real light moments in Quantum of Solace.

I like Daniel Craig as James Bond, so I can't fault him. But I can fault the writers and directors for leaving out the most fun elements in a James Bond flick. Where were the "gadgets" that gave James the edge? You didn't see them in this movie. Why not?

Why take the Bond factor, out of a James Bond movie? Don't they know that's what the viewing public are coming to see? It's what brings us back. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Apparently, the movie made 70 million in it's opening weekend which was more than expected. But I don't attribute that so much with such a great movie, but with the LACK of good movies out this year.

Did I enjoy Quantum of Solace. Yes, I did. But I would have enjoyed it more if they had those gadgets and one-liners than are Bond's signature. If James Bond wasn't so banged up through-out the movie with a bloodied face and torn clothes. Do you remember Sean Connery ever looking that way? Don't you wonder what Ian Fleming would have to say about all of this?

It's Friday and I'm at Petticoats and Pistols today!

Come visit me at Petticoats and Pistols today! We're talking about cowboys' slang!