Grab a comfy chair and get ready to read, because there's going to be a lot happening this week on my blog!

(This painting, a reproduction of "Young Girl Reading" by Jean-Honore Fragonard, was painted by my great-uncle.  It now hangs in my dining room!)

September 18th, author Sheryl Browne will be guest posting as part of her   ROMANTIC HEROES T OUR .  I hear there are going to be prizes, too, so be sure to come back and find out!

SPELLBOUND IN HIS ARMS by my author friend Angel Sefer is going on sale on the 18th for $0.99!  Check back for my post to find out where you can win a copy!

Funny lady Carolyn Ridder Aspenson stops by the blog on September 19th to interview her characters, Angela and her dead mom Fran.  Carolyn's book, UNFINISHED BUSINESS will be on sale as well for $0.99, starting on the 19th.  I'll be hosting her giveaway on my very first Rafflecopter event!  I can't wait!

On September 20th, yours truly will be in the spotlight.  IT'S JUST A LITTLE CRUSH will be on sale for $0.99, and I have a fun blog post in mind.

On tap for next week:  September 27th, I'll be featuring Ruth Mancini, author of SWIMMING UPSTREAM, and Deborah Nam-Krane, author of new release THE FAMILY YOU CHOOSE.  September 28th, I'll be hosting Courtney Giardina, author of TEAR STAINED BEACHES.

I can't wait to see what all of these lovely and talented ladies have in store for us!

I just got done with a fantastic book by my author friend, Jami Deise!  

I hope you remember her from back in August when she took over my blog for me!  Here's her post, if you need a reminder!

KEEPING SCORE by Jami Deise is a well-written chick-lit novel about a divorced mom and her son navigating through the competitive world of boys’ travel baseball.  It’s very true to real life with the requisite mean kids, overbearing moms, and overzealous coaches, but the author also adds a great mix of quirky characters (and some hottie leading men) who help keep the story light-hearted and lots of fun.

Following Shannon and her son, Sam, on their whirlwind summer tour of ball tournaments made for a fast-paced read.  The play-by-play of Sam’s games was interesting (even for someone who doesn’t know a lot about baseball), and the drama in the stands was laugh-out-loud hilarious.  I’ve been to kids’ games where there was more angst on the sidelines than the field, but this book brought helicopter moms and their one-upmanship to a whole new level of crazy.  Poor Shannon also has to deal with her needy ex-husband and his trail of conquests, carpooling nightmares, and finding a little time for herself to choose between two nice guys vying for her attention.

KEEPING SCORE is a great read—one I didn’t want to put down.  I would recommend it for anyone looking for a fun take on life, love, and kids.

She is too cute, isn't she?  And she's equally talented!

About the Author

A lifelong resident of Maryland, Jami Deise recently moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, along with her husband Tom, son Alex, and dog Lady. A baseball mom for over 10 years, "Keeping Score" is her first novel. Jami is an associate reviewer at www.chicklitcentral.com. Along with women's fiction, she loves all things horror and watches too much TV.

Links to buy KEEPING SCORE:

Amazon (Kindle/paperback)

Smashwords (Nook, Sony reader, iPad)

Jami's Social Media:

Facebook

Blog: www.jamideise.blogspot.com

Twitter: @JamiDeise

LinkedIn: Jami Deise

ARIELLE IMMORTAL PASSION by Lilian Roberts

On sale for $0.99 THIS WEEKEND ONLY!

Buy it on Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

ARIELLE IMMORTAL PASSION is the 3rd book in Lilian's IMMORTAL RAPTURE series.

I haven't got around to reading Book 3 yet, but I have read the first book in her series, ARIELLE IMMORTAL AWAKENING, and it was a wonderful read.  Here's my review:

This book was a delightful read.  The author blends romance with the paranormal element well.  I immediately fell in love with Sebastian Gaulle and his overwhelming, all-consuming love for Arielle. 

I very much enjoyed the close-knit relationship between Arielle and her two best friends, as well as Arielle’s relationship with her family and friends from home.  I can’t wait to see what is in store for Arielle and the people she loves in the rest of the series.

I highly recommend this book for paranormal romance fans and hopeless romantics of any kind.  You will be spellbound by the true and undying love that unfolds in this story.

Congrats Cristina A. and Jennifer I., who won a free ebook of IT'S JUST A LITTLE CRUSH through the 1 Book Lover's Opinion giveaway! Happy reading, ladies!

And thanks again to 1 Book Lover's Opinion for hosting the giveaway!

https://www.1bookloversopinion.com/

I usually go for funny and light-hearted posts on my blog, but September 11^th is such a reverent and solemn day in our nation’s history, I wanted to do something different.

I can’t believe it’s been twelve years since the attack.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  I was driving to work and heard that someone had crashed a plane into one of the twin towers.  I remember thinking to myself, “What idiot would have crashed a plane in the middle of New York City?”  I mean, things like that just don’t happen.  When you hear about plane crashes, they’re very rarely in the middle of a town, mere miles from an airport.  Pilots take great care in trying to set a crashing plane down in an unpopulated area that would suffer the least amount of damage.

People were discussing the crash when I got to work, but no one was using the word “terrorism”.  It all just seemed like a crazy accident until the second plane hit the second tower.  Then everything changed.  Irreparably.  This wasn’t an accident—this was a deliberate attack, and the worst part was that we didn’t know who the attacker was or why our nation was being targeted.  One of my co-workers went home to get a TV so that we could watch the story unfold.  We all sat riveted to the TV (no work was going to get done that day) with sinking hearts and teary eyes as we watched our fellow Americans literally run for their lives.

I can’t even imagine what it was like to have been a first responder.  So many of them gave their lives trying to save others.  Others were scarred physically and emotionally.  But they did more than just save lives.  They gave the rest of us something to believe in—that not all Americans were superficial, self-centered, and lazy like the rest of the world thought.  They became our new heroes, and as such they inspired the rest of us to get out there and make a difference in any way we could. 

I’ve never seen such American pride in my lifetime as we experienced after 9/11.  We all banded together, and for once everyone was on the same side and supported the government.  It was a scary time, but we were strong because we felt like we had each other.  But as with anything, that patriotic feeling waned, and unfortunately we’ve fallen back into bickering with our fellow Americans, completely forgetting how we leaned on each other only a decade ago.  In honor of this day, it is my wish that we put our differences aside and just be Americans, standing side by side to remember those who lost their lives and gave their lives on September 11, 2011.

IT'S JUST A LITTLE CRUSH is getting some serious love from bloggers lately!

1 Book Lover's Opinion is hosting a giveaway and spotlight for me.  Hop on over here and get your name in the Rafflecopter drawing for a free ecopy!

The Masquerade Crew is also hosting a Rafflecopter giveaway, and this one includes a bunch of awesome Romance authors!

Rose & Beps Blog also gave me a book spotlight this week.  See it here.

Thanks so much to all three of these great blogs for everything that they do to promote indie authors!

SWIMMING UPSTREAM by Ruth Mancini is a lovely read!

Get it here!

SWIMMING UPSTREAM by Ruth Mancini is a poignant story about one woman’s journey to finding out what she really needs in life.  The novel is well-written and descriptive, instantly pulling you in and making you care about each of the characters.

Lizzie Taylor tells most of her life story throughout this novel, starting in young adulthood, but flashing back to her childhood and college days enough that the reader really gets a sense of who she is and how her personality was molded by the events of her life.  Lizzie is definitely a survivor, as well as a good friend, and I loved how she allowed her friends to lean on her strength when they needed it.

The characters were so vivid and so real, and I could imagine having a conversation with any one of them.  The author made me care about what happened to them and worry about them as if they were my own friends.  The dialogue is very realistic, as is the plot. 

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Contemporary Women’s Fiction, especially by British authors.  SWIMMING UPSTREAM is a moving tale that will keep you thinking about it for weeks after reading it.

About the Author

Ruth Mancini was born in South London and educated in London and Cambridge where she gained a Bachelors degree in languages and a post-graduate diploma in law. For several years she worked in the publishing industry before becoming a practising lawyer, author and freelance writer. 

She now lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and two children. She blogs at www.ruthmancini.com and can be found on Twitter @RuthMancini1 and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ruth.mancini.author.

Yep, that’s right, folks.  August 30^th is National Toasted Marshmallow Day!  

(Not to be confused with S’mores Day, which is August 10^th.) 

I love doing these blog posts about “National (whatever) Days”—if nothing else, it gives me a reason to eat something fun.  I suppose I could have gone with an article about August being National Goat Cheese Month (read about it here), but it would have been a short article, because the only thing I have to say about that is:  YUCK.

Whether you’re someone who likes to gently cook your marshmallows to a perfect golden brown, or (like me) just lights the dang thing on fire and enjoys it “blackened”, today is your day. 

I know, I know, I'm totally cheating here, but it’s entirely too hot and humid today in Indiana to toast any marshmallows outside around a roaring fire.  But all you really need is a flame, right?  In that case, I suppose you could do it with a lighter as well…

In a blind taste-test, the cooktop marshmallow beat out the lighter marshmallow.  The one I cooked with the lighter wasn’t gooey in the middle like the cooktop one, mostly because I didn’t want to waste my lighter fluid on a stupid marshmallow—I went straight for setting it on fire instead of actually taking the time to warm it up first…before setting it on fire.  Plus, the lighter marshmallow ended up with a big, gross black wart on it.

National Toasted Marshmallow Day is a super-easy holiday to celebrate—just grab a bag of marshmallows, a stick, find some fire, and you’re set.  So get out there (or stay inside) and celebrate this sweet day!

I think in all of the excitement of getting ready for my blog tour and my book promo, I forgot to post a link to my very cool interview with

Omnimystery News!  

Read "A Conversation with Mystery Author Caroline Fardig" here:  www.omnimysterynews.com

Thanks, Omnimystery News!

If you're in college, loved college, or even remember college, this is the book for you.  My new author friend 

Deborah Nam-Krane

has written a fantastic chick-lit novel about the ups and downs of college life.

Get your copy here or here!  NOW!

I truly enjoyed every moment of this book. THE SMARTEST GIRL IN THE ROOM is a well-written tale of several college students and their academic and romantic trials on the road to graduation.  The characters and their dilemmas definitely took me back to my college years!

Emily has a less than nurturing family life, so she puts everything she has into graduating early in order to become self-sufficient.  Unfortunately, her go-it-alone pride also begins spilling into her personal life, creating conflict between Emily and her friends and boyfriends.

I loved the supporting characters in this book—Emily’s flaky best friend, the nerdy guys in the Solar Car Club, and especially Mitch, the flawed but lovable guy who you REALLY hope Emily ends up with.  I even liked the “bad guys”—they were so perfectly nasty!  THE SMARTEST GIRL IN THE ROOM is the first in the NEW PIONEERS series, and I can’t wait to read more about these characters!

And luckily, we don't have to wait too long, because THE FAMILY YOU CHOOSE is going to be released September 27th!  Come back to the blog near that date and learn even more about Deb and her new book!

About the Author

Deborah Nam-Krane was born in New York, raised in Cambridge and educated in Boston. You're forgiven for assuming she's prejudiced toward anything city or urban. She's been writing in one way or another since she was eight years old (and telling stories well before that). 

She first met some of the characters in The New Pioneers series when she was thirteen years old, but it took two decades- and a couple of other characters- to get the story just right.