Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Forever Romance Holiday Hookup with Debbie Mason, Jessica Lemmon, and Katie Lane


It's time to hookup for the holidays with Forever Romance ...


SNOWBOUND AT CHRISTMAS by Debbie Mason

Ex-cop Cat O'Connor is bored working for her sister, Chloe, as a personal assistant on the set of her soap opera. Until Chloe gets an opportunity to audition for the role of a lifetime and asks her identical twin to substitute for her on the soap with no one the wiser. It's a perfect switch-until Cat attracts the attention of the mysterious Mr. Tall, Dark, and Way-too-handsome leading man.

Grayson Alexander never thought being snowbound in the charming town of Christmas, Colorado, for the holiday would get so hot. But between working with sexy, tough Cat on set and keeping his real reason for being there under wraps, he's definitely feeling the heat. And if there's one thing they'll learn as they bring out the mistletoe, it's that in this town, true love is always in season.

Amazon
B&N
iBooks
GooglePlay
Kobo
BAM

Debbie Mason is the bestselling author of the Christmas, Colorado series. Her books have been praised for their "likable characters, clever dialogue and juicy plots" (RT Book Reviews). She also writes historical paranormals as Debbie Mazzuca. Her MacLeod series has received several nominations for best paranormal as well as a Holt Medallion Award of Merit. When she isn't writing or reading, Debbie enjoys spending time with her very own real-life hero, their four wonderful children, an adorable grandbaby, and a yappy Yorkie named Bella.


A BAD BOY FOR CHRISTMAS by Jessica Lemmon
Connor McClain knows what he wants. And after four harrowing years in Afghanistan, that's a quiet life in the lakeside town of Evergreen Cove. But coming home has land mines of its own-the most dangerous of them being long-legged bombshell Faith Garrett. Now getting her into his arms this holiday is going to require more than mistletoe . . .

With a cheating ex behind her, all Faith wants is a relaxing holiday free from man drama. And even though every moment with gorgeous Connor is a sweet temptation, Faith is determined not to give in. But Jack Frost has other plans, and soon Faith and Connor are snowbound in a winter wonderland with only the sparks flying between them to keep them warm. As one hot kiss leads to another, they'll have to decide if they're ready to give each other the best gift of all-love
.

Amazon
B&N
iBooks
GooglePlay
Kobo
BAM

Jessica Lemmon has always been a dreamer. At some point, she decided head-in-the-clouds thinking was childish, went out, and got herself a job . . . and then she got another one because that one was lousy. And when that one stopped being fulfilling, she went out and got another . . . and another. Soon it became apparent she'd only be truly happy doing what she loved. And since "eating potato chips" isn't a viable career, she opted to become a writer. With fire in her heart, she dusted off a book she'd started years prior, finished it, and submitted it. It may have been the worst book ever, but it didn't stop her from writing another one. Now she has several books finished, several more started, and even more marinating in her brain (which currently resides in the clouds, thankyouverymuch), and she couldn't be happier. She firmly believes God gifts us with talents for a purpose, and with His help, you can create the life you want. (While eating potato chips.)



UNWRAPPED by Katie Lane

Jacqueline Maguire has a problem tying the knot.After fleeing the altar (again), the runaway bride drives off with no particular destination in mind. Which is how Jac finds herself stranded in a snowstorm with a hot, hard-bodied stranger who treats her to the naughtiest night of her life . . . but come morning, he's long gone.

Contractor Patrick McPherson is deeply committed to his bachelor lifestyle. No strings, no rings. As the Christmas season approaches, however, Patrick still can't quite forget his curvalicious one-night stand. Then Jac shows up unexpectedly, and all holiday hell breaks loose. Because this year, Patrick is getting the biggest Christmas surprise of his life.

Amazon
B&N
iTunes
Kobo

Katie Lane is the USA Today bestselling author of the Deep in the Heart of Texas and Hunk for the Holidays series. Katie lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and when she isn't writing, she enjoys reading, traveling, and cuddling with her high school sweetheart and cairn terrier Roo.

katielanebooks.com


Forever is hosting a special giveaway at this link ... plus I am giving away RWA swag to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway, 

1.  Leave a comment about the upcoming holiday - what will you do different this year?  

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, October 3, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 4.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City


Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Aloha to Donna Kauffman and SNOWFLAKE BAY - The Brides of Blueberry Cove


Hello! I’ve been traveling the internet highways and byways this week, talking about my new Brides of Blueberry Cove release, SNOWFLAKE BAY, so thank you for stopping by today and hanging out with me for a bit. And thank you, Kim, for having me over to play!

Fall is finally here, and I know it’s an unpopular sentiment, but I can’t wait for winter! Yes, it’s true, I do miss the long daylight hours, and I’m perfectly content to watch the leaves turn all those lovely autumn colors while the temperatures start to dip. But that’s just the prelude, the appetizer, to my favorite season. I like bundling up. I like burrowing in. I like getting out all my thick, warm sweaters, and my fuzzy slipper boots. I like throwing another blanket (or three) on top of my already big and puffy down comforter. And don’t even get me started on having a fire crackling in the fire place!

I live in the Blue Ridge mountains in the western part of Virginia, so along with the nip in the air comes a lot of white stuff on the ground. And yes, there is shoveling. A LOT of shoveling. But it’s good exercise, and kind of hard to complain when you look around and feel like you’re in a snow globe wonderland. The black bears who hang out in my yard all summer long finally go into hibernation, so I can put the feeders back out and happily welcome dozens of different species of wild birds, along with the deer families who come by to nibble on the corn and the salt lick, and even the hawks who make a home in the high branches of my towering pines.

In SNOWFLAKE BAY, the heroine, Fiona McCrae, has come back to her hometown of Blueberry Cove, Maine to re-launch her design business on a smaller scale than she’d been operating in her premiere shop in Manhattan. And though she loves being back and close by her family again, she’s kind of sort of forgotten about just how cold it gets up there in her home by the sea. When the story opens, she’s fighting her way through a particularly windy, skin-chapping afternoon, struggling to get inside her childhood home while bogged down with binders and wedding planning flotsam and jetsam for a meeting with her bride-to-be sister, all the while being essentially eaten alive by the wool scarf that has plastered itself to her damp, wind-ravaged face, her lip-balmed lips, gotten tangled in her hair, and well…you get the picture. Naturally, this is when she runs into her childhood crush--old family friend and Christmas tree farmer, Ben Campbell. The same guy who always saw her as the nuisance kid sister, and even nicknamed her fireplug due to her short, stout frame as a child. Did I mention she’s also wearing a thickly padded, red winter parka? I know. So unfair. And yet…

So, maybe I’m a little more in love with winter than Fiona is at that moment, but the other part of winter I love is that it’s also the holiday season. Thanksgiving, then Christmas, and in Blueberry Cove, a wedding, just to make it a truly memorable time. Ben Campbell being back in town is guaranteed to make it all that and more for Fiona McCrae, who finds herself tangled up in something a lot more challenging—and more tantalizing—than a wool scarf!

What is your favorite season? Are you a winter wonderland person, too? Don’t leave me alone out here in the cold! Thanks again to Kim for inviting me over today. Hot chocolate anyone? 


lighthouse, portland, maine, ocean, shore, water
Lighthouse in Portland, Maine
Public Domain (link)

There’s no place like seaside Blueberry Cove, Maine, at Christmas—and there’s nothing like a wedding, the warmth of the holidays, and an old crush, to create the perfect new start…

Interior designer Fiona McCrae has left fast-paced Manhattan to move back home to peaceful Blueberry Cove. But she’s barely arrived before she’s hooked into planning her big sister Hannah’s Christmas wedding—in less than seven weeks. The last thing she needs is for her first love, Ben Campbell, to return to neighboring Snowflake Bay…

As kids, Fiona was the bratty little sister Ben mercilessly teased—while pining after Hannah. But Fi never once thought of Ben like a brother. And that hasn’t changed. Except Fi is all grown up. Will Ben notice her now? More importantly, with her life in a jumble, should he? Or might the romance of the occasion, the spirit of the season, and the gifts of time ignite a long-held flame for many Christmases to come…

Something old might just become something new…

Includes a DIY wedding project!

“Kauffman’s stories show that the bravery to reach for a connection is all we need to discover joy.” –Publishers Weekly on Sandpiper Island



USA Today bestselling author of the Bachelors of Blueberry Cove series, DONNA KAUFFMAN has been gratified to see her books get rave reviews in venues ranging from Kirkus Reviews and Library Journal to Entertainment Weekly and Cosmopolitan. She lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in western Virginia, where she is presently applying her crafty DIY skills to decorating her new mountainside abode. Well, when she isn’t busy trying to keep the bears from hanging out in her flower and vegetable garden all day and night! With her new Brides of Blueberry Cove series, Donna’s been having a blast applying those same restoration and design skills to doing some fictional wedding planning. Of course, if that means haunting all those lovely antique shops and flea markets that are so plentiful in her new neck of the woods, well, it’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make. When she’s not finding ways to take her love of all things rustic and vintage and give them a fabulous seaside, coastal Maine wedding party twist, she loves to hear from readers! You can contact her through her website at donnakauffman.com.


Atlantic puffins landing on rock at maine coastal islands national wildlife refuge complex free stock picture
Puffins in Maine
Public Domain (link)


 Mahalo, Donna, for sharing SNOWFLAKE BAY with us!  I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Answer Donna's question - what is your favorite season?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, October 3, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 4.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

2285981426025389

Book 1 and 3 in the series ...

Monday, September 28, 2015

Aloha to Paula Quinn and THE TAMING OF MALCOLM GRANT


THE TAMING OF MALCOLM GRANT, Book Four in The MacGregors:  Highland Heirs series 

AN ALLURING LASS

Emmaline Grey spends her days with her beloved dog, dreaming of the sea-until a brawling Highlander shatters her quiet life to pieces. Though her blindness prevents her from seeing his face, his voice is a warm blend of velvet and silk, and his rakehell ways unmistakable. Risking the wrath of a rival clan as she nurses him back to health, Emma soon realizes the real danger is the magnetic pull she feels to this half-naked Scot recovering in her bed.

A RECKLESS ROGUE

With his rugged handsomeness and wicked charm, Malcolm Grant wants nothing more out of life than whisky, women, and the occasional war. The only lass he's ever trusted left him with more scars than a battlefield. Yet now at the mercy of this sweet stranger, Malcolm can barely resist the gentle hands that make him feverish with desire-until Emma, the one he will never have, is the only woman he wants.

Amazon
B&N
iTunes
Kobo


New York Times bestselling author Paula Quinn lives in New York with her three beautiful children, three over-protective chihuahuas, and a loud umbrella cockatoo. She loves to read romance and science fiction and has been writing since she was eleven. She loves all things medieval, but it is her love for Scotland that pulls at her heartstrings.



twitter.com/Paula_Quinn
Facebook link

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Forever Romance offers an excerpt from THE TAMING OF MALCOLM GRANT ...

“You’re nothing like your reputation,” she told him.

He laughed softly and then groaned. “I know what ye’ve heard . . .” He paused, rethinking his defense, and then apparently thinking better of it. “I earned m’ reputation. Besides, I canna’ go back and change m’ past.”

She hadn’t asked him to. The idea of him going back and changing his past had never even crossed her mind. Had it crossed his? And why? Why would he care about what she thought of him? Malcolm Grant didn’t trouble himself with those things.

“Would you?” she asked him now that he brought it to her attention. “Would you go back?”

She waited on bated breath for his answer, letting only one thing distract her from his reply.

His kiss. His passionate mouth taking hers over and over. Oh, if he would only do it again she would welcome his tongue.

Or should she have slapped him?

“I dinna’ know if I would go back.”

His answer came but it offered her no comfort. She tried not to look disappointed.

“Mayhap who I was in the past,” he continued, “has shaped me into who I’m supposed to be.”

“You’re supposed to be a heartless rake?” she asked.

It angered her that he believed it and she didn’t bother to hide her fierce scowl.

“Something more than that, mayhap.”

The stillness of his voice shook her to her bones. He wasn’t smiling or being glib now.

The sudden touch of his fingertips on her face startled her. When he traced the pad of his thumb along the seam of her frown, she battled herself to keep from going soft all over him. What was he doing? Why had he said what he did? Why was he touching her so intimately—the way she would touch him to know how he looked?

“Ye’re a bonny lass, Emmaline Grey.”

Was this what it was like to be enchanted? She felt mesmerized, paralyzed, giddy with delight. This was Malcolm slaying her heart, being the charming rake he was rumored to be. He’d said Harry was correct about him, but she didn’t care. Not in this moment. Whatever spell he was weaving on her, she allowed it. Helpless to do anything else.

But she did do something else. She lifted her hands to his face.

182100702070671922675961

The MacGregors: Highland Heirs


Sunday, September 27, 2015

Aloha to HelenKay Dimon and FACING FIRE



HelenKay Dimon returns with another hot installment of her romantic suspense series featuring the fierce men of Alliance—a top-secret military security agency—and the only women who can tame them.

When his uncle is brutally murdered, Josiah King knows that business just got personal. His uncle’s ties to the Alliance can mean only one thing: Josiah and his black ops team are targets, along with everyone they love. Primed for vengeance, Josiah is determined to unravel the plot—until long-legged redhead Sutton Dahl becomes a dangerous distraction.

Sutton is very good at uncovering other people’s secrets—and protecting her own. When Josiah bursts into her life she’s torn between pushing him away and asking for his help. Mysterious, strong, and much too sexy, he’s a puzzle she longs to solve, and a temptation she can’t ignore.

Thrown together in the face of Alliance’s most lethal threat, Josiah and Sutton become unlikely partners, fighting for their lives even as the attraction between them flares into real passion. Torn between his team and the woman who means everything to him, Josiah will risk it all to save Sutton, even if that decision is his last. 

Praise for HELENKAY DIMON
“The Bad Boys Undercover are back, and this third installment gives readers everything they love: high stakes, intense action and unexpectedly searing chemistry.”—RT Book Reviews on FACING FIRE

“Nail-biting suspense and steamy romance are the mainstays of this novel, as the protagonists must discover whether their attractions stems from deeper emotions.”—Publishers Weekly on FACING FIRE

“The latest high-adrenaline installment in Dimon’s (Playing Dirty, 2015) Bad Boys Undercover series delivers plenty of testosterone-fueled action and smoking-hot sexual chemistry between a rough, tough, alpha hero and a strong-willed heroine, who is more than his match. Give this one to fans of Suzanne Brockmann or Cherry Adair.”—Booklist

Google Play    

Facing Fire on the Big Island of Hawaii ...

HelenKay Dimon spent the years before becoming a romance author as a . . . divorce attorney. Not the usual transition, she knows. Good news is she now writes full time and is much happier. She has sold over thirty novels, novellas and shorts to numerous publishers. Her nationally bestselling and award-winning books have been showcased in numerous venues.  Her books have twice been named “Red-Hot Reads” and excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine. But if you ask her, she’ll tell you the best part of the job is never having to wear pantyhose again.

helenkaydimon.com


HelenKay also gave her time as a RWA Director-at-Large. Mahalo, HelenKay, for your service!  I am giving away an RWA Swag prize package to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about pantyhose - do you have any funny stories to share?  In college, we were required to wear hose once a month to our formal sorority meetings.  Two friends and I specifically wore knee highs and long skirts.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, October 3, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 4.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

215462052223665823173051

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Weekly Winners


I am a winner with the return of Hawaii Five-O!  Check out my review of the season premiere at this link.

We have winners at SOS Aloha:

Erma Bombeck's WHEN YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR PASSPORT PHOTO, IT'S TIME TO GO HOME
- Susan P. wins a book choice from my convention stash.


Kate L. Mary's NO REGRETS
- Gretchen wins a digital copy.

25739589

Cathy Maxwell's A LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE
- Molly wins a digital copy.

24331534

EmKay Connor's FINDING JOY
- BN100 wins a digital copy.


Carol Ross' IF NOT FOR A BEE
- Christy wins a book choice from my convention stash.


From my travel blog, Lisa H. wins a book choice from my convention stash.


Winners, please claim your prize by sending your mailing address to sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Aloha to Hawaii Five O Season 6 Premiere - Mai ho`oni i ka wai lana mâlie (Do Not Disturb the Water that is Tranquil)


Hawaii Five-0 is back for its sixth season on Friday nights. From CBS.com

The sixth season of Hawaii Five-O premieres with “Do Not Disturb the Water that is Tranquil,” as a murder leads the Five-0 team to investigate a centuries old pirate story involving buried treasure and a killer who is using the back of a stolen painting as a map.

The episode opens with pirates invading Honolulu in the 1880s, interrupting a state dinner hosted by King Kalakaua.  Coming back to the present, Hawaii Five O jumps into Kono's wedding reception with her "cousin" Tia Carrere singing a Hawaiian ballad.   

Born and raised in Honolulu, Tia Carrere is a Grammy award-winning musical artist of Hawaiian music.

cbs.com

While the H50 family and friends are enjoying the wedding, an archaeologist turned treasure hunter is murdered on the other side of the island.  The H50 team is activated the next morning to investigate ... and Steve asks Jerry (aka Mr. Conspiracy Theory) to fill in for honeymooning Kono.   They soon learn the archaeologist was searching for the pirate's booty from 'Iolani Palace.  

The episode follows the typical pattern of most police procedural series with high tech gadgets, facial recognition, car chases, and fight scenes.  Three things set Hawaii Five-O apart:

1.  The bromance.  Steve and Danno are back in action, squabbling as they drive across the island to each crime scene. Yet Danno breaks into a huge smile when Steve announces his plans to ask Catherine to marry him.  Even the cynic in Danno can't help but be happy for his SEAL pal.

2.  The cast.  They play off each other.  When the team discovers the murderer is a descendant of one of the pirates, 

Jerry:  "The coconut doesn't fall too far from the tree."

Steve: "It's the apple that doesn't fall too far."

(Chin Ho enters the room and they tell him about the connection)

Chin Ho:  "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree."

3.  Hawaii.   H50 incorporates its culture and beauty into every episode.

Mahalo, Hawaii Five-O, for taking me back to paradise.  

Alex O'Loughlin as Steve McGarrett, Scott Caan as Danny "Danno" Williams, Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly, and Chi McBride as Captain Lou Grover
cbs.com

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about coconuts (or apples) - do you like coconut (or apple) pie?  Or some other delicacy?

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, October 3, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, October 4.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Aloha to Gwyn Cready and FIRST TIME WITH A HIGHLANDER

24805439

Gwyn Cready combines two of my favorite elements in historical romance - time travel and Scotland - in FIRST TIME WITH A HIGHLANDER, Book 2 in Sirens of the Scottish series.  Gwyn joins us for a cozy chat about the inspiration behind her time-travel romances ....

People often ask me why I like to write time travel romance, and it’s a two-part answer, because there are really two questions in there—why do I like to write romance, and why do I like to write time travel.

I began to write with the intention of getting published in June, 1997 to honor my younger sister, who was a poet and photographer and who had died suddenly the month before. The sort of book I wanted to write was a book like the one a friend had given me a few months earlier—Outlander. At that time, I’d never read a romance before, and I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. Jamie is the best sort of hero—devoted, funny, brave, smart, and supportive of the heroine. I was so hopped up on the first three Outlander novels, it was pretty much all I could talk about in the spring of 1997—and it was one of the things I talked to my sister about since her college boyfriend had been named Jamie and like the heroine in Outlander, my sister’s name was Claire. It was the last conversations I ever had with her.

So there I am, in 1997, wanting to honor my sister with a book, and certain the book I want to write is a romance like Outlander. Time travel fit in nicely for me. Outlander is a time travel novel, of course, but I’d been a time travel fan before that. The Back to the Future movies are my holy grail of time travel. I loved Somewhere in Time, of course, as well as the Terminator movies, Time After Time, and Groundhog Day. Time travel lets you quickly throw your character into adversity and see if he/she sinks or swims. The question you want readers asking in romance novels is “How, with all these challenges, will the hero and heroine still end up together?” Time travel adds another layer to that tension, specifically, “How will they end up together when each is destined to be in his/her own time?” In my mind, one of the most heroic things a character can do is give up his own time in order to be with the person he/she loves, and that’s always a tender and gripping moment to write in my books.

Which brings us to First Time with a Highlander. Serafina and Gerard were such fun characters to chase through a novel. As with Just in Time for a Highlander, the first book in the Sirens of the Scottish Borderlands series, I wanted to shake things up a bit by having the hero be the person who travels to the past. Gerard is an ad man—and since I spent twenty years working in brand management at a big pharma company, I know what ad men are like. The women in this series hold positions of unusual power for women in the eighteenth century, and Serafina is no exception. She inherited a shipping concern from her father, but her blackguard of an ex-fiancé has run the business into the ground. He’s ruined her socially and financially, but Serafina is not one to take things lying down. She uses herbs she’s, ahem, “borrowed” from a famed spell-caster to summon a man to help her claim the cargo from the ship’s final voyage before her fiancé can get his hands on it. She only needs a man for one night and…well, you can imagine what that leads to in the hands of an inexperienced spell user. But Serafina is willing to pay the price—in fact, she’s quite willing once the smart, dashing Gerard appears.


Vintage Scotch whisky bottle
Public Domain (link)

She needs a man—but only for a night

What do you get when you imbibe centuries-old whiskey—besides a hangover the size of the Highlands? If you’re twenty-first century ad exec Gerard Innes, you get swept back to 18th-century Edinburgh and into the bed of a gorgeous, fiery redhead. Gerard has only a foggy idea what he and the lady have been up to…but what he does remember draws him into the most dangerous and exhilarating campaign of his life.

Be careful what you wish for…

Serafina Seonag Fallon’s scoundrel of a fiancé has left her with nothing, and she’s determined to turn the tables. If she can come up with a ringer, she can claim the cargo he stole from her. But the dashing man she summons from the future demands more than a night, and Serafina finds it easier to command the seas under her feet than the crashing waves he unleashes in her heart.


Amazon
Apple
BAM
B&N
Chapters
Indiebound
Kobo



Gwyn Cready is a writer of contemporary, Scottish, and time travel romance. She’s been called “the master of time travel romance” and is the winner of the RITA Award, the most prestigious award given in romance writing. She has been profiled in Real Simple and USA Today, among others. Before becoming a novelist, she spent 25 years in brand management. She has two grown children and lives with her husband on a hill overlooking the magical kingdom of Pittsburgh.


Learn more about Gwyn and his books at cready.com. Sourcebooks is hosting a special giveaway at this link.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

21897474

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Aloha to Carol Ross and IF NOT A BEE


Can you believe October is just around the corner?!?!  October brings fall colors, pumpkin spice, and Carol Ross' IF NOT FOR A BEE, Book 3 in her Seasons of Alaska series:

You can't always play it safe

With four sons dependent on her, Janie Everett needs to keep her life uncomplicated. Now famous scientist Aidan Hollings is disrupting her orderly world, starting with the rescue of a…bumblebee.

Aidan is only passing through her Alaska wilderness town, and wasn't planning to bond with her two older boys. Or become so attracted to the widowed journalist. His globe-trotting days may be be over if he's able to show Janie that they can share the adventure of a lifetime—together.

Carol   Ross

Carol Ross was born and raised in Washington, where she lives with her husband and one perfectly loveable miscreant of a dachshund. She truly adores the Pacific Northwest because it offers so many opportunities to do what she loves--hiking, skiing, running, and spending time outdoors. Although she enjoys reading in many genres, she writes what she loves the most--romance, especially light-hearted stories about the fun, flirty, and often-tumultuous path toward a happily ever after.

carolrossauthor.com

Denali, Alaska
Public Domain (link)

I am giving away book choice from my convention stash, including Carol Ross books, to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about Alaska - what do you know about the Last Frontier?  I know it's a popular cruise destination - a place I'd like to visit. 

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, September 26, 10 pm in Baltimore.  

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, September 27.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

2060774025264901

Books 1 and 2 in Seasons of Alaska 




Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Aloha to Maria Connor, My Author Concierge, and FINDING JOY


Maria Connor (aka EmKay Connor) wears many hats - published author, author assistant, and marketing guru.  From the My Concierge Website (link),

Maria Connor has worked as a freelance writer, journalist and author in print and digital media for more than 10 years. Her publishing credits include daily and weekly newspapers, regional lifestyle magazines, national trade journals, academic texts, full- and novella-length fiction, e-zines, websites, marketing materials, brochures and newsletters.

Her marketing and editing skills include social media management, blogging, search engine optimization, proofreading, copyediting, editorial review, copy writing, book promotion, content creation, digital photography, e-publishing, graphic design, layout and AP style.

She has also worked as an administrative support professional, project coordinator, event planner and budget administrator in the medical, academic, publishing and non-profit sectors. 


Maria is a member of Romance Writers of America. She has been active in the romance fiction community for more than 15 years, volunteering at both the national and local level. Her first completed manuscript finaled in the 2011 Golden Heart contest and was released as Willing to Learn from Boroughs Publishing Group in February 2013.




More recently, she celebrated the release of FINDING JOY:

It’s the night before her wedding and the last thing Joy Delaney expects to find is her fiancé and his ex-girlfriend—his very tall, very thin, very beautiful ex-girlfriend—in a cozy tête-à-tête. Lugging a lifetime’s worth of baggage filled with insecurities about her very short, very curvy, very average self, Joy bails on the wedding. She heads to the one place no one would think to look for her—their intended honeymoon destination, Hideaway Bay.

Landon Wells was prepared for a wedding day surprise, but it was more along the lines of finally seeing Delaney in the figure-hugging, crystal-encrusted wedding gown she’d been gushing about for months. Instead, he’s left standing at the altar with no bride and no explanation. A missing plane ticket is the only lead he has as to his fiancée’s possible whereabouts.

Can this desperate groom convince his runaway bride to reveal her secrets and give them another chance to say I do?



I am giving away a digital copy of FINDING JOY to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Leave a comment about something that brings you joy other than reading.  I find joy in volunteering with Boy Scouts, walking along the beach, and exploring historical places. 

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, September 26, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, September 27.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

217183142468327425983298

Other books from EmKay Connor ...