Book Sale Blitz - 99 cents For A Limited Time ~ Pretend it's Love - Behind the Bar #2 by Stefanie London

One fake relationship shaken not stirred…

PRETEND IT'S LOVE

Behind the Bar #2

Stefanie London

Entangled Lovestruck

Bar manager Paul Chapman is sick of his family’s traditional ideals. Marriage, babies, and a white picket fence? Not his gig. But now that his ‘golden child’ big brother is tying the knot, Paul’s screwed. His ex will be there…and she’s having his cousin’s baby. Unless he wants to show up to the wedding alone and face his family’s scrutiny, he needs a girl on his arm. Now.

Cocktail specialist Libby Harris has spent her life earning the nickname Little Miss Perfect, all to win the love of her wealthy, controlling father. But she deviated from his plan, and now her business is on shaky ground. If it fails, she might as well kiss his respect-and her dream-good-bye. Her only hope? Convince the hottest bar in town to take on her product.

                                          

Luckily for her, the owner’s brother is sexy as sin and in need of a perfect girlfriend…

A voracious reader, USA Today Bestselling author, Stefanie London has dreamed of being an author her whole life. After sneaking several English Lit subjects into her very practical Business degree, she got a job in corporate communications. But it wasn't long before she turned to romance fiction. She recently left her hometown of Melbourne to start a new adventure in Toronto and now spends her days writing contemporary romances with humour, heat and heart.

Virtual Tour & Review ~ To Tempt a Viscount - Entanbled Nobility #1 by Naomi Boom

Get Tempted by this Debut Historical Romance!

TO TEMPT A VISCOUNT

Entangled Nobility #1

By: Naomi Boom

Releasing January 13, 2017

The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

Lady Laura Rosing knows two things: first, she will marry for love, and second, she detests rakes. When she meets Lord Gavin Farris, she understands immediately that he fails both her criteria, and worse yet, he is an absolute cad who refuses to leave her be.

Lord Farris has always appreciated women and cannot understand why Lady Laura is so resistant to his charms. While pretty, she is not his usual type, but something about her intrigues him. Much to his chagrin, he finds himself desperately in love with her, but he may be too late. His adamant refusal to marry just might have planted her firmly in the arms of another.

Lord Farris’s dark eyes bored into hers before he stepped predatorily closer to her. He gazed down at her with his dark, smoldering eyes and said, “You do not truly believe that. Judging by your dilated pupils and the blush on your skin, you find me incredibly attractive.”

Laura scoffed and backed up a step. She needed room to breathe. “You would like that, wouldn’t you?” She gulped nervously as his eyes narrowed, and he took a step closer to her. Naturally, she continued to reverse her step until her back hit the bookcase.

He smiled as he slowly removed the glass of water from her hand and set it on the bookcase. He then brought his hands to either side of her and leaned in until their faces were mere inches apart. “Yes, I would like that very much. Unfortunately, I am too much of a gentleman to act on our mutual attraction.”

As he spoke, Laura could not seem to take her eyes away from his full lips, at least until his words sank in. Her eyes regained their focus as she realized he was standing much too near. This was precisely why she preferred normal gentlemen. They did not act strangely.

“Are you sure you are a gentleman?” Laura asked derisively. She immediately regretted her impulsive retort. He was just too near to her for her mind to perform rationally, otherwise she was sure she would have behaved herself.

One eyebrow lifted in question as he grinned wickedly. “Are you asking me not to conduct myself as a gentleman?”

His dark smile and wicked words made Laura pause as she stared at his lips, so near to her own. Her stomach was in knots, and she did not know if she should slap him or kiss him. She had never been kissed, but right now, she wanted his lips on hers more than anything. In Laura’s heart of hearts, she wished, just a little bit, that he would not behave as a gentleman. She could not form words, however, and only managed to shake her head slightly as common sense prevailed.

“In that case, my dear, I suggest you run along.” His feet moved silently as he stepped away from her, but Laura could not budge until he growled, “Go, or we both shall regret what happens.”

Her feet grew wings as she flew out the door and down the dark hallway. As she rounded a corner, she realized she had left her water on the bookshelf, although her bread and book were still clutched in her other hand. No matter how strong her thirst, she would never return downstairs now. Not when he was there.

What a debut novel this is! A High 5 Stars for To Tempt A Viscount by Naomi Boom! I must say, Ms. Boom can really weave a tale and her writing style is impeccable. The plot is thick and the characters are well developed. Ms. Boomed hooked me from the first page. 

Also, I instantly fell in love with the heroine of our tale, Lady Laura Rosing. She's sweet, passionate and has a bit of spunk to her. Our Hero of the tale, Lord Farris is outwardly a rogue through and through but on the inside he's a deeply passionate and loving man. The chemistry between these two lights the pages a blaze! 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading many more of Ms. Boom's books. If you love a good, sweet and passionate historical romance, then this is the book for you!

Naomi Boom is an author with a newly-discovered love for writing. Her inspiration struck when she was searching for the perfect historical romance novel to read. Nothing sounded appealing, so she decided to write her own. That one novel has morphed into a series, and hopefully many, many more.

She currently resides in Kansas with her family but has her eyes planted on an acreage in eastern South Dakota. Once her husband retires from the United States Army, they will return to her home state where she will continue to pursue her passion.

Marie Greaves Romantic Quill Q&A

What or who inspired you to become an author?

I needed a creative outlet, and I cannot do art. Believe me, I tried. So, my next thought was to try writing. As a bookworm who reads a lot of historical romance novels, I knew which genre to work in, and now I fear I am very much addicted to writing. To Tempt a Viscount is my debut novel, but be warned, there will be more.

Which type of romance do you love most, and why?

I love historical romances set in the Regency Era. Scottish historical romances take a close second, though. To me, both genres seem like fairy tales without magic, and who doesn’t like a good fairy tale?

What’s your favorite romance novel of all time, and why?

Never Trust a Rake by Annie Burrows. I have no idea why I’m obsessed with this novel. Somehow, the storyline really clicked with me. Not only do I have the kindle version, but I also went and bought a physical copy. In total, I have probably read this novel twenty times.

What fellow romance author do you recommend reading, and why?

I am a sucker for all the big Regency Romance authors. Julia Quinn, Tessa Dare, and Eloisa James are my go-to’s. I also have a soft spot for a completely different sort of author, Mercedes Lackey. She has a series called The Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, and I just discovered she released a new one which I will have to read. Like now.

Any advice you have for a blossoming author?

Just go for it. Self-doubt will likely try and convince you to not believe in yourself, but shove those thoughts aside and do it. The worst that will happen is you accomplish something you never thought was possible. Believe it or not, writing a book (even if you are not successful) is an amazing accomplishment.

Anything else you’d like to share with your readers?

Just that I received a contract for the second book in the Entangled Nobility series! I’m always updating my website, so feel free to check it out if you want to learn more.

When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?

I spend my day chasing around my toddler and formulating plots for my novels. On days that I need to get out of the house, I go antiquing or thrifting. One never knows what one will stumble upon, that, and I love the thrill of the hunt.

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What's Marie Reading Monday - January 9, 2017

Hi Friends,

This week I’m going to be continuing to read the books that I’d mentioned last week. I had a terrible sinus infection ever since Christmas and have not gotten as much reading done as I’d have liked. So I’ll be finishing up those books and will post next week my thoughts and reviews on them. I am going to strive to get in an additional book this week.

The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size by Julia Cameron

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004IATCP2/

About the Book:

From the bestselling author of The Artist's Way, a revolutionary diet plan: Use art to take off the pounds!

Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Julia Cameron has taught thousands of artists and aspiring artists how to unblock wellsprings of creativity. And time and again she has noticed an interesting thing: Often, in uncovering their creative selves her students also undergo a surprising physical transformation-invigorated by their work, they slim down. In The Writing Diet, Cameron illuminates the relationship between creativity and eating to reveal a crucial equation: creativity can block overeating.

This inspiring weight-loss program, which can be used in conjunction with Cameron's groundbreaking book on the creative process, The Artist's Way, directs readers to count words instead of calories, to substitute their writing's "food for thought" for actual food. Using journaling to examine their relationship with food-and to ward off unhealthy overeating -readers will learn to treat food cravings as invitations to evaluate what they are truly craving in their emotional lives.

The Writing Diet presents a brilliant plan for using one of the soul's deepest and most abiding appetites-the desire to be creative-to lose weight and keep it off forever.

I'm a creativity expert, not a diet expert. So why am I writing a book about weight loss? Because I have accidentally stumbled upon a weight-loss secret that works. For twenty-five years I've taught creative unblocking, a twelve-week process based on my book The Artist's Way. From the front of the classroom I've seen lives transformed-and, to my astonishment, bodies transformed as well. It took me a while to recognize what was going on, but sure enough, students who began the course on the plump side ended up visibly leaner and more fit. What's going on here? I asked myself. Was it my imagination, or was there truly a "before" and an "after"? There was!

-from The Writing Diet

I’m very excited to begin reading this book and see what valuable information it contains. Now one thing I must mention, I suffer from Gastroparesis and full-tract (GI) motility disorders and I do have to limit what types of foods I eat and how often I eat/drink due to volume levels. So I’m going to take out of this book what I can apply to my GP diet and condition. I think it’s good as any individual but especially us artists to focus on our overall health and eating. We are often so lost in our world and minds (ie. Writers lost in their stories, musicians lost in the songs, etc.) that we often forget to eat (at least I know I do) or we may just grab anything and not think how it can help us or not. So I think it’s really important to nourish our bodies and therefore we’re nourishing our minds and helping our creativity to blossom!

So, off I go now to have a cup of tea and do some much longed for and loved reading! I hope all of you have a wonderful, week and Happy Reading!

Love,

Marie

Planning 2017 - All About My Planners

Planning 2017

All About My Planners

Hi Friends,

Well one of my major goals for 2017 is to get organized and planning! I've always been a planner and have used planners ever since upper elementary school. In college I used a basic academic planner and that worked great for all of those years. However, now with trying to juggle so much in my life: editing schedules, blog tour/blogging schedules, upcoming author schedules (currently writing craft course) and well my personal life too. It’s a lot to keep track of. So I'm working on setting up a planning system.

Basic Academic Planner:

First planner is my ever classic basic academic planner. I intend to use this one for doctors’ appointments and keeping track of my lab and medical tests. Also, this is small enough to carry in my purse and a good planner to just jot things down, dates, etc., and then I can transfer those into the other planners if need be. This is the type of planner that I’ve been using ever since high school and it works great for simple dates to remember. But does not give a whole lot of space for writing things out.

Overall Calendars at a glance, personal profile page.

Monthly Calendar (this was for this past October)

Daily notes section to write in more info.

Happy Planner:

Next I plan to use my Happy Planner for my work schedule and life events. I first learned about this planner when I saw a YouTube writing video and the YouTuber mentioned her Erin Condren planner. So I started researching planners and found tons of planner videos on YouTube and one mentioned the Recollections planner which is like the Erin Condren but a whole lot cheaper. So I went to Michaels on Thursday in hopes of buying my very first Recollections planner. Well, there was one left, but it was in the horizontal layout. I wanted the vertical layout. So, I glanced at the other planners they had and I grabbed the Happy Planner. It is awesome and very similar to the Erin Condren but here again, a fraction of the price.

Then I headed off to the stickers and scrap booking aisle. Boy was I impressed, what tons of fun and neat stuff to get down the road. So I grabbed up some pretty basic sticker kits. One for the Happy Planner and one pack is teacher stickers with things like Great Job; Keep Up the Work, etc. I thought these would be great for when I achieve my goals!

Buy Link: http://www.meandmybigideas.com/create365-thehappyplanner/

Not only can you get the Happy Planner but a lot of great add-ons as well.

Title Page

Full Calendar at a Glance (for 2016 & 2017) I got the 18 month planner.

January tab with beautiful gold/white striped divider.

January Calendar

Weekly Spread

This is right next to the January divider and it gives you the previous, present and following months. A currently list (for reading, eating, planning, etc.) Birthdays box, This Month's Goals and Important Dates.

My Sticker Kits:

Washi Tape

Basic intro sticker kit for Happy Planner

Recollections Sticker Kit that I thought was perfect colors for the color scheme of my Happy Planner.

For celebrating my goals!

Decorating:

One thing I want to mention before going forward is decorating. Now this is something that is totally new to me. I’d never decorated in my planners in the past, I just used a black pen and wrote things down. However, this decorating is a really HUGE thing for planner folks and I must admit, I LOVE it! I definitely intend to decorate in my Happy Planner. Oh my goodness, there are so many fun kits and stickers out there. I highly suggest Etsy and I’ll post one of my fave Etsy stores. Which, just today I have ordered a tone of stickers for my planner. I also have ordered some lovely extra notes pages and half notes page to write out my monthly schedules.

No this pic is not my layout (I’ll post those later) but this gives you an idea of how some folks use their planners and decorate. (Picture courtesy of Victoria Thatcher via Yahoo Images).

Etsy Shop: Libbie and Co.: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Libbieandco?ref=ss_profile

AuthorLife Planner:

Next is The AuthorLife 2017 Planner by Bria Quinlan. As if you haven’t guessed already, this is specifically for everything pertaining to my life as an aspiring author and my writing. I haven’t had the chance to go through everything in it and figure out how exactly I’m going to be using it (as I’m just starting this journey of becoming an author) but I can tell you that it’s got tons of advice and if you’re an author or aspiring author, I highly suggest this planner!

As the weeks go a long, for those of you who might be planners and into the planning community, I’ll share more about how I’m using my planners; but especially my authorlife planner, as well, my blog is all about myself as an author.

So a quick break-down of the AuthorLife Planner:

First there are tons of exercises to do in order to help get your life planned and mapped out.

Then the following pages are: Hard Deadlines, Personal Deadlines, What you Do, Where You’re Going.

Then we get into the layout of the planner: Full January 2017 Calendar. Then it breaks down into a weekly layout. 4 boxes where you write your goals; Writing/Editing, Marketing/Business, Life, Joy (love this!), Notes, task list and on the other page are the blocks in a vertical layout of the days of the week where you can write in your schedule, appointments, etc. These are the same for each month. At the back of the book, at the end of December there is a Month in Review page. Then Wrap It Up page with questions like "My Biggest Accomplishment". Next is: In Retrospect Page with lots of awesome questions for you to answer and contemplate upon things accomplished in 2017 and how you can revamp 2018. Next, Financial Wrap up with tons of info to jot down about your overall finances (great for upcoming tax season in 2018). 2018 Calendar and then notes for 2018. That's it. You could decorate in this if you wanted! J I’ll try to get pics of all of this too.

Buy Link: http://briaquinlan.com/2017-authorlife-planner/

So let’s get planning and I hope all of you have an awesome 2017!! Make this the BEST Year Ever!

Love,

Marie