Dolphin Bay revisited - Kandy Shepherd

I didn’t set out to write a series when I had my first book for Harlequin Romance, The Summer They Never Forgot (February 2014) accepted. It is a deeply emotional reunion romance between Sandy Adam and her first love Ben Morgan and set in the fictional coastal town of Dolphin Bay.

But Ben has a good friend, Kate Parker, who is determined that Ben won’t get hurt again by the city interloper, Sandy. I really liked Kate and thought she needed a story of her own. Kate meets gorgeous Sam Lancaster when she’s organizing Sandy and Ben’s wedding in The Tycoon and The Wedding Planner (July 2014), my second Dolphin Bay book.

Sandy from the first book has a feisty sister Lizzie Dumont and Ben has a movie-star handsome brother Jesse Morgan with a reputation as a heartbreaker—they’re secondary characters in both books. I was determined to get Lizzie and Jesse together—against all odds. I really loved writing this story, Lizzie and Jesse are so right for each other but they have some real problems to overcome. You can read their story in my upcoming December release for Harlequin Romance, A Diamond In Her Stocking.

So three books set in Dolphin Bay among a community of people linked to each other in some way. The books are completely independent but share some characters and, of course, the setting. I guess I wrote a series!

Here’s the blurb for A Diamond In Her Stocking:

"Everyone loves a Christmas wedding! 

Chef and single mom Lizzie Dumont is moving on. Returning to Dolphin Bay to make her new restaurant a success, she has no time at all for jaw-droppingly handsome Jesse Morgan—even if she can't forget that incredible kiss they once shared! 

Jesse can't forget their kiss, either. But the betrayal in Lizzie's past has made her wary of him, and he hates the fact that she can't see past his reputation as a heartbreaker. Now he's on a mission to change her mind—and luckily it's the most romantic season of the year: Christmas!"

 Do you enjoy reading a linked series? Do you like Christmas-themed stories? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

I’ll soon be getting author copies of A Diamond In Her Stocking and I’ll be giving away a signed copy—you could be among the first to read this new story! Please include your email address in your comment if you want to be included in the draw.

Kandy’s third Dolphin Bay story for Harlequin Romance, A Diamond in Her Stocking, goes on sale on December 1, 2014 and is available for pre-order now.

Kandy Shepherd is an award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

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Gadgets, glorious gadgets--Kandy Shepherd

Anyone else share my addiction to kitchen gadgets? At this time of year, I find it hard to resist trawling the sales in search of some exciting new gizmo that I didn’t know I needed until I saw it marked down to “20% off the already reduced price”. Some people shop the sales for shoes, clothes and bed linen (okay, I do that too!) but each post-Christmas sale I promise myself just one new gadget.

This year, I am delighted with my brand new quiche pan—not only does it have a detachable bottom but that bottom is perforated with small holes for even heating and crispier pastry, (just like my pizza heating tray that was my three-years-ago purchase). I’m pleased to tell you that the cheese and caramelized onion quiche I baked in my new pan for Christmas visitors turned out perfect with no soggy bottom.Other favorite gadgets include: an apple peeler/slicer/corer that really works but I have to admit is a tad time consuming; a salad dressing maker that I liked so much I bought two (it isn’t quite like the photo here but you can get the idea); an amazing French vegetable peeler; and a garlic crusher with outsize holes (bought on a long-ago trip to Paris, France). Favorite of all is a set of measuring cups I bought at Disneyland while at the Romance Writers of America national convention in Orlando last year. Why have the regular kind when you can have Mickey measures?

I use most of my gadgets (except for the avocado slicer.) But I have to confess to a shelf full of beautifully colored silicon bakeware that I am just too chicken to use in a hot oven even though I’ve been told over and over it is guaranteed not to melt…

Like me, the characters in my books are interested in cooking (Maddy in LOVE IS A FOUR-LEGGED WORD is a chef-turned-magazine food editor; Serena the heroine of HOME IS WHERE THE BARK is a hopeless cook who tries very hard). At the moment, I am writing a character I want to be a gadget collector like me, but she is a trained chef and keeps telling me to please just give her quality, perfectly sharpened knives. Sigh… guess the gadget-collecting-character might have to find a home in a different story…

Do you have any thoughts on kitchen gadgets—maybe on one you could not be without or one that’s a waste of kitchen space? Please leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of HOME IS WHERE THE BARK IS. Include your email address if you want to be in the draw.

http://www.kandyshepherd.com