All Work, No Play?

We ran away from home on Sunday.

Both my husband and I worked non stop last week. I was trying to catch up in my Fortress Of Literature. That's what my son calls my attic office. My husband worked a bunch of overtime.

Sunday was his only day off and he still has some winterizing to do, wrapping taps and tying trees. It's been a remarkably warm November. Normally we have snow by now, so that outside work really, really needs to be done. He's playing chicken with the weather, he really is.

Me, I'm always on deadline and I have about a million emails I have to answer so I couldn't really afford a day off.

He did have Monday booked off, but that was because he had to drive three hours for a specialist appointment. Small town is wonderful until you really need something, like carpal tunnel surgery. Then you're feeling the distance to civilization.

You also feel it when you want to see a new, big screen movie. Everyone was raving about The Arrival and our little theatre is usually a few weeks behind.

So there we were, drinking coffee Sunday morning, talking about all the things we had to get done, and somehow decided to play hooky from all of it. (We did manage to take out the garbage, since it was garbage day.) Then we left a day early for his appointment, got a hotel, saw the movie (which was wonderful and thought provoking and poignantly beautiful), then saw his doctor and drove home in the sunshine, rejuvenated and not feeling the least bit guilty.

Now I'm back at my desk and my eyes are crossing at my To Do list, but sometimes you have to make hay while the sun shines, right? Also, it's been my goal for a long while to find a better work/life balance. Having fun with loved ones keeps your relationships strong.

Face-time (the real kind) is also how you build a relationship, which is what Nicki does when she helps Quincy connect with his son, Atlas, in His Christmas Miracle. She designs an Advent calendar of activities they all do together. One reviewer on Netgalley said:

"His Christmas Miracle is such a loving, family romance. Sound strange? Not really. This isn’t about a man and a woman falling in love. This story is all about falling in love with a family. Father and son. Man and woman. Woman and child. Family love."

I hope you'll check it out. There's even a link to download your own Advent calendar included in the back of the book.

ON SALE!

Also look for Blame The Mistletoe, Book Two in my Love In Montana series, on sale for a few more days at 99c. (All of my books can be read as stand-alones, but you'll visit with Liz from Blame The Mistletoe in His Christmas Miracle.)

How do you like to spend time with friends and family? Have you had any fun, impulsive getaways lately? Even for an hour?



Bio:

Dani Collins is the USA Today Bestselling author of thirty romances for Harlequin Presents, Montana Born and herself. She lives in Canada with her high school sweetheart. Join Dani's newsletter list and receive Cruel Summer, a short ebook romance, as a welcome gift. Sign up here.

A romantic destination – Kandy Shepherd

 A highlight of my visit to England last month was a one-night stay at the beautiful art deco hotel on Burgh Island on the coast of Devon.

The wonderful 1930s hotel on Burgh Island in Devon in the UK

 One of the hotel’s claims to fame is that Agatha Christie was inspired by Burgh Island to write two of her most famous novels—Evil Under the Sun and Then There Were None (originally published with a title considered now to be offensive.)

I thrilled to the idea of visiting this hotel, which is cut off at high tide from the village of Bigbury-on-Sea with no way off the island. It’s where Agatha Christie got the idea of a household of potential murderers cut off from escape and trapped in each other’s presence. The actually hotel and island were the setting of the “Evil Under the Sun” episode of the television series Poirot (Christie’s famous detective). I recognized the setting straight away.

Art Deco splendor 

 Agatha Christie is said to be the best-selling author of all time. What fun it was for me as a writer to stay in the place that so influenced her writing. Our little visit was with both my bridesmaids and their husbands and it was a wonderful (yes, expensive!) treat to celebrate us all being together. Who knows what inspiration the stay will give me for future stories…

The hotel was established in the 1930s with famous celebrities of the time staying there. Apparently they welcomed the privacy and isolation. The rooms are named after famous people who stayed there over the years and are beautifully decorated in the Art Deco style—much of it original. Having a drink in the ancient (1336 AD) Pilchard Inn was also a memorable experience.

Having a drink at the ancient Pilchard Inn was quite an experience

 As you can see from my photos, the weather wasn’t wonderful but we didn’t mind. The rain held off for a walk around the rugged coastline and the rest of the time we spent enjoying the luxury of our surrounding. And the excellent food. The hotel staff were brilliant too. My only regret was that I didn’t get to ride the water tractor, the unique mode of transport that drives through the water with the enormous tires on the sandy bottom of the channel.

This eccentric vehicle is the sea tractor that transports guests to and from the island through the water

 Is it no wonder that Burgh Island came second in the Mills & Boon Romantics awards for most romantic destination?

Is there a romantic destination you’d like to visit—or already have visited? A destination that turned out to be not so romantic after all? I’d love to hear about it. I’ve got an advance copy of my next Harlequin Romance, Gift-Wrapped in Her Wedding Dress, to give away. Make a comment if you’d like to be in the draw. Please include your email address.

Gift-Wrapped in Her Wedding Dress (yes, it’s a Christmas themed novel!) will be released next month on November 1. It’s an intensely emotional story about a brooding billionaire Scrooge and a vivacious party planner. 

The billionaire's Christmas proposal… 

Billionaire Dominic Hunt's Christmas ball is a chance for hard-working party planner Andie Newman to make her name. She's intent on convincing gorgeous Dominic that decking the halls is the way to transform his brooding reputation, but he has an alternative idea—a festive proposal! 

After Dominic unexpectedly helps Andie with her own emergency, she says yes! The engagement is meant to be just for show, but as Dominic and Andie are surrounded by the magic of Christmas, they find their fake feelings are becoming all too real…

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

Connect with Kandy on Facebook and Twitter

Escape to an Island Romance - Annie West

Do you ever dream about getting away from it all somewhere secluded and romantic? Do you fantasise about a holiday somewhere warm and lush, where you can be pampered and carefree? Personally I couldn't resist the idea of an island getaway. There's something about the notion of being totally isolated from the world, linked only by phone or radio or boat, that appeals to the armchair adventurer in me. In real life I enjoy my comforts but as a kid I used to fantasise about a Swiss Family Robinson type existence and even now, the idea of an island getaway sounds so romantic to me.

So when I came to write my current book: CAPTIVE IN THE SPOTLIGHT I had enormous fun putting my two antagonists/soon-to-be lovers on an island. The story starts in Rome but shifts quickly to a private island of the south coast of Italy where the sunsets are glorious, the views fantastic and the temperature scorching - or maybe that's just Lucy and Domenico together.

It's not a tropical island but it does have lush gardens, plus a wilderness, some soft sand beaches and a pool to loll beside. There's a ruined castello and a luxury mansion. After all, if you want to hide away from the paparazzi, why not do it in style? After all, Domenico is from one of Italy's oldest and wealthiest families, so he'd have the best of everything at his fingertips. It takes a special woman to make him reassess the things he takes for granted to see another side to life.

Lucy, the woman who's just out of prison after a conviction for killing his brother, is that woman. Needless to say, falling for his brother's killer is not on Domenico's agenda. As for Lucy, the last person she wants to be with is this man who had no faith in her and abandoned her to the grinding legal system when she needed him most. You could say they have a lot to overcome - and you'd be right.

These photos of mine were both taken in sunny Queensland, Australia, but they give a feel for the lush luxury I imagine at the thought of an island escape. Lucy and Domenico's island looks a little different but has that some 'away from it all' air.

Does an island escape appeal to you? Have you ever visited an island and felt its magic? Maybe a tiny island just big enough for a lighthouse or a vast one like Sicily, brim-full of fascinating places and people. Is there an island destination you'd love to visit? 

Stop by tomorrow when I'll announce the winner of a free signed copy of one of my previously published titles to one person who leaves a comment.

Annie's CAPTIVE IN THE SPOTLIGHT is available now in North America, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Visit her website to read an excerpt or find out more about it. Here are a few links to buy: 

Amazon

Book Depository

Barns and Noble

Mills and Boon UK

Harlequin