A Holiday Motto

I love the holidays! I love that so many people seem willing to not only find the glee that's all around them, but actively try to give glee to others as well!

So when I set out to write a story for Maeve, who was a solitary secondary character in my A Valley Ridge Wedding trilogy (You Are Invited, April Showers and A Walk Down the Aisle), I knew that it had to be special, and that I wanted to find a very special way for her to find her glee by giving it in A Valley Ridge Christmas!

I'd already established she had a giving heart…she reopened the community's small library almost single handedly.  So when a homeless family shows up literally on her doorstep she jumps right in.  What I love about Maeve is she lives her life by the words, "I can't save the world, but I can try."  That willingness to jump in…well, I knew she needed a very special man.  Oh, I wrapped him in a bit of a Scrooge-ish exterior.  He lives life by the motto…everyone's got an angle.  I loved pitting an optimist against a pessimist.

Now that I know that Maeve's got the right man, I'm busy getting ready for the holidays here.  I made my first batch of cutout cookies earlier this week…and they're almost gone.  There's a certain Cookie Monster who's taking finals and she says they help.  So, I'll be making more cookies and I still have some hard candy to make!  I make a number of flavors, but the kids' favorite is one we call Death by Cinnamon.  They're pretty sure that any candy

that makes your eyes water is good!

I hope your holiday prep is going well!  And I'm wishing you a wonderful holiday season.  I hope you're surrounded by friends and family.  And if you have a chance to try out Maeve's personal motto this holiday season, I hope you give it a try!

Holly


PS My other Christmas release, Spruced Up: A Maid in LA Holiday Novella is on sale for 99 cents for Kindle until December 15th!

Christmas Reading Bonanza!

by Anna Campbell

Firstly, happy Holidays to everyone! And I hope 2014 is a wonderful year for all of us.

Thank you so much to everyone who's swung by to read my posts here and especially those lovely people who left comments during the year. And thanks to Lee for hosting this fun blog!

2013 was a terrifically busy year for me - I feel like I haven't stopped since I was wishing everybody happy new year last January.

So I'm very much looking forward to a few days off between Christmas and New Year. Here in Australia, Christmas falls in midsummer so instead of snow and sweaters, we have beaches and sweat! My plan at this stage is to grab the TBR pile and make some serious inroads before I get into a new project.

So I thought for my final blog of the year, I might give you some idea of the books I'm looking forward to reading over that week of sloth.

This last year, I've read a lot of mysteries, but it seems I'm going (almost) solidly romance for my holiday. The one exception is a couple of the charming Aunt Dimity mysteries by Nancy Atherton to which I've recently become addicted. I'm up to books 12 and 13, AUNT DIMITY GOES WEST and AUNT DIMITY: VAMPIRE HUNTER.

But on to the romance.

First up, I've got three Karina Bliss SuperRomances waiting for me. I love Karina's writing - if you haven't read WHAT THE LIBRARIAN DID, grab it. It's a wonderful story.

Also on the SuperRomance front, I've discovered a Sarah Mayberry hidden in my TBR pile. Hurrah! SUDDENLY YOU looks like Sarah's usual wonderful mixture of aching emotion, sizzling sexual tension and memorable characters.

I've got a couple of longer romances from favorite Australian writers waiting for me.

I love Bronwyn Parry's award-winning romantic suspense stories set in very vividly described outback Australia. I've got her latest DARKENING SKIES calling to me right now. Can't wait.

Cathryn Hein writes wonderful rural romance. I picked up her latest,  HEARTLAND, a couple of months ago but haven't had a chance to dive in yet.

I've been stockpiling marvelous historical romance author Nicola Cornick's Scandalous Women of the Ton books for just such a time as this when I can wallow in her richly imagined and sensual Regency world. I've loved the first few in the series.

If I've got any time spare after all those, I've got a Nora Roberts omnibus, CHARMED, to look forward to. I recently read Nora's NORTHERN LIGHTS and loved it. 

So do you take a break over the Holidays? Are you looking forward to reading anything in particular? 

To add to your Christmas reading, I'm giving away a download (international) of my Christmas novella THE WINTER WIFE to someone who comments today. Good luck!

Traditions : : Anne McAllister

I don’t know about you, but we have a lot of traditions that have become a part of our holiday celebrations over the years.  Some have been passed down from my grandparents to my parents, to me to my children and, now, to my grandchildren. 

There are certain dishes we make in certain ways.  The turkey dressing (some call it ‘stuffing;’ we call it ‘dressing’ and always have. Stuffing is something you put in homemade pillows.) is always made the same way to my g-grandmother’s recipe. 

We have, on occasion had other kinds as well because, as we’ve gathered in-laws we’ve also gathered their traditions. But there is a limit.  My daughter found it when her soon-to-be spouse’s mother advised that they get Stove Top.  “I can’t marry him,”she told me.  “I can’t eat Stove Top for the rest of my life!”  No disrespect to Stove Top.  It can be quite tasty.  it’s just that, in our family, it’s not something to base a marriage on.

Other traditions last for a number of years and then circumstances cause a change. When my kids were small we made cut-out orange-flavored sugar cookies, and the kids decorated them with a lavish hand, and then we hung them on the Christmas tree.  Every single year.  Until we got a dog.

Now we’ve decided that the tradition of having dogs is more important than hanging the cookies on the tree.  And we have more cookies on the plate that we can eat before they get stale. Also the decorations, for a number of years, were less lavish and therefore more edible. With the advent of grandchildren, though, the lavish is back.  But the dogs are still here – and I foresee them staying a while.

For years and years our block had a Christmas caroling party.  We have a one-block-long street which is nice.  Pretty much any living room on the street will hold all the carolers.  So we moved up and down the street and caroled and ended up in someone’s living room celebrating together. This lasted for easily seventy five years (and no, I wasn’t here for all of them!). But then somehow we got roped into a “neighborhood” Christmas party one year by the historical society, and it was too big and no one from our block ended up going – but the carols never resumed, either.

Had its time come to move on?  I don’t know.  But I rather miss it – and these days I don’t know the names of some of my neighbors.

As a means of resolving at least part of that problem, five years ago, I accidentally began a new tradition.  My friend Nancy who is an honorary member of our block because she lives a few streets away, but her dog thinks he lives here, had students from China who wanted to bake Christmas cookies. 

So she and I invited the Chinese students over to make spritz cookies. And because we thought that a couple of my neighbors would enjoy meeting the Chinese students and and vice-versa, we invited those neighbors.

It was a great success. So much so that both the neighbors and the Chinese students wanted to do  it again the following year.  We added a couple more neighbors – those who missed the caroling, too – and a couple of different Chinese students. And we baked cookies. Lots of cookies. Everyone took home plenty of cookies.

We’ve been doing it now for five years. The number of neighbors has grown dramatically. The Chinese students have changed; some went back to China; some are in graduate school elsewhere.  But we still get Christmas cards from some of them – and reminiscences of our years baking cookies. I envision that somewhere in China there are spritz cookies being made even as I write this!

We’re doing it again next week.  It’s one of my favorite ‘traditions’ now.  And judging from the eagerness of those invited, I think it’s a good time for everyone.  When we began, it was supposed to be a one-off. But then, traditions aren’t always the ones you plan.  They are the ones that mean something special.

What traditions do you have that mean a lot to you? Please share!

Anne has discovered that her book Breaking the Greek’s Rules, which is in fact a Christmas book about Alexandros Antonides and Daisy Connolly, has turned up in an anthology called Mistletoe Surprises, along with books by Helen Brooks and Sara Orwig.  If you can find it (she had a hard time doing so!), you might enjoy it. 

Lovin’ summer – Kandy Shepherd

Wherever you live in the world, and whatever festivities are special to you at this time of the year, I'm welcoming the opportunity to wish you all the best!

December Down Under isn’t just about celebrating Christmas and New Year, it’s also about celebrating summer. The schools start their long vacations in December stretch right through to the end of January, the universities go even longer.Our Christmas vacation takes place at the hottest, sunniest time of the year!

Many Aussies decamp to the beach and Christmas Day is often not a traditional sit-down dinner in sometimes sweltering heat but a barbecue. In my days as a food magazine editor we came up with recipes to cook that Christmas feast on a barbecue. We discovered that a butterflied turkey—cut and spread flat—works best.

In our family, with British origins on both sides, we go for the full-on indoors feast—and thank our lucky stars for air-conditioning!

I’m sharing with you today one of my favorite Christmas recipes—Macadamia Shortbread. I only make it once a year, both to keep it special and because I love it so much I’d quite happily eat the whole buttery batch again and again!

I'm sharing the recipe for my favorite Christmas treat - buttery Macadamia Shortbread

While shortbread is Scottish in origin, macadamias are very much Australian. Although they transplanted very happily to Hawaii, these delicious nuts are in fact indigenous to Australia.

If you get a chance to make this recipe I hope you enjoy it! 

MACADAMIA SHORTBREAD

1 ¾ cups plain (all-purpose) flour

½ cup cornflour (cornstarch)

250g (8oz) unsalted butter, softened

½ cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 cup macadamia nuts roughly chopped

1. Preheat oven to moderately slow 160˚C (325˚F). Grease and line a 30 x 20cm (11 x 7in) shallow baking pan. Sift the plain (all-purpose) flour and the cornflour (cornstarch) together, then set aside.

2. Cream butter and caster sugar until creamy. Fold in sifted flours and nuts. Press shortbread mixture into the pan. Cut through batter into six squares, then cut each square into four triangles. Bake for 40 min (until just pale golden).

3 Allow to cool in the pan. Transfer to a board and cut into pieces where marked. Store the shortbread in an airtight container.

Note: Recipe works with Australian or American measuring cups, there is only a slight difference.

(The recipe appeared in That’s Life! magazine when I worked there. When I “taste-tested” it, I knew we were onto a winner!)

For many years, I spent part of the Christmas vacation on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales, the state where I live. I love that area so much I created the fictional south coast town of Dolphin Bay in which to set my first novel for Harlequin Romance The Summer They Never Forgot.

The beach, the surf and a pretty harbor are the setting for a deeply emotional romance and brought back happy summer memories for me as I wrote it.

The Summer They Never Forgot, will be released on February 04, 2014 (to give a taste of summer in the northern hemisphere winter!)

Do you have a favorite Christmas/holiday recipe you make every year? Or a recipe you wish someone would make for you? Please leave a comment—I’d love to hear about it!

Kandy Shepherd writes fun, feel-good fiction.

Watch out for  The Summer They Never Forgot, her first release from Harlequin Romance on February 04, 2014 in the US, the UK and Australia.

Kandy’s new contemporary women's fiction e-book, Reinventing Rose, is available now at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and other e-book retailers. 

Her romances include the Amazon bestseller The Castaway Bride, Something About Joe, and the award-winners Love is a Four-Legged Word and Home Is Where the Bark Is.

Visit Kandy at her website

www.kandyshepherd.com

Cover Reveal!

This is my Christmas present to myself - a brand new updated edition of one of my earlier books, A Point of Pride, which was published on Amazon and Smashwords yesterday and will, fingers crossed, have trickled through to iTunes, Barnes & Noble and all points south by next week.

I always loved this book. There's a scene in it that stuck in one editor's head so firmly that when she moved to another publishing house, she invited me to write a trilogy of longer books for that house - and The Beaumont Brides was born.

I regained the rights to A Point of Pride a couple of months ago and my first task was to re-read the original. There was a clunky scene involving a mobile phone (something rare when this book was written) that had to go. There were repetitious scenes involving backstory. I could go on, but suffice it to say that It was an object lesson in how practising your craft makes for a better writer. I was also able to change the wedding dress to match the image I'd chosen for the cover - lots of symbolism there. Oh, the power!

And what more fun than to reveal the cover first, here, on Tote Bags. :)

Here's a little taste -

‘SMILE, sweetheart…this is supposed to be the happiest day of your life.’ Not by one flicker of her lashes did Casey O’Connor acknowledge that she had heard the words murmured by the tall grey-clad figure of Gil Blake, as he took her right hand firmly in his own.

She stared resolutely ahead, her face almost the colour of the wedding dress she was laced into. The vicar glanced at her, gave her a reassuring nod and she forced her mouth into a smile.

‘Dearly beloved…’ he began. ‘…to join together this man and this woman…not to be taken in hand unadvisedly, lightly or wantonly…’ The familiar words of the wedding service faded in and out but in her head she was back in a woodland clearing, lying in the arms of the man she loved, the man she thought loved her. ‘I require a charge you both…’ The vicar’s challenge rang out, jolting her back to reality and for a moment the room swam.

She dug her nails into her palm. She would not faint...

There was no challenge, no impediment and, after the briefest pause, the marriage service moved inexorably on to the vows.

‘I Gilliam Edward Blake take thee Catherine Mary O’Connor...’ Gil’s firm voice rang firmly through the church, every word clearly heard by the congregation come to witness the shockingly sudden marriage of Casey O’ Connor to the tall, tanned stranger who had snatched her from under the very nose of the most eligible bachelor in Melchester.

Then the minister turned to her. ‘I Catherine Mary O’Connor take thee Gilliam...’ he prompted.

As she heard the words that would bind them together the temptation to flee was so strong that she was uncertain whether she had in fact stepped back, or it was just her imagination that Gil’s fingers tightened possessively over hers.

She glanced at him from under her lashes. His grey eyes regarded her steadily, but there was no warmth to encourage her response. He was demanding her total surrender.

A dart of anger and an inward promise that he would pay dearly for this moment of triumph lent firmness to her voice as she repeated the words. The slightest tightening of his mouth suggested he had read her mind, but no one could have doubted the sincerity of his words as he placed the ring upon her finger. 

'With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship...’ His mouth curved into a self-mocking smile as he added, ‘And with all my worldly goods I thee endow.’

Lucy Ellis: I'm a bookaholic

Thanks to Lee for inviting me to post.

Like most of you reading this, I'm a bookaholic.  If it's got print, I will read it.

I was three years old when those squiggly lines on a page began to make sense and I didn't look back.  I can remember as a young girl being depressed at the realisation no matter how long I lived I couldn't possibly read every book ever written.

We all have a childhood book that made a resounding impression.  For me, and generations of little girls, it was Anne of Green Gables.  My mother gave it to me when I was six and I read it, and fell in love - not only with Anne Shirley, but the whole - to me - fairytale world of Prince Edward Island and the end of the Victorian era.

I often wonder what my life would have been if my mother hadn't given me that book at that particular moment in time.  She was holding onto it until I was older, but I'd come home crying because the neighbour's children wouldn't play with me.  She gave me this treasure - a playmate in the form of a book, and so it has been ever since.

Books are where I go when I'm bored, when I'm tired, when my mind is racing at midnight and I know I need something to slow it down.  Books are my joy, my comfort, my window into other worlds.  They partner me when I eat alone at restaurants, they come with me on long, rambling walks as I recount favourite stories in my head.  They are the place I go when my soul has been carved out of me and there is no feeling left.  They revivify and reconstitute as nothing else can.

Those voices, for me at the top of the pile:  Byron, Tolstoy, Eliot, James, Colette, Woolf, Akhmatova, Faulkner, Byatt, Mantel, Makine, Toibin (feel free to add your own) show you the world and your place in it as not even the wisest friend can.  They are there for you at one a.m. in the morning when you are awake and your family and friends sleep, they are speaking to you on a train, at a bus stop, sitting on a winter's beach or curled in a favourite chair in your house.  All of these wonderful, capacious, sharp, insightful minds telling you a story that connects you across time to what it means to be human, making you feel less alone.

Share with me, if you would, the books that made the biggest impact on your life, the books that rescued you, the books that led you astray, the books you couldn't live without.  I have a couple of my own little books to give away - they won't change your life or rescue you from disaster, but they will pass the time for a couple of hours and hopefully make you smile.

A hug, 

Lucy

Maisey Yates: Tale As Old As Time

It’s fitting that I have Disney on my brain as I’m writing this blog. My family has been at Disneyland enjoying all of the great and magical Christmas celebrations that happen this time of year. And why is it fitting? Because Hajar’s Hidden Legacy is FREE right now in ebook!

Ok…I guess I have to explain again why that’s fitting.

Beauty and the Beast, the Disney version, is one of my favorite things ever. I first went to see it when I was in second grade. My dad took me, and I think that alone cemented it as being one of my favorite movies of all time.

Fast forward several years, and here I am writing romance novels. Well, I knew that I was going to have to write one based on my very favorite love story.

And really, as the film says, it’s a tale as old as time.

A beauty, and a man so beastly is takes real love, real caring, to see past it all and down into the redeeming features he doesn’t even see in himself.

UK Cover

My heroine Katharine, like Disney’s Belle, is no passive character. She needs an alliance with Zahir’s country to ensure the safety of her own. Promised to Zahir’s brother before he was killed in a horrible attack that left Zahir broken and scarred, Katharine is determined that the original marriage agreement should stand.

So what does she do? She storms the castle of course. With determination and a whole lot of luggage. And a marriage demand that my scarred hero would really, really like to refuse. He does, in fact refuse it. But Katharine settles into the palace, knowing he can’t forcibly remove her without creating an international incident.

Like the Beast in the Disney story, Zahir was spoiled before the attack left him transformed - scarred physically and emotionally, Zahir is nothing like the easy playboy he once was. And of course it takes Katharine to unlock all that he could be.

Unlike The Beast, my Beast Sheikh can never be physically beautiful again. But with love, the emotional scars can heal. And he can become a better man than he ever was before - all thanks to the love of a strong, Beauty of a woman.

North American Cover

So if you’re into that kind of thing, check out Hajar’s Hidden Legacy. It’s free to download from Amazon, iTunes, etc, in the US. But if you fall outside those boundaries, check it out on the Harlequin website -http://www.harlequin.com/store.html?cid=233 (scroll down to ‘Presents’ and click ‘download the PDF’)

Happy FREE reading!

Maisey 

Melissa Mayhue: An exciting season for me

Thank you so much for inviting me to chat with your readers today!  2013 is turning out to be a really exciting season for me and there’s nothing better than being able to share the excitement!

First up was the release of WARRIOR UNTAMED on November 26.  This is the third full book in my Warrior Series and it wraps up the Warrior storyline.  For all my readers who’ve been waiting for the full-fledged Happy Ever After for these characters, this is it!  WARRIOR UNTAMED is Halldor and Brie’s story, and follows them as they pursue–and defeat—the ancient evil that has invaded the world of man.

For all those readers who love the time-travel romances, no need to fear their demise!  The finish of the Warrior Series doesn’t mean the end of my writing these books.  I’ve already started on the next series, which I’m tentatively calling the Time Travel Series.  It picks up in the same world as the Warriors [and my earlier Daughters of the Glen Series] and will even bring back some of the characters from those two prior series to give them their own stories—at last!  This new series will continue my theme of finding yourself, learning to love and accept yourself, and finding your Happy Ever After with your own perfect person!

Here’s the blurb for WARRIOR UNTAMED:

Bridget MacCulloch is a fearless warrior driven to seek revenge for her father’s death.  When the bras Norseman who saved her life rebuffs Bridget’s help in defeating her most loathsome foe, she refuses to surrender her quest.  Her need for vengeance is equaled only by her growing attraction to the mighty Halldor. 

Halldor O’Donar must find the missing Sword of the Ancients. Only with this weapon can he destroy the monster that has entered the Mortal’s world and is determined to bring about it very downfall. Though he’s forbidden Bridget from accompanying him on his mission, he soon discovers the stubborn—yet sinfully irresistible—warrior princess heeds no one but herself.

Now they must learn to trust each other if they’re to defeat their enemies or risk everything as they surrender to a desire that has the power to conquer all.

My second big excitement is the December release of TAKE A CHANCE, the first book in my new contemporary romance series.  These stories are set in the fictional town of Chance, Colorado – The town where love gets a second chance!  The themes are the same in this series as in my paranormal historicals, minus the magic… well, except for the Magic of True Love!  What would a romance be without that?  

Here’s the blurb for TAKE A CHANCE:

Allison Flynn has spent the last eight years struggling to build the life of her dreams. But a cheating boyfriend, the loss of her beloved job, and her mother’s illness have all conspired to bring her back home again, shutting the door on those dreams.

Logan O’Connor is a man driven by guilt and haunted by the what-ifs of his choices in life. Betrayed by the woman he’d thought he loved, he’s given up any dream of the Happy Ever After he’d once assumed his life would have, and devoted himself to his work.

When Allie and Logan cross paths, they’ll need to risk their hearts once more to have any chance at finding what they really want.

Sometimes you have to Take a Chance to make your dreams come true…

To learn more about any of the books, or to read short excerpts, please visit my website – www.MelissaMayhue.com.  I’d be happy to answer questions or chat about the books.  In fact, we have a brand new group on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/groups/614037238656349/] specifically for readers to talk about the Chance Series – or any of their other favorite romances!  Feel free to stop by and join in the discussion.  You can find me on Facebook at my Author Page [www.facebook.com/Melissa.Mayhue.Author  ] or, if you just want to know when the next books are coming out, feel free to sign up for my New Release Newsletter at http://bit.ly/1aa509b.

  

Amanda McCabe: Running From Scandal

I had a new book release this weekend!!!  (I know, another one!  It’s been a crazy book autumn, but now you will have a break from me until April, when my second Amanda Carmack mystery, Murder at Westminster Abbey, comes out…).  This month it’s Running From Scandal, book two of the Bancrofts of Barton Park duet.

The past is always hot on your heels… 

 Emma Bancroft used to pride herself on her sensible nature, but good sense flew out the window during her first Season in London! Her reputation and her belief in true love in tatters, she reluctantly returns home to Barton Park.  

 David Marton is trying to live a quiet life—until Emma comes sweeping back. With whispers of scandal all about her, he knows she will never be the right woman for him, but sometimes temptation is just too hard to resist…. 

When I was working on book one (The Runaway Countess, the story of Emma’s sister Jane and her estranged husband), I knew Emma would be the heroine of book two, but I wasn’t sure who her hero would be.  I loved her free-spirited, digging-in-the-dirt exuberance, and wasn’t sure who would match her!  She followed her heart, which didn’t always lead her down the right path.  Then I noticed the sparks she had with the seemingly strait-laced neighbor, David Marton, and thought…what if???

I loved spending time with Emma and David!  Their romance was inspired by the 193os screwball comedies I love so much.  Bringing Up Baby, The Awful Truth, The Lady Eve…all deliciously frothy and fun stories of madcap heroines teaching too-serious heroes how to have fun, while the heroes give the heroines stability and security in love.  I also fell in love with David’s daughter Beatrice, who does not want a new mama–until the right one comes along.

“Including a darling little girl, meddling relatives, and a bit of suspense, McCabe’s story charms readers and gives them an enjoyable read…”  –RT BookReviews

(Read an excerpt at my blog to see Emma and David’s meeting!)

What are some of your favorite romantic movies, with character pairings you love???  (One commenter wins a signed copy of Running From Scandal!)

Deb Herbert: Why I write paranormal romance

Upon learning I write paranormal romance, people often look perplexed and one of the first questions they ask is – ‘Why’?

My short answer is a shrug and a cryptic remark that ‘it’s fun.’   The longer answer can be found in my tagline that describes the kind of books I write:  “Where love, like magic, casts its own spell of enchantment.”

I’ve never outgrown my love of fairytales and mythology.  One of my fondest memories in Girl Scouts was reading about the housekeeping elves in the official Brownie’s Handbook.  I still remember a song we used to sing at meetings that was about fairies:

White coral bells

Upon a slender stalk

Lilies of the Valley

Deck my garden walk.

Oh, don’t you wish

That you could hear them ring

That will only happen

When the fairies sing.

It’s the possibility of magic that tingles my creative drive and curiosity, the speculation that there is more to reality than we can perceive through our senses.  

My debut novel, Siren’s Secret, is the first book in a trilogy about a secret clan of shapeshifting mermaids living in a Southern Bayou.   Do I really believe that half-fish, half-human creatures populate deep waters that no man has yet traveled down?  No.  But who knows what really exists in the depths of the oceans or beyond our galaxies where humans have yet to explore.  The human brain is a marvelous organism that by its very nature loves to seek answers and pioneer new ideas and concepts. 

And as far as the romance part of the writing equation – I’ve always been a sucker for love stories.  As a teenager, Harlequin books lined my bookshelves and I devoured them like candy.  The very first book I ever wrote, at age twenty, was a Harlequin romance.  I was newly married and we lived pretty much paycheck-to-paycheck so there was no money in the budget for a typewriter.  (Yes, I am dating myself here!)  My husband promised that if I actually wrote a book, we could purchase a manual typewriter.  I wrote that romance longhand on legal pads and he held up his end of the bargain.  (I don’t think he believed that I’d really finish it.) With a bottle of white-out by my side, I laboriously typed up the manuscript and submitted it to Harlequin, sure of a brilliant success.

Weeks later, my manuscript was returned with an editorial comment that blasted my book’s premise that a thirty year-old man would really fall for a teen-aged girl.  Yeah, looking back now I realize that was more than a little creepy!  I still have that truly awful manuscript in a desk drawer.  Every now and then I pull it out and read the first page which poetically describes the changing color of leaves in autumn.  Hardly mesmerizing material.  So often I’ve vowed to throw it away, yet my hands pull back from the trashcan and back it goes into the bottom desk drawer.

Fast forward to the present . . .  after retirement, I took up my old dream of writing.  How fitting that my first publishing contract is with Harlequin.  Life can be mysteriously circular at times.

I would love to hear why you read romances or paranormal romances.  What draws you to them as a reader?   Have you ever had something mysterious or eerily coincidental happen to you?  Let me know, I’m always hunting new stories and you may end up in one of my books!

In Debbie Herbert's debut novel, there are two secrets, each one with a deadly consequence…

Shelly Connors's worlds—on land and in the sea—are turned upside down when an evening swim turns into a nightmare. On a sweltering night deep in the bayou, the mystical mermaid witnesses a horrifying act. With a monstrous killer now hot on her trail, her life and the lives of her kin are in jeopardy.

Terrified of becoming the next victim, Shelly has no choice but to turn to Sheriff Tillman Angier. Tillman has had his intense gray eyes on the sultry honey-haired beauty for a while. The feelings are mutual…and impossible to ignore. But he's determined to solve the murders, and he knows Shelly's hiding something. Can she trust him with her deepest secret?

Debbie Herbert writes paranormal romance novels reflecting her belief that love, like magic, casts its own spell of enchantment. She’s always been fascinated by magic, romance and gothic stories. 

Married and living in Alabama, she roots for the Crimson Tide football team. Unlike the mermaid characters in Siren’s Secret, she loves cats and has two spoiled feline companions. When not working on her upcoming book, Siren’s Treasure, Debbie enjoys recumbent bicycling and motorcycle riding with her husband.

A past Maggie finalist in both Young Adult & Paranormal Romance, she’s a member of the Georgia Romance Writers of America. Debbie has a degree in English (Berry College, GA) and a master’s in Library Studies (University of Alabama).