Can a hunky, blond first responder dude fall crazily
in love with a Plain Jane, curvy academic geek who’s
totally ‘over’ romance?

I love my beta readers. They inspired me to write Sven’s story in February of this year. Though truth be told, I was already in love with him myself!

Sven appeared briefly in SKIPPING CHRISTMAS, my full-length, quirky, HOT contemporary romance about Kelley Dunham and Dante Knight, a Canadian hockey brat and sports star who comes back home to the tiny mountain community of Terrence Point, B.C., to claim the woman he loves. (FYI – it doesn’t go well, LOL. At all.)

But then Lisa R. wrote me this:

Sven… what a genuinely nice guy. He was so sweet to Kelley when she turned up at the dance. I hope you are planning to write a book about him as I would love to know his story and find out who he gets his HEA with. Also, it would be a great opportunity to catch up with Kelley and Dante. No pressure .. just a suggestion!

And Terri (Love you, Girl!) wrote something similar!

To be honest, though, I already knew, once I wrote Skipping Christmas….

I was in love with Sven myself.

Sometimes these characters—I tell you!—already exist in the ether, and just need us authors to listen to them and let them cross over into our world.

You want to hear about Sven, you say? (What can I say – social isolating is making me delusional…or yeah. More so than before. (Shaddap, whoever mumbled that. LOL) But let’s run with it.)

Pull up a chair, Friend.

A golden boy ski patroller living in Terrence Point, British Columbia, working at SNOWY PEAKS, the community’s ski resort, he is a really nice guy. Yeah, he’s gorgeous. The typical, breathtaking, beautiful man. Chiseled, hunky, blue eyes gazing out over the snow fields, with his adorbs puppy Jake, a tiny Lab and an avalanche dog in training, by his side.

Sven’s enjoyed SO MANY exotic lovelies when he’s off shift. Women from all over the world. Athletic, hard-core skiiers, who seem to suit him.

BUT….

What if a basically dowdy, plain, curvy woman jettisoned into his life? With her own agenda…none of which included him?

Could they….

Would there be any chance…

Or would he just do the shallow thing?

Keara Faye Linn is strong-willed. On her own, she’s scrapped for everything she’s had in life. The job she’s forced to take for two weeks as Sven’s assistant is just a stepping stone while she gets her masters, and a way to get her out of Toronto, briefly. She is a bit of a jerk, honestly, at first, and doesn’t take the job seriously.

But when a threat from the past slams into her life….

And a bunch of sick kids need help….

And she’s forced to live with Sven in his self-proclaimed ‘humble’ cabin for a few weeks…

Well, you do the math. 

When You Came just poured out of me. I guess Sven and Keara’s story just HAD to be told. There are lots of moments of lightness and levity, but it’s not a simple melding, and it’s not a short story. Here’s the blurb!

And don’t forget, it’s $2.99 for a limited time. Go here to grab it for yourself!

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/When-You-Came-Military-Romance-ebook/dp/B086R6ZF4J/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1586362635&refinements=p_27%3ASusan+Saxx&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Susan+Saxx

Kobo, Barnes & Noble, IBook and Other Retailers — https://books2read.com/u/bOow8A

When You Came

Book 10 in Susan Saxx’s Real Men Series
$2.99 until April 21!
Snowy Slopes. Faithful Dogs. Sudden Intrigue.

Golden Boy Ski Patroller meets Plain Jane Geek.

Military reservist Sven Golden works as a first responder for the Canadian Ski Patrol, saving lives and training avalanche dogs in stunning British Columbia on Canada’s West Coast.

But after the woman he thought he’d marry does indeed get married—only to someone else—and he’s forced to take the harrowing new management job at Snowy Peaks Chalet, things go downhill fast. And when he’s asked to head the resort’s new Valentine’s Day Extravaganza instead of working on the slopes, protecting people, he’s had enough.

But when he meets organizational whiz Keara Linn, a Torontonian desperate for the 2-week temporary job as his assistant, things just don’t add up. Very plain, curvy, yet smart and focused, she’s hiding secrets.

But the passion and heart she’s buried deep inside finally explodes his world. Now nothing is going to shut that down—or his feelings. Not even a crazed madman who is determined to bring revenge on Keara and her guardian dog, the one she loves with all her heart.

And when it’s time? The whole quirky Terrence Point community will have something to say…about everything.

*******

And by the way, if you’d like to read Kelley and Dante’s story first, SKIPPING CHRISTMAS….(it’s Book 1 of the Terrence Point Location and WHEN YOU CAME is Book 2, go here to get your copy!

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Skipping-Christmas-Real-Men-Book-ebook/dp/B082H97SK1/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=susan+saxx+skipping&qid=1586367821&sr=8-1

Kobo, Barnes & Noble, IBook and Other Retailers — https://books2read.com/u/m2rzjk

Psst. Book 3 is on its way!

Big Virtual Hugs,
Susan

I do have a guest scheduled for today, but she’s late! Or, I accidentally deleted her post—that has happened. Either way, I had a blank blog this morning, and that can’t happen. There must be order! (I’m saying that in my best Sergeant Schultz voice, and if you don’t know who that was, that’s just sad. 🙂 )

So, long story short (love that phrase!), sunflowers are my “happy flower”. All I have to do is see one and I want to smile. Don’t know why. They don’t have a lovely fragrance. They’re big and gangly. But they feel like a sunny day, don’t they?

What’s your “happy flower”? 

UPDATE: The winner is…Pansy Petal!
*~*~*

Psst! Just a quick reminder!
This offer is ending in just a couple of days!
Get your free read! Lily’s Last Stand

So, here we are in our third week of lockdown. It has been three weeks now, right? Hard to tell. The days blend together.

On the pro side of things (I don’t let myself think about any cons!)—I’m nearing the end of another book! Yay! My dd has been decorating/rearranging things in the house. It’s so pretty now! Her attention has now turned to the storage sheds. I’m not sure how that means multiple trips to the dump and the burn pile, but she has warned me not to look—so for my mental health, I have not! The kids have really liked their online classes and assignments. Sure, they miss their friends, but they’ve been hanging out on TikTok and FaceTime. They aren’t feeling horribly isolated. Not yet, anyway. And now, Arkansas has made the hard decision to close the schools through the end of the school year. What a relief!

Today, in addition to hopefully getting to the end of my book, I begin my #100dayproject art challenge! I’m stoked! I haven’t done anything to prepare, so I’ll be busy scrambling to do my first pieces. I’m sharing everything I do on Instagram. The good and the bad. (I’m sure there will be lots of horrific, too! 🙂 ) An artist, I am not, but I do love working with paints and color, so it feeds something inside me. Makes me happy. That’s the point.

So, three weeks in, how are you feeling? I saw something from Dr. Fauci saying that our return to normal will mean a “new normal.” Makes me sad that we will forever be hyper-aware of what we touch, who we stand next to, and that this disease will continue to be with us. I’m so very thankful that my family lives in a rural area, away from other people. I can’t imagine how paranoid people living in cities will become.

On a lighter note, I have another puzzle for you! It’s something fun! Solve the puzzle, then answer me this for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!

If you were to write a YA book using this picture as the cover,
what would the story be about?

Vonna Harper isn’t the real me. I created her to hide behind.

Vonna is a sexually liberated writer of many erotica and erotic titles who gives her imagination free rein while the real me writes much tamer stuff. For a long time I tried to keep the two separate, but today it doesn’t matter. Vonna’s creator needs to come out of the shadows and share something deeply personal about coronavirus’s impact on our family.

I suspect everyone who reads this has been touched by the pandemic in some way. Here’s my story. A little over a year ago the adult son I live with was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. We (yes, both of us) have been through a year plus of hell highlighted by chemo, radiation, heart damage, two infections, three trips to the ER, countless blood tests, and countless sleepless nights.

He was scheduled to have the tumor cut out on March 26. We live over four hours away from the big city cancer center where the surgery would take place. He and his brother, my other son, insisted that Mom not subject her ancient immune system to what we acknowledge is a greater risk of catching the virus. My other son, an educator (what he’s going through is a story of its own), insisted on going with his brother and staying for the approximately five days he’d be hospitalized. I stayed home with the dogs and my thoughts.

The morning of the trip (the day before the surgery) my sons had just gotten on the road when the surgeon called to inform us that the operation was still a go and she was fighting to keep it on the schedule.

Four hours later as they exited the freeway, a second call came. Surgery had been canceled. No rescheduling until the hospital is no longer full of coronavirus patients and dedicated medical professionals.

My sons came home. We wait.

As almost an aside, I promise my erotica is a different experience from what you just read. For proof, I offer a couple of recent titles that include spanking scenes.  His Purchase and His Filly take place in The Society which is made up of Elites and Others. In other words, dominants and submissives.

Alia is an Other, a woman with secrets and few rights in a dark world controlled by The Society.

Kade is an Elite, a wealthy, powerful man who knows how to get the ultimate performance from Alia. Whatever it takes, he will bring his sexy, strong-headed acquisition into line.

When she defies him, Kade repeatedly applies his large hand to her bare bottom until it burns and she’s reduced to tears. Until she can’t fight her erotic reaction.

The next time she defies him, she refuses to explain why. He commands her to strip naked and submit to another harsh spanking. As if that isn’t enough, she has no choice but to let him place a butt plug inside her.

Alia wants to hate Kade for doing these shameful things to her, but his firm handling arouses her in ways she can’t deny or resist.

It will take all her resolve not to admit her deepest secret to this man who owns her.

Get your copy here!

Kali has no choice but to work for Boden, a wealthy, powerful Elite. As a vulnerable Other in a dark world of control and controlled, Kali knows her submissive position within the Society. But her vow to do everything she can to protect his valuable racehorses puts her on a collision course with the man who in essence owns her.

Boden decides to discipline the lovely, headstrong young woman via a hard bare bottom spanking. To her shock, she’s deeply aroused. She can’t hide her erotic response which he uses to his advantage.

The lessons continue to take place. Boden doesn’t hesitate to order her to pull down her pants and expose her vulnerable, naked ass. She shudders with every blow then moans when his all-knowing hands slide between her legs. She can’t stop him, can only submit.

Surrender.
Experience.
Want.

Wonder if anything will be left of her.

Get your copy here!

Equine Therapy and PTSD

PTSD has reached epidemic proportions in returning veterans. Repercussions of wartime experiences bring staggering rates of divorce, abuse, hopelessness, homelessness and suicide.

Experts report effects of PTSD are complex and deeply rooted. It affects nearly every facet of the mind, including cognitive and physical responses like reflexes, being easily startled, nightmares, irritability or rage. Having been exposed to consistent trauma such as war or combat, the brain rewires itself and locks out fear, guilt, reasoning and emotional reaction to the experience while in battle. This is the body’s survival instinct at work.

Domestic animals, like cats and dogs, are known for easing anxiety and depression and providing comfort to people. Horses have personalities similar to dogs, except they’re much larger. They’re recently becoming touted for their ability to ease post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as fear, anxiety, confusion, and depression. In many cases, therapeutic horseback riding, also known as equine therapy, can help significantly decrease PTSD symptoms like insomnia, flashbacks or panic attacks.

How?

Equine therapy uses horses to help promote emotional healing and growth of those with disabilities. Behaviors of horses and those with PTSD are similar. They meet on common ground. They’re both oversensitive, easily startled and hypervigilant to danger. Another person, especially in a medical setting, may not be able to provide such a relationship.

Horses, similar to PTSD sufferers, are hypervigilant and fearsome until they perceive they’re not in danger. One must gain their trust. Because of their own issues, a PTSD subject can easily relate to a horse.

Horses sense human emotions and start to emulate them. The horse acts as a mirror to their emotional status. Because of this, the person must work on their own problems to make progress with the horse.

Relationships

Working with horses stimulates spiritual, physical, psychological and occupational healing. Building a trusting, non-threatening relationship with the animal can further positive feelings of love, respect, empathy, patience, and safety in the human

The debilitating feeling hits a PTSD sufferer, and managing the condition means avoiding triggers or sleeping it off. Many find within a few minutes of riding symptoms ease, proving equestrian therapy offers huge benefits.

Equine therapy allows you to communicate with a partner who has no agenda. Horses are well-suited because of their instincts and the way they communicate. You get real-time feedback from the animal. Horses don’t question motives. They react to actions. You must change your actions in order to change results with your therapy partner.

There’s no fear of being exposed or judged by a horse. This accelerates progress. Many enjoy sessions and look forward to them. Retention rates are reported to be much higher than some other therapies, and the average number of sessions needed is fewer. Around the world, equestrian therapy has a solid track record of enabling results.

Many conditions such as addiction, substance abuse, mood, and behavioral disorders, eating disorders, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, autism, Asperger’s, grief or loss, trauma, sex addiction, compulsive gambling, bipolar and depression have benefited from equestrian therapy.

Benefits:

Assertiveness
Emotional awareness
Empathy
Stress tolerance
Flexibility
Impulse control
Problem-solving skills
Self-actualization
Accountability
Responsibility
Self-confidence
Problem Solving Skills
Self-control

2nd Chance Ranch

Captain Chance Gordon dedicates his life to service. The injured Navy Seal returns to his hometown where his future and life depend on the woman who owns his heart—the one he deserted. REVIEW:

♥ AMAZING!!! Lynda IS an amazing writer! I have read all of Lynda’s books and love them. I can’t wait for the next one. Once I start reading one of Lynda’s books I CAN’T put it down. ~Karen Dawn

Buy Link: https://www.lyndareesauthor.com/2nd-chance-ranch/
or https://www.amazon.com/author/lyndarees

If this is a view into my current state of mind, my family is in trouble.

I’ve entitled this “Planet Kithra”, but as I said on Facebook, when I reflect on it, it looks, to me, like a hodgepodge of Green Eggs and Ham, Andromeda Strain, and Little Shop of Horrors. A frightful, psychedelic mess.

But I did have fun creating it. This past week, I finished up two editing jobs, have been editing shorties for First Response, and I’m back to writing One Hot Night, which I have to finish by the 8th—come Hell or high water! Because…it comes out on the 14th. Gah!

So, when I need brain breaks, I doodle and paint. This was me trying out my new tin of Neocolor crayons. When I had what looked like a weird aerial view of colorful farm fields and lakes, I didn’t have a clue what to do. So I thought, let’s tone it down a bit. I plopped white blobs of acrylic on top of it. Didn’t like that, so I put down aqua blobs on top of the white blobs. Then I got out a teal paint pen which immediately self-combusted forming awful big paint blobs which I decided looked cooler if I used the pen tip to make them look squigglier. Then I had this paintbrush pen I need to practice with, too, because I can’t control a thing I draw with it, and the leafy pods appeared. So, after I edited what I wrote yesterday on One Hot Night, I decided I was finished with this piece. Thank God. There’s no more damage I can do.

So, what are you doing when you get really, really bored on lockdown? Are you trying something new? I’m starting the abstract watercolor class I talked about before because the last of the tubes of paint I needed came yesterday. I hope with Laura Horn‘s help, I’ll produce something a little less…weird. 🙂

Hi! I’m Megan Ryder and I write sexy contemporary romance with several series all with everyday heroes with deep wounds and feisty women with their own difficult pasts who must come together to heal and find love. My stories feature humor, deep emotion, and sexy times, all in a roller coaster to their happy ever after.

My current series features three foster boys who came to a ranch in Montana, found a home there and a place to heal, yet it took many years before they found what they all truly needed – a family and love of their own. The third book just came out, A Cowboy’s Song, and finishes the trilogy (though I will be returning to the town and the characters in subsequent books for more stories). This book is about the youngest, Ty Evans, who lost his biological family to a car accident when he was twelve years old, and was then placed in foster care. He held himself apart, and even gave up music for many years, unwilling to open himself up after the loss of his family. But now, his brothers have both found love and their own paths forward in their lives and he feels like he’s standing still. He’s feeling a bit lost and wants to find his own place at the ranch and in his life, only he’s not sure the ranch in his place.

Piper is the daughter of country music royalty, only she hasn’t quite lived up to expectations either. Her last tour and album was a bit of a snooze-fest and she’s feeling the pressure to keep up with her parents and older brother, yet she’s not feeling the passion either. She’s invited to the ranch to be in Tara Rawling’s wedding, Ty’s older brother, and she meets Ty.

When Piper and Ty sing an original duet that Ty wrote for the bride and groom and it’s recorded and goes viral, it seems like they both have a new path in life. Piper’s career has a boost and Ty might have a new path – in Nashville. But the romance they started at the ranch may not be strong enough to deal with the outside pressures of the music industry and their own past insecurities.

This book is about finding your passion, your place, and that one person who sees who you really are and loves you for that.

If you like country music, check out the song that was written and recorded for this book, “Ruined Plans Aren’t Always a Bad Thing” by Sierra Bernal. It’s featured in the book and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music etc. You can also check out my inspiration here on Spotify.

GIVEAWAY

As part of preparing for this book, I listened to a lot of country music, which had been my standard genre but I found I really liked it. This led me to developing the playlist above, so you can hear some of my inspirations for this book. For an ebook copy of this book, tell me what you think is the sexiest country song (or any genre of music) is!

Excerpt from A Cowboy’s Song

He put the travel mug down on the counter. “You call that a kiss? I lent you my dog, and everyone knows a cowboy needs his best friend. I hauled my ass out here in the cold spring night to chase coyotes away. And I apologized. And all I get is a tiny peck on the cheek? I’m feeling a bit cheated here.”

“You yelled at me, offered me your dog, and I never asked you to chase the coyotes. And I gave you my precious coffee. Twice. I’m not entirely sure why I owe you more.”

He pushed off the counter and gave her a lazy smile. “I never said you owed me, darlin’. Just maybe thinking you might want something a little more than that peck.”

A shiver ran up her spine. How could he tell that she wanted to know how his lips felt on hers, what it would be like to trace his muscles with her fingers, and see if his arms would hold her just right? She would be here for only a couple of weeks. It wouldn’t be awkward at all, even if it was bad, but somehow, she sensed it would be pretty damned awesome. And she could use some awesome in her life right about now.

She took a step forward, and his body radiated heat to warm her slightly chilled skin. Her hand reached out and stroked his arm, a tentative motion, then bolder when he stood still, staring at her with dark, fathomless eyes that seemed to see deep into her soul, to the secrets she held inside.

“You’re going to have to make the first move. I won’t have anyone say I forced you.” The deep rumble in his chest startled her in the quiet of the cabin.

She took another step until she was almost flush against him, until just a sliver of air separated them. She rested one hand on his chest, letting her fingertips curve around the muscle of his chest, his heart pounding just under the skin. Her head tilted, and she wet her lips and sucked in a breath. Why had her courage suddenly deserted her? She was inches away from the most desirable man she had seen in years and she was about to back out.

He ran his hand down her cheek and traced her lips with a fingertip then ran them under her chin, lifting her a little more. She parted her lips and her eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips on hers, a gentle, introductory kiss. She slowly relaxed under the unhurried tasting, opening her lips a bit more when his tongue stroked against hers. His hand circled her waist and pulled her flush against him, the hard planes of his body fitting neatly against her soft curves, and his tongue dueled with hers, parlaying and dancing in a tangle of passion.

Slowly, he pulled back and she found her hands painfully twisted in his shirt, holding him close, almost climbing him to get closer. She disentangled herself from him and smoothed the fabric of his flannel shirt, trying to ignore the muscles underneath, and the fact that she had a bed just a hallway away.

“I’ll see you in a few hours.” His voice sounded gruff and hoarse with passion.

A Cowboy’s Song

Can they build a future on a shaky foundation?

Tyler “Ty” Evans lost everything in a car accident when he was twelve, retreating into his shell so tightly that it took months for him to come out again. Music and the ranch saved him, and he will always be grateful to his foster family for saving his life. Now, with the ranch on financial tenterhooks, he wonders if he can use his music to contribute to the solution.

Piper Raines is the daughter of a legendary country music family. While her parents and brother are all famous, her attempt at an independent career went off the rails, and, with exhaustion and stress and bad press dogging her every step, she needs a place to recover. When Piper is invited to vacation at the ranch, Piper and Ty connect through horses and music. After a video duet of Piper and Ty goes viral, they’re invited to sing in Nashville, which also provides added pressure, stressing their new relationship.

Universal Links: https://books2read.com/ACowboysSong
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B&N: http://bit.ly/37Fbos4
KOBO: http://bit.ly/2HG8QiQ
iTunes: https://apple.co/2SWvcle
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Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2P9yNeA