We have another new SEALS in Paradise story! This year’s theme is centered around holidays. The latest release is by my friend, Becca Jameson! All buy links are below!
April’s Fool
Ten years ago, he left her with no explanation. Now he’s back, and the sparks burn just as hot as they did in high school.
April might have been young, but she knew what love was. She and Cole were inseparable, voted most likely to marry. And then he vanished on the night she expected him to propose.
Joining the Navy had always been Cole’s plan. He’d intended to carry on a long-distance romance with his high school sweetheart. Nothing could ever come between them…until it did.
In this second chance, small-town romance the past collides with the present as Cole fights to save his family’s business and earn back the trust of the only woman he’s ever loved. Losing her a second time—for good—is out of the question.
Hot SEAL, April’s Fool is part of the SEALs in Paradise series. Each book stands alone, and they can be read in any order.
I love the word “wonder.” The second I read it I see me, with my eyes wide-open radiating awe, my mouth rounded in an O of surprise, my mind bright with amazement. Songs like “God of Wonders” and “Wonderful Wonderful” make my heart sing. So imagine my delight when I started the research for this post on my favorite fairytale and learned that another description for fairytale is “wonder tale.”
The term “fairytale” is derived from the French conte de fées, i.e., short stories that contain all manner of nonhuman characters, not just fairies, and wonderment. I date my love for fairy/wonder tales back to my NYC public school days. In September during the first week of class, you received your subject books, one of which was a reader. You wrote your name and class on a bookplate then dug in for a year’s worth of reading. These books were broken up into three or four sections. I can’t remember what they were, but the final section always contained illustrated fairy tales. It is from those school readers that I first read about Rumpelstiltskin, the Shoemaker and the Elves, Puss in Boots, and the Three Billy Goats Gruff. I particularly loved the ones with talking animals. My favorite of all is The Bremen Town Musicians, a story that appeared in Grimms’ Fairy Tales in 1819.
Briefly, it’s about a donkey, dog, cat, and rooster, all who have become old and of no use to their different owners. They set out to find the freedom they deserve as musicians in Bremen. They come upon a cottage in which thieves are counting their booty. The animals scare them off and enjoy the food left behind. When the robbers send one of their band to retake the cottage, the animals vanquish him. He hurries back with tales of a monster from which he barely escaped with his life. No longer troubled by humans, the animals settle down in the cottage to the life of freedom and plenty they deserve. Although the animals never made it to Bremen, the town has a famous statue erected in their honor. Take a look at the statue here: https://www.bremen.eu/tourism/attractions/bremen-town-musicians.
I think about the little girl I was, who enjoyed reading over and over about these animals’ exploits. As an adult, I can see how each animal determining their own destiny and supporting one another would appeal to an urban kid growing up in the turbulent and heady days of the Civil Rights movement. How could the spunk of the Bremen Town Musicians not inspire me when I was seeing on television or overhearing adults talking about African-American people working together and not allowing others to determine their worth? I even see the Kwanzaa principles of kujichagulia (self-determination) and ujimaa (collective work and responsibility) at work in the story which adds another level of enjoyment to my favorite “wonder tale.”
So how about you? Do you have a favorite fairy/wonder tale? Share its title in the comments for a chance at a $10 Amazon gift card.
Better To Marry Than To Burn
Freed Man seeking woman to partner in marriage for at least two years in the black township of Douglass, Texas. Must be willing and able to help establish a legacy. Marital relations as necessary. Love neither required nor sought.
Excerpt from Better to Marry than to Burn…
She sidled up to him, cupped his erection and fondled his balls.
“Ready for bed or ready to bed me?”
He moaned, placed his hand atop hers and increased the pressure. Already hard, he hadn’t imagined he could get any harder.
“Is that beautiful brass bed new?”
He gulped. “Ye—yes. Bought it—bought it for the honeymoon.”
“I’m ready to be bedded now,” she whispered. “Or is that something we must negotiate?”
All thoughts of dinner vanished.
“No,” he rasped, leaning forward, as hungry for her lips as he was to be inside her.
“Good.” She stepped back, out of reach. “But, let’s be clear…” She bent over, so her butt protruded toward him. She massaged each buttock so her crack parted invitingly. “Tonight it’s the Greek way or no way.”
He blinked, stunned by this demand to be taken anally. His master had had books filled with drawings, depicting naked Greeks wrestling. Those pen and ink depictions flashed before him now. Arms constrained by arms, legs entwined with legs, butts and groins enmeshed in snug contortions. He’d love to take Queen that way, experience first-hand the erotic intimacy etched in the men’s struggle-laden features.
He took one step toward her then stopped. No. One day, he would…but not tonight. Not their first time. Their first time would be the nose-to-nose, chest-to-breast, cock-to-vagina coupling he’d hungered five years for.
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Thank you to Delilah for inviting me to be on her blog!
I’m Ella Quinn, and I write light-hearted Regencies. My latest release is The Most Eligible Viscount in London, book 2 of The Lords of London. I’m also an Army veteran stationed in Germany with my husband who’s trying to recover from his second retirement. He’s going to have to figure it out within the next 18 months. I’m ready to get back to my boat. We also have a Great Dane who has been on the boat and loves meeting people in marinas and a cat who has not yet been on the boat.
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For a chance to win a FREE download tell me whether retiring on a boat is your idea of heaven too!
The Most Eligible Viscount in London
In bestselling author Ella Quinn’s intriguing new Regency trilogy, a dashing suitor must decide if love and marriage are mutually exclusive…
Viscount Gavin Turley is convinced that love matches cause nothing but trouble. Still, after months of courting, he’s fallen for Miss Georgie Featherton. He’s passionate about her, in fact. But words of love are not an indulgence he will allow himself. When he presents Georgie with his marriage proposal, he will lead with his head—not his heart. His qualifications as a husband are excellent, after all. What could go wrong?
No sooner does Gavin kneel on one knee than Georgie’s heart goes aflutter with joy. Finally, the proposal she longed for had arrived. Yet Gavin seemed to be listing his credentials for a business partnership, not a romantic union. Without a declaration of love, Georgie can only reject his offer—unless the ladies of the ton, and Georgie’s grandmama, have anything to do with it. For sometimes it takes a wiser eye to see the love behind a guarded heart—and a clever scheme to bring it out of hiding…
I know that during the pandemic and stay-at-home orders and such, most people have developed fantastic new hobbies, discovered talents they never knew they had, blah, blah, blah. (Me totally jealous) I’ve started working on a degree, so I have no time for anything new between that, work, and writing.
But Spring has come to shine down on me anyway.
Spring is here, and I am so excited. The first bloom of flowers is out. Honestly, I don’t know if they have sprung up or someone had planted them. I don’t have a green thumb at all. I have tried to grow plants, but they all die on me.
Now, you would think that a woman, whose mother had a menagerie of green plants and flowers all through the house when growing up, said woman (me) would know how to at least keep a succulent alive. Sadly, no. In 48-hours, I killed a succulent given to me for Mother’s Day two years ago. It should have been a hint when my daughter started laughing when the event greeter handed it to me with happy day wishes.
When the greeter offered with cheer, “It is almost impossible to kill this plant.”
My daughter answered, “Not for my mom.”
“Oh, ye of little faith.” I shook my head at my daughter as we walked out. Only to hold my head in shame two days later when it was withered, brown, and dead in its little mason jar.
Am I the only one who can’t grow flowers and lush green plants? Please, someone, tell me I am not alone. LOL.
Since I can’t seem to get my green thumb on, I do many clicks with my phone camera when I see flowers around me. It doesn’t matter if I’m at work, or walking in the park, or if they are the plants growing at my neighbor’s house. I wish I knew what the plants were, but I’m not generally concerned about the type only if it is pretty or interesting. Like the picture below that is a cabbage-like-looking plant or flower. I walked by them again a few days ago, and now they look completed different; there’s no pink, not so pretty after they finished blooming, so no new picture.
If you happen to be a ‘blooming beauty’ and know the name of any of these flowers/plants, let me drop me a line. 😊
Claiming Caroline by Yasmine Hyde
Grover Town Discipline Series
Book # 6
Destitute after her father’s death, Caroline Douglas finds herself in a bind when the sleazy, rich business owner wants her father’s debt in full. He won’t take ‘no’ or ‘I owe you’ for an answer. She finds herself dragged to the Harlot and the Hero, forced to work off her payment. When she thinks things can’t get worse, they do. To save her reputation, she finds herself saying ‘I do’ to a sexy, overbearing cowboy. Tired of following the rules of men, Caroline decides to push back. Especially against her sexy, all-consuming husband who’s too quick with his discipline techniques.
Garrett Rand, a dairy farm owner, and brother to the local sheriff, has spent the last six months requesting the hand of one ‘crofters’ daughter. Blocked at every turn, he starts to give up on ever having her, only to discover she’s in the brothel on the outskirts of Grover Town. Willing to stop at nothing to finally claim the beauty as his wife, in his bed, he makes a deal to get her out of the clutches of one of the richest men in town. However, marrying her is one thing; keeping Caroline out of trouble is another. He’ll just have to keep her over his knee until she learns. When danger strikes the area and threatens the safety of his wife, he will do what’s needed to protect her.
Drawing ONE winner from those who comment on my Spring Is On Its Way post on Delilah’s blog between 1 April 2021 – 5 April 2021. The winner will get a signed book, candle, and $10 Amazon GC.
March was… It’s hard to describe. Crazy busy, super annoying. Big happy wins and crotchety pain-in-ass (literally) setbacks.
On the health front… I started the month still recovering from a busted tailbone, but by the third week, I sat comfortably (with a donut, still). My hand (last September’s fall) is still wonky and I met with the ortho guy who said the continued tightness and swelling are all normal, and if I keep doing my hand exercises, I should, someday, be able to curl my fist again and open a damn jar. Good news on the medical front? I had my second COVID shot and my dd had her first! Now, we have the 16 and 17-year-olds scheduled, too. We’re slowly getting there, but still masking and distancing, and will continue to do so until they have vaccines for the little ones.
On the work front… I finished writing Hardmanand published it! Woot! Thanks to everyone who read it and left a review. Reviews are so appreciated! I also completed 5 editing projects, two of which were loooonnng. They kicked my ass, but they are out the door! I got the rights back to some old books I published through some traditional houses a while ago, so I added them to my work schedule because they need a refurb, and one set of stories needs a readthrough because I want to write more in the series. To say the least, I’m super stoked.
On the art front… I am still slogging through the #100daychallenge, although I’m about ten days behind. Here are some of my favorites so far…
April
I completed my April calendar yesterday, and it already needs some fixes. I think April is going to be that kind of month—one where I have to be fluid and roll to evade the bombs and sinkholes. The big thing in April is that I have to write a book and publish it. Yeah, I haven’t written page one, but I generally do best when I’m running on adrenaline, and a hard deadline gooses me into creativity.
That book is Hot SEAL, In His Memory, and it’s going to be a hard one for me to write because it deals with the loss of a friend and a husband. If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy…
As for editing gigs, I presently have two scheduled, but I had that many scheduled for March as well, and look what happened! So, I’m hoping I’ll have the first couple of weeks pretty free to dive into my new story.
On the homefront, I’ve begun work to get the green scum out of the pool. That’s always a weeks-long thing. I can’t wait to swim!!!!! And my dd is putting in a garden. We’re hoping it does well and that we have a summer full of lettuce, cucumbers, strawberries, blueberries, peppers, and more! I love admiring the “fruits” of her labor, but diggin’ in dirt is not my thing. I’ll maintain the pool, thank you very much.
And I plan to catch up on the art challenge, too. I’m getting better at it, I think. But the purpose is to connect with my creative center. Writing has become a job in my mind. I need to find that spark again.
So, I’d love to hear whether you had big wins in March and plans for April! Chime in for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card!
Do you hear He-Man’s voice shouting that? Never heard it? I’ll fix that!
We lost power at 2 AM. I noted it and rolled over to go back to sleep, thinking that like 99% of the outages we have out here in the sticks that power would be back on in a couple of hours. At 5 AM, I woke up again, and the power was still off. Since I was the only one up, I put on some shoes and carried a flashlight down our long driveway to see whether I could see any lights across the road from us. Nada.
So, I called the power company, knowing that someone had to be the first person to notify them when there’s an outage or nothing gets done. I was the first. At hour number seven, I called back to see if they had any idea when power would be restored. They didn’t have a clue because a large pole went down in a swamp due to the storms we’ve had lately, and it wasn’t going to be an easy job to fix it.
Nice. A pole in a swamp. Who does that?
I had a good idea which swamp they were talking about, too. About a mile from us, way down the hill, is a place called Clear Lake. I think something was having fun naming it because it’s anything but clear. It’s a swamp. And it spreads outward every time it rains. Alligators live in it. In fact, about four years ago, a 10-foot gator took a stroll through an adjacent rice field. The kids love to fish there because they can watch the gators swim by when it’s warmer.
Anyway, we had to dig the generator out of the shop and start it up. We ran cords to the refrigerators. We have two. One for storage in the basement and one for the most-used items in the kitchen upstairs. With seven people in the house, we have to keep a lot of food on hand in case, you know, snowmaggedon or floods keep us cut off from town.
I know I sound like a complete hillbilly, but that’s country life. We love it. While the power was out, my SIL and dd headed to the store to buy vegetable plants for the garden they’re putting in. Yesterday, they were working on fencing to keep the horses inside. We had an incident the other day where some old fencing went down during a storm, and the horses ended up running through the ditch next to the highway to get to the green grass in our front yard. They’re penned in a small pasture now until the new fencing is done, but it’s raining today, so too wet to do any more fence work along the lower edge of the property where the ground is, you know, swampy, from the rain.
Anyway, the power is on again. Like a miracle. The day is shot so far is work is concerned, but I thought I’d pop my head in the door and tell you about my day. I’d love to hear about the weather-related issues you face on a regular basis.
