Author Interview

BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY is featured and I'm interviewed today on Love, Lust and Lipstick Stains. Stop by to learn more about the book (and me!) and leave a comment.

You'll find the interview here: LOVE, LUST AND LIPSTICK STAINS

Here's what J. Glasser, Patricia Gordon, and Nan had to say about Bluebonnets for Elly in their recent 5-star reviews on Amazon. 

J. Glasser: "Sandy does a great job of setting the scene and creating characters. It is most engaging to read. I loved this book and highly recommend it."

Patricia: "I really enjoyed Elly and Derek's story. Both had wounds from previous relationships, and as the two of them started to trust each other, their pasts returned to complicate things. I enjoyed Granny - she sounds like the kind of woman I want to be. I got lots of enjoyable reading time with this book!"

Nan: "In addition to the romance, a major element that weaves through the story is the loving relationship between Elly and her grandmother. Their bond, along with Granny’s zest for life and bawdy sense of humor, add depth to the story. I loved that extra ingredient in the plot—grandmother/granddaughter relationships are always special to me since I missed having a grandmother of my own." 

I'm delighted that these readers enjoyed my book. Reviews are gifts from readers that keep on giving. To authors, they're priceless! 

THANK YOU!

Saturday Snapshots - Pub Signs

In August 1999, my husband and I rented a flat in London for two weeks and used it as our home base to explore the city and surrounding countryside. Our BritRail passes definitely got a workout, and we had a great time!

Here are a few photos I took of the more interesting pub signs we came across on that vacation. We didn't sample beer or ale in every single pub, but we did hit a few! (Click on pictures to enlarge.)

Love the little piggy perched on the ledge of The Flying Pig.

The sign over the Bag O' Nails reminds me of Jack Sparrow!
Must be the braids in his beard.

The White Swan presented a more dignified entrance.

And Fuller's Ale & Pie House invited us in for "Sanctuary"

Saturday Snapshots is hosted by West Metro Mommy Reads.

To enjoy a variety of beautiful pictures from around the world, 

click HERE or on the box below. 

The Doctor's Indiscretion - The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings on Friday

When nurse Carrington Hanover transfers to a new hospital, she sees Paul Valverde again for the first time in years - and now he's a doctor! The attraction is still there, but can they overcome the deception that drove them apart years before? 

Author Lynne Marshall kept me entertained with this delightful book. And would you expect dance scenes in a medical romance? There are several, and they're so romantic!

Book Beginning:
Carrington Hanover had never seen a better profile or such staggering good looks. She followed her old nursing school friend down the hall toward the doctor reading a chart while leaning against the door. 
Something about him looked familiar.

Friday56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
A sixteen-year-old boy might think he'd fallen in love, but it could only be a crush. A grown man didn't fall in love with creamy white skin and faint traces of freckles. Or a pert nose and plump lower lip. A man didn't fall in love with the color of a woman's hair.

Genre: Medical Romance
Length: 172 Pages
Amazon Link: THE DOCTOR'S INDISCRETION
More Books by Lynne: Amazon Author Page

Synopsis from Goodreads:
     A doctor... A nurse... An indiscretion...
     Paul Valverde is stretched to the limit, caring for an elderly relative while running a business and maintaining a full-time medical practice at St. Stephen's Hospital--with no time for a relationship.
     RN Carrington Hanover leaves her money-hungry fiance at the altar and moves on to a new job at St. Stephen's Hospital in Los Angeles. The next man in her life must love her, not her money.
     All work and no play has made Paul an unfulfilled man, and the resurrected redheaded crush from his youth is driving him to distraction. Can their complicated past become untangled by their newfound attraction--or will their love be doomed by mistrust and long-held resentment?

*********

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts  

   (sponsored by Rose City Reader)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice) 
                           

ELLY on Secret Cravings

Elly Macauley is a star!

My recently released book, BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY, is featured on the SECRET CRAVINGS / SWEET CRAVINGS blog today. I hope you'll stop by, read the excerpt, and say "hi."

Here's the link: BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY

Thanks a million!

Saturday Snapshots - More Texas Photos

Recently, I asked Sandra Allen, my good friend and co-author of I.O.U. SEX, to take pictures of bluebonnets around her home near Lake Texoma. I hoped to use some of her shots in promoting my book, BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY. Unfortunately, there wasn't a bumper crop of the state flower in her area this year, but she did get some terrific photos while she was out and about, some of which I've posted below with her permission. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Thanks, Sandra!

Go just about anywhere in Texas and you'll see the state flag displayed.

Yep, there's really a town named Fink. According to the Texas State Historical Assoc.:
"Fink's population was estimated at twenty-five for most of the period
from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s." I doubt if it has grown any since then.

Too bad there weren't many bluebonnets in bloom in Grayson County this spring.
They sure can put on a show when they cover a hillside.

To see more gorgeous photos on a variety of blogs, 
visit West Metro Mommy Reads: HERE.

Darlin' Irish - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

As Darlin' Irish (Texas Devlins) opens, Jessie Devlin uses her second sight to receive a message from the depths of a well - "Look West." But the vision also includes a pair of loving gray-green eyes as well as eyes flecked with flames. Does danger await her as she seeks the man she is destined to love? 
Author Lyn Horner took me on a romantic adventure from Chicago to Utah to Texas in this delightful wild west story. What a journey! 

Book Beginning (Prologue):
Chicago; April, 1872
"Saints above! Where is it?" Jessie muttered, slowly making her way across the dark, fog-shrouded field. She couldn't see one blessed thing.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
He looked magnificent in his dress uniform with its gold cording and epaulets, his dark hair shining, his bronzed features so handsome and proud. Hardly believing he was soon to be her husband, she met his eyes, heart knocking against her ribs.

Genre: Western Historical Romance
Length: 320 Pages
Amazon Link: Darlin' Irish

Goodreads Synopsis:
Psychics in the Old West? Yes indeed! Say howdy to Lyn Horner's Texas Devlins, a trio of extraordinary siblings. Darlin' Irish, the first book in the author's unique, award-winning trilogy, is a tale of epic adventure and steamy romance set ablaze by flashes of psychic power. Jessie Devlin possesses second sight, a gift inherited from the "Old Ones," her Irish Druid ancestors. A survivor of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, she endures nightmares of the fire in which a gentle, loving stranger saves her life. She believes they are fated to love and a prophetic vision sends her west in search of him. But a second vision warns of a fiery-eyed madman who may also wait somewhere beyond the horizon. Will her quest lead her to happiness . . . or into a deadly trap? Captain David Taylor is a Texan banished from home after fighting for the "wrong side" in the War Between the States. Now serving on the frontier, David meets Jessie on the way back to his post after a trip east. She stares at him as if seeing a ghost, for he looks like the hero in her dreams, but while he's entranced by her beauty, he has no taste for her firecracker temper. She brings to mind someone from his past who he'd rather forget. As the two journey west by rail their clashing personalities war with a fiery attraction to one another. Violence dogs their path and explodes in Mormon Utah. Whether love will win the day or be lost forever is a question that hangs in the balance until a shattering final battle between good and evil on the broad Texas plains.
                                               *********

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts  

   (sponsored by Rose City Reader)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice) 
                           

Setting Inspiration - Saturday Snapshot

When writing BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY, some of the settings in the book came from memories of my years in Texas, but I also did in-person research. The book takes place near Lake Texoma, close to the Texas-Oklahoma border. While visiting Sandra Allen, my friend and co-author for my first book who lives in that part of the world, I took the following pictures. They inspired some of the settings in my second book. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

This dirt road runs through my brother's property.

You expected cattle with an oil well pumping in the background,
didn't you?

I believe this small town is in southern Oklahoma. 
I erased the town's name from the City Hall sign. I love Photoshop.

Couldn't resist this! I played with Photoshop a little bit on this one 
to make it a little softer and grainier.

Actually, this photo of  a mobile home neighborhood for people over 55 
was taken in Washington State, not too far from my home. One of the characters
 in BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY lives in a similar neighborhood. 
I played with Photoshop on this one too, attempting to make it look 
more like a drawing than a photograph.

To see more gorgeous photos, visit West Metro Mommy Reads: HERE.

Moving In - Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56

It's been a while since I've read a novelette, and I enjoyed this quick read. MOVING IN by Alice Audrey is a sweet story (rated PG or maybe even G) laced with humor. The best friend character is a hoot! This book is a fun escape and just what I needed to read today.

Book Beginning:
Diane trudged across the wooden porch and stepped into the hall with her prized gold-and-green Tiffany lamp cradled to her chest. "I hate moving day. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it."

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
"This is nice. This is how I always saw myself in the future. I'd come home from a long day's work, sit on the couch next to a fine woman and just enjoy the moment."

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: 67 Pages
Amazon Link: MOVING IN

Synopsis from Goodreads:
      When Diane and Trigvey move into the same building on the same day, more than their suitcases get tangled up.
      All his life Trigvey never once doubted his calling to be a doctor, but an accident in the ER has him doubting himself. Diane's willingness to listen helps him get his head on straight. If only he felt worthy of a woman like her.
      Diane is the kind of woman who would love to be someone's wife. Not a trophy wife, or simply married, but the kind of wife whose job is to stay home and take care of the family, even if the family is only a husband. She feeds Trigvey and consoles him, and doesn't even know she has him wrapped around her finger. Jilted for a career-woman and raised by a bitter divorcée, Diane no longer believes in that dream. It's up to Trigvey to convince her it could still be real, if she chooses him.

                                                *********

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings and Friday 56. 

   Click here to connect to other Book Beginnings posts  

   (sponsored by Rose City Reader)

   Find other Friday 56 bloggers here 
   (sponsored by Freda's Voice) 
                           

Patty Jane's House of Curl - Teaser Tuesday

This story of two sisters - Patty Jane and Harriet Dobbin - begins in the early 1950s and spans the following decades. Through those years they experience heartaches, deaths, births, friendships, alcoholism, joy, and most of all love. The plot is both funny and sad. Although written in 1995, the story is still relevant today. It's definitely worth reading.

In my Teaser, Avel Ames III is driving his Packard down Minnehaha Avenue, when he sees Harriet Dobbin. It's love at first sight. Avel is talking to Harriet.
      "Not that I don't like spunk," said Avel, "for I truly do. The moment I saw you coming out of that bakery, swinging your arms as if you were the bantamweight champion of the world, I knew you and I were going to have a very colorful life together."
- From Page 28 

Genre: Women's Fiction
Length: 292 Pages
Amazon Link: Patty Jane's House of Curl

Here's the synopsis:
Patty Jane Dobbin should have known better than to marry a man as gorgeous as Thor Rolvaag, but she was too smitten to think twice. Yet nine months into their marriage, with a baby on the way, Thor is gone. It’s a good thing Patty Jane has her irrepressible sister, Harriet, to rely on. For it’s been said that a fine haircut can cure any number of ills, and before long the Minnesota sisters have opened a neighborhood beauty parlor complete with live harp music and an endless supply of delicious Norwegian baked goods. It’s a wonderful, warmhearted place where you can count on good friends, lots of laughter, tears, and comfort when you need it—and the unmistakable scent of somebody getting a permanent wave. . . .

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away -- you don't want to ruin the book for others)
• Share the title and author too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers
• Leave a comment on MizB's Teaser Tuesday post (HERE) and include your link so everyone can find your post.

Blog Hop Winner!

Congratulations to JoAnna for winning an ebook copy of Bluebonnets for Elly. Enjoy!

Thank you to everyone who visited my blog and took the time to leave a comment during the Secret Cravings Publishing Contemporary Romance Blog Hop. 

Bluebonnets for Elly is available in ebook and paperback formats through these booksellers:

Sweet Cravings Publishing 
Amazon  
Amazon UK
All Romance eBooks  (ebook only)
Bookstrand (ebook only)
Barnes and Noble (ebook only)
CreateSpace (paperback only)

FYI: Click here to download Amazon's apps for devices other than Kindle:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=dig_arl_box?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

Contemporary Romance Blog Hop

Sixteen authors of sweet and sexy contemporary romances have joined for a giant giveaway, hosted by Secret Cravings Publishing. To participate, start by leaving a comment on my blog, then hop from one blog to another and comment on each post for chances to win free books and other goodies!

Link to participating authors here: SECRET CRAVINGS PUBLISHING

I've posted a few of my photos that inspired settings in my recent book, BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY. To sign up for the chance to win a free ebook copy, leave a comment below. Be sure to include your email address so I can contact you! 

BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY takes place in
Shannon Ridge, Texas - a small town similar to this one.

Elly and Derek took a road like this to go on a picnic.

And of course, there are fields of bluebonnets - 

Texas's state flower.

THANK YOU for stopping by, 

and don't forget to leave a comment!