Madcap Fun with Lindsey Paley and her new book

June 2015

A Camille Carter Novel Book One

Buy on Amazon

2.99 ebook

From the Publisher:

When all-round buttercream princess, Millie Carter, becomes stranded at Craiglea Manor Cookery School, she believes her chance of enjoying a merry festive season is over.

The village of Aisford is Christmas-card perfect, but Millie hates it - she hates the snow, her freezing fingertips, and being forced to look like her Aunt Marjory in a mud-splattered wax jacket and wellies instead of her beloved shorts and sparkly sandals.

She plots her escape but ends up locking spatulas with the estate manager, Fergus McKenzie, who is forced to rescue her before she succumbs to a severe dose of hypothermia. Things start to improve with the arrival of handsome Sam Morgan, fresh from the beaches and rum shacks of the Caribbean.

Can Millie accept her fate? And will Aisford sprinkle some of its seasonal magic on her troubles?

Snowflakes and Christmas Cakes is a festive story of love and friendship and reaching for the buttercream icing and edible glitter when life gets tough. 

My review:

I love Lindsey Paley’s work. I love that each story is a little virtual visit for this American Anglophile to Great Britain. I enjoy her characters. This first submission in the Camille Carter series is no exception. She even made me miss winter with her summer release.

Chef Millie is one raw dough woman, missing that essential ingredient that would create the perfect recipe of life. Trouble is, she keeps trying all the wrong additions and making messes. Fleeing from tragedy to heartbreak to heartbreak and to fling, readers follow madcap, clumsy, chip-on-her-shoulder, opinionated Millie as she stumbles unknowingly headlong into a scheme to catch a crook. Maybe she’ll even catch a break, but there’s no end of fun in store with Book One.

Told in third person multiple viewpoints, this delightful contemporary British tale will delight readers who like stories with twists and turns and a little zest with their romantic scenes. The story is billed as a novella, but it’s not all that short. Fun read.

Delightful Short Pet Read

I've been privileged to work with many authors on a vast array of projects, everything from short horror, flash fiction, quick little reads to epic historical novels. Eliza Earsman has an interesting history, besides a growing list of lovely tales to read. Manley, the rescue cat, is a charming tale at a sweetheart price.

About the Book:
Manley was in a bad way. Dehydrated and exhausted from a long ‘stowaway’ journey, he was found in the back of a removal merchant’s haulage truck. One day and 400 tarmac miles earlier he had crawled in to examine what he thought was a load of peace and quiet. Falling asleep on a sofa wasn’t the best option but that is what happened—and he had no way of raising the alarm. 

The two hardy workmen fed, watered and soothed him. Short of leaving him on the mean city streets, they had no option but to take him to an inner city London animal shelter. Staff there found a microchip identifying his owner but the ‘owner’ didn’t want the cost of hauling him back to his south-of-England home county. 

June 2015
20 pp
$1.49
Buy on Amazon

My review:
A lovely story about the relationship between two adventurous souls, one human, one cat. Manley might have been rescued from the shelter, but he rescued Shelagh, his boon companion, every bit as much. Nice little reading nugget, cat romance, charming adventure, and yes, Manley's expression on the cover, a little smug, a little shy, and little sleepy, says it all. Delightful For those who like a quick short pet read.

Penelope Marzec and Patriot's Pride historical fiction

Margaret, the heroine of Patriot’s Pride, first appeared as the indomitable younger sister of Agnes in Patriot’s Heart. Margaret and her pet pig, Jonas, stole many scenes in Patriot’s Heart. I knew I had to give Margaret her own book and I am delighted I was able to do so.

One fact, which initially inspired me to write the book, was the impressment of American sailors by the British even though the Revolutionary War had come to an end. Eventually, the practice turned public opinion against Britain, resulting in the War of 1812.

I did quite a lot of research for the book and discovered many ways in which our world has changed considerably since 1784, which is the year Margaret embarks on a journey to England.

I wrote a blog post on how recipes used to be called receipts. I wrote another on the sad statistics of surgery in those long ago days. I love research and am fascinated by the details of history.

Naturally, once I read about the sad state of surgery in those days, it wasn’t difficult to imagine Derrick, a surgeon, who is haunted by his brother’s death. When his prayers went unanswered, he turned his faith to science. He believes studying with an esteemed surgeon in England will return meaning to his life.

Then there’s Margaret, whose fiancé died at the hands of a doctor who bled him to death. On board the Prosperity, she meets the arrogant Doctor Fortune who considers her no less than a milkmaid. She considers him a butcher. Though she must journey to England to hear the reading of the will of her grandfather, the Earl of Broadcraft, she finds herself constantly confronting Derrick on his methods of healing. Yet, there is something about his soulful eyes that attracts her. When a British ship presses the Prosperity’s sailors into service, Margaret and Derrick must work together if they are to reach England. But can they ever learn to trust each other enough to allow love into their hearts?

Below are the buy links!

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

                         

                         

Penelope Marzec grew up along the Jersey shore, heard stories about Captain Kidd, and dug for his buried treasure. All she got was a bad case of poison ivy. Deciding books were better than buried treasure, she discovered romance novels and was soon hooked on happy endings. She became an early childhood educator and found her own hero in an electrical engineer who grew up in Brooklyn, played the accordion, and was immune to poison ivy. Now retired, Penelope either writes her stories or paints seascapes in oils. Sometimes she sings while her husband plays the accordion.

You can find Penelope at her website.

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New Novella by Canadian Fav Sharon McGregor

Fiona’s Knight of Dreams

Sharon McGregor

June 2015 Prism Book Group

Historical romantic novella

Amazon Kindle

.99 

The good ladies of Timber are ready to find a wife for their new single minister. Charles has ideas of his own when he meets Fiona, the lovely accident-prone and outspoken part-time librarian. Fiona, on the other hand is holding out for a knight on a white charger to carry her away from her humdrum small town life. Fiona and Charles are thrown together as they begin to solve an old mystery which has turned up in a library book. Will Fiona's white knight ever show up to sweep her away? Will Charles ever run out of invitations for cream cakes and lemon slice? Fiona might just discover the sound of hoof-beats when she least expects it.

My Review:

Post World War II in Canada...everyone has been affected somehow, whether family member or friend, and the new young single pastor in Timber has his own experience as an army chaplain. Fiona thinks of herself as a klutz and futureless. Young, naive, unsure, she’s not sure what to think when the pastor comes calling. Using a little mystery in a library book as the beginning of their courtship, McGregor paints a charming story of regaining a life of purpose, and finding a sure path to the future in this novella.

I enjoy this author’s stories and recommend them for readers who like clean and sweet bite-size romances for a vicarious adventure in historical Canada.

Sharon McGregor is a west coast transplant from the Canadian prairies. Her imagination and story weaving got its start when she was an only child living on a farm. She's moved on from cowgirl dreams to romance and mystery, but hasn't lost her love for horses.

When not writing or reading, she's busy with the two shops she shares with her daughter- an ice cream and candy store and a bath boutique.