Time to start fresh. A brand-new year of possibilities. That got me thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. Some people are for them. Some people are against them. Where do you stand on the matter? I, for one, am for them. I like to reflect on the past year both personally and professionally. I like to think about goals I set the previous year and see if I met them. If I didn’t, then I reflect on why not and what I need to do to differently? Life is complex. It can get busy and crazy and a jumbled mess if we let it. Happiness is about balance, or so I’m learning 😉 I’m finding the older I get, the more balance I need to be happy. The older we get, the wiser we get. As cliched as it sounds, it’s true! I no longer need all the things I once thought I did to be happy and fulfilled. It’s taken me years to realize my success isn’t based on the accomplishments of anyone else. It’s based on my own goals and working hard to meet them. 2020 hit hard for us all. I never in my wildest dreams imagined we…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Kari Lee Townsend! Writes: National Bestselling Author Kari Lee Townsend writes fun paranormal cozy mysteries. She also writes romantic comedies, emotional women’s fiction, and dark women’s fiction as Kari Lee Harmon. Her newest book MURDER IN THE MEDITATION is book 8 in Sunny Meadows Mystery series and comes out December 28th! Her books always have a bit of humor, a bit of romance, and depending on the genre, a bit of mystery or emotion. WWW.KARILEETOWNSEND.COM About: If you’re looking for an author who will lead you through a maze of clues with twists and turns you won’t see coming and a satisfying ending that will leave you wanting more, then I’m the author for you. I love to go on adventures, play with my two big fluffy Samoyeds, drink a great glass of wine, pretend I’m a professional photographer, and curl up with a good book. I used to love a hot bubble bath, but now I’m all about a hot tub. I love spending time with my…

I’m often asked about my writing routine. How I write. When I write. Where the ideas come from and how I get each one onto the page. For me, ideas have never been a problem. I have too many most of the time. The trick is deciding which ones I connect with most. My characters help me with that when they show up and start talking. The loudest, most determined one always gets the most airtime inside my head, invading my creative bubble so insistently I can no longer ignore them. Sometimes, it makes for a chaotic start to my day! One thing for sure, though, remains consistent about my writing routine. I’m a morning person, pure and simple. So when I tell people I get up at 5 AM, seven days a week, to write, I am invariably treated to incredulous looks and even a few “Are you crazy?” comments. Maybe I am. Then again, maybe I’m just the right amount. My imagination is alive early in the day. From the moment I open my eyes, the story I’m writing comes to life inside my mind and characters take shape and form. There’s just something about a quiet house…

I had an incredible amount of fun writing FURY OF DESTRUCTION (the Dragonfury Series). Gage and Samantha’s story surprised me every step of the way. She’s tenacious, smart, and sassy while struggling to overcome a disability that challenges who she believes herself to be. He’s both tender and tough, a take-no-prisoners kind of guy who makes enemy dragon-warriors fly in the opposite direction. So to say I enjoyed writing about the pair is an understatement. Together, they make for an explosive, passionate, exhilarating combination. So today, in keeping with Gage’s tough guy routine, I’m listing some of the things I think are important for every dragon-warrior to possess. Top 5 Attributes Every Dragon-shifter Should Have: 1–A wicked amount of lethal. (Because you never know when he might need to pull a truckload of vicious out of his bag of tricks to send other dragons fleeing.) 2–Razor-sharp intelligence. (Not only to make quick decisions on the fly, but to catch the other Nightfury warriors cheating at the weekly poker game.) 3–A well-developed sense of humor. (If he can’t laugh at himself, no way he’ll survive a sharp-witted razzing from his fellow dragon-warriors. And honestly, it happens…a lot.) 4–Charm…and bucketsful of it….

I would be willing to bet that everything you think you know about queer history is wrong. Actually, I would be willing to bet that you were never taught queer history to begin with, especially not in school. So how is it possible that there is an entire, emerging and thriving sub-genre of Historical Romance about a part of History that never existed? Because love has always been love, no matter what a small handful of historians writing in the mid-20th-century might have wanted people to believe. What’s this? Historians are biased in the way they interpret and report History? They’ve swept a bunch of details under the carpet to advance a particular narrative that denigrates an entire demographic? No! Say it ain’t so! In fact, it’s true. The notion that, prior to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, all gay men were closeted, ashamed of themselves, isolated, and that they would be instantly put to death if they came out is a deliberate distortion, sold to the public by people with an agenda. The truth is that homosexuality in all its forms has been much more widely accepted throughout history than most of us were taught. Actual, academic historians like…

In SLEIGH BELLS RING, Amber Evans is the maid of honor for her best friend Samantha Darling, and Kip Covington is the best man for Nathan Snow. Amber and Kip have been at odds for a year, trying to outdo each other in every aspect of wedding plans. Now that it is their job to plan the bachelor and bachelorette parties, they can’t agree on a theme. Kip oversteps his bounds and invites them all to a joined party at his couples’ ski resort in Vermont. The bride and groom and thrilled, so Amber has no choice but to go along with the plans. That got me thinking about bachelor and bachelorette parties. I’ve been married for thirty-two years, so I haven’t been to a bachelorette party or thought about one in quite some time. In doing research for this book, I was amazed at the themes that are out there now, from wild to flat-out crazy. Here are my top ten favorite ones: A Friends-Themed Bachelorette Party You can arrange your very own Central Perk inside your bachelorette pad with a Friends-themed bachelorette. You can send the coffee mugs home with guests as favors, after your Instagram shoot. You…

COLD FEET – The feeling of uncertainty about moving forward with your wedding In CHAOS AND COLD FEET, Sunny Meadows begins to have cold feet about her wedding. She knows she loves Detective Mitch Stone, but everything that can go wrong does go wrong in planning their wedding. It took forever to pick a wedding date in HAZARD IN THE HOROSCOPE, and Sunny’s horoscope revealed the best time for her and Mitch to get married. When people mention maybe changing their date, Sunny is horrified. She can’t possibly change her date. She starts to panic and begins to look at everything that’s going wrong as signs that maybe she and Mitch weren’t meant to get married. This time around, it’s Mitch convincing Sunny that these mishaps aren’t bad signs. They’re sabotage. Someone is trying to sabotage their wedding, and he won’t stop until he finds out who and why. Saying “I Do” is the easy part. Planning a wedding can be a very stressful time. I have been with my husband since I was eighteen years old and we’ve been married now for thirty-two years. That’s not to say everything was or is perfect, but we’re happy and that’s what…

Every year I say I’m not going to start planning for the holidays until after Thanksgiving, but who am I kidding? I start watching Hallmark holiday movies the second they come out, usually before Halloween. With all the shortages in supplies as well as delivery services from the pandemic, this year more than ever it’s time to start planning early. Start what, you ask? Everything, I say! Start making a list and checking it twice. Start reflecting on the past year. Have you been naughty or nice? In NAUGHTY OR NICE, Samantha Darling is through being nice. Nice has gotten her nothing but heartache, so she decides to give naughty a try. Getting back at her ex is worth ending up on the naughty list. You’ll have to read the story to see what crazy situation her new motto has landed her in and how she handles it. I have no “real” exes to get back at because I’ve been with my hubby since I was eighteen; but if I did, I could see myself doing what Samantha does. Sometimes I feel like I’ve always been way too nice in life. Don’t get me wrong, I love being nice. Helping…

VALLEY OF SECRETS comes out on September 7th. It’s a women’s fiction book with romance and a bit of mystery. The story is about a woman following her aunt’s journal on a journey of self-discovery who finds herself in an unlikely relationship with the editor-in-chief who is trying to solve a mystery that has haunted him for years, but a valley of secrets and a devastating loss threaten the new life she fought so hard to create. It takes place in a fictional town called Mystic Valley, but the state of Vermont itself is very real. I lived in Vermont for a while, and the state is beautiful and mystical with many things to love. Everyone has their favorites but my top five favorite things to do in Vermont are: See the Covered bridges Covered bridges are on my list of must-sees. You won’t find any better than those in Vermont’s Bennington County, where every spot to cross a stream seems to be under wooden eaves. You will find most of the covered bridges in the state’s southeastern corner, including the 88-foot-long Silk Road Bridge, which spans the Walloomsac River and dates from 1840. Anna drives over a covered bridge…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present COREENE CALLAHAN. Writes: Fast-paced, action-packed paranormal romances fueled by captivating love stories. My new release, FURY OF CONVICTION is the second book in the exciting, new Villains of the Dragonfury Series. Reader’s Entertainment Book Reviews has said my books are “Modern-day fantasy and paranormal with hot romance… storytelling at its best!” About: Award-winning and bestselling author of the Dragonfury Series, writing paranormal romance and supernatural thrillers. I love dogs, playing ice hockey, vintage typewriters, and reading while tucked into a cozy armchair with a cup of tea. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Enjoys action-packed, thrill rides with hot guys and strong heroines Dreams of magical encounters with mystical warriors Appreciates ride-or-die friendships Likes to be on the look-out for things that go bump in the night Loves page-turning stories with happy endings What to expect if we’re compatible: To laugh out loud when the hot guys get out of control A steamy, soul-stealing love story To be surprised at every turn To…