Sunday Snippet: The News Edition

Well, it’s a new Sunday morning and I just opened up the house to let in some fresh spring air. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and there’s a gentle breeze. It’s the last week in April and it finally feels like spring, although we’ve had what is typical for spring in the Midwest–rain, cold, snow, warm temps, and then chilly again.

We went up the lake yesterday–just for the day–and cleaned up the yard. Picked up sticks, weeded, and swept winter’s detritus off the deck. Then came home and christened our new deck here with margs and a lovely visit with neighbors, Mary and Bob. How we love our neighborhood here! Life is so different from living on the highway for 37 years. It’s nice to be part of a community. We’ll get flowers soon and lights for overhead and a new umbrella for the table.

There’s news for writer Nan. First, my essay appeared in Indy Maven, a local publication written by women, for women, about women, and what an honor that was. I loved writing the piece about dragonflies and my mom and discovering myself. It’s here if you’d like to take a peek. This e-zine is impressive as heck and it’s a pleasure being a part of their female-centric work.

Also, pre-order links are up for The Fireman’s Christmas Wish–book 3 in the Lange Brothers trilogy, which are more stories from River’s Edge. I love this story. Is it okay to love one of your books so much? Well, it doesn’t matter if it is or it isn’t, I just do. Here’s the link to pre-order, the blurb, and a tiny excerpt to whet your holiday romance appetite.

Her heart is wide open, but he’s nailed his shut.

Preschool teacher Harley Cole has always viewed life through rose-colored glasses. With a career she loves, friends she enjoys, and a home that is her haven, there’s only one thing missing—finding her soul mate. As the holidays approach, Harley is inspired to help her former high school crush rediscover his holiday joy. It’s just a good deed…until the feelings she thought were gone come rushing back.

Fire Chief Becker Lange returns home to River’s Edge with a heavy heart. His divorce has emotionally ravaged him, leaving him more confused than ever about what women want. So to protect himself from another failure, he closes his heart. And then Harley Cole makes him a flirty dare that she can help him overcome the holiday blues. Beck’s not sure he wants to, but Harley’s a hard woman to tell no.

Can the magic of Christmas and a sweet stray kitten bring these two lonely souls together?

This snippet comes from the first of the book when Harley tells Beck she thinks he needs to start dating again and he is…not thrilled with her assessment of his life.

“Seems like you’re insinuating that I don’t have a life.”

She simply shrugged.

His gaze hardened. “I have a life, Harles. I’m at the firehouse, I’ve been helping Gerry up at River Run, I play golf, I go out on the river with my brothers. Hell, I just put a heater in my garage so I can work on my car over the winter.”

She remembered that Beck still had the old ’68 Camaro convertible he’d bought for a song during his junior year in high school and was in the process of restoring. “Oh, Bluebell! I forgot about her.”

He grimaced. “That was Max’s name for her, not mine.” He buttered another half biscuit and took a bite before continuing. “I watch movies, I cook, I play my guitar… Didn’t I come to your school today and let those rug rats climb all over my, um, our antique fire truck?”

“You did and I already said thank you, plus I’m buying your dinner.” She ate the last of her fish, savoring the flaky, lemony goodness. “The things you mentioned are all pretty much solitary activities.” She gave him her best heartening smile. “You need a person, Beck, someone to share all those things with you.”

“I had a person. It didn’t end well.” His eyes darkened to thundercloud gray and his mouth drew into a tight line—the expression she’d come to recognize in the past few months. His grizzly-bear look.

Harley gave herself a mental shake. She was simply trying to get the man out more—at nearly forty years old, it was ridiculous for him to be alone. Yet, all she’d managed to do was remind him of the marriage that had gone south two years earlier. “Look, maybe I’m being too pushy about the dating thing. Maybe it’s too soon.” She didn’t believe that for a moment and she hated backpedaling, but she’d lose him for sure if she didn’t ease up. “I’m right about the fun, though. It’s the holidays. Let’s do some fun Christmas stuff, you and me. Buds painting this town red and green. Whaddya say?”

So there we go–hope you’ll pre-order The Fireman’s Christmas Wish–there will be more about it as we get closer to the release date of October 18. Meanwhile, if you haven’t pre-ordered Book 2 in the Lange Brothers trilogy, Falling for the Doctor yet, I hope you do. Max’s story is sweet and fun and brings River’s Edge to life.

Nothing like a whole blog full of me, me, me, eh? Thanks for indulging me.

Stay well, mes amies, stay safe, send light to Ukraine, and most of all, stay grateful!