Read Jane’s review of A Season for Killing Blondes.
Molte grazie!
Jo’s Top 10 Romantic Comedies
I’m thrilled to welcome author Jo Richardson to the Power of 10 series. Today, Jo shares her favorite romantic comedies.
Here’s Jo!
I tease my husband from time to time (ahem) – because I really dig suspense and horror and he loooooooooves romantic comedies. But the truth is, I love them too. And the older I get, there are different things I love about them. I’ve adored so many over the years and dwindling this down to just 10 is difficult but in the end, I am giving you, my 40’s faves:
A swinger on the cusp of being a senior citizen with a taste for young women falls in love with an accomplished woman closer to his age.
Why it’s so great:
Jack Nicholson is brilliant at this role of a man who is used to seducing younger women but finds, surprisingly, that it’s Diane Keaton’s character he cannot live without. It reminded me of when he played “The Astronaut” in Terms of Endearment and that made me love him even more.
When Harry Met Sally
Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin the friendship.
Why it’s so great:
Because “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to begin as soon as possible.” – Cinched this story for me, made me laugh through tears and that is golden.
He’s Just Not That Into You
The Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior.
Jenny Anniston, Ben Affleck, ….
Why it’s so great:
I enjoy movies like this one, where there are several couples’s stories that I’m getting. It’s crazy and fun and although I loved them all (ew, except for Bradley Coopers character), my favorite was Jennifer Anniston and Ben Afleck – the way those two came full circle did it for me. And when he went shopping and did the dishes for her family – heart squeezes.
Life As We Know It
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1055292
Two single adults become caregivers to an orphaned girl when their mutual best friends die in an accident.
Why it’s so great:
Josh Duhamel was so flipping hilarious in this movie. I love watching him.
PS I love You (because Gerard Butler)
A young widow discovers that her late husband has left her 10 messages intended to help ease her pain and start a new life.
Why it’s so great:
You mean, besides Gerard Butler?
It’s Complicated
When attending their son’s college graduation, a couple reignite the spark in their relationship…but the complicated fact is they’re divorced and he’s remarried.
Why it’s so great:
The situation comedy and reactions from Steve Martin alone are worth it.
The Proposal
A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.
Why it’s so great:
Dominate woman VS boy toy employee turned love at first fight? YES PLEASE.
You’ve Got Mail
Two business rivals hate each other at the office but fall in love over the internet.
Why it’s so great:
Why isn’t it great? I cried so hard when Meg Ryan’s character had to give up her book store. I don’t know if I would have handled that any better. But the reveal of who her online chat buddy is, at the end, that is perfection.
The Story of Us
Ben and Katie Jordan are a married couple who go through hard times in fifteen years of marriage.
Why it’s so great: I remember seeing this back in 1999 when it first came out. I didn’t like it that much back then. It was on cable a few weeks ago and I found myself watching it again with a whole new perspective. I bawled my eyes out at the end (and several places in between). Looking back now, I see that I couldn’t have appreciated this story for what it is, back then. I was still newly married, new to babies, new to everything really. Now, I get it. And I love it so much it’s on this list.
This is 40
Pete and Debbie are both about to turn 40, their kids hate each other, both of their businesses are failing, they’re on the verge of losing their house, and their relationship is threatening to fall apart.
Why it’s so great:
OMG. So many moments where I’m going yup, yup, double yup. This couple totally nailed it with all the stress that comes along with being 40. Including money, parents, kids (and school!), and the ever elusive, alone time. Lots and lots of laugh out loud moments.
Crazy, Stupid, Love
A middle-aged husband’s life changes dramatically when his wife asks him for a divorce. He seeks to rediscover his manhood with the help of a newfound friend, Jacob, learning to pick up girls at bars.
Why it’s so great:
I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this multi level, twists and turns, who’s in love with who now story. By the time you’re at the end and it all comes to a head (no pun intended) you are dying with amusement. Not a bad way to go, if I do say so myself. Plus I love how endearing a story can be, while making me laugh and cry at the same time. WIN.
Bio
A movie fanatic, a writer of stories, a lover of life.
Jo grew up in Maryland with four siblings, three parents and an endless number of cousins within the vicinity – but it was too cold up North for this thin blooded girl. So today, she lives in Florida with her two girls and a husband that shares her same sense of humor and basic take on life as we know it.
Life is too short to put dreams on the back burner.
Jo tells contemporary stories with paranormal, mystery, suspense, humor, action, romance, and anything else she can think up.
* * *
In 2012, she wrote Cursed be the Wicked, a character driven, paranormal mystery romance that was picked up by Soul Mate Publishing and released in March of 2014. Jo has also written a couple of short stories as well, and her most recent full length novel, Cookie Cutter, released through Little Bird Publishing in March of 2015, broke into the top 100 contemporary romantic fiction category on Amazon during its first week of publication.
When she’s not writing, Jo can usually be found spending quality time with her family and their furry animals.
Where to find Jo…
Life After Retirement
When I took advantage of early retirement from a 31-year teaching career, I had only a vague idea of what life on golden pond would look like. Sleeping in each morning. Leisurely breakfasts. New hobbies. Volunteering. Traveling.
These were my pat answers whenever anyone asked about my future plans. And at some point in the conversation I would work in one of my favorite quotations from Eckhart Tolle: “When you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up in your life.”
In theory, it sounded wonderful, but the reality was very different.
Continue reading on Chris the Story Reading Ape’s Blog.
Touring with Great Escapes
I’m so excited to start my tour with Great Escapes. For the next two weeks, I’ll share posts, spotlights and interviews at selected blogs. When you visit, remember to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway – you could win a $25 Amazon gift card.
Check daily for link updates.
June 17 – Babs Book Bistro
June 18 – Tea and A Book
June 19 – Chloe Gets A Clue
June 21 – Cozy Up With Kathy
June 22 – Jane Reads
June 23 – A Blue Million Books
June 24 – Frankie Bow
June 26 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!
June 27 – Brooke Blogs
June 28 – StoreyBook Reviews
June 29 – Deal Sharing Aunt
June 30 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
10 Facts about Katrina Romanovski
I’m thrilled to welcome Soul Mate author CD Hersh to the Power of 10 series. Today, Catherine and Donald will share ten interesting facts about the heroine of their latest release, Son of the Moonless Night.
Here’s CD!
One of the fun things about creating characters is coming up with quirks, personality traits, and interesting tidbits about their personal background. Katrina Romanovski is one of our reader’s favorite characters. We’ve already been asked if she is going to appear in another book. Much to the reader’s dismay we wouldn’t reveal the answer.
Here are ten interesting facts about Katrina Romanovski, the heroine from our new book, Son of the Moonless Night-The Turning Stone Chronicles, Book Three.
1. She is from Transylvania but not Romania. We do solve this mystery in the book.
2. She hunts paranormals. Hates vampires. And swears by Count Dracula.
3. She wears a huge Celtic cross as a talisman against vampires.
4. She not only hunts paranormals, but she’s had her share of paranormal boyfriends. No zombies please, they’re just too creepy.
5. She is a blonde version of NCIS’s forensic scientist Abby but with a medical degree.
6. She decided to leave her father’s paranormal hunting business because she was looking for normalcy in her life. Instead she found Owen, the hero of Son of the Moonless Night, a shape shifter.
7. She is part gypsy, on her father’s side. Her mother is British. Prim-and-proper breeding war with Katrina’s gypsy walk-on-the-wild side. The gypsy usually wins.
8. She has traveled the USA as an FBI agent but now likes Cleveland, the mistake by the lake.
9. She loves Italian food but has trouble cooking it, especially when Owen is around.
10. She spends a lot of time in alleys.
Here is a little more about Katrina from the book:
A crash in the alley stopped Katrina Romanovski mid-stride. Like the October mist swirling in off the lake, her gypsy blood stirred sending her intuition into high gear. Something unnatural was happening.
Go see what’s wrong. She heard her father’s voice as clearly as if he stood next to her.
On the heels of his words came her mother’s pragmatic warning in clipped British tones. You know what curiosity killed. Katrina pushed the ever-present warning aside. Mom never approved of Dad’s supernatural hunts and even less of his drawing her into them.
Pulling the oversized cross she always wore out from under her shirt, Kat looked around for a weapon. Please, not a vampire. I hate vampires! A piece of wood sticking out of the trashcan at the front of the alley caught her eye.
Grabbing it, she broke the end off into a sharp point. The mist-filled air filtered the light from the single bulb over one of the alley doorways. The wind swirled the loose trash around making a quiet approach difficult. Sidestepping the paper, with the stake in one hand and holding the gun she took from her purse in the other hand, she crept into the alley.
A roar echoed against the buildings, the sound nearly sending her running. That roar wasn’t a vampire. It sounded more like an animal. Kat inched closer. In the yellow pool of light from the back door of the building, a black bear, over seven feet tall, reared on its back legs and swung its paw at the man standing at the edge of the light. He crashed to the ground, shirt torn open from the slashing claws. Blood covered the fabric, and he clasped his left hand over his shoulder to stem the flow. The bear bent toward him, teeth bared in a smile. A wicked smile.
Kat aimed her gun, but before she could pull the trigger, a shot rang out. The flash of gunpowder lit the face of the injured man. The blast reverberated against the buildings. With an enraged bellow, the bear staggered backward against the wall. Shaking his head, the animal dropped to all four paws. Weaving like a drunk, he lumbered toward his attacker. The man took aim again, shooting the animal between the eyes. Animal and human collapsed on the dirty, littered pavement.
As she started to move forward, Kat’s gypsy senses crawled over her skin like angry red ants. As she slipped back into the shadows, the bear shed fur. Changing size. Then, finally, turning into a man.
Shape shifters. Her stake wasn’t any good against them, and her bullets weren’t silver. This one appeared dead anyway. Had the wounded man seen the shift? Tossing the stake aside, she paused by the shifter and quickly moved to the wounded man. Out cold. Still human.
When she touched him, his eyelids fluttered open. “Did I get it?”
“What?”
“The bear.”
Amazon Buy Links
The Promised One (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 1):
eBook | Paperback
Blood Brothers (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 2):
eBook | Paperback
Son of the Moonless Night (The Turning Stone Chronicles Book 3):
eBook
Bio
Putting words and stories on paper is second nature to co-authors C.D. Hersh. They’ve written separately since they were teenagers and discovered their unique, collaborative abilities in the mid-90s. As high school sweethearts and husband and wife, Catherine and Donald believe in true love and happily ever after.
Together they have co-authored a number of dramas, six which have been produced in Ohio, where they live. Their interactive Christmas production had five seasonal runs in their hometown and has been sold in Virginia, California, and Ohio. Their most recent collaborative writing efforts have been focused on romance. The first three books of their paranormal romance series entitled The Turning Stone Chronicles are available on Amazon.
Where to find CD Hersh…
Website | Blog | Soul Mate Publishing | Facebook | Amazon | Twitter | Goodreads
A Season for Killing Blondes Release Day!
A Season for Killing Blondes is officially available today!
Blurb
Hours before the opening of her career counseling practice, Gilda Greco discovers the dead body of golden girl Carrie Ann Godfrey, neatly arranged in the dumpster outside her office. Gilda’s life and budding career are stalled as Detective Carlo Fantin, her former high school crush, conducts the investigation.
When three more dead blondes turn up all brutally strangled and deposited near Gilda’s favorite haunts, she is pegged as a prime suspect for the murders. Frustrated by Carlo’s chilly detective persona and the mean girl antics of Carrie Ann’s meddling relatives, Gilda decides to launch her own investigation. She discovers a gaggle of suspects, among them a yoga instructor in need of anger management training, a lecherous photographer, and fourteen ex-boyfriends.
As the puzzle pieces fall into place, shocking revelations emerge, forcing Gilda to confront the envy and deceit she has long overlooked.
Buy Links
Amazon Canada | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia | Kobo
The Wild Rose Press | Chapters/Indigo | Barnes & Noble
Thanks to the following bloggers for participating in today’s release.
Nights of Passion
Padme’s Library
NerdyChampagne
Alice’s Book Wonderland
Flame Resistant Udies Romance Reviews
Steamy Book Momma
Lovin’ Danger blog
Us Girls & A Book
Craves the Angst Book Blog
Ogitchida Kwe’s Book Blog
A Dirty Book Affair
A Bibliophobia Anonymous Book Reviews
My Life Loves and Passion
JBiggarBlog
Undercover Book Reviews
RoloPoloBookBlog
Books and Authors
Em & M Books
Marie’s Cozy Corner
Page By Page Inside-Out Reviews & Promotion
Happily Ever Chapter
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!
LibriAmoriMiei
Special thanks to Book Partners in Crime Promotions!
On Tour + #Giveaway
The following Soul Mate authors are hosting me on their blogs…
Drop by and visit for a while. Remember to scroll down and enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. You could win a $25 Amazon gift card.
Spotlight on Anne Peterson
I am thrilled to welcome author and poet Anne Peterson. Her journey is an emotional and inspiring one that tugs at the heartstrings.
Here’s Anne!
Anne Peterson has to write.
As a little girl Anne felt safe climbing up in Aunt Jeanette’s chair to read A Child’s Garden of Verses, by Robert Louis Stevenson. It became a sanctuary from her abusive childhood. Again and again, she’d let his words dance around in her head, and poetry became her language of choice.
In 5th grade, Anne won a creative writing contest. And as she listened to the recording of her reading on the radio, she was hooked.
Anne learned how emotions were tied to her writing. She found the words would flow if she hurt in any way.
Eventually her poetry was sold in stores. One opportunity led to another.
In 1996, she was asked to write Bible studies for christianbiblestudies.com, an affiliate of Christianity Today. And those 42 published Bible studies led to her writing and publishing over 30 magazine articles.
But inside of Anne was a story that begged to be written. She would identify the pain that propelled her writing.
Taking a writer’s online course called Tribe Writers, she learned about writing the scary stuff. With shaky fingers she pressed submit. Each time she wrote something scary, she was really getting ready for something bigger.
In 2014, Anne wrote her memoir, Broken: A Story of Abuse and Survival. Although the book was initially the story of her sister’s death to domestic violence, Anne felt nudged to write her story as well. Her life was exposed. It was one of the hardest things she ever did, complete with times of panic. She learned to write between those episodes.
Anne discovered the value of being vulnerable. When you write the scary, messy things inside of you, you give hope to other hurting people by letting them know they are not alone.
Anne’s writing became more and more transparent. She shared her struggles with PTSD in an article, A War Without Guns. She continued learning how to embrace her pain instead of running from it.
But who would have known what was underneath? Children’s stories started flowing out of Anne. Then a new door opened. Her daughter Jessica was given an opportunity to create a children’s book. Anne was invited in.
Feeling pressure at the two-month deadline, Jessica said, “I wish we could do something with the art I’ve already done.”
So Anne sat reflecting on her daughter’s art, and Emma’s Wish came to life. It was as if Emma walked right out of Jessica’s painting to tell her own story.
Collaborations with a loved one are like a special dance where you learn each other’s moves. Anne is having the time of her life.
Writing children’s stories is a good fit. After all, she had plenty of practice telling her grandchildren many of these stories from her head.
The Crooked House is a story about a little girl who’s ashamed of where she lives. Kerrie’s house was crooked, and sometimes she felt crooked too.
Lulu’s Lunch tells the story of Lulu and how she dealt with a school bully.
Sonny Follows His Heart is the story of a little blues guitar who discovered whose voice was really important in his life.
And finally, Make Believe: A Book of Poetry Volume One and Volume Two. These poetry books were created as Anne looked at her daughter’s photographs and let the words come. These books will delight readers of all ages.
It’s true that many people love to write, but for Anne Peterson it’s more than that. She has to write.
Where to find Anne…
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Pinterest
Where to find Jessica’s Art…
My Yoga Trials
I consider protagonist Gilda Greco to be my literary twin. She’s approximately 70 percent of me and shares many of my interests. As non-athletes it took us a while to find a preferred physical activity, but once we discovered yoga, we were hooked
In my case, it took over three decades of yoga trials.
Continue reading on Peggy Jaeger’s blog.
Sneak Peek Saturday
6 More Days!!
It’s official – The Wild Rose Press will release A Season for Killing Blondes on Friday, June 12, 2015. In the meantime, I will provide sneak peaks on several Saturdays leading up to the release.
Today, I will share the introduction to the novel..
Chapter 1 – Thursday, October 20, 2011
Three thousand euros worth of pastries. Can you believe it?
When I agreed to import the pastries, I had no idea I would be subsidizing the failing Italian economy and helping Silvio Berlusconi stay in power for a few weeks longer. Left to my own devices, I would have gone down the street to Regency Bakery, picked up some pastries and just walked them over. But my mother and Aunt Amelia were adamant. The open house for my new career counseling office needed a proper launch, one that could only be achieved with pastries from a Sicilian bakery.
To be fair, both of them were horrified when they saw that final four-figure amount on the invoice and swore me to secrecy. While conspicuous consumption is valued in the Italian community, being taken for a ride is not, and we would never hear the end of it from Uncle Paolo who is still complaining about the ten cents he has to pay for a shopping bag at No Frills.
I watched my mother rearrange the amaretto cookies, stuffed figs, biscotti, and other delicacies that had arrived yesterday. She and Aunt Amelia had brought in their best silver trays and carts and spent hours—according to Uncle Paolo—creating a colorful Italian corner.
“Everything is perfect. Maybe too perfect.” My mother made the sign of the cross and mumbled a Hail Mary.
“Relax, Ma. I’ve got everything under control. Nothing bad will happen.”
“Things have been going too well, Gilda. The lottery win. Your new career. This beautiful office. I’ve had one of my dreams, and you know what that means.”
Available for Pre-Order
Amazon Canada | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon Australia | Kobo
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. You could win a $25 Amazon gift card.
