*waves to everyone*

I must admit it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. I left the publishing industry for quite a few years, but I’m back and excited to be here once again. So, big thanks to Delilah for hosting me today.

While I was on my…sabbatical, a lot of things happened to me. Like I became a grandma to three lovely little grandsons—a set of twins who just turned three, and their one-year-old brother. With the birth of the twins, we quickly learned why we have our children while we’re younger because those tykes can wear us out in a hurry. Even in the first few months when the twins were just babies, my husband and I would come home after a visit and crash, thinking “But we didn’t really do anything but hold them and feed them. Why are we so tired?”

(One of these days that thought will probably make it in a book by one of my character’s friends or parents.) I’d love to share photos of them but my son and DIL have asked us not to put the boys’ photos anywhere on social media. However, I can share a photo of the Gramps sweaters I knitted for them to match their Daddy’s favorite cardigan.

Yes, I’ve also learned to knit in the past few years, so the boys will never be short of hats and scarves and sweaters, although the challenge of having twins is you have to knit two of everything.

One of my favorite projects to knit are socks. There is nothing like wearing a pair of real hand-knit socks, especially as the days grow chillier. I live in Canada, so yes, chillier days are definitely ahead.

The main female character in my latest release All I Need for Christmas would wear hand-knit socks if she had them, especially while she patrolled in Nunavut, but her love interest also lives in a snowy area—near where I grew up, a lovely area called Haliburton in central Ontario. Being a Christmas story, there’s snow involved. So yes, they’ll want warm socks, and lots of other knitted garments for when they venture outside. But inside they have other activities that really heat them up. 😉

All I Need for Christmas

In the past three years, Megan has only been sexually satiated a few times. A few glorious, hot, submissive times, with an emphasis on submitting.

Oh, it’s not because she’s single. It’s because her sexy, dominant sculptor boyfriend, Ryan Porter, lives half a country away. She spends her time patrolling the Arctic as a Mountie, while Ryan spends his time creating art in central Ontario. Ryan bends metal and wood to his will to reveal their hidden beauty, the same way he does with her…in the bedroom.

But Megan wants—needs—more from their long-distance relationship than phone sex and longing, and Ryan, too, has realized he craves more from Megan than her occasional submission. With their annual holiday sex-fest upon them, can they stoke the flames that burn between them into the best Christmas gift of all?

Buy your copy at:
Amazon and Apple:  https://mybook.to/AINFC
Books2Read (Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, and other retailers) https://books2read.com/All-I-Need-for-Christmas

All I Need for Christmas is available both as an ebook and in paperback.

About the Author

Leah Braemel is the only woman in a houseful of males that includes her college-sweetheart husband, a Shih Tzu named Seamus who behaves like a cat and Turtle the cat who thinks he’s a dog, and visits with her two sons, and three grandsons. She loves escaping the ever-multiplying dust bunnies by opening up her laptop to write about sexy heroes and the women who challenge them.

Find Leah on:
Amazon Author Link https://www.amazon.com/Leah-Braemel/e/B002BOHQ50
BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/profile/leah-braemel
Books2Read https://books2read.com/ap/n0GB1R/Leah-Braemel
Facebook Author https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeahBraemel
Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Leah+Braemel
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/leahbraemel/
Twitter https://twitter.com/LeahBraemel/
Website https://leahbraemel.com

Or sign up for her newsletter https://tinyurl.com/9uypp4v9

UPDATE: The winner is…ButtonsMom2003
*~*~*

Two quick notes!

First, thank you to everyone who got their copy of Guarding Hannah! And an extra thanks to those who took the time to post reviews! Thank you, thank you! Readers trust other readers to let them know a book is good!

Second, there are still release party contests ongoing on Elle James’s Brotherhood Protectors Facebook group. I have three separate ones; the other TEAM WOLF authors have several more. Go play! 🙂

The Contest!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you would find most spectacular about Yellowstone! And have you ever been there?

What are readers saying?

“Delilah Devlin has given us another phenomenal, thrilling, pager turner to read. My words don’t do justice for how good this book is.”

“A wonderful story with great characters”

“The enticing storyline kept me on the edge of my seat and glued to the pages… Their chemistry was powerful… These two gave me some major Feels.”

What else do you need to know? You’re going to love the dog. 🙂

Guarding Hannah

An ex-Special Forces soldier and his four-legged partner n ex-soldier who prefers dogs to most humans must protect a nature photographer from an extremist group hunting wolves in Yellowstone.

Nate “The Edge” Edgerton prefers dogs to humans, like Pierce, the retired war dog who saved his life in Afghanistan, because he prizes loyalty above all else. He trusts his team and his dog but has learned to be cautious trusting women. After Pierce rushes to the rescue of a nature photographer being threatened by wolf poachers, Nate earns his first assignment as a Brotherhood Protector. He’ll keep her safe but keeping his heart secure will prove to be the hardest part of the job.

Hannah Mackey, a nature photographer tracking wolves, photographs poachers in the act of killing a wolf, and she’s a second away from being shot herself when a large black dog rushes to her rescue, followed by a very handsome and angry man.

When Nate brings her to the Brotherhood Protectors, she’s dismayed that they’re insistent on providing her protection from retaliation by the well-organized poachers who are part of an extremist group, especially when they assign Nate as her protector. She has a job to do, and she’s not going to let the threat from a criminal gang stop her from doing it. She also doesn’t need the big, brooding man following her around. His dog, she’ll take, but Nate? Hell, no. Been there. She can take care of herself, thank you very much.

Get your copy now!

Read the other TEAM WOLF stories!

Check out the series on Amazon!

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
*~*~*

My sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her wonderful blog and share a tremendous update of Diana Cosby’s Romance Readers Help Build A Habitat For Humanity Home.

A bit of background.  Romance readers are AMAZING, and SO is Habitat For Humanity, a charity that I love supporting and volunteering for.  Several years ago, I thought, why not pair the two and help a deserving family receive a home?  And, the ‘Diana Cosby’s Romance Reader’s Help Build A Habitat For Humanity House’ fundraiser was born.

I contacted the Habitat For Humanity office in Grayson County, Texas, where I’ve had the honor of helping with several builds and spoke with Laurie Mealy, Executive Director.  She embraced the project and was thrilled at the thought of pairing romance readers, who love stories where heroes and heroines overcome challenges to make their dreams come true, with making the dream of home ownership for a deserving family a reality.

Habitat for Humanity of Grayson County
901 N. Grand Avenue
P.O. Box 2725
Sherman, TX 75091

I kicked off the challenge by donating $200, and through YOUR GENEROUS CONTRIBUTIONS, we’ve raised $30,000!!!  My deepest thanks to YOU for your generous support over the years and helping to give a deserving family a home!!! *Hugs*

*Photos used with permission of Habitat For Humanity Grayson County, TX.

Again, my sincere thanks to Delilah for allowing me to return to her wonderful blog, and another huge thanks to everyone for helping make an incredible difference in a deserving family’s life.  For when they walk into a Habitat For Humanity house, it’s more thank mortar and wood, but a place they can call home.

About Diana Cosby

A retired Navy Chief, Diana Cosby is an international bestselling author of Scottish medieval romantic suspense. Books in her award-winning MacGruder Brothers series have been translated into five languages. Diana has spoken at the Library of Congress, Lady Jane’s Salon in NYC, and appeared in Woman’s Day, on USA Today’s romance blog, “Happy Ever After,” MSN.com, Atlantic County Women Magazine, and Texoma Living Magazine.

After her career in the Navy, Diana dove into her passion – writing romance novels. With 34 moves behind her, she was anxious to create characters who reflected the amazing cultures and people she’s met throughout the world. After the release of the bestselling MacGruder Brothers series and The Oath Trilogy, she released the bestselling The Forbidden Series.

Diana looks forward to the years of writing ahead and meeting the amazing people who will share this journey.

God bless,

Diana Cosby, International Best-Selling Author
www.dianacosby.com
The Oath Trilogy
MacGruder Brother Series
The Forbidden Series

Social Media
Website:  https://www.dianacosby.com/
Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/978803.Diana_Cosby
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Diana-Cosby/e/B003YJ1MR4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1417447922&sr=8-1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Diana-Cosby-Romance-Author-150109024636/?ref=ts

UPDATE: The winner of the GC is…K. Campos!
*~*~*

It’s Saturday. I’m posting a little late for no good reason. I’ve been piddling. I have edits to work on and rooms to clean. I have to get started, but I’ll piddle some more, no doubt.

I found this picture for the puzzle. It appeals to me because it represents things I love. The item in the background represents my work. The item on the left is my drink of choice. The one on the right is something I love to paint.

If you were to find a picture of things to represent yourself, what would be in the picture?

Solve the puzzle then comment below for a chance to win! 

Open Contests

1. What our stories are about! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE anthology!
2. Gabbi Black: How I wound up writing a BDSM trilogy (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Puzzle Contest! (Plus, Open Contests!) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Carol Burnside: It’s Christmas…in October? (Contest & FREE Book!) — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. Amber Daulton: Interview with Benjamin Starwell from ARRESTING BENJAMIN — On Sale for $0.99! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Guarding Hannah Word Search! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Genevive Chamblee: Fall Fun and Giveaway — Win an Amazon gift card!

It’s that time of year. We’ve said goodbye to summer, and it’s officially the fall season. Now, as a summer lover, this is a bit sad for me. For that reason, I have to pump myself up to get excited about changing seasons. Of course, I do live in the bayou, and “autumn” is a little bit of an odd season here. While much of the country begins speaking of sweater weather, The South is sweating out humid nights of eighty degrees while watching Friday night football games from wooden stands. Rather, we mark the beginning of fall not by the calendar but by when the mosquitos stop biting. Additionally, fall temperatures don’t always stick around for long. Don’t let a sixty-degree morning “chill” fool you. By midday, the temps could well be approaching ninety. And even if cool air sticks around for much of a day, it likely will vanish the next week to not be heard from again for weeks. Yeah, it’s all really fun stuff.

Thus, when I start hearing all the fall hype on television, I don’t become all that stoked. It takes a little extra effort to get me into the spirit of it, especially with the whole Christmas in July movement. As a quick aside, can I say how much I dislike this trend? Merchants move straight from Independence Day and fireworks to setting up displays of Christmas trees and ten feet of snow. Heck, we’re lucky to get ten inches. Shoot, what am I talking about? We barely get two inches per year, and when we do, it’s a red-hot booty mess. Cities shut down. Most of us simply aren’t equipped for that sort of thing. Hurricanes, yes? Twisters, yes. Snow and ice, not so much. Even our pets are confused by it. (Now, back to our regularly scheduled post.) But as many hunters would comment, without fall, there would be no deer season.

I say all that to say because I’m one of those people who when fall rolls around, the pools and snow cone stands close, and the days grow shorter, I need a reminder of ways to entertain myself and ways in which to keep occupied. (By the way, I have no idea why they close the pools when they do. My guess is it is to reduce maintenance costs or because there is some city ordinance that public pools must be closed by a certain date. Or maybe it’s just part of the façade to make people believe autumn is a real thing.)

In any case, here is a list of activities to enjoy and keep you busy. Do them alone or with loved ones at a time most convenient for you.

1. Decorate for fall
2. Decorate pinecones
3. Decorate acorns
4. Make a fall craft
5. Make an autumn wreath
6. Create a fall playlist
7. Visit a pumpkin patch
8. Visit a zoo
9. Visit a farmer’s market
10. Attend a football game
11. Attend a basketball game
12. Attend a fall festival/Octoberfest/fair
13. Jump in leaves
14. Rake leaves
15. Play a game of darts on a bale of hay
16. Bake a pie
17. Bake pumpkin bread
18. Make smores
19. Roast marshmallows
20. Roast pumpkin seeds
21. Make caramel apples
22. Make homemade applesauce
23. Make apple crisps
24. Make homemade soup
25. Grill corn on the cob
26. Watch a fall move
27. Watch a Halloween movie
28. Watch the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving Parade
29. Watch a sunset
30. Read a fall book
31. Drink apple cider
32. Drink hot chocolate drink
33. Drink a fall cocktail
34. Eat or drink something pumpkin spice
35. Eat candy corn
36. Eat a bowl of chili
37. Eat a pot pie
38. Visit a haunted house
39. Visit a corn maze
40. Attend a holiday party
41. Attend a costume party
42. Go apple picking
43. Go on a hike/ nature walk
44. Go star gazing
45. Go to a bonfire
46. Go on a hayride
47. Go trick or treating
48. Go on a scavenger hunt
49. Go bird watching
50. Go camping
51. Count your blessings/Write a gratitude list
52. Donate can goods/food to a food bank or shelter
53. Take fall photos
54. Carve a pumpkin
55. Buy a scarf
56. Buy a fall mug (for hot chocolate)
57. Snuggle in a blanket
58. Curl up in front of a fireplace
59. Wear fuzzy socks
60. Cuddle with someone special
61. Light a fall-scented candle
62. Tell a ghost/scary story
63. Declutter summer clothes
64. Go shopping for sweaters
65. Buy a fall perfume
66. Plant a fall garden

So, I guess with that, it’s time to say Happy Fall Y’all. Did I miss anything? What’s on your list? Will you try any of these activities? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. If you like this post, please click the like button and share it. Your feedback allows me to know the content that you want to read. If you’re not following me on Creole Bayou blog, what are you waiting for? There’s always room at the bayou. Keep reading for information about the free giveaway.

Get ready. It’s almost time to hit the ice again.
Future Goals Coming soon.

When a college hockey player needs the help of an attractive older attorney, he gets more than he bargained for when trying to sort out the troubles in his career. Falling in love was never part of either man’s plan, especially as Corrigan’s and Sacha’s lives should never have collided. Now they’re left questioning if they’re standing in the way of the other’s future goals, or if there’s room for redirection.

Preorder your copy at:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3RjPYb9
Other booksellers: https://bit.ly/3CI8d5W

Missed the first four books in my hockey romance series? No frets.

Out of the Penalty Box (book #1), where it is one minute in the box or a lifetime out, is available at https://amzn.to/2Bhnngw. It also can be ordered on iTunes, Nook, or Kobo. For more links on where to purchase or to read the blurb, please visit https://bit.ly/2i9SqpH.

Defending the Net (book #2) can be ordered at https://amzn.to/2N7fj8q or www.books2read.com/defending. Crossing the line could cost the game.

Ice Gladiators (book #3) is the third book in my Locker Room Love series. When the gloves come off, the games begin. Available at https://amzn.to/2TGFsyD or www.books2read.com/icegladiators.

Penalty Kill (Book #4) takes the ice again. Get a copy at https://amzn.to/3ex0N9p or https://amzn.to/3ex0N9p and let the pucker begin.

For more of my stories, shenanigans, giveaways, and more, check out my blog, Creole Bayou, www.genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com. New posts are made on Wednesdays, and everything is raw and unscathed. Climb on in a pirogue and join me on the bayou.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this post or any others, feel free to comment below or tweet me at @dolynesaidso. You also can follow me on Instagram at genevivechambleeauthor or search me on Goodreads or Amazon Authors or BookBub or TikTok.

NEWSLETTER! Want to get the latest information and updates about my writing projects, giveaways, contests, and reveals first? Click https://genevivechambleeconnect.wordpress.com/newsletter/ and signup today.

***SALE & GIVEAWAY***

HTP Friends to Lovers! This 99 cents sale begins on Wednesday, October 12th, 2022 & runs through Tuesday, October 18th, 2022. There is a $10 Amazon Gift Card giveaway via Rafflecopter; entries are earned via BookBub follows and Tweets about the sale. The links for the sale and the giveaway are listed below.

Promo Page: https://www.hottreepromotions.com/friends-to-lovers-sale

Rafflecopter Link:  https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b228b3067/?

Until next time, happy reading and much romance. Laissez le bon temps rouler.