Tons of work on my plate today, plus we meet the 18-year-old’s boyfriend today. Woot! So, no time to chat. Y’all have a great FRIDAY! I’ll have a guest here tomorrow!

Open Contests

1. Flashback: Lawless (Contest–2 Winners!) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
2. A Memory Puzzle! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Gabbi Grey: When an Angsty Author Tries to Go Rom-Com (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!
5. My favorite series! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Happy National Thrift Shop Day! (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
7. Romance Trope Word Search! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!

UPDATE: The winner is…K. Campos!
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Have fun finding some popular romance tropes!

Tell me your favorite romance trope (it doesn’t have to be one of these on the list!) for a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card! 

UPDATE: The winner is…Terra Oenning!
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Yes, it’s a THING! And it’s the only kind of shopping I love! Hunting for treasure—what’s not to love? See my hauls from old “treasure” hunts!

The old-fashioned jewelry is perfect for mixed media projects (like pulls for tops of painted boxes!). See the letter holder? All it needs is a pretty coat of paint to update it and voila! The tin can be cut up for jewelry projects, too! The pretty bottle in the center is a large vintage hand-painted snuff bottle (which I collect!). It’s topless, but for a buck, I couldn’t resist!

My dd collects vintage Pyrex! I collect mid-century George Briard pieces (the gold tray). The trivet at the bottom of the photo will be great for pressing impressions in clay and paint! And I collect vintage vanity powder jars (see the swan?). And again, a tin to cut into jewelry dangles!

Lots of craft-worthy stuff here, too! Things to press, paint, glue!

Yeah, I know. Most of y’all would look at my hauls like they’re a bunch of junk, but there’s joy in DISCOVERY!

Help me celebrate National Thrift Shop Day by telling me about your favorite thrift or garage sale finds for a chance to win a download of a book from my backlist of stories!

UPDATE: The winner is…Katherine Anderson!
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My dd complained when making this little meme for me. She said there are too many covers. “It’s crowded.” Like that’s a bad thing. 🤷

My problem is…and I don’t consider it a problem…is that I don’t want to leave Dead Horse, MT. I don’t want to leave behind my team or the townspeople. I did that with the Bear Lodge hunters, but also found ways to bring them into this series, because I don’t want to let go. I’ll have to admit, I’ve never had so much fun writing a series. So much so, that I’m trying to figure out ways to stay in Dead Horse, MT, even after I’ve completely filled the agency with hunters. Proof? Hard Knox will be a spin-off, featuring the townsfolk!

And it’s not like I had the Dead Horse hunters’ stories planned out ahead of time. No master plan. I just wrote, and as characters popped up, I had my next hero. Not so with the next stories I’ll be writing, Mica and Jackson. With those two, I’m starting with just these images. I don’t know how they’ll meet and join my merry band of bounty hunters. Not yet, anyway.

You haven’t read all the Dead Horse, MT, stories? Give one a try:
Montana Bounty Hunters: Dead Horse, MT
Have you pre-ordered Mica and Jackson? If not, click on the covers to do so!

Contest

Have fun with this! Wrong answers, even very wrong answers, count!

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell me what you think Mica and Jackson should be about. Who are they? What sort of adventures should they have?

UPDATE: The winner is…Karen LeBeau!
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To win a digital copy of SEAL Undercover, just leave a comment below. I will announce the winner tomorrow. Hope to see a lot of you!

A SEAL is a SEAL is a SEAL. I have been writing about SEALs for years, both single titles and as a series.  They are the U. S. Navy’s primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs’ main functions are conducting small-unit special operation missions in maritime, jungle, urban, arctic, mountainous, and desert environments. SEALs are typically ordered to capture or eliminate high level targets, or to gather intelligence behind enemy lines.

My first SEAL book was Coyote Heat and took place in Key West where my hero was trying to take a vacation and, in the midst of a heated clinch, got called away on a mission. I’ve written about a SEAL who met the love of his life at a masquerade ball (Bedroom Eyes) and then, of course, there are all my books in my Protecting series for Susan Stoker. Not to mention my Heroes Rising series for Elle James’ Brotherhood Protectors World.

And there are more to come!

But today I want to tell you about Silver SEAL Max DiSalvo.

SEAL Undercover

For Max DiSalvo, life after SEALs leaves a lot to be desired. He was a Frogman his entire life until a bullet in the hip tossed him into retirement. Never married, he’s now back in his hometown of Sunset Harbor, Maine, running a small commercial fishing business and wondering if he’ll find that one special person to share the rest of his life with. When Silas “Crash” Branson, assistant director of Homeland Security, shows up with a proposition, he’s only too happy to jump on it.

Regan Shaw, a SEAL widow, is a top Intelligence Operations Specialist with DHS. She has uncovered a situation that could threaten the very foundation of America. A secret cabal of uber wealthy people—five men and one woman—could be plotting to gain control of the United States. They’ve gone from smuggling drugs for cartels to smuggling high value terrorists. And word has come down that a high-level member of the government is clearing the way with them for everything.

DHS has figured out a way to get someone into an upcoming meeting, and the person they tap is Max. Regan, who has all the information on this operation, will go with him as his wife. But the best laid plans and all that. When Max’s cover is blown and Regan is kidnapped, he must find a way to stop the coming disaster and rescue the woman he’s fallen in love with.

You can learn more about the book here:  https://desireeholt.com/books/seal-undercover/

Don’t forget to comment. And in case you aren’t today’s winner, I hope you will still let your fingers do the walking and take Max home with you.

Of course, I was working on other writers’ projects yesterday. Then my dd, SIL, and the 18-year-old went to a concert in Hot Springs, which left me with the little ones (9 & 13—so technically, not that little 🙂 ) to babysit. Because I would be away from my computer, I set up at the kitchen table to paint. It’s soooo relaxing, and I don’t get to do it often enough. I have an art show to prepare for that happens in September, so I guess this is really “work” but it sure didn’t feel like it.

This one is 6×9. Smallish. (My preferred size actually, because I can complete one quickly.) I played with the colors. Don’t you love that brown at the bottom? The color I mixed granulated as it dried. I tried to make the pot look like a pinch pot—you know, with the fingerprints showing on the side. Not sure that came across. Maybe it just looks blotchy. LOL

Then I painted a quick postcard with some shiny peach mixed with red paint for the flowers. My favorite part is the pot. I dotted the reddish peach on the side of the vase as the shadowed part. The colors are ones I love.

Anyways, you see what I do when I’m not writing or editing. I think I’ll be doing more of it. Practice makes, if not perfect, better.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

UPDATE: The winner is…Diane Sallans!
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It’s Saturday! And there’s no rest for the weary! I finished one editing project yesterday, and now I have a couple of editing projects to begin TODAY! And neither will be short. I hope to start writing on my own book by this time next week. How’s your Saturday?

Psst! Be sure to check out the 8 CONTESTS below that you can still enter!

Puzzle-Contest

For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, tell us if you have kids heading back to school! And if you do, tell us whether you’re ready for them to be gone or wishing the summer was longer!

Open Contests & Giveaways

1. “Will you. Won’t you. Will you. Won’t you…” (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a FREE book!
2. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! — Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Diana Cosby: Nature’s Beauty – Summer Along the Shore! (Contest) — This one ends soon! Win a SIGNED book!
4. Natasha Moore: Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
5. Flashback: Lawless (Contest–2 Winners!) — Win a FREE book!
6. A Memory Puzzle! (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Gabbi Grey: When an Angsty Author Tries to Go Rom-Com (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
8. FREE READ! What a Wolf Wants — EVERYONE, pick up your copy!