Every November, social media is flooded with people listing all the things they’re thankful for. Family. Friends. Small things. Big things. It’s always interesting for me to see what matters to people.

It also makes me think about what matters to me. Giving thanks is not something I do consciously most of the time, but it is something that matters. I have young kids. Kids that I’m trying to teach manners to. I want them to be polite, but I want them to be sincere also. Saying thank you only matters when you mean it.

I have a lot to be thankful for. Most of us do. You don’t have to look far to find a person who has it worse than you do, or better, but being grateful for what we have is important.

I’m thankful for the innocence of my kids. My son, who’s seven, found out recently that I was adopted. When I asked him if he knew what that meant, he said, “Yeah. It means they put you in a box and your parents came by and picked you from all the other kids.” Not quite. But only a kid could come up with such a sweet and innocent explanation of something that is hard for so many of us to think about.

I’m thankful for the love of my parents. It’s been a little over two years since my family moved closer to my parents. Instead of 800 miles away from them, we’re now less than three. Over the last two and a half years, I’ve grown closer to my parents. They’re there for my family in ways they couldn’t be when we lived so far away. They are always supportive of us and I love being close to them.

I’m thankful for my health. I’m quickly approaching the (hopefully) one year anniversary of being in remission. Nothing makes you appreciate your health more than beating stage IV cancer and being able to tell your story.

I’m thankful for my career. Maybe that’s a weird one to be thankful for, but being a writer has given me so much. My previous job was one that was slowly sucking the life out of me. I truly believe it would have killed me if I hadn’t gotten out. Being a writer is the exact opposite. It’s brought new friends to my life, new opportunities, and a new connection with people. I love what I do, and consider myself very fortunate to have this job.

Lastly, I’m thankful for my husband. He’s always there for me. Whether it’s a plot problem I need to talk through, an extra hand around the house (yes, he cooks and sometimes cleans), or just someone to watch a movie or a tv show with, he’s always there for me. He’s been my best friend for fifteen years, and I know he’ll be there for me forever. I’m lucky to have him, and yeah, he’s pretty damn lucky, too. I remind him of that regularly!

What are you thankful for?

*~*~*~*

Now available free – Love The Wine You’re With

He could be just what she needs…

Alyssa Wright has one goal before she leaves for college. She refuses to go carrying her v-card. She just has to find someone to give it to in the next six weeks.

When she runs into Jake Monroe, almost literally, she knows he’s different. She thinks about him constantly, and not in the way she’s thought about any other guy.

She might be what he’s looking for…

Between his new job and helping his best friend’s widow, Jake doesn’t have time for romance. But there’s something about Alyssa he can’t resist. He’s torn between the light Alyssa brings to his world and the promise he made to his best friend.

Is it enough to keep them together…forever? 

What they want doesn’t matter. There’s a ticking clock, counting down the days until Alyssa leaves. Maybe for good.

 Get it free today – Amazon | Kobo | iBooks | B&N | Smashwords

About Mary

Mary E. Thompson grew up loving to read, like a good little girl. Many nights she would fall asleep with the flashlight on as she hid under the covers, trying to finish the last few pages of a book. As an adult, the light from her eReader means she doesn’t need a flashlight, but she still stays up way too late to finish a book.

When Mary’s not reading, she’s playing with her two kids or living out her own real life romance novel with her hubby. She has a weakness for chocolate, especially when it’s paired with peanut butter, and has been known to have a bad day just because there’s no chocolate in the house. Unless there’s wine. Then everything is okay.

Mary grew up in Buffalo, New York and swears she’s the only local to never ski or snowboard. Soccer was always her sport, with a couple of adventures white water rafting and skydiving to keep things interesting. Mary moved to South Carolina for college but missed Buffalo every day. Yeah, she thinks she’s crazy, too. She somehow convinced her South Carolina born and bred hubby to return to Buffalo to raise their kids and live out their lives. He’s still not sure what he was thinking.

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November’s shaping up to be one busy month!

First, November is NaNoWriMo—which is a writing challenge that causes authors around the world to lose their minds as they rush to finish 50,000 words! Yes, I accepted this year’s challenge. Nag me to make sure I hit that mark! As of this morning, I’m at 7029 words! Woot!

Next, I’m leading a FREE Mind Mapping workshop for authors November 6-12. If you’re a writer wanting to take a hard look at all the things you want to accomplish in 2018—start with this fun exercise!

Then, of course, there’s Thanksgiving… I am heading to Virginia with my dd’s family to celebrate with the rest of the Devlin clan. Vacay doesn’t mean I won’t be writing! Let’s see if I can figure out how to fit it all in!

Lastly, I have three releases this month! The first came Thursday. Love cowboys? Love reunion stories? Older woman/younger man? Well, you should enjoy this one! Ignore the clunky title. I promise it’s sexier than it sounds! ~DD

The Cowboy and The Widow

Following her husband’s death, Maggie McDermott faces the onerous task of running the family ranch. She’s through mourning her husband and the children they never had. The problem? She doesn’t know the first thing about running a ranch, so she knows she needs a capable hand. When Daniel Tynan applies for the position, she’s flooded with guilty memories of the time she tempted the younger man.

Daniel is more than willing to show sweet Maggie the ropes. His gentle ways melt her heart, and his sensual passion burns away her inhibitions. He may be younger, but he’s not without the right kind of experience…

Order your copy here!

All the Texas Cowboys, so far…

I can’t resist sharing this pretty picture… 🙂

Also this month…

Just click on the pics to pre-order!

I’m getting ancient.

My children bless their hearts, call me the Chief Wrinkly.

And that made me think, obscurely, about achievements in my life.

I wrote my first book about 20 years ago when I had just completed a development project in Sri Lanka and was awaiting my new assignment.  I was living on the edge of a huge coconut estate, and indeed my garden was three acres of mostly coconut trees.  There was a family of miner birds living in a hole in one tree on the edge of the small lawn in front of the house, and there was a verandah overlooking the lawn so that my breakfast was frequently taken on that verandah.

I used to tempt the miner birds onto the lawn by placing most of an overripe papaya fruit on the lawn.  Miner birds are great squabblers, and love papaya, and made a lot of noise as they competed to gobble as much of the papaya as they could.

The book?  I didn’t get that one published until 2014, just three years ago.  Since then I have written and published another 30 novels.  I can’t claim best seller status, but I did get a few good reviews, so please have a look at my website:

https://www.adammannauthor.com

You can also find my books on Amazon and Smashwords:
https://www.amazon.com/author/adammannauthor.com
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AdamtheMann

Motivation. Along with goals and conflict, it’s a major component of a great romance. A few years ago, I decided to write a series about some hot, successful football players whose unusual interests (call them fetishes if you must) played huge roles in how they lived their personal lives. GRIDIRON KINK includes the four BDSM romances that illustrate what events motivated each hero and heroine to embrace fetishes some readers may find strange—even a bit bizarre.

Romance is a must for me in everything I write, no matter what kinky actions turn my story people on. I lean toward conjuring up one hero, one heroine story lines, though there’s room for modification of that rule in some of my BDSM tales. In the GRIDIRON KINK series, I set out to write the stories of four mainly heterosexual couples for whom exploring their mutual fetishes—psychologically as well as literally—were integral parts of their journeys.

I hope readers will enjoy the four independent but connected short novels. In END ZONE, Jack and Tawny are young lovers who have embraced her 24/7 control over his sexual urges for his own good. Sid’s submissive dream girl learns to welcome his style of control by sensual rope bondage in place of her former master’s brutality in BEST RECEPTION. Jimmy miraculously finds his fantasy lover in the flesh, straight off advertiser’s billboards, in SACKMASTER. Finally, Matt is Keisha’s happy 24/7 slave, until circumstances force a switch of the D/s dynamic to save her life.

These stories have been updated and sanitized for their re-release in a brand-new box set featuring cover art by the fabulous Original Syn. I hope readers will enjoy all four in one handy package! Brand new and only $3.99 (or read for free with Kindle Unlimited) so get your copy now!

Website: https://annjacobs.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnJacobsAuthor
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/authrannjacobs
Email: ann@annjacobs.net

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that three of my five published contemporary romances take place primarily in the fall.

There’s something about this time of year, when the air gets a chill, the leaves turn, and swap sandals and swimwear for boots, sweaters and jeans. I love the smells, the foods, and fun— whether it’s lazy drive on sun-drenched backroads taking in the fall colors, or dressing up for Halloween.

As a kid, I dressed as a witch one year, a 1950s girl, another. In college, my costumes got a lot raunchier. One year several of my friends and I went as “Killer Bimbos from Outer Space.” We carried plastic ray-guns, wore mini-skirts, stilettos, Vulcan ears and inflatable boobs that transformed our modest B and C bustlines to epic proportions.

My only picture of the Killer Bimbo squad seems to have vanished, but I still remember the feeling of slipping into a sexy and outrageous disguise.

Recapturing that thrill was part of the fun of writing a sexy scene in my new release Shining Through.

Good girl heroine Tabitha, a well-known champion figure skater, goes to a dive bar in search of smokin’ hot Russian bad boy Daniil Andreev. Tabitha’s desperate to break out of her straight-laced public image and is (rightly!) convinced Daniil is the perfect guy to help her do it.

But as America’s wholesome blond ice princess, she can’t just march in and steam it up with sexy tattooed Daniil.

Her solution? A disguise, that transforms her into a blue-haired wild child, eager for a good time, and a man ready to show her one.

Enjoy this excerpt!

Heart pounding, she spun around, brushing his face with her synthetic hair. He stepped back, grinning a little as their gazes locked.

He wasn’t tall, which wasn’t unusual for a skater. But his well-defined upper body, tattooed arms and rock-star eyes made him look tough, cool and confident. She hadn’t a doubt he was good in a fight, and definitely not afraid of one.

She threw what she hoped was a sexy look. “Want to be on my team?”

“Sure.” He smiled and moved closer. “Which are we, stripes or solids?”

“Either. We made up our own game.” She leaned against the table and ran her tongue over her white frosted lips. “Whoever gets the most balls wins.”

He gave a low chuckle as he gazed into her eyes. “I’ll bet you play very well.”

“Actually, I’m quite new at it. But eager to learn.” She angled herself to show off her body, accented by a fitted black tank, and a red mini-skirt. His admiring gaze took in all her hard work in the gym. Even as he bent to take his turn at the pool table, his gaze lingered on her until the very last minute.

Pool balls collided with a sharp crack, and the solid-color green one rolled into a pocket at the opposite end. Tabitha licked her lips. “I like your technique. Maybe you could show me a few things.”

“Happy to.” A smile played at the corner of his mouth. “I’m Daniil. And you are?”

“Hildegard,” she answered. “Hildegard Snarski.”

“And people think Russian names are strange.” Peering at Tabitha, he followed her around to the other side of the table. “It’s funny. You don’t look like a Hildegard,” he said. “I think you look more like a Tabitha.”

Crap! He was onto her. She could either retreat in shame… or she could play the game. She looked up through her fringe of blue bangs. “Nope. Definitely not Tabitha.”

“I see.” His alluring sideways grin suggested he not only liked the game, he wanted to dial it up a notch. He gave a low chuckle and moved closer, so that his shoulder brushed against her bare arm. His nearness and the aroma of Polo Black filled her senses. “So tell me….Hildegard Snarski… is it true what I’ve heard about American women?”

She felt the familiar adrenaline rush that accompanied a daring leap. Usually it was a leap off the ice, but not this time. She twirled the square of blue chalk around the tip of the cue stick and blew away the excess. “Tell me what you’ve heard, and I’ll tell you if it’s true.”

He trailed his fingertip over her arm, whisper soft against her skin. “That they’re after a good time. No expectations, no strings. Just one night, and then goodbye.”

She blinked and her cheeks felt hot. Though she couldn’t possibly  date Daniil Andreev, the way he’d put the question front and center was disconcerting. “Is that what you’re after?”

He brushed the pad of his thumb over the swell of her bottom lip. And then his mouth was on hers, hungry and demanding, taking what he wanted.

She gripped the edge of the table, as his arm snaked around her, pressing against the small of her back. His tongue probed her mouth, triggering wild spirals of desire that blocked out the sounds of the bar, and awareness of people around them.

Blood pounded through her veins, and her core felt like liquid, soaking her panties, driving her wild. His warm breath against her ear sent shivers through her body.

“Want to get out of here?”

When the sweetheart of American figure skating falls for the bad boy of Russian figure skating, it puts her quest for Olympic gold on thin ice. Dirty Dancing meets Olympic figure skating in this sweet and sexy sports romance!

The Biggest Season of Her Career…

America’s sweetheart Tabitha Turner is on track to win figure skating gold in the Winter Games. Her family has sacrificed everything for her career, but the pressure is taking its toll. Burned out and living a lie, can Tabitha let off a little steam without melting the ice?

The Last Chance of His…

Russia’s bad boy of skating Daniil Andreev is determined to prove the toughest thing about him is his competitive fight. When Tabitha tempts him to help her take a secret walk on the wild side, he gives her a taste of the freedom she craves, never expecting that one unforgettable night could turn into something more.

Two Hearts on Thin Ice…

Chicago, Vancouver, Paris… the international figure skating season unfolds. Tabitha and Daniil compete and fall in love, but as the pressure mounts in a make-or-break season, can they set aside their painful pasts and spiral into a shining future together… or will their dreams shatter like thin ice?

At the Winter Games, the torch isn’t the only thing burning..

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I just wanted to show off my meager graphics skills today. I made that image in Canva, and I think it’s pretty darn eye-catching—don’t you? Helps to have great covers (thank you, sis!).

These are the first three stories in the series. Early next year, I’ll begin releasing the next three. After that? Well, it’s up to you. If you’d love more cowboys who ride hard and love harder, just let me know…

This coming Thursday, The Cowboy and the Widow releases. I know. It’s a clunky title, but it tells you what you need to know, right? And I promise it’s sexy as hell! It has these themes goin’ on: older woman/younger man, reunion, widow overcoming disappointment, a cowboy with all the right moves… Uh huh… Go reserve your copy! ~DD

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Texas Cowboys

Wearing His Brand
Texas Cowboys, Book 1

An accident involving barbed wire gives Lyssa McDonough the chance to play damsel-in-distress to capture rancher Brandon Tynan’s attention. Brand promised Lyssa’s older brother he’d keep an eye on his kid sister when he went off to war, but the sexy cowgirl tempts his code of honor past the breaking point when her actions beg for his brand of sensual punishment.

A little TLC turns into one hot encounter neither can just brush off. Now, Brand is determined to put the brakes on Lyssa’s reckless behavior–just as determined as she is to find a way to stay in his bed, forever.

Get your copy here!

The Cowboy and The Widow
Coming November 2nd!
Texas Cowboys, Book 2

Following her husband’s death, Maggie McDermott faces the onerous task of running the family ranch. She doesn’t know the first thing about horses, so she knows she needs a capable hand. But Daniel? Guilty memories of the time she’d tempted the younger man keep her blushing.

Daniel Tynan is more than willing to show sweet Maggie the ropes. His gentle ways melt her heart, and his sensual passion burns away her inhibitions. He may be younger, but he’s not without the right kind of experience…

Pre-order your copy here!

Soldier Boy
Coming December 5th!

Fresh from war, “Mac” McDonough wants just two things: whiskey to drown the pain in his damaged leg and a woman. But one look into Suki Reese’s haunted eyes, and he knows she needs the kind of muscle only an ex-soldier can provide.

Mac’s brooding gaze and hard body leave Suki Reece breathless and disturbed. The rugged ex-Marine won’t listen to a word she says until Suki distracts him with a sexy striptease. That gets his attention.

While Suki may have gotten the upper hand, Mac is going to be on top.

Pre-order your copy here!

One of the joys of reading is escaping to places you’ve been or always dreamed of going. One of those places that should be on everyone’s bucket list is Venice, Italy. The city is magical! The canals, the alleyways, the people and Carnival are amazing and take you back to another time.

I chose Venice for Ronin’s Return because I so loved the city. Hotel Eden is a place where we stayed, and I described it just like it was when I went there. I’ve included a picture of my daughter standing beneath the sign at Hotel Eden. The picture of Venice on the cover is one I took while there. I loved the colorful buildings and the reflections of the buildings in the water. I hope you enjoy visiting Venice, even if only in the story.

RONIN’S RETURN

Amazon | Kobo | Nook | GooglePlay | IBooks | Print

Navy SEAL helps Italian heiress evade bounty hunters set on collecting the price on her head, while navigating the canals of Venice.

Navy SEAL, Ronin Magnus, has his first real vacation since his visit to Italy two years ago when he met the woman who continues to haunt his every day and night dreams. His mission: Find Isabella and prove to himself two years of fantasizing has blown her image and attributes way out of proportion. In order to move on, he has to get her out of his system.

Isabella Pisano, daughter of the multi-millionaire Pisano family of Venice had spent the past two years trying to forget a handsome Navy SEAL who’d turned her views on love upside down. Not satisfied to be just the daughter of a wealthy man, she had set out to make a difference in the lives of the women being raped, tortured and sold into slavery in the ISIS raids in Syria. Disguised as the gun-toting Angel of Mercy, she entered Syria and helped hundreds of women and children escape ISIS brutality. When ISIS puts a price on her head, she returns to Venice, resumes her life as Isabella and prays her alter ego and the bounty on her head doesn’t follow her

Unfortunately, their reunion is beset by killers who’ve discovered Isabella’s secret.

Chased through the streets and canals of Venice, Ronin and Isabella must elude their enemies or die. But they cannot escape the burgeoning love, threatening to consume them.