I find I can watch movies where scores of people are offed in sometimes the most dreadful fashion, but if an animal is treated poorly, or God forbid dies, I go to pieces. In fact, I havent’ watched a movie involving animals since the hugely touted “great family movie” March of the Penguins. I understand the Circle of Life. I don’t need to see it in high definition.

Now, someone has created a web site to give a heads up about whether an animal dies in a movie and/or book. The site is www.doesthedogdie.com, and you can search titles and the results gives you a brief summary and a tally of contributors who have listed “yes“ or “no” on dying. Now, the site needs work. It’s not very aesthetically appealing. It looks rather thrown together, but for all practical purposes, I got the answers I wanted and not one yielded a movie I could watch or book I could read about a dog. A Dog’s Purpose, Marley and Me, The Art of Racing in the Rain all were best-selling books and likely wonderful movies I can never watch.

Additionally, the site has over sixty other categories for possible emotional triggers.

I think because I’m getting older, the much shorter lifespans of those with fur and feathers seems so unfair. How much better is our day when we know someone at home is will be over the moon to see us when we walk through the door? We want those days to last as long as we do. When I come home, I have three parrots calling my name and two dogs with wild wiggling butts (they’re Mini Australian Shepherds so they don’t have much of a tail). Five days into a vacation, we were ready to come home because we missed our babies.

And as I write this, I have one dog shoving a ball in my lap, another pawing my arm, and from the living room all three parrots are in their morning jam session of chatter. Some days, I get few words down because of the interruptions. I used to get annoyed until I realized, my husband and I have this whole world of places to go, things to see and do, and family and friends to visit. But to my pets, we are their whole world. Nearly everything in their lives revolves around us. I can’t even remember the last time I was alone in the bathroom.

Lucy is the emotional, sensitive and responsible one. Just days after we brought her home, Lucy realized our very old dog Lily was blind and immediately became her self-appointed guide dog even though Lily had been blind for well over a year and didn’t need guiding. But when Lily crossed the rainbow bridge earlier in the year, Lucy was heart-broken and still sits for a time at Lily’s grave every day. We got Raven to be a companion for Lucy. And despite the fact, they are the same breed, two more different dogs were never born. In human form, Raven is the sixteen-year-old girl who sneaks out of the house and then lies about it with a completely straight face. No apologies or shame.

They are good companions for each other and my husband and I. They are cheap entertainment, but more importantly, our dogs make us better people. We care more others and think about ourselves less.

When I wrote my debut novel, Captured Hearts, I inserted Spencer, a lab/retriever mix into the story initially as a random thing. However, as the story evolved, he became a very important character; because this dog became a support and healing entity for my heroine. Without Spencer, Allee wouldn’t have come close to working through her problems.

Dogs can do amazing things to our hearts and lives. When a dog comes into your life, an unbreakable bond is created and will never break, even in the afterlife. Movies often do a great job of showing such a bond. Unfortunately, for me, I will never see most of them.

Anna Hague
https://www.annahague.com/books

Summertime makes me nostalgic. So many of my childhood memories involve searching for perfect sea glass and exploring the rocky outcroppings that separated the private beaches from the public one. And now that I’m a mother, I watch my own children exploring the creeks and trees of their neighborhood (alas, no nearby beach) and it brings back so much. Setting most of my stories on the coast (Mystic Point, my main series, takes place in a fictional coastal Connecticut town and my upcoming cozy mystery series is set on the Northern California coast) is one way I indulge my nostalgia.

The other way is through music, one genre in particular: Yacht Rock.

I am ADDICTED to this station. I’ve managed to fine tune it (banned all Michael McDonald, who took The Doobie Brothers from Rock Stars to Lounge Lizards; marked almost all of America’s songs as favorites) and here I sit, writing and listening to the music that makes me feel like I’m five again and hanging out on my Uncle Lou’s beach.

This is the music my mother listened to, back when she looked like Twiggy and wore halter tops and bell-bottoms. Back when I was this adorable, dark-skinned, curly-headed little girl who romped around the beach and charmed Uncle Lou into letting me play in his rowboat. (Without a life jacket, I used to row out a few meters from shore to the nearest sand bar by myself. Can you imagine letting your kids do that now? I don’t even let mine in the 1-foot-deep kiddie pool without supervision!) I listen to Seals & Croft and I can smell the honeysuckle and Coppertone mingling with the salt in the air from Long Island Sound. When Christopher Cross begins to play, I’m transported to a time when our main source of decor was macramé. Ambrosia plays and my world turns avocado green and sunflower orange.

Someday, I’ll be a coastal chick again. For now, I’ll just have to conjure up those beachy feelings from a simpler time, basking in the sun listening to Peaches and Herbs (Reunited and it feels so good!) and The Pina Colada Song, just like my mom and I used to so many years ago. (I’ll let you do the math as to how long ago that was.) The only difference is that instead of slathering myself with suntan lotion I now use sunscreen, and instead of drinking those Hugs barrels, I can relax with an actual Pina Colada while my children burnish their own summer memories in their minds.

What invokes your summer memories?

Mystic Point

Cate Tayler is a beach baby, born and raised on the Connecticut coastline. She met the love of her life while serving in the US Air Force, and after extensive overseas travel, they are now raising their four children in the wild suburbs of Maryland.

Her latest release is the Mystic Point Box Set – Volume 1. It includes the first 4 books of her steamy contemporary romance series PLUS a bonus Mystic Night novella never before sold!

https://books2read.com/MPvol1/

Love Me Once More
Lainie has spent the past year in a solitary confinement of her own making. She once had everything—a successful career, a home in a big city, and the man of her dreams. But she took it for granted and ended up losing it all. Now she’s been given one last shot at redemption, one last chance to show Ethan she never betrayed him, one last time to convince him their marriage is worth fighting for.

Love Me Now
Feisty and determined, Calista will do anything to save her family’s restaurant. After a devastating storm nearly wipes out their beloved Greek diner, it’s up to Calista to put her dreams on hold to keep the business afloat. But with a land developer lurking around, she needs nothing short of a miracle.

And Miles could be the miracle she’s hoped for all along…

Love Me Like You Do
Haley knows the darker side of love. She’ll never give anyone power over her heart. Will has seen the beauty and healing power of love. He must prove love isn’t just another four-letter word and his kind of love is what she needs. But as she begins opening herself to the idea of a future with him, ghosts from the past return and present-day secrets threaten their fragile relationship.

Love Me Harder
Juliet earned her saltiness. The sassy chef made a fresh start in Mystic Point after divorcing her cheating bastard of a husband. Now the renowned head chef of the local French bistro is living the free life she wants, surrounded by good friends and the occasional casual fling. Until one tempting night with a scrumptious cowboy gives her a taste of what she’s missing.

I want to first thank Delilah for welcoming me onto her blog. I’m so excited to share my thoughts and inner musings with you.

Less than a week ago, my dear husband and I took our youngest son to college, changing our lives forever. A little context. We have two sons, one 27 and the other 19. When our oldest moved out, it took a while for us to adjust. We still wanted him to be at home with us so we’d know he was safe and sound. Five years later, we’ve gotten better, yet we still wish he was here with us. He lives about thirty miles up the road, but even that seems too far. For his first year of college, he stayed home with us, giving us an extra year. For his sophomore year, he decided he’d had enough. It was time for him to leave the nest and spread his wings.

For my husband and me, it was a defining moment. We’d always heard others talk about the Empty Nest Syndrome. The overwhelming feeling of grief. The questioning of ourselves and our parenting skills. And finally, the sadness of realizing our kids, our babies, have moved on with their lives.

Then I had an epiphany.

Our children were our lives, but their leaving home is not THE END of our lives. It’s the beginning of the next phase. With no other kids in the house, dear husband and I now have FREEDOM! We could focus on the things we wanted to do, but with each other and on our own. Hobbies we wished to pursue could be explored. I could take my writing to another level. And with that realization, the joy returned.

From that moment, I began to plan out my writing schedule for the next year. It took a moment, but I identified which new books I would publish, which already published books I would refresh, edit, and reintroduce to readers, and outlined the #AuthorGoals I want to accomplish in the next year. The enhanced focus on my writing is something I haven’t had in many years, and I’m so excited about my planned projects. At least ten stories will be coming out in the twelve months, and I can’t wait for everyone to read what I have in store.

When your children move on and begin their own lives without you, it can be difficult to adjust. That’s not to say they won’t be back to ask for help with groceries, cell phone bills, or car payments, but that’s a different type of dependency.

The transition for parents will include feelings of sadness, doubt, and fear. While all those feelings still exist, I’m choosing to use this new normal to grow my writing career into something more. Something exceptional that will make me proud of my accomplishments, while also focusing on the reasons I began writing in the first place:

1. My love of reading.
2. The joy of reading a book that featured women who look like me.
3. Getting lost in a world where anything is possible.
4. Feeling the tears on my face when I read a book so emotional, I can’t help but cry.
5. Books open people up to learning about new worlds, cultures, and celebrating love in all its forms.

My desire to bring stories like this to the world is why I published my first novella, To Love a Marine, in May 2009. After ten years and 30+ novels, novellas, and short stories, I’ve fulfilled that need. I can only imagine what will happen in the next ten years, but I’m glad for the journey ahead.

Ciao!
Reana Malori

PS – My latest release, Tangled Lies, formerly included in Crossroads, a USA Today Bestselling book. The book is Now Available as a single release.

Tangled Lies

What’s done in the dark, will always come to light.

Tristan Lucarelli’s life was irrevocably altered the moment his parents were killed. Under the tutelage of his favorite uncle, he entered a world of violence, death, power, and loyalty to family above anything else. Now a man to be reckoned with, no one dared get in his way without paying the price.

Camille Sperry could never be described as an average woman. Hellbent on creating her own path in the world, she didn’t apologize for who she was, or how she lived her life. Often misunderstood and underestimated, her no-holds-barred approach allowed her to create a life well-lived. She was happy and fulfilled. Or so she thought.

From the outside looking in, Tristan and Camille didn’t belong together. They didn’t fit, and their lives were too different. The challenges involved in trying to make a relationship work would be too difficult. Then again, Tristan and Camille have never played by the rules.

Get your copy here!

About the Author

Reana Malori is a USA Today Bestselling Author of Multicultural / Interracial Contemporary Romance. She writes romance stories full of romance, love, and steam that pull the reader into her world. Her heroes are the kind of men you want to run away with and live happily-ever-after. The heroines are the type of ladies with whom you want to have a glass of wine. She began her writing journey in 2009, releasing her first novella, To Love a Marine. Since then, she has published more than 30 novels and novellas of varying length, to include Weekend Fling, Finding Faith, Conall, and Wicked Nights.

Website: www.reanamalori.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ReanaMalori
Instagram: www.instagram.com/reana_malori
Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/Reana.Malori.Author
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/reana-malori
Amazon Buy Page: amazon.com/author/reanamalori
Newsletter: https://eepurl.com/bcEYjf

I think I have an entity that hides things from me. No joke! Twice in the past two months I bought allergy/mucus relief meds that got lost in my car. Maybe some entity was telling me not to take them, since I had been taking the meds a lot lately and some folks say they are bad for us. With the first set of meds, my calendar also disappeared. I still like paper calendars, and I depend on mine. Of course, I saw none for 2019 in the Dollar Tree, so I bought a notebook to fill in as a calendar and a calendar for 2020. As luck would have it, new calendars for the school year appeared in stores after I created my own. I didn’t find the lost one after I created one. Nor did the meds show up. Usually, things I replace show up to mock me. Maybe Mercury being in retrograde has something to do with my losses.

With the second set of meds I also had herbal tea bags in boxes. That bag never made it into my house, but it wasn’t in my car, either. The boxes should have made losing the bag less likely. BUT it didn’t! Again, maybe I wasn’t supposed to take the meds, but the tea?

The kicker, this time, is a blood pressure cuff and a pack of batteries. I bought it Sunday, but it didn’t make it into my house. Yes, I searched my trunk and the inside of my car, ’cause I tossed my wallet and my cell phone onto the driver’s seat and two larger bags into my trunk. The receipt for the BP cuff and I will go back to the store where I bought it and hope I left the bag in my buggy when I took it back inside.

The clerk seemed off when he rung up my purchases, but I know he gave it to me, and I know my allergy brain wasn’t working, soooo maybe I did take it back inside.

This summer has been crazy. I now have three books in the Protective Series.

Check out Protecting Melissa.

Protecting Melissa

Get your copy here!

Protecting Melissa is a Romantic Suspense set in Georgia.

Melissa isn’t looking for romance since the murder of her cheating, swindling husband. She wants to teach and mind her own business. However, someone her husband cheated is determined to make her repay money her husband stole before his murder in the bed of one of his paramours.

Complications arise when Gabe, her former crush, walks into her classroom to check on his son, one of her students. The kid has a secret, she knows that secret, and his father wants to know that secret.

When Gabe and Melissa leave a basketball game and find all four tires on her vintage Mustang flat, he determines she needs his protection, despite her insistence she doesn’t. Gabe and Melissa’s brother were best friends. He looked after her when she tagged along behind him and her brother. Since her brother is out of the country Gabe feels obligated to protect her, just until her brother returns.

Someone has planted cameras in her house and made intimate looking photographs he shares on the Internet with her students. Who is sending her threatening emails and how far will her go to get what he wants?

Excerpt:

Melissa and Gabe have been to the police station to report a threatening call from the night before and have returned to her house. Gabe has checked every inch of her house to make sure no one has been there or could get inside. Feeling safe, she checks her email.

Following the laughter, he found her at her desktop computer. “What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Email.”

He leaned over her shoulder, reading her message.

“Mom has her laptop with her. She sends stories about their stops. Look!” She pointed to a comment. “They’re having such a good time.”

“Be a shame to give them a reason to worry about you.”

“After all the stuff you did to my house, no one could break in here. I’m perfectly safe. So go away.”

She closed her mom’s email.

She didn’t recognize the next address. The subject line read Favorite Teacher.

She laughed again. “Probably a project for computer class. Let’s open the attachment and check it out.”

“No signature, darlin’. Do you recognize the screen name?” Gabe pulled a chair beside hers. Her gardenia scent nearly made his eyes cross with desire. Damn the situation. The damned situation was the reason he was alone with her and so close he could feel her body heat and the reason he’d had a hard-on much of the past two days.

“Do you really think I know all the screen names for my students? I have a hundred and forty students and a homeroom list of thirty. Then there are my past students and the faculty.”

“And they all have your email address?”

“A lot of kids use it to ask about assignments. Some keep in touch during school breaks and some send me photos. A few send me jokes and such. I discourage that because of the volume and time factor. Way too many kids.”

She downloaded the attachment and saved to the desktop. Then she opened it.

Her picture appeared on the screen. She stood in front of her classroom.

Gabe laughed. “An admirer, I see.”

“Probably from the yearbook candids.”

The first photo faded and a second one took its place. It showed Lissie running, concentration in her expression. It was grainy like an enlargement of a telephoto lens shot but still a good action photo. It grabbed his attention.

Seeing the third photo appear, he took the mouse from under her hand. Her gasp made him look at her, then back at the image of her sprawled across her bed, her eyes closed, the cover rumpled. Her gown had settled high on her thighs. One hand held the hem of the gown and the other rested on her breast.

“Pervert!” he growled. His cock loved the photo, but his conscience wanted smash the person who had taken it.

Gabe reached past Lissie to turn on her radio, in case someone was listening to them.

Her voice came out in a whisper. “How did that happen? Gabe, someone broke into my house and watched me sleep. That’s why I felt like someone was watching me.”

He grabbed his cell and dialed Bry’s number. (Bry is a cop.)

Lissie gasped. “Omigod!”

He wrapped an arm around her, waiting for Bry to answer his phone, and watched the next photo materialize on the screen. It showed her car with its slashed tires and Lissie examining them.

“Oh, shit! Come on, Bry, answer.” He pounded the desk. He muttered an obscenity as the voice mail rambled on. “Call me on my cell ASAP,” he muttered into his phone.

The final photo showed Lissie in her shower.

Links: Connect with the author
https://www.amazon.com/Mary-Marvella/e/B008E1SJ32
https://goodreads.com/author/show/4909455.Mary_Marvella
https://www.facebook.com/ARomanceCaper
www.MaryMarvella.com
https://www.facebook.com/mmbarfield
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Marvella- Author/121044561311561
https://pinkfuzzyslipperwriters.blogspot.com
Follow Mary Marvella on Twitter: @mmarvellab
https://amzn.to/22t6vOC
https://www.amazon.com/Her-Deception-M-Mayfield-ebook/dp/B07HF4X5V2/

Happy Saturday! I just wanted to poke my head in the door today to remind you about something. If you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you have access to FREE books! If want to get a FREE copy of Stranded, you better get it TODAY, because it’s leaving KU tomorrow! Last chance, folks!

Remember, there are 13 luscious erotic short stories inside this volume. If you’re looking for a good deal, get your FREE copy today. But hey, even if you don’t have KU, $0.99 is a GREAT PRICE for this volume!

Then, if you’re still hungry for sexy FREE short stories (sorry, KU subscribers only), every one of my Stepbrothers Stepping Out shorties is in KU! You can check out the stories on my Short Stories Page. Here’s just a sampling of what you can pick up for FREE!

And don’t forget! Next Tuesday, my shorty, Quincy Down Under, releases—and it will be available through KU for a limited time!

UPDATE: The winner is…Colleen C!
*~*~*

As a lot of you may know, I am a water person! Meaning I love everything from a gently-tumbling stream to the splash of crashing waves as they race to a sandy beach. In fact, my new release Dangerous Lies uses a lot of the fantastic places I’ve vacationed in Florida as part of the story’s backdrop.

But this year I decided to head upward, so I took an early June vacation to the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. My family and I spent the week in a fabulous cabin high in the mountains just outside of Gatlinburg, where on clear days the distant mountain tops were visible. Other times they were cloaked in the clouds.

The entire region is just breathtaking! And that includes the ridge after ridge of forested mountains, plus the fast-rushing streams sliding over boulders smoothed by time, to eventually merge with a waterfall’s cascading waters. Then there are the natural trails, such as the one I climbed to Grotto Falls, that offer a different dimension of hiking. Paths that have been walked by many…with endless more hikers to come in future years.

Weathermen kept predicting rain, but most times there was only a brief shower. Except, one morning as I sat in a rocking chair on the porch, the steady drizzle turned into an all-out downpour! I loved the sound of the heavy rain moving through the trees on its way to my location. Thank goodness there was a nice half-porch roof covering so I could just stay where I was and enjoy the morning storm.

Since the cabin was so high up in the mountains, being on the porch felt as if I was one with nature amid the tall trees. In fact, during the downpour, I was able to see the rain hitting on top of the leaves…to see the delicate yet sturdy stems quiver with each drop’s touch…to see the leaves dancing in the rain. And my soul danced with them. That I’ll never forget.

I’d love to hear about a time the weather and its effect on your vacation was almost as exciting as the trip itself.

Contest

In celebration of my July 22 release of Dangerous Lies (Shades of Leverage Book 2), I will give one commenter an e-book of Slater’s Revenge—the first book in the Shades of Leverage series. Winner will be selected July 25.

 Dangerous Lies
(Shades of Leverage Book 2)

Release Date: July 22, 2019
Buy Now

Excerpt

She glanced over her shoulder, and there stood the man who’d hit on her. For all that’s holy, couldn’t the guy take no for an answer? “Back off, Dance Man. I told you before, I don’t care what song you play. And I don’t want to dance.”

“That’s good. Real good.” The corners of his mouth quirked upward, along with the tilt of his head and lift of his eyebrows. He chuckled as he slipped into the seat across from her. “Never been called that before.”

“You must really be desperate to keep hitting on someone like me.” Pointing her finger for emphasis, she gritted her teeth and spoke loud and clear in his direction. “Now, leave my table or I’m calling the police.”

The stubble on his jawline caught the light, emphasizing the dark, weathered tan of his now serious expression. His blue eyes focused on her with the intensity of someone looking for clarity before bidding on a rare diamond. She was drawn to the muscles in his forearms as he flexed his fingers back and forth, back and forth.

Caught in his stare, she shivered then noticed the barely visible earbud. She’d seen those on Secret Service agents when she’d visited the White House for an environmental briefing. She’d also seen the earbuds on people not so glad to see her as she dug for dirt on a corruption story. People who didn’t exactly play nice when she got too close to what they were hiding.

Without looking, she reached her hand into her purse leaning against her side, hoping to grab her keychain mace without him noticing. The purse tilted, and the vial slipped from her hand, landing on the floor with a slight thud.

He didn’t flinch. “You need to practice that move.”

What if he were the danger?  She was alone. In the corner of an almost empty restaurant. No one was at the house to expect her home. No one even knew—

Drake. Drake knew. He was right there on the phone. He had to be hearing what was being said.

She wrapped her hand around her phone, ready to use it as a weapon. “If you don’t go away, I’m going to scream.”

The man sighed loud and heavy as he leaned against the high back of the wooden booth, then tapped his earbud and motioned to her phone. “Drake, you should tell this lady who I am before she rips my head off.”

Glancing at the phone, still on FaceTime, there was Drake holding a photo of the man sitting across from her. She lifted her gaze to the actual man and met his blue-eyed stare with one of her own. Evidently, her life had notched up in things that were out of her control. “You’re who’s supposed to protect me?”

“You got a problem with that?” He leaned forward, bracing his forearms on the table in front of him.

“No. Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“Because you were too busy calling me Dance Man.”

She leaned forward in rebuttal. “Listen. I’ve had a very, very bad week. So, if I’ve upset you, that’s too damn bad.”

He popped the side of his fingers on the table. “Well, you’re not the only one who’s had a shitty week, lady.”

“Hey, you two want to put a lid on the sarcasm?” Drake sounded like he meant business.

They both took a breath.

“That’s better,” Drake said. “This is your protector agent, Mitch Granger. And, this is Elizabeth—”

“Liz,” Mitch stated.

“My name is Elizabeth Walkert.”

“Liz. As long as I’m your protector, your name is Liz.”

Buy Now:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Apple Books

About the Author

Award-winning author Claudia Shelton could write her name before the first day of school, but now she writes romantic suspense, thrillers and contemporary romance. In addition, she presents workshops for readers and authors. Her debut novel, Risk of a Lifetime, released to 5-star reviews, reached Amazon’s Best Sellers Romance Series Top 100 and was named one of eBooks Galore top reads for 2014. She is also a two-time nominated Daphne Du Maurier (Unpublished) finalist for excellence in mystery. Claudia is the author of the Shades of Leverage action-adventure romantic suspense series.

On a personal note, Claudia considers herself a traveler, music lover and water person. A cool drink while listening to the splash of waves is always nice—so is a mug of hot chocolate in the falling snow. Her main priority is spending time with family, friends and her two sweet, conniving rescue dogs.

Website:      https://claudiasheltonauthor.com/
FB:                https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaSheltonWriter
Twitter:        https://twitter.com/ClaudiaShelton1
Newsletter: https://claudiasheltonauthor.com/
Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/claudiasheltonauthor/
Pinterest:     https://www.pinterest.com/claudiashelton1/

The winners are…all 11 commenters!
See comment #12.
*~*~*

I’m late posting this today. I got a little covered up with lots of little things I had to take care of—like spending time with my dd who’s going on a trip with her hubby tomorrow. She’ll be gone for nearly two weeks, and I don’t think I can stand it! 🙂

I piddled at updating my work calendar. I’ll have lots more time to write since she won’t be around. I edited my short story, “Quincy Down Under“, which I’m releasing on its own on the 30th. Sexy cover, don’t you think? This story was originally part of the Stranded anthology. You can purchase either of them for just $0.99, so I’m guessing I know which one you’ll want more! 🙂

Contest

Tell me what you’re “piddling at” this weekend for a chance to win a free copy of “Quincy Down Under”!