Equine Therapy and PTSD

PTSD has reached epidemic proportions in returning veterans. Repercussions of wartime experiences bring staggering rates of divorce, abuse, hopelessness, homelessness and suicide.

Experts report effects of PTSD are complex and deeply rooted. It affects nearly every facet of the mind, including cognitive and physical responses like reflexes, being easily startled, nightmares, irritability or rage. Having been exposed to consistent trauma such as war or combat, the brain rewires itself and locks out fear, guilt, reasoning and emotional reaction to the experience while in battle. This is the body’s survival instinct at work.

Domestic animals, like cats and dogs, are known for easing anxiety and depression and providing comfort to people. Horses have personalities similar to dogs, except they’re much larger. They’re recently becoming touted for their ability to ease post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as fear, anxiety, confusion, and depression. In many cases, therapeutic horseback riding, also known as equine therapy, can help significantly decrease PTSD symptoms like insomnia, flashbacks or panic attacks.

How?

Equine therapy uses horses to help promote emotional healing and growth of those with disabilities. Behaviors of horses and those with PTSD are similar. They meet on common ground. They’re both oversensitive, easily startled and hypervigilant to danger. Another person, especially in a medical setting, may not be able to provide such a relationship.

Horses, similar to PTSD sufferers, are hypervigilant and fearsome until they perceive they’re not in danger. One must gain their trust. Because of their own issues, a PTSD subject can easily relate to a horse.

Horses sense human emotions and start to emulate them. The horse acts as a mirror to their emotional status. Because of this, the person must work on their own problems to make progress with the horse.

Relationships

Working with horses stimulates spiritual, physical, psychological and occupational healing. Building a trusting, non-threatening relationship with the animal can further positive feelings of love, respect, empathy, patience, and safety in the human

The debilitating feeling hits a PTSD sufferer, and managing the condition means avoiding triggers or sleeping it off. Many find within a few minutes of riding symptoms ease, proving equestrian therapy offers huge benefits.

Equine therapy allows you to communicate with a partner who has no agenda. Horses are well-suited because of their instincts and the way they communicate. You get real-time feedback from the animal. Horses don’t question motives. They react to actions. You must change your actions in order to change results with your therapy partner.

There’s no fear of being exposed or judged by a horse. This accelerates progress. Many enjoy sessions and look forward to them. Retention rates are reported to be much higher than some other therapies, and the average number of sessions needed is fewer. Around the world, equestrian therapy has a solid track record of enabling results.

Many conditions such as addiction, substance abuse, mood, and behavioral disorders, eating disorders, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, autism, Asperger’s, grief or loss, trauma, sex addiction, compulsive gambling, bipolar and depression have benefited from equestrian therapy.

Benefits:

Assertiveness
Emotional awareness
Empathy
Stress tolerance
Flexibility
Impulse control
Problem-solving skills
Self-actualization
Accountability
Responsibility
Self-confidence
Problem Solving Skills
Self-control

2nd Chance Ranch

Captain Chance Gordon dedicates his life to service. The injured Navy Seal returns to his hometown where his future and life depend on the woman who owns his heart—the one he deserted. REVIEW:

♥ AMAZING!!! Lynda IS an amazing writer! I have read all of Lynda’s books and love them. I can’t wait for the next one. Once I start reading one of Lynda’s books I CAN’T put it down. ~Karen Dawn

Buy Link: https://www.lyndareesauthor.com/2nd-chance-ranch/
or https://www.amazon.com/author/lyndarees

Hi! I’m Megan Ryder and I write sexy contemporary romance with several series all with everyday heroes with deep wounds and feisty women with their own difficult pasts who must come together to heal and find love. My stories feature humor, deep emotion, and sexy times, all in a roller coaster to their happy ever after.

My current series features three foster boys who came to a ranch in Montana, found a home there and a place to heal, yet it took many years before they found what they all truly needed – a family and love of their own. The third book just came out, A Cowboy’s Song, and finishes the trilogy (though I will be returning to the town and the characters in subsequent books for more stories). This book is about the youngest, Ty Evans, who lost his biological family to a car accident when he was twelve years old, and was then placed in foster care. He held himself apart, and even gave up music for many years, unwilling to open himself up after the loss of his family. But now, his brothers have both found love and their own paths forward in their lives and he feels like he’s standing still. He’s feeling a bit lost and wants to find his own place at the ranch and in his life, only he’s not sure the ranch in his place.

Piper is the daughter of country music royalty, only she hasn’t quite lived up to expectations either. Her last tour and album was a bit of a snooze-fest and she’s feeling the pressure to keep up with her parents and older brother, yet she’s not feeling the passion either. She’s invited to the ranch to be in Tara Rawling’s wedding, Ty’s older brother, and she meets Ty.

When Piper and Ty sing an original duet that Ty wrote for the bride and groom and it’s recorded and goes viral, it seems like they both have a new path in life. Piper’s career has a boost and Ty might have a new path – in Nashville. But the romance they started at the ranch may not be strong enough to deal with the outside pressures of the music industry and their own past insecurities.

This book is about finding your passion, your place, and that one person who sees who you really are and loves you for that.

If you like country music, check out the song that was written and recorded for this book, “Ruined Plans Aren’t Always a Bad Thing” by Sierra Bernal. It’s featured in the book and is available on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon music etc. You can also check out my inspiration here on Spotify.

GIVEAWAY

As part of preparing for this book, I listened to a lot of country music, which had been my standard genre but I found I really liked it. This led me to developing the playlist above, so you can hear some of my inspirations for this book. For an ebook copy of this book, tell me what you think is the sexiest country song (or any genre of music) is!

Excerpt from A Cowboy’s Song

He put the travel mug down on the counter. “You call that a kiss? I lent you my dog, and everyone knows a cowboy needs his best friend. I hauled my ass out here in the cold spring night to chase coyotes away. And I apologized. And all I get is a tiny peck on the cheek? I’m feeling a bit cheated here.”

“You yelled at me, offered me your dog, and I never asked you to chase the coyotes. And I gave you my precious coffee. Twice. I’m not entirely sure why I owe you more.”

He pushed off the counter and gave her a lazy smile. “I never said you owed me, darlin’. Just maybe thinking you might want something a little more than that peck.”

A shiver ran up her spine. How could he tell that she wanted to know how his lips felt on hers, what it would be like to trace his muscles with her fingers, and see if his arms would hold her just right? She would be here for only a couple of weeks. It wouldn’t be awkward at all, even if it was bad, but somehow, she sensed it would be pretty damned awesome. And she could use some awesome in her life right about now.

She took a step forward, and his body radiated heat to warm her slightly chilled skin. Her hand reached out and stroked his arm, a tentative motion, then bolder when he stood still, staring at her with dark, fathomless eyes that seemed to see deep into her soul, to the secrets she held inside.

“You’re going to have to make the first move. I won’t have anyone say I forced you.” The deep rumble in his chest startled her in the quiet of the cabin.

She took another step until she was almost flush against him, until just a sliver of air separated them. She rested one hand on his chest, letting her fingertips curve around the muscle of his chest, his heart pounding just under the skin. Her head tilted, and she wet her lips and sucked in a breath. Why had her courage suddenly deserted her? She was inches away from the most desirable man she had seen in years and she was about to back out.

He ran his hand down her cheek and traced her lips with a fingertip then ran them under her chin, lifting her a little more. She parted her lips and her eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips on hers, a gentle, introductory kiss. She slowly relaxed under the unhurried tasting, opening her lips a bit more when his tongue stroked against hers. His hand circled her waist and pulled her flush against him, the hard planes of his body fitting neatly against her soft curves, and his tongue dueled with hers, parlaying and dancing in a tangle of passion.

Slowly, he pulled back and she found her hands painfully twisted in his shirt, holding him close, almost climbing him to get closer. She disentangled herself from him and smoothed the fabric of his flannel shirt, trying to ignore the muscles underneath, and the fact that she had a bed just a hallway away.

“I’ll see you in a few hours.” His voice sounded gruff and hoarse with passion.

A Cowboy’s Song

Can they build a future on a shaky foundation?

Tyler “Ty” Evans lost everything in a car accident when he was twelve, retreating into his shell so tightly that it took months for him to come out again. Music and the ranch saved him, and he will always be grateful to his foster family for saving his life. Now, with the ranch on financial tenterhooks, he wonders if he can use his music to contribute to the solution.

Piper Raines is the daughter of a legendary country music family. While her parents and brother are all famous, her attempt at an independent career went off the rails, and, with exhaustion and stress and bad press dogging her every step, she needs a place to recover. When Piper is invited to vacation at the ranch, Piper and Ty connect through horses and music. After a video duet of Piper and Ty goes viral, they’re invited to sing in Nashville, which also provides added pressure, stressing their new relationship.

Universal Links: https://books2read.com/ACowboysSong
Amazon: https://amzn.to/32kRGRr
B&N: https://bit.ly/37Fbos4
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Much like the 1960s, the Regency was a special time. It was not as freewheeling as the Georgie period before it, nor was it as straight-laced as the Victorian era that followed it. It was a time of new ideas and thinking. Political groups ranged from the Tories, who supported the monarchy and the old way of life on one side and on the other side were the Whigs who supported a more liberal approach to the new United States, granting more rights to the common man, more educational opportunities, and better working conditions. Then there were the Radicals who supported universal suffrage and the abolishment of the peerage.

Philosophers like Mary Wollstonecraft, Jeremy Bentham, and others were on the ascendant. And, thanks to authors like Jane Austen, the new idea of love matches was taking hold. Once a lady was married and had delivered her husband an heir and preferably a second son as well, she was free to engage in discreet affairs. Yet, young unmarried ladies still had to adhere to a strict set of rules least they be ruined and forced to spend their lives as spinsters, or worse, outcast from their families in a time where it was not easy for a lady to earn a living.

In my latest book, The Most Eligible Lord in London, the heroine, Lady Adeline Wivenly is now faced with putting into practice what she has spent a lifetime learning. Balls and other social events were full of pitfalls for a young lady making her come out. But there were also a few rules gentlemen had to follow as well. Chief of which was not to introduce themselves to a lady. In order to meet a lady, a man had to find someone who knew her and would provide an introduction. Another was to agree to dance with any lady his hostess wished him to. There was no dodging that duty if he wanted to continue to be invited to entertainments. Some gentlemen were able to get around the duty by arriving late and departing early, thus becoming the despair of any hostess.

With everyone in full knowledge of their obligations, what could go wrong?

“Lords Turley and Littleton are coming toward us,” Georgie whispered and glanced at Dorie, who was talking to a worthy-looking gentleman.

Adeline slid a look across the assembly room. Drat. Georgie was right. To make it worse, he was even better looking in evening clothes. No rakes. “I have no objection Lord Turley, but I do not wish to have anything to do with Lord Littleton.”

“You cannot refuse to dance with him.” Georgie’s tone had lowered even more.

“If he even asks me.” Perhaps he would not. “He might ask you or Augusta instead.”

“I do not think so.” She pasted a polite smile on her face and curtseyed. “My lord. Good evening.”

Lord Turley bowed. “Miss Featherton, might I ask you for this dance?”

“It would be my pleasure.” He held out his arm and she took it, leaving Adeline to face Lord Littleton all by herself.

“My lady”—his voice was low and seductive just like a rake’s, and his bow was elegant, but it was his deep meadow green eyes that held her plain gray ones as they had that afternoon. They still made her feel as if she was the only lady he saw. “Would you do me the honor of being my partner?”

She curtseyed and kept her tone cool. “I would be pleased”—not delighted—“to dance with you, my lord.”

The Most Eligible Lord in London

In this captivating new Regency trilogy, bestselling author Ella Quinn picks up where her beloved Worthingtons series left off, as three Lords of London discover true love at last . . .

Handsome, rakish, incorrigibly flirtatious—Fredrick, Lord Littleton, is notorious. Lady Adeline Wivenly is resolved to keep him at arm’s length during her first Season—until she overhears another woman’s plot to trick him into marriage. Even a rogue is undeserving of such deception, and Adeline feels obliged to warn him—only to find herself perilously attracted . . .

In the past, Littleton’s charm nearly got him leg-shackled to the wrong woman. Now he’s positive he’s found the right one, for Adeline is everything he wants and needs in a wife. Her sense of justice is so strong she agrees to help him despite her mistrust. But can the ton’s most elusive lord convince the lady he is finally serious about marriage—as long as she will be his bride?

Buy Links
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Hi! I’m Sierra Brave. I write sizzling romance across several genres. Currently, my favorites places to let my imagination run wild are romantic suspense and paranormal romance. My Horse Mountain Shifters series features rugged men and curvy girls.

The new and nasty COVID-19 virus has everyone locked inside their houses—and with good reason. As the mother of a chronically ill child, I’m all for everyone staying home, staying well and keeping infection rates as low as possible! Today, I’m going to share five ways to pass the time during self-isolation.

• Spring cleaning – not a lot of fun but now’s a great time to go through those old clothes and other household items, deciding what to keep, what to pitch and what to donate when we can venture out again—and lots of people will be in need so having charitable donations at the ready is a good thing.
• Sewing (or crochet, needlepoint, or any of the hobbies lots of us used to enjoy before cellphones/computer games started providing a quick, convenient way to pass time) – Some talented people are even making facemasks out of old bras. If you have some fabric and elastic around the house, there are lots of other facemask patterns online as well.
• Learn a new language – Back to those cellphone and iPad apps – Some pretty decent programs for learning to communicate with people from another country exist and are available through the Apple Store. We can’t travel right now, but there’s no reason not to prepare for when the fine medical experts of the world find a vaccine and cure or create a treatment for us.
• DIY with YouTube – tons of tutorials are available for everything from home maintenance to manicures. My daughter used to love this one from the well-named, Cute Girl’s Hairstyles.
• Finally, the best way to pass the time is to read! Please check out my new release, Saving Suki, and grab your copy today while it’s still on sale.

Saving Suki

Title: Saving Suki
Series: Horse Mountain Shifters
Release Date: April 1, 2020
Genre: Paranormal Romance; Romantic Suspense; Contemporary Western;

Pain Drove Him Away. Her Heart Couldn’t Forget.
Tragedy Brought Him Back. Will Fate Bind Them Together?

Last Day to Buy at the Introductory Price ($.99 US): April 1, 2020
Buy Links:
US https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085X1HZST
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B085X1HZST
CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B085X1HZST
AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B085X1HZST

An abusive childhood and an accident in his teens left stallion-shifter, Malcolm Patterson, with a distrust for his father and a lot of holes in his memory. When his dad passes away, Malcolm returns to Horse Mountain to fulfill his obligation to settle his old man’s affairs but finds the shifter community’s near hero-worship of the late doctor disquieting. He’s further shaken to meet a curvy beauty at the funeral who makes his heart gallop and his primal instincts take over.

Suki Marks has been in love with handsome and noble Malcolm Patterson ever since he saved her from bullies who called her an abomination when she was ten. He was the first person to be straight with her about the reasons some people shunned her family and he was quick to debunk those prejudices as the ignorant folktales and stupid superstitions they were. Even after Malcolm graduated high school and left town, she couldn’t forget him, but becoming Doctor Patterson’s live-in nurse in his last year of life was a coincidence. She never expected to be named in the wealthy physician’s will.

Malcolm assumed he’d be disinherited, but even from the after-life, his father continues to turn the knife, using his will to set up an elaborate scheme to taint Malcolm’s feelings for the woman who might be his fated mate. To make matters worse, a dangerous shifter-purist movement is brewing among a small segment of the Horse Mountain Clan, and they’re determined to prevent Suki from passing on her genes to a new generation. Will Malcolm be able to work through his past in time to secure his and Suki’s future?

Warning: Saving Suki is a smoking hot romance with graphic, put-you-in-the-moment love scenes. If you’re offended by sexual language, you might want to consider another book. The book can stand alone without reading the others in the series, but reading Horse Mountain Shifters 1-3, will add to the enjoyment of the experience.

Excerpt from Saving Suki

Malcolm looked through the glass of the refrigerated pie case at the old McGillacutty Dinner as he perused the offerings. He wasn’t about to show up to Mama Carol’s completely empty-handed. A bright yellow flyer attached to the outside of the dessert case with scotch tape caught his eye. He studied the image of the missing girl printed above the lettering spelling out her name, age, and where she’d last been seen along with a phone number and offer of a reward. She was nineteen, blond and had a nice smile, but since he didn’t recognize her and couldn’t be of help, he turned his attention back toward the pies.

After deciding on the chocolate chess, he paid and headed out. He held the box with his desert under his left arm as he wrapped the fingers of his free hand around the glass door’s handle. As soon as he pulled back enough to let in the slightest breeze, the sweet all-consuming aroma from earlier hit him like a ton of bricks. Almost immediately, his heart thumped so hard his chest ached. His mind blanked, his cock twitched and his senses nosedived down into some dark, primal place he hadn’t realized existed. He might have involuntarily shifted right then and there if he hadn’t nearly knocked right into the curvy, brunette beauty who’d spoken with him at the funeral.

Her dark eyes widened and her eyebrows lifted as she gasped and reached out, saving his dessert by a narrow margin. Her hand briefly brushed against his fingers as she steadied the box. Perspiration misted his forehead and the back of his neck as he regained control of his mental faculties.

“Sorry. Are you okay?” He managed to force the words up from his suddenly dry throat.

Shakily, she looked up at him through long, dark eyelashes and nodded. “Uh-huh.”

For what seemed like an eternity, the two of them stood staring at one another until an old lady with a tight, gray perm came up behind Malcolm and demanded, “Move it, sonny.”

He stepped out of the way, holding the door for the elder woman as she shuffled out holding hands with a short, old guy wearing a flapjack hat. Malcolm couldn’t help but smile. He’d always imagined there were couples who’d found each other and stayed in love for all their lives even though none of his relationships seemed to last longer than a month or two. In the last few years, he’d only dated humans which didn’t allow for complete openness or a deeper intimacy.

Malcolm watched as the man walked his lady over to a white Toyota Avalon and opened the passenger-side door for her. As he glanced at the brunette, she tore her gaze away from the same couple and his line of vision synced with hers. For some reason, as if they’d somehow understood they’d been sharing the same thought, a warm blush covered her cheeks. Malcolm looked away as his face burned.

Other Books in the Horse Mountain Shifters Series:
Horse Mountain Heat
US UK CA AU
Real Cowboys Love Cats
US UK CA AU
Bridling Lucy
US UK CA AU

About Sierra

Sierra Brave is a multi-published author of smoking hot romance. Her love of erotic fiction started in her last year of high school when she read the sensual classic, Fanny Hill. She felt so naughty yet liberated with her copy tucked away in her book bag and hopes her work will have the same delicious effect on her readers.

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Thanks so much, Delilah, for giving me this chance to connect with your readers!

My Book Nirvana series is set in a bookshop in Eugene, Oregon, U.S.A., a wonderfully quirky college town with a lively arts scene. One of the pleasures of writing fiction is the chance to immerse yourself in “what if?”—for example, what if I lived in this cool town, or in the mountains, or on the beach? What if, instead of being a soldier, a teacher, and then a writer, I’d chosen other careers that tickled my fancy?

I’ve had so much fun exploring my fantasy careers while writing this series. Like most booklovers (maybe all?), I’ve fantasized about running a bookshop, which is what Clara, heroine of Through the Red Door, does for a living. For this first book in the series, I combined all the best bits of my favorite bookshops to create Book Nirvana: colorful artwork on the walls, a coffee shop next door, and a friendly shop cat named Lulu. Okay, no bookshop I’ve visited has an extensive historical erotica collection behind a red door; that’s purely my imagination. The owner of King’s Books in Tacoma, Washington gave me lots of insight into running a bookshop.

In fantasyland, with unlimited time and money, I’d take ALL the art classes and become a multi-media artist. Alas, my time and $$ are limited, but through my characters, I get to explore various art forms.

Laurel, heroine of Runaway Love Story, Book 2 in the series, loves art but believes she has no talent, so she aspires to run an art gallery. During the course of the book, she learns photography and discovers she does indeed have artistic talent. I loved giving her some artistic mentors, especially her 90-year-old great-aunt Maxie, surrogate grandmother to many young artists. In addition to online research, I interviewed professional photographers for this book. Fascinating! An art photographer in Palm Springs, California, told me that, for an aspiring photographer like Laurel, the best camera choice was the current smartphone.

Margot and Elmer, heroine and hero of the upcoming Book 3 in the series, are both young artists: graphic arts for her, ceramic arts for him. In Love, Art, and Other Obstacles, they compete for an art grant that could launch his art career, or hers, but not both. Two young graphics designers generously let me pick their brains for this book, as did the women who run Spun Clay Arts Studio in Tacoma. I even made a pot—okay, with lots of help—which refreshed my memory of the sights, sounds, smells, and squishy textures of a pottery studio.

I’ve loved the hands-on aspect of my research for this series, and hope readers will enjoy the artistic details.

About the Books

Through the Red Door

Letting him inside could be her salvation…or her undoing.

Widow Clara struggles to keep her indie bookshop afloat. Professor Nick comes in search of historical erotica from her famed collection but stays for the lovely bookseller–until a scandal from his past shatters her trust.

Universal book link for Through the Red Door: https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/f5b623fe-5b0d-11ea-9891-7fdb05370a2e

Runaway Love Story

Fierce passion or long-cherished dreams…she can’t hang onto both.

Chasing a big-city art gallery job, Laurel detours to Eugene, Oregon to help her spitfire great aunt into assisted living. While on a run, she’s harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie rescues her by pretending to be her boyfriend–with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she’s only passing through.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the woods…but falling in love could cost Laurel more than she’s willing to sacrifice. She can’t stay in Eugene, and he can’t leave. His only hope is to convince her those big-city lights have nothing on her inner sparkle.

Universal book link for Runaway Love Story: https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/f1245ec4-5b11-11ea-a19d-5b4dd30bdf4a

Love, Art, and Other Obstacles
Coming this spring from The Wild Rose Press!

She’s a free spirit. He’s a one-woman man.

Rejected by her family for her bisexuality, graphic artist Margot DuPont yearns for a life with no fences, no limits, and no family ties. Between college, work at Book Nirvana, and an art competition, she barely has time for her part-time girlfriend, much less a flirtation with her competitor.

Dumped into the foster system at a young age, ceramics artist Elmer Byrne craves a big, loving family of the heart. His artist family almost fills that need, but something is missing…until Margot. But when he offers his heart, her thorny defenses shatter him.

Thrown together in an art competition that could jump-start one artist’s career, but not both, their irresistible attraction forces them to reconsider the meaning of success.

About the Author

Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State, U.S.A. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books. Visit Sadira at www.sadirastone.com.

Sign up for Sadira’s quarterly email newsletter for freebies, news about upcoming books, and some really bad romance jokes!

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I’d love to hear from you! Please visit me on all the socials.

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Hello there! I’m Mellanie Szereto—author of (currently) 28 romances, baker of bread and pies, gardener of vegetables, hiker of woods, and master of introverting.

Are you going stir-crazy from social distancing yet? So far, I’m not. As a full-time writer who lives in the country, social distancing is a way of life!

Have you taken advantage of the free and 99-cent books while you’re trapped at home? I have quite a few waiting for me as rewards for meeting my writing goals. Books are a wonderful way to escape when you need a break, but even more so when you’re in a forced timeout!

Goals… Having people in my space during writing time for two weeks and counting has required a major adjustment. Indefinite Christmas break—that’s what teach-and-learn-from-home classes have turned into at my house. Hubby (The Professor) and son (The College Student) are now spread across the living room, the family room, and the makeshift upstairs office with two desks, one of which I won’t be using while The Professor is up there. He talks to himself and anyone else in the room as he works. Science nerd. What can you do? This is not the ideal situation for someone who prefers quiet during writing time.

How am I adjusting? The writing hasn’t developed a new routine yet, but I’ve put a book on sale for 99 cents, released a super-steamy romantic suspense short story last week, and set up an automated welcome email to new newsletter subscribers with links to two free short stories—the new one and another that’s also available for sale. (Hint-hint. Find the links below!) I’ve also shared my process for writing series with an author who will be teaching a class on that topic, updated my website, gotten a cover for one of my summer releases (see below!!!), and listened to a podcast that helped me better define the characters of a five-book novella rom-com series I’m working on. It’s forward progress, and that’s what counts!

I have plenty of stories to finish writing over the next few months and enough ideas to last several years, so I just need to work the kinks out of the domestic chaos. You should see my to-write, to finish, to rewrite, to-edit list! It runs the gamut of romance sub-genres and heat levels, from contemporary to historical to paranormal to romantic suspense and warm to hot to super steamy. Because I’ve found myself at the midpoint of my fifties (How did that happen???), I’m drawn to writing older (over 40) characters more and more as well. Oh, and nerds. See mention of The Professor above. 🙂

How about some of my favorite lines from the new release/newsletter freebie, my 99-cent-sale book, my cover-reveal book, and a couple of my works-in-progress?

Mad About You

Jessamine Youngblood (heroine) to herself from Mad About You (new short story) ~ Can I get away with murder on my wedding day?

Jessamine Youngblood is getting married today. Or is she? She’s having second thoughts even before Maddox, her sexy ex-con ex-husband, crashes her wedding-breakup preparations. Trouble follows him when her soon-to-be ex-fiancée makes a surprise visit—one that threatens their reunion and promises far more danger and gunfire than she expects.

Newsletter Amazon Apple B&N Google Kobo

Love Served Hot

Alice Carlton (secondary character at Montgomery Crossing Retirement Village) to Flynn Hastings (hero who is a chef) from Love Served Hot (book 1 of the Love on the Menu series) ~ “There’re sheets to set on fire and a happily-ever-after to wrangle into submission.”

Lilith Montgomery has hired a hot Irish chef whose culinary creations give her foodgasms. Keeping the heat in the kitchen is going to be tough. Falling head over stockpot for his new boss wasn’t part of his plan, but Flynn Hastings finds himself experimenting with a new recipe for love.

First in series! Only 99 cents!
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Cover Reveal!!! Release date ~ July 15, 2020

Hot Tamale Nights

Carmen Valero (teenage daughter of heroine) to Kyle Morton (hero) from Hot Tamale Nights (book 3 of the Love on the Menu series) ~ “See? You’re my father.”

Entrepreneur Kyle Morton has a keen eye for investments, but pumping capital into an ex-lover’s business generates more conflict than he bargained for—and his longstanding grudge doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Aside from his constant pursuit of the next monetary venture, his motives shift from retribution for her betrayal to admission of his true feelings. The girl who claims to be his daughter further complicates a matter that should’ve been simple revenge.

Her children and Hot Tamale fill the once-empty hole in Isabel Valero’s heart. Or do they? The love of her life challenges that assumption and brings chaos when he invades her restaurant, especially with her ragtag family’s objections to his tendency to take over. Then his business enemies become her enemies and put them all at risk, despite his vow to protect them. Now their future together could burn to the ground again—permanently.

**Sneak peeks at my older woman/younger man novella rom-com series!**
Five women between the ages of 42 and 50 bond over fiction, food, and being single at the weekly meetings of The Homegrown Café Book Club.
Coming this summer to an e-reader near you!

Big Jim Cochon (hero who is a pig farmer) to himself after re-meeting his best friend’s older sister and his lifetime crush, Tate Madison (heroine who owns The Homegrown Café), from Makin’ Bacon (book 1) ~ If you don’t want the woman of your dreams to think you’re a redneck, don’t wear manure-covered work boots, bib overalls, and ragged plaid flannel to introduce yourself. And leave the cruddy John Deere cap in the pickup.

Riley Fenniman (heroine who loves stilettos and the f-word) in a chance meeting with Deacon Jeffries (hero who is her accountant) on the sidewalk after another offer from her cousin’s lawyer to buy part of her farm from The Farmer Takes a Husband (book 2) ~Late October air kissed her bare face, arms, and calves as Riley exited the building, cooling her body temperature if not her irritation. “Fucking menopause.”
“Who pissed you off this time?” Amusement colored the question, the only not-some-shade of-beige part of the man’s entire presence, right down to his hair and personality.

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Email: mellanie@mellanieszereto.com
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Wishing all of you a safe lockdown season! Happy Reading!

Mellanie Szereto

Do you like whiskey? Whether you do or don’t, it’s a drink with a fascinating history. The name comes from the old Irish uisce beatha, which means “water of life.” It was invented by Irish and Scottish monks in the Middle Ages, who used it for medicinal purposes. Now that’s a good excuse for a dram if ever I heard one! St Patrick’s Day was on 17 March, so now seemed a good time to tell you about my favorite drink and how I came to discover it.

I arrived in England from France in 1997, and one of my first jobs was as a finance analyst for a drinks company that owned several brands of Scotch and Irish whiskeys. They sold it, and they loved it. I’ll never forget the time when I was helping one of the directors with his budget figures. When we finished the work, he breathed a sigh and declared, “Ah, time for a break!” I expected him to brew a cup of tea or coffee. Instead, he pulled a book from his bookshelf. Behind it sat a bottle of Scotch. He opened it and drank a good mouthful, then offered it to me. It was 10 am, so I declined politely. There was also the time when we arrived at a company meeting, to be met with six shot glasses of whiskey lined up before every seat. We were to drink the shots, then guess which whiskey was the new one we were launching. I work in the pharmaceutical industry now, nothing this fun happens to me anymore!

Many countries produce whiskey, including Japan and India. It remains the liquor of choice in its old Celtic heartlands of Ireland and Scotland. Wales has also recently started, or rather restarted, to produce whiskey. When I created the world of my award-winning Sea of Love fantasy romance series, it seemed natural that my Welsh shape-shifting mermen would produce and drink whiskey. In the first book of the series, A Merman’s Choice, the merman hero Yann and the heroine Alex are stranded on Yann’s island during a storm. Yann is forced to take Alex to his home, in defiance of the laws of the merfolk. Alex is soaked and frozen. Yann wants to warm her up… what better way than to offer her a glass of his own whiskey? Read on to discover more!

A MERMAN’S CHOICE is the first book in the Sea of Love series, winner in the Paranormal Romance Guild Reviewer’s Choice Award. Buy link: https://books2read.com/u/31xw7a

A Merman’s Choice

For centuries the shape-shifting mermen of the Morvann Islands have lived incognito among humans. But one of them, Yann, has developed some bad habits. Like rescuing humans, even when doing so risks revealing his true nature. When he fishes Alex out of the sea, he doesn’t expect her to reappear eight months later, and turn his life upside down by asking him to be her guide. Alex is determined to fulfill a promise to her dying grandmother, by gathering pictures and stories of the Morvanns. But she soon discovers that, on these remote Welsh islands, legends have a habit of becoming true!

Over the course of a few days, Yann and Alex grow close. But some mermen hate humans. Their hostility, and Yann’s secret, threaten to tear the couple apart just as they are discovering that they are soul mates. Can Yann overcome the obstacles in his path and make the right choice?

MUSIC FOR A MERMAN is Book 2 in the Sea of Love series. The books can be read independently. Buy link: https://books2read.com/u/mdG7Bw

Music for a Merman

Rob Regor knew that humans were trouble. All the shape-shifting mermen of the Morvann Islands knew it. And human women were double trouble… especially when they were lying on the road in front of a digger.

Rob has a mission. Go to the mainland. Work as a policeman. Spy on humans. Report back to his father, the head of the Regor Merman Clan. It should be easy. Until he has to arrest Charlie. Rob can’t fight his attraction to the sexy eco-warrior, and it puts him on one hell of a collision course with his family and his Clan. Will he break the rules – or break her heart, and his?

Love ‘em and leave ‘em, that was Charlie’s motto. It had served her well until now. But Rob is different… Can she open up her heart to Rob – when a secret buried in her past surfaces and changes her completely?

Excerpt from A Merman’s Choice

An ear-shattering roll of thunder shook the air. Alex flinched. “It’s right above our heads.”

Yann stopped himself from stroking her shoulder to reassure her. “That means it’ll soon go away.”

Not soon enough. How could he pass the time until then? He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was almost midday. Lunch would distract her from the storm and the ocean she’d only just escaped. Perhaps it would distract him from the sight of her, shimmering in the gloomy room like a pearl made of flesh.

He went to the dresser against the wall and picked up a bottle and two glasses. “Would you like a dram of whiskey to warm you up?”

She slid back down the sofa. His ears registered the squeak of leg against leather, and his mind instantly pictured her sprawled on the cushions, her golden hair fanned behind her head, milky thighs open wide. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the maddening image.

Her voice dropped into a seductive purr. “I’m quite warm already, thank you. But I can cope with more heat.”

He poured a glass of the golden liquid and brought it to her.

“Thank you.” She sipped it and made a grimace, which turned into a smile. “Even better than cider.”

Her mouth glowed against her milky skin like a forbidden fruit. He thought of the first summer berries—tart redcurrants, juicy raspberries. Would she taste like them?

They needed food. If he didn’t get lunch down her soon, she’d get drunk. The demon voice in his mind whispered that Alex would be great fun if she lost her inhibitions. He tried to shut the demon out. What could he prepare quickly?

He strode to the trap in the floor by the front door and lifted it. The smell and sound of seawater, sloshing in the dark, rose up.

Alex padded over to investigate. “Oh, wow. You have a whole aquarium down there!”

The corner of her blanket brushed his bare arm, sending another twig to feed the fire that smoldered in his loins.

“That’s how islanders keep their seafood fresh. Why don’t you go and sit at the table, and I’ll open a dozen oysters for you?”

She didn’t need to see the tunnel on the side of the “aquarium”, that led to the lower floor of the house, the level that flooded at high tide and opened onto the sea. The level where a more respectable merman would spend most of his time.

She moved away to the center of the room where the oak table stood. Not far enough. He’d become so attuned to her that every one of her movements seemed to ripple across the space and lap against his body. He grabbed a knife and bucket from the tool shelf, snapped the first oyster open and dropped it in the bucket. Now she was crossing her legs, damn her. Did she know that the woolen fabric was opening, uncovering the ivory skin of her inner thigh? Was she flirting with him, or was it his imagination?

“I love oysters.” Her voice wrapped itself around him like a silk scarf. “Pity we don’t have any champagne to go with them, but this whiskey is just as good.”