A Party on Facebook, on September 30, from 3 to 10 pm Eastern. Celebrate with us today! Giveaways, Games, and More! http://facebook.com/SweetRomanceReads
SWEET CHRISTMAS KISSES, released on September 30.
*** 14 Full-length Novels & Novellas ***
Available as a boxed set for a limited time only On Sale Now for only 0.99 -
Regular Price 6.99 A saving of more than 75% than if books purchased separately
This holiday season, warm your heart with 14 Sweet Christmas Kisses, a bundle of PG-rated romance novels and novellas from USA Today, national bestselling, and award-winning authors. Sweet Christmas Kisses takes you from small-town USA to England, Scotland, and even Ecuador; from the beach to snow-capped mountains, and to the wild–sometimes magical–west. The Sweet Christmas Kisses bundle will bring you laughter, tears, and always joy, for more than 1600 pages.
Foreword by New York Times bestselling author, Brenda Novak.
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1CEhxBg
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1AzwYH3
i-tunes:http://bit.ly/1ykRtLA
Google:http://bit.ly/1qkCzLi
Barnes & Noble: http://indi.uno/1mvOISk
My contribution to the big box is a sweet comedy novel set on a cruise.

Vacationing on a cruise is heaven for me. I relax and watch the people around. Honeymooners in love, retired couples enjoying their free time, seniors fulfilling a bucket list. Many love stories start in the romantic atmosphere provided by a cruise. HER CHRISTMAS CRUISE was written during a Mediterranean cruise.
Let me introduce you to the 14 novellas in the big box.

Almost Perfect Christmas by Donna Fasano, USA Today bestselling author. Aaron wants to give his daughter a perfect Christmas and elicits Christy’s help to do it. When they’re talked into a make-believe wedding, can a real one be far behind?
Mistletoe in Maine (Holiday Brides Book #3) by Ginny Baird, Award-winning and National bestselling author. A single mom takes her kids on vacation in Maine and meets a handsome innkeeper, a young widower with a teenage son. A winter wonderland love story about faith and new beginnings.
The Army Doctor’s Christmas Baby (Army Doctor’s Baby Series) by Helen Scott Taylor, Award-winning and National bestselling author. An army surgeon with twins falls for the nanny, but will her secret destroy their happiness? Stormy Times by Beate Boeker. International author. A rock star, vet, and puppy meet in a blizzard and sparks fly…
The Christmas Promise by Melinda Curtis, USA Today Recommended Read, Award-winning and National bestselling author. When a chocolate heiress bumps into a wounded warrior during Christmas, chaos ensues thanks in part to three fairy godmothers…er, a trio of meddlesome nuns.
Merry Christmas, Darling by Denise Devine, Award-winning author. A desperate bachelor enlists his neighbor to pose as his wife to appease his dying mother and unexpectedly finds love under the mistletoe.
Some Christmas Magic by Raine English, Award-winning and National bestselling author. She’s been dumped… He wants to win her back… A last-ditch effort to save her Christmas might result in her most romantic holiday ever.
Christmas in White Oak by Aileen Fish, National bestselling author. Forced to face his past, a young widower tries to grant the Christmas wish of his first love.
Lucky Break Christmas: Homecoming by Patricia Forsythe, Award-winning author. Their marriage is in trouble…until a judge, two kids, a quirky hometown of old friends, and the Christmas spirit of forgiveness step in.
Beach Christmas by Grace Greene, Award-winning and National bestselling author. Jessie Dawson hopes to arrange the perfect beach Christmas for her family, but when it all falls apart a special delivery from the past may inspire a new Christmas wish.
Her Christmas Cruise by Mona Risk, Award-winning and National bestselling author. The perfect fiancé is a cheater and the Christmas wedding is off, but the would-be honeymoon cruise may offer Julia a dream companion.
A Scottish Christmas by Roxanne Rustand, Award-winning author of over thirty novels. When Lucy Davis receives a mysterious letter inviting her to the Scottish Highlands to receive an inheritance, she expects to deal with it quickly–until she discovers it’s a historic B&B with a handsome, mysterious resident who might just be the man of her dreams.
Small Town Christmas by Magdalena Scott, National bestselling author. Past loves, a family in mourning, a little boy with a big heart. Christmas in Serendipity, Indiana is full of surprises!
By Christmas (Covington Falls Chronicles, Book 4) by Kristin Wallace, Award-winning and National bestselling author. She was a jilted bride. He’s her ex-fiancé’s brother. She’s trying to save Christmas. He’s disrupting her peace on earth. Together they find a holiday happy ending

Good Wednesday Morning. What makes you cry?

 

Sad music or a romantic song? Unchained Melody makes me cry because it reminds me of the time Mama and I were discussing nursing and/or personal care homes for Daddy. Whispering Hope, The Garden of Prayer, Mama's favorite hymns, put that can't-breathe-knot-in-my-chest feeling that means I'm about to cry. Amazing Grace makes me tear up every time because Daddy loved that hymn.

Patriotic music like The Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful, or the site of Flags waving make me proud and shivery. (more tears likely)

Music moves me whether sung or played by a band or orchestra, or even a single musician. I'm easy!

I don't watch movies I know will be sad. I really can't handle them.

Show me a cute baby or a dog and I tear up. Pictures of my daughter in her wedding gown made me cry, too!  We will have another wedding soon and I'll get to cry then, too!

When I think about my parents I laugh at some memories, but sentimental memories do me in. My eyes water and my nose runs.

Give me a book or a movie about kids finding parents or a childless couple adopting or a long- wished- for pregnancy and I grab the tissues. Angel movies, movies about a person who dies but revives, you know, a character is in tears and then...a second chance!

Writing a sad scene makes me water my keyboard. This scene from my next book, Haunting Refrain, gets to me, too.

Sarah had been only ten when his father died from a heart attack. William had stood alone at the grave site on the July day the minister said kind words over the open grave. Her parents had stood on both sides of the seventeen–year-old, who hadn’t shed a tear during the entire time. They had been his family at the funeral home as his father’s colleagues paid their respects. William had been surprised to see some of his teachers and fellow students. No one commented on his mother’s absence. Not once had Sarah been in William’s house. The housekeeper had stayed at the house to tend to his mother.  

HAUNTING REFRAIN by Mary Marvella

A short teaser from FOREVER LOVE.

When the slave drums beat at night I think about becoming Devon's woman. I know good women do not find the mating pleasurable, but I hear the slave women talk about it. I know I will love it with my Devon. I dream about how it will be and I ache deep inside. Would it be worth eternal damnation if we did not wait? I should not write these words, but I have no one with whom to share my wicked thoughts.

Lou

Sabrina dozed in the chair where she’d read for hours. Her skin tingled as she pictured the bronzed body of the man chopping wood. Shirtless and sweating, he looked like a primitive as his muscles flexed. Her nipples tightened at the thought of wrapping herself around him.

The light feeling in her head gave way to longing. She’d never felt this soul-deep need. What he made her feel was more than caring. She needed to find herself, to understand what plagued her, and she knew only Devon could give it to her. Which made no sense to Sabrina. She didn’t know anyone named Devon. Hell, she knew the man better from Lou's writing than she did most people who inhabited her life.

What makes you cry?

Comment for a chance to win a free download of Forever Love.
Haunting Refrain  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057033GG

Forever Love |http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0050VITYS

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/57300

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Forever-Love/Mary-Marvella/e/2940012597311/?itm=7&USRI=forever+love

www.MaryMarvella.com

http://www.facebook.com/#!/mmbarfield

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mary-Marvella-Author/121044561311561

Any reader would probably wonder why I set my book AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS in a little

known country such as Belarus.

During the mid-nineties, I often traveled to Russia and Belarus for business. I was quite impressed by the Russian culture and hospitality and decided to set my new book in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. With my heroine, Dr. Jillian Burton, you will discover a different civilization, visit interesting places, marvel at the Russian architecture, taste the exotic food, toast with vodka, wear the warm chapka, experience many of the local customs, and fall in love with a gallant Belorussian doctor.

Traveling to Minsk was a long and tiring twenty-four hour flight. Starting from Cincinnati, OH, I flew on Delta to New York with a couple of colleagues, spent three hours before boarding the big jet to Germany, and arrived in Frankfurt or Munich the next morning around seven. We hardly had two hours to change terminal. Carrying a couple of carry-on luggage, we rushed from one terminal to another to catch the Lufthansa flight connection to Minsk that flew only three times a week. When we missed it, we were stuck for two days or rerouted to Moscow.

In Belarus, the government stops the heating between May 1^st and October 31^st. I went to Minsk for the first time in October 1994 and was greeted by a freezing rain and a brisk cold that seeped through my clothes. Do I have to mention that I was shivering outdoors and indoors, and I never drank as many cups of hot tea—shaye?

Our first official meeting attended by officers, chemists and doctors, took place in a government building called the Hall of Officers. After a series of speech, our Belorussian hosts invited us to celebrate the new contract with toasts of vodka that we were supposed to drink bottoms up while saying Na Dzhrovia.  No orange juice or ice was added to dilute the 40% alcohol drink. My throat burned and my stomach caught fire. It took several trips for me to get used to the vodka and find it a practical way to stay warm. When I got sick, my Belorussian friends insisted on treating me with vodka, their universal remedy against cold, cough, stomach pain, and headaches!

The Belorussians are very hospitable people. We were invited for dinner in many homes. After the inevitable toasts of vodka, we ate the delicious stuffed cabbage, potato pancakes, black bread and sausage. The children impressed me with their impeccable manners and their fluent English. They often acted as interpreters for their parents.

In Minsk, I used a car with an excellent heating system and a chauffeur who spoke English. My rental car became a haven during the freezing months of winter and the only place where I felt warm and comfortable. Out of curiosity I took the underground train once. It was old and not very clean, a far cry from the magnificent trains of Moscow.

To go to Moscow, railroads were the most comfortable means of transportation. I traveled with, the overnight Red Train that left Minsk at midnight and arrived in Moscow the next morning. In the sleeping compartment with couchettes, we were provided with sheets, covers, wool blankets. Dinner was included in the fare and came with a bottle of vodka, of course.

Short Synopsis for AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS: Dr. Jillian is always running away to the end of the world to avoid Christmas celebrations and the sad reminders of her dead son. But in Belarus, a baby girl, four little boys, and a handsome doctor will teach her the true meaning of Christmas.

If you like this novel you may also enjoy: 

CHRISTMAS HERE AND THERE: A box set of Christmas Stories.

HER CHRISTMAS CRUISE (Christmas Wedding Muddle): The perfect fiancé is a cheater and the fabulous Christmas wedding is off. But the would-be honeymoon cruise may fulfill the dreams of Julia and her unexpected companion.
AN UNUSUAL CHRISTMAS: Dr. Jillian is always running away to the end of the world to avoid Christmas celebrations and the sad reminders of her dead son. But in Belarus, a baby girl, four little boys, and a handsome doctor will teach her the true meaning of Christmas.
CHRISTMAS BABIES: When a health problem jolts Dr. Madelyn into the realization than there's more to life than just work, she longs to surrender to the magic of Christmas. But can she handle the charming and secretive Dr. Nick Preston who carries his own package of disillusions? Can she allow two newborn twins to worm their way into her heart?

HOLIDAY BABIES SERIES: A box set of three bestselling books at Amazon.com

CHRISTMAS BABIES: It takes a health crisis and two adorable orphaned babies to bring Dr. Madelyn Ramsay to her senses and force her to look life and love in the face.
VALENTINE BABIES: Can he love a woman expecting another man’s baby?
MOTHER’S DAY BABIES: Can a woman from Kentucky teach an ‘old dog’ new tricks, even if he's a CEO?

 

DOCTOR’S ORDERS BOX SET: A box set of three bestselling books at Amazon.com

BABIES in the BARGAIN: "ER" and "Grey's Anatomy" in the NICU.
RIGHT NAME, WRONG MAN: What's a girl to do when she whispers another man's name in her fiancé's arms?
NO MORE LIES: A lie that brings a smile or a truth drawing tears?


If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with passion.

My latest release, MOTHER’S DAY BABIES, is coming very appropriately at a time when we celebrate Mother’s Day.

Available for 99 cents at Amazon.com,  http://tinyurl.com/cz3v5a8

This book is dedicated to the mothers we celebrate and those we remember with love on Mother's Day.

Widowed for seven years, Barbara Ramsay lives and breathes for her five grownup daughters and their babies. She's also used to chatting over the phone with her good friend, Lou. But why has he invited her to come to Paris with his TV Network crew?

Powerful News Director, Lou Roland is certainly not marriage material, yet he has suddenly decided he wants Barbara in his arms. Not an easy task when his pretty confidante from Kentucky proves so difficult to date--unless he follows her rules. Can the over-fifty confirmed bachelor and the widow loyal to her husband's memory find true love and share a future?

Mother’s Day Babies also delves into the controversial subject of surrogate mother.

Although many TV series—the most famous being Friends—played on that theme, I never met a surrogate mother. Have you?

But the theme interested me. I used it in this book and analyzed the feelings of the young surrogate mother, those of her parents, and those of the couple hiring her.

Let the hero, Lou Roland, the surrogate mother’s dad, tells you his feelings.

Excerpt:

Like a drunken zombie, Lou followed the gurney to the big door marked DELIVERY. He’d never attended a delivery and didn’t know what to do, where to go.

“You can’t continue, sir. Only the husband is allowed in there. Parents should go to the waiting room. We’ll inform you when we have news.” The big door closed behind his daughter and future grandsons.

There was no loving husband. Only a sleazeball who’d taken advantage of his daughter’s stupidity. Rooted in place, he fisted his hands against his sides and stared at the word, DELIVERY.

His heart had somersaulted when he’d heard she was expecting twins. Two little boys. He’d always wished he could have a son. An unexpected joy had trumpeted inside him. He’d taken a step forward, ready to forgive and help for the sake of two innocent babies. And then his new hopes pummeled and crushed at Monica’s next words. A surrogate mother.

“Lou,” Barbara grabbed his arm and tugged him away.

“Let’s go.” Deep in his thoughts and dejection, he let her draw him to the waiting room.

“A surrogate mother,” he repeated as he slumped onto a chair. “What does it mean, Barbara? Why has she sold her body to carry other people’s children? Why has she done such a crazy thing? Why waste her figure and risk her health for strangers?” He torpedoed every question without waiting for answers.

Sitting on the sofa close by, Barbara held his hand and squeezed it. “Don’t torture yourself. Maybe she had her reasons at the time. Maybe she needed the money. She’ll have to explain.”

“I’ve never denied her money. Why?” He raked and pulled at his hair with nervous fingers. If he kept at it, he’d soon be bald.

“I don’t know. We can’t judge her without listening to her.”

“What am I supposed to do now? Surrogate!” he muttered under his breath. “You’re a woman. Tell me. What does this word entail?” Unable to remain confined in his chair, he sprang up and paced the room.

“I’m not sure myself. I read an article about it in a woman’s magazine. With artificial insemination, the male’s sperm is used to impregnate the surrogate mother by direct deposit into the female’s reproductive tract.” Her calm tone contrasted with the worried frown knitting her forehead.

Lou stopped in his tracks next to the side table and banged on it. “I hope she didn’t.” His mind revolted at the mention of the clinical words. Revulsion stirred his last meal in his stomach. “For heaven’s sake, shouldn’t a child’s creation be the product of marriage, or at least of a man and a woman’s love or attraction for each other?”

“Of course, I agree with you. I’m just telling you what I remember from the article on surrogacy. The other type is when the egg resulting from a couple’s sperm and ovule is implanted in the surrogate mother—”

“So my daughter is just a paid container? Is that what you’re saying?” Raw pain contorted his insides. “In that case, she can’t be my daughter. No daughter could ever do that to her father.”

Barbara stood and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re hurting, Lou. I hate to see you suffering so much, but let’s not judge her. She looked so pretty and vulnerable in that bed.”

“Her mother was pretty too and knew how to use her beauty to manipulate everyone. If only she’d had a tenth of your integrity and compassion,” he growled, cursing the events that had interrupted the beginning of his new relationship with Barbara.

How on Earth had sperm and insemination replaced kiss and feelings in their conversation? To think Barbara had melted in his arms the night before, and now they were discussing the subject most apt to smother any passion they felt.

For a chance to win a copy of MOTHER’S DAY BABIES, let me know your opinion about surrogacy.

About the Author: From chemistry in the lab to chemistry between people.
As a director of chemistry, Mona Risk traveled to more than sixty countries on business or vacation. To relax from her hectic schedule, she avidly read romance novels and mentally plotted her own books. Eventually she left a scientific career to share with readers the many stories brewing in her head. Mona likes to set her stories in the fascinating places she visits.
Mona Risk’s books won Best Romance Novel of the Year at Preditors & Editors; Best Contemporary Romances at Readers Favorite; Epic Award Finalists; and many stellar reviews.

 Other books in The Holiday Babies Series:

VALENTINE BABIES    http://tinyurl.com/avb2kbu

CHRISTMAS BABIES  http://tinyurl.com/burgd9j

BABIES IN THE BARGAIN   http://tinyurl.com/6mcd6e3

 Links: www.monarisk.com

http://www.facebook.com/MonaRisk?ref=tn_tnmn

@MonaRiskS

Mona Risk Amazon Page of books http://tinyurl.com/7mlcjtx

by Pamela Roller

These soap crayons are easy to make and safe for children to use in the bathtub. What better way to have fun and get clean at the same time?




1 C soap flakes (such as Dri-Pak Soap Flakes)
¼ C hot water
food coloring

Place soap flakes in a bowl and add warm water, a teaspoon at a time, stirring constantly. The mixture will be extremely thick and hard to stir. Spoon some of the soap into each of several small bowls and color each separately, adding the color by drops until the soap has the consistency of a very thick paste. Gently press spoonfuls of the paste into your molds (i.e., plastic ice cube trays). Set the molds aside at room temperature to harden (may take up to two days). Makes 20 crayons.

Keep soap out of children's eyes.

Pamela Roller is the author of On Silent Wings, a gothic historical romance set in Restoration England. Visit her website at http://www.pamelaroller.com/.©Pamela Roller