Last day of the year

We've started the last day of 2019. For some people living down under, it soon will be 2020. We still have to wait a bit less than 13 hours.

We got back from our trip to Egypt Saturday night. We had a great time (will tell more about it in my travel blog) and have seen a great deal. We stayed in Cairo, but made trips to the Giza plateau (with the pyramids and sfinx), to Fayoum oasis (where we could ride a 4x4 into the desert and see prehistorical remains of ancient whales, mysterious lakes and waterfalls), to Alexandria (still lots of Roman remains). We had a great guide for three of our trips, named Youssef El-samak. This guy really did his utmost to make our day memorable.

Normally we would have been at the seaside right now, but my sister is tired and so we decided to stay home and just be lazy!

Which just leaves me to wish everybody who reads this all the best for 2020! Most of all, a good health and happiness in all you do.

It's gonna be a green, green Christmas...

When I opened my eyes this morning, it was raining very hard. Heard it splashing everywhere. It's a bit better by now, although it's still not completely dry.

The predictions for the coming days are pretty much the same. Some dry days, other full of rain. But no snow or cold in sight. Perhaps the earth is heating up after all. Christmas will be a green affair, although the temperature is expected to drop a bit (around 6° Celsius).

For us, it will be a sunny Christmas, as we'll be staying in Egypt shortly. So I want to take this opportunity to wish all my readers a Merry and Joyous Christmas, and of course all the best for the coming 2020. Most of all a good health, as this is the most important thing in the world.

Which gift would you like to receive?

Finding the correct present for someone isn't always easy. You have to know the person very well to know what they truly like to get. So it's better to play on the safe side.

Unless getting a present for my sister, I prefer to get a gift certificate for a shop where you can find almost anything. I guess the person who gets the certificate will find something he/she likes to have, right?

Personally, I also prefer a gift certificate - more especially one for Amazon. Just give me money to spend on books, and then I'm happy. What I also appreciate, is a big hamper filled with all kinds of goodies. Wine and chocolate won't go amiss either.

For my sister, much the same can be said, although she likes to be surprised. I once ordered a buffet with champagne when we arrived some place right on her birthday. She hadn't expected that, and enjoyed it a lot.

What do you like to get or give? Any tips will always be appreciated!

Salvaging Love

Please welcome author Sara Ohlin today. Sara's doing a virtual book blast tour for Salvaging Love, a contemporary romance available as from December 3rd from Totally Bound Publishing. The book blast tour will take place from today until December 20th.

Sara Ohlin will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes&Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3256/

Blurb

Animals aren’t the only thing that need rescuing when a sexy veterinarian encounters a hot-headed attorney…

Perfectly content saving animals at her clinic in a charming but run-down neighborhood, veterinarian Ellie Blevins slams into new landlord, Jackson Kincaid, who plans to turn her beloved block of buildings into condos.

Intrigued by Ellie, hot-shot defense attorney Jackson gives her one month to convince him not to put his gentrification plans into progress. Attraction soon sizzles between them, but when Jackson makes his desires known, Ellie’s vulnerable heart doesn’t know what to think.

She wants to trust the sinfully handsome Jackson, just as he wants to gain her trust, but finding their way to love isn’t easy when her traumatic past and his criminal clients could sabotage their relationship for good.

Can the enchanting veterinarian and the brooding attorney fight the demons from the past…and build a new future?

Excerpt

“Jackson?”

“I want to be the only one who gets that soft, intimate ‘Hey’ from you.”

What? “I’m confused,” she said quietly.

“I’m not,” he said. “I like the way you look, your gorgeous skin, that cute break in your nose, although I doubt I’d like the way you broke it.”

No, he absolutely would not, she thought, sucking in a breath.

“I like the way you talk to your dogs, the way when you say ‘Hi’ to people you make every single one of them feel special. I fucking love the way your hazel eyes get darker when you’re fighting with me, the confusion in your face when I catch you off guard. You’ve got a fucking fantastic body, and that’s only from seeing you in your scrubs and your sexy yoga pants and I bet I’d like what’s hidden underneath. I like the way your soft voice hits me, the way you smile at everything, except when you’re pissed, which I might like even more. I don’t want the month to learn why a bunch of buildings are worth saving, I want to spend the month getting to know you. Still confused?”

Stunned was more like it. He liked her in her yoga pants? Her nose that was so far from model perfect she could not even go there?

“Ellie? Are you still confused?”

“No?” she squeaked out, but it was definitely a question, because, hell yes, she was still confused. Was he high? Or blind? Maybe both?

He laughed. “We’ll get there. How was the rest of your day?”

Author bio and links

Puget Sound based writer, Sara Ohlin is a mom, wannabe photographer, obsessive reader, ridiculous foodie, and the author of the contemporary romance novels, Handling the Rancher, Salvaging Love and the upcoming contemporary romance Seducing the Dragonfly.

She has over fifteen years of creative non-fiction and memoir writing experience, and you can find her essays at Anderbo.com, Feminine Collective, Mothers Always Write, Her View from Home, and in anthologies such as Are We Feeling Better Yet? Women Speak about Healthcare in America, Take Care: Tales, Tips, & Love from Women Caregivers, and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Although she’s the author of many essays about life, grief, motherhood and the connections we make through delicious food and shared meals, Sara loves creating imaginary worlds with tight-knit communities in her romance novels. She credits her mother, Mary, Nora Roberts and Rosamunde Pilcher for her love of romance.

If she’s not reading or writing, you will most likely find her in the kitchen creating scrumptious meals with her two kids and amazing husband, or perhaps cooking up her next love story.

She once met a person who both “didn’t read books” and wasn’t “that into food” and it nearly broke her heart.

Links

Website: https://saraohlin.com

Twitter https://twitter.com/SaraOhlin222

Instagram = http://www.instagram.com/saraohlin222

Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/saraohlinwriter/

Pinterest = http://www.pinterest.com/saraohlin/

BookBub = https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sara-ohlin

Goodreads = https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19491440.Sara_Ohlin

Buy links

Totally Bound https://www.totallybound.com/book/salvaging-love

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Salvaging-Love-Rescue-Me-Book-ebook/dp/B07YV7QCY7

B&N https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/salvaging-love-sara-ohlin/1133989420?ean=9781913186852

Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/salvaging-love

iBook https://books.apple.com/us/book/salvaging-love/id1485236324

Google Play https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Sara_Ohlin_Salvaging_Love?id=GL60DwAAQBAJ

The power of opera

In the hour preceding this moment, I've been listening to some great aria's from famous opera's. I on't know why, but most of these have the power to move me, give me goosebumps. Although some of the modern music is not bad either, it just doesn't have what opera has. Some songs from the musical theatre come up quite near, though. Just think of hearing Karim Karimloo singing "Till I hear your sing again" from Love Never Dies, or listening to Sierra Boggess performing 'Thinking of you" during the 25th Anniversary of Phantom of the Opera.

What do you think? I don't pretend to know everything about opera, and don't like all plays. But I do like Puccini and Verdi, Bizet and even Wagner. I like to browse aria's at YouTube, and occasionally find unexpected jewels. Just some time ago, I found an audition for X-Factor from an unknown guy out of one or other Slavian state. What a voice! And such a cute guy, too. He sang Nessun Dorma and Ave Maria in quite a fascinating way. Earned a golden buzzer for it.

When I was younger, I often sat working (I used to have a whole attic at my disposition - had a space to sleep, a sitting area and a work desk) with Pavarotti, Careras or Domingo at the background. The work went better that way. And also for writing, my inspiration was fueled by the lovely aria's I put on.

Last year, I could persuade my sister to accompany me to an evening of opera in Antwerp. Normally she doesn't like it too much, but even she had to say it was quite good after the show. Next time I'll take her to see an entire opera, like /La Traviata or Carmen. She'll appreciate that as well.

Christmas is in the air

It's running up to Christmas. On the radio, you hear Christmas songs and when you go into town, all the shop windows are dressed with fir trees and glistening balls.

This is also the time of year when the days are the shortest. We call them the 'darkest days'. The light appears only around 9 am and by 4 pm it's getting dark once more. This reminds me - when I was writing The Gold Crucifix, there is a scene where the action takes place on a winter afternoon. I wrote somewhere the sun went down around 4.10 pm. One of my proofreaders (he was former CIA) actually went to look up the facts - and indeed, he found out that on that exact day in the 17th century, the sun went down on 4.13 pm. He wondered how I'd known that? Did I also make inquiries? Poor guy couldn't just imagine it is always like that, whether you're in the 21st or 17th century!

I quite like this time of year. It's the festive season and I also feel festive. My sister has her birthday on December 24th (friends often told my mother she should have waited one more day) and so I need to think every year of an original surprise for her. What makes this even more complicated is that most of the time we're not at home around that date. Last year we were in Mexico, now we'll be in Egypt.

Right now it's dry outside, but it has rained already in the morning and more rain is expected later today. The last months we've had lots of rain - and still they claim the water reserves are still too low, after two extremely dry summers.

Quiet weekend at the coast

I'm just back from staying a couple of days at the coast. No, we didn't go because of the nice weather they predicted (it was very cloudy, and every now and then there was rain) but mainly because we needed to pick up some items for our upcoming trip.

We went outside when it was dry and on Sunday we went out to lunch. Two of our favorite restaurants have closed in Heist. Bartholomeus (2 Michelin stars) closes its doors because the chef wants to try out a new concept. And La Guera also closes because its chef wants to discover the world of cooking. He's going to travel for a couple of years.

So we're stuck with only one restaurant that maintains a certain standard. There are enough steak-frites places left, and a couple of bistro's that are quite decent, but to us that doesn't count as dining out. I'd like to eat things you can't prepare yourself.
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Finally we booked a table at Brasserie Bristol, which comes highly recommended by chef Luc Bellinghs who writes articles for a major newspaper. In a contest of coast restaurants he organised last summer this one came out as his number one. And I must say, what we got yesterday was fine. More importantly, it didn't run havoc with my stomach or bowels! That means the chef doesn't use too much butter in his preparations (which chef Bart of Bartholomeus just loves). Also the wine of their wine list is of a very good quality and the prices are set not too steep.

Now it's pouring with rain and I hope it will dry up after noon, because I need to go to the supermarket to fetch food for tonight!

Time travel

Next year, the new Diana Gabaldon (Outlander) will be published. To prepare myself for it, I'm re-reading the novels in this series. This may take some time, because all novels are quite voluminous, and of course I also read other novels in-between!

The concept of time-travel is interesting, I think. As a young girl I often wondered how it would be to be transported into the seventeenth century and function at the court of England's Charles II. Was he really that fond of ladies???

And how would one feel that came from the Dark Middle Ages and found himself in the 21st century, with fast cars, planes, cell-phones and such?

As a novelist, you can do great things with these notions. A pity that going back/forth in time isn't actually possible (yet?). I wouldn't mind being a time-explorer. I've always been curious to find out things. As a toddler I wanted to feel how warm the stove was, so I just put my arm to it. Have had a burn scar for more than 20 years. But I knew a stove WAS hot.

What about you? Are you also curious to know about other times? Other experiences? If so, don't mind to share.

His Salvation

Say hello to Michelle King! Michelle is doing a virtual book blast tour for His Salvation, a romantic suspense available as of November 26th. This book blast tour will run from December 2nd until December 16th, 2019.

Michelle will be awarding a $20 Amazon/Barnes&Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3249/

Blurb

Will the woman he left behind a decade ago be His Salvation?

Seth McCullough left behind his high school sweetheart, Krista Chancellor, determined to keep her safe. Running from his own demons, Seth joined the military, hoping for a new start.

Ten years later, after experiencing psychological and physical trauma, Seth takes a trip to Mexico for rest and relaxation. Waking up one morning confused, bloody, and linked to multiple high profile murders, Seth is sure he’s lost what little sanity he has left. Determined to find answers, Seth reaches out to the only person he ever trusted, his old flame, Krista.

Now, Krista and Seth find themselves embroiled in an agenda too terrifying to comprehend. Not sure who to trust, and looking for answers, will the woman he left behind over a decade ago be His Salvation, or his ruin?

PLEASE NOTE: This is the second edition. It has extensive rewrites and has been re-edited.

Author bio and links

Michelle King lives in the Pacific Northwest with her four quirky and beautiful children. She loves coffee, Superman, rollercoasters, and has an addiction to chapstick.

She works as a registered nurse and in her spare time writes novels. As a multi-genre author, she has written in the categories of romance suspense, young adult, women’s fiction, and literary fiction. She has won four literary awards. 

Social links:

https://www.authormichelleking.com/

https://www.facebook.com/michelle.authorpage

https://www.facebook.com/Michelle-King-Author-544448685599147/?ref=hlhttps://twitter.com/Michelle_King_1

https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004TZ0CUK

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5061809.Michelle_King

https://plus.google.com/u/0/105101655597839729577

Buy the book at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0815R79LT/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sin

Christmas With You

Let's welcome author Nan Reinhardt today. Nan's doing a virtual book blast tour for her contemporary romance, Christmas With You, available as of November 21st from Tule Publishing. This book blast tour will run from today until December 6th, 2019.

Nan Reinhardt will be awarding a set of six handmade wine charms and a $10 Starbucks gift card (US ONLY) to 5 randomly drawn winners via rafflecopter during the tour. Please use the following link to place your comment: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f3208/

Blurb

She’s loved him all her life… but will he be there when she needs him the most?

Disheartened and adrift after being written out of a hit TV show, actor Aidan Flaherty returns to his family’s historic winery, where he’s invested some of the fortune he’s made. As the holidays approach, Aidan becomes intrigued with the old showboat that’s dry-docked just east of town… and even more intrigued with the daughter of his former mentor, who now owns it. He decides to buy the boat and restore it to its former glory.

Single mom Holly Santos is back in River’s Edge after her divorce and she is over men in general and actors in particular. If she could only get rid of her father’s old showboat, a source of fascination for her son, Mateo. She never expects her old crush to walk into her tea shop or the fireworks that happen every time they’re in the same room. Can Aidan convince her that he is determined to restore their shared heritage on the showboat and that he’s home to stay?

Excerpt

“You have beautiful eyes.” Oh, good God. The words were out before he could stop them. Immediately, he backpedaled. “I’m not coming on to you, I swear, it’s just this is the first time I’ve actually seen someone with violet eyes. I-I mean... in person.” Heat rose in his cheeks. Blushing! Holy crap. He didn’t blush anymore—hadn’t in years.

She punched in his purchases. “Come on, rock star. All those Hollywood starlets and groupies and not a single one had eyes the same color as mine?” Her voice dripped sarcasm as she held out her hand for his credit card. “It’s thirteen sixty with tax.”

He fumbled in his wallet for his Amex Black card. “Why do you keep calling me that? I’m an actor, not a rock star.”

“I’m using it generically.” She passed the card back to him with another eye roll. “We don’t take Amex. What else have you got?”

Biting his lip to keep from expelling a frustrated breath, he handed over his VISA, the one where two percent of the money he spent went to save the redwoods. If it impressed her at all, she hid it well as she tapped the card on the screen, thrust it back at him, and turned the screen around so he could sign it with his finger. He hated doing that. His signature always ended up looking like his six-year-old niece, Ali, had written it. “Thanks so much for opening up for me.”

“Don’t expect me to do it again.” She walked swiftly around the counter to the door, twisted the key in the lock, opened it, then stood glaring at him, one hand on her slim hip.

In that moment, Aidan could have sworn they’d met before. “You look really familiar. Do I know you?”

Author bio and links

Nan Reinhardt is a USA Today-bestselling author of romantic fiction for women in their prime. Yeah, women still fall in love and have sex, even after 45! Imagine! She is a wife, a mom, a mother-in-law, and a grandmother. Nan has been a copyeditor and proofreader for over 25 years, and currently works on romantic fiction titles for a variety of clients, including Avon Books, St. Martin’s Press, Kensington Books, and Entangled Publishing, as well as for many indie authors.

Although she loves her life as an editor, writing is Nan’s first and most enduring passion. Her latest series, Four Irish Brothers Winery, includes A Small Town Christmas, Meant to Be, and the newly released, Christmas with You, all from Tule Publishing. Nan is busy at work on Book 4 of the series, as well as brewing a cozy mystery idea.

Visit Nan’s website at www.nanreinhardt.com, where you’ll find links to all her books as well as blogs about writing, being a Baby Boomer, and aging gracefully…mostly. Nan also blogs every sixth Wednesday at Word Wranglers, sharing the spotlight with five other romance authors and is a frequent contributor the RWA Contemporary Romance blog, and she contributes to the Romance University blog where she writes as Editor Nan.

Links:

Word Wranglers:  http://www.wordwranglers.blogspot.com/

RWA Contemporary Romance blog:  http://contemporaryromance.org/2018/03/awesome/

Romance University blog:  http://romanceuniversity.org/ru-contributors/

http://www.nanreinhardt.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5758438.Nan_Reinhardt

https://www.facebook.com/authornanreinhardt

https://twitter.com/NanReinhardt

https://www.instagram.com/nanreinhardt/

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Nan-Reinhardt/e/B007OYDC6O?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_5&qid=1570744315&sr=8-5

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YNZQCWX/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

A Small Town Christmas: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Christmas-Irish-Brothers-Winery-ebook/dp/B07HBZPKDH/

Meant to Be:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S7FW8BR/

Christmas With You:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YNZQCWX/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i7