Category: Tne Fortune Bay Series

The Lake of Dreams eBook is FREE for August

Welcome new readers from the Sweet Romance Sweepstakes!

And, as a special welcome,

Lake of Dreams will be FREE on all major eBook platforms for Lake of Dreams coverthe rest of August.

So, if you haven’t already, be sure to get your copy by clicking on your eReader platform below, and be sure to tell your friends about the offer.

 Amazon.com         nook        iBooks         kobo

If  you don’t have an eReader, all four platforms offer mobile apps to get you reading on your tablet or phone.

TGN smPlease look around the website. There is a lot of information on  the Fortune Bay series, including first chapter previews of Lake of Dreams and Summer of Fortune, and the “meet scene” from my newest book, coming out August 23rd, The Good Neighbor.

 

 

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Happy August everyone. Get out there and enjoy what’s left of summer!

Judy sig

 

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What do Really Children Like?

August is going to be all recipes because in August it feels like all I do is cook. But it’s the kind of cooking enjoy, with fresh veggies and preserving fresh fruit. Most of those recipes will relate more to The Good Neighbor, book two that’s coming out at the end of August (August 23 to be exact!) because it’s set in August and September and Sean’s a great cook.

But before we get to that, I want to finish the Saga of Children’s Delight because in Summer of Fortune it was Maddie’s signature recipe.

My old-fashioned recipe had cinnamon, cloves and raisins and in SOF, the wonderful aroma of sugar and spice became one of Augusta’s calling cards.

The problem was, the general consensus of my millennial children (who I have to say were perfectly happy to eat those cookies when they were young) was that children these days wouldn’t like cookies like that. Everyone’s a critic.
Vania making cookies
Vania making cookie dough into little “towers” to assure perfectly round cookies. She’s amazing!

So I charged my daughter-in-law Vania, baker extraordinaire, to come up with a new version of Children’s Delight that today’s children would love. My only caveat was that the new recipe have a component of spice.

I have to say, her new recipe is delicious.  Totally different with peanut butter and chocolate chips, but what’s not to love?

Here’s the recipe – you be the judge.

I’ll sign this one, “Obviously eating way too many cookies in the name of art,”

Judy sig

 

 

 

 

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:2]

 

 

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The Saga of Children’s Delight

A story is woven from the threads of a writer’s life.

The recipe for Children’s Delight cookies has been in my recipe binder forever. Just looking at the old card, written in my mother’s scrawl, brings back a rush of memories.  The recipe card is stained and had comments written in after the fact (more butter!).  And up in the corner, in brackets it says “Raylene Ewing”

Raylene was my good friend in Toronto, while I was in grades seven and eight.  Just seeing her name is always an emotional blast from the past.

I didn’t plan to put the recipe in Summer of Fortune, but there it was.  (You writers out there know what I mean.)Original Children's Delight Cookie recipe

On the top shelf rested a wooden box.  Stretching to her full height she carefully brought it down, wiping the dust from the top.  She held it in one hand, studying the scenes of the lake carved into the lid.  Inside, yellowing recipe cards were written in a spidery hand: Sunday Blackberry Cake, October Relish, Children’s Delight Cookies.

An old fashioned drop cookie, they make the kitchen smell like cinnamon and cloves, an aroma that, in the story, comes to introduce the presence of Aunt Augusta the previous owner of the cabin who is, ahem, no longer with us.

The recipe also provides an introduction to Maddie’s backstory.

Maddie didn’t have any hand-me-down recipes.  Most of hers came from magazines.  These recipe names conjured up visions of a woman in an apron with streaks of flour on her face, like a character in an old movie.  Her own mother had never cooked and Maddie was sure she didn’t own an apron.  She had spent most of her time on the couch, watching her soaps with a beer in her hand.  

Maddie inhaled deeply the unfamiliar scent of cinnamon and cloves that lingered in the box, and then, closing the lid, she placed the box on the windowsill over the sink where she could admire the carving.

            Maddie ended up making the cookies, again and again, a sensory lure her handsome landlord couldn’t resist and a symbol of her move to another kind of life.

Here’s the recipe.  Enjoy!  (Are you out there Raylene?)

What mundane everyday things have inspired you?

Until next time,

Judy sig

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:3]

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Summer Reading – Sweet Romance Contest – this week only

To celebrate the summer, I’ve teamed up with

more than 35 fantastic sweet romance authors

SOF ZEE PROMO

to give away a huge collection of romances,

PLUS a Kindle Fire to one lucky winner!

You can win my novel Summer of Fortune, plus books from authors like Debbie White and Ginger Chambers and Lisa Mondello.

This is one week only – Monday, July 25th to Monday, August 1st. Don’t miss out.

Enter the giveaway by clicking here

Good luck, and enjoy!

Judy sig

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Frankie and Sean – Trouble Ahead

About the book:

Frankie Alvarez has built a life for herself in Fortune Bay, has a good job at the high school and owns a pretty bungalow on Majestic Lake. But every month, her rich, overbearing father still sends her a check. Never a note, just a check. And every month she rips it up.

Then Sean Murphy moves into the cabin next door and everything changes, literally overnight. Sean is the kind of successful young exec’ Frankie’s father would want her to marry. But if she were looking for a husband—which she definitely is not—it wouldn’t be someone like Sean. No, she’d be looking for someone creative and sensitive.

Trouble is, Sean is so darn charming, and cooks like a dream, and she feels her resolve to shut him out slowly slipping away.

When Sean discovers Frankie hasn’t spoken to her father in years, he can’t stop himself from stepping in. He’d give anything for someone to tell him what happened to the daughter he lost fifteen years ago.

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Book two in the Fortune Bay series is a story about father’s and daughters.

The stories of women who give up babies are painful and poignant, but often known. At least among women. The fathers seldom have a voice and, even today, many carry the loss with them silently for years. In this book, I wanted to give them a voice.

Readers have also told me they’d like to know more about Stephanie, the matriarch of these stories so, in The Good Neighbor, Stephanie gets her own story line and a bit of romance too.

Here is an excerpt from The Good Neighbor (available for pre-order  on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. (Print will be available only on Amazon.)

Frankie’s eyes widened and her breath hitched when Louise spun her chair around to face the mirror.

“Oh my,” she whispered. The transformation was miraculous.

Iridescent blusher on her cheeks caught the light as a shy smile flickered across her face. Her hand tentatively brushed the fall of shiny brown hair that covered her shoulders. Louise was indeed a magician. She had picked up the golden, sun-streaked tendrils from around Frankie’s face and looped them back, catching each strand with a tiny pearl pin, creating an effect that was delicate, yet not uncomfortably overdone.

Frankie dipped her head slightly, turning from side to side to examine the makeup her friends had applied. It was more, much more, than she ever wore. In summer, with her skin dusky from the sun, she usually wore none at all. The pearl pink on her cheeks and eyelids added a sparkle that made her feel as if she’d been sprinkled with fairy dust and was ready for the ball.

The doorbell rang and Maddie, still in her underwear, ran for the bathroom, crying, “If it’s Jake—don’t let him in.”

Frankie headed to the front door. “It’s probably Stephanie and Sarah.” The heels were starting to feel pretty good. Like riding a bicycle, you don’t forget that kind of training.

She opened the door and Sarah shot through, no doubt sensing the feminine initiation ritual unfolding within. Frankie knew the allure only too well, having grown up alone with a single father herself. Sarah was lucky though. She’d have Maddie to help her negotiate the quagmire of her teenage years.

Frankie turned back to the doorway. It wasn’t Stephanie, it was Sean, standing on the stoop. His baby-blue eyes slid over her, thorough as an airport pat-down. A blush crept up her neck. She straightened her shoulders, determined not to show how much the attention unnerved her. Forcing a smile, she looked him up and down. “Very GQ, Sean.”

The man could wear anything and always managed to look like an ad in a classy men’s magazine. His compact form exuded confidence and standing there with his hands in his pants pockets, he looked casual and relaxed in his dove grey tux.

Not her type at all. Groomed for success, he looked like he belonged in a board room or at her father’s club. In fact, he was exactly the kind of guy her father loved. Exactly who he had always set her up with. Exactly what she’d been trying to escape when she moved to Fortune Bay.

But despite his cosmopolitan sheen, Sean had grown up here. Frankie had always wondered why he’d returned to live in this rainforest town. His easy blend of sophistication and small town charm left her running hot and cold. Usually hot. Darn it. Not that he ever noticed.

And to top it off, oh yay, good fortune had made him her date for the day. Mercifully, not her actual date, but as maid-of-honor and best man, they would undoubtedly be thrown together frequently throughout the celebration.

For the first time in their acquaintance, Sean didn’t seem to have anything to say. Frankie looked down at the flowery dress. No wonder. He was probably wondering how he’d gotten stuck with her. Not that there was much either of them could do about being paired up together for the wedding.

Nerves bounced against her stomach walls like caged butterflies at the thought of dancing the first dance with him tonight. Panic or excitement? She hadn’t a clue. She chewed on her lip. Pull yourself together.

The silence stretched between them, hot and sticky, until he finally said, “You look fabulous, Frankie.” His hand came up and brushed her hair back over her bare shoulder, lingering for an instant on the brink.

Sean was a toucher, and entirely too easy with a compliment. She knew this from watching him with other women ever since he’d returned from Europe two years ago when his father died. It took all her self-control to hold her ground and not step back.

Then his eyes swept down to the revealing bodice, and widened slightly. Her shoulders inched forward. Damn push-up bra. She ransacked her brain for something to say.

“Thanks for bringing Sarah over.” His eyes snapped up to hers. “How’s Jake doing?”

“Nervous. Battling his bow tie. But don’t worry, Mom is at the farm so he’ll be on time.” He looked at his watch. “I’d better go. Guests will be arriving already. See you there.” Swinging back down the stairs, he headed across the grass in his shiny black shoes, in the direction of the cabin and Maddie and Jake’s new house.

Frankie watched him disappear into the trees. She took a deep breath and blew it out. She had to keep it together today, but it would be hard, running into Mr. GQ every two minutes.

With a shake of her head she forced her focus back to her own responsibilities and went inside to round up her flock.

* * *

Sean whistled softly under his breath as he crossed the grass and headed into the trees. What was it about high heels that made a man want to run his hand right down a woman’s leg? He laughed as he skirted the cabin and picked up the path along the lake. He was pretty sure Frankie would slap his hand away before he got anywhere near her slim ankle. It occurred to him he’d never seen her legs before, usually hidden as they were in baggy pants.

She’d always had a pretty face, but normally her clothes hung on her like lumpy sacks. This curve-hugging dress with the tight waist revealed a lush, hourglass figure he hadn’t expected, and a nice view of cleavage peeking out at the neck. Frankie’s long hair, normally pulled back in a little-house-on-the-prairie braid, lay soft and loose and golden brown on her shoulders, making him want to run his fingers through it, if only just once.

And when she bit that seductively bronzed lip, he’d been speechless.

Normally Sean towered over her—an unusual and not unpleasant feeling since, at five ten, he didn’t tower over anyone in his family. This time, however, she was in heels and standing on a step above him so they were eye to eye. But still, her chocolate-brown eyes had looked him over with their usual distain, a reaction he didn’t quite understand.

TGN COVER MEDSean loved women, and felt he had a good read on most of them. Except Frankie. Her cool stare always reduced him to a fumbling six-year-old, and standing there on the step, he’d had to fight to maintain his casual hand-in-the-pocket stance.

She’d moved to Fortune Bay while he was in Europe and since he’d been back he had only run into her a few times before last year, when Jake started courting Maddie.

Sean didn’t know exactly what Frankie thought of him, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t good.

A grin quirked one corner of his mouth. He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve the chill, but he was up to the challenge. Surely he could make her change her mind.

If you enjoyed the excerpt, The Good Neighbor will be released next month, but you can pre-order now  on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. (Print pre-order only on Amazon.)

Just a note – pre-orders, that will be delivered to your eReader the day the book is released – are extremely valuable to an author in these days of online book-buying, so if you’ve enjoyed the series so far, please don’t hesitate.

Thanks for reading,

Judy sig

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