Categories
new release!

Psst… Secret New Release!

"SECRET" stamp

I am setting my release schedule for 2015! I have an editor for a new contemporary “Evergreen Romance” series set in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. Washington, you see, is the Evergreen State, and each of these novels will feature a couple whose relationship grows strong and true as their namesake. Like all of my stories, these career-focused heroines think they know exactly what they want – until they meet the sexy men who change everything!

Warning: The Evergreen Romance series will be steamier than the San Juan Island Stories. Trade your fuzzy sweaters for a little sizzle!

The first book, tentatively titled Island Kisses, will be published in the the first half of 2015. I’ll be posting the cover and blurb soon…

[Photo credit: “SECRET” stamp – Alex Wellerstein – CC BY 2.0]

Categories
blog tour giveaway

Guest Post – Snarktember Libraries Remember Day with giveaway

9-11 wendy lynn clarkMy guest post is live today on Snarky Mom Reads. It’s about libraries remembering 9/11 and about my sincere wish for world peace, mostly via happy romance novels.

I checked out 8 comic books/manga/manwha from the library yesterday, and all had graphic murder, violence, and rape scenes in them. If this is one facet of the world, we need more reflections of the beauty, hope, and kindness in it too.

And that’s another reason I write romance novels…

The post also includes a rafflecopter for a free ebook of I’ll Be Waiting, the 6th of the San Juan Island Stories.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Categories
blog tour giveaway

Snarktember Giveaway

I am participating in the Snarktember Celebration at Snarky Mom Reads with a post about 9/11 and libraries. Here is the description from the website:

Change your calendar… it’s SNARKTEMBER !!

Celebrate the fun… the quirky… and sometimes even the smexy… days of SNARKTEMBER! Be sure to visit SNARKY MOM READS each day of Snarktember to learn about the daily celebration, featuring guest posts from awesome authors! Each author will offer a giveaway and there will also be a HUGE giveaway with the grand prize of a Kindle, sponsored by amazing authors, publishers and bloggers – so don’t forget to enter the SNARKTEMBER Giveaway!

Kindle BANNER

Categories
contemporary romance Excerpts San Juan Island Stories

I’ll Be Waiting Excerpt

I'll Be WaitingI’m pleased to announce the release of my newest San Juan Island story “I’ll Be Waiting“. Please enjoy this excerpt:

“Skylar. You’re late.”

Luke’s serious voice tickled her eardrums, jolted her system like a warm finger sliding up her spine. Skylar swayed and turned to face him, mouth reacting before her mind could catch up. “You look great.”

His eyes made familiar crescents to match his beautiful smile. “Thanks.”

He did look great. Better than his last pictures taken in front of his new Black Hawk. The same dark brown eyes focused on her like only she existed on the roof; his hair, a flat Ice Man sheared cleanly up the sides made her want to dig in her fingers; and the adult muscle tone in that hard body perfectly filled his creased, off-duty jeans and starched, THIS WE’LL DEFEND T-shirt.

Skylar’s mouth went dry, and the crowd faded away and her chest ached. Ached for the boy she hadn’t made hers and again for the man that she had already lost.

“Sorry I missed you earlier. I made some wrong assumptions about…well, a lot of things, I guess.” The words stuck in her throat and she blinked back tears. “Congratulations.”

His gaze flicked over her shoulder, and Skylar’s followed…into the now empty space where his fiancée had been standing moments before.

“She brought it up on the boat,” he said. “Nothing’s settled.” His voice sounded flat.

“She seems really nice.” Skylar hugged her bag tight to her chest. “My boyfriend planned this big, suspicious dinner with all of our friends and family, but I put him off until after. But, he’s a really great guy, too, and so I’m sure we’ll both be super happy.”

Luke’s eyebrows lowered.

She didn’t mean to make him feel bad. Just because he hadn’t told her he had a fiancée or even a girlfriend—

Her chest hitched. Losing it. She was definitely losing it.

She pressed her cold hands against her collarbone. Her eyes burned. Oh God. She dashed away the moisture and turned, ready to run for the ladder, or possibly she could just throw herself off the edge. “See you at the ten-year reunion, maybe.”

His hand shot out and closed over her wrist, and he pulled her away from everyone into a dark corner of the roof. “Skylar.”

Read the rest on Amazon, ARe, Boroughs Publishing, and more!

Categories
seasons

Summer Blues

Sunflowers (CC BY-NC 2.0) Nikos Koutoulas
Sunflowers (CC BY-NC 2.0) Nikos Koutoulas

Can you believe we’re almost back to school?

When I taught in Japan, I learned that the Japanese feel sadness tinged with nostalgia for the passing of the spring cherry blossoms. Their school year ends in April, so everyone sings the teary-eyed graduation song while the soft pink petals fall.

I think Americans feel this time-is-passing sensation too — not in June, when most of us graduate, but at the tip-end of summer. When the hot August days melt into shortening twilights, and the farmer’s markets fill with harvest squash and corn, and newspapers flutter with back-to-school circulars. The summer is too short, isn’t it? Especially in the Pacific Northwest, where we joke about the sun appearing for two brilliant weeks between spring and autumn rain clouds.

That soft, cyclical familiarity makes me want to grip onto time somehow. Take a little longer with loved ones. Plan one more big barbecue.

Of course, the fall is also a time of excitement. New school year, gorgeous lingering sunsets, and plenty of project time before the holidays. Plus I love office supplies. Back-to-school sales are a definite favorite!

Categories
San Juan Island Stories

San Juan Island Stories Anthology on Romance Lives Forever ezine

Tea is magic – ccby-nc-nd/2.0 snap713

The San Juan Island Stories Anthology has been featured on the Romance Lives Forever ezine! This is a free ezine created by romance author Kayelle Allen of romantic books, authors, interviews, and advice. New content all the time! If this is your cup of tea, subscribe at Romance Lives Forever Paper.li ezine.