After five years spent proving his innocence in a gambling scheme, Jimmy Doyle Walker is back on the field for the Washington Diplomats. Given one season to demonstrate he can still contribute to the team, he guards his secrets well, knowing exposure of his unorthodox sex life would create a career-ending scandal. When he meets Evelyn Gardner, she tests his resolve, and he risks everything to show her the delights to be found in his arms.
Living day-to-day as a switchboard operator, Evelyn Gardner loathes the sexual cravings that cost her the home and family she’d always dreamed of. When she meets Jimmy Doyle Walker, the sexy first baseman for the Washington Diplomats, at a church revival meeting, he challenges her beliefs and her expectations. Determinedly, he seduces her through erotic letters, sensual gifts, and sexual play, until she dares dream she can have satisfaction and respectability.
Too bad her father, the preacher, seems set on ruining not only their reputations but also their lives.
USA Today Bestselling Author, Roz Lee is a displaced Texan who lives in New Jersey with her husband of almost four decades, and Bud, an overly large rescue dog who demands regular romps in the woods.
The mom of two daughters and grandma to the cutest baby boy ever, Roz collects Depression glass, and teacups with rose patterns. Her favorite food is Tex-Mex, and she’s never met a piece of chocolate she didn’t like.
When Roz isn’t writing, she’s reading, or traipsing around the country on one adventure or another. Warning—she brakes for antique stores!
From providing voiceovers and audio for warm and professional narrations and business presentations, telephone system and on-hold messages to high energy, over-the-top, hard sell radio, television and online commercials, Jay Harper offers voiceover versatility that showcases his 25-plus years of experience. He also has a state-of-the-art studio and equipment to ensure top quality recordings.
Was a possible audiobook recording something you were conscious of while writing?
Actually, no. When I’m writing, the story comes alive for me. I hear the characters conversations in my head, see their facial expressions and body language, but I can’t say that I’m thinking ahead to the audio version at that time.
Were there any real life inspirations behind your writing?
I drew inspiration for this particular story from both real life and literary fiction. On the fiction side, I’ve always been a fan of The Natural by Bernard Malamud. My hero, Jimmy Doyle Walker, is based loosely on Malamud’s Roy Hobbs. On the real -life side, the time period (early 20th Century - post Great Depression) intrigues me. The idea to set a romance during that time was a challenge I wanted to tackle. Baseball was America’s Pastime, a game loved by all and played with simple equipment almost anyone could afford. Then there were the infamous Chicago Black Sox of 1919 where eight members of the Chicago White Sox were accused of taking money to throw the World Series. I took some literary license and moved the event to the 1930’s to suit my story, but the scandal was real and fit perfectly into Jimmy Doyle’s story.
How do you manage to avoid burn-out? What do you do to maintain your enthusiasm for writing?
I don’t worry about burn-out. I guess that’s my way of avoiding it. I allow myself to take breaks, do the things that are important to me like spend time with my grandson and refuse to feel guilty for the time away from my computer. It’s not the kind of system that will work for everyone, but it helps me keep balance in my life, and with balance comes creativity.
If you had the power to time travel, would you use it? If yes, when and where would you go?
Yes. Yes. Yes. My dad once said my mother was like an old shaggy dog. Open the car door and she’d jump in! LOL I inherited shaggy dog syndrome from her, I suppose. I love to travel, and I’m not picky about where I go. I’m just as happy motoring along country roads looking for antique stores as I am on a planned tour. Next summer I’m conquering a bucket list item - an Alaskan cruise. After that I’m setting my sights on Ireland.
If this title were being made into a TV series or movie, who would you cast to play the primary roles?
Jimmy Doyle Walker - Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Chastain to play Evelyn Gardner.
How did you celebrate after finishing this novel?
I think I slept for a week! Once I’d gotten to a certain point and could see the end in sight, I worked very long hours for a couple of weeks to get to the finish line. I love it when the words come that easily, which is not always the case.
Have any of your characters ever appeared in your dreams?
No, but I had one pop into my head one day when I was driving. Just a name, nothing more. It took me months to figure out who Elgin Huddleston was. :-)
What bits of advice would you give to aspiring authors?
Keep writing. No matter how bad you think it is, or how good, keep plugging away. You can always fix what you’ve written, but you can’t fix a blank page. (Not an exact quote from Nora Roberts, but close!)
What’s next for you?
I’m currently plugging away on a Political cyber thriller. I’ve never written a thriller before, but my muse insisted I give it a try.
In
the ancient, mystical past when an idyllic Atlantis-like civilization
flourished, its people with exceptional powers could build giant
stone structures like the Pyramids, and transform elements such as
sand to stone and metal to gold with concentrated energy of the
mind.
This
utopian Atlan Empire is rocked when one of its most preeminent
Masters rebels and seeks to subvert the ideals of Atlan society.
Roaming the countryside in a black robe, misusing his powers on
innocent people, he becomes known as the dreaded Dark Master.
On a distant and isolated island on the fringes of the Atlan Empire, a young girl named Rhuna comes of age when she meets a man from Atlán and learns that her father was an Atlan Master who was killed in his attempt to destroy the Dark Master.
Journeying
across oceans and ancient worlds, Rhuna learns to master her inherent
mental powers, transforming elements and summoning visions by means
of the Gazing of the Waters. Unlike her peers, however, Rhuna
discovers she has an extra power, namely the ability to summon
visions mentally, without incantations or powders.
When
the Dark Master’s activities become a threat to the peaceful Atlan
Empire, the Atlan Masters come to realize that they cannot defeat him
without Rhuna’s special visionary powers to observe the Dark
Master’s activity and whereabouts.
The
first book in this extraordinary Urban Fantasy series lays the
foundations of the Atlan Empire and Rhuna’s world, and even when
the Dark Master appears to have been defeated, secret and sinister
powers continue to threaten the ancient Utopia.
This
exciting second book in the Rhuna YA Urban Fantasy Series can also be
read as a standalone novel.
Some
years have passed since Rhuna helped to defeat the Dark Master in her
new home of Atlán, and now Rhuna has a teenage daughter who
accompanies her on an assignment in Ancient Egypt to investigate some
disturbing reports.
She soon discovers an astonishing underground network of the Dark Master's followers, along with the secret group of Atlans dedicated to stopping them. In the process of trying to carry out her assignment, Rhuna is confronted with enormous challenges that could drastically change her entire life and everything she has ever believed in!
This
thrilling sequel to Rhuna: Crossroads is set in mystical Ancient
Egypt where Black Magic was developed by the followers of the
legendary villain, The Dark Master. As strange and frightening curses
plague the population, Rhuna discovers the underground organization
that performs this uncanny new magic, but she can only combat it with
the help of her long-lost father. Having learned from her father
amazing new skills to empower her on the Astral Plane, Rhuna once
again strives to preserve peace and harmony in the idyllic Atlan
civilization.
Far
more challenging than fighting powerful Dark Forces, however, is
Rhuna’s personal anguish when her daughter becomes involved with
the leader of the Black Magic movement, and the once-perfect Atlan
society based on utopian principles begins to crumble all around her.
Shocking events escalate Rhuna’s world to a breathless climax as
she and her family undergo a momentous upheaval, and she is forced to
make great personal sacrifices for her loved ones.
The
fourth book in the series, Rhuna: New Horizons can also be read as a
standalone novel.
After sacrificing a life of comfort and security for her daughter’s sake, Rhuna and her family go into exile and start a new life in the former Atlan colony of Varappa. This faraway land is a frontier of new technology such as air travel, loops in time and a society apparently flourishing without a governing body of any kind.
On
the surface, everyone appears to thrive in this liberated society,
but this kind of free thinking is fertile ground for the Dark Master
and his followers. Just when Rhuna and her family settle into their
beautiful new lakeside home, strange things begin to happen. Powerful
conjurers cause upheaval with their sinister magic, driving people
from their homes.
An
isolated society claiming to adhere to the ways of the First Atlans,
appear to be fighting a losing battle against these followers of the
Dark Master. While attempting to find a diplomatic solution to the
escalating conflict, Rhuna faces great challenges in her personal
life. Aradin’s love for her has cooled off inexplicably, and
Lozira’s emotional wellbeing teeters on a precarious threshold. In
desperation, Rhuna combines her magical powers and Varappan
technology to do the unthinkable. What she does, however, is
forbidden, and brings about a rift between her and her own father.
Rhuna may have headed down a path from which there is no turning
back…
Barbara
Underwood was born and raised in Sydney, Australia; the only child of
German migrants who provided a rich and diverse childhood
environment. Already in third grade she wrote a short children's book
for a class project and realized that she was deeply satisfied with
creating stories. In sixth grade, for another class project, her
teacher was so impressed by the lengthy story she submitted, that he
commented at the end "I see we are going to have another
author".
Over the years Barbara kept writing one thing or another, but only as a hobby while she pursued other interests and goals. In the 1990s, she completed a correspondence course in professional writing, doing it in her spare time after work. This led to having a few short stories published, but what she really wanted to do was write a proper novel.
At
this time, Barbara had travelled extensively and gained a wealth of
knowledge and experience in subjects that held special appeal for
her, namely ancient history, myths and legends (such as Atlantis, the
builders of megaliths around the world), folklore (the belief that a
god-like race gave mankind its technology), human psychology and the
culture of other countries. What better subject for her first novel
than to combine all these elements into one big adventure!
Promise Me Kelly Walker Publication date: January 21st 2018 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Self-professed Harry Potter addict and math genius River Jacobsen can count on one hand the people who matter in her life. Really, it’s just Dean, the boy who loves her despite her odd habit of counting everything around her when she needs to quiet her mind. When Dean promised her forever she never imagined it would be a lie.
After Marine hacker Ian Maclean is mistakenly declared dead by the US government, he’s happy to correct them the moment he escapes captivity. He wants nothing more than to get home to the wife he left behind. Discovering she’s been cheating on him since the moment he deployed wasn’t in the plan. Devastated, he walks away from everything, even his name.
With the futures they were counting on destroyed, Ian and River find themselves starting over. Ian reminds River of things she’d much rather forget, but pushing him away is harder than she expected. Ian wants a second chance at happily ever after, but the more he gets to know River, the more he worries she isn’t trying to figure out how to live again, but how to die.
“Please.” I meet his eyes, so he knows how serious I am. “It’s just easier this way.”
He sinks back into his couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table, staring at me. “You know she’s going to figure it out, right? I can put the money into her account. That’s no problem. But not even I can fake it to make it look like it came from the DOD.”
Widows of dead soldiers get death benefits, but that goes out the window when you turn out not to be dead. “It’ll buy me time. And she’s not exactly Warren Buffet when it comes to money. As long as the balance is about what she expects, God only knows when she’ll look at a statement and see the source.”
“I’m just going to say this one more time: it’s not the end of the world if she learns the truth. And even if she does figure it out, that doesn’t mean she can find you. We buried your trail. And she’s not looking for an Ian.”
I close my eyes. I don’t want her looking for me. Because as good as I am at seeing what others want to hide, when it comes to Olivia Reisner, I’m blind. (pg. 39)
Author Bio:
Kelly Walker is a YA and NA author of several romantic titles, including the Souls of the Stones Fantasy Romance series. She has an unhealthy appreciation for chocolate, and a soft spot for rescued animals. Her best lessons on writing came from a lifetime of reading. She loves the fantastical, and the magical, and believes a captivating romance can be the most realistic magic of all. Kelly, her husband and her two children share their Virginia home with three dogs who walk her, and two cats who permit her to occasionally share their couch.
Super nice picnic basket. The basket is hand woven with natural wicker. The wicker is medium to dark brown in color. Basket has a removable and washable cloth liner and real wood flaps. It is a very sturdy but lightweight basket. It is a large basket and will hold a whole loaf of bread and all the fixin's for a great outdoor picnic. The inside dimensions are 16 inches by 11 inches.
This basket would also be perfect for making gift baskets. You could fill it with Wine or champagne, crackers, cheeses, everything for a romantic picnic, and give it as a wedding gift. You could also fill it will baby items for a really nice Baby shower basket. Fill it with a stuffed animal or 2 and add cookies, juice boxes, fruits and have a teddy bear picnic with kids.
The picnic basket comes in a nice sturdy cardboard box. Great for storing the basket in when not in use. This way you won't have to worry about the handle getting damaged should something fall or be set on top of the basket when not in use.
I love this basket and it is so pretty I may even use it as a bread basket in my kitchen year round!!