by Nikki Lynn Barrett
Ramblings of an over 30 (okay...actually over 50) romance writer who loves music, will never pass up a good bottle of wine and the chance to hang out with friends and family. I'm currently looking for more hours in a day...
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Monday, December 5, 2016
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Monday, October 31, 2016
HELP! I have so much going on and I've lost touch with reality.....
This weekend made me take a serious look at the simpler things in life....the things that mean the most. Family.
How many of you put the daily stresses of life and work to the forefront of life? Above family? I'm guilty for sure.
My full time day job and my 'side job' of being an author often take a front seat and family, sadly often rides shotgun.
Today, all three of my kids and their kids came over (which they do often) But today, for some reason...it meant so much more.
I turned off the laptop, ignored my phone, Facebook, Twitter and all social media and you know what? I had the BEST day.
My hubby and kids tell me all the time that I'm addicted to social media and my writing, so for once I decided to disconnect and prove them wrong. It was actually quite liberating.
Watching the grandkids all play together was great. I looked at my three children and their spouses, then at their own children and realized how lucky I am. The grandkids adore each other and love to play together. Their little smiles and hugs are something I love.
Adults get so wrapped up in what we think is expected of us, forgetting that the simple things in life are what give us the most joy.
With the holidays fast approaching, I decided to plan a grandkids day. I set up a Pinterest board of kid-friendly Christmas crafts and added a few that I liked. I shared the board with their moms and asked them sit down with the kids and post crafts they'd like to do and in two weeks, we are gonna converge on the locals crafts store and purchase what we need to have a fantabulous day.
I'm so excited and looking forward to having them over on Saturday night (giving the parents a 'date night') and will post pics of our craft day.
I guess what I'm saying is that it's okay to check out from social media and your other daily commitments.
Take time to 'make time'.
I'd love to hear how you take time to make time.
We're all guilty of it. It's a balancing act and if you're a parent, you know what I mean. Juggling and making yourself available to your job, family and other commitments is hard. I get it.
Wishing you all a wonderful start to the holiday season!
Friday, October 28, 2016
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
NEW RELEASE! Murmur by Anne Conley
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON NOW!!
Synopsis
Valerie Dunaway is a former socialite who has hidden from the public eye for years, due to a horrific attack that left her scarred—physically and emotionally.
When a strange masked man makes himself at home with her, she’s unable to run. She calls the cops, but the agoraphobic won’t go into protective custody, so Detective Hollerman calls the only people he trusts: Pierce Securities.
Quinten Pierce is a Renaissance man—artist, lawyer, fighter—but his latest assignment has him losing his ever-present control. He’s got one fight left in his career, and although he can’t wait for it to be over, his opponent seems to have ties to Valerie, thus forcing him to hold on until he finds out exactly who he’s working with.
With the help of the Pierce team, the scarred princess and the gentle giant must silence the murmurs of the past that threaten their future.
EXCERPT
They worked side by side for hours, with Quinten doing periodic checks through her quarters. Her mask continuously slipped, and Valerie continuously adjusted it. She was working on smaller, detailed pieces of her bird houses, making little shutters for the window holes, and the small reciprocating saw she used was difficult to see through the eye holes. Finally, Quinten had enough.
He’d cut all his pieces and ground the edges smooth and had begun taping them to solder together. But he finally stopped with a sigh.
“Do you have to wear the mask? Valerie, I’ve seen you. It’s obvious you don’t typically work with it, and you’re liable to hurt yourself because you’re limiting your vision with it on.” He took a step closer, and she stiffened, so he froze, looking at her eyes through the holes of her mask. “You’re fucking stunning. With or without it. Just take it off,” he said quietly, then held his breath.
She was a bird again, ready to take off in flight at any moment. He longed to yank it off her face and bury his mouth in the softness of her lips, but he relegated that thought to imagination only. Her eyes darted around wildly, and her hands twisted in front of her. She waged an inner war, and Quinten had no idea what was happening inside her head.
“It’s just us,” he reiterated. “I won’t even tell anybody if you don’t want.” Lowering his voice, he reminded her, “I’ve seen you without it.”
Her mask today was the purple one, and it went with the lavender swirly patterns in the long dress she wore. Her fingers trembled as she reached for it and slowly peeled it off her face, inch by inch. When she had it off, her eyes were closed as it dropped to the ground.
Quinten took a step closer, his eyes gazing at her mouth, plump and lush and utterly kissable.
“Look at me, Valerie.”
Painfully slowly, she opened her eyes, and they made a tortuous path up his body before landing on his face.
Quinten tried fisting his hands at his sides. He tried to shove them in his pockets. He tried putting them behind his back. But they wouldn’t mind him. Instead, they traveled to her head, cupping her cheek with one palm and her neck with the other. His thumb traced her bottom lip, and her tongue snaked out to wet it.
Valerie’s eyes were the greenest of green, like Caribbean pools at the base of waterfalls you saw in magazines. They watered with uncertainty, and Quinten would have done anything to reassure her.
“Fucking stunning.”
She let out a wild sob and grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him toward her. So he kissed her. And promptly lost his mind.
Her lips were so soft and warm, and as soon as they touched, she let out a sobbing cry. Instinctively, Quinten knew she needed him to show her exactly how beautiful she really was.
He could only imagine her life up until now—only being worthy because of her beauty and then having her perception of that beauty taken away in such a horrific way. So horrific, she felt she deserved to be shut away from the public eye when she was used to being in the public eye at all times.
So Quinten kissed her for all he was worth. It began with a melding of lips, just tasting her sweetness against his lips. Then he tickled her lips with his tongue and when she opened, he swooped in.
It was dizzying, the way she tasted—so fucking sweet. He grounded himself by pressing his body against hers, pushing her up against the workbench, but it wasn’t enough.
He would never get enough.
He tangled one hand in her blonde locks while the other went around her waist and pressed her fully against him. It was tacky, but he pressed his erection into her hip because he needed her to see somebody wanted her. Desired her.
Needed her.
His lips were wet with her tears, and Quinten wanted her to tell him why she was crying. He needed her honesty—with him as much as herself. He broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers, looking into the depths of her green eyes.
She laughed but sobbed at the same time, and he used his thumb to wipe the track down her face.
“Because you’re not disgusted.”
Had someone told her she was disgusting? That right there broke Quinten’s heart, and all thoughts of waiting until this was over evaporated in one lust-hazed instant.
“Let’s go back to your bed, and I’ll show you just how not disgusting you are.”
READ CHARITABLY!
Have you read The Book B!tches, yet?
Power of Love (Book B!tches #1)
Follow Anne here:
FREE Novels!
Contemporary Romance:
Neighborly Complications
Neighborly Complications
Paranormal Romance:
Falling for Heaven
Falling for Heaven
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne has written her entire life and has the boxes of angst-filled journals and poetry to prove it. She’s been writing for public consumption for the past several years. Currently, she has four romance series. In Stories of Serendipity, she explores real people living real lives in small town Texas in a contemporary romance setting. In The Four Winds, she chronicles God’s four closest archangels, Uriel, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, falling in love and becoming human. In Pierce Securities, she gives us Ryan, Evan, Miriam, Zack, Quinten, and Simon. Her newest series, Book B!tches, is all about a group of women in Mystic, Texas who get into all sorts of shenanigans. She lives in rural East Texas with her husband and children in her own private oasis, where she prides herself in her complete lack of social skills, choosing instead to live with the people inside her head.
Friday, October 14, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
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Tuesday, October 4, 2016
.99¢ Sale from Kelly Stone Gamble! They Call Me Crazy - 10/4-10/7/16
THEY CALL ME CRAZY
by Kelly Stone Gamble
99cents October 4-7
Synopsis:
Cass Adams is crazy, and everyone in Deacon, Kansas, knows it. But when her good-for-nothing husband, Roland, goes missing, no one suspects that Cass buried him in their unfinished koi pond. Too bad he doesnít stay there for long. Cass gets arrested on the banks of the Spring River for dumping his corpse after heavy rain partially unearths it. The police chief wants a quick verdictóheís running for sheriff and has no time for crazy talk. But like Rolandís corpse, secrets start to surface, and they bring more to light than anybody expected.
Everyone in Cassís life thinks they know heróher psychic grandmother, her promiscuous ex-best friend, her worm-farming brother-in-law, and maybe even her local ghost. But after years of separate silences, no one knows the whole truth.
Except Roland. And heís not talking.
About the Author:
Kelly Stone Gamble was born and raised in a
small Midwestern town but as an adult, became a city girl. As a member of the
faculty at Southeastern Oklahoma State University, she now moves between her
homes in Henderson, Nevada and Idabel, Oklahoma allowing her to enjoy the best
of both worlds.
AUTHOR WEBSITE - FACEBOOK - TWITTER -
What
readers & reviewers are saying about They Call Me Crazy
"Fried Green Tomatoes meets Dolores Claiborne. This character-rich southern gothic-esque tale will keep you guessing up to the very end." - New York Times Bestselling Author Kate Moretti
"Great storytelling, great plot, great characters. A definite must read!" Kelly Smith Reviews
"Fried Green Tomatoes meets Dolores Claiborne. This character-rich southern gothic-esque tale will keep you guessing up to the very end." - New York Times Bestselling Author Kate Moretti
"Great storytelling, great plot, great characters. A definite must read!" Kelly Smith Reviews
"In
just a few pages, you're sucked into a crazy, and sometimes
hilarious, mystery into the death of Roland..." The Gal in the Blue
Mask
"... an entertaining read that pulled me in and kept me reading till my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer." Big Al's Books & Pals
"This was a fun, fast-paced book that I read in a day." A Book Geek
""... an outright enjoyable read for me as I was glued to my Kindle, waiting to see whose secret would be revealed next." Crystal's Many Reviewers
"... an entertaining read that pulled me in and kept me reading till my eyes wouldn't stay open any longer." Big Al's Books & Pals
"This was a fun, fast-paced book that I read in a day." A Book Geek
""... an outright enjoyable read for me as I was glued to my Kindle, waiting to see whose secret would be revealed next." Crystal's Many Reviewers
Read an excerpt HERE
***NEW RELEASE***
OCTOBER 6, 2016
E-BOOK AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
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