My weekend began with reading Melanie Moreland’s newest release, My Favorite Boss. I cannot even tell you how often I cackled.
It continued with taking my five-year-old niece and three-year-old nephew to a children’s performance by Femme de Feu which delighted and engaged the children to such a degree that I swear every adult left wearing a huge smile. (This is the same nephew who stood on my head the last time I took him out. Things went smoother this time!)
To top it off, my eldest daughter, the one who makes me laugh until I wheeze, came home for the night. My bladder control was sincerely tested. (It passed…mostly.)
I’m lucky I am surrounded by people who make me laugh. The little people in my life do it effortlessly. My brothers do it irreverently. My eldest daughter does it continuously. My oldest son takes after my brothers. My husband and I share a thousand inside jokes, and I even have dear friends who make me laugh. Often.
I’m not going to lie, there is a lot of dark. I have more in my life than some people, and less than others, but we all have it. And, I confess, there are times it drags me down.
But this weekend reminded me that I don’t have to wait for joy to find me, I can seek it out in a myriad of ways. I can surround myself with the people who bring me joy. Go to events that lift my spirit. Watch movies. Read books. Do crafts. Write. The possibilities are endless and endlessly available.
My weekend ended with the funeral of a dear family friend who had reached the ripe old age of 99.
This life is going to be over in a blink.
I intend to defy the darkness the way I defy everything else.
This week, I hope you laugh until you’re breathless, wheezing, and holding onto your bladder for dear life. Defy the darkness. Seek joy. You deserve it.❤️
Melanie Moreland’s latest, My Favorite Boss, is so damn funny! It’s also steamy, sexy, endearing…My Favorite Boss has it all.😀
My new boss—Alexander Bane
Aptly named since he’s the bane of my existence. Please isn’t in his vocabulary. He grunts, growls, and demands. If only he didn’t look so sexy when doing so. If only his mouth weren’t so addictive when kissing mine. He’s quickly becoming my favorite boss.
Which is wrong.
My new assistant is an unwelcome distraction.
Snarky, witty, always smiling. Constantly putting me in my place. Making me second-guess my decisions. I dislike it. Intensely. Unless I’m kissing her. Then Magnolia Myers becomes my favorite person.
Which I hate.
Two people working together, disliking each other. Until they don’t. Then the fun begins.
HR has never been so entertained.
As for me, Amazon Australia granted me a $1.49 Kindle Deal for the month of October for A Lifetime Of Afters! Are you an Aussie bookgirl? I need help on my street team to spread the word! I would LOVE to have you join me!
Book Four in the Sage Ridge series is coming along, I just hit 10,000 words…always a good milestone for me. I’d like to introduce you to Shae and Gabe:
And here is a (very raw, unedited, subject to change!) excerpt:
My head snapped up, my jaw dropped, and I stood, red-faced and mute, before the one who broke my heart.
The one whose heart I broke.
Immediately, I closed my eyes to shield myself from the ache. Was there ever a greater pain than your first broken heart?
We were kids, just kids. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t my fault. And it was a lifetime ago.
I opened my eyes to find his gaze steady on mine. My eyes skittered away to wander over his face.
Laugh lines radiated out from the corners of his startling blue eyes. His skin, still tan even in the dead of winter, gave a nod to the Spanish heritage that existed somewhere in his family line. The perimeter of his full lips had firmed with time.
Would they still feel the same if he pressed them to mine?
His midnight black hair was still messy, only his temples showed the barest hints of gray. I could almost feel its silky strands between my fingers, grasped in my fists, though it was shorter now.
That sharp, stubborn jaw jutted forward. Did he still have that same competitive streak?
Was he married? My smile dropped as my eyes flew to his left hand.
Did he have children?
I schooled my features though my voice shook. “Hello, Gabe. It’s been a while. How are you doing?”
His black eyebrows flew up like wings, his blue eyes sharpening on my face before adopting the cocky smirk that led me into more trouble than I was willing to remember. “Fine, thank you, Shae,” he teased. “Are you well?”
My face flushed. “I am.” I wasn’t. Not at all. “Thank you for asking.”
He snorted and leaned back. Tipping his chin up, he challenged, “Don’t act like you don’t know me.”
My jaw dropped before closing with an audible snap. “Well, it’s obvious you don’t know me anymore,” I retorted, “or you’d know I don’t like surprises.”
Julian leaned forward, using his body as a temporary barricade, and side-eyed Gabe. “Did we not just discuss how to treat a woman?” he joked. He had the deepest voice I’d ever heard in my life.
Bridge touched my elbow before addressing Max. “We’re going to go find a table. We’ll catch up later?”
“No, please,” Gabe insisted. Half rising out of his seat, his mouth twisted to the side. “I’m being an asshole. Sit. I’ll behave.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word,” I muttered.
Bridge looked at me, her eyebrows hitting her hairline. “Do you want to sit?”
Julian turned to Gabe, his voice low, “What the fuck was that?”
Gabe shook his head. “A blast from the past I wasn’t expecting.”
Without answering Bridge, I grabbed a spare chair from the table next to us and pulled it up to the end of the booth, my eyes cast down to give myself time. I couldn’t leave even if I wanted to.
Not yet.
Julian retorted, “So, she’s not the only one who doesn’t like surprises.”
Gabe snorted. “I didn’t say I didn’t like it.”
Pre-Order isn’t up yet but stay tuned!
That’s it for now, and remember:
Live Messy, Love Madly❤️