Recommend Monday

Good Monday All and Merry Christmas!

The big day has almost arrived. Santa's sleigh is loaded and headed to your house. Are you ready? I know there are millions of bright eyed boys and girls who definitely are.

As many of you already know, my fur-angel Blossom became a real angel last Wednesday. Preparing for Christmas in the midst of grief was probably helpful. With the need to concentrate on other things, we muddled through. Not happily but we got there, so we're giving ourselves points for that.

I'll soon be in the midst of family and friends and that's always a good place to be. I'm going to be away a while longer than I anticipated--at least through the new year. And since there's no Internet or phone service where I'm headed, I won't be able to announce the winners of the Kindle, LCR series, and B&N gift card until January 2. Be sure to check back and see if you're one of the winners. What a great way to start out 2013!

My plan is to return home with a completed CHANCES ARE. Writing the last few weeks has been sporadic at best but Angela and Jake are asking for their HEA and I'm anxious to give it to them.

Next year promises to be a busy one for me with the launching of the Ella Grace Wildefire series and more LCR books, along with some other self published works I'm anxious to get out to you. I hope you'll continue to come back here each Monday to recommend books and get recommendations.

With everything that's been going on lately, I didn't get the opportunity to send out a newsletter. However, I do plan to send one out in January with all sorts of newsy stuff I've not talked about so be sure you're signed up to receive both the Christy Reece and Ella Grace newsletters.

In the midst of holiday madness, I want to stop for a few moments and let you know how much you mean to me. Even though I don't always get the opportunity to answer each person individually, I sincerely appreciate you coming here each week and making your recommendations. I know there are many who rely on this blog to learn about the latest and greatest new releases or newly discovered gems. And I especially want to thank my readers. Your notes, messages, and emails encourage me and always make me smile. Thank you for wanting more LCR books, thank you for your excitement about the Wildefire series, and thank you for just being the wonderful readers that you are!

Christmas blessings to you and yours!

Now, tell us what great books we should be reading!

Recommend Monday

Good Monday Everyone!

I hope you found some great reads last week. In addition to those reads, tell us what your comfort reads are. The ones you go to when you need to get away and just forget reality for a while. For me, I usually go to Linda Howard's Sarah's Child or Mackenzie's Mountain, Susan Elizabeth Phillips' Ain't She Sweet or It Had To Be You, Julie Garwood's The Bride or The Secret, Judith McNaught's Almost Heaven, Something Wonderful or Someone To Watch Over Me. They always give me ease when things get to be too much.

As you might guess, I'm a little blue today, so no real news from me. Though several personal issues last week made it one of the most difficult in recent history, compared to what happened on Friday, my issues are miniscule.

Next week, I hope to be back full force with good news, updates, and lots of holiday cheer. Until then, I hope you'll continue to keep the families of Newtown, Connecticut in your thoughts and prayers. And be sure to hug and appreciate your loved ones.

Looking forward to hearing your recommendations.

Blessings to all!

Recommend Monday

Good Monday Everyone!

Hope you had a great weekend. Can't wait to hear what wonderful books you're recommending today.

Did anyone see the Hallmark movie, Christmas with Holly, last night? It was based on the Lisa Kleypas book, Christmas at Friday Harbor. What a sweet story! I've not read the book so didn't know how it differed from the original story. I think romances are incredibly hard to transfer over to film. There's so much emotion in them, which is sometimes difficult to translate for a visual audience. Don't you think?

I've finished up the page proofs for MIDNIGHT SECRETS and will be sending them off to NY either today or tomorrow. It was such fun visiting with Zach and Savannah again. Love this couple!

This week I'm concentrating on Jake and Angela. I'm halfway done with CHANCES ARE. The plan is still to release it early next year, possibly January. I love being immersed with the LCR gang again. Also, I'm delighted to have met a couple of new operatives. Can't wait for you to meet them, too. I think you'll recognize one of them from an earlier book. (:

Wednesday I'm going to be over at the awesome Norah Wilson's for Workspace Wednesday. I'll be sharing photos of my office along with little tidbits of my work day. I'll also have giveaways! As soon as I get a link, I'll come back and post it so you can come over and see the craziness and often extreme messiness of my office. Although I do plan to do some dusting and vacuuming before I snap the camera!

I'm headed back to Midnight for more brief visit and then it's on to London. Since I'll be traveling, would love something good to read on my journey. So tell me, what fabulous books are you recommending today?

UPDATED: My camera went on the blitz and I was unable to upload photos of my office for Workspace Wednesday. Norah was such a sweetheart for understanding my tech problems and has been kind and gracious enough to ask me to come back in March. As soon as we set this up, I'll let you know. On the positive side, I do have a clean office! (:

Recommend Monday

Good Monday Everyone!

Hope you had a fantabulous week and weekend. Mine was filled with stuff like: "Oh my gosh, this is the best book I've ever written." "Oh my gosh, this is terrible, nobody's going to like this book." "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I wrote such a great book." "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I wrote such a bad book." "Oh my gosh..."

LOL You get the drift. I go through the same thing with each book. Amazing insanity. Poor hubby used to look at me like I'd lost all of my marbles. After 11 books, he's gotten used to the massive insecurity issues. Now he just looks very calmly at me and asks how much chocolate am I going to need. (:

But MIDNIGHT LIES, Ella Grace's second book in the Wildefire series, has been sent in and I can at last go: YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! Yippee. I'm done! I'm done! I'm done! I did end up loving this book and I'm so very much in love with Quinn Braddock. There's just something about a man who refuses to lose control. Sigh. Hope you will love him, too.

Now that deadline is over, I'll be headed back to London and CHANCES ARE. Can't wait to see what Jake and Angela have been up to. Last time I saw them, Angela was working undercover and Jake was about to blow a gasket.

Also, I have page proofs for MIDNIGHT SECRETS to polish up. This is the last chance I'll have to change anything. I'm looking forward to visiting with Zach and Savannah again. Love this couple!

Since I haven't had a chance to read in the last few weeks, I'm anxious to hear what you thought was fantastic lately. Need something wonderfully romantic, steamy, with a sigh worthy hero and a feisty heroine. Got any suggestions?

BTW, if you haven't signed up for my newsletter here or on my Ella Grace site, be sure to do that soon. I'll be sending out a newsletter this month filled with lots of information you don't want to miss.

Okay, I'm headed out to take care of bunches of stuff I had to let slide the last few weeks. Then I'll head back to Midnight for a quick visit. Also hope to get to London today, too.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. Now, tell us what we should be reading!

Recommend Monday

Good Monday All!

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day with lots of family, food and fun. Did you brave the Black Friday shopping frenzy? If so, did you get any fabulous deals?

I'm in the midst of Deadline Dementia, a common occurrence when I'm only a few days from deadline and all those things I know I need to fix whirl around in my mind like a manic ferris wheel. In my dreams, the crazed operator controlling the ride looks eerily like my high school algebra teacher. What's that about?

Anyway, with deadline upon me, this will be another short and sweet Recommend Monday but with a twist. In addition to your regular recommends, name one book you wished you hadn't read yet so you could read it for the first time and enjoy all the delicious surprises again. Do you have any like that? I think for me, mine would be It Had To Be You by Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Linda Howard's MacKenzie's Mountain. Loved those two books!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. And don't forget, a recommend from you puts your name into a drawing for some fabulous prizes: (1) Kindle Fire HD; (2)Signed copies of entire LCR series; (3) $25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card. Winner announced 12/31.

Easy Peasy!

Now tell us what we should be reading!

Recommend Monday and a CHANCES ARE Excerpt!

Good Monday All!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and have some wonderful recommendations for us today. I'm zooming toward the deadline for MIDNIGHT LIES, so I'm making this short and sweet: Tell us what fabulous books we should be reading!

As you know, Thanksgiving is this week and though I'm grateful everyday for all the gifts in my life, I always get a little sentimental this time of year when I think about how truly blessed I am. And I include you in those blessings. Thank you for buying my books, for telling others about them, for your emails, messages, and kind comments. Thank you for coming to this blog once a week and sharing your love of books with others. Without you, I would just be a pajama clad woman sitting in her chair, stuffing her face with chocolate, and talking to imaginary characters. Not a pretty picture!

So, as a thank you, I'm sharing an excerpt from CHANCES ARE. Totally unedited, this excerpt might change a bit before it's finished, but it should give you an idea of Jake and Angela and will hopefully get you even more excited about their story.

Have a fabulous week and a safe and delightful Thanksgiving. Hope you enjoy the sneak peek at CHANCES ARE!

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“Come on, sweetheart, you know you want it. Take it. I won’t hurt you.”

It had been said that Jake Mallory’s soft, gentle whisper could charm the birds from a tree, the snarl off a grizzly, and the panties from the most virtuous woman. He’d never seen it happen himself, but the rumors had always made him laugh. Today he was trying to do nothing more than charm a mouse from behind his fridge. Didn’t seem fair to kill the poor thing but dammed if he wanted to share an apartment with it. The cheese, an excellent gyurere, had been a small sacrifice to make. Now if only the creature would cooperate.

He needed to move to a nicer place. The flat had been temporary diggs to hang his clothes when he’d come to Paris. Working for Last Chance Rescue had seemed like a perfect job but he counted on nothing anymore. Everything in his life was on probation, especially the things that seemed perfect.

Being an LCR operative had worked out so far. He’d been an operative for about four months now, had been on a half dozen rescues, saved lives and helped put bad people away. Nice to know that some things actually were what they seemed.

The LCR people he’d met were what they seemed, too. Odd, since much of their work dealt with lying. Half a year ago he hadn’t trusted a soul. Now, he trusted an entire organization. Working for LCR had restored his faith in people. Not all of them. Hell, he’d seen too much evil shit for that to happen. Even now, he stayed wary, just in case. Jake didn’t trust easy. Never again.

His attention moved to the present as a tiny, whiskered face peeked from behind his fridge. Jake stood statue still. A fishnet might seem like an odd device to trap a mouse but it was his best bet for a live capture and release.

The creature scurried to the cheese chunk lying in the floor. Jake waited till the twitching nose touched the cheese. Quick as a cat, he threw the net over the small heap, scooped up the now squiggling mouse and dropped it into a waiting shoebox.

 Grabbing his keys and jacket, Jake picked up the box and headed out the door. The abandoned building two blocks down seemed the perfect relocation. Should be plenty of company for his little friend.

The cellphone in his pocket played a familiar tune, telling him that his boss, Noah McCall was calling. The shoebox under his arm, he pulled out the phone and held it to his ear. “Mallory.”

“Can you come in?”

“Yeah. Half an hour okay?”

“Yes.”

The line went dead before Jake could answer. Phone etiquette wasn’t high on McCall’s ‘must do’ list. Most of the phone conversations they’d had consisted of one or two words but the tone in his boss’s voice sounded ominous and grim, more so than usual.

His head low to battle the icy, brutal wind, Jake strode to his car. Opening the door, he deposited the box on the front passenger seat and cranked the engine. As he pulled out onto rue de Morgan, he reflected on his boss. Before coming to Paris, Jake had thought Noah McCall was an urban legend. As a cop, he’d heard stories about LCR’s successes but had dismissed most of them as someone’s wishful thinking. It wasn’t until he’d gotten caught up in the middle of an LCR rescue that he realized everything he’d heard was true.

Jake had been a typical tourist the day he’d met McCall. He’d been in Paris for two weeks, staying at hostels, roaming the streets, soaking up the atmosphere. He’d stopped in for a cold drink and a cheap meal at a not so high-class establishment. What he had gotten was a busted mouth, a black eye and a job offer from McCall.

LCR had been running a sting. He hadn’t known that. All he knew was two drunks were attempting to pull a young woman out of the bar and no one was stopping them. He’d intervened and ruined the op. Thankfully another sting had been set up a few days later that had brought down a human trafficking operation.

Even though Jake had blown the op, McCall had been impressed with his intervention. Days later, the LCR leader had called and offered him a job. After listening intently, Jake’s world had shifted once more. For two years, he’d been mired in grief, with no purpose. McCall’s offer had shown him a new path. Now he couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Making a quick stop at the abandoned warehouse, he unboxed his uninvited houseguest and watched it scamper away. Not his usual kind of rescue but what the hell. Killing something just because he could wasn’t his way.

He parked two blocks from the LCR office. It was a cold one today but the frigid air kept his mind from wandering where he couldn’t let it go. The moment he walked into the office, he’d be greeted with what he told himself he shouldn’t want and couldn’t have. Maybe this new assignment would get him out of the country for a while. Lately that had been the only way to keep his hands off of Angela Delvecchio.

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The instant he opened the door and saw her beautiful face, he called himself a fool once again. Her attraction to him had been obvious from the beginning. What had also been obvious was her innocence. Beneath that tough girl persona, the multiple tattoos and piercings, he’d seen the gentle, caring heart of Angela Delvecchio. A heart that could be crushed by some cruel bastard’s uncaring selfishness. Dammed if he would be that man.

Recommend Monday

Good Monday All!

Hope you had a good weekend and have some marvelous reads to recommend today. Don't forget, a recommend enters your name into the contest for some fabulous prizes. Drawing is 12/31/12

No recommends from me. Deadline is looming and until Quinn and Samantha find their HEA, I'll be working to help them get there. I'm looking forward to devouring some great books when I'm finished.

Just a few announcements.

First, a big YAY! The eBook for MIDNIGHT SECRETS can now be pre-ordered!

MIDNIGHT SECRETS eBook at Amazon 
MIDNIGHT SECRETS eBook at Barnes and Noble

Also, I was so pleased last week to get proofs of the MIDNIGHT SECRETS cover. Wow, oh wow, wow, wow. Absolutely gorgeous! Read on for a chance to win one.

Once MIDNIGHT LIES is zooming to my editor, hopefully by November 30, I'll be finishing up Jake and Angela's novella, CHANCES ARE. I'm halfway done and can't wait to get back to these two wonderful characters. And soon, I'll share with you that super sexy cover I mentioned.

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all who have served our country, both past and present. Though Veterans Day is but one day a year, I am grateful each and every day for your service, courage and sacrifice.

Since all the heroes in the Wildefire series are former or current military, let's do this. In addition to your recommends, name your favorite military romance. I'll randomly choose a commenter's name and announce it on Friday. Winner gets a signed cover proof of MIDNIGHT SECRETS! Be sure to leave an email address so I can contact you.

It's rainy and cool here in Birmingham so I'm headed back to Midnight where the sun is shining, birds are singing, steam is rising and a murderer is lurking!

Happy Monday!