tagged with: women’s fiction

Book #7 in the Sail Away Series


Contemporary Romantic Women’s Fiction

Date Published: March 8, 2023

 

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Set sail to new adventures and escapes with eight best-selling authors in the exciting new Sail Away series!

 

Sometimes magic happens…

 

Gabby Willets returns to her hometown of Ellenton, NY, to care for her father, who’s dying of cancer. She and her father are exceptionally close because her mother died giving birth to her in a situation that should never have happened. As Gabby was growing up, she and her father shared a love of cars and even participated in a few races. Her father suggests she work at the Dan Davis Lexus Dealership, where he has been head mechanic for years, and Gabby decides to do it. When a contest is announced with the prize of two tickets for a 10-day Caribbean cruise for the salesperson selling the most cars in a two-month period, Gabby goes for it, competing against the owner’s son, Hank.

Gabby wins the tickets, and she and her best friend, Jessica Knight, board the ship, Tropical Magic, hoping for some magic of their own. The cruise is full of surprises starting with Hank’s arrival with Ashley Phillips, the woman he’s been dating—a woman both Gabby and Jess detest with good cause. Though Hank and Gabby have been attracted to one another, they don’t act on it because dating someone you work with seldom works, and Gabby doesn’t want to lose her job. But as Gabby and Hank get to know one another, magic does happen and suddenly they’re faced with different choices.

Surprises continue, including the most touching surprise of all when Gabby and Hank discover more than a cruise was at stake.

 

Judith Keim is a USA Today Bestselling Author known for creating characters and stories her many loyal readers love. Join Gabby and Hank and others in this heart-warming story of love’s magic in The Sail Away series.


Dont miss any of the Sail Away books!


 

 

Book 1: Welcome Aboard – prologue book

Book 2: The Sound of the Sea by Jessie Newton

Book 3: Uncharted Waters by Tammy L. Grace

Book 4: A Not So Distant Shore by Ev Bishop

Book 5: Caroline, Adrift by Kay Bratt

Book 6: Moonlight On the Lido Deck by Violet Howe

Book 7: The Winning Tickets by Judith Keim

Book 8: Lost At Sea by Patricia Sands

Book 9: The Last Port of Call by Elizabeth Bromke

 

About the Author

Judith Keim, A USA Today Best-Selling Author, is a hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes. Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way, stories with heart. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she’s lived or visited and on the interesting people she’s met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love.

She enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their two domineering dachshunds, Winston and Wally, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she was drawn to the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

When she’s not writing, which isn’t that often, she enjoys an evening glass of red wine and her husband’s creative cooking and always loves spending time with family and friends.

Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories.

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My devotional reading a few days ago focused on the phrase we hear ever so often about surrounding ourselves with “positive people.” As I read the term “positive people,” I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly did it mean. Did it mean people who always speak positive things, or people who share the same views as you do? The writer did not explain the meaning, but he went on to say that if we only surround ourselves with people who are just like us then we would not be living in a Christlike manner.

Image by 🆓 Use at your Ease 👌🏼 from Pixabay

I agreed with this totally since the Bible cites many instances where Jesus cautioned His followers that they shouldn’t only be nice to people they know, but they should greet strangers and others who were not in their normal circle. He even went so far as to tell them they should love their enemies (Matthew 5 : 43). In today’s world, Jesus’s teaching would be labeled inclusive.

As I pondered on the devotional, I thought about my newest release Love, Lies, and Grace, a Christian women’s fiction dealing with the friendship of three women and how that friendship impacts their personal relationships.

In the beginning, Grace, the protagonist is about to move Milli, a young white woman into the house she shares with her best friend Pat. The young woman seems down on her luck and Grace thinks it a nice gesture to allow the woman to stay with them until she can stand on her own two feet. However, Pat immediately thinks Milli might not be a Christian and therefore they should not have her living with them.

This may seem like a highly prejudiced, bigoted way of thinking, but unfortunately, that type of thinking is all too pervasive in our society today. While I felt that Pat’s character might ruffle a few feathers, and it did, I stuck with my guns, especially since I knew that Pat would later evolve into a very likable person. I think that as writers we should not shy away from topics that may seem insensitive or discriminatory. To do so would be to pretend that such insensitivities do not exist and therefore should not be portrayed in literature.

As I write this blog post, I invite you to take this journey with me on the pages of Love, Lies, and Grace. I hope it will encourage you to take a critical look at what diversity and inclusion mean to us and how it is reflected in our society and in our books.

In my next blog post: Is Pat justified in thinking that Milli does not belong in their home? How can you look for similarities in others rather than differences?

 

Women’s Fiction

Date Published: September 16, 2020

Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing



Angelica Delfino takes a special interest in the lives of her three nieces, whom she affectionately calls the daughters of her heart. Sensing that each woman is harboring a troubling, possibly even toxic secret, Angelica decides to share her secrets—secrets she had planned to take to the grave. Spellbound, the nieces listen as Angelica travels back six decades to reveal an incredulous tale of forbidden love, tragic loss, and reinvention. It is the classic immigrant story upended: an Italian widow’s transformative journey amid the most unlikely of circumstances.

Inspired by Angelica’s example, the younger women share their “First World” problems and, in the process, set themselves free.

But one heartbreaking secret remains untold…


***Free ebook of No More Secrets – thru June 10th***




Excerpt

Tupperware in all the pastel shades. Head-to-toe clothing and accessories in the same hues. Who does that? Bellastrega shook her head at the avalanche of plastic that accompanied Velia Russo into the kitchen. She was already on her third trip back from the car, puffing and panting as she placed her food gifts on the kitchen table. Bellastrega could feel her jaw clenching at the thought of all those white devils—heavy sauces and creams and pounds of sugar—contaminating the kitchen.

Velia held one finger. “One more trip,” and then she was gone.

Bellastrega turned her attention back to the hearty vegetable stew that had been simmering on the stove. She sighed contentedly as she breathed in the aroma of the rosemary and Italian seasonings. Angelica’s favorite. As she glanced at the appetizing array of vegetables, she mentally calculated how long it would take to finish cooking. Everything was on schedule, and dinner would be on the table at six o’clock. Why had Velia decided to arrive three hours early?

From the start, Bellastrega had her misgivings about this all-girls weekend. She had listened while Angelica lovingly described each niece and shared her concerns regarding their unhappy lives. At first, Bellastrega had humored her, not realizing Angelica was intending to help her nieces get back on track. Her duty as aunt, she had explained.

Bellastrega had formed her own judgments regarding the three younger women. Usually right on target, Bellastrega had been surprised when this particular incarnation of Velia Russo arrived, laden with her food gifts. From Angelica’s descriptions, Bellastrega had expected a younger version of her mother, Rosetta, a heavy-set hausfrau and gossip, not this glamour-puss who could pass for a younger Martha Stewart. But first impressions could be deceiving.

Help. I need your help.” The whiny voice interrupted Bellastrega’s thoughts. Sighing, she lowered the heat and made her way to the living room.

Bellastrega resisted the urge to laugh as she took in the comical sight before her. To save herself another trip, Velia had decided to lug in a large Pullman using her left hand, carry a pastry box in her right hand, and use her teeth to hold on to her purse.

All this for a weekend get-together? What would she have packed for a longer trip? Bellastrega forced a smile as she took the pastry box from Velia.


About the Author

In 2008, Joanne Guidoccio took advantage of early retirement and launched a second act as a writer. Her articles and book reviews have been published in newspapers, magazines, and online. When she tried her hand at fiction, she made reinvention a recurring theme in her novels and short stories. A member of Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, and Women’s Fiction Writers Association, Joanne writes paranormal romances, cozy mysteries, and inspirational literature from her home base of Guelph, Ontario.


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***Free ebook of No More Secrets – thru June 10th***

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Women’s Fiction

Date Published: April 20, 2021

Publisher: Wild Quail Publishing



Two women on the run!

After agreeing to enter the New Life Assisted-Living Community outside of Boston, Agatha “Aggie” Robard talks her devoted, serious granddaughter, Blythe, into driving her to Florida, stopping to see old college friends along the way. She particularly needs to speak to Donovan Bailey, the man she’d thought she would marry right after graduating from college. By asking Blythe to go with her, Aggie is hoping to prove to her that life should be about having fun too. Their road trip is a great idea for both of them as long as Aggie’s son and his wife, Blythe’s difficult stepmother, don’t find out.

While the rest of the family is away on vacation, Aggie and Blythe set off on their secret adventure. All goes well until Aggie falls while dancing on the beach with Donovan, breaking a bone in her leg. Then Blythe’s father is seriously injured in an automobile accident. Blythe and Logan Pierce, Donovan’s young assistant, do their best to step in for them at The Robard Company working together, fighting the attraction they feel for one another.

The road trip brings about happy memories, surprises, and love as Aggie and Blythe meet others and discover new possibilities for everything they’ve ever wanted.



About the Author

Judith Keim enjoyed her childhood and young-adult years in Elmira, New York, and now makes her home in Boise, Idaho, with her husband and their two dachshunds, Winston and Wally, and other members of her family.

While growing up, she was drawn to the idea of writing stories from a young age. Books were always present, being read, ready to go back to the library, or about to be discovered. All in her family shared information from the books in general conversation, giving them a wealth of knowledge and vivid imaginations.

A hybrid author who both has a publisher and self-publishes, Ms. Keim writes heart-warming novels about women who face unexpected challenges, meet them with strength, and find love and happiness along the way. Her best-selling books are based, in part, on many of the places she’s lived or visited and on the interesting people she’s met, creating believable characters and realistic settings her many loyal readers love. Ms. Keim loves to hear from her readers and appreciates their enthusiasm for her stories.


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It’s finally here. Love, Lies, and Grace, my fourth novel is now on preorder in the Amazon Kindle store. Love, Lies, and Grace is a standalone novel written in the women’s fiction genre and tells the story of three friends, Grace, Pat, and Milli who share Grace’s home in Stockbridge, Georgia.

Grace is married to Brian, a wealthy banker, who lives in New York. Despite their living arrangement, Grace feels secure in her marriage. Brian is loving and passionate when they are together and lavishes her with expensive gifts, but he has not been home in four years.


Grace is black, Pat is bi-racial, and Milli is white. Grace and Pat are Christians, while Milli “dabbles in other things.” Despite these differences and the thorny start to their relationship, the three women find themselves drawn together in ways they never could have imagined. Their late night girl talk over hot chocolate, visits to the mall or the park provide fun and laughter. But on one of these visits, Pat reveals a painful secret she had been carrying for a long time. Grace and Milli rally around her with love and support. Shortly after, Milli too discloses a secret she could no longer keep hidden. Once more, the three friends band together to help Milli through her very difficult time.

Once the crises are over, Grace goes to New York to visit her husband. She is devastated when she discovers that he too has a secret so explosive she can never share it with her friends. She draws strongly on her faith, friends and the courage that helped her through past difficulties.

Reminiscent of the Golden Girls TV series, Love, Lies, and Grace will make you laugh, cry and will reinforce these words from the Bible: “a threefold cord is never easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4: 12).

If women’s fiction is one of your favorite genres, let me encourage you to order your copy of Love, Lies, and Grace today. And after you read it, could you please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads so other readers can be guided in their buying choices?

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Women’s Fiction

Date Published: 10/20/2020

Publisher: Final Word Press


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Power. Lust. Betrayal. Murder. Blamed for the deaths of both her parents, Zoey Tirado is raised under the cruel control of her wealthy Uncle Max—an obsessive narcissist whose vicious deeds scar Zoey’s future forever. Zoey manages to escape, but feeling powerless and alone, lets her life spiral out of control. Finally ready for help, Zoey is taken under the wing of a champion female fighter who guides her on a journey of transformation and empowerment by helping her strengthen both her body and her mind. Rising above her past, Zoey focuses on her ultimate goal: exacting the perfect revenge.

This first installment of The Perfect Revenge series sets the stage for a sexy and thrilling saga, packed with romance, espionage, street justice, and more. In The Dragonfly Rises, Zoey’s emotion-filled metamorphosis from a guilt-ridden child into an inspirational success is a page-turner every woman can relate to.

 

About the Author

WilD is a storyteller and longtime philanthropist who’s dedicated generous amounts of time and money to organizations that aid women with troubled pasts. The drastic transformations he’s witnessed have proven to him what is possible when people are given the right support system. Today, he’s an ardent champion of female empowerment, driven to create a lasting legacy by furthering the cause even more.

However, WilD realized early on he was not the ideal “face” of the women’s movement. And so, with the goal of keeping the attention on Zoey and her message, WilD has chosen to remain anonymous. But the impetus for his commitment to this project need not be a mystery.

Like Zoey, WilD overcame heartbreaking adversity; in fact, many story scenes are based directly on his and his mother’s distressing experiences. But after being told he would never amount to anything, he became the first in his family to attend college, went on to earn a graduate degree, and most importantly, found personal fulfillment.

Crafting Zoey’s story is WilD’s first step toward inspiring women to reach their highest goals, even when faced with the steepest odds. He hopes that exposing the plight of girls like Zoey will help more women find their own voices and will encourage others to join the mission.

 

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The above heading is probably not the best one for this post, but I couldn’t think of any other way to express what I’m feeling right now. I don’t know of anyone who has not been impacted in some way by 19 in 2020. I hope by the time 2021 rolls around we won’t still be talking about 19.

I hope you and your family are staying healthy and doing your best to keep a positive attitude. Following all the guidelines given us by the authorities may keep us healthy, but staying positive in light of all that is going on around us may be somewhat challenging.

Still, I try to immerse myself in prayer and gospel music and talking to friends and family on the phone. This lifts my spirits and helps me take my mind off things. My writing has slowed a bit since my husband had hip surgery, but I’m beginning to pick up the pieces again and am close to completing the last edits of my WIP, Love, Lies, and Grace. More about this in another post.

Meanwhile, I would like you to take part in this Clean/ Wholesome Reads promotion going on now through Sept. 30. This promotion is for general fiction/women’s fiction, and sweet, clean, contemporary romance. Sorry, no erotica.

I daresay, this selection of books is just what you need to help you overcome any feelings of depression or melancholy you may be experiencing as a result of COVID-19. Two of my books, In the Wilderness and In the Promised Land, books 2 and 3 of the Egypt trilogy, are among the list.


If you belong to Kindle Unlimited, you can now read these two books for FREE.

You can grab an armload of books by clicking on this link: https://books.bookfunnel.com/cleanromancereads/88j155t14t

And please remember to leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads after you have read these books. You can invite your friends to sign up for my mailing list to receive updates on special offers like these.

Enjoy your Labor Day



Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Outskirts Press

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2019 CIPA EVVY AWARD – Merit Award Women’s Fiction

Life is never static. Just when you think you finally have everything under control, that illusion is shattered…and the life you once knew has spun off in unimaginable directions. Seeking Glory is an eloquent novel that explores the complexities of family relationships. With themes of loss, recovery, estrangement, and reconciliation woven throughout, it tells the story of a woman who seeks to uncover the truth about her young granddaughter’s origins.

Kate takes custody of her young granddaughter Glory after the death of Ally, her long missing daughter but soon discovers that Glory is mute and seemingly traumatized. To help her, she must try to solve the mystery of her granddaughter’s origins. As she struggles to deal with her own and Ally’s past she finds she is not the only one seeking Glory.





About the Author

Patricia Hamilton Shook was born in Massachusetts and while she has lived there most of her life, she also spent twelve years in the San Francisco Bay area where she obtained a B.A.in Psychology and a M.A. in Developmental Psychology from San Francisco State University. Soon after her marriage, Dr. Shook returned to Massachusetts where she obtained a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Northeastern University while raising the their two sons and working part time. Reading has been a favorite pastime since she first began combining letters into words on a page and while her chosen profession has provided many opportunities to write, she has always dreamed of writing a novel. In writing Seeking Glory she combines her professional expertise with an interest in spirituality and mysteries–along with a love of Cape Cod that dates back to childhood–to inform her debut novel Seeking Glory.

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Cyber Monday is here and you are being bombarded with lots of emails to take advantage of all the great buys out there. Since Christmas is right around the corner, I think it’s a good time to focus on the reason for the season. I guess this is what the organizer had in mind when he decided to start this promotion.

The title of the promotion is Seventy Times Seven Christian Books at Christmas and it features 18 Christian-themed books, including self-help and YA. I have left my books at the discounted price of .99c, and both Coming Out of Egypt  and In the Wildernessare among the selection.

To get your books, simply go to
https://books.bookfunnel.com/christians_celebrate_birth_of_christ/1aqmzk9t8g

Please share this information with your friends and loved ones and invite them to take part in this promotion. And as always, after you read the books, could you please leave an honest review on Amazon? Other readers will appreciate it.

If you are looking for a gift for the book lover on your list, you might want to select one of the books below. They are the paperback version and you can have them autographed, with bookmark included, and shipped free of cost to either you or the recipient. I can only ship to US addresses.

Coming Out of Egypt
In the Wilderness
Coming Out of Egypt

“I could not put it down,” the lady said to me. “I could visualize everything clearly.” Those words were music to my ears, as they would be to any author. In my case, the lady was referring to Coming Out of Egypt, the first book in my Egypt trilogy.

The series chronicles the lives of two teenage sisters who survived sexual abuse by their father to eventually “come out of Egypt.” As you know, Egypt in the Bible represents a place of bondage–the place where the Israelites were kept in bondage for 400 years, until God delivered them by the hand of Moses. Therefore the title “Coming Out of Egypt” is a metaphor for the girls’ situation, but it’s also a literal one. The place where the story begins is called Egypt Village, or just Egypt, in Trinidad.

This compelling book is now available in paperback and will make a great Christmas gift for that book lover on your list. To whet your appetite, here’s the first chapter of the book. Just click on the link below.

Coming Out of Egypt – Chapter 1

If you enjoyed this chapter and would like to get the book in either kindle or paperback, just use the following links:

Coming Out of Egypt  

Coming Out of Egypt – paperback

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