Donna Simonetta Author of A Sweeter Spot
Happy holidays to all! Give a big welcome to Donna Simonetta, author of A Sweeter Spot. Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Lets talk a little with Donna then see what A Sweeter Spot is all about. Thanks for joining us!
Donna, tell us something no one knows about you.
I write contemporary romance with heart, humor, and a little steaminess. A native New Englander, I now live in Maryland with my husband, who is my real-life romance hero. I’m kind of an open-book, so I don’t know that there’s much that NO ONE knows about me––lol!––hmm…I guess, I love to travel by train, and greatly prefer it to flying.
Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>
Favorite movie: Bringing Up Baby
Favorite book: The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
Last book read: Southern Spirits by Angie Fox
Favorite color: Purple
Stilettos or flipflops: Flipflops
Coffee or tea: Coffee
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: ANY book!
Pencil or pen: Pen
Favorite song: Carey by Joni Mitchell
Streak or not: Not
Favorite dessert: Cake
Favorite junk food: Potato Chips
Favorite thing to do to relax: Read
Champagne or gin: Champagne
Paranormal or Historical: Both
Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman
Favorite TV show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Hot or cold: Hot
POV: 3rd person
I’d die if I don’t have: Phone
Review or Not: Review
Thanks so much for answers the questions, even though you could help yourself in using more than one word. Curse of a writer! LOL How I love to make them try!
You can find Donna at the social media spots below:
https://www.facebook.com/donnasimonettaauthor
https://twitter.com/donna_simonetta
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15422407.Donna_Simonetta
https://www.amazon.com/Donna-Simonetta/e/B06X415TWW/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-simonetta
What’s A Sweeter Spot all about?
Magda knows a 28-year-old shouldn’t run away from home, but Rivers Bend is the ideal escape. Helping out her best friend will get her away from her uber-wealthy, controlling grandmother and duplicitous ex. She doesn’t expect the quirky little town to feel so much like home. Add in hotter-than-the-sun Jeff and his daughter, and leaving seems as unthinkable as it is inevitable.
Raising Sam alone, Jeff knew he wanted her to grow up in his supportive hometown. The arrival of a feisty new tenant sends Jeff’s world spinning. Magda fills a void in his life that he’d like to make permanent.
Will love triumph over the most powerful woman in the country, and can they figure out how to make this happy-for-now in Rivers Bend into their happy-ever-after?
GIve us a peek between the pages of A Sweeter Spot.
An errant curl had escaped her grandmother- approved French Twist, and she tucked it behind her ear. She smiled and said, “I am. I’m Magda Horvath. Bethanne and her family are the only ones who call me Maggie. That’s how I know you are who you say you are. Even without the photo I.D.” She picked up the wallet and tossed it to him. He caught it one-handed and tucked it into the rear pocket of his shorts.
“Sorry. Do you prefer being called Magda?”
She rolled her eyes. “As long as you don’t call me Elizabeth, or any of its corresponding nicknames, I don’t really care.”
“Okay,” he drew out the word. “I don’t know why I would ever call you Elizabeth, but since it means that much to you, I’ll be sure I don’t. How about I go with Maggie? You look like a Maggie to me.”
He squatted and held out his hand to the dog. “Who’s this little cutie?”
Maggie readied herself to intervene in case Petunia snapped, as she sometimes did with strange men. “Oh! Don’t do that. She doesn’t like…” She abruptly stopped talking as Petunia walked to Jeff, sniffed his hand, and wagged.
Jeff seemed to realize the wagging was an invitation to pet her, and he scratched Petunia behind her ears. The little dog wagged so hard that Maggie was afraid her back end was going to break off, and her one eye was closed in bliss. As Magda watched her dog bask in Jeff’s attention, she had no doubt he could use those big hands to bring any woman to a state of bliss.
When he smiled up at her, his eyes crinkled, and Maggie could swear her heart stopped for a moment. He wasn’t handsome in the way Pierce was—all delicate bone structure and whippet thin. Combined with his baby-fine blond hair, Pierce was almost pretty. Jeff was all man. Tall and muscular with his messy brown hair that looked in serious need of a cut. He wore a sloppy T-shirt and olive colored cargo shorts, but the baggy clothes did nothing to hide the hard body underneath. His nose was just a little too big and a tad crooked, as though it had been broken. His tan skin stretched across strong cheekbones, but it wasn’t the kind of orange tan you got in a booth. It was the tan of a man who spent a lot of time outdoors. But it was those gray eyes, with the little laugh lines around them that really drew her to him. They were full of intelligence and kindness—now that he knew she wasn’t a trespasser.
“She doesn’t like what?”
Magda shook her head in amazement, “Men. She’d been abused before I got her, and she doesn’t usually like men.”
He grinned as the dog rolled on her back to reveal her belly for rubbing. He obliged, and winked at Magda. “Maybe she’s just been around the wrong men.”
Her and me both. Magda felt her knees go weak at his playful expression. Cold fish, indeed! Watching this man pet her dog had her hot enough to melt the zipper on her skirt.
Buy links.
Amazon, TWRP, Barnes & Noble, Amazon UK, and Kobo,
Author Links:
https://www.facebook.com/donnasimonettaauthor
https://twitter.com/donna_simonetta
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15422407.Donna_Simonetta
https://www.amazon.com/Donna-Simonetta/e/B06X415TWW/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-simonetta
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with A Sweeter Spot! Have a safe and happy Holiday Season!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged A Sweeter Spot, Contemporary, Donna Simonella, Romance by Tena Stetler with 26 comments.
C.B.Clark Author of Bitter Legacy, A Romantic Suspense
Happy holidays to all! Give a big welcome to C.B. Clark, author of Bitter Legacy. Have a seat and grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Lets see what Bitter Legacy is all about. Thanks for joining us!
Well, C.B. you’ve been here before, so this time tell us Something no one knows about you:
As a child, I devoured all 56 volumes of Nancy Drew Mystery Stories. I even read some twice. My dream was to be just like Nancy and her friends. I’m not a detective, but I do write mysteries. Bitter Legacy is my third romantic suspense novel published by The Wild Rose Press. A fourth book will be out in early 2018.
Oh wow, Ioved Nancy Drew too and Trixie Beldon. I still have all those well-worn, beloved books sitting on the top shelve of my book cases. They were wonderful books.
Where can we find you on line C.B.?
Social media links:
Facebook: cbclarkauthor@facebook.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cbclarkauthor
Blog: https://cbclarkauthor.wordpress.com
GoodreadsAuthorpage: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15029617.C_B_Clark
Now the Speed Round: Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>
Favorite movie: Gone with the Wind
Favorite book: Last one I read
Last book read: The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
Favorite color: orange
Stilettos or flip flops: flip flops
Coffee or tea: Tea
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: paperback
Pencil or pen: pencil
Favorite Song: With You by Charly McLean
Streak or not: Not
Favorite dessert: chocolate cake
Favorite junk food: sunflower seeds
Favorite thing to do to relax: walk my dog
Champagne or gin: gin
Paranormal or Historical: Both
Wonder Woman or Top Model: Wonder Woman
Favorite TV show: Star Trek
Hot or cold: cold
POV: third person
I’d die if I don’t have: red wine
Review or not: review
What is Bitter Legacy about?
Nothing’s more frightening than a woman out for revenge. After a seventeen-year absence, Sharla-Jean Bromley returns to her old hometown determined to spit on her father’s grave and the townspeople who betrayed her. Instead, she ends up in a contest of wills with the all-too-attractive Josh Morgan. When a mad man threatens their very lives, Sharla-Jean and Josh must put aside their distrust for one another and work together to save her father’s legacy and find the passion of a lifetime.
A Peek Between the Pages of Bitter Legacy:
Sharla-Jean Bromley had wanted only two things in life—a red dress and her father’s death. She’d waited years. Hell, she’d prayed for this moment. Why then, wasn’t this a celebration? Why was a ball of acid churning through her stomach? Taking a deep breath, she climbed out of the taxi and smoothed the skirt of her figure-hugging, red, silk dress over her hips.
The crowd of somber mourners stood in clusters on the sweeping steps outside the old stone church under the late-October, overcast sky. The damp air was ripe with the familiar sweet-sour smell of freshly cut Douglas fir. Over the hill behind the church, steam trailed in white plumes from the two lumber-drying kilns at the mill. A wind gusted, marshaling scattered piles of gold and red leaves into the gutter.
Goose bumps riddled her arms, and she fought back a shiver as she strode forward, knees quaking, jostling through the crowd on the wide sidewalk.
A collective gasp filled the air, and her name swept over the mourners in a rising crescendo. “It’s her! Sharla-Jean. Big Jim’s daughter.”
Buy Links:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo , The Wild Rose Press , iTunes
It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Bitter Legacy!
Views: 1
Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Bitter Legacy, C.B. Clark, Mystery, romantic suspense by Tena Stetler with 12 comments.
Interview Anna-Marie Abell – Holy Crap! The World is Ending!
Happy holidays to all! Give a big welcome to Anna-Marie Abell, author of Holy Crap! The World is Ending! How a Trip to the Bookstore
Led to Sex with an Alien and the Destruction of Earth – The Anunnaki Chronicles, Book One. A humorous paranormal romance.
Anna-Marie, Do you see yourself in your characters?I am 100% the main character in the Anunnaki Chronicles, strange eating habits and all. In fact, friends all tell me they are picturing me as they are reading. I always get a little flushed when they say this and tell them, “Please don’t think of me during the more ‘intimate’ scenes, or it could get awkward.
What do you want your readers to take away from your books?
Curiosity about our ancient past and an open mind about the possibility of other life in the universe. There is way more to the story of the origins of the human race than we have been led to believe. The universe is also teaming with life, and NASA is finally starting to admit that. Proof of life out there could potentially change how we behave as a human race. It was Reagan that said: “Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.” I think if we stop seeing the differences in each other, and realize we are all one and the same, the human race, this world would change for the better. Finding out we are just a blip on the cosmic life radar might bring the minuscule variations of our species into perspective.
Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down?
I have no control over when they come, but I have to say, my best ideas come in the shower. I don’t know why, but that seems to be common among creative types. I have a waterproof tablet I keep with me for the shower. I also have a lighted tablet I keep in my car and by my bed. I have learned that if I think of an idea, I need to write it immediately or I will forget it (and it is getting worse as I get older). I also find that the best inspiration comes from real life. It’s true when they say “you just can’t make that up” about real-life events. Truth is definitely stranger than fiction, and makes for an awesome story.
You’ve got a time machine, a cloak of invisibility, and one hour. Where would you go, and what eavesdropping would you do?
Oh, man! So I research the Sumerian culture and they have a very different version of how man was created. The cuneiform tablets state that the human race was created by the Sumerian gods (the Anunnaki) as workers to help them in the mines. I would go back to when the Sumerian “gods” created the human race so I could see just how they did it. Based on their texts, it is eerily similar to in vitro fertilization. It would change everything if I could prove we were created by an advanced race of beings.
A Peek Between the Pages of Holy Crap! The World is Ending! How a Trip to the Bookstore Led to Sex with an Alien and the Destruction of Earth.
What if…
Ever since I was a kid I’ve been fascinated by the unimaginable. I used to gaze at the night sky and contemplate a series of what ifs. But I’m not talking about the boring typical what ifs such as:
What if I won the lotto?
What if I quit my job and moved to Tanzania?
I’m talking about those outlandish ones:
What if I ran across a herd of three-inch pigmy cows capable of producing solid gold milk, but each ounce I extracted took a month off my life? Would I still do it?
What if we could suddenly have intellectual conversations with all animals? Would we continue to eat them?
What if the whole world went blind and deaf all at the same time? Would we survive as a species?
Another favorite childhood pastime of mine was observing ants clambering atop one another to locate food or gather leaves, like inhabitants of a metropolis bustling to work. Ants are innately oblivious to the threat of a gargantuan foot looming over them. I’ve often wondered if humans would behave the same way if the tables were turned.
What if a jumbo foot came down on us and squashed a city block on a regular basis? After a while, would we just shrug it off and alter course to go around it like ants do?
Some people go out of their way to squish any and all bugs that come across their path. Not me. I have a strict “no kill” policy with every type of animal.
Well, that’s not entirely true. I have an exception for animals I buy in a grocery store. I know: this is incredibly hypocritical. But dammit, I love me some cow. Perhaps I should define my “no kill” policy as “not slaying a creature simply because it annoys you—or simply because you can.”
For example, I can’t help but wonder:
What if I were reincarnated as a fly in my next life? Would I appreciate getting stuck on a glue trap?
Put yourself in the fly’s place. You’re ambling along, minding your own business, when out of nowhere the glorious aroma of In-N-Out Burger wafts in your direction. Those freshly cooked fries and juicy burgers fill your senses with food ecstasy. Just when you can’t take it anymore, a sign pops up out of thin air that reads: All You Can Eat! Free In-N-Out Burgers All Day.
Salivating, you charge toward the smell all excited. Then—BAM!—you step onto a glue pad, unable to break free. Not only are you doomed to a lengthy, torturous death of dehydration and starvation, but your last days are filled with the constant aroma of those heavenly cheeseburgers you can never have.
Not the way I’d want to kick the bucket, that’s for sure.
My fixation over these what ifs is why I was so into UFOs, ancient aliens, near-death experiences, ghosts, and really, anything paranormal. Truth be told, I’m not sure if deep down I believed in all these things, or if I just wanted them to be real, so I’d have something to hope for beyond the monotony of human life. I mean, think about it. What would be more entertaining: cleaning a toilet, or cleaning a toilet haunted by a ghost? (Well, a friendly one. It might get messy if your bowl were possessed by a demon.) Phantom commodes win hands down.
I’ll never forget the day this whole obsession got started. When I was six, I asked my mom what life was going to be like when I grew up. She was always one for blunt honesty, and she said, “Well, you’ll go to school for a really long time, marry a guy who will lose all his hair, get a job you’ll probably hate, have kids, get old, poop your pants, and then die.”
I broke down in tears.
My mom ended up regretting having told me all that, because at the age of seven, I convinced myself that those things wouldn’t happen to me, and that it was my destiny to one day rescue the planet. I am talking about a Will Smith in Independence Day style rescue (except I imagined myself with a breadstick in my mouth instead of a cigar). In one childhood fantasy, I used a butter knife and my badass Barbie Mobile to defend the residents of my neighborhood from a rampaging, genetically mutated, alien-giraffe hybrid that had escaped from a secret government lab. (Kids, if you ever want your mom to get fired as the president of the PTA so she doesn’t embarrass you in front of your class, simply splatter your shirt with ketchup and burst into the annual Teacher Appreciation Luncheon with a spork screaming about man-eating giraffes. Trust me, it works like a charm.)
This desire to be the hero had me hooked on stories where people discover they’re part of an amazing new reality—a world where the impossible becomes possible. If I waited long enough, I thought, maybe Hagrid and his flying motorcycle would come crashing into my bathroom as I sat on the toilet and proclaim, “You’re a wizard, Autumn!”
But it’s one thing to dream it, and an entirely different thing to live it. Had I been smart and heeded the advice of the Pussycat Dolls when they warned us to “Be careful what you wish for, ’cause you just might get it,” then maybe things would have played out differently.
I wished it.
I got it.
And now I’m about to die.
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Alien, Anna-Marie Abell, Holy Crap! The World is Ending!, Humorous, Paranormal, Romance by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.
A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance – Release Day
Happy holidays to all! Today is the book birthday of A VAMPIRE’S UNLIKELY ALLIANCE, my third book in Demon’s Witch Series. I’m so excited! Have a seat and 
grab an insulated mug. I’ve got hot chocolate, hot cider and coffee. Choose your pot, they’re labeled. Pick your choice of a Snicker-doodle, Chocolate Chip or Peanut butter cookie from the plate. Yep, I baked them myself. Let me tell you about A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance. Not what you’ve come to expect from a vampire tale! Thanks for joining us!
Stefan is a Native American vampire, former assassin for the Vampire Council. In a twist of fate, he now DJ’s the midnight shift for a small radio station in Whitefish, Montana, on the edge of Glacier National Park where his secret is safe until…
Born in Ireland, Brandy now works as a park ranger and trail guide in the park. During a full moon, Stefan and Brandy’s paths cross in a near physical collision on a trail. Their attraction is immediate and undeniable, almost as if fate demanded it.
Their union was foretold long ago in Irish folk tales where vampires and gryphons, warlocks and demons, witches and faeries must work together for the good of man and magic kind. Is a trip to Ireland the key to unravelling secrets and returning the magic? And even more importantly, will their love survive the trip?
A Sneak Peek Between the Pages of A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance:
Brandy slept in Stefan’s arms while he watched the lace curtains flutter as the ocean breeze, heavy with brine, wafted through the window, open just a crack. A white mist swirled into the quiet room through the opening. It grew thicker and began to take shape settling into the antique rocking chair in the far corner of their cozy room. A man with long flowing hair the color of straw, dressed in jeans and a shimmering multicolored sweater, now sat in the rocking chair, left boot propped over on his right knee, watching Stefan with genuine interest.
Stefan’s body stiffened, his fangs pierced his gums as he shifted Brandy to a more secure position, though he sensed no threat. Too many stories around the fire?
Undisturbed, the apparition’s lips twitched. “So you’re the súmair fala that stole our Brandy’s heart. An interesting turn of events this is.” He mused nodding his head toward the window and pointing his finger toward Stefan, then to the outside. As quickly as he’d appeared, he was gone, leaving only a light mist floating across the floor.
Blinking his eyes, Stefan slowly looked around the room. What the hell was that? I wasn’t asleep so it couldn’t be a dream. Stealthily, he slid out of bed without disturbing Brandy. He yanked on jeans, pulled an ivory cable knit sweater over his head, and grabbed his boots as he padded silently down the stairs out of the house. The storm had passed, leaving a light dusting of snow covering the ground. Behind the light mist, a nearly full moon hung among the twinkling stars across the frosty dark sky. For a moment, he stilled listening as the waves crashed against the shore off in the distance.
Glancing uneasily around the area in front of the house and toward steep cliffs shrouded in a settling mist, he saw nothing. Following the trail leading to the cliffs and ultimately down to the beach, he sprinted across the rocky terrain. He stopped once and glanced over his shoulder to make sure he’d closed the front door. Turning back around, Stefan skidded to a halt, damn near crashing into what he considered a figment of his imagination. “Who are you?” Stefan demanded.
A little while later Stefan returned to the house, silent climbed the stairs and slid into bed. Jostling Brandy he said.” I believe I’ve just had a conversation with an apparition claiming to be King of the Warrior Faeries.”
“You’ve seen and talked with Tiarnan, King of Warrior Faeries? When? How?” Brandy demanded.
Available at Amazon Amazon UK , Amazon AU, itunes, The Wild Rose Press and Barnes & Noble.
About the author:
Tena Stetler is a paranormal romance author with an over-active imagination. She wrote her first vampire romance as a tween, to the chagrin of her mother and the delight of her friends. Colorado is home; shared with her husband, a brilliant Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-five-year-old box turtle. Her books tell tales of magical kick-ass women and mystical alpha males that dare to love them. Travel and adventure flourish in her books. Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot chocolate and a bowl of popcorn.
Contact Information:
Website: https://www.tenastetler.com
Authors’ Secret’s Blog: https://www.tenastetler.com/category/authors-secrets-blog/
My Say What Blog: https://www.tenastetler.com/category/my-say-what-blog/
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/tenastetler.author
Twitter Page: www.twitter.com/TenaStetler
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14187532.Tena_Stetler
The Wild Rose Press: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/1264_tena-stetler
Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/tenastetler
Newsletter: https://www.tenastetler.com/newsletter-signup/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tenastetler
Tribber: http://triberr.com/TenaStetler
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tena-stetler
There you have it, a taste of A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance, a vampire tale like none other. Join Stefan and Brandy on an exciting Romantic Fantasy that begins in Glacier National Park, winds through Australia, and may end with Christmas in Ireland. Will an Irish folk tale control their destiny?
I hope you’ll pick up a copy of A Vampire’s Unlikely Alliance to enjoy this holiday season! You won’t regret it.
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Angels, Australia, Demons, Fae, Faerie, Glacier National Park, Gryphons, Ireland, Paranormal, Romance, Shapeshifters, Vampire, Witches by Tena Stetler with 4 comments.
