Too long apart #MFRWHooks

This is a blog hop. Be sure to check the link at the bottom to see posts from other authors!

Naval Maneuvers by Dee S. KnightBlurb:
Men and women of the armed forces experience lust and love pretty much like everyone else. Except, well, there is that uniform. And the hard-to-resist attraction of “duty, honor, service” as a man might apply them to a woman’s pleasure. All things considered, romance among the military is a pretty sexy, compelling force for which you’d better be armed, whether weighing anchor and moving forward into desire, dropping anchor and staying put for passion, or setting a course for renewed love with anchor home. Explore the world of love and the military and see just how hot Naval Maneuvers can be.

Buy link:
Kindle Unlimited

MFRW Book HooksExcerpt:
I loved talking with you face-to-face. I loved seeing your smile. Todd e-mailed almost immediately after their teleconference. Just so you know, this is the first time I’ve ever counted the days until the ship docks in Norfolk.

“You got yourself a beauty there, Todd.” Fred Maxwell, a fellow chief and one of Todd’s best friends came into the mess. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down across from Todd.

“Beautiful and smart,” Todd said.

“I don’t know about smart. She says she loves you, right?”

“Prick.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Fred said. “Like I tell my son, ‘Sticks and stones,’ and all that. I will grant you though, she is sexy,” he added. When Todd frowned, Fred held up his hand. “I say that as an impartial observer, not an interested party. I got enough on my hands with my wife, without taking on someone else’s woman. You gonna marry her?”

“I’m going to ask and hope like hell she says yes.”

“Does she know you’re retiring?” Fred eyed him.

Todd frowned again. “No.”

“That’s kind of a big decision to make without talking it through. Will she mind?”

“I hope not. She has years left before she’s eligible to retire and she has a profession.”

“Hell, you do, too. What are your plans?”

Todd checked to make sure he hadn’t received a reply from Carie, and then logged out and closed the laptop kept in the chief’s mess. Hell, when had he started waiting like a high school kid for a return note from a girl? Since Carie.

He got up to pour himself a cup of strong, hot coffee. Navy coffee. “I’ve put out feelers to engineering firms. Already have an offer for a contract job in the D.C. area, so that’s a start.”

“If it’s that easy to get a job, maybe I should think about retiring, too.”

“How many kids do you have?” Todd sat down and grinned.

“Hell,” Fred muttered. “Six under ten and another on the way. Damn twins up the number fast.” He took a healthy gulp of coffee.

“And how many Med cruises have we been on together?”

Fred grinned back. “Five. One for each pregnancy. Maybe I should stay home for a while. It’s the going away part that makes us want to screw like rabbits. Hell, we’d probably never have sex if I was there all the time.”

Todd thought about being with Carie. The surge of electric sensations that passed between them when they touched hadn’t let up. He had the feeling they’d be having sex when they were old and gray.

Author Dee S. Knight:
A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.

After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors website. And all three offer some of the best romance you can find! Also, once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.

Website: https://nomadauthors.com

Blog: http://nomadauthors.com/blog

Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeeSKnight

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeeSKnight2018

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/265222.Dee_S_Knight

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B079BGZNDN

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dee-s-knight-0500749

Sweet ‘n Sassy Divas: http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K

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Charity Sunday: The Idaho Food Bank

Charity Sunday: Dee S. KnightHow Charity Sunday works: for every comment made on this blog post, I will donate money to the charity named. The same promise is made for every blog site listed in the group–click the Linky Links link at the bottom of this post to see the list of participants and read/comment on any of them to see a donation go to that blogger’s charity. We’re all different! Thanks for your help and your participation!

Idaho Food BankI’d like to make a huge donation to the Idaho Food Bank this month. This 4 star charity (according to Charity Navigator) has a mission to: “To help feed, educate and advocate for Idaho’s hungry through collaborative partnerships to develop efficient solutions that strengthen individuals, families and communities.”

Idaho, for all its beauty and being nice place to live, is not a wealthy state. We value our way of life here, though, and want to care for our own. Please comment and help me help!

My book this month is one that is coming soon, The Cinderella Curse. Here’s a preview!
The Cinderella Curse by Dee S. KnightBlurb:
One evening, in a land far away, a wife spins an adult, erotic fairy tale for the amusement of her husband. Like the original tale, this contemporary Cinderella is definitely for those who love romance and a HEA. As Charlotte dreams of her prince, James, but learns about beauty and love from her fairy godfather, Cooper, will she lose a glass slipper or her heart? One thing for sure, by the time our Cindy arrives at the ball, she’d sure like to know which man is her Prince Charming.

Excerpt:
Katherine walked into her daughter’s bedroom with a warm smile for the little girl. “And who do I find here?” she asked. “Is it a rock star, a fashion model or an award winning actress?”

“Oh, mommy, you know who I am,” the girl said with a giggle. For just a moment Katherine’s breath caught and her heart overflowed with love for this four year old person. She and Cole had made this child, had conceived her in love, trust and respect, but it still seemed incomprehensible that she was as beautiful as she was, as sweet and wonderful as she was. Katherine could so clearly see Cole’s eyes and her mouth reflected in their daughter’s face, but there was more there that was a combination of them both, and therefore all Alyssa’s. Katherine had to remind herself that probably all parents felt their children were perfect and wonderful, but with their little Alyssa, she knew it was true beyond any doubt.

“Yes, I know who you are, my little love. You are queen of my heart, princess of my mind, ruler–”

“–of all I hold dear.” Alyssa finished the oft heard phrase in triumph. She had bouncy curls of brown hair that hung down to her chin, gleaming blue eyes and a pert nose. Her mouth was most often formed around a smile.

“You’re getting too smart for me, Munchkin. What story would you like to hear?” Katherine settled her daughter under the covers, and positioned herself at the head of the bed next to Alyssa’s pillow, so that the child could see the pictures in the book and also be in place to fall asleep.

“Cinderella!”

“Okay, Cinderella it is.” Katherine reached for the book from the stack of those on the bedside table and opened it to the first page.

“Once upon a–”

“No, mommy. You’ve got to start with the title.”

With a small smile Katherine turned to the title page and started over. “Cinderella.” She flipped back to the story. “Once upon a time…”

Minutes later, long before the clock had struck midnight and the glass slipper had been lost, Alyssa was sleeping. Katherine stood and moved her slightly, so that she was in the center of the bed. She smoothed Alyssa’s hair from her face and kissed her forehead, making sure that her stuffed bunny was firmly secured in her arm and that she was warmly covered. As Katherine turned, she saw Cole leaning against the doorjamb, watching her with a tender expression.

“You know that I think you’re the most beautiful woman on the face of the earth, but when I see you with Alyssa, it’s almost too much. You two are the most important things in my life.”

Katherine turned out the bedside lamp and walked into Cole’s arms, stretching into him as he stroked her back and nuzzled her hair.

“As the two of you are to me,” Katherine responded. “Let’s go downstairs.” With Cole’s arm wrapped around her shoulders they made their way to the living room.

Cole had started a fire and the room was warm and softly lighted by the flames; crackling of the burning logs and popping as sap hit the heat of the fire were the only sounds.

Cole poured glasses of wine and they rested, Katherine against his chest in the circle of his arm, Cole leaning against the rounded arm of the sofa. They sat peacefully for several moments, staring into the fire. With his hand over her shoulder, Cole caressed Katherine’s breast; she rested her hand on his leg, with her elbow covering and lightly putting pressure on the bulge in his pants.

“Are you going to tell me a bedtime story now?” asked Cole.

“Would you like one?” He kissed the top of her head and nodded.

“Okay, do you like Cinderella, too?”

“Sure. The adult version, however. I didn’t mind the children’s version when I was a child, although I always thought the prince was too much of a sissy. I thought she should find a good warrior to marry.”

“You would, you blood-thirsty man.”

“Now, I think the prince would be looking for a bit more in a wife than simple beauty and strange taste in shoes.” He looked at Katherine’s platform shoes. “Although unusual taste in footwear isn’t always a negative.”

“Thank you,” she said smartly.

He chuckled. “So make sure that Cindy has all the requisites to be the wife of a prince.”

“And what might that entail, do you think?” Katherine sat up and turned so that she could see her husband.

“Make her like you.” Katherine gave her husband an appreciative look as he continued. “Definitely she has to be a sexy number. The dress is okay, but it’s what’s under it that counts. She has to know things. Even if she’s hot in bed, you can’t spend all your time in bed, right? And she should be a good cook.”

“Good cook? And why is that m’lord? Hasn’t the prince cooks aplenty?”

“Sure, but when they’re finished having sex late at night after the little princess is asleep, who will get up to fix him something to eat if not his wife?” Cole looked at his wife through his long, thick lashes, with just a hint of a smile. “She has to know her way around the castle kitchen. That’s a must. You wouldn’t suggest waking the kitchen staff for a ham sandwich, would you?”

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Ham or turkey leftovers. Does it really matter? #MFRWauthor

Grilled ham and cheeseThis year I made a big, fat boo-boo. I had in mind to fix a ham for dinner. Ham is something we rarely have, so it sounded appealing—a treat in this year that has been no treat. So I bought a ham. Jack, at nearly the same time, said that a local grocery had turkey thighs and breasts on sale. Since he doesn’t like white meat and I don’t care for dark, and there are only two of us, so we didn’t need a whole bird, that seemed like a great solution. Without conscious thought, we ended up with both turkey and ham for Thanksgiving dinner. Talk about a plethora of goodness! We’ll have a little of each for dinner and then I will cut and package the rest to use in leftovers or to freeze.

So for ham leftovers, I’ll make bean soup, ham and potato soup, Turkey pot pieham and mac & cheese, and of course sandwiches. But with the turkey I’ll make turkey pot pie. Here’s my recipe, give or take. I kinda make it up as I go along but this is a reasonable facsimile. I make two—one with white meat and one with dark. I know, I know. I spoil the man but what can I say? I love him.

TURKEY POT PIE
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F

Filling:

  • 3 cups (or so) of cubed turkey
  • 4 carrots (peel if you like. I don’t) roughly chopped
  • 1 med onion, roughly chopped
  • 2-3 celery sticks, sliced
  • 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 cup peas

Sauce:

  • 6 Tbl butter
  • 6 Tbl flour
  • 4 cups chicken/turkey stock
  • 1-2 cups milk, heated until warm

Crust:
Enough dough for top and bottom crust (you’ll have too much for a regular old pie plate. I use a large casserole dish for the white meat pie and a pie plate for the dark meat. This recipe makes a lot!)

Instructions:

  1. Sauté celery, carrots, and onion until soft. Add mushrooms and continue until they give up their liquid.
  2. Add salt and pepper to taste if desired. I don’t add either but that’s just us.
  3. Set aside.
  4. Melt butter in a 4 quart pan.
  5. Add flour and stir for about two minutes, cooking the flour and making a roux.
  6. Add stock, whisking as you do to avoid lumps.
  7. Just when the sauce starts to thicken, add milk and whisk until thick and smooth.
  8. Remove from heat.
  9. Add the peas.
  10. Add remaining vegetables and meat and stir to mix. (This is where I divide the mixture to add the different types of meat.)
  11. In your baking dish(es), place the bottom pie crust. (Okay, I’ll confess to using Pillsbury…)
  12. Pour in the filling with sauce and top with the second crust. Crimp the edges closed. Slice two or three holes to release steam.
  13. Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the crust turns golden and some of the filling shows around the slits.
  14. Let cool 10-15 minutes and then spoon out into a bowl.

I cover with foil and refrigerate for several days. It gets better and better!

What is your favorite holiday leftover recipe?

Hoping your holidays were–and continue to be–wonderful!

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee

Burning Bridges by Anne Krist
One Woman Only
Only a Good Man Will Do
Naval Maneuvers

Writing: Don Quixote or J.R. Ewing? #MFRWauthor

The question this week is whether characters are more fun as idealists or pragmatists. You know, do you prefer to write (or read) those characters who always strive for the vision and tilt at windmills, perhaps, or characters who see tings as they really are—and who maybe take advantage of that realism, as J.R. did. I think the answer is, too much of anything can be, well, too much.

Especially in romance, I think having characters who The Cinderella Curse by Dee S. Knightdream a little bit are necessary. In my newly (re)published erotic romance The Cinderella Curse, heroine Charlotte dreams of meeting and capturing her Prince Charming, the head of her publishing firm. He’s somewhat out of her league in that he’s rich, influential, and worldly. And she’s…not. But still, she sees her goal and simply won’t accept that she can’t have him. We all know what happened to Cinderella when she made her wish and then made it to the ball: Katy bar the door!

In the same book, hero Cooper knows the man Charlotte has set her sights on, and he’s pretty sure he’s not the right man for Charlotte. But in his own practical way, he hesitantly helps her map a path to her goal, all while counseling, aiding, and reminding her of what life can be like when she keeps her feet on the ground and head out of the clouds. Together they make quite a pair. But did I enjoy writing one more than the other? No. Did I hear from readers who said they liked reading one more than the others? Well, yeah, kinda. Readers loved Cooper (me, too!) but that’s because I made him yummy, not because he was a pragmatist.

Cinderella ball gownWould I have enjoyed these two if I had written them too strongly in one direction or another? No. Charlotte had to have some common sense and Cooper some flexibility in order for them to be fun and realistic. A good book is composed of characters of both stripes. That can create good conflict and fun reading, no matter which type of character you tend towards.

Do you have a preference? If so, which is it?

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee

Burning Bridges by Anne Krist
One Woman Only
Only a Good Man Will Do
Naval Maneuvers

Parents! Gotta love ‘em #MFRWHooks

This is a blog hop. Be sure to check the link at the bottom to see posts from other authors!

Only a Good Man Will Do
Only a Good Man Will Do by Dee S. KnightBlurb:
Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!

Daniel Goodman is a man on a mission. He aims to become headmaster of Westover Academy. For that he needs a particular, special woman to help him set high standards. Into his cut and dried life of moral and upright behavior, comes Eve Star, formerly one of Europe’s foremost exotic dancers. Her life is anything but cut and dried, black and white. Daniel is drawn to her like a kid to chocolate. Nothing good can come of this attraction. Or can it? He is after all, a good man.

Buy link:
Kindle Unlimited

MFRW Book HooksExcerpt:
Jonah’s frown disappeared. Nothing bothered him for long. “You know, it’s pretty up here in the fall.”

“Yes, isn’t it? You came at the perfect time, too. Good thing you can stay with me. During foliage, when the leaves are turning, you can’t get a hotel room from here to Connecticut.”

“Oh, I can’t stay, Daniel. In fact, right after dinner I have to make the train to Boston so I can catch the six a.m. flight back to Charleston.”

Daniel stopped and spun toward his brother in amazement. “What? Jonah, your note didn’t say you’d only be here a couple of hours. I would have made arrangements for someone to take my classes. We could have had more time. Jesus, it’s been two or three years since we’ve seen each other.”

With a concerted effort, he refrained from raking his hand through his hair, a nervous habit from childhood it had taken him years to break. His near relapse must be due to the emotion he felt seeing Jonah again. If it was true that a special bond existed between twins, then an even stronger tie bound the set of rare, identical triplets. And while he, Mark, and Jonah had gone their separate ways since high school—almost twenty years ago—he always felt incomplete, as though a small piece of him was missing when they weren’t in contact. Being with Jonah now made him realize how alone he was. Not for companionship, but for someone who understood the soul of him, without words or judgments or questions. No one did that but his brothers.

Jonah laid his hand on Daniel’s arm. “I know. I feel the same.” Their telepathic communication always surprised, and in some cases frightened, friends and relatives. But Jonah and Daniel took it as a matter of course.

They began walking again.

“What do you hear from Mark?” Daniel asked.

“Nothing much.” Jonah frowned. “Why don’t we stay in better touch?”

“Because we’re guys? I don’t know.”

“Well, as far as I know, Mark is still in Richmond, being a nerd.” Jonah flicked a leaf that had drifted into his hair to the ground.

“Still with that same finance company?”

“Hell, you probably know as much as I do. But gossiping about Mark is not why I came up. I came up to deliver a message. It’s something I didn’t think you should hear over the phone. It’s about mom and dad.”

Daniel stopped again and grabbed Jonah’s arm to halt his progress. “Oh, my God! They’re not—”

“No, sorry, no. Nothing like that.”

Daniel blew a breath of relief. “Then what could be so important you’d fly all the way to New Hampshire to tell me?”

Jonah grinned. “Well, Daniel, it’s like this.” He pulled himself to his impressive full six feet two inches, clasped his hands in prayer and recited, “Friends, we are gathered here in the presence of God and this company, to witness—”

“What!?”

“Yeah! Isn’t it great? This November we can give thanks that our parents are finally getting married.”

Jonah, the idiot, grinned even wider, like a puppy who’d just been tossed a big old steak bone. Obviously, he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation.

“And they’re not keeping it quiet, either. Nope, they’re doing it up right. Turns out, one of the men who knew mom from her days in show business—”

Daniel closed his eyes. “She was a stripper, Jonah, not a movie star.”

Jonah flapped his hand. “Whatever. Anyway, he’s arranged for them to use the country club. And you know dad’s old friends at the bank never held his troubles against him—

“His troubles? He stole money, Jonah. It was only because the bank president liked dad and the money was returned that he didn’t spend hard time in federal prison.”

Jonah put a hand on his shoulder, thinking to calm him, no doubt. Too late for that.

“I know. But the fact remains, Dad’s well-liked, so they’ve got a big bachelor party planned.”

The groan he heard had to have come from him. His brother was having too much fun to make a sound filled with such angst.

“They’ve scheduled the whole shebang for over the Thanksgiving holidays. I don’t have to work and you won’t have school, so we can both be there. The local paper’s already featured them in the society section. Couple Finally Ties Knot After Thirty-Seven Years Together. Sons Serve As Witnesses. You should see them, Daniel. They’re like kids.”

Yes, he could just imagine. The stripper and the embezzler. Sounded like a farce from a burlesque show. Daniel frowned. How was it Jonah didn’t see the ridiculousness of the situation? Daniel loved his parents dearly, but really, what was the point in getting married now? Why hadn’t they committed to each other when it could have served some purpose? Like before their sons were born.

 

Author Dee S. Knight:

A few years ago, Dee S. Knight began writing, making getting up in the morning fun. During the day, her characters killed people, fell in love, became drunk with power, or sober with responsibility. And they had sex, lots of sex.

After a while, Dee split her personality into thirds. She writes as Anne Krist for sweeter romances, and Jenna Stewart for ménage and shifter stories. All three of her personas are found on the Nomad Authors website. And all three offer some of the best romance you can find! Also, once a month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.

Where to find her (them):
Website: https://nomadauthors.com
Blog: http://nomadauthors.com/blog
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DeeSKnight
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeeSKnight2018
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/265222.Dee_S_Knight
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B079BGZNDN
Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/h8t2y6
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dee-s-knight-0500749
Sweet ‘n Sassy Divas: http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K

KU books highlighted in N.N. Light’s Kindle Unlimited Bookish Event!

Kindle Unlimited Bookish EventI’m so happy to be part of this new N.N. Light promotional event! Today they’re featuring my book Passionate Destiny.

Enter to win! One person will win an e-book bundle of all 40 books featured in the Kindle Unlimited Bookish Event: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db775085

The event is open Internationally and runs November 10 – 15, 2020. The winner will be drawn on November 18, 2020. Good luck!

Passionate Destiny by Dee S. KnightDr. Margaret Amis-Hollings, professor of women’s studies at a small New Jersey college, is a woman who confidently knows who she is and what she expects of life. Until she loses her teaching position and her well-ordered life gets turned upside down. Then, in a subtle stroke of whimsy, fate tosses her a gift in an historic home and property in Virginia.

Harboring visions of Gone With the Wind, she determines to use River Peace as a temporary reprieve from her troubles. Images of Tara quickly evaporate when she arrives to discover the reality of her inheritance, however.

River Peace has history, grace and style going for it. After only one night, Margaret discovers that it also has a ghost. She’s visited by a male spirit from the time of the War Between the States, who knows how to make a woman feel special. And very loved.

Aaron Belton meets Margaret when she first arrives in Virginia. He’s renowned for historic renovations on a multitude of properties, but he’s got a special place in his heart for River Peace. He and his family believe the property always should have belonged to them. In fact, Aaron will do almost anything to make that happen. When his passion for the house changes to a passion for the house’s owner, Aaron’s as surprised as anyone. Can he gain both, the woman and the house? To do so, he’ll have to face a spectral being.

And his own destiny.

What the heck is Women’s Lit, anyway? #MFRWauthor

Is women’s lit a sub-genre of romance? That’s this week’s question.

Writing women's litSomeone asked me a while back if my book, Burning Bridges, was romance or women’s lit? She said the description sounded like women’s lit, and she doesn’t review that genre. Gosh, this was something I hadn’t considered before. I thought of my book as romance. I think of women’s lit as centered around a woman and how she solves her life problems, but with elements of romance. In fact, so many books I read as “women’s lit” were actually (in my mind) romances. The woman’s problem was so often being alone (after a long-term breakup or a failed marriage) and finding a new partner while solving her problems. I fail to see how that is different from most romances.

So maybe if the book is about a woman (or women) andPlanning a women's lit book there is very little romance or bonding with someone else? Is that women’s lit? Goodreads lists The Joy Luck Club, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones’ Diary and others as women’s lit books. So, okay, I see the difference. These are not considered romances (although maybe Bridget Jones disagrees?), and they are by and about women. But they follow a romance arc and many of these books do end with a love bond that provides a HEA, so… I’m still kind of confused. I will take a firm stand however, and say that true women’s fiction is not a sub-genre to romance but that some books cross over into both genre. There. That should settle the question.

What do you think?

Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.

Dee

Burning Bridges by Anne Krist (that’s maybe women’s lit)
One Woman Only
Only a Good Man Will Do
Naval Maneuvers

Prizes! Fun books! KU Bookish Event with N.N. Light!

Kindle Unlimited Bookish EventI’m so happy to be part of this new N.N. Light promotional event! Today I’m here as Anne Krist and featuring my book Burning Bridges.

Enter to win! One person will win an e-book bundle of all 40 books featured in the Kindle Unlimited Bookish Event: https://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/92db775085

The event is open Internationally and runs November 10 – 15, 2020. The winner will be drawn on November 18, 2020. Good luck!

About Burning Bridges:
Burning Bridges by Anne KristNot your typical “secret baby” book! This Southern romance packs in the emotion.

Letters delivered decades late send shock waves through Sara Richards’s world. Nothing is the same, especially her memories of Paul, a man to whom she’d given her heart years before. Now, sharing her secrets and mending her mistakes of the past means putting her life back together while crossing burning bridges. It will be the hardest thing Sara’s ever done.

Please! Desire Me Again… Anthology of second chances

Desire Me Again anthologyThe hopeless romantic believes that a soulmate exists for each of us. That there is one person who makes us feel how good it is to love them. For some couples, things trigger them to push that love away. They find out too late they’ve lost true-love. Sometimes genuine love deserves a second-chance at the happy ending that eluded them the first time.

Desire Me Again is an eclectic assortment of short stories exploring a second-chance at love. The collection is as diverse as the authors who wrote them. Here’s a chance to read the work of talented writers you may not have read before. Within these pages, there are blends of tender, often moving and thought-provoking stories.

Featuring: Annabel Allan, Patricia Elliott, R.M. Olivia, Carol Schoenig, Virginia Wallace, Gibby Campbell, Dee S. Knight, Alice Renaud, Jan Selbourne, Zia Westfield

MFRW Book HooksSecond Chance blurb:

Sandy Henderson had been a sweet, wholesome girl in her first year of college, sure of herself and totally in love with her high school sweetheart, Tom Pritchard. Then something happened that shattered her dreams, her confidence, her will to live. When she meets Tom again many years later, she resists taking a chance on love because of her secret, but Tom won’t give up on her. On them. Or will he, once she tells him about her past?

Buy link:
Amazon US https://amzn.to/34NstC7

Second Chance by Dee S. KnightSecond Chance Excerpt:
Cafeterias are big deals in the South–or they used to be. Going out to a good cafeteria was always a treat to my aunts and grandmother.

“Tom,” Mrs. Henderson exclaimed. Like everyone he knew in their town, she stretched the one-syllable word into two. Tah-um. Until he’d joined the Corps he didn’t really know what people meant when they talked about southern accents. Now he considered the soft consonants and extended vowels charming. Part of being home.

Glancing over her shoulder, Tom saw Sandy stick her head around the kitchen wall. “Hey,” he called out to her. Then concentrating on her mother, he held out a bouquet. “These are for you, Mrs. Henderson.”

She flushed like a schoolgirl when she took the flowers. “How did you know that tulips are my favorite?”

He hadn’t.  He’d asked the florist to put together something cheerful that an older lady might like. He hoped the brightly colored blooms might bring a smile to Sandy, too.

“Just a guess,” he answered.

“Come in, come in,” Mrs. Henderson backed up and held the door wide.

He stepped into a living room that had seen very little change in the last two decades. It was neat but held a slight whiff of shabbiness. Mrs. Henderson would probably call it comfortable rather than shabby. Tom wondered what Sandy thought of it.

Finally, the woman in question emerged from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. The night was warm and she looked as though she’d just finished doing dishes. Her hair was damp and stuck to her forehead, and a light sheen of sweat clung to her cheeks. His groin tightened when he noticed that her shorts hugged her hips and her sleeveless blouse was slightly dampened, too, showing her white bra through the thin fabric. His mind filled with ways he could make her body slick with sweat, the ways he could make her much more than warm.

“I know I said we should try to get together before I leave, but I didn’t actually mean tonight.”

“I’m sorry to barge in, but I wanted to ask you to dinner tomorrow night.” Before Sandy could form “No, thank you,” as her lips where shaping up to do, he interjected, “And your mom, too.”

Her mother’s eyes widened and she slapped the hand holding the tulips to her chest. “Oh, my! Sandra, we have a beau!”

Sandy smiled. Then she turned to him. “I don’t know. We have so much to do here.”

“Sandra, please. It will be so much fun. I haven’t had dinner out since your father last took me, and that’s been…at least three years.” She turned to Tom. “Could we go to that cafeteria up on the highway?”

Tom laughed. “We can go anywhere you want.”

Mrs. Henderson snapped her head back toward Sandy. He knew the minute Sandy gave in. Her shoulders slumped slightly, but she smiled at her mother. “If Tom is willing to make every other man in town jealous by escorting the lovely Henderson women out to dinner, who am I to stand in his way?”

Eating out at home—yum! #MFRWauthor

Chinese foodWhile I know that eating healthy is best for all of us, and it’s darn hard to eat healthy and not cook the food yourself, I still like food that someone else cooks, serves up, and lets me eat at home without all the hubbub of preparation and clean-up. Plus, timing is always right. There’s no having the potatoes done at one time and the meat done at another. If necessary, I can stick the carry out container in to be zapped and have everything hot and ready at once.

Jack and I live in a pretty small town, with eateries at a premium. There are plenty of fast food establishments, but few actual restaurants to place a to-go order with. And while I love my Quarter Pounders with Cheese and fries from McD’s, sometimes a girl has to have “real” food. So for that I have two favorites to order and bring home for dinner.

I know it’s a chain, but I like Panda Express. Our town must have thirty Chinese restaurants (none of them deliver, by the way—go figure) but of the several we have tried, we just like Panda Express. Nothing spectacular yet nothing disappointing. However, Jack isn’t that crazy about having Chinese too often. Let’s face it, it’s bad for calories, for blood sugar, for carbs, for a lot of things. So, PE is a treat, not a regular carry-out.

Another place we have in town is a pretty good Italian Italian foodrestaurant, and their chicken parmesan is fantastic! For that dish alone, I’d have to say that’s our favorite and most used takeaway restaurant. When things were locked down pretty tightly, we could call in our order and they would bring it out to the car. Yummy!

As Jack says, we’re stuck in a rut and we like it. Once we find something we like, we’ll keep with it forever. That goes for carry-out food too, it seems.

What is your favorite restaurant food to eat at home?