How 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!
For the past few weeks, I’ve received text from Gary regarding the recent extreme earthquakes in Venezuela. He and the Mercy Chef crews are down there working right now, and I’d like to help. Please comment on this blog post and I will donate to Mercy Chefs. “Mercy Chefs was founded as a disaster relief organization—this remains our primary focus.
Beyond natural disasters and emergencies, we recognize a responsibility to utilize our equipment, resources, skills, and volunteers to meet pressing needs in communities year-round. When we’re not serving on the frontlines of a crisis, our team is actively engaged in other service initiatives.”
If you would like to help too, I’m told a small donation can feed many people. Check out their website to see what you might be able to do. Thanks!!
Blurb:
Sister Margaret Mary comes home after her mother’s death, never expecting to find a hidden past. Nor does she suspect that once outside convent walls, ingrained habits would drop like petals from a flower. Anyone who’s known a girl away from home for the first time, out from under the strict gaze of her parents, understands her need to fly, to experience all life has to offer. But new desires—especially for her attorney, Jordan Parnell, and his friend, Mark Collins—are alien to the nun. She prays for a week of freedom, a week of feeling like a real woman.
Jordan is captivated by Catherine Jacobsen’s allure before he knows it. Then what? He may call her Catherine instead of Sister, but she’s still a nun. Just when he believes that he and his best friend Mark can convince Catherine to forsake the convent, a terrible secret puts their future in doubt.
Buy link:
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/Seducing-Unlikely-Bedfellows-Publishing-Everlasting-ebook/dp/B0099QF8OY/
Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/seducing-their-nun-unlikely-bedfellows-1-jenna-stewart/1113075359
Excerpt:
Quickly taking her place in the pew, she barely had time to say a decade of the rosary before Father Samuels began Mass. The hour flew by before she knew it, and then she was at the door.
“Sister Margaret Mary, your habit looks as though you slept in it.”
She dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry, Father. I will launder it today and take an iron to it.” She glanced into the parking lot. There was no Brendan Tipton, but no Jordan, either. Disappointment made her heart stutter. Well, she would rather walk than ride with Tipton again, but she would rather spend a few extra minutes with Jordan than walk.
“Tipton get you home all right yesterday?”
“Yes, Father.”
“I don’t like that he is showing an interest in you. You must make him stop.”
She must make him stop? She wanted to ask how Father Samuels proposed she do that, but she stopped herself in time from saying it. Then she’d have to confess disrespect to a priest. Her transgressions were building by the hour. “Yes, Father, although I’m not sure how.”
“The same way Eve should have dispersed the devil in the Garden. Tell him with firmness to leave you alone. The woman must always set the ground rules, Sister.”
What did he mean by that? Did he think she had any experience dealing with men? “Yes, Father.”
“There’s Jordan Parnell. I wonder why he’s here.”
A leap of joy replaced the earlier disappointment, and she jerked her head up to see for herself. Just as Father said, Jordan was striding toward them, his eyes on her. He smiled when he saw she noticed him, and there was no way she could keep from smiling back.
“Hello, Father Samuels,” Jordan said, holding out his hand.
“It’s good to see you, my boy,” the priest responded. “I’m sorry about your father. He’s sorely missed.”
Father Samuels had said nothing about her mother being missed or even acknowledging her death. For the first time, Margaret Mary had some inkling of what life must have been like for her mother, a disgraced woman kept by the town’s richest citizen, if his cars and actions said anything about Tipton.
“Thank you, sir.”
“What are your plans now that you’re home?”
Jordan cast a sideways glance at Margaret Mary and said, “Right now, my plans are to take Sister Margaret Mary home. I’m helping her with the inventory of her mother’s house.”
“That’s right. Tipton said so yesterday. I’m happy you came to get her rather than that—” He looked as though he wanted to say more. “Considering his relationship with her mother, it’s unseemly for him to show so much interest in her, too.”
“I don’t think we need to talk about that here or now, Father.”
Margaret Mary’s surprise at Jordan’s sharp tone focused her attention on him. The set of his jaw and the blaze of fire in his blue eyes were all for the priest. In her experience, no one spoke to a priest like that, but Jordan appeared unfazed. He seemed fearless.
“Shall we go, Sister?” He held out his hand, and without thinking, she took it. If Father Samuels thought anything of it, he didn’t make a sound.
Jordan led her to the car and opened the door on the passenger side. Minutes later, they were on the road, windows down and wind blowing wildly on her face.
“Do you listen to the radio at the convent?” Jordan asked over the sound of the wind.
“We used to listen to Bishop Sheen. Now Mother Superior hears the news and tells us at dinner each night if anything worth knowing happened during the day.”
“Would you like to listen to some music?”
“If you would.”
He turned a dial, and suddenly a man’s voice filled the auto with a cheerful song. “Dean Martin,” Jordan said. At the proper point in the song, right along with the singer, he belted out, “That’s amore!” Then he held out his finger as though keeping time and queued her to join in with the words at the next verse. By the time they pulled into the yard, she was laughing more than singing.
Jordan stopped the car and brought silence when he turned off the ignition. “I love the sound of your laughter. I was beginning to fear that nuns never smiled.”
“Oh.” As quickly as her laughter started, it faded away. “We spend a lot of time in prayer, and that’s very serious.”
“Isn’t there time for fun?”
She had to think. When had she last done anything she termed fun? “Teaching is sometimes fun. The girls say outlandish things that make the teachers smile. But I don’t teach. I help keep up the priests’ clothing and the altar cloths. I am part of the contemplative order.”
He stared at her in such a way that she felt uncomfortable. “Don’t pity me. I love prayer.” Then why have you missed doing it so much in the last couple of days? She couldn’t help but think she was trying to fool God, because at that moment, given the chance to sit and talk with Jordan or be on her knees in prayer, she would rather be with him.
“I wasn’t feeling sorry for you. I was thinking how sad it is that such a beautiful, intelligent woman should have missed so much of life.”
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 (www.nomadauthors.com). Fortunately, Dee’s high school sweetheart is the love of her life and husband to all three ladies! On the last Sunday of the month, look for Dee’s Charity Sunday blog posts, where your comment can support a selected charity.
Author links:
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 Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B079BGZNDN
LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dee-s-knight-0500749
Sweet ‘n Sassy Divas http://bit.ly/1ChWN3K
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How 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!
This month I’d like to talk about