Excerpt from About Us by Elizabeth Seckman

Blurb:

Hayden Matthews isn’t looking for love—she’s trying to get as far from it as possible. She's already wasted eight years in a failed marriage and is ready for a good life. A peaceful life. One where she can raise her daughter to be strong, independent, and happy. But to make that happen, she must fix her own life first.

Cam Vorelli has loved Hayden since he was in grade school. Always in the friend-zone, he stood on the sidelines, his heart breaking, as she said I do to the wrong man. A man he knew didn’t deserve her, who could never love her as he did. But what could he say? She was marrying into his family. Cam would never break a holy vow much less be disloyal to his kin.

Until he sees the bruises on Hayden. Abuse is a game changer.

Leaving a husband like Tag, who has a hot temper, a badge, and a gun is tricky. When Hayden calls Cam for help, she isn’t trying to lure him into any romantic webs. She needs someone she can trust and knowing her soon-to-be ex fears his former NFL cousin is a bonus.

When Cam comes to her rescue, he isn’t doing it to win her love. He does it because it’s the right thing to do. But if she starts to feel the same for him…couldn’t it be fate?

Excerpt:

Was she a monster for wanting to be happy? Screw happy. She didn't start the divorce process so she could be happy.  She wasn't a child. She knew happy was an elusive, often selfish goal. Being happy was Tag's thing. He wanted every day of his life to be some sort of party. 

She hadn't asked for anything so impressive. She didn't ask for a big house or a new car. Hell, she didn't even expect vacations. All she wanted was a simple life, a peaceful life. A life where she knew when her husband said he had to work late that he truly was working late, not diddling the bartender or dropping the grocery money into a slot machine. 

She'd have been content with a marriage that simply wasn't miserable. 

Kobo: FREE

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/about-us-a-second-chance-novel

Smashwords FREE
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1004700

Amazon: 99 cents 

https://tinyurl.com/u6xcrob

Elizabeth is a multi-published author of books for people who are believers in happily-ever- after, true love, and stories with a bit of fun and twists with their plots. The mother of four young men, she tackles laundry daily and is the keeper of the kitchen. She lives along the shores of the Ohio River in West Virginia, but dreams daily of the beach.

Facebook/ Blog/ Website

Cover Re-Reveal & Review for Kyra Lennon's If I Let You Go

I'm so excited to help the wonderful Kyra Lennon reveal the new cover for her single-dad romance IF I LET YOU GO, which also has an updated interior and will be coming to paperback for the first time ever.

Here's the amazing cover, and read on for the book details and purchase links.

If I Let You Go by Kyra Lennon
Re-release: February 11, 2020
Genre: Contemporary romance, sweet/clean

Blurb:
Madison Connor is about to lose it. Her job, that is. For three years, she’s taken care of Dominic Hartley’s five-year-old daughter, Tilly, but her world is flipped on its head when Dominic tells her his latest promotion is taking him to New York. With Tilly having a meltdown over the move, Madison and Dominic get into a fight that changes the entire nature of their relationship, causing Madison to ask herself a big question. Can she let him go?

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43618343-if-i-let-you-go
Purchase Links: https://books2read.com/u/mdzlNy

My review: Madison has been Tilly's nanny for three years, and she's grown to truly love the sweet little girl. Both their worlds crumble when they learn that Tilly's father, Dominic has a new job and is moving with his daughter to New York. Tilly breaks down and Dominic doesn't know how to deal with her. He relies on Madison for help, but she's struggling with her own heartache. And it's not only about losing Tilly. Can she let go of Dominic too?

Kyra Lennon, author of Game On, has captured the reader once again with an incredibly well written tale of love, laughter, friends, and family. I found myself immediately fond of the little girl, Tilly. She's bright and playful, and her meltdown yanks at your heart. Madison is a strong protagonist, and the reader is easily caught up in her emotional turmoil. It's a tricky situation to be in having feelings for your boss, especially not knowing exactly where you stand. And speaking of bosses, Dominic is hot! One of the things I love about Kyra's books is that the characters are surrounded by friends and family. They don't go through anything alone. (It's one of my pet peeves when protagonists are totally isolated from people.)

This is an amazing contemporary romance novella that makes you giggle, cry, and swoon. It has powerful cast of characters and a clean modern style. I highly recommend If I Let You Go to anyone who loves a good love story.

Taking Back Beast World

Taking Back Beast World, Phase 2. Disney/Pixar's Onward comes out March 6th with a setting eerily close to BEAST WORLD, and it's time to speak out again—in a positive way! And in coordination with BROKEN BRANCH FALLS just republished and CRADLE ROCK soon to follow.

Tara Tyler has some big ideas with awesome friends from the fantastic writing community backing her up. She's scheduled a month and a half of posts, interviews, reviews, and social send-outs. It's sure to be a Beastly Blast! Here's the schedule:

Heather Gardner	2/5	Adventure - Inside-Out
Elizabeth Seckman	2/12	HS Hi-jinks & Teens Fessing Up
Patricia Lynne	2/17	the Beasts (& Survey)
Jemi Fraser	2/24	Reviews
L. Diane Wolfe	2/24	Nothing New Under the Sun
Alex J. Cavanaugh	3/4	Books into Movies - So many ways to watch
C. Lee McKenzie	3/4	Cliques & Bullies--It's hard to be a teen, no matter when
Sherry Ellis	3/9	Bullies Presentations & a Review
Christine Rains	3/9	Review
Heather Holden	3/23	Books Come Alive with Art!

Hope you can stop by!

Year of the Geek

Happy New Year! A little bit belated, but it was a busy start to the year. If that's a sign what 2020 is bringing me, I do hope it's a very productive kind of busy!

This year, I'm skipping the writing goals. I'm going to be kind to myself. I had a rough 2019. My productivity was near nil. Lots going on outside of my writing life distracted me, and my muse had dug in her heels with what I wanted to write. After a lot of inner reflection, I realized it was because of my frustrations with certain tropes and subgenres in romance that were holding me back. Yet I wanted to stick it out and push forward, but I couldn't. My muse was offended and refused to work.

So I'm stepping back from writing strictly romance. In fact, I'm going to not write to market anymore. I'm going to write the silly stories that I enjoy. Once I finally accepted this, much of my anxiety lifted and my muse started gleefully playing around with story ideas again.

I've started researching and creating ideas for a LitRPG novel. What's LitRPG? It's fiction based on a game becoming reality for the protagonist. The most popular example is Jumanji. People get sucked into a game world and must complete the objectives to be free. The game mechanics must be very clear and real life must mesh with fantasy life. My mojo is flowing again. And I'm having fun. I missed having fun when it comes to writing.

I'm also playing around with cozy mystery ideas. Something geeky. Yes, 2020 is going to be the year to celebrate the geek in me. I even got a tattoo on New Year's Eve to commemorate it!

( I do realize it's upside down!)

What will this year be for you?

Happy Holidays! #Freebies

The happiest of holidays to all of you!

Wishing you love, laughter, and joy!

And books. Lots and lots of books.

I'll help with that. It's my Christmas First In Series Gifts!

For the next 5 days, these four books are FREE!

As a bonus gift, Of Blood and Sorrow is 99c!

NaNoWriMo win and a writer's wonderings

I did it! I did it! I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge on November 28th. With my busy, busy month, I'm happy to prove to myself that I can do it. Congratulations to all those writers who made it too.

My progress looks like it was flipping me off, but I kept ahead of the curve.

As you can see, it was a month with varied writing days. Do I wish I could be more consistent? Yes. Yet I did write every single day. (Except after I made the 50k mark! I had another project that demanded my immediate attention.) The story isn't terrific. Though rewrites might help it. What I took away from this exercise is that I can write 50k a month. No matter how busy I am with other things, I can take a little time for myself and get the words down. I think I just didn't believe in myself this year. I wanted to remind myself that I can do it.

I've been neglecting a lot of online stuff. My blog and blog visits especially. I miss reading what my blogging friends are up to. That guilt is nibbling away from me. Next year calls for better time management.

I'm also having big issues where my pen name's genre is headed. I have RH (reverse harem) author friends that are right on the trends. I didn't like this year's ones (bully romance and alien abduction romance), though, and the big one they're calling for next year already (prison romance) is just... no. I've been told that my romance is too feminist, but I'm okay with that. More than okay. I won't write that other stuff. Yet it isn't what sells. I'm learning to be okay with that as well.

It makes me wonder if I need to just write in a different genre. I thoroughly enjoy romance. I love the intricacies of relationships and how unique every single one is. I get excited to see where my characters take me on their journey together. Fantasy and paranormal are still my go-to worlds. I like that something extraordinary in a story. Lately, I've been reading a lot of cozy mysteries. They're light, funny, and fun. Some of them have that bit of paranormal and a dash of romance. Maybe... just maybe that's where I might head in the new year.

2019 has been a rough year in my life all around. Even though the next few weeks are booked up and busy, I'm trying to take it easier this month. Friday night Dungeons & Dragons still maintains my sanity. I'm lucky to have such wonderful friends to meet once a week and play with.

Enjoy your friends and family this December. Be kind, laugh a lot, and enjoy the moment.

All It Takes New Cover Reveal and Sale Blitz!

I'm busy working hard on my NaNoWriMo novel this month (I'm keeping up with the daily word count!), but I wanted to share with you this awesome new cover for Clare Dugmore's book, All It Takes. I love her stories! So much heart.

Blurb: Megan Green has her whole life figured out. She’s six months away from graduating uni, then she plans on backpacking around Europe for a year, before following her dream of becoming an interior designer. What she doesn’t account for is meeting local MMA fighter Kian Murphy. With his athletic body and Irish charm, Kian has no trouble scoring with the ladies, and one night is all he’s after.

But All It Takes is one night to change the rest of their lives.

After a chance meeting and passionate encounter, Megan finds herself pregnant with Kian’s child. But with a womanizing reputation, and a temper that often leads him into trouble, Kian his hardly boyfriend material, let alone father material. Now Megan and Kian must work out if they have All It Takes to turn their one-night-stand into a relationship that will connect them for a life-time.

All It Takes is a dual-POV, new-adult, contemporary-romance about responsibility, love and discovering who you are in life.

My review: Megan Green never expected to get pregnant before she was finished university. Nor did she expect the father to be MMA champ, Kian Murphy. After a one-night-stand, Megan has to break the news to Kian who has a womanizing reputation and try to manage having a baby while completing her education and finding a job. Because of his temper, Kian's career is going downhill. He must find out what he wants outside of the cage, and that something might be Megan and their baby.

A fantastic NA contemporary romance that nabbed me with its heart-wrenching plot and awesome cast of characters. I love it when an author can take a very real every day drama and make it so compelling that I can't put the e-reader down. This realism helped me to relate and sympathize with Megan. She's smart and sweet, but also an incredibly strong young woman. The thought of having a baby and raising it on your own is terrifying, and her whole range of emotions were caught wonderfully in the story. Kian is a good man under that tough guy exterior and struggles with his own demons. Megan is just what he needs in his life. The romance is sweet, but there is a little spice in there!

Buy All It Takes on Amazon!