A celebration of...me? by Peggy Jaeger

In this month's topic we are supposed to explore the ways we "celebrate" ourselves.
I have to tell you I had difficulty coming up with an answer that didn't make me sound a. conceited, b. self indulgent, or, 3. narcissistic.

Let me 'esplain...

I was raised in a strict Irish/Italian Catholic home. The only time we celebrated anything was if it was  a Holy day. I never had birthday parties as a kid, because money was tight and my mother considered it a waste  to celebrate something that came around every 365 days.

I was a straight A student but my report cards were never celebrated. It was expected that I do well just because it was...expected. When I brought home my report card, my mother signed it and said, "Keep it up."

When I got into college - the first in my family ever to do so - my parents' only response was to ask how I was going to pay for it.

See a pattern here? I lived almost my entire life this way. Until, that is, the very first time I was published.

The day my first book went on sale was March 5, 2015. That night I celebrated by making myself a cake and opening a bottle of Skinny Girl Cosmo.

That little ritual has now become a pattern. For every book's release day, I make myself a chocolate/chocolate cake and open a bottle of Skinny Girl. As self indulgences go, it's pretty tame. But it's the one way I celebrate me and my accomplishments.

And you know what? It never gets old. Every new book published ( there have been 18 so far with 3 more planned to release this year ) I get a thrill from eating that cake and toasting myself with a cosmo. Of course I also get a sugar high and a little buzzed, but....

How do you celebrate yourself and your accomplishments? Like I said, it took my until I was 55 years old to do so. How about you? I'd love to hear.

Book #18 released two days ago and I'm so happy it's out in the romance-reading world.
VANILLA WITH A TWIST tells the story of a small town, single mother and ice cream parlor owner who's faced some tough choices in her life, and an engineer at a crossroads in his, who walks into her shop one summer's day and changes both their lives for ever.

And yes, I made a cake and had a cosmo on Wednesday! hee hee

Until next month, peeps ~ peg
Follow me on my webpage: https://peggyjaeger.com/

The Holiday Book Season Is Here...by Kristin Wallace

This month I get to talk about my latest project…a holiday box set with the authors of Sweet Romance Reads. This will be our fourth Christmas box set and once more we’re offering heartwarming holiday tales that will really get you in the spirit.

Sweet Christmas Kisses 4

Launches September 26th – Only $.99 cents

Usher in the holiday season with 14 heartwarming all-new, stand-alone stories from New York Times, USA Today, national bestselling, and award-winning authors. Sweet Christmas Kisses 4 takes you from the Pocono Mountains to sunny Florida, and as far away as Portugal. Curl up with your favorite hot beverage and enjoy this sweet romance boxed set that’s sure to put you in the mood for Christmas.

Mona Risk, In Time for Christmas
Dr. Sylvia Reynolds promised to be at her parents’, in time for Christmas dinner, but her priorities change after she meets a motherless baby and her gorgeous uncle.

Beate Boeker, Unique Christmas
Chiara hopes to spend a solitary Christmas all by herself. But when a man jumps through her office window to save her from an accident, things spin away—beyond her wildest dreams.

Christine Bush, Christmas with the Cat Lady
Carly is happy living alone in her mountain house with her cats. Can the handsome author who rents a room over the Christmas holidays change her mind?

Lyn Cote, Loving Winter
At her cousin’s wedding, Winter Woodard, owner of her family’s garden center, isn’t expecting to meet her match in local football coach, Clay Dixon, (she isn’t IN to sports!) but he stands by her through a holiday season fraught with unexpected setbacks.

Denise Devine, Once Upon a Christmas
Small town girl returns home to find love and success, but can she outlast the mistakes of her past?

Raine English, Christmas in Walnut Creek
Will a Christmas blizzard reunite a couple and give them a second chance at love?

Jean C. Gordon, A Team Macachek Christmas
Sparks fly from a Christmastime reunion of motocross racer Jesse Brewster and his ex-girlfriend Lauren Cooper. But is it the wrong time for their love?

Shanna Hatfield, Saving Mistletoe 
A stubborn cop, a hotshot attorney, and a little girl determined to see her father need a miracle to make this holiday season jolly and bright.

Milou Koenings, The Gift of Yesterday
When Bailey returns to Green Pines to open a pastry shop, Joe Hudson sees all his Christmas wishes coming true—if only he can convince her to risk her heart again.

Josie Riviera, A Portuguese Christmas The holidays—like love—can sneak up on you. And sweep you away like a riptide.

Roxanne Rustand, A Christmas in Montana
Kristen Weatherby goes to Montana to get her late grandmother's house ready to sell, but finds much more than she bargained for: a house she can't let go, a charming mountain town, and a handsome veterinarian who just might steal her heart.

Magdalena Scott, A Cowboy for Christmas
Hannah Kincaid is in love with Jacob Hollingsworth, and will overcome her fear of horses and his bossy brother Michael to get a Christmas happily-ever-after with the cowboy of her dreams.

Merrillee Whren, Puppy Love and Mistletoe
Can a little girl and a fluffy black dog bring a reluctant couple together in a Christmas miracle?

My contribution is LOVING YOU AT CHRISTMAS, the final book in my Shellwater Key Tales series. This tale is the story of Annaliese Matheson, a secondary character who first appeared in Book 1 of the series, Left Turn At Paradise.

Loving You At Christmas

Shellwater Key Tale Novella

Widowed stage actress, Annaliese Matheson, is convinced she’ll never love again. Stepping in to direct the middle school Christmas show will become the opening act for her holiday happily ever after.

Pre-order today and have it on your reader September 26th. 

AMAZON  /  ITUNES  /  BARNES & NOBLE  /  KOBO  /  GOOGLE

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. She is the author of two best selling series, Shellwater Key Tales (sweet contemporary romance) and Covington Falls Chronicles (inspirational romance). 

For info on all of her books, visit her website: Kristin Wallace Author 

Want a FREE book? Sign up for Kristin’s Newsletter and get download now! 

Sweet Christmas Kisses 3

With all the turmoil in the world, sometimes it is nice to be able to escape to a place where you know any conflict will be resolved and you can count on a happy ending.

There’s just something that warms the heart and calms the soul to sit down with a sweet romance, especially one with a holiday theme at this particular time of year.

Holiday boxed sets are fun because they give the reader a variety of settings and situations. A boxed set I joined in again this year takes readers everywhere from London, England, to Africa, and all across the USA.  Sweet Christmas Kisses, a USA Today Bestseller, offers 17 brand-new sweet contemporary novellas with a foreword written by USA Today Bestselling author Donna Fasano.

If you’re looking for a great read to curl up with by a toasty fire, one sure to put you in the mood for the holidays, take a look at this one, available for only 99 cents.

On Christmas Eve by Mona Risk

She yanked him out of her heart years ago. But fate throws him in her path again and his tender gaze erases her loneliness. Can they forgive each other and create a new future?

Christmas Holly by Christine Bush

Can a lonely single father of five-year-old triplets find love on a South Carolina beach? It might just take a Christmas miracle!

Mistletoe and Sage by Lyn Cote

New deputy in town, a single mom, two wounded hearts with a puzzle to solve together—will love spark under the mistletoe?

A Merry Little Christmas by Denise Devine

Merry Connor and Anthony Lewis search for treasure and find true love.

The Christmas Gift by Raine English

When Riley Wayne receives a dog for Christmas, it’s not just the pup that makes her heart flutter, the rescue group’s handsome owner does too.

Untangling Christmas by Shanna Hatfield

Tricked into helping with Silverton’s Festival of Trees, electrician Mike Clarke battles faulty outlets, tangled lights, and a woman determined to share the spirit of the season.

A Christmas on Miracle Mountain by Ciara Knight

When it takes a miracle to heal a heart.

The Kampala Peppermint Twist by Milou Koenings

A twist of fate. An overbooked flight. Christmas in Africa will flip her life upside down.

The Road Not Taken by Magdalena Scott

Francie Standish Carrington has some tough decisions to make and a lot of questions about a past she thought she understood.

A London Christmas by Roxanne Rustand

When Catriona heads to London for Christmas to meet a guy she met online, he steals her purse and disappears, but will a handsome photographer in the pub end up being the man of her dreams?

Her Christmas Secret by Alicia Street

Desperate to help her sister’s family, Lila courts a cold-hearted investor for her handmade toys, but learns Christmas has a way of bringing surprises where they’re least expected.

Falling For You at Christmas by Kristin Wallace

One expectant mother. One gorgeous innkeeper. Three days that will change her life forever.

Second Chance Christmas by Merrillee Whren

A young boy helps his estranged parents find love again at Christmas.

Christmas Eve Wedding by Cindy Flores Martinez

A maid of honor is swept up in the chaos of planning her best friend’s spur-of-the-moment Christmas Eve wedding.

Secret Wish by Victoria Pinder

Luke Morgan doesn’t believe in miracles, but this season Christmas brought him Caro Soliz, the family maid.

Candleglow and Mistletoe by Josie Riviera

A rising pianist and a pro stuntman winding down his career find love amid the glow of Christmas candles.

Couple by Christmas by Pat Simmons

Divorcee Derek Washington wants to reconcile with his ex-wife by Christmas. Although he’s got a plan, with the help of his six-year-old son, Derek only has two weeks.

Kindle: http://amzn.to/2aMrYfN

iBooks: http://apple.co/2aFTjN3

Nook: http://tinyurl.com/sck3sh

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2aGREsk
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2baWaSj

Shanna Hatfield

And don’t forget to connect with the Authors at Sweet Romance Reads:

Website/Blog: http://SweetRomanceReads.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/SweetRomanceReads

Twitter: http://twitter.com/SweetRomanceRds

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/donnafaz/sweet-romance-reads/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/123223-sweet-romance-reads

Convinced everyone deserves a happy ending, USA Today best-selling author Shanna Hatfield is out to make it happen, one story at a time. Her sweet historical and contemporary romances combine humor and heart-pumping moments with relatable characters.

When this hopeless romantic isn’t writing or indulging in rich, decadent chocolate, Shanna hangs out with her husband, lovingly known as Captain Cavedweller.

Shanna loves to hear from readers. Follow her online at:

ShannaHatfield | Facebook | Newsletter | Pinterest | Goodreads | You Tube | Twitter