FALLING FOR PAIGE UNDER THE PEACH TREE by Author Kandice E. Geddes **Book Birthday** **The Orchard Brides**

Well, we've made it! The final book, of ten, in The Orchard Brides series of sweet/inspirational romances. Falling for Paige Under the Peach Tree is from Author Kandice E. Geddes is today's feature.

What do you do when you and your twin sister are attracted to the same man?
Fight it out of course...
Or there's always the nicer option of helping your much quieter sister catch the guy.

Identical twins, Paige and Pam, have been inseparable their whole lives. Paige is outgoing and bubbly, whereas Pam is quiet and insecure. They share everything from clothes, to shoes, to the peaches in their family's orchard. But when it comes to men, Pam has always backed down. Unfortunately, they have the same taste as far as the male species goes as well.

But this time, Paige feels like it's her sisterly duty to help Pam catch the guy, even if Chase Spencer is likely the most attractive man to walk the face of the planet. He's tall, dark, and has the dreamiest blue eyes Paige has ever seen. But when she discovers how over the moon Pam is for him, she devises a plan to help her sister come out of her shell, coaching her in ways to attract a man, even if that involves pretending to be Pam when the need calls for it.

Too bad in all her attempts to help her sister, Paige has fallen even harder for Chase, and even worse, he seems to have fallen hard for her as well, thinking she’s her twin. Now she's torn between telling Chase and Pam the truth and risk losing both of their trust forever, or keeping her secret going while hoping everything somehow works out. Yeah, not likely…

Oh, the webs we weave...

Falling for Page Under the Peach Tree is available exclusively

on Kindle Unlimited

Prologue

“I am so in love!” I said, throwing myself against the back of the bench seat in our extended passenger van, and sighed like the thirteen-year-old girl I was.

“Oh really?” my twin sister Pam eyed me. “Who are you in love with this time?”

“Marcus Pastrami”… The boy’s name literally oozed like melted cheese drizzling over lasagne. He was the new boy at school and was a little too dreamy for his own good.
​

Pam’s cheeks burned prettily but she didn’t say anything. Did I look that good when I blushed? I could only assume so. Having your virtual mirror-image staring back at you at all times had its benefits. The only difference between us was the small dimple beside my mouth. But if we weren’t smiling, not even our mom could tell us apart.

​She brushed a hand through her long dark hair—which also matched my own—and glanced out the window.

“Are you sure about Marcus?” she asked quietly, her eyes fixated on the passing trees. “He seems a little… bookish for you.”

“Are you calling me dumb, Pammy?”

“Of course not,” she whipped her head back around. “I just know you.”

“And I don’t like guys who read?”

Pam’s eyebrows dipped into a worried slant. “I’m sorry Paige. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I know you like guys who read. You’re very smart.”

I had a little too much fun messing with my twin sometimes. Pam was the sweetest person I knew and there was no one I felt closer to, but she might as well wear a big sign that said: I’m cute, I’m saintly, and sarcasm is lost on me.

“Relax, Pam, I’m just teasing.”

The van jerked in the next moment and I gripped the seat in front of me as we went over a large bump in the road, nearly hitting my head on the roof of the van and immediately darted a worried glance over at Pam. Sitting in the back was fun and all, but it didn’t do her weak stomach any favors. She’d get motion sick just walking too fast down the sidewalk. So, how we ended up in the back more often than not was a bit of a puzzle. But then again…

My older brothers and sisters were spoiled and never wanted to endure the roller coaster of the back. And my younger siblings were pretty much a circus sideshow; my mom and dad wanted to keep them close at all times. That left the forgotten saps of the middle of ten kids to sit in the back. And that’s exactly where Pam and I came in.

“Bucket!” she whimpered.

Like clockwork, I whipped the red bucket into her hand. It was usually a false alarm, but it was always good to be prepared.

“Mom!” my younger brother Price shouted. “Pam is puking again!”

“Does she have her bucket?” my mom called back.

Kandice Geddes was born and raised beside the red hills of St. George, Utah. She discovered her love of writing as a small child and began creating stories about mermaids falling for dashing princes. Thank you, Disney. And it only continued from there.

She graduated from Southern Utah University with a track scholarship in Elementary Education and taught 1st Grade for four years.

While living in northern Colorado, she rediscovered her love of writing, especially within the world of sweet romance, and has been pursuing it ever since.

Some of her other loves are: reading, drawing, sugar cookies, watching Disney movies (shocker I know), and spending time with her swoony husband and two highly spirited boys.

Kandice's Website ~ Facebook ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads

You can find all the books in The Orchard Brides series exclusively on

Kindle Unlimited

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Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek at all ten books in this series. If you've missed any of them, feel free to scroll down through the posts and check out the nine previous stories in the wonderful, sweet contemporary series.

Nancy

APPLE TREE KISSES by Author Jessica Parker **Book Birthday** **The Orchard Brides**

Well, we've reached the 9th book in The Orchard Brides series! What a fun ride it's been. Today, we welcome Author Jessica Parker and her new release, Apple Tree Kisses.

Can love strike twice?

Web designer and single mom Kim Dawson has been struck by love before. It left her widowed and struggling to provide for her daughter Zoey. Eight years later, she's too busy providing everything she can for Zoey. Everything that is, except for a father, and Zoey knows just who that should be.

Knox Taylor has begrudgingly returned home to the Orchard and has no plans to stay. Teaching horse riding lessons is something to pass the time until he can return to the rodeo. When he meets Kim, he can't deny the sparks, or the fact that Zoey's got him wrapped around her little finger.

Kim refuses to acknowledge the sparks flying when she's around Knox. After all he's not sticking around, and it's not just her heart on the line, it's Zoey's too.

Can Kim risk being struck by love a second time when she knows he's leaving?

Apple Tree Kisses is available exclusive on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter One

The long beep blared from the washer, loud enough that I heard it from the kitchen over the pop-rock blasting from my phone. I put down the knife on the pink cutting board, next to the apple I'd finished slicing for mine and Zoey's snack. She’d insisted on having apples before our trip to the apple orchard today. Her second grade class had been learning about growing things, and Zoey had picked the trip for our Saturday mommy daughter date. The washer beeped again to remind me I could switch the whites to the dryer.

I glanced at the clock on the microwave to check the time. Forty minutes before we needed to leave to reach the orchard in time for our tour. Plenty of time to switch the laundry, take out the trash, and finish prepping our morning snack.

Zoey was supposed to be getting dressed and brushing her hair. Our morning routine was simple, Zoey helped with starting a load of laundry while I prepared breakfast. By the time we ate and got ready for the day the washer would be done. Then while Zoey got ready I switched the clothes to the dryer so they'd be ready to be put away when we got home later. At least that was the morning routine I tried to follow each day. More mornings than not, nothing went to plan and I was lucky to have her fed and hair brushed before dropping her off at school.

I pulled open the lid to the old washing machine before pulling out the first wet shirt. My heart sank as I took in the pink hue of what was supposed to be the white button-up shirt that I wore to work. A look into the washer revealed the rest of the clothes had also turned pink. I searched through the wet laundry before I found the culprit. A red stuffed toy in the shape of a heart. I got it for her for Valentine's Day last month.

"Mom!" Zoey called from upstairs.

I grabbed the toy, set it to the side, and quickly went through the process of adding bleach and starting the washer again. It wasn't the first time Zoey had slipped a toy into the wash and caused a color mishap.

Mom, author, commercial underwriter, scuba diver. Not all at the same time. Paper and water just don't get along.

Jessica's Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instgram ~ Amazon Author Page

You can find all of The Orchard Bride series books on

Kindle Unlimited

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Thank you so much for stopping by. Please come back on the 12th when we'll feature the last book in this wonderful series.

Blessings,

Nancy

LEMON DROP KISSES by Author Farrah Lee *Book Birthday** **The Orchard Brides**

Welcome back Romance Sweet Reads. We're moving on to Book 8 in The Orchard Brides series. Lemon Drop Kisses is by Author Farrah Lee. Let's take a peek...

Cher Crawford started her wedding planner business right out of college with every penny she’d scrimped and saved and now she was finally on her way to the top- the rich and famous. Her new client could put her there. But this was the biggest job of her career, she would have to pull out everything she had to accomplish the wedding of the century. Which meant she really didn’t have time for him.

Christian Abbott was frustrated that his college degree was being wasted because his father refused to make any changes and expand the family Orchard. He had a plan, a good sound plan and wanted to see it through. He wanted to save the Orchard that had been in his family for seventy-five years. To do this, things needed to change…but she definitely wasn’t the change he had in mind.

Can they set aside their ambition in time to see what is right in front of them?

You can find Lemon Drop Kisses exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter One
Cher


“Yellow? Are you sure?”

Why would she want yellow? It’s so hard to make it look classy. I have to talk her out of yellow, but gently. She’s a huge client.

“Well, yellow isn’t my favorite color so, if you think it’s bad, I guess I could change it,” Tiffany sighed.

“Why don’t you tell me what inspired you to ask for it. It might help me help you.”

“Cher, your next appointment is on the phone,” Lydia, my secretary buzzed in.

“Thank you,” I buzzed back, “find out if it’s urgent. If not, I’ll call her back right after this.”

“Do you need to go?” Tiffany asked.

“Don’t worry about that interruption. I have as much time as you need, so talk to me. I want your wedding to be perfect.”

“Promise you won’t laugh.” Tiffany picked at something on her pants. 

“I won’t, I promise.” I grabbed her fidgeting hands. “I can tell you feel strongly about this, so let’s have it.”

“My favorite fruit is lemons. I love them so much.” She crinkled her nose at me. “I can’t skip a day without eating them. I see them in my dreams. It’s like an addiction.”

I had promised I wouldn’t laugh, but the giggle was pushing its way up from somewhere deep inside me. I squeezed her hands then slowly stood and walked over to the windows overlooking the ocean. I let a smile or two, or five, escape, then turned back to my very wealthy client and her mother.

“Then lemon yellow it is. Let me have a day or two to put some design ideas together and we’ll meet back here on Wednesday afternoon. Let’s say noon.” I walked back over to Tiffany.

“Really? You think yellow will be alright?” Tiffany pushed to the front of her chair. “I don’t want my wedding to be tacky, and I so very much want it to be different than any other wedding any one has ever been to.”

I pulled her to her feet, still holding onto her hands. I looked her right in the eyes and smiled. “I can do that for you.”

“Miss Crawford, you came highly recommended so I trust you will make my daughter’s wedding one that will make the front cover of magazines.” Tiffany’s mother, Barbara, stood clutching her Gucci purse. “If she wants yellow, then it’s your job to make it perfect, no expense spared. The more extravagant the better.”

“Absolutely.” I pointed to the words on the wall behind my desk: Where We Make All Your Dreams A Reality.

I wrote my first story in 4th grade....it still sits in a box today. My passion to write was reignited by my daughter who reminded me it’s never too late.

I’m a native Floridian from a large family and according to them if you weren’t at the beach every weekend with fried chicken and potato salad then you weren’t feeling well. I was Raised on old fashion values and church. I went on to marry the cute boy who stepped on the school bus my first day of middle school.

Thirty-five years later I have three amazing kids and two wonderful grandsons I’d call my greatest accomplishments in life. Now it’s finally my time...to write the stories in my head that only I’ve heard until now.

Farrah's Website ~ Facebook ~ Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub

You can find The Orchard Brides series exclusively on

Kindle Unlimited

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Thank you so much for stopping by today. We've got two more books to share in the next week, so be sure to come back. But, while you're waiting, don't forget to grab the first eight books in this sweet romance series.

Nancy

JO by Author Caryl McAdoo **Book Birthday** **Prairie Roses Collection 2022**

Well, here we are. The last book of the 2022 Prairie Roses Collection has finally arrived. JO, by Prairie Roses leader/guru, Author Caryl McAdoo is our featured story today.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your path!

An evil tragedy upends Jo's young life. Sickness propels the young lady and her grandfather from the thick, moisture-laden air of the Mississippi to drier desert land at the end of the Santa Fe Trail. Her life-long beau professes his love from the banks of the muddy river, but Papa is her whole life, and she's determined to keep him alive.

Along the way, suitors and adventures are aplenty. How is a stubborn girl who always knows what's best supposed to choose when the one she likes best is constantly rubbing her the wrong way? Could things be any more difficult? Has she made a huge mistake?

You can find Jo exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter One
March 15, 1840 Five miles outside of Memphis, Tennessee

The wagon rounded a curve. Right there on the side of the road, a herd of goats nibbled on the little trees and grass and weeds along the fence. “Pa, may I have a kid of my own? Please.”

“You’ll have to ask your Papa, Jo.” Her father could never tell her no, but Papa might. The goats belong to him and Mima.”

“A kid is a lot of responsibility, honey.” Her mother gave her a look that said if Papa agreed, she wouldn’t object. “Maybe it would be better to wait until you’re a little older.”

Jolene looked from her father to her mother. “But I’m six now! I’ll take good care of a baby goat, especially if she’s all mine! She can sleep with me and everything. Please, Ma?”

“Sweetheart, your father said to ask Papa.”

“All right, I will! And if he says yes, then I can have one? How much farther is it, Pa?”

“A mile or so. Their place is just around the next bend in the road. How about being quiet for a while?”

Not talk? That was so hard.

It’d been a long trip, and she’d tried, but there was so much she wanted to know, especially after hearing that very morning about the royal wedding happening just after Pa loaded her and Ma up in the buggy and got on the way!

A new question just burned its way out. “How come Queen Victoria got to marry her cousin? I thought that was against the rules. Don’t they have to follow the same rules as us?”

“Not really, sweetie, but I don’t think they’re first cousins. Second or third cousins aren’t as bad.”

“What number cousins are Queen Victoria and Prince Albert? Why do they still call him prince? Isn’t he a king if he’s married to the queen? It just doesn’t seem right—her being queen and him only a prince.”

“Shhh. I’m not sure, baby. Maybe Mima will know.”

“Is that because she and Papa came from England?”

“I don’t know, honey, but they did come from England. Remember your father asked you to be quiet.”

“Yes, ma’am. I will.” She met her father’s stern eyes and smiled. “Can we go to England someday? I’d love to see the Queen.”

Award-winning, Christian author Caryl McAdoo prays her story brings God glory. Of her best-selling novels, readers love her historical Christian romance family sagas most, but also enjoy her Christian contemporary romances, Biblical fiction stories, new mystery series, and tales for young adults and mid-grade booklovers. The majority of reviewers award her stories five-stars and praise Caryl’s writing style and the depth of her characters, feeling as though they get to know them well.

The prolific writer loves singing the new songs God gives her almost as much as penning new novels—hear a few at YouTube! She’s been married to Ron fifty-three years, and they share four children and twenty-one grandsugars. The McAdoos live in the woods south of Clarksville, seat of Red River County in far Northeast Texas, waiting expectantly for God to open the next door.

Facebook ~ Amazon ~ BookBub ~ YouTube ~ Newsletter SignUp

The entire Prairie Roses Collection (all the way back to Book #1) can be found exclusively on

Kindle Unlimited

~ ~ ~

These past twelve days have been so much fun. I've enjoyed giving everyone a sneak peek at this year's collection. Please come back again soon for more wonderful authors and great Christian/sweet romance books.

Blessings,

Nancy

A LEGACY OF LOVE by Author Lynn A. Coleman **Book Birthday** **The Orchard Brides**

Welcome back to Romance Sweet Reads and the next book in the sweet/inspirational, contemporary romance series, The Orchard Brides. Today, we’re featuring A Legacy of Love by Author Lynn A. Coleman.

Amber has no interest in falling for a cowboy. Her life was in the city. Her responsibility was family. Slowly, as the hectic pace of the city ebbed away, Amber discovered the beauty in the orchard and a friendship with a man of integrity, Brandon Jacobs.

Brandon agrees to help Amber find a lost treasure buried somewhere in the orchard. What was buried was not what Camilla, Amber’s grandmother, remembered. The real treasure to be discovered was buried in the Legacy of Love, which Amber’s grandparents had poured into the orchard and their family.

Would Brandon and Amber open their hearts to find their legacy buried within each other and the old Apple Orchard?

A Legacy of Love is available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter One

“Amber, I can’t thank you enough for taking on my little farm,” Grandma purred over the phone.

“It’s not a problem, Gram.” Amber looked down at the journal of notes Grandma Camilla left for her to read. She’d been dictating it to Amber’s mother for the past month.

“Now, don’t forget, Brandon Jacobs has been watching over the place. He’s a good source to help you out.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Gram.” Amber loved her grandmother’s little farm, which in her mind wasn’t that little. The place sported over two hundred acres. The money make was the organic apple orchard. Gram was one of the first to go all-natural at a time when not many were. It had been all the rage to start organic farming in the nineteen seventies, long before Amber was born.

Amber glanced at the wedding phono of Grandma and Grandpa. She wasn’t dressed in a white wedding gown but rather a white peasant top with hand-embroidered flowers around the neckline, and a pair of jeans. She had a string of daisies around her head, while grandpa stood straight and tall in an equally puffy white shirt and a pair of jeans. Grandpa wore a necklace with a hand-carved wooden cross and Grandma had a delicate gold one.

Amber smiled. Grandma and Grandpa never hid their past. They were hippies who found Jesus in 1972. They married shortly after becoming Christians, realizing that ‘free love’ wasn’t freeing at all. Their strong Christian family values were passed on to her mother, then on to her and her siblings.

She traced the frame with her finger. She missed Grandpa George. He’d been gone three years now and it still hurt. She wiped away a tear from her eyes. “I’ll do you proud, Grandpa.”

Lynn has been writing Christian fiction for over twenty years. She founded the American Christian Fiction Writers. ACFW She’s been serving with her husband as a pastor’s wife for over 40 years. Together they have three children, one now lives in glory. And have eight grandchildren and recently became great-grandparents.

Her interests and hobbies apart from writing are genealogy research, and recently added gardening and raising some ducks, chickens, rabbit. Not to mention the family dog. She also likes photography and travel.

Lynn's Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Amazon Author Page

You can find The Orchard Brides series exclusively on

Kindle Unlimited

~ ~ ~

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Please come back again soon as we continue to share more wonderful authors and great sweet/inspirational romances.

Blessings,

Nancy

AMY by Author Angela Lain **Book Birthday** **Prairie Roses Collection 2022**

Welcome to today’s edition of Romance Sweet Reads. It’s a bittersweet post as we’re featuring Amy, the 11th book in this year’s Prairie Roses Collection by the late Angela Lain. We lost Angela just weeks short of the release of this book and owe a special thank you to her family and to our Prairie Roses organizer, Caryl McAdoo, for bringing this last book of Angela’s to fruition.

Amy was the oldest surviving daughter of the Morrin family. Since they had fled Ireland in search of a better life she had always know they were only a few steps ahead of destitution. The Oregon Trail spelt more freedom than Amy had ever known, but arrival in Fort Laramie brought heartache. Faced with abandoning his dream, Mr. Morrin accepted the offer of restocking the wagon in return for Amy’s hand in marriage to a man of his own age.

Saddle-maker Callum Voisin had other ideas. During these first weeks on the trail, he had got to know, and appreciate, Amy. He would not allow this to happen. So, he made his move!

Amy is available exclusively on Kindle Unlimited

Chapter One
Spring 1848 St. Joseph, Missouri

Amy Morrin always tried her very best to follow the words of the good book and to love, honor and obey her parents. There was no denying that she loved them, but she didn’t always understand her Da. He was a notional man, much inclined to follow sudden impulses; for the last few years Amy had started to believe that he didn’t consider the consequences of his actions. Da believed he was right, always, and the family had to follow him in everything.

At her now advanced age of eighteen, Amy had to admit that this last move had been correct, leaving Indiana had been necessary. Da had said that place was cursed, Amy would not argue with that idea.

When they first left Ireland back in 1844, she had wondered if her Da believed in the Piskies and the Little People. He had uprooted the family and traveled to America, they had been here almost a year when the Big Hunger struck Ireland. She had wondered then if he had known it was coming, certainly his notions had saved the family from starvation. After several months of moving, sleeping in hovels and working for food, they had settled on an abandoned farmstead in Virginia. This had seemed heaven on earth to Amy, after the deprivations of the last few months and the horrors of steerage class on the migrant ship, things had seemed wonderful. But the happiness lasted less than two years; Da didn’t get along with the neighbors in Virginia, so when he heard of the land available in Indiana it seemed another good notion.

It soon became apparent to her father why the good looking piece of level Indiana land he had settled upon had been vacant. It was marshy, and the mosquitoes were rife, they heard of neighbors getting malaria. Then the cow sickened and her milk made the children ill, poor little Niamah, the baby of the family, died. Her father was warned the sickness would not go away, but would kill them all, if the malaria did not get them instead.

Da didn’t hesitate. Less than a year since they had arrived in Indiana, they were on the move again. Since they had moved on both he and her mother, and sometimes her and the boys too, had worked at every opportunity to get some money together for this new venture. They had been living in the wagon for months, joining a wagon train would be no hardship. Already they lived on sourdough bread, with the starter constantly kept going, they churned small quantities of butter, and it churned itself when hung in the moving wagon. They lived off the land they passed through, and sometimes they were hungry. As far as Amy could see, this would be a continuation of that lifestyle.

All of the Prairie Roses Collection books can be found exclusively on

Kindle Unlimited

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Thank you for joining us to celebrate Angela's lovely Prairie Roses story. Please come back again tomorrow when we'll feature the final book in this year's collection of new stories.

Blessings,

Nancy