LOVE WINS by Various Authors **BOOK BIRTHDAY** **CHARITY IN SUPPORT OF THE UKRAINE**

It is my great pleasure to welcome a wonderful group of authors to the blog today to celebrate the Book Birthday of LOVE WINS, a charity anthology to aid the people of the Ukraine. We’ll begin today’s post with a note from one of the anthology’s authors...

I’m so thrilled to be a guest on this blog. Thank you so much for hosting me. My name is N. N. Light, otherwise known as Mrs. N. I write uplifting stories with my husband and better half, Mr. N.

In late February of this year, Russia invaded Ukraine. My heart plummeted as I saw the brute force of Russia’s army attach a sovereign nation. Can this really be happening? After all we have been through as a people, can we just sit by and watch the elimination of a race of people? I knew I needed to find some way to help. I certainly didn’t have the resources to fly over there but what could I do?

The answer came in an Instagram post about two weeks ago. My fellow author, Dania Voss, put out a message on Instagram asking for more romance stories for a charity anthology. I signed up right away and I’m so honored to be a part of the Love Wins anthology. 100% of the proceeds go to a charity with boots on the ground helping Ukrainians in need.

We can’t stop the bombs from falling but we can do our part from this corner of our world. Please consider purchasing the anthology for $1.99. Not only will you be helping innocent people struggling to stay alive, but you’ll get fifteen romance novellas/short stories. These stories vary between sweet and contemporary.

The other authors joining N.N. Light in this endeavor include: Dania Voss, Maribelle McCrea, Marlene Cheng, K.M. Jenkins, Deborah King, Annie McEwen, Pamela Clayfield, Tiffany Carby, Aimee O’Brian, R.A. Clarke, Judy Fisher, Robert Beech, E.J. Powell, Alex Grehy, and Maris Parker.

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Charity Anthology, Romance Short Stories

LOVE WINS—a Charity Anthology to support Ukrainian refugees

More than 15 contemporary romance authors have joined forces to create this unique collection of stories, covering an assortment of different sub-genres and tropes.

LOVE WINS is set to publish on April 21, 2022, with 100% of the proceeds going to World Vision’s Ukrainian Refugee Fund. This organization has people on the ground in the Ukraine and Romania, providing food, shelter, medical aid, and all necessary assistance for the needy, with the focus of making sure children are safe and provided for.

LOVE WINS is available for a limited time only. Make a difference for the people of Ukraine—buy your copy today!

The anthology stories include:

ALL ROADS LEAD TO SHEPHERD GROVE--DANIA VOSS

PAST, PERFECT, POLO--MARIBELLE MCCREA

THE MADAM’S FRIEND--MARLENE F CHENG

THE SUNFLOWER MEADOW--K.M. JENKINS

DESTINED DREAMER--DEBORAH KING

THE SLEEPLESS CAFÉ--ANNIE MCEWEN

HAVEN OF SECRETS--PAMELA CLAYFIELD

GOLD MINE--TIFFANY CARBY

MISROUTED BY LOVE ~ A TALE OF MAYBE--AIMEE O’BRIAN

CLICKING--R.A. CLARKE

PLANTING THE SEEDS OF LOVE--N. N. LIGHT

THE POWER OF LOVE--JUDY FISHER

LOVE, ETERNAL--ROBERT BEECH

SHIFTER: A WERE-CAT’S TALE--E.J. POWELL

ON THE WINGS OF KITES--ALEX GREHY

MOANA ACCOUNTANT--KERRY CARLISLE

TWO WEEKS IN THE TETONS--MARIS PARKER

 

You can find Love Wins on Amazon US, UK, CA

Pre-order your e-copy for only $1.99. The price goes up to $4.99 after release week!

100% of the proceeds going to World Vision’s Ukrainian Refugee Fund.

Read the reviews and add to your bookshelf on: Goodreads and BookBub.

Excerpt from Planting the Seeds of Love by N.N. Light

Jack took a step back letting go of her pinky. He crossed his arms; his eyes glittered angrily.

"You love me?" He snorted. "You don't even know I exist."

Sally's nostrils flared. Taking a step back, she crossed her arms.

"That's a fine thing to say to me after all we've been through." She turned to leave. "Maybe Trevor's right..."

"What?" Jack sat down on the cot, not looking at her. "What did Trevor tell you?"

"Trevor has a buyer for the farm. It's a friend of his father's and he loves the idea of a brewery out here in the country. He wants to add a restaurant and make it some sort of oasis for city folk." She ran her fingers through her blonde hair.

"A buyer?" He put his head in his hands and sighed. "It's too fast."

"What are you talking about?" She looked down at her watch, wishing she hadn't come. Her sister was right; men were nothing but trouble.

"Look, I know I've messed things up." He stood and walked towards her. "But you've got to give the farm and me a second chance." He extended his hand through the bars.

Sally's emotions shook her body. Guilt, love, pain, regret, anger and hope battled for supremacy in her heart. She eyed his outstretched hand warily. Could she trust him? Could he be depended upon?

"Why should I give you another chance, Jack?" She let her arms fall to her sides. A force not her own pulled her body closer to his. She whispered, "You hurt me." Tears welled up but she didn't care.

He reached up and wiped her tears away.

"Oh Sally," he whispered, his voice cracking with emotion.

Her lower lip quivered.

"I'm so sorry. I'm a first-class jerk." He cupped her face with his hands. "Please don't cry."

Sally closed her eyes. She felt like a tiny dingy in the middle of the ocean, battered and torn in pieces. She leaned her head against the bars.

"Your opinion matters most, it always has. When you say things like you just did, it tears me apart." She lifted her head. "I need you, Jack. I can't do this without you."

Jack exhaled slowly.

"That wasn't me; it was my jealousy rearing its ugly head."

"What do you mean? What do you have to be jealous of?" Her brows furrowed, she thought hard.

“I’m jealous of how happy you seem to be with Trevor,” he replied.

N. N. Light is the award-winning husband-wife writing team, commonly known as Mr. N and Mrs. N. Books are their addiction and lifeblood.

Life is meant to be lived; cherish the exciting moments, and relish in those all too brief moments of relaxation. They are here to live their own lives, read as many books as humanly possible and live it passionately. N. N. Light's Book Heaven serves as a vessel to project their passions, and clue in their loyal readers as to what inspires them in this crazy world. So, sit back, relax, and read on.

N.N. Light's Book Heaven Website

Twitter ~ Instagram ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads

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Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope that you’ll take the time to purchase this wonderful anthology and support this worthwhile cause. I got my copy... you should too.

Blessings for peace.

Nancy

WINDOW OVER THE DESK by Author Liz Flaherty **Giveaway**

Welcome to Romance Sweet Reads. Today my guest is good friend and fellow author, Liz Flaherty. Liz is sharing her new release, Window Over the Desk, with us today. A follow up to her previously published, Window Over the Sink, it’s sure to be a great hit!

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“It’s about finding the good and enjoying it until you have to let it go. And then finding the good again.” - Liz Flaherty, Window Over the Desk

Being the certain age I keep talking about has taught me the truth of what I said in that quote. When my first book was published in 1999, I assumed the next one would follow right along. And the next, and the…well, you get the picture. However, the second one took four years, and I think the third one took four more.

Sometimes “finding the good” takes longer than you expect because you don’t know where to look. While my romance novels don’t always sell and come out when I’d like them to, my Window over the Sink essays have been a constant. Releasing them in book form have given me a new and—for me—exciting way to keep finding the good.

In 2020, I released the first collection of Window Over the Sink columns. It was for my family, really, and to give my own ego a boost. (Any writer who says she doesn’t need that now and then is lying, by the way.)

It was so much fun.

Which is why I decided to open the Window Over the Desk. My view out this particular window is a favorite—even today, when I’m drying…things…on the clothesline. Also today, the hay bales in the field that have given me pleasure for several weeks have been gathered and stored for the long winter.

I hope the essays in this book give you some pleasant reading time over that winter. I hope they make you remember things, laugh sometimes, and refill your cup and sit down and read “just one more.”

As I mention way more often than is necessary, I’m kind of old. The years have dimmed some reflections through the window, brightened others, and changed a whole bunch of them. What a trip it’s been.

Thanks—again—for joining me on the journey.

Find Window Over the Desk at Amazon and Other E-Book Retailers

The Woman in the Mirror

Do you ever feel as if you lost yourself somewhere along the way? If you’ve had a bad time or an extraordinarily good one, do you ever look in the mirror and wonder exactly who’s looking back at you? Because you’ve changed, and you’re not sure what to do with the person who’s there.

I’m feeling thoughty here—can you tell? I’m always, always whining about how much I hate change, yet when I look back—over bad times and extraordinarily good ones, it’s an ongoing cycle, isn’t it? It’s what keeps life new and interesting. And, yeah, sometimes awful.

But if it weren’t for change, and my kicking-and-screaming caving to it, I would:

Never have changed jobs and I’d have been stuck with working one I hated.

Never have married the man I did because he wasn’t the first person I loved.

I’d never have had a third child.

I’d have given up the first time a publisher said Nope.

Or maybe the second.

For sure by the twenty-third.

I’d have kept my hair short.

And let it go gray.

I’d still be writing longhand on lined paper and thinking I wasn’t good enough.

For anything,

So, no, I don’t always know the woman in the mirror, or, for that matter, the man I’m married to. I don’t always like either of us. There are days when I do feel like I’ve lost the person I was. Because I have. Because every re-invention in every time of life is change, it’s often hard, and it’s always necessary. I think maybe I like it.

Retired from the post office, Liz Flaherty spends non-writing time sewing, quilting, and wanting to travel. The author of 20-some books and her husband Duane share an old farmhouse in North Central Indiana that they talk about leaving. However, that would require clearing baseball trophies from the attic and dusting the pictures of the Magnificent Seven, their grandchildren, so they’ll probably stay where they are.

Liz's Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest

Giveaway: Liz Flaherty is giving away a Christmas ornament and a backlist paperback to a commenter who shares their favorite Christmas movie with us.

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It's been my pleasure sharing Liz's great new book with your today. Please come back again on Friday when we'll continue our feature on another great series of books.

Nancy