Love Affair with Paris…

Laura Florand has quickly become one of my favorite authors. I love her stories of Paris, and chocolatiers.

The one person who doesn’t like Paris, however… Is her newest heroine, Summer Corey. The Eiffle Tower mocks her, the city leaves her distraught. Luc, on the other hand, doesn’t know quite what to do when she collapses into his arms and offers to buy him a yacht.

And doesn’t understand the significance of that gift for way too long.

While I love this series, this one was the hardest for me to get into and let go of. It’s almost as if, like on of Luc’s delectable creations, the heroine and hero’s layers were encased. Once that was cracked, it was a great story about being who you are (not whom your parents and/or others want you to be), and learning how compromising with the one you love can lead to a better dream.

I really hope this series continues— there’s still a few chef’s who need to find love in the series 😀  (And I just found one I didn’t know about, so my new Nook will be getting a workout!)

 

But it has lead me to a question regarding series. Once I got past the first chapter or two, I tore through this book like all of the others. Slow start, but worth it. I’ll pick up her next book in a heart beat, no questions asked. But how do authors keep the series fresh, while still bringing their core readership with them? With Florand, the series is about Paris and, of course, chocolate. Many of the characters are either related, or floating in and out of each other’s lives as rivals / friends. This is the best type of series for romance readers… because we get to pop in on our happily ever after couples 🙂

 

 

Hopefully, New Years Eve, I will be posting an update on my writing goals for the year vs. reality (no where near close, but better than I thought) along with my goals for the new year. If I don’t get it done Tuesday, definitely Wednesday.

Cheers, my lovelies!

 

It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas….

I’ve even gotten a few of those holiday romance stories to read. Check out Under the Christmas Tree by Drea Riley and Nikki Winter for a hot, steamy romance that makes you laugh out loud. And, well, to be honest… I loved the food porn in it. Yes, I am a food-o-phile. I used to watch Food Network not to teach me how to cook (although I did get a few tips), but to salivate over all the food I’ll never make.

Yumm-o!

 

In other news, I did really mean to write posts and stuff, but got very ill the Monday after Thanksgiving. This week is the first week I feel like Christmas. I love Christmas. While I was sick, my dad and son decorated for me… because they wanted to make me feel better. They did a bang up job of it, too!

In writing news, a long time ago, right after Dragon’s Champion was published, I wrote a funky Cinderella tale. Handwritten. I loved it. I lost it. My son, the curious genius, found the notebook last weekend. I’ve been furiously re-typing, editing, etc this past week. I hope to send it off by Monday. I have another short story that I submitted to an anthology, and I really hope that one gets in. If it does, I just might have a story side by side with Rie Sheridan Rose, my writing mentor and very dear friend. (She’s the one who kept after me through all the long, lonely time when I wouldn’t let my imaginary friends come out and play! Thanks Rie!)

And then there’s the story that I’m setting right here, in my area. A witch, a vampire and a ghost are best friends…. And even though it seems as if it’s going to be more a series of shorts (I don’t know what happened to my novel gene, it must be recessed at the moment), there was a call for just this sort of story, at just the word count I can sustain… so YAY ME!

Things are starting to click together, and I’m very happy about that. It’s a very joyous thing when you realize that other people love the things you create, too.

May you find all the joy of the season, and of creating or visiting worlds of wonder through out the year.

 

(I have SO MANY BOOKS to review and catch up on, I don’t know where to start!)