#WriteWed Jersey Girl Bridemaids #JerseyShore Mansion

I love my little part of the Jersey Shore and you’ve seen lots of it in various stories, like the Sin Hunter series and the Take a Chance series. The heroine of the first book in the Jersey Girl Bridesmaids may live in New York City, but her heart is on the Jersey Shore in the mansion where she used to spend summers with her grandparents.

That mansion is going to be set in Sea Girt, an absolutely lovely community in Monmouth County, New Jersey. It has a restored lighthouse, a National Guard Training Center, the beautiful Beacon House Inn, and many wonderful beach homes, including ones with direct access to the beach (something you don’t have in many of the other towns in this area).

Both the hero and heroine have homes here, large ones with lots of space around them. I imagine the homes being built right around the time of Prohibition, with a Victorian feel. Who knows if their ancestors even made some extra money running rum or other alcohol along this part of the shore!

For my #WriteWed this morning, I’m sharing with you some photos of homes in the Monmouth County area so you can get a feel for the architecture of this part of the Jersey Shore.

Ocean Grove Inspiration for the At the Shore Series #WriteWed

I am busy working on the first book in the Jersey Girls Bridesmaid series, tentatively titled SINCE WE WERE 18. This is a Romeo-Juliet kind of story about the son and daughter of two wealthy families that have had a feud going on for a couple of decades.

The heroine, Maggie Sinclair, is trying to save her family’s chain of upscale department stores while the hero’s father would love nothing more than to see them fail so he can gobble up the prime real estate where the stores are located.

The hero, Jax Pierce, can’t understand his bitter and very unhappy father nor the fight with the Sinclair family. If anything, Jax has kind of been in love with Maggie since a moonlit kiss on the Jersey Shore when they were both 18 (hence the title).

The two family businesses are in NYC and Jax and Maggie live there, but both families have homes on the Jersey Shore and at heart, Maggie is a Jersey Girl as are Maggie’s two BFFS, Connie and Emma.

There will be lots of scenes in New York, but also lots of time spent on the Jersey Shore as the three friends come to terms with always being bridesmaids and never brides, and try to find their own happily-ever-after.

Today I’m leaving you with some photos of the Jersey Shore locations that have inspired me as I write this book.

The Jersey Girls Bridesmaid series will be available starting in 2017.

#WriteWed Inspiration for UNDER THE BOARDWALK

I was born on an island: Cuba. I grew up on an island: Long Island. I work on an island: Manhattan. Plus I’m a Pisces so you can kind of say that I have an affinity for the water.

But once I moved out to New Jersey, work and family obligations kept me from exploring the amazing Jersey Shore. It wasn’t until a birthday celebration weekend at the lovely Beacon House in Sea Girt that hubby and I discovered that part of New Jersey.

Once we discovered it, there was no turning us back from moving there and I am so glad that we did. I love taking long strolls on the boardwalk and spending summers reading under my umbrella. Even the winters months are great and the flavors of each of the towns in our area are unique and special.

My love for this part of the Jersey Shore is what inspired me to set UNDER THE BOARDWALK in Asbury Park and Ocean Grove. Today I’m sharing some photos from those towns and I hope you will get to visit one day and come see me if you do! P.S., my daughter’s shop – OG Surf & Skate – is right in the heart of Ocean Grove.

UNDER THE BOARDWALK is available in the SUMMER HEAT Box set which is specially priced at 99 cents for a limited time and is now available at:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1SXcNjW
BN: http://bit.ly/1VIZ7qJ
iBooks: http://apple.co/1Ovw5MB
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1XPUCvS
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/20CGJBa
SummerHeatAuthors.com: http://bit.ly/1oI4s7c

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#ThrowbackThursday Authors & Inns Tour

Many years ago I was invited to participate in an Authors & Inns tour along the Jersey Shore. My husband and I got to stay at the fabulous Beacon House Inn in Sea Girt, NJ as part of the event and we just fell in love with this part of the shore.

That’s what prompted our decision to move to this area and what eventually led to our daughter locating her surf and skate shop in nearby Ocean Grove.

Here is a picture of the authors who participated in the event. This picture was taken in the Beacon House Inn. The inn dates back to 1879 and if I remember correctly, this staircase came from an older home in the Philadelphia area that the original family once owned.
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