A lovely visit to Colonial Williamsburg

Hubby and I were supposed to take a very special trip last year to celebrate my retirement from my full-time job, but unfortunately, the trip was canceled due to COVID. Fast forward to this August and the trip was canceled again. Sigh. With our days free to do something, we decided to visit one of our favorite places: Colonial Williamsburg. We drove down for a few days and had a lovely time basking in our Nation’s history! If you haven’t had a chance to visit, it’s definitely worth a trip. If you have, but haven’t been a while, there are a couple of new areas where they are doing archeological digs and quite a number of nice restaurants!

So for today’s Throwback Thursday, here are some photos from our visit. I’ve only done one historical romance (Snow Falling) but maybe I’ll do one in colonial times one day!

Would you be tempted by Wilde Temptation?

I want to wish a very Happy Book Birthday to my friend and fellow author K.M Fawcett who is visiting with me today on the release day for her new novel Wilde Temptation. Welcome, K.M. and thank you for sharing your new release with us!

K.M. Fawcett Romance Author

Thank you, Caridad for inviting me to the blog today! I am super excited to share my new release WILDE TEMPTATION with your readers. Writing small-town contemporary romance has been a fun and exciting change from my usual science fiction and paranormal romances—though there is a little taste of paranormal to the story, as the heroine owns a New Age shop called Witchy Woman where she reads tarot, palms, and apple peels! She also has visions (but isn’t quite successful with them at first). The book is set in the fictional small town of Candlewood Falls, NJ. The Candlewood Falls series a shared-world series in which two other authors (USA TODAY Bestselling Author Jen Talty and Author Stacey Wilk) also write in. Our characters and businesses show up in each other’s books, which is super fun! This was my first time writing in a shared world series and I had a blast collaborating with Jen and Stacey. Their books Rivers Edge and Taking Root are also available on Amazon. After the blurb, enjoy an excerpt from WILDE TEMPTATION.

Would you be tempted?

Plant geneticist Sam Wilde has spent his life savings engineering a unique apple variety that increases happiness. But when fortune-teller Faith Shields mixes Sam’s new apples into an Old World recipe, the result does more than make people happy—it makes them hot for love!

As the small town of Candlewood Falls hungers for the forbidden fruit, Sam and Faith experiment with their arousal hypothesis and soon discover their test subjects aren’t the only ones tempted by desire. Is the impassioned pair’s attraction a byproduct of the aphrodisiac or do they have true chemistry?

Add into the equation the only investor who could save Sam’s orchard from foreclosure—Faith’s jealous ex-boyfriend—and Wilde Orchards is about to live up to its name.

Wilde Temptation Excerpt

Sam knocked on Faith’s door half an hour before his normal tutoring time, as requested. What did she want to discuss in person that she couldn’t over the phone or in front of Lily?

She opened the door, breathless, her cheeks pink and glowing. Wisps of long brown hair that didn’t make it into her braid curled around her face. She wore the same pretty floral shirt she’d had on in the shop that morning.

Did she have any idea how beautiful she was?

The tightness in his chest reminded him to breathe. “Hi—”

Faith grabbed his wrist and pulled him into the apartment. “I’m glad you’re here. There’s something awkward yet important I need to tell you.”

Was she interested in him? Did she want to tell him she liked him? He bit down on a smile and repressed the urge to confess his feelings before she did.

“It’s about the chutney.”

As if stuck in mud, his body suddenly grew heavy. Of course, it was. Beautiful women weren’t interested in lanky, redheaded apple nerds. He was an idiot for even entertaining the thought. “What’s wrong? Are you ill? You look a little flushed.”

“No. I’m fine. Come with me.”

He followed her into the kitchen, pausing at the refrigerator to check out Lily’s artwork and homework stuck to it by glass stone refrigerator magnets. Something spicy permeated the air, making his mouth water. “Smells delicious.”

“I’m cooking chutney.”

“Great. Everyone at Wilde Orchards Market wants more.”

“That’s not all they want,” she muttered.

“What do you mean?”

She flitted around the room, getting out a small bowl and a spoon, and ladling a scoop of chutney. She didn’t meet his eyes when she blurted, “They’re all horny.”

“What? Who?”

“The customers. They’re all horny. It’s an aphrodisiac.”

Did he miss a part of the conversation while distracted with her beauty? “What is?”

“The chutney. It’s an aphrodisiac. That’s why it’s such a hit. People are eating it and getting turned on.”

He laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”

“That’s what I thought at first, but it’s true. Did you eat any?”

“Not yet.”

She thrust the small bowl and spoon into his hands. “Try it.”

“Uh, okay.” He slid a heaping spoonful into his mouth. Delicious sweet and spicy flavors danced across his taste buds, without a trace of bitterness. He swallowed and licked his lips. “This is really good.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean it. Nice texture and taste.” He took another spoonful. No wonder it sold out at the market. It was a flavorful product and a welcome change from all the sweet goods they made at the orchard.

Her hands clasped in front of her mouth, she watched intently, as if waiting for him to turn into the Hulk or something. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine.”

“I mean, are you turned on?” Her brown eyes sparkled with anticipation, and his mouth dried.

If he wasn’t before, he was now. “I, uh. Is this a trick question?”

“No, it’s a straightforward question.”

It was forward all right. She was a unique woman, but this was odd, even for her. “I don’t understand what’s going on here. Are you… flirting with me?”

Her head flinched as if he’d jumped out of the closet yelling surprise. “Of course, not.”

Too bad. A little flirting could’ve been fun.

“I told you. It’s the chutney. It makes people horny. Are you horny?”

Well, damn, when a woman you have a crush on asks—with breathy eagerness—if you’re horny, your penis can’t help but answer the question for you.

Order Wilde Temptation

WILDE TEMPTATION (A Candlewood Falls Novel) is available now in paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited!

Kindle Unlimited: https://amzn.to/3jywLEu
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/3ystzyB
Amazon Australia: https://www.amazon.com.au/Wilde-Temptation-Candlewood-Falls-Romance-ebook/dp/B09667MKMS
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/Wilde-Temptation-Candlewood-Falls-Romance-ebook/dp/B09667MKMS
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wilde-Temptation-Candlewood-Falls-Romance-ebook/dp/B09667MKMS
Wilde temptation romance novel

Wilde Temptation Giveaway

Please read the excerpt and take a moment to leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 gift card!

It’s National Matchmaker Day!

As a romance author, I feel like this should be our official day since every time we write a book we’re matching up two people so they can find their happily-ever-after! So here’s to romance authors everywhere! But I bet you didn’t know these fun facts about matchmakers:

    1. According to Bustle, many cultures arranged matches because they felt young people were unable to make such a complicated decision.

    2. A matchmaker figured prominently in the motion picture Fiddler on the Roof.

    3. ArtCarved Bridal dreamed this day up to honor those who brought two people together for their happily ever after.

    4. In India, matchmaking is a multi-million dollar business and the top matchmaking companies account for millions of marriages!

But despite all those matchmaking facts, I still think that romance authors are the world’s best matchmakers!
romance author matchmaker

Free and Specially Priced Reads for you!

Today I have some 99 cent special pricing for you on ONE SUMMER NIGHT and NEVER A BRIDE as well as some free reads you can download. All I ask is that you leave an honest review because those really do help authors! Have a great weekend!

ONE SUMMER NIGHT – Publishers Weekly Top 10 Fall Romance and NY Times Round-Up of Romance Selection
https://amzn.to/3zpsyIG

NEVER A BRIDE –
https://amzn.to/2Wtwo50

DARKNESS CALLS #1 in The Calling is Reborn Vampire Novels – an RT Top Pick – https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/zv3rQSqJ

JUST ONE NIGHT #1 in the Take a Chance Sexy Military Romance Series – https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/mpx6b

UNDER THE BOARDWALK – A Sexy novella set on the Asbury Park Boardwalk – https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/CNe7OGhI

Finally to celebrate the release of SOUTH BEACH LOVE, I’ve created this book of recipes and free reads from my various books. You can download the Recipes for the Romantic Soul e-book for free from Kindle Unlimited or get your copy at https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/JT72rhhr.

Can’t Wait for the release of Trapping a Terrorist

There’s been a lot of excitement lately about the upcoming South Beach Love movie and well, WOO HOO! It’s such a cool thing! But I also can’t wait until the September 28th release of Trapping a Terrorist from Harlequin Intrigue. This story revolves around an FBI BAU team in Seattle that is trying to catch a serial bomber before anyone gets killed. My hero is FBI Agent Miguel Peters who is the SSA for the team. Miguel lost his mother to a terrorist attack and is determined to stop that from happening to anyone else, especially his main witness, Maisy Oliver. But Maisy is not what she seems. As they are pulled together in a life and death struggle against the bomber, Miguel and Maisy must both fight their own demons in order to find happiness.

Since I was lucky enough to be able to visit Seattle and include some of what I knew from that visit into the book, I’m sharing some photos with you as today’s Throwback Thursday!