Category: Fun Friday

There’s a trend in the publishing industry to have illustrated or what I like to call “cartoon” covers. It’s not a new trend since I had cartoon covers for some of my books nearly 25 years ago. But in discussions with my very wise daughter, she said, “Mom, you should make those covers for some of your contemporary romances.” So I did for the At the Shore series since those are light-hearted but also emotional and uplifting stories about friendship. I also decided to update the “regular” covers with more compelling images. What do you think? To cartoon or not to cartoon? The choice is yours since the books are all available with both sets of covers. You can check them out at https://amzn.to/4cJpCdr.

The last few weeks have been hectic with spring gardening, preparing for the new grandbaby, and finishing the first book in the new South Beach Security Colorado K-9 (tentative) series. The tentative title is RESCUE IN REGINA and it revisits the characters in COLD CASE REOPENED which is the first book where you meet Sophie and Robbie Whitaker, cousins who work with SBS in Miami. But now I need a little break before starting on the second book in the series as well as a new women’s fiction book that’s been percolating in my head. What’s the break? A new garden project! When one of my neighbors asked if we could switch out our bench for some new chairs, I realized it was the perfect opportunity to play with the bench since it was due for a refurbish. I’m busy painting the wood as well as giving the back panel some zing. What do you think? P.S. – If you love women’s fiction/romance of books, you can read the first 10 chapters of SUNSHINE AFTER RAIN for free on Kindle Vella. Start your journey into this story about three women learning to embrace life and love once more at https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/story/B0CNZP5CD2.

One of the fun things about writing the South Beach Security K-9 Division stories was learning about the four different kinds of dogs that will be the heroes of this new romantic suspense series. In SABOTAGE OPERATION which was just released in May, the hero Butter was a Belgian Malinois. In my upcoming June 25 release, ESCAPE THE EVERGLADES, the hero is Missy, a Labrador Retriever. Why a Labrador for this story about single dad and ex-marine Carlos Ruiz who is trying to protect his business and son after a series of attacks? Well, the story is set in the Everglades, a unique ecosystem of wetlands and forests that has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco. Labradors are great in wet areas due to their coats and webbed paws. They are also great for search and rescue which will be important in ESCAPE THE EVERGLADES when the hero’s son is kidnapped. Labrador Missy is also unique in that she suffers from PTSD much like veteran Natalie, the heroine in the story. For Natalie, a security assignment in the Everglades is an escape from Miami and the sights and sounds that can sometimes trigger an episode. But can Carlos, Natalie, and Missy save Carlos’s son when he’s kidnapped? Pre-order your copy today at https://amzn.to/3Xczcks.

You might know from some of my posts that I’m a Crazy Garden Lady and I wanted to show you what my little garden looks like. It’s actually a common area that we use with our neighbors. I’ve contributed the plants and some things and they provided the chairs and labor to get things clean when the season starts. I’ve got a number of tomato, pepper, eggplants, and flowers planted. They just got started about two weeks ago so things are looking a little small but I’m hoping they’ll take off in the next couple of weeks. How about you? Do you have a garden or houseplants?

The Garden is My Happy Place by caridadpineiro

My contribution to the STRENGTH & HONOR charity anthology is STAY THE NIGHT, one of the novellas in the TAKE A CHANCE series. The series is a collection of steamy stories that feature military men and women at different stages of their lives, from getting ready to leave for a first deployment to a hero like Rafe, who has been a Navy Seal for six years and is almost at the end of his tour of duty. Rafe is supposed to come home but Rafe isn’t sure that home is where he wants to be. He married his high school sweetheart because he loved her and she had become pregnant with his child but she miscarried. When Rafe comes home he finds that Elena is nothing like the young woman he left behind. She’s smart, sophisticated, and successful while he’s the same man he was in high school. He’s wondering why Elena would want to stay with him but the passion between them is still strong. Is passion enough to keep a marriage together? You can read this story and 10 other wonderful stories featuring military heroes in the STRENGTH & HONOR anthology. All proceeds from the anthology go to an organization that helps prevent soldier suicides. Grab your copy at https://books2read.com/StrengthAndHonor.

I recently got a shipment of books, including several that have brand new covers for some personal favorites like To Catch a Princess and the At the Shore Contemporary Romance series. I’m so excited to have these for my upcoming trip to Readers Take Denver and A Day of Wine, Romance and More! I can’t wait to go to these events and if you’ll be in the area, I hope you can come by! All these books are available online and you can also order autographed copies at my website.