#ThrowbackThursday My Grandma

There are people who are so influential in your life that you miss them every day. My mom was such a person, but so was her mom, my grandmother Nieves. I’m actually named after her since my real first name is Caridad de las Nieves, but when I was naturalized I had to change that to Caridad and Nieves became my middle name.

My mom was a working mom so my grandma was the one who was home for us, made dinner, chased after us to clean up and all-in-all, provided us with stability and wonderful stories of growing up in Spain and her life in Cuba. She was a strong woman in more ways than one. She survived going from Spain to Cuba and then to the U.S. She survived the loss of a son at an early age (she never talked about this) and the premature loss of my mom. She was stubborn and had a temper, but luckily my grandfather was a saint. But she always loved us and took care of us and we knew we could count on her to be there for us.

She got to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren and even in her nineties, she was still amazing. This is a picture of me and my grandmother. It was taken in Cuba when I was just a little one.
babygrandma

#WriteWed Glorious Summer Mornings

I’ve been struggling with a story for the last few weeks. Don’t know why, but something hit me the other day that just was a big “Duh!” and made everything make sense finally.

I guess this is why you should outline a story first, but I’m really still a pantser. To some, I would call it being “organic” which is BS for I’m a pantser. LOL.

But this realization came to me as I was taking a stroll along the boardwalk, working out some plot issues and wondering if I would ever finish the story. It was a glorious summer morning (summers start on Memorial Day down the shore!) much like this morning. Bright blue sky. Slight breeze. Not too hot or too cold. Lovely.

Days like that lift me up and inspire. You could say the clear they cobwebs out of my brain so that the “Duh!” moment can happen and the story can progress.

So, that’s my Write Wednesday for today. I’ll leave you with this photo of some lovely lilies I saw in Bryant Park this morning as I walked to my office.
Bryant Park Lilies

#TeaserTuesday TAMING THE BACHELOR

Taming the BachelorGood morning! I hope you all had a fabulous Monday. Today’s Teaser is from TAMING THE BACHELOR which is part of the JERSEY GIRLS Contemporary Romance Box Set. I love this story because (1) I am such a science geek like Daisy, (2) Brad is a sexy surfer dude and (3) the story is set on the Jersey Shore! I hope you’ll enjoy the story as well.

Teaser

Brad Evans doesn’t understand why a woman like Daisy Ramos would be interested in a guy like him. . .

She’s the first woman who’s ever made him consider giving up his beloved bachelorhood, but falling for her presents all kinds of problems. For starters, she’s one of his partners in a successful biotech company. But worse, she’s the kind of woman who will drive a man to distraction and Brad’s not sure he can risk losing his focus or his heart to Daisy. But he can’t ignore that whenever she walks into a room, he wishes things could be different between them.

Daisy doesn’t believe that a confirmed bachelor and beach dude like Brad will ever walk down the aisle . . .

Especially not with a woman like her. She’s known Brad for years and knows he’s never serious about anything. He flits from one woman to another and spends his free time playing volleyball on the beach. He’s not a forever kind of guy and her determined workaholic mind warns her that he’s absolutely the wrong man for her, but her heart says something else.

Excerpt

Please click here if you cannot see the teaser from TAMING THE BACHELOR.

You can purchase TAMING THE BACHELOR at these e-tailers:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1DNXJJ4
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1DNXPQX
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1DNXQEz
Nook: http://bit.ly/1DNXUnB
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1DNXXjo
iBooks: http://apple.co/1DNXTjz

Here are the links for the box set!
Jersey Girls Contemporary Romance
Amazon: http://bit.ly/JrzGrlAMZUS
Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/JrzGrlAMZUK
Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/JrzGrlAMZCA
Nook: http://bit.ly/BNJerseyGirl
Kobo: http://bit.ly/JrzGrlKOBO
iBooks: http://apple.co/1DUcYmh

#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.
authorsandinns

Happy Book Birthday to Heroes in Uniform!

HeroesInUniform2D_800pxIt’s release day for our HEROES IN UNIFORM Romantic Suspense & Military Romance Box Set (which includes SINS OF THE FLESH)! I’m so excited to be celebrating this book birthday with such amazing women!

Here is some more info on the box set which is specially priced at 99 cents for a limited time:

Ten full-length books and one novella from NY Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors

Heroes in Uniform: A multi-author Romantic Suspense and Military Romance boxed set of 11 Sexy Contemporary Alpha Heroes, featuring Soldiers, SEALs, Spies, Agents, Rangers and Cops.

This anthology includes two brand-new, never-before-published stories: a novella from Gennita Low and a full-length novel from Nina Bruhns. Here are the names of my buddies in the set with me:

Gennita Low
Cristin Harber
Kaylea Cross
Sharon Hamilton
Patricia McLinn
Karen Fenech
Dana Marton
Toni Anderson
Lori Ryan
Nina Bruhns

You can purchase the box set here:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/HeroesAMZ
Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/HeroesAMZUK
Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/HeroesCA
Nook: http://bit.ly/HeroesBN
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1aDaC0K
iBooks: http://bit.ly/HeroesiBooks

HEROES IN UNIFORM Romantic Suspense & Military Romance Box Set