Another Fun Friday finds us hoping for a bit of fun for stressed out and overworked single mother Agnes. She does have some fun, doesn’t she, Normandie?
What does Agnes do for fun, you ask? Is that a rhetorical question?
Because, honey, as far as I can tell, she’s laser-focused on carving out enough of her measly waitress’s earnings to pay the bills on a too-big house her mama left her and on making sure her girl has clothes. It’s amazing how quickly an almost-twelve-year-old can use up a pair of sneakers.
The mess started back when Agnes, a college freshman, stepped out of her nerdy comfort zone to go with dorm mates she barely knew to a New York club where she’d have to lie. She was fool enough to accept a drink (who knew it was drugged?) from the gorgeous lead singer when he slid in beside her.
One night of bad choices pretty much taught her that fun has no place in a world consumed by the aftermath of that night. But even without “fun” in her vocabulary, a few things remain essential to survival as a single parent with no college degree: reading anything she can put her hands on and exorcising stress (when she has the energy) by jogging along the waterfront. And she does dream of possibilities—of Henry (an ex-addict and sous chef at the chic restaurant where she waits tables) and his sailboat (his home and a work in progress), of banks ponies and the nearby ocean (which she and her daughter ought to visit more often), of her daughter at peace in spite of not having a daddy (and not knowing the music she listens to is his). Dreaming is sometimes all there is.
Of course, when disaster happens, dreams flee, don’t they? And all Agnes can do is hold on to friends, including Henry, and pray.
Her daughter—the daughter who loves nothing more than crabbing off her best friend’s dock and roaming the small town in that friend’s wake—has her sights set on a daddy and his promises of adventure and fame. Oh, yeah, Brisa’s on her way, and her mother is shell-shocked.
The question Agnes has to be asking herself is if fun will ever be part of her vocabulary again.
A waitress, a megastar, and an ex-addict wage war for the heart of a young girl.
Thirteen years ago, a spiked drink left Agnes with a permanent reminder of the man who date-raped her.
Her daughter looks like him, sounds like him, and even listens to his platinum records (of course, the dude’s a mega star because nothing is fair) but Brisa is everything Agnes has in the world. At least, she is until the day this music star sets his sights on getting himself a ready-made family.
He’s got millions of dollars, millions of fans, a high-powered legal team, and half Brisa’s DNA. Agnes has a run-down house, a friend who’s almost three years sober and afraid to say he loves her, and a lawyer willing to work pro bono.
Oh, and the whole town of Beaufort. That’s right. She’s got all those Beaufort folk at her back, praying to the God she has rejected, and not one of them is going to let Brisa go without a fight.
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Normandie studied sculpture in Italy before receiving her BA, summa cum laude with special honors in English. Known for her women’s fiction—Becalmed (2013), Sailing out of Darkness (2013–Maggie Finalist 2014), Heavy Weather (2015–Maggie Finalist 2016), and Twilight Christmas (2016)—she ventured into the realm of romantic suspense with the release of Two from Isaac’s House. From Fire into Fire, continues the Isaac House saga. She and her husband spent a number of years on board their 50-foot ketch, Sea Venture, sailing in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico. They now live in coastal North Carolina, where she takes care of her aging mother.
Website: www.normandiefischer.com
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It looks like Agnes and Brisa do find some time to have a bit of fun together. Whew! I’m glad to hear it. We all need a little down time to relax and unwind. So tell me, folks, what do you like to do for fun? Read? Walk? Shadow box? I’m curious…
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How do you tempt a sinner?—Offer him a saint!
Halfeti Rose appeared to verify that Halfeti, Turkey, was the only place in the world where these unusual roses prospered. The pitch-black rose appeals to women because of its rarity and also its association with darkness. It depends on whether you seek the dark side of the rose in its morbidity or the light side in its magic.
From a humble beginning in Newark, NJ, a short stay at a convent in Morristown, NJ, to the boardrooms of NYC, and a fantastic career for a broadcasting company in Carlsbad, California, to the rural foothills of the Sierras of Yosemite National Park, Sandra Masters has always traveled with pen and notebook. It’s been the journey of ten thousand miles with a few steps left to go. She traded NYC boardrooms for Regency ballrooms, left her corporate world behind and never looked back. Nothing she expected, but everything she dreamed. She lists her occupation as Living The Dream.
Estranged from her English family, Camilla Fetherwell now lives in the United States and owns a successful catering business. Returning home for her father’s funeral, she reunites with her first love, Billy, whom she hasn’t seen since her father broke up their teenage romance. Billy seems eager to resume their love affair. But after one blissful night together, things take a turn.
As a child, Margaret wanted to run an orphanage or be an author. Perhaps the Madeline books inspired both ideas. Debating whether to do good or have fun, she gave up studying to be a social worker and pursued a life around the written word. High heels, tight skirts and makeup won over sensible shoes, though publishing promised a permanently low salary. She worked as an editorial assistant for a major publishing house, for a magazine and for a university. She earned a master’s degree in journalism, wrote a slew of press releases as a publicist, and as a freelance writer when her children were small, published feature articles in newspapers and magazines.
Essentially, Rachel is like most single moms, sandwiched between caring for a child and parents/grandparents, struggling to juggle balls in the air. Rachel was raised to be a rancher’s princess by a father who doted on her. She knows how to ride and the fundamentals of roping, but she’s unsure of her skills. However, her horse, Utah, is awesome. The kind of horse a father would give a daughter because he knew that horse would take care of her. This may sound cliché, but she enjoys long rides on her ranch, often taking her daughter, Poppy, who rides on the saddle in front of her. Three generations of Rachel’s family are crafty. Quilting is another way Rachel slows down, stays in tune with her mother and grandmother, and feels connected to the family ranch, which the Thompsons have owned for generations.
Prior to writing romance, award-winning, USA Today bestseller Melinda Curtis was a junior manager for a Fortune 500 company, which meant when she flew on the private jet she was relegated to the jump seat—otherwise known as the potty. After grabbing her pen (and a parachute) she made the jump to full-time writer. Between writing sweet romance for Harlequin and indie-pubbed sweet romantic comedy, Melinda finds time to bond with her husband over home remodeling projects. She recently came to grips with the fact that she’s an empty nester and a grandma, concepts easier to grasp than jet-setting on a potty. You can sign up for Melinda’s mailing list and receive two free reads 
Herbs are easy to grow in a well-lighted area in quart mason jars. You place a half inch of small stones in the bottom of the jar to help with drainage then add potting soil and a plant or seeds. Fresh herbs really add to the flavor of any food dish. And by growing them in the house, you are guaranteed fresh herbs year round. A good hydroponic grower runs around $120. You can grow lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, herbs or even flowers in them year round.
After being jilted at the altar, journalist Becky Hollister moves to a new city to try to put her life back together and ease the heartache. She’s surprised to find her new home is already occupied by a man who died 20 years ago. Will solving his murder help her to learn to love again?
Augustina Van Hoven was born in The Netherlands and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two dogs and three cats. She is an avid reader of romance, science fiction and fantasy. When she’s not writing she likes to work in her garden or in the winter months crochet and knit on her knitting machines. Get to know her at 
I can’t wait to find out what else Patricia has in store for me and for our readers as this series continues to develop! You can keep up with us both by signing up for my author newsletter (one email per month, maximum): 
Going through “the change” isn’t easy on any woman. Mood swings, hot flashes, hormonal imbalances, and itchy skin are par for the course. But for these four seemingly unrelated women, menopause brought changes none of them had ever anticipated—super-heroic changes.
Samantha Bryant believes in love, magic, and unexplainable connections between people. Her favorite things are lonely beaches, untamed cliff tops, sunlight through the leaves of trees, summer rains, and children’s laughter. She has lived in many places, including rural Alaska, Kansas, Kentucky, Vermont, England and Spain. She is fierce at heart, though she doesn’t look it.
A Marquess in Waiting and the Cursed Heiress…
Alanna Lucas grew up in Southern California, but always dreamed of distant lands and bygone eras. From an early age she took interest in art, history, and travel, and enjoys incorporating those diversions into her writing. Alanna makes her home in California where she spends her time writing historical romances, dreaming of her next travel destination, and spending time with family.
Matilda “Maud” Somerset is a disaster. Her parents and uncle, the Duke of Beaufort, want her to make a spectacular match to a suitable beau. Maud is more interested in galloping across the fields on her stallion, Khan, and shooting arrows at targets. Her mother despairs of her and her father bears the brunt of his wife’s and the Duke’s anger for allowing the girl to learn all the arts of war when he was teaching them to his now-deceased older son.
Jillian Chantal is multi-published in the romance genre. She’s a lawyer by day and writer, amateur photographer, and history buff by night. Jillian lives on the beautiful gulf coast of Florida and loves her little slice of paradise. But not too much to enjoy world-wide travel every chance she gets. After all, a writer and photographer needs new and exciting places to go and capture in order to stay fresh, right? And there’s nothing quite like seeing historical places in person, is there?
When 22-year-old Elizabeth Brenner lands in New Jersey with her 15-month-old daughter, Lotty, she doesn’t know a soul. And she prefers it that way. She’s struggling with her own demons—her family in Utah, who essentially threw her out, her ex-boyfriend Evan and father of her baby, and just enough money so that she won’t have to work for a little while. Three-and-a-half years later Elizabeth is running out of money and needs a job. But what can she do without an education or any real work experience? When a job opening for a Bookmobile driver at her local library appears, she applies and gets the job. Now she begins to make friends: Estelle, a 95-year-old woman with a 70-year-old secret, Harper, a 16-year-old high school drop-out who isn’t homeless but might as well be, and Sabrina, a pregnant mother whose secret is so big that she won’t even tell her husband. As Elizabeth juggles all of her new friends’ needs, she meets her neighbor Jeff, and then she finds herself doing something she swore she would never do again….. Full of surprising people with surprising stories, The Natural Order of Things will make you laugh and cry, ponder and hope.
After my stint as an editor in nonfiction book publishing, I became a Stay-at-Home Mother to my two daughters nineteen years ago. I always wanted to be a writer and finally became a published author when my first book, Child of Mine, came out in 2013. In 2014, I published The Opposite of Normal, which became an Amazon best seller, and in 2015, I followed that up with The Place to Say Goodbye, about an autistic young man whose thoughts only the readers are privy to. In 2016, I published Start at the Beginning, featuring best friends who have to make an agonizing choice. In 2017, I published A Million Ordinary Days, the story of an independent woman who fights her Multiple Sclerosis to maintain her career and take care of her daughter.
Wolf Savalas has a good reason for kidnapping Sofia Cruz, the favorite cousin to the leader of Thirty-Second gang. His MC plans to hit the leader’s home and sweet Sofia will be in the crossfire.
Carla Swafford loves romance novels, action/adventure movies, and men, and her books reflect that. And that’s not all, she’s crazy about hockey, and thankfully, no one has made her turn in her Southern Belle card. In 2015, Carla received RWA’s PRO Mentor of the Year Award. She’s married to her high school sweetheart and lives in Alabama.
Betty Bolte's Musings 