This Is Not The Vacation You're Looking For by Laura Hunsaker

 In my day job, I work in an elementary school, and we are about two weeks out from the last day of school. You know what that means...Summer Break! We haven't gone anywhere except the store in so long, that I swear "vacation" isn't in my vocabulary anymore.

At our Mother's Day breakfast, my mom was talking about going to Ireland. My folks used to go every year before...well you know. I was supposed to go to Scotland last year, but...well you know. And my sister was planning an Iceland trip, but...you get the picture. So we were talking about vacations this summer. Well my 7 year old has been learning about Mt. Everest and told me, "Mama did you know that some people take vacations on Mt. Everest?" 

I told her that it didn't sound like a vacation to me, it sounded like a lot of hard work to climb that mountain. She followed up with, "Well what is a vacation, then?"

I instantly replied that I considered a vacation relaxing and fun. And my little one, bless her heart, was silent a moment, and then said, "Oooh. You mean like Target."

I...okay fair. 

Now that I'm vaccinated, I would love a real vacation, not just going on a trip to Target. Somewhere beachy and relaxing, and definitely not Mt. Everest. What is your ideal post-pandemic vacation? Are you an active vacationer like climbing a mountain or hiking the Grand Canyon? Or are you more like me, where you'd prefer a hammock and a drink in a coconut?

If you're dreaming of a beach vacation, you should grab Dreams of the Past now! It's a book that will leave you smiling.

Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | Smashwords | Goodreads

She needs rest, he needs relaxation…

Jenny Travers wants a fresh start. Leaving the nightmares of her past behind her, she heads to Last Chance Beach. Renting the Sea Glass Cottage sounds peaceful and relaxing, which is exactly what she needs.

What she doesn’t need is a man.

Lieutenant Commander Scott Gordon was injured by an IED on his last mission, and while his leg has healed, it’ll never be strong enough to stay on his SEAL team. Renting the Sea Glass Cottage sounds like the perfect place to figure out how he’s going to handle his new normal.

He never expected to find a woman in his bed.

A mix-up at the rental agency means Jenny and Scott are both renting the small cottage. Sharing a space with a stranger should be hard, yet they both feel more at peace than they have in months. Will their summer romance last, or is the magic of Sea Glass Cottage all they’ll have…

Romance & Roses by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

"A mother's love is like an everlasting bed of roses that continues to blossom." —Ellen J. Barrier

Giveaway Alert: Details in Post.
 

Moms, love, and roses. Those 3 seem to go together, don't they? When children grow up, they tend to send Mom flowers—usually roses—for Mother's Day.

Imagine how surprised I was to learn that roses aren't the officieal Mother's Day flower.

That honor goes to the Carnation. I've always liked carnations for their fresh, clean scent, but I don't think many moms get bouquets of carnations rather than roses.

Why Carnations?

There's a simple reason carnations are the official flower of Mother's Day. That lovely cut flower was Anna Jarvis's mother's favorite flower.

You're probably saying, "Who's Anna Jarvis?" She's the woman who lobbied for a national day to recognize the hard work and sacrifice of mothers everywhere. 

When she first started her campaign to designate a Sunday as Mother's Day (1907), she sent white carnations to her family’s church in Grafton, West Virginia, to be distributed to the congregation.

Over the years, white carnations came to symbolize mothers who had passed away.

Red or pink carnations were adopted as the flower given to a living mother as a symbol of love and gratitude.

Where I lived as a child, it was popular to wear a carnation to church on Mother’s Day.

In 1914, Woodrow Wilson finally signed a proclamation declaring the second Sunday in May to be Mother's Day. This special day is now celebrated in more than 40 countries.

(Read more about the History of Mother's Day.) 

Romance for Mom

Something else Mom would like for her special day is the leisure time to read. Since the Romance genre comprises the vast majority of books that are sold, Mom probably likes to read Romance.

Give her books in her favorite genre. Even better, give her books AND a few hours or an entire day to do nothing but read! Now that's a gift any woman would like.

Random Draw Giveaway

Leave a comment with your email addy written out.

No question to answer this month. Instead, share a special memory of your Mom with us or just tell us her first name or nickname.

Prize is 1 free copy of April Fool Proposition for Kindle.

Drawing open until May 7 when winner will be selected and notified by email.

What will Brenna do when she learns her friend's mom, a noted romance author, has set her up with Travis, the man she thinks is pretending to be her lover? Will Travis settle for being a pretend lover? Will Brenna realize she needs to live her own life and stop mothering her siblings?

April Fool Proposition only 99¢ at Kindle.

Romance Gems Blog Update

As you have surmised, our theme this month is Romance & Roses for Mom. 

You'll be treated to posts about romance novels with moms as heroines or sidekicks or maybe posts about being a mother/motherhood.

Sharing Memory of Mom

My mother was a young adult in WW2. She grew up in the era of red lipstick, seamed nylon stockings, and hair always styled.

My mom never went anywhere without her hair fixed and her lipstick on.

This is bittersweet. I'm crying as I write this. The night my older brother and sister-in-law had to drive my mother to the hospital, she made them stop a block away so she could put her lipstick on.

She passed two weeks later.

When the funeral home "prepared" her, Mom's hair stylist did her hair, the makeup artist at the funeral home did her makeup, but she did not put lipstick on Mom.

That night at the wake, I was upset when I saw she wasn't wearing lipstick. My sister-in-law and my girl cousins formed a circle around me and my mom. I pulled my lipstick out of my purse and applied lipstick for Mom because I knew she wouldn't even want to go to Heaven without her lipstick on!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms, step-moms, foster moms, and women who fulfill that caring, giving, loving role in someone's life.

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Becoming a Mom! by @karilemor #RomanceGems

Being a mother can be one of the most rewarding jobs ever…and it can be one of the hardest. I’m one of those people who, from the time I was little, always wanted to be a mom. I was the neighborhood babysitter that everyone used. I took Child Care classes in high school. I majored in Early Childhood Education in undergrad. I couldn’t get enough of being around small children. My first real job was teaching Kindergarten in a public school system.

But those children were only mine for a short while each day. I didn’t have control over how many hugs or stories they got at bedtime. But two years after I graduated college and got my first job, my college sweetheart and I got married. Less than two years later, we had a baby girl.

It wasn’t in the moment of her birth that I felt like a mom, no, I was too exhausted to even speak. But the moment it truly hit me that I was a mother is ingrained deep in my memory. My daughter was born at night and I was so tired the nurses offered to take her to the nursery so I could get some rest. Early the next morning, they brought her to me because she’d been fussing a bit and figured I needed to breastfeed her. I held her close, whispered to her, and she settled right down. And I fell asleep. An hour later the nurse came back to get her so the doctor could do a quick exam. Oh, no, I hadn’t fed her. She’d fallen asleep so I had too.

The nurse looked at me and grinned. “I guess she just needed her mom.”

That was it. The moment I realized this precious child needed me. What an emotional feeling.  I still tear up thinking about that moment, and the abundant, unconditional love I had for another human. One I had helped to create.  There’s nothing in the world like it.

These are my children, years ago, Emily, Kasey, and Christopher! 

What's a special 'mom' moment in your life? As a mom or with your own mom? 

~~~

In my book, Running Target, Jack Holland was raised by a man who was always working. He swears he’ll be a better father than that. Until a mob hit sends him running, away from the covert family he needs to protect. Here’s a little snippet of Jack sneaking into the hospital to steal a quick peek at his new son.

****

 Stepping closer, he looked down on the clear container, the blue tag proclaiming this child to be a boy. Squinting in the dim light, he read the words. Mother’s name: Callina Lansing. Baby: Jonathan.

Jonathan. She’d named the baby after him. A lump clogged his throat. A son. Damn. He had a son and wouldn’t be able to get to know him, see him grow, share in his life. This world was too cruel at times.

He shouldn’t take the chance but he needed to hold him. It was vital that he touch the life he and Callie had created. He wanted—no needed—to let his child know how much he loved him. The powerful emotion emanated from his heart even as he gazed down at the tiny figure. How could love grow this fast? His first glimpse was only a second ago. Now the feeling consumed him.

Reaching down, he stroked the side of his son’s face. The baby turned his head, his bow-shaped lips opening slightly. Jack’s heart beat faster. The protective instincts that had always come into play when he was around Callie, throbbed to life and expanded as he gazed at the sweet face of his son. Heat like an electric storm surged through his blood. How could he protect this child in his current situation? He’d bring more danger upon him if he hung around. Eight months of running, trying to escape the long arm of Victor Cabrini, had shown him what hell was. Now he glimpsed a small piece of heaven.

He slid his hands under the infant, lifting him from the bed to hold him close. Jonathan barely weighed anything. His heart constricted yet again. The innocent baby scent wafted into his nostrils and he blinked back the moisture filling his eyes. The reaction was primitive and territorial. This was his son.

~~~

~~~

"Thrilling...Lemor once again features a dynamite protagonist who's easily relatable,
and her talent for incorporating romance and forgiveness against the odds
make Running Target even more enticing." 

—RT Book Reviews

Currently RUNNING TARGET is on sale for only 99cents on all retailers. 

You can find the links here:

RUNNING TARGET

**And I just sent out a newly written prequel for this novel
to my mailing list subscribers. 

If you haven't gotten it, sign up for my newsletter then send me a quick note saying you want the prequel, and I'll get it to you!**

Kari Lemor

~~~

Don't forget this month's CONTEST!
In May, Romance Gems honors HEROES AND SHE-ROES: Moms, Soldiers, and First Responders.

The Grand Prize: One (1) $20.00 Amazon Gift Card.

2nd thru 5th Prizes: Ebook Bundles by our bestselling authors. The books being given away are shown on the Monthly Giveaway page.

How To Enter:

You have multiple opportunities to enter.

Click this Rafflecopter link.

Start clicking buttons on the Rafflecopter. Each task counts as one entry.

Complete all the tasks for the most chances to win!

Our policies concerning Promotions and Giveaways, Eligibility, and Prize Award Procedures are shown in detail on our Policies Page. Please read. We strictly adhere to those policies.

Good luck!

MOTHER'S DAY MEMORIES @kathleenlawless

Mother’s Day has always been a bitter-sweet celebration for me.  Despite the fact that I have three wonderful (now adult) children who rocked my world and enhanced my life from the day they were born, a few tears are always shed as I think about my own mother. 

I lost her when I was in my teens, so Mother’s Day has always encompassed a visit to the burial park.  And a lot of unanswered questions. Has she forgiven me those ‘terrible teen’ years?  Would we have been friends as adults?   Would we have had mother-daughter spa days, luncheons, and out-of-town shopping trips the way I do with my daughter?   

Every ‘big’ moment in a girl’s life, graduation, my wedding, the birth of my children, the publication of my first book, even my divorce, were always missing something.  (Read someone)

From an early age, my children were aware of this loss and always worked hard to make Mother’s Day full of special moments.  I have been spoiled with too many wonderful memories to count, but one of the most memorable is the year they surprised me with a rose garden. 

I was working out of town and got home Sunday late afternoon to find they had dug up a patch of weeds in the front garden and planted three rose bushes.  The garden had a Mom’s Rose Garden homemade sign.  Each plant was signed with the title of one of my published books.  Callie’s Honor, Anora’s Pride and Grace’s Folly.  The waterworks flowed that day like never before.  Happy tears.   

Years later, they showed up at my downsized beach-side cottage on Mother’s Day and announced they were going to the beach.  They arrived back laden with armloads of driftwood and promptly built me the driftwood garden bench I had been yearning for. 

Losing my mother at any early age, I learned that life offers up no guarantees.  It’s up to me to make every moment count.  Celebrate well and often.  Make memories.  Learn from my mistakes.  And most important, tell my loved ones I love them every single day because it might be my last chance to say it.

My heroine, Rachel, in FABULOUS AT FIFTY, is a mother, a daughter, a sister and a best friend, who finds her life turned upside down.  I throw everything her way.  Suddenly single and unemployed, she is forced to reinvent herself at the same time her daughter comes into her own and chooses an unorthodox path to motherhood, making 

Rachel a grandmother. Meanwhile, her sister’s ‘perfect life’ starts to crumble and her relationship with her own mother takes a twist.  Four generations of women!  Did I ever have fun!   

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

FABULOUS AT FIFTY is one of the many prizes in this month’s Rafflecopter Draw.  Enter now.  Enter often.  Help us celebrate Heroes and She-roes in the marvelous month of May.  

Check out our Monthly Giveaway Page for details. 

And have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

Kathleen   

May Celebration: Moms, Soldiers, First Responders by @JoanReeves #RomanceGems

Happy by Terri C. #2220481, Pixabay.com

I'm happy because it's May, and the sun's shining, the flowers are blooming, and the trees finally stopped dumping pollen all over my piece of the planet.

I'm also happy because we had such a great response to our April Easter Egg Hunt.

We appreciate everyone who follows our blog. We'd like to break 100 this month on Followers, and you can help us achieve that.

See on the left sidebar where it says "We Love Our Blog Followers?"

Do us a favor and click Follow and fill out the little form that opens. Then your tiny picture will pop up so we can see your smiling face. Or your dog's smiling face since a lot of people use their pet's photo.

May Celebration

Making each month's book, author, and reader promotion better than the last is difficult, but I think we may have done it with May's Celebration of Moms, Soldiers, and First Responders.

There is no better month to celebrate Moms since Mother's Day is this month. By the same token, there's no better month to celebrate the Heroes and She-roes of our world than May, the month in which we celebrate Memorial Day in the U.S.

We salute and honor all of the Heroes and She-roes, from our precious Moms to:

the men and women of the Armed Forces, active duty and retired, who sacrifice and often pay a high price for defending our freedom

the police who have a daunting job and are in the line of fire on a daily basis

the firefighters who put themselves in harm's way to protect lives and property.

the Emergency Medical teams who race to save lives, and the Emergency Room Doctors and Nurses all across the world.

Heroes and She-roes Celebration

Maya Angelou, an unofficial Poet Laureate of America, may have been the first to refer to women as She-roes rather than as heroines. I like the word Shero because it sounds as if it should be the female counterpart of hero. Heroine always makes me think of leading ladies in novels and movies.

Part of our May Celebration is a Rafflecopter that goes "live" on May 4 so be checking the Blog and the Monthly Giveaway page to see if the Rafflecopter is there and "alive."

The Grand Prize is one (1) $20.00 Amazon Gift Card.

2nd thru 5th Prizes: Ebook Bundles by our bestselling authors. The books being given away are shown on the Monthly Giveaway page.

How To Enter?

You have multiple opportunities to enter.

When the you see the Rafflecopter or the link to it, simply click over and start clicking buttons on it and do the tasks. That's one entry. You can click all the buttons, and you can enter multiple times.

Our policies concerning Promotions and Giveaways, Eligibility, and Prize Award Procedures are shown in detail on our Policies Page. Please read. We strictly adhere to those policies.

Blog Updated

We've done some spring cleaning on the blog. You'll see some new books covers framed in the right sidebar plus some new images scattered around.

New Blog Page

We've added another page to Romance Gems Blog. Click on Listen to Romance or click the tab for it on the Menu Bar.

We have 12 audio books on display. You can click each book and be taken to the audio book webpage where you can hear a sample of the book.

There's nothing like hearing a wonderful romance performed by a talented voice actor.

We hope you like the books so much that you'll buy one of course. *LOL* But, if you don't, you'll have fun listening to a romance novel read aloud.

Pop-Up Giveaway

Do you listen to audio books? If so, what device do you use?

If you don't, what's stopping you? It's the fastest growing part of the publishing industry.

Maybe you don't know how easy it is to download an audio book and listen to it?

No problem. I'm blogging again tomorrow. I'm going to give step by step instructions on how to claim a free audio book from Audible. What's better than free? Nothing!

That means I'm going to give away an audio book today. All you have to do to be entered is to leave a comment with your email address.

I'll choose a winner by random draw and announce the name tomorrow when I blog. this weekend. Sorry, I didn't think this impromptu giveaway through. I'll announce both winners' names in the Comments section of this post and the May 2 post as well as contact them by email.

But Wait, There's More

I'll also give away an audio book tomorrow too! So go to Listen to Romance and look at my 3 audio books on display.

Click on the link to go to the audio webpage and listen to the samples. Sound like fun?

Come back tomorrow and have another chance to win!

Now, kick back and relax, enjoy that golden sunshine. Take a book with you.

I love my Kindle because it can be read in bright sunlight, and the battery stays charged for days.

Maybe we should give away a Kindle on a monthly promotion.

Do you think readers would like that? I asked a lot of questions so give me some answers in Comments.