Christmas Countdown 2018 Day #13

Christmas Countdown 2018 Day #13

Posted on by Cindy

 

 
 

 

Award-winning author, wife, mother, grandmother, Harry Potter geek, Army veteran, karate black belt, and online gamer girl.
 
 
 

 

   
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Recently widowed Rae Cavanaugh just survived the worst birthday of her life. She and her two young children must now face a holiday season filled with so many reminders of what they’ve lost. 
 
But when a coworker who’s raising his young nephew moves next door, Rae discovers that the support of a good friend, and the gift of a child, can bring back some of the joy of the season.

 

 
**A Novelette**
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Snippet:
They spent the afternoon sorting the boxes. That’d been another bit of Amelia’s
advice, marking the boxes by room. Rae had taken the children into Jayden’s
room while Dylan worked at setting up his computer and sound system in the
living room.
For some reason, Beth had decided she wanted to play wherever he was. When he went into the kitchen with a box, she’d followed him. Then he’d moved one to the
bathroom, and she’d tagged along. When he’d returned to the living room, his
little shadow came along. Rae had collected her for a diaper change, but then
Beth resumed her search for Dylan again.

 

He paused, keyboard in hand, and watched the toddler playing with a toy. Was she
drawn to him because he was a man and she missed the man in her life? How did a
small child who couldn’t comprehend death handle the reality of it? All the
poor kid knew was that her daddy wasn’t there anymore.
 

 


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Favorite Christmas Reads #3

Posted on by Cindy

Welcome to my third and final favorite Christmas reads. Its hard to believe that  Christmas is almost here.

I started to read this series a year or two ago and loved it but I really need to continue it.

The Christmas Shoes: A Novel Based on the #1 Single by NewSongThe Christmas Blessing: A NovelThe Christmas Hope: A Novel

The Christmas Promise: A NovelThe Christmas Secret: A NovelThe Christmas Journey

The Christmas Note: A Novel

The rest of the series I need to finish up.

The Christmas Light: A NovelThe Christmas Town: A NovelThe Christmas Star: A Novel

If your looking for a fun and quick series to read then I highly recommend this one.

Book Blitz/ Kingdom of Glass & Ashes

Posted on by Cindy

Kingdom of Glass and Ashes: A Limited Edition Collection of Cinderella Retellings
Publication date: December 18th 2018
Genres: Adult, Fairy Tales, Fantasy

A classic fairy tale- but not how you remember it…

What if the stepmother wasn’t the only one who was wicked and Prince Charming wasn’t what he seemed? What if your favourite princess didn’t make it home by midnight?

Be transported to far away lands where fantasy and magic come together and pumpkins and princes are joined by shifters and stepsisters in this captivating collection of one of the greatest love stories ever told.

From the imagination of our authors, prepare to meet Cinderella as you’ve never read before. Kingdom of Glass and Ashes is a spellbinding collection of retellings, written by multiple USA Today and bestselling authors telling their own version of the beloved tale.

Get ready for romance, excitement, enchantment and more than just a glass slipper.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

—

SNEAK PEEKS:

Excerpt from Holly Hook:
I’m Ellia, Syndie’s ugly stepsister. Mother knows this, so she works Syndie to the bone, but this whole time, she’s been waiting. Planning. Syndie wants us on the streets, and despite my kindness, I’m no exception.

Following her to the Courts lands me in the hands of a handsome guard, Jasper. Literally. And he doesn’t seem to notice my corset or frizzy hair. Nervous and secretive, Jasper wants to stop cruel Prince Calvin from becoming King, which he’ll do when he chooses his wife at the royal ball. And now I’m key to a plan that can save my family and the entire Kingdom.

Our weapons? Two magical slippers. One gives false beauty–but only until midnight. Then the other shows the wearer’s true nature. If Prince Calvin even holds the hand of his chosen when the clock strikes twelve, the spell hits him, too. Everyone will see the truth and he’ll never become King.

He and Syndie deserve each other.

I must make her dreams come true. But Mother, my sister, and a kingdom of jealous girls will do anything to stop Syndie from snagging the Prince. But what terrifies me the most is that trapped slipper. I can’t let Jasper see how ugly I am, but if it all goes wrong, I’ll have to give myself to its magic.

The Kingdom must be saved at all costs, even if I must sacrifice my happily ever after.

—

Blurb from Emma Savant:
Hidden in the city of Portland, Oregon, is a shimmering world of magic—one faerie Olivia Feye doesn’t want to touch with a ten-foot wand. She’d rather study biology, or garden, or floss her teeth, or do literally anything except pay attention to the Glimmering world and her internship at Portland’s premier faerie godparent agency.

But when her supervisor is hospitalized after a flying pumpkin carriage accident, Olivia is thrust into the middle of a case. And this one won’t be easy: Her client is Elle, a barista whose plans don’t include an enchanted prom or Prince Charming.

The reward for a happily-ever-after is enough gold pieces to get Olivia out of the Glimmering world forever. But as she comes face-to-face with the complexities of faerie godmothering, she’s forced to wonder: How much is she willing to sacrifice for her own happy ending?

—

Blurb from D.L Pitchford:
A modern day Cinderella with a twist…

High school seniors Noah Barton and Eden Prince have competed for top of their class since age seven. When their academic rivalry ruins a thermodynamics demo, their physics teacher decides to help them get along. By forcing them to be lab partners.

As graduation approaches, Noah and Eden are too busy figuring out college to deal with each other. Noah’s football-loving dad sabotages his chance to win a big scholarship. Eden’s traditional mother cares more about finding her a husband than encouraging her dreams.

Winning big at the regional science fair is their last hope.

Will Noah follow in his mother’s footsteps? Can Eden show her parents the environment is more important than a boyfriend? Will Noah and Eden finally learn to work together?

Follow Noah and Eden’s budding romance in this emotionally charged, gender-swapped retelling of Cinderella.

Blurb from Cate Dean:
Sometimes, you have to create your own happily ever after…

Elle Summers spends her days taking care of her stepmother and stepsisters, but she is secretly working on her escape. With the help of her best friend, she plans to act her way to freedom.

When she auditions for a local production, her life is turned upside down by entrepreneur and producer Henry Winters. He needs a new leading lady for his Broadway production, and he wants her. He sweeps her off her feet and to the Great White Way, where she finally has her chance to shine.

But in the whirlwind of her new life, she forgets one thing – her stepmother and stepsisters.

While she starts to live the life she’s always dreamed about, they are plotting a way to bring her home. And if their plan works, Elle will fail – in a way that not even a fairy godmother can fix.

 

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Sunday's In Bed With

Sunday’s In Bed With

Posted on by Cindy

This is being hosted by two of the sweetest people I have the privilege of knowing in real life, Kate and Kim. Sadly we don’t talk like we use to because you know real life happens but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them both.

Good Morning everyone. Hope you all had a good week and a good weekend. I just happened to notice that we are a little over a week away until Christmas, are you ready? I am as ready as I will be this year. Next year definitely will have to plan a little better.

As you can see this was a pretty good reading week. I am reading more at night to try and calm my brain since it still seems a little wired from that first dose of medication I was on and I am trying to avoid taking anything to help me sleep.

This past week I read:

The Christmas Shoes: A Novel Based On The #1 Single By NewsongPride And Prejudice And Mistletoe

This week I am re-reading:

The Christmas Blessing: A NovelThe Christmas Hope: A Novel

What are you reading this week?

Christmas Countdown Day 12

Posted on by Cindy
 

 

Eva Marie Everson is the bestselling, multiple award-winning author of both fiction and nonfiction. She is the president of Word Weavers International and the director of Florida Christian Writers Conference and the North Georgia Christian Writers Conference.
 
Eva Marie is a popular speaker at writers conferences and women’s groups across the United States.
 
 
 

 

 

Award-winning author Eva Marie Everson wraps up a Christmas story of hope, love, and forgiveness just in time for the holidays. 
 
The Ornament Keeper, a contemporary Christmas novella, features Felicia and Jackson Morgan who are spending their first Christmas apart after twenty years of marriage. But a lifetime of gifted ornaments helps Felicia piece together the story of their marriage and the one mistake of unforgiveness she made before they said, “I do.” 
 
Can these memory-filled ornaments reunite this family before Christmas? Only time will tell.
 
 
 

 

 

 

Snippet:
Christmas Season,
1999
Jackson ambled up
beside me, his thickly muscled arms laden with plastic bags of this and that
we’d already purchased. “Leesha,” he said. “Do we need this?”
“Oh,
Jackson,” I breathed out, my fingertips lightly touching her delicate features.
“And look at how sweet the baby Jesus is laying there.”
Jackson
nudged me. “And there’s poor Joseph leaning on his staff,” he teased. “Poor man
doesn’t have a clue what’s hit him.”
I
frowned up at my six-foot-six husband of nearly one year. “Very funny, Jackson
Morgan. And completely sacrilegious. I’m sure he knew.”
“I’m
sure he didn’t.” Jackson raised his arms, the plastic bags coming with them.
“Now, listen. You’ve spent all we can afford to spend right now on these old
bowls,” he said. “And why, I’ll never know.”
 I pouted, hoping to get my way with him. If
I’d learned one thing in our brief marriage, it was how to get my way. “They’re
not old. They’re antiques. And think how pretty they’ll look on our cute little
table on Christmas day when we have your mom and my dad over.” I linked my arm
with his and squeezed. “Besides, you can’t get new stuff like this.”
“None
of it matches,” he said, his brow furrowed.
I
kissed his shoulder, then nibbled at it. “It’s called eclectic.”
Jackson
bent down to give me a kiss. “That’s called dirty pool.”
“Does
that mean I can have the nativity set?”
He
kissed me again. “No. It means we can’t afford it, no matter how cute you try
to be.”
I
let out a deep sigh, and stroked the top of the stable. Jackson was right. Our
budget was limited, more than I’d ever dream of before Sara was born. I walked
away. But the crèche found its way under the tree that year, along with the
annual ornament nestled in the toe of my stocking.
Christmas Season
2018
“Oh,
Jackson,” I whispered past the knot in my chest and in the silence of the guest
room as I unwrapped the mother of our Lord. “How you surprised me.”

 


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Christmas Countdown Day 11

Posted on by Cindy

 

The Crazy Cady Sisters have known each other all their lives. With 179 years of accumulated life-experience, we are well versed in Cady-isms.
 
Between the four of us, we’ve experienced:
•        18 businesses ventures
•        22 children acquired in a variety of ways (marriage, birth, adoption, etc)
•        5 1/2 grandchildren
•        Lived in 5 different states
•        One of us went to college to be a concert pianist.
•        On of us thought about going to college to be a concert pianist.
•        One of us is an addictions counselor.
•        One of us is addicted to diet soda.
•        Volunteer for 8+ organizations
•        1 lived above a mortuary
•        1 was chased by a K-9 unit while toilet papering.
•        3 of us were homeless for 2.5 months while we toured the United States.
•        1 of us can say the Pledge of Allegiance in three different languages.
•        We sold rocks door to door.
•        1 used to transcribe the newspaper into the computer when she got bored.
•        Are joint owners of WhodunnitMysteries.com  
In March, 2017 we decided to band together to form Crazy Cady Sisters to co-author a hilariously heart-warming non-fiction story about parenting, child-rearing, and growing up in a family with ten children.

 ~ Website ~
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! And in the Cady household that means kicking your creativity into high gear. 
 
What would you do if you had ten children and no money for Christmas? And what exactly does Christmas look like when ten sets of hands are poised, ready to rip open their Christmas gifts – is it chaos, or do Monte and Barbara make us sit quietly, tormenting us as we watch each and every present opened by our siblings? What about decorations? Traditions? Jokes? Christmas trees and more? The questions and possibilities are endless, and you never know what the answer may be in the Cady home.Follow our family as we recount some of our favorite, least-favorite, and downright bizarre stories of parenting and growing up in a family with ten siblings! We’ll add a touch of nostalgia by focusing entirely on our favorite holiday of the year: CHRISTMAS!

 

~ Universal Amazon Link ~ 
   

Snippet:
“Susan, leave it
alone,” Mom said while holding Cathy on her lap, handing Patty an ornament, and
answering at least fifty-seven questions from various children simultaneously.
It didn’t take us long to get the boxes emptied and the ornaments nestled in
their piney beds where they’d stay for the next twenty-five days. Peggy and
Judy wrapped the limbs with red and gold metallic garland, and Dad hurried to
his room, walking out with a bucket (yes, a bucket!) of miniature candy canes. 

 


 To view our blog schedule and follow along with this tour visit our Part 2 Official Event page