A short, sweet Christmas novella with old friends and new from the Barefoot Key series: Christmas in Barefoot Key

For Beth Archer, romance means the thrill of wanting—but not necessarily having—someone to love. She sets up romantic picnics complete with gourmet food, lace curtains, and velvet pillows for paying customers on the Barefoot Key beach, but she’s afraid to chance a romance of her own. What if it doesn’t live up to her fairy tale ideas? It’s too risky to fall in love herself, but when a handsome former crush comes back to the beach town, will Beth be brave enough to let Max Kenyon into her heart in time for Christmas?

I can’t believe my universe aligned this way, but I really do have TWO new books for readers this week:

Mistletoe at the Grand Hotel if you need a warm, holiday romance

The Double-Booked Beach Bungalow for a fun beach romance

I can’t believe it’s finally almost here! The Double-Booked Beach Bungalow releases in October. Here’s a little bit about it:

It’s the July Fourth holiday weekend in Barefoot Key with not a spare hotel room in sight…

Bennett Cap can’t endure the sympathetic looks of his friends and relatives, so he escapes to a beach bungalow in Barefoot Key. He’d already made the deposit for his canceled honeymoon, so why not let the sun heal his wounds while his fiancé is off in Vegas marrying someone else? When he arrives, he discovers his fiancé had canceled the honeymoon reservation, and his beach bungalow is already occupied by artist Jane Fremont.

Jane has secrets only her family knows. The truth about her dreams of being a landscape artist? Not pretty. After a failed gallery in a big city, Jane pays the bills by taking orders for custom pet portraits. She moves from place to place, unwilling to settle down until she can be proud of her work again, and the last thing she needs is a sad, jilted groom in her spare bedroom. When she hears his story, though, she offers him a temporary room. She has no idea her hospitality will have unexpected benefits, and inspiration might just roll in with the tide in Barefoot Key.

Did you know Harlequin has a Worldwide Mysteries line and they re-publish mysteries as mass market paperbacks? I’m so lucky and grateful to have one of mine included, and it releases this week! On August 24, you can grab one!

Paint store owner Millie Silver is gifted at sensing the right color scheme for every person, house, and situation. And she loves helping her Florida beach community stay unique and popular with tourists. But when Millie and her dog find ruthless real-estate developer Ransom Heyward bludgeoned to death in front of his own construction site, she’s stunned to discover just how many of her friends and neighbors wanted him permanently out of the picture…

With suspicions high and the town’s vital summer season threatened, Millie goes after the truth with the help of her techie brother, her irreverent beautician sister, and Ransom’s nephew—who’s just inherited a fortune! And even though the palette of secrets she’s uncovering is getting uglier—and more dangerous—by the second, Millie isn’t about to let a manipulative killer paint over their crimes—or stay hidden in plain sight.

https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335736307_murder-in-champagne-shores.html

The Sun and Fun Romantic Comedy sweepstakes is underway! Visit BookSweeps here: https://www.booksweeps.com/giveaway/august-2021/romantic-comedy/

The Barefoot Beach Rental is in the bundle, or you can visit its Amazon page and grab a copy right now if you’re not a gambler. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWV3T31

Thanks, readers!

Do you like reading fiction in short, serialized episodes? Kindle VELLA is for you. Check it out, and look for my sweet, summery romance First Love Do-Over with 22 episodes waiting for you!

What’s better than Christmas in July and a free book? This set of two novellas has a Christmas candy store in a small town and a secret baby! May Williams and I hope you’ll grab the book and enjoy it and the rest of our Kenyon Cove series. https://amzn.to/2UIlgAc

The 13th book in the Grand Hotel series releases June 29! On Kindle, in KU, and even in PAPERBACK! Moonlight at the Grand Hotel is everything you need for summer escape reading.

A millionaire in hiding…

Milo Pryor sells the software company that made him rich but robbed his soul and heads for White Pine Island where his friend co-owns the Grand Hotel and promises him a job for the summer. Tending bar and serving up cocktails sounds perfect for Milo who wants to meet people who don’t know him as a computer wizard and millionaire. Keeping his wealth a secret should be easy, but finding happiness seems elusive until he meets the beautiful ballroom dance instructor at the Grand Hotel.

Liza Knight has been on stage for ten years, danced in dozens of Broadway shows, and traveled the world. What Liza really wants, though, is a permanent home somewhere and a man who’s the real deal, unlike the actors she’d dated. Teaching ballroom dancing to Grand Hotel guests a few hours each day leaves her plenty of time to reevaluate her career, but she also finds the serious bartender fascinating. When they agree to a free and fun summer romance on the island, she never suspects he’s playing a part and dancing around the truth.

A fake girlfriend pact…

Holden Pierce needs a girlfriend—a fake girlfriend—to help him entertain clients he hopes will purchase homes in an exclusive housing development. He knows the ins and outs of selling real estate on White Pine Island, but he needs help socially. When pretty and social Daphne Lincoln buys a storefront in the village, he realizes she has the skills he lacks.

Daphne’s dream is to own a souvenir store like the ones she loved to visit as a kid when her family traveled. On White Pine Island, she buys a building and puts her heart into preparing her store to open. Her realtor Holden is sweet and a little shy, but he surprises her by proposing a fake dating ruse—just for business purposes. In exchange Holden offers to introduce her to islanders and help her business. It seems like a win-win with no commitments past a few weeks, so she agrees to their temporary relationship. But after dancing at the Grand Hotel and romantic walks in the moonlight, will Daphne and Holden be ready to let each other go?

Cam Cooper loves her family’s campground, the Mayfly Summer Resort that welcomes campers to the lake shore in Michigan. However, her parents intend to sell the family resort and return to their earlier wanderlust lifestyle of traveling year-round in their RV. Finished with college, Cam wants a permanent home, but she doesn’t know where she belongs.

When Nolan Mack, a handsome but mysterious maintenance man, takes up residence at the campground just for the summer, Cam finds him just as hard to resist as he is hard to figure out. She’s also puzzled by all the expensive new motorhomes being driven by longstanding guests of the Mayfly Summer Resort. Although campfires, romance, and nostalgia lull her into enjoying long summer days, Cam discovers that her future and Nolan’s depend on saving the campground and the only home she has ever known.

This book is part of the Bluegill, Michigan, series of fun, lakeside summer romances. Find the whole series here.

Can true love fit between the lines?

Writing murder-mysteries is Avery Stewart’s greatest thrill, and spending the summer as a writer in residence at the Grand Hotel is a dream working vacation. While she enjoys luxurious accommodations, she also has to face a looming deadline on the seventh book in her popular series. She can make the clues fall into place, but does she have any room in her writing schedule for handsome Ken Howell who owns the hardware store on White Pine Island?

Ken finds the island’s guest mystery author as fascinating as everyone else, but he’d like to know her as a person instead of just a writer. When he joins her for a night under the stars, they both realize there’s something between them that is far from fiction, but can a relationship compete with Avery’s deadline and her solitary writer’s lifestyle? Although he knows Avery plans to leave at the end of the summer, Ken won’t let Avery write him out until she’s given their love a chance.

At home on White Pine Island…

Veterinarian Andrew O’Connor wants nothing more than to stay in one spot. He’s ready to settle down, and White Pine Island is the perfect place to buy a home and build a future. When he meets Natalie Archer at a wedding, he can imagine a life with the lovely photographer filled with laughter, pets, and kids.

Natalie enjoys her no commitments lifestyle. Her three-month contract to take wedding pictures and digitize images for the Grand Hotel suits her perfectly. Yet, her desire to move on to a new adventure gets side-tracked by the handsome veterinarian and the romantic ambience of White Pine Island.

Andrew makes no secret of his love for her, but is that enough for Natalie to picture herself with him forever?