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Sugar and Spice – A Christmas Novella

Sugar and Spice

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Merry Christmas – 12-23-2024 Newsletter!

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Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC
Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!

Here’s some pics of the Christmas lights that we strung on our deck!

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Are you traveling for the holidays? If so, where are you headed? We’ll be in North Carolina with my husband’s family!

If you have any down time over the holidays – be sure to join my newsletter to receive your FREE eBOOK BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS!

Enjoy your holiday!

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Sunday Brunch – Giants on the Earth – Who Were the Nephilim? A Video!

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. You must try The Bakery Romance , The Candy Beach, and The Romance Bride series. Clean, wholesome Christian romance fiction – start reading today – and tell your friends and church buddies!

Christmas Decor – Named an Expert on the Rent.com Blog

Happy Holidays!

I was recently named as an expert in a Rent.com article! Check out the amazing blog post here: Design Styles to Try, Based on Your Favorite Holiday Movie

Rent. is a subsidiary of Redfin.com

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Holiday Decor – 12-15-2024 Newsletter

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Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC
Christmas Tree

I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday season! Have you put up your Christmas tree? If so, I’d love to see a picture of it!

We haven’t put up a tree since our son lost interest – which happened several years ago.

I had the urge for a tree, but didn’t want a big one. I bought a small inexpensive tree from Amazon and hung some lights from our bedroom window!

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Our son finished his exams last Friday – so he’s HOME for winter break!

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Join my mailing list to get your FREE CHRISTMAS EBOOK, Butterscotch Bliss! YOU MUST CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AFTER YOU FILL OUT THE FORM ON MY WEBSITE! The confirmation email SHOULD pop up in your in-box or spam/junk folder. Gmail users – the confirmation email might appear in the promotions, social, or updates tabs.

Butterscotch Bliss is a side story – meaning it takes place simultaneously with one of my other novels – ROCKY ROAD DREAMS. I hope you love reading about Patrick and Raquel as much as I enjoyed writing about them!

If you’ve already read BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS, and enjoyed it, then let me know!

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Speaking of holidays – books make fantastic gifts!

Download one of my novels for some relaxing holiday reading!

The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later.

Take care and let me know how you and your families are doing!

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The Bakery Romance Series

​Loving Luke Raspberry Kisses Shades of Chocolate Sweet Dreams

​Sugar and Spice Southern Comfort Sweet Delights Cinnamon Kisses​

The Candy Beach Series

​ Caramel Kisses   Chocolate Dreams   Milk Chocolate Kisses   Bittersweet Dreams   Coffee and Kisses   Rocky Road Dreams ​

The Romance Bride Series

​The Baker’s Bride The Doctor’s Bride The Blacksmith’s Bride​

Signed Paperbacks

​Christmas Book Bundle – $50 + postage​

​The Bakery Romance Series – $95 + postage ​

​The Candy Beach Series – $70 + postage

Holiday Season & Good Cheer – Newsletter 12-9-2024

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Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC
Christmas Tree Lighting

I hope all of you are enjoying your holiday season! Have you started your Christmas shopping? What have you purchased? Do you have a list of things that still need to be bought?

We attended a Christmas tree lighting in our downtown area on December 6th (Saint Nicholas Day). It was SO COLD! We had to bundle up. Santa was there, handing out candy to the kids. And the mayor of our town sang some songs.

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Sign up for my newsletter/email list to receive your FREE e-book – BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS!

Butterscotch Bliss is a side story – meaning it takes place simultaneously with one of my other novels – ROCKY ROAD DREAMS. I hope you love reading about Patrick and Raquel as much as I enjoyed writing about them!

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Have you put up your tree yet? If you have, I’d love to see it! I love looking at holiday pics!

Speaking of holidays – books make fantastic gifts!

Download one of my novels for some relaxing holiday reading! The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later.

Take care and let me know how you and your families are doing!

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The Bakery Romance Series

​Loving Luke Raspberry Kisses Shades of Chocolate Sweet Dreams

​Sugar and Spice Southern Comfort Sweet Delights Cinnamon Kisses​

The Candy Beach Series

​ Caramel Kisses   Chocolate Dreams   Milk Chocolate Kisses   Bittersweet Dreams   Coffee and Kisses   Rocky Road Dreams ​

The Romance Bride Series

​The Baker’s Bride The Doctor’s Bride The Blacksmith’s Bride​

Signed Paperbacks

​Christmas Book Bundle – $50 + postage​

​The Bakery Romance Series – $95 + postage ​

​The Candy Beach Series – $70 + postage

Latest Newsletter – 12-2-2024 – Thanksgiving Blessings

Download BUTTERSCOTCH BLISS – if you haven’t already done so! You must subscribe to my email list in order to receive the download link! I wrote this exclusive Christmas novella especially for my newsletter subscribers! The e-book version is currently not for sale anywhere! Butterscotch Bliss is a side story – meaning it takes place simultaneously with one of my other novels – ​ROCKY ROAD DREAMS​. I hope you love reading about Patrick and Raquel as much as I enjoyed writing about them!

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I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Instead of our traditional Thanksgiving, we ate at a restaurant. It was so delicious! I had turkey, stuffing, greens and mashed potatoes. Some of the folks in our group had seafood. Here’s a few pics from our gathering!

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How was your Thanksgiving? I’d love to hear about your holiday!

Speaking of holidays – books make ​fantastic gifts​! The books are gift-wrapped and include extra goodies! Consider ​gifting some​ to a friend or loved one!

Don’t forget to download one of ​my novels​ for some cool autumn reading! The ​Blacksmith’s Bride​, the third book in my historical ​Romance Bride Series​, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later. I’m so excited to be working on a new story!

Take care!

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The Bakery Romance Series

​Loving Luke​ ​Raspberry Kisses​ ​Shades of Chocolate​ ​Sweet Dreams​

​Sugar and Spice​ ​Southern Comfort​ ​Sweet Delights​ ​Cinnamon Kisses​

The Candy Beach Series

​Caramel Kisses​ ​Chocolate Dreams​ ​Milk Chocolate Kisses​ ​Bittersweet Dreams​ ​Coffee and Kisses​ ​Rocky Road Dreams​

The Romance Bride Series

​The Baker’s Bride​ ​The Doctor’s Bride​ ​The Blacksmith’s Bride​

Signed Paperbacks

​Christmas Book Bundle – $50 + postage​

​The Bakery Romance Series – $95 + postage ​

​The Candy Beach Series – $70 + postage

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you and yours a blessed and very Happy Thanksgiving!

What’s on the menu?

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College Life – 11-18-2024 Newsletter

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Divine Desserts Publishing, LLC
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Towson University!

I hope all of you have a fantastic week!

We had a wonderful time last weekend visiting our son at Towson University. He played in the marching band. This was their last home game of the season.

Here’s a pic of my son, me, husband, and father-in-law before the game. Our son was getting ready to suit up into his uniform!

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Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is coming up. What do you have planned for the holiday? Are you serving anything special?

Butterscotch Bliss

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I’m finishing Butterscotch Bliss – my exclusive Christmas novella. Thanks so much to the beta readers who’ve responded so far. Your feedback has been a great help! If things go as planned, I should have a download link available in my next newsletter – or the week after Thanksgiving at the latest! The link will not be provided on this blog! In order to receive the link – you must sign up for my newsletter – the newsletters will come via email – as well as the download link!

Speaking of holidays – books make fantastic gifts! The books are gift-wrapped and include extra goodies! Since you’re on my mailing list, if you order, you would receive an extra paperback book since you will automatically receive Butterscotch Bliss once it’s released. If you need me to clarify, send me an email! Consider gifting some to a friend or loved one!

Don’t forget to download one of my novels for some cool autumn reading! The Blacksmith’s Bride, the third book in my historical Romance Bride Series, is up for preorder on Amazon. I will provide more information about this novel later. I’m so excited to be working on a new story!

I hope you have a fantastic week! Let me know if anything exciting happens! I’d love to hear about it!

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​The Bakery Romance Series

​Loving Luke Raspberry Kisses Shades of Chocolate Sweet Dreams

​Sugar and Spice Southern Comfort Sweet Delights Cinnamon Kisses​

The Candy Beach Series

​ Caramel Kisses   Chocolate Dreams   Milk Chocolate Kisses   Bittersweet Dreams   Coffee and Kisses   Rocky Road Dreams ​

The Romance Bride Series

​The Baker’s Bride The Doctor’s Bride The Blacksmith’s Bride​

Signed Paperbacks

​Christmas Book Bundle – $50 + postage​

​The Bakery Romance Series – $95 + postage ​

​The Candy Beach Series – $70 + postage​

Divine Desserts Publishing | c/o Cecelia Dowdy 7600 Ora Glen Drive, Box 951 | Greenbelt, MD 20768-0951 US

Ruth Chapters 3 & 4

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing. Read one of our novels – sweet comforting soothing stories for parched souls. All books are Christian-themed and they are perfect for Bible study and church groups! Tell your friends by sharing this blog post! For those listening – the link is at the end of this blog post!

For chapters 3 and 4 a few things come to mind.

Ruth made herself ready for Boaz, similar to what women do today, when they go out on a date. In modern times, when women are preparing for a date, they put on their best clothes, spray on some good smelling perfume…they might even wear extra makeup. This just shows that times change, but people don’t. When Ruth laid at Boaz’s feet, the action is so sexy and humble! In Biblical times a woman would lie at a man’s feet to seek protection. In Ruth’s case, this protection included marriage.

Boaz wants Ruth to become his wife – but he must do what is legally proper for those times. He does the necessary legal act so that he can become Ruth’s husband in a way that’s pleasing to the Lord.

Ruth is blessed with a child! Naomi is thrilled for the addition to their family!

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

Chapter 3 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!

9 “Who are you?” he asked.

“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.”

10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”

14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor.”

15 He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he went back to town.

16 When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”

Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her 17 and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”

18 Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”

Chapter 4

Boaz Marries Ruth

4 Meanwhile Boaz went up to the town gate and sat down there just as the guardian-redeemer he had mentioned came along. Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down.

2 Boaz took ten of the elders of the town and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. 3 Then he said to the guardian-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our relative Elimelek. 4 I thought I should bring the matter to your attention and suggest that you buy it in the presence of these seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you will redeem it, do so. But if you will not, tell me, so I will know. For no one has the right to do it except you, and I am next in line.”

“I will redeem it,” he said.

5 Then Boaz said, “On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the dead man’s widow, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property.”

6 At this, the guardian-redeemer said, “Then I cannot redeem it because I might endanger my own estate. You redeem it yourself. I cannot do it.”

7 (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions in Israel.)

8 So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.

9 Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown. Today you are witnesses!”

11 Then the elders and all the people at the gate said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. 12 Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”

Naomi Gains a Son

13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 The women said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! 15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.”

16 Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. 17 The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The Genealogy of David

18 This, then, is the family line of Perez:

Perez was the father of Hezron,

19 Hezron the father of Ram,

Ram the father of Amminadab,

20 Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,[d]

21 Salmon the father of Boaz,

Boaz the father of Obed,

22 Obed the father of Jesse,

and Jesse the father of David.

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing. Read one of our novels – sweet comforting soothing stories for parched souls. All books are Christian-themed and they are perfect for Bible study and church groups! Tell your friends by sharing this blog post! For those listening – the link is at the end of this blog post!

BOOKS!