Nancy Naigle's Blog, page 36

Sweet contemporary love stories are just my style…

If you are one of the lucky readers that already downloaded and read THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL…then you already know what an awesome story it is. You might have even noticed that the cover blurb was from me

I was thrilled to be asked to provide that blurb because I absolutely loved THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL by Tracy March!

But it’s not just me. Readers are totally falling for Liza and Cole’s story! Here’s what Valerie over at Stuck in Books said about THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL “It wasn’t brazen or brash.  It was sweet and charming.  Little secrets that popped out made it interesting.  I must admit that at least one of those secrets was a complete blindside for me. Love it when that happens.

I enjoyed these two together.  I loved that they were on opposite sides of a baseball rivalry.  I love the pie wars.  I loved Liza’s bestie.  I loved that all the little pieces were tied up.  I loved the ending.  I felt good reading this book. If you’re looking for a nice quick read that just feels good, then give this one a shot.”

And everyone’s falling for Cole, the sexy hero. And why not…could you resist a face like this?

Yeah…that’s what I thought. He was one of her inspirations for, Cole, the hero in this book.

Hurry and get your copy today!  http://bit.ly/12AUeZM

No excuses — THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL is only $2.99 and is available for nook and kindle readers  And don’t forget to follow Tracy March on facebook and twitter (@Tracy_March) … trust me…you’ll want to be in the loop when her next book, GIRL THREE, comes out next month….and her next sweet contemporary comes out later this year.

FORWARD….MARCH…

Hi Friends,

We turned the clocks and did the SPRING FORWARD thing this weekend and I bet you all are just as antsy as I am for spring to get here. Well, today I have a special treat for you. A great book that will put you right in the swing of things.

My author friend, Tracy March, has her debut release today. The book is called THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL. It’s a sweet contemporary with small town connections and a hot baseball player as the hero. I had the great honor of reading this book prior to release. I loved the story so much that I did the cover blurb.

Don’t take my word for it….jump on over to Amazon.com and order your own copy. You’ll be swept away by Liza and Cole and if you’re like me … you’ll be anxiously awaiting the next Bliss book from Tracy later this year.

You can follow Tracy on facebook and twitter via @Tracy_March.

Let me know what you think! And if you love it … please take just a moment and leave a sweet review on Amazon. It’s one of the best gifts you can give an author

Hugs and happy reading~

Nancy

PS — Tracy is a Virginia girl, too!!

Happy Valentine’s Day

If the thought of Valentine’s Day makes you roll your eyes … let’s roll back the years to when it was exciting and fun for everyone.

Remember the days when we decorated bags or boxes so that we could exchange Valentine’s with our class mates? Those were the days. My favorites were always the ones with the sucker stabbed through the middle of the card. You know the ones — red clear heart shaped sugar with the white heart drawn on them. I remember sitting at the kitchen table for hours the weekend before Valentine’s Day carefully sorting the cards by cool vs really cool, then deciding who would get each one.

My most romantic Valentine’s Day ever was more than twenty years ago. My husband and I were just dating. I came home from work and he’d left a beautifully wrapped box with a red negligee with little diamond bling on it and a strategically placed note card that said “my lips go here” — a dozen red roses were carefully arranged in a beautiful vase next to a dozen rawhides tied with a pretty red ribbon for my little dog, Snoozy. You know the guy is serious when he’s wooing you AND your dog!

Nowadays we spend our Valentine’s celebration at the local Ruritan club where Mike is a member and helps serve the Valentine’s Day steak dinner. Since he’s racing around serving up dinners, Mom and I go together and then he joins us at the end. It’s fun for me to see my handsome husband making sure everyone is having a special evening, and I’m proud of the things he does for our community. It’s a really nice evening, and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate it.

Things change over the years, we’ve been married for 19 years this September. We might not be doing things that are romantic like we did in the beginning, but that’s okay. It might not be quite as sexy, or romantic, but it’s filled with love and I feel so lucky to keep adding great and thoughtful moments to my memory bank.

Hugs and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Soooooo—-how about sharing your favorite Valentine’s Day?

Or if that’s too private, what’s your pleasure — conversation hearts, chocolate, or red hots?

Pearl-isms – Words To Live By

WELCOME TO ADAMS GROVE…where the tea is sweet, but trouble is brewing. Sweet Tea and Secrets is the first of my books in the Adams Grove series. 

If you haven’t read Sweet Tea and Secrets yet, Pearl is the matriarch of the tiny southern town of Adams Grove. She’s a tough, sassy ol’ gal who has earned her spot in the hearts of everybody in the town. She’s known for her blue-ribbon Chocolate Pecan Pie, and for giving the best unsolicited advice in the county.  This gal will live on in the town way beyond her years on this Earth.

I think the last line in Chapter One gives such a nice peek into who Pearl is.

Pearl tucked a raw broccoli floret behind her ear and leaned in with a huge smile.

I can’t wait to be a sassy ol’ do-and-say-what’s on your mind kind of a gal!

TODAY’S PEARL-ISM:: Better to fight for what you really want then to be left wanting what you didn’t fight for.

Sweet Tea and Secrets

 

Sweet!

The re-release of Sweet Tea and Secrets on 9/25 hit the charts with amazing attention. #1 Hot New Release and a top Amazon Mover and Shaker, and is still sitting in the top 5 Kindle –> Romance –> Series slot.

Thanks so much for your support of this new cover – new twist – version from Montlake Romance. I’m thrilled with the support I’m getting from Montlake (see the beautiful flowers! They arrived on release day and this is how pretty they still look today!) and I can’t wait to bring you the next NEW title in the Adams Grove series.

Wedding Cake and Big Mistakes is penciled in for April right now. I’ll keep you posted as we finalize revisions and get the inked in release date. Like Sweet Tea and Secrets, it’ll be out in paperback, digital and audio.

You can take a little listen to Sweet Tea and Secrets in the audio snippet on the Brilliance Audio site. Just click here. Southern gal, Shannon McManus does an awesome read. Thanks, Shannon!

If you read the old version and enjoyed it….thank you and I hope you’ll take a minute and go back and LIKE the page on Amazon.com of your favorite format and maybe leave a little review. If you haven’t read an Adams Grove novel yet…I hope you will. It’s perfect timing too with the holidays just around the corner. You see Pearl Clemmons Blue Ribbon Chocolate Pecan Pie recipe (along with a couple others) is in the back of the book. You’ll think you died and went to heaven when you bite into this fudgy pecan pie recipe.

Hugs and happy reading~

Nancy

A HEA kind of day ~ Eighteen years of my own love story.

Eighteen years ago, on September 24th, I was getting married. It wasn’t my first walk down the aisle so I wasn’t about to do the big white dress thing…again.

So, sweep away those visions of a rose bouquet, white gown, men in tuxes and gals in gaudy dresses. That’s not the kind of wedding I had at all. Nope. Mike and I had just bought our small farm and the closing kept getting sc0oched out. We’d moved the wedding date once, but thank goodness, the nice folks that owned the property let us have the wedding there anyway so we wouldn’t have to move the date.

Picture this. It’s a beautiful sunny fall day in Chesapeake, Virginia. A bright red barn sits in the backdrop with the symbol HF on he big hay doors (HF for Holland Farm!), straw bale squares are set up around the concrete apron in front of the 40×50 red metal industrial building. The huge sliding doors have been opened so you can see straight through.

The wedding cake was a gift from my soon-to-be (like in any minute!) sister-in-law who had created three luscious layers of the best darn cake that met your lips. Hand decorated with board fence, little pumpkins, and piggies climbing up the side, and an arch with a John Deere tractor under it. It was perfect!!

No white gown? Oh, so you’re wondering what I did wear. Overalls, and Mike and his guys wore jeans and tuxedo t-shirts. It was a hoot. Now, I have to tell you that I wore a pair of blingy LA Gear tennis shoes (they were all the rage back then) and my girlfriend, Patty, well she didn’t even own a pair of tenny-pumps…she had to go out and get some just for the wedding hahah. It was a wonderful day and Mike’s children, Michael and Michelle, stood up with us as we took our vows and started our life together.

It was a great day of celebration and a pig-pickin that kicked butt Virginia style. We rode off on our John Deere Model B tractor…and I was glad for those overalls as I climbed up and hopped my fanny on that metal fender!

It’s been a pretty amazing 18 years with this man who somehow seems to understand me, and love me, in spite of all the crazy notions I get. He’s a tiny bit of every hero I write, and he keeps me laughing which is quite a treat.

Wishing you all your own little happy-ever-after!

Hugs~

Countdown continues – 12 Days and a Keeper Kase™

Congratulations to Virginia Rush who won the prettiest tea cup and assorted teas for joining in yesterdays fun!

I’ve got a cute Keeper Kase™ with autographed cards for SWEET TEA AND SECRETS, OUT OF FOCUS and Dianna Love’s new title, LAST CHANCE TO RUN, to get you started up for grabs today. All you have to do today is pop on over to my author page and leave your thoughts on what format you like to read in. Paper, Digital, Audio….AND you’re favorite place or time of day to read.  EASY as 1-2-3.  Click on over there now if you like! https://www.facebook.com/NancyNaigleAuthor?ref=hl

WHAT?? You don’t know what a Keeper Kase™  is? Lordy goodness, let me fill you in!  A Keeper Kase™ is the fun brainchild of author Dianna Love, and it’s a a way to collect signed covers of your favorite books (we’re calling them Keeper Kase cards)–by using a Keeper Kase™  to complement your library (ebook or print!) where you collect signed swag from your favorite authors. You can use any photo album or “brag book” that holds 4×6 inch photos–and you can have them signed and personalized to keep alongside your e-reader, or your fav collection of books.

I’ve joined a great group of authors who have cover cards ready to send so you can start your collection today.

If you don’t win today’s prize — you can always join in the Keeper Kase card fun on your own. (You won’t get the Kase…just the cards) TO RECEIVE TWO OF THESE BOOK COVERS AT A TIME Send a SASE (Self-addressed stamped #10 envelope ~ that’s the long kind! ~ and one stamp will cover it) to:  NANCY NAIGLE ~ PO Box 723 ~ Emporia, VA 23847

Each of my cards includes the cover image, and a special little something about that book, along with a place for me to personalize it for you (or that someone special as a gift or keepsake).

Now you can collect signed covers of your favorite books. Perfect for fans of digital reading, and a fun gift for that hard to buy for book lover on your list.

These cards solve for some of the feedback we’ve heard recently, like:

Bookstores who won’t let you get an autograph without buying a physical copy of the book
E-Reader covers filled with signatures that don’t transfer when you upgrade your equipment
Authors who don’t make it to your town for a signing

To see the latest list of authors with cards ready for your own Keeper Kase™ , visit Dianna Love’swebsite.

Can’t wait to see your posts on facebook….and here too if you like…Hugs and happy reading~

Nancy

Countdown to release…on 9/25…13 days to go!

I always get worried when I do math in public . . . haha . . . but we’re going to say 13 days and just count on down from here.  On Tuesday, September 25th, SWEET TEA AND SECRETS will be released by Montlake Romance. You don’t have to wait to order it, you can pre-order today. I’m hoping you, my friends!, will help me spread the word so we give this book a happy launch day on the 25th!  To get in celebration mode, each day until then I’m going to give a little something away. You in? It’s easy! I promise.

Yesterday, Dina Stornello, was the winning commenter. I just shipped out her advanced reader’s copy of Sweet Tea and Secrets, a Killer Nashville Read. Relax. Repeat. Tote Bag and a couple other goodies. Fun!

Ready for your chance to win??  

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO TODAY??

If you haven’t already – go to Amazon and click the like button on your favorite version (print, digital or audio) of Sweet Tea and Secrets.
Share the link to the recipe for Pearl’s Perfect Sweet Tea with your friends on facebook or twitter -> http://www.NancyNaigle.com/sweettea.htm
Leave a message on my facebook author page www.facebook.com/nancynaigleauthor on the question of the day — how do you like your tea??
Cross your fingers!

WHAT’S UP FOR GRABS?

An adorable tea mug and assorted Harney & Sons tea, along with a Killer Nashville READ. RELAX. REPEAT. tote bag because they are so handy!  I’ll draw today’s winner at midnight PST so all our friends coast to coast get a chance.

GOOD LUCK!

Hugs and happy reading!   Nancy

Together ~ we can make a difference!

Sometimes a task seems so big ~ and when it’s helping someone who is battling a disease ~ finding a way to help can feel impossible.

Take heart in knowing that together, even tiny contributions, when combined with others do make a difference. I ran across this saying on facebook this morning, and it aligned perfectly with what I wanted to share with you today.

My cousin, Jenn, is married to her childhood sweetheart, Greg, and is the mother of two pre-teen boys.  In 2009, she was diagnosed with a type of colorectal cancer and she’s been through several treatment plans since. You can read about her journey and the latest updates at http://jenniferpmcmanus.wordpress.com/my-story/. I’m mentioning her today, because she’s  just started a new treatment, and as if the treatments alone are not hard enough, she’s having to travel from Carolina down to Florida for them.

Finances are a roadblock in being able to get her boys and family members to  her during this journey and I’m hopeful we can join together to make a difference. Even $1 adds to the bounty and will help. There’s a fund already setup and you can contribute online through paypal, or if you’re like me and prefer a paper trail — Crossroads Publishing House, LLC will be routing funds to her.

CROSSROADS PUBLISHING HOUSE ~ PO BOX 723 ~ EMPORIA, VA 23847  (Make your check to Crossroads Publishing House – Friends of Jenn)

or directly through paypal to: gmjm0906@me.com  (Gregory and Jenn McManus)

…and seriously, every dollar counts.

I’m a true believer in teaming up with others to make a difference. You might recall my posts on facebook about the Cancer Relay For Life in Norfolk earlier this year, and that I was a category captain for Brenda Novak’s Online Auction to Find a Cure for Diabetes. We raised a final total of $2600 contribution for the diabetes auction and I’m working hard to come up with good ideas to raise the bar for my category next year. If you have any suggestions, please share them!

What will you do to make a difference in someone else’s life this week?

It’s National Scrabble Week 8/11-8/15 – GAME ON!

I grew up in a family that liked to play games. We were always competitive and I still to this day love to play games. Mom and I get together or Yahtzee and Scrabble nights whenever I can make the time and there is no mercy.

So, let’s have some letter-ific fun on National Scrabble Week.

With the tiles shown below — make your best word. And since this should be fun I’m giving you more than 7 tiles. Post your word and add up the points. Let’s see who wins.

Can’t wait to see how creative y’all get!!

Hugs and happy spelling~

Nancy