Julie Coulter Bellon's Blog, page 3

Today is National Dark Chocolate Day!

Today is National Dark Chocolate Day. Do you love dark chocolate? Or are you more of a milk chocolate person?

A Free Book for Regency Romance Fans!

I know it's not quite Freebie Friday, but I couldn't resist passing along this deal! I loved this book by Joanna Barker! Enemies to lovers. Great supporting cast. Lots of swoony romance. If you love all of that, you should definitely pick this one up.

Get your free copy HERE

Here's the back copy:

If you can't join them, beat them.

Marigold Cartwell has only one goal: to defeat her long-time rival on the archery field. She knows she can outshoot irritating, cynical Tristan Gates, but the local bowmen’s society—the one he belongs to—refuses to allow women to compete. Spurred on by their rejection, Marigold decides to start a new society. Naturally, it has only one rule: no men.

Tristan Gates is used to Marigold Cartwell always getting her way, so he is far from surprised when she forms her own society. He knows how relentless she can be, something he learned firsthand facing her at the targets. But Tristan has enough worries of his own, what with his bachelor uncle falling in love with a fortune hunter. He has no time to entertain Marigold’s ambitions.

However, after a visit to the seashore ends in disaster—and scandal—Marigold and Tristan soon realize how little they know about each other. The strained tension between them quickly turns to simmering attraction, but an important archery competition looms ahead. Lines are drawn all around them, with Marigold and Tristan on opposite sides, and neither can afford to lose. Yet winning might be the very thing to tear them apart.

Monday Morning Book Report

Monday Morning Book Report: Well, it was a crazy week.
I got a deal on a trilogy set in the 1840s, and two of the books take place in Central Asia (I love learning about new places and other cultures) and the romances looked really interesting, so I dove in. 
Each of the three books was around 500 pages, but I sort of took that as a personal challenge and read them all in the last week. The storylines were compelling and the setting was amazing, but if you are a sensitive reader, there was a little spice in all the books and two of the books dealt with really difficult material that was hard for me to get through. (One of the heroes endures horrible torture, another book describes some horrific child abuse). 
The middle book in the series was enjoyable for me because it was an action adventure romance featuring a couple who had married years ago in London, but the bride ran away. Twelve years later her groom finds her in a remote area of Central Asia, and they're trying to make their way back to each other while on a rescue mission. 
So, in the end, I guess what I'm telling you is that I've had a lot of late nights in the last week, but I read three books! What book are you reading? Have you been up late reading this past weekend?

It's Freebie Friday for Romance Fans!

I love the Freebie Friday we have today! 
One of my favorite Mimi Matthews books is free today, The Matrimonial Advertisement! A battle-scarred former soldier and a woman with a secret try to find their way to love, but with so many obstacles in their way can they find what they're looking for?
Get your free copy HERE
Here's the back copy:
She Wanted Sanctuary...

Helena Reynolds will do anything to escape her life in London, even if that means traveling to a remote cliffside estate on the North Devon coast and marrying a complete stranger. But Greyfriar's Abbey isn't the sort of refuge she imagined. And ex-army captain Justin Thornhill--though he may be tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome--is anything but a romantic hero.

He Needed Redemption...

Justin has spent the last two decades making his fortune, settling scores, and suffering a prolonged period of torture in an Indian prison. Now, he needs someone to smooth the way for him with the villagers. Someone to manage his household--and warm his bed on occasion. What he needs, in short, is a wife and a matrimonial advertisement seems the perfect way to acquire one.

Their marriage was meant to be a business arrangement and nothing more. A dispassionate union free from the entanglements of love and affection. But when Helena's past threatens, will Justin's burgeoning feelings for his new bride compel him to come to her rescue? Or will dark secrets of his own force him to let her go?

Monday Morning Book Report on a Tuesday!

Monday morning book report (on Tuesday, since yesterday was a holiday, haha!) I started reading The Crime Brulee Bake Off by Rebecca Connolly and I'm just in the setting up the mystery part of the book and I have to say, I'm intrigued! I love mysteries. 
What did you read over the weekend?

Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

I love this quote. Happy Martin Luther King Jr. day!

Free Regency Romance!

It's Freebie Friday! If you love regency romance, the To Kiss a Wallflower collection of novellas is free today!
Get your free copy HERE
Here's the back copy:
Eventually, all wallflowers will have their chance at love . . . This is where it begins.

The Wallflower’s Dance by Jen Geigle Johnson
Lottie Hughes likes people, as long as they aren't too close. Does it bother her that no one asks her to dance? Yes, but she's not sure how to drum up dance partners when she has almost no dowry, no title, and freezes up when anyone tries to talk to her. When she suddenly inherits a huge amount and is the new center of attention all over London, her secret dreams might come true but also her worst nightmares. Suddenly everyone wants to talk to her. Men ask her to dance. And she is inundated with interested suitors. She fights to stay close to the few friends she knows are true. One man saw her before her life changed forever. But does she want to accept his help when he, too, might be insincere?

Letters to a Wallflower by Heather B. Moore
Ellen might be beautiful and considered a diamond of the first water by Society, but she is so very tired of the pressure to marry a titled gentleman so that her beauty won’t go to waste. When her cousin Dinah dares Ellen to attend a ball with no frills and to stand with the wallflowers, Ellen takes on the dare. What’s in the wager for her? The prize cuttings of her aunt’s extraordinary roses. But what Ellen isn’t expecting is Lord Ravenshire to engage her in the most interesting conversation. When she confesses to him of her opposition in marrying for a title, he confesses his distaste of the London scene. They strike a bargain together, one which will either push them apart or lead to a future sweeter than either of them could have imagined.

To Marry a Wallflower by Anneka R. Walker
Charlotte Winters is destined to spinsterhood until she turns down an unwanted proposal and everything changes. With gossip rampant, her father attempts to salvage her reputation by betrothing her to another. Soon she is sent off to her aunt’s to meet Lord Templeton, her intended. Anxiety-ridden, Charlotte begs her aunt to let her observe Lord Templeton from afar before their introduction. She never planned to pretend to be her fictional cousin to learn more about him, or to fall in love with Lord Templeton’s friend in the process. Lord Templeton dreads returning to the empty halls of Newcliff Manor. When his father’s old friend, Mr. Winters reaches out for assistance, Lord Templeton finds himself returning home engaged to a woman he has never met. Desperate to learn more about Miss Winters, he befriends her cousin. He wouldn’t have spoken to her, or lied about his identity, if he’d known the quiet woman would sneak into his heart.

Monday Morning Book Report

It's so hard to get back to real life now that the Christmas break is over. I did do a lot of reading over the break, though, and I loved that. There's just something about snuggling up in a soft blanket on a cold day with a great book, am I right?
So, for today's Monday morning book report, what book did you read over the weekend/break? I just started A.L. Sowards Beyond the Crescent Sky. I am loving her Balkan Legends series and so far, this one is amazing. 
Now tell me what YOU'RE reading!

Free Christmas Stories!

Can you believe the holidays are just around the corner? Are you looking for some sweet stories to put you in the holiday spirit? Under the Mistletoe novella collection is free for the next few days! (I have a story in there, too!) 
Download your free copy HERE
Here's the back copy:
Six Award-Winning Authors have contributed new stories to A Timeless Romance Anthology: Under the Mistletoe Collection. Six contemporary novellas, all adding sweet romance to the Christmas season.

FORGOTTEN KISSES by Cindy Roland Anderson: Costume designer Madison Taylor has no love lost when the male lead playing Sir Lancelot in a TV series is fired. She couldn’t stand working with him anyway. But when she discovers who his replacement is, her heart nearly stops. Caleb Matthews is one of the hottest male actors ever… and not to mention Madison’s former boyfriend. When things got too serious between them, everything fell apart. And now, Madison must play nice or lose her job. She just has to forget all of the reasons she’d fallen for him in the first place.

THE LAST CHRISTMAS by Annette Lyon: Meredith only has to make it through the Christmas holiday pretending that she and her husband Eric aren’t on the verge of divorce. She doesn’t want to ruin the holiday for her two grown daughters and their boyfriends. But when Eric hurries home after weeks of living in a motel to unpack before their daughters arrive, he starts pressing Meredith with questions about why she filed for divorce. The last thing Meredith wants to do it give Eric a second chance, but it seems that Eric is not willing to let her go without trying to win her back.

TRUTH OR DARE by Julie Bellon: After a year of recovery, wounded war veteran Jonah Harrison comes home for Christmas. No longer the outgoing high school track star, he just wants to be left alone, away from well-meaning friends and neighbors. But when a blizzard strands him with Cami Jackson—the girl who once knew him best—he can’t hide anything from her, no matter how much he wants to. Cami has a wounded heart of her own, though, and it might take a Christmas miracle for them to find the healing they both long for and the courage to reach for a chance at love.

HOLIDAY BUCKET LIST by Sarah M. Eden: Celeste Lagorio has officially given up on Christmas. A single mother, with her children grown and unable to return for the holiday, Celeste determines to take a break from everything. When her single neighbor and almost-best-friend, Mike Durham, discovers her non-plans, they discuss things they’ve always wanted to do, but never had time. Mike and Celeste put together a friendly competition of checking off the things on their bucket list, all the while drawing closer and discovering they have more in common than they thought.

CHRISTMAS EVERY DAY by Heather B. Moore: Monica is on the verge of buying her dream store, but when she tells her boyfriend, he turns it into an embarrassing public argument. Heartbroken, but determined to follow her dream, she goes to her employer’s Christmas party to play Mrs. Claus, only to be paired with someone unexpected. A young Mr. Claus who is the complete opposite of her ex-boyfriend in all the most important ways. Yet, Monica is not sure she can risk opening her heart again.

FIRST (AND LAST) CHRISTMAS DATE by Jennifer Griffith: Pilot Juliet Law has been in a holding pattern, dating the wrong guy, until she gets a holiday shake-up: old flame Tag McClintock e-mails her to ask for second date—after ten years. Their first date, back in high school, had been an unmitigated disaster culminating with Pepto Bismol and the police. Still, Juliet would have gone out with Tag again the next day—and the next—had he asked. So now that he’s finally popping up in her in-box again, Juliet must decide whether to say yes to the date, even if it puts her at risk of another decade of carrying a torch for Tag McClintock. Will their second date be their last?

A Giveaway!

It is my birthday month! Woohoo! And to celebrate I'm giving away a signed copy of my romantic suspense, Second Guess! It's part of my Griffin Force series, but can definitely be read standalone. To enter, tell me one thing you love about winter!