Tawdra Kandle's Blog, page 26

DAYS OF YOU AND ME Release Day

DAYS OF YOU AND ME
The final book in the Keeping Score Trilogy
is available now.
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Once upon a time, not that long ago, I had just about everything I ever wanted. I was a star football player at one of the best colleges in the country, and I had the girl I’d always loved by my side. The promise of a future most guys can only dream about was close enough to touch.

But if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that life is unpredictable. One twist can change it all, and suddenly, I’m alone. Even football, the one constant in all the insanity, somehow isn’t enough anymore, because without her, everything else is empty. Meaningless.

I’ve got one shot left. One more chance to win her heart. We’re not kids now, and I know that being good enough for Quinn isn’t some game I can fake my way through. She’s more than the prize; she’s my reason for living. The world only makes sense when we’re together.

And this time, I’m going to do whatever it takes to give us our happy ending.

 

Buy your copy today!
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And after you buy your book, join us Wednesday, September 28th as we celebrate the release! Some of the giveaway questions will require you to know the story~or at least to have the book!~but don’t worry: this is an open book test.
Join here.

 

Don’t forget that WHEN WE WERE US is free for a very limited time. 
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And HANGING BY A MOMENT is available at all retailers!
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Tawdra Kandle writes romance, in just about all its forms. She loves unlikely pairings, strong women, sexy guys, hot love scenes and just enough conflict to make it interesting. Her books include YA paranormal romance,  NA paranormal and contemporary romance, and adult contemporary and paramystery romance. She lives in central Florida with a husband, kids, sweet pup and too many cats. And yeah, she rocks purple hair.

Follow Tawdra:

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And if you love her books, join the Naughty Temptresses!

Score Big With Football Romance!

I’ve got the best news: this week is the official kick-off of football season in the US–and with college football back, too, we’ve all got lots of chances to catch our favorite teams playing our favorite game.

So what makes this even better? We have EIGHT football romances for you to huddle with right here, each of which is a touchdown (and the extra point, too!).

Check out each one–and as a bonus, each author is giving you her own favorite sports romance recommendation.

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Some Enchanted Season by Patricia Burroughs ON SALE for .99 at Amazon

Find Patricia on Facebook, Twitter and her website. And sign up for her newsletter!

Patricia recommends . . . Sosie Frost‘s Happily Ever All-Star, A Secret Daddy Romance. She hooked me with the sizzlin’ guy on the cover, reeled me in with “Secret Daddy,” and totally delivered with laugh-out-loud funny and heart-tugging sweetness.

~~~***~~~

A Tempting Dare by Cathryn Fox only $1.99 at Amazon

You can find Cathryn on Facebook, Twitter . . . follow her on Amazon and BookBub, check out her website (for a free book!)

And sign up for her newsletter

If you’re interested in joining Cathryn’s Street Team, they’d LOVE to have you. They have a lot of fun over there, and lots of special prizes and contests for her lovely FOXY ladies!

Cathryn recommends . . .Dare to Love by Carly Phillips: A hot, heartwarming story about family, love and trust. Oh, and did I mention it’s HOT and FREE right now??

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Game Changer by Ann Jacobs

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Ann is on Facebook and Twitter . . . visit her website and sign up for her newsletter! 

Ann recommends . . .  Jaci Burton’s Play-by-Play series won’t disappoint you, no matter which pro sport you fancy! As a football fan and steamy romance lover, I have The Perfect Play high up on my keeper shelves—but there’s not a loser in the 12 hot novels and novellas. Check out Jaci’s website and get in the game!

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When We Were Us by Tawdra Kandle is FREE on iBooks/Barnes and Noble/Kobo/Google (and maybe on Amazon, if they get their act together.)

Visit Tawdra on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Pinterest/website, and follow her on Amazon and BookBub.

Sign up for her newsletter!

Tawdra recommends . . . Rookie Move by Sarina Bowen. She’s my favorite hockey writer, and this book has it all: sizzling romance, hunky guy, sassy chick and all the right moves!

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Bold by Nicola Marsh 

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Hang out with Nicola on Facebook and Twitter, and visit her website, where you can sign up for her newsletter!

Nicola recommends . . .  Nobody’s Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, part of her Chicago Stars series. Cal Bonner is a seriously hot hero and this book got me hooked on SEP. It’s on my keeper shelf!

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Playing for Keeps by Liz Matis FREE on Amazon/iBooks/Barnes and Noble/Kobo

Get to know Liz on Facebook, Twitter and on her website. Sign up for her newsletter!

Liz recommends . . . Blindsided by Jami Davenport, the first book in Jami’s Seattle Steelheads subseries. So much hot fun with these hunky football players . . . and some old favorites from the hockey books, too!

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Play by Holly S. Roberts is FREE on Amazon/iBooks/Barnes and Noble/Kobo

Meet Holly on Facebook, Twitter and her website. 

Sign up for her newsletter!

Holly recommends . . . Diva in the Dugout by Arlene Hittle. Arlene is a riot to be around, and her stories are romantic comedy. Add baseball to the mix, and you’ll understand why I love this woman and her books.

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Under the Autumn Sky by Liz Talley is available on Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Kobo

 Get to know Liz on Facebook, Twitter and her website

Liz recommends . . . The Deal by Elle Kennedy, the first book in Elle’s sizzling and wickedly funny Off-Campus series: football players, snarky women and the bumpy road that leads to true love . . . eventually.  

 

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Tell Me Your Love Story . . . Mommy and Daddy

This is one love story that is very near and dear to me, since without it, I wouldn’t be here. Also, I got to witness a lot of it up-close and personal.

 

In March of 1943, Harry and Marian Thompson had their second child. Their first son had come into the family via adoption, as Marian thought she was unable to have biological children, but then about eighteen months later, she was proved wrong. They named their son Robert David. His middle name was after Marian’s brother who had been killed at Guadalcanal the autumn before; Marian was still grieving.

Bobby as he was called by his family was born in Philadelphia, although the Thompsons lived in New Jersey.

In July of 1943, in Billingsport, New Jersey, Robert and Martha Murray had their thirteenth child, a girl. As they were both over forty years old, Martha had suspected this pregnancy was a tumor before she realized she was in the family way . . . again . . . twenty years after her first child was born. They named the little girl Juana Regina after the nurse who had helped deliver their daughter Barbara five years before, but they mostly called her Jeanne or Jeanie.

Over the next 14 years, Bobby Thompson and Jeanie Murray would cross paths, though they never actually met. Both moved to Pitman, New Jersey (Bobby in 1949 and Jeannie some time in the mid-1950s).  They went sledding as children on the same hill in the small town of Pitman. They had mutual friends. But Jeanie, like her siblings, attended Catholic school, and Bobby went to public school.

But in 1957, Jeanne began high school at Pitman High. Outgoing and vivacious, she joined the cheerleaders and enjoyed her classes. But it was at a school dance that autumn that her life really changed. She was standing in the gym when one of her friends pointed out Bob Thompson, a guy well-known in the class as a football player, baseball player and class president. The friend had a crush and wanted to ask him to dance. Jeanne volunteered to tell Bob that her friend was interested, but somehow once she got over there, she ended up dancing with him instead.

By that spring, the two were going steady, and they never stopped.

After high school, Bob went to West Point. For four long years, Jeanne made the trip up to the Academy every weekend. She didn’t miss a football game or a hop or any other event. As a matter of fact, when I was up there last May for my dad’s 50th class reunion, as many people recalled my mom as they did their classmate, my dad.

Ten days after graduation, on June 19, 1965, Bob and Jeanne were married at the Presbyterian Church in Pitman. Bob spent the next year going to Ranger School and Airborne School as he prepared for his first tour in Vietnam. He left in August 1966 . . . and when he left, I was already on my way.

They did meet in Hawaii that December for R&R, but Bob didn’t come home until June 1967. I was almost three months old by then. Another tour of Vietnam came when I was two years old. Those heartbreaking separations took their toll on both Bob and Jeanne, and they vowed thereafter that they wouldn’t be apart if they could do anything to help it.

Bob left the Army and began working for Proctor and Gamble, and then left that company to fulfill a lifelong dream of going to law school. He graduated in 1979. By that time, we were back in New Jersey, after living in Pennsylvania and California, where my sister was born.

While Bob attended law school, Jeanne went back to work as a secretary. She was glad to quit, though, once he was finished; being a wife and mother was all she’d ever wanted, and she was happy to be back at home, where she also helped Bob with his work on a regular basis.

Over the years, they gained a reputation among friends and family as the closest, most devoted couple anyone knew. Neither liked to be away from the other. They did enjoy travel, though–Maui being the favored destination–and they were consummately focused on their family: children and grandchildren came second only to each other.

In early 2001, Bob was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, caused by his exposure to Agent Orange during Vietnam. Although he was very ill, Jeanne determinedly nursed him through an autologous stem cell transplant and into remission for nearly four years. In 2005, when he came out of remission, a subsequent bone marrow harvest was unsuccessful, and on June 9, 2006, forty-one years to the day after his West Point graduation and just shy of their 41st anniversary, Bob passed peacefully out of this world. He was 63.

Jeanne was grief-stricken, so much so that for a while, we chalked up her own sudden onset of symptoms to that emotional break with the man who had been her entire world for nearly fifty years. But two months after his death, she was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia and was in the same hospital, on the same floor, where her husband had just died. She fought valiantly to overcome the disease, receiving a bone marrow transplant from her sister Barbara. But whether it was the strength of her disease or her own broken heart, Jeanne left this earth one week shy of the one year anniversary of Bob’s death. She was 63.

There were friends and family who noted in the wake of my mother’s passing that they could never imagine the two being apart, so they were not surprised she had followed him so quickly. And that may be true. I like to think they’re together now in a place like Maui, which would be their heaven, for sure.

They left a legacy of a strong marriage, deep love and commitment to the family above all else.

Can we chat?

So this is how it works.

I finish writing a book. I have about two minutes of absolute euphoria, and then reality hits.

This wonderful story, the one I’ve just dedicated my life to writing, the one that has wrung every emotion from my heart, now must be shared with the world, which means I need to work on the dreaded P word: promotion.

If you ever become exasperated, feeling you’ve seen the same post over and over or perhaps different posts about the same book . . . trust me, we authors feel the same way about promoting. It’s not our favorite part of being an author.

In my perfect world, I’d finish writing my book and then sit down with a group of my favor readers to chat with them about it. We’d get lost in characters and plot lines and so on . . . and at the end of our lovely tea, they’d go out and tell their friends about the book, who would in turn tell their friends . . . well, you get the gist.

Meanwhile, I’d sit back and work on the next book.

Now, though, my chatting takes place on social media. When I post a picture or a link, it’s my only way of telling people when to expect the next book. Live events are lovely and give me a chance to talk to readers in person, but there’s a limit to how many of them I can do. And so the internet it is.

Of course, I’m very lucky that I have my dear Temptresses with whom to speak. They let me go on and on about characters and stories, and I’m grateful. (If you enjoy my books and want to join us on the Temptress group, go here.) If only we could mystically meet up each time I finish a book and talk it out in person! They’re also awesome about sharing and twisting friends’ arms to get them to read my books . . . I adore their enthusiasm. It’s what keeps me writing.

Regardless of the opportunities offered on the web, nothing beats word of mouth when it comes to books. You telling a friend about a story that captivate you is more effective than fifty Facebook ads. Sharing your favorite reads is so important!

Well . . . since it seems no one is going to come bring me tea and chat about Days of You and Me just now, I guess you’ll keep seeing the pictures, the promos and the posts. If you feel spunky, shares are always appreciated, as are posts and tweets and emails . . . whatever does the trick.

That’s part of this author’s life.

What’s Cooking? Chicken Espagnole (Hanging By A Moment)

By her own admission, Quinn Russell isn’t much of a cook–or at least she’s not very interested in the kitchen. (Will that change in Days of You and Me? Hmmm . . . stay tuned . . .) But her friend and college roommate Zelda Porter does love to cook and is something of an amateur chef. In this scene from Hanging By A Moment, Quinn catches her friend making a special occasion meal . . .

“What’re you doing?” I closed the dryer and started it up, stepping away from it so I could hear Zelda.

“Uh, I’m cooking.” Her voice held a faint tinge of . . . I couldn’t read it. Embarrassment?

“Cooking? For you and Gia? Well, aren’t you a good roommate?” I flopped onto the sofa. “You never cooked for me.”

“No, doll, I’m not cooking for Gia. I have a . . . date. I guess. Sort of.”

If she had told me that she was a spy who was cooking for the head of the CIA, I wouldn’t have been more surprised. Zelda was predictable only in her cynicism about romance and relationships. She had regular sex with an abundance of men, and she liked men, but she didn’t trust them.

“Uh . . . okay. Can I ask the name of this date?”

“You can ask, but I’m not going to tell. This is way outside my comfort zone, Quinn. It’s probably not going to amount to anything. If I’m wrong and it does . . . then you and I can talk. I’ll tell you all the down and dirties. But until then—if there is a then—I’m going to play it close to my chest.”

When I didn’t respond right away, she hurried to continue. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Quinn. I just don’t trust me. I’m going out on a limb here, and I’m actually scared shitless.”

“Zelda.” I crossed my legs at the knee and kicked one foot in the air. “I’m not insulted that you want to be, um, discreet. It’s your business. But don’t be scared, okay? You are the most incredible woman I know. You’re beautiful, you’re funny and you’re smart. Any guy would be lucky to date you. So don’t mess this up just because you think you’re not the relationship type, okay?”

Something sizzled on Zelda’s side of the phone. “I appreciate everything you said, Quinn. I don’t necessarily agree with you, but still, I’m grateful. I can only promise to do my best.”

“Good. Have fun, and don’t think I’m going to forget this. When I get home next month, you are so cooking for me.”

She laughed. “You got it, doll. We’ll be in our new apartment with a real kitchen, not this lame ass kitchenette. So I’ll make you something special to celebrate moving in, okay?”

“It’s a date.” I giggled at my own joke.

So who was Zelda cooking for, and what did she make? Well, no spoilers here–though you may have guessed the who–but I can tell you that for her mystery date, the enigmatic Ms. Porter prepared Chicken Espagnole, a dish that tastes fabulous and looks elegant but is actually fairly simple to prepare. This recipe was adapted from one served at The Gumbo Shop in New Orleans, where I’ve enjoyed all their food on multiple occasions.

If you want to know more about Zelda’s secret lover, preorder Days of You and Me–and then get ready for her spin-off standalone book, Wildest Dreams, coming in 2017.

Zelda’s Chicken Espagnole

2 small chickens, backs removed, cut in half

CHICKEN SEASONING:

3 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp cayenne pepper

4 tsp black pepper

4 tsp white pepper

5 tsp onion powder

5 tsp garlic powder

2 Tbs paprika

4 Tbs salt

***

3/4 cup butter

3/4 flour

VEGGIES:

2 medium  onions, roughly cut

2 ribs of celery, chopped

1 medium green pepper, chopped

SAUCE SEASONING:

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp sage

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

***

4 cups chicken stock

6-7 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

5 green onions, diced

Directions:

Place chicken halves in roasting pan with sides at least 3 inches. Sprinkle CHICKEN SEASONING over chicken and roast in 400 degree oven for 40 minutes. Remove and set aside.

While chicken roasts, in a large pot melt butter and add flour to make a medium roux. Add VEGGIES and stir until coated. Cook about 20 minutes, then add SAUCE SEASONING. Cook until combined, then add chicken stock slowly, stirring well. Bring to a boil and cook on low for about 20 minutes. Add mushrooms and green onions, mix well and remove from heat.

Spoon sauce over chicken in roasting pans and return to the oven, roasting at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until chicken is tender. Serve over rice.

True love is contagious . . .

This is a bonus love story, in honor of their 41st anniversary. 


 


I don’t know all the details of how Aunt Terry and Uncle John met, except that it was in high school, and probably, if I know them, through friends. They’ve been together ever since.


 


I met them in 1985, when I began dating their nephew. He was at West Point, and I was still in high school. When he was home for a weekend, he invited me to a family dinner, which was completely overwhelming. I came from a large extended family, but they were not like this: there is nothing like an Italian family gathering to completely overwhelm a girl! I was sure I’d never remember the names. My only safe spot was with a sweet four-year-old little boy, who invited me to sit on the floor and play cards with him.


That was little Johnny, and before too long, I got to know his parents, Terry and John. Although all of Clint’s family was kind to me, there was just something extra about these two. They were open, welcoming and charming. Pretty soon, their house was my favorite place to visit with my boyfriend!

Over the thirty-one plus years that have passed since our first meeting, I’ve been blessed by this couple in ways too numerous to list. But all the details boil down to this: in their world, there are no ‘in-laws’ or degrees of relation. You are family. Pure and simple. I never call them my aunt and uncle-in-law; long ago, I decided that they are my family, and sometimes I think I forget that we’re not technically related by blood.

Their house is my home in New Jersey. It’s where I feel welcomed and loved and accepted, no matter what. Their love created this home. They are my children’s safe place, the surrogates for the grandparents my kids lost too early. All of my kids feel this way; I think it was Cate who said recently, “Aunt Terry just wraps me up in love.”

I’ve written them into books. Uncle John is in The Posse as the supplier of the infamous limoncello (he really does make it, and it really IS delicious!). They were the basis for a couple in The King Quartet. From day one, they have both been supportive and encouraging of my writing–they even hosted a signing for me at their dance supply store in New Jersey.

But the point is this: forty-one years ago, these two people committed to love only each other. But in doing so, they started a ripple effect that has changed countless lives, including their family, oodles of friends and their community. The love they share–which is beautiful and still romantic and an example for all of us–has reached out to encompass others. They gather in, rather than closing off; they embrace rather than divide. They choose to love, even when that choice is difficult.


And they love in truth. Uncle John will tell you, to your face, when he thinks you’ve done something stupid. But then he’ll pull you in for a hug and do whatever he can to help you fix it. Aunt Terry will defend you to the death, no matter what, even when she’s helping you to solve your problems.

Romance is wonderful. You know that I’m a big advocate! But it’s even more wonderful when it spreads over the world in the form of a love that never ends.

Happy anniversary, Aunt Terry and Uncle John.

Blame it on Pearl Jam

You know, there are songs and then there are songs.

The first time I heard Pearl Jam’s Future Days, I was speechless. Breathless. I cried. This song . . . the music and the lyrics . . . they utterly destroyed me.

At the time, I was writing I Choose You, the third book in the Perfect Dish Romance series, and the song influenced the very end of the story.

I almost never use the same song twice in two different books’ playlists, but when I began naming the books in the Keeping Score Trilogy, I kept coming back to Future Days. I’d already decided on When We Were Us, and it was important that the third book incorporated an ‘us’ or . . . a ‘you and me’. As I listened to the lyrics of Future Days, I knew I’d found the title of Book 3.

I believe,

And I believe ’cause I can see,

Our future days,

Days of you and me

This is so much Quinn, and Leo, and Nate. Leo could have sung this song. It is a song of love, of forgiveness, of reaching a place of acceptance and looking forward . . . it IS this book.

And so there was no doubt that this song had to be part of the play list. I’ll admit, too, that I listened to it rather a lot as I wrote Days of You and Me. 

This playlist is one of my all-time favorites. I have a feeling I’ll be playing it for a long time to come, and I’ll never hear it without thinking of Nate, Quinn and Leo.

 

Two weeks until football–let’s talk parties and food!

 

Is there anything that goes better with football than food? The perfect Sunday afternoon party has to include dishes that are delicious, fun and easy to eat. Each dish is the perfect opportunity to score big for the home team!

The top five must-serve football foods for the 2016 season are:

Beermosa Let’s face it: mimosas aren’t really football drinks. In those prissy little flutes, they don’t hold up to yelling at the refs or chest bumps when your team scores. But a beermosa, served in a sturdy mason jar, is just what you need for a Sunday late morning or early afternoon gathering . . . or basically any time.  My recipe is simple: two fingers of orange juice, then fill the jar with my favorite beer. I used Bud Light with Lime, to add a little more citrus kick.
Buffalo Chicken Pinwheels Wings are a football party staple, but they’re a mess to make and to eat. These pinwheels give you a taste of buffalo and bleu cheese together without all the napkins! They’re quick and easy to make, and they go a long way. There are many variations, but this is one I like.
Roasted Garlic Cheese Dip Football party dips have to possess enough ooomph to knock down a linebacker. This one seems delicate enough, but it packs a punch. The cheese is rich, but it’s the roasted garlic that makes this dish soar like the pigskin through the uprights. Serve this dip with toasted croutons, and you can’t go wrong.  Find the recipe here.
Tot Skewers Plain old French fries are so 2014. And even if you dress them up with cheese and bacon, they tend to become soggy–and hard to eat. But these tot skewers are a step up: they stay crispy, and they’re super-yummy, too. The ranch seasoning is the secret here–get the whole story!
Bread Bowl Chili Having a football celebration without chili is a definite flag on the play. But serving it up in a way that’s new and fun is the real challenge. That’s why these adorable bread bowls are perfect. They contain just enough chili to satisfy–and these crusty sea salt and rosemary rolls are just the thing to add both flavor and a brand-new way to enjoy it. Pipe a little sour cream over top to form the football stitching and add some creaminess.  Use your own favorite chili recipe, scoop out the rolls and dish it up.

I’ll be serving all these dishes on September 27th, when we celebrate the release of DAYS OF YOU AND ME. I think Leo would approve of this menu!

Endings are hard. And I don’t like them.

It’s late, I’m bleary-eyed and exhausted, but I felt compelled to write this tonight, when it’s still August 27th in some time zones.

One month from today, on September 27th, Days of You and Me, the third and final book in the Keeping Score Trilogy, will release. The book is finished, has been beta’d and is going through its final stages (fun stuff like dedication, acknowledgements and last minute-tweaks) before it heads off to formatting.

Like a mom reluctant to let go of her final baby as he heads off to college, I find that I’m perhaps dragging my feet a bit. Could I add more here? Explain more here? Elaborate more there? To be completely honest–and I’m too tired to be anything else just now–this book is probably the best-constructed one I’ve ever written. Usually in the weeks after I finish a story, I’m thinking of things I wished I’d added, even if they’re not always in the best interest of the plot. But with Days of You and Me, I’m not doing that. I feel that I’ve given everything to this one.

But I’m still not ready to let it go.

I’ve finished a series before. I remember when I sent off Endless, the final book in The King Quartet, my daughter asked if I were sad to see it end. I answered, “No! I’m done with them. I’ve written everything I have to say about this group of characters.”

(Incidentally, I was wrong, as Tasmyn, Michael and company will be back next April in Age of Aquarius. Stay tuned.)

Since that day, I’ve finished trilogies, but usually, I end up writing more in the same world. The One Trilogy continued in the Always Love books. Neither the Perfect Dish Romances or The Crystal Cove Romances have come to a conclusion yet.

Hmmm. Maybe I don’t like endings.

The Keeping Score Trilogy is different than anything I’ve ever written, and as such, it is precious to me. This story began to take root in my mind back in 2009, although it didn’t hit paper until November of 2010. Back then, it wasn’t what it is now. The characters had different names, and it was intended to be one book. But over the years, as I thought about it, the true plot began to emerge, and Leo, Quinn and Nate came to life in a way I’d never expected. They’ve become more than just characters.

These three have been with me for nearly seven years. They are dear to me. And ending their story was hard. It made me cry, like, a lot. More than I cried writing Joss’s scene in Undeniable. (No spoilers, but yeah, I cried.) See the graphic above: as the Prophet Chuck says, Endings are hard.

Yup. It’s official. I really don’t like endings.

But I’m proud of this book and of this trilogy. It is completely what it was always meant to be: the story of three people, three flawed, normal people, who encountered more than their share of life’s pain and challenges. Or maybe it wasn’t more than their share; perhaps they paid for later happiness with their early heartache. They were friends from birth, and between Leo and Nate, there was always Quinn, who was called on to make hard choices that very nearly broke her heart.

My beta readers have been sending me messages like . . .

OMG, thank you for sharing this with us. Thank you for letting me beta read for you. You are such a wonderful story teller. I admit I cried in a few places. 

How am I supposed to beta read if I keep tearing up?

I absolutely loved the book.  There are no other words to describe it than a perfect ending to an amazing love story.

I haven’t had a book make me cry in a really long time, and this one got me 3 times.

So much emotion reading this one. Today at work everyone kept asking me if I was okay my eyes were so swollen from crying.

Gah… I’m crying again. You’re killing me, Smalls… In a fantastic way.

I started reading slower and slower as I felt I was nearing the end, because I wasn’t ready to let go of Mia and Leo. And the epilogue…. What was the line in Steel Magnolias? Something along the line of “laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” My reaction through the epilogue was just like my reaction to M’lynn during the cemetery scene in Steel Magnolias….crying so hard I could barely see, laughter, more tears. Tears of happiness, tears of tenderness, and I’m sad to see the end of the trilogy but looking forward to the spinoffs.

Hey, at least I’m not crying alone. 

PS: No, nothing really ends. There will be three spin-offs of this trilogy, three Keeping Score Romances. The first chapters of two of the three are included in DOYAM.

Living a Double Life: How faith and romance coexist

My unusual situation has almost become part of my branding and schtick at author events. I’ll be in the middle of a panel about writing romance, and the question inevitably arises: “Are any of your plot lines based on your own love life?” and the ever-popular “How does your significant other feel about your books?”

When it’s my turn to answer, I usually play it up, with a deep sigh and an air of sharing a secret. “Well . . . my husband is a priest. So you can probably guess which plot lines are not based on my own life!” As for how he feels about my books . . . that’s a little more complicated.

To be fair, I was a writer long before my husband became a priest. I wasn’t a clergy wife who woke up one day and decided to write romance. I’d been writing for years, and while it’s true that I published my first book (a young adult paranormal romance) the December after my husband graduated from seminary, it had never crossed my mind that our careers could ever be considered incompatible. And for a while, they weren’t. He started out his career as a hospice chaplain, working for corporations who didn’t care what his wife did for a living.

Meanwhile, my first books were quite clean, with almost no language or sexual content. Of course, there were still some Christians who took umbrage with them because The King Quartet was paranormal, featuring witches and psychic phenomenon. From my point of view, though, this story of good versus evil was completely consistent with my beliefs. Christianity has a long tradition of literature that is written in metaphor. Some of the most famous of those books never even mention God by name. While I never intended Tasmyn’s story to be overtly religious, I didn’t see anything in it that should offend Christians.

My next books after The King Quartet were quite different. I’d moved away from young adult lit and into contemporary romance for adults. I was very excited about the story in The Posse, but because it was adult, and because I felt the plot called for it, I included a few love scenes. Oh, let’s not be coy; they were sex scenes, although they were fairly mild. But I found I really enjoyed writing books for adults and then eventually, for new adults, and I didn’t like to close the bedroom door, as they say.

Still, my husband continued to work for hospice at this point, and no one seemed to care about my smutty books, as my kids teased me.

In the summer of 2014, I wrote a new adult romance called The Last One. It would be one of my best-selling books, and it also contained some of my hottest sex scenes to date. That book released in September, about two weeks before my husband took his first position in parish ministry. I was a little nervous, but fortunately, I was able to fly under the radar when it came to church. Since we’d been attending the church where my husband was now serving, I wasn’t a new commodity. I was the same lady with purple hair I’d always been.

But then my not-so-secret identity began to crack a little. A few ladies in the church mentioned that they had read some of my books, and after some initial panic (mine!), I realized that the world wasn’t ending. No one stood up in the middle of church and pointed at me in condemnation.

Of course, I don’t necessarily flout my books in certain settings. I’ve had conversations with people who have roundly criticized any books with mystical elements–and sex? No. Just no. When they finish up by asking for a copy of one of my titles, I’m understandably a little reluctant to share. I’ve learned that redirection and stall tactics work every time.

I’m very blessed that my husband supports my work, no matter what. My kids, who are mostly grown, don’t read what I write (because ICK–who wants to read their mom’s sex scenes?), but they’re tolerant. I’ve had a few dear ladies at church whisper to me how much they enjoy my stories. One told me recently, “Father is a lucky man!”

I’m not naive, however, and I realize that there may come a point when we have to explain to someone in the church why I write the books I do. The truth is that although I understand my work will never be classified inspirational fiction, I don’t find it inconsistent with my faith. My love stories are between two consenting adults, who always end up in a committed, loving relationship by the end of the book. The choices they make might be different than those I made for myself and those I’d want for my kids, but they are within our cultural norms. I don’t write violence nor do I glorify irresponsible sex.

All of my books celebrate love, family and the triumph of good over evil. Some of my characters attend church, and it always portrayed in a positive light.

Sometimes I wonder if those who might judge my books harshly have read the Song of Songs in the Old Testament. It’s a love story, a beautiful recounting of a couple coming together, and although it is often described as a metaphor for God’s love for His people, there is no doubt that this is the most sensuous book in the Bible.

So how does it work, being a priest-and-romance-writer couple? Actually, it’s easy. We support each other, and we do whatever we can to help each other. When I’m traveling for work, I often miss Sunday services, but I try to make Wednesday mass. My husband usually can’t make my signings or events, but I know he’s got my back, and when I come home, he makes me dinner and spoils me while I recover.

When it comes down to it, our careers really aren’t that different. They’re both all about celebrating love . . . and could there be anything more beautiful than that?