Rachelle Ayala's Blog, page 3

Love Kissed Book Bargains December Giveaway

Love reading & reviewing?
Like finding new authors?
Wanna join a review team/street team?
We have 15 authors of varying genres who would love to find new readers! Why join a team? (Or lots of teams?) There are so many perks...like FREE books, advanced notice of sales, giveaways, and new releases. Let's not forget the swag and signed books so many authors give to their team as a reward for the support.
Give it a try!
Join some teams
and be entered to win
$100 in Amazon Gift Cards!

Participating Authors:
Amanda Heartley | Amanda Roberts | Ana Simons | Ashlee Price | Dariel Raye | Desiree A. Cox | Ella Jade | Ellis O. Day | Emma Nichols | Kimi Flores | Lilliana Rose | Melissa Stevens | Monica Corwin | Olivia Howe | Rachelle Ayala | Sammi Starlight | Traci Douglass


Enter here: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/2017/11/25/december-grow-team-giveaway/

November Free Reads and Giveaway #LKBB - My Pre-Christmas Gift to You

Welcome to the November FREE Reads & Giveaway!Thank you for being loyal readers! To show their appreciation, your favorite authors have come together to offer a book for FREE. Download one or all. Maybe you'll find your next favorite author.Please note: all sales are limited time offers.Don't have a Kindle? Don't worry. Read with the FREE Kindle App.**Please note: these books may not be free on other Amazon sites and many of these books are free for a limited time only.**

Enter here: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/2017/11/17/10610/

My contribution to this giveaway is my favorite bad boy Santa, Nick Wolff.


Meet Nick and Carol.He’s the Santa Stripper turned Good Guy.She may be in a wheelchair, but she’s as naughty as she’s nice.
Download Bad Boys for Hire: NickFREE - expires Black Friday

The Case for Paperbacks by Rachelle Ayala

My bookshelfMy house is literally full of books. Books I've collected since I was a child [I still have a ragged Barney Beagle] to books I purchased just this week. If you're like me, your kindle is also burgeoning with books. I have over 5000 at last count.My friends tell me to declutter and sometimes, I have rather reluctantly said goodbye to many of my books (sniff, sob, I still mourn them). After all, why hold onto the paper or hardback when I can simply download an ebook to my ereader?

The answer is simple. With 5000+ books in my kindle library, I'm constantly forgetting I have a book. How many of you have gone to a book page, hit "purchase" only to have Amazon tell you you already have the book? Thank goodness Amazon does this, but that doesn't count the books I have on Nook and Google Play, not to mention borrowed from Scribd or Overdrive.

So the other day, I got to thinking, and maybe it's a dangerous thing since I'm supposed to be decluttering so that when my husband retires we can move... Books that I have in paper form are like friends I see in person, my neighbors, my cousins, my relatives, and my old school friends who live within fifty miles of me. Books I have on kindle are like social media friends. And while I love my social media friends, they don't occupy the mind space and physical space as people I get together for coffee, walks, and parties.

It's the same with ebooks. Now, don't kill me here. I love ebooks. I love the convenience, the ability to have thousands in my account and countless more available at any time or any place. But I don't "bump" into them the way I do with my paperbacks. They don't bring back memories, and I don't pick them up and flip to a bookmark or a crease in the spine or discover a long-forgotten sticky note or bookmark, and they definitely don't transport me back to when we first met.

Paper books, meanwhile, are like old friends. A couple weeks back, in the throes of decluttering, I kept putting a set of books into a box, then taking them back out and reshelving them, then trying to resolve to give them away. I made excuses for them. They're yellowed and wrinkled, no one would want them, and I can't bear to throw them in the garbage. But they're taking up space! Logically, all these books exist as ebooks. I can simply do as Marie Kondo says: to discard them, knowing that if I ever wanted to read them again, I can buy the ebook or the audiobook.

BUT... here is the big question. Will I remember them?

This particular set of cozy mysteries was written by Carolyn Hart. While flipping through these yellowed paperbacks, I was transported back to my younger days, scouring bookstores to buy her latest Death on Demand mystery. I've quite forgotten Max and Annie throughout the years as my reading tastes diverged to romance and suspense thrillers. But because I could not throw away that set of books, I am now reliving the 1980's by re-reading my Death on Demand stories. I've even downloaded the audiobook so I can have it read to me--the font on the old paperback being kind of small for my senior eyes. I've rediscovered that series and was so pleased to discover that it is STILL GOING after all these years.

It's all because I had the paperbacks. A paperback from 30 years ago can remind you of an author you loved and lost touch with. A paperback is like a loyal friend sitting on the shelf winking at you when you walk by, and a paperback is something you can pass on to others. As an author, a paperback is a living reminder to your readers about you. Who knows? Twenty years from now, the reader you have now might rediscover you and be joyously surprised that your series is still going on. Or your paperback has been passed from friend to friend, making you new friends to the farthest corners of the earth.

Now that, is like having a friend for life!

p.s. I have the black covered collector's hardbacks of the Agatha Christie mystery library [a subscription series] and I'm NOT parting with them. Besides, my daughter has tagged them all already. Agatha is a friend for life and beyond.

What do you think? Do you buy paperbacks of the books and authors you like? Do you keep every autographed paperback of your writer friends? [I do]. Or do you let them go to share and spread the joy?

High School Reunions and Old Friends by Rachelle Ayala

There's something really special about going to class reunions and partying with the people you grew up with. For one thing, you're still around! And these days, that's a real plus. Add to that, these are people who knew you when you were a little tyke, AND they were witnesses to all your tantrums and embarrassing moments and they're still smiling. I've thought a lot about what a reunion means and realized that for people who grew up in a big city, a big, anonymous city, our high school is the equivalent of the small town we never knew. In that high school, going back to junior high and elementary school are people you knew since kindergarten. Teachers, friends, parents, and classmates.
Once we leave high school, we leave the only "small town" we ever knew and end up in "the world." How sad, but at the same time, how wonderful to know that we still had the community within the high school--the football team, the spirit, the togetherness, and the friendships.
Here are some pictures from my reunion. [I'm the one with the glasses, long hair and red blouse].





"I see you as the kindergartner I met in the sandbox. I see you as the third grader hanging on the rings and the fifth grader socking the sockball out of the field. I see you in junior high school playing in the orchestra or running the mile, and I see you in high school yelling your heart out with the Pep Club. I see you at eighteen going out into the world with that unquenchable Banning Pilot Spirit. And now, I still see you, my friend, with all your wisdom, love, tears, and experience. And I love you because being with you brings us back to those unforgettable days when we all cheered for ol' Banning High, in unity and victory." - Clare Chu, writing as USA Today Bestselling Author, Rachelle Ayala


Speaking of small towns, come with me to my favorite fictional town in Nebraska, Sapphire Falls, where Amber and Chad, two nerdy scientists, get makeovers and a new start during the Summer Festival.
GOING GETS HOT
With the holidays coming up, you might like to listen to some audiobooks. It's a great way to multitask while decorating.

October Freebie!

Welcome to the October FREE For All & Giveaway Event October 9-13! Click to download these romance reads.Thank you for being loyal readers! To show their appreciation, your favorite authors have come together to offer a book for FREE. Download one or all. Maybe you'll find your next favorite author.Please note: all sales are limited time offers.Don't have a Kindle? Don't worry. Read with the FREE Kindle App.
**Please note: these books may not be free on other Amazon sites and many of these books are free for a limited time only.** Enter here: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/2017/10/06/october-free-for-all-giveaway/
You can get my book, Intercepted by Love - Part 3 for free.

Andie and Cade are both shocked by people from their past.

#NewRelease Can love rebuild a ruined past? Summer Love Puppy by Rachelle Ayala

Can love rebuild a ruined relationship?Grady Hart and Linx Colson have a past neither of them will admit to their families.Linx hasn’t forgiven Grady for forcing her to do something she regrets, and Grady distrusts her for lying and trying to entrap him.Grady’s back and he wants answers, while Linx holds him at bay, keeping him away from her dog and her heart.
What is Linx hiding, and what will Grady do when the woman he hates is the one he can’t live without?Read Chapter OneFlames shot up outside the tiny cabin. Sasha’s aggressive barks fell silent. Her ears flattened, and fur raised on her hackles as she darted through the kitchen toward the doggy door.A rush of fire flashed through the doorway and blocked her, licking her nose. She squealed, backing up as smoke rushed into the cabin.Gasping for breath against the thickening smoke, Sasha raced around and around the wooden cabin. The acrid smell stung her nose, and she whipped her head wildly, not knowing where to turn.Blindly, she threw herself against the walls and doors. She dug with her paws, scratching, begging, hoping her man would come, but there was no sound other than the crackling of burning wood.She had to get out. Had to escape. Her fur spiked on its ends, and the mewling cries whistling from her throat sounded too distant to be hers.Where was her man? Where was the large, steady hand that held her tight and made her feel safe?A loud boom shocked her to the bone, and all was strangely silent. A maelstrom of flames rushed at her. Horror gripped her. She reared herself up onto the sofa and pounced at the window with all of her eighty pounds.The glass shattered, and she plunged through it onto the burning porch, surrounded by dancing flames: red, yellow, and orange.What happened to the man she loved? Why wasn’t he calling her?There was no way out except through the fire, and Sasha wanted her man. He had to be out there.Her eyes and lungs burning, she dived into the wall of fire, heading for the small patch of sky she could barely glimpse.She ran, and ran, and ran, rolling in the grass to cool her burns, until she came to a creek.With her tongue and throat parched, her paws bleeding and raw, she plunged into the water and let the current carry her away.[End of Excerpt. To continue, please pick up Summer Love Puppy][Amazon Kindle, Amazon Paperback, Kindle Unlimited]

Who wants to win a Kindle with 80+ preloaded romance ebooks?

How much do we love our readers? We'd like to show you!Enter to win a collection of over 80 romance ebooks and a Kindle!One simple entry will subscribe you to 67 Romance Author Newsletters. Plus, gain additional entries through bonus sign ups!Unsubscribe any time, but please don't label us as spam. Better still, stick around and get to know us. Participating Authors:A. Gorman | A.M. Myers | Abbie Roads | Adrienne Dunning | Aidy Award | Akaria Gale | Alicia Montgomery | Aliyah Burke | Alyson Reynolds | Amanda Roberts | Amy K.McClung | Amy L Gale | Ana Simons | Angela Sanders | Annalise Wells | Ashlee Price | Bethany Lopez | Betty Shreffler | Brooke O'Brien | C.E. Black | Catherine Vale | Claudette Melanson | Colleen Charles | Dariel Raye | Dawn Robertson | Deborah Nam-Krane | Elisabeth Grace | Elizabeth Miller | Emma Nichols | Emma Tharp | Erin Cawood | Georgia Le Carre | Hayley Faiman | Heather C. Myers | Isadora Brown | Ja'Nese Dixon | Jackson Kane | Jennie Marts | Jennifer Millikin | Joanne Dannon | Julie Archer | K.L. Shandwick | Kacey Hamford | Kaiden Klein | Kelly Collins | Kelly Siskind | Kerri Ann | Khardine Gray | Lena Bourne | Lena Maye | Liz Bower | Liz Gavin | Lucy Felthouse | Maria K. Alexander | Mary Bernsen | McKenna Jeffries | Melissa Stevens | Mia Kayla | Piper Rayne | Rachelle Ayala | Regina Morris | Renee Rose | Sammi Starlight | Sara Celi | Scarlett Avery | Sheila Kell | Simone Leigh | Sky Corgan | Skye Jordan | Skylar Hill | Sophie Brooks | Stephanie Haefner | Susan Ward | Taige Crenshaw | Tara Wyatt | Teddy Cat Hester | Terra Kelly | Tracey Pedersen | Traci Douglass | Tracy Lorraine | Victoria Pinder

Enter here: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/2017/09/04/fantastic-fall-giveaway/

Audiobook Release Error: Deck the Hearts - FIXED!!!

Update: Sept 8, 2017 - the audiobook has been updated. If you bought it, please delete it from your device and re-download it. Thanks for your patience.
----
Hello everyone, I'm sad to say that one of my latest audiobook releases, Deck the Hearts, has two chapters that do not belong in there. I have uploaded the correct files, but if you already purchased it, don't worry. Once the correct files are in place, simply delete the audiobook from your device and re-download.

For updates, please check this blog page or contact me through Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RachelleAyalaWriter or my Contact form https://rachelleayala.me/author-bio/contact/

I will notify everyone when the new files are in place. Then you can re-download and listen. I apologize for this oversight. My narrator was doing two books at the same time and her editor got the files mixed up.

If you'd like a refund, please contact Audible or the vendor you bought the book from and request. The fix should be available in 5-7 business days. [corrections sent to ACX Sept 6, 2017].

Audiobook Release Error: Deck the Hearts - Fix Pending

Hello everyone, I'm sad to say that one of my latest audiobook releases, Deck the Hearts, has two chapters that do not belong in there. I have uploaded the correct files, but if you already purchased it, don't worry. Once the correct files are in place, simply delete the audiobook from your device and re-download.

For updates, please check this blog page or contact me through Facebook http://www.facebook.com/RachelleAyalaWriter or my Contact form https://rachelleayala.me/author-bio/contact/

I will notify everyone when the new files are in place. Then you can re-download and listen. I apologize for this oversight. My narrator was doing two books at the same time and her editor got the files mixed up.

If you'd like a refund, please contact Audible or the vendor you bought the book from and request. The fix should be available in 5-7 business days. [corrections sent to ACX Sept 6, 2017].

September FREE For All Giveaway #LoveKissed Book Bargains - Don't Miss It!

Welcome to the September FREE For All & Giveaway Event September 4-8! Click to download these romance reads.Thank you for being loyal readers! To show their appreciation, your favorite authors have come together to offer a book for FREE. Download one or all. Maybe you'll find your next favorite author.Please note: all sales are limited time offers. Don't have a Kindle? Don't worry. Read with the FREE Kindle App.
**Please note: these books may not be free on other Amazon sites and many of these books are free for a limited time only.** Enter here: http://lovekissedbookbargains.com/2017/09/01/8854/

Do you want to be Santa's Pet this Christmas? Especially if he's a hot and hunky football player?


Download FREE