Barbara Valentin's Blog, page 2

Black Friday Sale

[image error]Do you have any romantic comedy lovers on your gift list this year? If so, do I have a deal for you! FLIGHT RISK, book #4 in my Assignment: Romance series is available now for just .99 cents (buy links below)!

Here’s a synopsis:

[image error]When Aubrey Thomas, a phobic travel writer, must chose between jumping to what she considerers certain death from a skydiving static line or sinking even deeper into debt in the unemployment line, she scrambles to find someone—anyone!—who can help her overcome her deb...

A Thanksgiving Carol

[image error]It’s hard to believe Thanksgiving is just a week away! But, then again, I’m not hosting this year. You’d think that would give me plenty of time to come up with a brand new Thanksgiving ditty for you, right? Wrong.

What I’m coming up with instead is a new book (which I’ve been teasing for months know, I know…apologies). I’m cranking through edits and revisions as fast as I can so I can get it to you come spring. In the meantime, my house is a little (cough, cough) messier than usual, cobwebs...

Leaving Comfort Zone City

Wasn’t it Eleanor Roosevelt who said “Do something everyday that scares you”?

That’s just crazy talk. I can just picture her sitting next to her presidential husband in some cushy highly secure setting, adding “What have you got to loose?”

For someone who likes her routine, knowing where she’s going, what she had to do and when she has to do it, this advice seems nothing short of ludicrous. As much as I admire the former first lady, I never saw the sense in doing something scary on purpose.

U...

What’s for Dinner?

[image error]It’s Sunday and that means it’s time to plan this week’s dinner lineup. I do this for a few reasons:

I work full-time. I have a family to feed. This is the only day I have time to cook something more elaborate than a box of mac ‘n cheese.

Now, let’s get this show on the road. The Cubbies are playing this afternoon.

Despite having only two of my five boys living at home these days, meal planning somehow seems more complicated. When I had a full house, I cranked out casseroles like my life de...

Plate Spinner Tip of the Week: 5 Things To Do Before Bed

[image error](image by Estrella Designs)

As a seasoned multi-tasking working parent, I know I can’t get my coveted six hours of sleep if I don’t do certain things before I go to bed every single night.

And if I can’t get my coveted six hours of sleep, I know the chances that I’ll be able to take care of my family, function at my day job, write my next book and, in general, be the plate spinning superhero I need to be each and every day, are about as slim as a big rig trucker taking ballet lessons. In the...

What Next? You Tell Me

As I await edits on Order Up, the next book in my Assignment: Romance series, as well as a short story coming out next Spring, I am facing a clean slate.

Possibly the most dangerous thing for a writer like me.

[image error](image source: youst.com)

All I have is my publisher who is eagerly awaiting the synopsis for my next book, you, my esteemed and highly cherished readers, and a short list of future book ideas in my handy dandy notebook.

I’ll be the first to admit, these possible plots scribbles are a t...

So You Want To Be a Romance Writer

[image error]Back when I wrote my very first blog post, I had five boys underfoot, worked a full-time day job and aspired more than anything to be a published writer – just like Nicholas Sparks. Having read his riveting rendition of how he found a publisher, I was certain I could duplicate (if not best) his success.

Driven by a burning desire to be able to ditch my day job (not unlike the esteemed Mr. Sparks after he received a million dollar offer for The Notebook), I set about learning everything I coul...

Order Up Cover Reveal!

Introducing…Order Up![image error]

I can’t wait for you to read the fifth installment of my Assignment: Romance series! Since it won’t release until right after that holidays (that’s right – those holidays), I’m sharing the back cover blurb here.

Nancy Braley is the Chicago Gazette’s food editor with a taste for hot chefs and a knack for replicating their “secret” recipes. But when she finally gets up the nerve to ask out a hot local café owner, Doug Johnston, she’s crushed when he says she’s not the “mar...

It’s in the Bag!

[image error]How would you like to win this adorable Betsey Johnson handbag?

Just follow me and my fellow authors at Gemma Halliday Publishing on Bookbub for a chance to win!

To enter:

Click the links below to go to our Bookbub pages. Click “follow” (in the upper right corner). Then go to Gemma’s Facebook Post about this beautiful bag and list the names of the authors you followed in a comment!

For every author you follow, you get one entry—the more you follow, the more entries you get!

GHP will pull on...

#ChicklitMay Book Boyfriend Blog Hop

 

 NICK DeROSA here, asking for your vote for Book Boyfriend 2017!

You may remember me from False Start, Help Wanted, Key Change and Flight Risk. But mostly, False Start. That’s the story of how I went from being an endorsement-heavy Olympic athlete, to a wrongfully charged convict, to the marathon running coach for one Mattie Ross – my childhood nemesis…and lifelong crush.

[image error]Back when we were in high school, the Chicago Gazette dubbed me “The Comeback Kid” because I led my cross-country team...