SCP BLOG HOP: In Sickness and in Love

I have been fortunate to have signed with a wonderful publishing house—Secret Cravings(SCP). We are celebrating their one year anniversary with a blog hop, including fantastic savings andprizes. See my previous post titled, "Wina Kindle Fire Just for Commenting!" Hats off to SCP!            Asmany of you know, my family has been very seriously ill for over a month with avery volatile flu and pneumonia. From Christmas Eve to New Year's Eve we livedat the hospital with our kids severely ill. Now my husband and I both havepneumonia. We just can't seem to get back on our feet. As I was lying in bedtoday, wishing I was dead  J,  I began to think about past illnesses and theseasons. Ihave to admit, being sick through the holidays was pretty much a killjoy. But,I also remember having bronchitis in the spring, being bed-ridden in the summerwith CFIDS, and having sinusitis in autumn. Is there really any good time to besick?  Okay,this line of thinking got me wondering which season is the most romantic. (Rememberthat I have 102° fever.) Half my books are set in spring/summer and the otherhalf in autumn/winter. (I figured that out while I was lying in bed wishing forthe dead thing.)  Personally, I findautumn the most romantic time of year. I love the pleasant temps, the vibrantvaried colors of the changing leaves, and the bond one feels with Mother Earth.Maybe my view is tainted because I not only fell in love in autumn but alsomarried then too. So,in celebrating the one year anniversary of SCP, I'd like to know what season you find the most romantic and why? Besure to leave your email address withyour comment so that you can be entered for SCP's grand prizes. By leaving acomment on my blog, you will be entered to wina copy of my sweet (clean) romance, Bravingthe Blaze. Be sure to check outthe other author's blogs and comment in order to win that Kindle Fire andother great prizes. Good luck and thanks for all your support!


Braving the Blaze Blurb:Single-minded Dean Harward is going tobecome a veterinarian if it kills him. He's worked summers as a volunteerwildfire fighter to earn big cash for college. Just his luck, a pyrophobicwoman gets assigned to his team. He's certain she'll get him killed before hecan graduate. Ginger Warby is a walking firestorm as accidents continuallyspark around her. Or are they accidents? Can Dean keep the flames of desire he reluctantly feels for her undercontrol long enough to keep them and his Yellow Labrador alive? 
Braving the Blaze Excerpt: "I knowvolunteering sounds crazy, but I've got to do this." Ginger Warby locked herfingers together and sat down on her best friend's floral-print sofa.Brendawhirled around in bewilderment. "This has got to be the most idiotic thingyou've ever thought of doing. Why? Why would you even try? I know how terrifiedyou are of fire." She flopped into the mauve recliner next to Ginger, her facestill rumpled in disbelief. "Look at cooking school."Gingertook a deep breath and exhaled slowly. So she had flunked out of culinaryschool. She'd done her best. She couldn't help it if she couldn't set her Crepes Suzette…or the Bombe Alaska…or…or the Lobster fra Diavolo on fire. Threelittle dishes. There'd been plenty of other meals she'd fixed to perfection.At leastshe'd managed to get over her fear of gas stoves and barbeque grills while sheattended school. She'd made progress. Well, as long as they didn't have aflare-up of flames. The image of the time her T-bone steaks dripped grease andsent flames roaring up through the grill popped into her mind. She'd gonescreaming out of the class as her classmates roared with laughter.Beforeshe'd chosen culinary art for her career, she should've realized where there'sheat, there's fire. Why did chefs prefer gas stoves to electric anyway? Someonesomewhere had to start a new trend. "You're afraid of a sparkler, Ging." Brendashook her head in skepticism."I'vegotten better though. You just don't understand.""I know mybest friend just told me she's planning to put herself in the middle of thebiggest wildfire Utah's ever seen, but she's afraid of a match. You're goingfrom the proverbial frying pan into the fire. Somebody has to talk some senseinto you." How could Ginger explain all of her reasoning?Especially since the death of Brenda's brother, Barrett, had a lot to do withher decision. Only a week had gone by since his funeral. Ginger hoped she couldget over her fear and at the same time understand Barrett's tragic death."I justfeel strongly about going, Bren. I really want to face my fears. And besides,they desperately need help on this fire. I'll just be one of the camp crew,anyway."Brendareached for her hand. "So face your fears. But putting yourself in the middleof a one-hundred thousand acre wildfire is just plain nuts.""Could youstop mentioning that?""Wildfire,wildfire, wildfire."Gingercringed."You can'teven face the word, let alone face the actual fire." Brenda hit her palm to herforehead. "This doesn't have anything to do with Barrett, does it?"Gingernoticed the glassy look in her best friend's eyes. "No, not really. As I said,they need the help. Let's talk about you. What've you been up to since we lasttalked?""And yourhair!" Brenda stared at her with a horrified look. "You cut off all yourgorgeous butter-colored hair for a fire? Since we were eight, you swore you'dnever cut it.""It wasalways getting in my pots of soup. I'm…I'm glad it's gone.""I don'tbelieve you.""Well, Icertainly didn't want it to catch on fire. I'll be much safer with my hairshort." She didn't want her terror to show, so she ducked her head."But didyou use a scythe to cut it? My gosh, it stands out everywhere.""Still nothappy with this discussion, Bren," she returned in frustration.Brendaclicked her tongue. "I still can't believe you're thinking of doing such acrazy thing.""Notthinking; I'm doing.""Notthinking is right. Daniel doesn't even want to face that monster." Brendasobered. "I don't want to lose someone else to a fire."Ginger'sheart lodged in her throat. "I know, and you won't. I'll just be doing campduty, and you need Daniel here with you and little Darcy. How are things withthe two of you?" Ginger asked, still hoping to change the subject."Have youtalked to Sage yet?" Brenda asked instead.Gingersighed. How could her friend manage to bring up every subject she'd been tryingto ban from her mind?"I'm surehe'd want to discuss this plan ofyours." Brenda leaned back in the recliner with a raised brow."I…Ihaven't seen him since the funeral." She dug her nails into her thumbs untilshe couldn't stand the pain any longer. Sage had gotten over what she'd doneyears ago. At least he acted like he had forgiven her. She just couldn'tforgive herself."What doyou think he's going to say about this?" Brenda crooked her neck, scanning thebackyard for her daughter. "I shouldn't let her outside in all this smoke, butshe gets tired of being cooped up. And frankly, I'm not sure the air is anybetter inside than out no matter what they say on the news.""Come on.Let's talk about something else besides the fire. What's been going on since welast talked?" Ginger asked.She knewher friend well enough to know she wouldn't let the subject drop, but she didn'twant to hear another word about Sage or the Tushar fire. Ginger's anxiety wouldexplode through the roof if they kept talking about the subject. She alreadyfelt like running back to Salt Lake with her tail between her legs.Convincingherself to come back home for Barrett's funeral after flunking out at schoolwas bad enough, but volunteering to fight her biggest trepidation on earthstressed her out to the max. She again tried not to think about being seventeenand the events which lead up to her phobia. The images flashed in her mind. Darn. Didn't want to think about that memory. Could she ever put theexperience behind her?After thiswildfire, would she be able to go back to school and face that flambé? Wouldshe get her degree? Would she ever be able to do anything without beingfrightened? She mentally shook herself. She had to move forward, or otherwiseshe'd never be able to move on with her life."So thenDaniel and I took little Darcy to Hogle Zoo, and do you know what she said whenshe saw the monkeys?" Brenda's eyes sparkled with love for her little daughter.Gingershrugged, but couldn't manage to control the flashing images of smoke, orangeflames and sizzling trees which played over and over in her mind. How could shewhen smoke already burned her throat like eating suicide chicken wings bastedwith Tabasco sauce, hot pepper flakes and chopped chilies for garnish. Itamazed her that a fire so many miles away could fill Brenda's house with somuch smoke the place looked like they'd landed in the middle of a smoker'sconvention."Hey, areyou listening?" Brenda asked."Uh, yeah.Little Darcy is adorable."And thestory of Darcy and the monkeys was sweet, but Ginger had to admit she didn'thave her full attention on the story. Despite her determination to face herpyrophobia head on, black fear consumed her thoughts. At this point, she wishedshe'd have stayed in her safe little apartment hundreds of miles away. Beinghere brought back too many memories. Seeing Brenda made her return especially difficult;she looked too much like her brother. The thought of Barrett's death made herchicken croissant sandwich from lunch do the funky chicken in her stomach.How couldBarrett have gotten trapped in a fire on his farm? What had sparked the flames?Could it have been equipment like they'd said? A van riding the rim of a blowntire on I-15? Another cigarette thrown from a passing car? There'd been lots ofpossibilities but no answers. If the police thought the fire looked suspicious,why weren't they investigating further?The Tusharfire had everyone's attention, that's why. It claimed her thoughts too, but shecouldn't forget about Barrett. Having been more than good friends with him atone time, she unequivocally wanted to know all the circumstances surroundinghis death. Unfortunately, what had taken his life happened to be fire, makingthis all the more difficult for her to confront.Barrettand Ginger's brother, Sage, had been best friends. Along with her and Brenda,they had been the awesome foursome through their school years. They'd doneeverything together. She'd been surprised Sage and Brenda hadn't married. Asfor her and Barrett… The thought stung like a thorn pricking her finger pickingblackberries on the family farm. More memories she didn't want to think aboutright now.She neededto pay attention to Brenda. She did care about the everyday life of her bestfriend, but an overwhelming, terrifying dread clogged her brain. She needed topush her phobias aside and listen.Brendajumped to her feet and headed toward the kitchen. "I think we could both use aglass of cold iced tea."If onlythey had enough tea to put out the wildfire.
Cindy A. ChristiansenSweet Romance, Comedy, Suspense...and Dogs!Fly into a good book at: www.dragonflyromance.com



Cindy A. Christiansen
Sweet (clean) Romance Author