Saturday, June 23, 2012

Interview with Jamie Salisbury - Romance Author


Jamie Salisbury
Romance Author

     Thank you for stopping in to meet Jamie. You won't be disappointed in her books because they'll pull you right into the pages as though you stood next to her characters! She has several books so be sure to check them out on her blog.

     Jamie is here this week to discuss her new release, Timeless Sojourn. We can't wait to read this one after reading Tudor Rose...about the Tudor Rose Band and the lead singer Amadeus Tudor. Her writing will pull you in! Jamie is also featuring a contest - details below!


Reader’s Haven: Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Jamie: What and spoil the mystique? Hmmm. . .long, long ago, in a entirely different space and time I was married to??? I’d have to do you harm, if I told you who he was!

Reader’s Haven: Now curiosity is going to kill us cats! LOL What made you want to become a writer?


Jamie: I didn’t suddenly want to become a writer - it is something that has always been with me as far back as I can remember. I’ve always loved to write and it has just naturally developed over the years.

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release without giving away any spoilers.


Jamie: Timeless Sojourn is about a woman of a certain age, who finds herself divorced at a time when she should be relaxing and enjoying her life. Instead she’s forced to make decisions and changes she never thought she’d be faced with. And add to that some twists and turns and romance!

Read a draft excerpt here. Timeless Sojourn will release July 9th!

Reader’s Haven: Do you write under a pen name?


Jamie: NO

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Jamie: I like both to have strong personalities. With the male, a more alpha personality, but not over the top where he’s in love with himself. He has to have a softer side to him as well. The woman should be strong, able to stand up and make decisions on her own.

Reader’s Haven: Jimmy Thomas is on a lot of your covers. He is definitely an Alpha Male. Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.


Jamie: I usually spend the mornings catching up and replying to email, visit social media sites, catch up and do any public relations or marketing I need to do. The afternoons I try to spend writing. Now that’s not to say that I might not start out writing and everything gets switched around. And I do write at night. It just all depends on the muses.

Reader’s Haven: Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?


Jamie: They’re all romance. There might be some common theme, but for the most part they are different. Once I started Timeless Sojourn, I decided there was a need for this type themed story line and have decided to write a sequel(s) and spinoffs.



Reader’s Haven: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?


Jamie: Anywhere from three to eight months. However, with Timeless Sojourn it took me over six months from the time I began writing until the edits were finished. I have one full length novel that I finished in 2010 that is still not ready to publish. It’s edited, ready to go, but there’s something and I can’t put my finger on it, but something that keeps me going back over it.

Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?


Jamie: Yes. I have tried to write with others around and it doesn’t work. That goes for the TV too. I have to have silence to write, although sometimes I will turn on some music.

Reader’s Haven: How do you go about naming characters?


Jamie: Most of the time they name themselves. I’ve named characters before, then half way through, decided that they so aren’t that name and go back in and change their name. So I just let them speak to me as I start out.

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?


Jamie: Both. Sometimes I will have a very good idea of how I think a character should look. Other times it does not hit me until I’m well into the book.

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?


Jamie: Hit or miss. Most of the time they are places I’ve either lived or visited. Some place familiar. If I use a location I’ve never been to before, I’ll spend a good amount of time researching so when I write it won’t look as though I know nothing about the place.


Reader’s Haven: Jamie, thanks for visiting with us this week. Where can the Readers learn about you and your books?


Jamie: On my web site, blog and follow me Twitter @JamieRSalisbury and Like my Facebook Fan Page. Also on Romance Novel Center.

Purchase Links: Smashwords and Amazon

CONTEST:  ONE lucky commenter (maybe TWO) will win an e-copy of the book so be sure to leave your comment and email addy so Jamie can easily contact the winner!

Be sure to check out Jamie's other books on her website.


Saturday, June 16, 2012

Interview with Romance Author Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy!



Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Romance Author

      We're visiting with Lee Ann on the top of Wyeth Hill, one of the locations in both Guy's Angel and her hometown of St. Joseph. It's a park on top of a windswept river bluff over looking the broad Missouri River as it flows past St. Joe with a fantastic view into Kansas as well.

     Thank you all for stopping in to meet the fabulous Lee Ann! Her books just keeping coming out and it's hard to keep up with her! She's having a giveaway so be sure to read what she's looking for in the comments!


Reader’s Haven: (Louise) Lee Ann welcome to our blog! Your stories sound wonderful and your sites look great for your readers. Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Lee Ann: Although I’m a tail end baby boomer, my grandparents were my daytime caregivers during my earliest years.  They raised me the same way they raised their own children in the 1930’s and 1940’s so I ended up being out of sync in many ways with my own generation, with the values and tastes of another time.  Maybe it’s one reason I enjoy history so much!

I also grew up in an old Victorian house with all kinds of paranormal and unexplainable events so when supernatural elements creep into my fiction, that’s the root.

Reader’s Haven:  Deanna loves anything ghostly! What made you want to become a writer?

Lee Ann: I always made up stories, even before I could read or write.  My imagination was fueled with stories – both my parents and grandparents read to me.  My grandparents, my Granny in particular, also told stories from the past and captivated me with them.  I tried dictating a story to my mom when I was four and scribbled my “first” novel in the fifth grade.  I liked – and still do – being able to be in charge of what happens next.

Reader’s Haven: Please share a bit about your new release Guy’s Angel without giving away any spoilers.

Lee Ann: Guy’s Angel owes a lot to those old stories my grandparents told me.  It’s set in 1925, in my hometown of St. Joseph, Missouri and in the “old” neighborhood, not my own but where my parents, grandparents, and other relatives once lived.  Angel’s desire to fly comes out of my own streak of independence and my own fascination with flight.  The love story between Guy and Angel is, I think, particularly powerful and poignant because of who they are, their life experiences as well as the time and place.


When a young woman really believes the sky is the limit, amazing things can happen…

Lorraine Ryan wants to fly airplanes so she heads for the local airstrip in 1925 to make her dream come true. Most of the flyboys think she’s cute but a woman’s place is in the home, not the cockpit. When Guy Richter steps up and offers to teach her to fly, she’s captivated with both Guy and flight. He nicknames her “Angel” and takes her up into that wild blue yonder. Before long, they’re deep in love.

Love, however, isn’t always enough……

Guy, a former World War I flying ace, is haunted by his past. His demons include his war service, the death of his only brother in an accident the previous year, and the Valkyries that he evaded in France who trail him in the hopes that they can complete his destiny. But his dreams lie with Angel and as they grow closer and closer, he soon realizes that if anyone can save him, it’s his Angel.

Reader’s Haven: Do you write under a pen name?

Lee Ann: So far, no. I use my married and maiden surnames because I wrote and was published before I married.  If I’d had my way, I would still be Lee Ann Sontheimer but my husband, a little old fashioned with some deep Southern roots, thought I should have his name too.

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Lee Ann: I like heroes and heroines to be as real as possible, human and not perfect.  I want my characters to leap off the page, to seem like real people the reader feels they could meet and sit down with for a conversation. 

Reader’s Haven: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Lee Ann: I rise before the sun most days, even weekends.  My husband is required to be at work early and I’ve become (somewhat) used to getting up early too.  I check emails, Facebook, Google to see if there are new mentions of me or my work, do some promotion and make my to-do list before my kids get up.   After breakfast – and in the school year making sure all three make it to the bus or school – I dive into work.  I usually spend the morning in actual writing or editing, break for lunch and some necessary household chores, then work a few more hours.  I stop to make dinner, meet the kids, greet the husband when he comes home, and in the evening I do more social networking than actual work.

Reader’s Haven: (Deanna) I really have to try hard to make myself take meal breaks, whether I'm writing or at the office...bad habit to work straight through. Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Lee Ann: Although my books run a diverse gamut, I think the common theme through them all is that love is a powerful force, that love can and does change life.

Reader’s Haven: Readers love to hear about how an author writes. How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Lee Ann: It depends on the story and the season. A full length novel may take me several months to write, several weeks until I edit it to my satisfaction before submission. Some of my shorter novellas and stories can take a week to several weeks. The historical romances take a little longer because of the additional research – I am a stickler for making sure my facts are correct.

Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?

Lee Ann: No and it’s a good thing since I often have three kids, one husband, and a dog underfoot. Last year I also had two neighbor children who came over at about 5:30 am everyday to stay with me until they could catch the bus so I had five kids in the house.

Reader’s Haven:  Wow! That's the sign of a true friend! How do you go about naming characters?

Lee Ann: Sometimes their names just come into my brain.  Sometimes – especially for the historical works – I look up what names were popular during the period.  I used to peruse baby name books but then I ran across Baby Name Genie online so sometimes I play with it until I find a name I like.

Reader’s Haven: Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Lee Ann:  I do it both ways.  Sometimes I see a picture and I like it so much, it’s the prototype for my character.  Sometimes I have an image in my mind and run across a photo so like my character I print it and hang it up.

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Lee Ann: I write what I know as much as possible.  Thus many of my stories take place in my native Missouri, either the Ozarks where I now live or in my hometown of St. Joseph, Missouri.  I’ve also written works with locations in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee.  If I write about a place, I’ve been there and know it reasonably well.  The locations fit the story or the stories fit the location.  I’m not sure which comes first!

Reader’s Haven: What do you miss most about life before the first book sale?

Lee Ann: I miss anonymity. I go to the supermarket now in the small town where I live and almost everyone knows me and what I write.  I tend to forget people recognize me but when I send my kids to go find an item on my list and they return telling me three shoppers are huddled together at the end of aisle five talking about my books, I’ve learned to remember.  There’s nothing worse than yelling at your kid and looking up to have an approaching shopper say “Oh, I love your books!”.  And some people who I’ve known for years treat me differently now – they’re tongue tied and bashful as if they don’t know what to say.  I’m the same person and I don’t want the “fan” treatment.

Reader’s Haven: How wonderful! You can't ask for more of a compliment than that...to know others love to read what you write. Congratulations, LeeAnn! What are you working on now and what should readers be looking forward to from you in the future?

Lee Ann: Thank you! I have a contemporary romance set on Lake Taneycomo near Branson, MO called “Heart of The Ozarks” coming August 3 from Rebel Ink Press and another historical romance, this one set in the 1930’sin Oklahoma and St. Joseph, MO called “Dustbowl Dreams”.  It’s also from Rebel Ink Press and let’s just say it owes a lot to Charley Floyd, often better known as “Pretty Boy Floyd”.  Then later in the fall I have something a little different coming out, collection of connected stories called “Kosovo Tales: Two Hearts, One Love, again from Rebel.

Oh, and I have a short romance, part of a brand new line from Evernight Publishing coming in July, part of their “Romance On The Go” series, called “Red In The Hood”. It’s short, a little wicked, and a different kind of tale.

Reader's Haven: Our heads are already spinning with how busy you are, woman! Wow! Where can readers learn more about you and your books?

Lee Ann: Readers can find me on my Blogs, Facebook and Twitter.





Facebook: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Twitter: @leeannwriter



Giveaway:  One eBook copy – although Guy’s Angel is also coming to print – to one winner who leaves a comment about what intrigues them about the story.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Interview with Ednah Walters, YA and Romance Author

Deanna and I are excited to have Ednah Walters visit with us this week. 

A bit about Ednah:
I started making up fairytale stories before I could write, even wrote a play which was performed by my class in high school, but I didn't complete my first story until I finished my PhD in chemistry and decided to be a stay-at-home mother. The first books I wrote were picture books about the adventures of a little lion called Little Leo and his pet Cockatoo.  My kids got a kick out of hearing me read them out aloud.  Then I moved to mid-grade chapter books.  Their favorite was Goldilocks before the Three Bears.  Then I tried my hand at contemporary romance and romantic suspense. That didn't go so well and besides, I couldn't read them to my children.

Ednah lives in a picturesque valley in northern Utah with her husband, five children and two cats. 


Reader’s Haven: Ednah, Thank you for visiting with us this week! When did you decide that you wanted to be an author?

Ednah: When I decided to be a stay-at-home mother, I needed an outlet for my creativity. You could say dirty diapers and baby talk pushed me into writing. Kudos to stay-at-home moms who thrive while changing diapers, cooking baby food from scratch, sewing cute baby clothes and whipping new dishes every day for their family. I couldn’t stand the food I cooked for my babies anymore than they did, I tried sewing, quilting, painting and realized those creative outlets weren’t for me either. So I wrote simple stories for kids. When I finished my first chapter book and read it to my kids and they loved it, I thought, “Hmm, I could do this.” Then I discovered something; just because your kids love your stories doesn’t necessarily mean the editors will too. Still, I continued writing gradually to adult and YA romance.

Reader’s Haven: How many books have you written?

Ednah: If I exclude the ones I wrote before Awakened (you know the ones that ended nowhere or still take up space on my computer), I’ve written and published 2 YA books in the Guardian Legacy series and 3 adult romance (Fitzgerald books). 


Orphaned as a child and raised by her grandfather, Lil Falcon is concerned with navigating her new high school and is unaware she's a descendant of the Nephilim, a race of beings with super powers tasked with protecting humanity from the demons who threaten it. But when she meets Bran, his psi energy unlocks her latent abilities and opens her eyes to what she is, a Guardian.

But Bran has a secret and befriending him sends Lil down a dangerous path that will either destroy her or make her stronger.

Reader’s Haven: What would you be doing if you couldn't be a writer?

Ednah: I’d probably be in some pharmaceutical lab creating/synthesizing something.

Reader’s Haven: Approximately how long does it take for you to write a book?

Ednah: I’d say 4-5 months, depending on which genre. My YA tend to take longer, possibly because it’s from one person’s point of view (POV) and she’s a teen, so I have to think like a teenager…not an easy thing to do. Things go a little faster when you write from multiple POV.

Reader’s Haven: Do you have any hobbies?

Ednah: Hmm, I used to paint, but now any free time I have, when I’m not writing, I read. I love books. I also love to workout—Zumba, TRX, treadmill. I’m more alert mentally and physically when I hit the gym at least 3 times a week, which makes me more productive and makes it easy to keep up with my 5 children. 


Lil isn't just an average teenager. She's one of the Nephilim--the descendants of humans and angels--which gives her some serious psi skills and a mission for redemption. Just when Lil thinks she's found a balance between her normal life with human friends and her training to become a Guardian, she's warned that someone close to her will betray her.
When the boy she loves starts acting strangely and one of her human friends acquires a supernatural ability, Lil begins to realize that someone is manipulating the people she loves... and won't stop until she's been lured to the dark side.

Reader’s Haven: What do you like/dislike most about being an author?

Ednah: I love getting the voices from my head and onto my computer. I enjoy interacting with readers, but I’d write even if I didn’t publish. That’s why I have all these completed Fitzgeralds books. While my agent was busy trying to find a home for my first YA and the first Fitzgerald book, and we kept getting rejections, I just kept writing. I needed to write. On, being a stay-at-home mother is about the hardest thing I ever did and I was going nuts. Seconds, the voices in my head wouldn’t leave me a lone. I have so many ideas and so little time…SIGH. 

What I hate the most is plotting, storyboarding with detailed plotlines broken down into scenes for each chapter. This works great when you have a mystery to solve though. I’d rather listen to my characters and seeing which direction they want to go. Plotting somehow makes me feel restricted and stifle my creativity. That doesn’t mean I don’t usually have a guideline, so I know what is going to happen at the beginning and the end; who the villain is and their motive; my characters’ motives and goals, and some of the conflicts they must overcome. How and when these events will take place is really up to the characters once I start writing. The conflicts tend to pile up as the story unfolds.

Reader’s Haven: Who are some of your favorite authors?

Ednah: Middle-grade authors of Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Pendragon series, Eragon series, Goosebumps series, R.L. Stine books, Alex Rider series, Artemis Fowl series.

YA-authors of Vampire Dairies, Vampire Academy, House of Night series, Hungers Games, Vladimir Todd series, Daughters of the Moon series, the Princess Diary series,

Adult authors: J.R. Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, L.A. Banks,
Historical authors like Jude Deveraux, Judith McKnight and Catherine Coulter
Espionage and medical thrillers by Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Jonathan Cook, James Grisham.

Reader’s Haven: What are some of your favorite movies/tv shows?

Ednah: Detective series whether it is medical, police or fantasy: White Collar, NYPD Blues, Monk, Dr. House, CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, Medium, True Blood

Guilty pleasures: Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Greek…

Reader’s Haven: Do you have any advice for other writers?

Ednah: Write from the heart, which means write what you want to write and do it everyday. Don’t worry about trends. If Stephanie Meyers had listened to the publishing industry that vampire books were going out, she’d never have written Twilight. I wrote Awakened before books about angels became popular.

Reader’s Haven: What are you currently working on?

Ednah: I’m working on HUNTED, book 3 of the Guardian Legacy series. It should be out summer of 2012. I’m also working on my 4th adult romance.

Hunted (Coming Soon)
Bran and Lil may have escaped an attempt to lure Lil to the dark side and along the way, recovered the contracts of the people Bran damned when he was a soul collector, but someone forgot to tell Bran he can’t switch sides without dire consequences.

Hunted by unknown enemies, Lil, Bran and the teen Guardians must seek help from unlikely sources to avert total annihilation of the Guardians. The revelation when they come face to face with their enemy makes them realize that for once they are in a battle they can’t win. Will one of them make the ultimate sacrifice?

Reader’s Haven: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the readers?

Ednah: Yes, I do. I’ll gift an eBook of Awakening, The Prequel to one lucky commenter. Drawing to be held on Saturday, June 16.
On Goodreads, I'm featuring a giveaway contest of Betrayed. Click here to enter: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8970151-betrayed














Saturday, June 2, 2012

An Interview with Jean Joachim, Romance Author

Congratulations Nightingale! Linda won a choice of 
eBook from Jean's Now and Forever series.


Readers, Deanna and I are visiting with Jean Joachim in upstate New York. Join us as Jean shares her new release and why she loves to write. There's Jean over there!

Deanna and Louise: Hi Jean!

Jean: Welcome to Kensington State University. Come on in, The administration offices occupy this old Victorian townhouse. Mac Caldwell and Eliza Baines, the deans here, will escort us to the stone building which houses the faculty dining room. They have graciously permitted me to bring you there for some coffee and cake while we chat. We’ll sit over here, by the window where we can watch a rugby match.  The men are playing and the women are cheering them on. I think we’re losing but I’m not sure.

Mac and Eliza, two of my main characters in the Now and Forever series, have to return to work. So they’ll leave us here. Afterward, I’ll take you on a tour of the campus, including Dave Williams’ police station and the hospital where the brilliant Dr. Cho resides. How do you take your coffee?

Reader’s Haven: Thank you for inviting us to NY this week. (Deanna) I'll have a hot mint tea, please. (Louise) Make mine a hot mocha with whip creme! Thanks. Tell us a bit about yourself  that our readers might not know.

Jean: I started my career in advertising, long before writing, and worked my way up to be a media director at a division of a major ad agency by the time I was 28.

Reader’s Haven: What made you want to become a writer?

Jean: I was born wanting to be a writer. Every child has a profession they look up to. By the age of seven, while most kids wanted to be doctors, I wanted to be a writer. I always loved to read and my cousin tells me I was inventing stories for us to act out when she came over early on.

Reader’s Haven: (Louise takes a sip) Oh, this is good! Jean, that's fantastic you always knew what you wanted to be when you grew up. Some of us are still try to figure that out! LOL  Please share a bit about your new release without giving away any spoilers.

Jean: Now and Forever 3, Blind Love. This is a big book 330-pages and contains three love stories, not just one. One of the three is the hero’s father, a widower, who falls in love for the second time. The book explores the changes the heroes and heroines go through as they fall in love and fight to hold on to their love. There is also blackmail and murder in the book. It all happens on the campus of Kensington State University in a small town in upstate New York.


Reader’s Haven: Do you write under a pen name?

Jean: No. I use my married name. I find it’s easier to keep track of and though no one can spell it or pronounce it (JOE  ACK’ UM) it’s who I am. Life is much easier for me to be one person all the time.

Reader’s Haven: What types of hero or heroine do you like best?

Jean: I like imperfect heroes. My heroes are good physical specimens, they’re smart and take charge guys, fairly alpha, but they make mistakes. They say the wrong thing or do  the wrong thing and get into trouble from time to time. Their imperfections seem to make them more real to me and to readers.

Reader’s Haven: Tell us about a typical day in your life as a writer.

Jean: I bounce out of bed at 6 a.m. and head for the computer. While the tea is brewing in the microwave, I check my sales from the day before, answer email and chat on FB. Then I settle in with my tea, some fruit and plain Greek yogurt, I begin work either on edits or my WIP. I write until 8, take my pug, Homer, for an hour’s walk in Central Park then return to writing. I stay at it unless I have to go out for errands until lunch time. I spend most of the day writing.

Reader’s Haven: (Deanna pours more mint tea for herself) You have a very disciplined schedule. Good for you. Do your books have a common theme or are they all different?

Jean: I’d say my books do have a common thread in that most of my characters face unpleasant life hurdles and problems to overcome on their road to happiness. Some of my books have sad times for my hero and heroine. But of course they all end up happy.

Reader’s Haven: How long does it take you to write and then edit a story?

Jean: If I’m motivated, I can write a book in six weeks. But that doesn’t include planning and outlining time that comes before I start writing. After I finish the first draft, I edit it multiple times before submitting. 


Reader’s Haven: Do you have to be alone to write?

Jean: *helps herself to more tea* Yes. I can write if someone is in the next room but not if there is noise. Sometimes I play classical music or a particular song that I’ve included in my book for inspiration. Most of the time I prefer to write in complete silence so I can hear my inner voice and the characters speaking in my head.

Reader’s Haven: How do you go about naming characters?

Jean: Oh, I love naming characters. Usually a name comes to me when the character’s personality and appearance forms in my head. Callie Richards, a repeat  character in the Now and Forever series was a name to me almost before she was a fleshed out character. I love thinking up names and write down interesting ones that come to me to save for later books. One of my most interesting names is one of the heroes of my next release due out in July called “The Renovated Heart” – my best title, I think. His name is Tunney Nichols.

Reader’s Haven: The characters are the fun part when writing. Creating unique personalities and growing to love them. Is it easier to write about the characters if you find pictures of them before you write or do you write then find character pictures?

Jean: I usually form a picture in my head when I start writing a character. I must say that Mac Caldwell became Hugh Jackman in my head pretty quickly. Easy to see why! LOL. When I saw Colin O’Donoghue in a movie, he immediately became my fireman, Gavin Daily in April’s Kiss in the Moonlight. So I’d have to say pictures come after the character is written.

Reader’s Haven: How do you pick locations for your stories?

Jean: I fell in love with my son’s college town which was the inspiration for Willow Falls. The community where we have a summer cabin became the model for Pine Grove the town for my Moonlight series. And my home town of New York City is the background for my New York Nights novels. I love small towns and country living. But I’ve been in the city so long and there are so many unique places to write about in NYC that I have come to enjoy setting many stories there, too. I feel readers like to read about the glamorous side of New York, so that’s what I write about . “The Marriage List” is a perfect example of that.


Reader’s Haven: Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers?

Jean: One last thought to sum up. Creating believable characters is paramount to me. I insist that they appear real and the plots in their stories be logical. While I work to achieve this, the characters become real to me in that I can almost touch them. Perhaps that sounds weird, but writing fiction is an unusual process, both fascinating and one that defies explanation. I hope my characters and my books reach out to readers the same way they have to me.  


I would love to have a contest and will be happy to give away to one lucky commenter; the winner's choice of my Now and Forever series books.

Reader’s Haven: Jean. thank you again for inviting us here to chat with you. Deanna, let's go check out the campus and the cute college guys. Hey, most might be under half our age, but we can still look!!

Great stories of love and passion

 Jean Joachim, Author on Facebook
@jeanjoachim for Twitter 
Jean's Books on Amazon

Purchase Links "Now and Forever 3, Blind Love":


Now and Forever 3, Blind Love:

Can a handsome, charming, womanizing professor win the heart of a temporarily blind ballerina? Love comes to the university as Peter Caldwell, dashing Art History professor and accomplished pianist meets Lara Stewart, ballerina. Peter can’t seduce with her with his devastating good looks because Lara can’t see. Obsessed with the one woman he can’t have, Peter has to learn how to love.
Sam Caldwell joins Peter, Mac, Callie and his grandchildren. Witty and attractive, Sam isn’t looking for a woman but finds love isn’t only for the young but the young at heart as well.
Small town secrets feed a blackmailer and blackmail on campus is paid with sexual favors. Blind Love is a roller coaster ride of twists and turns. This full length novel is three parts love and passion mixed with one part intrigue, stirred up with a twist of mystery and heated up to three flames.

When half a dozen people get off the train from New York City in tiny Willow Falls, NY on a Wednesday afternoon, it’s a big crowd. 

Excerpt:
Mac walked around to the driver’s side of the car and patted his pockets, no keys. He remembered last seeing them on the front hall table. He tip-toed quietly into the foyer so Callie wouldn’t know he’d forgotten them. He stopped when he heard the soft purr of Peter’s voice. Mac inched his way to the arch leading to the living room and peered into the room, moving back to remain unseen.
“You’ve been married awhile, Callie. Isn’t it time you took a lover?” Peter asked, sidling up to her.
Mac held his breath but couldn’t stop watching.
“Oh, but I have a lover, Peter,” she said, holding his gaze.
Mac froze. His stomach knotted.
“You do?” The surprise caused his voice to rise an octave.
“He absolutely sizzles.” Beads of sweat formed on Mac’s forehead.
“Does Mac know?” Peter raised his eyebrows.
“I don’t think so.” She turned away from Peter and Mac could no longer see her face.
“I don’t suppose you’d tell me who it is,” he asked, leaning toward her.
Callie whirled around to face him, a broad grin on her face.
“It’s Mac. He’s hot, Peter. So hot…I couldn’t possibly, wouldn’t ever need anyone else. Your brother is an absolute pistol in the bedroom.”
Mac’s cheeks puffed up. He quietly emitted a silent sigh of relief and smiled.
Peter laughed loudly.
“You passed the Peter Caldwell Loyalty Test with flying colors.” Peter walked over to an open box needing unpacking.
“You know what I could use?” Callie put her hand on his arm.
“What?” He reached into a box then stopped.
“A brother. I don’t have one of those,” she said, blinking back tears.

And last but not least, a little bit about Jean:
An English major in college, Jean always knew she wanted to write but didn’t know where to start. Non-fiction presented the best opportunities so Jean joined the corporate world of advertising and direct marketing.

     In 2010, fiction beckoned and with her youngest in college, Jean found the time to write “Now and Forever 1, a Love Story.” She fell in love with the contemporary romance and eight books later, she is still writing!

    Jean Joachim lives
in New York City with her husband, two boys and a rescued pug named Homer.