Louise and Malcolm Book 3

Have you signed up for my newsletter? If you do, in addition to pieces of my life, photos of my dog, randomness, and upcoming book news, you also get 2 free stories!

One Day with You introduces Louise and Malcolm as they navigate spies and human smugglers in Dover, England. Christmas with You continues their story.

My upcoming story involving these two, Intrigue with You, will be available late September, early October. 

Self-Care Monday Burnout

 It's real. Trust me.

Do an internet search on "signs of burnout" and you'll find dozens of lists. It's hard to come back from the stress of what caused it to begin with. I'll share a couple things I learned from my own burnout and hope it helps you.

• Not having enough time to do your work but then finding you didn't do anything all day and have no idea why.
• Tiredness. So. Much. Tiredness.
• Headaches
• Dreading actually making it into work. And also coming up with increasingly outlandish excuses not to go to work. (No? Just me? I do make it in, but every day I come up with at least 4 reasons not to.)
• Apathy

What's helped me in my day job is having immediate coworkers who feel the same. We exchange our outlandish reasons for calling out (stubbed my toe, dog is sad I'm leaving, child wants to go to Disney) and laugh. Seriously, without them I wouldn't have made it this far.

Cleaning? Meh, it's overrated. Please don't ask me the last time I dusted. I honestly don't remember. But I keep the kitchen clean, the laundry clean, and the floor vacuumed. 

Story to finish? I take it in bite sized pieces. If I just write 145 more words, I'll make it to a nice even number. Then 9 times out of 10, I'm on a semi-roll and write 1,000 words or so. 

Overcoming Burnout | Psychology Today

Tidbit Tuesday: Coaching Inns

Or why I wouldn't want to stay in one. 

Reason 1: Bedbugs. It's really the only reason I need, personally. I do not like bugs.

Also, the public coaches were crowded. I have horrible motion sickness, so can't read or write in a vehicle and can't ride backward. I can't imagine being crammed in with a dozen others, though I understand the reason for being so.

Image from Pinterest: Jane Austen Era Coaching Inn

 5 Things you Didn't Know about Coaching Inns | The Old Bell Hotel Derby

Travel through time at England's coaching inns (britishheritage.com)

Coaching inn - Wikipedia

Coaching inns | A Visitor's Guide to Victorian England (visitvictorianengland.com)

Now Available!

It's release day!!

 Her Captain's Honor is now available from Amazon and in KU! The paperback will be available in a couple weeks. 

In this sequel we have:

• An uncertain future. Though both Nadia and James love each other and want to be together, the question is how? Marriage is the only respectable way. Is that a path they want to travel?
• A blast from the past. James left his past on the battlefields of Flanders and the Low Countries. He never looked back. 
• His past came knocking. Alis was his former lover's companion. How did she find James in London? And is the little girl she brings with her really James's?
• Spies. Is Alis a spy? She certainly has something else up her sleeve other than bringing his child to him. But what, exactly?
• Road Trip. Nadia and James agree they need to travel to Dover, a proverbial hotbed of French spying and intrigue. They travel with Nadia's BFF's grandmother.
• On their way from London to Dover, they run into a wee bit of trouble.
• Once in Dover, they discover more than spies. 

Captain James St. Clair is ready to set aside his bachelor ways.  If only proposing to Nadia was as easy as blowing up the wharf where they met.  He’s never been a man to hesitate when he makes up his mind, but war with France still looms on the horizon and he has orders to follow.  He loves Nadia and he won’t allow anything to get in the way of their future. 

Then his past came knocking.

Nadia Koltsova is many things, a smuggler, a businesswoman, and lover to one of the bravest men she’d ever met.  She is not a jealous woman or a fool.  Society deems her passionate nights with James scandalous, but that’s not why her thoughts have turned to marriage.  He is everything she wants in a partner and more.

Then a woman appears on their doorstep with a child she claims is James’s.

He remembers her from his time in Flanders, an old lover’s companion, but now he suspects she’s a French spy. They track her through the wharves of the Thames to Dover, determined to stop her from delivering Britain into France’s hands.

Together Nadia and James navigate French spies, James's past, and a future they know they want together. But will the revelations they find tear them apart? Or bring them together forever?

Excerpt: Her Captain's Honor

 

 Available on Amazon

“The world is a very strange place, indeed.”

“I like this look on you,” Sophia declared. “You look happier than I’ve ever seen you.”

“I’m certain something will pop this bubble,” Nadia admitted. “But for now, I’ll bask in it. I’m happy. Truly happy.”

She shouldn’t have said anything. She knew that fate had a way of listening in. But Nadia smiled as she and Sophia waited for Morris to return from the kitchens ladened with several sacks full of food for those in the rookery.

The door swung open, banging against the wall and sending a shock of icy wind through the room. Nadia turned toward it, the cold slithering down her spine and settling like a rock in her stomach.

She was suddenly certain this was the omen she’d spoken into being. Why, oh why, had she opened her mouth?

“I should not have said that aloud,” she muttered.

Cover Reveal: Her Captain's Honor

Have you seen this amazing cover? I love it. Her Captain's Honor is now available for pre-order! I'll share an excerpt tomorrow. 😉

 Available on Amazon

Captain James St. Clair is ready to set aside his bachelor ways.  If only proposing to Nadia was as easy as blowing up the wharf where they met.  He’s never been a man to hesitate when he makes up his mind, but war with France still looms on the horizon and he has orders to follow.  He loves Nadia and he won’t allow anything to get in the way of their future. 

Then his past came knocking.

Nadia Koltsova is many things, a smuggler, a businesswoman, and lover to one of the bravest men she’d ever met.  She is not a jealous woman or a fool.  Society deems her passionate nights with James scandalous, but that’s not why her thoughts have turned to marriage.  He is everything she wants in a partner and more.

Then a woman appears on their doorstep with a child she claims is James’s.

He remembers her from his time in Flanders, an old lover’s companion, but now he suspects she’s a French spy. They track her through the wharves of the Thames to Dover, determined to stop her from delivering Britain into France’s hands.

Together Nadia and James navigate French spies, James's past, and a future they know they want together. But will the revelations they find tear them apart? Or bring them together forever?

I'm back!

 It's been a while, but the summer has flown by. I mean, yes, it always does in my opinion, but this year has been madness.

Madness with a touch of burnout.

But it's September, a new month with new motivation. Ah, if only that were true! Can you imagine, having your motivation recharge itself every month so you never run out? 

I'll be back to my regular posting schedule:

• Monday: Self Care Mondays, where I post things I've learned that I hope will help someone.
• Tuesday: Tidbit Tuesdays where I share research I've done for my stories.
• Wednesday: Book information, research, freebies, outlines, coming soon, other fun stuff.

I hope to see you around!