MARCH COMES MARCHING IN

                                    by Judy Ann Davis

Okay, I admit it, I’m not a fan of February. Every year, I wish it would fly by and push us into March. After the holidays, February brings holiday bills to pay, freezing temperatures in the northern regions, hibernation tendencies, snow, lack of light, more snow, colds, flu and then…more non-melting, dirty snow with ice. It’s a bleak, long, tedious month, despite the fewest number of days. But to February's credit, it ushers in March.

March in Pennsylvania is cheered on by the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, featuring rising temperatures, longer days, and vibrant, but unpredictable weather. It’s Women’s History Month, Ides of March, Johnny Appleseed Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Spring Equinox, and a full lunar blood moon that looks red on March 3^rd.

For me, it’s a joyful time. Rains will come, but they will leave.

I search my flower beds for new shoots and check the lilac buds to see if I’ll have blooms in April. Daffodils, crocus, snowdrops, tulips, and forsythia burst forth to color the dreary landscape. In the words of Bishop Reginald Heber: “Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.”

Rabbits scurry over the yard looking for tasty new shoots. The neighborhood possum checks out the fallen sunflower seeds below the bird feeder. Canada geese flying overhead sing their tunes of spring. Their sounds remind me to check my many birdhouses which may need paint or repairs before they can be hung outside.

March is the time to make time and do the things we love after a cold winter. You might find me scrutinizing the colorful seed packets on display at a local store—or staring into space and making a mental list of vegetables and herbs to plant in our bucket garden in May. Or maybe I’ll just stare at the blue sky and watch the clouds sail by in a brisk spring wind.

  

It’s March. It’s spring. Fresh breeze and warm sun. The best time for new beginnings is now.

                              NEW RELEASE - Finding Love in Pine Valley  

 

 

FINDING LOVE IN PINE VALLEY  

 

New Release:  

eBook/Digital - Now Only $2.99

Print - 6.99

Winter Flowers by Laura Hunsaker

 If you've been around here for a while, or if you follow me on any social media platform, you'll know a husky adopted me last year. I take him out twice a day for a jog or a hike in the desert.

and the desert behind my house has gone through 4 seasons all in one month! We had a week of rain, a week of snow and wind, and a week of gorgeous weather. This weekend we'll be over 80 so who knows what the following week will hold!

One thing that's been really cool lately, is the amount of flowers in the desert. I don't think I've ever seen so many-they literally carpet the desert floor.

I've been loving the wildflowers I see every day. Who knew the desert held such beauty?

These orange ones are my favorite, so if you see them in my marketing photos, now you'll know where they came from! In my work in progress (WIP) that I'm writing right now, my heroine lives in the Pacific Northwest, rather than the desert, and I will definitely find a way to involve the beauty of the Redwoods and the forests. In this story, the heroine is woken up in the middle of the night to her roommate being murdered. She bolts and runs to get help, but help never comes. Please look forward to the next book in the Fatal Instincts series.

In the meantime, since I'm still writing that one, grab Dark Past, book 1 in the series, where it all began.

Some secrets won't stay quiet...


The small town was supposed to be safe...

Kate Landry is tired of running. Thinking she's safe, she settles in the small logging town of Chester, California to manage a cafe. She may be keeping a low profile, but she's hoping to return to a normal life.
When FBI agent Kyle Donovan visits to Chester to stay with a friend, and to recover from his latest case, he never expects to meet sexy barista Kate.

But someone is following Kate...

Kyle worries he brought trouble to her door, while Kate worries her dark past is coming after her.
With danger lurking around every corner, her safe haven isn't as safe as she'd thought. Kate will finally have to trust someone enough to tell him her secrets. Secrets that may just get them killed...

Amazon  |   Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  Google Play Books  |  Smashwords  | Goodreads

MAY FLOWERS

 By Caroline Clemmons

Recent spring rains have made our area green and pleasant. Our roses appear to appreciate the rain, too. 

Roses cut for the living room

Fortunately, there was a break in the rain here for our friends Jacquie and Mark Rogers visit. That is, it was not pouring here, but they about washed away driving in to Fort Worth. They were pulling their little Casita and that slowed them more. Thankfully, they arrived safely! We always enjoy seeing them. They feel like family, the good kind.

Then the rains returned. Don’t you love to curl up with a good book on a rainy day? Any day is a great day to read, of course, but there’s something about a rainy day that increases my urge to read. Bad when I’m supposed to be writing, but writers are also readers.

What are you reading? We have a wonderful group of writers here at Smart Girls Read Romance (Smart guys read romance, too)! I hope you’re reading the books offered by our writers.

Ahem, my latest is KEITH AND THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE, book 5 of the Texas Hill Country Mail Order Brides Series. 

Here’s the blurb:

Elliana Barrington is sent to escape before a deranged cousin learns the terms of their grandmother’s will. So, it’s arranged that Elliana is to marry a man in Texas, who hopefully can protect her. Elliana is kind and generous and willing to share her legacy with her crazed cousin. Knowing Elliana’s nature and the cousin’s greed, her grandmother devises an unbreakable will which is specific—if Elliana attempts to share funds with her cousin, everything they each inherited will be forfeited to charity.

After escaping a difficult situation, Keith Martin created a new life as the banker of Harrigan Springs, Texas. He’s won the respect of the community and has made many good friends. After buying a house, he sends for a mail order bride. What a surprised to receive a letter from a young woman’s attorney, complete with a contract. Although not sure he’s doing the right thing, Keith agrees to marry the woman and fulfill the contract’s conditions. He expects a shy, overprotected bride—but he’s in for a surprise!

Fate has troubles in store for Elliana and Keith, threats that involve everyone in their household. They strive to protect themselves and the three orphans they’ve adopted. But, how can they reason with her crazed cousin? How can this couple overcome their complex circumstances to build a happy life together?

 

https://www.amazon.com/Keith-Order-Bride-Country-Brides-ebook/dp/B0CW7B2GZS/

 Keep reading!

FIDDLING WITH FIDDLEHEADS

                                                by Judy Ann Davis

                     "Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.”
                                         --Bishop Reginald Heber

I’m a fan of flowers and ferns.

But to be honest, I find ferns fascinating. There is something delicate and eye-catching about these ornamental plants. Every April, fiddleheads start popping through the spring earth. I can almost see them growing before my eyes as they emerge from the flowerbeds around our house. 

I also purchase five pots of ferns every year to hang from hooks around the perimeter of our covered patio to brighten the area and make it cozy and relaxing. It has become a summer ritual as soon as we drag out the outdoor patio furniture from winter storage.

Ferns are a native plant of Pennsylvania which means they occurred in this region before settlement by Europeans. They are part of a group of species of vascular plants which reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers, only stems and leaves.

It’s believed the first ferns appeared in fossil records 360 million years ago in the Devonian period, but many of the current species didn’t appear until roughly 145 million years ago in the early Cretaceous period, after flowering plants came to dominate many environments. Throughout history, ferns have been popular in medicine, art, mythology, landscaping, flower design, human consumption, and more.

When the first frost alarm sounds in our area, I’ve tried to bring the now huge, lofty-looking plants into the house to keep over winter. I’m not afraid to admit I’m a failure. The plants don’t adapt to—or just don’t like—the climate in our house.  So, I learned to be content with just enjoying them spring, summer, and fall.

I’m highlighting an older book this month. Key to Love is full of humor, sibling relationships, romance, suspense, and even features a restored Bandit Trans Am, an animal-cracker-eating little boy, and a sweet Dalmatian.

BLURB:

When architect Elise Springer's father is injured, she immediately leaves San Francisco to care for him. The last person she expects to encounter in her Pennsylvania hometown is her childhood friend Lucas Fisher. Lucas is investigating his brother's mysterious death, and Elise can't resist lending a hand.

Lucas longs for the close family ties he never had. He's back in Scranton to set up a classic car restoration business and build a future. The torch he carries for Elise burns brighter than ever, but before he can declare his love, he must obtain the legal rights to adopt his nephew--and prove his brother's death was no accident.

As they unearth clues to find the murderer and a missing stash of money, Elise faces a dilemma. Is her career on the West Coast the key to her happiness, or is it an animal-cracker-eating four-year-old and his handsome uncle instead? 

KEY TO LOVE

ASPARAGUE AND WINE - Nothing Can Go Wrong!

                                              by Judy Ann Davis

I am pleased that I have May 24th and 25^th to blog this month on Smart Girls Read Romance. May 24^th is National Asparagus Day…and May 25^th is National WINE day! Now, give me a good steak, or grilled salmon, or a pulled pork dish with asparagus and wine, and I’m in seventh heaven.

From everything I could find about asparagus, it has been used as a vegetable for not only eating, but also for its medicinal properties as a diuretic and as a purported aphrodisiac. It is pictured as an offering on an Egyptian frieze dating to 3000 B.C. It was known in Syria, Iberia, and to the Greeks and Romans who ate it fresh or dried it for winter use. My neighbor raises a variety of asparagus every spring and generously gives me a taste. Many people will tell you a person either loves asparagus or hates it. Which one are you?                                                                       

Now the idea of a national wine day is something everyone can get behind. There are over 10,000 varieties of different grape wines in the world that fit into the classifications of red, white, rose, sparkling, or dessert wines.  Since I’m a fan of Mexican food, I’m a fan of sangria which uses red wine and fruit juices. For a simple glass without any embellishments, I tend to like white wines. If you are an enthusiast of wine, what are your choices?

In celebration of the month that brings us flowers, I think I’ll finish this blog post, and the other household and writing chores, and wander over to the kitchen this evening where the wine is stored. What’s better than finding a comfortable chair, a good book, and a delicious glass of wine to end the day?

Cheers!

UNDER STARRY SKIES 

Amazon Link

Do you like humor and mystery combined? Under Starry Skies is the stand-alone intriguing sequel to my very first western, mystery, and romance, Red Fox Woman. Set in 1875 in the West, it’s a fast-paced read with a quiet rancher, determined schoolmarm, and wily Indian who wants to learn to read.

 

Bravo, April Bravo!

                                                        by Judy Ann Davis

If the current rains in Central Pennsylvania are any indication, we should have masses of blooms in our flowerbeds like the old catchphrase,  April showers bring May flowers, tells us. I hope the month doesn’t disappoint. This is one of my favorites because it’s the bridge from winter into spring. It’s a fickle month with temperatures from freezing at night into the seventies during the day.

On those balmy days, April allows us to wander outside in search of plants with green buds struggling to peek at the sun and blue skies. If we’re lucky, we maybe will see some blooms. Daffodils are pushing up among the dried leaves, and crocus is bursting into shades of yellow, violet, and white. Weeds and dandelions are vying for space as well. Landscape centers lure us in with their many bushes and plants.

This is also the time I love to sit outside in the sunshine with a cup of coffee listening to the birds and hoping to hear the geese honking their way northward. Cardinals, song sparrows, chickadees, and other feathered friends are returning to the feeders to eat or flit through the naked branches in search of the ideal place to build a nest.

Earth day was April 22^nd and Arbor Day is April 29^th this year. Both days remind us to respect our land and its resources. There are many ways to protect the planet. Plant a tree. Pick up trash. Build or set out a birdhouse for our feather friends. Use less plastic. Go easy on the paper towels.  Don’t waste water.

The list goes on and on.

Will Rogers reminds us of how important our planet and our lands are. “Buy land. They aren’t making any more of the stuff,” he said. (I think the current real estate market confirms this.)

Yes, April is the month when the earth wakes up and the land comes alive in the northern regions.

Bravo, April. Bravo!

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JUNE - Making Me Scurry Along!

by Judy Ann Davis

Do you ever feel overwhelmed? For some reason, this month, I have the feeling that the end of the day comes too quickly, and the tasks I’d hoped to accomplish are too many. Everywhere I turn, there is something that needs my attention.

Bucket Garden

Spring arrived too quickly in Central Pennsylvania. The weather was balmy and sunny. The patio furniture cried out to be cleaned and set up. There were weeds in the flowerbeds. My bucket garden had to be planted, and my blueberry bushes needed extra care. I'm also nursing a crop of milkweed to try to entice monarch butterflies. Recently, my husband and I decided to remove all the overgrown shrubs in the front of our house and replace them with new ones. I’m now on a first name basis with the owners of all our area's garden and landscape centers.

June is almost at an end, and I have to admit I’ve barely touched my keyboard to write. Why? Because our town’s Bloom and Berry Bash Summer Festival is scheduled to be held on June 26^th.  I’m scurrying around and collecting my paperback books, wood products I create, and my tent (with all its paraphernalia) to get ready for the celebration. On the sunny side, it should be a joy to see all the town folk after a year of cancelled events.

Milkweed

Am I writing? I’m chugging along with writing-related tasks. I took the 5-day Amazon Ad Challenge, and I’m learning to create Zon advertisements. I procured my copyrights to a western and am working to re-edit, obtain a new cover, and republish it both in digital and paperback. I’m also working on edits for a short novella targeted for the Christmas season. What do I really want to do? Write the third novel in the Ashmore Brothers (western) Series and hide from all the chores calling to me, like incessant sirens, to get them done.

How’s your summer progressing? Is it a relaxing one or are you in a frenzy? Drop me a comment and let me know I’m not alone during these lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.  :)

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