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Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!Oct 11, 2021

A KEEPSAKE CHRISTMAS is available for pre-orderOct 7, 2021

Back in January, the idea for A KEEPSAKE CHRISTMAS came into being. I became one of the Keepsake team of eight wonderful sweet romance writers. Nine months later (how's that for timing), our Christmas anthology is available for pre-order.

I'm very proud to present this amazing collection of sweet holiday romances, and to possibly introduce you to some new writers to enjoy. I've found a lot of my favourite writers in anthologies and now I'm excited to be part of one.

TINSEL AND TEACUPS is part of my Holiday Beach series. If you read Pumpkins and Promises, you may remember Rachel Best (Jordan Portman's new boss at By the Cup) and Owen Daye (with the robber costume at Halloween). If you do, you know that something is already going on between these two. But will in end in romance? (Spoiler - of course! But it's the journey that's the fun part.)

But that's just 12.5% of the romance in this heart-warming collection. Check out who else you can read.

By the way, A KEEPSAKE CHRISTMAS is only $2.99 in pre-order, so grab it while it's on sale!

8 special ornaments, 8 special women, 8 memorable Christmases. Bring the spirit of Christmas into your heart with this collection of all new sweet holiday romances set in the popular series of eight bestselling authors.

No Matter How Far by Barbara Hinske. Where hidden treasures can hold the key to a heart and offer an unexpected path home...

A Lot Like Christmas by Kathryn Cantrell. The place where destiny is the ultimate matchmaker. All you have to do is believe.

The Last Cottage on Pinewood Lane by Melissa McClone. Will performing during a Christmas fundraiser bring a former figure-skating star the healing and love that have eluded her? Or will being back under the glaring spotlight only lead to more heartache and regrets?

Tinsel and Teacups by Elle Rush. A bubbly barista and a shy, single-father antique dealer must set aside their rivalry to find the best Christmas teacup ever when they are nominated to run the Holiday Beach food bank fundraiser. Will the spirit of Christmas overcome their competitive streaks?

Blessings on State Street by Rachael Bloome. Abigail Preston wants nothing more than to skip Christmas this year. But her holiday-free hideout in the quaint, charming town of Blessings Bay comes with a mysterious and unexpected house guest. Can two heartbroken strangers find hope and healing in the most Christmassy town on the coast?

One Unforgettable Christmas by Tammy L. Grace. An exhausted ER doctor looking to escape the city. A beach-loving workaholic executive stuck in a snow-covered valley. Will the charm of the town and the magic of the holidays be enough to mend their broken hearts?

The Cowboy's Christmas Wish by Kristen Ethridge. Sarah Murdoch knew bringing her daughter, Jamie, halfway across the country to Port Provident, Texas would cause more anxiety than feel-good Christmas memories. But when Jamie bonds with Grant McCray, the owner of Beachcomber Stables, she begins to come out of her shell.

I'll Be Home For Christmas by Tess Thompson. High school sweethearts Jennifer and Jack were supposed to be together forever. But Jack's one night mistake tore them apart. Will they have the ultimate second chance at love more than 30 years later? Or is the secret she kept from him too much to forgive? Can the magical spirit of Christmas in Emerson Pass bring forgiveness and healing for these two star-crossed lovers?

PUMPKINS AND PROMISES is hereOct 5, 2021

I had so much fun writing PUMPKINS AND PROMISES and sending Aaron and Brooke on all my favourite fall date activities. I hope you fall in love with them just like I did, and enjoy discovering more about Holiday Beach.

PUMPKINS AND PROMISES is available at all your favourite e-book retailers today.

Don't forget that Pumpkin and Promises is also available in paperback!

Sneak peek at PUMPKINS AND PROMISES - read chapter 1 nowSep 29, 2021

PUMPKINS AND PROMISES is releasing in one week! There are only seven short days till you can dive into Brooke and Aaron's Halloween romance. But for now, I'm giving you a sneak peek! Check out Chapter One.

And if you like it, you can pre-order it now and have it waiting for you when you wake up next Tuesday.

Happy AutumnSep 22, 2021

It's official. Fall is here! Let the pumpkin spice and colourful leaf and apple cider season begin!

I'm on a reading appSep 8, 2021

Hey, friends, do you have any reading apps on your phone? I personally have Kindle and Apple Books and Kobo so I can access my digital e-book library on the move.

But now I also have READICT. Why? Because I'm not just an author, I'm also a reader. And Readict is a great way to try a new author for free. Don't worry - the authors get paid, but the readers can download their books, chapter by chapter, for free. It's a great way to try out a new-to-you author.

Right now, you can find Doctor Millionaire there, but I have several other sweet romance author friends who have their books up there, so check it out and get reading.

Only a month to go until PUMPKINS AND PROMISES is hereSep 7, 2021

Do you smell that? Fall is in the air. It was a wonderful summer, but according the the blanket of leaves Mother Nature is dropping, it's time to move onto the next season on the calendar. Which means it's time for pumpkins!

PUMPKINS AND PROMISES is up for pre-order right now. Aaron and Brooke each have a teenager in high school, but that doesn't mean they don't have their own first date jitters. Add in spooky corn mazes, haunted shacks, and crime spree in Holiday Beach, and their relationship might become a ghost of Halloween past before it has a chance to get off the ground.

Working full-time, going back to school, and raising a high school senior – Brooke Portman’s schedule in Holiday Beach is a whirlwind of obligations. As she turns the page into October, the few blank spots left on her calendar are being filled with the man who’s determined that she should have a life of her own with him in the picture.

Sheriff Aaron Gillespie thinks he and Brooke can go the distance if they can get past the obstacles constantly being thrown in their path. When their kids’ social lives are busier than their own, and every date he and Brooke manage to have is interrupted by reports of criminal activity, it feels like the Halloween season is all tricks and no treats.

Then Aaron and Brooke soon find themselves on opposites sides of the same arson case. One that threatens to burn their relationship to cinders.

PUMPKINS AND PROMISES will be available in paperback when it's released on October 5th, so keep your eyes peeled for those links.

And watch for a chapter 1 sneak peek this month!

Garden Report 2021 - Part 5 - September - week 1Sep 6, 2021

It's the afternoon of Monday of the Labour Day Weekend. And it's officially the end of summer in our garden. Daytime highs are only about 20C, which is enough to leave the tomatoes and peppers on the vine to ripen, but not much more. It's starting to look pretty bare out there. The corn stalks and squash vines are gone. But now you can see the celery that we unwisely planted among the cucumbers thinking they'd get sun. All that are left in the big garden are the carrots, celery, tomatoes, beans, and the second planting of potatoes. It was time to start pulling things.

Even the cucumbers. Especially the cucumbers. We made 18 quarts of pickles (17 dill, 1 sweet). We gave away pounds and pounds of cucumbers. And they wouldn't stop coming. I tried to convince Ross that we had one more batch of bread and bottle pickles in us, but after we finished with he apple jelly today, I looked at him and said that I didn't have another batch in me. The canner had defeated me. We needed to stop the cucumber assault. So we pulled the plants.

Yeah, that didn't work. We ended up with 8 kg /17.5 lbs of field cucumbers. Those are the ones you see lining the garden wall. And other 4 kg/ 8.5 lbs of pickling cucumbers. Thank goodness for friends and neighbours. We probably pawn off -- I mean, gave away a third of them. But we'll be eating cucumber salad for days.

Then there are the tomatoes. We're picking about 2.5 kg/ 5 lbs every two to three days. We've made 20 lbs into salsa and tomato sauce, but the just keep coming. Fortunately, I remembered that tomatoes can be frozen whole. They'll make more tomato sauce in the winter months, and we'll use them first.

I tried to make a batch of dehydrated apples, but they didn't work so I'm not counting them. If you're interested, I used Goodland apples that we got at the farmer's market. They are supposed to grow well in Manitoba. They were fine fresh, but they did not taste good dried.

I figure we have one more picking of beans, they we'll pull those vines. We still have quite a few green peppers on the plants, which is great, but they're supposed to be red. I don't know if they'll turn without the heat we had last month. I'll also get at least another bucket of herbs to dry.

Anyway, we're out of pint jars. We have 6 quart jars left (out of two dozen) and about half a dozen each of jam jars and mini jam-jars.

I think we had a great run four our first year with the new garden.

Running canning total:

June

4 half-pint jars of stewed rhubarb
spice bottle of dried chive blossoms

July

6 half-pints + 2 - 125ml jars of strawberry rhubarb jam
11 half-pint and 4 - 125ml jars of strawberry jam
6 half-pint + 2 - 125ml jars of raspberry jam
3 quarts Pops’ Dills (overprocessed, we’ll have to see if they’re still edible)
3 quarts Pops’ Dills
3 quarts + 1 pint Joyce’s Dills
2 quarts + 1 pint Christine’s Dills
12 cups frozen strawberries
6 cups frozen spinach
2 cups frozen celery
550 g potatoes
Dried herbs

August

10 servings of borscht (frozen)
Dehydrated peppers (they all fit in a 125 mL jar so far.)
12 cups frozen beans
4 quarts Dilly Cukes (another dill pickle recipe we are testing)
1 quart Bread and Butter Pickles
2.2 kg potatoes
2 kg onions
7 pints pickled beets
7 spaghetti squashes totalling 36 lbs (gave away 2 squashes/ 10 lbs)
10 cups frozen rhubarb

12 cups of shredded zucchini (donated)
Dehydrated zucchini (enough to fill a half-pint jar.)

4 half pints + 4 125mL jars of hot pepper jelly
5 pints salsa
3 pints dilly beans
8 more spaghetti squashes totalling 27.5 lbs (gave away 2 squashes/ 7.5 lbs)
6 cups frozen rhubarb
1 - 4L pail of fresh herbs, dried (rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano)
6 cups frozen corn kernels
3 pints tomato sauce

September

2 half pints + 3 125mL jars of apple jelly
5 pints tomato sauce
500 gr onions

Shanah tovahSep 6, 2021

Wishing a good new year to my Jewish friends!

Garden Report 2021 - Part 4 - August - week 4Sep 5, 2021

It's looking a little sparser in there, isn't it? A few more bare spots. A little more yellow. (Please ignore the very rude tree in the background that is almost all yellow.)

We pulled the last of the beets at the end of the month. We had 3 lbs left. We gave half to a friend, and I kept half to roast. I'm hoping to dehydrated a couple to throw into stews or soups over the winter. We're only talking about enough for a 125mL jar to try it. There are half a dozen onions left. Still most of the carrots. We picked every last ear of corn. Our squash started suffering from powdery mildew, so we picked the remaining spaghetti squashes and brought them inside to finish ripening. And we thinned the rhubarb one last time for the year.

The cucumbers are still producing (take a break, buddies, please!) We picked 13 lbs of cucumbers on a Friday night. We are all pickled out (out of jars, out of shelf space, out of energy) but we gave them to a friend. On Saturday afternoon in the daylight, we found another 3 that would have taken it up to 15 lbs. Plus we have a ton of field cucumbers left. The tomatoes are very generous and are giving us about 5 lbs every two to three days. Ross hilled the second crop of potatoes again. I'm hoping to see flowers on them this week. We've already used a lot of our onions, so we'll definitely be planting more of those next year!

We went to the farmer's market on the last weekend of August. We were surprised at the lack of variety and volume from the local farmers. They must have had a bad year with the drought. We went specifically to buy apples for jelly. All we have left to can (that we're planning on) is apple jelly and tomato sauce. Anything else will be a bonus.