I just realized that I never shared here on the blog when WHO NEEDS A BILLIONAIRE went LIVE! So I’m fixing that today. This book was one of the most fun to write, and Gus and Merritt’s story has become one of my favorites that I’ve ever written. Over the past few weeks since this book released, I’ve gotten the sweetest reviews over on Amazon from people who adored their story as I did, and that just makes it all worthwhile.
Click the image above or THIS LINK to grab your copy today! And if you’re subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, you can read it (and all my books) for FREE!
I’m so excited you’ve found me here in my little corner of the web. The MY BOOKS tab above will take you to my online shop, where you can learn about and purchase all of my novels. If you aren’t already subscribed to my NEWSLETTER, join along to be among the first to be notified of new releases, cover reveals, behind-the-scenes, etc. And there might just be some free stuff for subscribers as well. š
Are you a sucker for SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE? Check out my three second chance romance novels:
Another June with You (Book 1 in the McGregor family series) Photographing this wedding is about to get complicated when her first love shows up as the best man.
Bittersweet (standalone) Heās back after four years without a word. Sheās moved on ā¦ or has she? Is it too late for a second chance at love?
Until Then (Book 2 in the Cornerstone series) This one can be read alone, but reading the first book will add a lot to the experience.
I woke on Saturday morning and sat outside on the porch, enjoying my morning coffee. The sun was shining, there was a lovely breeze, the birds were chirping. It’s become one of my favorite ways to start my day lately. It fills my soul with peace and I crave that quiet to think and pray and begin my day in a good way rather than jumping right into all the things.
Did you watch the SpaceX launch? As someone who once seriously considered the space program as a future career, anything to do with NASA is exciting to me. And it was definitely exciting and emotional and thrilling to watch history happen – the first manned space launch by NASA in nearly a decade! Yes!
I finally started the 20/20 Bible Study by Christine Caine. My mom got me the study book for Christmas and Lifeway has videos that go along with it online. I was first introduced to her last fall when I attended a Propel Women’s Conference at my BFF’s church. God has definitely given her a gift of sharing His word with women. Listening to her is always very moving. Plus, she’s got that great Australian accent that’s fun to listen to. š
I ended up on the couch in the evening. I had been sneezing all day and had a runny nose and headache. I thought I was coming down with a cold and drank some OJ, ate chicken noodle soup, and sipped on some ginger tea. But it wasn’t actually a cold. The pollen around here is CRAZY lately, and we figured out that I had allergies going on. I never used to have any problems with pollen, but it’s gotten worse for me the past few years. Ugh!
On Saturday evening, I turned in for the night and happened to see a post on Facebook from a friend about the protests happening in downtown Grand Rapids. I clicked over to our local news and caught live video just after police used tear gas on rioters. There had been a peaceful protest earlier in the night, which later turned violent. Buildings and vehicles burned, windows of local businesses smashed out and looted, graffiti all over the police department. My best friend lives close to downtown, and I immediately sent off a text to make sure she was okay. She was out of town, thankfully.
Sunday morning, the first thing I saw were reports of hundreds of people converging on the city to begin the cleanup, working together. It was a beautiful sight to see.
After watching our church service online, Jake and I went for a nice walk together. It was a gorgeous day, and the wildflowers along our walk were beautiful. I ended up going out to my parents’ farm later in the afternoon and went for another walk with my mom back their lane, and then sat and chatted for a couple hours. Was a nice afternoon with my mama. š
I have a lot of thoughts about all that is going on in our country right now that I am working through, but as soon as I saw this graphic by @ohhappydani on Instagram, I knew it perfectly illustrated what I wanted to say but hadn’t found words for.
Change has to start within each of us, in our own hearts and homes!
BITTERSWEET, my sweet second chance romance, book one of a multi-author series I was part of a couple years ago, got a little facelift this week. There was nothing wrong with the previous cover, really, but when I saw this image recently, I immediately thought of Bittersweet. Ever since I saw it, I’ve been itching to update the cover. The original cover was very close up and in the couple’s faces. This one felt so fresh and clean and adorable.
I see books get new covers all the time, and I’ve never changed any of mine. Until now. š
The story itself is exactly the same. Nothing has changed there. If you’ve read it, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it. But if you haven’t, click the image above or THIS LINK to check it out on Amazon or free in Kindle Unlimited.
Yes, I know it’s actually Tuesday when I’m posting this, but yesterday was the Memorial Day holiday. š
When I redid my website a while back, I didn’t transfer over old personal posts about our family or the kids so the site would be focused on writing and my books, and one of my weekly posts on the blog was Hello, Monday, where I shared what we did over the weekend. I thought this would be a fun thing to start up again so my reader friends, like you, can get a glimpse into “real life” for the Noormans. š
I have gotten away from blogging in recent years as I grew more focused on writing my books, and I miss it. A lot. I first began blogging in 2005, and it was my place to share my thoughts and document our life. Somehow, as I’ve become more focused on social media to get the word out about my books, I’ve turned to Facebook to share personal stuff. And that’s okay. But the sad thing about that is Facebook doesn’t show all my posts to everyone who is my friend there, so it’s like more than half who originally clicked to follow me aren’t even seeing anything I share. It gets a little frustrating. Especially since I don’t have the time or energy to try to figure out the best way to get their algorithms to share my posts.
And what I’ve been realizing lately is that no matter what happens with social media apps, no matter how many times they change the app and the algorithms, this blog will always be mine. I write it. I host it. Nobody else controls who sees what I post. So, while some may think blogs are dead, I’m going to get back to my roots and start posting here more.
Oh, I’ll still share plenty over on Facebook, but I’m feeling the need to get back to things I love right now, and one of the things that always made me happy was writing here on my blog.
What we were up to this weekend:
ā¢ My best friend, Jen, invited me to go kayaking on the lake where her sister lives. It was perfect weather and just so wonderful to get out of the house and see people. Jen and I have been friends since we were six, and we were reminiscing about another time we were out on that lake together, when we were probably pre-teens and we took a paddle boat (some people call them pedal boats) and had our boom box, listening to “Let’s Hear It For The Boy” while we pedaled past the YMCA camp that is on the lake, where there were a bunch of boys out playing in the water. hehe! Fun memories.
On our kayaking adventure, we saw lots of turtles on the logs along the shoreline. The tiny turtle babies were so cute. I didn’t have my phone with me in the kayak, so I didn’t get any pictures of them.
We had a yummy dinner on the grill – chicken and veggie packs – then sat on the dock and watched her nephew attempt to catch fish. There were so many mayflies out, and the fish were coming up out of the water to get them, which was fun to watch. And I kid you not, there were thousands upon thousands of mayflies. We looked up at the sky above us around sunset time and it was just swarming with them. It was crazy. Cool to see, and they didn’t bother us … much. š
ā¢ Sunday was a day of rest. Watched church online and had communion (cheez-its and apple juice in place of the cracker and grape juice we would normally have at church). The most exciting thing we did was order a new mattress for our bed. Ours is super old and no longer as supportive as it once was, and it’s causing both of us issues. We went for a mattress-in-a-box. Hopefully, we’ll like it. We’ve heard good things.
ā¢ Monday, we traveled across the state to Jake’s parents’ for the day. We sat outside at a distance and caught up, played yard games (in the garage to stay out of the hot sun), and had hot dogs on the grill. We hadn’t seen them since last year as they are snowbirds and only recently came home from Florida. š So, we were excited to be able to visit. Even if we weren’t able to hug right now, it was still wonderful to see their faces.
On the drive home, we encountered a couple things. Thunderstorms and a drunk driver (we’re pretty sure that’s what was going on with her). I happened to glance in my rear view mirror and saw a big white SUV a ways back from me go from the right lane of the highway into the left lane, only she didn’t merge nicely into the lane, she kept on going off the left edge of the road into the dirt and grass then swerved back suddenly, which of course caused her vehicle to weave back and forth as she tried to gain control. I could tell that the left side of her vehicle had damage to it. We can only assume that was from an earlier collision with something. Maybe a guard rail. Maybe another vehicle. Who knows. I was super nervous about this person being behind me and I was about to pass a semi, so I went ahead and started to pass and just prayed to get around the semi and into the right lane before this person gunned it and rammed me or something. I prayed that if she passed, she would not drift right and hit me. But I didn’t have to worry about that … because while I was passing the semi on the left, as I should, she decided it was okay to pass the semi on the narrow RIGHT SHOULDER of the road … going 80 MPH! What? She went fast enough that she was ahead of us as I finished passing the semi and then she sort of slowed behind another vehicle, and there was NO WAY I was going to attempt to pass. But because she was right in front of us, we got her license plate number and Jake called 911 just before she got off at an exit, which he told the 911 operator. It was craziness. We ended up getting a call back from the area police saying that officers had found her and they wondered if when she swerved off the road if she hit anything, which she did not. They were trying to figure out her path and where the damage to her vehicle might have occurred. We are just very glad that we reported her and got her off the road. It was scary to witness such erratic driving. And who knows what the reason … but one thing was clear … she should not have been on the road.
How about you? How was your weekend? Any fun stories? Feel free to drop them in the comments.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. I hope you’ll come back again soon.
Facebook has me all nostalgic this month, reminding me of things that happened on these days years ago. And it just so happens that when I first started publishing my books, they all had May release dates. So, it’s been a lot of fun to see some of those old graphics pop up in my FB memories this month, making me think of where this whole writing journey began and how far I’ve come. And I’m so thankful for every step that got me to where I am today.
I still don’t feel like I’ve “arrived” or anything. I’m not the most well-known author in the world, and I don’t have the hugest number of followers or anything, but I am very grateful for all of you who follow along with me. I’ve said that several times recently, and I mean it. Wholeheartedly.
If you’re new around here and want to check out my earliest books, here’s where you can find them: THE TRUTH ABOUT DREW – released May 2014 (young adult Christian fiction) GOODBYE, MAGNOLIA – released May 2015 (Christian contemporary romance) UNTIL THEN – released May 2016 (Christian contemporary romance)
Today marks FIVE YEARS since my first sweet contemporary Christian romance, Goodbye, Magnolia was released into the world. It seems so much has happened and changed along this writing journey. I’ve learned so much and continue to love what I do, especially the thrill of new story ideas and the excitement every time I start to write a new book.
It’s always good to look back at accomplishments and celebrate, and today I’m celebrating with a mint mocha latte and some Dove mint chocolates. š
I’m so excited to share with you the cover of my upcoming novel, Who Needs a Billionaire, the second book in my A Billionaire for Every Season series, coming MAY 12TH! š If you’ve read Not the Billionaire, this is Sebastian’s brother Gus’s story.
A fake marriage is the answer to their problems, but love was never part of the deal.
Augustus āGusā Schultz has always been the black sheep of the family, and heās earned that label with his playboy ways. His greatest desire is to prove to his father that heās put all that behind him and is worthy of taking on a bigger role at Schultz Chocolate. But when heās asked to step away from the company for appearancesā sake, he must devise a plan to convince everyone heās changed.
Merritt Christiansen loves helping women feel pretty and confident, and her dream of taking her safe, organic cosmetics line global is about to come true. Until she doesnāt secure the capital she was hoping for and is forced to consider a crazy alternative.
Gus thinks his proposal is ingenious. A fake marriage contract with Merritt, who is brilliant and respectableānot to mention beautifulāwill demonstrate his ability to commit and fit in with the companyās wholesome image. Merritt thinks heās lost his mind, especially since they canāt stand each other. But how can she refuse when he offers to fund her business expansion as part of the terms of their marriage? And if pretend crosses the line to real, how will they come away with hearts unscathed?
This book! It’s been over a year since Another June with You came out, and I have never had so many people write and ask me when the next book in the series will be coming. So many of you were anxiously awaiting Duncan and Jamie’s story and it’s FINALLY HERE! And I cannot even begin to tell you how happy it makes me to receive your comments and messages letting me know that you waited until midnight for the book to show up on your Kindle or got up early on release day and spent the day reading this book. And hearing it was worth the wait … that is everything to me. š
WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT?
Love isnāt always picture perfect.
Jamie Linde is on the verge of great things. Her photography business is booming, and everythingās going according to plan, until two little lines on a pregnancy test turn everything upside down. For years, sheās loved her best friendās brother from afar, but after their one and only night together, he left town on a business trip and hasnāt spoken to her since.
Duncan McGregor thought he had set his old ways aside. Heās been living a good Christian life, waiting on God to bring the right girl for himāexcept for one night of weakness with his sisterās best friend. His work in Denver couldnāt have come at a more perfect time to distance himself from temptation and get right with God.
When Duncan returns from Denver with a girl on his arm, Jamie is devastated and confused. What she wants more than anything is to be a family, but it seems that dream isnāt going to come true. If she tells him about the baby, sheāll ruin his newfound happiness. If she decides not to keep it, sheāll let everyone down, including her best friend.
Will she make the choice on her own or discover that Godās got a better plan?
