Blogiversary Guest: Janice Maynard!

Hi friends! I’m so thrilled to welcome back Janice Maynard on the last day of January! We’re just doing things all over the place and offering giveaways galore here at ALBTALBS! 😀 It’s been ten years! We do what we want! 😜 Anyway Janice was kind enough to write a post and offer a prize, so read on!  <3

Happy Blogiversary to Limecello! I’m honored to be here today celebrating such a fun milestone!

As I was debating what to share with you, it occurred to me that Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. It will look different this year, of course. (My husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in a restaurant parking lot eating carry-out.)

Whether you’ll be observing Gal-entine’s Day, or maybe you and your significant other are lifting a glass, because you’ve managed not to strangle each other during quarantine, this year’s events will be unlike any others.

Instead of reporting on a new release, I’d like to tell you about an older book that takes place in exactly this time of year. As you probably know, publishers “buy” the rights to publish books for a certain period of time. Eventually, those rights revert to the authors who can then re-publish the books.

I have six books that came out in the 2005-2010 range. Once the rights reverted to me, I bought new covers and also cleaned up some spots. For example, I had to take out references to BlackBerrys and answering machines. ☺

Anyway, all six are now available on Amazon through Kindle Unlimited, regular Kindle ebook purchase, and print. If you’re in the mood for a Valentine’s storyline, Note By Note might fit the bill. It’s about a hero and heroine who have been friends for a very long time. She wants more, but he seems oblivious.

Jane decides to woo Ethan with a series of anonymous valentines in the weeks leading up to the romantic holiday. Then, on February 14, she’ll reveal her identity and hopefully convince him they should be more than friends.

Unfortunately, the sexy valentines work all too well. Ethan (the local assistant sheriff) becomes obsessed with finding out the identity of the mystery woman. Instead of telling Jane about his weird pen pal, he keeps mum. So Jane ends up being jealous of herself and the titillating valentines.

Note By Note is actually one of my favorite books I’ve written. It’s humorous and sexy and has a few twists and turns, plus a subplot that almost stole the show.

(P.S. Books 5 and 6 are not available in paper but will be soon.)

I’m including an excerpt below!

I promised Lime I’d do a giveaway. Unfortunately, I don’t have any print copies of the Southern Hearts collection on hand right now. But I DO have some new books. Last year, I had five releases with Harlequin Desire. Three of those were a trilogy set in Maine. My husband and I have traveled to Maine several times, and the idea for The Men of Stone River came to me while we were up there. These Stone brothers stole a piece of my heart. I hope you’ll love them as much as I do.

Lime will draw a winner: here’s my question – Do you prefer contemporary or historical, or both? And have you watched Bridgerton??

Happy February to you all. We made it through the dark days of January. Hopefully, we’re now one month closer to the end of this trying time…

The journey from best friends to lovers follows a dangerous road…

“Readers will fall in love with the characters and their foibles. With its well-crafted story line and characters, this is a delightful read.” Romantic Times (4 stars)

Jane has wanted Ethan for years, but she’s never found a way to tell him. With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, she decides to woo him with a series of erotic valentines every Thursday until the big day. Then she’ll finally reveal her true identity. But when her stationery store is vandalized, Sheriff Ethan comes to her rescue and the sparks start flying ahead of schedule.

Now Jane and her erotic alter ego are competing for Ethan’s attention. Soon, friends become lovers, but will this new relationship last?

***Originally published as Hot Mail

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Her courage lasted all the way to his front door. When she rang the bell and stood there with no answer for several minutes, she prepared to slink away. His car was in the driveway. Clearly, he didn’t want to see her.
Stubbornly, she rang the bell one more time. She could swear she heard a sound from inside. Cautiously, she twisted the doorknob. It was unlocked. She eased open the door a couple of inches. “Ethan?”
What if he was sleeping? What if he was upstairs having carnal relations with a strange woman? Her stomach churned. She backed up slowly, when suddenly, she was sure she heard something from the back of the house… a voice.
“Ethan?” This time there was no mistaking it. He was calling for her to come in.
With her heart in her throat, she entered his foyer and shut the door behind her. She stripped off her outer garments and carried them over her arm as she walked down the hall. She found him in the den. It was a toss-up as to which of the two of them was more surprised.
Ethan lay on his back on the carpeted floor, his knees bent with a pillow beneath them, his head unsupported in any way. The position looked monumentally uncomfortable.
He flushed a dark red and mumbled something.
“What did you say?” She hovered in the doorway.
He frowned. “I thought you were Sherry.”
She shook her head. “No.” Great, just great. Two of the world’s most scintillating conversationalists. She leaned against the doorframe. “Why are you on the floor?” A basketball game played on the big-screen TV. There were numerous comfy seating options. It didn’t make sense.
He muttered again, and she became impatient. “Ethan, speak up. What are you doing down there?”
She couldn’t decipher the mix of expressions on his face. But agitation and disgruntlement topped the list. “I threw my back out.” He spit the words at her between clenched teeth, clearly suffering from this blow to his masculine pride. Men were such babies.
And then it hit her. Oh, God. Her eyes widened. Mortification swamped her, making her knees weak. He’d injured himself carrying her up the stairs. Humiliation was a mild word for what she was experiencing.
She stared up at the ceiling, her nose scrunched up, as she felt hot color rush from her throat to her hairline. “I told you I weighed too much for that stunt. Lord, Ethan, I am so sorry.”
He shifted and groaned as pain drew his face in sharp lines. “You’re not heavy,” he insisted with laudable but inaccurate insistence.
She sighed, finally approaching him and perching on the edge of the sofa. “I’m five-foot eleven, Ethan. I’m definitely not the soft and cuddly type.”
Their eyes met. Suddenly she knew that he knew what they were both thinking. His ex-fiancée was just that kind of woman. One a man could scoop up with ease.
Jane was close enough now to nudge him with her foot, if she’d been inclined. Guilt and embarrassment threatened to choke her.
He reached out carefully and touched her ankle. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Jane.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thank you so much for your post and this excerpt, Janice! Did you all catch Janice’s question above? She’s clever and incorporated it into her post. 😉 So answer her question(s) to enter her fabulous giveaway! (I’m going to keep this giveaway and the others open through the end of this week and post winners ideally on February 9th so please remember to check back!) 

And thank you everyone for helping us celebrate 10 years of blogging!

13 thoughts on “Blogiversary Guest: Janice Maynard!

  1. flchen1

    Great to see you here, Janice! I can’t believe I missed Hot Mail originally–will have to pick up Note by Note!

    I love both contemporary and historical, but it just depends on my mood 🙂 I’ve read the Bridgerton series, but haven’t yet watched it. I’m not as much for that, though I have heard very good things about this!

    Thanks for the fun visit!

    Reply
  2. dholcomb1

    Enjoyed the excerpt.

    I love and read both contemporary and historical romance. I haven’t seen Bridgerton–no Netflix. I have read several in the series.

    denise

    Reply
  3. Elizabeth KW

    I enjoy both contemporary and historical. I have indeed an Bridgeton – twice! I read them all when they were first published, and have used this as an excuse to reread.

    Reply
  4. Limecello

    [I’m of course not entering the giveaway – but I figured I should answer your question, Janice :D]
    I like both contemporary and historical romances. (Ironically I don’t care for time travel romances, which are a combination of both 😜)
    And … I have not yet watched Bridgerton. Wondering if I should wait for more seasons/less buzz. >.>

    Reply
  5. Aliquis

    Hi Janice – thank you for the giveaway! I read contemporary and historical romances, but don’t have Netflix.

    Reply

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