Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 5-O and Kindle Fire Giveaway

Ever since childhood I have loved the opening scene from the TV show Hawaii 5-O.  Seriously, hula dancers, surfers, beaches, and good looking heroes. All grown up, I added the memorial for the USS Arizona to my Hawaii must-see list.

When not long ago I had a chance to visit Kona on the Big Island, I made plans to 'stop' in Honolulu.  So starting at 5am was the mad dash to pay my respects and then time permitting check out those famed TV show opening scenes.

Fortunately for this night owl, five o'clock in the morning is around ten am back home so a crack of dawn tour of Pearl Harbor was no problem.  I was able to explore the submarine Bowfin and then the battleship Missouri where the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed. But the Arizona Memorial was the star of my day. I learned so much about the ship, the servicemen aboard her, and the people who visit her.  Finally getting a chance to share a bit of this with my readers in my new release the Look of Love was especially dear to me.

#PlottingPrincesses welcome Merry Farmer with a new book, Trail of Kisses. #giveaway #MFRWauthor #rafflecopter

What a treat to have Merry Farmer come to the Plotting Princesses to help launch her new book: Trail of Kisses!

Let's get to know Merry: 

Merry Farmer is an award-winning author of historical romance. She lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats and enough story ideas to keep her writing until she's 132.

Vicki Batman ~ Cover Reveal!!! Temporarily Employed

A long journey for my baby is paying off

and I'm delighted to share with you!

Here's a little blurb to whet your appetite:  

Hattie Cook's dream job is down the toilet and her new SUV violated. Desperate for cash to cover the basic necessities of rent and food, she takes a temporary job at Buy Rite insurance company where she uncovers an embezzling scam tied to the death of a former employee--the very one she replaced. The last thing she wants is to clash with By-the-Book Detective Wellborn, no matter how much he makes her heart pound.

Allan Charles Wellborn has secretly adored Hattie all his life.  He evolved from a pocket protector-wearing geek to a handsome police detective.  When the police determine there's more to the death of a former Buy Rite employee, he steps in to lead the investigation.  Overly dedicated, always perfect, he puts his job first, even if doing so ultimately hurts the one he loves.

Can the killer be found before Hattie's time is up?

Michelle Miles: New Release - A Knight Like No Other + Giveaway!

I’m really thrilled to have this book out into the world. This is the fourth book in the REALM OF HONOR fantasy romance series. But by no means do you have to read them all in order to get the story. ;)

I knew I had to write this book and give these two characters a happy ending. The bonus part, for me, was that I ended up giving another pair of characters a happy ending. Double your pleasure! But the central romance for this book features Sir Drake and the Elven princess, Sobriel. Their romance is forbidden in the Otherworld because he’s human. But when the princess’s life is threated by evil, Sir Drake will do whatever it takes to save her.

Below is the blurb and an excerpt. Plus TODAY I’m gifting ONE lucky commenter with an eBook copy. So leave a comment and tell me this: If you could visit any place in the world, where would you go?

Where to buy:
Amazon | BN | Kobo

Will the knight of her heart be able to save her from evil’s plan?

By the king’s order, Princess Sobriel is betrothed to Lord-Regent Marath, an Elven noble with an evil agenda who’s manipulated his way into royal favor. Marrying him will be a fate worse than death, especially when Sobriel yearns for the sexy and irresistible Sir Drake—the knight who holds her heart. A knight she is forbidden to love. She flees her family to be with Drake, giving up everything she knows for him.

Enraged at her defiance, Marath summons a mage to kidnap and kill Sobriel. Drake, determined to protect the woman he loves, will stop at nothing to see her safe. Their desire for one another burns hot and nothing can keep the two lovers apart. Nothing but Marath’s evil plan to do away with the Fae and separate Drake and Sobriel forever.

Michelle Miles: Cupid Comes Calling ~ Love at First Faint

Welcome, beautiful readers, to the Princess Valentine’s Day blog event. I hope you’re having a swell time commenting on all the posts and getting your name in the hat for that $200 Visa gift card!

Our event is all about falling in love with that special someone. And of course falling in love with that special someone is all about how you met.

I’d tell you how I met my husband but it’s not exciting. We met at work, started dating, got married. The end! Okay maybe it was a little more exciting than that. I was actually dating a guy who was an owner of one of the PF Chang’s at the time. He stood me up on a concert I’d bought tickets for. My husband and I were friends at work (little did I know…) and so I asked him to go with me.

It was Loreena McKennit. October 9, 2007. Not that I remember all that well…

We had a great time and the rest, as they say, is history.

So now let’s take a step back in time for a tale of real romance. The year was 1954. It was summer. Location: Lobo Theater, Monahans, Texas.

Michelle Miles: The Slobs of America & Haute Obscure

I was watching a CBS Sunday Morning episode a few weeks ago and they had a spot about how America has turned into a bunch of slobs. I admit I was riveted to the piece because I couldn’t agree more. When did it become okay to wear pajamas and slippers to the grocery store? Or ripped up jeans?

And, along the same lines, there was a photo posted on Facebook of a woman wearing jeans that looked like they’d gone through a paper shredder. I think the comment was something along the lines of how silly she looked and how “fashion went wrong.” The woman also wore one of those tank tops with her bra straps hanging out.

This is a pet peeve of mine. I detest seeing women or girls running around in public with their bras and bra straps showing. This is not a peep show, ladies. It’s not sexy or cute. Please cover up.

And I dislike short-shorts, too. For the very obvious reasons that your butt cheeks hanging out is also NOT CUTE.

And PJs at the store? Come on.

There’s a college course at Notre Dame taught by professor of history and master dressmaker, Linda Przybyszewski, called “Nation of Slobs: The Art, Ethics and Economics of Dress in Modern America.”

The professor is quite passionate about teaching the proper form of dress and is very quietly trying to remove the slobs of America. I applaud her. I applaud that she makes every stitch of clothing she wears and that she uses vintage 1940s and 1950s patterns to do it.

I would totally take this class. I would love to see all her vintage patterns.