To L.A. With Love
May 4, 2025 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Spotlight tagged as Charity Anthology, Pre-order, to L.A. with love
❤️❤️ Pre-Order ❤️❤️
To L.A. With Love is coming June 10, 2025! I can’t wait for you to read The Widow Next Door, Ellie Raynes’ and Neill Yates’ meet cute. The Widow Next Door is one of about 100 short stories in this charity anthology raising money for the Los Angeles and Altadena Public Libraries.
Thank you to Kate Farlow for designing AND donating our gorgeous cover!
❤️❤️Buy Buttons ❤️❤️
_____________________________________
B L U R B
When wildfires destroyed two beloved Los Angeles public libraries in January 2025, the romance community answered with heart.
In To L.A. With Love, 100+ local and international authors and poets weave tales filled with sexy contemporary passion, dreamy historical romance, and spellbinding magical encounters. From the sweetest kiss to steam between the sheets, these tales remind us why we fall in love with books—because like libraries, they offer refuge, inspire dreams, and bring people together.
This anthology celebrates the power of romance, and all proceeds from To L.A. With Love support the restoration of the Altadena and Pacific Palisades libraries, proving that love stories can heal more than fictional broken hearts—they can rebuild community.
❤️❤️ Pick up your copy today, and join us in writing a new chapter for Los Angeles. ❤️❤️
❤️❤️Buy Buttons ❤️❤️
Featuring stories by:
Aarti V Raman, USA Today Bestselling Author
Alexa Santi
Alexis Roark, USA Today Bestselling Author
Alice Duncan
Aliza Mann
Allie Lasky
Amanda Richardson
Amy Award, USA Today Bestselling Author
Amy J. Hawthorn
Andrea Johnston
Anna Quinn
Anne Barwell
Arell Rivers, USA Today Bestselling Author
Aria R. Blue
Arianna Quinn
Ashley Erin
Ashley Olivier
B. Ryan
C.B. Noy
C.G. Burnette
Caitlin Loggins
Cecilia Rene
Christina Alexandra
Christine Ashworth, USA Today Bestselling Author
CJ Warrant
Claire Davon, USA Today Bestselling Author
Claire Marti, USA Today Bestselling Author
Crystal Perkins
Cynthia Diamond
Dee Lagasse
Jennifer Worrell
DL Gallie
Ella Braeme
Ellena Espejo
Gemma Snow
Gwen Galloway
Heather C. Myers
Heather Scarlett
HL Miller
J. M. Zuniga
J.C. Hannigan
J.l. Perry
JCC Downing
Jeannie Choe
Jeannine Colette
Jodi Chow
Juliet Gauvin
Karen Grey
Katherine Moore, USA Today Bestselling Author
Katrina Marie
Kelly A. Varner
Kelly Violet
Kennedy L. Mitchell
Khushi T. Saha
KL Hill
Kristen Elizabeth
Leesa Bow
Lena Cove
Libby Waterford
Lisa Rayne
Lyra Parish
M. Solis
Marianne H Donley
Marilyn Throne
Michelle Mars
Milly Gray
Monica Ross
Monique Stokes
N.J. Ember
Nanxi We
Natalie Tay
Nicole Sanchez
Nikki Prince, International Bestselling Author
Olivia Huxley
Pamela DuMond, USA Today Bestselling Author
R. Snow
R.L. Merrill
Rae Shawn
Ren Alexander
Rhian Cahill
Rose Bak, USA Today Bestselling Author
Roxie Noir
Samantha Shaye
Shana Gray
Shannon Myers
Shelley Kassian
Simran
SL Hannah
Sorcha Mowbray
Stephanie J. Scott
Stephanie Marie Whitson
Susannah Erwin
Tessa McFionn
Theresa Lambe
Tiffany Carby
Tori Mitchell
Tracy Reed
V. Walker
Vi Summers, International Bestselling Author
Victoria Ellis
❤️❤️Release Date: June 10, 2025❤️❤️
Financial Fore-cast
April 30, 2025 by Dianna Sinovic in category Quill and Moss by Dianna Sinovic tagged as Dianna Sinovic, flash Fiction, magic, Spells
The accountant opened the folder and skimmed the stack of documents it contained. A W-2, 1099s, receipts, investment summaries, it was all there, Annie hoped. Matt always left it up to her to compile the papers needed before they sat down with Tom, their CPA. Her business was laden with supply orders, customer invoices, and back-end pay-outs. Matt worked in analytical statistics for a pharma company: salary, health insurance, 401(K), easy-peasy.
“This expense here.” Tom tapped his finger on a receipt. “Shadow essence. For your shop?”
“Yes. I go through three boxes a week, minimum.” Annie had opened her store, A Spell on You, three years ago and had yet to turn a profit—a sore point with Matt, who was used to assessing revenues in the hundreds of thousands.
“How much longer are you going to play at this?” he’d groused several days ago as she was assembling the folder for Tom. “Give it up. Get a real job.”
“I’m not playing. This is my dream and I’ll make it work.”
“Yeah. Conning people into thinking you can ‘cast spells.’” Matt didn’t believe in magic; he believed in numbers. “Numbers don’t lie.” His favorite three words to live by.
Annie knew in her bones she was the real thing. Her testimonials were glowing. Her repeat customers came with a list for her to work through. If only there were a few more customers. Still, imposter syndrome ate at her, and Matt’s griping made it worse. She didn’t want anyone to know she was uncredentialed, a seat-of-the-skirt kind of gal, when it came to spelling. But books on spell craft filled three full shelves in her shop’s back room, and she’d memorized most of them.
Tom coughed politely, and Annie pulled herself back to the present.
“Sorry,” she said, her face hot. “Did you have a question?”
Matt sighed in annoyance. “Come back from la-la land, bae. Tom doesn’t have all day for you to daydream your way to financial success.”
Putting his readers on, Tom smiled kindly at her. “I’m in no hurry.” He turned back to the folder and held up another sheet. “Now this one for spider milk.”
And on they went, with Tom asking questions, to which she supplied explanations, while Matt rolled his eyes.
At the session’s end, after shaking hands with Tom, they stood at the elevator. The doors swished open, and Matt strode into the empty car, his anger obvious in the set of his jaw.
“Next year, we file separately,” he said. “I’m tired of this hocus pocus shit.”
“Let’s try something,” Annie said, as the car descended, with a clunk, from eighth to the lobby. “You don’t believe in magic, so we’ll put it to a test. See who’s right.”
Chuckling, Matt shook his head. “Can’t you see how ridiculous you are?”
She cocked her head, moved her feet in a patterned sequence, and spoke in a monotone. “Five, twenty-three, fourteen, thirty-nine …” She continued on with a handful of additional digits. It was a spell she’d been waiting to use, patiently watching for the perfect moment.
A low groan filled the elevator, and Matt sagged against the rear wall. His eyes held panic—understandably, since he could no longer move or speak.
The car settled on the ground floor, and the doors swished open.
Annie smiled sweetly at her husband. “Matt, dear, I agree with you. Numbers don’t lie.” She walked out of the elevator, leaving him where he was.
More of Dianna’s Stories
Tari Lynn Jewett: Featured Author
April 29, 2025 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett, Featured Author of the Month tagged as #Charmed Writers, #FireworksintheFog, #HeromsaForTheHolidays, #PleaseSayYes, Love and Mud Puddles, romantic comedy, Tari Lynn Jewett
Tari Lynn Jewett lives with her husband of nearly thirty years (also known as Hunky Hubby). They have three amazing sons, a board game designer, a sound engineer and a musician, all who live nearby. For over fifteen years she wrote freelance for magazines and newspapers, wrote television commercials, radio spots, numerous press releases, and many, MANY PTA newsletters. As much as she loved writing those things, she always wanted to write fiction . . . and now she is.
She also believes in happily ever after . . . because she’s living hers.
Tari’s newest title is Love and Mud Puddles, available now.
Hannah loves her accounting job, the condo that she purchased herself, and her best friend Melinda. What she doesn’t love is baking. To be fair, she’s never tried. But when her cousin shames her into bringing homemade cookies to the family Christmas Eve celebration, she begins a quest to make the perfect holiday cookie.
Paramedic Josh also occasionally teaches kids’ cookie baking classes at his family’s bakery. When a beautiful accountant mistakenly signs up for a children’s holiday baking class, he realizes immediately that she’s in the right place.
Can this local hero help to save Hannah’s Christmas? Or will it all go up in smoke?
Tari’s other Books
Traveler by Neetu
April 26, 2025 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as blowing sand, fragile, Harmony, Neetu, Universe
Traveler
I am but dust
a grain of sand
blowing whichever way
the wind blows
in the universe
I take with me
nothing but that
which clings to me
and even that
is temporary
the grain that I am
swirls and seeks
nothing more
than a brief abode
in harmony
© Neetu Malik
Some of Neetu’s Books
GREEN PROMISES: GIRLS WHO LOVED THE EARTH by JEANNINE ATKINS—A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE
April 22, 2025 by Veronica Jorge in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as Green Promises, Jeannine Atkins, new release, review, Veronica Jorge
GREEN PROMISES: GIRLS WHO LOVED THE EARTH
JEANNINE ATKINS
Atheneum Books For Young Readers
2025
ISBN 978-1-6659-50572
I can’t think of a better way to welcome Spring and celebrate Earth Day than with a new book, especially one about nature and the earth, and following after Women’s History Month.
In Green Promises: Girls Who Loved the Earth, Jeannine Atkins delves into the lives and achievements of two extraordinary women who made significant discoveries and important contributions to our knowledge of nature and the Earth.
Like many young people of her time, (Mary) Agnes Chase, (1869-1963), left school in eighth grade to help support her family. But it was her skill at drawing plants that distinguished her and earned her a position at the Smithsonian Institution. Agnes published more than seventy scientific works, and went on to become the first woman president of the Botanical Society Of America.
Marguerite Thomas Williams (1895-1991), focused on the way rivers shape the land and the ways that people shape the rivers. She discovered that floods happen when rivers try to be where they belong but their space has been taken. Yet we can change the course of a river by planting more trees and grasses with roots that hold the earth. Those same tree roots serve to filter the water and hold the riverbanks in place. “Like memory, the river moves forward while trying to hold where it came from.” Marguerite became the first African-American to earn a PhD in geology.
The book, written in verse, with informative and lyrical language invites us to take a closer look at the natural world around us.
Pick up a rock and examine it. Rocks hold clues to changes in climate and have stories to tell.
Take a walk and feel the earth beneath your feet, accepting that “land matters because everyone needs a place to stand.”
“History is like a river. No one can see it all at once.” Though you might not feel it, the Earth is turning while no one is watching. So, every day, every moment, keep looking. You don’t want to miss the wonder!
While you may not like math or science, this book may persuade you to interact with them and give them a chance to tell their stories. Let math show you the beauty of building connections that take you beyond numbers. And science, as Marguerite says, “is a quiet way to love the world.”
Jeannine Atkins is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books for young readers, though adults will enjoy them as well. Some of her other titles include: Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists; Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science; Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math; Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis.
Inspiring books to read and to give as gifts, I hope you will pick a few. You won’t be disappointed.
See you next time on May 22nd!
Veronica Jorge
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