Tuesday Wedding Tales–Restoring Love at Christmastime by Bonnie Engstrom

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Bonnie Engstrom, Catherine Castle's Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, clean romance, excerpt from Restoring Love at Christmastime, Holiday romance, Restoring Love at Christmastime, Sweet romance

Welcome to Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series,

where wedding-themed stories are the fare.

Bonnie Engstrom is today’s guest,

and she’ll be sharing about her story Restoring Love at Christmastime

The Story Within the Story of Restoring Love at Christmastime

 

The old hotel in Restoring Love at Christmastime is, or rather was, real. The inn was filled with childhood memories for me that were fun to recreate and bring up to date. The day before I was scheduled to send the story to my publisher I decided to revisit a few facts online. I was shocked to learn the historic inn had burned to the ground three days before. I was devastated and indecisive. Should I publish the story that featured the hotel as the background for love? I decided to go ahead. It would be a tribute to the rickety old building that had housed guests for over one hundred years.

My many summer visits to Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania had special memories of trail rides on handsome Traveler. Yes, the Traveler in the story is a tribute to a gorgeous chestnut-colored steed, the first horse I’d ever ridden. Jenni stands on the impressive wraparound veranda and borrows books from the hotel’s library – both authentic memories. That’s as far as genuine memory went. I had never seen snow there, but I do have a vague memory of ancient bathroom fixtures, old even fifty years ago.

My publisher retitled the book to add at Christmastime when we both latently remembered the story takes place during the holiday. A colorful new cover adorns it. Just before the new title was revealed the book won a 5 Star Readers Favorite Award. It was a fun story to write, especially the teasing banter between Jenni and Jake and how their old friendship grows. I almost forgot . . . readers will meet a skunk, an owl and a preying hawk. Trail rides can be interesting.

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Restoring Love at Christmastime

By Bonnie Engstrom

Why was Jenni taking this journey back in time during the Christmas holidays? Surely, Jenni didn’t expect to see Jake the stable boy. She had moved on from sneaking kisses in the barn after trail rides. He must have, too. Who on earth would stay in the tiny town of Cambridge Springs?

She planned for a respite from teaching, time to read, take quiet walks and indulge in delicious hotel meals. At least no one knew where to find her, none of her friends, and not even her family.

The internet site for Pleasant Springs Hotel highlighted an annual holiday production of A Christmas Carol that guests sometimes played parts in. That sounded like fun, maybe a minor way to fulfil a fanciful dream, if only for a few minutes. Hopefully some handsome guest would play Scrooge.

Odd the name of the historic hotel had changed. Who would have done that? Maybe new owners. She hoped the rooms were still filled with antique furniture. She wanted to soak up memories, alone. Unless by a Christmas miracle Jake was still there to share them.

Can romance still flourish after fifteen years? Will a teacher and a former stable boy remember their first kiss?

 

Excerpt:

They raised their heads, and their eyes met – brown and blue. Both sets of lips grinned and they dug in. Jenni was glad the kitchen had included a large spoon for her to twirl her pasta on. Her Italian friend Corentina had taught her that when she was growing up. It seemed more civilized than sucking the strands into one’s mouth.

Jake watched her with curiosity. “You always eat spaghetti that way?”

“Yes. It’s the proper way to eat long pasta. You don’t?”

“Naw. I just chop it up.” He proceeded to do so, almost mashing it. He shoved a big forkful in his mouth.

“But, that takes the fun out of it. And, it’s easy to twirl.” She demonstrated. “See!”

“Oh, boy! You gonna make an issue of how I eat?” He put his fork down and glared at her. “If there is any future for our relationship, we shouldn’t squabble over eating habits.”

Squabble? Future? What was he insinuating?

Want to read more? Restoring Love at Christmastime is available in eBook and print at https://amzn.to/2OtSRoW.

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About the Author:

Bonnie Engstrom is a multi-published author who mostly writes romances. She has published fourteen books and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Romance Writers of America and Christian Writers of the West.

She and her Ph.D. psychologist husband, Dave, reside in Arizona near four of their six grandchildren. The other two live in Costa Rica on the beach with their father who surfs every day and has taught the boys to surf and skateboard since they were toddlers. Pura Vida!

Bonnie spends a lot of her time, when not writing, helping with the four Arizona grandkids. Dave is a full-time faculty member and faculty advisor at the University of Phoenix, as well as a psychologist at Honor Health Medical Center, Scottsdale, Arizona.

They have been a team for fifty-three years.

Please visit Bonnie at her website to see the grandchildren and figure out who the surfing ones are. Fun fact: The little red-head imp recently got baptized with her.

Follow her on Twitter at @BonnieEngstrom1 and on Facebook

Email her at bengstrom@hotmail.com. Please put BOOK in the subject line so your post doesn’t fly off into cyberspace.

She loves to hear from her readers, and reviews are a special way to say you liked her books.

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A Writer’s Garden–My “Rose Garden” by Bonnie Engstrom

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A Writer's Garden, Author Catherine Castle's garden blog, Bonnie Engstrom, Candy Cane Rose, Noelle's Christmas Wedding, Rose gardens

Welcome to A Writer’s Garden where writers who are gardeners or just love gardens will be sharing their garden and flower stories, as well as a bit about their writing gardens—aka their books.

Today’s guest is Bonnie Engstrom. Roses inspire her, especially the Candy Cane rose. I’ll let her tell you the story of how a rose inspired her. Welcome, Bonnie

Candy Cane Rose

My “Rose Garden.”

Yes, it’s in quotation marks because I can’t exactly call it a garden. It’s more of a fitting in with the community status quo. I’m not exactly trying to keep up with the neighbors with my roses – not a chance. But, they have inspired me.

When we moved from California twelve years ago, I left one small elegant rose bush in my back yard. The mother of one of my daughter’s high school friends gave it to me as a thank you for something I did for her daughter. It bloomed in spite of my neglect.

Our current home next to our neighbor Harriet’s is intimidating. Her roses are glorious. Judith across the way had beautiful ones, too. I was jealous. I learned later that Judith had a rose expert come weekly to pamper hers. Harriet did her own rose pampering. She agreed to accompany me to the most well-known nursery in Phoenix to help me choose some bushes. She gave excellent advice.

As part of my new infatuation I wrote a story based on Candy Cane roses. But, just writing about them wouldn’t do. I found a Candy Cane rose bush at our local Home Depot. Much smaller than the already planted and flourishing bushes, it does produce blooms striped with red, but not as large as the yellow, white, pink and my favorite magenta ones. I just googled magenta – what fun! It says, “Magenta is the color of the non-conformist, the free spirit. It pushes you to take responsibility for creating your own path in life and increases dream activity while assisting you in turning your ambitions and desires into reality.” Wow! I hope that’s me.

The idea of the Candy Cane roses inspired me. In the first book in my Candy Cane Girls Series, Noelle’s Christmas Wedding, the hero, Braydon, is a rose expert. He gives a presentation to her mother’s Newport Beach garden club and offers to plant a rose bush for her. Noelle gets to help while listening to Braydon whisper Scripture. She learns he is the rose expert for the famous Sherman Foundation Gardens in Corona del Mar, California. He takes her on a garden tour and proposes. Well, not there, but in a Santa suit. Can you guess where they marry?

Sadly, I am not much of a gardener. My only success was strawberries in one of those special pots where you can’t go wrong. Not even the easy to grow tomatoes survived, nor the basil. Although, it lasted long enough for me to use it in spaghetti sauce once. I depend on the weekly gardening service to prune and feed my rose bushes. I do have beautiful roses . . . occasionally. When I do, I often take one to my daughter at her work. But, I hate those thorns!

I wish Braydon was real and could jump right out of my story to tend to the roses, at least the Candy Cane ones.

 

About the Gardener/Writer

Bonnie is a long time member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a Pro member of Romance Writers of America.

Visit Bonnie’s website http://www.bonnieengstrom.com/ to see all the grandkids and sign up for her newsletter Life On The Lake.

She loves to hear from readers, so be sure to email her at bengstrom@hotmail.com with BOOK in the subject line.

You can see her books and the collections she is in at http://amzn.to/2CVT8Mc. All her books are available on Amazon.

 

Noelle’s Christmas Wedding

By Bonnie Engstrom

 

Noelle Day finally has the courage to break off her ill-fated engagement with her volatile fiancé and cancel their Christmas wedding. It’s embarrassing, and she has to share the humiliating reason with her friends The Candy Canes. The other five girls were to be her attendants in red taffeta gowns.

When she faints and falls into the arms of Braydon Lovejoy, the now former wedding florist, Braydon is confused by her abrupt manner. Who is this beautiful woman with the sepia hair and the huge brown eyes? Is she a damsel in distress as he suspects? He prays for an opportunity to find out.

Then he backs his delivery van into her precious red car, and he’s sure she would never go out with him, especially since he was hired to deliver a huge bouquet of roses to her from a secret admirer.

Noelle isn’t sure how to respond when Bruce, the school principal, physically forces himself on her. After all, he is her boss, and she’s just a first year English teacher.
She finally accepts a lunch date with Braydon, and he takes her to Sherman Gardens in Corona del Mar where she learns he is the local rose expert. But, Noelle worries their friendship is happening too fast and calls a respite.

One of the Candy Canes has a tragic accident, and the women bond together. But Braydon, who is not sure why he is involved, becomes their anchor.

Will Braydon’s prayers heal the hurts, physically and emotionally? Will the injured Candy Cane forgive the woman who caused her accident, the woman who is related to Bruce the principal?

Will Noelle ever have her California Candy Cane Christmas?

Tuesday Wedding Tales–Cindy’s Perfect Dance by Bonnie Engstrom

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Bonnie Engstrom, Catherine Castle's Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, Cindy's Perfect Dance, clean romance, Inspirational romance, Sweet romance, The Candy Cane Girls series

 

Welcome to Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, where wedding themed stories are the fare.

 

 

Today’s guest is Bonnie Engstrom. She’ll be talking about Cindy’s Perfect Dance, one of the books in her Candy Cane Girls Series. Bonnie is giving a way a copy of Cindy’s Perfect Dance, either ebook or a print copy, to one lucky commentor. To be entered in the drawing, just leave a comment on her post. Welcome, Bonnie.

 

 

 

Thanks, Catherine.

What if your best friend is getting married to a gorgeous hunk who is rich? And you are the Maid of Honor? And his brother is the Best Man?

Cindy never planned to be attracted to Rob, but because he felt it was protocol he insisted they dance together. Neither really expected to feel the chemistry between them. And, dancing in the parking lot? What was that all about?

Cindy and Rob’s story of love captured my heart. It was so surprising, especially with all the problems attached to it. Rob’s alcoholism and his commitment to AA, as well as his physical problems seemed monumental . . . at first. Cindy believes she can overcome those, until Emily confronts Rob saying she believed he loved her.

Cindy is a strong woman, but her love for Rob is stronger.

This story grew out of the first of The Candy Cane Girls Series. The six girls have a strong bond formed in a former high school swim team. They stick together in prayer and support.

I started to write this series before I realized it could become a series. Suddenly, it became close to my heart. I hope you will explore the series, now in its sixth book, Melanie’s Blue Skirt. In Cindy you will see all my grandchildren and a beautiful wedding on the beach of Playa Hermosa Costa Rica. I think it will make you want to follow the Candy Cane Girls to learn what Noelle, Candy and Connie and Natalie and Melanie have in their future. Oops, Doreen, too. But her story may be last. She’s in love with the most gorgeous man of all, an international model.

All the Candy Cane Girls stories are set in Newport Beach. I use many actual places in each story. Cindy and Rob shop for her engagement ring in Fashion Island outdoor mall. I wanted them to finally purchase it at Traditional Jewelers for several reasons; the owner attended my church (Mariners, which is also the church that sponsors the couple to mission in Costa Rica) and he and his family lived in my community. I had the scene where Rob goes to pick up the ring all set up, then he learns the owner suddenly died a few days ago. That is what actually happened, so I wrote it into the book.

I had also been searching for a way to include my grandchildren in a book. Since our son and his two boys live in Costa Rica I decided to have Cindy and Rob’s wedding take place there on the beach. (Costa Rica is also the mission assignment for the couple). The Arizona grandchildren flew there to share a wedding adventure with their cousins. It was a fun scene to write, including Lucy the Costa Rican French bull dog.

 

Cindy’s Perfect Dance

By Bonnie Engstrom

 

The Candy Canes are a tight-knit group; the six girls are like sisters. They share everything from successes to secrets. Even marriage doesn’t keep them apart. Then …

Cindy caught the bridal bouquet, and Rob caught the blue garter. Neither of them believed in fate or tradition. But, something happened when she stepped on his toes dancing.

When Rob agreed to help his brother by working in the Love In Bloom Floral Shop while Braydon was on his honeymoon, he asked Cindy to join him. He didn’t know what to expect, especially over Christmas break. Would she take over with her promotional ideas and anger his mother, the owner?

Would their relationship flower? Could Cindy accept Rob’s secrets? How would that change her love for him? And, what about Emily, the woman who claimed Rob loved her?

Cindy has decisions to make. She is supposed to receive her unique engagement ring on Valentine’s Day. Should she accept it, or say no to Rob because of the secrets he recently shared? If she accepts, they will have a lifelong commitment. Is she strong enough to go through with the plan, or should she back out and be safe?

 

EXCERPT

“Ouch!”

“What?”

“You stepped on my toes.”

He said it so matter of factly that Cindy wondered if he was kidding. She looked down at his black patent shoes. Aw, oh. A scuff on the right one. Guess Rob was right. Question was … his fault for not being a good leader or hers for being a bad follower?

“Sorry.”

“S’okay.” He pulled her closer and she felt her body melt into the warmth of his.

Don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for a free copy, either ebook or print, of Bonnie’s book Cindy’s Perfect Dance. Winners will be chosen next Tuesday, March 27, 2018.

 

About the Author:

My husband Dave and I were blessed to raise our three children in Newport Beach, California. When our first grandchild, Miss Mookie, was born twelve years ago in Arizona we moved to Scottsdale to be near to her. Since then she has acquired three siblings, a younger sister, and twins, a boy and a girl. We don’t miss Newport at all, except for our wonderful friends and neighbors, and Bible study fellowships. Now, we spend many afternoons picking kids up after school and taking them to gymnastics, doctor appointments and chess tournaments. It’s a different life we thrive on.

We both thought we would retire. Didn’t happen. I am especially blessed to be multi-published by Forget Me Not Romances, a dream come true. You can see almost all my books at http://amzn.to/2Ish792. Dave quips he is the oldest new hire in the U.S. by accepting the position as a Core Counseling Faculty member at the University of Phoenix, for which he also teaches many online classes. He is on the staff at Honor Health Hospital in Scottsdale where he teaches pre-op and post-op classes for bariatric surgery. Honor Health is recognized in several of my books. Not a surprise!

Our grandparenting and our situations keep us busy.

To meet all of our grandchildren read Cindy’s Perfect Dance. They all play a part in Cindy and Rob’s wedding on the beach in Costa Rica. Or, visit my website at http://www.bonnieengstrom.com/ to see Dave and me with the crew. You can also sign up for my newsletter there and a chance to win great prizes. In the last contest I gave away a Kindle Fire!

I love connecting with my readers, so I hope you will write to me at bengstrom@hotmail.com and especially tell me what you want to see happen to Cindy and Rob in the future. Will they be successful in their church planting mission? Your ideas inspire me. I feed on them.

Thank you for reading my books. Writing them for you is a privilege and a blessing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday Wedding Tales–The Matchmaking Wedding Planner by Bonnie Engstrom

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Bonnie Engstrom, book excerpt from The Matchmaking Wedding Planner, Bridezilla fiction, Catherine Castle's Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, contemporary inspirational romance, multi-author ebook giveaway, The Matchmaking Wedding Planner, Trying Out for Love boxed set

Welcome to Tuesday Wedding Tales blog series, where wedding themed stories are the fare.

 

It’s week five in the Trying Out for Love promo and giveaway. Each week readers can enter the Rafflecopter at the end of the post’s book excerpt for a chance to win one of six books in the Trying Out for Love boxed set or the complete boxed set of six books. Seven chances and seven winners! Be sure to read to the end of the post for an excerpt of The Matchmaking Wedding Planner and enter the Rafflecopter for your chance at a free ebook. To see the list of books in the Rafflecopter just click on the circles in the entry box and you can scroll through the book titles.

Today’s featured book in the boxed set is The Matchmaking Wedding Planner

I’m pleased to introduce Bonnie Engstrom, the woman who started this whole crazy bridezilla/bridesmaid bidding journey. Bonnie was the one who sent the original news story about the bridezilla’s bridesmaid auction to the ACFW email loop. This bizarre story made the rounds on social media, garnered a lot of social media comments, and provided loads of inspiration for six authors. Thanks for an interesting writing journey, Bonnie, and some great story ideas. It’s been a lot of fun!

Behind the Story

By Bonnie Engstrom

I love, love, love weddings! Almost all of my books have one, and I’ve always been fascinated by all the details and frou-frou that they require. Designing a wedding is like producing a play, hopefully an award-winning one. Almost twenty years ago while “producing” my daughter’s wedding, I became close friends with her wedding coordinator, Jill. I learned so much from Jill and admired her expertise. Thus, Jill has become a fictitious character in many of my books, but she’s never had a story of her own . . . until now. I think she handles the crazy bride situation with aplomb in difficult circumstances, and I hope you do, too. Look for more Jill stories in the future.

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The Matchmaking Wedding Planner

By Bonnie Engstrom

What’s a wedding coordinator to do with a crazy bride?

Jill Spooner is the ultimate wedding planner, a role she loves . . . until the Trumble wedding. She’s been in her wedding coordinating business, Divine Weddings, for over twenty years, but she’s never encountered a situation like this one. Nor, a bride like this one. She had privately nicknamed Jessica the bride a “spoiled brat” for insisting on having an auction to fulfill her bridesmaid spots. With the bids starting in the hundreds, she wonders if anyone will show up.

When her niece Lizzie and her friend Carolyn drive from Scottsdale to Newport Beach to participate in the auction, mostly for the fun of it, Jill predicts one of them will win the Maid of Honor spot. They even devise a dress up scheme based on the bride’s idea of a storybook wedding. It works well, until Carolyn raises her bidding paddle.

Lizzie’s love struck friend Brad shows up in Newport Beach to court her. Jill helps him with a plan, but what to do with Carolyn while he romances Lizzie? Suddenly she’s a matchmaker, and a problem solver for the wedding party. None of that was in her contract. Fortunately, as an experienced consultant, she pulls ideas and answers out of her sleeve when shocking love secrets are revealed. Who really loves whom? Was Jessica the bride-to-be lying? What about her twin brother’s college roommate? Thank goodness Jill took an iron-clad, non-refundable deposit from the Trumbles. She will earn every dollar as the wedding coordinator in captivity. She is almost ready to give up the wedding coordinating business when her matchmaking proves fruitful. Suddenly, she finds herself planning two more weddings that take her out of her element, and out of state. Will she be able to pull them off? Maybe she should start a matchmaking business.

Excerpt:

“This is the most ridiculous wedding I’ve ever coordinated.” Jill Spooner flared her nostrils, scrunched up her nose trying to ignore the age lines, and pursed her lips. Agh. More wrinkles. “What is the point of hiring Divine Weddings and me when she doesn’t even have attendants? Stupid girl, stupid wedding.” Jill looked in the mirror and glared at her image. “Fortunately, I have the huge, non-refundable deposit,” she mumbled to the woman in the reflection trying to ignore the lines around her eyes and lips. After all, they were lines earned.

“I can’t wait for the auction. Wonder if anyone will show up? I know Lizzie and Carolyn will be there tomorrow. I wonder what characters they decided to play.”

She tweezed a stray gray hair on her left eyebrow and made a face in the glass. “Guess I will have the ‘privilege,’ as Margaret Trumble the bride’s mother called it, to open the responses and make a list. At least I will know what to expect. Will two show up? Or two hundred?” She put the tweezers back in her little makeup bag, shoved the pink pouch in her enormous utilitarian purse and slung it over her shoulder just as her cellphone chimed The Wedding March. What was her niece Lizzie calling her about? Hopefully, the girls hadn’t had any trouble on the drive from Arizona to California.

She pressed the green dot on her phone to hear boisterous laughter. “I hope you remembered to get gas, Liz. The desert can be lonely if you run out and get stuck.”

“Hi, Aunt Jill,” Lizzie yelled. “We are halfway there. Yes, we have lots of gas.”

She was relieved they were simply checking in and had just crossed the state border. The silly girls were singing “California here we come from our Arizona slum,” giggle. “Newport Beach for all your glare, we will show you we don’t care.” Then there was something about a dare, but reception had faded, and Jill couldn’t hear the rest of the frivolity, so she hung up as her phone chimed again. She was running late so she stuffed the phone in the special pocket of her brown purse.

The call was from another Arizona number, one she didn’t recognize. “Wonder who?” she mouthed. She would answer that call later, especially if the person left a voicemail.

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Want to read more? Enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win the book. No purchase necessary. Or if you can’t wait, The Matchmaking Wedding Planner is available on Amazon. Winners will be announced February 20 at the end of the Trying Out for Love author guest posts. Remember, all six authors are giving away an ecopy of their book in the series. A boxed set of Trying Out for Love is also in the giveaway. Seven chances and seven winners! Click on the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win. Remember to scroll through the titles on Rafflecopter, using the circles in the entry box, to see all the giveaway book titles,

 

Enter Rafflecopter Giveaway by clicking box below:

 

About the Author:

Bonnie Engstrom is a multi-published author of contemporary Christian romance. She is also a multi-grandma with six blessings. Four of her grandchildren, including twins, live a stone’s throw from her and her psychologist husband Dave. Two live in Costa Rica – Pura Vida – where they surf, even at seven and nine, thanks to lessons from their surfing teacher dad.

 

When she and Grandpa Dave aren’t taking the Arizona kids to gymnastics, chess tournaments, riding lessons and watching soccer games, she moderates two online prayer chains. They reside on a lagoon where Canada geese flourish every winter, and sometimes a snowy egret. Their two rescued mutts, Sam and Lola, love to chase the geese. Well, Sam does, but even though scruffy Lola is the bossy one, she doesn’t understand the chase part. She still doesn’t know she’s on the cover of the latest book in The Candy Cane Girls Series, Melanie’s Blue Skirt. Won’t she be surprised!

Bonnie is a long time member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a Pro member of Romance Writers of America.

Visit Bonnie’s website http://www.bonnieengstrom.com/ to see all the grandkids and sign up for her newsletter Life On The Lake.

She loves to hear from readers, so be sure to email her at bengstrom@hotmail.com with BOOK in the subject line.

You can see her books and the collections she is in at http://amzn.to/2CVT8Mc. All her books are available on Amazon.