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Catherine Castle

~ Romance for the Ages

Catherine Castle

Tag Archives: romantic comedy

A Writer’s Garden–Summer’s End by Catherine Castle

18 Thursday Nov 2021

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, A Writer's Garden, Blog, clean romance, garden blog series, Romance, romance author, Sweet romance

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

A Groom for Mama, A Writer's Garden, Autumn Sedum pictures, Catherine Castle, Garden blog, romantic comedy, Summer's End, Sweet romance

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. Today’s writer/gardener guest is me, Catherine Castle.

Today’s post will close out this season’s garden blog. I want to thank all my contributors and readers for being part of the blog this year.  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the posts as much as we’ve enjoyed sharing our gardens with you.

I know fall is coming to my garden when I look out the breakfast nook window and see my autumn sedums changing color. All summer long they sit on the hillside with tiny while blooms that my husband calls little cauliflower heads on the tips of the stems. (you can just barely see the white tips on the bushes to the left of the white stick at the edge of the garden wall)

Then in late August the tiny heads begin to expand and turn pale pink.

Almost daily we see the flowering head change colors. From pale pink to dusty rose in early September.

and then in late September they go maroon.

In winter, if I leave the flowers on, they turn chocolate brown. 

I look forward to the two-month show of color every garden season. It reminds me that nothing is static in the garden, or in life. Things are always changing, and we have a choice to either accept the change or moan about it. As a gardener, I’ve learned to accept the seasons of nature, which helps me to accept the changes I face in life, because I realize there’s always a second chance to experience a renewal of what I know or discover something new and different on the horizon that will expand my experiences.

I’m anxiously awaiting next year’s garden and the surprises it brings–if I’m lucky enough to stay upright in 2022 and not break any more bones. I don’t need that surprise again! I hope to get my container veggie garden started next year. It was slated for this fall, but … life gave me a challenging change this year. Ah, well, there’s always next year.

Be sure to join us again in March or April 2022 for another year of A Writer’s Garden!

Happy gardening wherever you are!

Catherine

About the Writer/Gardener:

Multi-award-winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, and quilting. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances and both of her books have won awards. You can find her award-winning books The Nun and the Narc and  A Groom for Mama on Amazon. Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

You can often see Catherine’s love of gardens in her books, and A Groom for Mama is no exception. In one scene, Mama, Jack, and Allison visit a rose garden, inspired by a garden tour Catherine and her husband took one summer.

Here’s the blurb for Catherine’s award-winning romantic comedy with a touch of drama,

A Groom for Mama. Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom for Mama.

Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

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Tasty Tuesdays-Easy Popcorn Balls from Catherine Castle

19 Tuesday Jan 2021

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, food, Recipes, Romance, Sweet romance, Tasty Tuesdays

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Catherine Castle, food blog, National Popcorn Day, popcorn, popcorn balls, recipe, romantic comedy, Sweet romance, sweets. A Groom for Mama, Tasty Tuesdays

Today, January 19, is National Popcorn Day and I thought it would be fun to share my recipe for popcorn balls. Most popcorn balls are made using corn syrup, but in our family we adjusted the recipe since we weren’t keen on how the corn syrup stuck to our dental fillings, especially after a corn-syrup-based popcorn ball pulled out a loose filling.

Additionally, this popcorn recipe brings back memories. The day our daughter was born I had made popcorn balls to take to a Christmas party. Instead of making the party, we ended up in the delivery room. Hubby missed most of the party, but he had the popcorn balls in the car. So, when after her birth, instead of passing out cigars (which he wouldn’t have done since he doesn’t smoke), he passed out popcorn balls to the hospital staff.

This is a simple and fast recipe and was a staple at our house for a long time at Christmas. It’s good other times, too, and will make a sweet treat for National Popcorn Day. 

Ingredients:

¼ cup margarine

4 cups mini marshmallows

5 cups popped popcorn. Don’t use pre-bagged, pre-seasoned popcorn for this. Pop the whole kernel corn instead.

Directions:

  1. Pop the corn as directed on the bag. Set aside each popped batch until you have 5 cups of popped corn and let it cool.
  2. In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat.
  3. Add marshmallows. Stir until melted.
  4. Pour over the popcorn and stir well to mix.
  5. Working quickly, with lightly greased hands and helpers if you can get them, form the popcorn and marshmallow mix into balls. Let balls cool completely.
  6. Serve right away or store by wrapping each ball in a square of plastic wrap.

Serves: Who knows? It often depends on how much you, or your helpers, can resist eating as you roll them into balls.

While you’re waiting for the popcorn balls to cool, check out Catherine’s romantic comedy with a touch of drama, A Groom for Mama. There’s no popcorn in the book, but there are plenty of laughs.

A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom for Mama.

Available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

Catherine’s Comments–iPhone Misadventures by Catherine Castle

04 Monday Jan 2021

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, books, Catherine Castle author, Catherine's Comments, clean romance, essay, Humor, Musings from a Writer's Brain, Sweet romance

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

A Groom for Mama, Catherine’s Comments, essay, humor, iPhone, romantic comedy, Sweet romance, Techy misadventures

I got a new iPhone after Thanksgiving and, quite frankly, I’m ready to throw the thing across the room. Or maybe even in the nearest river!

To start off, I didn’t get the last of my five email boxes cleaned out. As soon as we transferred the email addresses over, the last email box began filling. And filling. And filling. Every time I read and deleted a new email, 100 more would come over.

When it reached 900+ I said to Hubby, “I’m shutting this phone down before it loads all 5,000 + unread emails.”

I spent the next five hours hunched over the computer keyboard deleting the unread emails down to about 84. Then I deleted the 15,000+ deleted emails left on the server just to be sure they didn’t come back. Better to be safe than sorry, as Hubby as seen a few of his deleted emails return to unread status and pop up on the iPhone. Yes, I know, I can’t blame the iPhone because I didn’t clean out my online mail inboxes and trash. But this was just the beginning of the iPhone misadventures.

Unlike my beloved Blackberry, there’s nothing intuitive about this iPhone. Swipe right, swipe left, touch right, touch left. Swipe from the upper corner, tap on the bottom, touch here, touch there. Push partway up and to the right to see where you’ve been on the internet. Swipe up to trash something, or click right, or left depending what app you’re in. Yikes! Who can remember all that?

Stupid iPhone!

Additionally, my finger either doesn’t work or I don’t even touch something and stuff flies off or onto the screen. Once, while merely holding the phone, a box popped up with the message, “To reverse this action, tap the screen with three fingers.” What action? What had I done? What had I erased? Fortunately, the screen told me which fingers to tap with, so I tapped. And tapped. And tapped. The screen didn’t move. It didn’t tell me the unknown action was reversed. I couldn’t even see a back button.

“Honey,” I yelled. “Think I did something wrong!” By the time Hubby came to the rescue I’d punched enough things that the screen was back to what I recognized. Only heaven knows what I might have screwed up!

For every action I did on the Blackberry with one touch, it takes two, or maybe three or more on the iPhone. I’ve read some of the instructions, and tried to search things out on the iPhone book, but apparently I don’t know the new lingo well enough to find things. And I’m usually pretty good with searching. However, nothing seems to have the same names as the Blackberry did.

My texts to my daughter are filled with strange words that I didn’t type, courtesy of predictive typing. I tried to type PTL (Praise the Lord) and it came over on the text as “Pyle.” The words But I came across as “Bilirubin.” And the text screen, filled with facial icons, bubbles holding your text message, and sometimes giant emojis, takes up so much screen space that I can’t easily see the text thread. When my daughter retyped “Bilirubin” I thought SHE had typed the word, not me. I had no idea she was rolling on the floor laughing until the next day when I scrolled up the text stream and saw what I’d done.

And if you think that’s wild, wait until you hear these next items.

The other day, using my iPhone, I tried to call my hubby, who was driving my car. I knew he wouldn’t try to answer his new iPhone, so I called my car phone.  At the same time the car phone was ringing, I heard another call beep in. I ignored it, thinking it was a phishing call. Hubby never answered, so I hung up and called him again. The same thing happened. So, I hung up again. As I pulled the phone away from my ear, the second time, my daughter’s name scrolled across the banner on the top of the phone, indicating she was calling.

When I answered, she said in a concerned voice, “Mom, is everything okay. Why are you calling me so much?” (I never call her during work hours.)

“I wasn’t calling you. I was trying to call your dad in my car,” I said.

As she hung up I heard her say to someone, whom I later learned was her boss, “It’s okay. There’s nothing wrong. My mom has a new phone.”

When my hubby got to his destination, he called on his cell to see what I needed. He  couldn’t remember how to answer my car phone. It doesn’t have Bluetooth pairing like his car. He received my cell phone call on the car phone and, at the same time, my daughter also received a call from my cell phone.

The stupid iPhone called my car phone, while husband was driving it, and called my daughter at the same time.

Here’s the kicker—I did NOT call my daughter’s cell. No way. No how. Not even possible. I swear I never touched her number. I clearly, and positively, know I called my car phone. Yet the iPhone showed it made both calls.

The phone somehow dialed both numbers at the same time! How is that even possible?

Stupid iPhone!

Later in the day I was having a conversation on our home land line when my cell rang. It was my daughter.  I knew it was her because I’d attached an ‘Oogah Oogah’ old car horn sound to her calls. An unmistakable and very loud sound. I answered and quickly said, “I can’t talk now. I’ll call back in a few minutes.” Then I hung up. A few minutes later I got another call from her on my cell—the same “Oogha-Oogah ring, but it was my son-in-law on the other end. “Can I call back?” I asked. “I’m in the middle of another call.”

Son-in-law said, “She can’t talk. She’s on the house phone with her mother-in-law.”

 “Then why did she call me just a minute ago?” I asked.

Son-in-law calls out to my daughter, “Why are we calling your mother?”

In the background I hear her say, “I didn’t call her. She called me! Twice!”

I know I didn’t call her. The iPhone log showed she called me. She still swears she didn’t call but that I called her.

Stupid iPhone!

Earlier that same morning I was trying to comment on a blog I’ve always had access to on the Blackberry. I’d reached the site via clicking on the title of the blog I’d received in my Catherine Castle mail inbox. The site kept kicking me off. I couldn’t like, share, or comment. So, I went back to the original email, which was still open on my email inbox, and scrolled down to the like button. Click—and I was over to the page instantly, all nicely opened. While complaining to my husband about the wretched phone’s behavior, I slid my finger down the screen to check for my author icon. I wasn’t there, but our joint author icon was.

“Did you just comment on her page?” I asked.

“No,” he said. “I was just headed over there right now.”

I rotated my phone screen so he could see it. “You’ve already commented.”

He squinted at me. “Did you open our author email and like the post? Because I did not like that post.”

“I didn’t!” I protested. Although, in all honesty, I sometimes have a problem and click the wrong email box on my phone. I did it with the Blackberry quite often by mistake. So much so that hubby’s threatened to take our joint author email off my phone.  He leveled a glary squint at me, not at all convinced I knew what I was talking about.

I switched back to my Catherine Castle email box. The email in question was on the top. I scanned it again. In the To: line it didn’t say Catherine Castle. Instead it had my husband’s name. Somehow the email addressed to his personal email box (which is another glitch I’ll not go into), got scrambled and put in my author email box and linked our joint author photo to it.

Stupid iPhone!

I could go on with my misadventures with the stupid iPhone, which I’m sure will continue until my weary blonde brain figures it all out or I end up in the funny farm. However, I’ve already exceeded a thousand words on this rant.

On the bright side, there are a couple of things I do like on the iPhone. I did discover one useful tool. I accidently deleted an email one evening and moaned in distress over my actions.

“Shake it!” Hubby said.

“What?” I replied.

“Shake it! Shake the phone!” he yelled urgently.

Bemused and befuddled, I did as he commanded, although I hadn’t the foggest idea why. An icon popped up on the screen.

“Now, tell it to untrash,” he said. “Hurry before the icon disappears.”

I did, and, Lo and Behold, my trashed email reappeared like magic.

Pretty cool for such a. . . Stupid iPhone!

I can also draw pictures in my emails. A feature that I’m sure will be a giant time suck. I’ve already drawn and sent pictures to my daughter, and I’m considering how I can use this tool for Christmas email cards.

Twitter works again and so does Pinterest. So I can waste endless hours surfing instead writing, cleaning and practicing the piano. Although piano is never a waste of time. It’s more of a joy.

Hopefully, as time passes, I’ll find more to like and less to complain about. One thing is for sure—as I learn this new device I’m giving my family and friends lots to laugh about.

Do you have an iPhone? Have you any tips for me?

Catherine loves to laugh at herself and loves to write comedy. Check out her award-winning romantic comedy, with a touch of drama,A Groom for Mama.

Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble

A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

Tags: Catherine’s Comments, iPhone, essay, humor, A Groom for Mama, Techy misadventures, romantic comedy, sweet romance

Catherine’s Comments—A Festive Candy Cane Table Setting from Catherine Castle

04 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by Catherine Castle in Catherine's Comments, Catherine's Crafts, clean romance, Crafting Posts, essay, Holidays

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Groom for Mama, Catherine Castle author, Catherine's Comments, Christmas table settings, clean romance, Holiday table settings, romantic comedy, Sweet romance

Christmas is fast approaching!

Only 21 days!

This holiday has always been a big deal at my house. When I was younger I’d change out all the knickknacks, take pictures off the wall and exchange them for more Christmassy themes, and deck the house out to the hilt.

I don’t quite go to those extremes anymore, as arthritic knees and a bad back have slowed me down. But, every year I put up a different themed Christmas tree. either special ornaments from our childhood and family and friends, Southwest themed, crocheted stars and tiny metal candle holders with little red candles, the simplicity of poinsettias in the branches, gold travel ornaments from places we’ve visited, all white, all red, and whatever else I can think up. Or, I might put up my fiber optic tree, or the vintage aluminum tree my husband inherited from his grandmother, complete with color wheel. On occasion I’ve had them all up at the same time.

My sideboard can groan under the weight of my Christmas village, my Nativity collection, My Southwest Christmas figurines, or I could just have a rustic collection of candles and Christmas décor.  I fill every available pot and vase I can with silk Poinsettias and holly.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I have lots and lots of tree and Christmas decorations. My Christmas décor obsession is as bad as or worse than my dish fetish.

My table is no different. Most of the time I use my Corelle holly plates, but recently I’ve been venturing out into different table settings. I think it has something to do with the ease of setting a holiday table. Unlike the Christmas village which takes a couple of days to set just right, my dinner table goes up in a much shorter time—once I decide what I’ll do, that is.

Some of my blog readers have requested more table settings. So, I’m going to show off my new combinations in the coming weeks. In the upcoming posts I’ll be featuring tablecloths, placemats, napkin rings and Christmas decorations I’ve pulled from my decoration stash—and of course the mix and match dishes that started this whole blog series.

First up is a Festive Candy Cane Table. This would be a cute table setting for the kids’ table, or as a more casual adult setting. You could also surprise the family on a December night with this cheerful table setting. After all, the Christmas season lasts for a month. Why wait until Christmas Day or Eve to celebrate the season?

Here’s how I made this table setting: I started with an inexpensive plastic striped tablecloth I picked up a few years ago from our local Big Lots discount store. Then I added red and white plates and white salad bowls—some of the same dishes I’ve used in previous table settings.

I kept the centerpiece festive and kid friendly with a metal spiral tree decoration. The candle at the base of the tree is a faux battery lit candle, a safer choice for the children’s table, and it won’t destroy the charming ornaments suspended from the spiral branches. To make the centerpiece pop and pick up the green in the table cloth, I centered the tree on a round woven placemat. If you don’t have a plethora of placemats, like I do—another obsession of mine—you could use a green napkin, or two napkins set at 45 degree angles to each other to form an eight-point star. For a little more festive flair I created contrasting red and white bows from pipe cleaners and scattered them on the place mat.

To continue the candy cane theme I made candy canes from red and white pipe cleaners.

To make the pipe cleaner candy canes, twist a red and white pipe cleaner together from top to bottom the form the cane. To form the loop that holds the napkin, gently bend the pipe cleaner in half. Align about 1/4th of the bent section with the bottom of the cane, then fold the straight remaining section at a 90 degree angle to the cane. Wrap it around your finger to form a circle. Loop the end of the circle around the cane to secure the circle and form the napkin holder section. Curve the top of the cane into a loop so it looks like a candy cane. Roll up your napkin to fit in the circle and arrange the cane so the top is level with the napkin edge.

If you don’t have any pipe cleaners, you could tie a ribbon around a real candy cane and then loosely wrap and tie the napkin in the ribbon. I didn’t have any candy canes, but I did have pipe cleaners so I improvised. Have I mentioned that I’m a crafter, too? I have lots of interesting things in my basement. 🙂

Lay your candy cane napkin in the center of your plate to finish off the table setting, and invite the family and friends to dinner!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s Festive Candy Cane Table Setting, and I hope I’ve inspired you to set a fun and festive table at one of your Christmas holiday meals. Come back next week for another Christmas Table Setting.

Happy Holidays,

Catherine

If you enjoyed Catherine’s creative holiday table settings, why not check out one of her creative books. Her award-winning sweet, romantic comedy, with a touch of drama A Groom for Mama is a fun read and would make a great gift for the romance novel lover in your family. Here’s a peek at the blurb.

A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

A Groom for Mama is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

.

Wednesday Writers—A Groom for Mama and Some Wedding Cake by Catherine Castle.

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, Book excerpts, clean romance, Romance, Sweet romance, Wednesday Writers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Book excerpt from A Groom for Mama, Catherine Castle, clean romance, romantic comedy, Sweet romance, wedding cake history, Wednesday Writers

I have an opening on Wednesday Writers today, so I thought I’d fill in. I’ll be talking about wedding cakes and my book A Groom for Mama. Keep reading to the end for an excerpt from my award-winning romantic comedy with a touch of drama, A Groom for Mama.  And thanks for stopping by.

picture courtesy of pixabay

HERE COMES THE BRIDAL CAKE

By Catherine Castle

If there’s one thing we know about wedding cakes today, it’s that they come in a wide variety of style, flavors and sizes. If you look on the internet you can find wedding cakes ranging from simple two or three layers to towering monstrosities or multi-flavored cakes connected with plastic bridges and even individual cupcakes. But nowhere have I seen a wedding cake that resembles the one the groom broke over his bride’s head in Roman times. In ancient history, and even up to Victorian times, the wedding cake bore little resemblance to the sweet confections of today.

In ancient Rome, the bridal cake was a simple, unsweetened barley loaf. The groom would eat part of the loaf and break the remainder over the bride’s head. This was a symbolic act thought to bring prosperity and good fortune to the couple. Wedding guests would try to eat the crumbs from the cake so they could also share in the good fortune showered down on the bride’s head.

In medieval England, the bridal cake was composed of buns or small cakes. Stories remain from accounts telling of stacking the cakes as high as they would go. If the bride and groom were able to kiss over the tall stack it was thought they would have a life of prosperity.

By the 1660s the story is told of a French chef who was traveling through England and saw the stacked pile of cakes at a wedding. After returning home he devised a method of constructing rounded cakes or buns into a tower form called a Croquembouch. This tiered pile of cakes became the traditional French wedding cake. Today it’s common to place a Croquembouch on top of a more modern layer cake.

From the mid-1700s a Bride’s Pie was introduced at wedding meals.  The pie, which was a meat pie, not a sweetened concoction, was filled with sweetbread, mincemeat, or mutton. Bride’s cakes, which were more like fruitcake than the typical white batter cakes we associate with today’s weddings, might also be eaten.

Groom’s cakes appeared in the 1880s and were typically darker-colored fruitcakes that were much smaller than the bride’s cake. Bride’s cakes, in Colonial times, were very rich creations, often reserved for the wealthy who could afford the ingredients. Because they were so labor intensive to make, the cakes were made weeks ahead of the wedding and soaked in alcohol to preserve them for the wedding date.

In the 1800s bride fruitcakes were still the norm.  Below is a typical recipe for a wedding cake from an 1833 recipe book, courtesy of http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcakes.html#weddingcake

[1833]
“Wedding Cake
Good common wedding cake may be made thus: Four pounds of flour, three pounds of butter, three pounds of sugar, four pounds of currants, two pounds of raisins, twenty-four eggs, half a pint of brandy, or lemon-brandy, one ounce of mace, and three nutmegs. A little molasses makes it dark colored, which is desirable. Half a pound of citron improves it; but it is not necessary. To be baked two hours and a half, or three hours. After the oven is cleared, it is well to shut the door for eight or ten minutes, to let the violence of the heat subside, before cake or bread is put in. To make icing for your wedding cake, beat the whites of eggs to an entire froth, and to each egg add five teaspoonfuls of sifted loaf sugar, gradually; beat it a great while. Put it on when your cake is hot, or cold, as is most convenient. It will dry in a warm room, as short distance from a gentle fire, or in a warm oven.”
—The American Frugal Housewife, Mrs. Child, Boston [1833] (p. 72)

In 1840, Queen Victoria introduced the white-icing tiered cake that we know today as a “wedding cake.”  The cake was iced in ‘royal icing’, which had been invented specifically for the royal wedding cake. Although the cake looked different on the outside, the batter was still the traditional fruitcake of the bride’s cake. The first tiered cakes, including Queen Victoria’s cake, had layers that were not edible. It wasn’t until 1882 when the first tiered cake with all-edible layers appeared at the wedding of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany. Even today, our English friends choose the traditional fruitcake batter for their wedding cakes. Prince William and Kate’s wedding cake was made with a fruitcake batter, as was his mother’s and his grandmother’s.

Wedding toppers appeared in the 1940s, and by the 1950s, American brides began moving away from the traditional fruitcake of Colonial America. Today, you’ll find wedding cakes in many styles, themes, and flavors. If you can dream it, there will be someone who can make it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I was writing the book I hadn’t thought much about what kind of cake my characters would have, but I think it would look a lot like the one on my book cover. And Mama would have been sitting on a layer just as she is in the cover. After all, she was Cupid’s helper.

 

A GROOM FOR MAMA

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

EXCERPT

Bounding down the stairwell as the bell rang, Allison shouted, “I’m coming! I’m coming. Keep your pants on!” She threw the deadbolt off and jerked open the door.

Jack Somerset stood in front of her, his chin perched on top of a stack of Chinese take-out cartons. Shoving down her tingling gut reaction, she commanded her heart to stop jumping like an overexcited puppy.

Except for a few more laugh wrinkles around his eyes, Jack hadn’t changed a bit since college. His brown hair still dipped over his forehead in a shaggy mane. A lopsided smile spread across his face when he saw her. He winked at her, his green eyes twinkling.

“Well, if it isn’t the bride-to-be. Nice to see you again, Allison.” He jiggled the cartons balanced in his arms. “I brought Chinese. I remember it was your favorite. Moo shu pork, right?” He pushed past her and headed toward the kitchen, apparently as well acquainted with her childhood home as she.

Grabbing her head between her hands, she squeezed her temples.

Chinese. Of all the things he could have brought, he brought Chinese.

She’d broken it off with him in a Chinese restaurant . . . over moo shu pork. Very loudly and very violently. The pork and the pot of hot tea had landed in Jack’s lap when he tried to keep her from leaving the table. Did his choice of entrees mean Jack hadn’t forgotten the incident? She hadn’t, and she’d been unable to eat that particular Chinese dish since.

Buy link: A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

 

Catherine’s Comments–An Unexpected COVID Side Effect by Catherine Castle

18 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, Catherine's Comments, essay, Humor, Romance, Sweet romance

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Groom for Mama, Catherine Castle, Catherine's Comments, Covid-19, essay, humorous post about clutter, pandemic pantry, romantic comedy

You can’t turn on the news nowadays without hearing about another long-term COVID side effect: lung damage, heart damage, brain damage, blood clots, post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression and anxiety. All those are pretty scary. It’s enough to make me want to retreat into my home and never leave, turning me into an agoraphobic.

But the side effect this pandemic has had on my home is pretty scary, too.  Not only am I turning into a hoarder of toilet paper, facial tissues, rubbing alcohol, and bars of soap…and I won’t even mention the stack of paper items and non-perishable foods in the basement pantry.  I’m also facing the dreaded issue of clutter. An issue I thought I’d conquered, at least in the public, open floor plan spaces of my home.

 

Once dealing with the mail was simple. You took it out of the mailbox, opened it, sorted out the bills, and threw away the junk mail. Easy peasy, right?

Now we have a new system. Remove mail from the box, using a plastic bag; open the bills that need to be attended to right away; place everything else on the side board in order of date received. Once mail has sat for seven days, you can now look at the non-essential items. This process has turned my side board into mail-center central. Not a very pretty sight.

This clutter extends to other parts of the house, too.

When our groceries come in, I wipe everyone of them. However, as my disinfectant wipes dwindled (because you can’t find them anywhere!), I’ve begun setting things on the floor beneath the kitchen bar until I feel it’s safe to touch them. Twenty-four hours for paper and cardboard products and packages that come in the mail, because they won’t fit on the sideboard. Three days or more for items with hard surfaces like glass or plastic and items in plastic bags.  Germ phobic that I am, it’s usually more, rather than just three days.

The other day my husband said, “Honey, you’re going to have to take care of the stuff under the bar. I’ve been kicking those bags for days now because they’re creeping into the living room. And the exterminator is coming this week. She won’t be able to spray along the edges with all those bags in the way.”

I gingerly peeked into one of the bags. “Hey! Remember those socks you were looking for?”

“The ones we bought a month ago?” Hubby asked.

“Yeah.” I picked up the bag with the socks. “I think they’ve been in quarantine long enough.”

Hubby snatched the bag. “Ya think?”

“Ooh,” I said as I looked into another sack, “Scratch the cheese crackers off the grocery list. I just found another box.”

I could go on, and on, and on, but I think you get the drift. COVID has turned me into a clutter bug…once again.

Only last September, in preparation for the installation of our new flooring, we’d moved, packed up, or given away all the items we didn’t want in our open-plan living area any more. The rooms had become untidy with too much inherited furniture and stuff. The knick knacks on top of bookcases and cabinets were removed. I sorted the overflowing bookcases, trimming them down. I dressed up the kitchen table with a flower centerpiece. We rearranged the furniture to make the living area appear more spacious. Sitting in the living area was calming and enjoyable again like it had been eighteen years ago when we first moved in.

I’d conquered clutter!  At least in the places visitors would see.

For nearly six wonderful months my main living area was spotless, airy, and open. I could see the walls. There was space around the furniture! I’d kept it that way, for the most part, so guests could walk in anytime and see an orderly house.  A quick sweep of the main room, and a few door closures, tidied everything up.

Then COVID hit. I went into pandemic buying mode, because I was not going to be caught without food in my pantry or an empty toilet roll. I canceled the cleaning girl indefinitely. She has to touch sooo many surfaces to clean (and I really miss her because her arrival forced me to pick up before she came). We cleared out shelves in the basement to hold most of my pandemic food supplies, which created giant piles of things to go through and trash or give away.

The kitchen pantry is jammed again, as are both freezers.

And I’m getting ready to tear out my hair!

COVID, thy name is CLUTTER!

And I’ve succumbed. I just pray it’s temporary.

The sad thing is there are only two of us living in this jam-packed house. I can’t imagine what COVID CLUTTER must be like for larger families.

What about you? Are you suffering from COVID CLUTTER SYNDROME?

 

Take a break from the pressure of COVID issues and lose yourself in Catherine’s award-winning romantic comedy, with a touch of drama, A Groom for Mama.

A GROOM FOR MAMA

By Catherine Castle

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

 

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

 

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers–Two’s Company and Three’s a Crowd: A Groom for Mama by Catherine Castle

17 Wednesday Jun 2020

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, Book excerpts, Romance, Sweet romance, weddings, Wednesday Writers

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

A Groom for Mama, award-winning romance, Book excerpt from A Groom for Mama, Catherine Castle, romantic comedy, Wednesday Writers

Today’s Wednesday Writers guest is me, Catherine Castle. I had an unexpected vacancy so I thought I’d fill in and give readers a peek at my award-winning romantic comedy, with a touch of drama  A Groom for Mama. One look at the quirky cover and you know you’re in for some laughs. I mean, who puts Mama on their wedding cake? Can you find her?

So, take few moments and enjoy the excerpt.

 

Two’s Company and Three’s a Crowd

You’ve heard the old axiom, “Two’s company and three’s a crowd,” haven’t you?

Well, imagine you’ve made a deal with your mother to find a husband—a deal you don’t really want to keep. A deal you hope will keep her going to clinics to find a cure for her cancer. A deal that will force you to have a date for every test she takes. A deal that lands you a bunch of disastrous dates. And here’s the kicker, your ex-boyfriend is arranging and tagging along on those dates, at your request.

Yep. Two’s company and three is definitely a crowd for Allison Walters and her ex beau Jack Somerset as they travel across the county to find a cure and A Groom for Mama.

 

A Groom for Mama

By Catherine Castle

 Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

 

Excerpt:

Allison snapped her suitcase shut and shoved it under the bed. “I don’t want to talk about the one who got away, or any other man, Mama. They grab your heart and break it—just like Daddy did to you . . . to us.”

“Not all men are like your daddy,” Mama said. “There are good ones out there, too.”

“Not in my experience.” Allison gave her mother a hug. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?”

Mama’s silence told her she hadn’t heard the last of this subject. Her mother’s stomach growled, easing the way to a subject change.

Laughing, she asked, “Are you hungry, because I’m starving. Come on, I’ll fix you some lunch. How does your favorite—tuna salad—sound?”

“Lunch,” Mama echoed. “Oh, I forgot to tell you—Jack’s bringing something over.” The doorbell rang and Mama smiled sweetly. “You’d better run and answer the door, dear. I’m not taking the stairs too good, what with my arthritis and—”

Allison cut her off. “Please don’t say it, Mama.”

With a nod, Mama said, “Hurry then, before whoever it is thinks we’re not coming.”

“Do you need me to return and help you downstairs?”

“No thank you, dear. I can manage.”

Allison didn’t doubt that for a minute. Her already-stubborn mother grew more stubborn every day, if that was possible.

It’s just the situation. I won’t lose my temper when we’re both so stressed, she promised herself. Time is too precious to waste on arguing.

Bounding down the stairwell as the bell rang, she shouted, “I’m coming! I’m coming. Keep your pants on!” She threw the deadbolt off and jerked open the door.

Jack Somerset stood in front of her, his chin perched on top of a stack of Chinese take-out cartons. Shoving down her tingling gut reaction, she commanded her heart to stop jumping like an overexcited puppy.

Except for a few more laugh wrinkles around his eyes, Jack hadn’t changed a bit since college. His brown hair still dipped over his forehead in a shaggy mane. A lopsided smile spread across his face when he saw her. He winked at her, his green eyes twinkling.

“Well, if it isn’t the bride-to-be. Nice to see you again, Allison.” He jiggled the cartons balanced in his arms. “I brought Chinese. I remember it was your favorite. Moo shu pork, right?” He pushed past her and headed toward the kitchen, apparently as well acquainted with her childhood home as she.

Grabbing her head between her hands, she squeezed her temples.

Chinese. Of all the things he could have brought, he brought Chinese.

She’d broken it off with him in a Chinese restaurant . . . over moo shu pork. Very loudly and very violently. The pork and the pot of hot tea had landed in Jack’s lap when he tried to keep her from leaving the table. Did his choice of entrees mean Jack hadn’t forgotten the incident? She hadn’t, and she’d been unable to eat that particular Chinese dish since.

Trailing behind him into the kitchen, she said, “You can put the boxes on the table.”

He obliged then started taking plates out of the cabinets.

A frisson of annoyance crept up her spine at the familiarity he showed in her mother’s kitchen. “Why don’t you just make yourself at home?”

“I will.” He shot a boyish grin at her. “Been doing it for some time now.” He set three plates on the table then turned and dug into the silverware drawer.

Stunned, she watched as he laid the silverware out on the table just the way Mama liked them—the knife, fork, and spoon lined up on the right-hand side of the plate. He hadn’t been joking when he said he been making himself at home.

What in heaven’s name had her old flame been doing in her absence? Courting Mama?

 

Want tor read more of this award-winning romantic comedy, with a touch of drama? You can find A Groom for Mama at Amazon and Barnes and Noble

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing. Before beginning her career as a romance writer she worked part-time as a freelance writer. She has over 600 articles and photographs to her credit, under her real name, in the Christian and secular market. She also lays claim to over 300 internet articles written on a variety of subjects and several hundred poems. In addition to writing she loves reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

 

Free Book Fridays–A Groom for Mama by Catherine Castle Free for a Limited Time

07 Friday Jun 2019

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama, books, Catherine Castle author, Free Book Fridays, Romance, Sweet romance

≈ Comments Off on Free Book Fridays–A Groom for Mama by Catherine Castle Free for a Limited Time

Tags

A Groom for Mama, award winning book, Catherine Castle, Free Book Fridays, free book offer, romantic comedy

SALE!     SALE!    SALE!

A Groom for Mama, my award-winning sweet romantic comedy, with a touch of drama, EBook is free on Amazon now through June 10.

If you don’t know anything about the book let me fill you in.

Beverly Walters is dying, and before she goes she has one wish—to find a groom for her daughter. To get the deed done, Mama enlists the dating service of Jack Somerset, Allison’s former boyfriend.

The last thing corporate-climbing Allison wants is a husband. Furious with Mama’s meddling, and a bit more interested in Jack than she wants to admit, Allison agrees to the scheme as long as Mama promises to search for a cure for her terminal illness.

A cross-country trip from Nevada to Ohio ensues, with a string of disastrous dates along the way, as the trio hunts for treatment and A Groom For Mama.

A Groom for Mama won the Contemporary category in 2109 Uncaged Book Review Raven Awards.

Here’s what Amazon readers are saying about the book:

  • “I immediately fell in love with these delightful characters and had a hard time putting this book down….” Joanne Guidoccio
  • “Castle writes with humor. The author excels at building romantic tension and also touching the hearts of readers with family drama. The novel moved me to tears a few times….” Sandy Hart
  • “….This book is filled with a lot of love and heartfelt emotion. Beautifully written, it tugged on every one of my heartstrings and tickled my funny bone at the same time.” AuthorLady 8
  • “What a sweet book. I even teared up towards the end. I devoured it in two nights. If you are looking for a sweet Hallmark-esque romance read, this one is for you.” Erin Clark:
  • “A Groom for Mama is a well written, delightful romantic comedy penned by author Catherine Castle….I recommend this story if you’re in the mood for a one-of-a-kind story that entertains as well as delivers a refreshing message.” Virginia J Foster:
  • “…This is a great romantic comedy you won’t want to miss!” Rose A MCCauley
  • “An enjoyable read full of fun and wit and heart-felt emotions. You knew the hero and heroine would end up together, with a little help from ‘mama’, and it was fun to experience the journey. A wonderful story of love and friendship and caring.” Sandy’s Fire

Here’s an Excerpt to whet your appetite

A Groom for Mama

by Catherine Castle

Bounding down the stairwell as the bell rang, Allison shouted, “I’m coming! I’m coming. Keep your pants on!” She threw the deadbolt off and jerked open the door.

Jack Somerset stood in front of her, his chin perched on top of a stack of Chinese take-out cartons. Shoving down her tingling gut reaction, she commanded her heart to stop jumping like an overexcited puppy.

Except for a few more laugh wrinkles around his eyes, Jack hadn’t changed a bit since college. His brown hair still dipped over his forehead in a shaggy mane. A lopsided smile spread across his face when he saw her. He winked at her, his green eyes twinkling.

“Well, if it isn’t the bride-to-be. Nice to see you again, Allison.” He jiggled the cartons balanced in his arms. “I brought Chinese. I remember it was your favorite. Moo shu pork, right?” He pushed past her and headed toward the kitchen, apparently as well acquainted with her childhood home as she.

Grabbing her head between her hands, she squeezed her temples.

Chinese. Of all the things he could have brought, he brought Chinese.

She’d broken it off with him in a Chinese restaurant . . . over moo shu pork. Very loudly and very violently. The pork and the pot of hot tea had landed in Jack’s lap when he tried to keep her from leaving the table. Did his choice of entrees mean Jack hadn’t forgotten the incident? She hadn’t, and she’d been unable to eat that particular Chinese dish since.

Want to read more? Pop over to Amazon and get your copy! And, when you’re done reading consider leaving a review. Authors love reviews! I hope you love A Groom for Mama as much as the other readers have.

 

About the Author:

Multi-award winning author Catherine Castle loves writing, reading, traveling, singing, theatre, quilting and gardening. She’s a passionate gardener whose garden won a “Best Hillside Garden” award from the local gardening club. She writes sweet and inspirational romances. You can find her award-winning Soul Mate books The Nun and the Narc and A Groom for Mama, on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Follow her on Twitter @AuthorCCastle, FB or her blog.

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers — Patrice Locke and Exit Signs

16 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by Catherine Castle in books, Romance, Wednesday Writers

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, Exit Signs, Exit Signs excerpt, food, main character's snacks, Patrice Locke, romantic comedy

 

 

Today Wednesday Writers Welcomes Patrice Locke to the blog. Patrice will be sharing the unusual eating habits of her heroine from her romantic comedy Exit Signs. She is also sharing an excerpt from the book for your reading pleasure. Welcome, Patrice!

 

Main Character’s Snacks, Readers Eat it Up

As I was writing my newest book “Fresh Start,” due out from Soul Mate Publishing this summer, I thought a lot about what makes a main character stand out.

I knew immediately what readers liked best about the main character in my first book, “Exit Signs.” It was the bizarre snacks narrator Tracy Price concocts—rattlesnake meat and cotton candy, string cheese wrapped around craisins. It’s usually the first thing readers mention to me, and it’s listed in almost all the reader reviews. One even asked, facetiously, I hope, for a recipe book. Tracy is a snack virtuoso only in her own mind.

And the funny thing is, the snack concoctions almost didn’t make it into the story. My editor at Soul Mate suggested adding more background information about Tracy, including her favorite foods. I immediately knew that Tracy would not have a handful of grapes or a saltine with peanut butter on it. She wouldn’t throw a banana in a blender with almond milk, and she would never, ever eat carrot sticks, unless they were slathered in caramel.

Tracy is a unique character, and her snacks would have to be too.

Then, as if a cartoon dialogue box had flown overhead, I heard Tracy explaining her genius snack combinations. A wheat thin and a square of dark chocolate; a salted, dry green bean and a pineapple life saver; meatballs in chocolate sauce. She carried them all, at one time or another, in a plastic snack bag tucked into the pocket of her blue jeans. She let me know it was a tradition she carried on from her Romanian grandmother.

Over the course of writing in Tracy’s voice I got to know her very well. But she had a tendency to be a private person, so it took me a while to crack her shell – in a completely non-egg-like way.

That one little detail about Tracy turned out to be a key element to her story, reinforcing her perspective and heritage in a way I never expected.

The snacks turned out to be a highlight of the final scene in the book, a sign that the happily ever after was real.

By the way, there actually is an online recipe for meatballs in chocolate sauce. I guess it’s quite a delicacy in some places. I hope I never visit those places.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥  

EXIT SIGNS

by Patrice Locke

Tracy Price is a film researcher. She doesn’t do crushes—at least not until she’s 32 and meets the one man she knows she will never marry. He’s Jesse Elliot, a musician running from fame.

Tracy’s obsession with a decades-old missing person case consumes her. And though Jesse resents her quest, it may lead her to finally understand him. When Jesse and Tracy both feel betrayed, an unexpected blessing may be their only chance for happiness.

Excerpt

The first thing he did was call attention to his blue-black hair by reaching up with his right hand to rake some strands away from his forehead. The hair fell right back onto the shoreline of his face just like a wave on a beach. I thought of the cliché movie scene where the action cuts to an agitated ocean to symbolize sex. I cleared my throat, ordered myself to get a grip.

Instead of listening to myself, I surprised both of us by asking him my name: “Tracy Price?”

“Yes?” he asked, matching my tone and confirming my identity. “It’s nice to meet you.”

I didn’t realize until later that he hadn’t introduced himself to me. He had a strong aura of self-assurance, not arrogance exactly, but calm confidence. We had a very ordinary conversation, memorable to me only because of my rising anxiety and the silent dialogue that began running in my head.

He was all-business. I was all over the place. He said nothing at all intriguing; he didn’t need to at the first meeting. This was how a romance novel would begin, and I would just go ahead and provide all the dialogue for both of us. He could be two-dimensional. I could write the script for us. I thought I knew the genre, but I had it wrong from the start. This was no romance. This was science fiction. He was from another planet. He had to be.

He sat down in a chair adjacent to mine and waited for me to speak, so I threw caution to the wind and asked: “How do you like Albuquerque?” Very original, Tracy! What I really wondered was, How does it feel to look like you do?

“I like it,” he said, answering both my questions. “I really like it so far.”

I nodded, feeling a surge of power. “I bet. And how long are you staying?” I wondered: Would it be too forward of me to sit on your lap?

“Six weeks… I really can’t say yet. This was kind of an unexpected trip.” Bingo! Both questions addressed.

I smiled; this was working! Let me know when you decide about the lap thing. I took a deep breath, covering my mouth for a brief fake cough to clear my head.

 

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Want to read more? You can find Exit Signs at Amazon

About the Author:

Patrice Locke studied journalism at Michigan State University. Then an unexpected job offer drew her westward. She worked for New Mexico and Arizona newspapers, covering everything from government meetings and drug busts to Navajo Code Talkers and haunted houses.

She’s a Jane Austen fanatic.

“Exit Signs” was her first published book. The second, “Fresh Start,” is due to be published in the summer of 2018. It’s about a woman who’s been dumped 1600 miles from her home with nothing except a guilty conscience and a to-do list she’s sure will change her life. Book number three, which may be called “Honey, I’m Home” has the same narrator as “Exit Signs.”

Connect with Patrice at her Webpage:  Facebook: Twitter: @PatriceLocke

 

 

 

And The Winner Is…

12 Tuesday Sep 2017

Posted by Catherine Castle in A Groom for Mama blog tour

≈ Comments Off on And The Winner Is…

Tags

Catherine Castle author, ebook winner of A Groom for Mama, giveaway winner, Pick a Date and Win an EBook, romantic comedy, Sweet romance

 

It’s time to announce the winner of the Pick A Date and Win an Ebook contest!

But first I’m going to reveal the real date my heroine went on–It was the Wrestling Match. Even though you now  know one of the dates, I promise there will still be some surprises when you get to that point in the book.

Since no one picked the real date, I entered all the readers into the winners’ pool and had my hubby pick a name from the hat.

Ruby Mae ODell is the winner. I’ll be contacting her to let her know to expect the ebook.

If you didn’t win this time, don’t despair. I’ll be giving away a few more books on the blog tour. Just check the post listings by clicking on the blog tour page below to see where the next giveaway will be.

 

Thanks so much for playing the game, and I hope you’ll enjoy the book, Ruby!

 

 

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