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Saturday, November 24, 2018

Give Thanks for the Simple (sometimes silly) Pleasures



Thanksgiving just passed. I hope you all had a great holiday with friends and family. This time of year, we like to reflect on those things we’re most thankful for. I give thanks for my husband and son, and that we’re all healthy. I’m thankful we have enough food to eat and a roof over our heads. I’m thankful for the road trip to the National Parks out West my husband, son, and I took a few months ago.

However, I thought it would be fun to list other more simple, even silly, things I’m thankful for, those things that give me pleasure, no matter how small. Here’s my list, not in any particular order.

·       The Zombie Apocalypse hasn’t happened yet
·       That first sip of coffee in the morning
·       That first sip of wine with my evening meal
·       Happy Hour at my favorite watering holes
·       Weight Watchers cream cheese slathered on a Thomas’ bagel thin (only 5 WW Smartpoints)
·       Williams-Sonoma Pecan Pumpkin Butter
·       Anything pumpkin
·       Netflix
·       Dark chocolate with rich, red wine

·       Romance novel heroes with their sculpted bodies and lovemaking skills, but most of all their kindness toward others and their willingness to sacrifice for those they love
·       Hallmark Christmas movies
·       Christmas songs
·       Scoring a Kate Spade handbag at a deep, deep discount
·       Scoring anything at a discount
·       Any day the sun shines
·       Girlfriends
·       Books, mine and others I love
·       My cats

·       Mani-pedis
·       Sandals
·       Homemade soup
·       Amazon Prime (although I spend way too much there)

I could go on and on but then I’d never finish this blog. What are your favorite simple pleasures?

Take time from your busy holiday schedules to read a romance. If you like holiday romances, here are a few I think you’ll enjoy.

Like Hallmark movies with sizzle?
A Groom for Christmas (Love On a Dare Book 1)



Fun holiday read.

A GROOM FOR CHRISTMAS is a new twist on the classic Hallmark Christmas movie full of family, humor, love, and a little bit of redemption.

Family pressure just might make her do something crazy...

When a young woman hires her hometown’s former bad boy to be her pretend fiancé for the holidays, she finds she can’t wrap up her feelings as easily as a Christmas gift.

New York jewelry designer Graceann Palmer has two days to find a fiancé to bring home to Pennsylvania for the holidays so her matchmaking mama will quit fixing her up with jerks. The Falcon, a motorcycle-riding, leather-clad former high school crush, helped her out once before. Maybe he'll do it again.

Jake Falco, man of many mysteries, is back in town on a mission—one the people of Spirit Lake most likely won't appreciate. When Graceann presents him with her crazy scheme, it gives him something he's always wanted—a chance to get to know Graceann. It also gives him the perfect opportunity to add fuel to his project of revenge. 

But as Jake and Graceann grow closer, their engagement-of-convenience begins to feel like the real deal—until Jake’s secrets are revealed. 

Can a relationship that began with lies and secrets bloom like a rare Christmas rose into happily-ever-after?

2013 Snow Globes Award Contest Finalist
Winner! 2014 New Jersey Romance Writers Golden Leaf Award
2014 Readers' Choice Nominee, Best Couple, Love Romances Cafe
2014 RomCon Awards Finalist

Wedded On a Dare, Love On a Dare Book 2, coming Spring 2019

Universal link:

Like a few new twists on classic fairy tales?

A Cinderella Christmas


Short. Sweet. Fantasy.

Jessica Gallo no longer believed in fairytales or happy endings. And she certainly didn’t believe she’d find her Prince Charming at Saks Fifth Avenue. Her Fairy Godmother thought differently.

2014 EPIC Award Finalist, Best Short Romance









Her Snow White Christmas (Snow Globe Magic Book 1)



WINNER 2016 EPPIE Award for Best Short Work.

A Christmas snow globe from a mysterious stranger swirls holiday magic for a sophisticated New York woman with a broken heart and a handsome Iraq War vet with a secret.

As a child, Avery Coleman loved Snow White and dreamed of Prince Charming. The adult Avery no longer believes in fairy tales. She’d settle for a handsome prince as ambitious for success as she is. Then an eccentric woman gives Avery a Christmas snow globe, advising her that princes come in many disguises. But when family obligations call Avery from Manhattan back to her small hometown in Vermont, she finds there aren’t many princes to be found in the forest of her family’s Christmas tree lot. At least it’s a vacation from her wicked witch of a boss.

Iraq War veteran Josh Huntsman always did what was expected of him. Believing there had to be more to life than chasing money and prestige, he’d left the corporate world for life in the Army. But his stint in the military cost him more than expected. Back from Iraq, Josh hides his past, volunteering at the homeless shelter and working at a Christmas tree lot. He isn’t ready to rejoin the rat race, and definitely has no use for a bright-lights-big-city girl like the ambitious fiancée who dumped him.

Leaving New York to spend the holidays selling Christmas trees in Vermont might sound magical to some, but for Avery, it’s a return to the place she worked hard to escape. But it’s Christmas and magic swirls in the air like glitter in a snow globe. And a single kiss might awaken a lifetime of happily ever after.

Universal link:


4 comments:

Debby said...

My favorite thing lately is a glass of Amarula.

Paris said...

Lately my favorite simple pleasure is finding the time to sit down with a cup of tea and a good book. Add some dark chocolate with sea salt and I'm a happy girl:)

Cara Marsi said...

Debby, thanks for posting. I'll have to check out Amarula. Never heard of it.

Paris, tea, a good book, dark chocolate with sea salt, all sound wonderful. Thanks for posting.

ELF said...

Wow, I've never tried some of those things, but I will have to look for them. One of my favorite simple pleasures (besides curling up w/hot tea or chocolate and a good book, of course) is seeing a new plant start. I love watching a tiny seedling or a cutting become a full-fledged plant (and then giving the plant away, lol).

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