love
Bella Juarez releases “Hanging By a Moment”
Widower and Air Force reservist, Tom Ryan fills the empty spaces in his life by building dream homes for others. When he’s invited to a client’s party, he meets the owner’s sister-in-law, a tempestuous artist, and discovers that maybe there is a wrong time to meet the right person…
Free-spirited Emily Sanchez is known for pushing the envelope in art, but meeting dependable, and down-to-earth Tom challenges her. The man has submissive written all over him, and she thinks she might be just the woman to peel back the layers and release the brilliant passion inside.
But when they are paired by Madame Eve, Tom turns the tables on Emily, because he’s always been curious about the lifestyle and if the chaotic artist is willing to surrender, they may discover their deepest desire…
Purchase Hanging by a Moment on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or BookStrand.
About the Author:
Bella Juarez is originally from San Antonio, Texas and now lives and writes on a small ranch in South Central Texas. She draws inspiration from the real life heroes and heroines of the United States military and her many experiences in the twelve years she worked within that world as well as from her life in the civilian world. Her love of thrill and adventure are reflected in her stories. When she’s not writing, Bella runs a business and is active in the business community. She also runs half-marathons.
Find out more about Bella on her website, follow her on Twitter, and like her Facebook page.
Happy Valentine’s Day
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Hope you have a wonderful day, everyone. Whether you “celebrate” Valentine’s Day or not, it is a great reminder to practice self-care and be kind to ourselves and each other.
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete” ~ Buddha
Here is my favorite Valentine’s Day memory:
30 Days of Thanks – Day 5
Today I am thankful for the many people who came into my life through Nursing school. We will soon be parting ways, but they will live forever in my heart.
30 Days of Thanks – Day 4
I am thankful for my Nursing school friends, who have become like family. They are some of the most amazing, caring, patient-centered people, I have ever met and I am blessed to be among them.
Today, we took our last exam as Level IV student, and are waiting for the result. For many of us, our final grade hangs in the balance of the outcome of this exam. May we all pass the Level, our End of Program exam, Nursing Care Management and finally, the NCLEX. Namaste.
Etiology of a Book Trailer – “Searching for Moore,” by Julie A. Richman
Summer of 2013 has been the Summer of books and reviews, where I rediscovered the joy that leisure reading brought me. My newest ventures have been writing book reviews and beta reading books for independent authors. I am still learning how to do both, but writing reviews is definitely my favorite of the two.
Earlier this year, I read and reviewed Searching for Moore by Julie A. Richman (Book 1 in the “Needing Moore” series). Julie’s book kept me up all night, deeply invested in Schooner and Mia’s story and I was emotionally drained but my mind kept spinning. That inspired my best book review to date, as words flew, organically, off my fingers, onto the keys, and onto the screen. When I hit “publish” on the blog post, the sun was rising and I knew I had to know more about the woman who wrote Searching for Moore. I had to talk to her.
I “met” Julie on Facebook. There was the initial awkwardness of the clichéd OMG-when-are-you-releasing-book-2 comment. Followed by the blubbering on of a fangirl who had too little sleep, too much coffee and not enough Schooner Moore or Mia Silver. Finally, we started to talk. Like lifelong friends. Who had never met before. The more we talked – about music, college, jobs, life experiences, relationships, etc. – Julie and I found that we had been separated at birth! Synchronous would be the best way to describe our connection.
Our friendship brought three other women into my life. All fans of Searching for Moore who had similar reactions to the story. As, we began “hanging out” together on Facebook, the bond became stronger. Sure we talked about our favorite parts of the book, but we talked about ourselves. If someone had a bad day, there were four other women to help her through it. If we needed a laugh or bawdy comment, we were there.
Together.
Together, we decided to create the following book trailer. Kristen was our computer guru, taking all the pieces and creating something that represented all of us, even after the infamous crash of “Video Version 1” (shudder). Cleida brought us Mia and Schooner and had the uncanny eye to spot the right photos of them. Samantha was our cheerleader, keeping everyone in good spirits. I suggested “If I Should Fall Behind,” by Bruce Springsteen as the accompanying song and critiqued the final product. We accomplished this in about two days and presented it to Julie, on Sunday, just past midnight.
As we waited, impatiently, for Julie to view the video, so many thoughts went through our heads. “What if Julie doesn’t like it?” “What if the fans don’t like it?” “What if it’s not good enough?” “What if it doesn’t capture the essence of Schooner and Mia?” These were the longest three minutes of the entire process!
Julie loved it!
She immediately posted it on her Facebook page. It was received warmly by other fans, who then shared it with their friends and family. Now, I share it with you. Please share, reblog, buy the book and fall in love with Schooner and Mia. (Book 2, “Moore to Lose,” will be released in September 2013.) Amazon Barnes and Noble
After reading Searching for Moore please visit Julie’s author website for additional scenes, written in the point of view of other characters, and find her on Facebook.
Here is our labor of love for Searching for Moore .
Reading, Drinking and Dancing with a Chaser of Snark 
My favorite Valentine’s Day memory didn’t actually happen on Valentine’s Day. Hubby and I had been living together for about six months and talked about getting married. He met my parents, and unbeknownst to me, asked my Dad for my hand in marriage, at Christmas. For a while I thought he was going to propose at Thanksgiving…then at Christmas…then on New Year’s Eve. But, nothing happened.
I thought “ah, he’s waiting for Valentine’s Day,” and all the when-is-he-going-to-ask-me-to-marry-him stress left my body. It was briefly replaced with maybe-he’s-not-going-to-propose panic, but I figured it would happen eventually, otherwise we would not have talked about it. He also said, “leave Valentine’s Day open.”
Around the middle of January, my washing machine broke. Hubby said, “you need to be home because I’m calling a guy to come fix it.” Ok, cool. It never occurred to me that a repairman coming out to our apartment on a Friday afternoon was odd. So, when the “washing machine repairman” knocked on my door, I opened it.
It was Hubby, fortified by a few beers at Hooters (the waitress ended up comping all of them, when he told them was he was getting ready to do), and dressed in his suit dropped to one knee and proposed.
We still celebrate our un-Valentine’s Day date, almost 17 years later.
Tell me about your favorite Valentine’s Day.