Amazing Summer Adventures by @JoanReeves #mgtab

Vintage traveler suitcase with sunglasses straw hat old camera and maps.I’ve had the most amazing summer—and July hasn’t even ended yet. Let me tell you all about it.

I attended a high school reunion and met the first guy I ever fell in love with. He was a nerd in high school, but he left our small town and went to Harvard. Over the last ten years, his investments have made him a billionaire. Plus, he’s no longer nerdy looking. He’s completely gorgeous. He arrived at our high school in a stretch limo with his entourage.

I couldn’t believe he had come back to our little home town. For me, he was the one who got away.

Wait a minute. That didn’t happen to me. That happened to the heroine in JANE (I’m Still Single) JONES, the romantic comedy I’d written that went into the Sweet and Sassy Summertime Volume 1 Collection.

Nine SWEET AND SASSY STORIES of SUMMER, including Four Brand New, from New York Times & USA Today Bestselling, Award-Winning Authors. “Some like them sweet, and some like them sexy, but if you’re looking for a little heat, spice up your summer reading with this hot selection of stories!”

Sorry about that. Let me tell you about going on a hunt for hidden treasure. This was unbelievable. My father never gave me anything but a hard time until he died and left me a key, but I didn’t know what the key unlocked. However, he had arranged for this guy to join me in a Quest to find The Key To Kristina. We traveled to a lot of different locations, and there were some shady people following us.

To my surprise, the guy accompanying me turned out to be the kind of man I never thought I’d find. We had so much in common: both had ex-cons for fathers, both had a strong will. He called me opinionated and bossy, but I’m really not. I’m smart enough to figure some things out that he can’t. It was the greatest adventure. You’ll never guess what the treasure was. In fact, you’ll have to read…oh, wait.

I’m so embarrassed. That didn’t happen to me. That happened to Kristina Rivera, the heroine of The Key to Kristina, a new book I wrote for Fortune’s Favor: The Treasure. Oh, my, I had so much fun writing about Kristina and her Quest and Wyatt her partner who is a crusader for lost causes.

Fortune’s Favor: The Treasure 

Fortune favors the Bold, and bold women and men through the centuries have sought Fortune’s Favor in Life and Love.

A quest, hidden treasure, inheritance, Spanish Gold, and missing jewels inspire five riveting action adventure tales of women and men seeking redemption and rewards, searching for legacies, revealing secrets, finding romance, falling in love and winning that happily-ever-after that make all the challenges they must overcome worthwhile.

For the best Kindle Beach Read 2020, go treasure hunting with five NY Times, USA Today Bestselling, and Award-winning Authors as they seek Fortune’s Favor: The Treasure.

Let me rhttps://amzn.to/3fR1hoYegroup. I know I had some kind of adventure this summer. Oh, right. I know. I went to Last Chance Beach. I’d read the legend before. It’s about a woman and man back in the 18th or 19th century, I forget which, who had fallen in love. She was a rich man’s daughter; he was a poor young man seeking a way to make a living by writing.

The father had him thrown into the hold of one of his ships and sent back to the new world. The daughter ran away to find him. She searched for years until she ended up on this island that had been newly settled. He was there! He’d washed ashore after a shipwreck. They reunited for their Last Chance at Love which is how the island got its name. Anyway, that place is a popular vacation spot now. I went there because I really needed to de-stress.

It’s hard being a woman cop, especially when you’ve been undercover for almost a year. I stayed in this adorable cottage called Blue Moon House. My friend Bogey owns it. I had just arrived when someone broke in!

Well, he didn’t exaclty break in. He had booked the cottage for the same 2 weeks I was supposed to have it. I guess Bogey forgot to notify the management company that I was staying there. Of all the men on the planet, why did it have to be him aka the Jerk?

He’s a celebrity chef all the women are ga-ga over refused to leave. Can you believe that? We knew each other and already disliked each other. What happened next was completely unexpected.

Oh, no! I did it again. That wasn’t me staying at Blue Moon House. That was Chelsea Elliot and Zander Rojas. They’re the “stars” of Hot August Night, my story in the LAST CHANCE BEACH: Summer’s End Romance Collection.

LAST CHANCE BEACH, the island paradise where Dreams go to live again, and Wishes may come true. It’s Summer’s End on the island, and the cottages, condos, hotels, and bungalows are filled to capacity. There’s plenty of time left to find summer fun and summer love, new romances and second chances, hot alpha males and heartwarming heroes, love at first sight and romantic delight, enemies to lovers and opposites to attract.

Throw a log on the beach bonfire tonight and celebrate LAST CHANCE BEACH: Summer’s End, a special romance collection of 14 all-new short stories from bestselling and award-winning authors. These summer stories—created especially for this collection—will thrill the hopeful romantic in you. Some are sweet: some are sizzling! Some are humorous; some are serious.

LAST CHANCE BEACH: Summer’s End will make you want to book a vacation to the island of legend and love, the place where soul mates find each other and love at first sight happens all the time!

Being an Author: Best Job Ever

An amazing summer? Yes! I may not have left my home and office, but I did travel to all of these places in my imagination. Being an author is the best job ever because I get to create wonderful adventures and heartwarming small town stories—dramas, mysteries, and comedies. Then I’m the one who breathes life into the smart, sassy heroines and the brave, charming heroes who “live” the stories I write.

Click the “Keeping Romance Alive” image to subscribe to my newsletter. You’ll receive a free ebook when you confirm your subscription.

All of the box set collections mentioned above are only 99cents, and they’re all on Kindle Unlimited too!

Wishing you a fabulous summer of reading—the best and cheapest vacation for the mind and the spirit that you’ll ever find. Happy reading!

Sunshine after the stormS

We’ve had our share of storms this year, medical, political, and natural storms, including the most recent one, first labeled hurricane, but in spite of the weather forecast prediction, Cristobal was kind enough to shift west and then north. This past week, we had a gorgeous weather in South Florida and the ocean looked so appealing, I couldn’t resist. After several months of lockdown I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed my first swim of the season.
The residents of Fort Lauderdale are mostly retirees and wise people who follow instructions and take the right precautions. No crowd on the beach. Mostly couples strolling, often with a mask on.

Two days ago I received an incredible surprise: my granddaughters’ visit. Number One turned sixteen in May and just received her driver’s license. With their masks on their faces, they signed up at the front desk of the building where a security guard recorded their temperatures. They went directly to the beach. My husband and I were waiting for them on the terrace. We took off our masks and headed straight to ocean. No hugs. I haven’t hugged them since February. This was the first time in four months that we indulged into spending time together. But what a fun time it was dodging the high waves. I lost my cap and my granddaughter saved my prescription glasses and ran to hide them in my flip-flop on the sand. After an hour, soaking the salty water, breeze and radiant sunshine, they left. They didn’t come upstairs to the condo to change or eat something, but drove straight to their house. Welcome to our new way of family life.

Maybe we will feel normal again, eventually. Although I’m not ready yet for shopping or eating at a restaurant. But the stressful lump in my throat is slowly melting away and I’m writing my new book with a light heart, and not because I have nothing else to do.

A Dance for Prince Eric: A ballerina on the run for her brother’s sake. A prince who saved them both. Do fairytales exit?
DOCTORS IN LOVE: Passionate and Dedicated, with dynamic and life-saver heroes And intelligent, warm-hearted heroines.
DOCTORS IN LOVE 2 – Sexy and Determined, the docs alleviate suffering, protect life and health, and restore respect for human beings
IRRESISTIBLE WEDDINGS Romantic, joyful, lavish, unexpected, noisy and fun. Special weddings with hot grooms and lovely brides. All about love!
SWEET AND SASSY DADDIES- Nothing tugs at the heartstrings more than the sight of a loving single dad caring for his child
CUTE BUT CRAZY: Undeterred by misadventures and challenges, these strong-willed ladies take life and love by the ears, embracing the men they have chosen through good times and bad.

Staying healthy

I found this article carefully saved in my To Keep folder. “The 10 Best Fat-Melting Foods” as suggested by Lucy Danziger. I don’t exactly agree with all she suggested.  But with the pandemic confinement, I added twelve pounds and I’m seriously concerned about not to being able to shed them.

Apples: This fruit’s 4 to 5 grams of fiber not only are filling but also help ferry out some of the fat and calories you take in from other foods. YES, AGREED
Lentils: These legumes are rich in resistant starch (RS), a carbohydrate that may encourage fat burning and shrink fat cells. NOT SURE.
Sweet Potatoes: These spuds have RS, the same carbs found in lentils that may turn up the body’s fat-scorching furnace. RS may also increase production of peptide hormone compounds that signal the brain to stop eating. I RARELY EAT THEM. Eggs: The breakfast staple is loaded with choline, a compound known to help block fat absorption. YESSSS!!!
Edamame: The green soybeans supply 17 g of protein per cup, and your body torches more calories digesting protein than it does processing carbs and fat. NEVER TRIED IT.
Kiwifruit: A large kiwi has 84 milligrams of vitamin C—more than a day’s quota. C helps form carnitine, a compound that transports fat into cell mitochondria, where it’s burned for energy during exercise. NOPE. I PREFER MANGO.
Wild salmon: The fish’s omega-3 fatty acids could help you fight flab more effectively. They alter the expression of certain genes, shifting your body to burn fat rather than store it. ONCE A WEEK IS A MUST ON MY TABLE.
Yogurt: Lowfat and nonfat Greek and regular yogurts contain 20 percent or more of your daily calcium needs. The mineral slows production of cortisol, a hormone that encourages belly-flab buildup. DAILY. SEVERAL TIMES A DAY.
Quinoa: A complete protein, quinoa has all the essential amino acids needed to build metabolism-revving muscle. LOVE IT, BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW TO COOK IT. INSTEAD I COOK RICE.
Olive oil: Healthful monounsaturated fats found in olive oil could potentially switch on genes related to fat burning and storage.
the weight that dieters who ate the same calories but less total fat and protein and more carbs lost, a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine reveals. A MUST FOR ME.

Sitting at my desk six to eight hours a day doesn’t help. But writing is as important to my soul as comfort food.

Recommending the following books and boxes of books:

ON AMAZON: What could be more exciting for a American architect than to live in a French chateau owned by a handsome count, and to work on the restoration of a chapel in the Loire Valley?But when her professor is killed because he knew too much about a missing statue, Cheryl’s summer job changes into a dangerous treasure hunt and Count François is faced with a difficult choice. Are the statue and his chateau worth endangering the life of the impetuous young woman who’s turned his life upside down?

ON AMAZON: Natalie Borikev’s dream is finally materializing with a fabulous contract to dance on a Las Vegas stage. To save her young brother from drug addiction, she escapes to Boston with Eric Devereux, a devil-may-care, running away from gambling thugs. In Boston nothing is as Natalie expected. Her charming rescuer is actually a prince with bright prospects, but she lost everything—her budding career as a dancer, and even her brother’s affection.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08413RKNN/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084HNMFBL
https://www.amazon.com/ebook/dp/B084FJFCFB/
http://mybook.to/IrresistibleWeddings
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0855W6MLB/

If You Could Live Your Life Over Again…

If you had your life to live all over again, what would you do differently? Would you go to – or stay in – college? Would you pass on marrying that guy you dated throughout high school and take care of yourself first, not him?
How about never smoking (not guilty)? Or ever overeating (guilty)? Would you have tried harder to make that first marriage work and not rushed into divorce (no comment)?

If any of these thoughts tumble over and over in your head, like dark and light clothes in a dryer, then you might have the internal wiring of a writer. At least, that’s how I started.

‘What ifs’ are great beginnings to fiction! ‘What if a tornado carried a farmhouse in Kansas away to a mystical land and it fell down on a wicked witch, freeing a bunch of little folks from her terror?’ L. Frank Baum wondered, wrote it down, and the rest is literary (and cinematic) history.

Did all the horrible or fantastic events I’ve written about in my thirty or so books actually happen? Absolutely not! How about Stephen King? Let’s hope not! But regardless, creative minds manufacturing worlds and people (and critters) to populate them makes life so much more interesting.
Just because it seems like a great idea, how about grabbing a virtual (or real) box of chocolates and downloading a Valentines Day box set or two or three into your Kindle? They’re free to read with Kindle Unlimited (http://bit.ly/2KuSignUp). Oh, and if you haven’t tried KU, the first month is free! Hundreds of thousands of books to read for only $9.99 a month. And that’s not fiction!
Unforgettable Valentine, A Valentine She’ll Remember and Sweet and Sassy Valentine, dozens of Happy Ever Afters to make you smile or maybe blush…but certainly great diversion.