 Rather be reading? Find a sweet and heartwarming romance to fall in love with in this lovely selection, each either free or just 99c!  You can find my book, Calming the Storm, included in this list. You can pick it up for FREE through February 16th. A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what she had in mind. After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she can adequately care for her niece. On the verge of running away to keep Kendra, a new friend offers Rachel an opportunity she can't refuse. Brandon Barlow has long admired Rachel. When her world begins to fall apart, he feels led to help. A marriage of convenience would enable him to provide Rachel and Kendra with a stable place to live, proper health insurance, and a viable shot at staying together. Once Rachel gained full custody of her niece, the marriage could be annulled. His plan provides the perfect solution, until Brandon realizes he's fallen in love with Rachel. Through love and patience, can he help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she's never alone?  Searching for a sweet & clean romance to lift your heart? This page features a range of clean and uplifting romances, each with a happy-ever-after ending, and each priced at under $3!  My book, Marrying Mandy, is included in this promotion. Read it for FREE - and available in your favorite online store.
A marriage of convenience might be crazy...or an answer to both of their prayers.Mandy Hudson swore she'd never marry. Abandoned by her parents and raised by her grandparents, she has a hard time trusting that real love will last. When her grandmother dies, Mandy is shocked to discover a stipulation in the will. Considering marriage to her best friend may be the only way to keep her family's beloved bed-and-breakfast. The loss of his job threatens Preston Yarrow's shaky financial stability. Besides, he can't watch his best friend give up the only real home she's ever known. Frustrated by Mandy's stubborn refusal to let him help, he's certain they are stronger together than they are apart. A marriage of convenience sounds like the perfect solution until love enters the equation and complicates everything.
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A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what Rachel had in mind  Calming the Storm is FREE through February 14th After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she can adequately care for her niece. On the verge of running away to keep Kendra, a new friend offers Rachel an opportunity she can't refuse.
Brandon Barlow has long admired Rachel. When her world begins to fall apart, he feels led to help. A marriage of convenience would enable him to provide Rachel and Kendra with a stable place to live, proper health insurance, and a viable shot at staying together. Once Rachel gained full custody of her niece, the marriage could be annulled. His plan provides the perfect solution, until Brandon realizes he's fallen in love with Rachel. Through love and patience, can he help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she's never alone?  Happy Wednesday, everyone! I have a free book for you all. Calming the Storm is free through September 1st. This was my debut novel, and it's still one of my favorite stories. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what she had in mind.
After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she can adequately care for her niece. On the verge of running away to keep Kendra, a new friend offers Rachel an opportunity she can't refuse. Brandon Barlow has long admired Rachel. When her world begins to fall apart, he feels led to help. A marriage of convenience would enable him to provide Rachel and Kendra with a stable place to live, proper health insurance, and a viable shot at staying together. Once Rachel gained full custody of her niece, the marriage could be annulled. His plan provides the perfect solution, until Brandon realizes he's fallen in love with Rachel. Through love and patience, can he help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she's never alone?  Do first impressions matter? You bet they do. I was recently reminded of this when a restaurant chain redesigned their logo.  Since our son could speak, he's been drawn to IHOP's logo. As a little boy riding along in the backseat of the car, his sweet face would fall in a frown, and he'd point to the IHOP sign and say, "Awwww. IHOP is sad." As a collector of logos (see my post here), the boy knows most of them, as well as their sayings or jingles, by heart. For years, he's talked about how unhappy IHOP looks. Until a couple of weeks ago when we discovered that IHOP had redesigned their logo.  In the words of our son, "IHOP is happy!" Even our daughter said, "I'm glad IHOP is smiling!" And you know what? I have to admit the restaurant as a whole looks a lot more welcoming now. In this case, changing IHOP's logo was a brilliant marketing decision. IHOP's logo change, and my kids' immediate reactions to it, was a reminder of just how important first impressions are. Being an author and publishing independently involves a whole lot more than just putting words to paper. I knew this before I published my first book, Calming the Storm. But until I jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire, I had no idea what that really meant. I had no plan in place and quickly discovered there was a lot more to marketing a book than simply publishing it and watching the copies fly off the shelves, so to speak. In order to have my books read, readers actually had to find them first.  It all starts with the cover. Those first impressions are crucial and can make the difference between whether a potential reader chooses your book or not. You can have a great cover, but if it doesn't tell the reader what kind of book it is, your story won't always fall into the right hands. In my case, Calming the Storm went through three covers before I felt like I had the right packaging for my story. I shot the images for the first cover and put it together myself. Even now, three and a half years later, I love how it turned out. But the storm and sunflowers gave the impression of a devotional rather than a romance novel. After that, I worked with friend and fellow author, Victorine E. Lieske. She runs Blue Valley Author Services and designs a lot of amazing covers. Since then, we've changed the cover twice, and it's this last design I feel perfectly conveys the story to potential readers. Now, when readers see Calming the Storm, I feel like they'll get the right first impression. Publishing independently, just like anything else, is a learning process. If it's something you're considering, talk to others who have been in the business for a while. Learn from their mistakes. Most of all, don't be afraid to take that step and put yourself out there. What you write matters! If you're an author - whether published independently or traditionally - is there one thing you've learned along the way that you wish you knew before? I'd love for you to comment and share your wisdom! I want to give a big shout out to Lia London and all of the amazing authors at Clean Indie Reads. I found this group when I was first considering publishing independently. I've met a number of author friends, and I continue to learn from the talented individuals there.
 It's been just over two years since Calming the Storm was first released. I remember the nerves building as I watched it go live on Amazon, wondering if anyone would even want to read it. While it may not be a best seller, it's still one of my favorite stories and I'm thrilled to have been able to share it with so many other people. In order to celebrate the second anniversary, I'm giving away copies of Calming the Storm. If you haven't read the book yet, I invite you to grab your free copy August 16th or 17th. As always, I'm thankful to each of you for your support. I couldn't do this without you! A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what she had in mind.
After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she can adequately care for her niece. On the verge of running away to keep Kendra, a new friend offers Rachel an opportunity she can't refuse. Brandon Barlow has long admired Rachel. When her world begins to fall apart, he feels led to help. A marriage of convenience would enable him to provide Rachel and Kendra with a stable place to live, proper health insurance, and a viable shot at staying together. Once Rachel gained full custody of her niece, the marriage could be annulled. His plan provides the perfect solution, until Brandon realizes he's fallen in love with Rachel. Through love and patience, can he help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she's never alone?  My debut novel, Calming the Storm, has a new cover. I'm thrilled with the result and I think it fits the story perfectly! I want to extend a big thank you to Blue Valley Author Services for this gorgeous cover. The Kindle version has been updated already, and the paperback will follow in a week or two. A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what she had in mind.
After a rocky start, Rachel Peters finally has her life on track. Then a tragic accident takes away her sister and leaves her to raise her niece, Kendra, alone. About to lose custody of her last blood relative, Rachel is desperate to prove she can adequately care for her niece. On the verge of running away to keep Kendra, a new friend offers Rachel an opportunity she can't refuse. Brandon Barlow has long admired Rachel. When her world begins to fall apart, he feels led to help. A marriage of convenience would enable him to provide Rachel and Kendra with a stable place to live, proper health insurance, and a viable shot at staying together. Once Rachel gained full custody of her niece, the marriage could be annulled. His plan provides the perfect solution, until Brandon realizes he's fallen in love with Rachel. Through love and patience, can he help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she's never alone?  Image by Victorine E. Lieske Calming the Storm was my debut novel, released in August of 2014. Brandon and Rachel's story came together over the course of many years before I chose to focus on my writing and make it one of my priorities. But even when I would put it on the back burner for a while, the story was always close to my heart. In Calming the Storm, Rachel faces a number of challenges. Her sister is killed in an accident and she's left to raise her young niece, Kendra, all on her own. She has no job and soon, they won't have a place to live, either. On top of all that, some distant relatives of her niece's father want to get custody. With no home and no job, Rachel knows keeping Kendra is going to be a long-shot, but she's the only family Rachel has left. At this point, Rachel's feeling more than a little overwhelmed, she feels like she's drowning and fast. I think we've all felt that way at some point in our lives. If you're like me, it's been more than once. I feel like I'm huddled on a little lifeboat in the middle of a giant ocean while a storm rages around me. Every time I think I'm making progress in one direction, the waves crash into my boat. I'm tossed around, confused all over again, and just praying I don't drown in the process. It can seem pointless and never-ending. And very lonely. Finally, the storm clears and my little lifeboat approaches the shoreline. I crawl onto the sand and collapse, exhausted. "God, why did I have to go through that? Where were You?" "I was with you all along, child." I blink. Didn't He just see what I went through here? "Then why didn't You just say a word and calm the storm? All that time I spent at the mercy of the waves... Why didn't you spare me?" "Did your boat capsize? Did it break apart into pieces against a rock in the ocean?" "Ummm. Well, no." I pull myself to my feet and look around me. "Are you not on land now instead of still waiting in the middle of the ocean?" The sky is blue and the sun warms my shoulders. Green trees line the beach, ripe fruit hanging from their branches. And not far away, I can see fresh water glistening. It wasn't what I'd expected or planned, but it's looking pretty good right now. "You're right. I am on land now. But why the storm? Why couldn't I just row here and be done with it?" I'm pretty sure I heard God chuckle. "If you'd had clear weather the whole way, and rowed in the direction you wanted to go, you'd be in a very different place. If it weren't for that storm, you wouldn't be where you stand now." Understanding begins to dawn. "Then you were watching me while I was being tossed around in the storm." "No, I was holding you. I may not have calmed the storm, but I was there with you. To help calm you as you traveled through it." Tears flooded to my eyes. "Thank you." "I love you, my child." When I look back on every challenge I've faced in my life, I can see the truth in this. Whether it's the loss of a loved one, our struggles with infertility, illness, or just days I feel overwhelmed, I always come out on the other side. I may be exhausted, and I may not be where I thought I should have ended up, but there are always blessings and experiences to be thankful for. Ones I never would have recognized if I hadn't gone through that particular storm in the first place. If you're going through a storm like that in your life, remember that you're not alone. God may not be calming this storm you're battling, but He's holding you close until it passes.  A marriage of convenience isn't exactly what Rachel Peters had in mind.
What else can she do if she wants to raise her young niece, and give her a more stable home than she and her sister grew up in? Rachel is at risk of losing custody of her last blood relative, and she needs to prove she can provide for her niece and raise her in a nurturing environment. Professor Brandon Barlow is invested in his college students’ lives, wanting to ensure their success. When it is clear that Rachel is struggling, he takes a personal interest in trying to help her. But can he keep his heart from getting involved in the process? Brandon reaches out to Rachel as he tries to break through the walls she has built up over the years. With love and patience, Brandon hopes to help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she isn't always alone.  Image by Victorine Lieske One year ago today, I nervously watched as my first novel went live on Amazon. I wouldn't announce it on Facebook until the following day and it was difficult to sleep that night. The story for Calming the Storm formed in my mind some years ago and I wrote a little here and there when I had the chance. Once 2014 began, I decided that was going to be the year that I finally pursued independent publication. I did a lot of research, found a fantastic group called Clean Indie Reads, and talked to a number of people on how best to approach the scary world of indie authors. I had several people read Calming the Storm before I published it. However, it was a completely different thing to release my "baby" out into the world. What if no one bought it? What if they did buy it and they hated it? What if people loved it and I was never able to write another book? Yep, those doubts and many more went through my mind that very first day. I sold six copies of Calming the Storm August 6, 2014 and I was absolutely thrilled! In the last year, I've sold a total of 892 digital copies of Calming the Storm. Did I make the best seller's list? Not even close. But it's been an amazing adventure. Looking back, a lot has changed. I'm much more comfortable with Amazon and how to format my files. I've had three new releases now to get an idea of what kind of promoting works best for the genre I'm writing in. Even then, I'm constantly learning something new and I anticipate that'll always be the case. One thing hasn't changed, however. I'm not sure I'll ever feel at ease releasing a new book into the world. I still want to hold it close and protect it from bad reviews or rejection. I felt that way about Calming the Storm but I'm thankful I pushed through it. This past year has been a huge learning experience, an adventure, and a dream come true. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next year as an indie author has in store! Calming the Storm by Melanie D. Snitker
 With the help of talented author and graphic designer Victorine Lieske, I have a new cover for Calming the Storm! I absolutely love how it came out and I'm so excited to see it go live on the Kindle version in the next week or two.
I admit that it was a little difficult to let go of the first cover. Mostly because I took the photographs and designed the cover myself. I still like it and think it turned out beautifully, but I don't believe it's the best choice for a romance novel. It it my hope that this new cover will better express what the novel is about. I still plan to use the sunflowers both here on my website and on Facebook. So they won't disappear entirely. ;-)  Hi Everyone! I have some paperback copies of Calming the Storm available. If you're interested in an autographed copy, please e-mail me at [email protected]. I'm happy to personalize each one. You let me know who you want me to sign it to and/or if you have a specific message you would like me to add. :-)
Cost: $7.99 + Shipping & Handling Shipping is $3.00 within the USA. If you live outside the USA, please let me know and I'll find out how much shipping will be. :-) If you're local to me, there is no shipping charge, of course. :-) Payments: I accept payments through PayPal only at this time. Can I just say, seeing this stack of books on my desk, makes me smile? :-) :-) Thank you all!  I live in West Texas so we aren't seeing falling leaves or changing colors, but the weather has gotten cooler. Lately, the temperatures have been between 85 and 90, which compared to this summer, seems wonderful. I'm especially enjoying the early mornings, when the air has a chill to it. Falling Leaves, Falling Prices To celebrate the fall season, the amazing Clean Indie Reads group has a sale going on. If you haven't checked the Clean Indie Reads Fall Sale out, you need to! I'm planning on going shopping later today - it's taken me this long to narrow down what I'm going to purchase because there truly are so many wonderful books available. Blog Hopping I'm so excited to not only be a part of the sale, but to participate in this Blog Hop as well. I hope those of you who have been following the blog hop are having fun! I know I've enjoyed learning more about my fellow authors. Please make sure you check out all of the blogs participating as many are doing a giveaway and the deadlines aren't until the sale is over! October 5: Linda Covella Mary Ellen Bramwell Tina Webb Logan Crowe October 6: Tara Fairfield Barbara A. Martin Shanna Hatfield October 7: Sally Sue Fleischmann Ember Zelda Benjamin October 8: Kelley Crandall Jennifer Pitkin Mari Barnes Chrystal Lynn Miles Gauthier October 9 Sharon Skretting James DiBenedetto October 10 Felicia Rogers Ruth O’Neil Debbie Brown October 11 Faith Blum Kristin Wallace Elizabeth Kaiser Blog Hop Question Do the changing seasons influence your writing and/or the choice of books you read? This is a question that all of the bloggers participating in the blog hop have been asked. For myself, I do find that I am more inclined to write a book that takes place in colder months during the summer, and vice versa. In fact, these last two months I've worked on Finding Peace, where the story plays out during the month of January. I found myself enjoying the idea of colder weather and snow during the hot summer we've had here in West Texas. I have a feeling that the opposite may be true when I'm shivering this winter, double socks on my feet, and a mug of hot chocolate sitting on my desk. LOL I don't know that the changing seasons really affect what books I read, save for one exception: I tend to only read Christmas or holiday novels during November and December. Otherwise, I choose novels based on the mood I'm in at the time. Reviews I just wanted to say that, when you read a book, authors love it if you have a moment to leave a review. Reviews are a great way to provide some honest feedback and help future readers choose a book. I know I truly appreciate them, and other authors do as well. Thank You! I am so glad that you took time today to come by my blog. I would love to hear from you! What is your favorite thing about fall? Does it affect what books you enjoy reading?
Information About My Novel
My book, Calming the Storm, is on sale for $0.99 through October 11th. If you enjoy Christian romance, I hope you'll give it a try. The story itself was on my heart for several years before I wrote the book. The song, "Sometimes He Calms the Storm," performed by Scott Krippayne on his album, "Wild Imagination," inspired the book. This song has been a huge help at difficult times in my life. The words in the chorus remind me that, no matter what I'm going through, God is there with me. Even when God doesn't calm the storm that I'm struggling through, He's here holding me as I weather it. I am so incredibly thankful for His love, peace and guidance. In Calming the Storm, Rachel had a rough childhood and continues to feel like she has no control over her life. She has always felt that she was at the mercy of life's storms. When her sister - the only immediate family she has - is killed in a car accident, Rachel finds herself caring for her young niece. Struggling to find a job and a permanent place to live, Rachel is at risk of losing custody of her niece. Brandon teaches a class that Rachel attends, but when she has to drop out of college to take care of her niece, he becomes concerned. Learning about the difficult situation she's in, he does the only thing he can think of to help: He suggests a marriage of convenience. With that agreement, she would have a stable living situation, a new job through his parents, and health insurance. All things that would hopefully lead to Rachel being able to adopt her niece and give her the kind of childhood she never had herself. Brandon reaches out to Rachel as he tries to break through the walls that she's built up over the years. With love and patience, he hopes to help Rachel realize that, even when she experiences storms in her life, she isn't alone. Calming the Storm is available on Kindle as well as paperback through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and CreateSpace. Coming in November My next book, Finding Peace, is the first in my Love's Compass series. The book itself is done and I'm currently in the editing process. I'm so excited about this title and I can't wait for my readers to get to know these new characters. Kentucky "Tuck" Chandler is a police officer in the small town of Kitner, Texas. When Laurie Blake walks in on a robbery at her photography studio, Tuck is assigned the case. What seems to be a simple break-in soon becomes a string of incidents. They appear to have no connection, but with each new case, more people are in danger. Can Tuck find the answers he needs to keep Laurie safe and bring peace back to the residents of Kitner?
I am very excited that it's Friday. This last week has been one of those weeks where I really wanted to get a lot of progress made on this book I'm writing and it just didn't happen. The reasons were all good ones, but I sure am happy to have a more laid-back weekend coming up!
I'm also looking forward to being able to share more about this next book with you all. It's the first book in a series of three. I am still working on the title and the cover. It's a little more of a challenge, simply because I'm working on the covers and titles for all three books so that they go well together. As soon as I have that figured out, I'll start sharing more details. In other news, there are three more reviews up on Amazon for Calming the Storm. Thank you so much! I appreciate your taking the time to read the book and sharing your thoughts! The newest reviews about Calming the Storm: Enjoyable Christian romance ... by Sue Reviews This was a very enjoyable Christian romance story. I enjoyed watching the relationship between the character blossom and grow. I found all the characters to be very likable. I'm not giving it five stars because some of it seems a bit far fetched to me. I also wasn't sure about how I felt about the marriage considering they were unequally yoked yet his family all encouraged him to go for it. That's actually unbiblical, Yet the story does play out in a way that really glorifies God. Overall I enjoyed it and would read another by this author. Great read ... by Crystal B. I loved the book. Great characters and setting and I loved how the romance developed. I would definitely recommend it. Five Stars ... by Crystal J. I loved the book! Very Good Clean Christian Book! I received my first two reviews for "Calming the Storm" on Amazon over the weekend. It was so exciting to see some feedback. Many thanks to the people who took the time to post those reviews, I appreciate it!
Here's what people are saying about Calming the Storm: Just Finished It....by Gvolstad I bought it because a good friends daughter-in-law wrote it. I started reading it right away and forced myself to put it down to go to bed last night! It met and exceeded my expectations...I want a continuation of the story to see where God will take the characters next...Please write another! beautiful by mommy2threereads Brought tears to my eyes and was a wonderful read! Truly one of a kind inspirational love story about trusting in God and in others! |
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