Happy Birthday Mom!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAMy girlfriend, Tamarind, believes that everything happens for a reason and that that reason somehow improves your life. Until my father died, I agreed with her. There was nothing, nada, zilch, absolute infinity zero, that his death could have a positive impact on my life.
I was so wrong.
Because I was the apple of my dad’s eyes, my mom and I didn’t have much of a relationship. We co-existed in a kind of temporary truce. She was his wife and, me, his only daughter. I was, to put it mildly, the favored child.
He died suddenly and tragically in 1994. In 2008, after many requests, I agreed to go on a 28 day mother-daughter trip to Europe. Okay, think about it, 28 days with your mom in strange countries. I expected we’d quarrel and fight non-stop.
The opposite happened.
And I realized my girlfriend had been right. I had never had a close relationship with my mom, but that trip changed everything. We had a blast. Went twenty-eight days without a single quarrel. Got along like a zillion houses on fire.
Every single day, we got lost – I can’t tell left from right so that’s kind of obvious. But, we had such fun getting back on track. And we ate our way through the most delicious locations in France and Spain. We had three eleven course meals. All decadent and heavenly.
I’d loved my mom before that trip. But I learned to like her during our jaunt through Europe. The pic above is us sharing a meal at La Belle Etoille – the best bed and breakfast on the planet. They served foie gras done three ways every night. I was in gourmet heaven. And my mom went along for the ride.
Today is my mom’s seventy-night birthday. I lost my dad right after his sixty-second.
I am so grateful, mom, to have you here with me. I love you. I’m so proud of you and I only want a good thirty more years. So, take care of yourself.

Love always,
Your daughter,
J

Happy Valentine’s Day!

cupids_arrowHappy Valentine’s Day!

Congrats to Kelly, Larissa, and Julianne who’ve all won a copy of Cupid’s Arrow!

I know, I’m a total suck. It’s so hard for me to pick one winner. I always feel bad for those who don’t win.  Winners, please email me with your preferred eBook format ASAP.

Here in South Florida we’re enjoying cool weather. The high today will be in the low 70s. I know the rest of the country’s freezing, but we don’t get this kind of coolness often, and we really relish it. Today, I get to wear one of my three cashmere sweaters. Yay!

Where ever you are – I hope someone warms  your heart and soul with a Valentine’s Day treat!

Have a good one!

Cheers,

Jianne

 

Remembering Dad

mourningYesterday would have been my father’s eighty-first birthday. I spent much of the day looking through old photo albums (remember those?) and mourning his loss. Twenty-one years after his death, the rawness of my grief has abated, but the intensity remains the same.

I am the only female child of my parents and I was the absolute apple of my dad’s eye. I adored  him, hero-worshiped him, and, later, learned to accept that he was not the perfect man I’d idolized. He gave me a gift that every parent should their children, he loved me, and he told me so constantly in both words and actions.

It’s not that my father didn’t have flaws. My goodness, he had those aplenty, but my father was an ethical man in corrupt country whose idealism never faltered. He was a visionary. I can still remember the day I introduced him to the Apple 1 and Visicalc. He was astounded, but turned to me, and said, “This is the future. This will change our world. We have to get in on the ground floor.” And we did. My dh and I were in the first graduating class of the launch of the IBM PC. A launch that gave birth to the technology world as we know it today. IBM legitimized what was then a rouge industry.

But, I digress. I have Dad’s picture on my desk and in my bedroom. I still miss him every single day, and I suspect that will go on until the moment I expel my last breath.

Love you Daddy and wish you were here,

Your daughter,

J

 

 

Valentine’s Day – Cupid’s Arrow Contest

Cupids_Arrow-Jianne_Carlo-BannerMy total bad, everyone. I’m blaming this one on the cold and the stomach flu brain disconnect still lingering around. I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that, since I can’t send everyone chocolates or flowers on Valentine’s Day ($$$), I’m running a contest for a free copy of Cupid’s Arrow. To enter the contest you can do anyone of the following:

Leave a comment on my blog

Leave a comment on this post on Facebook

Tweet or retweet something about Cupid’s Arrow

Leave a comment about Cupid’s Arrow on Goodreads

Send me an email mentioning Cupid’s Arrow

For everyone you do, you get a contest entry. I’ll announce the winner on Valentine’s Day on my blog, Facebook, and Twitter.

Good Luck!

Cheers,

Jianne

 

Cupid’s Arrow is Released! Yay!

cupids_arrow

It’s a great Monday morning. Not only am I fully recovered from bouts with the cold AND (could the man up there have been more generous?) a stomach bug, but I can finally announce that’s Cupid’s Arrow is not only released but available!

Not only that, but today Cupid’s Arrow is featured at Cover Reveals *evil grin*. How’s that for perfect promo planning? Here’s the link: http://coverreveals.blogspot.com/

Here’s the cover and tag line followed by a little teaser.

Stephanie and Eli go toe to toe on every project, but the attraction is irresistible. When a theft occurs – is it a love or an alibi?

Excerpt:

From the second he’d set sight on Stephanie his one goal had been to take her off the market. Permanently. He hated it when another man touched her, even Ignatius.

The room smelled of her, all gingery and spicy. He glimpsed a wicked lacy red thong peeking out of her half closed carry-on and stifled a frustrated howl as images of him licking a trail around the flower-trimmed panties fogged his lust-crazed brain.

“Sorry about that. My phone’s been zinging all morning.” She tucked the cell into a denim purse and flashed him her signature upturned-at-the-corners smile. “First Iggy, then Jacques, and then Christine.”

Eli pressed his lips together. Had she texted him before speaking with Iggy and Jacques? Was he last or first on her list?

“Are we having breakfast in the hotel?” She fiddled with the brass latch on the bag.

“I arranged for room service. Here.” He thrust the flowers at her. “What did Dardin want?”

“To let me know he’s put a trace on the missing DVD.” She sniffed the peach tipped roses. “Thanks for the flowers.”

The buzzer rang and he stomped his way to the door not liking the fact that Dardin had Stephanie’s cell number one bit. “That’s probably breakfast. I ordered you a ham, mushroom, and triple cheese omelet with bacon, sausages, hash browns, and rye toast.”

She stared at him the whole time the waiter fussed with the food cart. Those slanted eyes peeped at him over the bunch of roses she still smelled. The second the door clicked shut, she asked, “How’d you know?”

“You eat breakfast in the cafeteria every morning. It’s Tuesday.” For someone whose creativity scaled the heights, Stephanie had repetitive eating habits.

Color ebbed and flowed across her cheeks. “You noticed what I eat?”

“I notice everything about you. You take your coffee with two packets of cream. You like fizzy ginger pop, double bacon cheeseburgers with the works, and extra pickles.” He couldn’t stand it anymore, ate up the distance between them, and hauled her tight against him. He nuzzled her neck and sighed. “You changed your shampoo a month and a half ago. I like the scent of this one better. Kinda gingery.”

She pressed her palms to his chest, tilted her head back, and gazed at him, mouth slightly agape.

He took advantage immediately and kissed her, greedy to taste her again. He savored the minty heat of her and sipped along the plump seam of her lips. “Mornin’ honey. I’ve been chomping at the bit since dawn our time.”

She blinked a couple of times. “You should’ve texted me. I’ve been up since then too.”

Immediately he pictured her all sleepy and warm and cozy. His dick leaked and he had to clench his groin muscles and choke back a groan. Waking Stephanie up in myriad depraved scenarios had preoccupied him most of the morning.

Get a grip. Breakfast.

“Eli, you’re crushing the roses.” She nudged his shoulder.

He let her go in stages, forcing his arms away from her narrow waist, teasing both eyebrows with tiny kisses before blowing out a long breath, and pulling a chair close to the cart. “My lady, your meal awaits. I told them to leave the vase empty.”

The smile she threw him rivaled the brightest sun he’d ever seen. “You thought of everything.”

Eli watched her lithe fingers arrange the flowers in the crystal vase he’d ordered, and shifted the chair under the table after she sat down.

Instead of sitting opposite her, Eli situated himself right next to her. He lifted the silver domes one by one and took a deep inhale. “Nothing like the smell of bacon.”

“I know what you mean. After I saw Babe for the first time, I vowed that I’d never eat bacon again. That lasted about a day. It was the one aroma that made me hungry even during the chemo.” All the color drained out from her cheeks and she clamped her hands over her face.

“Chemo?” Eli gaped at her. The peach in her cheeks paled. All the happy animation she always radiated dissolved. Too stunned to absorb the notion behind her declaration, he repeated, “Chemo?”

Hope you enjoyed.

May Monday Meet you Merry!

Ouch. Couldn’t help it. I’ve been alliterating all weekend.

Cheers,

Jianne