It's that time of year once again--I'm back in the #writing zone with book 6 in the series: Twins in the City: Playtime at Castlewood Manor! We're hitting the shores of Bermuda and then heading to London, where Gemma and Kyle are on the hunt for a city abode. The feature pic this week is from Kensington Palace Gardens (surrounded by beautiful doorways--love the colors and architectural details!), one of the most exclusive streets in London, right behind Kensington Palace, and adjacent to the beautiful Hyde Park. Will this be the ritzy drive where Gemma and Kyle will make their city home? It's house hunting, almost-royal style!
There are some nice pubs nearby--The Churchill Arms is one of our favorites--they have a delicious Thai restaurant in the back that serves up some yummy, spicy food--the perfect accompaniment to a cold glass of apple cider fresh from the tap.
The walking paths throughout Hyde Park have gorgeous statues, ponds and foliage--a perfect place to push the prams and take Teddy out for a walk!
I don't know exactly where Gemma and Kyle will make their city home just yet (the characters do get a vote!), but wherever the new Lancaster-Williams second abode is, I'm sure it's going to have many, ahem, surprises in store! Out of curiosity, do you have a favorite area of London you'd recommend for a city house? (Gemma and I are partial to Belgravia...) LMK in the comments!
Just in case you're wondering about the new doggie in chief at Cherrywood Hall, Teddy...I have it on good authority that he thoroughly enjoyed his beach time this summer--we're going to pretend he was in Bermuda... :)
A busy week, but I'm with the characters I love and get to virtually travel to a favorite city. For now in this year of #lockdown, it will have to do. It's Wednesday, time for #DearDiary:
More great #bookreviews for Hearth Fires!
A big thank you to our readers and the #bookreviews they've left for our little scary tale collection! Bibiana and I truly appreciate them--you're the best! Here's one to sample just in case you're still making up your mind to read:
Hearth Fires, a thrilling supernatural anthology by authors Bibiana Krall and Veronica Cline Barton, is just in time for the Halloween season. I love how each story takes place in several regions with a running Ouija Board theme, and there’s so much more to these six short stories.
Culinary Coterie (Veronica Cline Barton): Ancestral secrets, legacies, and a special blend of herbs comes with a caveat when not headed, breeding frightful repercussions.
The Window (Bibiana Krall): A beautiful ghost rises at Prickleberry Pond Plantation, a mystery as sinister as the owners of the property, beseeching release from her watery grave, a quest that may provoke the killer (s) to strike anew.
Vintage Vibrations (Veronica Cline Barton): Allie, the owner of a secondhand boutique meets with Veda, an illustrious film star close to a hundred years old but she doesn’t appear so. Veda donates valuables to the shop at no cost but with a strange request − she receives all the buyer’s information and the items sell solely to Salem-born men. Soon, Allie realizes the evil in Veda’s objects when purchasers meet sinister ends.
Dark Watchers (Bibiana Krall): When a man Emily hardly knows invites her to a group outing, her drink is spiked, and she believes she’s a sacrifice to devil worshipers when they don animal masks and strip naked. An ancient power (the Dark Watchers) that rescued her as a child, whispers again. Will the ancient power save her from this perverse group?
Board Whispers (Veronica Cline Barton): Bria McEwen just took a nanny assignment at the Dunwood House, where the children believe in a make-believe place called Nevermore, and the parents are neglectful and belligerent. The children are closed mouth about a Ouija Board she’d stumbled on that tugged at her essence. After only a short period at the home, Bria wakes to an empty house with only the strange Ouija board left, circled by footprints. Does Nevermore truly exist?
La Fee Vertie (Bibiana Krall): What price would you pay for greatness? Camille, lacking creativity and pressured to produce her next drawing, traipse the streets of Paris, stumbling upon a shop and its strange owner who gives her a potent drink that fires creativity. Locking herself away for days in her apartment, Camille paints passionately, producing twenty paintings. But when a note arrives from the strange shopkeeper, she’s shaken, angry, then stoic, accepting the price she must pay for greatness.
Hearth Fires is the perfect book for an autumn evening by the hearth, accompanied with the author’s special concoctions at the end of the book −A Gemma’s Gin and St. Germain Martini or Blue Angel. Oh, dim the lights for a spellbinding read.
There's still time to have your name put in our give-away drawing!
For one lucky #HearthFires reader, this lovely cape and tiara will be yours! If you'd like your name added, just let Bibiana or me know if you're reading Hearth fires and we'll add your name. Next Monday, September 21st is the drawing!
Sizzling romance in the Highlands this week from the #writers of Twitter...
Author Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Devil in a Kilt, 5 STARS
As the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, Linnet MacDonnell was gifted with second sight. When her boorish father betroths her to a rival clan leader, her heart is filled with anxious thoughts. She longs for a loving union, but the rumor is that Duncan MacKenzie has a cold heart and is marrying her only because of her gift of insight--he has a son and wants to know if he is in fact his own. Will Linnet be able to give him his answer, and open his heart to love once again?
Secrets emerge of Duncan's first wife and her infidelities' that fractured their marriage. Her untimely death left many questions amongst the clan, will the truth will out? A rogue half-brother wages war on the clan and the battle between brothers intensifies. Linnet has started a thaw of Duncan's icy heart--but will the raging battles end their chance for true love and nix his chance to open his heart once again to the son he longs to love?
Author Welfonder weaves a steamy tale of emerging love in the midst of a broken family's dark secrets. The tumultuous past and sordid betrayals threatens their budding love--will kindness, loyalty and determination overcome the obstacles? A story of romance that promises to warm your heart--Devil in a Kilt, highly recommended!
Next up in the reading queue:
Join us at 1:45pm Eastern later today for our #BOOKEM channel chat!
Fasten your seatbelts--I'm on deck this week as we take a #Halloween inspired Ride on the Wild Side! I'll be giving you an update on my #writing journey, chatting about Bibiana Krall's fabulous supernatural tale, Volga Black, and, you'll get a sneak peek at the Halloween lights inside the Barton abode (sunglasses recommended, lol)! See you later today!
Crowns and Kisses,
Veronica
P.S. If you're interested in #reading Hearth Fires, you can pick up a copy here (Gemma and Rikkhe approve):