Shannon here: Deborah Sprinkle shares how her real life romance inspired Romantic Suspense novella collection, Trinity Sands Beach Club with her writer buds Jen Dodrill and Sharon H. Carpenter. Book bundle #1 includes this title in print signed by all three authors. Comment or answer the question in any post dated Aug 4 – 23 to enter the drawing for the book bundle including 6 titles. U.S. only for this title. Deadeline: Aug 23rd, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Deborah:
Shannon, I’ve been married to my best friend, the love of my life for over fifty years, and my ideas about romance have changed a lot in that time. When I was young, romance meant spending money on me. Flowers, candy, and dinner out.
Now, it means spending time with me. Making me his priority. There’s nothing like the feeling of being number one in someone else’s life.
And how did I get to this point? Through the grace of God, and by making my husband the priority in my life. Then romance becomes a dance we do all day long. Every day.
It took years for me to figure it out, and lots of prayer and practice, but I thank God for my husband and what we have together.
Several months ago, myself and two other of my mature author friends, Jennifer Dodrill and Sharon Carpenter, who share similar marriages, decided to write three novellas that featured spunky mature women. In each of the stories, our protagonists end up solving a crime while navigating a second chance at romance.
For my novella, Searching for Serenity, I chose to write about a woman who had been widowed for three years and wasn’t sure how to reenter life—or even if she wanted to. Grace receives a letter from a friend, Serenity, pleading for help and urging her to come back to the beach community where she and her deceased husband still own a bungalow.
Serenity is missing, and while searching for her, Grace crosses paths with Detective Peter Young. Peter awakens in her feelings that she never thought she’d experience again, and the attraction is mutual.
Excerpt from Searching for Serenity by Deborah Sprinkle:
He put his arm around her and scooted her closer to him. “Come here.” He wove his other hand through her hair and brought his mouth so close she could feel his breath. His lips meshed with hers in a kiss that was at once soft and filled with passion.
“I’ve wanted to do that almost since the day I met you.” He ran his lips along her jawline.
Tears ran down Grace’s face. She couldn’t stop them.
“What?” Peter wiped her cheeks with the backs of his fingers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“No.” Grace caught his hands in hers. “It’s not that. It’s … I never thought after John that I would ever feel this way again.” She touched his cheek. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not declaring my undying love or anything like that, but I sure do like you, Peter Young.”
“And I like you, Grace Caldwell. I think we need to investigate this further.”
Wishing all of you the kind of romance you dream of.
Hope you enjoy it. Blessings, Debbie
Question for Readers: What do you want to do when you retire? Or if already retired, did you achieve your new goal? Do you have friends you could complete a big project with?
August Book Bundle 1 Giveaway
Hill Country Redemption by Shannon Taylor Vannatter, Contemporary Romance, Print U.S. only
Counting on the Cowboy by Shannon Taylor Vannatter & Her Texas Cowboy by Jill Lynn, 2 in 1 Contemporary Romance, Print U.S only
Noble: The Story of Maakah by Mesu Andrews, Print U.S. only, Biblical Fiction
Trinity Shore by Jen Dodrill, Sharon H. Carpenter, & Deborah Sprinkle, Print signed by all three authors. U.S. only, Romantic Suspense
FreeFalling by J.L. Burrows, e-book U.S. only, Futuristic Christian Fiction
About Deborah: Deborah Sprinkle is a retired chemistry teacher turned award-winning author with a modest number of books to her name and more on the way. All romantic suspense and mysteries. She lives in Memphis with her wonderful husband of more than 50 years. Learn more & connect:
Deborah’s Website Deborah’s Facebook
About the novella collection – Trinity Sands Beach Club:
What do a widow, a newly divorced woman, and a female retired professor of art history have in common? They all came to Trinity Sands Island to find a simple life without any entanglements. But instead they are each confronted with a mystery and another chance at romance. Will each of them be brave enough to face the possible dangers of solving a mystery and of losing her heart?
Can’t wait for the drawing? Worried you won’t win? Interested in Deborah’s other titles?
Get your copy/copies now!
Trinity Sands Beach Club Deborah’s Books
Come back August 14th for Jennifer Burrows!
Retirement allowed me to focus on my lifelong dream job- fiction author. Now that I am here, the job looks nothing like I thought, but better than I imagined!
What do you want to do when you retire? – it seems so far away … I would love to travel more!!!
When I retire, I would love to travel more. I love to go on cruise ships.
So nice to “meet” you! I’m–gulp!–pretty much retirement age now. But I’m still doing some working from home. Other than that, I do love travel. And more time for reading!
It’s not all I want to do with my retirement, but I look forward to having more time to read. Right now it just seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day.
I have a winner! Blossom Eniola Dopamu won the drawing for my August Book Bundle #1. I appreciate Deborah for being my guest and everyone who stopped by.
Since Blossom is international, I’m sending her my books. For the rest of the giveaway, Sherall Cornwell is the winner.