Timeless Escapes: A Collection of Summer Stories
by Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, Julie Rowe
Introduction by Roxanne St. Claire
Genre: Contemporary, Time Travel, Military, Medical Romances
Publisher: Timeless Scribes Publishing
Date of Publication: May 29, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9910520-2-8
Number of pages: 280
Word Count: 68,000
Cover Artist: Julie Schroeder Designs
Book Description:
Escape to the Virgin Islands where the bonds of marriage are renewed, friends become lovers, and new love is given a chance to thrive.
Ruth A. Casie ~ Second Chance by the Sea Married for ten years, she and her husband have grown apart. When they go back to the Virgin Islands for a family funeral, they find their marriage was never registered. Will an impending disaster be the final straw that breaks them up or will it rekindle their love and send them back to the altar for a second chance?
Lita Harris ~ Chasing Fireflies Soured on love by a recent breakup, a travel agent with a fear of flying and open water takes a trip to the U.S Virgin Islands. She meets a boat captain who challenges her fears. Will she survive her breakup and find happiness in the arms of another man?
Emma Kaye ~ In Her Dreams When an author escapes to the Virgin Islands to work on her latest book, she’s swept back in time to Regency England and must decide whether the love she finds with an English lord is real or only in her dreams.
Nicole S. Patrick ~ Poseidon’s Strength A beloved hero’s death leads his sister and his best friend, who have never seen eye-to-eye, to discover that helping family can be their happy medium, and possibly lead them to uncover a love that's meant to be.
Julie Rowe ~ A Pirate’s Vacation A doctor grieving the death of her husband, buys a B&B in the Virgin Islands in need of a lot of fixing. Her old flame arrives to help with repairs, but will she let him heal her shattered heart?
Ruth A. Casie ~ Second Chance by the Sea Married for ten years, she and her husband have grown apart. When they go back to the Virgin Islands for a family funeral, they find their marriage was never registered. Will an impending disaster be the final straw that breaks them up or will it rekindle their love and send them back to the altar for a second chance?
Lita Harris ~ Chasing Fireflies Soured on love by a recent breakup, a travel agent with a fear of flying and open water takes a trip to the U.S Virgin Islands. She meets a boat captain who challenges her fears. Will she survive her breakup and find happiness in the arms of another man?
Emma Kaye ~ In Her Dreams When an author escapes to the Virgin Islands to work on her latest book, she’s swept back in time to Regency England and must decide whether the love she finds with an English lord is real or only in her dreams.
Nicole S. Patrick ~ Poseidon’s Strength A beloved hero’s death leads his sister and his best friend, who have never seen eye-to-eye, to discover that helping family can be their happy medium, and possibly lead them to uncover a love that's meant to be.
Julie Rowe ~ A Pirate’s Vacation A doctor grieving the death of her husband, buys a B&B in the Virgin Islands in need of a lot of fixing. Her old flame arrives to help with repairs, but will she let him heal her shattered heart?
Read an excerpt from Poseidon's Strength:
“Hello, Ryan.”
He swung around. “Well, that explains things,” he mumbled under his breath.
Five foot-eight inches of long legs, blond hair, and the smallest bikini he’d ever laid eyes on walked into the room and the oxygen was sucked out.
Faith Reagan.
Sam’s sister was a beautiful as ever. She gave him a cool stare and walked into the kitchen. And apparently just as warm and fuzzy too. So much for a little R&R.
He shot a glance at Jenna, who pretended to study the condensation on her iced tea glass like it was a pirate’s treasure map.
“Earthy-crunchy girl” was the name he’d made up to tease Faith with when he was young and stupid. He felt bad about that. A little.
However, Faith had no problem expressing what she thought of him—a shallow, animal-eating, fast-car-loving-mucking-up-the-environment jerk.
Ah, the memories came tumbling back.
**My thoughts**
What could be more perfect than finding love on a tropical beach? These five romance writers got together to create their own little slice of paradise, taking place on St. Thomas. Each one featured her own set of characters, finding their way again in love and life, within a span of a few days to a couple of weeks on the island. The characters and the general framework do overlap from story to story, so you will see "familiar faces" throughout. You will also recognize a couple of major incidents, such as the big storm.
I felt like the stories got stronger as the book went on, and I found myself liking each subsequent story more than the previous one. I am not a fan of regency romances, but was entertained by the middle story "In Her Dreams," mostly because it was a writer essentially falling into one of her own plots. I felt like the last two stories, "Poseidon's Strength" and "A Pirate's Vacation" felt like the most real of the collection. Or else I am just a sucker for old flames and old friends finding each other again.
Each one of these stories could be further developed, taking the characters forward into their lives after the storm. For the one where characters find each other again, it could be fun to have more stories about their past. They wouldn't work for this collection, but perhaps some of these characters will make an appearance elsewhere at some point. Quick summer read.
About the authors:
A seasoned professional with more than twenty-five years of writing experience in communications and marketing for a large financial institution, she gave way to her inner muse and began writing a series of historical fantasy romance and contemporary romance novels. Ruth is published by Carina Press and Harlequin Books.
When not writing you can find her home in Teaneck, New Jersey, reading, cooking, doing Sudoku and counted cross-stitch. Together with her husband, Paul, they enjoy ballroom dancing and going to the theater. Ruth and Paul have three grown children and two grandchildren. They all thrive on spending time together. It’s certainly a lively dinner table and they wouldn’t change it for the world.
You can read more about Ruth online at http://www.RuthACasie.comon Twitter at twitter.com/RuthACasie, or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RuthACasie
Lita Harris spends her time between New Jersey and the Endless Mountains region of Pennsylvania, where she writes most of her books. She also lived in Alaska for a short time just for fun. An avid crafter, unused supplies clutter her basement and attempts at making pottery, jewelry, and stained glass are proudly displayed in her house, usually behind a picture or holding a door open. She also makes candles and homemade soap. With enough books to stock a small library she may need to construct a building to store her literary obsessions.
She writes in multiple genres, including women’s fiction, contemporary romance, paranormal, and cozy mysteries. For more information about Lita, please visit her website at www.LitaHarris.com or at twitter.com/litaharris and facebook.com/litaharrisauthor.
Emma Kaye is married to her high school sweetheart and has two beautiful kids that she spends an insane amount of time driving around central New Jersey. Before ballet classes and tennis entered her life, she decided to try writing one of those romances she loved to read and discovered a new passion. She has been writing ever since. Add in a playful puppy and an extremely patient cat and she’s living her own happily ever after while making her characters work hard to reach theirs.
For more information on Emma, please visit her online at www.emma-kaye.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/emmakayewrites, or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/emmakayewrites.
Nicole S. Patrick has always loved to read, and in her teenage years, she “borrowed” her mom’s books to sneak away and become lost in the world of romance. After more than ten years in the corporate world of tech recruiting and HR management, she decided to stay home and raise children. But with so many romantic stories and characters floating around in her head, when the kids napped, she was compelled to put those words on a page and pursue this crazy dream of becoming published. Nicole writes romantic suspense and her heroes are those alpha males in uniform. She lives in New Jersey with her real-life hero, her husband, and her two sons.
For more information about Nicole on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Nicole S. Patrick, www.twitter.com/NicoleSPatrick, or please visit her website at www.nicolespatrick.com.
Julie Rowe’s first career as a medical lab technologist in Canada took her to the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, where she still resides. She loves to include medical details in her romance novels, but admits she’ll never be able to write about all her medical experiences because, “No one would believe them!” In addition to writing contemporary and historical medical romance, and fun romantic suspense for Entangled Publishing and Carina Press, Julie has a short story in The Mammoth Book of ER Romance (September 2013). Her book Saving the Rifleman (book one of the War Girls series) won the novella category of the 2013 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Her writing has also appeared in several magazines such as Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest (Canada), Canadian Living, and Romantic Times Magazine.
For more information about Julie, please visit her online at www.julieroweauthor.com, on Twitter @julieroweauthor, or at her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/JulieRoweAuthor.
The authors will be awarding the following prizes during the tour:
First prize - $50 gift certificate plus ebook Timeless Keepsakes by Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, Julie Rowe
Second prize - $25 gift certificate plus 3 ebooks 1) Molly Gets Her Man by Julie Rowe 2) Knight of Runes by Ruth A. Casie 3) Timeless Keepsakes by Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, Julie Rowe
Third prize - 3 ebooks 1) Love at Christmas by Lita Harris 2) Time for Love by Emma Kaye 3) Timeless Keepsakes by Ruth A. Casie, Lita Harris, Emma Kaye, Nicole S. Patrick, Julie Rowe
Follow the tour for more chances to win!
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Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteThank you for having us here today!
ReplyDeleteSounds great, I can't wait to read it.
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This sounds great, can't wait to read!! collenga@yahoo.com
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