Merry Christmas!

Love and warmth to you and yours!

Christmas at the beach

We're spending Christmas in Destin this year. Destin is one of my favorite places on earth. I grew up nearby and the beach here really sings to my soul. We got in late last night after a six hour roadtrip and quick stop at my parents' house.

I gave up control of the Christmas tree (trust me this was harder than it sounds) and now I couldn't be happier. My son chose the tree that we brought with us and he decorated it last night after we arrived. Yes, it's white, a far cry from the huge traditional tree with collected ornaments that I put up every year at home. But we all love it, and my son is beyond proud to have picked it out. It was so nice this morning to open the blinds to the waves and light the tree. The pictures really don't do it justice, but I'm going to post them here anyway.

We've got some rain rolling in this morning, so it might be a shopping day. Oh, darn. LOL!

Nice n' Naughty

I blogged over at Nice n' Naughty today and shared one of my favorite Christmas recipes. Drop by and check it out!

Don't Miss the Party!

Click Here for Midnight Seductions!

Covers

Cindy made this for me and I love it!! I'd been meaning to make one myself, but she beat me to it.

Blackest Heart

I read one of the most unique cowboy stories I've ever read, BLACKEST HEART by Amber Leigh Williams. It's part of the Wayback, Texas series from The Wild Rose Press. The hero is the quiet type. The REALLY quiet type. Talk about a damaged hero that you want to curl your arms around. You'll have to read the story to see what I mean, but I think you'll be glad you did.




CLICK HERE TO BUY

And the winner is....

LASTNERVE!! Congratulations and thanks to everyone who stopped by and helped me give Jane Leopold Quinn a warm welcome. Lastnerve, please email me at wendi@wendidarlin.com with your mailing address and I will get your prizes in the mail. If anyone else would like some bookmarks, please email me with "bookmarks" in the subject line and I'll send those out too.

I wish you all a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! Below is one of my favorite turkey recipes ever. I think the instructions are evident. :)

Book Giveaway and Excerpt!

Today, my friend, Jane Leopold Quinn is sharing an excerpt from her latest release, WINDY CITY LOVE AFFAIR. There's a cowboy in it! You know how much I love that! To celebrate I'm giving away two paperbacks to someone who leaves a comment. The prizes are What A Lady Wants and A Little Bit Wicked by Victoria Alexander. They'd make great Christmas gifts or nice winter reading for you. Check out Jane's excerpt below and leave a comment! The winner will be drawn on Wednesday. Good luck!



WINDY CITY LOVE AFFAIR
by Jane Leopold Quinn

July 18, 2005

“Ma’am?”

The rumble of the deep, rich, masculine voice with its western twang speared her heart. And lower.

“Ma’am?”

Being a Chicago girl, Lorren Samples at first tried to ignore the stranger’s tall, broad-chested body crowding too closely. You had to watch out for yourself in the big city. A man touching you on the street could spell danger. Then she made the mistake of glancing up at him.

Holy frickin’ cow! The man was the closest thing to beautiful male perfection that she’d ever seen. Not in the movies, not on TV, nor on stage. Certainly, she’d never seen anything like him in person. A passerby bumped her, throwing her against him. Her hands automatically reached for his forearms, his gripped her shoulders. She stood stiffly, silent and unexpectedly breathless.

Wow. Brown eyes. Rich chocolate. Warm cocoa. All those good, lickable, delicious, sensuous flavors. Burnished dark eyes surrounded by lush long lashes gazed back at her.

A horn blared. She gasped, brushing her breast against his forearm as she turned to see what the hell the problem was. The sound, the brush woke her to the city around her.

“Sorry,” she muttered and stepped back to try to establish some distance between them. It was a cab that had pulled in at the curb at Union Station for a pick up. That’s when she noticed the luggage at his heels. A soft, black leather satchel.
Heels? Heels on cowboy boots. Tan, stitched-toe cowboy boots. Well worn and slightly scuffed as if he lived in them. Speechless again, her gaze tracked the blue, faded jeans hugging long, long legs up to lean hips and a flat belly. Holy Christ! Her head jerked up. He had a hard on. It was pretty difficult to hide that in snug jeans. Her face flamed hot in embarrassment.

He stared back, a smug, aware expression on his handsome face.

I guess he’s not embarrassed about his humongous hard on. That’s when she noticed that she still held on to his solid-muscled forearms. Bare forearms. Bare, hairy forearms. Okay, stop it. You’re acting like...well she didn’t know what she was acting like. She’d never been in this situation before. It was like a scene from a movie. The “meet cute.”

Jess Croften covered the woman’s hand with his. It wasn’t like he’d planned on picking up a pretty woman, but he had watched this one all the way from the intersection, willing her to cross over and continue straight toward him. He’d squinted a bit to sharpen his focus, and the closer she got, the more he could see that she was all prime.

He didn’t normally think of women in beef-related terms, but he wouldn’t mind having this fine lady on a plate and eating her up. Literally and figuratively.

CLICK HERE TO BUY!

Nice n' Naughty

I blogged today over at Nice n' Naughty about when I cheated and why it was worth it. Drop by and check it out. It's probably not what you think. :)

For everybody at Talking Two Lips!

Sorry for the tease! Here it is! Big thanks to cover artist, Tamra Westberry who totally ROCKS! She also designed my Hired Hands cover.

MSA Endless Romance Contest

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

True Confessions!

I'm blogging today over at Nice n' Naughty. Come see what kind of dirt I've dredged up. :)

Home sick/homesick

My little guy is feeling under the weather today, so he's home from school. Right now, he's watching The Clone Wars movie on dvd so I've got a little quiet time.

I spent most of the morning cleaning the house and now I'm going to settle in and write a little if I can. But I admit I'm a little distracted. My little guy is home sick, but I'm a little homesick. It happens this time of year if I know we're not going to spend Thanksgiving with my extended family. And now it's official. Thanksgiving will just be the three of us this year. We were invited to a friend's house for the big meal, but my husband doesn't really want to go. I'm itching to plan my menu, even though I know most of the food will go to waste.

For now, I'm ignoring the call of my cookbooks and trying to concentrate on work. Anybody else having a small Thanksgiving this year? Are there any traditions that your family has?

Today

No school today for my son and only a little home office work for my husband, so you know what that means....my routine is shot to hell and back...I mean, FAMILY TIME! LOL! I am looking forward to having some fun with the boys today, but I'm also determined to squeeze in some writing. I'm finally on a roll with my WIP, and I'm not about to let it get away from me again.

I hope everyone has a great day. Stay warm.





To all the veterans I know and love, and those I don't, thank you.

Monday again!

Monday...the day I always swear I'm going to write thousands of words, clean my house, run errands...you know do IT ALL! Hah! You can imagine how often that happens. This morning I spent some quality time with my husband. That was nice. Just the two of us. We don't do that enough. So I'm getting off to a late start, but it was worth it.

I've been struggling to find that work/life balance that I know has to exist. So for the past couple of months I've devoted weekends to family time. And it really has been great to keep the computer turned off (most of the time.) This weekend I planted lemon, lime and avocado trees behind my lanai. Eventually, I'll have a tropical orchard of sorts. I've already got pineapples out the wazoo - thanks to that hot bartender in Key West who taught me how to grow them. :)

I also went to a book signing and picked up autographed romances from Virginia Henley, C. L. Wilson, Ann Jacobs, Linnea Sinclair and fabulous debut author, Elissa Wilds. If you like paranormal check out Elissa's new book, Between Light and Dark.

Hope you all had a great weekend and found a way to relax and have a little fun. Now I'm off to tackle that ambitious to do list I mentioned. Wish me luck!

A message from Cori

My son got a message from Cori yesterday. I blogged about it at Nice n' Naughty this morning. Come see what she to say.

Cori

I had to put our 14 year old Sheltie, Cori, down this morning. She was her fiesty self right up until the very end. Bless her heart. It's a sad day in the Darlin house.

Witty and Wicked Readers!

Hey ladies! This is the photo I used as an inspiration for Gavin...(fanning myself)...

New cover!

Check out my hot new cover! Big thanks to cover artist, Tamra Westberry who totally ROCKS! She also designed my Hired Hands cover.

Howl For Me!

My HOT fall flasher HOWL FOR ME is posted on the Midnight Seductions blog. Check it out! www.midnightseductionsauthors.blogspot.com

New gadget

I'm not a gadget person. I hate shopping for anything electronic. I just want my stuff to WORK and I want it to be easy to use. I don't want to hear about all the bells and whistles. I don't want to compare different models. Don't utter the words service plan or extended warranty, please! Going to the dentist doesn't bother me. Going to Circuit City will throw me in a tizzy. Don't ask me why. It's just the way I'm wired. Ok. That was bad. LOL!

This weekend my husband gave me a new toy, and I have to admit I was skeptical at first. Not of the gadget, just of how much I'd actually use it.

Now I'm hooked!


It's the ipod touch. It's got the really cool new touch screen and amazing clarity. You can watch movies, listen to music, check email, go to Youtube, play games. It's even got a gps, weather, clock and calculator.

I'm working on a playlist right now to go along with the book I'm working on. Ok, so I'm having fun with a gadget. I even read the instruction manual, which was written for people like me. Short and to the point. :)

Take Two!

Ahhhh...today is much better than yesterday. (Knocking on wood!) My little angel woke up with his halo securely in place. He got to school on time. First thing this morning, I ran a few errands which included buying some pretty new flowers to go in the planters on either side of my front doors. Ummmm. A well-behaved child and pretty flowers. Doesn't get much better than that.

I hope you're all having a great day!

Busy Monday

What is it with Mondays? I got off to a great start. I finished my last load of laundry, baked cinnamon rolls, made my bed, walked the dogs and packed my son's lunch all before he woke up. And then it all went to hell. The little devil woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. He was such a little pistol, I needed a drink by the time I got him to school.

Instead, I made a cup of tea and sat down at my desk. No sooner had I begun tapping away at my latest novel when the wiener dog started pawing my leg and whining. He wouldn't stop until I picked him up. As soon as he settled into my lap, he fell asleep on my arm. I kept typing...one-handed. I AM NOT KIDDING! What is wrong with me? You'd think I'd put the dog down and work, right? Wrong.

I pecked away with one hand until my landscaper showed up with the new palm trees we're putting in front of our house. I spent the next two hours deciding exactly where everything was going to go and what the shape of the new beds would be. Now, the trees are planted, the dirt is mounded and the beds are marked off. The yard is still a mess, but I'm sure my neighbors are relieved to see progress being made. Wednesday, the smaller plants will come in, along with sod to fill in the old beds and mulch. Maybe the landscape lighting too. I'm not sure. There's always something I forget to ask about.

So now it's noon. I'm off to take a shower and if I'm lucky I'll have an hour and a half to write before I go pick my son up from school. Keep your fingers crossed he comes home in a better mood than when he left. If not, I WILL mix a drink.

Is it Tuesday yet?

Morning Rescue

The excitement of the morning in the Darlin household was this little blue-tailed skink in distress. We're a house full of animal lovers. I tend to shy away from the slithery ones, but my husband and son rescue every snake and lizard they can. And believe me, we have more than a few down here. To date, two snakes have made it into our house, and I've stopped counting the frogs and lizards. Ain't Florida grand?

My son discovered this little skink just before breakfast. Apparently he'd fallen into our pool or chased some insect into it. He's safe now, but he was in such shock, he didn't even try to run when my husband caught him and carried him off the lanai. He's pretty from a distance, but I'm glad he's outside again where he belongs.

El cheapos worth their weight in gold

Economic times have definitely been better, so I've been inspired to give a SHOUT OUT this morning to great things that don't cost much money. While I've been here at my desk Sparky, the little wiener dog, has been having the time of his life playing with a plastic water bottle that he begged from me yesterday afternoon. Nevermind all the little dog toys he's got scattered around my office. He wants the plastic bottle. It's like with kids and the cardboard box their giant toys come in. Proving once again, happiness doesn't necessarily have a price tag.

What's your favorite thing in the world that doesn't cost anything - or much of anything. And don't say family or love...those are givens. I mean what cheap-o object adds joy or makes your life easier?

Tough question, isn't it? I'm having a hard time coming up with an answer myself. The first thing that comes to mind is my tea maker. I love my cup-at-a-time tea maker (Black & Decker). I think it was $20 when I bought it 15 years ago. I use it every day and take it with me when I travel. My biggest travel fear is that I'll forget it when I pack to come home. If you've ever seen me before I've had my morning caffeine you would realize the true value of this little appliance.

Rough & Ready was Joyfully Reviewed!

"...In a novella that provides a huge bang for the buck, Rough & Ready is a simple tale of a love affair that comes with more questions than answers. Taima and Hollis are victims of a career that is surrounded by mystery and change. Not known to stay in one place longer than his assignment deems Hollister finds in Taima a reason to rethink his path. A woman who loves it rough and brings it just as deep; she has ensnared his heart and made him long for something concrete. Wendi Darlin does a great job of enticing and rousing the reader and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next." - Indy, Joyfully Reviewed

To read the full review, click here.

Buy link

BARB YOU WON! You are the winner in my hidden contest this week! Contact me and I'll get your prizes to you. :)

Nice n' Naughty Day!

Thursdays are my day to blog at Nice n' Naughty. Today, I'm talking about bad apples and why I need lovin'. Come over and join me. And since it's Nice n' Naughty day around here, feel free to tell us if you're in a nice or naughty mood today...and why! We're nosy! LOL!

Another Great Review!

4.5 Pixies! "...THE WATER BEARER is a touching romantic novel with characters as rich as the soil they farm. Although in a contemporary setting, they echo the small-town overtones of the past in an area where life doesn't change much despite a new millennium. Jealousy, small minds, and long-held grief are just as volatile as love, compassion, and empathy in this little farming community. Rich in emotional impact, THE WATER BEARER is a story to curl up with in a cozy armchair, relaxing into the plot and resonating with the characters. The intriguing addition of paranormal elements gives a deeper background to the story line and an opportunity for further unfolding of the characters. The underscoring theme of love and redemption makes THE WATER BEARER a story well worth reading." - Frost, Dark Angels Reviews

You can read the full review here

buy link (ebook)
Available in print on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com

Monday, Monday!

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start. I just finished my mandatory 2 cups of tea, checked my email, created a profile on Author's Den, checked into the laws regarding sales tax collection at the reading festival I'll be signing at...whew! It's a typical Monday, but now I'm ready to write. My latest story is calling to me, and I'm ready to slip away to that tropical island I've got my naughty characters on.

What are you doing today? Have you started to get the cooler fall weather where you are? Or are you like me, just getting teased by a 70 degree breeze every now and then. :)

GREAT NEWS: The Water Bearer by Wendi Christner is now available in print on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com

Rough & Ready got a review that made me grin. This reviewer summarized the story in her own words, and boy is she a sassy thing! I love it!

ROUGH AND READY - Wendi Darlin
RRTE Rating: Multiple O’s

Present Day

Sitting by his campfire, Hollis McAllister wonders when Taima is going to make her move. He knows it’s her without even turning around because a certain part of his anatomy is harder than a spike. Taima wants nothing more than to cut his lying, thieving heart out. Too bad she’s in love with the stupid fool. When she makes her move, Taima finds herself in his arms, his lips on hers, and her body yearning to be taken by this desperado. Will she get the answers she craves or be left in the dust with her heart on the ground again?

Fresh air, hot sex, and danger are the key elements in Wendi Darlin’s ROUGH AND READY. Mmm…delicious. - Sinclair Reid, RRTE Reviews - 9/7/08

If you want to check out some of their other reviews here's the link.


HINT: Read all my posts this week, so you don't miss out on the secret contest.

A new cowboy around here!

I know I've been MIA lately. Bad me! Thanks to all of you who keep coming back and haven't given up on me completely. Muahh!

I just finished writing a mystery that seriously tried to kick my @$$. I didn't know if I'd ever pull it off. But I did! Yay!!! It's done, and as a reward I immediately jumped into an ultra-sexy, fun, fun, fun, book. I'm so excited to be writing this one. And yep, there's a cowboy in it! Ummmm....maybe I'll have to post some new pictures around here for inspiration. What do ya think?

This week, I'm going to offer up a surprise contest. I'm not going to announce it anywhere. It's just my way of saying thank you to all of you who keep dropping by to see if I've added anything. If you respond to this post, you're entered. I'll draw a name on Friday, and the winner will get two paperbacks: Anybody Out There by Marian Keyes and No One Heard Her Scream by Jordan Dane. Good luck and thanks for sticking with me!

Attention Authors!

Hang out with us at Two Lips!

Another Day I Remember

Eight years before today was a day of remembrance for lives lost in a gruesome attack on our country and way of life, I married my husband. We wed in a corny little wedding chapel in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with only a few friends there to witness our vows. We were young, naive and scared half to death.

When I think back on it now, I realize we married when we did and the way we did out of fear of losing one another. But we must have known what we were doing -- either that or we just got damn lucky.

We've been married fifteen years today. I still bonk myself on the head for not planning a nicer wedding and hiring a better photographer - and don't even get me started on that veil. But we're just as married as anyone else, and we've made a wonderful family together. I believe all of us sometimes know more than we think we do at the time. I definitely know I got this one right, just like I knew on our first date that I would marry him. Maybe that's why I write romance.

On this Remembrance Day I hope you all remember not only the lives lost on September 11, 2001, but also a moment that makes your heart happy - a time the stars lined up and your life changed for the better.


Wendi Darlin
www.wendidarlin.blogspot.com

Also check out The Water Bearer by Wendi Christner at BookStrand!

Another Great Read!

Flavia’s Secret is a well-crafted love story that will have you on the edge of your seat one minute and breathless the next. Lindsay Townsend’s writing style is simply beautiful. A true pleasure to read.

Flavia is a slave with a secret that may very well cost her life. Marcus her new owner is a gorgeous half-Roman with a warrior’s body and a lover’s heart. I’m not ashamed to admit I fell head over heels for this hero, and I just might be willing to trade my freedom for a chance to fill Flavia’s shoes.

The Roman baths and the ancient marketplaces were so well-drawn they came alive for me. The setting was sensual and palpable. It’s impossible not to become absorbed in Flavia and Marcus’s world and to care deeply for them. The secondary characters were woven neatly into the plot, and the villain’s power and control was absolutely terrifying.

I literally could not put this book down and when I was finished, I didn’t want it to end. I’ll be reading everything Lindsay Townsend writes, and I think everyone else who picks up this book will do the same.

Buy Link

Ready to rev your engines?

My talented friend, Regina Carlysle, has a new release today that racing fans will especially love! And I have it on very good authority that something really neat is tucked just behind the cover. You may not think that little surprise inside is as neat as I do, but I love it!

Buy it here.

Kenny Pix!!!

It's been almost a week since the Kenny Chesney concert. I've almost got my voice back and my dancin' feet have finally stopped throbbing. That man ROCKS!!!!

Wanna see some pix???




















Come on over to the Nice n' Naughty blog today where I'm talking about something more thought provoking. I'd love to see what your thoughts are.

Come join the fun!

Public Service Warning - just trying to help :)