Author: Melissa McClone

#Blogmas | feat. #CleanRomanceForChristmas showcases | “Sweet Yuletide” (Indigo Bay Christmas Romances, Book Four) by Melissa McClone

Posted Monday, 21 December, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

#blogmas badge created by Jorie in Canva.

Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!

As soon as I started reading “Cupcakes and Crumbs” – I knew I had found a new author I was going to seriously enjoy getting to know further! At the time I received it for review on the blog tour this year, I simply ran out of the hours I needed to properly finish reading the story – however, I gave a bit of a preview of my (still) forthcoming fuller review wherein you can see what it is about Ms McClone’s writing style which appeals to me as much as it does as you read my notes on about the bits I had read!

I love when writers can give me an emotionally convicting read – the more you can feel the character’s emotions, the more centred I feel as a reader. There is something to be said for writers like McClone who understand this connection readers feel for characters and of how they organically write their stories to allow us to intuit more out of the story they’ve written simply by how they’ve approached anchouring us into the storyline. Which is why when I saw she was listed on the Clean Romances for Christmas blog tour – I knew I wanted to learn more about this Christmas Romance series she’s writing!

I have it in mind to finish “Cupcakes and Crumbs” before the ball drops in Times Square – as it is one of those stories I’ve pulled to attempt to finish before the closing of the year. I had hoped to have finished it closer to when I had first begun to read it – however, I wasn’t able to re-attach into it until now and I’ve decided to have it as one of my final reads for 2020. I felt truly moved by how she was writing the story and I’d like to finish the story before too much time slips past me further as I don’t want to lose the connection I had started to establish – both in the context of the character’s life and journey and in regards to McClone’s own voice for the craft.

Thereby it was rewarding to realise I have such a larger series awaiting me to read – with the Indigo Bay Christmas Romances! How delightful, indeed! Plus, just knowing there is a series set round Christmas and the romantic ways in which people find the persons they’ve meant to find is a refreshing switch as I love watching Christmas romances on tv – as previously disclosed this #blogmas and it would be keenly lovely to start reading a series set round the same premise!

This also marks my final showcase for the Clean Romances for Christmas extension of my #blogmas posts this year. I will be curating a finale post which I will be sharing on the 23rd as the finale part of the blog tour starts to get underway – however, I am so thankful I could close out my selections of #blogmas joy with Ms McClone!

Curiously – what kind of Christmas Romances are you attracted too? Do you prefer series or one-offs? Contemporaries or Historicals? Do you read the same author every year or do you try to switch it up and find new authors to read and add-in to your traditions of reading Christmas Romances every holiday season?

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Melissa McClone's book photo provided by Prism Book Tours and is used with permission.

One beach cottage, two strangers, and a secret that could ruin everything…

Sheridan DeMarco would rather be anywhere than home for the holidays. Housesitting in South Carolina, far away from her new and chaotic blended family, sounds like the perfect way to spend Christmas. Until she arrives and realizes she isn’t as blissfully alone as she thought she would be…

Michael “Mikey” Patterson has a secret, one that requires him to stay out of sight until his attorney gives him the all clear. He finds the anonymity he needs in a small coastal town, but there’s a problem. Mikey isn’t the only one at the charming beach cottage, and the last thing he needs is a beautiful roommate named Sheridan who pushes all of his buttons.

All it takes is a sprig of mistletoe and one memorable kiss to make Sheridan and Mikey forget their plans to stay away from each other. But when his secret is revealed, can their newfound bond outlive the holiday season? Or will their happily ever after get tossed out with the discarded wrapping paper, ribbons, and tinsel?

Sweet Yuletide is the fourth book in the Indigo Bay Christmas Romance Series, but it and the other stories are standalone and can be read in any order.

Add to LibraryThing | ISBN: 978-1944777500

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Indigo Bay Christmas Romances:

Indigo Bay Christmas Romances series by Melissa McClone collage provided by Prism Book Tours and is used with permission.

Sweet Tidings (book one)

Sweet Noel (book two)

Sweet Joymaker (book three)

Sweet Yuletide (book four)

Sweet Mistletoe (book five)

Sweet Carol (book six)

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Converse via: #CleanRomanceForChristmas and/or #ContemporaryRomance
as well #SweetRomance and/or #CleanRomance or #CleanReads

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Posted Monday, 21 December, 2020 by jorielov in #blogmas, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Book Spotlight, Indie Author, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction

A Contemporary Women’s Fiction #25PagePreview Spotlight | “Cupcakes & Crumbs” (Berry Lake Cupcake Posse, Book One) by Melissa McClone

Posted Thursday, 19 November, 2020 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Stories in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: I started hosting with Prism Book Tours at the end of [2017], having noticed the badge on Tressa’s blog (Wishful Endings) whilst I was visiting as we would partake in the same blog tours and/or book blogosphere memes. I had to put the memes on hold for several months (until I started to resume them (with Top Ten Tuesday) in January 2018). When I enquiried about hosting for Prism, I found I liked the niche of authors and stories they were featuring regularly. This is how I came to love discovering the Harlequin Heartwarming authors & series as much as it has been an honour to regularly request INSPY stories and authors. Whenever I host for Prism, I know I am in for an uplifting read and a journey into the stories which give me a lot of joy to find in my readerly queue of #nextreads. It is an honour to be a part of their team of book bloggers.

I received a complimentary ARC copy of “Cupcakes and Crumbs” direct from the author Melissa McClone in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comOn baking and having an aversion to pink and how the latter
didn’t discourage my interest in reading Cupcakes and Crumbs:

I’ve been attempting to dodge a rather keen secret – PINK has never been my favourite colour and if anything, its my least tolerable colour in the whole spectrum of the colour wheel. And, yet, whilst the colour pink has a disservice to me – as it nearly turns me off anything associated with the colour, this particular cover nearly put me off reading the story because I seriously felt it was overly pink. It was the cupcakes which left me curious and the fact this was a work of Contemporary Women’s Fiction. A topic of interest I not only regularly read and discuss on Jorie Loves A Story but one part of the focus of my Twitter chat @SatBookChat! (six years strong!)

Being a home baker and one who LOVES binge watching Great British Bake-Off whenever she swings into streaming NetFlix (as I have the tendency of switching up my streaming life by choosing different apps/streaming services to stream tv every odd moon or month; as you get the best variety this way!) and how she’s started to master the learning curve with more challenging bakes like scones, biscuits and sorting out her path into self-rising flour and bread flour; (without actually baking ‘bread’) – she’s focused more on lime cookies and a stellar alternative solution to the ‘best’ peach cobbler – you could say a baking central focus of a novel was right up her street!

There was a strong interest on the ambrosial and baking delights this novel promised to deliver but in regards to the Women’s Fiction side of the ledger – it has been a long spell since I’ve tucked into an ensemble cast within the genre like this one – outside of the fact I’m nearly entering S3 of “Army Wives” – given the fact Mum and I only started it a week ago and we’ve already cried, laughed and ploughed our way through two seasons of this kickin’ rockin’ Military Women’s drama of a tv serial – you could say I was in the mood for this kind of story long before Roku decided to grace us with the full series for *FREE* this November. It was one of those series Mum and I pushed off to watch – thinking, there will be a better time to see it. Reality? Never a good time to start a soul-crushing dearly dramatic and highly realistic military drama surrounding the lives of wives of the currently deployed and their life on (an Army) post! You just have to breathe, exhale and DIVE – trust me, its worth the emotional upheavals because this is wicked good drama!

You have to realise something else – one of  my favourite female vocalists over the last two decades has been PINK. Mind you, her world and mine are so far removed from each other you might blink twice and question that statement – however, despite the fact she’s had a very street and real lifestyle, she has a heart of gold, one powerful voice and writes lyrics which get into your soul. Mind, her name on the other hand made me smirk so much I’ve permanently have burnt my cheeks! Plus, I just love how she’s raising her kids and encouraging them to find their confidence, own their voice and walk their own path in life wherever that might take them. Who wouldn’t want her as a best friend? Which is why I admire her from afar, love her songs and appreciate her interviews as she shares her life with all of us.

Hence – when it came to choosing which blog tours to join and which books I wanted to consider for review, this book cover was a complete turn-off – which I bring up for one fair point – it is not the book covers which get me interested in reading. It’s the synopsis and the potential for the context of the story inside the covers – the topping (ie. cover) is just art – as without a solid story, realistic characters and a plausible reason to feel as invested to sink into the soles and spirits of the lives involved in the plot as any wicked good serial drama on tv can provide; the cover alone isn’t going to sway me to read the book. Or in this instance make me not pick it up as its cotton candied pink.

And, that dear hearts is why I selected *Cupcakes and Crumbs* because you have to take the sweet with the chaos – all our lives give us equal reasons to celebrate life and equal measures of sorrow to grieve the loss of people, companions (ie. animals) and the other bits round us which give measure of grace to our lives. To live is to love and to love is to live in other words. It isn’t always a perfect cupcake but sometimes when your drowning in the crumbs – it is like a flowering plant bursting up through concrete wholly sure of itself and the impossible path it took towards asserting the right to be present for whatever tomorrow might bring along.

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A Contemporary Women’s Fiction #25PagePreview Spotlight | “Cupcakes & Crumbs” (Berry Lake Cupcake Posse, Book One) by Melissa McCloneCupcakes and Crumbs
Subtitle: Berry Lake Cupcake Posse
by Melissa McClone
Source: Author via Prism Book Tours

After life takes five women on different paths, a death brings them home. But friendship might not be enough to keep them together.

When Bria Landon and her estranged father each inherit fifty percent of a small-town cupcake shop, her dad hires her worst enemy, and first love, to turn the place into a soulless franchise…or sell it.

To save her aunt’s legacy, Bria needs the help of people who love the bakery as much as she does—her old friends who worked there fifteen years ago. Except each woman is dealing with her own problem:

Juliet, who's trying to prove she’s more than a trophy wife; Missy, a widow who fears losing the job she loves; Nell, who's meddling mother won't stop playing matchmaker; and Selena, a life coach who excels at fixing everyone else's lives...but hasn't a clue what's missing in her own.

Each woman wants to believe their friendship can overcome anything. But as the Berry Lake Cupcake Posse reunite to save their beloved cupcake shop, they soon discover the undertaking will bring more trouble than they expected.

Genres: Baking, Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Cookery, Women's Fiction



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1944777555

Also by this author: Book Spotlight: Sweet Yuletide

Published by Cardinal Press

on 10th November, 2020

Format: Paperback ARC

Pages: 237

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Berry Lake Cupcake Posse series:

Cupcakes & Crumbs

Tiaras & Teacups ← forthcoming February, 2021!

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Formats Available: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #CupcakesAndCrumbs, #WomensFiction and #Contemporary

About Melissa McClone

Melissa McClone

USA TODAY bestselling author Melissa McClone writes heartwarming Women’s Fiction and Sweet Contemporary Romance novels for Cardinal Press, Tule Publishing Group, and Harlequin Books.

When she’s not writing relatable characters and sigh-worthy happy endings, she spends rainy Pacific Northwest reading from her Kindle’s ever-growing TBR, napping, and decorating her Happy Planner. Melissa lives in Washington state with her husband, three children, a Norwegian Elkhound, and three cats who think they rule the house. They do!

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Posted Thursday, 19 November, 2020 by jorielov in #25PagePreview, Blog Tour Host, Contemporary Romance, Jorie Loves A Story Features, Prism Book Tours, Romance Fiction