The best laid plans… A Giveaway!
Hello my lovely Book Peeps and a quite (I apologize) belated Happy New Year! If you’re anything like me the new year finds you wanting to get ALL THE THINGS DONE with really no set plan on how to do all those things.
And if you know me for more than a minute you’ll know that my life is more than a little out of control and I’ll do just about anything to fool myself regarding that fact, hence my obsession with planning in general and planners in specific.
Which beings me to today’s funny… The other day I had the pleasure of meeting my longtime dear friend Patricia of PVE Design (check her out at @pvedesign on Instagram) for a long overdue lunch and when I walk into the restaurant I saw that she was writing in her planner at the table. Well, I said, “hey, what are you doing with the same planner as me!” All excited to see that she was now a fellow Hobonichi lover and eager to get into a full-blown conversation about all things Hobonichi and the virtues of its lovely Tomoe River paper.
Well PVE looks at me with a bit of a blush and hands me the gift she was holding for me since Christmas due to our scheduled and rescheduled lunch dates: a brand new 2018 A6 Hobinichi Techo Planner (English Version) which happens to be the same one I already had in my purse at the time. She is such a kind soul and my double gain is now yours.
Click the links below because one lucky winner who signs up for my mailing list will win the NEW Hobonichi A6 Techo Planner along with a signed copy of my latest novel THE BETTING VOW. Good luck! Oh and don’t worry if you’re already signed up- just enter your info and click sign up, you will not get double emails from me. I don’t like emailing all that much. LOL!
Best,
KMJ
Always Bet On You
So 2017 was filled with some ups and plenty of downers too. As a writer it was also filled, for me, with quite a few moments of doubt. So imagine my shock when I get a tweet the other morning from none other than the amazing, incomparable, QUEEN of all the words, Ms. Beverly Jenkins congratulating me on making NPR’s Great Reads 2017 list with my book THE BETTING VOW.
I tell you all I could say was Huh? And What? And WOW!
What an amazing moment and so very needed to end out 2017 and get me rolling into the 1-8.
Here’s to us tacking it together! CHEERS!
Best,
KMJ
The Wedding Day Is Here! It’s To Me I Wed’s Release Day
Who says dreams don’t come true?
I’m happy to say that today another one of just mine did. To Me I Wed, Book 2 in my Unconventional Brides Romance series is out now from Kensington Books. I’m so proud to bring the unconventional love story of Lily, the accomplished event planner, and Vin, the bad boy chef, to people. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. This story was a true labor of love and with it I left a lot of my heart on the page.
You can pick up your copy of To Me I Wed where ever books are sold or as any of these e-tailers:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2krfm26
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2nr6hFs
iBooks: http://apple.co/2ojumlK
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2mVZGa2And please head over to Tia Kelly’s, Tia with a Pen’s blog here to get an exclusive To Me I Wed excerpt and please subscribe to my newsletter – to be in the know about my monthly giveaway-
and also enter this month’s $25. gift card giveaway!
Thanks to all of you for your continued support. It means the world to me.
All the best,
KMJ
Almost to the Altar!
Hi Peeps! I was so thrilled yesterday to find out that TO ME I WED, Book 2 in the Unconventional Brides Series, was chosen to be one of Goodreads best romances for April! I can’t wait until TO ME I WED is let out into the world next week on the 25th but util then here is a little sneak peek!
Have your cake—and true love too…
Nightmare bridesmaids’ dresses, tasteless fondant icing, budget-busting wedding expenses—some women just aren’t about it. They’ll laugh off tradition, make their own rules—and find the most outrageous ways possible to flip wedding day lockstep into true love.
She’s done, finished, had it. Between her family’s expectations and being always-a-bridesmaid, Lily Perry is fed up with being nagged to find a husband. She’s happy with her life—and tired of being burned by “nice guys” who demand she fit their dreams. So she’s going to settle the issue once and for all: by marrying herself. And celebrated chef Vincent Caro’s fabulous restaurant is the perfect place for a big-time, blow-out,
not-hearing-it-any-more wedding. Lily doesn’t care if everyone—including Vincent—thinks she’s crazy. Especially when his mouth-watering talent and no-commitments style ignites one sizzling, no-strings fling, or two…or more.But no matter how hard they try to keep things light, their relationship keeps getting hotter. The more Vincent helps Lily tackle unexpected trouble, the more he finds she might be everything he’s ever wanted. Can she afford to forget caution and finally let go? And can they both take a risk to discover if what they have is meant to last long after the dessert course?
TO ME I WED
Chapter 1:
“You’re not just gaining a wife, you’re getting my best friend.” Lily Perry took one look at her sister, Sophie, and realized her mistake. Shit. Now I’ve done it. Did she really just use the same best friend line on Sophie that she had with Sophie’s twin, Audrey, at her wedding? Or was it Peggy whom she used that line on when she married Marcus? Her sisters had been getting married left and right, and all the weddings and toasts were starting to blur together. You’d think they were in some sort of great marriage race.
Lily looked around the banquet room of the VFW hall and caught her mother’s sister, Aunt Ruby pulling a face and whispering something to her newly engaged daughter, Nikki. Lily swallowed back a grimace. Jeeze, even Nikki was jumping the broom. At the rate her family was going, there would not be a broom or a groom to be snagged in all of the Rockaways. Not that Lily was actively looking for either. She had a vacuum in her apartment for sweeping, and, well, for other tasks, if her dating life hit a lull she had an electronic device to take care of that too. It was way more reliable than men anyway. Still, Lily glanced left and caught her mother, Renée Henton-Perry, staring too. The hyphenation in her name was still new to her and intentionally left off the wedding invitations. She preferring to keep things simple she said and going the traditional route of Mr. and Mrs. Perry request the honor blah, blah, blah and so forth. Her hair and makeup were flawless, as usual, and her skin was smooth and unlined. The untrained eye would never determine that she was the mother of six grown daughters—four married—with a grandchild on the way. One would also not know that right then she was highly pissed. But Lily knew. She caught the glint of disapproval in her mother’s eye and the ever-so-slight pull of tension around her perfectly lined mouth. Lily wondered if it was due to her speech faux pas or the fact that, one table over, Lily’s father, Philip Perry, was sitting with his arm draped casually around his current girlfriend, who was happily sipping on her pink cocktail and batting her long, glued-on lashes.
Lily cleared her throat as her cousin Nikki smirked and rolled her eyes in her direction. Unperturbed by her cousin’s cutting glance, Lily raised her glass higher, giving her sister what she hoped passed for a glowing smile before turning to the crowd. “I’m the luckiest woman in the world to have been blessed with the world’s best sisters. And to all my brothers-in-law, you’d better treat them right, or there will be hell to pay.” She then directed her final words to her newest brother-in-law, Simon, who looked ecstatic to be marrying Sophie. His big blue eyes shined brightly for her as they had every day since they’d met in Sophie’s improv class.
Both budding actors, they made a slightly sickeningly perfect couple. Sophie with her cocoa-brown skin and finely chiseled model features, and Simon with his wavy dark hair and captivating eyes. They looked like a couple in an aspirational car ad or in the picture that comes in the picture frame that you replace with your mediocre second best. Plus, they were always smiling and complimenting each other. If Lily didn’t know them in person and up close, she’d swear their love was faked for some reality TV show. Lily smiled at her new brother-in-law and continued from her heart. “Simon, I’m not worried about you. Your love for Sophie has been shining bright since day one. May it shine on forever.” Lily turned back to the now-beaming crowd. She had them. Hell, even Aunt Ruby was blinking back a tear.
But just as Lily took a sip of her champagne, she caught sight of a sneer from freaking Lacy Colten. Ugh, why had Sophie invited that man stealer? A nemesis since high school, Lacy was well known for frequenting weddings to get free booze and easy prey. Lily watched as Lacy stopped sneering, quickly sat up straighter, and stuck her already-on-display double Ds out even farther as she looked across the room, no doubt at her next victim. Lily’s eyes shifted.
It was him, and surprisingly, he was staring at her, not Lacy. Oh crap. His eyes so dark and intense they reminded her of hushed quiet in the dead of night. Midnight. Lily frowned as the heat of his stare penetrated her being. Working her over from the inside out. Stirring up feelings that she’d long told herself she was well and good over.
Pre-order your copy of TO ME I WED today!
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2krfm26
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2nr6hFs
iBooks: http://apple.co/2ojumlK
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2mVZGa2
Kensington: http://bit.ly/2ojxj5WAll the best,
KMJ
Writer’s Life in Pictures…
Because I’m editing right now and words are on the chopping block, I’m keeping them to just a few here and letting my pics do the talking…
Seeing a library edition of a book with your name on it is quite a dream come true!
Annual Divas retreat is now a highlight of my year. I’m so inspired by these amazing women.
I’ve picked up the crochet hook again. It’s been years.
My Nana taught me when I was a very young girl. This sure took me back.
There was a pretty exciting foozeball game that happened…or so I hear.
Gah! I got ARCs of To Me I Wed, Book 2 in the Unconventional Brides Series.
Can you believe this is coming out in just a few months? I sure can’t!
But you can pre-order your copy now! http://amzn.to/2krfm26
I hope things are going super over your way. Let me know what’s happening in the comments!
All the best,
KMJ
All the best,
Kwana
- #WeNeedDiverseRomance, book launch, Books, covers, Insert Groom Here, Unconventional Brides, writing, writing life
Yummy Unconventional Brides Cover Goodness!
Good day! I hope the New Year is treating everyone super so far.
I recently got in cover proofs for book 3 (wow, that’s wild to say): THE BETTING VOW in my Unconventional Brides Series and I love how beautifully it sits right along with my lovely cover for book 2: TO ME I WED. They are so sweet I just want to eat them with a spoon! I think Jack is in love with them too.
So INSERT GROOM HERE (book 1) which is out now is just the beginning of the fun for the
Unconventional Brides.
Book 2 will be out May 1st and Book 3 will be out September 1.
2017 will be quite the ride!
Pick up INSERT GROOM HERE wherever books are sold and get in on the fun now!
Kensington: http://bit.ly/2eh61Vb
Amazon: http://amzn.to/28Mbqk3
iBooks: http://apple.co/28RPaWU
Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2gwFuas
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2g8FhtpThanks so much!
All the best,
KMJ