Tag: #holiday

Posted in #BookTours

A Wyoming Family Holiday

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

A Wyoming Family Holiday: A Clean and Uplifting Romance
Virginia McCullough
(Back to Adelaide Creek, #5)
Published by: Harlequin Heartwarming
Publication date: October 28th 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance, Women’s Fiction

Can saving a town landmark…

Restore her faith in love?

When attorney Sloan Lancaster returns to Adelaide Creek to care for his father, he’s shocked at Winding Creek Rehab and Care Center’s run-down state. He considers moving his dad but is drawn to his high school crush Bethany, in charge of the facility’s restoration. Moved by Bethany’s community spirit and her adorable young daughter, Heidi, Sloan makes an anonymous donation to the center as the holidays bring them all closer. But when Sloan’s identity is revealed, Bethany pulls away, anxious about conflict of interest. Can she overcome her fears to embrace Sloan’s support—and build the loving family she’s always wanted?

From Harlequin Heartwarming: Wholesome stories of love, compassion and belonging.

Back to Adelaide Creek

Book 1: The Rancher’s Wyoming Twins
Book 2: The Doc’s Holiday Homecoming
Book 3: His Wyoming Surprise
Book 4: Finding His Wyoming Sweetheart
Book 5: A Wyoming Family Holiday

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Apple Books / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

Sloan Lancaster raised the hood of his jacket and raced through the downpour, skirting the water overflowing dips and deep potholes in the asphalt parking lot. This, plus the rundown brick and wood exterior, was all he needed to conclude that the Winding Creek Rehab and Care Center was past its prime. Especially dreary was the aging paint job, once white, but now a dull, dirty gray. Sloan summed up his first impression of this facility in one word: neglected.

As he ducked into the hands-free revolving door a commotion in the lobby caught his attention. Women and men in scrubs or lab coats were pushing and pulling furniture across the carpeted floor, while a couple of burly guys in maintenance uniforms dragged an oversized tarp into the far corner of the room where rainwater ran down the wall.

Two women a few feet in front of him struggled to pull a couch across the middle of the lobby. He approached from behind and called out, “Wait, let me help with that. Tell me where you want it.”

A woman spun around. “Thanks. We can use the help.” Her eyes opened wide in surprise. “Sloan?”

“Bethany?” He struggled to find his next words as he grasped the wooden armrest on one end. “I’d know you anywhere.” It was true. He hadn’t seen her since high school and she’d barely changed at all.

Not the time to ask a lot of questions. He made his early morning workouts pay off as he dragged the couch to the only empty spot on the other side of the lobby big enough to accommodate it. The space was already filled with a hodgepodge of tables and armchairs that had escaped the leaking roof and ceilings.

Bethany pushed the couch from the other end. Her expression turned serious as she straightened up and put her hands on her hips. “You’re here to see your dad, I assume. Medical transport brought him here a couple of hours ago.”

Her burgundy pantsuit and crisp tailored white shirt gave her a professional look in the style of the women lawyers at his firm. That led Sloan to guess that his old friend Bethany Hoover was an administrator in this place, where, for better or worse, his dad was now a patient. The worn out exterior and general disarray in the lobby weren’t filling him with positive feelings about that.

The opposite, in fact.

Author Bio:

A writer all her adult life, Virginia McCullough has had the opportunity to write the stories of her heart in her novels, including Girl in the Spotlight, the first book in her Two Moon Bay series for Harlequin Heartwarming. (Book 2 is scheduled for release in January 2018). Her award-winning romance and women’s fiction titles include The Jacks of Her Heart, Amber Light, Greta’s Grace, The Chapels on the Hill, and Island Healing.

Born and raised in Chicago, Virginia has been lucky enough to develop her writing career in many locations, including the coast of Maine, the mountains of North Carolina, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and currently, Northeast Wisconsin. She started her career in nonfiction, first writing articles and then books as a ghostwriter and coauthor. She’s written more than 100 books for physicians, business owners, professional speakers and many others with information to share or a story to tell.

Virginia’s books feature characters who could be your neighbors and friends. They come in all ages and struggle with everyday life issues in small-town environments that almost always include water—oceans, lakes, or rivers. The mother of two grown children, you’ll find Virginia with her nose a book, walking on trails or her neighborhood street, or she may be packing her bag to take off for her next adventure. And she’s always working on another story about hope, healing, and second chances.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Instagram / Bookbub / Newsletter


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Posted in #BookTours

The Magical Christmas Cottage

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

The Magical Christmas Cottage
Aimee O’Brian
(Charmed Love, #3)
Publication date: October 23rd 2025
Genres: Adult, Holiday, Romance

In the small town of Hazard, sometimes love is the greatest Christmas miracle.

Alina McAllister is starting fresh in the charming town of Hazard, Rhode Island, with a simple plan: take a docent job at the Historical Society and embrace the magic of the season. But when her landlady Hazel suffers a stroke, everything changes. Hazel’s grumpy yet undeniably handsome grandson, Carter Bestwick, swoops into town determined to sell the cottage and move on with his corporate life. He needs Alina to leave—immediately.

With nowhere to go and a snowstorm trapping them together, Alina and Carter are forced into close quarters. What starts as a tense, begrudging arrangement soon sparks undeniable chemistry. As they clear out the attic, they discover Hazel’s magical wedding bands—heirlooms passed down through generations since the Revolutionary War—and find that sometimes, the magic of love is closer than they think.

In this heartwarming, opposites-attract holiday romance, Alina and Carter may just find that the greatest gift of all is an unexpected love.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

With a playful glance at Carter, Alina slipped the small gold ring on her finger. It fit perfectly. She admired the filigreed design of clasped hands and held up her own. “What do you think?”

Carter frowned at her. Of course he did. His voice was rough when he spoke. “What are you doing?”

Alina shrugged. “Having some fun. You could try it. You do know what fun is?”

His frown lines deepened into furrows. If he wasn’t careful, he’d look old before his time.

Determined to help him avoid that fate, Alina teased, “Don’t you ever have fun? Here.” She held out the larger ring to him. It too, had a design of clasped hands.

He raised a disapproving brow. “You want me to put on some old wedding band.” It wasn’t a question and the censure in his voice was obvious.

“Sure, why not? What are you afraid of?”

He tilted his head. “I’m not a commitment-phobe if that’s what you’re implying.”

“So, put it on.” She issued the challenge to see if he’d accept.

“We are not making a commitment.”

“No, we are playing. Fun, remember?”

When he just stared at the ring, she added, “I dare you.”

Carter’s eyes narrowed. “You dare me?”

“That’s right, I dare you.” She was back to playground taunts, but this time Alina didn’t care because it really was fun. And he needed to lighten up.

Carter tilted his chin up for a moment before he narrowed his eyes at her and slipped the ring on the third finger of his left hand.

It went on easily like hers had. “See, perfect fit. I wonder where they came from.”

“They’re old, I’m certain.” Carter gazed down at the ring on his finger. “I’ve seen pictures of this type of ring somewhere. Traditional workmanship but surprisingly comfortable. Okay, time to get back to work. Fun’s over.”

“Fun should never be over.”

Carter tugged on the ring to take it off. He blinked, tugged harder. “That’s odd. It went on so smooth, and now it’s stuck.”

Author Bio:

Having lived in both California and Texas, award-winning author Aimee O’Brian now resides in the beautiful wine country where she writes dark, sexy, funny romance. With her three children grown and experiencing their own adventures, she and her husband are free to explore the world. When she’s not reading, writing, or planting even more flowers in her garden, she can be found stomping through ancient ruins and getting lost in museums.

Website / Goodreads / Instagram / Facebook / X


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Posted in From My Kitchen

57 Classic Labor Day Recipes Every Cookout Needs

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

Our Best Ideas for Your Labor Day Cookout

It’s that time of year again. Call your family and friends—and get ready to fire up the grill one more time for an all-out cookout. Although we’re year-round grillers (and will be cooking outdoors well into the fall and winter months), Labor Day is an opportunity to host an extra special get-together. Need a few menu ideas for a crowd? We like to start our barbecue with summer appetizers, move on to meaty mains like BBQ ribs or grilled chicken and finish the night with a few good, old-fashioned desserts. We’re not saying ‘goodbye’ to summer—we’re celebrating it! And, while party is sure to look a little different, there are some classics that always deserve a spot on the table, like these versatile burgers. You can load them up with traditional fixings (like American cheese, lettuce, tomato and red onion) or deck them out with the most-outrageous toppings you can think of. Either way they’ll be delicious—and loved by all!

Food Network

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Posted in From My Kitchen

These 75 Fourth Of July Desserts Will Get More Attention Than The Fireworks

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

The desserts are coming! The desserts are coming! Okay, so Paul Revere definitely didn’t say that, but we still think you should start a revolution of your own this 4th of July—against boring desserts! These patriotic, star-spangled sweets will add some festive red, white, and blue to your spread… at least until they’re devoured. From fruity cookies to spectacular cakes, all-American pies to summery popsicles, we’ve got something here for everyone, for every occasion Independence Day could throw at you.

Okay, admittedly, some of these desserts aren’t red, white, AND blue all at once, but we believe in your ability to either make it happen by getting creative with additional ingredients, being content with a more subtle patriotic vibe, or, our favorite, serving multiple of them at once for that full flag effect (like we did with our flag cake).

What do we mean by additional ingredients? Fruit, of course! Cherries, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries are the easiest, tastiest way to add color to your desserts. Start with a white or red base—like our red velvet cake or ice cream, our no-bake whipped ricotta cheesecake, or our white cake—add a variety of fruit, top the whole thing with some whipped cream, and there you have it: the perfect creative interpretation of America’s flag. Check out our red velvet whoopie pies with blueberries, our flag cake, or our berries & cream charcuterie board for inspiration, then get creative with it.

Speaking of fruit, no one would be mad if you served up a variety of classic summer desserts instead of adhering to a colorful theme. Our fruit popsicles, our blueberry surprise, our raspberry tiramisu, or our strawberry crisp are always crowd-pleasers. Looking for something a little more casual? Our strawberry shortcake Rice Krispie treats, our M&M cookie bars, or our cheesecake cupcakes are perfect for sharing at a 4th of July potluck or picnic.

Want to meet somewhere in the middle? A little food coloring, red and blue sanding sugars, and even edible glitter can go a long way in turning something subtle into a show-stopper—check out our lemon-blueberry firecracker Bundt cake to see what we mean. We also aren’t above topping our treats with actual sparklers, so be safe and have fun with it!

delish!

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”

Posted in From My Kitchen

Pull-Apart Shamrock

Posted on by Reluctant Retiree

We’re all about making our own luck, and what better way to do that this St. Patrick’s Day than with your own (delicious) shamrock? This pull-apart appetizer uses pizza dough and mozzarella sticks to create a shamrock-shaped appetizer that will get any party started (alongside plenty of green beer, of course). The best part? It comes together in under an hour with simple ingredients, so you can get yourself out of the kitchen and to the bars in record-breaking time.

When it comes to the pizza dough, you’re more than welcome to make it homemade, but feel free to use store-bought to make this dish easier than ever. Tip: Wait to stir the parsley into the butter mixture before you’re ready to serve to prevent oxidation. Make sure to brush plenty of the butter mixture on top before serving—you won’t want to waste a drop. If you’ve had a couple shamrockaritas and are feeling crazy, reserve some on the side for some pull-apart dunking.

delish!

Find more recipes like this on my companion blog, “Good Food, Good Meat, Good God, Let’s Eat!”