Cooking Up Kisses: Five Sweetly Scrumptious Romance Novellas

COOKING UP KISSES: Five Sweetly Scrumptious Romance Novellas is sitting at #4 on Amazon's Christian Fiction Collections & Anthologies list! 

We're so excited...but we'd be over the moon if we reached #1. You can help us do that...just spread the word about this collection of sweet and inspirational romance novellas. At only $.99, it makes a great, inexpensive Valentine gift for all your reader friends. Give the gift of romance!

Here's what's inside:

LOVE ON A DARE BY MARY MANNERS

Alana Mulvaney’s life is in a holding pattern. Consumed by day-to-day operations of the family business, Alana has no time for fun or romance. But a little fun and a whole lot of romance is just what Alana’s sisters have in mind when they learn childhood friend Donovan O’Reilly has returned to town.

Donovan O’Reilly has loved Alana Mulvaney since he moved in next door to her at the age of five. But he broke her heart when he was forced to leave town, and now that he’s returned home to Winding Ridge he has a second chance to prove himself. But is it too late to earn her trust…and her love…again?

HUMMINGBIRD KISSES

Toni Littlebird believes that when she meets the man God created for her, she’ll know—and she’ll love him in that very moment.
But then Dax Hendrick roars into Hummingbird Hollow on a noisy, crippled Harley, stinking up the air and chasing away her beloved hummingbirds. One look into the intruder’s eyes and her heart sinks. He’s “The One.” She’d been right about knowing, but wrong about something far more important: She will never love this man!

HEARTS ON THE HARBOR BY ROBIN BAYNE

Cara Peyton is content with her life, her trendy Baltimore bookshop is perfect for her. But when her ex turns up to remodel the store, asking for a second chance, she’s torn and unsure about risking her heart again. Can he convince her to trust him, and God, before the job is finished?

HIS VALENTINE PROMISE BY DORA HIERS

Another Valentine’s Day and Quinn Randolph prefers to spend it with her sweet rescue lab. Who needs men and their broken promises? Especially Pierce Karson’s! Years ago, his desertion shattered her. Now he’s trying to steal the property she targeted to expand her florist shop! Pierce only wants to belong…and for Quinn to choose him. His Valentine Promise…

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN IN A RED DRESS BY ZOE M. McCARTHY

Candace Parks lives a passionless life in Richmond. The computer programmer returns to the empty family home in the Blue Ridge Mountains solely to evaluate her job, faith, and boyfriend. Her high school crush, Trigg Alderman, who barely remembers her, visits his Gram next door. Sorting her life out? How about nothing of the sort!

Guest Author: Zoe McCarthy

Please help me welcome one of my fellow Pelican Book Group authors, Zoe McCarthy. I love her post on filthy rags of our "righteousness," and I think you will too. Be sure to say hello in the comments (below), and help make Zoe feel at home here on Chirp 'N Chatter!

Scrubbing Our Filthy Rags

Sometimes when a woman has been badly hurt, she raises her jerk-detecting antennae, a daily routine that becomes as common as brushing her teeth. Over time and on a smaller scale, her distrust bleeds over to strangers, her family members, and her friends—to people other than the person who initially wounded her heart. If questioned why she’s so touchy, the story of how someone blindsided her readily comes to her mind and possibly to her tongue. She has grown to consider her distrust a righteous act.

What if God decides it’s time such a woman return to becoming the lovely woman He designed her to be? Only God can orchestrate the right people, circumstances, and perhaps a bit of humor to help her realize what He teaches in Isaiah 64:6. All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

In writing Amanda’s story in Gift of the Magpie, I’ve come to understand from a woman’s perspective what Isaiah was saying. Many times from whatever catalyst, we women have matured into females who nag loved ones, believe people should see us as good examples, or distrust others as Amanda does. Thankfully, God can reveal to us that we aren’t so different than our family members and neighbors, and possibly, that we’re worse!

God loves us as we are, but He’s known as a God who doesn’t leave us wearing filthy rags. He offers Jesus’ work on the cross to clean our rags to be as white as snow, but He also expects us to change and become better people. If need be, God is happy to arrange that to happen.

For me, God has orchestrated my salvation, some callings I resisted, and recently, to devote my Sabbath to worshiping him, spending time with Him and His Word, and loving on others.

What has God orchestrated in your life that you’re now thankful for?

Gift of the Magpie Blurb

Amanda Larrowe’s lack of trust sabotages her relationships. The English teacher and award-winning author of middle-grade adventure books for boys has shut off communication with friends and family to meet her January 2 book deadline. Now, in the deepest snow accumulation Richmond, Virginia has experienced in years, Camden Lancaster moves in across the street. After ten years, her heart still smarts from the humiliating aftermath of their perfect high school Valentine’s Day date. He may have transformed into a handsome, amiable man, but his likeability doesn’t instill trust in Amanda’s heart. When Cam doesn’t recognize her on their first two encounters, she thinks it’s safe to be his fair-weather neighbor. Boy is she wrong.

Zoe M. McCarthy Bio

A full-time writer and speaker, Zoe M. McCarthy, author of Gift of the Magpie and Calculated Risk, writes contemporary Christian romances involving tenderness and humor. Believing that opposites distract, Zoe creates heroes and heroines who learn to embrace their differences. When she’s not writing, Zoe enjoys her five grandchildren, teaching Bible studies, leading workshops on writing, knitting and crocheting shawls for a prayer shawl ministry, gardening, and canoeing. She lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Zoe blogs regularly at www.zoemmccarthy.com.

Gift of the Magpie Buy Link

Amazon