September By The Seashore Sale! The Wedding Planner's Son #99cents

99¢ Sale! Limited Time Only!

The Ocean City Boardwalk Series isn't just fun in the sun—love is waiting on those sandy shores!

Tawny McNealy is a driven, high-achiever who fully expects to someday take over and run the family accounting firm. But when an attempt is made to use her as a pawn, Tawny flees to the only place she’s ever felt truly free and happy—the beach.

Jack Barclay spends his summer days creating romantic seaside weddings for lovers. His laid-back attitude has served him well over the years. He feels stressing out about work only causes a person to miss the best parts of life.

Jack and Tawny are as different as sea and sky, but the fascination they find in each other’s company can’t be denied. Can they withstand the crazy twists that fate tosses their way?

Grab this book while it's still on sale!

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Also available at regular price in Paperback

Titles in the series:

Following His Heart, Book 1

Two Hearts in Winter, Book 2
Wild Hearts of Summer, Book 3

An Almost Perfect Christmas, Book 4

Grown Up Christmas List, Book 5
The Wedding Planner's Son, Book 6 

The Ocean City Boardwalk Series, Books 1-3 Bundle

R.I.P. Judith E. French - I hold you in the Light

My heart broke when I learned of the passing of Judith E. French last month. Her death was unexpected and shocked everyone who knew and loved her. I haven’t been able to express my thoughts or my grief, and even now, coming up with the right words to convey all I am feeling is impossible. 

If you are an avid romance reader, then you probably enjoyed Judy’s books. She wrote over 100 of them across the romance genre spectrum—historical, fantasy, contemporary, Amish, sweet, thriller, mystery. She was an extraordinary storyteller, picking up the reader and sweeping her away to another time and place. I got lost in every Judith E. French book I read. 

I knew her for over 30 years and she was instrumental in my becoming an author. But Judy was much more than just my friend and colleague. At times she was like a sister to me, and sometimes she was like my mom, offering unending support and advice. I loved her dearly and I'll miss her more than words can express.

The following is the beautiful tribute posted by her family. I share it here with their permission:

In the late 1940’s it was a common sight along Seven Hickories Road to see a little red-haired girl on a painted pony, headed to the Kenton store for candy. That was Judith. She grew up on her grandfather William Faulkner’s farm at Seven Hickories, between Cheswold and Kenton.

Judith Ellen Bennett French was born on October 5, 1941 in Dover, DE to Lester and Mildred Bennett and was a big sister to Valerie Bennett Donahue. She married Gary French, the love of her life, in 1959. They settled on their own farm near Marydel and raised four children: Bill, David, Colleen and Debbie. But Judy’s imagination went far beyond that little farm they called “Penelope’s Advantage”. In time, she became an international bestselling author, writing under various pseudonyms, famous for her historical romances, and Amish novels. Over the course of a lifetime, Judy wrote and published over one hundred novels that were sold worldwide in multiple languages—stories of love and sorrow, adventure and triumph.

She was an accomplished archaeologist, an artist, a storyteller, a farmer, and a genealogist. But her greatest source of pride was being the matriarch of a large family. Judy was mother to four, grandmother to ten and great-grandmother to fourteen.  Her joy was in those children and in seeing them chase chickens on her grandfather’s farm at Seven Hickories, just as she once had.

Judith E. French died at dusk on Friday, August 25, 2017 in her two-hundred-year-old farmhouse, surrounded by the laughter of a family that is eternally grateful for her thoughtfulness, her wisdom, and her relentless faith in her progeny.

Judy was someone who saw the best in all of us; she was a person who could always sift the positive from rubble, and who was just as at home talking to esteemed university professors as she was cleaning and hanging one of her own chickens for supper.  Judith E. French traveled around the world, but her heart was always somewhere on a dirt lane near Seven Hickories with a few pennies in her pocket, riding that pony.

Donations in Judith’s honor may be sent to Camden Friends Meeting, Camden, DE.

Letters of condolences can be sent via Pippin Funeral Home.

Happy National Cheese Pizza Day! #Recipe #Foodies

Pizza! Everyone loves it! Yes, you can order out. But it's much more fun to bring the whole family into the kitchen to make your own. It's pretty easy to do, too.

Pizza Dough

Yield: enough dough for 2 14-inch pizzas

4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 cups water (110 degrees F)

2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 2 teaspoons

Directions:

Combine the bread flour, sugar, yeast and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and combine. While the mixer is running, add the water and 2 tablespoons of the oil and beat until the dough forms into a ball. If the dough is sticky, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together in a solid ball. If the dough is too dry, add additional water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth, firm ball (about 5-8 minutes).

Grease a large bowl with the remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm area to double in size (about 1 hour). Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces. Cover dough balls with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

Note: Using bread flour results in a much crisper crust. Can't find bread flour? Substitute all-purpose flour which will result in a chewier crust.

Easy Pizza Sauce

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes packed in tomato juice

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped fine

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft (about 5 minutes). Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes, increase heat to simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened (about 20 minutes). Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the pizza:

1 recipe Pizza Dough
1 recipe Easy Pizza Sauce
12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Optional Toppings:
Red onion, sliced
Fresh mushrooms, sliced
Pepperoni, sliced
Black olives, sliced

Directions:

Heat oven to 475 degrees F, with a 16-inch-diameter pizza stone on lowest shelf position, for at least 30 minutes.

Place one round of dough onto a lightly floured surface, keeping the other covered with a kitchen towel. Roll dough into a 14-inch round. Transfer to a pizza peel.

Spread 3/4 cup of sauce over the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edges. Spread half of the mozzarella over the top. Add other toppings, if using. Slide the pizza onto the hot stone. Bake until crust is golden and cheese is bubbly, about 15 minutes. Remove pizza from the oven; sprinkle with Parmesan. Repeat with second pizza.