Bookmarks!!!
THIS MUCH IS TRUE hits shelves in just a few months! 🥰

Since today is all about watching the big game, here’s a little Viv trivia for you: I love sports movies! I even love sports movies about sports that I don’t ever watch in real life… Which, frankly, includes most sports, other than college football (Go IRISH!) and Olympic curling (it looks so fun!).

And since we’re all about romance here, I have to say that I also love sports romance. Which I didn’t know until the mid-90s when I’d read It Had to Be You, the first of Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars series. I was HOOKED! Come to think of it, I might just have to grab my copy off the keeper shelf and dive in again.

Of course, I’m always looking for another great sports romance (or really any great romance). So, if you have any recommendations, I’d love to hear them!
By the way, who are you rooting for today?

Warm wishes and happy reading/watching,

Viv

In a recent phone call with my dad, our conversation meandered as it usually does, flowing from one topic to another like the familiar winding path of a creek over smooth stones. We talked of food, empty nesting and household chores that neither of us had gotten around to. He shared some old fishing tales and reminisced of his boyhood on the farm with his seven brothers and two sisters. We talked of music we love, both of us wishing we’d inherited his father’s talent for it. And we talked about dancing and how much his father had enjoyed trying to foxtrot with my grandma, who—according to my dad—didn’t share Grandpa’s sense of rhythm.

With a wry laugh, my dad added that he supposed he must have inherited his dancing skills and music ability from her.

I told him that I wasn’t sure if I had any talent for music, even though he reminded me that I used to play the piano by ear when I was little. As for dancing, aside from square dancing in elementary school gym class, the jr. high shuffle, and a lesson at a historical romance retreat in Spokane, I hadn’t really learned to dance. So who knew if I was any good at it?

I shrugged on my end of the call. Then I admitted with a laugh of my own, that ability or lack thereof didn’t stop me from trying. I take daily “dance breaks,” as I call them, turning up the music in my kitchen and just letting loose. And probably mortifying any neighbors who might spot me through the window.

But I don’t let that stop me. Science supports this practice, after all. When we listen to music and move our bodies, our brains release all the feel-good chemicals that are important to our overall health and wellness.

Then, with the curl of a smile tucked into my dad’s voice, he admitted that he liked to shimmy and slide his socks over the hardwood floor, too, giving his own neighbors something to talk about.

But I’d like to think that all of us are in our kitchens, dancing like no one’s watching. 🙂

Warm wishes and happy reading,

Viv

I hope you’re enjoying a lovely holiday season!

Warm wishes and happy reading,

Viv

The cover reveal for THIS MUCH IS TRUE!

Althea Hartley has lost her spark. As the youngest daughter of an eccentric family, playwrighting is in her blood. But two failed Seasons have left her disenchanted. In desperate need of inspiration, she takes matters into her own hands by creating a tale of a dashing highwayman. What could possibly go wrong?

But her stories prove to be a little too true for the actual highwayman living beneath the tons’ nose.

Jasper Trueblood, Viscount St. James, needs to put an end to the bewitching Miss Hartley’s incriminating tales. Society can never suspect that he isn’t the clumsy oaf he pretends to be. Or that, under the cover of darkness, he greets scoundrels and lightens their purses. Not too much. Just enough to keep those closest to him safe from his menacing uncle.

Then sparks fly when this unlikely pair meets one perfect night. And while she is eager to unmask him, he is determined to stay hidden. But there’s no denying the chemistry that neither of them are able to resist…

The only thing for certain is that Thea needs to guard her heart before the highwayman steals it.

THIS MUCH IS TRUE will be on sale next summer! More pre-order links to come!

Until then…

Warm wishes and happy reading,

Viv

Dear Reader,

THE TROUBLE WITH INVENTING A VISCOUNT is finally here! And I am so excited to share this book with you!

In case you haven’t yet read the back cover blurb, here it is:

Honoria Hartley enjoys flirting far too much to consider marrying. And besides, she’s been betrothed since birth to the long-lost Viscount Vandemere. But no one has actually ever met the viscount and, without an heir, the title will soon become extinct. So she’s willing to do anything to keep her viscount alive, even if she has to invent him herself.

Oscar Flint is a first-rate gambler. Estranged from his father’s side of the family his entire life, he grew up beneath the tutelage of a legendary con artist. There isn’t anyone who could pull the wool over his eyes. Not until he crosses paths with Honoria. Losing to her puts him in a bind… Until he remembers her story about a lost heir to a viscountcy. An heir that no one has ever met. Not yet, anyway.

When Oscar arrives on Honoria’s doorstep, claiming to be Vandemere, she is thrown for a loop. This rogue is not her viscount. The only problem is, he’s quite convincing, and when he kisses her, the line between the lie and the truth becomes hazy in all the steam they create. Honoria refuses to gamble with her heart. But Oscar has never played by the rules and he’s determined to win, no matter the cost.
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Buy Links:

AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0063352478?tag=harpercollinsus-20

AVON: https://bit.ly/4aBS5Rx

BARNES & NOBLE: https://bit.ly/3UlPJAO

BOOKS-A-MILLION: https://bit.ly/3W30bOS

BOOKSHOP: https://bit.ly/3W2y9D0

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I had so much fun writing this book that I actually came up with a recipe for the shortbread that Oscar simply can’t resist. Be sure to open the newsletter I sent to find your recipe card.

Warm wishes and happy reading,

Viv