Allie Boniface's Blog

Have you ever looked at those calendars where every day of the year is celebrated for some reason or another?

Here’s one: National Calendar Day.  
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I wonder who comes up with them all? Today, for example, is National Shower with a Friend Day. Who knew?

This one was apparently created by New Wave Enviro, a company located in Denver, Colorado, who submitted the idea, and the registrar at National Day Calendar proclaimed this day in July 2014.

According to the official posting on the National Day Calendar, “Winter is the coldest and loneliest season of the year. With dwindling daylight and Valentine’s Day at its heart, February can often leave people feeling dejected and somber. National “Shower with a Friend Day” injects a bit of humor into the season while also serving to educate people on the benefits of showering in fresh, filtered water (and the effects of chlorine).”
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Okay, I can see the whole importance of personal hygiene. But do you really think that’s what this group had in mind when they suggested this day? Don’t you think it has connotations that are just a little...sexier? As a romance writer, that’s all I can think about: How can I put a good ol’ shower scene in my next book? I just read a good one in Robyn Carr’s Virgin River, where the hero comes over to the heroine’s house early and surprises her in the shower...

(Of course, thanks to Alfred Hitchcock, we also know that very bad things can happen in the shower too...but I digress…)
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Anyway, in honor of warming up this cold February Monday, I think I'll put a romantic shower scene in my newest book. What do you think?

Save water, friends! Celebrate National Shower with a Friend Day!

I’m super-excited today! Why, you ask? Well, it’s release day for the boxed set of the first three books in my Hometown Heroes series. And isn’t this cover pretty? Dar Albert at Wicked Smart Designs always does such a tremendous job with my book covers.

The Hometown Heroes series takes place in Lindsey Point, Connecticut, a fictional small town on the coast, set halfway between New York City and Boston. It currently has 6 books (4 full-length novels a 2 novellas), and I’ve loved creating this world with quirky characters and story lines.

World building is a challenging thing, and even though I think it’s probably harder for authors who write sci fi or paranormal or fantasy, because they REALLY have to create a brand new world, it’s still hard for us contemporary authors. Sure, most people are familiar with small towns. They’ve probably driven through them, and maybe even lived in them. But I still have to create a whole world of fictional places and names and people. Usually that’s fun. Sometimes it’s a struggle (I mean, how many different ways can you describe a diner or a coffee shop?).

So yes, Lindsey Point is very much like a lot of New England towns. It has a beach overlooking a quiet bay. It has wide streets with Colonial-style homes, a diner, a coffee shop, and a collection of residents that run the gamut from volunteer firefighter to pastry chef to handyman to real estate agent.

What makes it different? Well, it has a haunted lighthouse, for one. It has people who don’t know they’re related...but who will find out. It has a heroic (and very sexy) bartender who dragged people from a burning building when he was barely out of his teens. It’s the home of a famous poet with a secret past, and its college library has a maze of underground tunnels that’s been blocked off for years.

So yes, Lindsey Point is a world of its own. I hope you’ll want to come and visit -- with this new boxed set, you can read the first three books in the series for less than half of what it would cost you to purchase them separately!

Brr! Here in the Northeast United States, we've had our share of cold and snow so far this winter. If you live in a warm climate, of course, you're spared the freezing temperatures, the slippery roads, the bundling up in layers every time you have to so much as go to the mailbox, let alone across town or to work in the morning when the plow trucks are still clearing the roads. I've always lived in this part of the country, so I'm used to it. In fact, when I lived in Cleveland, Ohio, while getting my graduate degree, there was a record-setting string of days (I think it was 10) where the temperature never got above 0 degrees. Now THAT'S cold! I used to go back to my dorm room, crawl under my down comforter, turn my heating pad on high, wrap it around my hands, and huddle in front of the TV to try and chase the chill away. 

It's no surprise, I guess, that most romance novels take place during the spring, summer, or fall. Flowers are blooming, leaves are turning pretty colors, and no one's wearing too many clothes. Right? Most of my novels, as well, are set in warmer weather, with the exception of my two Christmas novellas, Miracle of Love and Winter's Wonder. And those both have the whole holiday spirit thrown in, to kindle some sparks. Otherwise, I think it's kind of hard to think about flirting when you can't feel your fingers or toes. 

This is not to say that love can't blossom in any kind of weather, of course. My first date with my husband took place in early February, and he proposed to me in early March (not of the same year! LOL). So because I'm feeling particularly chilly today, and in need of some warming up, how about you tell me your favorite memory with your significant other, and whether it happened in heat or cold. Give me some good love stories! And the winner of this week's giveaway, chosen randomly from everyone who comments, will receive a copy of Susan Mallery's novel When We Met, along with a box of chocolates (which goes well in any season).

Stay warm, friends! And thanks for stopping by!

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which seems to be an appropriate time to stop and reflect on the goodness of life, because Lord knows there’s enough bad that fills the news. King, of course, is remembered for many things, but standing up and speaking out against injustice is one of the most important. Facing down wrong. Being one voice against social wrongs and daring to speak what he saw as the truth no matter what others thought or did or said.

That’s hard to do. I try, but I know I don’t always speak up when I should. I sometimes let others step up in times of adversity. But one thing I’ve always tried to do is give back to my local community. I’m sure it’s in my blood; my grandfather was an advocate of helping others, and of public service. Likewise, my parents were Peace Corps volunteers in the 1960s, and they taught English in the African country of Somalia. And so as a little girl, I was raised on stories of how my mother living in Africa had two dresses instead of one, and that made her “rich” in the town where she taught. I was raised on stories of the Imam and the mosque across the street from my parents’ apartment and pictures of the local kids who climbed palm trees to get coconuts. I was raised to know there was a world where people were very different than I am, and I am forever grateful for that lesson at an early age.

I don’t think I’m brave enough to teach in a foreign country. But I do try to give back and help out when I can. I’ve tutored inmates at a local prison. I’ve cleaned litter boxes at my local animal shelter. I’ve protested a power plant that’s threatening to destroy eagle habitats, and I’ve joined a non-profit organization that is rehabbing a historic school building into a community center.
And the feeling of contributing is a good one. The idea that we can make other peoples’ lives better is a powerful one. Light and love can drive out darkness and hate in so many ways. Sometimes it’s just saying hi to a neighbor, or being patient with the cashier at the grocery store. It’s putting down our electronic devices and engaging in conversation with strangers. It’s dropping change into the Salvation Army bucket at Christmas and donating extra gloves to the warming centers in our towns. It’s adopting an animal or a child. It’s giving to our places of worship. It’s helping other peoples’ places of worship when they are attacked or vandalized. It is loving and believing that love is more powerful than any other ugly forces in our world.

I hope you continue to find light and love in all the places you go, and if you’re someone who volunteers or gives back to your community, then THANK YOU.  Have a wonderful day. Spread love.  

Short? Long? Extra-super-super long?

What kinds of books do you like to read?

I’ve always been a fan of novels, ever since I was a little girl. Even in grade school, chapter books never scared me off. I figured the more time I spent with the characters and their stories, the better.

But as I mentioned last week, one of my goals this year is to write 4 brand new short stories for my newsletter subscribers, as a way to thank them for their support. So even though most of the books I’ve published have been full-length (or at least novellas, which means about 25K words at minimum), these have to be tiny things. A beginning, a middle, and an end in just a few thousand words.

Now, Stephen King is a master of his genre, and that means he can write horror stories in about every length possible. If you’ve never picked up his short story collection Night Shift , treat yourself sometime. They’re all readable in under an hour, and they all pack a punch. So while I’m not going to write horror anytime soon, he’s a good author to study (fellow authors, if you haven’t read On Writing by King, you absolutely should. But that’s a conversation for another time).

Anyway, my first short story is called “Look Up, Angel,” and it takes places in New York City as a parallel story to Beacon of Love, the first book in my Hometown Heroes series. This story gives you a little insight into the heroine of Beacon of Love, but mostly it tells the story of a workaholic journalist in the big city who doesn’t see love when it’s right in front of her. 
​ If you’d like to read this story for free, make sure you’ve signed up to receive my newsletter by clicking here.  Thanks for stopping by!

Allie Boniface is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

​So here we are, another New Year. A fresh start. A new beginning, if that’s the kind of thing you need. Maybe a time for resolutions, if you’re really disciplined (although did you know, according to this article by Business Insider, 80% percent of New Year’s Resolutions are broken by February?)


I don’t make formal resolutions anymore, but I do like to look at January 1 as a chance to reboot myself, which includes getting back to the routines I had before the holidays (regular workouts & putting down the wine bottle, anyone?). I also like to set new goals for myself as a writer.

Since I still have a full-time day job that takes up a fair amount of time and energy, I’ve learned to be realistic about my writing goals. This year I’m trying to spend more time on my online and social media presence, less money on advertising unless I’m *really* sure it’s a good investment with a strong ROI (return on investment), and most important, I’d like to write more :)

On that list of writing more includes writing 4 free short stories that will go exclusively to my newsletter subscribers (if you aren’t one yet, you can sign up by clicking here); releasing 3 boxed sets of titles I already have out BUT with brand new content; and starting a new small town romance series. That series has been in the works for some time now, and I actually have Book 1 complete, but I’m exploring my options for it (do I want to self-publish? Send it to my editor at a small press? Or send it to agents/editors to dip my toes in the traditional publishing world again?). Stay tuned for more on that. Because I’m a planner, I like to have a rough schedule sketched out for myself, for the first half of 2018 anyway. I’ve always found that it helps to give myself deadlines to stay on track. I've already started filling in some of those on a good old fashioned wall calendar (anyone else still use these??).
​ And because part of my goal to increasing my online social engagement is giving away goodies each week (thank you author Grace Burrowes for the inspiration!), this week’s giveaway is Your Best Year 2018: Productivity Workbook and Online Business Planner by Lisa Jacobs. I’ve used her workbooks before, and they’re really user-friendly (and good for organizing your life in general, whether or not you’re running a business). How to get in on the fun? Just leave a comment on this post, share your goals for 2018 if you're so inclined, and I’ll choose one commenter randomly as the winner. Thanks for stopping by!

Allie Boniface is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

It's amazing to think it's almost the end of December, that holidays are right around the corner, followed by New Year's Eve and another year in the books! I hope you've had a good one. I know it's been an incredibly busy one for me, with lots of new excitement and adventure. Some changes in my publishing world, as well, but I hope they point to good things for the future.  My goal for this blog in 2018 is to be much more active, to post weekly with peeks into the world behind the author. I hope you'll join me!

Until then, have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season, readers. As always, thanks for your support. I can't wait to share new stories with you in the New Year! 

So exciting, readers! In less than 2 weeks, my newest book, the novella Art of Love, will release! This story is #6 in the Hometown Heroes series, but don't worry--if you haven't read the others, all the books stand alone and have their own happy ending. This one takes place about 4 years after the end of Soldier of Love, and stars Chloe Garrick, the teenager (now a college student) who appeared midway through Soldier of Love. I wanted to share the blurb and a sneak peek at the hero and heroine's first meeting, in Chapter 2. I hope you enjoy it!


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Blurb:
College senior Chloe Garrick travels halfway around the world to work in a French art studio. While spending a summer in southern France might be a dream to someone else, all she really wants is to go home to Lindsey Point, where her friends, family, and sorority sisters are enjoying beach bonfires and late-night parties without her.

Bodhi Lawson has mastered the art of living alone. Scarred by a fire as a boy, he’s grown used to the stares of strangers and the rejection of women, and living in a small French town suits him well. But when Chloe moves in next door, he finds himself opening up to the bubbly American in ways he never imagined.

At first, Chloe is counting the days until she can return to the States, but the more time she spends with Bodhi, the more she wants to know about the man behind the mask. When an unexpected tragedy summons her home, will Chloe and Bodhi retreat to the safety of the worlds they’ve always known, or take a chance and risk it all for love?

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First Meeting!
June 4, Marseilles Airport
 
Bodhi Lawson strode through the airport and scowled. Late spring in the French Riviera had turned beastly hot in a matter of days. This time last month, he’d still been wearing a wool cap and gloves on his walk to work. Today the air seemed to warp with the heat, and the pavement had shimmered under the tires of his Renault as he drove the fifty miles from Touciennes.

He checked his phone, then the arrival time of Flight 303 from New York City. Due in at nine, they’d been delayed almost two hours leaving the States. Now her ETA read 11:10.

“Excusez moi,” a woman said behind him. Bodhi glanced over his shoulder and stepped aside. The woman dropped her gaze, then lifted it again, as if to indicate she hadn’t seen his right cheek or been shocked by its appearance. He knew the reaction. He’d seen it a thousand times in the last fifteen years. Maybe more.

The scar had faded with time, but it still covered most of his face. He wondered what Chloe Garrick would think when she saw it. He wondered if she’d give him the same look, pity crossed with curiosity. Or if she’d smile too widely, to pretend it didn’t matter, or look deliberately at the other side of his face instead. Or ask him straight out what had happened, or say something about it being either a gift from God or an obstacle to make him a better person. Maybe she’d recommend a plastic surgeon, or tell him the scar gave him character. He’d experienced every possible reaction. Nothing would surprise him.

He checked his phone again: 10:50. That gave him about a half hour before she arrived. He ran one hand over his shaggy dark hair and ordered a double espresso from the closest coffee shop. He should be at work, dealing with overdue accounts and new clients who needed hand-holding and daily phone calls.

Why did I agree to this?

He paced the concourse and sipped his espresso. That answer was easy. The Lawsons were indebted to Heath Garrick, always had been, since the guy headed off a mortar attack thirty years ago somewhere in a forgotten, forsaken desert and saved Jackson’s life.

I’m alive today because of Heath, plain and simple. If his father had said it once, he’d said it a thousand times. Bodhi heard it in his dreams sometimes, and he wondered what it felt like to owe your life to someone else’s actions. To feel simultaneously that connected and that indebted to another person.

He checked the time again. Babysitting a college student wasn’t really his idea of how to spend the summer. Okay, maybe he wasn’t babysitting exactly, more like finding her an apartment and showing her around town, but still. His father had mentioned something about Chloe doing community service, which sounded a little fishy. Weren’t there plenty of places she could do that at home? I don’t have a lot of time off, he’d said the first time his father e-mailed with the request.

Can’t imagine it’ll take a lot of time. You told me the other apartment was vacant.

Yes, he had. And besides, it always came back to the debt. Heath could have asked Bodhi’s father for the moon, and they would have figured out a way to get it for him.

He headed for the gate and nearly collided with a little boy darting through the airport. The boy slid to a stop just in front of Bodhi’s legs, wheeled his arms for balance, and was about to fall when Bodhi reached down and steadied him.

“There you go.”

The boy stared at him with wide black eyes. A moment later, a woman with the same wide eyes hurried up to them, scolding the boy in French, but when she looked at Bodhi, the words died in her throat. Her gaze moved from his face to the back of his arm, and the same scarred, twisted flesh that covered his wrist all the way to his elbow. He usually wore long sleeves in public, just to avoid situations like this one, but this morning he’d forgotten.

“Merci,” she whispered, then took the boy by one hand and led him away.

“You’re welcome,” Bodhi said, but they’d already disappeared around a corner.

He stuffed both hands into his pockets and waited for the terminal door to open. He wondered what she looked like. Her name is Chloe, his father had e-mailed last week. Long blondish hair and thin, I think. Not like either of them had ever seen the girl in person, though Bodhi seemed to recall Christmas cards sent the last couple of years, now that Heath had settled down with a woman in a small Connecticut town. He’d also seen a few pictures of his father with Heath back when they were both deployed, so he supposed he’d just look for a female version of Heath at twenty-one. Dark blue eyes and a square jaw. Possibly tall, unless Chloe had inherited her height from her mother.

Then she appeared almost directly in front of him, and every thought went straight out of Bodhi’s head.

Tall, yes.

Dark blue eyes, yes. Almost navy blue, if he was looking at them right. And long enough. And now it was too long, and still he couldn’t tear his eyes from hers as she smiled up at him from a face that was breathtakingly gorgeous and curious and young.

“Are you Bodhi Lawson?”

He stuck out a hand for her to shake and realized that she hadn’t stared at his cheek, or his arm, or done anything except look up at him with those goddamned spellbinding eyes. A flicker of something appeared in them and was gone.

“I asked my dad what you looked like. Actually, I tried to stalk you online, but you’re not big on social media, I’m guessing. I couldn’t find a single picture.”

He shook his head and tried to follow her conversation.

“Anyway, you’re the only one here that kinda matches my dad’s description.” She stopped. “You are Bodhi Lawson, right?”

“Ah, yeah. You’re Chloe Garrick?”

Who else would she be? She nodded as he cleared his throat and tried to ignore the screaming electricity that soared from her hand to his and straight to his groin. She’s a college kid, he told himself. She’s Heath Garrick’s kid.
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But none of that mattered in the few seconds they stood in the airport, palm to palm. The woman standing in front of him wasn’t a kid, not by any stretch of the imagination. She had curves and a knowing smile and a whisper of a scar herself, just along her hairline. Hips that invited a man’s touch, and lips he wouldn’t mind tasting, especially dipped in chocolate and wine. A scent like vanilla and hair that fell in loose waves around her shoulders. He had a sudden urge to wrap both hands inside it, breathe deeply, and never come up for air...

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This book releases on October 23, readers, but you can pre-order it now if you'd like!

Amazon Kindle
B&N Nook
Apple iBooks
Kobo Books

Welcome to the small town of  Pine Point, where secrets abound…
 
Book #1: Summer’s Song:
 
Summer is back in Pine Point to settle her estranged father’s estate and be rid of the half-renovated mansion she’s inherited. What she doesn’t expect is to find the house occupied by a hunky handyman reluctant to talk about his past.

Damian has been hiding his mother and sister from a brutal stalker, but now the refuge they live in is about to be sold out from under them by a woman who quickly steals Damian’s heart.

But the past won’t remain buried. Summer has to face her memories and could lose the man she loves, and maybe even her life.
 
 
Book #2: Winter’s Wonder:
 
Zane’s not the bad boy he was when he left Pine Point eight long years ago. He’s reformed. Nowadays, he works security in a gated community. His life is simple and good. The only thorn in his side is the stray dog scaring residents and the cute do-gooder who takes him on for trying to chase the dog off.

Becca knows Zane’s just doing his job, but she’s trying to rescue a stray and the legendary playboy’s tactics are making her job much harder. They don’t have anything in common, except maybe the spark that flares between them.


Book #3: Spring Secrets:
 
Sienna is writing a dissertation about secrets and scandals in small towns. She left Pine Point at age fifteen and has told everyone she’s come back to take a job teaching special needs kids.


Mike wants to put his past behind him, open a gym, and have a fresh start in the small town he grew up in. He’s not looking for a relationship, so being friends with benefits with the gorgeous Sienna is the perfect setup.

But when Sienna finds a skeleton first in Mike’s closet and then in her own, everyone’s past and future is rocked to the core.
 
Book #4: Autumn Allure:

Bartender Nate Hunter enjoys the single life, but everything changes when a dying ex shows up in Pine Point with a daughter he never knew existed. Nate doesn't know the first thing about being a father, but he agrees to take care of Autumn until Christmas.

No-nonsense librarian Maxine Abbott agrees to help Nate if he’ll pretend to be her boyfriend to get her mother off her back. Then Autumn's aunt shows up early, everything changes, and Nate and Maxine's budding love could end in heartbreak before the last leaves fall.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by in the month of June to leave a comment during my blog contest. I really appreciate having you here! I'll be part of a big giveaway in August, to celebrate Entangled's release of my Pine Point series, so stay tuned for the prizes you can win and the ways you can enter. 

And now I'm happy to announce that Kathleen Byslma is the grand prize winner of the "Librarians in Love" prize box! Kathleen, I hope you enjoy all these goodies. Thanks to all my readers and fans. I couldn't do this without you!
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