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The original drafts, Holidays, Inc. and Hope for the Holidays featured three main character points of view. During edits, I decided to cut the third character perspective to simplify the narrative. BUT, these scenes remain some of my favorites.

In Holidays, Inc. Jill offers additional insight into her brother’s return and Dani’s renovation. In Hope for the Holidays, the other woman, aka Nora, shares her glimpse of the drama unfolding in New Hope. 

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Happy reading!

I haven’t done a check-in post for a while. I’m not sure how winter post-holidays is treating you where you live but in the Midwest it’s been cold and snowy! Trapped indoors again, the days are repetitive. My kids are back to school part-time and a few of their activities have resumed. I’m happy for them. Getting out of the house at all is positive. If I didn’t keep track of my writing and editing, I don’t think I’d appreciate that I am making progress. Forward motion feels very static when the snow bank is nearly three feet high.

My word for the year is patience, but my goals for 2021 are aggressive. I’m working hard to get as many books out as possible. In the publishing world, contracts are signed for a few years out so while I have a good idea I’ll release *3* novels this year, I’m trying to line up 2022 and 2023 (thus the patience). It’s a lot of hurry up and wait, but I’m continuing to learn and study in the slow times. I’ve finished *this* round of edits on a two-book suspense duet. I’m plotting and outlining three new stories including my first attempt at a cowboy book. I found a new twist on the fish out of water trope (because, let’s be honest, I’m not exactly a rancher) courtesy of the newspaper subscription my parents bought me for Christmas :). I’m excited to keep writing and discovering new stories.

As the snow falls, again, I’m focused on brighter days ahead. I hope you are, too! I have a few vacations lined up for the end of the year (and crossing my fingers we can safely travel). Until then, I’ll content myself with escaping into fictional worlds pandemic-free.

Happy reading!

Dina Jacobs is a single librarian who has never fit in due to her off-the-charts intelligence, frizzy hair and rounder-than-socially-acceptable figure. She left her past behind until she receives an invitation to her ten-year high school reunion, and all her insecurities return.

Adam Mandel is a single corporate attorney who just missed his third deadline at his father’s law firm, the law firm where he is up for junior partner. With his reputation on the line, Adam needs all the help he can get to convince his father that he deserves the promotion.

When Dina and Adam run into each other on a deserted road, Dina thinks Mr. Flashypants can’t possibly be interested in someone like her. Adam thinks Dina is just the person to help him improve his reputation. Lies and insecurities force them to take a look at themselves. Can they trust each other to look beyond the surface?

Learning to Love is on sale for $0.99. Available at Amazon Barnes & Noble Apple iBooks

I’m so excited to host fellow Wild Rose Press author, Jennifer Wilck. Welcome!

• Tell us three things we’d find if we looked under your heroine’s bed? How about the hero’s? Great question! Dina space beneath her bed would be filled with books—carefully stacked so they don’t get damaged, of course, because she’s a librarian. She’s desperate to find space for all of them! There would be a pair of pink fluffy slippers, and probably a stray dust bunny because it’s really hard to vacuum around all those books. Adam uses that space to hide things—a box of photos of his mom, who left when he was little; a stack of comic books that were his favorite as a child; and an extra box of condoms, because until he meets Dina, he’s a player.

• What is the theme of this book? If it’s part of a series, how does this book fit into the series? The theme is hiding who you are from others, and how love allows that secret part of you to shine. Both Dina and Adam are afraid to show their true selves, but they’re easily able to recognize the hidden part in each other. And they like what they see. Learning to Love is the third book in my Serendipity Series. However, you don’t have to read the other two books first—the series can be read in any order.

• Why do you write this genre? What inspired this story? Do you write any other genres? I love writing contemporary romance and Jewish characters is my niche. I think diversity adds texture and helps to mirror the real world. Adam was the “bad boy” in the other books, and I wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself. Dina is his complete opposite and the one he can’t get out of his head, so she’s perfect for him. Plus, she makes him grow and change.

• Any tips to share with fellow authors/aspiring authors? What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard. The best advice I’ve heard is never stop writing. Don’t worry about if it’s bad or uninspired. Just write. It’s a muscle. The more you use it, the better it will get.

An excerpt from Learning to Love:

What the hell just happened? She wanted to be friends. The only kind of “friend” he wanted to be with her had “boy” attached to it. No, that wasn’t true. He enjoyed her friendship because he loved talking to her, hearing her opinions, sharing himself with her.

But he was becoming more attracted to her. So far, they’d only kissed, but that one kiss, that unbelievable kiss, haunted him. His lips still burned where they’d touched hers, his insides still turned to jelly when he thought about it. In fact, he’d been hoping there would have been more kissing in her apartment once he’d apologized for his gaffe.

But she’d focused on their arrangement and her overreaction, and here he was pulling away from the curb into rush hour traffic.

She thought he was dating her only to impress his father. If he were one hundred percent honest with himself, he’d acknowledge the partial truth in that statement. But the more time he spent time with her, when he wasn’t royally screwing things up with her, the more he wanted to move beyond their arrangement.

His head was another matter. It was still focused on not making a fool of himself, on maintaining the right reputation, on spinning the right message.

But listening to his head was probably what had gotten him into this mess in the first place. As unbelievable as it might sound, it was time to follow his heart.