Hello, lovely reader!
I hope you and those you love are happy, safe, and well. I'm praying for God's peace and love to rest on the world, and on you, too, especially in these troubled times.
Well, I’m still in Bulgaria, still sleeping on the floor (not as uncomfortable as it sounds, I have at least six inches of layered mattress topper padding to lie on), and still have sweet tabby Little Girl and her four kittens on my bed! (Photos further on in the email.)
I do feel for poor hubby back in the UK, and all being well, we’ll switch places here next Thursday. But I’m not complaining at all that I got to stay longer. The weather has turned glorious — bright sunny days, cool nights but no longer cold. A sea of pure white anemones shine outside my kitchen door. A sea of purple periwinkles line the front fence. The peony buds are growing fatter and pinker, and I might just get to see it flower this year. The pair of swallows nesting in the front porch already have babies. A striking bird I’ve never seen before, a Eurasian hoopoe, visits the garden every morning, right outside the kitchen window while I’m eating breakfast, giving me a show. I sent hubby a photo and he identified it. Turns out this is the bird I’ve heard calling morning and evening since my first visit here, that I nicknamed the “car alarm bird”. Though it’s really more like an old-fashioned digital alarm clock that goes beep beep beep, beep beep beep!
And the unexpected adventure?
When I went with my neighbour to the village folkloric singing group rehearsal on Monday (I usually attend when I can), I didn’t expect to get roped into putting on the village traditional outfit and performing at a festival yesterday in the next village! Such an honour to be accepted as part of the group! Seems I’ll be singing with them again when, God willing, I return in June.
Click on the image for a few more photos. I was very nervous but it turned out to be great fun and all went fine. Well, I hope it did! I haven’t seen a video yet to know if my mangled attempt at the Bulgarian words of the two songs we performed could be heard by the audience. I made sure to keep well away from the microphone, just in case!
And on to the book news. Between the singing group, necessary garden work to control the weeds, supporting hubby long-distance, and feeding and caring for a LOT of cats, I haven’t been able to get any book work done since returning from the coast. But I’m hopeful that today I can start into the final round of edits for The Piano, Marion Ueckermann’s first ever book that I’m publishing for her family. I have just 9 days to get it publish-ready and the paperback and ebook formatted, so I’m hoping nothing else unexpected happens. I also want to get back to work on my own next book as soon as I can, but deadlines and cats come first!
This week’s f-r-e-e recommendation!
Here are some new f-r-e-e additions to consider for your to-be-read library this week! No-cost this morning on Amazon but prices do change so be sure to check before hitting the buy button! All should be clean and faith-friendly, but as I haven’t read any of these stories yet, I hope I haven’t missed anything I wouldn’t normally choose to share!
Crazy for You by Michelle Sass Aleckson and Susan May Warren is a Christian small-town firefighter romance;
Second Chance Springtime by Lee Tobin McClain is a sweet small-town second chance romance;
Wherever the Road May Lead by Kari Trumbo is a Christian historical Western romance;
Amish Snow White by Ashley Emma is a fairy-tale retelling;
Blind Date with a Billionaire Reality Star by Evangeline Kelly is a faith-filled contemporary romance;
Evangeline also has another no-cost romance, Married to an Alaskan Man.
This week’s group book promos!
This group promo includes a selection of over 30 sweet and clean romances. Includes my books Imperfectly Proverbs 31 (accidental false pretences/ antagonists to love), This Can’t Be Love (set of enemies-to-love romances), and From Friends to Forever (set of friends-to-love romances).
LOVE IN FULL BLOOM - CLEAN ROMANCES!
This group promo features over 120 clean romances, all available in Kindle Unlimited! Includes my books His Radiant Bride (single dad/ marriage of convenience romances) and Imperfectly Proverbs 31 (accidental false pretences/ antagonists-to-love). All my books are currently in Kindle Unlimited, and if you don’t have it but want to find out more (plus get a free trial subscription where you can read as many books in KU as you want!) click here.
Though the organiser specified that all books should be clean, some may be “closed-door clean” rather than completely clean, so please choose carefully!
Pet news
The kittens are now three weeks old and two are still tiny, but all are growing. They’re so cute when they try to walk around on their wobbly little legs! I had to move them to a box rather than the nest of blankets to stop them crawling out, risking falling off the bed.
Such adorable little faces! Those are the two biggest ones. The tinies are in there too, one either side of the bigger kittens, but hard to see.
I’m sure LG (mum) will move them again soon. She’s been peering into nooks and crannies in the house, but nowhere else apart from the front entry, where I set up a different box for them; or under the future dining table, which was occupied by boxes of tools, is really more suitable than where she has them. I’ve cleared the tools away from under what will eventually be the dining table and spread a nice mat for her there. Now I’ll have to wait and see what she decides.
This week's randomly chosen ebook winners are Carol, Barbara, Kay, Alice, and Beth. If your first name or the name in your email address matches one of the winners' names in the list above, reply letting me know which of my solo ebooks (sorry, sets are not included) you'd like as a free Bookfunnel download. You can see them all here. His Tender Mercy and Heart in Hiding aren't yet released, so if you opt for one of these, you'll be added to a wait list and get a copy when your choice is finally reader-ready.
This week's give.away — five subscribers who click any link in this email by Sunday, May 10, 2026 will be randomly chosen to win their choice of my ebooks and will be named in next week's newsletter.
Until next week, I'm praying you and those you love are happy and healthy, with many precious moments of peace and joy to brighten your days.
Blessings, and happy reading,
Cast all your cares upon Him, because He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:1 MEV)
One of my favourites verses, especially when I feel overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious (which has happened a few times this week!). Taking just a few minutes to sit quietly with the Lord, tell Him what’s troubling me, and let the worry go to Him makes a difference.
He truly does care, for every one of us.
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