Hi, there!

I’m here to share a little bit about For the Love of July, Book 2 of my series, Twelve Months, Twelve Love Stories.

If you read the last blog post I did some months ago (Goodbye Heartbreak, Hello May) you may remember I am an artist, with designing Christmas ornaments as my specialty. So, right now is when I bring out the brushes and paints. I’ve even been known to play Christmas music to get me in the mood. When I need a break, I do a little writing. And vice versa.

Again, I honestly never planned on writing a book, let alone a romance series. But here I am, the author of 9 books and now working on my tenth.

What was I thinking, right? Evidently, by deciding to tackle a series with 12 books, at the time I wasn’t thinking at all. But I can now say I’m very proud of how far I’ve come. I also believe writing a series is the way to go. That sad feeling when you finish a book and you have to say goodbye to your now-favorite characters? This doesn’t happen in a series. They’re bound to show up somewhere in the next books to let you know how they’re doing. Or more likely, give their input for what should happen next.

Even though For the Love of July is the 2nd book of the series, this is when the stories move to Cleveland (Ohio), and where I plan to keep them until the series is complete. Since I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland (Chagrin Falls), I’ve tried to keep that small-town kind of feeling in what I write. After all, as I mentioned in the past post, Ohio is known as “The Heart of it All”. What better setting for a love story could you ask for than this? 

Family and friends, love and marriage… this is a common theme throughout all the books of this series. Along with a little heat, a sprinkle of humor, and as always, that guaranteed HEA.   

❤💗❤

Peachy Chicken Recipe

Since I’m a great believer in that the simple act of preparing food for someone can be anything from a cure, a celebration, or just a way to soothe your soul, each book features a recipe that has some part, be it big or little, in the story. (Except for A Million Decembers, Book 1).

The recipe I have chosen is not one you can find in one of my books. But I decided to share because it is one that always gets rave reviews. It is also so simple to make and can be doubled for a large crowd. There are many versions of this online, but this is my own take. I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients:

  1. pounds frozen and pre-cooked lightly breaded chicken tenders
  1. cups orange juice
  2. tablespoons brown sugar
  1. tablespoons white vinegar
  1. teaspoons basil

½ teaspoon nutmeg

  1. cans (15-1/4 ounces) sliced peaches, drained

Place chicken tenders in a greased 11x15 baking dish.

Combine orange juice with brown sugar, vinegar, basil, and nutmeg and pour over chicken.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350˚F for 45 minutes or until fork tender, basting often.

Place peach slices between chicken pieces, baste well and bake uncovered for 15 - 20 minutes longer.

6 to 8 servings

Enjoy!

❤💗❤

For the Love of July

Blurb

Think summertime ... and baseball comes to mind. But let's say we mix things up a bit. Think of it as a recipe in the making.

A recipe for love.

Start by tossing together one spunky hometown girl, Abby Evans, who bakes cookies for a living, and Kevin Kardell, a hot and upcoming Major League Baseball sensation. A Chicago native and new in town, he is more than ready to show Cleveland just how good he really is.

Add a dash of humor, a pinch of sass, and a whole lot of chemistry. Finally, the most important step of all? Add heat. Lots of it.

The result? Bam! Bang! Sha-zamm! You've got fireworks! A recipe that's a winner, hands down!

But of course, there's a catch ... because, as we all know, anything worth having never comes easy.

❤💗❤

Book Excerpt, Chapter 3

I never understood how people 

could fall in love at first sight. 

Then you came along.

~ Anonymously Yours

The cookies loaded into her SUV, Abby checked one last time to make sure they wouldn’t slide around during the drive. She wasn’t going to take any chances of anything else interfering with the delivery of these cookies.

She was backing out of her driveway, her eyes on the rearview mirror, when she caught a sudden flash of red. She slammed on her brakes, cringing at the sound of the boxes bouncing around in the back of the SUV.

Then there was only silence. 

No crunch of metal against metal. No sound of breaking glass.

Thank goodness…

She turned her head to watch as a sleek red sports car raced down the street before it came to a screeching halt. With a loud roar, it made a sharp turn up the driveway of a condo two units down and across the street from her. 

Music was blaring, the bass booming like drums.

She groaned, dropping her head down on the steering wheel.

You don’t need this. Not today, and certainly not now.

Then she was angry.

Really angry.

In one swift move, she was out of her car and marching down the street. Someone needed to let this person know this kind of behavior would not be tolerated, and it might as well be her. This was a residential neighborhood, for heaven’s sake. Not someone’s personal racetrack. No matter what kind of fancy car they drove. 

When she came closer, she saw the driver was a man. Now rummaging through the trunk, he was pulling things out and tossing them in a pile on the driveway. From what she could see, it looked like all kinds of sporting stuff.

You know, bats, mitts, jerseys, and whatnot. All the gear men seemed to think they needed to have in order to prove they were men. The same stuff, even if they rarely used it, they carried around with them to prove that, yeah, they were as athletic as the next guy out there.

And from the collection this man had, it appeared he considered himself more athletic than most.

Great… just great. Another egotistical, wannabe athlete.

Again? She wasn’t in the mood.

Observing him from behind, she couldn’t help but notice his muscular physique, suggesting he frequented the gym regularly. He was tall, about a head taller than she was. And his hair, what little she could see that wasn’t covered by his baseball cap, was a wavy, burnished gold, curling down the back of his neck.

The thought popped into her head he only needed a toga and he could pass as a Greek God. Or better yet, one of those Nordic warrior-hero-types featured on the cover of a racy Victorian romance novel.

What the heck are you thinking? He’s no God… and certainly no hero. He’s just a man. A man who nearly ran you over, and evidently believes rules are not meant for him. So, get your mind out of the gutter and back to why you’re here.

She cleared her throat. Loudly. She did this twice, in fact.

He turned around just as he was pulling another bag out of the trunk. He dropped the bag on the ground, a look of surprise coming over his face. Then he leaned back against the car, and after slowly adjusting his sunglasses, he crossed his arms over his chest.  

He smiled. “Well, well, well… hello there, Red. What can I do for you? Wait, let me guess. You’re the one-woman welcoming committee of the neighborhood, aren’t you?”

He held his hands up. “But wait a minute here, no homemade baked goods? Surely you intended to bring cookies or something, no?” 

He shook his head. “I must say, I’m very disappointed.”

She stared at him.

Red?

She decided right then and there, she didn’t like him. 

No, she didn’t like him at all.

About the author L.B. Joyce:

 

L. B. Joyce lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. A freelance artist by day, with designing Christmas ornaments as her specialty, she’s also a writer by night. She loves getting lost in a good book, has redecorated almost every room in her house more times than she’d like to admit, loves baking up a storm in her kitchen, hates housework with a passion, and will drive just about anywhere because of her fear of flying.

You can check out the latest L. B. Bear Christmas Ornament designs and just about everything you ever wanted to know about Christmas at: https://www.facebook.com/LBGlitterGirl  

Books in this Series:  

A Million Decembers 

For the Love of July 

February’s Angel 

Promise Me November 

An Unexpected June 

A January to Remember 

September’s Moonlight Serenade 

Goodbye Heartbreak, Hello May 

 

Website/blog: https://www.lbjoyceauthor.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLBJoyce

Twitter: https: https://twitter.com/lbjoyceauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lbjoyceauthor/

All Author: https://allauthor.com/author/lbjoyce/

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/L-B-Joyce/e/B01N2AFD4L/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk

Links to Buy: Available in Print: $14.89, Audio: $5.99 and E-Book: $4.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N6SLTBS

https://bookshop.org/shop/lbjoyce12

https://www.draft2digital.com/book/

*Besides the first 8 books in the Twelve Months, Twelve Love Stories, I have also published – 

A Grand Slam Kind of Christmas, Book 1 of the series, Holidays in White Oaks Valley. 

Links to Buy: Available in Print: $13.29 and E-Book: $4.99

 Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Grand-Christmas.../dp/0960031154/

Universal Book Link: https://books2read.com/u/mVgeL6

Independent Book Stores: https://bookshop.org/shop/lbjoyce12

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