New Releases, Service, and Gratitude

We have been writing for some of you for decades now, and if there is one thing we have learned, it is that the people who read our books are not just our readers. You are our friends. You are the reason we keep showing up with more stories, even when life makes that harder than it sounds.

This week is one of those weeks.

Jim is with me as I go through scans for my metastatic disease and my fifteenth stent replacement. Fifteenth. We laugh about that number, because what else do you do? We have learned over the years that the body has its own timeline and its own strange sense of humor, and the best you can do is show up, trust the people taking care of you, and keep writing the next chapter…literally and otherwise.               

Your kind words, your messages, your reviews, and your loyalty mean more to us right now than we know how to say. Thank you for being here.             

We have more news , but first...two books we cannot wait to put in your hands and they are available NOW.

SECOND STREET

Harbor View Cozy Fantasy Series, Book 2

Harbor View is back.

So are Skye, Ocean, Jo, Henry, and a town that keeps its deepest secrets buried, sometimes literally.

When a body turns up in a locked house with no visible way out, Skye Randall finds herself pulled into a mystery that reaches back decades: stolen art, hidden tunnels beneath a Revolutionary War-era house, and a leather journal written in code that someone is willing to kill to recover.

Her fifteen-year-old daughter Ocean has an edge nobody sees coming. She can talk to ghosts. Three of them. Each with opinions, agendas, and a stubborn refusal to stay out of the investigation.

Second Street is not a romance. But it is deeply, completely about human connection. The family you are born into, the family you find, and the ones who stay with you even after they are gone. It is about a mother and daughter learning to trust each other with the impossible. It is about a town that remembers everything and the people brave enough to ask it what it knows.

We hope you love it as much as we loved writing it.

TREMORS OF THE PAST

A Caleb Marlowe Short Story

For those of you who have been riding with Caleb Marlowe through the Elkhorn, Colorado series, this one is for you.    

“Tremors of the Past” takes us to Denver, 1882, where Henry Jordan, a man carrying more history than most. finds himself in the middle of something he did not go looking for and cannot walk away from. It is a story about survival, about the weight of the past, and about what it means to stand up when standing down would be so much easier.

Not a romance. But every page of it is about what binds people together when the world is trying to pull them apart. About loyalty. About the kind of courage that does not announce itself.

We think you'll feel it.

More News!

September is a full month for us, and we want to share it with you.

Our children and grandchildren are coming to visit, and we cannot tell you how much we are looking forward to that. After the kind of week we are having, there is nothing more grounding than the people you love most filling up the house.

Jim and I will also be spending a week volunteering with Little Pink Houses of Hope, an organization that provides retreat weeks for families living with breast cancer. It is one of the most meaningful things we do all year. If you are not familiar with Little Pink Houses of Hope, we encourage you to look them up. The work they do is extraordinary.

And at the end of the month, I will be traveling to San Francisco to serve as a co-moderator at the International Lobular Breast Cancer Symposium, a gathering of researchers, clinicians, and patient advocates working to advance understanding of invasive lobular carcinoma. As a patient advocate myself, being part of that conversation is an honor I do not take lightly.

September, in other words, is for us a month about service. About showing up for the people and the causes that need us. About remembering that the stories we tell, in books and in life, are always, at their heart, about human beings taking care of each other.

One small ask, from our hearts to yours.

Neither Second Street nor "Tremors of the Past" is a romance. But we believe deeply that they are about everything that romance is really about.

The bonds between people.

The loyalty that survives loss.

The love that does not require explanation.

The family that shows up, living or otherwise.

If these books find a place in your heart, we would be so grateful if you would tell someone. A friend. A book club. A stranger on the internet who looks like they need a good story. Also a review, however short, often gives other readers the courage to take a chance on something new.

You have always been our best ambassadors. We would not be here without you.

Posting this with deep love and gratitude!

Some news, a sneak peek, and our latest kitchen obsession...

Hi dear friend,

We hope this note finds you well—with a cup of tea or coffee in hand and a good book nearby.

Lately, life has been wonderfully full. We've spent countless hours at our desks (still sitting across from each other after all these years), happily debating plot twists, polishing chapters, and occasionally insisting that our version of a scene is the better one. Thankfully, we've learned that the best stories usually come from somewhere in the middle.

Before anything else, we simply want to say thank you.

A little while ago, we made the decision to limit the number of subscribers to this newsletter. It may seem like an unusual choice in a world where everyone is chasing bigger numbers, but for us, this has never been about the size of the list. It's about the people on it. We'd much rather have a smaller community of readers who truly love stories and enjoy sharing this journey with us than a huge mailing list where those connections are lost. Your emails, your reviews, your kind words, and the moments when you tell us that one of our characters felt like family...those are gifts we never take for granted. You are the reason we keep writing, and we hope you know just how much we treasure this little corner we've built together.

Many of you have also followed our family's journey over the past few years, and we wanted to share a small personal update. As most of you know, Nikoo continues to live with metastatic breast cancer. August brings another stent replacement, scans and doctor appointments—a reminder that life with metastatic disease comes with its share of challenges. But we've learned that while cancer takes away many things, it doesn't get to decide how we spend our days. The love of family and friends, your encouragement, and the opportunity to give back through volunteering have become some of life's greatest blessings.

Here’s a favorite quote is from Winston Churchill: "We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give."

That has become something of a guiding principle for us. Whether it's mentoring another patient, volunteering with cancer organizations, or simply being there for someone having a difficult day, we've discovered that giving has a remarkable way of bringing hope right back to the giver. It keeps us all moving forward.

On the home front, we're looking forward to a house full of family over the next couple of months. There is something wonderfully healing about hearing grandchildren laugh, sharing long meals that last well past dessert, and ending the day with conversations in the backyard—or watching the sunset at the beach. Those moments remind us what matters most.

Then, in September, we'll be traveling back to Connecticut to volunteer once again with Little Pink Houses of Hope, an organization that's especially close to our hearts. They provide week-long retreats for families living with cancer, giving them time to simply breathe, reconnect, and make beautiful memories together. It's one of the highlights of our year, and we're honored to be part of it.

NOW FOR SOME BOOK NEWS!

We're delighted to tell you that Second Street, the next novel in our Harbor View Cozy Fantasy series, will be available to order on Wednesday, August 12—which also happens to be our younger son's birthday. We can't imagine a better day to send another story into the world. We cannot wait for you to return to Harbor View and spend more time with Skye, Ocean, Arthur, and all the wonderfully quirky residents of our favorite little seaside town.

Until then, we'd love to share a sneak peek at the next chapter….Here’s the link

And if you're in the mood for something completely different, we've also temporarily lowered the price of our Scottish Starter Box Set to just $1.99. It includes the first novels from three of our Scottish series and is a wonderful place to begin or revisit—or perhaps introduce a friend to our Highland adventures. No pressure whatsoever; we simply wanted to let you know while the sale is running.

And finally (not book news!), our newest obsession...

Every Friday has somehow turned into an unofficial Sourdough Bake-Off at our house (see picture of our dinner rolls above!). We're experimenting with starters, comparing crumb, arguing over hydration percentages (yes, really!), and discovering that baking bread is surprisingly addictive. We suspect many of you have fallen down the same rabbit hole. If you're a sourdough enthusiast, we'd love to hear your favorite tips—or even see a picture of your latest loaf or rolls!

As always, thank you for inviting our stories into your lives and for letting us be a small part of that. We never take your friendship, your encouragement, or your readership for granted.

Until next time, take good care of yourselves—and keep turning the pages.