#SaturdaySpotlight is on Judy Davis & Willie my Love!

Good Morning and Welcome to the LAST Saturday Spotlight of June 2019!

No, I can't believe this year is half over either, but I'm excited about all that's transpired and blessings yet to come.

I pray you are too.

Today's guest is no stranger to our blog. Judy has been in our spotlight before and has shared treasures and thoughts with us but today we get a peek into her newest release, Willie my Love!

Can two stubborn hearts find love under the tall white pines?

The year is 1856. White pine is king of the forest.
       The last thing Jonathan Wain wants to do is ride miles through Pennsylvania’s wilderness to help his father’s logging partner in the small settlement of Clearfield. His family owns clipper ships in the Chesapeake Bay that carry the coveted logs to the markets each spring, and they can’t afford a loss.
       The last thing Wilhelmina Wydcliffe wants is a handsome sea captain from Maryland meddling in her father’s logging operations under attack by unknown enemies. A feisty tomboy and better known as Willie to her crews, she has a dream to be the largest logging operator east of the Mississippi River.
       When both Willie’s and Jonathan’s lives are threatened, they are forced to work together to find their enemies before both of their companies are in shambles.

       But as their attraction to each other escalates, can they set aside their differences, unearth the truth and troublemakers, and discover contentment in each other’s arms?

EXCERPT:

Smiling, Jonathan took Willie’s proffered hand and shook it, without releasing it. “To show you I bargain in good faith, I offer your pistol as well.” With his free hand, he pulled her small, single shot, dueling pistol from his waistcoat and placed it in her open palm.

“But I have absolutely nothing to trade,” she said with a haughty theatrical voice.

“Ah, ha,” he whispered, pulling her close to him. “A kiss, perhaps?”

Her voice exploded as she tried to push him away. “Why you arrogant scoundrel, I ought to shoot you with this gun.”

His face moved closer. She gasped in surprise before his mouth swooped down on her lips. The kiss was brief, but soft and bewitching, and when he released her, she skidded safely backward.

“Now tell me,” he crooned in a velvet voice. “Why do you carry a loaded pistol?”

“For rattlesnakes.” Her hand fell to her side, the pistol enclosed in the folds of her dress.

“And the knife?”

“To cut off their rattles.”

He laughed, his hearty chuckles filling up the room and silence around them. “I'd rather sit naked with the rattlesnake than with you so heavily armed.”

Judy Ann Davis began her career in writing as a copy and continuity writer for radio and television in Scranton, PA. She holds a degree in Journalism and Communications and has written for industry and education throughout her career.

Over a dozen of her short stories have appeared in various literary and small magazines, and anthologies, and have received numerous awards. To date, she was written five novels, a collection of short stories, and a novella. Her works encompass romance, mystery, western, and paranormal in the historical as well as the contemporary arena. Her last novel, Four White Roses, was a finalist in the Book Excellence and Georgia Romance Writers’ Maggie awards.   

When Judy Ann is not behind a computer, you can find her looking for anything humorous to make her laugh or swinging a golf club where the chuckles are few.

She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America, and lives in Central Pennsylvania.

VISIT HER ON:

Her blog: www.judyanndavis.blogspot.com

The Web: www.judyanndavis.com

Facebook: Judy Ann Davis Author

Twitter: @JudyAnnDavis4

Uh, oh Judy, you've got me hooked! What a wonderful scene. Thanks for sharing. We certainly wish you the best of luck and God's blessings with your new book.

Hope you enjoyed the spotlight friends. You can get a copy of Willie my Love at Amazon.

I pray blessings over you and yours and hope you'll check back weekly for Wednesday Words with Friends and, as always, Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Judy Ann Davis & Four White Roses!

Good Morning!

Well, we are leaving North Dakota heading to Minnesota for the last leg of our West Coast Vacation before going home. I've loved this so much I do believe I could do it full time! But enough about me. 

Today's guest has visited before; on May 18 and June 13th so please welcome Judy Ann Davis back with her latest release, Four White Roses!

 Can a wily old ghost help two fractured hearts find love? 

When widower Rich Redman returns to Pennsylvania with his young daughter to sell his deceased grandmother’s house, he discovers Grandmother Gertie’s final request was for him to find a missing relative and a stash of WWI jewels.

Torrie Larson, single mom, is trying to make her landscape center and flower arranging business succeed while attempting to save the lineage of a rare white rose brought from Austria in the 1900's.

Together, the rich Texas lawyer and poor landscape owner team up to rescue the last rose and fulfill a dead woman’s wishes. But in their search to discover answers to the mysteries plaguing them, will Rich and Torrie also discover love in each other’s arms? Or will a meddling ghost, a pompous banker, and an elusive stray cat get in their way?

EXCERPT 

When Torrie stepped up to grab the notes from Rich’s hand, he scooped her into his arms and, without warning, planted a light kiss squarely in the center of her forehead, oblivious to the dirt on her face from working at the landscape center. Before she could react, he shoved the notes and phone in her hand, spun her around, and nudged her toward the steps. “Now go pluck the local flowers and bamboozle all those poor unsuspecting customers. I have work to do.” He smiled an arresting smile.

“Bamboozle?” She turned toward him and gave him a perplexed look. Seriously? Isn’t that a word to better describe your occupation, counselor?” Forcing herself to suppress a grin, she clambered down the steps and called over her shoulder, “Don’t forget to feed the cat. Have Lulu teach you.”

She slid into the driver’s seat and tossed the phone and notes onto the passenger seat. But before she could pull away from Gertie’s house, her phone rang. This time it wasn’t her usual ringtone. Rich Redman had changed her tune from I Love the Flower Girl to the Yellow Rose of Texas.

“The audacity of that man! What a blockhead,” she sputtered aloud. How dare he toy with her ringtone? Her mother had suggested the 60’s song when she first started floral arranging at the landscape center. She reached for the phone and answered more sharply than she normally would, “What? What do you want now, Richard Lee Redman? I’m driving. I can’t talk.”

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and Torrie hoped he wasn’t going to say you—or his Friday outing with her was going down the drain.

Instead, he merely said in his low and sensual voice, “You know you have dirt on your face, don’t you?”

Torrie hung up on him.

Buy Links:

https://www.amazon.com/Four-White-Roses-Judy-Davis-ebook/dp/B06XPBKY7F/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/four-white-roses/id1222189126?mt=11

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/four-white-roses

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Judy_Ann_Davis_Four_White_Roses?id=MWXODgAAQBAJ

Judy Ann Davis began her career in writing as a copy and continuity writer for radio and television in Scranton, PA. She holds a degree in Journalism and Communications and has written for industry and education throughout her career.

Over a dozen of her short stories have appeared in various literary and small magazines and anthologies, and have received numerous awards.

When Judy Ann is not behind a computer, you can find her looking for anything humorous to make her laugh or swinging a golf club where the chuckles are

few.

She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America, and divides her time between Central Pennsylvania and New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Visit her on:

Her blog: www.judyanndavis.blogspot.com

The web: www.judyanndavis.com

Facebook: Judy Ann Davis Author

Twitter: JudyAnnDavis4

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/judyanndavis44/

Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Ann-Davis/e/B006GXN502/

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4353662.Judy_Ann_Davis

Sounds like a great book, Judy Ann! Good luck and God's blessings with it.

Thanks for popping by, Friends. I hope you'll visit each week for more Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT 

#TuesdayTreasures with Judy Ann Davis!

Good Morning from Amarillo, TX!

We left Lake Texoma (Gordonville) yesterday and drove to Amarillo and to Palo Duro Canyon so we could see a performance of 'Texas'. I'll be sharing pics and details here on the blog later and on FB more often so be sure and find/like/follow me!

Meanwhile, Please welcome Judy Ann Davis back to our blog to share something she treasures with us....

MY GRANDPARENTS AND MY DNA

Treasures may be tangible or intangible. They can be held in the hand or simply stored in the mind. My treasure for today is stored in my mind.

Recently, I took the plunge and had my DNA tested. I knew all four of my grandparents emigrated from Poland to the United State shortly before or shortly after the 1900s. I found I was 98% East European/Polish and 2% Finnish. Though surprised by the 2%, I knew from research that the Finnish tribes were the first ones to settle the north Baltic coast of what is today called Poland.

Why my grandparents are a treasure is for their strength, stamina, and bravery to leave their homeland—and everything they owned—to undergo a perilous journey, not in the least comfortable, to a foreign country an ocean away. Then they had to find work, learn English, and become citizens.

Unfortunately, I never really knew three of my grandparents since they died when I was a small child. My paternal grandmother, Victoria, was only sixteen when she boarded a ship in 1906 to come to the U.S. where her sister was already located. Talk about fearless!

Both of my grandfathers worked the mines and owned farms. My Grandfather Lashinski bought a farm in Northeast Pennsylvania which my father and mother later purchased from him and where they raised my sister, brother and me.

It was on this bountiful farm where I scampered over acres of pastures, forests, and fields. A carefree child, I walked on stonewalls build by the Irish in the early 1800s. I splashed in the creek winding through our property, and I caught crayfish and minnows. I daydreamed. I stared at star-filled skies and wondered about the vastness of our universe. I smelled the sweet scent of dried hay, wild roses, and ripe blackberries. But most of all, I was always safe and never hungry--like many Poles left behind in the “Old Country.” History tell us they had to endure endless domination by other countries as well as the very sorrowful hardships of World War II where 2.7+ million perished.

Without my bold, risk-taking grandparents, I would not be the person I am today. I would never have experienced the wealth of opportunities that living in the United States afforded me. They are a treasure.

So if any of my grandparents are peering down from the heavens above, I’d like to shout out a “Thank you.” And I ask only one small favor: Can any of you tell me which side of the family the 2% Finnish comes from?

Check out Judy Ann’s latest novel:

FOUR WHITE ROSES

BLURB:
When widower Rich Redman returns to Pennsylvania with his young daughter to sell his deceased grandmother’s house, he discovers Grandmother Gertie’s final request was for him to find a missing relative and a stash of WWI jewels.

Torrie Larson, single mom, is trying to make her landscape center and flower arranging business succeed while attempting to save the lineage of a rare white rose brought from Austria in the 1900s.
Together, the rich Texas lawyer and poor landscape owner team up to rescue the last rose and fulfill a dead woman’s wishes. But in their search to discover answers to the mysteries plaguing them, will Rich and Torrie also discover love in each other’s arms? Or will a meddling ghost, a pompous banker, and an elusive stray cat get in their way?

AUTHOR BIO:

Judy Ann Davis holds a degree in Journalism and Communications and has written for industry and education throughout her career. She writes both short stories and contemporary and historical novels. When she’s not behind a computer, you can find her looking for anything humorous to make her laugh or swinging a golf club where the chuckles are few. She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America, and divides her time between Central Pennsylvania and New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Visit her on

Her blog: www.judyanndavis.blogspot.com

The Web: www.judyanndavis.com

Facebook: Judy Ann Davis Author

Twitter: @JudyAnnDavis4

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/judyanndavis44

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4353662.Judy_Ann_Davis

Amazon Author Page:  https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Ann-Davis/e/B006GXN502/

How lovely, Judy! Your farm and memories are definitely something to treasure. Thanks for sharing!

Hope you enjoyed Judy's post as much as I did and that you'll join me each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight!

Until next time, take care and God bless.

PamT 

#ThursdayThoughts Guest post by Judy Ann Davis

Good Morning Friends!

Well May is just marching right along isn't it? 

Today's guest has been featured once before here on our blog but please give a great big welcome to Judy Ann Davis!

Although the rose has always been my favorite flower, it is also the flower of June, my birth month. Growing up on a farm in northeastern Pennsylvania, I cherished the intoxicating fragrance of the antique rose bushes growing around the stonewall foundations of old razed houses on our property where early settlers lived, but later moved westward for reasons unknown. Every June, like a birthday present from the earth and heaven above, it was a delight to see the many bushes, growing wild, bursting into riotous pink blossoms, and spreading over an entire knoll of our pasture.

Old roses, also called “old-fashioned roses,” “heirloom roses,” “antique roses” and “old garden roses” are those plants introduced in America prior to 1867. Although there are hundreds of old rose varieties, they are best known for their hardiness and fragrance.

The oldest rose planted today was in existence some 2,000 years before the birth of Christ. It migrated from Persia (Iran) through Turkey to France and finally into England Later, clippings of these old garden roses were often hand-carried to America by early immigrants from Europe.

In my novel, Four White Roses, I chose to have the heroine try to save the last white Austrian rose that the hero’s great-grandmother brought with her stateside just prior to World War I.

Sometimes writers don’t know where they get ideas for writing a novel. Sometimes thoughts and ideas just pop into our heads. To be honest, only when I started writing Four White Roses did mental sparks erupt—and I was able to draw an eerie connection to my own life. I have actually saved the last old roses bushes planted on my family farm and dating back to the 1800s.

Luckily, I took cuttings after my husband and I were married. With the passing of my parents, the rose bushes eventually died out, probably succumbing to harsh winters, the elements and wildlife, and lack of nourishment and care. Now, more than ever, I find it humbling when I realize I possess the very same roses planted by the hands of our first settlers. And, the lineage is still alive for over a hundred and fifty years.

Ralph Waldo Emerson best reflects my feelings about these beautiful flowers with those prickly thorns:

             “There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.”

Wow Judy, I don't remember that quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson but it really made me think of my devotional Love is a Rose that parallels the love of God and the Christian life to the words of the song, The Rose. Thanks for sharing your sentiments on roses with us! Now tell us a little more about Four White Roses and yourself.....

When widower Rich Redman returns to Pennsylvania with his young daughter to sell his deceased grandmother’s house, he discovers Grandmother Gertie’s final request was for him to find a missing relative and a stash of WWI jewels.

Torrie Larson, single mom, is trying to make her landscape center and flower arranging business succeed while attempting to save the lineage of a rare white rose brought from Austria in the 1900s.

Together, the rich Texas lawyer and poor landscape owner team up to rescue the last rose and fulfill a dead woman’s wishes. But in their search to discover answers to the mysteries plaguing them, will Rich and Torrie also discover love in each other’s arms? Or will a meddling ghost, a pompous banker, and an elusive stray cat get in their way?

BUY LINK for Four White Roses:   https://www.amazon.com/Four-White-Roses-Judy-Davis-ebook/dp/B06XPBKY7F/      

Judy Ann Davis began her career in writing as a copy and continuity writer for radio and television in Scranton, PA. She holds a degree in Journalism and Communications and has written for industry and education throughout her career.

Over a dozen of her short stories have appeared in various literary and small magazines and anthologies, and have received numerous awards. She has written four novels to date, one novella, and an anthology of short stories.

When Judy Ann is not behind a computer, you can find her looking for anything humorous to make her laugh or swinging a golf club where the chuckles are

few.

She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America, and divides her time between Central Pennsylvania and New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

Visit her on:

Her blog: www.judyanndavis.blogspot.com

The web: www.judyanndavis.com

Facebook: Judy Ann Davis Author https://www.facebook.com/JudyAnnDavisAuthor/

Twitter: JudyAnnDavis4   https://twitter.com/JudyAnnDavis4

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/judyanndavis44/

Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Judy-Ann-Davis/e/B006GXN502/

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4353662.Judy_Ann_Davis

Other Judy Ann Davis titles

RED FOX WOMAN

UNDER STARRY SKIES

KEY TO LOVE

SWEET KISS

Thanks again Judy!

And Thank YOU dear friends for dropping by. I hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll visit each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.

PamT

#ThursdayThoughts AHA Featured Author Judy Ann Davis

Well here we are again, welcoming another brand new (to me) author to our blog.

Judy Ann Davis began her career in writing as a copy and continuity writer for radio and television in Scranton, PA. She holds a degree in Journalism and Communications and has written for industry and education throughout her career.

Over a dozen of her short stories have appeared in various literary and small magazines, and anthologies, and have received numerous awards.

When Judy Ann is not behind a computer, you can find her looking for anything humorous to make her laugh or swinging a golf club where the chuckles are
few.

She is a member of Pennwriters, Inc. and Romance Writers of America, and lives in Central Pennsylvania. Connect with Judy at the following locations...

Website: www.judyanndavis.com
Blog:  www.judyanndavis.blogspot.com
Twitter: JudyAnnDavis4 https://twitter.com/JudyAnnDavis4
Facebook: Judy Ann Davis
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Judy-Ann-Davis/561285450554606?ref=hl
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4353662.Judy_Ann_Davis

Now let's find out about Judy's book.....

How did “Under Starry Skies” by Judy Ann Davis come about? Since the author had worked in adult education and understood the value of reading and writing for all adults, the story of school teacher Maria O’Donnell teaching Indian Two Bears to read and write in 1875 seemed plausible for a storyline. Two Bears was a minor but favorite and humorous character in her first book, “Red Fox Woman.” She felt she had to bring him back in the sequel because her readers fell in love with him and his humorous and wily disposition. They also fell in love with the youngest Ashmore brother, Tydall, who's the story's hero.

Blurb:
Hired as the town’s school teacher, Maria O’Donnell and her sister Abigail arrive in the Colorado Territory in 1875, only to find the uncle they were to stay with has been murdered.
Rancher Tye Ashmore is content with life until he meets quiet and beautiful Maria. He falls in love at first sight, but her reluctance to jeopardize her teaching position by accepting his marriage proposal only makes him more determined to make her part of his life.

When their lives are threatened by gunshots and a gunnysack of dangerous wildlife, Tye believes he is the target of an unknown enemy. Not until Maria receives written threats urging her to leave does she realize she might be the target instead of the handsome rancher.
With the help of Tye, Abigail, and a wily Indian called Two Bears, Maria works to uncover her uncle’s killer and put aside her fears. But will she discover happiness and true love under Colorado’s starry skies?

Snippet:
Two Bears reached out and laid a hand on her trembling ones to still her. “Listen closely. You must tell Tye Ashmore and those you trust. You must always carry a weapon with you. Do not take chances. Do not be foolish. Foolish men are the first to die. Take a different path to the school each morning. We need to find your enemy.”

“I don’t know how.” Maria gave a choked, desperate laugh. She watched Two Bears stare with a hawklike gaze at the forest leading to the stable of the manse, then let his eyes encircle the entire wooded area at the edge of the yard.


Finally he spoke in a calm steady voice. “Enemies are not always wise enemies. They get careless. Then we will find him. . .or he will reveal himself.”

Wow..sounds like a really great book from The Wild Rose Press! Get your copy today at Amazon

Hope you enjoyed today's post and that you'll return each week for Tuesday Treasures, Thursday Thoughts and Saturday Spotlight.

Until next time, take care and God Bless.
PamT