A Wedding to Remember is out!

by Kristen James

A Wedding to Remember

So many readers emailed about Trent and Molly from More Than Memories that I wanted to continue their story. This story takes place a few months after the close of the previous novel and lets everyone see how things are going for Trent and Molly, and for the other characters in the first book.

A Wedding to Remember, Book 2 of the Memories series (following More Than Memories) is now available in Kindle!

Every girl dreams of a wedding… Trent knows that, and he wants Molly to have the wedding of a lifetime. She’s the love of his life and means everything to him. They eloped before she lost her memory and disappeared, and then they lost four years, so he wants to make up for that lost time in a huge way. Now that they’re reunited, he wants to celebrate their love in front of their family and friends.

It’s the happiest time of her life… but thinking of a wedding brings up all kinds of emotions. Molly’s not sure how to handle things at first! But not only is Trent there for her, he’s bringing in reinforcements.

Did you miss the first book?

More Than Memories     (A full length novel)

More Than Memories, Book 1, Memories series

Can she love him if she can’t remember him? Molly Anderson returns “home” to a town she doesn’t remember, hoping it will spark a memory. She runs into Trent Williams, a Ridge City police detective, and something else definitely sparks.

He wants to know why she left town, with her parents, but without a word to anyone. She doesn’t remember that life. She can only tell him she knew her parents briefly before they died . . . or were murdered, she’s not sure. She hopes regaining her memory will help answer that question.

Trent has his own secrets, but they have a mystery to solve. As they work together and Molly meets their old friends, she realizes their relationship went deeper than memories. In fact, she grew up in Ridge City, even though her parents had said they lived there just a few years. How could she have forgotten her lifelong friend and love? Can she love him again if she doesn’t remember him? There’s also the possibility that she did something awful — and maybe that’s why she’s afraid to remember her old life.

Molly knows she wants him now, but the truth might destroy their love.

Montlake Romance acquires Point Hope

by Kristen James

It’s been a huge pleasure to share with you along the way and hear from readers all over, and I have exciting news to share now.

First I’d like to provide a little context. I’ve been successfully self publishing for almost three years, but “Self” or “Indie” publishing  isn’t a solo operation at all. I’ve utilized a team of freelancers to help with editing, proof reading and cover design, and I feel I’ve continuously improved the quality of my writing and book production. I’m also working with A.K. Waters at Zulu 7 Productions, who has helped with several projects including Point Hope.

I published Point Hope in the middle of June, and I’ve been happily overwhelmed with reader response!  It sold 5,000 copies in less than two months. It’s also been picked up by Montlake Romance, an Amazon Imprint. Montlake will relaunch the book this fall, but it’ll remain for sale on Amazon until we’re ready to switch over.  This feels like a natural next step.  I’m very excited to to work with Montlake because I can reach even more readers.  And of course, I’m looking forward to sharing more of my writing journey with you!

POINT HOPE ON AMAZON                MY NOVELS

Hwy 101 and Florence on the Oregon Coast

by Kristen James

Here’s a few pictures from this last weekend. I was craving clam chowder so my husband and I headed over to the coast. We’ve gone down to Coos Bay quite a bit, and I love it there, but we decided to drive north this time.  I went on quite a few trips as a kid with my family to Yachats and the area, so it was fun to revisit. Going to the coast means two main things: playing on the beach and eating seafood. We had chowder, fish and chips and found a new place called Tidal Raves at Depoe Bay. We shared seared scallops and cocoanut shrimp there. I LOVE scallops, and those were the best I’ve ever had.

(Of course we had a great time, but this is all research too! When I was writing Point Hope, I went and revisited all my favorite places in Coos Bay so I could include them. The Pancake Mill in Point Hope really is in Coos Bay, and they do have gluten free pancakes. You can also really visit Sunset Bay State Park.)

Can you guess where this is?

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It was snapped from the outside viewpoint of the Sea Lion Caves by Florence. The location has this viewpoint, and an elevator that takes you down 200 feet to sea level to look inside the world’s largest sea cave. It’s usually full of see lions that are busy barking and growling at each other.

I took the next picture from inside the caves, looking out over to the Heceta Head lighthouse.

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We drove north for a while after that and explored the beaches–we found a great little beach that was sheltered from the wind by a giant rock structure. Here’s me with my dog Deco exploring.

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We stayed in a cute little motel, and our room even had books in it! I happened to have some copies of Point Hope with me, so I left one there. 🙂

There are so many special places along the coast. Maybe I can include all of them in a story at some point!

Photos from Washington

by Kristen James

We went north this last week for my husband’s family reunion in Washington. It seems like I end up driving through Washington a couple times a year, and I usually see something unusual along the way. Last time I saw what looked like horses standing on a trailer with just a strap to hold them there–it was fake horses of course. I also saw two drivers get into a road rage spat. I don’t know what started it, but I saw one driver throw a water bottle out of the sunroof and onto another car. That car sped up, passed on the shoulder, and tried to run the first car off the road. Scary! We backed off and let them get way ahead of us. Luckily I didn’t see any wrecks after that. I guess the heat got to some people. But dangerous drivers aside, it was a great trip.

Here’s a few pictures of the skyline as we drove through Seattle.

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This one captures what I think of in Northwest cities: tall buildings and tall evergreens!

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Space Needle!

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We stayed up next to the Canadian border for a few days and visited Birch Bay. It’s so different from the rough Oregon Coast! There aren’t any waves, and the water was warm compared to what I normally experience. We couldn’t wait to go change into swim suits! You can walk out for a couple miles if you wanted to, and we found crabs, fish and even a live jelly fish.

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We went back twice so we could swim and explore the beach. And even though we didn’t cross over into Canada, we took some pictures with Canada in the background.

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I returned home Monday and took off Tuesday for camping out by the South Umpqua River, so it was a fun and busy week. I was surprised (again) because the river was so warm. We go every year, and there’s been times when the river was so cold it burned when I jumped in. This time, it was more like cool pool water, and we played in the river for two full days. I came back in time for fireworks at the house with all our kids–it was great to watch them having so much fun. I did take some time to sit around the fire and work on plot ideas for the two stories I’m working on. Next week, it’s back to writing!

Summer Fun and a Secret!

by Kristen James

It’s a bit ironic to talk about summer right now because it’s been rainy here in Oregon for the last week. At least it’s been a warm rain, and we needed it, so I’m not complaining…too loudly. But I am looking forward to the change predicted for tomorrow. Summer is coming back, just in time for a family reunion and camping trip.

I need a break, too. Every year I look forward to the kids’ summer vacation, thinking I’ll have lots of free time to catch up. Then we have the end of baseball and softball season, a garden to plant and get going, yard work, and inevitably lots of other things that pop up. Plus it’s hard to focus on any kind of inside work when I’m itching to go hiking, swimming and berry picking. I joined Zumba, and after only four classes, I’m addicted. I looked up videos online because two classes a week aren’t enough! I also went roller skating with the kids last night, and we want to do that more.

With so much going on, I’ve been doing more “idea work” than actual writing. Which is okay—I have a new release out! Point Hope is out on Kindle and the paperback will be available within days. The first review called it “a happy tear-jerker.”  It went on to say, “Despite dealing with issues such as death, survivor’s guilt, and PTSD, this still manages to be a lovely romantic story. You can’t help liking the family at the center of the story.” Have you read it yet? I’d love to hear your thoughts! My teenage daughter just read it and loved it, which always means a lot to me.

So I am writing here and there… I’ve worked a little on A Wedding to Remember with Trent and Molly, and it’s shaping into more than I expected. A few other characters got ideas of their own, so I hope the story will have a good surprise for readers. It’s a novella, so I’m aiming to finish it by the end of July.

And here’s my secret. I also rediscovered an earlier work that’s been waiting for me. I mentioned on Facebook that I found a manuscript on my computer and suddenly wanted to finish it. I put it aside before with the feeling that it wasn’t focused enough. Now I can see it was just too big for me at the time, with at least four point of view characters and several story lines. It’s more like Point Hope than the shorter romances I was writing three years ago.

This new story is called Costa Rica. This is a rough blurb for the book:

It’s always been Annalisa and Drew’s dream to go to Costa Rica, but it’s always been talk. They spent years trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, which slowly killed their marriage. Now she realizes Drew is planning to take another woman there on a “business trip.”

Annalisa and Drew have been best friends with Vincent and Melinda forever. Vincent’s cancer is back – his tumor is inoperable and he won’t do chemo again. The four of them have actually talked and talked about going to Costa Rica together for years, and Annalisa realizes it’s now or never. It’s perfect timing for Vincent to ask everyone to go to Costa Rica while he still can.

Annalisa very well could be saying goodbye to her marriage, a friend and her life as she knew it. But for now, they can have Costa Rica.

 Sound interesting? I plan to work on it this summer, but I expect that the main writing will take place once school starts in the fall. I don’t want to rush it, either. There’s so many layers I want to visit. Vincent and Melinda have two children who are dealing with their father’s cancer, and there’s different and complicated relationships between all of the friends.

A few random notes:

If you haven’t read The Cowboy Kiss, it’s free all summer long. I have a sequel idea for that story too, but I’m getting way too far ahead of myself!

I have a newsletter –  sign up here.   (Different than my blog subscription.) I use it to announce new books.  I’m having a giveaway this summer for all subscribers – a beach bag full of books! I’ll include some of my books, signed, and other good beach reads. Everyone who signs up is entered to win, no matter when you sign up.

Check out my Summer Giveaways to see how you can win a signed copy of Point Hope.

Happy Summer and happy reading!