On Conversations: #AAMBookclub #author Colette Harrell

Please join me in welcoming author Colette Harrell to Conversations today! Colette is here to talk about her new book, Tell The Truth The Devil Won’t! So, check out the cover, blurb and excerpt below. And don't forget to check out her interview too, and get to know Colette Harrell!

Lisa ~
_____________________________________________

Tell The Truth The Devil Won't


The full-figured Esther Redding doesn’t realize it, but she desperately needs a change. Her Cinderella tiara is tarnished, and her glass slippers cracked. No longer any one’s knight in shining armor, Briggs Stokes always had a soft spot for Esther. She was in his blood, and he didn’t want a transfusion. When he returns to Detroit, he decides that nothing will keep him from her door. Well, nothing . . . but the once reformed bad girl, Monica Stokes Hawthorne, Briggs’s ex, who wants to be his—give me one more chance, again—wife. The resulting tug-of-war that ensues may be the catalyst that destroys the person they both love the most.

More than one household is upset when the prison doors swing open and a “rehabilitated” Roger, Esther’s ex, returns home. Following Roger is a sinister force so malicious that no one in their community will be left untouched.

When truth is held hostage by lies, mayhem ensues. And when it does, the lives of Esther, Briggs, Monica, and Roger are forever changed. Don’t blink—pray—these shenanigans are too shocking to miss . . . The second stand-alone book in the Heaven over Hell trilogy.


Excerpt from Tell The Truth the Devil Won't

     It was dead cold. The air crackled with the sound of ice-covered tree branches crashing onto cement sidewalks; it was an unnatural arctic day, even for Harlem. There were motorists stranded on every major highway as an epic ice storm settled over the length of New York City. And while the air over those highways was filled with road rage, explicit language, and hunger pains, the contrasting hush of the opulent brownstones on 132nd Street was shattered by an eerie scream that filled the bitter air.
     Monica Hawthorne, the ex-Mrs. Briggs Stokes, stood shaking uncontrollably. Her beloved, risked-everything she-had-to-have-him husband of one month, Randall, lay in a pool of blood on their imported Brazilian cherry kitchen floor. If Randall could, he would have stood up and told her for the tenth time that ten thousand dollars for a floor was too much, and just because she could buy it didn’t mean she had to. But Randall couldn’t utter a word. She watched horrified as his blood seeped into the natural grooves of the wood, giving credence to the fact that maybe the cost was too much.
     Monica blinked, but he wasn’t getting up or giving her advice about her newly acquired wealth, because standing over him was his newly divorced wife, the ex-Mrs. Meredith Hawthorne. This She-Spawn-from-the-Pits, with her six hundred-dollar hairdo mussed, her designer clothes askew, and her chest heaving in spastic breaths, clutched the knife that once protruded from Randall’s chest. Words of explanation weren’t necessary; the vivid picture painted its own morbid story.
     Monica was spellbound. She was in her own home. The ordeal of leaving one husband to claim another’s was behind her. The guilt had been laid aside. The shame stamped down, at least temporarily. It was Randall and her against the world. But it had all just changed drastically.
     Snapping to, Monica shrieked, “Oh sweet Jesus! What have you done? You crazy—!”
     Her cries were halted by the demented gleam in the ex-Mrs. Hawthorne’s eyes. The maniac’s focus switched from Randall to her, then back to Randall. Mrs. Hawthorne had gone mad, crazy, bonkers, cray cray.
     Monica’s head hurt at the thought that she was still addressing this woman by what was rightfully her new name. It bore psychological study that she could only think of the witch as Mrs. Hawthorne. For over three years the woman had railed it at her, negating Monica’s right to ever wear the title. She’d stood in haughty arrogance and promised in divorce court that she would never relinquish it. At the time, Monica didn’t care; she felt Mrs. Hawthorne could keep the last name, as long as she had the man. Now she felt she had been short-sighted. If in the middle of a bloody rampage, she thought of her that way, then who was she?
     The murderous interloper looked on in glee as blood bubbled out of Randall’s mouth. Monica observed her spiteful approval as Randall’s hand feebly stretched over his wound, but failed in mustering the strength to staunch the flow of his river of life. His eyelids fluttered—pausing, fighting to focus as he scanned beyond Mrs. Hawthorne’s face. His eyes settled on Monica’s outstretched hands.
     “Randall,” Monica whispered. She swayed in agony.
     Time was grinding to a stop, like an old-fashioned watch discarded in a moth-eaten hope chest, it would soon end, and Randall would be done. She needed a way to get close to him, but Mrs. Hawthorne stood as she had for the last three years, directly in her path.
     Always . . . in my way.
     Rage bubbled into a go-for-broke moment. Monica launched forward and charged Mrs. Hawthorne with a Joan of Arc warrior’s roar. The sound of the impact and responding grunt was dulled by the body that crumpled to the floor. Monica gambled . . . and lost. Her body fell inches from Randall’s.
     Her hands bloodied, Mrs. Hawthorne rocked in despair. She had meant to take her time with the slut, but her offensive attack had taken her by surprise.
     Then . . . Monica moved. What she was witnessing had
     Mrs. Hawthorne’s keening wail ricochet throughout the spacious brownstone. She glowered in anguish, howling as Monica’s fingers inched toward Randall’s, and they entwined even in their near-death status.
     She watched in ghoulish repulsion as the almost loving tableau played out before her. Her eyebrows arched as she made out Monica’s pleading words, “Jesus, help us.”
     A rattle of air descended from Randall . . . and then stillness.
     In slow motion, Mrs. Hawthorne turned in robotic movements away from the scene. Her steps faltered when she heard Monica’s fading voice, “Father, why hast thou forsaken me?”
     The prophetic words washed over her as she stood in cold resolution. Shaking it off, she strutted away from the two people who had humiliated her in public and had caused her heart to bleed dry for three unbearable years.
     Randall had won his freedom, imprisoning her in her own madness in the process.
     She had sworn to Randall’s dying mother, there would be no divorce. Tears gathered at the end of her hawkish nose, dribbling onto her twice-a-week, spa-waxed upper lip, then streamed down her cosmetic-tightened neck.
     She was Mrs. Meredith Hawthorne, of the Hawthornes, and failure was foreign to her. In agony, she backtracked, and stumbled, tumbling over the bodies. Blindly, Meredith wiped her eyes, reared back, and spit in Monica’s face. Still feeling empty and unfulfilled, she stared, craving the ability to wake Monica and kill her again.
     Rising, she noted Randall’s discarded, prized Civil War-era, matching pearl- and jewel-handled knives. She blew a kiss at him, and left the knives there. It was only fitting Randall have ownership of what he demanded in the divorce decree. What better way to deliver his bounty, then to use it as the method of obliteration for both he and his tramp?
     Mrs. Hawthorne reached into her purse and pulled out her derringer. Acting as a lover whose desire is close to fulfillment, she caressed it. Her insides churning, she panted, taking one last glance at the co-conspirators to her destruction. She could answer Monica’s final question. God had forsaken Monica because she was a Delilah home wrecker. What Mrs. Hawthorne wanted to know, was why He had forsaken her.
     She lay the letters for her children—who never called—on the solid mahogany credenza, then her purse. All she’d had was the facade of a happy life. She’d paid for it in an avalanche of tears as she played dumb blonde to Randall’s neglect and numerous indiscretions over the years, anything to keep him home. And how had he repaid her? By falling for a nasty, ashy-prone, ghetto rat. The slut’s resulting pregnancy, and his request for a divorce, “so he could be happy” was the Joker’s wild card. How many wrongs was she expected to endure?
     She looked around and hiccupped laughter—a great-granddaughter of the confederacy ending up in a brownstone in Harlem? Well, rise up every long-buried plantation owner and move over. I’m coming in, and from this gaudy, overpriced slum.
     In the middle of her cynical chuckle, she bit her lip. She was stalling and knew it. The gun shook in her hands as she placed the barrel to her temple; lips pressed together, she focused on the brightness of the moon, brilliant against the frigid dark sky. The trigger was pulled, and the gun clattered to the ground. Once again blood seeped into the Brazilian cherry hardwood floor.
     It should now have been quiet in the apartment. Instead, after the booming sound of the gunshot, you could hear through the intercom three things: the startled cries of a newborn, a phone ringing, and a feeble whimper.

     The air was clear and sweet with the aroma of citrus floral and the essence of myrrh. Large winged inhabitants fluttered about on missions of supreme purpose. Above, two hovered in midflight, one apparently holding the other from takeoff.
     “Why do you hold me, Zadkiel? I must go. Did you not hear Monica scream? I am hers, and she is mine. Monica thinks that God has forsaken her. I am here,” he bemoaned. What the guardian angel saw split him in two. He could not linger.
     The dominion angel, Zadkiel pulled the guardian back, his wings clutched, and held him firm through the struggle. “Stand down. She cries out in fear, not faith. We are not charged to react to tears, but we are rewarders of faith. What is occurring is heartbreaking, but you have not been given leave to interfere.”
     The guardian wanted to push at Zadkiel’s wings, but that would have been disrespectful. “Oh, why do the humans act this way? Must they torment and cause such pain to each other? They have left a child and though Monica has not been innocent for many years, her screams of pain bring too many hurtful emotions to the forefront. How can you float above it all?”
     “I am not above anything, but we must be obedient to our Lord of Hosts. He has not given us permission to intervene; a greater good must be coming.” Zadkiel then telepathically shared with him how he kept the sounds of Randall’s and Monica’s pain in the background of his thoughts. “I am empathetic to your feelings. I have learned that our God knows all and His will is the only way. He did not create this mess, but He will make a way out for the innocent babe. Go sing a song of praise. It will ease your soul.”
     Large expansive wings flapped in decisive strokes as a voice of power and beauty soared over majestic heads. As other voices joined in song, the angelic choir trumpeted the holiness and sovereignty of God. Contrary to the chaos, He continued to reign.
     In another realm, the gates of hell rattled in anticipation of the eventual capture and consumption of the new souls. It was a two-course meal: adulterer and murderer, their favorites.


Interview with Colette Harrell


Can you tell us a little bit about your writing background? 
 
I’m really happy to be writing. I’m in that midlife second-career change we are sometimes known to pursue. You become a certain age, and in certain areas of your life you become fearless. Your internal clock starts ticking, and you decide that if you are ever going to birth your passion, it better be now. I have always written poetry, short stories, and in the last nine years, I have co-written several local stage plays. This is my sophomore novel.

What fact about yourself would really surprise people?

I think most of us have things about us nobody else knows. Who’s really an open book? Let’s see, how transparent should I get? Well . . . I’m claustrophobic—give me an MRI—and you do it at your own peril. It’s no-holds-barred.

What makes you do the happy dance?

When I can stay in the moment. It gets hard sometimes, you know? But, if I can just sit and enjoy the journey, take solace in a perfect slice of time, I get elated. And then I catch myself and I stop and say, "I’m not worried about tomorrow. Bills are paid, no one’s in trouble or sick, and people’s opinions are far away." . . . that makes for a golden, happy, satisfied sigh.

What about this journey is the hardest?

This answer is reminiscent of the joke concerning the man who fell out of the fiftieth-floor window of a building. On his way down, at each floor, he could be heard yelling, “So far, so good!” When I was writing the book, there were days it flowed like a symphonic orchestra; other days, I wanted to slam my computer against the wall. Then before I was published—pure angst. Now, I’m in the marketing stage . . . Can you see me sweat? What I learned along the way . . . Whatever is behind you is no longer impossible. It’s a done deal.

What do you do in your down time?

I read—I read profusely. I read in bed, when I’m a passenger in the car, on lunch hour . . . I’m like Dr. Seuss’s Sam I Am. I do it everywhere!

After successfully publishing The Devil Made Me Do It what did this book teach you?

I learned that fear can’t hold me. We can get real caught up in what people may or may not say about us or our work. So much so, that it ends up crippling our ability to move. I learned to talk myself off the ledge and by placing myself into the fray by doing each step by faith. I can tell you this, sometimes the crocodile tears tried to limit my vision, but guess what? I stuck my hand out there and felt my way through.

We’ve enjoyed learning about Colette R Harrell, author. Tell us about your book Tell The Truth; The Devil Won’t.

It’s a continuation of the characters that originated in my first novel, The Devil Made Me Do It. I felt like the characters in the novel weren’t finished telling their story. Tell The Truth; The Devil Won’t is filled with romance, suspense, humor and a twist of the super natural.

The story centers around two college sweethearts, Esther and Briggs who have taken different paths in life. Their romantic journey was disrupted by a life changing tragedy and they both lose their way. In the first book they settle for what they believe is the best course for their lives. But is it? Then there is Monica and Roger. These two were the people we love to hate. What is their real story? Are there certain people just born evil? Woven throughout the story, I love to sprinkle my stories with humor and a back drop of the supernatural. And, I never want people to guess what’s coming next. I love what one of my readers said, “seat belts should be worn”.

Your readers should pick up a copy today. I promise it’s just plain page turning fun! I’m just saying...



Colette Harrell, wants you to know that she has come to be a gift, to be an encourager and a light that reflects God’s goodness.

She’s a wife, mother, author and playwright. A Detroit native, she currently calls Ohio home. She holds a master’s and is a Director of Social Services. Writing with humor and compassion to engage and minister to the human heart. Her motto is: whatever you do, do it “for love alone.”

Her novel, Tell The Truth; The Devil Won’t is filled with wisdom and humor. This adventurous love story goes where Ms. Harrell loves to tread, down an unbeaten path. No millionaires rescuing damsels in distress—although she enjoys these reads herself—but real people, falling and getting back up.

The Devil Made Me Do It was her debut novel. It was nominated for First Fiction for the Phyllis Wheatley Book Award from the QBR/The Black Book Review and the Harlem Book Fair.

Her sophomore novel, Tell The Truth, The Devil Won’t will cement her as an author to watch.


www.writespirit.org/ColetteHarrell



On Conversations: #author Beate Boeker

Please join me in welcoming the author of sweet sophisticated romantic fiction and entertaining mysteries, Beate Boeker! Beate is here to talk about her Christmas Romance stories, Venetian Tangle, Gingerbread Kisses, and Stormy Times. So be sure and check out the covers and blurbs below! And don't forget to check out her bio too and get to know Beate.

Lisa ~
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Venetian Tangle

Lorena doesn't believe in supernatural things, but one night in December, she feels the sudden presence of her ex-lover Guido in her apartment . . . even though he should be miles away. When she learns that Guido died the night he came to „see“ her, she's perturbed. Did Guido try to tell her something? To find out more, she decides to spend Christmas at the place where they fell in love ten years ago: Venice in Italy.

With no clear plan in her mind and a very hazy idea how to deal with a ghost, Lorena stumbles into a tangle of romance and confusion in the ancient city of Venice. She has to learn a lot about herself and her old relationship to Guido and has to fight for the man she loves before she can finally be happy.

This contemporary sweet romance will plunge you into the heart of mysterious and foggy Venice during Christmas time, entertaining you with a delicious mix of humor and romance.





Gingerbread Kisses


Carol spends Christmas at the luxurious Hotel & Spa "Dolomitissimo" in the snowy Alps of Italy where she's busy creating gingerbread men as name cards for her younger sister's wedding. When things start to go wrong, she finds help in the form of Tom, the attractive hotel manager, but then, her sister manages to create havoc and Carol has to fight for her happiness.








Gingerbread Kisses is part of the Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 book bundle

Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 takes you from the Smoky Mountains to Florida’s sun-drenched beaches, from the Italian Alps to Paris, France, and even to a quirky little town in Arizona. The Sweet Christmas Kisses 2 bundle features all-new, stand-alone stories that are sure to make you laugh, sometimes bring tears to your eyes, but always put you in the Christmas spirit.

Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Kobo / iTunes 




Stormy Times

Joanna is going through a hard time: Half a year ago, her beloved dog died, and two months later, she separated from her fiancé because he cheated on her. Now she works like a demon in her job as a Vet to forget her feelings. Returning from a difficult foaling in the middle of a late November night on Long Island, she gets stuck in an early blizzard. With her last ounce of strength, she manages to reach a house, but the man who gives her shelter for the night treats her like an unwelcome disease. As she has no choice, she adapts to his rough manners by being impolite herself. Sparks fly, and the night ends with a rescued puppy and a power failure, but this is only the beginning of her troubles in this heartwarming holiday romance.



Beate Boeker is a USA Today bestselling author with a passion for books that brim over with mischief & humor. She writes sweet sophisticated romantic fiction and mysteries, many of them set in beautiful Italy. Her novels were shortlisted for many awards (Golden Quill Contest, the National Readers' Choice Award, 'Best Indie Books of 2012').

She's a global marketing manager with a degree in International Business Administration, and her daily experience in marketing provides her with a wide range of fodder for her novels, be it hilarious or cynical.


Widely traveled, she speaks German, English, French, and Italian and lives in the North of Germany together with her husband and daughter.

While 'Boeker' means 'books' in a German dialect, her first name Beate can be translated as 'Happy' . . . and with a name that reads 'Happy Books', what else could she do but write novels with a happy ending?

You can learn more about Beate at her website www.happybooks.de

On Conversations: #AAMBookclub #author Eno Esquire

Please join me in welcoming author Eno Esquire to Conversations today! Eno is here to talk about his new book, Son of a Gun! So, check out the cover, blurb and excerpt below. And don't forget to check out his interview too, and get to know Eno Esquire!

Lisa ~
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Son of a Gun

A young African hustler named Okon from Lagos Nigeria migrates to the United States in search of the American dream. When he arrives, he quickly finds out a dream can turn into a nightmare. Okon is disappointed in what he finds until he meets up with his cousin in Washington DC who is heavy in the game. Okon begins to cut out a corner of the heroin  business in washington dc for himself and in the process meets a women named Berreta,  who family was heavily respected in the streets and together they give birth to a son of a gun….


Excerpt from Son of a Gun

Washington D.C., December 1981

    Knock! Knock! Knock!
    “A Berreta somebody at the door.”
    “You get it T, I’m fixing Justeen something to eat,” Berretta yelled.
    “I'm on the toilet,” T shot back putting some base in his voice.
    “Damn,” Berretta said to herself as she put the bacon on low and cleaned her hands on the apron. She opened the drawer beside  the stove and removed a chrome .25 and cocked it. She then placed her hand in the apron pocket still gripping the pistol as she walked to the door.
    “Who is it?” Berretta asked looking through the peephole.
    “Its Black,” the voice on the other side answered.
    Berretta took the chain off the door and cracked it. “Whatchu need?” she stated coldly.
    “You got some herb?” Black asked.
    “Yea. How much you want?” Berretta asked looking behind him for a possible robbery attempt.
    “Let me get to nickels...
 
 
Interview with Eno Esquire

What inspired you to write this book? 


At the time I was locked up and did a lot of reading, it was a guy named show boat from North Carolina who had published a book from the feds so that pushed me to write one.

Is your novel fiction or nonfiction? 


If someone was to ask I would definitely say fiction, but the characters are based off people I know or cross paths with in my life.

How was is it growing up in Washington DC?

It was cool gave me a unique experience on the world. I stayed in a housing project couple blocks from capitol hill.

You have a few Nigerian characters in your book, what's the connection?

My father is Nigerian.

How long did it take you to complete this novel?

9 months mostly in solitary confinement.

What are your expectations for your first self published novel?

I really don’t have any expectations, just want to finish something I started.

Do you have anything you want people to know?

Yea I wrote this book for Author Cappers and the whole Surelere.




Eno Esquire is an author born and raised in Washington DC to a Nigerian father. His mother is of Greek and Native descent. When Eno was 17 he was convicted as an adult for a crime and sent to federal prison for several years. While in prison he wrote his first novel, Son of a Gun.


DAKOTA HOMECOMING, is now available for pre-orders!


DAKOTA HOMECOMING
Dakota Hearts, Book 10

Julian McKinnon hasn't been home to South Dakota and the family that had always been his anchor, and they want to know why. He may seem like the black sheep of the family, but telling his family he was an undercover FBI agent after all they'd been through didn't seem like a great idea. Now there's another McKinnon wedding planned for the holidays and the family has made it clear Julian isn't going to miss it for any reason. That leaves his informant wide open. The only way to make sure she's safe is to bring her home to meet the family. Aside from Georgie Garcia (Gigi) being too close to the front line of one of Mexico's notorious drug lords, she's incredibly beautiful, making it hard for Julian to separate his job from his growing feelings for her.


Pre-order DAKOTA HOMECOMING:

http://amzn.to/GUTB3P  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-heart-for-the-asking-a-western-romance-lisa-mondello/1120340189?ean=2940046249910  http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/her-heart-for-the-asking  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/her-heart-for-the-asking/id644030766?mt=11  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Asking-western-romance-ebook/dp/B0077EGDAI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368140011&sr=1-1&keywords=her+heart+for+the+asking

GYPSY HEARTS now available on all major retail sites!



Texas Hearts fans, the book that readers have been asking about, GYPSY HEARTS, book 4 is now available! Readers have been asking me when this book was finally going to be available somewhere other than Amazon.

Order GYPSY HEARTS:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077EGDAI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=crlaofsu-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0077EGDAI%22%3EHer%20Heart%20for%20the%20Asking%20%28Book%201%20-%20Texas%20Hearts%29%20%28Contemporary%20Western%20Romance%20Novel%29%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=crlaofsu-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0077EGDAI%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-heart-for-the-asking-a-western-romance-lisa-mondello/1120340189?ean=2940046249910  http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/her-heart-for-the-asking  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/her-heart-for-the-asking/id644030766?mt=11  https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=b1nAAgAAQBAJ  https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-herheartfortheasking-1763130-154.html  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Asking-western-romance-ebook/dp/B0077EGDAI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368140011&sr=1-1&keywords=her+heart+for+the+asking

  

Gypsy Hearts, book 4 of Texas Hearts by Lisa Mondello

After years of recording commercials, Josie Tibbs longs to get back into the music industry. But the sound recording engineer had traveled that road once before and crawled back home with a broken heart. Wary of any man in the music business, she longs for a steady man and a great recording career.
 

Brock Gentry lived for the music and so became an extraordinarily talented country singer. On the fringes of success, he's ready to take his chance and go on the road to Nashville. But he and the recording company clash over his image among other things.

Hoping to find the right sound mixer he seeks out Josie Tibbs after hearing of her work with another country singer who's hit the big time. Although she wants nothing to do with him romantically, he wins her over professionally and she decides to come on the road with his band.
Together they blaze a trail to Nashville, her cat in tow, in the close quarters of life on the bus with the rest of the band. Despite the obstacles of life on the road, Brock and Josie find they can't keep their feelings from each other. But Josie's been through this before and knows the dogs of the music industry can bite hard. As they make it closer to Nashville, she fears a chance at success could spell the end of their love.

Read Chapter One HERE!

On Conversations: #AAMBookclub #authors Jamillah and David Lamb

Please join me in welcoming authors Jamillah and David Lamb to Conversations today! Jamillah and David are here to talk about their inspiring relationship book, Perfect Combination! So, check out the cover and blurb below. And don't forget to check out their interview too, and get to know Jamillah and David Lamb!

Lisa ~
_____________________________________________

Perfect Combination
Seven Key Ingredients to Happily Living and Loving Together

Finally a relationship book that deals with real life and real love. Written by a couple who have found (and worked at!) a true and lasting love, Perfect Combination teaches the 7 key ingredients to live and love together, all while keeping it 100% honest.

This book is like sitting down at the kitchen table and having that couple you admire tell you everything: the good, the not-so-good, and what you need to know to triumph in love while still remaining true to who you are. In Perfect Combination, Jamillah and David take you behind the scenes of a relationship put to the test: working side by side 24/7; the day-to-day financial worries that can stress any pair; and a painful, but ultimately happy journey to having their first child.

Each chapter in the book tells real life stories in a unique conversational style, with Jamillah and David playing off each other with honesty, harmony and a healthy dose of humor. Each section ends with a key 'ingredient' that sums up what any couple can learn to transform their own relationships. It is also packed with practical tips for "cooking up" love and romance.

If you think this book is about some "perfect couple" that never have a fight or haven't overcome serious struggles, you're in for a surprise. Being a "perfect combination" doesn't mean never having a conflict... it means working together to answer the questions: What is Love? What is Romance? What is Marriage?

Jamillah & David have:

  • Each suffered with past relationship-sabotaging behaviors they found hard to let go
  • Battled themselves and each other about what was important in their past
  • Struggled to figure out that mutual appreciation is more important than gender roles
  • Helped each other through hurting times on the way to becoming a family
  • Learned you've got to let yourself learn love lessons, even when you don't like the lesson
If you've read relationship books in the past, and thought, "that sounds great, but how do you actually do that?" then Perfect Combination is for written for you. This book goes deeper than typical relationship books, romance novels, and romance movies.

Men, you'll recognize yourselves in David's struggle to drop his suspicious nature and eventually sacrificing his fear of vulnerability by choosing love above all. You'll smile to yourself when you read David admitting sometimes he expects Jamillah to read his mind and know what he wants.

Women, you'll see yourself in Jamillah's painfully honest struggle to realize that she could let herself be cared about and cared for without it being a sign of weakness. You'll cheer her courage as she leaves a comfortable corporate job to help them both live out a dream.

And you'll discover many more powerful stories and lessons when you read Perfect Combination.





Interview with Jamillah and David Lamb


1. “Love like kids act like adults” is your motto. What do you mean by that?

We have all been blessed to see how openly and beautifully children love, without fear of rejection or embarrassment. Seeing this, we can’t help but break into big, broad smiles when a child expresses their love. Despite these broad smiles, however, most of us turn our own love lives into a Quentin Tarantino movie and “get medieval,” “get even,” and “get over”. We forget to love the way we once did, instead we build massive, reinforced fortresses around our hearts to protect us from hurt. Complete with moats (baggage from past relationships) and knights (friends and family who, filled with their own past relationship baggage, advise us to protect ourselves and not open ourselves). Unfortunately, while we believe these fortresses protect us, in reality they are prisons that imprison our love and leave us unable to genuinely give and receive love.

We say no more, it is time to make the greatest prison break since Shawshank Redemption.

Here’s an example, we playfully call this the screaming greeting. When a small child is happy to see you walk through the door, you don’t have to guess about it the joy comes out as their little voices rise and they run and hug you. Now have you ever come home after a long-day at work and greeted the one you love without any greeting at all or worse yet a grumpy greeting, each of you distracted by the mail, the work day, the television, the phone or the thousand and one other things that distract us. Well—stop it! That is merely a façade another way of putting a fortress around your heart to protect yourself, but instead has turned into a prison inhibiting your love. Next time the one you love comes home after a long day of work greet them with the enthusiasm that your love deserves: run up, hug them and shout out your love for them. It will shake off the blues and bring you closer, you will find yourself cheered up and longing for them even more.

2. How do you keep the spark in your relationship?

Loving Like Kids is a living, breathing philosophy for us. We go on spontaneous dates—doing what we want to do in the moment, and we have no limit on public displays of affection (no matter how embarrassing.)

3. What are your fundamental tips for making a relationship work in your opinion?

First, Let Your Past, Be Your Past. One of the keys to being happy in a relationship is to be in that relationship. We all carry emotional baggage from past relationships around in gigantic duffel bags and oft-times those past relationships poison the current relationship we are trying to have.

You can never see the potential of your future, if you are always viewing it through the lens of your past. One of the most complementary things that someone has written about Perfect Combination was that the book inspired them to not make the next person pay for the last person’s mistakes, but instead to always put their best foot forward in a relationship and to leave the baggage behind wholeheartedly embracing a new opportunity to “get it right”. That is our message – that love and happiness are not elusive. They are accessible, but they begin with a ready, willing and able self, strong enough to make the journey and take the trip.

4. How did you meet?


We actually met at work. David worked in the New York office and I worked in the California office.

Yes, one week after starting work I noticed a picture of the company’s retreat from the year before, and my eye immediately went to Jamillah. Something told me she was going to be my wife. I know that love at first sight is a Hollywood cliché, but for me it was a very real experience.

A month later we had our company retreat in California and David and the rest of the New York staff came out to California. I have to admit that when I saw him there was instant electricity.

It took her ten years to admit that!

5. Now I know you two are in love, but like all couples there have to be disagreements sometimes. How do you handle disagreements?

Many relationships fall apart because the couple doesn’t know how to handle disagreements. We have seen couples explode over something as small as which movie to see on Saturday night. What we’ve found is that it’s not the things you disagree about that break couples up, but the ways in which couples disagree. We urge everyone to take Dr. Martin Luther King’s advice and “learn to disagree, without being disagreeable’.

6. What is the quality you like most about the other?

His sense of humor and youthful attitude. He keeps me laughing, all the time. And his belief in and support of me.

Her sweetness. People say you end up marrying someone like your parents and for us its true, even though that was not our intention, but the first time I walked into Jamillah’s apartment and saw a painting of trees that she had worked on, I thought, this is really bizarre, because my mother is one of the great tree painting enthusiasts in the world.

It’s true, and I don’t know how it happened, but David is a blend of both my father and step-father – the good parts.

And her support of and belief in me.

7. Most people think that working together actually will doom their relationship, but for you two, working together has made it stronger. How has this come about?


Originally we planned to produce our play, Platanos Y Collard Greens, for one weekend. We both had full-time jobs and thought that it would be a fun thing to do on the side, but when the audiences came that first weekend, they fell in love with the show and it took over our lives.

Suddenly we were managing a company of twenty actors and dealing with drama on and off-stage. We had to learn how to manage people and not let the stress of doing that damage our relationship. Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends & Influence People became a handbook for managing people and surprisingly we learned things that improved our relationship, one very important thing we learned is that people crave appreciation. When we first began working together we didn’t appreciate that fully and would sometimes take each other for granted without even realizing it. Once we learned this lesson in business we began making sure that we showed each other how much we appreciated each other, and it made our relationship better.



Jamillah and David Lamb are the husband and wife team who own Between The Lines Productions, Inc., a company they developed in 2003 to inspire and bring the joy of laughter to people, which has produced the long running Off-Broadway show, Platanos Y Collard Greens.  David was born in Queens, NY and raised in public housing in Astoria, Queens. He attended the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and New York University School of Law. He is the playwright of Platanos Y Collard Greens, a piece that grew out of his experiences growing up in the Black and Latino communities of in Queens and the South Bronx. Jamillah Lamb grew up in Chicago, in the same neighborhood as First Lady Michelle Obama. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in economics from Wesleyan University, she went on to Harvard University, where she gained her Master degree in Public Policy. She uses this background in the daily operations of Between The Lines Productions, Inc. Jamillah always loved theater and shares David’s passion for creative work. David loves being married business partners and parenting with Jamillah. They live in Brooklyn with their wonderful little girl.

On Conversations: #author Patricia Keelyn

Please join me in welcoming the multi-talented author known for her deeply emotional stores, Patricia Keelyn! Patricia is here to talk about her return to publishing with three heart-warming stories, the first in her new series, A Mother’s Heart. So be sure and check out the covers and blurbs below! And don't forget to check out her bio too and get to know Patricia Keelyn.

Lisa ~
__________________________________________

A MOTHER'S HEART
 
These three heart-warming romances pair a woman’s love for her child
with finding true romantic love. Enjoy!
 
Love beats fiercely in . . .  A Mother’s Heart


KEEPING KATIE
A Mother's Heart Book One

Maura Anderson was out of options.

Her adopted daughter, three-year-old Katie, is her entire world, and no heartless legal system was going to take her baby away. She did what any mother would do. She grabbed Katie and ran—even if it meant breaking the law.

Sheriff Alan Parks believes in the law, following it and enforcing it to the letter. Then Maura Anderson shows up in his small, quiet town, and he knows she’s running from something. At first, he assumes she’s running from someone – an ex-husband or boyfriend – but when she won’t confide in him he starts wondering. Who is this woman who’s captured his heart, and what or who is she afraid? When he finds the answers, however, a part of him wishes he’d never asked the question. Because how can he help her when he represented what she’s fleeing . . . the law.

 



ONCE A WIFE
A Mother's Heart Book Two

At seventeen, Sarah Colby had been scared and desperate.

Her marriage to Reece Colby was faltering. They were nearly destitute and their infant son, Drew, needed on-going medical care they couldn’t afford. Sarah felt her world crumpling around her. Then her mother-in-law, Elizabeth, offered Sarah a solution. Elizabeth would make certain Drew got the medical attention he needed if Sarah would walk away from her husband and son. Believing she had no other option, Sarah accepted Elizabeth’s offer—though leaving them was the hardest thing she’d ever done.

Now, twelve years later, Sarah's still questions that decision. So when she learns that Drew's in trouble, she knows it's time to break her agreement with Elizabeth. Drew needs the mother he’s never known and Sarah needs to help her son. But how can she face Reece after deserting him? And what will happen when he finds out about Lyssa, the daughter he doesn't know he has?


Amazon / Kobo



WHERE THE HEART IS
A Mother's Heart Book Three

She’d come home to put her life back together.

With a broken engagement behind her and a baby on the way, Maddie Adams needs a safe place to have her baby and heal her broken heart. Then she runs into Nick Ryan, her once-best friend and first love, and her life once again becomes entwined with his. And though the sparks between them are as strong as ever, she does her best to ignore them. Nick had betrayed her once, and she can’t risk it happening again. Not now when she has another life to consider.

Nick Ryan grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. Back then, the only person who’d believed in him was Maddie Adams, a girl with everything going for her. Then he’d messed up and lost her. Despite that, he’d achieved his dream of becoming a doctor and returned home to practice medicine. But he’d made other mistakes along the way, mistakes that had cost him his wife and left him with an angry teenage son. With Maddie back in town, he’s hoping for a second chance. Can he undo the damage he’s done to his son? Can he heal the old hurt between him and Maddie? And can they put together a new family, one based on love rather than obligation?

Amazon / Kobo
 



Patricia Keelyn is the pseudonym for author, editor, and writing teacher, Pat Van Wie.

Pat’s published eleven novels for three major publishers, including: Ballantine, Bantam, and Harlequin. Her last three books were hardcover suspense novels released under the pseudonym Patricia Lewin.

In 2010 Pat crossed to the other side of publishing when she took a position as senior editor for Bell Bridge Books to build their mystery and suspense list. Early in 2015, she left that position to once again concentrate on her writing.

Pat also teaches writing workshops and classes in various formats and lengths around the country and at her local Community College.

To get to know Pat better, check out her website, Facebook page or Pinterest board.





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