Friday, August 23, 2019

Favorite Summer Reads...and More!

I read a lot. Most is research because a writer writes better when they read what works. Writers, as a rule, do not copy the actual words in books they read, but get a sense of 'what works' and try to make them work in their own stories. 

I read lots of cozy mysteries, but don't write them. I also read quite a few regency historicals, but I have yet to publish mine (in the works!) I love stories about dragons, and have written several of my own. In fact, I created a whole series that I set in Scotland.

Highlanders? Love them and write about them, but the books I read that are written by others are always as different as night and day. Time travel romance and other paranormal romances get my motor running, which is why so many books by me use all these themes. Might I recommend these books for your end-of-summer reading?

Order HERE
Order HERE

Order HERE
My next book is a little off track...it is a sweet romance. Yes, there is sexual tension between adults, but they don't jump into bed by chapter three...or at the end. Romance and the awakening of feelings fills the book...think Hallmark TV movies. 

Rescuing Christmas is available for pre-order at an introductory price. Please take a moment to check it out HERE

p.s. Heaven-sent Highlander
is now available in print. Check it out on Amazon!

Nancy Lee Badger





Friday, August 16, 2019

Hot Summertime Travels

An opportunity came up for me to accompany one of my sons to visit my mom (his grandmother) in Florida for a short visit. I jumped, since it had been sweltering here in North Carolina. It was hot in Florida, too, but her complex had a pool!

Heavy rains during the drive down pushed us into a big store's parking lot and we got drenched while shopping (someone needed a bathing suit). 

The sun came out and the pool was relaxing. I also noticed the rain had brightened the flowers and leafy plants surrounding the property. It was such a pretty sight and I took a moment to photograph them. 

The rain arrived each afternoon, but we made sure to enjoy the pool early in the day. When we decided to buy lobster and corn instead of heading to a restaurant on the pier, we got drenched when my son dropped us off at the door at Publix. Mom mentioned that if we had followed through with those plans and had parked then walked halfway down an ocean pier to the restaurant, we would have gotten even worse!

The meal was easy to cook, since I'd lived in New England for decades before moving south, although mom's two pots only fit one live lobster each. We had to cook the corn in a lobster bath. It was yummy and I was thrilled to see everyone happy and dry.


We drove back to where the weather was still sweltering close to 100 degrees, but knowing we had enjoyed ourselves and made each of us rekindle a good relationship with my mother is priceless.


I wish we have a pool here in Raleigh, but I can dream. 

In the meantime, I will continue to work on getting my next book ready for release.  

Watch the BOOK tab (above) for the links.

Nancy Lee Badger



Friday, August 9, 2019

COVER REVEAL! Check Out the Next Book by Nancy Lee Badger


My next book is a deviation from the norm. Oh, it has firefighters and a beautiful New England setting, but no open-door sex. This is a Sweet Romance and i hope it will connect with many more readers. 

Book Blurb
A Manhattan businessman on a December vacation to Canada, is stuck in Boston due to a snow storm. Instead of waiting for another flight, he drives through the Vermont woods. Forced off the road, his rental ends up in a pond. When a firefighter sliding down the muddy slope to help him slams into him instead, his papers go flying and his phone disappears. Before he can complain, his mud-covered rescuer in firefighting bunker gear is a woman!

After a fire, her injured dad heads to the hospital and hands responsibility for the fire department to her. As acting Fire Chief, Elinor Danville offers the stranded stranger a ride. When she drops him at the Peabody Inn, Ellie explains that Snowflake Valley has no rental cars, taxis, or 5-star hotels Something about this suit-wearing rich guy grates on her nerves, but intrigues her. Unfortunately, her responsibilities include the upcoming Christmas Festival. The lack of snow could ruin everything.

Stuck in Snowflake Valley for several days, Bradley is swept up in the people, their volunteerism, their problems, and commitment to see that the Christmas Festival goes on no matter what. His interest in the town and a pretty firefighter makes Bradley come up with a few ideas of his own. By rescuing Christmas for Elinor and the townspeople, can he make her truly see him, and not the suited businessman only interested in going home?


What? A Christmas story in August? Well, not really. It will be available for pre-order next month then will officially release on October 15th. 


Friday, August 2, 2019

Nancy Lee Badger Presents Author Tara Neale

I invited Tara Neale to stop by and share her latest release with my readers. As I am the daughter of a veteran of WWll and the mother of an Army veteran, her books intrigue me. Take it away, Tara!

Shared Burdens is the third book in my Sergeant Mike’s Miracle Tour series. It was the first one that I wrote, going back later to add My Country Tis of Thee and Labor’s End. First released in 2015, this series defies genre. It is part romance, part military/war fiction, and part literary fiction. The series is my passion more than anything, raising awareness about the struggles of our returning service men and women with PTSD and re-adjusting to civilian life. It is a moving and sometimes painful story of life, love, and redemption. 

BOOK BLURB:
Highway to Heaven meets the U S Marine Corps – Is love or heartache in the cards when Sergeant Mike finally meets his dream woman?

Esther Samuels is a woman in pain. Her only son was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Now this old-maid school teacher is stuck in her job, while battling small town prejudice and her grief. She is more dead than alive until...

Master Sergeant Michael O'Malley is a man on a mission. After over twenty years in the US Marine Corp and more tours of duty than he wants to remember, his retirement plans are simple: hop on the back of his brand new Harley and tour the country, checking in on the men and women that he served with...and the families of the ones that never made it back.

The third stop on his new tour of duty is the small Texas town that was home to one of his best friends. The young Lieutenant, Thomas Samuels had been one of the finest men it had been his pleasure to serve with. Until an IED ended that promise.

Now Sergeant Mike is here to check in on Tommy's mom...and offer an extra pair of hands and a strong back for her annual Halloween party that is a mainstay of Sebida, Texas. Problem is the only thing smaller than this town are the minds in it. 

Can Mike just ride off to leave the woman he has secretly loved for years, to face their wrath? Can Esther let the only man who has ever brought her to life just ride away?

WARNING: This story has strong content and as such may trigger those with mental health challenges especially PTSD.

EXCERPT:  
Her fingers shook as she fumbled with the door handle. She squared her shoulders and faced the man that was both friend and stranger. “Master Sergeant O’Malley, what brings you to Texas?” she asked. 
The man looked uncomfortable as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, scuffing his boot against the chipping gray paint that covered the cement front porch. 
“Well, Ma’am, I’m sort of taking a tour of this great country of ours. I’m visiting a few old,” he paused as if uncertain what to say. Esther swore that the pink of his cheeks spread to the very tips of his ears before he finally finished. 
“Old friends, I guess. Men I’ve served with over the years. Or their families, Ma’am. I know that you will be especially busy this time of year,” he said spreading his hand towards the pumpkins that sat uncut in the corner of the porch. “Tommy always talked about the big Halloween party you throw for all the kids. I thought maybe you could use an extra pair of hands and a strong back.” 
Esther flipped the hook latch on the screen door, pushing it open wide. “I’m sorry for my bad manners, Master Sergeant. Please come in.” She stepped back as the man passed, motioning for him to take a seat on the couch that sat against the wall. She turned on the lamp that sat next to it. Its warm glow filled the room. 
“Thank you, Ma’am. I don’t mean to be any trouble. And I’m real sorry if I caught you at a bad time,” he said as he took a seat. 
Esther swallowed back the pain. How could she explain that every day was a bad time?

BUY LINKS: AMAZON 


The author and her life partner/fiancé Alan Cox

More about the Author:

Reality: Romance and More…
Tara Neale is a homemaker and indie writer, living her very own ‘happily ever after’ in beautiful, sunny Swansea, Wales with her partner and neurodivergent teen daughter. She struggles to maintain a balance between the demands of family, writing, and activism. Most mornings, she can be found typing away on her laptop with a cup of hot, black coffee nearby and hopefully her kitty Little Miss Fluffy Paws does not turn it over on the laptop.

Tara’s fiction characters are REAL, not size zero 20-somethings or billionaire playboys. They are complex, facing REAL life problems like grief, mental health, and body issues. Her stories are as dark and twisted as life itself, but always with a happy ending, whether for now or ever after. One beta reader said that she felt as if she were experiencing PTSD alongside Tara's Sergeant Mike.

She also tries her hand at non-fiction around her -isms such as autism/neurodivergence, environmentalism, feminism, and Transcendentalism. Applying the same core ethos of personal responsibility to those issues as she does with her fiction.

In her previous 'lives' Tara has been a stay-at-home mom, a fundraiser for charities, a bank teller, a waitress, a personal trainer, a preacher's wife, and even a stripper. It is from this plethora of experiences that she draws her strong characters and deep storylines. Connect with her here: