Saturday"s Blurbs featuring Books by Barbara Baldwin #MFRWauthor #BooksWeLoveLTD #Contemporaryromance #timetravel

An Interlude  https://books2read.com/An-Interlude

Peter A Myerson, IV, is a successful businessman in New York City and has little time to deal with a house left to him by a great-aunt he never knew. He will simply go to New Orleans, sell the house and return to his organized and predetermined life.

That plan flies out the window when he meets CJ Fortier, the historical preservationist who is determined to finish the work she has been paid to do. As different as they are, Peter is instantly drawn to her passion, and not just for her work.

In the process of remodeling they find an old diary written by his aunt with entries dating back to the 1920’s. It’s a glimpse into the past when the house was a speakeasy and brothel and it leads them to fulfilling a few fantasies of their own. But finding items referred to in the diary lead Peter and CJ into trouble as unknown people are after information only his late great-aunt would have known.

Lost Knight of Arabia  https://books2read.com/u/3GYaKP

To whoever finds this journal:

I started out this rainy November morning in 1988 as an archeology intern uncovering sunken treasure from the Steamboat Arabia, but due to circumstances I don’t understand, at the end of the day I found myself on board the Arabia, back in 1856, the year she sank.

Thus Brianna begins her journal, finding herself rescued by Jake Worth, a passenger on the Arabia; a man with secrets of his own and no desire to be responsible for another human being. But fate has thrown them together, and while Bri can’t explain how she got there, she is fascinated by the fact that she is living the history she has only read about.

Bri pulls Jake into the problems of the people on board almost on a daily basis and he reluctantly helps if only to keep her out of trouble. She is attracted to him, but since she wasn’t on the original manifest, she fears getting involved will alter history in some way. Yet when Jake comes to her in passion she can’t resist her feelings. As the steamboat paddlewheel takes them closer and closer to that fateful day, will they have a choice in their destiny?

Tenderhearted Cowboy  https://books2read.com/Tenderhearted-Cowboy

It’s 1870, and even in wild, west Texas, nothing is more important than family.

When Joe Dawson was just 15 years old, tragedy tore his family apart. He spent the next 7 years searching for his brothers and sisters, even as he found purpose for his own life on a ranch and with the Texas Rangers. He is afraid to claim love when he finds it because everything he ever loved has been stolen from him. Yet through spring round-up, marauding Indians, stampeding cattle and the long cattle drive, his heart slowly heals because of the kindness of the rancher who rescued him and the love of the rancher’s daughter, who trusted him with her heart.

But until Joe is able to reclaim his family, he won’t allow himself to build a life with the woman he loves. It is through Sky’s love that Joe realizes the heart can find safety and joy in family, whether it’s family born or a family newly made.

Friday's Guest - Barbara Baldwin - Who She Was Before #MFRWAuthor #BooksWeLoveLTD #Romance #timetravel

Where were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?

            I’ve had a wide variety of “professions” in my life including legal secretary, working at a commercial cattle feedlot, teaching every grade from Kindergarten through college, and grant writing. All of these gave me a foundation for being able to write well. As for influences, there are bits and pieces of my life in all my stories – a scene/incident, a friend/acquaintance/boss, a location. Life is too full of unique characters and happenings not to put them into my stories.

Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don’t mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy, etc. There are many subgenres of the above.

            I am all over the map! I’ve written everything from short stories to full length fiction; poetry to a documentary on state history. I write short stories and turn them into Christmas story cards, and fables/myths about places I’ve visited like Ireland and Mexico.

When I started writing romance, I thought my first book would be about privateers, because I loved reading those. Instead, it took place on a cattle ranch in Montana. (With more than 22 romances now out, I still haven’t written about privateers.) As a story begins to form; or as I jot down random scenes that I think will work in a story, I don’t have much choice in whether it will be contemporary, historical or time travel. That seems to be determined by my characters or in some cases by the story idea.

For example after visiting the Steamboat Arabia museum several times, I knew there was a story to be written, but did I want to write a contemporary about its excavation or a historical about when it traveled the river in the 1850s? Combining the best of both worlds, I wrote a time travel titled “Lost Knight of Arabia.”

           

Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?

            As a child I read all the horse books I could get my hands on, and then progressed to Perry Mason mysteries. Those topics find their way into my writing, but usually only in a minor way. Before I started writing as an adult, my first experience with romance was reading Kathleen Woodiwiss and I fell in love with the genre. Although I write other things, the majority of my focus is on romance.

What’s your latest release”?

            “An Interlude” was just released in February. It’s a fun contemporary romance involving an uptight New York businessman and a contrary historical preservationist from New Orleans.

The element that makes it unique is a diary from the 1920s. It’s not a time travel, but the diary gives a glimpse into the past which plays a major role in their present time.

What are you working on now?

            A quilt. Seriously, I am, but as I sew my brain is plotting and building characters and trying to decide where to set my next story. I know it will be contemporary, but I haven’t decided if it should take place in a little seaside town or a snowy mountain resort town. I just know it won’t be in a huge metropolis.

Where can we find you??

My website is www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin and at Author Central at https://www.amazon.com/Barbara-Baldwin/e/B01LWCOKF6.