“Color of Love Blog Hop 2016!” #CoLHop

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Welcome to the Color of Love Blog Hop 2016! This amazing event celebrates love and romance in all its many different hues. Tour the hop and meet some incredible authors and check out their great reads!

SPOTLIGHT

One of my favorite multicultural romances is the The Maybe Baby Saga from Kim Golden!

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Amazon Goodreads

MAYBE BABY
Imagine finding out you could never have a baby with the man you love…

Expat American Laney Halliwell finds out the hard way when Niklas tells her he had a vasectomy before they met and isn’t interested in reversing it. Why should he? They’ve got his kids from his first marriage and an enviable life in Stockholm.

What if you fell in love in the most unexpected way…?

But Laney wants more. So when a friend suggests she look into an alternative sperm bank in Copenhagen to find a potential father for her baby, things don’t go exactly as planned. Especially when Laney meets Mads and finds herself falling in love.

MAYBE TONIGHT
Mads Rasmussen has had enough: of being a sperm donor, of feeling disconnected, of being alone.

Then someone walks into his life in a most unexpected way…

Maybe Tonight gives us a glimpse of Mads’s life just before and after he meets Laney and lets us see what happens when love takes you by surprise.

**NOTE: This special edition contains Maybe Baby and its companion novella, Maybe Tonight. Both titles have been previously published as separate books **

Remember to enter the Rafflecopter for a chance at some great prizes!

1st prize $75 GC + 7 ebooks
2nd prize $50 GC + 7 ebooks
3rd prize $30 GC + 7 ebooks
4th prize $15 GC + 7 ebooks
5th prize $10 GC + 7 ebooks
6th prize $5 GC + 7 ebooks

Enter the Rafflecopter

Leave a comment and I’ll draw a random winner for a $10 Amazon gift card at the end of the event!

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Hop to the next blog on the list!

1.	Kiru Taye	15.	Ines Johnson	29.	Rina Gray
2.	Nana Prah	16.	Sharon C. Cooper	30.	Joyfully Reviewed
3.	Empi Baryeh	17.	Candace Shaw	31.	Synithia Williams
4.	RWOWA	18.	Natasha Blackthorne	32.	L. Loren
5.	Sexy Romance Novels	19.	Sydney Aaliyah Michelle	33.	LaQuette
6.	Kai Tyler	20.	Kenya Wright	34.	Jamie Wesley
7.	Love Bites and Silk	21.	Delaney Diamond	35.	A.J. Locke
8.	Felicia Denise	22.	LaVerne Thompson	36.	A.C. Melody
9.	Guinevere & Libertad	23.	Tia Kelly	37.	Kay Blake
10.	G.L. Tomas	24.	Patience Saduwa	38.	Sheena Binkley
11.	Georgia Lyn Hunter	25.	Paulette Harper	39.	M.J. Kane
12.	Lea’s Crazy Nights	26.	LENA HART	40.	The Reading Addict
13.	Lily Harlem	27.	S.W.Frank	41.	Reviews by Crystal
14.	Kim Golden	28.	Reana Malori	42.	Dionne Grace

A Reader’s Review

Every author wants book reviews. If those reviews happen to be 5-stars, it’s a banner day. But when that review is detailed, and the reader’s favorite scenes/characters were the same ones you agonized about and lost sleep over? It simply doesn’t get any better than that. Heartfelt thanks to author A.C. Melody.

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Title: In The Best Interest of The Child

Author: Felicia Denise

Genre: Women’s Fiction/Psychological/Romance

Rating: 5 Wholehearted ♥‘s

I want my own Bellamy! Before you get any ideas, it’s not just for the man, himself – but his entire cray-cray, laugh-out-loud, we do everything with passion family! Grab your box of Kleenex, you’re going to cry, especially when you laugh. Grab your beverage of choice and a guilty pleasure kind of snack, because oh yeah…it’s that kind of book.

Olivia Chandler has been through more than any person should ever have to go through and all of it prior to her eighteenth birthday. As the product of a broken foster care system, Olivia has taken what precious knowledge and resources her late father has given her, her own brains and a spine of steel to forge a career for herself as a Child Advocate of the Court. An attorney who prides herself on specializing in keeping children out of foster care by any decent means necessary. Unfortunately, this has resulted in years of hard work as an excuse not to deal with her own childhood trauma and to keep people at arms length no matter what.

When she gets a new case that closely mimics the childhood tragedy that forever changed her life–too much for the worst–Olivia finds herself facing a frightened, abandoned, haunted and betrayed little girl whom no one seems to give two cares about–and it’s not her new client, Rena Averest. It’s Livvie Chandler, herself. That girl still thriving inside of her, unable to heal.

Bruce Bellamy knows all about abandonment, and not just his own. When his wife walked out on him and their young children it did a number on him in many ways, making it difficult to trust in second chances. The first time he lays eyes on Olivia Chandler, though, all that changes. He can see right through her professional facade and down into the sad, yet genuinely compassionate woman bound and determined to stand for Rena Averest–a little girl who means a lot to him and his family.

Let me tell you, Bruce is pure charm. I have never read a male lead with more sincere charm than this man and Felicia wrote him so well, that it doesn’t come across as pretentious or nauseating. Even his persistence is charming! He made me laugh–and swoon–right alongside Olivia. I won’t spoil anything, so you’ll have to read the book to know if all his fast-talking persuasion does him any good! “That man.”

Then you have the Bellamy family – strike that, they’re a clan. I think I counted no less than three or four generations of Bellamy under their roof at one time. They are the big, loud, boisterous and loving family taking care of Rena Averest, and as soon as they recognize Olivia’s intentions to do the same, they adopt her as one of their own. I can’t even begin to describe these characters, they’re the kind of relatives you’d love and dread having at the same time, because I doubt anything gets by them!

Most of the time during reading this book, I had tears in my eyes. From living through Olivia’s horrid past, the frustration over what Rena’s being put through due to sheer incompetence by so-called professionals, all of the amazing supporting characters and from the truly fantastic humor Felicia weaves into the plot in all the right places. The dialogue was a little confusing for me at first, having one person speak and another person react all in the same sentence could make it hard to tell who was doing the talking, but once I got used to that pattern, it became easy to read.

I loved how genuine all of these characters came across, whether they were good or bad, they were written wholeheartedly. I wasn’t left feeling any disappointment at all in the end. Even though this story is going to continue – (Yay! Does the happy dance) – everything that was a plot point in this book was tied up by the end, with the exception of what is to continue, but that’s explained immediately. I was very, very grateful for that! I can’t wait to read the next installment, and I highly recommend this book to everyone. I don’t care what your preferred genre is, read it. I also recommend that it be made into a movie, pronto. I want to curl up on my couch with my coffee, Kleenex and snacks and watch it asap.

Get this book for FREE right now during the#BigBookSale!

♥ Connect with the Author, Felicia Denise ♥

♥ This is an Honest Review of a book that I purchased. I have not received anything in exchange for this review from the author, to include an ARC.

When Reality Checks In!

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I’ve mentioned my grandnephew, Jordan – the tiny-two-year-old-terror, in many of my social network posts. The posts are usually funny, the photos are cute, and Jordan loves seeing himself posted everywhere.

We had a Jordan-situation Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, that wasn’t funny or cute.

After a great family Thanksgiving, Jordan stayed the night with us as his grandmother (my sis, Melissa) had to work Friday. In typical Reevers family holiday fashion, we fell asleep everywhere. (This family does not understand the concept of “going to bed”.) Jordan and my youngest son, Drew – 26, were asleep on the sofa in the family room.

We were awakened at 4:30 in the morning by a fussy Jordan with a dirty diaper. Drew said Jordan “appeared” to have a seizure when he was waking up. I didn’t doubt Drew, and Jordan’s temperature was up. But, after getting cleaned up and drinking some cool apple juice, Jordan went back to sleep, as did my guys. I headed off to my writing cave.

Nearly three hours later, the mister runs into the room holding Jordan. “Fle, he IS having a seizure!” He puts Jordan in my arms, and he’s stiff as a board – arms and legs straight and inflexible, his eyes have rolled to the back of his head, and he’s frothing at the mouth. I loudly call his name twice, getting no response, and “911!” is the next thing out of my mouth…several times.

While Jordan’s seizure lasted less than a minute, it seemed to go on forever. As it tapered off, he took a huge gulp of air, exhaled, and slumped in my arms, eyes closed.

Yes, THIS is when I freaked out.

Checking for his pulse and/or heartbeat, I race to the front of the house. The mister takes Jordan from me in the living room, and tries to get me to sit down. Instead, I snap, “Where the hell are the paramedics?” – only to turn around and see them walking in my door! (FIVE MINUTES! It took them only five minutes to get there!)

In the SECONDS it took the medical team to sit down their gear and ascertain the situation, Jordan, the tiny-two-year-old-terror, who’s already had two seizures before 8 am is SNORING!!! The mister and I gave each other, “Did we dream this?” looks, and handed him over to the paramedics. After checking Jordan out physically and taking his vital signs, we were told he more than likely had a febrile seizure, brought on by the sudden spike in his body temperature, and such seizures are COMMON. However, the cause of the temperature needed to be found. The med team assured us his sleeping was also normal because the seizures are very exacting on the body, and he was probably extremely fatigued. They offered to take him in, but felt the ‘urgency’ of the situation was past for the time being. It was then I realized I had nothing authorizing me to get medical attention for Jordan. (DUH!) So instead, the family hopped in the car and headed for Melissa’s apartment, fifteen miles across town.

After scooping her up, it was a mad dash to the emergency room for the fastest, most efficient ER visit I’ve ever witnessed. (Getting Jordan’s prescriptions filled at Walgreen’s actually took longer.)

During the ER exam, we were again told febrile seizures are COMMON in infants and toddlers, and a signal that something – usually an infection – is wrong. In Jordan’s case, he had an EAR INFECTION! We all were speechless. Jordan had never had an ear infection before; and the day before – Thanksgiving Day – he had been his normal, rambunctious self, not fussy or tugging at his ear. Live and learn.

On a regimen of antibiotics, fever reducers and pain relievers, the-tiny-two-year-old-terror rested comfortably last night, and I could hear him during a phone call with Melissa this morning, loudly attempting to boss her around.

I’ve raised three children (with MANY ER visits), and helped raised or babysat dozens more – and I had never heard of a febrile seizure. Most of us know slight temperatures in the young ones are COMMON, and usually passes quickly, but this is just a heads-up – check and make sure the fever is going DOWN. Jordan went from “okay” to seizure in less than five hours without us suspecting a thing.

Jordan will be back with us this evening. I think my nerves are ready…again.

Many thanks, and much respect to Tucson Fire and Rescue, Tucson Medical Center and staff, and ER doctor, Brian Haggerty.

Also – if you’re going to watch someone else’s child for any period of time, even if they’re related, it wouldn’t hurt to get something in writing and notarized, giving you permission to seek medical treatment, if needed. You never know what will happen.