Happy St. Paddy’s Day (Not St. Patty)

I love St. Patrick’s Day. Who wouldn’t love a day that celebrates the Irish, usually with a round or two of beer? Mine will be brown, however, not green.

March 17

Save the date white block calendar for St Patrick’s Day, March 17, with Leprechaun hat, pot of gold, and rainbow, on green background.

I do have one pet peeve with the way this holiday is celebrated in the US. I cringe every time I walk into a restaurant and see a sign advertising “St. Patty’s Day” specials. Patty is short for Patricia. The proper nickname for Patrick is Paddy, a name once used pejoratively for Irishmen. Now there may be a St. Patricia, and she may have her own special day, I wouldn’t know, I’m not Catholic. But please stop emasculating St. Patrick! After all, he was a gentleman, according to an old sea shanty.

St. Patrick's Cathedral

St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland,

My heritage is about half Irish, though of the Northern, Protestant, Orange variety, who celebrate the 12th of July more than March 17th. When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, my mother and grandmother always insisted we should wear orange on St. Patrick’s Day. Never mind that I look better in green! Then we moved to Southern California and I quickly discovered that not wearing green on March 17th meant complete strangers would pinch you. I rarely made that mistake again. Besides, I look like death warmed over in orange. So I will be wearing Green today.

In 2015, I cruised around the British Isles and spent several days in Ireland. Here are some photos of my favorite Irish places.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Here’s my own St. Patrick’s Day wish for you:

On St. Paddy’s Day,
My wish for you
Is a large bowl
Of Irish stew.
And a pint or two
Of your favorite brew.

And may you be an hour in heaven before the devil knows you’re gone!

What are you doing for St. Patrick’s Day?

Linda / Lyndi

Made Maleen: An Erotic Twist on a Fairy Tale #Eggcerpt Exchange @JeanneStJames

#eggcerptexchange button

Meet #Eggcerpt Exchange Jeanne St. James, author of
Made Maleen: An Erotic Twist on a Fairy Tale

Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
A Novella loosely based on the Grimm’s fairy tale Maid Maleen

Made Maleen coverBlurb:

“Just let me love you.”

When Maleen King’s father catches her naked in the hay loft with her high school sweetheart, he sends the eighteen-year-old away to receive a college education and rise above the humble beginnings of an Idaho dairy farm. Now fourteen years later, Mal comes home to run the farm after the death of her father. The stress of a disastrous marriage and being a NYC stock broker made her long to return to a simple life.

Braydon Daniels, devastated when Mal’s father sent her thousands of miles away, has thought about her every day since. Now, over a decade later, he finds himself alone, divorced, and beaten down by the trauma of his broken marriage. When Mal comes back to town for her father’s funeral, he realizes the feelings he once had for her are just as strong. There’s one little snag, though. His ex-wife is the woman Mal has hated her whole life. And they have a child together.

Despite the struggle to recover from their past relationships, the undeniable attraction between them still exists. Can they rekindle the passion they once had?

Available at Amazon for only 99¢ or FREE in KU: http://amzn.to/2klYO8o

Excerpt:
(Note: this excerpt uses stronger language than usual on this blog)

Mal picked at her black pencil skirt, pulling the scratchy fabric away from her skin. She was anxious to get back to the house and change into an old, comfortable pair of jeans. She wished she still fit into the worn pairs she found in a box at the bottom of the closet in her childhood bedroom. But like Braydon, she had also matured. Which meant having curves that no longer fit into junior skinny jeans.

As she walked down the ramp from the funeral home, it surprised her to find a car other than hers still left in the parking lot. She figured she would be the last one leaving, especially after staying to make arrangements with the funeral director for her pop’s cremation.

She stumbled and caught herself by grabbing the metal rail running alongside the concrete incline.

He looked good.

Shit. Good was a gross understatement. That was like saying a sundae full of ooey, gooey hot fudge, wet walnuts, colorful sprinkles, a pile of real whipped cream, and a cherry on top tasted only good.

Her stomach growled. She wasn’t sure if it was due to the fact she found herself now hungry for a sundae, or the sight of Braydon Daniels leaning his ass against the side of a pickup truck, his arms and ankles crossed as he watched her approach.

She looked down at her blouse. Yep, her nipples had hardened into two mountain peaks. She sighed. Way to be so obvious, Mal.

Though she could kill two birds with one stone: Eat the sticky sundae right off his—what she could only imagine—firm stomach. She bet his six-pack had indentations where the melted ice cream and fudge would pool until she licked away all traces of the sweet goodness.

Mal faltered and had to take a deep breath before closing the gap between them.

“I figured that was your car.”

She wasn’t used to his deep voice yet. The voice of a man, not a teenager. He was parked only two spaces away from her bright red Audi R8 convertible. With the upgraded 5.2 L V10 and manual transmission, the pretty little sports car had set her back a cool $166,000. Five-hundred fifty horses weren’t cheap. Though a beauty and hell of a lot of fun to drive, out here in Bum-f*ck, Idaho, the car was nothing but a joke.

Oh, it impressed her colleagues back home in New York, but here a manure spreader was more useful. Suddenly, she realized she mistakenly thought of New York City as “home.”

“How’d you guess?” she asked, trying not to be too apparent when her gaze skimmed every inch of him.

He laughed, shaking his head, and glanced down at the pavement for a moment. When he looked back up, he pinned her with his greenish-gold eyes.

She did her best not to squirm.

Author Bio:

JEANNE ST. JAMES is an erotic romance author who loves an Alpha male (or two). She was only thirteen when she started writing since it gave her an escape from teenage angst! Her first paid published piece was an erotic short story in Playgirl magazine. Her first erotic romance novel, Banged Up, was published in 2009. She is happily owned by farting French bulldogs. She writes M/F, M/M, and M/M/F ménages.

She has a few new releases coming up in 2017. So keep an eye on her website at www.jeannestjames.com or sign up for her newsletter: http://www.jeannestjames.com/newslettersignup.

Connect with Jeanne here:

Blog: http://jeannestjames.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JeanneStJamesAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeanneStJames
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/jeannestjames
Review & Book Crew: https://www.facebook.com/groups/JeannesReviewCrew/