October Fest Blog Hop and Giveaway

This month I am proud to be joining in the Reading By The Book October Fest Blog Hop.

For many October signifies the beginning of fall. Here in New England October is the time when the leaves change color and begin to fall from the trees. I have to admit fall is one of my favorite times of the air.

Photo provided by puttsk at http://www.freedigitalphotos.net

To celebrate this great time of year I am getting ready to re-release The Teacher's Billionaire, which is the first book in my series The Sherbrookes of Newport. I originally published this book in March of 2012. Since then I have gone back and added in scenes that I believe add to the story.  Since much of the book takes place in Rhode Island, also known as the Ocean State, I thought I would tell you a little about the place where I was born and lived until I was 25.

Let’s start with some interesting facts you may not know. Rhode Island is the smallest of the 50 states. Yes, it is even smaller than Delaware. Despite its size it actually has the longest name. Few know this but the official name of the “Ocean State” as it is often called is The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Rhode Island is the home of Newport. At one time Newport was the summer playground of the wealthy. Families like the Vanderbilts and the Astors had “summer cottages” along Bellevue Avenue. Today many of these mansions are open to tourist. If you are ever in the area, I suggest you visit some. They are breathtaking.

Every state is well known for a certain type of food or drink, and Rhode Island is no different. In fact, in 1993 coffee milk became the official state drink. I must admit I love coffee milk. I grew up drinking it. For those who don’t know what it is, think of chocolate milk but instead of chocolate syrup it is made with coffee syrup. In fact the town I grew up in, Lincoln, which is also the town the heroine in my new book lives, is the home of Autocrat, which produces coffee syrup.

Providence is the largest city in Rhode Island as well as the capital and many scenes in my books take place there.  Today the city is a beautiful place to visit, but that was not always the case. On September 21, 1938 The Great New England Hurricane swept into Rhode Island and submerged the city under more than 13 feet of water. Yes, I said feet. Today when you walk downtown you will often spot plaques on the older buildings marking the level the waters rose that day.

Honestly, I could go on and on with facts that I find interesting about Rhode Island, but for this blog post I will end with the final three. Rhode Island was the first state to officially declare its independence from the British Crown. Since that is true it only seems right that the town of Bristol, Rhode Island is the home of the country’s oldest 4^th of July celebration. Last but not least, while Rhode Island was the first to declare its independence, it was the last of the 13 original states to sign the United States Constitution.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these little tidbits about my home state and the setting for many of my books in The Sherbrookes of Newport Series. If you find that you just can not get enough of the East Coast with the current six books in that series,  I  have a second series also set in New England. My other series is called Love On The North Shore and those books take place in a fictitious town called North Salem in Massachusetts. I hope to have the third book in that series out by the end of the year.

What starts out as a plan to keep a family secret out of the media soon turns into so much more for billionaire Dylan Talbot as he falls in love with elementary school teacher Callie Taylor.   But when Callie learns the truth about her relationship with the confirmed bachelor only complete honesty can save their love. 

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