Friday, 30 January 2026

Unconventional Gardening with Ciara Knight


Living aboard a trawler means you get creative, especially when tiny stowaways like gnats decide they’ve booked passage, too. So I just ordered butterwort plants, nature’s very polite (and slightly dramatic) way of handling the problem.

They’re small, pretty, and quietly carnivorous — no sprays, no chemicals, just a plant doing its thing while the boat gently sways at anchor. 🌊🌿

I may not have a traditional garden, but I do have:
• potted plants tucked into sunny corners
• herb garden in my kitchen
• the occasional stop at a public garden when we’re on shore
• and now… a tiny onboard gnat patrol





Gardening doesn’t always mean rows of soil. Sometimes it’s just finding green where you are — even if that’s floating.

Anyone else garden in unconventional spaces?


About the Author



Ciara Knight
 is a USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author who writes heart-tugging, faith-filled romance with a dash of hope and a whole lot of love. When she's not wrangling swoon-worthy cowboys or crafting small-town drama, she's navigating life as a proud mom of three spirited (and now grown!) boys.

In a major plot twist no one saw coming, Ciara and her tech-savvy husband recently traded in their empty nest for open waters—purchasing a boat to live aboard full-time. Together, they’re setting sail on the greatest adventure yet: the next chapter of life, love, and a few waves of inspiration. Anchors aweigh!

Ciara Knight on the web:

Website            Facebook            X

TikTok               Instagram          Threads

Bluesky            YouTube             Pinterest


Ciara Knight has a new mystery, suspense, thriller out this month!

An icy harbor. A missing agent. A fake marriage that feels far too real…

When by-the-book FBI Special Agent Vivian Durand is assigned to pose as a honeymooner on a rusted-out boat off the Maine coast, she knows it’s her last shot to erase the stain of a disastrous op—and the partner who vanished without a trace. Her target: Laurel Tide, a ruthless coastal syndicate built on smuggling, extortion, and the kind of trafficking the Bureau buries in sealed files.

Her cover husband? The one man she doesn’t trust.

For seven years, rule-breaking Special Agent Thomas Blake has chased Laurel Tide through storms, gunfire, and body bags. Going deep cover in Winter Harbor is his best chance to finally bring them down. But from the moment he and Vivian step onto the Windward Lady—their so-called “safe” house—nothing is what it seems. The boat is booby-trapped. Their comms are compromised. And every move they make is watched by enemies on the docks… and possibly a traitor inside the Bureau.

Snowed in, cut off, and forced into close quarters, Viv and Blake have to sell their marriage while untangling a deadly conspiracy and rescuing innocent lives caught in the crosshairs.

Because in Winter Harbor, one wrong step won’t just cost them the case—
it could cost them each other.




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Wednesday, 12 November 2025

Gardening with Joanne Austen Brown

 I love my garden. I moved here to my current home a year ago. Many of the plants were overgrown and jungle like. So, the last year has been fun getting to prune and trim and start to see the real garden.

My favourite is the walkway to the front door. It’s made up of a hedge of Iceberg roses.

Since I gave them a good prune, they are constantly blooming.



 

I love the many trees we have in the garden.





 


As you can see, I have pruning’s around the garden. Still cleaning up.

 

I have never had hedges before, but I have learned to prune them, and they look great in my garden.

 


Roses and hedges work beautifully.

 


My favourite part of the garden is the roses I have in the back yard.

 


The garden needs the lawn mown. That will be another job to do after the pruning is done.

 




I love my house and garden.


About the Author


Joanne writes Historical Romance, Murder Mysteries and Time

Travel Romances. She has a murder mystery series

called the Always series

and a time travel series called Come with Me.

First published in 2020 she has become a very popular writer

both in Australia and the US.

She loves to write. She has seven novels, three novellas,

and a short story under her belt now.

She is happily married with two grown-up sons.

And with four granddaughters and two kitty cats there is never a dull

moment in her home.



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Joanne has a new book out now...

The War Rings


Could Marta revisit the tragedy befallen her family? Because telling them meant she would be reliving it all over again.

Marta has brought up the three children in Britain, but now she must tell them what happened to their parents. Can she do it?  Alida and Dieter's love story is so beautiful despite what was happening in Germany. But Marta also lost her parents and other sister, leaving her the sole survivor in her family. They were all victims of the deadly Nazis as were thousands of people all over Europe.

Were they ready for the truth?






Buy on:

Amazon Kindle                  Amazon Paperback


Amazon Aus                         Amazon UK




Sunday, 6 July 2025

Cottage Gardening with Melanie Milburne

 I love gardens, particularly cottage ones. I’ve been reading about the formalisation of suburban gardens, which has people putting in hedges and trees and shrubs but not flowers that take more effort. This is causing a crisis for bees who need a good variety of flowers to collect pollen from. I have help in the garden these days - how did I do all that and write and raise my boys and support my busy surgeon husband?! Superwoman had nothing on me! 



My lovely friend and gardener, Grace does a wonderful job of making sure my roses are healthy and both annual and perennial flowers are planted according to season. 

She even rescued my numerous pots of orchids and repotted and fed them. 

Gardens are wonderful places for writers to wander around and think. 


I really do stop and smell the roses and I’ve taught my grandchildren to do the same. We make flower bowls and pick blooms for the table. 



Plants are like a story- there’s a seed of an idea that germinates and then grows. 

It might wither if not given enough attention or time but then with the right conditions it can grow into a beautiful bloom that gives joy not just to me but my neighbours and anyone else who walks by. 




Melanie Milburne writes modern romance stories for Harlequin Mills and Boon. Her love affair with romance novels began when she read her first romance at the age of seventeen and it inspired a dream to one day become a romance author. But even as a child she knew she wanted to of be a writer and enjoyed writing 
stories from the age of five. With nearly 100 novels in print and several industry awards and nominations for her work, Melanie enjoys crafting contemporary romance stories from her home in Hobart in beautiful Tasmania, where she lives with her husband and fur family of two cheeky toy poodles. 

Connect with Melanie over the web:

Website
      Facebook          Tiktok 


Instagram     Threads         Bluesky


The Ravensdale Scandals Books 1-3 is available in Audio now and you can get it free if you start the audible trial. 



Melanie Milburne's latest book...


She’s off-limits… 
And the Italian is unraveling! 

When her baby niece needs her, Addison Featherstone has no choice but to turn to Ludovic Jacobetti for help. Not only is he the infant’s godfather; his private jet can take them to Italy. There’s just one complication: playboy Vic has long been the object of innocent Addie’s deepest desires… 

As his friend’s sister, Addie is entirely forbidden to Vic. Yet when they're alone in Lake Como, he’s forced to acknowledge she’s more alluring than he’s ever allowed himself to notice… And once the sun sets, their chemistry doesn’t simply become intoxicating—it’s irresistible!  



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Thursday, 3 April 2025

Gardening with Dani Collins

 Two summers ago, I put potted flowers on the upper balcony next to my office and wound up with tree frogs living in them.

 


At first, I was a tiny bit alarmed because I discovered the first one

*coming out of my office.* There’s a screen door onto the balcony

and one evening I accidentally left it open.



I came upstairs to go to bed and there was the young, cursed prince

in our upper hallway, sitting there looking very confused. I had to get

a plastic container to trap him and take him downstairs and leave him

outside.

 

Then I realized they were spending the days in the freshly watered

planters—and sometimes taking a swim in the watering jug!

(Good thing I don’t use chemical fertilizers.) At night, they would

climb the screen and eat the bugs.

 


Last year, I had a busy publishing schedule so I didn’t make up any

planters. I didn’t want the hassle of watering them, but I really, really

missed my little friends so I’m thinking of doing it again this year,

hoping they come back.

 

Fun fact: If you sign up for my newsletter, you can read a story

loosely based on The Frog Prince called The Forgotten Prince.

Link:

https://claims.prolificworks.com/gg/jNTv2tOWCaYWQOYF8tNh



Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with some laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. Mostly she writes contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule’s Montana Born, but her backlist of ninety books also includes self-published erotic romance, romantic comedy, and even an epic medieval fantasy. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Look for Dani’s latest Presents, Maid to Marry, out now!

Dani Collins on the web:

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Join Dani’s VIP list and receive her Starter Library for FREE: https://danicollins.com/vip/


Dani Collins latest book...

Maid to Marry


How to avoid scandal?

Marry the Greek!


An illicit kiss with Atlas Voudouris got chalet maid Stella Sutter fired. When she bumps into him five years later, she’s still furious! Except as she accuses him of ruining her life, long-dormant desires come alive…


Atlas is about to announce the convenient wedding that will secure his inheritance. However, once paparazzi photos of his and Stella’s heated encounter go public, Atlas is left short a bride. The only answer? Make Stella his wife! But are his diamond and their dangerous passion enough to bridge the gap between their very different worlds?


Amazon Kindle.           


Amazon Aust.             


Monday, 25 November 2024

Vancouver Bloedel Conservatory with Dani Collins

 Vancouver Bloedel Conservatory

We’re well into the gloom of autumn here in Western Canada and even had a light dusting of snow, so I’m not doing much gardening right now, but this year was not my best gardening effort anyway.



 

I usually like to make up a few pots for the deck, including herbs, and plant some peas or beans or tomatoes.

 


This year, however, I had ten books release plus a series of novellas in German. It’s been absolute madness while I also completed and turned in seven more new books.



 

I jokingly told my husband I was letting my gardens ‘lie fallow’ which means I did next to no weeding and zero planting. I completely forgot to pick out my garlic from the previous fall!

 


I also did a lot of traveling this year, as a sort of reward for all those books. Fun fact: The book I’m promoting today is my 60th Harlequin!



 

We’re heading to Hawaii to celebrate that, but when we can’t get away somewhere tropical, we like to visit places like the Bloedel Conservatory in Vancouver.

 

This was a blustery March day with a wind that had us dreaming of spring. We spent a wonderful hour communing with the birds and finished off with lunch at a microbrewery.

 


I wish I could offer tips on creating a garden like this for yourself, but I think it involves hiring professional horticulturists and avian keepers. Which my hero probably has in his palace since it’s on a fictional island somewhere near Iceland!


About Dani Collins




Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. While she is best known for writing contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule Publishing, she also writes historical and erotic romance. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Dani lives in Southern BC, Canada with her high school sweetheart husband.


Stay current with Dani’s new releases by joining her newsletter or visiting her here:

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads


Dani Collins has a new book out!

His Highness's Hidden Heir

A shotgun wedding…
at the palace altar!

Former wild-child actress Lexi’s mission to reclaim her career at a gala is thwarted when she’s found by her stalker. Sending her straight into the protective arms of irresistible Prince Magnus! They succumb to a single night of scalding pleasure...

When a positive pregnancy test changes Lexi’s plans, she knows Magnus can’t be tied to her scandalous reputation, however safe he made her feel. But after Magnus discovers her secret, his coldly pragmatic solution blindsides her. And newlywed princess Lexi is left wondering if her royal husband even remembers their explosive encounter…






Buy on:


Amazon Kindle      Amazon CA


Amazon Aust         Amazon UK.  


Amazon Paperback




Unconventional Gardening with Ciara Knight

Living aboard a trawler means you get creative, especially when tiny stowaways like gnats decide they’ve booked passage, too. So I just orde...