From sweet to heat - the stories from Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

 

If you visit any of the online book sales sites, you can see that there are about fifty or so titles – some as Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy (contemporary, romantic suspense, paranormal, holiday) and a few as Patrice Wayne (historical romance).  I have several publishers – Evernight Publishing, Champagne Books, World Castle Publishing, and CleanReads. A few eBook titles are also on Amazon Kindle Direct.

                All of my books are not equal.  Some are full length novels, others are novellas or shorter works. Some are part of anthologies. They also range in content from sweet to heat, meaning some titles are sweet romance (sometimes also called clean romance) and others are sensual in nature. The levels vary on that, too.

                Since some readers care what kind of books they read, I’m going to give some tips. Anything published by CleanReads is sweet. This includes Scarred Santa, Tidings of Comfort and Joy, The Marriage Cure, the sequel What Fills The Heart, The Courtship of Ebenezer Scrooge, Gray’s Good Samaritan, The Widow’s End, Ronan’s Blood Vow and The School Teacher’s Scandal.  All are eBooks.

 

                Anything from Evernight Publishing, whether it’s a full-length title or a Romance on The Go, is sexy. The characters have sex. I happen to think my works are not as full blow sensual or as “dirty” as some authors but just a word of warning – all my titles from Evernight will have sex. And, as of now, they’re all eBooks.

 

                Books from Champagne Books and World Castle are more middle of the road. There’s some sex but not really as intense as the titles from Evernight. These are also, mostly, in paperback as well as eBooks.

                I think sometimes it’s harder to find a publisher for sweet than sexy. I’m submitting around a sweet romance that I think readers will enjoy once it finds a home – Scrooge and Marlee. I’m working on another that is also sweet.

                I’m not at all ashamed of any of my titles – but I’ve been asked often so I thought I’d share some insight into how to find the kind of books a reader prefers, sweet or sensual. Some readers, like me, will read a book if it captivates me either way.

                So there’s the skinny on my titles.

                Happy reading!

The list with sweet or sexy noted

1.       The Cure For Love June 2021 – (Evernight Publishing) sexy

2.       Still Waters Run Deeper (Evernight) sexy

3.       Canaan’s Land – World Castle Publishing (also paperback) sexy

4.       Scarred Santa – Clean Reads sweet

5.       Coal Black Blues – Evernight sexy

6.       Slattery’s Sin – World Castle (also paperback) sexy

7.       Barefoot Bride – Evernight sexy

8.       Cam’s Witness – World Castle Publishing (also paperback and hardback) sexy

9.       Saving The Sin Eater – World Castle (also paperback) sexy

10.   Third Time The Charm – Evernight sexy

11.   Fire Rescue – Evernight sexy

12.   Callahan’s Fate – Evernight sexy

13.   Johnny Gator – Evernight sexy

14.   Tidings of Comfort and Joy  - Clean Reads sweet

15.   Ronan’s Blood – Clean Reads sweet

16.   Dion’s Desire – Evernight sexy

17.   Carnival Glass – Evernight sexy

18.   Gray’s Good Samaritan – Clean Reads sweet

19.   Ryker’s Justice – Evernight sexy

20.   The Comanche Vampire – Evernight sexy

21.   Jove’s Passion – Evernight sexy

22.   Quite The Catch – Evernight sexy

23.   The School Teacher’s Scandal – Clean Reads sweet

24.   Pink Neon Dreams – Evernight sexy

25.   Devlin’s Grace – Evernight sexy

26.   Quinn’s Deirdre – Evernight sexy

27.   Byrd’s Desire – Evernight sexy

28.   The Courtship of Ebenezer Scrooge – Clean Reads sweet

29.   Stranger Danger – Evernight sexy

30.   Cat’s Patient Heart – KDP sexy

31.   Will’s Way – KDP sexy

32.   The Widow’s End – Clean Reads sweet

33.   Urban Renewal – Champagne Books sexy

34.   Movie Star Magic – Evernight sexy

35.   An Emerald Heart – Evernight sexy

36.   Red In The Hood – Evernight sexy

37.   Marriage Cure and sequel What Fills The Heart – Clean Reads sweet

38.   Love Tattoo – Evernight – first of a 4 part series all sexy

39.   Love Scars – book 2

40.   Love Knots – book 3

41.   Love Shadows – book 4

42.   A Time To Love – Champagne Books (also paperback) sexy

43.   Kinfolk  - Champagne Books (paperback) sexy

 

Patrice Wayne historical romance titles – all Evernight Publishing

1.       A Desperate Destiny sexy

2.       Dearest Love: Do You Remember sexy

3.       The Aviator’s Angel sexy

4.       Bette’s Soldier sexy

5.       Valley So Low sexy

 

In praise of porches

Every summer, my Granny’s porch became the gathering spot, a seasonal replacement for her living room.  Sometime in late spring, my Pop would check out the glider.  If it needed a fresh coat of paint or some oil to keep it gliding, he took care of the chores before returning it to its’ usual spot.  Granny would get out the cushions or, every few years, buy new ones, usually in bright floral prints and make the glider a comfortable place to sit.  To handle guests, they always brought a few of the heavy iron lawn chairs from the back as well and by the time summer arrived, the porch had become the place to be.

                Evenings, after supper had been eaten and the dishes washed, then put away, Granny would head for the front porch.  Although it faced west, a tall trellis laden with vivid purple clematis blossoms shielded her from the worst of the sun.  Miniature roses bloomed in profusion along the fence dividing the front yard from the neighbors on the south and other flowers brought color to the opposite side. 

                Since my grandparents had no air conditioning, it was cooler to sit out on the porch and catch the evening breeze.  Their porch was somewhat smaller than the one gracing the front of our home around the block but it offered cozy respite as well as a chance to view life passing by the house.

                On Tenth Street, a few blocks from the hospital where I had been born and where Granny had retired the same year, there was always traffic.  Ambulances often shrieked past en route to St. Joseph’s Hospital.  Sedate sedans passed with families headed for the park or a ballgame.  Teenagers drove past with the windows wide open and the radio blasting the now classic Sixties rock and roll music.

                Kids walked past on the sidewalk, girls with jump ropes, boys with baseball bats in hand.  Some skated by with speed.  Older kids marched in packs with their friends.  Sometimes the Sisters from the hospital took an evening stroll, their dark habits marking them out from the rest.

                Neighbors emerged to sit on their porches or front steps with a glass of cold iced tea in hand or a canned brew.  Children played in some of the yards, their voices calling across the grass in games of hide and go seek.  As the sun dropped lower in the western sky, neighbors began to greet one another.  Some migrated to another porch or stoop to visit or share a jar of fresh made jelly or a piece of homemade cake.

                Sitting on the porch with my grandparents was a favorite childhood pastime.  As the years passed, sometimes some of my cousins, the ones who like us lived close, joined us.  Often, we gathered to watch storms roll in from the west, a habit some of us continue to keep, in different homes and other places.

                When my husband and I bought our current home, a porch was high on my personal list of must-have features.  Many newer homes lack a porch but mine, one of the first built in my subdivision in 1960 has a porch as well as a deck, offering me the best of both worlds.  I’ve tried to grow clematis without much success but I have a huge, old maple tree with thick branches to provide a privacy screen. 

                Although I have a swing, not a glider, I still find sitting on the porch, swaying in the evening breeze, a favorite thing to do.  This summer, like any other, when I’m home, when it’s not too hot,  I’m likely to be found out on the porch, continuing an old tradition, handing it down to a new generation.