Donna Simonetta Archives

Jun 8th Donna Simonetta Author of Riverbend Series SALE!

Give a warm welcome to Donna Simonetta, author of A Sweeter Spot and Love is Lovelier. Their part of the Riverbend Series on sale now for 99 cents. You’re going to want to grab a copy!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Donna and the Riverbend Series.

I love reading small-town romance, and I especially love it when it’s a series set in the same locale—think of the Fool’s Gold books by Susan Mallery. When I decided I wanted to try my hand at writing a series set in a fictional small town, I decided to create one in Virginia, on the border with Maryland.

I plopped Rivers Bend down along the route my husband and I drove many times in years gone by, between our home in Maryland and his late mother’s home in Virginia. Right after you cross the Potomac River into Virginia, you find yourself surrounded by beautiful, green, rolling fields, which are dotted with horses and cows.

The series is centered on the Braden family of Rivers Bend. The first book in the series is A Sweeter Spot, which is about Jeff Braden, a widowed, former NFL player, who has settled back in the hometown he loves with his tween daughter, Sam. Next is his sister Heather’s story––Love is Lovelier. When her first love, and the cause of her first heartbreak, moves to Rivers Bend, old feelings between them don’t seem quite ready to be done.

I am currently polishing up book 3 of the series, and getting ready to submit it my publisher. It’s the story of the wild child of the Braden family––youngest son, Jason. He just might be ready to stop his playboy ways, and settle down with one woman. Shocking, I know!

I’ll be sorry to leave Rivers Bend behind, when I’ve finished the trilogy, but I have ideas dancing around in my head for a spin-off with some characters we’ve met in the first three books, although maybe not set in Rivers Bend. And I do have some thoughts about maybe telling the stories of some of the younger generation in town, as they get older and find their loves. Hmm….maybe we haven’t seen the last of Rivers Bend just yet.

Click on the cover to read more or purchase.

Lets take a look at A Sweeter Spot first:

Magda knows a 28-year-old shouldn’t run away from home, but Rivers Bend is the ideal escape. Helping out her best friend will get her away from her uber-wealthy, controlling grandmother and duplicitous ex. She doesn’t expect the quirky little town to feel so much like home. Add in hotter-than-the-sun Jeff and his daughter, and leaving seems as unthinkable as it is inevitable.

Raising Sam alone, Jeff knew he wanted her to grow up in his supportive hometown. The arrival of a feisty new tenant sends Jeff’s world spinning. Magda fills a void in his life that he’d like to make permanent.

Will love triumph over the most powerful woman in the country, and can they figure out how to make this happy-for-now in Rivers Bend into their happy-ever-after?

A peek between the page of A Sweeter Spot:

“Being cheated on is no fun. It happened to me once. Up here,” he tapped his forehead. “You know it’s not your fault. But here,” he tapped his chest over his heart. “You feel like it has to be your fault – like you could’ve done something to prevent it. But you couldn’t have. It’s all on him, Maggie. Not you.”

She picked a dandelion, whose flower had turned into a puffball, and blew on it, scattering the fluff to the wind. “Maybe. Maybe not. But thanks for the support.”

She pushed to her feet and took a couple of steps toward the river. Jeff rose and followed.

How could he be so angry at a man he didn’t even know? How could this Pierce jerk have slept around on a woman like Maggie? And the prick had even made her doubt herself in the process. It was written all over her anguished face.

He stood behind her and gently kneaded her shoulders. He turned her to face him and cupped her face in his big hands.

“This Pierce guy is the biggest fool on earth to go to someone else when he had you at home, Maggie.”

She blinked away tears, and he felt his heart constrict. Before he could think it through and decide it was a really bad idea, Jeff dipped his head and captured Magda’s lips in a gentle kiss.

Buy Links: Amazon The WIld Rose Press Barnes & Noble Amazon UK Kobo

Click on the cover to read more or purchase.

Now tell us about Love is Lovelier:

It wouldn’t be so bad, except Heather and Mick are still attracted to each other like metal to a magnet. Oh, and her brother is considering offering Mick a partnership in the Retreat, which by rights should be hers. And even if they act on their attraction, Heather is a small-town, country girl, and proud of it, whereas Mick can’t get far enough from his West Virginia coal-mining roots.

Will they be able to get a second chance at their first love and find their happy ending together in Rivers Bend?

A peek between the pages of Love is Lovelier:

“Stick close. I’ll get you out of here.”

He used his broad shoulders as a wedge to propel himself though the crowd; Heather scurried to keep up with him so she could take advantage of the gap he created, not wanting to be so close that she could feel the warmth of his body through his elegant suit, but because she needed somehow to beat this crush of people to the Retreat to make sure that everything was in place for the post-christening party she’d planned for Bethanne – only perfection would do for her BFF.

She watched Mick’s back as she stuck close to him; he looked so strong and fit – it was hard to imagine him the way he was ten years ago, when he’d suffered his NFL career-ending injury, but the same business acumen that kept him with the Portland Pintos organization back then was the reason Jeff and Cisco hired him at the Retreat.

He’d be good for business – she’d just have to keep chanting those words in her head like a mantra, or else she’d do one of two things she’d regret – kill Mick, or kiss him, and she’d gone the kissing route with him before. It did not end well. And tempting as the killing option was at the moment, it probably wouldn’t end any better.

Buy links: Amazon Barnes & Noble The Wild Rose Press Amazon UK

About the Author:

Donna Simonetta career has been a winding road. She worked in the business world for years, got her MLS and worked in a school library, and she is now living my dream as an author. Donna love to read and write contemporary and fantasy romance. She lives in Maryland, with her husband, who is her real-life romance hero. They both enjoy traveling to visit their far-flung family and friends, and spending time on the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.

Author Links:

https://www.facebook.com/donnasimonettaauthor

https://twitter.com/donna_simonetta

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15422407.Donna_Simonetta

https://www.amazon.com/Donna-Simonetta/e/B06X415TWW/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-simonetta

It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with your 99 cent sale on the Riverbend Series, including A Sweeter Spot and Love is Lovelier!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged A Sweeter Spot, Contemporary Romance, Donna Simonetta, Love is Lovelier by Tena Stetler with 7 comments.

Feb 5th Interview Donna Simonetta Author of Love is Lovelier

Give a warm welcome to Donna Simonetta, author of Love is Lovelier, book two of River Bends Trilogy released today! Happy Book Birthday!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Donna Simonetta and Mick from Love is Lovelier!

Thanks, Tena, for hosting me and my character on your blog today.

My pleasure. Donna, tell us a little about writing this story. Was it fun or difficult? Do your characters always act as you expect? Are you a plotter, or fly (write) by the seat of your pants? This story was a little harder for me to write than book one in my Rivers Bend Trilogy, A Sweeter Spot. The hero of that book is more my type of guy than Mick, the hero of Love is Lovelier, is––and it made it a little tricky to write at first. I had to think hard about what Heather would see in Mick, and I saw him through new eyes! I ended up going back and rewriting the beginning. Once I saw Mick as Heather did, and realized there was more to him than his ridiculously good looks, the book flew right along!

How about this handsome hunk sitting next to you. You’re Mick?

I am.

Tells us about the real you—What event in your past has left the most indelible impression on you?
(Clenches fists on the armrests of the chair and frowns) The event that led to the most pivotal moment of my life, was when I decided to accept the scholarship to Stanford University. It got me away from my hometown, and eventually to playing in the NFL with Jeff Braden, which has led directly to where I am right now…working at the Retreat at Rivers Bend, with Heather Braden, whom I also met in Portland.

What is the type of woman you want to spend the rest of your life with?
(Visibly relaxes, as a smile spreads slowly across his face) I would love to spend my life with an upbeat, funny, positive woman. One who lights up a room with her smile. I don’t know if I’d be the right man for her, or if I’m too serious, but if she’d have me…(shakes his head and whistles oftly)…I would try very hard not to blow it this time around.

What do you consider most important in life?
Being true to yourself. It’s not always the easiest thing to do, but no one should have to live their whole life wishing they were doing something else.

What is your biggest secret?
I blew it with the woman I think might be the love of my life eleven years ago. I was a young, stupid idiot back then. Here’s hoping history doesn’t repeat itself in the present. Not everyone gets a second chance at their first love, I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.

OH WOW, I wish you the best in that endeavor! Thanks so much for being here a putting up with my questions.

Hey Donna tell us a little about Love is Lovelier.

Heather and Mick have a long history together, and Heather wants to leave it in the past where it belongs. Yet, here Mick is, very much in her present, thanks to her brother Jeff, who hired Mick to be her boss at the Retreat at Rivers Bend.
It wouldn’t be so bad, except Heather and Mick are still attracted to each other like metal to a magnet. Oh, and her brother is considering offering Mick a partnership in the Retreat, which by rights should be hers. And even if they act on their attraction, Heather is a small-town, country girl, and proud of it, whereas Mick can’t get far enough from his West Virginia coal-mining roots.
Will they be able to get a second chance at their first love and find their happy ending together in Rivers Bend?

Now how about a sneak peek inside the pages of Love is Lovelier?

“You are one stubborn woman.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
Mick glowered at the air conditioner, as it turned off with an especially loud rattle. “Tomorrow after work, I’m going to drive down to Leesburg to get a new a.c. unit and a bigger television for the living room. Do you want to come?”
“Do you think that’s a good idea––us spending more time together, doing couple-y things?”
He smiled slowly, and Heather shivered in response to his intense stare.
He crawled through the furniture parts that were strewn on the floor, like a panther to a gazelle.
“As a matter of fact, I think it’s a bad idea of epic proportions, but I can’t seem to stop myself where you’re concerned.”

Buy Links:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Wild Rose Press, and Amazon UK:

About the Author:
Donna’s career has been a winding road. She worked in the business world for years, got her MLS and worked in a school library, and she is now living her dream as an author. She loves to read and write contemporary and fantasy romance. She lives in Maryland, with her husband, who is her real-life romance hero. They both enjoy traveling to visit far-flung family and friends, and spending time on the beach with an umbrella drink and a good book.

Contact Donna at the links below:
https://www.facebook.com/donnasimonettaauthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15422407.Donna_Simonetta
https://www.amazon.com/Donna-Simonetta/e/B06X415TWW/
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donna-simonetta

It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Love is Lovelier!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Contemporary Romance, Donna Simonetta, Love is Lovelier, Rivers Bend Trilogy by Tena Stetler with 23 comments.