When her student, six-year-old Mary Noel, survives a car
accident over Thanksgiving break, Amber and her new friend, Paul, are determined
to cheer her up during the holidays. But Mary Noel’s most painful injury is the
loss of her dog. The more withdrawn Mary Noel becomes, the more Amber and Paul
need a miracle—a miracle that requires the entire community’s help.

This book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Bonita Creek’s librarian Robin Bennett is heartbroken
after being abandoned by her husband, Thomas. The mysterious and handsome Jeff
Clarke arrives unexpectedly and touches Robin’s life with his wit and warmth.
Then, without warning, Jeff’s harsh words and abrasive actions scare her off,
and Robin’s hope of finding true love withers again.

Just when it seems Robin and Jeff might have a future, Susan Stinson, whose cruel
taunting has plagued Robin since they met as young teens, decides Jeff should
be hers, not Robin’s. Susan’s anger and jealousy escalate dangerously. Her
vindictiveness threatens the foundation of Jeff and Robin’s young relationship.
Robin’s journey through the peaks and valleys of her life meanders along the
twists and turns of new challenges. Is a relationship which began with both
parties harboring secrets destined to survive? Can they move past their
troubles and the obstacles in their path to find love and happiness together?
When their pasts rear their ugly heads, Jeff and Robin must use their faith to
remain strong and true. But will it be enough for them to embrace a life of
love, trials, and blessings . . . together?

This book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

I’m as hot and sticky as the center of a freshly-roasted
campfire marshmallow, Miss Praise.” Perspiration trickled past Robin’s
sunburned neck, under her collar, and down her back. Her blouse was plastered
to her skin. “I’m not feeling very feminine or lady-like in this condition, if
you catch my drift. This brings us to my next question. What was I thinking
starting up with this garden renovation project on the hottest March afternoon
ever recorded in Bonita Creek? Am I nuts? Wait—don’t answer that.”  Some sympathy from Miss Praise, like purring
or even winding herself around Robin’s legs, would’ve been comforting. Instead,
the elderly tabby was dozing comfortably in her cozy quilt lined basket on the
shaded porch. Robin was drained from tangling with her vintage hydrangea bush
for the past four hours.  She’d read
gardening was great exercise, but it gave Robin’s thoughts too many chances to
wander. She dreaded those dark, dreary spaces in her mind permanently occupied
by unhappy memories and heart-wrenching regrets. Since she wasn’t accomplishing
much anyway, she released her shovel to take a break with a refreshing glass or
two of her favorite iced tea. She straightened up and stretched her aching arms
over her head.  “I’m parched, how about
you? Want something cold to drink?” She spoke in the direction of the faded
gray cat. Apparently, Miss Praise had heard enough of Robin’s whining. The cat
yawned, stretched, flicked her tail, and hopped daintily out of her basket. She
lumbered down the brick path to seek refuge in the peaceful back garden.
Naturally, Robin hadn’t expected Miss Praise to respond, but talking to the cat
helped her feel connected to her Grandma Estelle. The older woman had passed on
a few years ago and Robin still ached for her grandmother’s presence. She
kneaded her fatigued lower back with her knuckles and sighed deeply. As she
untied the ribbon of her straw hat and shook out her damp curly hair, Robin
sensed someone’s gaze. A prickly feeling caused her to rotate her body where
she came face-to-face with an unfamiliar—but attractive—man. A hint of
amusement lit up his clean-shaven face as he stood on the walkway in front of
her garden gate. When the stranger chuckled, Robin’s damp cheeks flamed
scarlet. She wondered how long he’d been standing there listening to her grunt
and groan and, well, whine.  Since he
couldn’t possibly have seen Miss Praise, he probably assumed Robin had been
talking to herself. Swell. Just another example of the truckload of awkward
moments in life when Robin wished she could vanish on demand. Speaking through
clenched teeth, she attempted to use humor to cover up her
self-consciousness.  “Instead of breaking
your neck staring at me, how about making yourself useful by helping me dig up
this stubborn hydrangea?” Her embarrassment grew when the stranger’s sole
response was a chorus of boisterous laughter. Lord, please get me out of
here—now! Robin’s humiliation took over her common sense, and her sole goal was
to flee. Grabbing her garden hat, she slammed it onto the gate post as she
wrenched off her work gloves and tossed them on the ground near her birdbath.
The sound of the man’s hearty laughter echoing in her ears brought her lifelong
dislike of being the object of teasing and taunting racing to the surface.  

Like most school children, she’d suffered through her
share of teasing and even some bullying. Truth be told, she was still
occasionally bullied by a former classmate, Susan Stinson, almost ten years
after they’d graduated. Robin had expected—and hoped—in her current stage of
life, halfway between twenty-five and thirty, she would’ve overcome this
affliction. The scorching feeling in her cheeks told her otherwise. I so do not
want to deal with this guy. Attempting to give the illusion of self-confidence,
Robin lengthened her spine and held her chin high as she stalked toward her
cottage. In the safety of her cottage’s interior she’d find the solace and
peace she was seeking. Far too often in the past she’d allowed her pride and
confidence to be battered by a male. Okay, one male in particular. She vowed to
handle her reaction in the current situation differently. She was determined to
spare herself one more millisecond of humiliation. Today I’m going to stand up
to my tormentors. All right, so maybe this stranger isn’t exactly tormenting me.
Still, everyone knows laughing at a lady isn’t polite.  Robin wasn’t going to stand there and let
some stranger, however handsome he might be— and this guy was definitely
above-average in the looks department—laugh at her in her own garden. Hot,
briny tears stung her eyes. Time seemed to slow down, and she couldn’t make it
to the front door fast enough. Embarrassing incidents from her not so distant
past charged to the forefront of her mind as she made her way up the front
porch steps.  

~*~ 

At the front gate, Jeff froze. He’d offended her. His
body felt as if he’d just finished running five miles at a training pace, as it
had been since he’d first happened upon the woman. His heart thundered in his
ears when he’d first seen her, his vision honed in on a lovely brunette. She
was hard at work in her garden on such an oppressive afternoon. He’d never seen
anyone so focused on one task. She appeared to be in a frenzy, trying to free
the roots of a bush from the sun-dried, hardened soil. He had to admit, she
looked as if she were accustomed to hard work. Strong, fit arms and legs peeked
out from her short-sleeved blouse and khaki shorts. She sported a wide-brimmed
hat and appeared unafraid of hard work if the sweaty sheen covering her neck
and face were any kind of evidence. Smudges of dirt adorned her elbows, knees,
and—he couldn’t help but notice—shapely calves. He’d been walking through the
streets surrounding his rental home. Historical architecture was one of his
hobbies, and he was checking out the architectural styles located on the
streets in this older section of Bonita Creek, California. He’d already
identified Craftsman, Victorian, Italianate, Tudor, cottage, ranch, and
bungalow style homes. His mind, locked on his thoughts, was jarred when he heard
a frustrated voice asking why she was trying to renovate her garden on this hot
afternoon. The voice held such conviction he stopped to see if the speaker was
seeking his personal opinion. When he realized the sun-kissed gardener was
alone in the garden, he became enthralled by her movements and the timbre of
her voice. Unsure of how long he’d been staring, Jeff was jerked out of his
trance when the woman turned around and challenged him to come into the garden
to help her dig up the bush. Embarrassed he’d been caught staring, his natural
reaction was to laugh. Now the woman rushed away from him toward the door of
the cottage dominating the center of the property.  This scenario was not unfolding as he wanted.
He blamed his complete lack of understanding of women and their mysterious ways
for this latest gaffe. Now you’ve done it. You are clueless, Clarke. He needed
to come up with something witty and wise to redeem himself.

Otherwise, he’d lose a chance to meet this fascinating
gardener who had his curiosity.

Tell us a little more about who June McCrary Jacobs is?

JUNE:  Hello,
Maureen! I’m so pleased to be here with you today. Thanks for the chance to
share a bit about myself and my new book, ‘Robin’s Reward’, with your readers.

I am a California author of two contemporary
inspirational fiction books. My debut novella is a Christmas story entitled, ‘A
Holiday Miracle in Apple Blossom’.  This
book won Cedar Fort Publishing’s 2013 Holiday Tale Contest and was released in
October, 2013.

My new release, ‘Robin’s Reward’, is independently
published and is an inspirational romance story set in the picturesque coastal
mountains in the Mendocino coastal region of Northern California. It was
released on April 28th, 2015.

I’m also a sewing designer with over one hundred original
designs published in various magazines, books, and blogs over the past eight
years or so. I work as a freelance technical editor and technical writer for
indie designers of sewing projects. I’ve discovered that working an editor
helps me hone my own writing skills even though I write fiction and the
technical editing is non-fiction. When I’m editing someone else’s work, I’m
seeking accuracy, trimming the fat, and polishing patterns—much like an author
must do when writing fiction.

Did you always wanted to become an author?

JUNE:  From the
time I was a young girl, I wanted to be a teacher. I was fortunate to have a
successful, enjoyable career as a primary grade teacher for twenty years. I was
a voracious reader from the time I began Kindergarten on up through the grades.
When I was twelve years old I remember telling my teacher and my parents that I
wanted to be an author when I grew up. It took a while for my dream to come
true, but my goal of being a published author came to fruition in 2013!

What do
you love most about being an author?

JUNE:  This is a difficult question to
answer because there are many aspects of being an author that I enjoy. First of
all, I love being able to create characters and settings and put my thoughts
down on paper (oops, actually I use a computer to write!). I enjoy creating
scenarios, circumstances, and incidents for these characters to become involved
in. Experiencing the ups and downs, joys and defeats, and the roller coaster of
emotions of my characters can be exhausting—but I adore it all!

Having
readers tell me they enjoyed my work because it touched them is another reward
I reap as an author. I work extremely hard to publish the best product
possible, and so I hired an extremely talented editor, Author Cindy C. Bennett,
and a gifted cover designer, Author Sherry Gammon, to work with me on preparing
‘Robin’s Reward’ for release. Cindy’s
insights and tips made all the difference in

The
social media platforms I use as an author and the promoting of the books have
been something I’ve had to learn from the ground up since mid-2013 when I was
prepping for the release of ‘A Holiday
Miracle in Apple Blossom’.  I’ve had
a lot of support and assistance from my husband, various personal friends,
online friends, Christian bloggers, and the tech support workers at various
platforms (Goodreads, Amazon, BookLife, CreateSpace, etc.). Now I have some
confidence in using these modes of outreach. As you likely know from being a dedicated
blogger, this aspect of authoring is a
tremendous amount of work!  Time
spent promoting books can be fun, but it is also time-consuming.

Tell us about your books.

JUNE:  ‘Robin’s
Reward’ is the first installment in my Bonita Creek Trilogy. The book is about
89,000 words, and is completely clean in language and content. This book
actually began as a short story back in the late summer of 2010. I wrote the
story, a contemporary clean fiction romance without an inspirational element,
for an anthology a small press was publishing.

My story didn’t get accepted for the anthology, but I
really liked the setting, the plot, and my characters—Robin, Jeff, Penny,
Jorie, Thomas, Susan, and the citizens of Bonita Creek, California. I kept
trying to move on to other projects, but I couldn’t let this group go. So I
began a rewrite of the story which led me to working on it for another four
years, with lots of interruptions, until I was ready to send it to my editor
for her to begin working on it with me. My editor was supportive and
encouraging, and we worked on polishing the manuscript until it was ready for
release.

I’m proud of the growth the characters experience during
the course of the story, and I’m pleased with the response I’ve received from
friends, reviewers, and bloggers so far. The cover art and book blurb are
posted on my website at:  http://www.junemccraryjacobs.com/robins-reward/

‘A Holiday Miracle in Apple Blossom’ was submitted to
Cedar Fort Publishing in early 2013 for their Holiday Tale Contest. It’s a
Christmas novella about a little girl, Mary Noel, who is hit by a car in front
of her house. Her little dog, Cocoa, dies in the accident. The loss of her best
pal, along with her own injuries, traumatizes the six year old. She withdraws
completely from her parents, grandparents, doctors, nurses, etc. Her medical
team won’t allow her to go home from the hospital until her emotional health is
stronger. This extended hospital stay causes her parents to be drowning in debt
because their insurance does not cover 100% of her medical care. 

Mary Noel’s first grade teacher, Amber Kellen, is a first
year teacher. She meets the friend and employee of Mary Noel’s father, Paul
Watkins, and he share details of the family’s debt with Amber.  The two become fast friends and work together
on organizing and staging a fundraiser for Apple Blossom and the surrounding
small communities to raise money to pay down the Simmons’s family’s medical
bills. 

The cover art, book blurb, and an excerpt are posted on my website
at:  http://www.junemccraryjacobs.com/a-holiday-miracle-in-apple-blossom-june-mccrary-jacobs-978-1-4621-1352-1/

Where do you go to write your books? And where do you get
the inspiration?

JUNE:  I work out a
lot of things in my head before I sit down at my computer set up in my home
office. As a visual learner, I have a physical description in mind for each
character first. Then I build their character traits, quirks, personality,
occupation, hobbies, etc., from there. I jot down these things in my notebook
so I can keep everybody straight to avoid confusion when I sit down to write.

I have the general story arc in place in my mind before I
begin typing the first page. I’ve read that a lot of authors use outlines for
their books, but I’ve found this doesn’t work for me. I trust my characters to
lead the way. If they veer off-course, I intervene. I edit the previous day’s
work when I sit down to write each morning. I’ve found this keeps me from
making glaring errors or straying away from my goals for the plot.

I gain inspiration from people I’ve observed over the
years and from situations I hear about in the news or observe when I’m out and
about in society. It might be something I remember from my own childhood that
becomes a part of a story. We go on a lot of outings to parks, historic homes,
museums, and fairs, and there are loads of interesting people to study at those
places. Most people are so wrapped up in using their devices and interacting
with their companions that they don’t realize how they are behaving in public.

For instance, when I was in second grade the little
sister of a neighborhood playmate ran into the street in front of our house and
was struck by a car. I was outside playing in my front yard when it happened. I
remember how upset the man driving the car was and how scared all of us were
that our friend was lying in the street. I tried to use my emotional reaction
to this incident to write the first few chapters of ‘A Holiday Miracle’.

What are your future plans in writing?

JUNE:  I’m working
on the second book in the Bonita Creek Trilogy, ‘Penny’s Promise’.  Penny is quite different from Robin, so
readers can look forward to learning more about this gifted seamstress and
bashful, introverted spirit.

Many readers of my Christmas book, along with several of
my personal friends, have requested a sequel to ‘A Holiday Miracle’.  I will not write a sequel using the same
characters and the Apple Blossom, Vermont, setting. However, I would like to
write another Christmas novella. The Christmas holidays have always been one of
my favorite times of year and I love the traditions that go along with the
season. I have some ideas for a historical story set in the early twentieth century.
I love that time period, especially the nineteen-teens.

What is your favorite book?

JUNE:  Now,
Maureen, how can you ask someone like me who’s been a reader for several
decades (I won’t say just how many!) to choose just one book? Just kidding. If I
had to choose one book that made a huge impression on me when I was a teenager
it would have to be Margaret Mitchell’s ‘Gone With the Wind’.  A novel with history, drama, tragedy, deep
emotion, and some more drama. I read the book before I ever saw the film, and
I’m glad I did. The movie was a cinematic masterpiece, but I’ve never seen a
movie that held a candle to its original book!

What would your advice be to new, aspiring authors?

JUNE:  In 2013 I
wrote a blog post called ‘Resources for Writers’. It can be found at:

http://www.junemccraryjacobs.com/resources-for-writers/

The post includes information on four publications I
regularly read to keep up on what’s going on in the publishing world along with
providing tips for writers. I find these publications helpful as a reader, too,
because they announce trends in genre publishing and publish release dates of
upcoming books.

On a more personal note, I would like to encourage aspiring
authors to remember that what they write is a reflection of themself as an
individual. I urge you not to compromise your core values, beliefs, ethics, or
morals just to sell books. You’re placing your name on your work, and that’s
the biggest endorsement you can give to any product.

The other thing I would like to say is something more
easily said than practiced. Try not to let rejections get you down. I can’t
tell you how many rejections I’ve received over the past eight years for my
sewing designs and fiction writing—probably hundreds, if not thousands! (I’m
not exaggerating here.) If you let the judgments of publishers and editors get
you down, you will never be published. Keep a positive attitude and look to
your faith, family, and friends for encouragement and support in the dark
times. I believe for a fact that I wouldn’t be a published author now if not
for my awesome husband and a cadre of a few close friends. They have buoyed me
in some bleak times.

JUNE:  Thanks for your hospitality,
Maureen. This was fun! I’d like to add that I enjoy hearing from readers,
authors, aspiring authors, bloggers, seamstresses, quilters, and crafters.
Below is a listing of links to my social media platforms where they can connect
with me.

Email: junemccraryjacobs@gmail.com

Website & Blog: http://www.junemccraryjacobs.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/June-McCrary-Jacobs/153549754836128 

Amazon.com Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/june-mccrary-jabobs  

Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/June-McCrary-Jacobs 

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/june-mccrary-jacobs/a3/6a8/779

I’m giving away two signed copies of ‘Robin’s Reward’ on
my website. US residents only, please. No purchase necessary. Contest ends May
31st, 2015. Here’s the link to the Rafflecopter entry form: 

http://www.junemccraryjacobs.com/robins-reward-autographed-copy-giveaway/

Best wishes to you, Maureen, on your blogging endeavors.
All my best to your readers. With appreciation, June

Award-winning author, June McCrary Jacobs, was the winner
of Cedar Fort Publishing’s 2013 Holiday Tale Contest for her debut novella, ‘A
Holiday Miracle in Apple Blossom’. ‘Robin’s Reward’ is her first full-length
novel, and is set in her favorite location in California—the Mendocino coastal
region. This book is the first installment of the ‘Bonita Creek Trilogy’.

June’s original sewing, quilting, and stitchery designs
have been published in over one hundred books, magazines, and blogs in the past
few years. When she’s not writing, reading, or sewing, June enjoys cooking,
walking, and visiting art and history museums. She also enjoys touring historic
homes and gardens and strolling around the many historic Gold Rush towns in the
Sierra Nevada foothills. In the summertime you can find June at a variety of
county fairs and the California State Fair admiring the sewing projects,
quilts, and handiwork other inspired seamstresses, quilters, craftspeople, and
artists have created.

June enjoys connecting with readers, authors, aspiring
writers, bloggers, designers, sewers, quilters, and crafters. Please connect
with June at her website & blog, Facebook, Amazon, Goodreads and LinkedIn.
Or send June an email. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway