Hello, lovely reader!
I hope you and those you love are happy, safe, and well. I'm praying for God's peace and love to rest on the world, and on you, too, especially in these troubled times.
Oh my, what a week! Sorry to send a couple of days late, but I needed more time for things to settle down. Which they have in some ways! So, Thursday of last week hubby and I did our switcheroo thing again, to ensure we provide care to the cats at both our current UK home and our future Bulgarian retirement home. He flew into the UK on the evening flight, I took the same plane to Bulgaria on the night flight. After arriving at the house, exhausted and wanting nothing more than a few hours sleep, I fed the kittens and crawled into bed. Nine kittens all snuggled up to me.
And then one climbed on my face and scratched my eye. Not my eyelid, my actual eyeball, and he scratched hard. Eyes are important and we only have two, so our bodies remind us of this by making eye injuries painful. Very painful! I'm blessed with wonderful neighbours and it turns out there’s a 24/7 medical clinic in the nearest small town. They drove me there, took me to a pharmacy to get the prescribed eye treatments, and a week later it’s almost healed. I am so grateful for that, it could have been far worse. But it did wipe out a few days, when I needed to lie down with my eyes shut.
Still, I’m getting things done. Lots of cat care. House cleaning. Reorganising the kitchen the way I like it, after hubby was here for three weeks on his own. Dehydrating some of the masses of veggies my neighbour has given me, to go in winter soup and stews. Some slow renovation work in the back bedroom, which will be my room and was in what an estate agent would describe as “original” condition. For a Bulgarian village house built using whatever materials they had available (mostly mud in the rooms not intended for public view!) that means very basic indeed, with some interesting work needed that I’m going to do myself.
And the sunflowers are blooming! I’m so blessed to have been here again for the short time they’re in flower. I smile just thinking of them!
Now on to the book news, with two 99c Christian romance offers from my dearest author friends.
Six Christmas romances with plenty of suspense, 99c for a limited time!
If you enjoy romance with plenty of danger and suspense as well as faith and humour, and you don’t already have a copy of Holidays in Danger, now is the time to get Alexa Verde’s ebook set — six complete romances plus a bonus shorter romance that isn’t available anywhere else! It’s currently 99c (or local equivalent) on Amazon and can be read in Kindle Unlimited. Alexa usually removes the previous year’s Christmas set from sale when she launches a new one, so chances are it won’t be available to buy or borrow much longer.
Book 1 in a lovely series reduced to 99c — available on Amazon and other sites!
And my other sweet friend Rose Fresquez has just added one of her series of small-town series of tender, faith-filled romances to all the main bookselling sites, not just Amazon. To celebrate, book 1, First Site, an opposites-attract firefighter romance, is priced at just 99c.
This week’s f-r-e-e recommendations!
I’ll keep making weekly suggestions for no-cost Christian ebooks, including new additions to my to-be-read library. But because a number of readers have reported that the links in the email newsletter didn’t work for them, I’m now posting the book links on a webpage instead. You'll find the links here!
This week’s group book promos!
LATER LIFE LOVE — CLEAN ROMANCES
This group promo features a selection of clean and Christian romances, each featuring a main character aged 40 or older! Includes my books Adore Me (60-somethings is coastal Oregon), Nothing More (60-somethings in London and nearby), and Least Expected (50-somethings in London). Or do all these and more, I have a whole set of romances featuring characters aged from 36 to 81 — Love for a Lifetime!
BAREFOOT READS AND AUGUST HEARTS
This group promo shows a range of sweet and clean romances, mostly summer themed, all available to borrow in Kindle Unlimited. Includes my books More Than Friends (one summer’s day at a beach in Scotland), Imperfectly Proverbs 31 (antagonism to love in an Idaho lakeside community),and my coastal set, Chapel Cove Romances. If you don’t have Kindle Unlimited, Amazon’s subscription library plan, you can find out more and get a no-cost trial here. (Disclosure — that’s an affiliate link, so if you chose to sign-up for a trial, Amazon will pay me a small bonus at no cost to you.)
Though the organisers specified that all books in these promos should be genuinely clean, I can’t say for sure they all are, so please choose carefully!
Pet news
Lots of changes for our cats! We're missing our much loved UK outdoor cat, Posh Paws, a big beautiful Maine-Coon looking tabby. The cat was very happy and his health improved dramatically in the two years since he moved into our garden, after running away from a previous loving but unsuitable home nearby. Though we found the cat’s keeper and he gladly passed the cat on to us when he saw the improvement in the cat’s health, he omitted to tell us that the rescue he adopted the cat from had a strict return policy, or that the cat was known to be FIV positive and being kept indoors as a sole cat was a condition of the adoption! When hubby took the cat to a vet for a minor health issue, the vet recognised the distinctive-looking cat as coming from the rescue, alerted them the cat wasn’t with the person who adopted him, and they insisted on taking him back. If only this had happened two years ago when the cat first came to us and we were looking for the cat’s owner! We’re praying that he’s staying well and happy despite being kept indoors again after two years of freedom outdoors, and hope that one of our other cat loving but currently cat-less neighbours who can provide a suitable home for this cat will be willing (and permitted!) to adopt him, especially as we’re happy to pay all his vet bills.
And here in Bulgaria, my eye injury while sleeping resulted in us deciding the nine fourteen-week old kittens living in the house now have to be strictly outdoors cats, the same as their parents and most cats here. Turns out this same kitten also swiped at hubby’s eye, but as he had glasses on his eye wasn’t hurt, just a scratch on his cheek. If the kitten is allowed in the house, we can’t trust him not to do it again when we're asleep or not paying him full attention.
They have two big wooden cat kennels near the house, plenty of barn space, and beds on both porches. They’ve adapted better than I expected to the change, with very little whining at doors or windows. Probably because I’m making sure to spend plenty of time outdoors giving them food, love, cuddles, and attention. I miss the snuggles, but it’s wonderful how much quieter and more peaceful the house is and how much better I’m sleeping without all the kittens on the bed with me!
This week's randomly chosen ebook winners are Betty, Shirley, Cheryl, Mary, and Ellen. If your first name or the name in your email address matches one of the winners' names in the list above, reply letting me know which of my solo ebooks (sorry, sets are not included) you'd like as a free Bookfunnel download. You can see them all here. His Tender Mercy and Heart in Hiding aren't yet released, so if you opt for one of these, you'll be added to a wait list and get a copy when your choice is finally reader-ready. This week's give.away — five subscribers who click any link in this email by Monday, August 3, 2026 will be randomly chosen to win their choice of my ebooks and will be named in next week's newsletter.
Until next week, I'm praying you and those you love are happy and healthy, with many precious moments of peace and joy to brighten your days.
Blessings, and happy reading,
I read “humbling ourselves before the Lord” not to mean belittling ourselves or making ourselves small, but to mean surrendering to Him. To stop trying so hard to do it all ourselves. To know the peace that comes from handing that struggle over to Him. And to trust that He will care for us. Because He does!
Sorry about your eye. Ptl it's healing.
I love all the cat news.
Love those kitty pictures. We have one demon wild kitten. I make sure it has food and water everyday. His favorite activity is chasing the squirrels. Prayers appreciated for all my five children. I believe God's word when He promises that if we bring up a child in the right way they will return to Him in older age. What a precious promise. I really look forward to your weekly letter. praying your eye completely heals. Remembering we serve the Great Physician