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Patricia Johns

~ Bestselling author

Patricia Johns

Tag Archives: clean romance

It’s here!

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

clean romance, harlequin author, harlequin heartwarming new release, love inspired author, sweet romance, western romance author

 

I’m so excited to remind you that A BAXTER’S REDEMPTION is now available for sale everywhere you buy books online!

baxters-redemption

Has she really changed? 

Former beauty queen Isabel Baxter returns to her hometown, scarred after a near-fatal accident. But in high school, she was the fantasy of every teenage boy in Haggerston, Montana, including James Hunter. Even though James was too far below her social circle to be noticed…

Now her father’s attorney, James isn’t ready to forgive Isabel for the part she played in his own family tragedy. Yet she seems eager to make amends and prove herself capable of being more than a pretty face. Has the girl he once worshipped—his boss’s daughter—grown into a woman James can respect…and maybe love?

 

Amazon

Harlequin

 

Cover Reveal!

25 Sunday Sep 2016

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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Tags

clean romance, cover reveal, harlequin author, harlequin heartwarming, love inspired author, mills and boon author, sweet romance, western romance author

A BAXTER’S REDEMPTION is coming out January 2017, and I just got my finalized cover with which to tantalize you! 😉

baxters-redemption

Isabel Baxter returns to her home town after a disfiguring accident that leaves her badly scarred. When she left, she was a beauty queen and heir to a fortune. When she returns, even her inheritance is in jeopardy. Her father has remarried a woman two years younger than his daughter who is newly pregnant, and his new wife wants the money for herself. When Isabel’s father signs over her trust fund, she has just enough money to open her own chocolate shop–something she’s wanted to do for years now. Her father thinks the idea is ridiculous and does the one thing left in his power–sends in the family lawyer to keep an eye on her and make sure that she doesn’t squander what may very well be the last money she ever sees from her father…

Enter our hero, the lawyer.

***

You’ll be able to buy this book online through Harlequin, Amazon, and any other e-retailer starting January 2017.

 

Is love really necessary?

27 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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Tags

clean romance, guest post, harlequin heartwarming, sweet romance

Today, I’m blogging over at the Heartwarming blog about whether or not passionate romantic love is necessary for a successful and happy marriage. I read an interesting article by a woman who thought it would be a good idea to marry a good friend she truly respected and cared for in order to enjoy the social benefits that come with  marriage. But make no mistake–she didn’t love him.

Bride_and_groom

Come by! I’d love to hear your take on it! Would YOU marry someone for another reason besides toe-curling passion?

Click HERE

A new box of books!

21 Monday Dec 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

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Tags

american romance author, clean romance, harlequin author, inspirational romance, love inspired author, love inspired books, sweet romance, the lawman's suprise family

Look what’s arrived!

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The other day while I was cooking (what I do when my writing isn’t coming along the way I’d like), UPS came to my door and dropped off this box. THE LAWMAN’S SURPRISE FAMILY comes out March 2016, but if you know me personally (as in, you run into me in our small town), then you know where to come for a tea… and a free book!

For everyone else, I’m going to have a giveaway in the new year, so you won’t be left out. I mean, you’ll miss out on a cup of tea and my stellar company, but I do what I can. 😉

So keep your eyes open for another Goodreads giveaway in January. I’ll post on this blog and on Facebook.

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SIDEWAYS!!

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

american romance author, budgie, Canadian spring, Christian romance, clean romance, love inspired author, sweet romance, yellow budgie

Canadians talk a lot about weather, because weather MATTERS. I’m serious. This is not small talk. This is important. This is the line that is drawn between us and our plans for the week… Namely, a scenic plane flight we’ve been looking forward to for WEEKS!

Every single time our scheduled day comes along, either the weather or the flu season kicks up a fuss. This is today:

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This is also the forecast for tomorrow. I don’t think you can see it, but that mix of sleet and snow is actually blowing sideways.

All I want is the regular sun and cold that greets us in our prairie winter! Cold is not an issue, but the driving sleet kinda is… And I want our plane ride!

Anyway, my desires aside, our birds seem to be enjoying that sideways blowing misery, because every time the wind really howls and the sleet whips by perpendicular, they dance around and chirp excitedly. Being flight animals, you’d think they’d have a deeper sense of horror. They do not.

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My whining aside, I hope you all enjoy your Easter weekend, with much better weather than ours. With any luck we’ll get some decent sun for a flight over the town. And you can be assured that I’ll take pictures. 😉

Giveaway!

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christian romance, clean romance, goodreads giveaway, harlequin giveaway, inspirational romance, love inspired giveaway, sweet romance

In preparation for my next book release, I’m holding a book giveaway for A FIREFIGHTER’S PROMISE through Goodreads. This book is being released May 2015, but you can enter now to win a free copy for yourself, or for your mom! (Just in time for Mother’s Day, of course!) If this is for your mother, write “For Mom: and her name” in the Company Name line of the ballot. I’ll include a card giving you full credit for the gift. 😉

So if you’d like to win a free copy,

CLICK HERE!

firefighter's promise cover

Good luck! I’m giving away 5 copies. The draw will end April 15, 2015.

 

 

 

 

Awash in Books

13 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christian romance, clean romance, firefighter romance, inspirational romance, inspy romance, love inspired author, love inspired books, wholesome romance

I just submitted my manuscript for A SECOND TIME AT FOREVER… just in time to get a springtime cold. This is how it works for me–I work hard, and then my immune system craps out on me. I recover for a few days, and then I pour it on for a new project. I don’t think my body likes this arrangement, considering that it keeps throwing me under the bus with illness, but I carry on anyway. 😉

Right now, I’m starting a proposal for what I hope will be my first series. This one will be about a police department, and it’s slowly starting to take shape in my mind. It’s fun to start with something brand new–a new town, a new group of people. I confess I’m geeking out a little bit! I’m going to make a nice big map so that I can keep track of where everything is in my fictional town. I’ll have to keep track of all my details: shopkeepers, townspeople, ministers, store names…

And today, I received my big ol’ box of A FIREFIGHTER’S PROMISE, which hits bookstores May, 2015. Yay! So I’m feeling productive… and awash in books. So stay tuned for a giveaway soon!

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The weight of a heart: writing bad guys

07 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

christian author, clean romance, heart and home, inspirational author, love inspired author, love inspired books, sweet romance, wholesome romance, writing a bad guy

Bad guys are definitely fun to write, and my current work in progress has a doozy of a bad guy. Now, romance novels don’t always need bad guys to keep them moving, the focus on the relationship being enough, and this guy developed almost by accident. I needed my cop hero and the journalist heroine to have something to work on together, and in he stepped.

Now, fictional bad guys are much like real life bad guys in that they have two vastly different sides to their characters. If you think about it, even Hitler, who is arguably the most evil man we know of, had a personable side. I’ve read articles where people who worked as bodyguards to Hitler said he was fun and laughed and joked with them. They honestly liked him. The other side to his personality was horrifically cruel–all bundled up into the same person.

In writing, maximizing that dichotomy of character is key in showing just how “bad” a bad guy is: the warm smile right after a vicious sneer, for example, or the extra-kindness before doing something particularly cruel. Abusive people, in real life, tend to show this same kind of flip-flopping behavior, keeping their victims off balance with volleying kindness and cruelty. It’s the inconsistency that makes us nervous. It’s that inconsistency that makes them dangerous.

 

imagesKathy-happy-and...

People are often described as having “a good heart.” Hearts seem to be weighed differently than actions by the people closest to them. Motives are taken into consideration. “He didn’t mean it. He was upset because…” or “She only lied because she was trying to protect him…” In these situations, bad behavior is mitigated by “the good heart,” or the motivation. When actions become intolerably cruel, however, actions weigh more than hearts, and flawed characters become villains. That’s the realm of “bad guys.”

But never fear–I’m a firm believer in that happy ending, and the bad guy meets a suitable end. 😉 Also… someone gets married, but sssh… I don’t want to ruin it!

First Kisses

27 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Christian romance, clean romance, first kiss, harlequin author, inspirational author, love inspired author, sweet romance, wholesome romance

Photo by: Michael L. Baird

Photo by: Michael L. Baird

First kisses are awkward affairs… except for mine! 😉 It’s just bad form to have an awkward first kiss in a romance novel, unless that awkwardness is somehow endearing and melts away pronto.

My first kiss with my husband was at the streetcar stop in front of my home in downtown Toronto. Mr. Johns was dropping me off after a date, and he caught my hand as I was about to turn and leave and he said,

“Will you kiss me?”

So in the light of a streetlamp somewhere near midnight, I came back to where he was standing, rose up on my toes and kissed him. I think I did a rather good job of it, because he still mentions that kiss sometimes!

Some people choose to share their first kiss on their wedding day. Others catch it on the doorstep after a date. Some ask permission. Others simply see what will happen. Regardless, it’s a story ever couple tells!

Where was your first kiss?

Waking Mr. Johns

22 Sunday Feb 2015

Posted by Patricia Johns in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Christian romance, clean romance, Granchester, harlequin author, inspirational romance, love inspired author, married romance, sweet romance, wholesome romance

The other evening, my husband went to bed before me. He was wiped after a long day at work, and I was still buzzed from my day of writing. So he went to bed, and I watched a murder mystery on TV.

In the show, the sleuth was in love with Woman A. Woman A was marrying someone else. Woman B is a wonderful woman who loves the sleuth dearly, but she’s not Woman A. So the sleuth tries to love Woman B, while all the while loving Woman A in spite of himself. It made me feel really badly for Woman B! (If you recognize this, then we’re both PBS fans!)

GRANTCHESTER_EP1_0_394

So I turned off the lights, checked the locks and puttered off toward bed. I crawled into bed next to my husband who was snoring deeply. But I got to thinking… Wouldn’t it terrible to be the Plan B? I knew I wasn’t… but what if things had turned out differently, and I was?

This is how a novelist’s mind works when she really should be sleeping and is staying awake in bed instead. She works herself into knots, replotting her own story. What if?? I decided that the only way to untie this unrealistic knot was to get some reassurance. So I snuggled up to my husband’s back. He didn’t wake up.

I kissed him. Nada.

I patted him. No luck.

I rolled over and put my back against his. Nothing. I reached back and smacked him harder.

Mr. Johns sputtered and moaned.

Me: Oh, are you awake?

Him: Uhh…. Yeah….

Me: So, I was just wondering, honey… Am I the love of your life?

Him: (garbled) Yup.

Me: The one you’d measure everyone else against if I were to die an untimely death?

Him: Of course, baby. Soul mates.

Me: *smile*

Him: *snore*

Because men have a very hard time saying the right thing when they are half asleep, unless the right thing happens to be the true thing.

Being married to me must be interesting. Mr. Johns finds me intriguing, but that’s because I was created for him. (He was born first.) Or you could say that God created him for me before I was even born. Regardless, we were made for each other, so when I wake him out of dead sleeps to ask him What If questions, he doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, the next morning, he doesn’t seem to remember.

That might be lucky. 😉

 

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Patricia Johns, Author

Patricia Johns, Author

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