French, Love, and J. Arlene Culiner

Join me in welcoming back J. Arlene Culiner to Discover... Her book sounds fascinating. Enjoy!      

French artist Nicholas Trier is gorgeous. And successful. And sexy. He’s a golden god who lights up any room. He’s also arrogant, although the cluster of women surrounding him don’t seem to mind — aren’t all famous men vain and impossible?

Despite the competition, artist Callie Patterson has decided that Nicholas is the key to her own fame and success, and she signs up for his two-week artists’ retreat in a French château. If she manages to charm Nicholas, who knows what will happen next?

From the moment she arrives in France, things don’t go according to plan. The château is magnificent, the countryside is splendid, but it never stops raining, and daily life also means battling with the French language.

Callie is grateful for a growing friendship with the château’s gardener, Michel Alexander, but even if she finds him captivating — and far more interesting than Nicholas — she can’t consider him a potential lover. Michel is probably as poor as she is.

Set in rural France, this light-hearted romance touches on the contemporary art world and French history.

Callie Patterson, an unsuccessful artist, hopes that a relationship with the irresistible and magnetic Nicholas Trier will pave the way to success. She follows him to France where, in a magnificent château, he holds his artists' retreats. But famous men surround themselves with hangers-on and demand complete loyalty.

Callie soon finds herself far more attracted to Michel Alexandre, the estate gardener, who loves and protects trees and every living creature. But if she wants to make a name for herself, she’ll have to choose Nicholas and his world.

Except nothing is quite the way it seems, and perhaps success isn’t the most important thing, after all.

Excerpt:
            Callie dropped her backpack and, uninvited, sat down on the soggy ground not far from where he was digging. She didn’t even own a houseplant, but a banal conversation about twigs and saplings, was what she craved at the moment. “Okay, tell me why isn’t there a hedge here now.”
            “Because, years ago, the farmer ripped out all the hedges to have larger fields for his agricultural machinery. Now we’re bringing back a balanced environment.”
            “You’re not planning to replace every single hedge on your own, are you?”
            “Of course not,” he scoffed. Picking up a small spade, he loosened another patch of earth. “There are thousands of trees and shrubs to replant, and that would be an impossible task for only one person.”
            With gentle fingers, he spread the delicate roots of a tiny shrub, tucked it into place in the little hole, then tamped down the moist soil with his palm. Reached for another, and then another.
            She watched silently as he planted, and strangely enough, it was almost a sensual sight. His hands were broad, strong, and deeply tanned from working outdoors; his long fingers were beautifully shaped. And under that denim shirt of his, there was the alluring suggestion of tight sinew and warm, fragrant skin. Bear like? No, not exactly. Something more, something…
            “A penny for your thoughts.” Michel was watching her with those disconcerting eyes of his, very dark, with heavy lids and thick lashes.
            She felt the blush as it traveled upward, flooding her neck, her face. He hadn’t caught what she had been thinking, had he? Perhaps he had. Surely, he’d seen how her gaze had slipped over his hands, his arms, his chest, and shoulders. How incredibly humiliating! What vaguely plausible answer could she give? “Oh…just remembering something.”
            “Ah.” Eyebrows raised in overt amusement, he smirked—rather cockily—then went back to working on the next hole, the next shrub.

The Unpredictable Colors of Love published by the Wild Rose Press
Purchase Links: https://books2read.com/TheUnpredictableColorsOfLove
Trailer: https://youtu.be/27nE-cCHNqM

What people are saying about The Unpredictable Colors of Love

As always the author creates characters who are not always perfect, have enjoyed full lives up to the point where she brings them together, and who are on a journey of discovery. The story is set within in the luxurious and lovingly renovated chateau and in the glorious countryside where its ancient fields and hedgerows are also being brought back to life. The perfect setting for two people who might have given up hope on finding a soul mate to explore the possibility there might just be a chance for them after all. Sally Cronin, Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

The charming setting of rural France is an excellent backdrop to the book, which explores the dichotomy between urban and countryside environments. It also examines the contrast between two vastly different types of men: the arrogant and popular Nicolas, and humble, caring Michel. Indeed, the unfolding romance between headstrong Callie and the down-to-earth gardener is delightful to behold, as is Callie’s transformation from urbanite to country-dweller. Michel supports and validates her, which is in stark contrast to Nicolas’s superior attitude and vanity.
A sweet, tender romance, with well-developed characters I could root for, this is an immersive story, with its unique and picturesque setting. Whispering Stories

Author Bio
Writer, social critical artist, and impenitent teller of tall tales, J. Arlene Culiner, was born in New York and raised in Toronto. She has crossed much of Europe on foot, has lived in a mud house on the Great Hungarian Plain, in a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, a haunted house on the English moors, and beside a Dutch canal. She now resides in a 400-year-old former inn in a French village of no interest where, much to local dismay, she protects spiders, snakes, and weeds. Observing people everywhere, she eavesdrops on all private conversations and delights in hearing any nasty, funny, ridiculous, sad, romantic, or boastful story. And when she can't uncover any salacious gossip, she makes it up.

Author Websites http://www.j-arleneculiner.com
Blog: http://j-arleneculiner.over-blog.com
Author links: https://linktr.ee/j.arleneculiner 

Me, Snakes, and All About Charming Alice by J. Arlene Culiner

FEARLESS FRIDAY

Please welcome back to Discover... my guest, J. Arlene Culiner for Fearless Friday with a fascinating post. Snakes and romance!

It was a warm beautifully calm afternoon in the village where I live in France. Birds were singing in the tall trees in my garden (jungle), and I decided to go sit in the (rather wild) cobbled courtyard just behind my house. I was about to step through the doorway when I looked down and saw, a mere two feet away, a very long snake. There it lay, perfectly still, sunning itself. Was it aware of my presence? Probably not. 

I was shocked at first (a natural reaction, apparently, when most of us see reptiles), but I calmed myself, let fascination take over. It was a fairly large snake, possibly 4 or 5 feet long, and wonderfully beautiful. In the sun, its scales had turned a phosphorescent green-gold, and it was also remarkably elegant. 

I do my best in life to harm no creature, and I didn’t want to ruin the snake’s obviously pleasurable sunbath. Taking a few slow steps backward, I sat down on a chair and let myself bask in this rare moment with an unknown creature. So there we were for the longest while, both of us perfectly at peace, doing nothing, and enjoying the calm. 

That snake was probably a Western whip snake. Females can grow to six feet in length, and they are very powerful. They can be obstinate when annoyed, twisting about on the ground, biting and striking. This tactic enables them to overcome threatening enemies, but poses no problem for humans. In fact, like most snakes, they prefer to flee humans, weaving away to safety through grasses and hedges. 

The delightful time with this particular snake came to an abrupt halt when the telephone behind me rang. I stepped back to answer, and when I returned, the snake had gone. It never again appeared in my courtyard, but it did send me a message of sorts: a few months later, I found its outer skin close by—snakes and other reptiles shed their skins periodically in a process called Ecdysis. 

That snake did me a favour. It broadened my world, and I have since sought other snakes in the wetland habitats they are so fond of, in dry grasslands, and ponds. I’m always thrilled when I spot one for familiarity has vanquished fear. And it is my appreciation of these hated creatures that inspired me to create the heroine of my contemporary romance, All About Charming Alice. 

Alice is a former actress who has changed her life by moving to a semi-ghost town in the Nevada desert. She now works as a herpetologist, studying, photographing and protecting snakes—“the most unloved creatures on Earth. As she explains: 

“All snakes are passive, and they would much rather slide away to safety than strike. If you leave them alone, watch them from a distance, they’d never think of hurting you. Even if most people are instinctively afraid of snakes, snakes aren’t instinctively afraid of people, so they sometimes slide into backyards, innocently passing through on their way to somewhere else. They should be left alone, of course, but people kill them as soon as they notice them. Then, there’s the danger of habitat destruction, and rattlesnake roundups. Very few snakes manage to survive their first encounter with humans.” 

All About Charming Alice 

Trust in love and solutions will appear 

Alice Treemont has no intention of falling in love. Living in Blake’s Folly, a semi-ghost town, she cooks vegetarian meals, rescues unwanted dogs, and protects the most unloved creatures on earth: snakes. What man would share those interests? 

Jace Constant is in Nevada, doing research for his new book, but he won’t be staying. He’s disgusted by desert dust on his fine Italian shoes and dog hair on his cashmere sweaters. As for snakes, he doesn’t just despise them: they terrify him. 

So why does the air sizzle each time Alice and Jace meet? A romance would entail far too many compromises. 

Purchase Link : https://books2read.com/Charming-Alice

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l2VyHtsY7A 

Writer, photographer, social critical artist, and impenitent teller of tall tales, J. Arlene Culiner, was born in New York and raised in Toronto. She has crossed much of Europe on foot, has lived in a mud house on the Great Hungarian Plain, a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, a haunted house on the English moors, and on a Dutch canal. She now resides in a 400-year-old former inn in a French village of no interest where, much to local dismay, she protects spiders, snakes, and all weeds. She particularly enjoys incorporating into mysteries, non-fiction, and romances, her experiences in out-of-the-way communities, and her conversations with very odd characters. 

Author Website: http://www.j-arleneculiner.com

And here are all my links in one place: https://linktr.ee/j.arleneculiner

 

Reading and #Reviews (Valpy, Culiner)

I'm an author, but I'm also a reader. Each month, I'll share with you reviews of present and past reads. My available time to read is limited because I write, but I love to curl up with a paperback or an eBook at night for the last hour of my day. 

I tend to read what I write, but not exclusively. Besides Romantic Suspense, I read crime and law novels, once in a while a true story, WWII historicals, mysteries, and mainstream character driven books.

Here are some of the books I've read recently or in the not-too-distant past. Maybe you'll discover a new book or author.

The Dressmaker’s Gift by Fiona Valpy

Paris, 1940. With the city occupied by the Nazis, three young seamstresses go about their normal lives as best they can. But all three are hiding secrets. War-scarred Mireille is fighting with the Resistance; Claire has been seduced by a German officer; and Vivienne’s involvement is something she can’t reveal to either of them.

Two generations later, Claire’s English granddaughter Harriet arrives in Paris, rootless and adrift, desperate to find a connection with her past. Living and working in the same building on the Rue Cardinale, she learns the truth about her grandmother—and herself—and unravels a family history that is darker and more painful than she ever imagined.

In wartime, the three seamstresses face impossible choices when their secret activities put them in grave danger. Brought together by loyalty, threatened by betrayal, can they survive history’s darkest era without being torn apart?

Review 

I’m a sucker for 1940 era fiction if the story is character driven and full of conflict. The Dressmaker’s Gift satisfies in that way. I don’t want to tell you much beyond what the blurb above states. Ms. Valpy’s synopsis is clear, and you know what the story is by her summation. The only part of the story that bumped me a bit was Harriet’s outlook on her life in comparison to her grandmother’s story. She seems to be searching for something, and expects to find answers to her life through her grandmother’s experiences in Paris. Or maybe I’m dense and missed the point. Regardless of that, the wartime story of the three seamstresses was highly entertaining. There is romance, danger, mystery, and historical accounts I found enjoyable.

AMAZON BUY LINK

  

A Room in Blake’s Folly by J. Arlene Culiner

If only the walls could speak…
In one hundred and fifty years, Blake’s Folly, a silver boomtown notorious for its brothels, scarlet ladies, silver barons, speakeasies, and divorce ranches, has become a semi-ghost town. Although the old Mizpah Saloon is still in business, its upper floor is sheathed in dust. But in a room at a long corridor's end, an adventurer, a beautiful dance girl, and a rejected wife were once caught in a love triangle, and their secret has touched three generations. 

Review

What an intriguing way to tell a story that spans generations. Blake’s Folly and the Mizpah Saloon are characters unto themselves. They live and breathe with the lives that passed through the space they occupied and still occupy in time. As each story within the novel is told, I could feel the story before still echoing off the walls of the saloon. Ms. Culiner is talented at painting a scene and bringing characters to life while weaving a story you can’t put down.

AMAZON BUY LINK