The Salty Key Inn Series


Book Description

Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, receive the unexpected news that their Uncle Gavin Sullivan, the black sheep of the family, has left them a hotel on the Gulf coast of Florida. The gift comes with a twist. They must live together for one year at the hotel and prepare the hotel to receive guests within that year. Sheena, eager to escape her role of unappreciated wife and mother, can’t wait for the opportunity to find herself. Dreams of sitting on the beach sipping margaritas are shattered when they see the property is in need of renovation. But they begin their work of meeting the challenge. If they succeed, the bulk of Gavin’s estate will be theirs. Facing the unexpected, working together, the three sisters learn a lot about each other and the gift of family love. Darcy Sullivan and her two sisters continue to work hard at the Salty Key Inn, the small, Florida hotel they unexpectedly inherited. In order to inherit the rest of Uncle Gavin’s sizeable estate, they must meet his challenge to open the neglected hotel by the end of the year. Darcy figures once they meet the challenge, she’ll take off, travel the world, and maybe, just maybe, begin writing the world’s best novel. When she meets Nick Howard, an older man who is a reporter for the local newspaper and takes over his weekly column, her life changes. Under his tutelage, she writes about local residents, learning to see people in a different way—especially after meeting a cousin no one knew about. Her joy at having the part-time job that’s always been her dream is shattered when she learns Nick is dying. For support, she turns to Austin Blakely, whose grandmother is terminally ill, and through their growing relationship, comes to understand what true love is. As Regan Sullivan continues to work with her sisters, Sheena and Darcy, to meet their Uncle Gavin’s challenge to make the Salty Key Inn a success, she wonders why she can never find the man of her dreams. Her sisters are happily settled with men they love. Why can’t she do the same? When she’s involved in a motorcycle accident with Brian Harwood, Regan learns to think differently about both her appearance and herself. And as she deals with her injuries and helps Brian recover from the accident she feels guilty about causing, Regan discovers that the love she’s always sought has been there all along. Sheena Sullivan Morelli and her sisters, Darcy and Regan, work to complete their Uncle Gavin’s challenge of turning his rundown hotel into a profitable operation within one year. Winning means earning a share in their uncle’s sizable estate. More than that, it determines how they’ll spend the rest of their lives. Sheena wants to stay on at the hotel, overseeing the hotel operation. But Darcy and Regan want to move on with their lives—Darcy writing a novel and Regan going into the interior decorating business with Mo. But life has other plans for them. And in the end, all three realize that the only thing that really matters is finding—and keeping—family.




Going Home


Book Description

A FREE RomanticWomen's Fiction Novel. The first in a series about how a young single mother, faced with the task of keeping an inn and winery going in Oregon wine country, becomes the matriarch of a family filled with love and unexpected surprises as the inn continues to grow into a well-known hotel. A family saga filled with love… In 1970, Violet Hawkins’ only wish at eighteen is to escape her life in the Dayton, Ohio, foster-care system and make her way to the west coast to enjoy a mellow life and find the love she’s been missing all her life. Lettie makes it to San Francisco, but soon learns she needs a job if she’s to live properly. A kind young man named Kenton Chandler offers her a sandwich and a job at his father’s inn and vineyards. With nothing to lose, Lettie takes him up on his offer and begins a whole new life in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. She immediately falls in love with the land and is fascinated with the idea of growing grapes to make wines. She, Kenton, and Rafe Lopez become friends as she learns about running the small inn on the property. At the same time she marries Kenton, a stroke kills his father. And then before she can tell Kenton she’s pregnant, he dies in an automobile accident. Heartbroken and burdened with the gift of the Chandler Hill Inn and Winery, she’s left with the task of making them a success. Struggling to raise a child alone while working to grow the business, Lettie makes a shocking discovery that changes everything. A love story of a family with heart… Be sure to read the other books in the series: Coming Home and Home at Last. And check out Judith Keim’s other series – the Hartwell Women, The Beach House Hotel series, the Fat Fridays series, the Salty Key Inn series, the Chandler Hill Inn series, the Desert Sage Inn series, and the Seashell Cottage Books that readers are loving. This is a women's fiction novel that deals with the strength of women, family, and the will to survive and live life with love. A great read with a glass or wine or anytime! Contemporary women's fiction, Contemporary Women's Romance, Friends Fiction, Family Saga, strong heroine, Finding love, Family Life Fiction, Mothers and Daughters Fiction, Friends fiction, Women's literary fiction, strong women face challenge, Oregon winery, Women's domestic life fiction, friends, country inn, hotel, vineyard, winery,




The Desert Flowers - Lily


Book Description

The power of love and the strength of women working together are proved once again. When Lily Weaver is asked to help Alec Thurston, the one man she’s ever truly loved, and to come to Palm Desert, California, she doesn’t hesitate. He’s dying of cancer and needs her help in overseeing the sale of his hotel, The Desert Sage Inn, to another hotel group. For five wonderful years, she was his assistant at the hotel until he kindly told her their relationship was getting too serious, and he helped her find other work. With her organizational skills and attention to detail, she’s his perfect choice to oversee the details of the sale to help make a smooth transition while maintaining the reputation of the upscale property. Unappreciated in her job with a law firm in New York State, she’s eager to leave it and the cold weather to head for the desert. Her only regret is leaving her sister and three-year-old niece behind. Lily arrives at Alec’s house to find two other women summoned to help him. Rose Macklin was once the social director at Alec’s hotel, and Willow Sanchez is like a daughter to him. They join forces to help him, lovingly accepting his nickname for them—the Desert Flowers, similar to the well-known Charlie’s Angels. As Lily forms her friendship with the other women, she becomes intrigued with the man the hotel company has put in control of the transition. Brian Walden is a war veteran who has never married and is someone who Lily finds, to her delight, she can talk to about most anything when they meet up for early morning walks. Disaster strikes them both as they’re falling in love. Lily ends up having to raise her niece, and Brian is left with a son he never knew he had. It seems only natural that they turn to one another for help, and Lily wonders if this is as Alec might have planned all along. A series for those who love stories about strong women facing challenges and finding love and happiness along the way. Be sure to read the other upcoming books in the series: Lily, Willow, and Mistletoe and Holly Other series written by Judith Keim are receiving a lot of love: The Hartwell Women Series, The Beach House Hotel Series, The Fat Fridays series, the Salty Key Inn Series, the Chandler Hill Inn series, and the books in the Seashell Cottage Collection.




Clammed Up


Book Description

Summer has come to Busman's Harbor, Maine, and tourists are lining up for a taste of authentic New England seafood, courtesy of the Snowden Family Clambake Company. But there's something sinister on the boil this season. A killer has crashed a wedding party, adding mystery to the menu at the worst possible moment. . . Julia Snowden returned to her hometown to rescue her family's struggling clambake business--not to solve crimes. But that was before a catered wedding on picturesque Morrow Island turned into a reception for murder. When the best man's corpse is found hanging from the grand staircase in the Snowden family mansion, Julia must put the chowder pot on the back burner and join the search for the killer. And with suspicion falling on her old crush, Chris Durand, the recipe for saving her business and salvaging her love life might be one and the same. . . Includes Traditional Maine Clambake Recipes! "A tasty whodunnit with a real Maine twist." --Sarah Graves, author of A Bat in the Belfry More Advance Praise For Clammed Up! "If you like seafood and salty air, you'll love Clammed Up. A tasty tale that will have readers clamoring for second helpings." --Leslie Meier, author of Easter Bunny Murder "Take lobster, clams, and an ear of corn. Add one murder. Fold in a complex heroine, an assortment of colorful suspects, and a plot with lots of twists and turns. Heat up on an island off the coast of Maine. The result? Clammed Up contains just the right amounts of all the best ingredients to provide mystery readers with a tasty treat." --Kaitlyn Dunnett, author of Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones




A Summer of Surprises


Book Description

A delightful beach read about a young woman’s personal growth as she finds new love and deals with one family surprise after another! Jill Conroy is tricked by her sister into becoming the housekeeper and cook for the summer at Seashell Cottage where Greg Campbell and his nephew, Brody, have been hired to do maintenance projects on the house. Annoyed at first, Jill soon realizes how wonderful it is to be away from her home in New York and the memories of her deceased, emotionally abusive husband. Soon the magic of the beach heals Jill enough for her to decide to move to Florida permanently to make a new life for herself. Her part-time work at a summer camp and the promise of a new job as a third-grade teacher in the fall make it seem as if her future is set. But a visit from her sister, followed by her mother, reveals secrets that surprise them all. Jill learns to accept the idea of love not only from Brody but from his daughter, Kacy, as the summer brings even more surprises. Another of Judith Keim’s series books celebrating love and families, strong women meeting challenges, and clean women’s fiction with a touch of romance—beach reads for all ages with a touch of humor, satisfying twists, and happy endings. Be sure to check out her other delightful books and series that readers adore. Contemporary Women's Fiction, Family Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary Women's Romance, Sisters Fiction, Family Fiction, Florida Beaches, Beach Read, Mothers and Daughters, New beginnings




Heads in Beds


Book Description

In the tradition of Kitchen Confidential and Waiter Rant, a rollicking, eye-opening, fantastically indiscreet memoir of a life spent (and misspent) in the hotel industry. “Highly amusing."—New York Times Jacob Tomsky never intended to go into the hotel business. As a new college graduate, armed only with a philosophy degree and a singular lack of career direction, he became a valet parker for a large luxury hotel in New Orleans. Yet, rising fast through the ranks, he ended up working in “hospitality” for more than a decade, doing everything from supervising the housekeeping department to manning the front desk at an upscale Manhattan hotel. He’s checked you in, checked you out, separated your white panties from the white bed sheets, parked your car, tasted your room-service meals, cleaned your toilet, denied you a late checkout, given you a wake-up call, eaten M&Ms out of your minibar, laughed at your jokes, and taken your money. In Heads in Beds he pulls back the curtain to expose the crazy and compelling reality of a multi-billion-dollar industry we think we know. Heads in Beds is a funny, authentic, and irreverent chronicle of the highs and lows of hotel life, told by a keenly observant insider who’s seen it all. Prepare to be amused, shocked, and amazed as he spills the unwritten code of the bellhops, the antics that go on in the valet parking garage, the housekeeping department’s dirty little secrets—not to mention the shameless activities of the guests, who are rarely on their best behavior. Prepare to be moved, too, by his candor about what it’s like to toil in a highly demanding service industry at the luxury level, where people expect to get what they pay for (and often a whole lot more). Employees are poorly paid and frequently abused by coworkers and guests alike, and maintaining a semblance of sanity is a daily challenge. Along his journey Tomsky also reveals the secrets of the industry, offering easy ways to get what you need from your hotel without any hassle. This book (and a timely proffered twenty-dollar bill) will help you score late checkouts and upgrades, get free stuff galore, and make that pay-per-view charge magically disappear. Thanks to him you’ll know how to get the very best service from any business that makes its money from putting heads in beds. Or, at the very least, you will keep the bellmen from taking your luggage into the camera-free back office and bashing it against the wall repeatedly.




Dessert at The Beach House Hotel


Book Description

One favor deserves another, or does it? Against their better judgment, Ann and Rhonda agree to help a young girl in distress at the request of the vice-president of the United States, Amelia Swanson. After almost losing their lives because of an earlier request of hers, they plan on being more careful. Amanda Rogers was an intern for Senator Worthington’s office when she was drugged at a staff party and got pregnant. Now, alone without parental support, she and her friend, Jax Thomas, arrive at the hotel to wait out the last weeks of pregnancy in privacy. Senator Worthington and his wife want to adopt Mandy’s baby girl, but she’s made no promises. Jax would like to marry Mandy and raise the baby with her, but Mandy’s parents have made it clear that Jax deserves better than someone like her, and Mandy’s torn. After vowing not to interfere, Ann and Rhonda find it more and more difficult to stay neutral. But they have other things on their minds. Aubrey Lowell, who almost ruined The Beach House Hotel managing it, their old nemesis, Brock Goodwin, and a couple of others have opened a nearby hotel called The Sand Castle, a playground for the hip, and have every intention of destroying The Beach House Hotel, no matter what it takes. There is much to celebrate as happy news from both families and the hotel is shared by all. As Ann and Rhonda agree, life can sometimes be as sweet as one of Jean-Luc’s desserts at The Beach House Hotel.




Dance Upon the Air


Book Description

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts—hailed by Publishers Weekly as “a storyteller of immeasurable diversity and talent”—presents the first book in a trilogy about friendship, fate, and the mysterious ways of the heart. When Nell Channing arrives on charming Three Sisters Island, she believes that she’s finally found refuge from her abusive husband—and from the terrifying life she fled so desperately eight months ago… But even in this quiet, peaceful place, Nell never feels entirely at ease. Careful to conceal her true identity, she takes a job as a cook at the local bookstore café—and begins to explore her feelings for the island sheriff, Zack Todd. But there is a part of herself she can never reveal to him, for she must continue to guard her secrets if she wants to keep the past at bay. One careless word, one misplaced confidence, and the new life she’s so carefully created could shatter completely. Just as Nell starts to wonder if she’ll ever be able to break free of her fear, she realizes that the island suffers under a terrible curse—one that can only be broken by the descendants of the Three Sisters, the witches who settled the island back in 1692. And now, with the help of two other strong, gifted women—and the nightmares of the past haunting her every step—she must find the power to save her home, her love, and herself. Don’t miss the other books in the Three Sisters Island Trilogy Heaven and Earth Face the Fire




Grave Reservations


Book Description

"Meet Leda Foley; Devoted friend, struggling travel agent, sometime psychic. When Leda, proprietor of Foley's Flights of Fancy, books Seattle PD Grady Merritt on a flight back from Orlando, she does not expect it to change her life. When Grady watches the plane he was set to travel on catch fire while he remains safely in the airport, he seeks out Leda, and despite her rather scattershot premonitions, he enlists her help in investigating a cold case he just can't crack. But Leda has her own reasons for helping: her fiancé Tod was murdered under mysterious circumstances several years ago. Her psychic abilities weren't good then, but now she's been honing them at her favorite bar's open-mic nights, where she draws a crowd klairvoyant karaoke-singing whatever song comes to mind after holding other patrons' personal effects. With a rag-tag group of bar patrons and friends, Leda and Grady set out to catch a killer--and find that the two cases that haunt them may have more in common than they think"--




The Desert Flowers - Rose


Book Description

The power of love and the strength of women working together are proved once again. When Rose Macklin is asked to help Alec Thurston, the one man she’s ever truly loved, by coming to Palm Desert, California, she doesn’t hesitate. He’s dying of cancer and needs her help overseeing the sale of his hotel, the Desert Sage Inn, to another hotel group. With her marketing skill and as the owner of a very successful blog, she’s his perfect choice to make the sale a smooth transition while ensuring the new owners will maintain the reputation and image of the upscale property after the sale. She arrives to find Alec has summoned two other women to help with the project. Lily Weaver was once Alec’s assistant, and Willow Sanchez was like a daughter to him. They join forces to help him, lovingly accepting his nickname for them—the Desert Flowers, similar to the well-known Charlie’s Angels of TV fame. When Rose is assigned to work alongside Hank Bowers, an independent consultant to the hotel company’s team, she shudders at his reputation as an outgoing guy who always uses sports analogies and is certain they won’t get along. But Alec counsels her to give Hank a chance and, later, as they work together as a team, Rose is left to wonder if falling for one another is part of Alec’s secret plan even if one of Hank’s grown daughters fights the idea. A series for those who love stories about strong women facing challenges and finding love and happiness along the way. Be sure to read the other upcoming books in the Desert Sage Inn series: Lily, Willow, and Mistletoe and Holly Other series written by Judith Keim are receiving a lot of love: the Hartwell Women Series, The Beach House Hotel Series, the Fat Fridays series, the Salty Key Inn Series, the Chandler Hill Inn series, and the books in the Seashell Cottage Collection.




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