Romance Eats Sand

Does 7-11 (July eleventh) have any significance to you? 

I won't be blogging that day, but it's held a special place in my heart for 17 years. That's the day I met a wonderful man who keeps me laughing, fixes my computer when I do things like this

and tells me every day he loves me. We met while doing this:

Source

And have been doing this ever since:

Source

I love you, my Matthew!

(And now for those of you who love to chuckle, a volleyball fail.)

Ready to guess the lie and win a book? 

Last week, the fabulous Ally Malinenko shared THIS IS SARAH with us, along with two truths and one lie. Those who guessed the lie correctly were entered into a random drawing for the chance to win her ebook. You can get a copy of her book HERE. 

Ally's game:

1. Ally fell off a waterfall in high school and cracked her skull open.
2. She was kicked out of the country of Monaco when she was 16 for "trespassing."
3. She's stepped foot on nearly every continent in the world.

And the lie is: 

#3. Ally would desperately like that to be a truth, one day. 

Way to guess those of you who got it right! And the winner is:

...DRUM ROLL...

J.L. Campbell!

Congrats J.L.!

And now to today's feature:

Isabella Troy Stanley is a divorced, slave freeing pariah surviving in the shattered post Civil War south the only way a fallen debutante knows how.

She heads to a Yankee prison and buys herself a husband.

Jack Byron is the former Troy plantation stable boy and object of young Bella's affection. He rejected her then, and he's still not sold on the idea of marrying her now.

It’s complicated.

Though to Bella, it’s simple: make Jack love her, marry her, and live happily ever after. The plan seems to work...at least until her secret is revealed.

Get your copy on JULY 15th.

Elizabeth is a wife, a mom, and a writer. She has four wonderful boys, one dusty house, and three published books to her credit. Feel free to check them out and buy them HERE! Erm, the books, not the kids or the house...though all things in life are negotiable ;)

She loves too many cheeses to pick a favorite, but she'll take mozzarella in a stick at the beach any day. 

You can find her here: Blog // Facebook // Twitter

Elizabeth gave me two truths and one lie to test your "lie detector" skills. Those who figure out the lie will go into my magic hat for the chance to win an eBook of BELLA'S POINT. 

You have until Tuesday, July 15 (RELEASE DAY!!!), at 1 p.m. EDT to guess--and be sure to come back for the answer on July 16th.

TRUTH OR LIE

1. Elizabeth was a resident advisor at Marshall University.

2. She is amazing at Call of Duty.

3. The beach is her happy place.

Which is the lie? Is July 11th significant to you? Do you like volleyball? Are you as excited as me about Elizabeth's book? (And Ally's?)

My Eternal Valentine

Today was supposed to be my wedding day.

Well not today, but today 11 years ago. 2-14-00. We referred to the date in code "twenty-one, four-hundred" so none of our family or friends got it. It was our "one day"...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

At sixteen I went on my first ever blind date. I never thought my date might end up being twenty and sporting a stylish goatee. In fact, I was such a straight arrow that the facial hair made me leery, but no more than a twenty year old who didn't have anything other than work going in his life. My dad was a doctor. I had high expectations!

And then he made me laugh.

Magic. We talked, we laughed. During our "activity", a volleyball game, (since he was on the opposite team) he served right to me every time! (He swears that wasn't his intention.) Granted, I was not overly impressed, but on our second date I knew.

We dated 5 months. He went away for two years on a service mission and we wrote every week, all the time planning toward this perfect 21-400. Finally after two and a half years of waiting, we were reunited--and his family wanted us to hold out for ANOTHER 6 months!!!

I came home from college, and we got married in January--because his parents planned to be out of town over our coveted date. Oye! Well, what can you do? I got the man, and two weeks sooner than I'd anticipated, so now we have an extended celebration: every year we celebrate an anniversary, and laugh about 21-400.

Here's to the sweetest man in the world who supports my dreams and tells me he loves me every day! Happy Valentines day Matthew.