Lifestyle by Design: The Complete Series Now Available

Posted on June 20, 2014 by Miranda P. Charles

The Lifestyle by Design series is now available as one ebook! It includes all three hot, sexy and sweet novels.

You may already have read this series (if so, thank you so much!). But if you haven't as yet, or if you've enjoyed the books and wouldn't mind spreading the word to your friends, this series bundle is the way to go.

Of course, you can still get Will To Love (Book 1 – which is still free on all stores), Heart Robber (Book 2) and Ray of Love (Book 3) as individual books if you prefer getting three separate files on your reading device.

The Lifestyle by Design: The Complete Series is available in the following stores:

Amazon.com

Other Amazon Stores

Apple

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Google Play

Here is a brief description of each novel:

Book 1: Will to Love (Clarise Carson and Will Matthews)

Clarise Carson is desperate to keep her newly-engaged sister from playing matchmaker at her very own engagement party. She can't think of anything more embarrassing than have her sister's guests see her as the loser in love who can't find The One, so she drags a handsome friend to be her pretend date for the night.

Will Matthews attends his friend's engagement party purely for business reasons. He has no desire whatsoever to be introduced to single females who are after a boyfriend. He is far too focused on building his business to the success he dreams.

When Will and Clarise meet, sparks fly. Can Clarise stop her old wounds from opening up again and take another chance on love? And how can Will learn to embrace the one thing he doesn't even know he wants?

Book 2: Heart Robber (Jessa Allen and Rob Granger)

Jessa Allen knows she's plain and average, even when her well-meaning friends encourage her to believe otherwise. So when hunky and gorgeous Rob Granger asks her out, she is shocked. A seriously handsome man wants her, and that isn't something that happens everyday.

Rob Granger is a self-confessed playboy who has absolutely no plans to be tied down by any woman. He values his freedom first and foremost, and his expanding business is the only thing he is committed to. But he is intent on satisfying his intense desire for Jessa Allen who attracts him like a moth to a flame.

When Jessa agrees to a fling with Rob she finds herself falling for the man who cannot promise her tomorrow. Can she trust herself not to fall apart when the time comes to let Rob go? And can Rob ever find freedom in what he considers a prison to be avoided at all cost?

Book 3: Ray of Love Book (Faye Summers and Ray Thackery)

Faye Summers decides that casual dating is the way to go to ensure she's fully healed from her last breakup. When Ray Thackery, her best friends' boss, asks her out, she agrees–but only if they keep it quiet. She doesn't want the complications that may arise with her best friends' working relationship with Ray if their fling ends up in a sour note.

Ray Thackery has kept his feelings for Faye hidden for so long. Now that she is single again, he is determined not to miss this chance to make her fall for him. He's not interested in a casual-only affair. Not with Faye. He wants more than that with her.

Their relationship, beautiful and passionate when it started, quickly arrives at the crossroads. How can it survive when the two people involved have very different intentions?

*****

Thank you for reading and sharing! I'll be back soon with more news on Book 3 of the Time for Love series.

Love,
Miranda xxx

I Have New Book Covers!

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Miranda P. Charles

I'm very excited to share these with you.

I've recently got new covers made for both the Lifestyle by Design and Secret Dreams series and they're now done. Keri Knutson of alchemybookcovers.com did a great job, and I'm thrilled with them.

Here they are!

They're now uploaded to the various stores (although some are slower to update than others).

I'd love to know what you think, so leave me a comment if you feel like it. 🙂

By the way, if you haven't read Will To Love yet, it's still free. Click here to find links to the various stores.

That's all for now. Just wanted to share the new covers. Oh! And to say my new romance novel (Rebecca's love story) is coming along well. Will tell you more about that later.

Love,

Miranda xxx

Loving The Sweet Things

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Miranda P. Charles

Photo by MJ Carlos of muchamunch.com

I love food, I love eating out and I loooove dessert.

One of my all-time favourite desserts is Tiramisu. I can't go past it if it's on offer.

I'm not a very good cook of anything so when I tried making my first Tiramisu from a recipe I found in an Italian cookbook, I was very pleased that it turned out great. But the second time I made it, it wasn't as good as the first time even though I tried to follow the recipe to a “T”.

I think that's why I made Clarise Carson, the main character of my free romance novel Will To Love, an expert in making Tiramisu. 😀

One day, I found this recipe of the most beautiful Tiramisu Cake I've seen. It was from a website called muchamunch.com. Boy, if I could make my Tiramisu look like this, I'd be a very happy gal. It really looks enticing, doesn't it?

Photo by MJ Carlos of muchamunch.com

Here's the link to the full recipe if you'd like to give it a try.

Much A Munch's Tiramisu Cake

So guess what? This is the Tiramisu that Clarise had perfected. This is the recipe she followed when she made her Tiramisu for her family and for Will's family. No wonder it was such a hit!

The first time Clarise made her famous Tiramisu for Will's parents, he almost didn't notice it. To his defence, he did have a good reason to be distracted. Here's a short extract from the novel:

*************

Clarise paced her living room as she waited for Will to pick her up. She was meeting his parents tonight and she was nervous. She hoped they'd like the tiramisu she made for dessert. It was a dish she had perfected and the only one she felt confident enough to bring to dinner.

She heard the buzzer and told Will she'd meet him downstairs. She prayed she wouldn't bump into anyone on her way out. She was wearing a short-sleeved dress that zipped all the way down the front and exposed a great deal of her cleavage. It was all for Will's benefit, of course.

Will gawked at her as she exited the building.

“Hi, honey,” she said and kissed his lips. From their close proximity, she knew he had the best view of her breasts covered by a pink, lacy bra.

“Baby …” Will said hoarsely. His breathing had quickened. “Baby …” he said again, swallowing hard and still looking down her chest.

“Yes?”

“I think my parents will have the shock of their lives when they see you in that dress,” he croaked. He lifted his hand and slowly ran a knuckle over the exposed swell of her breast.

Her breath hitched and her skin tingled where he touched her.

A car drove past, breaking the spell. They were out on the street! Fortunately, no one was around apart from some passing cars.

“Oh, this is just for you. Now that I've greeted you, I can make myself look more modest,” she explained as she tugged the zipper up to cover herself. “Did you like that?” she couldn't help whispering to him sensuously.

Will's eyes darkened and a seductive smile touched his lips. “So you mean this zipper can go all the way up and … all the way down?” he asked lasciviously.

“Yes, all the way down,” she whispered.

He licked his lips. “I'm sure my parents won't mind if we get there an hour late.”

She chuckled even as she felt herself go wet. Oh, she was tempted to take him up on that offer, but she'd prefer delayed gratification. She didn't want Will's parents to have a bad first impression of her if they turned up late.

“No, I think we have to go there now, honey. And my arm is getting tired from carrying this tiramisu.”

It was only then that Will noticed the dish she was holding up with one arm. He seemed to have gotten too distracted by the sight of her breasts.

“Sorry, my sweet,” he said as he took the dish from her. Then he bent down to capture her mouth.

“Let's go,” he said after a passionate but all too brief kiss that left her wanting more.

*************

Enjoy the sweet things in your life!

Want to read my romance novel for free?

Yes, Will To Love is free to download. Click here to check it out now.

My Melting Moment

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Miranda P. Charles

Greeting Card by Blue Mountain Arts, Published and Distributed by For Arts Sake

My husband and I recently celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary. This day coincided with a 4-day work trip he had to go to so I tagged along with him.

We got to our hotel and started unpacking. All of a sudden, hubby went, “Oh, no! Damn!”

“What's wrong, baby?” I asked, startled.

“Oh, no!” he continued his lament.

“What?”

“I forgot your anniversary card at home!”

Oh, no.

Now, I must tell you how important greeting cards are to us. We prefer not to buy each other presents during our anniversaries and birthdays. We make those occasions special by going out to dinner at a really nice restaurant and, you guessed it, give each other greeting cards with mushy, sentimental writing that we read out to each other.

I was, of course, disappointed that he forgot. I fought the urge to pout and say “how could you?” and settled instead for “oh, that's okay. Just give it to me when we get home.”

“I had it all ready! I've written on it. I left it on my desk. I just forgot to pack it,” he said with repentant eyes. After several, pretty obvious reminders to him that our anniversary was coming up, he was certain I wouldn't be happy that he still managed to forget a very important part of it.

I knew he had bought the card already so I wasn't that hurt he forgot to bring it. After all, he had been very busy with work leading up to that trip.

“It's okay. Don't worry about it,” I appeased him.

On the actual day of our anniversary, we did have a very special dinner and when we got back to our hotel, I gave him his card and he read it out loud while we cuddled.

“Thank you. It's a very nice card,” he said, sounding morose again. “I left your card at home,” he added with a pout, still feeling guilty about it.

I showed him I was okay with it.

Fast forward to one week after we got back home from that trip.

Hubby came home and said, “I have something for you.” He pulled something out of his bag and handed me a greeting card. “It's to make up for our anniversary.”

“But you already gave me an anniversary card.”

“Yeah, but it wasn't a very good card. It wasn't as nice as the one you gave me.”

Oh, yes. My husband can be quite competitive. He always wants to give me something better than I've given him.

I took the card out of the envelope and it started with “Because I love you”.

Oh, my competitive and very, very sweet hubby. After seven years of marriage, he still makes me melt.

It really is the little things that keep a relationship fresh and happy.

**************

Want to read something sexy and romantic for free?

My romance novel Will To Love is absolutely free to download. Click here to check it out now.

Grateful For My ‘Alone Time’

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Miranda P. Charles

Even after seven years of marriage, my husband still gets very amused by the fact that I can last literally all day not talking to anyone. You see, he's my opposite. He loves talking while I love writing. (If truth be told, he used to get annoyed with me for “not making more effort to talk to more people” but he sees the advantages of it now :-)).

It's true that I can simply shut myself in my office for nine hours straight (sometimes longer) and only come out for short bathroom breaks. But to say that I don't talk to anyone all day during these times is strictly not true. When I have these precious days, I spend at least two hours a day, sometimes more, connecting with people on Twitter and Facebook or on the email. I relish that time of connection with those who have the same interests as I have – reading and writing.

There are times when I do crave to be with people more than anything, but as an introvert and a writer, I need to have my alone time and lots of it. It's my time for rejuvenation and reflection but mainly my time for creativity.

It's really only when I started writing my first romance novel, Will To Love, that I've really celebrated my introversion and love of alone time. Before that I felt guilty when I spend too much time by myself. I'm glad I'm over that guilt. I love writing and having time alone gives me the opportunity to express myself through my books.

Today, I'm in country New South Wales, Australia with my husband who is on a work-related trip. I'm looking out our hotel window and I can see the sun shining and the ocean sparkling. I'm inspired to stay here in our room to enjoy my thoughts and write amidst this backdrop.

So today, I want to give gratitude for my alone time. I may think I don't get as much of it as I would like, but I'm thankful for whatever I do get.

What about you? Do you love your alone time? How much of it do you get and what do you prefer doing when you have time to yourself?

Miranda P. Charles

Author of swoony, stirring, steamy contemporary romance, romantic comedy and romantic suspense.

Category Archives: Will To Love