Monday Mentionables: A Vacation and Blog Tour in Review...

I'm back from vacation! And yes, it was just what I needed: sun, sand, and time away from it all. Even better, in Key West I had a chance to see Robert Frost's cottage and Ernest Hemingway's house - all I needed for some new writing inspiration :) I didn't DO any writing, though, just some reading and relaxing. Here are 2 of my favorite pictures from the week:

Giving love to one of the 45 cats living in the Hemingway House (all 6-toed, all descended from Hemingway's original pets) 

My side of the family together for my husband's birthday - while on vacation!!

Also...I just finished up a blog tour with Reading Addiction Blog Tours, and if you followed along with me, you know I was talking all about "5 Things" in many of my guest posts. In case you missed some of them, though. here were a couple of my favorites:

5 Favorite Vacation Spots

5 Favorite Hero-Heroine Moments in my Books

I got some fabulous reviews along the way, so I want to give a shout-out to everyone who hosted me and read The Promise of Paradise and took the time to write kind words about it. Among my favorites:

"This book was an unexpected gem...I connected with the characters and even the minor ones were deep enough to be memorable." (T's Bookish Moments)

"Both characters come alive and leap off the pages with witty dialogue and interactions, you can feel the electricity in the air as the sparks of attraction for each other simmers below the surface...With drama, twists and turns, and quirky secondary characters, The Promise of Paradise is an enjoyable romance story that will leave you satisfied." (Jersey Girl Book Reviews)

Believe it or not, Goddess Fish is hosting another tour for me starting today, but this one's strictly reviews, no guest posts or wise or witty (or otherwise) words from Yours Truly. I'll  post the tour stops over on my sidebar later on today, so you can visit with me and see what others have to say. The grand prize for this one is a $25 iTunes gift card to one random commenter, so check in and chat with me!