Leah is a small-town girl at heart and currently lives in a rural town in South Louisiana, though Maryland will always be home. She graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in International Business but gave up a career in sales and marketing to follow love, a decision she's never regretted. Always a dreamer, she loves to think of times gone by and discover what the American West was really like as the frontier was bring tamed. Because time-travel doesn't really exist, she uses her stories as an outlet to transport back in time and experience the days of old. Never one to ignore inspiration, she is also branching out into contemporary romance. Her works have reached best-seller status and have topped the categories of Western and Inspirational Romance. She gives thanks to God for blessing her with the amazing opportunity to share her faith in a way to inspire people and bring a smile to their faces. 10 Random Facts about Leah 1) Her favorite book is A Moveable Feast 2) She was once in a governor's inaugural parade 3) Her daughter and she share the same initials 4) Diet soda is her coffee. Every morning must with a glass of the fizzy beverage. 5) On the day of her daughter's birth, Leah's family was so excited they ran out to the car and locked all the keys inside the house. Her husband had to break in the house through a window before they could leave for the hospital 6) She loves to garden despite her black thumb 7) When Leah was a kid, she and her cousin would write their own songs 8) Her favorite movie is Gone with the Wind 9) Holidays bring out her inner child 10) She has a mild obsession with anything pumpkin

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love books. Though I can’t remember signing the back of my first library card, I do remember having a card at a very young age. Growing up in Queens,New York, I remember being in awe of the stacks at the Queens branch of the New York Public Library. What better place for a budding writer than New York City? I remember coming home with more books than my little hands could hold. Beyond books, I love notebooks. Still do, and sometimes it seems I have more journals than the words in my head can fill. Before typewriters and computers I wrote three YA novels longhand. I only wish I knew what became of those early manuscripts, but regardless it spurred my love of writing on. Then came the day when I, in my mind, became ‘a writer’. My first typewriter. It was an old manual that my father, then a sanitation worker, brought home from work. Just wondering about the previous owner was fodder for an imaginative mind. I continued to write stories all through high school and eventually dipped my toes in the world of non-fiction, writing articles for a local newspaper. Though I failed to pursue a writing related degree after high school, I continued to write as I jumped from job to job. Years later I now see that I was not alone in my erratic job history – it seems to me to be the hallmark of the writing life. Having become friends with many authors, I have found that most of them meandered through many ‘odds and ends’ jobs before settling into the writing life. Fast forward to the years when I got married and became a mom to a precious baby boy (who today is a successful entrepreneur and still precious to me). Finally I had the time, or at least a different set of times, to pursue writing. I did. Not only did I write but I worked as a research assistant for other writers as well as teaching online. A baby girl, the light of my life, quickly followed in the tracks of that baby boy and though writing got pushed aside as I dealt with colic, terrible twos and more, I never really stopped writing. As my children grew so did my writing career. That old typewriter relinquished its spot on my desk, demoted to a dusty box in the basement, as I began writing on my first word processor. As the years sped by I upgraded equipment as I added to my writing credentials. In 2006 I won a journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists (spj.org). As excited as I was about winning that award, and despite the doors it opened for me, I had an urge to try something new. And so my fiction career was born. And what better place for a book lover to be than immersed in the exciting work of creating imaginary people and worlds? With more than two hundred articles published in magazines, newspapers and websites, I jumped in with both feet. The water is nice. Yes, sometimes it’s a bit cold (rejecting your baby hurts) and sometimes it’s choppy (publishing is changing so fast you can barely keep your head above the water), but I love spending my days surrounded by my characters, immersed in small town life. The Christmas Sugar Bowl is my latest release. I am the author of twelve novellas and one novel. I write sweet romance. I am currently working on a series of cozy mystery books. When I'm not writing or reading, you can find me walking my dog, talking to my herd of cats and spending time with my grandsons. I am a member of the RWA (Romance Writers of America). To find out my upcoming releases, visit my website at http://christinalorenzen.com/. Subscribe to my newsletter at http://christinalorenzen.com/connect-... If you're a reader who also enjoys reviewing, please talk to me about joining my street team, Christina's Bookworms ChristinaLorenzenBooks@gmail.com

Belle Calhoune writes heartwarming, inspirational romance novels set in small, cozy towns. Married to her college sweetheart and living in southern Connecticut, she is the mother of two girls. Born and raised in Massachusetts, she is one of five children. Growing up across the street from a public library allowed her to become an avid reader who aspired to be a romance writer. When she isn't writing, she enjoys reading, spending time in Cape Cod, traveling and enjoying time with friends and family. Belle hopes her books will provide readers with inspiration, entertainment and an escape from day to day life.