What’s the “looniest” thing you’ve ever done? I mean… literally! We spent a week camping at a small mountain lake at the beginning of June along with my in-laws. My mother-in-law and I kayaked several times a day. The highlight? Coming close to the loons. Once, we paddled within fifteen feet of them for probably about twenty minutes straight. Several nights at dusk, they put on an audio performance through their amazing repertoire of sounds and calls. Such an amazing experience!
Specials this Week
Valerie Comer’s Sweet Serenade is 99¢ through July 17.
Elizabeth Maddrey’s Hope for Love is free through July 14.
Elizabeth Maddrey’s A Heart Realigned is free through July 14.
Liwen Y Ho’s Love Pact with the Hero is 99¢ through July 16.
Mandi Blake’s Rescued by the Hero is 99¢ through July 16.
Hannah Jo Aboott’s Stranded with the Hero is 99¢ through July 16.
Tara Grace Ericson’s Forgiven by the Hero is 99¢ through July 16.
Reader Gathering
Did you know Inspy Romance hosts a Christian Romance Reader Gathering group on Facebook? Jaycee Weaver is our takeover host this week, so please join us… but don’t forget to answer the questions for admittance!
StoryChats @ InspyRomance
Story Chats is back this week with an all new episode launching Friday! Elizabeth, Valerie, and Narelle talked romance with mature characters with Laurie Larsen in our last episode. You won’t want to miss it!
Listen to our new weekly show on your favorite podcasting app, through the player on our podcast tab, or watch us on YouTube! Wherever you listen or watch, please be sure to hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Jaycee Weaver shared how authors use Pinterest and why readers love it, too.
On Tuesday, Amy R Anguish revealed all about that cake… and #giveaway
On Wednesday, Tabitha Bouldin divulged that she never saw that coming.
On Thursday, Angela Ruth Strong traveled with the writer and the rider.
On Friday, Hannah Jo Abbott discussed an author’s TBR list.
On Saturday, Lindi Peterson checked for missing ingredients.
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Valerie Comer (Can People Change?)
Tuesday: Milla Holt (Let’s Go To Church)
Wednesday: Liwen Y Ho (It’s Christmas in July at Freedom Ridge! + #Giveaway)
Thursday: Deb Kastner (National I Love Horses Day)
Friday: Laurie Larsen (Family Sagas — Real and Imagined + #Giveaway!)
Saturday: Mandi Blake (Home on the Ranch)
This Stella Orange Tip and her friends hung around our campsite quite a lot. Taking photos of butterflies is hard! I have a lot of blurry images, and pix of grasses and branches where there was a butterfly half a second earlier.
New Releases
July 2021
Sapphire Sentiments (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 3) by Valerie Comer
The Marine’s Mission (Rocky Mountain Family 3) by Deb Kastner
So You Love Your Best Friend’s Sister (So You Want to be a Billionaire 3) by Elizabeth Maddrey
Redeeming the Cowboy (Blackwater Ranch 6) by Mandi Blake
His Daughter’s Teacher (Love Off Limits 3) by Hannah Jo Abbott
June 2021
Love’s Treasure box set by Elizabeth Maddrey, Valerie Comer, Valerie M Bodden, Mandi Blake, and ten others
Someone Found (Laurel Cove Romance 3) by Teresa Tysinger
Resisting Rose (Bloom Sisters 6) by Tara Grace Ericson
His Secret Daughter (Big Apple Blessings Book 1) by Laurie Larsen
Miracle Baby by Merrillee Whren
We drove into town one day, and on our way back to camp, I spotted this moose not far from the road! Hubby backed up the truck and we all got to watch it for a few minutes and take lots of photos while she munched on the grasses in the swamp. So cool.
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Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
Blessings this Sunday Valerie and Inspy Romance authors and readers. Not sure I ever had much encounter with loons, but do love Canadian Loonies. LOL. My aunt lived in Toronto and I inherited a bunch. In 1996 when on a Community College Study tour in Berlin, Germany I woke to a racket coming from the forest across a small lake. As I listened I realized it was a real life cuckoo bird. What a “interesting” morning wake up call. Can’t wait till the Canadian border opens again. Would love to take a Canadian road trip. Only live 200 miles from Windsor. Also think my youngest son is moving to Idaho at the end of the month. Not sure where. Enjoy your summer.
If you ever come to the PNW (and the border is open!) it would be fun to meet up! But Idaho is a very big place, as you know.
Also, I always thought that if our one-dollar coin was dubbed a loonie (for the loon etched on one side, for those who don’t know), then our two-dollar coin should be a doubloonie. But no one asked me, believe it or not :P and it is called by the boring name of two-nie.
I’ve spent a little bit of time on the water but never enough to get to enjoy the wildlife. My sister-in-law was an experienced butterfly photographer. That delicate beauty is so enchanting. Thanks for sharing.
Our son-in-love was stationed in Alaska for a while and asked us the question, “Do you know what they call the small, aerodynamic sports cars up here? Moose ramps.” :-)
Have a great week IR friends and family!
I’m not sure I have the patience to become an experienced butterfly photographer! They are quick little things.
And yes, moose are VERY BIG. Once we were driving on a snowy mountain at night in a full-size pickup truck, when a moose crossed the road RIGHT in front of us. To this day, I have no idea how we didn’t hit it (or vice versa) because the thing was so close and so big it filled the entire windshield. Think about the length of legs to get it up that high!!! If we’d hit it, the body would have come straight through the windshield and I have no doubt we would all have died.
This one, we watched for five or ten minutes from the safety of the truck thirty or forty feet away. Wouldn’t want to get too close otherwise. I have great respect.
Sounds like a wonderful experience ❤️
Definitely!
Wow, it sounds like you all had a Great time. The looniest thing I have ever done was to ride my bicycle on an icy little patch on the street, I just had to do it, and of course my bike skidded and i fell,, I did looks and made sure no cars were on the street first Will I ever do it again, ah No, thank you, I just gave in to temptation, Thank God I didn’t get hurt at all. Have a Great week and stay safe.
Oops on the icy patch!!!
I have done a lot of loony things over the years.
And you don’t have to give details LOL!!!!
My dad grew up in Michigan and I remember as a kid visiting his sister. She had a lake cabin on Lake Michigan so I’ve seen (and heard) loons.
I guess the “looniest” thing I’ve ever done is guided river rafting with my husband on one of our anniversary trips years ago. They didn’t take us on a super crazy river, more like a level 3 (I think they call it), a little crazy but not one that will tip you over out of the raft. I love being on the water, so the “looney” part is my husband doesn’t & he never leaned to swim. That’s why we choose the tamer river…lol! Even though we all wore life-jackets so he would have been perfectly safe if he fell out….thankfully none of us did. He had fun though! :-)
I love all your nature pictures Valerie! Seeing God’s creations in the wild is amazing. I love spotting Douglas squirrels, chipmunks, deer, elk, and the various waterfowl we have here on the Oregon coast. We’ve even been watching our local Osprey pair on live camera this year, they had three chicks! It was fun to see them go from eggs, to hatching, to fledglings….almost as big as their parents now! They will probably leave the nest soon once all their flight feathers fully grow out. It’ll be a sad day, but exciting at the same time :-)
Have a blessed Sunday everyone at IR!
I’ve never gone whitewater rafting, but I think I’d love it. Yes, Class 3 sounds about right for me, as well!
I love the photos. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Wonderful photos.
Thank you!
I used to love watering the local community garden early in the morning. The kookaburra’s would laugh until the snails crawled out of the garden beds. Then they would silently swoop down and snack on them, they were great as natural pest controllers. Gorgeous in the early summer mornings.
That evokes a complete picture or even video! Thank you.