What Women Wish Guys Knew

Participating in the blog tour of my newest book, is the following book review posted by Shauna Wheelwright!   Thanks Shauna!

A review copy was provided

BASE HITS AND HOME RUN

RELATIONSHIPS

by Trina Boice

What Women Wish Guys Knew

Love is like baseball, so hit a home run in your relationship! With Trina Boice's advice, any man can learn how to step up to the plate. Learn tips, stats, and skills to make a powerful and lasting romance whether you're in the “minor leagues” of dating or the “major leagues” of married life.

Learn to:

Translate women’s thoughts into a sports language men can actually understand

Track your dating stats and plan strategies to up your game

Avoid foul balls, bad calls, and getting stuck in a pickle

Support each other with the occasional bunt or sacrifice fly

Cover all your bases—even when you’ve got kids on your team

With the right tools, you and your sweetheart can pitch a perfect game together every time you play. This is the perfect playbook for rookies and hall-of-famers alike.

My Review
Trina Boice is AMAZING and this book is INCREDIBLE!
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. IT!

Just look at some of the VERY FUN chapters in this book:

* Batter UP! The Game
* The Playbook: The Rules of Romance and Love Language
* Heavy Hitter: Be. A. Man
* Eyes on the Ball: Flirting Your Way to a First Date
* The Uniform: How to Look like a Knight in Shining Armor
* Sports Medicine: Win Over Her Heart and Funny Bone
* Catcher: Courting and Date Ideas
* Peanuts and Cracker Jacks: Kindness in a Nutshell
* AND MORE

Her advice is SO. RIGHT. ON!

I absolutely LOVE the baseball theme. Want to get to know a girl? Learn her stats: favorite color, dessert, flower, etc.

And the end-of-chapter assignments are PHENOMENAL! Even the shyest of guys can accomplish the First Base assignment.

I LOVE that Trina doesn't just talk about these things...her son went out and "field-tested creative dating tips and has learned some really interesting things that he shares in each chapter." Cooper became the coach for the team (those reading this book.) I really appreciated his insight, for as he said "women talk about what they want, and guys talk about what women actually want."

DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS ONE!
EVERYONE should read this book!
Put your relationship first and foremost...grab a copy today!

First Base assignment: ADD TO GOODREADS

Home Run assignment: PURCHASE A COPY HERE

Excerpt
In the words of legendary sports announcer Harry Caray, "Hello everybody! It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball!" You've bought this book and stepped up to the plate. That tells me you're really serious about improving your relationship with the woman in your life. Either that or she bought this book for you, and now you have to read it because you know she's going to ask you what you learned. Don't worry; it's not going to be that bad. After all, it's partly about baseball, and you love baseball! Romance and baseball are not all that different, actually. They're both skills that you can learn and enjoy for the rest of your life.

You could read an entire book about baseball statistics, but that wouldn't make you a better player out on the field, would it? You have to get out and practice! This book is designed to be read in small sections and put into practice. Read a little bit, and then try an idea or two to see what works for you and your sweetheart. I guarantee you're going to have a ball! (Terrible baseball puns will be included throughout this book in order to keep your eyes rolling and awake.)

Let me first state the obvious that women are different from men. And that's a good thing! A lot of men have a hard time trying to figure out what women want and how they think. It's not that difficult if you learn their language and appreciate the differences. To make it easier, we're going to use terms you might feel comfortable with: the language of baseball.

This book is written for both men who are still in the "minor league" (dating) and men who have been drafted into the "major league" (marriage). Getting a girl and keeping her are not all that different. Maybe you've been playing too much baseball and still don't have a woman in your life. This book can help you with that too! This book will help you find a quality woman you can marry and be with for eternity.

This book was conceived one day after my husband and I were discussing our relationship early in our marriage. He's going to get a lot of credit in this book for some of the really great things he does in our marriage. When I need to use him as an example of whatnot to do, I'll just tell you, "I have a friend whose husband..." so you'll never know if it's him or really a friend of mine. Hey, I don't want to get in trouble with my husband and end up sitting on the bench.

My husband, Tom, is really creative and has come up with some incredible gifts over the years. Early in our marriage, he really came through on big events such as anniversaries and birthdays, but then there were disappointing and somewhat alarming long dry spells with nothing. No flowers. No romance. Nada. Our conversations occurred during one of those dry spells and basically consisted of my pitiful complaints that I was feeling unloved and unappreciated. I suggested that maybe he could replace the few big efforts with more frequent, smaller ones. He thought about that for a few minutes and said, "Oh, it's just like baseball. Home runs are exciting but don't happen that often. It's the small, consistent base hits that win the game." In a baseball peanut shell, that's it!

*****

Each chapter will contain some ideas you can put into practice to improve your current relationship or help you figure out how to get one! Even the greatest guy and the best relationship can use some tweaking every now and then. The first-base challenges are to help you ease into The Game. Go for second or third base to up your game. When you're ready to really knock it out of the park, try the home-run assignments.

Now, I'm not talking about rounding the bases in the traditional sense the world talks about it. I'm referring to bases as increasing efforts and bigger payoffs. What I mean is that if you're a beginner in the game of romance or want to start with something easy, then begin with the first-base assignments. They're simple to do, and you'll have some success. If you really want your girl to feel loved and appreciated, go for the home-run assignments. They require more effort, but the payoff is bigger too. "Happy wife, happy life," as people say.

First Base: Set this book out on a table so your girl will see it. Yeah, your buddies will make fun of you. That's okay though; you don't want to kiss your buddies.

Second Base: Put a bookmark somewhere in the book so she'll think you're actually reading it. Be prepared for her to ask you questions about it. Let her know it is the most fantastic book ever written.

Third Base: Read the doggone book already!

Home Run: Read the book with your girl. Ask her questions. Talk about it.

To keep the fire going, you have to continue adding some fuel, right? 

So grab some popcorn, peanuts, and Cracker Jacks and let's play ball.

A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

This is a section that will be at the end of each chapter just for the ladies. Girls, you're not off the hook here. You have work to do too. A happy, healthy relationship includes two people.

About the Author

Trina Boice grew up in California, but currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. She worked as a Legislative Assistant for a Congressman in Washington D.C., and was given the “Points of Light” Award and Presidential Volunteer Service Award for her domestic and international community service. She wrote a column called “The Boice Box” for a newspaper in Georgia, where she lived for 15 years. She taught Spanish at a private high school and ran an appraisal business with her husband for 20 years. She currently writes for several web sites and is the Entertainment News Editor for Bella Online. Trina was selected by KPBS in San Diego to be a political correspondent during the last presidential election.

Learn more at: www.TrinaBoice.com

Enjoy a FREE Gift of Love for Valentine's Day!

                                                           By Trina Boice
                                                     www.TrinaBoice.com


Just in time for Valentine's Day...my Gift of Love eBook version is FREE today through Friday!  http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Love-Trina-Boice-ebook/dp/B00IDAY3IO/

Thank you for reading this blog! On behalf of all the authors here at Writing Fortress, we LOVE you, our readers! Have a LOVEly Valentine's Day!

Minor Adjustments Book Trailer

So I decided to hop on board the book trailer bandwagon and create something for Minor Adjustments, officially coming out next week. A huge thanks to the brilliant Jon Schmidt for allowing me to use one of his awesome compositions. Love him!

What do you think?

Nothin' but Love

I have received the dubious honor of posting on Valentine's Day. I say dubious because, well, I'm not really a fan. To be honest, I think the idea of a day to celebrate love feels artificial and contrived. And I write romance! (for shame)

This Thursday, I celebrate 15 years of marriage to a most wonderful man. Every year he laments the lack of funds that prevent him from lavishing me with expensive flowers and gifts every Mother's Day, anniversary, Valentine's, birthday and Christmas. And every year, I remind him that I have little interest in material things. And, in all fact, were he to surprise me with a gift like a car or a house I would not like it. I do not believe large purchases like that should be made without agreement from both parties.

I'm so ungrateful.

The bitter dissolution of his first marriage taught him many things that he, thankfully, was willing to learn. One is that he will never let an opportunity pass to let someone he loves know how he feels. It has taken a lot of getting used to on my part. "I love you" was not a common phrase in my youth. In fact, I credit the love and attention he lavishes on my children with sparing them the neglect they feel when I have a writing deadline. And, our marriage has taught me a great many things. Most of which I apply in my novels.

People have read The Peasant Queen and some--not all, but some--have really appreciated Prince Jareth. I want to state, publicly, that the deep, abiding, patient kind of love he feels for Krystal is something I know first hand. As readers will learn in The Tyrant King, this love does not prevent them from having faults, but rather gives them a bridge to reconstruct after mistakes.

Bryan has been a marvelous treasure in my life, though he would be the first to deny it. He constantly teases me that he caught me in a moment of weakness and got me to marry him. For all our exterior struggles, we are a solid unit. Our kids can count on it, and I firmly believe they do. And, not for one single day in 15 years have I looked back. I still can't believe it's been 15 years. I remember when I thought that was a long time. It seems but a moment has passed, except for our 5 kids...:)

This is my tribute to love, if not a dedication to a specific day. Enjoy it, though, however you choose to celebrate!

Love and Forgivness

The month of February. During this month we think of love and happiness. Today as I stood in front of my mirror, I was thinking of these things and thought, if there was no forgiveness, there would be little love and happiness. For it is through forgiveness that we find pure love and happiness.
Now, I don’t want to get preachy on you, because if you want to be preached to, there are other places you can go. But I did want to share with you an experience I had with forgiveness.
Almost twelve years ago, I had a close friend who betrayed me. I don’t want to go into specifics. Most people would think it was really no big deal, and maybe it wouldn’t be to them. But to me, she may as well have filleted my soul. Shortly after my experience with this friend, I left home and figured I’d probably never see her again.
I was wrong, as I generally am in situations like this. There were two instances that I was thrown into mingling with this friend. She was polite, but not friendly. (This was my impression, remember. It is entirely possible that she felt as uncomfortable as I did. But then again, she may never have even realized how badly she hurt me.)
Nearly five years after my painful encounter with her, I saw her again at a party with some friends. She had just move into the area, and I knew I’d be seeing her regularly. I tried to engage her in conversation, but it felt forced and strained. I remember driving home with my husband and wishing I could be close friends with her again. I tried to think of something I could invite her to do with me so we could get reacquainted, but there was this painful nagging in my heart that she would turn on me like she’d done before.
Over the course of the next couple weeks, I thought the situation out at great length while weeding my garden. I finally decided to write a story with a girl who had been betrayed by her best friend and then reconciled with her. (Believe it or not, this is one of the origins for A Season for Love, although I’m not sure that part stayed in the story.) I found that writing it was very therapeutic and gave me time to examine my feelings and give me some closure.
About a month later, I needed to find someone to help me with a project. I was asked who I wanted, and I knew I wanted this old friend of mine to help me. I knew she would be the best (and of course, she was.) As we worked together, our friendship was renewed. I was able to forgive and forget that one incident that had defined the past five years and learn to love the girl she had grown to be. We never have spoken about the incident, and it leads me to believe that perhaps it was hard on her too. But by working together, we were able to put it behind us and become close friends again.
I hope that during this month of celebrated love and laughter that you will examine your own heart and try to heal the parts of it that are damaged. Believe me, it’s worth it!

Love puts the fun in together, the sad in apart, and the joy in the heart.

By Trina Boice

“The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them.” Stephen King

          “Who, being loved, is poor?” Oscar Wilde
          “The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.” Blaise Pascal Pensees


Those are some of the words written on cards that greeted me this morning as my husband sent me on a treasure hunt around the house. My first card told me that a dozen red roses had been hidden separately around the house and that attached to each rose was a card with love quotes by famous writers. Well, not all of them were so famous…my husband quoted himself on one card: “Inside every middle-aged skinny bald guy lurks a dynamic, passionate, world-conquering tiger.” Ha ha

Words are powerful things. I’ve heard it said that the 3 most important words are “I love you”, the 2 most important words are “I’m sorry” and the most important word is “Love.” On this most romantic of occasions, I’d love to hear how you expressed your love to your spouse or to your family and friends.

Here at Cedar Fort, we LOVE our readers!
Have a LOVEly day today!

By Love or By Sea WINNER

I'm pretty excited about this! I love book give-aways! Who doesn't like a FREE book? Anyway, two weeks are finally up and the winner of

By Love or By Sea

by Rachel Rager

is...

Lynn Parsons

Congrats, Lynn! Just send your mailing address to

rachelrager(dot)romance(at)gmail(dot)com

and I'll get that out PRONTO!!!

(I hope you love it! And I hope if you didn't win, you will still read it! And make sure to check back to see if you win one of the other books too.)

And, for anyone who wants a thought provoking question. . .

When Caleb Newman left for sea, he had different reasons for leaving than the popular opinion. If events had occured differently at the ball when he saved Alice's virtue,

would he have made the same decisions? If not, what would he have done differently? And how would Lydia Burns effect the dynamic of the story?

(Read By Love or By Sea)

Leave me a comment with your thoughts! I can't wait to hear them!!

Happy Kisses!

By Love or By Sea - Give Away!

I thought I'd give you a little treat and include a small section of my book. I'm so thrilled with the idea of this contest! And I hope you will all eagerly leave me a comment! I will announce the winner on Sunday, August 23rd. (So just leave me a comment about how much you want to read it and how much you adore me and you are automatically entered!) There will be prizes given away between now and then too from other authors, so make sure to stop by and see what they are! I wish you all the best of luck and happy kissing.

As Alice began on her journey home and passed through the town, she exchanged pleasantries with a few people but mostly kept to herself, enjoying the view of the vast ocean growing in front of her and the goings-on of the town...
Then, as though nothing more than a mirage, she saw a tired man crest over the hill coming from the beach and walking towards her. The distance between the man and herself allowed her time to stare at him without being obvious. The tall man wore a tattered pair of trousers and a fairly clean, cotton shirt fastened only by three lower buttons, allowing his vast muscles to protrude from beneath as he carried a knapsack on his shoulder. His skin was bronzed from what she assumed were probably years spent in the sun. His sandy whiskers weren’t long but had obviously been neglected for many days, and his blonde hair was nearly as white as old Mrs. Winters’, but unlike hers, his hair traveled halfway down his back.
He sported an odd appearance, yet he was almost intriguingly familiar...
“Excuse me, miss?”
Alice turned at the sound of a soft, masculine voice and there, looking expectantly at her, stood the man she had been visually devouring only moments before. “Yes?”
“I realize this is probably a strange thing to ask, but . . .” He paused and looked at the inquisitive eyes that were lingering on him from passing spectators. He seemed suddenly less sure of himself. “D-do you know if the . . . the Newman’s still live around here?” he asked in a lowered, hesitant voice.
“Well, sure. They’ve lived west of town about a mile for longer than I can remember.” Then as curiosity got the better of her, she could not restrain the question from escaping her lips. “Are you one of Augustus’s nephews? You bear a striking resemblance to Augustus himself.”
The man chuckled uncomfortably and pushed a hand through his tangled hair. “Well, thank you, miss, but I’m not his nephew.”
A look of pain seemed to cross his face before he tipped his head to her in parting and left her alone to ponder on the encounter. Alice knew she had never seen this man before. She would have remembered. His weathered face made him appear quite old, and she felt a stab of sorrow at the look of pain that had so recently crossed his face. The look in the man’s eyes caused him to look somehow even older than he did at first sight.
That evening as she sat in the parlor with her nana and pappy, her gaze lingered on the fire while her embroidery sat forgotten on her lap. “What has your mind in a tumble tonight, peach?” Gretchen asked.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she answered casually...
“Well, are you just going to sit there until she drags it out of you, or are you going to tell it to us straight out?” Henry asked, equally concerned about his granddaughter.
“I don’t really know what to think, Pappy. My mind’s all muddled up and I can’t seem to make heads or tails out of anything.”...
“Why don’t you start by telling me how things were while you still could make sense of them,” Gretchen encouraged.
“Well, I went to see Mama and everything went well. She was attentive to me, and we had a real nice time. I came home, just like I always do and then . . .”
“Yes?” Henry said when she paused.
“Oh, I don’t know what to think,” Alice whispered desperately. “I was walking home, and then there was this man who came over the edge of the hill. He’d obviously come from the beach.”
“Was it Clarence?” Gretchen interrupted. “He’s normally coming back to town about that time of day.”
“Of course not,” Henry put in. “She would have recognized him.”
Gretchen and Henry were both completely captivated by what Alice had to say, but in truth Alice could not figure out what she was thinking. So how on earth did they think she would be able to tell them a story they could understand? “No, it wasn’t Clarence. In fact, I don’t know who it was. My gut instinct tells me he was a ghost, except he spoke to me.”
“A ghost?” Gretchen laughed. “Really, peach! What would put your mind to thinking something as crazy as that?”
“I’m serious, Nana!” Alice whined loudly.
“All right then. What was it about the man that put it into your mind that he was a ghost?” Gretchen asked repentantly.
“Well, he looked real enough, but he reminded me of . . . He kind of looked like . . .”
“Who?” Henry coached.
“I don’t know if I can utter his name.” Gretchen’s rather disappointed look displayed itself blatantly upon her face. Alice knew her grandparents were dissatisfied with her answer, but she didn’t know if she could tell them who the man looked like. So she changed the direction of the conversation. “He spoke to me though. His voice was low and hushed, as though he was afraid to speak.”...
“Alice, who was it that the man reminded you of?” Henry asked.
“Pappy, I don’t know if I can utter his name,” Alice whimpered.
“And why not?”
Alice hesitated, attempting to give enough information without actually having to say the man’s name aloud. “He died about six years ago in a ship wreck while he was at sea as a merchant sailor.”
“Are you trying to tell us that you spoke to Caleb Newman on the street in town today?” Gretchen asked reverently.
“I don’t know that it was him, Nana. And besides, how could it be him? Remember? Grace said there were no survivors.”
“But . . .”
“No, Nana. I’m certain my mind was just playing tricks on me. It was probably some poor sailor, anchored in town for a few days.” With that, the topic died, and the conversation moved on to other things, but that night as Alice lay in bed waiting for sleep to engulf her, the image of the man on the street kept her weary mind company. He was, after all, intriguing and very striking in his appearance, no matter how tattered and tired he looked. The thought of him being an older version of the ever-so-handsome Caleb Newman made the mystery of the man all the more enticing. He had been such a good looking young man; tall and very handsome. Rolling over with a smile on her face, she eventually found respite as she fell asleep thinking of the young man she’d thought of so often before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9UC78cx-kE