Patricia Sands

Author

Kindle Daily Deal

A January Giveaway and a September Suggestion

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Happy New Year! The Bridge Club is one of the great fiction reads in this January’s Booksweeps giveaway along with some of my friends Michelle Cox, Jan Moran, Suzanne Kelman and Tara Ross, among others.

TWO lucky winners will each collect a 45-book pack of literary, historical and book club fiction great reads PLUS an eReader!

Just click here to enter. Good luck to all!

I’m happy to remind you that The Promise of Provence (Book 1 in the Love in Provence trilogy) is an Amazon Kindle Deal for all of January! I was SO excited when I received the email from Amazon’s marketing division letting me know this was one of their chosen books for the month. It’s been a while since it was on sale, so if you have not read it now’s your chance. And if you own this book, these sales are always a great opportunity to gift it to friends. Help them get started on Katherine’s adventure in Provence. I love telling her story about discovering it’s never to late to begin a new chapter in your life. Here’s the link.

While we’re talking about the Provence trilogy, I want to let you know that there are just three spots left on our September South of France Memories tour. Are you coming? I know you want to! And we would love to have you. Click here for all the details.

The first week of the tour we stay in the best location in Nice, right on the Mediterranean and a two-minute stroll to the heart of the old town. In short day trips we visit so many of the beautiful towns and villages you read about in The Promise of Provence, Promises to Keep and I Promise You This. Will we see Philippe at the market? It’s a question we are asked every year!

As an added bonus in 2023, we have managed to include a stop at the 2000-year-old Roman monument, Trophée des Alpes, featured in my latest novel The Secrets We Hide … also on sale, BTW!

After six days, we travel by private coach to Aix-en-Provence to catch the market and an unforgettable Cezanne tour before we continue on to the ancient and intriguing town of Arles, the setting for Drawing Lessons and our home for this second week. Roman ruins, the spirit of Vincent van Gogh, and the unique attractions of the nearby Camargue fill our days.

Click here to see all the details and discover how to grab those last few spots with your bestie, sister, book club or come on your own and still have a great time. That’s what happens every year and we love seeing women become such lifelong friends!

I hope your new year is off to a good beginning and you have been safe from the extreme weather in some parts of the world.

Good luck with the giveaway and happy reading!

Six more days!

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January 31 is the final day in the Kindle sale of the three novels in my Love in Provence series. I hope you have taken advantage of this great deal!

I have no control over when Amazon chooses my books for discounts and am always delighted when I receive an email from their Marketing people informing me. Discounts on books has nothing to do with the literary value and everything to do with inviting new readers to enjoy the work.

As I often mention, if you already have this series in your library, it’s very simple to gift ebooks to friends and even have them delivered on special dates. You simply click on this link when you go to buy the ebook online.

One of the great rewards for me from writing these stories is opening my email to discover messages from readers sharing how they related to the stories … how they had experienced something similar to Kat at the beginning of The Promise of Provence. Hearing people explain how they were inspired to make changes or to take chances and explore new possibilities in life is absolutely priceless to me. I’m so grateful readers take the time to share their thoughts and experiences.

If you have not read the series, here is a bit of history.

The Promise of Provence was my second novel and I wrote it as a stand alone story. You, the readers, turned it into Book One of the series. You wanted more details about Kat’s journey and it was a pleasure to write the next two books … and then the Villa des Violettes series, which is not finished … I promise!

When I knew I was going to set the story of The Promise of Provence in Antibes, my husband and I rented an apartment there for five months.

Overlooking the old town, the harbour and all the way to the Baie des Anges and the Alpes Maritimes beyond, the view was as inspiring as it was breathtaking. We really lucked out finding the unit.

Although I had the bones of the story outlined, I had not settled on exactly who Katherine would meet there. Each morning I would take my panier, my camera, and a dictionary and wind my way through the oldest ruelles to the famous daily Provençal market.

Needless to say, my camera shutter steamed on a daily basis … and no wonder we have returned year after year to this special town.

As I stood in line at the most popular cheese stand one morning, shortly after we arrived in town, I watched the busy fromager discussing a wedge of cheese with a customer and was immediately attracted … not just because he was *ahem* gorgeous.

The passion on his face and his enthusiastic body language made it obvious how much he loved his work … and the character of Philippe was born. In my halting French a few days later, I explained to the fromager about the book I was writing. For several mornings at 7 a.m., before the market opened, he was gracious about spending some time with me answering my questions and giving me a quick education on his craft. Sadly he is no longer at the market, but lives on in my novels. (I’ve always loved that he brought Katherine cheese rather than flowers on special occasions.)

And let us not forget the character, Nick, also a popular favourite with readers. Walking past the harbour each morning, his story came alive.

Now back to the market … I would take my time filling my panier with flowers, olives, fruit, veggies and whatever the dinner menu called for.

Next I would pop into one of many fine boulangeries … say no more …

And my final stop would be at Le Vieil Antibes for a café crème at my favourite table where I could take notes on village life and read the morning edition of Nice Matin, with my trusty dictionary close at hand.

My head spinning with inspiration and ideas, I would rush home to spend hours writing. How I miss those days!

Thanks for spending a few moments with my memories and the story of how Book One ~ The Promise of Provence came to be, followed later … thanks to demand from readers … by Book Two – Promises to Keep and Book Three – I Promise You This.

Please feel free to let your friends know about the sale!

Happy reading! Bonne lecture!

I love sharing the trailer for the series … let it take you away.

KINDLE DAILY DEAL ~ APRIL 28TH

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I’m the worst for remembering to promote my work! This may be late for some of you, but may just catch the attention of new readers. Today you can purchase the wonderful story of DRAWING LESSONS for US $.99 ~ go for it!

If you already have your copy, now is a good time to pick up a few as gifts for friends. Just click here !

Synopsis:

The author of the Love in Provence series returns to the South of France with a poignant portrait of a woman who must learn how to create a new life for herself…

Sixty-two-year-old Arianna arrives in the South of France for a two-week artists’ workshop full of anticipation but burdened by guilt. Back home in Toronto, she has been living with the devastating diagnosis of her husband’s dementia and the heartbreak of watching the man she has loved for decades slip away before her eyes. What does her future hold without Ben? Before her is a blank canvas.

Encouraged by her family to take some time for herself, she has traveled to Arles to set up her easel in the same fields of poppies and sunflowers that inspired Van Gogh. Gradually, she rediscovers the inner artist she abandoned long ago. Drawing strength from the warm companionship and gentle wisdom of her fellow artists at the retreat—as well as the vitality of guest lecturer Jacques de Villeneuve, an artist and a cowboy—Arianna searches her heart for permission to embrace the life in front of her and, like the sunflowers, once again face the light.