She lost her inheritance. He stole her job. When these rivals start playing with fire, sparks fly, donuts melt, and hearts burn.

Hello !

The Mixed Six-Pack series is now complete—or complete for now!

Rhodes to Love (Adam and Lizzy's story) is getting great reviews—even on Goodreads where readers can be really harsh. Phew!

To celebrate, I'm giving away a signed paperback of the book that launched this series, First In: A small-town, firefighter romcom. It's open internationally.

Want a chance to win a paperback copy of FIRST IN?

1—ADD Rhodes to Love and at least one more of the four brothers' stories to your Goodreads TBR list from my author profile page.

2—JOIN my Facebook group, Danika's Blooms then

3—COMMENT on anything posted by myself, Sosha Ann or Nichol Smith.

4—CROSS YOUR FINGERS! I will pop into the Facebook group on October 1st and choose one reader at random from the comments section and gift them the book! 

If more than one hundred people join in the next two weeks, I'll give away two books, so the odds stay ever in your favor!

I think we all married the same man!

Now, I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but some of your replies to my last two emails made me laugh and others made me realize that my messy, inattentive DH is cut from the same cloth as many of yours.

Rhonda's husband has never been able to pour a cup of coffee without spilling some on countertop. Happens every day. He never cleans it.

Mine doesn't spill the watery coffee, it's the grounds. Every time I forget to pre-make coffee the night before and he gets up before me, he drops at least a teaspoon of coffee grounds on the counter... and how do I know? Because he never wipes them up. I know we're not supposed to use "never" and "always" in healthy relationships... but sometimes "never" and "always" is accurate!

Julie's husband is a loud-sneezing, gum-smacking man who makes her want to scream when she's in close quarters, like the car. Who cares, you wonder? Well, Julie and I (and my sister) share a condition called misophonia. We're like the sound equivalents of super-tasters. Let me tell you this is not a super power you want.

Unless I fall asleep before DH, the sound of his breathing—the air whooshing over his nose hairs—makes me insane. I have to cover my head with a pillow to block the sound which I guess that's better than holding the pillow over his face... but there are nights that I am tempted, let me tell you.

And it's not just DH's sounds... the humming freezer compressor? Makes me want to ditch all refrigerated food and just eat from boxes and cans.

And this one, too, rung a bell. (Shhh... I hate the sound of bells). Cecilia said that in her house, her husband cannot tell the difference between hers and their daughter’s underwear. The sizing is completely different in label (number vs letter) and visually hers are clearly smaller, but he is completely unable to identify the difference, putting her underwear in Cecilia's basket (and visa versa).

Since I had sons, my undies are quite distinct. But socks and t-shirts? It's like a grab bag when DH does the laundry. The best/worst part? The younger of the two boys, who was still my size when he moved out, is as clueless as his dad. So when my clothes were put in his dresser, he'd wear them!

Nancy had already opened the soft flour tortillas package with the resealable end and her handsome husband took the scissors and cut open the other end. It wasn't the first time. My advice—since this happens in my house, too—is to keep an unharmed tortilla bag in the drawer with your ziplock bags for the next time it happens! Because we know it will!

And then Darling Dianne stuck up for my DH who opened the bag of nuts below the resealable zipper line... so I guess my take-away is that maybe I do things that drive my man a bit mad, too? Ha! Never!

Thanks so much for sharing your stories. If I didn't reply to you directly in the last two weeks, accept my apologies. I've been busier than stink.

If you have time to relax this week...

Here are some books that can keep your mind off the silliness we live with every day from the people and pets we love and share our lives with.

I'd love to hear from you. Stories are what connect us and help us know we're not alone, so share yours with me. I love hearing from you.

love&sillystuff,

Danika

xo

PS - If you'd like a chance to win a free paperback of First In, don't forget to add my book to your Goodreads TBR pile, then join my Facebook group and say hello on any post!

Here are a couple FB posts that are fun: Three words to describe you, and What book started your love of reading?

I'll choose a winner (or two) on October 1st.