Ciara Knight's Blog

Part 2 of our sailing adventure is now available. If you missed part 1, click here to read it before continuing. PART 2The third morning of our ocean transit began like every other, with the familiar comfort of a tantalizing cup of coffee. Armed with my morning brew, I cuddled by my husband’s side at the […]

The post Sailing Adventure Part 2 first appeared on Ciara Knight.

The post Sailing Adventure Part 2 appeared first on Ciara Knight.

View of St. Augustine from boat cockpit upon arrival.This was it—my first real adventure on a sailboat beyond coastal cruising, captained charters, and ASA 101 classes. As someone who craves adventure, life experiences, and has a deep love for the ocean, this was a dream come true.But wait, let me back up. How did this […]

The post My First Ocean Sailing Adventure – Part I first appeared on Ciara Knight.

The post My First Ocean Sailing Adventure – Part I appeared first on Ciara Knight.

I'm absolutely thrilled to share some heartwarming news with you! After more than 15 years of writing, dreaming, and believing, I have signed a contract with Harlequin Love Inspired! This isn't just any milestone—it's a celebration of our first book that will grace the shelves of brick and mortar stores. You can see a picture […]

The post Contract Signed first appeared on Ciara Knight.

The post Contract Signed appeared first on Ciara Knight.

Charming the Grumpy Cowboy
New Release!

The post Charming the Grumpy Cowboy Preview first appeared on Ciara Knight.

The post Charming the Grumpy Cowboy Preview appeared first on Ciara Knight.

Today is the day!

My first release in 2023. I'm so excited about this story, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed creating it for you.

Hearts. One broken. One Sick. One chance.

Summer Morgan left home with the goal of turning her family farm into an empire. Driven to succeed, nothing could stop her until a virus damaged her heart. Despite that, she vows to continue to grow the business by evicting tenants paying mediocre fees to lease family land.

Zane Whittaker hoped that by sacrificing his family’s property, he could save his mother, but no amount of money could save her life. To honor his late mother, Zane wants to create an organic preserves company to restore their family’s legacy.

A hostile takeover of Monroe Enterprises threatens to gobble up both Zane’s dream and Summer’s business plans, so they join forces. While fighting to hold on to their visions, romance blooms. But when she collapses in the heat of the day, Zane can’t face losing someone else he loves.

Summer must convince Zane that she won't leave him, and fast, because they only have one chance to regain everything: their legacy, their land, and most importantly, their love.

Check it out now here.

The post Summer’s Heart is Now Available! appeared first on Ciara Knight.

Cover reveal for Once Upon a Christmas Kiss!

Today I'm pleased to reveal the cover for an upcoming release of an amazing Christmas collection, Once Upon a Christmas Kiss. I'm thrilled to be a part of this delightful anthology with five other amazing authors: Susan Carlisle, Susan Noel Sands, Christy Hayes, Terra Weiss, and Brenda Murphy Lowder. Pre-orders will be live on September 12th and released on October 3rd!

The post Cover Reveal! appeared first on Ciara Knight.

Thank you for joining my workshop on “Finding your Audience at the Moonlight and Magnolias 2022 conference. As promised, please find my slides for the class below. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Happy writing!

Finding-your-Audience

Love reading romances? Have I got something to tell you!

I was invited to be one of the Sweet and Swoony Romance authors. This means I wrote an exclusive romance that is available to download for free. Not only that, but I'm one of 90+ authors who are participating. 

That means 90+ FREE sweet romances for you to download and enjoy! 

Snag Summer Island Second Chances now by clicking here! Scroll down until you find my book and download it first, then download all the others you want! 

In SUMMER ISLAND SECOND CHANCES, we meet Bri, a woman who escaped Summer Island years ago, trading it in for college and big city dreams, not wanting to get stuck like her mother had in the same old place. The problem is Bri left her heart and a promise behind with her high school sweetheart However, when she visits her hometown to organize the reunion of the Friendsters for a surprise fiftieth birthday party for her mother but finds a reason to stay—Marek Jones.

Marek has had his fill of women who break their word like his first love, his mother, and now his ex-wife. He’s back in his hometown with his daughter hoping to give her the life she deserves -- safe, stable, and heartbreak free. He’d do anything to protect his child.

Marek must choose between opening his heart once more to the one who got away or playing it safe.

It doesn't get any better than that, right? 

Well, maybe a little.

We also have a dedicated Sweet and Swoony Romance Facebook Page you can follow. There, you can meet the authors, find out more about our free books, enter giveaways, and just have fun with us! Just click here to join us there. 

Guess what? I'm the host today! Come join me for fun games, prizes (including several Amazon gift cards) and more!

I can't wait to hear about all the Sweet and Swoony Romances you read! 

Jada Pinkett and Will Smith

I'm sure you've all heard about the big Will Smith moment during the Academy Awards, but I'm not looking to discuss right from wrong here.

Not in the traditional sense. No. I want to discuss, romance, love, and how the hero is properly motivated to take action.

Romance writers always strive to make sure our hero's actions are well motivated. If not, readers will write scathing reviews about how the characterization didn't work for them. Like the viewers of this incident, many readers can have differing opinions about the same story. (Two seconds on Twitter can show this) Maybe that's because there is missing information or the information is interpreted differently.

Let's say a reader skimmed a section of a story because the pacing was off and didn't have all the information. Using the awards incident as an example, let's say a viewer didn't know about Jeda's autoimmune condition. That little bit of knowledge could change the opinion of a viewer.

Let's motivate it a little more and say, that prior to the awards, a person openly criticized the heroine about her condition and the hero didn't defend her because he cared more about his image than his family. The guilt of choosing his image over family haunted him for hours. Would that cause more motivation?

Sure, but is it enough for you as a reader? Perhaps the antagonist had personally ridiculed the heroine and was warned to not speak about the heroine again prior to the climax of the story where the hero takes action. Would that make a difference?

The point to this is HOW FAR CAN A HERO GO in a story for his heroine before you no longer think of him as a hero? Is there a line for you? If it's properly motivated does that line blur?

Do you have an example from a story that illustrates a hero going further than you thought he should, yet you still root for him?

Merry Christmas! Welcome to the Christmas Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt!

Here’s how it works:

At each author’s blog post, you will find a question that can be answered by checking out the free Amazon preview of their book. Provide the answer at this form. Note: You must answer the questions for every author in the round-robin to be considered to win the $250 first place, $150 second place, or $100 third place Amazon gift cards. These prizes are USD values. If you are not a U.S. resident, you will get a gift card from the Amazon store for your country; however, it will be valued at these USD amounts.)

At the end of my post is a link to the next blog, who will provide a link to the next blog, etc., to the very end, creating a circle (a round-robin) visit through all of the authors’ blogs.

I'm excited to share my brand new Christmas Release, Christmas Bells of Creekside! This is book I of a sister series connected to my popular 12-book series, Sweetwater County.

A Sweetwater Holiday Romance

Can a young boy losing his sight help his mom see love and Christmas in a new light?

Christmas isn’t something single mother, Noelle Monroe looks forward to this year. She already struggles to balance life while caring for her son who’s going blind. When her third nanny quits she must find someone or lose her job which would leave her financially drained.

Loner, Keith Mitchell agrees to return home for the holidays to appease his estranged mother during a work furlough. Only the temporary situation turns into permanent unemployment, leaving him stuck in a town facing a past mistake that broke apart his family. An error that almost cost his sister her life.

When Keith’s mother volunteers him to watch a young boy with visual challenges Keith knows he’s the wrong man for the job, yet the beautiful young neighbor needs help and the boy needs a male in his life. Keith and Noelle agree to a temporary arrangement through the season, but the boy has other plans.

He’s on a mission to help his mother smile again, win a new dad, and save Christmas.

Let’s begin this scavenger hunt! Go to the book on Amazon at this link. You will be taken to Christmas Bells of Creekside and then Look Inside to find the answer to this question:

What does Noelle spray Keith with? 

When you have the answer, FILL OUT THIS FORM and head on to the next blog!

Thank you so much for visiting! The next author on the tour is Davalynn Spencer, who is telling us all about her Christmas book, Just In Time for Christmas. You can find here . Remember that the round-robin will end on December 12th at 11:59 PM EST!