My favorite birthday memory is from the late nineteen eighties. My husband surprised me with tickets for The Phantom of the Opera–box seats. We were so close to everything I could feel the heat from the pyrotechnics. It was the most spectacular evening. Colm Wilkinson played the part of the Phantom and every other performance I’ve ever seen pales in comparison. He had such energy live. You could feel his every emotion.

When I was a kid I would actually have two cakes for my birthday. One was usually a traditional vanilla or chocolate cake for my birthday party with my friends. The other was a fruitcake for the family birthday dinner. Yes, in my family we love my mom’s fruitcake. It’s the best.

Blurb:

Companion to Tempting Tori and Lassoing Lara.

Marshall Courage is lucky to be alive after the last mission for the clandestine government agency he worked for went sour. He’s recovered from his life-threatening wounds and is living on the family ranch, but he’s never gotten over his fellow operative and lover, Talia Koslov.

It’s been eight long months since Talia’s seen Marshall and she’s missed him every single moment. Now all she has to do is convince him she didn’t willingly abandon him after he was injured. She wants forever, and is willing to do whatever it takes to convince him their love is real.

Available from Ellora’s Cave

Visit N.J. at www.njwalters.com