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About Irene Onorato
Irene and James live in Louisiana with their two cats, and a dog who was rescued by the Cajun Navy during the great flood of 2016.
Readers can visit Irene's website at ireneonorato.com.
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Author Updates
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Blog postLet me preface by telling you that we own two cats and this guy isn’t one of them.
Hubby and I were standing in the carport when a cat strolled toward us and began weaving between our ankles and rubbing against our legs. Not only was he affectionate, but also very vocal with kitty trills, singsong meows, and a host of other cat conversation.
When hubs opened the door to go inside, the cat zoomed past him and walked around the house as if he owned the place. He ate a bit of our3 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s been several months since I unplugged from Facebook and Twitter. In that time, I thought I’d be free from reading about the constant bickering, disagreements, name-calling, posturing, threats, so-called “fact-checking,” and the host of other unsavory junk that comes from being on “social” (here I snicker at the term) media.
Alas, the long arms of those two platforms have reached out and wrapped their tentacles around the news media. It seems every other “news” article involves te3 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s been a couple of years since my novella, Thanksgiving at Canine Corral was published, but every time the holiday approaches, I find myself rereading and enjoying it. Yeah, that makes me sound a little biased and a tad self-absorbed, but… Okay, okay! A LOT biased and self-absorbed, maybe. LOL. But I seriously enjoyed writing this book!
I’m an animal lover from way back. The first dog in my life was Cindy, a honey-colored mutt with a gentle and sweet temperament. Cindy was a few ye5 months ago Read more -
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Blog postDon’t you love getting handwritten letters? Especially from someone who piques your romantic interest? Such was the case for Special Forces lieutenant Edward Giordano in the romance novel, A Soldier Finds His Way.
After saving the the heroine’s life, then being separated from her for a period of time, he receives a sweet note, inviting him to her family’s home for a meal on Easter Sunday. Her tenderness and sincerity – not to mention, beauty – intrigues him. But, having guarded his he7 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s official. I’m out of Facebook and Twitter for good.
Why?
When I landed book deals with a couple of publishers several years ago, they recommended I join some social media sites to a) get my name out there, b) interact with readers/fans, and c) promote my work. There were no real instructions as to how to accomplish those three tasks once my accounts were set up, and for me, vague recommendations just don’t cut it.
I’ll admit, I did enjoy the cat videos, Forrest Gu9 months ago Read more -
Blog postWhen I read a book, I judge the author’s writing strength by very simple criteria.
I’m not terribly concerned about a few typos or a couple of boo-boos with punctuation. Minor formatting errors mean nothing to me. The criteria I’m looking for is this: Can the author make me laugh, cry, get angry, smile, feel nervous, or afraid? Will the story evoke primal emotions in such a way that I feel fully immersed in the lives of the characters? That’s the kind of writer I strive to be.
11 months ago Read more -
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Blog postA traveler came through a small country town and brought with him news from around the globe. Citizens gathered in the courthouse square to listen as the man spoke for hours about events occurring in places they would never visit and people they would never meet.
From morning to evening, the traveler painted a bleak picture of the world. Wars, pestilences, fires, floods, injustices, political corruption; the endless tales brought great anxiety and heaviness of heart to those in the pe11 months ago Read more -
Blog postHello again! Everybody doing okay? Hanging in there with all this “social distancing” and everything else that’s going on? It’s a stressful time for some folks. Understandably so. I hope you and your loved ones have been physically untouched by COVID-19 even if the world is turned a bit upside down.
To help during this time, my dear author friends, Beatrice Fishback, Dana K. Ray, and Linda Robinson, and I, have decided to run a 99¢ sale on a few of our books. All are available i12 months ago Read more -
Blog postIt’s here! Get your Kindle copy for 99¢ for a limited time.
Here’s the back-cover synopsis:
Industrial City, Ava Starling’s hometown, is struggling to survive with businesses and industries closing and jobs at a minimum. She’s desperately trying to help assist the needy through the thrift store she owns and operates, but homelessness is on the rise. Ava doubts the recent assignment of the young and handsome Brandon Sparks as senior pastor of the defunct Union Street Churc1 year ago Read more -
Blog postIn this day and age, it’s easy to get caught up in “likes” and “un-likes” on social media.
Here’s the thing. Your self-worth isn’t determined by whether someone likes you or not.
It’s like Junior High.
“So-and-so likes me.” Or… “I don’t think so-and-so likes me.”
Does it matter?
Whose approval are you going for? Those who truly love you, or some like-likers, like-unlikers, like, un-like, but like again-ers? Oh, my! It’s enough to make one’s head spin. <1 year ago Read more
Make miracles happen for yourself and others. It’s easy. Just think outside the box and look around. There are so many ways that you can help—and it turns out the biggest beneficiary may be you! Scientific studies have shown that “doing good” is not only good for the recipient of the good deed, but also for the person doing it, making that person happier and healthier.
So dive into these 101 stories of kindness, from the everyday to the extraordinary. If you need some help, you’ll find hope in these pages. And if you can give help, you’ll feel energized and inspired to find your own opportunities to perform random acts of kindess—every day!
~*New cover, new publisher, new series name.*~
Even an elite soldier can admit he’s lost.
Gruff and tough, Edward Giordano’s success as an elite Special Forces soldier doesn’t carry over to his personal life. Emotionally scarred from a painful childhood, he’s built a wall around his heart that he lets very few penetrate.
Audra Lorenzo, a first-year school teacher, is on a road trip with her niece during the holidays. A storm that was supposed to pass, instead crosses her path. Lost, with her GPS cutting in and out, her car skids off a road, down an embankment, and into an icy river. Everything goes black.
Regaining consciousness in a remote cabin, Audra finds she and her niece were saved by Edward, a soldier who’d put his life in danger to rescue them. Harsh and unfriendly at first, the lieutenant’s demeanor frightens her. As days go by, small kindnesses shine through chinks in his armor and her heart is drawn to his. But does he feel the same? Can this scarred and guarded man find it in him to share the same love for her?
♥ Fresh New Cover ♥
Lexi Mallard saw what happened in the woods. But if she tells…
Ten years is a long time to keep a secret. Eat, sleep, work. Stay busy. A social life seems impossible until Corbin Taylor, Lexi’s policeman next-door-neighbor, reaches out in friendship that quickly becomes much more serious.
Lexi’s budding relationship with a cop doesn’t go unnoticed by her evil brother.
She quickly learns that putting the past behind is not always an option. Sometimes it will chase, overtake, and try to kill you.
Justice for Hattie Mayfair ~ Romance. Suspense.
~*New cover, new publisher, new series name.*~
For the wounded warrior, the battle never ends.
Former Special Forces soldier Hank Fleming survived an explosion that took the lives of four men during a tour in Afghanistan. Nightmares resurrect the dreadful sights, smells, and sounds of the dying men. Despite profound injuries and post-traumatic stress, Hank hopes he can one day be free of inner turmoil...and maybe find a girl who will want to share a life with him.
When Cindy Giordano breaks up with an unfaithful fiancé, she vows to never get involved with another man. She sets out on a quest to find Edward, a biological brother she’s never met, and her journey brings her face-to-face with Edward’s rugged, outdoorsy foster brother, Hank Fleming. Hank captures her attention, but she’s determined not to fall for him.
Hank is instantly smitten with Edward’s tall and beautiful, albeit slightly clumsy sister, but does he have what it takes to win her heart and help her past the pain of betrayal? Moreover, can he resolve the haunting issues in his own life and find lasting peace?
A NOVELETTE
Hang in there? Kendra’s words kept replaying in Juliette’s head as she left Cuppy Cakes and walked homeward. Here she was, in her twenties, feeling like an old, abandoned spinster. Was there a man out there for her? A guy she could give her heart to without it eventually being trampled on?
Emotions welled. Loneliness was eating her alive. How pathetic. Other women craved independence, careers, and the power to be perfectly complete inside and out without a man in their lives. She wasn’t one of them.
Juliette turned the corner on South Park Avenue. Where was she supposed to meet this one and only—
Wham!
A body collided with hers.
~*New cover, new publisher, new series name.*~
All he ever wanted was to be a soldier.
Special Forces sergeant Jason Dexter goes home to New York to attend a friend’s wedding meets Aria Greco, the beautiful and talented daughter of his commanding officer. He falls hard for her but never expects that she might be the key to restoring his faith and mending the broken relationship with his father.
Aria’s attraction to Jason quickly develops into deep love. But problems arise when a former music professor offers to help prepare her for an audition with a newly forming orchestra in New York City. Rehearsals cut deeply into the time she and Jason struggle to carve out to be together. Friction escalates, and Jason becomes increasingly unhappy about the time she spends with the professor who he suspects has more than an innocuous musical interest in her.
As tensions mount, will Jason and Aria be able to overcome the obstacles of a long-distance relationship, jealousies on both sides, and family conflict?
~A faith-based novella~
“I love you, Bobbie. Please don’t go.” Caleb’s voice echoed from the past and brought with it the almost-tangible sensation of summer breezes floating across the lake.
She could clearly visualize them sitting in the tree, bare feet dangling, Caleb’s shoulder brushing hers. How often had she coiled her ankles around one of his so she wouldn’t tip backwards and fall? His friendship and strength were anchors she could always count on.
The lump that formed in her throat ran tandem to the instant throbbing in the area around her heart. Would Caleb even want to speak to her after all this time, or would her non-verbal rejection of his declaration of love be a wedge between them forever?
Logan Construction Services CEO Dan Logan desperately wants to get away and lick his wounds after being dumped by his fiancée and suffering through a devastating jobsite fatality on the same day. He retreats to a secluded island alone, but his vacation takes a dangerous turn when he rescues a teenage boy who shipwrecks on the rocky shore. A battle of wills ensues that threatens both their lives.
Dory Devereaux, a widow of six years, flees Massachusetts with her delinquent sixteen-year-old son, Chase, hoping to keep him from being placed in juvenile detention until he’s deemed an adult at eighteen. Her world crumbles when she finds Chase missing the morning after arriving at her former in-laws’ house in South Carolina.
Anxiety turns to despair when the police take Dory to the morgue to possibly identify a teen boy whose body was found washed ashore by a local fisherman. Can things get any worse?
*Saving Chase is a coming of age story with adventure, peril, redemption, restitution, hint of romance, and a small town family drama wrapped in one neat package. Readers who like novels by Irene Hannon, RaeAnne Thayne, Sherryl Woods would enjoy this book.*
When Noel Dupree’s mother passes away from a sudden illness, she inherits the family home and their much-loved florist business. While still in mourning, her unscrupulous father resurfaces after many years’ absence and finds a way to undermine her mother’s will. Without regard for Noel’s welfare, he claims everything is rightly his, and the family lawyer can’t produce documents to prove otherwise.
By invitation from her best friend, Noel makes a hard choice to leave her childhood hometown in upstate New York and journey to the friend’s house in Pensacola, Florida. Together they will try to devise a plan for Noel’s future. Fate steps in when a blinding rainstorm causes her to miss a turn, leading her to an unlikely place, and an uncertain destiny.
Brought low by circumstances and struggling to make ends meet, she takes shelter in the least desirable location and accepts a graveyard-shift job. The last thing Noel is looking for is romance, but a chance meeting with a handsome, young lawyer named Liam Grant makes her reconsider. Could she accept his dinner invitations and make it through the Christmas holiday without revealing her destitute condition?
Maine lobsterman Shawn MacKay is enraptured by a redheaded mystery woman who sings opera on a deserted stretch of beach by the cliffs of Avondale. Every time he gets close enough to say hello, she runs away. His narrative of the beautiful songbird earns lighthearted banter from patrons of the Malarkey, a local tavern and gathering place for those in his trade. Shawn hopes that one day he will finally meet the young woman who has piqued his curiosity.
Colleen O’Malley’s lifelong desire has always been to sing opera. When two pre-teen boys tell her about a cave with great acoustics hidden at the base of the cliffs along the beach strand, she enters alone, oblivious to the dangers of rising tides that could trap and kill her.
When Shawn decides to walk home by way of the beach strand one evening, he has no idea that his decision will change his life. Forever.
Industrial City, Ava Starling’s hometown, is struggling to survive with businesses and industries closing and jobs at a minimum. She’s desperately trying to help assist the needy through the thrift store she owns and operates, but homelessness is on the rise. Ava doubts the recent assignment of the young and handsome Brandon Sparks as senior pastor of the defunct Union Street Church can breathe hope into empty hearts.
When Ava and Brandon meet, sparks fly but misunderstandings and trust issues ensue. Only Ava’s mother knows the true reason behind her daughter’s resistance to the new pastor, but it’s only a matter of time before Brandon discovers why Ava holds animosity toward him. Will she learn to accept his offers of help or continue to resist his hand of friendship? Working together to meet the needs of the community might forever change both their lives more than either can ever anticipate.
Tanzy is smitten by Jake Strickland, a handsome but mysterious new arrival in town. Graphic designer and computer guru by trade, Jake revamps her shelter’s web page, helps bring in much-needed funds, and provides innovative ways to find her dogs loving homes.
But will Jake be the one person she can share her hopes, dreams, and future with? Or is he hiding something? Underneath his charming demeanor lurks a mystery Tanzy can’t understand. Will this side of him turn out to be a blessing, or will his reticence tear them apart?
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