Toni Noel

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About Toni Noel
Toni Noel's love of the written word started in childhood, when her mother first read to her The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. She helped start church libraries in two rural Tennessee towns and appeared before the San Diego City Council to plead for a library in her fast-growing community. In response her City Councilman invited her to turn the second shovel of dirt at the ground-breaking for the library. She writes time travel, romance,and romantic suspense novels about safe havens for the heart.
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Author Updates
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Blog postAfter years of doing my reading on readers I recently renewed the pleasure of holding a hardback book in my hands.
My vision is not so good anymore, and I no longer have to turn the page as frequently as I did on a reader. Besides, I like the feel of a good book.
My hearing is not good, either, so Audio books did not work for me, but published, paper-and-glue books do.
The best part is: all my favorite authors are shelved at my local library and it will tak3 years ago Read more -
Blog post
Description:
This comforting soup makes your house smell wonderful when simmered for a cold night.
Ingredients
8 cups low-salt chicken broth; divide in half
1 ½ ounce package dried porcini mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups sliced celery
1 cup sliced shallots
¾ cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups sliced stemmed fresh shitake mushrooms (abou3 years ago Read more -
Blog postI've just finished reading The Pelican by Lee Silber for the second time.
And yes, it's that good a book.
Between drinking sprees and thoughts of his pending suicide Livingston Taylor wonders Isn't investing in yourself the best investment you can make?
A successful Middle School teacher, Livingston misses his students, still loves the wife he's left and the two fast-maturing sons he adores, but the minimal public acceptance of his published book3 years ago Read more -
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Blog postBlog – Interview With the Hero of Restored Dreams
Author: We're welcoming Bradley Harrington Coleman III to this blog today, a former rodeo rider best known for his championship bull-riding. Bradley, tell us a little more about yourself.
Buck: First, ma'am, let's get something straight. Nobody calls me Bradley.
Author: What should we call you then?
Buck: Buck is the handle I prefer.
Author: Don't tell4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe American Hotel prior to restoration Blog - Looking For Inspiration In All The Wrong Places
I've told you about the home of an artist that inspired my romantic suspense Law Breakers and Love Makers, and the boarded up house in Mission Hills that inspired my dark romance Decisive Moments. But I haven't told you about the weekend trip we made to photograph the restored ghost town of Cerro Gordo, California, the inspiration for my time travel romance, Rising A4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThis is the script for a radio interview with the author when Lawbreakers and Love Makers was first released in 2010.
Toni, when did you first consider yourself a writer?
February 8, 1996. That's the day the plot for my first novel began forming in my mind. I always thought that once I was no longer living a regimented life ideas for novels would come. They didn't, so soon after I retired I enrolled in a college-level creative writing class hoping to coax my muse o4 years ago Read more -
Blog postLove losing yourself in a good book?
So do I. Starting soon after I learned to read, I became immersed in books, and only swam to the surface to eat and sleep.
Later, when I slept over at my cousin's house, we would curl up on her bed and compare notes about the book we were reading. She liked to read mysteries. One night I noticed her close her book and get a far-away look in her eyes.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Decid4 years ago Read more -
Blog postI like to surround myself with music when I'm writing. Ravel's "Bolero" when I'm writing a hot scene, Johnny Cash or Willie Nelson when I'm not. Their recordings are great background music for writing scenes with lots of dialogue.
In my teens I studied piano, because all my friends did, but I was never very good. The kindest words my teacher ever had for me? "You are very musical," whatever that means. My metronome failed to keep me on track rhythmically, and my4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe boarded up house in Mission Hill first caught my attention and set off a flood of questions in my mind.
Why was the three story brick estate boarded up?
Who had lived there in the past?
Who owned it now and what did he/she plan to do with this lovely, family home?
The hero soon emerged in my mind, a successful but troubled man who has forgotten how to smile.
Then he meets a winsome almost-five little girl and can't keep from sm4 years ago Read more -
Blog postThe Partial Eclipse From My Patio. I was so deeply into viewing NASA's excellent crosscountry coverage of the eclipse I almost didn't put on my special glasses and step outside to view the sixty-percent eclipse Southern California was blessed to enjoy.
Then I heard about viewing the eclipse through a collander!5 years ago Read more
Titles By Toni Noel
Wilda Stone goes for a hot air balloon ride, and after a heart-stopping crash in California's Owens Valley, realizes she has somehow traveled back through time to 1874.
Confused by this turn of events, Wilda accepts help from stoic Hal Grantham, who promises to take her to the silver mining town of Cerro Gordo. A sandstorm makes it impossible for them to reach their destination they seek shelter in a cave. In the modern day world Wilda is from, this would not be a problem. But in 1874, her reputation is now compromised. To protect her, Hal insists they marry. Wilda declines. Hal persists, and she relents, for she had fallen in love with the terse lawman.
Their turbulent marriage is filled with adventure and adjustments, but tempered by their all-consuming love. Only Wilda's kidnapping by a man intent on killing Hal threatens their happiness. She survives a mine-shaft cave-in only to face the danger of diphtheria spreading through Cerro Gordo.
Fearing for his wife's life Hal secretly repairs Wilda's hot air balloon and forces her to return to her own time, shattering her heart.
Wilda is faced with a choice -- go home, or stay with the man she loves.
251 pages
Successful businessman Luke Townsend hires Krista Lake to stage his Rancho Santa Fe estate for quick sale. He has unwillingly assumed the responsibility of running the family conglomerate following his father's sudden death and has placed his own plans on hold.
The product of foster care, Krista longs for a home of her own, and promptly falls in love with Luke's. He wrongly believes unloading his house will relieve his stress until Krista points out the obvious -- his mother is also qualified to fill Luke's CEO shoes.
Relinquishing the company reins frees Luke to move to Sacramento and head his favorite charity, a non-profit for fatherless, at-risk boys. He should be happy there, but he's not, even after his estate sells for a nice profit. The sale of the home she'd poured her soul into nearly breaks Krista's heart until Luke comes up with a plan to make everything right.
135 Pages
To satisfy the requirements for her graduate degree in fine art photography, and in turn secure her young daughter's future, Amy Millington is determined to photograph Charles Harding's boarded-up mansion.
The reclusive architect allows no one to enter his former Mission Hills home, the traumatic scene of tragedy when he was four. Charles denies the gutsy widow's request, but Amy is nothing if not persistent. Amy and Marta's plan to teach Charles to have fun and smile again succeeds, and once he learns to appreciate landscape photography as fine art, he opens his house for Amy to photograph.
Even though he has no intention of entering it himself.
Then during a photo session, Marta disappears somewhere among the secrets hidden in the old home. In desperation, Charles enters his house for the first time in over thirty years to help Amy search.
He finds Marta holding his mother's long-lost suicide note. The note shatters his memories and reveals truths he'd long forgotten, opening fresh wounds. Charles must choose between letting those wounds continue to fester, or finally allow them to heal and build a new life with Amy and Marta.
144 pages
Her roof leaks, the plumbing, too. But on a teacher's salary, Treasure Montgomery cannot afford to pay the taxes on the grand Victorian house she inherited from the great-aunt who raised her, let alone pay for the needed repairs. Seeking fulfillment in an otherwise empty life, Treasure surrounds herself with other people's children.
Until she meets Buck.
The retired rodeo rider turned philanthropic-contractor donates his labor to anyone who needs a helping hand, spending his father's fortune to make amends for the man's ill-gotten gains. He wants to help, but prideful Treasure refuses to accept Buck's charity.
He persists. She resists, so Buck circumvents Treasure's objections through subterfuge. Then she learns the truth -- her new roof cost far more than planned. Fearing Buck will demand her house in payment, she empties her bank account, pays him and sends him packing.
If she would only open her heart to him, Buck might be the answer to restoring more than just her home.
178 pages
Surrendering her virginity to her high school sweetheart the same night her family entered the Witness Protection Program comes back to haunt Dawn Wainwright when she is not allowed to inform him of their daughter's birth. Later, the death of her parents frees Dawn from the WIP, but she discovers Rick Landry has moved and for fifteen years Dawn raises Kelley alone.
Then the respected scientist relocates to San Francisco and crosses paths with Rick. Fearing his reprisal, Dawn still keeps their daughter's existence secret.
While at the DMV Kelly sees her birth certificate for the first time and discovers Dawn listed her father as Unknown. Convinced her mother lied to her about her father and slept around in her teens, the distraught girl runs away.
To insure her safety, Dawn sends Rick to bring her home. He guesses the truth and forges lasting but fragile bonds with his daughter
185 pages.
Carina Carrington equates happiness with success, which means she has built a sound business but her sex life is nonexistent. Then she hires Greg Lawless, a secretive temp with exceptional office skills to cover for her secretary.
With Greg comes temptation and Carina's problems multiply. Her strong attraction to him confounds her and her wandering daydreams about him break her focus. Greg seems uninterested, but at least when she catches the flu he steps in and covers the office while she's ill.
Unexplained problems at work lead Carina to suspect Greg is trying to sabotage her company. Torn between her wish to believe him innocent and the likelihood he is guilty, she lay him off, but he convinces her to give him twenty-four hours to find the one responsible.
Unwilling to be discovered, the rue culprit kidnaps Carina right before Greg determines her stalker's true identity. Greg is a great temp, but can he save Carina before it's too late?
204 pages
Reclusive widow Jenny Hamilton lives close to nature, far from the nearest town, raising cattle, writing and weaving until she pulls a near-drowned man from the creek and cares for him while he heals. Engineer Tom Driscoll hopes to bring Jenny out of her shell, but this victim of an abusive marriage refuses to trust any man.
Someone from is sending anonymous threats to Jenny and she thinks they have to do with her late husband. Should she expect the worst, tell Tom or the sheriff, or ignore the threats? The man shows up looking for money she doesn't have and tries to rape Jenny. Tom knocks the burly man out with an iron skillet. The local sheriff takes the man away. Tom, too, at Jenny's orders. All her earlier fears come flooding back, convincing her she shouldn't trust him.
Jenny has changed in the short time she's known Tom, who taught her to feel again, and she no longer reaps pleasure from her self-imposed solitude. Only Tom can end her loneliness and she invites him back to share her life.
176 pages
Allison Marble's hopes of attending an amazing writer's conference shatter when bundles of cash spill out of her gym bag instead of makeup. Who switched bags with her?
Teetering on the brink of panic, she asks the LAPD Detective she shared a taxi with from Union Station for advice. Fearing for her life, Carlo declares the conference off limits and insists the television crime reporter relocate to a safe house until he catches the suspected drug runner.
Allison balks. Carlo wants to strangle her. His Captain places Carlo in charge of the team of undercover officers called in to assure Allison's safety. To attend the conference she must obey Carlo. The feisty writer objects.
Forced together, tension flares. Their attraction to each other flames. Will this alpha Detective keep Allison safe, catch the perp, accept he cannot save everyone and surrender his heart to the feisty reporter?
Deputy Sheriff Jon Sutherland reunites with his high school sweetheart when he responds to a silent alarm she sets off while house sitting. This chance meeting sends the sheriff and Zoe Westmoreland on a roller coaster run for their lives.
Burglars escaping from her parents' home, send her sprawling. Twice. Then she finds the gardener floating face down in the family pool and interrupts a burglary-in-progress next door. When the gardener's death is ruled a homicide Jon moves in to keep Zoe safe. Not all that easy.
Two men try to force their vehicles off the road, and the one time Jon leaves Zoe alone those really bad guys show up again. Thanks to Zoe's quick thinking and resourcefulness, the crooks get a free ride to the hospital and she winds up in Jon's arms for keeps.
183 Pages
A marriage counselor with marital problems?
Jill O'Malley is determined to give husband Drew a son, while Drew secretly prays Jill will never conceive. He fears the responsibility of raising a child, but can't reveal his fear and risk losing Jill. His conflict compromises their marriage, and Jill doesn't even know why.
In an attempt to save his marriage, Drew books a trip for them to visit family in Ringskiddy, Ireland, in hopes of distracting Jill from her all-encompassing need for a child.
The clean Irish air soon makes Jill forget those woes. Now she has new ones. Drew's baby brother died in infancy, yet no one ever mentions him. Why? Jill accidentally awakens ghosts from Drew's past and his childhood nightmares return.
Then the near drowning of his nephew forces Dew to confront his memories and reveal his now resolved fear of fatherhood. Will Jill still love him?
152 Pages