(Originally posted December 1, 2014) I’m going to do something slightly different on the blog today. We’re going to party in St. Lucia!!!! Well, not really (insert sad face). Although seeing the snow outside my window makes me really, really wish I was there. Why now when Miss Guided, my St. Lucia set novel, released months ago? Well, I’m trying to do a special sale, except Amazon is not cooperating. It will be on sale from December 1-7 for 99cents in the USA, from December 7-11 for 99pence in the UK and as soon as I’m allowed, I’ll drop the price to $1.25 in Canada and Australia, although this may have to be after December 11. If you follow me on social media you won’t be able to miss the details. (For those of you who may have ended up here, looking for the fashion line Missguided, please feel free to hang around, we’re a friendly lot of travel and/or romance lovers.)

So as not to disappoint my travel blog followers, let’s do a quick recap of the delights of St. Lucia. It is one of the Windward Islands in the Eastern Caribbean Sea. Britain and France battled over the island 14 times and bits of both cultures are clearly evidenced on the island. 95% of the population speak St. Lucian Creole French, which they refer to as patois. My father-in-law speaks it and I can’t understand a word. But when I was researching for Miss Guided, I came across this amazing online dictionary: http://www.saintluciancreole.dbfrank.net/dictionary/KweyolDictionary.pdf so now I know what doudou means and that betje probably refers to me at a gathering of my in-laws.

Now that you can say “mesi” (thank you) in patois, let’s move on to some of the island’s tourist sights. There are, of course, the iconic pitons, the two mountains that look like well, they were cast in a giant conical bra. Don’t miss the drive-in volcano and the botanical gardens, the markets and people. But most importantly chill on the amazing beaches and eat a banana, St. Lucia’s prime export. And if you don’t mind salt, try the national dishes – green banana and salt fish. I never could eat salt fish but I love, love, love curry goat and rice ‘n peas.

If you can’t afford to visit St. Lucia, then pick up a copy of Miss Guided and fall in love with Marcus and Crescy. And now for the party! Please enter my giveaway for a copy of Played by the Billionaire, the story of Marcus’s brother, Liam. And if you’re reading this on December 1 (2014) head over to the Cyber Monday Facebook Party, where I’ll be dancing on the tables at 3pm Pacific Time. Stay tuned to my social media profiles for other fun events throughout December.