The Candlelight Ecstasy Supreme series was published by Dell during the heyday of the serial romance. They were longer than the original Candlelight Ecstasy series and thus the stories could have more depth. This was the third book in a series that would eventually run to 188 titles.
Donna Kimel Vitek wrote 34 romance novels between 1979 and 1987, starting with four short romances for Macfadden Encore (as Donna Alexander), then ten for Silhouette (as Donna Vitek) before moving on to Candlelight (as Donna Kimel Vitek). When Dell shut down the Candlelight series she stopped writing. Her popularity is shown by being one of the authors being invited to step up from the base Ecstasy series to the Ecstasy Supreme series.
Synopsis: "She'd worked hard to get to the top--to become an associate producer. When a malicious scandal forced her to switch networks, Juliet York swore that unfounded rumors would never threaten her reputation again.
"But she'd no sooner arrived at Union Broadcasting than superstar anchorman Marc Tyner made it clear that he wanted more than a working relationship. Being thrown together on a dangerous investigative assignment in a small town meant double jeopardy: Marc would use every wile to get his story--and his way. How could she protect herself when his merest touch triggered her deepest desires? How could she know if this was the love of a lifetime or a dangerous diversion--no rumor but a real affair that could break her heart and destroy her career?"
Warmed by the Fire is available on Biblio for as little as $5.99.

TIE! Both poems got exactly the same votes and both had exactly the same rating, tied for second-highest rating in all of the duels (I guess the voters liked the poems this week!)
The "established" poem was the one on the right, "Tableau at Twilight" by Ogden Nash, that I have, in my library, in a collection called Poem Stew, published as a book for middle grades and available at Biblio (out of print) for as little as $3.97.
The poem on the left was my own "Competition" from my collection Transitions.

Tableau at Twilight
I sit in the dusk. I am all alone.
Enter a child and an ice-cream cone.

A parent is easily beguiled
By the sight of this coniferous child.

The friendly embers warmer gleam,
The cone begins to drip ice cream.

Cones are composed of many a vitamin.
My lap is not the place to bitamin.

Although my raiment is not chinchilla,
I flinch to see it become vanilla.

Coniferous child, when vanilla melts
I'd rather it melted somewhere else.

Exit child with remains of cone,
I sit in the dusk. I am all alone,

Muttering spells like an angry Druid,
Alone, in the dusk, with the cleaning fluid.

Competition
I like to see the eyes of my opponent
I like them to know I’m there
I like it when I watch the hope
Of victory fade from their eyes
 
I like to see the triumph played out
And the agony of defeat
I like to watch the satisfaction
Of a victory well-won
 
No vindictiveness, no taunting
No “trash-talking”, no “head games”
Play hard, play to win
But remember, it’s only a game
 
For the fun is in playing well
And the fun is in the challenge
The fun is in a worthy opponent
And in learning a new stratagem
 
Smile and laugh and do your best
Come back and play again
Life’s too short to hassle on it
But I want to see you play.

I saw a couple of these #onelinestory on Twitter. I thought it an interesting concept to tell a complete story in one sentence, as I interpreted the meme. Below are a few stabs I took. Drop a comment or respond to me on Twitter with yours!

Stunned, the obese cat dolefully returned the cherub's smile, ignoring the toy cast hopefully across the floor.

When you left my heart froze and the rest of my body has been slowly dying ever since.

The dandelion puffs exploded one after the other, spreading seeds with the same efficacy as the joy on young Rachael's face.

Steam rolled over the buffalo and the Lakota with equal indifference as the land lost its color.

​I touch your face and the ice encrusting your heart melts.

Alien ships slant at impossible angles to bring energy-capturing panels into line, saving the ship's inhabitants from freezing to death.

Brother holds his sister, rejoices in her birth and anticipates a life of laughter, challenge, perserverence, and love.

Today would have been Alan Alexander Milne's 136th birthday. Better known as A. A. Milne and best known for his children's character the affable Winnie-the-Pooh, or Pooh for short, Milne was actually an accomplished writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, as well as plays and newspaper reports. He served in the British military in both World Wars.
Pooh made his first appearance in print in 1924 in the poem "Teddy Bear" in Punch magazine. This poem and many other poems for children were first published in book form later that same year in the collection pictured above, When We Were Very Young. As many of you may know Pooh was Milne's son's teddy bear and most of his friends - Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Tigger - were also young Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed toys.
Pooh's first prose adventures were published in 1926, eponymously. Milne only published two other children's books, one of poetry and one of prose, and he and his son both came to resent the continuing popularity of the stories. Despite this and possibly because the Disney corporation had a stake in the rights to the characters almost from the time of Milne's death, the books and the characters are enduring favorites in England and the United States.
When We Were Very Young is still in print and can be had for as little as $3.94, including shipping, online. A first edition, published by Methuen in London in 1924, can fetch hundreds of dollars.

So, it is that time of year when, sometimes, I wish I could curl up like a cat and just sleep until spring. It is cold, and often wet, outside, all the hustle of the holidays is gone, except for the cleaning up and putting away, and I am back to work with the bleakness of plenty of tasks but little excitement as the big projects have yet to get rolling. And there is the spectre of the New Year's resolutions that are already behind in their execution...
​But there is the teletype (yes! ding-ding-ding! 10 points to whomever knew the first picture is a teletype - bonus if you knew that's how news got around the world only half a generation ago) going off in my head - story ideas, ideas for the rewrite I am in the middle of, ideas for improving this website, ideas for, well, you get the idea. Once I do plunge into something there is the satisfaction, given the lack of progress during the holidays due to all the distractions, that PROGRESS is finally being made. 
There is also plenty to look forward to. The center photo, for example, is a geranium that has been propagated, through cuttings, continuously for 55 years and, from which, I will take cuttings in a few short weeks to continue the process. There is the ever-growing, slowly mind you, but growing, interest in the Poetry Duel, in other projects I am involved in. There is the new plantings of heirloom seeds I'll start in a few weeks. There is the potential for new publications both individually and in collaboration.
Lastly, I would be fibbing if I did not confess that I actually like winter. The snow and ice is beautiful, especially new fallen before any but the bravest birds and small mammals have been out exploring. If only we could get the pretty without the troubles engendered on the roads...
Anyway, drop a comment if you agree/disagree/have some other opinion about the post-holiday doldrums and the potential that this time of year also exhibits. Hope this finds you all well and motivated!

Winner (5 votes/3.4 average)!
New Orleans Haiku Society, inspired by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill:
South wind
Through the kitchen windows
The smell of oil
-------------
Gulf canary
With oiled wings
Phoenix 
-------------
On the nautical chart 
A black rose drops
​Its petals

Jack Kerouac, haiku selections (3/3.33):
Birds singing
In the dark
Rainy dawn
-------------
The low yellow
Moon above the
Quiet lamplit house
-------------
The taste
Of rain
Why kneel?

So Christmas is always a time for matching books to people. Not always easy when personal libraries in my immediate circle run into the thousands of volumes. However there is a private little warm spot in my heart for buying children's books, especially books I enjoyed as a child. This is one such. And, even though I didn't buy a copy this year my musings about it did spark some interesting discussion.
Millions of Cats won the Newbery Award in 1929 and is one of very few picture books to have done so. In fact, the controversy about awarding the literature prize to a picture book at least indirectly brought about the introduction of the Caldecott Medal in 1938. Millions of Cats has the distinction of being the oldest American picture book still in print. 
The story itself is rather grim but the repetitive rhyming text is irresistible. I remember myself giggling when it was read to me and the same reaction from my children: "Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats!"
It was that line I repeated at work in front of some more junior colleagues eliciting both smiles of remembrance and smiles of hooked confusion from those without an American childhood who had never heard that lilting cadence.
I recommend this book not for the story, nor for Ms. Gag's art (which is also somewhat busy and grim) but for the smiles and giggles the rhythmic jingle of the text is sure to bring forth.

Scenes is a collection of very short stories and poetry. One reviewer characterized it as "Not what one usually thinks of as short stories, but little "scenes" or "sketches" that capture life and paste it on paper and it is somehow ... fascinating." 
There are 13 stories, ranging from just over a page to six pages in length with 2-5 poems associated with each. They are intended to be read in any order, sequence, or part - read only the stories, only the poems, only one section, everything at once, any way is fine. Each piece stands on its own or can be tied together.
Each is at least partially autobiographical, some significantly but others only marginally. There are some notes at the end, if the reader is interested in a bit more detail of the process.
It has been in print for a year but is now available for Kindle on Amazon for $2.99 (free with KindleUnlimited) and on Smashwords for other formats.
Please, especially at the KU price, take some time, download the book, read a part or all, and let me know what you think by posting a review.
​Print version is available here for $5.99 including shipping.