Monday, September 30, 2013

Coming Attractions


October is one of my favorite months.  I love the cool nights, the crisp mornings, the clean scent of the air and the beautiful, vibrant colors of changing leaves.  I love the fact that October brings Georgia Romance Writers' Moonlight & Magnolia conference, college football Saturdays, pumpkin patches and the treats of Halloween.  And I love the fantastic line-up of authors who will be visiting the Romance Dish.  Get ready for a month full of treats...no tricks allowed!  




We kick off the month on Tuesday, October 1st with a visit from Maggie Robinson.  Maggie will be here to celebrate release day of the second book in her Ladies Unlaced series,  In the Heart of the Highlander.









Be here Friday, October 4th when Andrea brings us her list of new October releases.  There are some awesome books being released this month and you don't want to miss any of them! 

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and on Tuesday, October 8th we bring you all the details of Penguin's Read Pink campaign to raise money for and awareness of Breast Cancer research.  







Wednesday, October 9th brings Molly Harper to the Romance Dish! Rhythm and Bluegrass, the second book in Molly's Bluegrass contemporary romance series will be released October 7th.












Trish Milburn returns Thursday, October 10th with her monthly Teen Menu.  I always look forward to Trish's news and reviews from the world of Young Adult fiction.

Drop by Friday, October 11th to find out what November books Andrea and I are most anticipating in this month's Make Your Reservations.









Monday, October 14th we're spotlighting the newest release from contemporary romance author, Catherine Bybee.  Catherine's book, Not Quite Enough releases on October 8th.











It's a Historical Hookup on Tuesday, October 15th when we welcome the Elizabeth Hoyt, Eileen Dreyer, Jennifer Delamere, Anne Barton and Lily Dalton Historical Hookup Blog Tour from Forever Books.  You won't want to miss this one!










Debbie Mason joins us on Wednesday, October 16th with a stop on her spotlight blog tour. Debbie's new book, The Trouble with Christmas, a contemporary Christmas romance with plenty of humor and heart is available now!












Christie Kelley returns to blog with us on Friday, October 18th.  Christie's newest historical romance, Enticing the Earl will be released October 17th.













Contemporary romance author Molly O'Keefe blogs with us on Wednesday, October 23rd. Molly's Wild Child will be released on October 29th.  












Thursday, October 24th brings Anna Campbell and her Second Helpings column.  This month, Anna turns her spotlight on one of my favorite contemporary authors.  Join us on the 24th to find out who! 








It's always a pleasure to have Jodi Thomas blog with us.  Jodi's new historical,  Promise Me Texas (a Whispering Mountain novel) will be released November 5th and Jodi will be here to talk about it on Monday, October 28th.











Tuesday, October 29th brings the always entertaining Jill Shalvis back to the Romance Dish for a blog tour stop celebrating her November release, Rumor Has It.












We turn the spotlight on Barbara Pierce (who also writes as Alexandra Hawkins) on Wednesday, October 30th.  Barbara's The No Good Irresistible Viscount Tipton will be released for Kindle on November 1st. 








Join us on Thursday, October 31st for a look at our November Coming Attractions.




Has it really been four years since we first opened the doors to the Romance Dish?  It has! Come party with us on Friday, November 1st as we celebrate our 4th anniversary!  (Yes, I know this is October's coming attractions and our anniversary is in November but I wanted to give you a heads up so you can mark your calendars now!) 






Hope to see you here in October for author visits, reviews, giveaways and more!  


Sunday, September 29, 2013

Calling All Ugly Bridesmaid Dresses


Show us your UGLIEST bridesmaid dress!


Sourcebooks is getting ready to release New York Times bestselling author, Julia London’s brand new novella, The Bridesmaid on October 1st! In order to celebrate, they want to see the ugliest bridesmaid dresses out there! Have YOU been forced to wear one? Or do you have a friend or family member that had to put one on? They want to see it!
Tweet a picture of it and use the hashtag #UgliestBridesmaidDress anytime during October 1st – October 4th! Sourcebooks will pick a grand prize winner on Monday October 7th who will receive a wedding themed gift basket! Ten more runner up winners will receive a copy of Julia London’s novella!
You can also enter to win a copy of The Bridesmaid here at The Romance Dish by commenting and sharing your worst wedding horror story, best wedding story, story of your engagement, etc.! 
US & Canada only please.  We will pick the winner on Friday October 4th.




New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julia London’s romantic twist on Planes, Trains and Automobiles
Getting her to the wedding on time is the least of his worries...
Kate Preston just moved to New York, but she has to get back to Seattle in time for her best friend's wedding. Joe Firretti is moving to Seattle, and has to get there in time or risk losing his new job. But fate's got a sense of humor. Kate goes from rubbing elbows on a plane with a gorgeous but irritating strange (doggone armrest hog) to sharing one travel disaster after another with him on four wheels. Joe thought he had his future figured out, but sometimes fates has to knock you over the head pretty hard before you see what opportunity is standing in front of you...in a really god-awful poufy bridesmaid dress.


Saturday, September 28, 2013

B.J. Daniels Winners



The winners of a signed copy of REDEMPTION by B.J. Daniels are

kmannrn

Mary Preston

Nicole Laverdure

Congratulations!  To claim your book, please send your full name and mailing address to us at
theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com


Tracy Solheim Winner






The winner of a signed copy of GAME ON by Tracy Solheim and 
handmade bath soaps is:

erin

Congratulations, Erin!  Please send your full name and mailing address to us at
theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) dom




Friday, September 27, 2013

Guest Review - - Butterfly Cove

Butterfly Cove 
By Christina Skye
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Release Date:  September 24th, 2013





After eight months of ten-hour work days, Olivia Sullivan’s job with a Seattle architectural firm ends shortly before noon with a hand-delivered, single-paragraph letter lacking a personal signature. Troubled by what unemployment means for her finances, Livie heads home to Summer Island, Oregon, not to the showy modern house she has inherited from her father but to her sanctuary, Harbor House, the historical house that she and her three closest friends have spent the past two years renovating. The upside to her unemployment is that she now has the time to help with final preparations for the rapidly approaching grand opening of the yarn shop and café at Harbor House.

The last thing Rafe Russo or anyone else who knew him ever expected was that the troubled, young rebel of Summer Island would find himself at not yet thirty a reluctant hero and the newest deputy sheriff in his old hometown. But after a fuel dump explosion almost killed him and did end his career as a member of a Marine recon team, it’s not as if he has a lot of options. Summer Island is a far cry from Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other distant places where Rafe has spent the past decade, but petty thefts and a stolen identity case have kept him hopping during his first day on the job—and that’s before the first winter storm of the season hits.

Olivia is on her way back to Harbor House with supplies for plumbing repairs when rain and ice turn the trip on the narrow coast road into a nightmare. Watching in horror as a speeding truck passes her and collides with an oncoming SUV, Olivia finds the road blocked by a stalled school minivan half-buried in a mudslide. Swerving to avoid the minivan and the children beside it, she strikes a law-enforcement vehicle. Not until she is in the local clinic recovering from a separated shoulder and possible concussion does Livie learn that the driver of the other vehicle, the man who administered first aid to her at the accident site, was none other than Rafe Russo, the bad boy who broke her heart ten years earlier when he left Summer Island and Olivia without even a goodbye.

The sizzling physical attraction between Olivia and Rafe remains undiminished since their teenage years, but the bond between them, based on a friendship dating back to elementary school days, is even harder to ignore—even in the face of their heavy emotional baggage. Olivia was a child of wealth and privilege, a good girl who did everything she could to earn the love and approval of her demanding, critical, emotionally distant father. A licensed architect, a gifted photographer, and a skilled knitter, thanks to her upbringing, she has little confidence in herself professionally or personally. She’s not the only one with daddy issues. Rafe’s father was literally absent, having abandoned his family when his two sons were children. Rafe responded to his father’s desertion by rebelling against authority in all forms. He was constantly breaking rules at school and later even breaking the law. He thought Livie was too good for him; so did most of the good citizens of Summer Island. They haven’t changed their opinion, and neither has Rafe. Livie’s low self-esteem and fear of another betrayal and Rafe’s feelings of unworthiness, magnified by some of the things his job as a warrior required of him, mean that they have a mountain of obstacles to overcome before they find their HEA.

Although it is less obvious than it should be, Butterfly Cove is the third novel in Skye’s Summer Island series. This book and the series in general have most of the elements of a terrific series: a picturesque small town, adorable animal characters; a group of women with a long history of loving, loyal friendship and shared experiences; hunky, wounded heroes with dangerous pasts (in some cases dangerous present as well) that required them to lay their lives on the line for the greater good; and sufficient external and internal conflict to keep things interesting. Yet, I’ve finished all three novels and the one novella in the series in love with the characters but feeling cheated by too many loose ends and unanswered questions.

“Return to Summer Island,” Skye’s novella in The Knitting Diaries (2011), introduced the series. It is the story of Caro McNeal, victim of an automobile accident and accomplished knitter, and Lieutenant Gage Grayson, a Marine on his way to Afghanistan. I liked the characters and enjoyed the epistolary quality of the story but disliked the truncated feel of the conclusion. A Home by the Sea (2011), my favorite of the series, is the story of Noah McLeod, a bomb squad specialist who works for a top secret government agency who is still dealing with grief over the loss of his brother when he meets food historian Grace Lindstrom, who is dealing with her own conflicted grief over a fiancé whose infidelity was exposed with his death. I found a heroine who rescues abandoned puppies and a hero who adores his mother irresistible, but the ending left me wondering (1) how a relationship with the H/H living nearly a country apart could end in an HEA, (2) what would happen to Grace’s ailing grandfather, and (3) if Noah’s niece, the only child of his dead brother, would be lost to her father’s family. The Accidental Bride (2012) is the story of Jilly O’ Hara, owner of a successful restaurant, and war hero Walker Hale, member of a wealthy, politically powerful, dysfunctional family, and their fake wedding that becomes real. I concluded my review of that novel with these words:

[O]ne of the reasons I’m addicted to series is that I love catching glimpses of the ongoing happiness of the H/H pairs from earlier books. In The Accidental Bride, Caro is on Summer Island caring for her baby and worrying about Gage who is still in danger every day, and Grace is wondering if she and Noah will ever have time together because he can’t seem to keep his promise to break free of his dangerous job. So although Jilly and Walker get their HEA, I wasn’t altogether happy with how they arrived there, and I finished concerned about Caro and Grace. I’ll be back for Olivia’s story. I can only hope that it will bring not only an HEA for her but also reaffirm the HEAs of her three friends.

Butterfly Cove does expand on Jilly and Walker’s HEA, but Gage is still not home and Grace and Noah are still living 3000 miles apart. Added to these ongoing concerns are those particular to the third novel. First, there’s Rafe’s family. We know he has a mother and a younger brother, but when he returns home, he never visits them or calls them or has any contact at all with them. I kept wondering why. Also, while connecting his youthful rebellion with his missing father is a line the weakest student of psychology can draw, the issue is never really addressed. Then there’s the matter of the missing fortune of Livie’s father. He was a wealthy man, but he left debts and only $34 in his bank account. Even Olivia’s inheritance and personal effects from her grandmother are gone. Olivia learns something about her father’s secret, kinky sex life, but she has only an unopened letter. The novel ends with no real answers.

I understand that series sometimes have overarching plot threads, and that authors may use them to tantalize readers, up to and including cliffhangers. But the money issue is not an ongoing thread; it is a central concern in this particular book. I felt betrayed when the mystery was left unresolved, especially when logic dictated that the story of the fourth and final Harbor House friend should offer closure. Skye indicates vaguely in an author’s note that the Summer Island series will continue. I’m invested enough in these characters to keep reading, seeking the answers I need, but I will do so as a frustrated, irritated reader rather than as an excited one, happily anticipating more of this series and motivated to follow the author into other books unrelated to Summer Island. If you are a patient reader who is undisturbed by a plethora of loose ends, you may find Butterfly Cove and the other Summer Island books more satisfying than I did. For readers whose expectations mirror mine, I really can’t recommend this book.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Guest Review -- I Married the Duke

I Married the Duke
The Prince Catchers Series-Book 1
By Katharine Ashe
Publisher:  Avon
Release Date:  August 27, 2013







She thought he was a pirate. He thought she was a governess. Two wrongs have never made such a scandalously perfect right.
On the way to marry a prince in a castle a lady should never:
  • Bribe an infuriatingly arrogant and undeniably irresistible ship captain,
  • Let him kiss her senseless on a beach,
  • Battle assassins at his side, or
  • Exchange wedding vows with him, even under the direst circumstances.
But daring, determined Arabella Caulfield isn’t just any lady. And Luc Westfall is no ordinary shipmaster. He’s the new duke of Lycombe, and to defeat a plot that could destroy his family he must have an heir. Now he knows just the woman for the job . . . and he’s not above seduction to turn this would-be princess into a duchess. 

It is actually quite fitting that I review I Married the Duke for The Romance Dish.  It was here at The Dish that I first discovered Katharine and her books when she visited to talk about her debut Swept Away by a Kiss. I was immediately intrigued by the premise of the book, and her passion and enthusiasm.  I am thrilled that things have come full circle in this way.  I Married the Duke is the first book in Katharine’s Prince Catchers series, and it was a delightful and engaging read. Katharine’s passion, joy, and investment in her books and her characters are palpable, and draw in the reader instantly.
Arabella Caulfield is the second of three sisters who were orphaned as young girls with no real knowledge of their past.  Their only clue is a ring. Years ago, the three sisters met a fortune teller who told them one of them would marry the owner of the ring, a prince, and only then would the three sisters know their past and who they truly are. Arabella is determined to fulfill the fortune teller’s prophecy, so she accepts a governess position to the sister of a prince. She and Prince Reiner will fall in love and marry, and all would be revealed. Unfortunately, she runs into an obstacle by the name of Captain Luc Westfall, the captain of the ship that’s taking her to Saint-Nazaire so she can assume her new position.  She finds him rude, arrogant, and maddening. And utterly attractive, compelling, and irresistible. Naturally, her plans to marry the prince are not meant to be.
Arabella is a woman whose experience with men makes her suspicious and wary of them and their motives.  Her beauty has long made her the target of men’s lascivious thoughts and unwanted advances. In addition, her guardian has made her feel her looks was something to be hidden and ashamed of, and maybe even to blame for those thoughts and advances.  Therefore, she has trouble trusting Luc and his intentions.  It leads to many crossed wires and miscommunications between her and Luc because she constantly second guesses his actions and motives. But eventually, she learns to trust him and herself. I liked  Arabella’s kind and caring nature, and admired her strength in facing down her doubts and fears, physically and emotionally, so she could truly give her heart to Luc, fully and openly.  I loved that Arabella comes to Luc’s rescue time and again, both literally and figuratively.
As with all Katharine Ashe heroes, Luc isn’t exactly who he first appears to be.  He is, in fact, the potential heir to the Duke of Lycombe. But due to his troubled past, he’s not anxiously waiting to assume the dukedom. Luc has many demons haunting him, and must make peace with his past in order for him to embrace his future with Arabella.  My heart ached for what he and his brother went through as children, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the villain get what’s coming to him, and then some.  I liked that despite Arabella’s initial reaction to him, Luc truly is a man of valor and honor who strives to do the right thing. And I must admit the kerchief covering his eye injury makes him so dashing and even more appealing!
Katharine’s romances are very passionate, sensual, and deeply emotional. I Married the Duke is no exception. The hair washing scene in particular still gives me shivers.  She makes you feel every high and low her heroes and heroines go through on their way to the happy ending, and you can’t help but be swept along on the journey. You get the sense that not only do they want each other, they NEED each other, like the missing piece of the puzzle that makes their lives and joy complete.
I thoroughly enjoyed I Married the Duke, and definitely recommend it. Katharine has said that a book for baby sister Ravenna is already in the works, and I can’t wait to see what happens next in the Prince Catchers series! In the meantime, a Christmas novella featuring Princess Jacqueline and Luc’s cousin, the Earl of Bedwyr, will have to tide us over until then.
 
~Lisa

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Today's Special - - B.J. Daniels


I'm delighted to welcome B.J. Daniels to The Romance Dish today.  I've been reading B.J.'s books for a number of years and had the pleasure of meeting her in person at last summer's RWA conference.  

The USA Today bestselling author lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, and three Springer Spaniels, Spot, Jem and Ace. When she isn’t writing, she quilts, snowboards, camps, boats and plays tennis.  To contact her, write: B.J. Daniels, P.O. Box 1173, Malta, MT 59538 or email her at bjdaniels@mtintouch.net Check out her webpage and blog at www.bjdaniels.com

Take it away, B.J.!




Imagine that you’ve weathered a lot of losses in your life. Now all you have left is a struggling sheep ranch and an old sheepherder who is more like your grandfather than hired help.
            Then the worst happens. The young man you sent to help the sheepherder is a suspect for murder, your faithful sheepherder is missing and Deputy Sheriff Bentley Jamison is at your door.
That is what happens to Madison “Maddie” Conner in my new book FORSAKEN. Maddie is an amazing woman who I fell in love with the first time I met her. She’s strong and determined and capable. She’s been running the sheep ranch by herself for years with only the help of Branch Murdock, her sheepherder.
But now she must pull on her boots and ride back into the unforgiving Beartooth mountains to find
out what has happened. Worse, Deputy Jamison refuses to let her go alone because he suspects what they will find when they reach the sheep camp is a murder scene.
What made this book fun for me to write was that Jamison is a greenhorn from back East. He doesn’t know anything about the wilds of Montana let alone sheep. But he does know about murder since his former job was as a homicide detective in New York.
Trapped together in a late summer storm high in the mountains miles from civilization with a killer, the two have to work together to survive.
I love writing about strong women but I have to tell you, Maddie is my favorite. She has accepted her life, one that only includes hard work. But the greenhorn deputy reminds her that she is a woman and still desirable.
This book idea came from meeting one of the real-life sheepherders who used to take a flock of two thousand sheep back into the Beartooth wilderness, a trek of over 150 miles, and three long summer months without seeing another soul other than his “tender,” the young man who took care of the camp.
I spent some time recently in that area. There are no roads, no houses, nothing but high mountains, rocky cliffs and beautiful wild meadows. There is some cell phone coverage if you are on one of the highest peaks, but even that is sketchy. The only way to get back into this country is on foot or a horse.
Maddie is as beautiful and as wild as this country she loves. But she has no idea what is waiting for her back in the mountains.
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did writing it. Maddie Conner could be my favorite character of all time. A character like that needed a special man. Deputy Sheriff Bentley Jamison is that man.
B.J. Daniels
www.bjdaniels.com

Thanks, BJ!  I'm looking forward to reading Maddie and Bentley's story!  Is there anything you'd like to ask our readers today?

Question: Maddie and Jamison are older than a lot of "romance" novels. Do you like reading about characters who find love after having had other lovers/marriages?

Okay, readers.  Let's see some comments!  BJ is giving away three signed copies of Redemption, the second book in her Beartooth, Montana series from HQN.  (open internationally)



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Super New Talent!

by Anna Campbell


I love it when I find a fantastic new author (I think we all know that feeling of  discovery!). I had this experience recently when I picked up RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, the debut SuperRomance from Jennifer Lohmann.

Even better, I had met Jennifer back in 2010 at the Orlando Romance Writers of America conference where she received the Librarian of the Year award. Jennifer and I bonded over many glasses of zinfandel and our mutual love of classic romance fiction. At the time I had no idea that this companion in the zinfandel murder conspiracy wanted to write romance as well as recommend it to her library patrons.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that Jennifer was taking part, along with a couple of my dear Romance Bandits sisters, Jeanne Adams and Nancy Northcott, in a Lady Jane's salon in Raleigh in March. So I rushed to order her debut romance, RESERVATIONS FOR TWO.

RESERVATIONS FOR TWO introduces the first of the Polish-American Milek sisters, Tilly, who has overcome personal tragedy to start up her own restaurant in her home town Chicago. So much hinges on the restaurant being a success, not least Tilly's need to justify her late grandmother's faith in her, so it's a devastating blow when an all-powerful food critic who operates under a pseudonym delivers a horrible review soon after the launch. Still reeling, Tilly encounters charming Dan Meier and experiences an immediate attraction unlike anything she's ever felt before.

Yep, you're right - Dan is our EVOL food critic. But don't worry, this book is so much more than an extended rap on the big misunderstanding romance trope. Both of these characters have enormous emotional issues standing in the way of their happiness and it's such a buzz watching them conquer their demons one by one until they're ready to stand together and seize their joint future. Yay!

Having finished RESERVATIONS FOR TWO, I immediately ordered THE FIRST MOVE which features Tilly's older sister, the very self-contained Renia Milek. Renia has risen above tragedy and its aftereffects to become a respected photographer in Chicago, but her emotional life remains a complete wasteland. That's the way she likes it - having been hurt so badly in the past, she is reluctant to trust again.

Miles Brislenn had a huge high school crush on Renia but she didn't know he was alive. When these two meet again while Renia is photographing a wedding, sparks immediately fly. Miles sets out patiently and lovingly to mend the broken heart of the girl he's never forgotten. Renia, as you can imagine, isn't exactly a willing participant in this process,but Miles proves irresistible.

In this book, I really liked Renia but I LOVED Miles. He's just such a lovely guy and he knows pretty much from the get-go what he wants. There's something so breathtakingly appealing about a hero willing to go to any length to cherish the woman he loves. Sigh.

Both of these books are great reading and if you're looking for a new voice in contemporary romance, run to your nearest bookseller and grab them. There were a whole stack of things I loved about these stories - the characters act like adults and they're so real, you feel like they could be sitting next to you; the emotional depth; the complexities of the family relationships portrayed (again, very real); the fresh, modern voice. I also loved the cultural detail of Chicago with its various ethnic neighborhoods and rich urban life. It's a city I've always wanted to visit - why doesn't RWA go there for a conference? I'd be the first person to book!

So my verdict on Jennifer Lohmann? Definitely a discovery!

As I said above, I love to find great new authors. Have you recently read any authors new to you who have become your new autobuy? What attracted you to these stories?

Monday, September 23, 2013

Today's Special - - Tracy Solheim

Tracy Solheim is an author who speaks my language.  Like her, I've been a sports enthusiast since I was knee high to a grasshopper. Give me an athlete hero and I'm sure to give your book a second...and third...look!  

After years of writing reports and testimony for Congress, Tracy Solheim decided to put her fiction writing talents to better use.  In May, Berkley Publishing launched her Out of Bounds series, featuring the fictional Baltimore Blaze football team.  GAME ON, book one in the series is available where all books are sold.  FOOLISH GAMES, book two, will be released December 3, 2013.  She lives in the heart of SEC country, also known as the suburbs of Atlanta, with her husband and their two works-in-progress.   When she’s not at the barn with her daughter or working out with friends, she’s writing.  Except for when she’s reading, but according to her, that’s just necessary research.  See what she’s up to at www.tracysolheim.comWomenUnplugged and Romancing the Jock.  Be sure to LIKE her on Facebook to be eligible to win an advanced copy of Foolish Games!

Please give Tracy a warm Romance Dish welcome!





PUTTING A LITTLE GAME IN ROMANCE
Long before I cracked the spine of my first Susan Elizabeth Phillips novel and well before I was introduced to Deirdre Martin’s New York Blades hockey team or Jill Shalvis’ Santa Barbara Heat baseball team, I was dreaming of my own jock hero.  Just ask my mom.  While other girls were reading Seventeen, I was pouring through Sports Illustrated, cutting out pictures of hunky athletes to tape up to my bedroom wall.  (Don’t mention the tape to my mother, though.  She’s still unhappy about the damage to the freshly painted room.)
            When it came to writing my first contemporary romance, GAME ON, I naturally gravitated to an athlete as the hero.  At the time, Navy SEALS were the rage and there weren’t enough books on the contemporary shelves about jocks.  (Not that I don’t love a good Navy SEAL book, because I really do!)  But times have changed since that first draft a couple of years ago and sports romance has quickly developed into a strong sub-genre of its own.  Which leads me to ask:  What took so long?
            Athletes—like the aforementioned Navy SEALs—are larger than life. They’re warriors with hard bodies, ego-induced swagger and lots of disposable income.  What’s not to love, right?  They are the absolute perfect romance hero.

Not so fast, though.  It takes more to make a reader cheer for a jock.  The best sports romance heroes have to be vulnerable, too.  Vulnerable to injury or loss of the championship, or worse, their career.  In GAME ON, quarterback Shane Devlin is scrambling to keep his career alive.  Not for the money, necessarily, but so he can surpass NFL records set by his estranged father.  In FOOLISH GAMES, the second book in the Out of Bounds trilogy, linebacker Will Connelly’s vulnerability is an infant son he never knew he had and will do anything to keep.  In the third book, RISKY GAME, tight end Brody Janik is hiding a potentially career-ending secret. Of course, all three players meet women who help them navigate their vulnerabilities to score their happily ever after.  It is romance, after all.
            But let’s look at this from a totally different perspective.  What about a book with the heroine as the sports star? Would her vulnerabilities be the same as a male athlete?  I think most would.  More importantly, what would her hero look like?  I’m seriously toying with the idea, so I’d appreciate your perspective.  
Leave me a comment with your thoughts and you’ll be eligible to win a signed copy of GAME ON and some fun, handmade bath soap! (U.S. addresses only)





Saturday, September 21, 2013

PJ's Birthday Bash Winners





Wow!  What an amazing birthday!  Thank you to everyone who stopped by The Romance Dish yesterday to help me celebrate and a very special thank you to all the authors who generously donated books for you, my birthday guests!  Here are yesterday's winners.  Congratulations to you all!



flchen1
fedora at gmail dot com

Signed copy of What I Did For a Duke by Julie Anne Long

Cheryl C
castings at mindspring dot com

In the Heart of the Highlander and In the Arms of the Heiress 
by Maggie Robinson

Quantum
quantumphase AT supanet DOT com

Digital copy of Lethal Confessions and Curveball by V.K. Sykes

Marcy Shuler
bmndshuler(at)hotmail(dot)com

Print copy of His Mistletoe Bride by Vanessa Kelly

Jessica C
jpchez02@hotmail.com

Signed copy of To Tempt the Devil and Claiming the Courtesan 
by
Anna Campbell 

shysanta
shysanta (at) verizon (dot) net

Signed copy of Werewolf in Alaska by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Heather 
Azacia (at) gmail (dot) com

Pkg. of books from Cathy Maxwell

krazymama_98
lisakhutson (at) coxnet

Signed copy of Once Upon a Tower by Eloisa James

hannahdabink
hondapearl (at) gmail (dot) com

Signed copy of As You Wish by Eloisa James

ally_in_Canada
achingchew(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Signed copy of As You Wish by Eloisa James

Jeanne M
jeannemiro(at)yahoo(dot)com

Signed copy of As You Wish by Eloisa James

Dawn Wagner
disneywag@gmail.com

Copy of London's Last True Scoundrel by Christina Brooke

Krysten Michelsen
kmichels06 (at) gmail (dot) com

Signed hardback copy of 'Twas the Night After Christmas 
by Sabrina Jeffries


Pirouette
bcostedoat1 AT hotmail DOT fr

Copy of I Married the Duke by Katharine Ashe

Kristy Birch
kristina.birch (at) gmail (dot) com

Kindle copy of Meant to Be by Terri Osburn

Petite
elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

Up to the Challenge by Terri Osburn

Marnee Bailey
marneejo (at) hotmail (dot) com

The Summer He Came Home by Juliana Stone


BONUS GIVEAWAYS!

May
maybe31 at yahoo.com

A Perfect Distraction by Anna Sugden

Leah O'Connor
laurelskoog at comcast dot net

Pkg. of books from Katharine Ashe


Thanks to Anna Sugden and Katharine Ashe for the Bonus Giveaways!


Winners, to claim your prize please send your full name and mailing address to us at
theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com.



New winners will be drawn for any prizes not claimed by Saturday, September 28, 2013.