Hank Phillippi Ryan winners!

Hank Phillippi Ryan has selected her winners! The winners of one TIME novel of their choice is:

Michelle KS
Jane
Susan Sey
Helen
Linda Henderson

And the winner of three books and a book bag is:

LSUreader

Congratulations to all the winners! Please email Hank at hankAThankphillippiryanDOTcom with "Romance Dish winner" as the subject and your choice of book (for those who won their choice of one) and Hank will send your prize right out! Thanks!

Guest Author -- Hank Phillippi Ryan

Award-winning investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan is on the air at Boston's NBC affiliate. Her work has resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in restitution. Along with her 26 EMMYs, Hank’s won dozens of other journalism honors. She's been a radio reporter, a legislative aide in the United States Senate and an editorial assistant at Rolling Stone Magazine working with Hunter S. Thompson. Pretty impressive, huh? And on top of that, she's an incredibly nice person. :)

Her first mystery, the best-selling PRIME TIME, won the Agatha for Best First Novel. It was also was a double RITA nominee for Best First Book and Best Romantic Suspense Novel, a DAPHNE nominee, a TOP PICK and an RT Reviewers' Choice Award Winner. FACE TIME (August 2009) and AIR TIME (Sept. 2009) are IMBA bestsellers. DRIVE TIME is out February 1 from MIRA Books. Please help us welcome Hank back to The Romance Dish!


Can you keep a secret?

Okay, I see you all leaning forward...she’s going to tell us something big, you’re thinking. A secret. And yes yes yes, we can keep it.

Really?

What if—all you had to do was tell, and it would change your life? Would keeping the secret as you promised be more important? Or would you be tempted…
What if—all you had to do was tell the secret—and you would be a huge success?
And what if—you really thought telling my secret would make someone else’s life better? Would it be more important to keep your promise to me? Or to tell for the greater good?

Okay, I don’t have a secret. (Not that I’m going to tell you today, at least.) But secrets are at the heart of mystery, and certainly at the heart of romance. Right?

How many times have you wondered just how much you can really share—or SHOULD really share—with that amazing guy across from you at the restaurant table? And haven’t you wondered exactly what he’s keeping from you? Or curled up, cozy, propped up on pillows with just a downy quilt over the two of you…what have you been tempted to divulge? Or not?

If your loved one asks: “can you keep a secret”-- what do you say?

And if you know a secret do you tell your significant other? When you say—oh, I’ll never tell—does he/she count? And in that floating time just before—or after,--um….when it seems like it’s only the two of you. What would you tell then?

And it’s not just in your personal life, of course. How about on the job? As a TV reporter for the past 30 years, keeping things confidential is the hallmark of my work. There; are things I’ve been told that I can never reveal. Sources have divulged documents and reports and financial information and medical info, but where it all came from, I can never tell.

When you hear some juicy gossip at work…and you know you’ve got to keep it confidential—can you do it?

And what happens when the secrets of your personal life (and we all have them, including my main character TV reporter Charlotte McNally) and the secrets of your professional life (and we all have them, including Charlie McNally) are coming together on a deadly collision course?

As DRIVE TIME proves, the real secret of a secret—may be knowing when to tell.

In this excerpt from DRIVE TIME, Charlie and her brand new fiancé are asleep in Josh’s bedroom. At least, Josh is asleep. Charlie is wondering what her life will be like when she leaves her home on Boston’s chic Beacon Hill and moves in with her dishy prep-school professor husband. And then—it turns out Josh is having a difficult night, too.


My new nightgown was a major success. But I still can’t sleep. Brookline’s old-fashioned line streetlights weave criss-cross patterns on Josh’s bedroom ceiling, stripes of shadow across the stark white. They’re now as familiar as my own ceiling design, Beacon Hill’s gas-lit yellow cast across the pale blue I painted myself. It’s been home for a long time. Now, I sleep here as much as there. And I’m feeling just as comfortable. Almost.

“Sweets?” Josh whispers. “You asleep?”

“Not one bit,” I say. “I’m trying, but not terribly successfully. My brain won’t turn off. Nor will the rest of me, thanks to you.” I turn to face him, eyes open again, smiling with possibility, glad for a good excuse to be awake. I’ll just be tired tomorrow. It’s happened before. I expect Josh to reach out for me, but his expression is—concerned? And why are his glasses back on? My Josh-radar pings into the red.

“What?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”

“Can you keep a secret?” he says. He’s still on his back, hands clasped over his chest, head turned to watch me.

I sit up, yanking the comforter over me, and twist around to look down on him, assessing. Can I keep a secret? What kind of a question is that?

“Um, keeping a secret, that’s the reporter’s credo, right?” I smile, trying for adorable-cheerful. Maybe I’ve misread his mood. I squint at the digital alarm clock. It’s hard to be perceptive at 3:34 AM. “Confidential sources stay confidential?”

Josh scoots up, back to headboard, grabbing his half of the comforter. “It’s Bexter,” he says. He leans over, gives me a quick kiss. “I’m sorry, sweets, to be distracted. Tonight, especially. But you know Dorothy Wirt? The Headmaster’s assistant? Well, the Head and I found her at her desk, a few days ago. Crying.” He shakes his head, remembering. “She finally told us she’s been getting some pretty disturbing phone calls. She didn’t want to tell, she insisted, didn’t want to “alarm” the Head. I mean, I think it’s more alarming that she tried to keep it to herself.”


(( Josh tells Charlie she has to keep this to herself. But Charlie’s an investigative reporter for a Boston TV station. And she thinks this could be a big story. Josh says his boss ordered him never to tell. But Josh’s daughter Penny—soon to be Charlie’s step daughter—goes to Bexter Academy. What if she’s in danger? But the Headmaster insists—Josh must never tell about the phone calls.))


“That’s exactly what he said, “ Josh replies. “I don’t agree with him, but he’s the boss. And that’s why I asked you about keeping a secret. You can, right?”

Silence has never been so noisy. How do I answer that? For the past twenty years, my loyalties have been only to journalism. I stare at my engagement ring again. Somehow, now, the glitter contains a bit of a taunt. Who’d have imagined a continental divide in the middle of a king-sized TempurPedic?

“I’m just thinking,” I begin. “If there’s a possible danger to the kids, including Penny? I’ve seen it, so often, the tragic results when people try to cover up a problem or pretend a threat doesn’t exist. And it’s my responsibility as a journalist to investigate what people are trying to hide. Right?”

Josh’s turn on the tightrope. Are his loyalties to me? To the Bexter kids? To his boss? This is a discussion we’ve never needed to have. Now we’re having it in the middle of the night, naked, and when I kind of have to go to the bathroom.

“Wrong,” Josh says.

I shiver, though it’s not cold. I need to let him continue. I need to hear this.

“Wrong,” he says again. “Because it’s your job to—to wait. Until you have all the facts. And we don’t have any facts. I told you something in confidence.”

He turns to me, face softening, then picks up my hand, twisting the diamond on my finger. “We’re not source and reporter here, sweets. We’re almost husband and wife.”

He’s right. But I’m right. Is there a right?


In DRIVE TIME, Charlie is torn between her loyalties to her fiancé, her new daughter, her job, her career, her future and her dreams…can Charlie really have it all? Can anyone? And perhaps, as DRIVE TIME explores—maybe the real secret of a secret—is knowing when to tell.


So—when is it right to tell a secret? Ever? Are you faithful as a tomb when it comes to keeping our mouth shut? Have you ever told a secret—and regretted it? Have you ever KEPT a secret-and regretted it?

GIVEAWAY! The choice of any one of Hank’s Charlie McNally series—to five lucky commenters! And one grand prize winner gets the first three books--plus a terrific limited edition black canvas tote bag.


Did you know?

Suzanne Brockmann says: “I love this series!” Sue Grafton says: "This is first-class entertainment." And Library Journal just gave DRIVE TIME a starred review, saying in part “Placing Ryan in the same league as Lisa Scottoline…her latest book catapults the reader into the fast lane and doesn’t relent until the story careens to a stop. New readers will speed to get her earlier books, and diehard fans will hope for another installment.”

PRIME TIME for Romance by Hank Phillippi Ryan

While attending this year's Moonlight & Magnolias conference in Atlanta, we met the nicest and most gracious lady. She encouraged us and gave us tips when we talked about starting our own blog/review site. Despite the fact that she is a very busy lady, she offered to help us in any way she could. It seemed only fitting to ask her to blog with us during our Housewarming Party week. And thus, she is with us today. Please help us welcome award-winning mystery author Hank Phillippi Ryan to The Romance Dish!

Where’s the romance in Thanksgiving? Where’s the mystery?

First, the dish on the mystery. It’s the gravy. Why is it after so many years of making Thanksgiving dinner for various numbers of family and friends, every year on Thanksgiving morning I wake up with the burning (ouch) question: How do you make gravy?

Is it easy for you? I’ve been a TV reporter for the past 30 years. Like my mystery heroine, I wire myself with hidden cameras, go undercover into tricky situations, confront corrupt politicians and chase down criminals. But the gravy thing? No can do.

Maybe my relationship with gravy needs to heat up a bit. More easily than making gravy, I could write a scene where our heroine, with an adorable smudge of cornstarch on her cheek and a cute black apron tied over her holiday mini-skirt (well, its fiction) stands, perplexed, at the stove. Before her, a bubbling quantity of liquid, simmering in a gleaming copper pan.

It’s Thanksgiving, of course, and this could be the most important holiday of her life.

It’s F day. As our story goes, her new boyfriend (and potentially the love of her life) has asked her home for Thanksgiving dinner. And she’s meeting his Family. F day. And, with his mother waiting in the living room, our heroine has volunteered to help with dinner. Including the gravy.

Talk about goals. Talk about motivation. Talk about conflict.

Our heroine stands, baffled, in front of the still-soupy mess.
The turkey, fragrant and glistening brown, is finishing in the oven. Our heroine checks the little pop up timer to make sure it hasn’t popped. Gazing at the plastic button, she asks the other persistent Thanksgiving question— do those things work? And if so, how?

Meanwhile, back to the gravy. Our heroine stands and stirs, worrying, and somehow deciding that if the gravy turns out, so will her happily ever after. But there it is, like her future, murky, and watery, and not coming together.

Footsteps behind her. Our hero, in a (fill in your personal preference here) sweater and tight jeans (I decided that one) comes toward her. He uses one finger to swipe the cornstarch smudge from her cheek, and risks a quick kiss, even with The Family in the next room. He smells of lemon and champagne.

“Sweetheart,” he says—

Wait a minute. How did this happen? I was thinking about the certainly-looming moment when I once again realize it’s time to face the gravy, and somehow—and I think it’s your fault—my thoughts veered into a potentially lust-filled scene which winds up with the whipped cream designed for the pumpkin pie being put to other uses.

Where’s the mystery in Thanksgiving? Will our heroine solve the mystery of the gravy...and manage to get the sweet potatoes and the stuffing and the green bean casserole all hot and ready at the same time when she only has one oven?

And where’s the romance in Thanksgiving? Will her hero be all hot and ready when the dinner is over? Okay, maybe I’ve gone too far with this. Maybe not. But it just shows there’s romance wherever you allow it!

There are endless possibilities for a Thanksgiving happily-ever-after. So long as there’s family, and friends…and the possibility of giving thanks for each other.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all…and I’m delighted to dish. (As long as I don’t have to bring the gravy.)

Any Thanksgiving tips? Love to hear about them…leave us a comment, and Hank’s team of accountants (!) will help the Dish divas draw for three winners of ARCs of Hank’s award-wining PRIME TIME!

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Award-winning investigative reporter Hank Phillippi Ryan is currently on the air at Boston's NBC affiliate, where she's broken big stories for the past 22 years. Her stories have resulted in new laws, people sent to prison, homes removed from foreclosure, and millions of dollars in refunds and restitution for consumers.

Along with her 26 EMMYs, Hank's won also won dozens of other journalism honors. She's been a legislative aide in the United States Senate (working on the Freedom of Information Act) and at Rolling Stone Magazine (working with Hunter S. Thompson).

Her first romantic-suspense mysteries, PRIME TIME (which won the prestigious Agatha Award for Best First Novel, was a double RITA nominee for Best First Book and Best Romantic Suspense Novel, and a Reviewers' Choice Award Winner) and FACE TIME (Book Sense Notable Book), are current best sellers. The newest in the series is the already-bestselling AIR TIME (MIRA Sept. 2009) (Suzanne Brockmann says: "I love this series!") Watch for DRIVE TIME from MIRA in February 2010.

Her website is http://www.hankphillippiryan.com/