New Releases winner

 

 

The winner of a random book from my prize stash is:

 

Connie

 

Congratulations, Connie! Please send your full name and address to theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com with "Andrea's winner" as the subject and I'll brave the post office to get your book in the mail. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

Make Your Reservations!

I know it's hard to believe, but it's time again to mark your calendars and Make Your Reservations for January! Here are a few of the releases we are looking forward to in the first month of 2013. Are any of these upcoming books on your list? If so, which ones? If not, which books are on your list?

The Lady Most Willing...
By Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway

At the behest of three of the most talented historical romance authors writing today, you are cordially invited to a ball. No, a party. No...a kidnapping.

Taran Ferguson, laird of his clan, is determined that his ancient (if not so honorable) birthright be secured before he dies. When both his nephews refuse to wed, the old reprobate takes matters into his own hands: he raids a ball and makes off with four likely brides...

Miss Marilla Chisholm—the bonniest lass in Scotland, and an heiress to boot.

Miss Fiona Chisholm—her older sister, another fine choice (but for that tiny stain on her reputation).

Lady Cecily Tarleton—true, she's an English beauty, but very, very rich.

Miss Catriona Burns—without name or fortune, clearly someone made a mistake.

Oh, yes. And one very irate duke.

Because somewhere there must be one lady most willing to love a Scottish lord.

(Avon)


*******

Timber Creek
By Veronica Wolff

For Laura Bailey, weathering her teen years at her quaint family lodge in a boondock town at the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas wasn’t easy. Fleeing for San Francisco the minute she graduated high school seemed like a good idea—until she lost her job and her fiancé. The blow to her pride sent her back to Sierra Falls to figure out her life. But her hometown is undergoing a bit of renovation.

A new Sierra Falls resort is posing a threat to the Bailey family business. Even worse, the construction company developing the property is run by Eddie Jessup, Laura’s cocky high school nemesis who delighted in locking horns with the little spitfire. Some things never change. But their battle isn’t the only thing heating up between Laura and Eddie, and before long they realize that getting to know each other all over again has its rewards. But fate isn’t through with them. Nor are the games men and women play in the name of love.

(Berkley)


*******

The Seduction of Elliot McBride
By Jennifer Ashley

Juliana St. John was raised to be very proper. After a long engagement, her wedding day dawns—only for Juliana to find herself jilted at the altar.

Fleeing the mocking crowd, she stumbles upon Elliot McBride, the tall, passionate Scot who was her first love. His teasing manner gives her an idea, and she asks Elliot to save her from an uncertain future—by marrying her…

After escaping brutal imprisonment, Elliot has returned to Scotland a vastly wealthy yet tormented man. Now Juliana has her hands full restoring his half-ruined manor in the Scottish Highlands and trying to repair the broken heart of the man some call irredeemably mad. Though beautiful and spirited, Juliana wonders if that will be enough to win a second chance at love.

(Berkley)


*******

A Soul So Wicked
By Sharie Kohler

In the dark world of the Moon Chasers, love and evil are separated by only a heartbeat as an undying lycan searches for the demon witch who cursed him.

For generations, the immortal Darius, doomed to roam the Earth as a lycan, has hunted the one responsible for his terrible fate. He is determined to exact revenge for the untold suffering Tresa has unleashed upon the world, but when the two finally come face-to-face, Darius discovers that she is not the purely evil creature he expected, but rather a tantalizing woman.

Determined to avoid causing further harm, Tresa has spent numberless centuries fleeing the demon who enslaved her. Tormented by the devastating mistakes of her past, she feels she has condemned herself to suffering. Certainly she does not deserve to find passion...Yet it may be that only by becoming lovers will Darius and Tresa find a power that burns brighter than the dark forces arrayed against them, a love pure enough to at last bring them both the redemption that they crave.

(Pocket)


*******

True Love at Silver Creek Ranch
By Emma Cane

Welcome to Valentine Valley, where tongues are wagging now that the town bad boy is back—and rumor has it the lean, mean ex-Marine is about to lose his heart! But like it or not, in a town like Valentine, love happens . . .

Adam Desantis is back—bruised, battle-weary and sexier than ever! Not that Brooke Thalberg is in the market. The beautiful cowgirl of Silver Creek Ranch needs a cowboy for hire, not a boyfriend—though the gaggle of grandmas at the Widows' Boardinghouse thinks otherwise. But from the moment she finds herself in Adam's arms, she's shocked to discover she may just want more.

Adam knows it's crazy to tangle with Brooke, especially with the memories that still haunt him, and the warm welcome her family has given him. But he finds himself in a fix, because tender-loving Brooke is so much more woman than he ever imagined. Can a soldier battling demons give her the love she clearly deserves?

Just about everybody in Valentine thinks so!

(Avon)


*******

Perfect Fit
By Carly Phillips

Always feeling like the odd man out in his family, Michael Marsden wanted to make it on his own. So he escaped Serendipity to become an undercover cop in Manhattan, where the Marsden name wasn’t known. But Michael’s independence is compromised when he returns home to replace his sick father as chief of police. Back in the shadow of his family, he’s as lost and restless as ever, until he’s challenged by someone he never anticipated.

Cara Hartley is the Serendipity cop with whom Mike had a one night stand three months earlier. Neither expected anything more but fate has other things in store. When Mike returns as Cara’s boss, the sexual tension between them is impossible to ignore--and the unexpected emotional connection continues to grow. But Cara’s a small town girl while Mike has a wanderer’s blood in his veins.

Both are convinced a future together is impossible. Until Mike’s real father’s secrets come back to haunt him and he realizes there are some things worth staying and fighting for. Including Cara. (Berkley)

Today's Special - - Jess Michaels

Jess Michaels is a woman with multiple personae.  She writes historical romance as Jenna Petersen, snarky urban fantasy as Jesse Petersen and, as Jess Michaels, is an award-winning author of erotic historical romance.   I first met this talented author -and really fun lady - as Jenna Petersen but today we're welcoming her as Jess Michaels, writing geek.  When Jess isn't busy writing, she can be found hiking the desert surrounding her Arizona home, spending time with family and designing jewelry (which she sells).  Find more information about her at her website.

Welcome, Jess!

Confessions of a Romance Writing Geek

Jess Michaels

Hi everyone and thanks so much to PJ and Andrea for having me here on Romance Dish. I think we’ve known each other since the dawn of time. Okay, so maybe more like 7-8 years. Sometimes that feels like the dawn of time to me.  But some of you lovely readers may not know me quite so well, so here is what you need to know about me: I write erotic historical romance as Jess Michaels set in the Regency period. I write dark, emotional erotic stories and it’s pretty darn fun. I have also written historical romance as Jenna Petersen and I write snarky urban fantasy as Jesse Petersen. I wear a lot of hats.

But the big thing I’m here to talk about today is I am also a self-proclaimed, loud and proud geek. It didn’t used to be cool to say that. As a kid, my geekish tendencies had me ignored on the playground, but now is a great time to be a geek. So how am I a geek? Well, my home is decorated with art from comic books, Star Wars and Venture Brothers for one. I am a huge fan of anime. I wear t-shirts with Star Wars on them and lines from Portal (a video game). Oh, and I play video games. A lot. And Munchkin.

So basically, your happy geek. But lately I’ve been thinking about the fact that my geekishness is what helps me write. As a kid, I was always entangled in pretending. My brother and I had friends (The Davlin Kids) who used to come to stay with their Dad in the summers. As soon as they got to town, they’d practically live at our house, playing Star Wars, writing our own movies and generally wreaking havoc on the order of my Mom and Dad’s house.

Pretending got me through a lot of days. Telling and acting out stories was a fun escape we all indulged in. Now I do it for a living. Though instead of acting out the stories I’m telling, I write them down on the page and eventually they become available for mass consumption. I don’t think I’d be doing that if I hadn’t played Princess Leia in a dozen new adventures in my back yard as a kid.

So what makes you geek out? Or did you ever do anything as a kid that led you to the path you’re on now?

Today's Special - - Joan Kayse

I am so excited to welcome Joan Kayse today.  Many of you know Joan as one of the famous (infamous?) Romance Bandits - and we know her as one of the nicest people around - but today we're welcoming her as a newly published debut author!  That's right.  We finally have the opportunity to read about those Roman heroes!  When Joan isn't busy creating sexy heroes, she's busy as an orthopaedic nurse.  Find out more about her at her website and connect with her at Facebook and the  Romance Bandits blog.

Please join me in giving Joan a very warm welcome!

Good morning Dishes!

Heartfelt thanks to PJ and Andrea for having me today.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

That, my friends has been my motto since the day I decided to get serious about all these stories flying around in my head. I’ve even considered having it tattooed somewhere on, er…my person.

My name is Joan and I write Roman historicals.

Kind of sounds like a 12 step program, doesn’t it? Well, it felt like it in 2001 when I began to explore the alternately astounding, energizing, frustrating, beat your head against the wall, raise your fist with fervor world of romance writing. That was the year I attended my first RWA conference in New Orleans. It was there that I met my first challenge in writing a non-Regency, non-Scottish historical. “I write Roman historicals” I stuttered, still not quite used to actually SAYING I was a writer. Oh, the looks of pity, the soothing “Oh, sweetie…really. Look at the market” responses. Would have withered some. Me? Just made me all the more determined to do just that.

Understand I was a baby writer then, having only been focusing on publication for a little over a year, after my mother passed away and I hit that “evaluate your life” phase of grieving. After all, she bestowed on me my creative mind and passion for the things I love. I grew up reading and loving romance, especially historical romance. Why not write one?

While I adore all types of history, Rome in all of its infamous, magnificent, decadent glory is my favorite period of all. I have no logical explanation for it. I mean the closest I got to studying it was taking two years of high school Latin. Substituting Latin words in the refrain of “Willie Go Round in Circles” was about all I took away from that. Oh, and a major crush on Mr. Powell the teacher J

But I KNEW from the first day I sat down to flesh out THE PATRICIAN  that I would be telling three heroes’ stories and they really, only could take place in Rome. Take a little bit of alpha, a touch of wounded (or in Bran’s case…a LOT of wounded) and a smidgen of an all consuming Empire that threatens their very existence. Throw in vibrant heroines that meet them toe to toe and voila….a series was born.

My fellow Banditas over at The Romance Bandits have created an elite contingent of gladiators. Demetrius, Lucien and Marcus are great guys (and mix a mean margarita) but there were more than gladiators and tribunes living and loving in 52 CE. Meet the first of my hot, Roman heroes:

Jared of Alexandria shuns both his Roman and Hebrew blood, a curse that’s kept him on the fringes of society, to become a powerful and successful merchant prince. When his trading empire is threatened by an unknown enemy who not only wants to see him ruined but dead as well, he uses every means to put an end to it. He turns to a beautiful barbarian seer, a slave with hair the color of firelight and eyes that shine like emeralds only to be betrayed into a fate worse than death—slavery.

But Jared’s not the only one who’s been dealt a blow by the Fates:

Bryna of Eire lives each day burdened by the yoke of Rome and her own guilt for leading her beloved brother and clansmen into Rome’s clutches. She curses the gift of sight which her master exploits, keeping her under lock and key, telling fortunes and fattening his purse. When an opportunity to be freed of her confinement comes, Bryna takes it, though her instincts warn that lying to the sensual, golden-eyed man that plagues her visions risks her very soul.

.Conflict much? And it starts from the very beginning. Here’s an excerpt from THE PATRICIAN:

Bryna’s head shot straight up with the creaking of the door. Her eyes burned from the sun streaming into the gloom of her cell. Against the blinding light, she could see only the silhouette of a very tall man. She forced herself not to rub her arms and betray the anxiety skimming along every inch of her body.

            The man stepped inside. Coeus started to follow, but was stopped by a muscular arm stretched across the entry.

            “I have paid my coin,” the man said. The rich timbre of his voice seemed familiar. “I would speak with the seer alone.”

            Coeus’ face turned several shades of red before tilting his head in acquiesces. “As you wish, master.” He backed out but not before shooting Bryna a hard look of warning. The door slammed closed.

            Accustomed to the dismal light, Bryna’s eyes adjusted quickly. The man stood with his back to the door, legs braced, his face draped in shadows. The long sleeves of his robe fell toward his elbows when he crossed his arms over the broad chest of a warrior. A furring of black hair jutted out from beneath the neckline of the tunic, eliciting a coil of warmth deep in her belly. She pulled her gaze away, trailed down his narrow waist and froze at the knife fastened to his belt.

            The light of a thousand stars flashed in her mind and she was running along a dark path, her hand grasping that of a small child. Distorted sounds echoed around her, weeping, screaming followed by a weight of grief so heavy her vision-self fell to her knees. Blinking through smoke at the grove of tall palm trees, she looked down, bile rising in her throat. The sightless eyes of the beaten, bloodied woman stared at her and a wave of guilt ripped through her gut.

Bryna gripped the edge of her seat as she settled back to the present, still feeling waves of energy pulsing from him, unsettling impressions of anger and vengeance and resolve. Beneath the maelstrom she glimpsed gentler traits, but those were quickly swept away, unable to stand up to the stronger emotions. She bit her lip at the familiar power that flowed from him. It bombarded her from every direction, overwhelming her senses with one certainty—he was dangerous.

            And she was going to lie to him.

The Roman world is filled with more than gladiators and centurions. It’s filled with people like Jared and Bryna, fighting an Empire and a society that would deny them that which they seek most. Love.

What interests you most about Ancient Rome?  Are you stubborn like me?  Have you ever been told "you can't?"  

Friday Harbor Winners

Random.org has done its job and the winners from yesterday's Christmas with Holly blog are:

Nicole Laverdure

Gisele

Laurie G

  Congratulations!  Please send your full name and mailing address to 

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com.

The Teen Menu

Welcome to the last Teen Menu of 2012. Another year has flown by, one filled with all kinds of YA-related news and the release of some great young adult books. I'm sure there will be even more in 2013.

YA News

One of the films hitting theaters next year will be Ender's Game in November. The first publicity shot was recently released. You can see the image of Asa Butterfield (Ender) being stared down by Harrison Ford (Colonel Graff) in this Entertainment Weekly article.

The Carrie Diaries will be premiering on the CW in January. Here's a sneak peek.

YA Reviews

I'm looking forward to the film adaptation of Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, due to hit theaters in February. So this month I decided to read the book because the movie trailer looked so interesting. Warm Bodies is a zombie novel, but it's like no zombie tale I've ever read or watched. The protagonist is R -- he can't remember his full name -- and he's one of the zombies who lives at an airport after some plague basically turned the world to crap. He makes his home in an abandoned airplane and even likes to play records on an old record player he scavenged.

Every so often, a group of zombies leaves the airport and shuffles its way into a nearby city to search for the decreasing number of people to nom on. Most of the survivors have relocated to a former football stadium where they have built a city inside its walls. But R and his fellow Dead come upon a group of people who are out scavenging for supplies. He does what zombies do...until he lays eyes on Julie Cabernet. Contrary to his nature, he decides he must keep her safe. Gradually, Julie sees that he isn't like what she's always thought zombies to be, and that he seems a bit more human every day. In fact, maybe none of the zombies are as they've always been perceived. Maybe it wasn't a virus or a plague that turned so many into the living dead. And just maybe R, and his relationship with Julie, can bring hope back to a world that lost it long ago.

Here's the trailer for the upcoming movie:





PJ, popping in to congratulate Trish on the release of her latest book, HILL COUNTRY HEARTS, a contemporary romance available in e-book format!  

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

Christmas with Holly

I love Christmas movies and what better than a movie based on a novel by one of my favorite romance writers!  Christmas with Holly, a Hallmark Hall of Fame original movie will be televised on ABC tonight at 9pm ET/8pm Central.  (Check your local listings for time and channel)  Based on the 2010 Lisa Kleypas novel, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor, the book tells the story of a man (Mark) struggling to raise his orphaned niece, a woman (Maggie) recovering from the loss of her husband and Holly, a little girl whose world has been torn apart by the death of her mother. These three are all due a little magic in their lives.   Who better than Lisa Kleypas and Hallmark to bring them that magic in what promises to be a charming, feel-good holiday movie.  


Find out more about Christmas with Holly here and more about the book on which it's based here.  And, if you like the movie, check out the next two books (Mark's brothers' stories) in Lisa Kleypas's Friday Harbor series:  Rainshadow Road and Dream Lake.  Read PJ's review of Rainshadow Road here.  


I know where I'll be tonight.  Will you be watching?  Are you, like me, hoping for Hallmark movies of the next two books in the Friday Harbor series?  Any thoughts on who you would cast in the roles?

What other romance novels would you like to see made into television movies?  

Because it's the season and I love giving away gifts, I have two copies of Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor and one copy of Rainshadow Road to give away today.  I'll randomly choose three winners from people leaving comments on today's blog!  

Disclaimer:  I am one of "Lisa's Divas" - a group of select fans who share info and content related to Lisa's novels and get sneak peeks and swag.  However, every review that I write, whether I purchase the book or receive an advance copy from the author or publisher, reflects my unbiased opinion.

~PJ

Reviews - - As You Wish and One Hit Wonder

As You Wish
By Elyssa Patrick
Digital:  Self-Published
September 3, 2012





Famous, and infamous, Rock Star bad boy Aubrey Riley has been on a downward spiral since the death of his beloved wife six years ago.  Burying his pain in drugs and alcohol,  he left his career to founder; his baby daughter to be raised by relatives.  Only the threat by his sister and her husband to take Aubrey's daughter away from him permanently penetrated the pain and sent him into rehab.  Now clean and sober, Aubrey is on his way to Vermont to spend the month of December with his family in a last ditch attempt to mend his  family relationships, especially with his daughter.  The last thing he expects to find stranded along a dark, deserted, snowy road is a cute, quirky woman who seems immune to his fame and, in fact, claims to not even like his music.  Oh yes, and who also seems to have an irrational fear of wolves - the four-legged ones.


Portia Jackson has enough on her plate this Christmas without getting involved with an arrogant, self-absorbed rock star who undoubtedly is just looking for a fling.  The small-town florist is trying desperately to save the family business she inherited but she's running out of time.  She has enough problems without adding Aubrey's to the mix but there's a chemistry between them that just won't be denied.  And, when they take the time to get to know one another, emotions come into play that leave them both wondering if there just might be more to this relationship than they first thought.

Can a small town girl find love and happiness with a world famous rock star?  Will Aubrey rediscover his love of music?  Will the lyrics that have been missing from his life return?  Will he lower his protective walls enough to let the love and affection of others inside?

Patrick's debut novel is fresh, engaging and, for the most part, well-written.  The story moves along at a good pace, the characters are vibrantly depicted and the relationship between Aubrey and Portia is realistic and believable.  Secondary characters are more than just window dressing, with some playing vital roles in the outcome of the story, especially the father of Aubrey's brother-in-law.

A couple issues kept me from scoring this book higher.  First, the hero can be a real jerk - and often is.  Yes, there is some redemption and Patrick does a good job of peeling back layers to give the reader insight into the background that shaped Aubrey's character, enough that I probably could have forgiven some of his behavior if it hadn't skated so close to the line between being a jerk and being cruel.  As it is, I was able to accept him as the hero and believe in his relationship with Portia but I couldn't embrace him as wholeheartedly as I would have liked to.  The other issue is the secondary romance in the book.  Without giving too much away, there is a shift in affection toward the end of the book with a resolution being quickly wrapped up with a nice tidy bow.  I didn't buy it.  The decisions and declarations made were not believable for me.  I felt the emotions were too new and fragile to be taken straight to the finish line.  Open-ended "possibilities" would have been much more believable.

Those issues aside, I did enjoy the book.  I like Patrick's voice and her fresh approach to contemporary romance.  I enjoyed the humor, emotion and sizzle of her story.  I especially enjoyed her pacing and the fact that she gave her characters time to grow their relationship from an emotional level before adding sex to the mix.  It made the sizzle that much more satisfying when it finally arrived.

While I had a few quibbles with this book, Patrick's potential is clearly evident.  I predict we'll be seeing more from this talented writer.

~PJ 

I had to pay a visit to my local DMV office this morning so I downloaded Elyssa Patrick's new novella, "One Hit Wonder" to keep me entertained while I waited for my number to be called.  Following is my review.


"One Hit Wonder"
By Elyssa Patrick
Digital - Self Published 
Release Date:  December 4, 2012

Jane Timmons has a great job working for a great guy and that's part of the problem.  She wants more from life than to be personal assistant to thirty-six year old Damon Suarez, the super sexy one-hit-wonder singer who reached his musical peak when he was sixteen.   Jane wants to run her own PR company and she wants to be far away from Damon, the man she has been in love with for the past two years.  True, it's been six months since there have been any women in Damon's life but it would break her heart to see him hook up with someone, even though she's not brave enough to put her heart on the line by telling him how she feels.  She has only one choice:  give her two weeks notice and hope she can stick to her resolve for the next fourteen days without letting Damon find out how she really feels.

Former teen idol, Damon Suarez knew the minute he met prim and proper Jane Timmons that she was the right woman to be his personal assistant.  Over the past two years he has come to rely on her to the degree that he can't imagine his life without her.  But now, he's having to do just that.  How can he possibly let her quit, especially when he's working so hard to finally make a comeback?  He has two weeks to change her mind, using every means at his disposal but what will happen when he slowly begins to realize that it's not the personal assistant that he needs but the woman herself?  Will the flamboyant singer and the buttoned-up assistant make beautiful music together or will they part ways, causing  the melody of their potential happiness together to go silent forever?

I loved this story!  Patrick has written a charming, humorous but emotional tale of friendship and love between two unlikely people.  Damon and Jane are both likable characters and such fun together. Patrick brings them to life so vividly that they practically dance right off the page.  Their banter is bright and engaging, their chemistry sizzles and their individual thoughts give the reader insight into each character's motivation and help move the story along.  I adored them, individually and as a couple; so much so that now that I've read their story once, I'm going to go back and read it again.  I'm not quite ready to say good-bye.

Looking for something that will make you smile, laugh and sigh without requiring a full day out of your busy holiday schedule?  If so, I highly recommend "One Hit Wonder" by Elyssa Patrick - only $0.99 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other e-retailers.

~PJ

New Releases for December

Once again, we are in the last month of another year. I can’t believe that 2012 is almost over. It seems like my kids just started school… Since it’s almost Christmas, I hope this list will help you decide what books to give someone, what books to ask for, and/or what books to purchase with those gift cards you might receive. As for me, I’ve yet to read any December books. I know, I know, but I’m woefully behind on my reading. Perhaps that is what I should wish for—more time to read! I am looking forward to reading The Importance of Being Wicked by Miranda Neville and Obsession Wears Opals by Renee Bernard. 

Which December releases have you read? Of those, which ones do you recommend? Which ones are you most looking forward to reading? Tell us and one lucky commenter will win a random book from my prize stash!

 

Until January, happy reading!

 

Historical 

Obsession Wears Opals – Renee Bernard

When the Duke Found Love – Isabella Bradford

Highland Surrender – Tracy Brogan

The Bridegroom Wore Plaid – Grace Burrowes

Ripe for Seduction – Isobel Carr

The Lady of Secrets – Susan Carroll

How to Deceive a Duke – Lecia Cornwall

Oklahoma Wedding Bells – Carol Finch

Born to Scandal – Diane Gaston

Surrender – Brenda Joyce

A Taste for Scandal – Erin Knightley

When you’re Desired – Tamara Lejeune

What an Earl Wants – Kasey Michaels

Some Like it Wicked – Carole Mortimer

The Importance of Being Wicked – Miranda Neville

The Scarred Heir – Denise Patrick

The Laird’s Choice – Amanda Scott

Waltz with a Stranger – Pamela Sherwood

Compromising the Marquess – Wendy Soliman (e-book)

A Private Duel with Agent Gunn – Jillian Stone

Warriors in Winter – Michelle Willingham

Badlands Bride – Adrianne Wood 

 

Contemporary 

Gold Fire – Starr Ambrose

Just a Cowboy and His Baby – Carolyn Brown

Invisible – Carla Buckley (Women’s Fiction)

Not Quite Dating – Catherine Bybee

Vanity Fare – Megan Caldwell (Women’s Fiction)

The Boy Next Door – Annabelle Costa

A SEAL at Heart – Anne Elizabeth

Body Heat – Susan Fox

Finding Home – Lois Greiman

Hers for the Holidays – Samantha Hunter

Trouble in Texas – Katie Lane

The Defender – Lindsay McKenna

The View from Here – Cindy Myers (Women’s Fiction)

Her First Noel – Rhonda Nelson

Forever Love – Celeste O. Norfleet

What He’s Been Missing – Grace Octavia (Women’s Fiction)

On a Snowy Christmas Night – Debbi Rawlins

The Escape Diaries – Juliet Rosetti (e-book)

Any Way You Want It – Maureen Smith

Nice & Naughty – Tawny Weber

Running Wild – Linda Howard & Linda Jones

Let it Snow… – Leslie Kelly & Jennifer LaBrecque

All I Want for Christmas… – Lori Wilde, Kathleen O’Reilly, Candace Havens 

 

YA/Teen 

Crazy Love – Amir Abrams

Opal – Jennifer L. Armentrout (Paranormal)

Elixir – Jennifer L. Armentrout (Novella, Paranormal)

The Darkest Minds – Alexandra Bracken (Futuristic)

The Believing Game – Eireann Corrigan

Indigo Awakening – Jordan Dane (Paranormal)

Touched – Corrine Jackson (Paranormal)

The Friday Society – Adrienne Kress (Steampunk)

The Farm – Emily McKay (Paranormal)

Foretold – Jana Oliver (Paranormal) 

 

Romantic Suspense 

O’Halloran’s Lady – Fiona Brand

Edge of Sanity – Shannon K. Butcher

Unforgiven – B.J. Daniels

Double Danger – Dee Davis

The Awakening – Jana DeLeon

Colton Showdown – Marie Ferrarella

No Escape – Meredith Fletcher

Christmas Rescue at Mustang Ridge – Delores Fossen

Cowboy Cop – Rita Herron

She Can Tell – Melinda Leigh

Against the Odds – Kat Martin

Slow Heat – Lorie O’Clare

Shiver – Karen Robards

Montana Refuge – Alice Sharp

Secrets of the Lynx – Aimee Thurlo

Christmas Confidential – Marilyn Pappano & Linda Conrad

Three Cowboys – Julie Miller, Dana Marton, Paula Graves

 

Paranormal 

Steel’s Edge – Ilona Andrews

The Accidental Genie – Dakota Cassidy

Guardians of Stone – Anita Clenney

Shadow’s Claim – Kresley Cole

Touch of Steel – Kate Cross

Heart of Atlantis – Alyssa Day

Sentinels: Kodiak Chained – Doranna Durgin

Angel in Chains – Cynthia Eden

Midnight’s Warrior – Donna Grant

Deliver Me from Temptation – Tes Hilaire

Kiss of Surrender – Sandra Hill

Kept – Shawntelle Madison

Forever in One Second – Finn Marlowe

Runner – Anitra Lynn McLeod

Hammer Down – Moira Rogers

Daughter of the Spellcaster – Maggie Shayne

Wild About You – Kerrelyn Sparks

King of the Damned – Juliana Stone

Black Moon – J.D. Tyler

Nightbred – Lynn Viehl

Drive Me Wild – Christine Warren

The Psychic and the Sleuth – Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon

Holiday with a Vampire 4 – Susan Krinard, Theresa Myers, Linda Thomas-Sundstrom 

 

Urban Fantasy 

Moonshifted – Cassie Alexander

Undead to the World – DD Barant

Cold Days – Jim Butcher

Blood of Dawn – Tami Dane

Trapped – Kevin Hearne

Alien vs. Alien – Gini Koch

King of the Dead – Joseph Nassise

Lust for Life – Jeri Smith-Ready 

 

Erotica/Erotic Romance 

Bonds of Trust – Lynda Aicher (e-book)

Rocky Mountain Angel – Vivian Arend (e-book)

Archangel of Mercy – Christina Ashcroft (Paranormal)

Bettie Page Presents: The Librarian – Logan Belle (e-book)

Forbidden Desires – Jodie Griffin (e-book)

Silken Rapture – Beth Kery (Paranormal)

Dark Dealings – Kim Knox (e-book, Paranormal)

Caden’s Vow – Sarah McCarty

Checking it Twice – Jodi Redford (e-book)

The Prince – Tiffany Reisz

Blood Vow – Karin Tabke (Paranormal)

Review -- The Perfect Hope

The Perfect Hope

Inn BoonsBoro—Book 3

By Nora Roberts

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: November 6, 2012

The Perfect Hope is the last book in the Inn BoonsBoro trilogy by Nora Roberts set in the beautiful town of Boonsboro, Maryland. This one features the oldest Montgomery brother, Ryder. He, along with his brothers and mother, have completely renovated and opened Inn BoonsBoro, a picturesque bed and breakfast located in the heart of the square. In the first book, The Next Always, Justine Montgomery hires Hope Beaumont practically on the spot for the innkeeper position. Ryder was opposed to how quickly it was done, especially since Hope was the first (and only) person his mother interviewed. But Ryder has since had to eat his words, so to speak, because Hope has done a terrific job running the inn. 

Hope is no stranger to the job—after all, she efficiently managed an upscale hotel in the middle of Washington D.C. for years. The only reason she isn’t still there is because her romance with the hotel owner’s son fell flat after she discovered he had cheated on her. Coming to Boonsboro and landing the innkeeper position was the perfect solution as she had friends there and she liked the small town atmosphere. Everyone seems glad that she was hired...everyone except for surly Ryder Montgomery. Hope is not sure how to read him—one minute he’s snapping at her and the next he’s looking at her like he’d like to jump her bones. She decides to take matters into her own hands and find out what his deal is when a blast from her past arrives on the scene.  

The Perfect Hope is a wonderful addition to the series and is my favorite of the three books. It has two things I love—an “enemies to lovers” type theme and a churlish, but loyal, bad boy hero. There’s just something about a hero with an attitude that is incredibly sexy to me. Justine Montgomery perfectly describes her son to Hope during one scene in the book: 

“He’s a good man, like I said. A Clever one. Smart, hardworking, and he tells the truth whether you like it or not. If he’s not going to tell the truth, he doesn’t say anything. He’s got a sweet side that doesn’t always show, and a surly one that too often does.” 

Ryder and Hope are total opposites who constantly spar with words yet can’t seem to completely deny their mutual attraction. They shared a New Year’s Eve kiss in the previous book which really sparked the sexual tension between them. Neither is looking for anything permanent, but as we know, that’s when love usually finds you. I enjoyed watching them give in and fall for each other. With a title like The Perfect Hope and a heroine with the same name, readers might infer that Hope is supposed to be “perfect”. I assure you she is not, though she is perfectly matched with Ryder. 

The previous couples and secondary characters are in this one, including the inn’s resident ghost, Lizzy. She figures more prominently in this one as Hope and the others are closing in on solving her mystery.

If you’re a fan of Nora or if you just love small town contemporary romance, The Perfect Hope is a book you are sure to enjoy!

 

~Andrea

Today's Special - - Nicki Salcedo

Smart, talented, hard working, warm, friendly, successful.  Those are just a few words that could be used to describe Nicki Salcedo.  She's one of those people for whom you want good things to happen and this year has been full of good things for Nicki.  She was a Golden Heart Finalist at last summer's Romance Writers of America conference and this fall she sold her debut book, All Beautiful Things to Bell Bridge books.  It will be released in 2013 and I can't wait to read it!    

We're delighted to have Nicki blogging with us today.  I hope you'll join me in giving her a very warm welcome to The Romance Dish!  

Public Enemy Number One - Five

I was very honored when PJ asked me to contribute to The Romance Dish. I immediately went out and wrote something on my writing journey. Then I wrote something else. I wrote two more different pieces. Then I wrote nothing.

Here is the problem with me. Here’s the problem with some writers. I am my own worst enemy.

5 Things Writers Shouldn’t Do, but Do Anyway

Nicki & Meg Cabot

I am afraid of failure. That whole you are afraid you will succeed thing is a load of crap. I dream of succeeding. I’m afraid of failing. Quite honestly, I sometimes avoid the steps to be successful because I’m tired and lazy and procrastinate. I’m distracted. I eat cookies. I am not afraid of success, but I now accept failure. That is very different from being afraid of it. I just made failure my b!tch.

I say “Yes” to everything. I volunteer for stuff when I should be writing. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for a good book festival. I am rather amused by a good beer festival. I love writing organizations and conference. I don’t mind being the room mom. But then I exchange 16 emails explaining to another mother the type of plain white shirt our kids need for the Christmas pageant, and I remember the virtue of “No.”

I stay in my writing comfort zone. My characters like drinking warm milk and looking pensively out the window. Even if they want to have sex. Or fight zombies. Or disagree on which episode of Star Trek The Next Generation is the best one (I, Borg).  Conflict is ugly. Controversy is dangerous. We must write things that make you feel uncomfortable. If you’re too embarrassed to show it to your mom or your pastor, maybe you’ve done something right.

2012 Golden Heart finalists Nicki Harris Salcedo, Jean Willett and Laurie Green

I have an unusually long commute to work. I write at night. Even though I get up at 7 o’clock in the morning, I usually don’t start writing until 10 o’clock at night. That means I get dressed, get four kids to school, go to work, skip lunch, do laundry, avoid cooking dinner, exchange precisely three words with my spouse, read some funny picture books to my kids, accidentally send two more work emails that turns into another hour of work, and then at 9:47 p.m. think, “I should write a few pages before bed.” Then it’s 1:15 a.m., and I don’t drink coffee. I finally go to sleep. In the morning, I have another 15 hour commute in front of me until my next writing time. Or I could wake up at 5 a.m. and boom: Commute zero, writing time two hours.

I’m self-conscious about my imagination. For goodness sake, my mother and my pastor are reading this. Maybe even my boss. What will happen if they find out that I write about S-E-X or Z-O-M-B-I-E-S?  The world should only know that I drink warm cups of milk. They shouldn’t know the crazy inner workings of my mind. Or those people, my mom and my pastor, have known that the inner workings of my mind have been a little off since birth. All that worry for nothing.

The good news is that when I’m doing things wrong, I know it. I know I can adjust my bad behavior. I am not a cyborg yet. Thank you to The Romance Dish for letting me exercise my demons on the page, curse, and reference Flavor Flav. Happy reading and happy writing! Next time, I’ll have 5 things writers do right!

Do you have a bad habit? Do you have tips for staying focused when life gets the best of you?

It turns out Flavor Flav is still Public Enemy Number One. Nicki Salcedo has resigned herself to being Public Enemy Number Two. After the hobby of self-sabotage, Nicki likes being a mom. Her kids are 8, 7, 5, and almost 2. Her husband is a time lord. She gives people books whenever she has the chance. Her debut novel “All Beautiful Things” will be published by Bell Bridge Books in 2013. You can find Nicki on facebook, twitter, It’s Only A Novel, and 8headedhydra.com.

She Was Their Saving Grace

Today, I'm reprising one of my favorite blogs.  While it's been more than three years since I wrote this for Romance Novel TV, and I've been introduced to many remarkable romance heroines since then, Lady Johanna still remains one of my favorites and her book, Saving Grace, continues to be my all-time favorite comfort read.

Hope you enjoy!

~PJ

She Was Their Saving Grace

I began reading romances more than 40 years ago but Julie Garwood’s wonderful medieval romance,Saving Grace is the first story I can remember reading that featured a heroine who was a victim of domestic abuse. Wed to an English baron at a young age, Lady Johanna entered her marriage filled with all the hopes and dreams of any young bride, hopes and dreams that were shattered by the words and fists of her handsome, evil-hearted husband and his equally evil priest.  Isolated from her family and friends, Johanna eventually became resigned to her fate.  As she explains later in the book;

“I was much, much younger then.  The beating didn’t start right after we were wed.  He set about destroying my confidence first.  I was naïve, and frightened, too, and when you are called ignorant and unworthy over and over again by someone who is supposed to love and protect you, well, in time a part of you will begin to believe some of the nonsense.”

Even though a part of Johanna withered during her three year marriage to a monster and she was understandably frightened of men, she never completely lost her inner core of strength.  Knowing that to fight back verbally or physically would mean severe beatings and possibly death at her husband’s hands she chose, instead, what the book’s hero describes as “acts of quiet defiance”, such as secretly learning to read and write after being told by her husband that women were not capable of learning such skills.   And, even though she’s sure she’ll go to Hell, she refuses to believe Bishop Hallwick’s hierarchy that says women are “last in God’s love, even below dull-witted oxen.”  There’s that quiet defiance again.

I asked Julie Garwood about her inspiration for the character of Johanna and she graciously responded;

“I remember at the time I wrote that book there was a great deal in the news about domestic abuse. I had done some work for a local abuse center and saw how frightened abuse victims could be.  They were my inspiration for Johanna.  Since I wanted to set the story in medieval times, I did some research in medieval history.  I already knew that medieval women were often treated as second class citizens, but I vaguely remembered reading or hearing about a medieval church hierarchy where women were placed beneath even the lowest of animals.  I set out to find it.  With the help of a reference librarian at the university I found what I was looking for.  Unfortunately, it was written in Latin.  I knew enough Latin to tell that it was the hierarchy but not enough to translate the entire passage, so I found a Latin teacher who did it for me.  You’ll find a variation of what was translated at the beginning of Saving Grace.”

After the death of her first husband, Johanna is finally freed from her hellish marriage and, understandably, has no desire to wed again but King John orders her to marry another of his favored barons, a man just as despicable as her dead husband.  That inner core of strength again rises to the surface with Johanna using cunning and intelligence to delay the wedding until she can find a way out of the union.  The solution, proposed by her brother, is to marry her to Laird Gabriel MacBain and send her to Scotland where she will be out of the reach of King John and his devious friends.  You can imagine her fear when, after having been a human punching bag for three long years, she first sees the huge warrior to whom she is to be married.

“Her mind raced from one worry to another…Dear God, could she survive purgatory again?  The possibility that she could be marrying another monster made her weep with self-pity.  She was immediately ashamed of herself.  Was she really such a coward after all?  Had Raulf been right to ridicule her?”

“No, no, she was a strong woman.  She could handle anything that came her way.  She would not give in to the fear or allow herself to have such low thoughts about herself.  She had value, damn it…didn’t she?”

This is where her long journey back to a confident, strong, trusting and loving woman begins.  As is often the case with someone who has been abused, there are steps forward and steps back and I was glad Garwood didn’t try to rush the process but I liked that Johanna had the resolve to try to take control of her life, even while dealing with her fear, beginning with her and Gabriel’s wedding ceremony, and continuing to move forward, sometimes one small step at a time, even in the face of inevitable set-backs.

“The ceremony was going along quite nicely until Father MacKechnie asked her to promise to love, honor, and obey her husband.  She considered his request a long minute.  Then she shook her head and turned to the groom.  She motioned for him to lean down and stretched up on tiptoe so that she could whisper in his ear.  “I will try to love you, m’lord, and I’ll certainly honor you because you’ll be my husband, but I don’t believe I’ll obey you much.  I’ve found that total submissiveness doesn’t agree with me.”

“She was wringing the petals off the stems of her flowers while she was explaining her position.  She couldn’t look him in the eye either but stared at his chin while she waited for his reaction.”

I also liked that she hadn’t lost her kindness or her belief that there might be good men in the world – that they weren’t all monsters like her dead husband.  She had learned through hard experience to be cautious but she hadn’t completely closed her heart to the possibility of love.  She hadn’t lost her ability to laugh either and, as she becomes more secure and more confident, her quirky sense of humor becomes more evident in her interactions with Gabriel and the members of his clan.  She’s small, blonde and beautiful, with a bruised spirit, leading her new husband to initially believe that she’s fragile and weak though he never doubts her intelligence or determination.  But, as her heart and spirit gradually heal, her confidence grows and when she’s tested we see that she is strong and courageous, with the heart of a lion.  It’s a pure pleasure to see her come into her own by the end of the book.  She not only wins the heart of her hero but also the hearts of his clan, as well as the heart of this reader.  Gabriel says it best toward the end of the book.

“She was telling Alex the truth.  It was a fact that maidens could rescue mighty, arrogant warriors.  Johanna had certainly rescued him from a bleak, cold existence.  She’d given him a family and a home.  She was his love, his joy, his companion.  She was his saving grace.”

Saving Grace is my go-to comfort read.  I’ve read the book so many times since its 1994 release that I am now on my third paperback copy and this one is starting to look a little ragged around the edges.  I hope that you will enjoy Saving Grace as much as I do each time I read it and that you will like Johanna and be as proud of her as I am.

If you have read Saving Grace, what did you think of Johanna?  Who is your favorite Julie Garwood heroine?  What makes her special?

Who is your favorite romance heroine?  Have you added any new heroines to the list this year?  Tell me about them!