Today's Special - - Authors Abroad with Terri Osburn - Part 2

Terri Osburn is back with part two of her recent adventures in Europe. Click here to read part one!

Now…on to the fun!

Kiddo (that’s my 18 year old daughter) and I spent four days in London between the Paris and Berlin events. Thanks to my stellar travel agent, we landed in the perfect location right across the street from the Royal Mews and just a quick jaunt a block and a half up to Buckingham Palace. 

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Gate

Buckingham Palace - Victoria

We walked The Mall, the Strand, across the Waterloo Bridge, and gawked at Piccadilly Circus.  

Piccadilly Circus

We rode the London Eye, marveled at Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall (Big Ben is under renovation so we only got to see his face,) plus scored perfect seats to Hamilton: An American Musical at the newly renovated Victoria Palace Theater. (We did not throw away our shot! < had to do that.)

London Eye

Westminster Abbey

St. James - London

Scottish Carriage - Diamond Jubilee

As if that all wasn’t enough, we took a day trip to Windsor. Y’all… I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this was. Nine days before the royal wedding and the place was practically empty. No lines, the weather was perfect, and I STOOD right where Harry and Meghan exchanged their vows. Needless to say, I watched the wedding from my couch and it was another surreal moment when everything looked familiar. I walked the hill Harry and William walked to enter the church. I went full tourist in St. George’s Hall, which is where the reception immediately following the ceremony was held. I took pictures of that beautiful statue of Queen Victoria, and still can’t believe I was there.

Windsor Castle

Queen Victoria

For a kid who grew up knowing her grandmother was born not far north of London, it felt like a homecoming. If I ever take the dive into becoming an ex-pat, that’s where I’ll land.

And back to Paris

Because Kiddo couldn’t make the first few days in Paris due to college finals (she flew straight to London) we went back so she could see the city and we could do the tourist thing for a few days. Since we did a full day tour to Versailles and Giverny, we really only had one day in the city before flying home. Which means we didn’t see hardly any of the multitude of must-visit attractions, and yet, those couple of days were a spectacular way to end the adventure.

Giverny Money Garden

Giverny Water Lilies

As one would expect, Versailles is breathtaking. I found it interesting to see both Versailles and Windsor within the same week, because though possibly the two most famous castles in Europe, they could not be more different. Windsor is older, but Versailles is more opulent. Windsor is still a functioning residence, Versailles is practically empty due to all the furnishings being sold to fund the revolution more than two hundred years ago.

Versailles viewed from the gardens

Versailles Gardens

Windsor has suits of armor, while Versailles has walls of marble. Windsor has an empty mote (fun fact: it was always empty) and Versailles has constant renovations that will never end (per our tour guide.) Windsor, for all its size and history is understated compared to the opulence of Versailles. I find the dichotomy quite interesting, and revealing about the monarchs who built and rule(d) from the two magnificent structures.

Versailles Hercules Room

Versailles Hall of Mirrors

But I can’t forget the beauty of Giverny. Sad to say, I was not aware of this town’s claim to fame until my travel agent suggested the excursion, and I’m so glad she did. Especially for the sake of my art major daughter. Giverny is the town made famous by Claude Monet, and I highly recommend visiting his home if you get the chance. The gardens are wild and colorful, but the Japanese water garden that inspired his Water Lilies paintings are like stepping right into the historic canvases brought to life. A bit less peaceful thanks to the volume of tourists (especially young children there on field trips – which is so much cooler than any field trip I ever had) but still worth the visit.

Giverny Monet Garden

Our last day in Paris was reserved for the Louvre. One of the first things you learn about this museum is that it’s HUGE. Originally a 12^th century fortress and later expanded into a palace, this artistic marvel is simply overwhelming. The maps are not user friendly, so at any given time we had no idea where we were, but even still we managed to find the Venus de Milo, Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory), and the Mona Lisa. What we stumbled upon without even knowing it was there is a mall. Yes, there is a mall in the basement of this historic landmark. Must fit the commercialism in there somewhere. (I bought an expensive purse – when in Paris…)

Mona Lisa

Venus de Milo

Winged Victory

Louvre ceiling

To put the perfect exclamation point on our trip, we arrived at the Eiffel Tower at precisely the moment she began to sparkle. A sight I won’t soon forget. Because the temps were cool and we arrived shortly before closing, we were lucky to find the place nearly deserted. Unfortunately, it’s also surrounded by corrugated metal, so not the prettiest picture from that close, but boy when you look up….

And so we wrap up 15 days in Paris, London, and Berlin. This was a trip of a lifetime for me, and I’m incredibly happy that I was able to take my daughter along. We spent a lot of time pinching ourselves, bonding over not understanding a single thing being said around us, and feeling unbelievably grateful for this opportunity. In the end, this was a trip made possible by the generous and loving readers who embrace and support this genre we call romance. So from both me and my daughter, thank you. I hope you all get to take a trip like this someday.


Thank you, Terri for sharing your wonderful adventure with us through both your photos and your words. 

Readers, if money were no object and you could take a grand adventure anywhere in the world, where would you go? What would you most want to see?

One person who posts a comment will receive a signed copy of Terri's most recent novel, Falling Star. (US only)

A country star looking for a comeback has one last shot at fame—and he might just have one last shot at love.

Naomi Mallard is a fixer by nature. And as PR manager for Nashville’s Shooting Stars record label, she’s facing her biggest fix: redeeming country music bad boy Chance Colburn. But in Naomi’s eyes, a police record and a stint in rehab are the least of Chance’s sins. He has spent his life running from demons and making tabloid headlines that have sent his career into a tailspin. Now he’s struggling to find his muse and maintain his newfound sobriety, all while counting on the woman he once betrayed to repair his tattered reputation.

Naomi is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but that’s not easy when an unexpected injury forces the former couple into disturbingly close proximity. Will mending their once-broken relationship be Naomi’s best save yet? Or will Chance’s past wreck any hope for a future together?

TLC Review Tour - - A Risk Worth Taking

A Risk Worth Taking
By Brynn Kelly
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: May 29, 2018
Reviewed by PJ

When computer expert Samira Desta's fiancé was murdered after turning whistleblower against his employer it threw Samira into the middle of a conspiracy with world-changing ramifications and put her in the crosshairs of a very powerful, and dangerous, man. She's been in hiding in a cottage in Tuscany for the past year, separated from family and friends, with paranoia increasing each month she's on her own until a postcard from her college roommate arrives with a coded message that hints at new evidence against the man who wants her dead. A narrow escape in Tuscany sends Samira straight for her friend in London, desperately hoping she finds her before the bad guys, but events take a turn for the worse upon arrival and help comes from the last person she expects to see.

French Foreign Legionnaire Jamie Armstrong spent an unforgettable night with Samira before she went into hiding a year ago. The connection between them was strong but it was clear she was still deeply grieving her fiancé and not yet ready to move forward. Not that Jamie was either. There's a good reason he holds people at a distance, discouraging all close relationships, even with his family. The last place he wants to be is back in England, or even worse, Scotland but when the call goes out that Samira is in trouble, he's the first to answer. The attraction between them is as strong as ever but Samira hasn't yet put her past relationship to rest and Jamie has secrets he's sure will bring any possibility of a future with Samira to a screeching halt. Not to mention, they're now in the fight of their lives against a high-profile villain with unlimited resources at hand. Will they find their way to each other? Will Samira be able to move forward and claim happiness a second time? Will Jamie put his demons to rest? And, most importantly, will they uncover the evidence they need to put a stop to the man who wants Samira dead before it's too late? 

Brynn Kelly has penned another intense, breath-stealing, romantic suspense thriller that kept me reading far into the night. Filled with intrigue and suspense, this is a story high on action with no shortage of "boom." Kelly excels at creating atmosphere and a sense of time and place. I didn't so much read this story as live it along with the characters. And speaking of characters, Kelly gives us a complex, multi-faceted hero and heroine with strength, vulnerability, and plenty of emotional baggage to sort through. I enjoyed them and their journey. The story flows well, with vividly drawn characters on both sides. It was fun to catch up with characters from the previous two books who play key roles in this one, working with Jamie and Samira to bring down the villain. And speaking of the villain, Kelly does an admirable job of keeping readers guessing what will happen until the very end when she throws in a twist that I didn't see coming at all. I love when that happens!

Jamie and Samira's story plays out completely in this book and so, from a romance perspective, the book stands well on its own. The villain, however, is introduced in book one with the suspense plot evolving over the course of all three books. Because of that, for a deeper appreciation and better understanding of all aspects of the story, I encourage readers to read the three books in order: Deception Island (read my review), Edge of Truth, and A Risk Worth Taking. Kelly's 2017 novella, Forbidden River (a 2018 RITA® finalist) is loosely connected to the Legionnaire's series but not part of the conspiracy that plays out in the trilogy. 

Review - - Dreams of Falling

Dreams of Falling

By Karen White

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: June 5, 2018

Reviewed by Janga

Larkin Lanier left Georgetown, South Carolina, nine years ago. Four years at Fordham University and another five as a copywriter at an ad agency has given Larkin a life of sorts in New York “where people seemed to care only about where you were going, not where you’d been.” She has returned to Georgetown only for an obligatory Christmas visit when she could not escape one, and she doesn’t even answer the phone calls of her father who disillusioned her so thoroughly that she cannot forgive him. However, when the woman she thinks of as her grandmother calls to say that Larkin’s mother has disappeared, Larkin knows that she cannot refuse to return to the place that still claims her, regardless of the miles and the years that separate her from home.

Ivy Madsen Lanier, Larkin’s mother, is found by her daughter in the wreck of Carrowmore, once the legendary home of her mother’s family, the Darlingtons. Carrowmore was destroyed by the fire in which Ivy’s mother, Margaret Darlington Madsen, perished and which two-year-old Ivy survived. As Larkin searches for the reason her mother was in the shell of a house and uncovers secrets that stretch half a century into the past, she also learns secrets of her mother’s life and finally comes to terms with the events from her own past that have left her hiding from life and from home.

Sessalee “Ceecee” Purnell, daughter of a Methodist pastor and his wife, Martha “Bitty” Williams, daughter of educators, and Margaret Darlington, only child of the wealthy Darlingtons have been best friends since first grade. In 1951, just after their high school graduation, they celebrate their new status as adults with a trip to Myrtle Beach where they meet brothers Boyd and Reggie Madsen. The lives of all five young people are forever changed. Margaret dies in a fire, and Ceecee, with assistance/interference from Bitty, rears Margaret’s daughter Ivy and loves her as her own and protects Margaret’s secrets.

The novel moves between the twenty-first century (2010) where twenty-seven-year-old Larkin cannot move beyond key experiences of her youth and Ivy drifts between life and death and the mid-twentieth century where Ceecee, Bitty, and Margaret learn hard lessons about life and friendship and loss.

Karen White gives her readers another evocative novel about women’s relationships as friends and as mothers and daughters. Secrets and the complicated bonds of family and friendship are recurring motifs in White’s novels. The skill with which White handles these themes and her lucid prose with its wonderful lyrical moments made my first response to this novel fangirl enthusiasm. She also has an enviable sense of place that gives her settings an appealing dimensionality. A second, more critical assessment forced me to acknowledge that the three narratives are uneven in power.

The 1950s storyline is the strongest. White’s characterization of the three friends—the introverted, ambivalent Ceecee, the artistic, unconventional Bitty, and the privileged Margaret—is vivid and engaging. It is even more remarkable because she makes Ceecee and Bitty real for her readers both as young women and as septuagenarians. Ivy is a much less substantial character colored by loss and regret to such a degree that she seems more ghost than character. Some may see this as fitting given her physical state, but I wanted to know more of her. I had mixed reactions to Larkin. I found her sympathetic as a character who never had the connection with her mother that she needed, and her relationships with Mabry and Bennett were also compelling. However, she seemed a very young twenty-seven to me and largely untouched by her college years. The high school trauma as defining moment, a popular trope in women’s fiction and romance, always leaves me alternately scoffing “Really?” and wondering if my own high school experience was lacking since shaping experiences came before or after that period.

Overall, I recommend this book to readers who have enjoyed other Karen White books, to fans of Southern fiction, and to readers who like women’s fiction that demonstrates with Faulknerian grace that the past is never really past. The characters will interest you, and the plot will keep you turning pages. Nevertheless, I don’t think this one reaches the five-star level of The Beach Trees, The Time Between, and some of the Tradd Street books.

Review - - The Kiss Quotient

The Kiss Quotient

by Helen Hoang

Publisher: Penguin Books/Jove

Release Date: June 5, 2018

Reviewed by Hellie

Stella Lane, a successful single econometrician who has Asperger’s, has been informed by her mother that she is ready for grandchildren. Stella--who would normally appreciate the head’s up to prepare for new situations she doesn’t like or at the very least is uncomfortable in--has a problem. She is horrible when it comes to men. Men don’t like to date her because she’s not feminine enough for them, she says the first thing that comes out of her mouth (and it’s never tactful), and she’s obsessed with work. Oh, and she hates sex. Everything about it. The invasion of personal space, the sweating, the French kissing that reminds her of pilot fish, the overwhelming colognes, and most of all, how she shuts down during the act and hopes they finish soon and leave.

And if she’s not good at sex, she’s hardly going to find that man to provide the grandchildren her mother wants, though she’s not all too sure she wants one of those either. They’re messy, sticky, touchy-feely little creatures. What she’d like is to work in peace 24/7, but apparently that’s socially unacceptable.

However, there’s a co-worker Stella thinks she would like, but he’s not interested in her. And his suggestion to her--completely unasked for, mind you--is to practice having more sex because once she “likes it”, then men will like her. (You’ll be relieved to know this douche-canoe is not who she practices with.)

Still, Stella loves to solve a problem; and she’s willing to solve her problem of hating sex--she just needs to hire a professional. She decides that if she hires someone to have sex with her and teach her the basics, she will feel more confident about attempting to date her co-worker (yes, the douche-canoe). She hires Michael Phan.

Michael has the looks of a K-drama star and some martial arts skills to match; however, it is the kindness in his eyes that prompts Stella to hire him. Michael arrives to meet his client for the evening--sans cologne per request--and is surprised to find Stella needs to hire an escort in the first place. She’s beautiful, smart, sweet, and insanely sexy. Why would she ever need to hire a man? Once back in the hotel room, Michael is even more confused by her need to hire someone.

“You smell this good?”

“Apparently. You’re the first to comment on it.”

“I want this smell all over me.” As the words left her mouth, she worried she’d said the wrong thing. That statement sounded a little too personal, a little too strange. Would he notice how strange she really was?

He bent down so his lips hovered a hairsbreadth away from her ear and whispered, “Are you sure you’re bad at sex?”

But the situation unravels from here; and soon Michael realizes Stella is definitely not his regular sort of client. She will need a much slower hand when it comes to bedroom things. For her he is willing to break his “one-time” rule to give her a month’s worth of lessons. It isn’t long before Stella appreciates Michael’s kisses, his touches and closeness; and he finds himself feeling all sorts of things for a woman who is only ever going to be a temporary arrangement.

I wanted to read this book because it ticked several things for me: it had a diverse Asian American character (I love Jeannie Lin’s historical set novels and wanted a more modern situation) who had Asperger’s (which I had read The Rosie Project and loved--so I was looking forward to how this element would weave in this story); it had the complicated family dynamics that I gravitate to (the grandmother that lives with his family, the high expectations of your career goals from the parents, the constant criticism that everyone you bring home is not good enough); and it had Pretty Woman with a gender flip.

However I nearly abandoned the book three times in the space of the first twenty pages: the mother demanding grandchildren (even under the pretense of telling her now so she has time to prepare) felt grossly insensitive to Stella’s situation. At first I felt like her mother was treating Stella as someone who couldn’t be normal if she didn’t have kids or a man--which was not cool, especially if Stella wasn’t sure she really wanted either of those things. And Stella’s hiring of an escort to practice something she “hated” felt like it was going to be a rapey like book. Fortunately Michael proved himself to be a hero worth waiting for because at no point was he ever going to do anything Stella didn’t want to do; and it wasn’t long in his company, with his patient touches and gentle kisses, that Stella was a lot more interested in doing things that previously and UNDERSTANDABLY were undesirable to her before.

Both Michael and Stella are heartbreaking characters. I couldn’t help but love both of them immediately and love them both throughout the book. Stella’s self-loathing for her personality ‘quirk’ (as I think of it) makes her want to overcome it--or at least hide it at all costs--and the transformation throughout the book as she comes to accept it and how Michael accepts it without ever making her feel less than is the kind of love we all long for. Michael’s reasons for escorting are honorable as well as a way to metaphorically flip the bird to his father who abandoned his family. He needs lots of money, fast and consistently, and technically speaking this takes few hours of his time as he spends the rest of his life hiding his sideline job.

By the end of the book I loved Stella’s mother, as well as all of Michael’s family members (well, except his father who stays a jerk). Much like Pretty Woman, it all works out in the end. They both grow and become better people because of each other. They’re the kind of couple you believe in happily ever after for. Also, this book is hell-la funny. I was reading this book in the tub at one point; and I nearly drowned myself laughing when Stella hands over proposed lesson plans to Michael. If you read this in the tub: you’ve been warned.

In further good news, I found that Helen Hoang has a follow up novel coming out in January 2019, with another of the characters in the book. However, it’s not the hero I was hoping she’d write a book for. I’m rooting that Quan gets a girl...so here’s hoping there will be a book 3 as well. In the meantime, I’ve pre-ordered the next book and will tell you all about it when it’s time.  

Today's Special - - Authors Abroad with Terri Osburn

I'm excited to welcome Terri Osburn to the Dish today. Terri writes contemporary romances filled with heart and sprinkled with humor. Her current series is set within the country music scene in Nashville, a city and industry this former Nashville DJ knows well. Terri recently had a wonderful adventure in Europe and will be joining us today, and again on June 12, to tell us all about it. If you aren't familiar with Terri and her books, visit her website for more information. You can also follow her at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. 

Hello, lovely Dishers!

Big thanks to PJ for inviting me to share my travel adventures with you all today. I was fortunate to spend the beginning of May in Europe—for both work and play—hitting three countries in just over two weeks. We’ll start with the work part.

First stop Paris

The first weekend was the Festival du Roman Feminin presented by a fabulous group of bloggers called Les Romantiques. The venue was a funky, industrial space in south Paris and the readers were absolutely wonderful. Despite four years of high school French, my communication skills were pretty much non-existent, but the organizers did a great job of providing a translator at every turn. And then there was Bridget. A Brit by birth who lives in Paris with her family, Bridget is a member of Les Romantiques and my good friend. But this was our first time to meet in person after several years of chatting online, and, not that everyone wasn’t wonderful, but I have to say Bridget was even sweeter and funnier than I imagined. So happy to have spent some in-person time together, and I hope we can do it again soon.

Back to the work stuff. Some of the other English-speaking authors at the event were Sabrina Jeffries, Susan Carlisle, Nancy Herkness, Amanda Bouchet, Scarlet Cole, Alison Roberts, Chris Keniston, Annie West, Lisa Marie Rice, Katherine Garbera, and Nalini Singh. Which leads to some of the highlights. There was getting to meet Annie West and Scarlet Cole for the first time, spending lots of time with Nancy Herkness, having lunch with Sabrina Jeffries and her sweet husband (I was the translator since I can speak Italian restaurant,) catching up with Amanda Bouchet, and being on a panel with Nalini Singh.

I’d never before been part of a panel where cameras started flashing from every direction, but when you get to sit two chairs down from Nalini Singh, that’s exactly what happens. (I got to hang with Nalini even more in Berlin and she’s quite possibly the coolest person I’ve ever met.) The event was a smashing success and I would go again in a heartbeat.

On to Germany…

I have to start out by admitting that I’d already been in Europe for more than a week when I arrived in Berlin, and I was starting to fade. That’s my excuse for the lack of pictures from the beautiful city. I did take some the day of the big signing, which was SO fun. Here in the US, they open the doors, the room floods with people, it gets really loud, and readers shop. Not so at the Love Letter Convention put on by Love Letter magazine, a German publication dedicated to romance novels. At this event, readers line up, get 3 tickets, enter in limited numbers, and get a book for each ticket. When the three tickets are gone, they can get back in line and do it all over again.

In two hours I signed ALL of my books, which I think was 75 copies. And there were lots of other signing opportunities, which meant the readers made me feel so incredibly special. One even brought me a large picture of myself to sign. By far the most surreal moment of my life. (My teenage daughter was stunned speechless.) Others stopped me in the hall between events. By the time the weekend was over, I was feeling very Julia Roberts-like. Not that I got tall and skinny and beautiful, but I was in demand. That never happens!!

As I mentioned, Nalini Singh also attended this one, along with repeats Susan Carlisle (I think her Oklahoma accent really confused the Germans) and Annie West. I also got to spend time with Ella Quinn and Sarina Bowen, two generous, talented, and funny ladies who kept me smiling throughout the weekend.

Again, the readers were wonderfully patient with my lack of communication skills, and reader Janina Adelt even sent me the picture that we took together. I could have hugged all of them. Germans may have an international rep for being cold (per the Jägermeister commercial) but they were warm and lovely and made my visit very special.

Janina and Terri

So that does it for the work part of the trip. I have to thank all of the organizers who worked so hard to pull these events off beautifully. If there were glitches, I never saw them. Readers went home with lots of goodies. Writers went home with lots of smiles (and hopefully new readers.) And I think it’s safe to say a good time was had by all. Hope you enjoyed the replay, and next time, I’ll share our touristy adventures in London and Paris. Wait until you see those pictures!

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us, Terri. Both events sound wonderful and I can't wait to find out what happens in part two! 

Readers, have you ever attended a reader/author event? 

These events are popping up all over the place. Where would you like to see one held?

One randomly chosen person who posts a comment will receive a signed copy of Terri's newest book, Falling Star. (US only)