New Releases winners!

The TWO winners of a random book from my prize stash are:

 

Deb

 

and

 

Tina B

 

Congratulations, Deb and Tina! Ladies, please send your full name and addresses to theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com with "Andrea's winner" as the subject and I'll get your book in the mail. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and made my birthday memorable!

Jodi Thomas winner!

The random winner of a copy of Can't Stop Believing by Jodi Thomas is:

 

Marcy Shuler

 

Congratulations, Marcy! Please send your full name and U.S. address to theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com with "Jodi winner" as the subject and we'll get your book in the mail. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

New Releases for June

It’s a new month which means it’s time for the list of New Releases! But, today is also my birthday! Yay! Now, I have gotten a lot of great gifts in the past including jewelry, gift cards, and clothes. But I would say that last year’s gift was one of the best. I got a bunch of pictures that were taken by the professional cruise staff while we were on our cruise. To me, it was special and something that I will never forget. What are some of the most memorable birthday presents that you’ve received and that you’ve given to someone else? 

Right now, I’m reading It Had to Be You by Jill Shalvis and once again, it’s a winner from the gifted Ms. Shalvis! I’m looking forward to Eloisa James’s latest masterpiece, Once Upon a Tower, Any Duchess Will Do by Tessa Dare, and One Sweet Ride by Jaci Burton! 

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

  

Until July, happy reading!

 

 

Historical 

The Boleyn King – Laura Anderson (Historical Fiction)

Sweet Revenge – Zoë Archer

An Outlaw in Wonderland – Lori Austin

Reforming the Viscount – Annie Burrows

Surrender to the Earl – Gayle Callen

Benedict Hall – Cate Campbell (Historical Fiction)

The Secret Life of Lady Julia – Lecia Cornwall

Diamonds in the Rough – Portia Da Costa

Any Duchess Will Do – Tessa Dare

Stroke of Midnight – Olivia Drake

What a Wicked Earl Wants – Vicky Dreiling

The Magic of “I Do” – Tammy Falkner

Lady Mercy Danforthe Flirts with Scandal – Jayne Fresina

A Reputation for Notoriety – Diane Gaston

How to Tame Your Duke – Juliana Gray

A Little Night Mischief – Emily Greenwood

How to Pursue a Princess – Karen Hawkins

Once Upon a Tower – Eloisa James

What the Duke Desires – Sabrina Jeffries

Lover Be Mine – Nicole Jordan

The Firebird – Susanna Kearsley (Historical Fiction)

The Sword Dancer – Jeannie Lin

One Heart to Win – Johanna Lindsey

A Rogue for All Seasons – Sara Lindsey (e-book)

Marci’s Desire – Sara Luck

Highlander Taken – Juliette Miller

The Honor-Bound Gambler – Lisa Plumley

Reckless Viscount – Amy Sandas (e-book)

Seducing the Highlander – Michele Sinclair

A Hundred Summers – Beatriz Williams (Historical Fiction)

I’ll Be Seeing You – Suzanne Hayes & Loretta Nyhan (Historical Fiction)

One Night with a Rake – Connie Mason & Mia Marlowe

 

Contemporary 

One Day in Apple Grove – C.H. Admirand

The Sassy Belles – Beth Albright

Haven Creek – Rochelle Alers

Beneath the Badge – Donna Alward (e-book)

Ladies’ Night – Mary Kay Andrews (Women’s Fiction)

Skinny Bitch in Love – Kim Barnouin

The Way Back to Happiness – Elizabeth Bass (Women’s Fiction)

Billion Dollar Cowboy – Carolyn Brown

Never Keeping Secrets – Niobia Bryant (Women’s Fiction)

Unforgiven – Anne Calhoun

Sweet Salt Air – Barbara Delinsky (Women’s Fiction)

The Sweet Spot – Laura Drake

Worth the Risk – Karen Erickson

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler (Women’s Fiction)

Oh Dear Silvia – Dawn French (Women’s Fiction)

Home Fires – Lois Greiman (Women’s Fiction)

Summer at Mustang Ridge – Jesse Hayworth

A Brother’s Honor – Brenda Jackson

The Last Camellia – Sarah Jio (Women’s Fiction)

Carolina Girl – Virginia Kantra

You’re the One – Robin Kaye

Wedding Night –Sophie Kinsella (Women’s Fiction)

Flirting with Disaster – Ruthie Knox (e-book)

The Widow Waltz – Sally Koslow (Women’s Fiction)

Just One Kiss – Susan Mallery

The Guest House – Erika Marks (Women’s Fiction)

Big Sky Summer – Linda Lael Miller

Lost Daughters – Mary Monroe (Women’s Fiction)

Never Say Never – Victoria Christopher Murray (Women’s Fiction)

Just for Fun – Erin Nicholas

Beyond the Storm – Joseph Pittman (Women’s Fiction)

After the Dawn – Francis Ray

It Had to Be You – Jill Shalvis

Island Girls – Nancy Thayer (Women’s Fiction)

Can’t Stop Believing – Jodi Thomas

The Keeper of Secrets – Julie Thomas (Women’s Fiction)

The Time Between – Karen White (Women’s Fiction)

Love at First Sight – Lori Wilde

The Why of Things – Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop (Women’s Fiction)

Sea Glass Island – Sherryl Woods

 

YA/Teen 

Goddess – Josephine Angelini (Paranormal)

Siege and Storm – Leigh Bardugo (Fantasy)

Born of Illusion – Teri Brown (Historical, Paranormal)

Faking It – Cora Carmack

Get Over It – Nikki Carter

This Strange and Familiar Place – Rachel Carter (Paranormal)

The Moon and More – Sarah Dessen

Tidal – Amanda Hocking (Paranormal)

Elegy – Tara Hudson (Paranormal)

Spirit – Brigid Kemmerer (Paranormal)

September Girls – Bennett Madison (Paranormal)

Dare You To – Katie McGarry

Another Little Piece – Kate Karyus Quinn (Paranormal)

Rush – Eve Silver (Sci-Fi)

Spies and Prejudice – Talia Vance

Defy the Dark – Multi-author anthology

 

Romantic Suspense 

Fatal Exposure – Gail Barrett

Confessing to the Cowboy – Carla Cassidy

The Best Man to Trust – Kerry Connor

Tempted into Danger – Melissa Cutler

Triumph – Janet Dailey

One Night Standoff – Delores Fossen

Murder in the Smokies – Paula Graves

Rocky Mountain Lawman – Rachel Lee

Assumed Identity – Julie Miller

Undercover Texas – Robin Perini

Freefall – Jill Sorenson

Trumped Up Charges – Joanna Wayne

Something Wicked – Lisa Jackson & Nancy Bush

 

Paranormal 

Tiger Magic – Jenifer Ashley

Wicked Memories – Nina Bangs

Rolling in the Deep – Cathryn Cade

Darkness Bred – Stella Cameron

His Clockwork Canary – Beth Ciotta

Sleeping with the Entity – Cat Devon

Avenging Angel – Cynthia Eden

Leopard’s Prey – Christine Feehan

Forever – Jacquelyn Frank

The Night Is Watching – Heather Graham

Midnight’s Kiss – Donna Grant

A Witch’s Handbook of Kisses and Curses – Molly Harper

Darkness Avenged – Alexandra Ivy

Smoking Hot – Karen Kelley

A Captain and a Corset – Mary Wine

 

Urban Fantasy 

Shapeshifted – Cassie Alexander

Fiery Edge of Steel – Jill Archer

Darkness Unmasked – Keri Arthur

Binding the Shadows – Jenn Bennett

Casino Infernale – Simon R. Green

The Shambling Guide to New York City – Mur Lafferty

Gameboard of the Gods – Richelle Mead

Tempest Reborn – Nicole Peeler

Shadow People – James Swain

 

Erotica/Erotic Romance 

One Sweet Ride – Jaci Burton

Take Me Under – Rhyannon Byrd

Soul Stripper – Katana Collins

Laid Bare – Lauren Dane

Being Me – Lisa Renee Jones

Beautiful Stranger – Christina Lauren

Taken by Storm – Kelli Maine

The Submissive – Tara Sue Me

An Introduction to Pleasure – Jess Michaels (Historical)

Games People Play – Shelby Reed

Today's Special - - Virginia Kantra

It's always a great day when Virginia Kantra comes to visit.   Not only does she write some of my favorite contemporary romance characters but she's also a genuinely lovely person whose smile lights up any room.  Her current Dare Island series, set on an island off the North Carolina coast, evokes a sense of warmth, emotional complexity and strong family unity that has me enjoying each visit while already anticipating the next.  The pages of a Virginia Kantra book always offer a happy place for me to linger. Please welcome Virginia as she blogs about finding your happy place.  

Finding Your Happy Place – Virginia Kantra

Last week when I changed my profile pic on Facebook, the talented Judith Arnold http://www.juditharnold.com/ commented, "You look relaxed and happy – not like a writer at all."

I laughed, but there is this notion that writers are depressed or angry alcoholics drifting around the house in their bathrobes. (In contrast to the stereotype of romance writers as pink silk-clad matrons with a lap dog, rather than a lap top, a boa, and—these days--a pair of handcuffs.)  In truth, of course, writers have to deal with the same stresses that all women face--messy houses and messy lives, broken nails and broken promises, worries about our parents, our children, and our world.

That's why we love romance. In our stories, the heroine always triumphs.  Good wins. Love conquers all.

But it can be hard to write about hope and faith and courage and happy endings when your own life is not following the storyline you set out for it. Friend and mentor Suzanne Brockmann http://www.suzannebrockmann.com/ and I were talking about this a couple of years ago when I intoned, "We must find the Happy Place."

See that beach behind me in the photo? That's my happy place. I’ve been in love with the North Carolina coast

since my husband took me there on vacation years and years ago. His dad was stationed at Camp Lejeune, like Meg's dad in Carolina Girl. We went there with our kids, and we still sneak away every chance we get.

That's the setting for the Dare Island stories, and one of the joys of writing this series is the feeling of coming home. My first stories (the MacNeill brothers' books, now available for Kindle and Nook) were family-centered romance also set in North Carolina. These are stories about the ways we help each other through tough times, neighbor to neighbor, families pulling together.

Writing about the Fletchers of Dare Island evokes that same sense of joy and escape, warmth and memories for me.

Because the real search for the "happy place" is about more than setting. It's our longing for a place to belong. For roots. For family. And for love.

Excerpt:

Raleigh-Durham Airport the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was crowded with comings and goings, the usual business travelers almost lost in a sea of students with backpacks and ear buds, soldiers with duffles, young families with strollers. Mothers kissing daughters, fathers hugging sons, old friends and young lovers going into each other’s arms, reconnecting with relief and joy.

All going somewhere, Meg thought. Not in control of every step of the journey, but hopeful about their destinations.

Like her.

She wheeled her bag into the terminal, determined to hit Starbucks before she hit the road.

01

And there he was, in almost the same place. Part of the landscape of her heart, her signpost home.

Sam.

--from Carolina Girl

What's your happy place?

I love to hear from readers! Stay in touch through my website www.virginiakantra.com

on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VirginiaKantraBooks or join my mailing list.

Today's Special -- Jodi Thomas

Today, we welcome back the always delightful Jodi Thomas! Jodi is the NY Times and USA Today bestselling author of 37 novels and 11 short story collections. She is a fifth generation Texan who chooses to set the majority of her books in her home state. And who doesn't love the great state of Texas as a setting?! Her latest, CAN'T STOP BELIEVING, is on shelves now and was reviewed here by the lovely Janga. Take it away, Jodi!

From the day I started writing CAN’T STOP BELIEVING, I felt like I was surrounded by people I could love.  These characters walked off the pages and said hello.  I had to laugh when Martha Q, a widow seven times married, forms a writing group and then decides to help folks out whether they want it or not.  I cried when Ronny first sees a love she thought she’d lost.  And I fell in love with Cord and Nevada as they fought their way through all the baggage they both carried to find something worth keeping.

 

People often ask me where my characters come from.  In truth, I don’t feel like I make them up.  I feel more like they sit down across the desk and talk to me as I write.  They tell me the story and some nights I stay up longer to get it all down.

 

Cord McMillan stopped my heart when I first saw him.  He was a man trying to stand tall even after life had done its best to knock him down.  He doesn’t think he has a friend in the world and every time someone shows him a kindness, he pays it back double.  He can’t believe it when his rich, spoiled neighbor offers a bargain he can’t turn down.  He offers her the one thing she can’t buy, honesty.

 

CAN’T STOP BELIEVING will warm your heart.  The people of Harmony will stay with you long after you finish reading.  Come along with me into a story that will make you laugh and cry and fall in love for the first time, for the last time, forever.

 

Enjoy the book,

Jodi Thomas

 

www.jodithomas.com

www.facebook.com/JodiThomasAuthor

    www.twitter.com/jodithomas


Andrea here! Jodi mentioned that you will laugh and cry while reading Can't Stop Believing. Dear readers, what was the last book you read that made you both laugh and cry? Tell us and one lucky commenter will win a copy of Can't Stop Believing! (U.S. addresses only, please.)

 

Guest Review - - You're the One

You’re the One

By Robin Kaye

Publisher: Signet Eclipse/NAL

Release Date: June 4, 2013

 

Logan Blaise’s life is just where he wants it to be. He has achieved professional success as a San Francisco vintner, and he’s engaged to Peyton Billingsly, daughter of the owner of Billingsly Vineyards. Papa Billingsly is grooming Logan as his successor. Logan met Peyton when they were both students at Stanford, and neither she nor her family knows anything of his background as one of the Bad Boys of Red Hook. Logan has returned to Red Hook to keep an eye on his foster father, who is recovering from heart surgery, and the family bar, the Crow’s Nest. His brother Storm came halfway round the world when Logan called to tell him Pop needed his help. The least Logan can do is fill in while Storm and his bride Bree are on their honeymoon. Logan is already stressed out over policing the diet and alcohol intake of his stubborn pop and even more stressed about the possibility that Pete’s ten-year-old foster daughter may be Logan’s child. When the chef at the Crow’s Nest leaves suddenly to care for an ill parent, Logan moves from stressed to desperate.

Counting on family tradition established with her four older brothers, Skye Maxwell had expected to be given her own restaurant where she could reign supreme as chef for her thirtieth birthday. Instead, she is named Business Manager of her family’s group of restaurants and told that as a woman, she is unsuited to be a chef. Determined to prove her father and brothers wrong, Skye resigns and leaves San Francisco.  She wants to make it on her own without depending on her family’s wealth or connections. The Help Wanted sign in the window of the Crow’s Nest seems like the answer she’s seeking, especially since Logan’s need to find quickly a replacement chef is too great for him to ask too many awkward questions.

Soon Skye is in command of the kitchen at the Crow’s Nest and of Logan’s heart. Bad boy Logan with his devotion to Pete and his Red Hook roots is very different from the shallow, polished man she thought was Logan Blaise. As for Logan, the man who thought he could not fall in love discovers how wrong he is, but getting rid of his fiancée proves more complicated than he expects. Just at the moment he thinks everything is perfect, Skye disappears. Both Logan and Skye have to be willing to accept their vulnerabilities and trust one another before they can begin an HEA to equal Storm and Bree’s.

Logan’s story is the second in Kaye’s Bad Boys of Red Hook series, following last year’s Back to You. Most of the characters in the first book have a role in the second one, and the dynamics of family and friends keep the story interesting. Logan’s story begins at the wedding of Storm and Bree. Pete is as grumpy and as endearing as ever, Nikki is as funny and needy, and Rocki and Patrice are quick to add Skye to their circle of girlfriends. The chemistry between Logan and Skye is explosive, but the combustibility overpowers the development of their emotional connection. And the misunderstanding that sends Skye back to New York is convenient and predictable.

Readers who enjoyed Back to You will want to read You’re the One to follow the interlinked stories of the sons Pete saved and made his own, but the second book is not as strong as the first one. Nevertheless, a series with an urban setting that still has a rich sense of community is a welcome addition to the contemporary romance scene. The third book in the series, Always and Forever, is scheduled for release in early February 2014. I’ll definitely be among those headed to Red Hook, the Crow’s Nest, and another bad boy’s story then.

~Janga
http://justjanga.blogspot.com

Review -- Seduced at Sunset

Seduced at Sunset

Pembroke Palace—Book 5

By Julianne MacLean

Publisher: Julianne MacLean

Release Date: March 31, 2013

 

Seduced at Sunset is the conclusion to Julianne MacLean’s beloved Pembroke Palace series. Fans of the series (myself included) have been waiting to see how things would turn out for Lady Charlotte, the youngest Sinclair sibling and only girl. I’m happy to say it was definitely worth the wait. J 

Years ago, Lady Charlotte Sinclair experienced the ultimate tragedy—she lost the love of her life in a terrible accident just weeks before their wedding, and a month later lost their unborn child. She has since given up on experiencing love again, though she hasn’t let that stop her from becoming immensely successful as a writer under the nom de plume Victor Edwards. But just because Charlotte doesn’t believe she will find love again does not mean her mother can’t. After they arrive in London, Charlotte sets out to help reunite her mother with her first love. While doing so, she is accosted by a thief then rescued by a handsome stranger. Charlotte gets to know the man, Drake Torrington, a bit and is instantly attracted to him. She is so attracted that she is emboldened to say:

 

“I would like to see you again, Mr. Torrington. In private.” 

His silvery blue gaze dipped lower, to her mouth, them slowly, knowingly lifted back up to her eyes. “For what purpose, Lady Charlotte?” 

He was a man of few words, but there was something about him that required very few of them. Something sultry and seductive. Physically powerful. 

“You mentioned you were unmarried,” she boldly said. “I, too, am unattached. You are here for the Season. So am I. Perhaps we could...become better acquainted.” 

The corner of his mouth curled up in a small grin that made her knees go all buttery soft. “Do you wish to thank me again?” he asked. 

“Yes, I do.”

 

Drake Torrington is used to using his fists, though typically he uses them in a boxing ring. After saving the beautiful lady, he is slightly stunned by her intrepid request but doesn’t hesitate to accept. Drake has lived in America for the past twelve years and is only in London for a brief time while he settles things with his mother. He sees no harm in indulging in a short-term affair with Lady Charlotte. As the affair progresses, Drake and Charlotte discover that their lives are similar in many ways and wonder if they should take a second chance at love. 

Seduced at Sunset is a fast-paced, romantic story and a wonderful end to this series. Charlotte and Drake are two emotionally-wounded characters that you can’t help but root for. I enjoyed watching Charlotte bloom under Drake’s attention and I fell for him right along with her. I loved the following two passages for two reasons—first, they show how beautiful Julianne MacLean’s writing is, and second, they convey exactly how Charlotte and Drake feel about each other. For Charlotte:

 

Oh, how she needed this—this human, physical connection. She had been living such a solitary existence, surrounded only by her books and her family, when what she really needed was a man—a rugged, virile, experienced lover who truly knew how to make love to a woman.

 

And for Drake:

 

Why should she be so different from other women he had taken to bed? 

Perhaps because he had revealed so much of himself in a very short time. It was odd, how she understood everything—his boxing, his grief over losing his wife, his need for privacy from the public. In a way it felt as if she were his mirror image in female form.

 

Even though this book is part of a series, it stands completely on its own. It is divided into two parts. Part one is short and depicts the whirlwind romance of Adelaide, Charlotte’s mother, and her first love, and part two is Charlotte’s and Drake’s love story. I also enjoyed catching up with the previous couples in the series. If you are a fan of the Pembroke Palace series or a first-time reader of Ms. MacLean's books, I recommend this historical romance! 

 

~Andrea

Lecia Cornwall Winner

The winner of a signed copy of The Secret Life of Lady Julia by

Lecia Cornwall

is

Kim

Congratulations, Kim!  Please send your name and mailing address to us at:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

Reminder:  this giveaway is open only to U.S. mailing addresses.