Today's Special - - Vanessa Kelly

I'm happy to welcome Vanessa Kelly back to the Romance Dish today! Vanessa's newest addition to her Renegade Royals series, How to Marry a Royal Highlander was released on June 30th and it's terrific. Edie and Alec are so much fun! I loved reading their story and cheering them on the whole way. If you haven't started reading this series yet, I highly recommend you give it a try. 

For more information about Vanessa and her books, visit her website and connect with her online at Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. 

Please join me in giving Vanessa a warm welcome! 

Hi PJ! Thanks for hosting me today—I love being here with you and your readers!

If you’ve read any of my historical romances, you know I always have a bit of suspense in the mix. Some books have a fair amount of adventure and suspense (I’m looking at you, MASTERING THE MARQUESS and HOW TO PLAN A WEDDING FOR A ROYAL SPY), and others are pretty light on the nefarious villains and sticky situations. It all depends on how my characters react to the story—and each other—while I’m writing it.

My latest historical romance series, The Renegade Royals, features heroes who are the illegitimate

sons of England’s royal dukes and also happen to be spies for the Crown during the Napoleonic Wars. In HOW TO MARRY A ROYAL HIGHLANDER, the fourth and final book in the series, the war is over. Captain Alec Gilbride, Renegade Royal, military intelligence officer, and sexy Scot, is leaving the spy business to return to Blairgal Castle, his ancestral home in the Scottish Highlands.

Like the other books in the series, there’s a villain and there’s danger, both for Alec and for his heroine, Edie Whitney. But there’s something else—in addition to the romance and sexy times, that is. There’s a lot of humor, probably more than any of my other books.

And there’s one reason why: Edie and Alec are hilarious together. From their first meeting, they’ve been giving each other the gears. That doesn’t change even when they begin falling in love.

Here’s an example of what I mean. This except follows Edie and Alec’s first kiss, which is generally a moment fraught with emotion:

“Get off of me,” she hissed, trying to struggle her way out of his embrace. “Are you deliberately trying to destroy my reputation?”

Alec mentally sighed. He almost wished someone would catch them, since it would make things a damn sight easier for both of them, although she had yet to realize it. But now that a small portion of his blood was finally heading back to his brain, he realized what an idiot he was. If he had any hope of winning Edie over, this certainly wasn’t the way to go about it.

She was worse than a nest full of French spies when it came to playing havoc with his plans. It was time to get the situation—and her—under control.

“Do I have to kick you in the shins to make you let me go?” Her cheeks were pink and her eyes shot daggers at him. But her full mouth was rosy and damp from his kisses, and her breasts heaved against her trim bodice. She looked so damn tempting that it took every ounce of his discipline not to carry her off to the nearest empty bedroom and have his way with her.

That was the most enticing image to come into his brain in a very, very long time.

No, ever.

“Stop wriggling about like a worm on the end of a hook,” he growled.

“I cannot believe you just called me a worm,” she snapped, wriggling harder as she tried to escape.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake.” He wrapped his hands around her waist and picked her straight up off her feet. She squeaked out a startled protest, but he simply plopped her back on the padded window bench and braced himself in front of her to prevent her from bolting.

Her eyes flashed from behind her spectacles, promising all sorts of retribution, but her lenses had gone partly foggy.

“Can you even see?” he asked.

“Confound it.” She whipped off her spectacles and rubbed them on her sleeve before jamming them back on her nose.

Her gaze said quite clearly that she would like to rend him, limb from limb.

“You needn’t look at me like I’m some sort of ogre,” Alec said, “or like I’m going to ravish you right here in the hallway. I promise you, I’m not.”

She stared at him a moment longer, then looked down pointedly at the fall of his breeches. “Really? You could have fooled me,” she said.

And it goes on from there! Do you like humor mixed in with your romance? Who are some of your favorite funny romance writers? One person who comments will win a copy of the previous book in the series, HOW TO PLAN A WEDDING FOR A ROYAL SPY.

How to Marry a Royal Highlander (Renegade Royals 4)

Vanessa Kelly

Release date: June 30^th

Illegitimate yet thoroughly irresistible, the Renegade Royals are leaving behind their careers as daring spies for the greatest adventure of all…

At sixteen, Alasdair Gilbride, heir to a Scottish earldom, fled the Highlands and an arranged betrothal. Ten years later, Alasdair must travel home to face his responsibilities. It’s a task that would be much easier without the distracting presence of the most enticing woman he’s ever met…

After one escapade too many, Eden Whitney has been snubbed by the ton. The solution: rusticating in the Scottish wilderness, miles from all temptation. Except, of course, for brawny, charming Alasdair. The man is so exasperating she’d likely kill him before they reach the border—if someone else weren’t trying to do just that. Now Eden and Alasdair are plunging into a scandalous affair with his life and her reputation at stake—and their hearts already irreparably lost…

                                                                                                                     

Lost in a Royal Kiss (Renegade Royals #0.5)

Secrets for Seducing a Royal Bodyguard (RR #1)

Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom (RR #2)

Tall, Dark, and Royal (RR #2.5)

How to Plan a Wedding for a Royal Spy (RR #3)

  

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1F9lDzV

Nook:  http://bit.ly/1HE7bmG

iTunes: http://apple.co/1cUOkct

Kobo:  http://bit.ly/1LyN9ex

Google Play: http://bit.ly/1KsMZrB

Today's Special - Q&A with Nancy Herkness

Nancy Herkness is the author of the award-winning Whisper Horse series, published by Montlake Romance, as well as several other contemporary romance novels.  She is a two-time nominee for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA^® award. Her new series, Wager of Hearts, follows the romantic adventures of three very wealthy men who make a life-changing bet. 

Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, New Jersey Romance Writers, and Novelists, Inc. She has received many honors for her work, including the Golden Leaf Award, the Maggie Award in Contemporary Romance, and the National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award.  She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English literature and creative writing. A native of West Virginia, Nancy now lives in suburban New Jersey with her husband, two mismatched dogs, and an elderly cat. 

For more information about Nancy and her books, visit www.NancyHerkness.com.

Social media links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nancyherkness

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NancyHerkness

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/nancyherkness/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PJ: Welcome, Nancy! It’s a pleasure to have you visit with us today. Your new contemporary romance, THE CEO BUYS IN will be released July 21 and kicks off your Wager of Hearts series. Please tell our readers what they can expect from the series and from this story.

NH: PJ, it’s such a pleasure to be here on The Romance Dish. My readers tell me this is where they look for all the best in romance, so I am thrilled to chat with you.

My new Wager of Hearts series follows three billionaires—a powerful CEO, a celebrity quarterback, and a bestselling novelist—who find themselves drinking together one night. They realize they have much in common: modest backgrounds, dazzling wealth, and a lack of real love in their lives. Tired of being pursued for their money and power, the billionaires make a high-stakes wager. To win, they must find women who love them for the men they are, not their market portfolios.

My upcoming release, The CEO Buys In, introduces all three heroes in the prologue, which repeats in the next books in the series but is told from a different hero’s point-of-view each time. It has been such a fun writing challenge!

In The CEO Buys In, self-made billionaire Nathan Trainor feels restless and disillusioned. His

company may be thriving, but he can’t find a woman who sees him for more than his wealth. With his love life in the red, he meets the two other billionaire bachelors at the ultra-exclusive Bellwether Club and makes his wager of the heart.

Savvy office temp Chloe Russell is trying to scrape together the money she needs to support her grandmother. So when a flu epidemic strikes Trainor Electronics and she’s promoted to Nathan Trainor’s assistant, she jumps at the lucrative opportunity. But then Nathan himself falls ill, and he and Chloe must work from his penthouse while he recuperates. Before long, it’s clear there’s genuine heat between them, and it’s more than just a fever spike. Will Nathan win Chloe’s heart—and the bet? Or will their differences destroy any chance for love?

PJ: Why billionaires? What makes them intriguing to you as a writer?

NH: Funny you should ask! I am curating a post for USAToday’s HEA blog on exactly that topic. To me, billionaires make great romantic heroes because they have this vast array of resources—money, power, influence—which they fully exploit to court the heroine, who generally has very limited resources. That’s pretty darned sexy and romantic because it’s so over-the-top.

The inequality also creates great conflict. The hero and heroine come from such different places so there are always fundamental questions: Does she love me only for my money? Is he just slumming because he’s bored? Is the power dynamic too uneven to make this relationship work?

PJ: I loved the conflict caused by that inequality in The CEO Buys In. Nathan and Chloe have lifestyles that are so far apart they could be on separate planets. Without the extraordinary circumstance of his illness, they most likely would never have connected on a personal level. What is it about these two characters that convinced you they could overcome their differences to find happiness together?

NH: Chloe has a little bit of a chip on her shoulder about large corporations, so although she understands how impressive Nathan is, she isn’t intimidated by him. Because Nathan is a self-made billionaire, he admires hardworking, capable people like Chloe. But what draws them together is what they offer to each other. Nathan proves to Chloe that not all CEOs are motivated by profit over the good of their employees. Chloe helps Nathan establish a meaningful relationship with his difficult father. They connect on both professional and emotional levels.

PJ: I love how practical, no-nonsense Chloe gets giddy over a pair of great shoes. What’s your guilty pleasure?

NH: Shoes! That’s one of the fun things about being a writer: you can live vicariously through your characters. I even have a Pinterest board of my fantasy shoe closet which I developed while looking for Chloe’s shoes. My biggest problem with beautiful shoes (besides budget)? I can’t wear those sky-high heels; I would break my ankles. But my heroines have strong leg muscles and great balance so they have no problem walking in Louboutins (when a billionaire buys them a pair).

PJ: When I want my favorite food I head to a local restaurant or, more frequently, into my own kitchen. Nathan is a bit more creative as illustrated during his lobster date with Chloe. If you had a dinner date with a billionaire who had a personal jet at his disposal where would you have him take you and what would be on the menu?

NH: I am going to jump straight into cliché and say Paris.  I mean, the man has a jet so why wouldn’t I go to the most romantic city in the world with him? As for the menu: Dom Perignon to drink and a fabulous pastry—or maybe two--for dessert. I don’t really care what else I eat. LOL!

PJ: Mmmm. French pastries are definitely worth skipping the main course! 

Nathan and Chloe are both surprised by things they learn during their journey to love. What have you learned during your writing journey that has most surprised you? 

NH: How generous and helpful my fellow romance authors are! I am always amazed and awed by the way romance writers share their experience, their expertise, and their contacts with each other. I have heard this is not typical of other genres where such information is carefully guarded. Not in romance! We are a community in the best sense of the word; we pay it forward all the time.

PJ: Congratulations on receiving your second consecutive Romance Writers of America RITA® nomination (for The Place I Belong in the Long Contemporary category). How exciting to have your writing honored two years in a row! Will you tell us a bit about the book?

NH: Thank you so much! I have been thrilled and quite surprised to be nominated twice in a row. Who’d have thought? Both nominations were for books in my Whisper Horse series which takes place in the mountains of West Virginia, where I grew up.
This year’s nominee, The Place I Belong, tells the story of veterinarian Hannah Linden and world-famous chef Adam Bosch. Fleeing professional scandal and a broken engagement, Hannah abandons Chicago for the mountain town of Sanctuary, West Virginia, hoping to put her troubles with men and the media behind her. But when she encounters Adam, she finds herself increasingly drawn to the charming but darkly complex man and his troubled teenage son, Matt.  Adam, a recovering alcoholic, fears he can never be a worthy father to the surly, distant boy he has just come to know, and enlists Hannah’s help in his struggle to connect with his son.

Hoping to coax Matt out of his shell, Hannah introduces the boy to an ailing brown pony who has the power to change his view of the world. But can the determined little whisper horse prove to Hannah, Adam, and Matt that they were meant to be a family?

It’s one of my most emotional books ever. There are several scenes that make me cry when I read them!

PJ: It sounds wonderful. I'm off to download a copy! 

Will you be signing at the July 22nd “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing in New York City?

NH: Yes, I will be there and hope to see lots of my wonderful readers! I will be signing both The CEO Buys In (hot off the presses since its release date is July 21^st) and my 2015 RITA®  finalist The Place I Belong.

PJ: What’s next for our wagering billionaires?

NH: Next up in the series is Luke Archer, the legendary quarterback for the New York Empire football team. He doesn’t believe in having a relationship during football season, so he fights his attraction to concierge Miranda Tate with every ounce of his steely willpower.

Miranda works with the spoiled rich and famous, catering to their every whim, so she’s pleasantly surprised by Luke’s innate decency and, even more, by the vulnerability he reveals to her and her alone. But she knows their relationship expires as soon as Luke goes back to playing.

Of course, you get to see Nathan from The CEO Buys In in this book, but from Luke’s perspective. And Gavin Miller, the third billionaire, makes his usual trouble-stirring appearances.

I am having a blast writing this book. Elite athletes fascinate me because of what they have to give up in order to succeed in their field. And, of course, how hot they are.

PJ: Thanks for visiting with me, Nancy! Would you like to ask our readers a question?

NH: Many thanks for inviting me to meet your readers! It has been a delight to answer your thought-provoking questions.

My question for your readers is: Georgette Heyer is the author who inspired me to become a romance writer and I re-read her books often. What author and/or book do you re-read on a regular basis?

One person who leaves a comment on today's post will receive an autographed copy of The CEO Buys In. (U.S. only)

Second Chance Summer Winner

The randomly chosen winner of a copy of

Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis is:

Di

Congratulations!

Please send your full name and mailing address to:

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

A Look Back - - RWA 2011 Winner

The randomly chosen winner of a package of books from

my Look Back -- RWA 2011 blog is:

Savannah

Congratulations!

Please send  your full name and mailing address to

theromancedish (at) gmail (dot) com

On Second Thought...

Graphics by Sharlene

Till the Stars Fall

By Kathleen Gilles Seidel

Publisher: ePublishing Works

(Originally published by Onyx, 1994)

Release Date: June 2, 2015

Krissa and Danny French are a sister and brother who grow up in a mining community on the Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota. Although only a year apart in age, their very different personalities keep Krissa and Danny from being close. Danny is a loner and a rebel, constantly challenging the status quo and dreaming of leaving the narrow world his family inhabits. Krissa, a year younger, is a people pleaser, a nice girl and straight-A student who follows all the rules and tries to pretend her family with her perfectionist mother and angry, abusive father is just like everyone else’s. The relationship between the siblings changes when Danny asks for Krissa’s help in redeeming his academic record so that he has a shot at a scholarship to an Ivy League school. Gradually, Danny’s dream of escape grows to include Krissa too. Danny gets his scholarship and leaves for Princeton. A year later, Krissa enters Bryn Mawr.

At Princeton, Danny meets Quinn Hunter, a child of privilege with no siblings. Although their looks, their temperaments, and their backgrounds are worlds apart, their talent and passion for music makes them friends. Soon they form Dodd Hall, a band named for the freshman dormitory at Princeton, with Quinn writing lyrics and Danny writing music. By the time Krissa comes east for school, Dodd Hall’s fortunes are on the rise. She becomes secretary, bookkeeper, manager, and booking agent for the band as well as their test audience for new songs.

Krissa and Quinn have feelings for one another from their first meeting, and in the first heady days of Dodd Hall’s ascension, they act on those feelings. Quinn writes “Cinnamon Starlight,” the first of what will become a series of songs for Krissa, his cinnamon-haired girl. As Dodd Hall becomes one of America’s premier rock bands, things get crazier. Professionals may have taken over some of Krissa’s roles, but she is no less necessary to the band, increasingly so as a mediator between Quinn and Danny whose closeness does not preclude disagreements and misunderstandings. Krissa feels as if she is losing herself and insists on devoting her final semester to being a student rather than flying in every weekend to wherever the band is performing.

When both Quinn and Danny pressure Krissa with daily phone calls, she returns to Minnesota for her spring break to escape. A chance meeting with Jerry Aarensson, a veteran ten years her senior, reminds her of the life she expected to lead before Danny urged her to leave, before she met Quinn. Jerry’s simplicity and the appeal of the familiar tempt Krissa. The weekend of her graduation, she calls Danny to tell him that she is marrying Jerry. Except for a brief exchange after her father’s death, Krissa and Quinn have no contact with one another for sixteen years. Within a year of her marriage, Dodd Hall breaks up. Their last song is recorded with Quinn and Danny singing with a tape of one another’s voice because they are no longer speaking.

After fifteen years of silence, as Krissa is waiting to hear news of Danny who has been hospitalized after an extended hunger strike as an act of political protest, Krissa receives a phone call from Quinn who shares her fear over the consequences of Danny’s activism. Krissa is now a divorced mother of four and secure in her identity. Quinn is now an orthopedic surgeon and, except for his role in rock history, no longer a public person. The connection between them is as strong as ever. Can they trust themselves and one another and give their love a second chance?

When I first read Till the Stars Fall back in the late 90s, I fell in love with these characters in all their complexity and realness. A reunion story, my favorite trope even then, it is also a triangle of relationships. Danny and Quinn are mirror images of one another in significant ways, down to the shape of their hands, but their brotherhood and their musical partnership is complicated by their differences. Danny is charismatic, but he is also manipulative and distrustful. He is not above using even Krissa for his purposes. Despite his privileged upbringing, Quinn is as much a victim of parental abuse as Danny, only the blows his selfish, elegant parents deliver are emotional rather than physical. Quinn sees in Krissa all he has ever wanted, and, almost from the beginning, imagines the two of them building a life together based on their perfect love. Krissa is very young, and she is a conditioned people pleaser. She loves her brother and wants to please him. She loves Quinn and wants to please him. When she becomes overwhelmed by their demands, she runs back to a life where she knows who she is and where she can meet people’s expectations as Krissa from the Range not as the cinnamon-haired girl.  Even fifteen years later, all the complications among the three have not been resolved, and Krissa and Quinn’s path to an HEA is not a simple one. They must forgive themselves, a task sometimes more difficult than forgiving others.

I don’t like Danny very much, but I understand his charm and his twists. I love Krissa and empathize with her uncertainty, her love of harmony, and even her lack of courage in asserting herself. Quinn quite simply is my all-time favorite contemporary romance hero. When he needs literary inspiration to write lyrics for sensual love songs, he turns to 16^th and 17^th-century English poets, including John Donne. Irresistible for this English major! He is a legendary musician, a short story writer (published in the New Yorker), a successful doctor, and a philanthropist. Intelligent, creative, sensitive, and sexy, he still has flaws enough to keep him from being merely an unrealized fantasy figure. (Deep sigh here.)

Seidel structures the story with shifts between the 1990s and the 1970s, so that the reader is given the past and the present in increments. Both periods are richly detailed. Krissa’s life with her sons is as immediate and captivating as the story of Dodd Hall. Bits from various media—magazines such as Playboy and Rolling Stone, books, popular and academic, and radio—break into the narrative, giving Dodd Hall’s history and musical legacy another dimension of reality and further revealing the three lead characters.

Then there is Seidel’s incomparable prose with a lyrical quality that never moves into the overblown and a lucidity and preciseness that add levels of meaning to simple declarative sentences.

Example of the author’s lyricism:

“At night it was as if their bed were enchanted. Like a brass four-poster in a fairy tale, soaring through the night, it carried the two of them on a drifting, dreaming journey. They'd be kneeling in wonder, having tossed back the patchwork counterpane, looking down at the miniature world below, the lighted church steeples, and the shadowy parks. Together they were floating alone in the magic world of the stars.”

Example of the author’s lucidity and preciseness:

“Krissa and Jerry had not had a stressful marriage. They hadn't fought, they hadn't disagreed, they hadn't gotten on each other's nerves. But they had never sat at the side of the baby pool talking; they didn't have that much to say to each other.

“Jerry had respected her, and she had respected him. But before she had married him, she had been the Girl with Cinnamon Hair. She had moved in a cloud of starry devotion. Respect was not the same.”

I don’t think the perfect book exists, but I have a few romance novels on my keeper shelves that I consider thisclose to perfection. Till the Stars Fall is one of them. Each rereading—and there have been many, the most recent last month—reconfirms all the reasons I love this book. I am delighted that I now have a copy on my Kindle as well. I’m also delighted that when I say I give this book my highest recommendation, you can follow up and find a copy at all the usual eBook sites. (And when you finish this one, there are three other excellent Seidel books newly available in digital format.)

~Janga

What's On Your Mind?

Next week I'll be traveling to New York City to attend the 2015 Romance Writers of America national conference. During the conference, I'll also be participating in a panel discussion about trends in romance publishing. Authors are always interested in hearing what readers are thinking so, in addition to my own opinions, I would like to also convey what is important to you, the Romance Dish readers. I hope you'll take a minute to share your thoughts on the questions below.






How old are you?
Under 30
30 - 50
Over 50

How many years have you been reading romance?

Where do you live?
US
Canada
Australia
Somewhere else

If a US resident, in which region do you live?
West
Midwest
East
Southwest
Southeast
Northwest
Northeast

On average, how many books do you read per month?

What percentage of the books you read are paper? 

What percentage are digital?

Have those percentages changed over the past year?

What factors affect your book buying?
Price?
Print vs Digital?
Sub-Genre?
Something else?

Where do you find out about books?
Social media?
Blogs?
Word of mouth?
Book review magazines?
Authors' websites?
Something else?

What entices you to buy a book?
Reviews?
Price?
Sub-genre?
Personal or online relationship with author?
Word of mouth from other readers?
Author's social media presence?
Something else?

Do you belong to any book clubs or reader groups?
How many?
Are they online?
Are they run by a reader or an author?
What do you enjoy/not enjoy about these groups?

Are you a member of any street teams?
What do you like/not like about being on a street team?

Where do you prefer to interact with authors and other readers?
Blogs
Social Media (which one?)
In person

Are you more likely to buy a book by an author you have met at a reader event?
Is the impact different or the same if the event is online vs in person?

What are your favorite sub-genres of romance? What makes them a favorite?
Historical
Contemporary
Paranormal
Romantic Suspense
Young Adult
New Adult
Women's Fiction
Category Romance
Something else

Have you discovered a new sub-genre in the past year?
What do you like/not like about it?

Have you started reading books (or reading more books) with a particulara theme/setting in the past year?
(Ex: mafia heroes, WWI, WWII, American Revolution, etc.)
What do you enjoy/not enjoy about these books?

Are you a regular on any social media platforms?
Which ones?
Have you started or stopped using any particular social media during the past year?

How much of your book buying dollars are spent on self-published books?

Do you buy self-published books by unknown authors or only those authors with whom you are already familiar?

Have your book buying or reading habits changed in any other way over the past year?

Any other thoughts?

Are you attending next week's RWA conference or Literacy Signing?

One randomly chosen person answering today's questions will receive a package of books and swag from next week's conference. (U.S. only)

Review - - Ask Me Why

Ask Me Why

By Jodi Thomas, Marie Force, Virginia Kantra, and Shirley Jump

Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: July 7, 2015

 

This anthology includes four novellas by proven authors, three that add to ongoing series and one that introduces a new series. I’m a fan of anthologies, and I am particularly delighted when I find one in which all the contributors are authors whose books I enjoy. This was the case with Ask Me Why.

The anthology opens with “Midnight Bet” by Jodi Thomas. As with other stories in Thomas’s Harmony, Texas series, there is more than one plot threaded through the novella. Cousins Rick and Lizzy Matheson are on their way home after a family reunion when someone shoots at them, injuring Lizzy. The shooting serves to jumpstart the love life of both Rick and Lizzy. Rick is still longing for the mysterious federal marshal Trace Adams (Chance of a Lifetime), and she’s back in town and back in Rick’s bed. But for how long? Lizzy seeks help from her neighbor, reclusive veterinarian Brandon McCall, and ends up losing her heart. But is he willing to become a lover as well as a friend?

As several reviews here attest, I’m a big fan of Thomas’s Harmony books, and this novella is just another on my list of Harmony visits I have loved. I was happy to see the Rick-Trace story concluded, but I adored Lizzy and Doc. Nobody does the misfit turned hero/heroine better than Thomas. She is a genius at revealing the heart and vulnerabilities of such characters and capturing the reader’s affection for them in the process. Plus, I confess I fell in love with Doc when I read this line: “The doctor was a mixture of the actor Jake Gyllenhaal—add a few years—and Sam Elliot—take away thirty years.” Two thumbs up for this one.

Marie Force’s “You’ll Be Mine” invites readers to return to Green Mountain, Vermont, for the wedding of Cameron Murphy and Will Abbott (All You Need Is Love). The Abbott siblings (Will has nine), parents, grandfather, and assorted other family members and friends gather for this long-anticipated event. Even Fred the Moose makes an appearance. All is laughter and love, sweetness and sizzle, family and fun, humor and heart in this celebratory novella, although Cameron is a bit concerned that her wealthy, sophisticated father may break the heart of a Green Mountain lady.

I loved this one too, but I’ve read all of the Green Mountain books and am invested in the series. Readers who haven’t read at least the first book, Cameron and Will’s story, might find themselves lost among all the characters. Series fans, on the other hand, should enjoy every moment.

Shirley Jump’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger” introduces her Southern Belle Book Club series. (When Somebody Loves You, the first novel in the series will be released October 6.) Maggie McBride has a week’s vacation from her job with Stark Construction, and the timing is perfect for her to return to Chatham Ridge, Georgia, for the wedding of her almost life-long best friend. Maggie, who is not a girly girl, is not wildly enthusiastic about wearing a dress and heels, and she is even more dubious about accepting Rachel’s dare to bring Nick Patterson along since Maggie needs a date. Nick and Maggie are colleagues and buddies. He calls her his “work wife.”  But Nick changes girlfriends faster than he flips houses, and Maggie, having been burned by a charmer who proved faithless once, is determined not to repeat her mistake. Still, how does one refuse a friendly dare? What Maggie doesn’t know is that Nick has fallen for her and recounts his fictional amours hoping to provoke her to jealousy. Can these two friends move past defenses and false impressions to find their happily-ever-after?

This is a sweet story with likeable characters, a fun read. And it has a friends-to-lovers plot, a tomboy heroine, and a small-town setting—three of my favorite things in romance fiction. I enjoyed this one enough to add When Somebody Loves You to my book calendar.

Virginia Kantra’s “Carolina Heart” is part of her Dare Island series. Cynthie Lodge, the single mother of two daughters—twelve-year-old Maddie and eight-year-old Hannah—is doing her best to forge a new life for herself and her daughters. No longer a wild child, she works hard as a waitress at the Fish House, taking classes to become a dental hygienist, and spending every spare moment with her daughters. She’s determined to prove she’s smarter than she has been given credit for being, and part of that proof is declaring a moratorium on men in her life. But then she meets Max Lewis, genius biological oceanographer and all-around good guy who believes in Cynthie and likes her kids and is pretty darn irresistible. Max had a crush on Cynthie in high school. He didn’t have a chance then, but he is determined this time that the nerd will win the girl of his dreams.

Kantra’s Dare Island series is quite simply one of the best small-town series ever, and “Carolina Heart” shows why. These characters are so real I want to hug them. I care deeply about their achieving happiness. I want Cynthie to believe that she’s smart and competent. I want Max to know a nerd can be a heart-stealing hero. I want Maddie and Hannah to have a father who loves them and champions them. Kantra writes the kind of stories that keep me reading romance.  I should add that it is not necessary to have read the Dare Island novels to fall in love with this story. Nevertheless, I highly recommend the novels. Carolina Dreaming will be released February 2, 2016.

Overall, this anthology is a definite win for readers. It’s even better than I expected, and it was on my list of most highly anticipated books back in January. Don’t miss this one.

~Janga

Review - - A Promise of Forever

A Promise of Forever

By Marilyn Pappano

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: June 30, 2015

After completing her fifth tour of duty in a war zone, Sergeant First Class Avery Grant is happy to be stateside again with a new assignment at Fort Gordon in Augusta, Georgia. But first, Avi is looking forward to thirty days in Tallgrass, Oklahoma, a town which holds a special place in her memories from childhood summers spent there with her grandparents who owned the flower shop that now belongs to Avi’s parents. As eager as she is to see her parents, Avi is pleased to have a week on her own while her parents are on a cruise. She needs time alone, and she needs to pay a visit to Patricia Sanderson, widow of Col. George Sanderson, Avi’s mentor and her commanding officer at the time of his death in Afghanistan. A friend of her father’s since their West Point days, George Sanderson inspired a ten-year-old Avi to aim for a military career, and he served as her model of all a soldier should be. Her esteem and affection for him and for Patricia are great.

Ben Noble’s image of George Sanderson is quite different from Avi’s. He remembers him only as the man for whom his mother left her husband and three children. It was not until after George’s death, and at the urging of his mother’s neighbor Lucy Hart, another military widow, that Ben ended his estrangement from his mother. Even now, although he visits Patricia in Tallgrass when he has free time from his schedule as a successful orthopedic surgeon, he still has not fully forgiven her for leaving her husband and three children to marry George, a blow from which Ben’s beloved father never recovered.

Despite their very different views of George Sanderson, Ben and Avi fall for one another quickly. The chemistry is strong, and they genuinely enjoy one another. They begin a relationship with each reminding himself/herself that their circumstances mean that their relationship comes with an expiration date. Avi will soon leave for her new assignment in Georgia, and she is wholly committed to the life of a career soldier and another twelve years in military service. Ben’s thriving practice and his loyalty to his two younger sisters for whom he felt a deep responsibility after their mother’s departure mean that he is deeply rooted in Oklahoma. Happy-for-a-while seems the best for which they can hope, but their hearts ignore reason.

I am a long-time fan of Pappano’s fiction. Her Bethlehem series holds a spot in my bookcase that is reserved for keepers I reread often. I think her Tallgrass novels are among her best work, and A Promise of Forever is an excellent addition to the series. Ben and Avi are good, although imperfect, people who have endured pain and heartbreak, and it is easy to root for them to find their HEA. Their story offers the poignancy, warmth, and believably complex characters that have become hallmarks of this series. The gender role reversal with a hero with strong ties to place and family and a heroine pledged to military service offers a rare take on military romance.

Secondary characters add interest to the tale. Patricia is a still grieving widow. She lives with regrets, but she doesn’t regret a day that she spent with George. Avi’s parents present a portrait of a long, happy marriage. Additional secondary characters include other members of the Tuesday Night Margarita Club, otherwise known as The Fort Murphy Widow’s Club. Particularly prominent is the delightful Lucy Hart, who is still struggling with her weight issues and hoping to find a second love with whom she can find the magic she knew with her Mike.

A Promise of Forever can be read as a standalone, but it will be more engaging and nuanced read as part of the series. If you like military romance or small-town romance, I think you will enjoy this book as much as I did. I have already pre-ordered A Chance of a Lifetime (December 22), the next book in the series and the story of Benita Ford, another Margarita Club widow. And I am hoping that in 2016 Lucy will find her second chance at magic. I highly recommend the full series.

 ~Janga

Today's Special - - Jill Shalvis

Second Chance Summer
By Jill Shalvis
Publisher: Grand Central
Release Date: June 30, 2015

Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .

The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .


Ten years ago, following a devastating loss, Lily Danville fled Cedar Ridge in a swirl of grief and guilt. She's built a good life for herself in San Diego but when she becomes embroiled in a scandal of her boss/boyfriend's making and is both dumped and fired, she goes to ground in the remote Colorado mountain town of her youth and comes face to face with all she left behind. She's only there until the dust settles and she can find another job in California but the longer she's in Cedar Ridge, the more she remembers how much she loved living there before the tragedy. And the more she's in the company of Aidan Kincaid, the more she remembers the feelings she had for him before she left the first time. Can she finally put the past to rest and give herself permission to reach for the happiness she doesn't think she deserves?

Aidan Kincaid loves his hometown, his family, his job as a firefighter, his search and rescue work and the beautiful but treacherous mountains surrounding his town. Once upon a time, he thought he could love Lily Danville too but she left without a word and hasn't been back since...until now. Serial dating has been his modus operandi for the past ten years but Lily's return has him yearning for something more. Will he find it with Lily this time or will she drive out of his life and leave him brokenhearted a second time?

Aidan's life isn't all sunshine and roses. He and his siblings have worked hard to save their family ski lodge after their philandering father took off and left it on the brink of bankruptcy. There's a balloon payment coming due and if they can't make it they'll lose the business they love, the business that's holding them together. There are other issues facing the siblings as well that I'm sure will be explored in more depth in each of their books.

Facing her feelings for Aidan isn't the only obstacle standing in Lily's path to happiness. She used to love the mountains surrounding Cedar Ridge as much as anybody and was a skilled climber but the events of one tragic day left her with a debilitating fear, along with a whole lot of guilt. Shalvis guides her slowly and realistically down her path to acceptance and forgiveness, finally freeing her to accept not only her feelings for Aidan and his for her but also her love and acceptance of the mountain peaks that were once such a huge part of her life.

I enjoy most of Jill Shalvis' books but Second Chance Summer is a stand-out for me. It has everything I look for in a great contemporary. The dialog between Lily and Aidan and among the Kincaid siblings is spot-on, secondary characters add a wonderful richness and the brothers' reactions to their mom wanting to date again are priceless. The depth of emotion is rich and real, bringing forth laughter in some parts, tears in others and an ending that was all I could have hoped for. I like these characters and am already fully invested in their happiness.

The Kincaids are not your typical family. While Aidan and his older brother Gray are full brothers, the three younger siblings are the results of his father's extra-marital affairs but were all taken in by Aidan's mother at some point in their lives. It makes for a fascinating dynamic that has me anticipating the rest of the books in this series even more.

I highly recommend adding Second Chance Summer to your reading list this summer.

~PJ


Have you read any Jill Shalvis books?

Do you have a favorite book or series?

Have you read Second Chance Summer yet? Did you fall in love with Lily and Aidan as much as I did?

Have you ever faced your greatest fear? Were you able to overcome it?


One person who leaves a comment on today's post will receive a copy of Second Chance Summer. (US/Canada only)



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New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

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EXCERPT

“So you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Other than I hate snakes and you saw me in my PJs? Nothing.” She lifted her chin and defied him to contradict her.

She should have known better. Like Ashley, he’d never met a challenge he didn’t face head-on.

He moved toward her, right into her personal space.

She took a step back and came up against the wall.

This didn’t stop him. He kept his forward momentum until they were toe to toe. And then while she was still standing there a little dumbfounded and also something else, something that felt uncomfortably close to sheer, unadulterated lust, he put his hands on the wall on either side of her head.

This both escalated her heart rate and stopped her lungs from operating. “Um—”

“You had your chance to tell me what’s wrong with you,” he said. “You passed. Now I’m going to tell you what’s wrong with me.”

Oh, God. Talking would be a bad idea. As for a good idea, she had only one, and before she could consider the consequences, she gripped his shirt, hauled him down, and kissed him.

He stilled for a single beat and then got on board quick, pulling her in, sinking a hand into her hair to tilt her head to the angle he wanted, and taking over the kiss.

The next thing she was aware of was the sound of her own aroused moan, and she jerked free.

The corner of his mouth quirked. “Did you just kiss me to shut me up?” he asked.

She blew out a sigh. “It made a lot more sense in my head.”

He grinned, one of those really great grins that made something low in her belly quiver. Needing some space, she pushed him, even though her instincts were telling her

to pull him in tighter instead of pushing him away.

“Back to what’s wrong with me,” he said, still looking amused. “It’s you.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but he set a finger against her lips. “My turn,” he said, and lowered his head and kissed her.

And oh. Oh, damn… There were some men who just knew how to kiss, the kind of kiss that could send a woman reeling. The kind of kiss that could take away problems and awareness and…and everything. The kind of kiss that could shatter her into a trillion little pieces. The kind of kiss that somehow both calmed her body and soul even as it wound her up for more.

Aidan was that kind of kisser. Shocking, really, to also realize that in between their first kiss all those years ago and now, that there’d been nothing like it for her.

Aidan pulled back a fraction of an inch, opened his eyes, and stared into hers.

She stared back because wow. Good. So damn good, and for one glorious moment there she’d let her lips cling to his, let the memories of him and all that he’d meant to

her wash over her.

And those memories had all been…epic.

Until the end.

Finding her sanity, she pushed him again. For a beat he didn’t move, just looked into her eyes.

And then, on his own terms, he stepped back.

She pointed at him. “That was…”

He arched a brow.

“Never mind what it was,” she said. “We aren’t going there.”

His smile was grim and utterly without mockery.

“Agreed.” But then he hauled her up to her toes and kissed her again.

And again.