March 2012

Keeper Shelf Books

Happy Friday!!

I thought we’d have some fun on the blog today by sharing and comparing some of our all-time favorite romance books. Do you know your top five picks without looking back at your keeper shelf? Your top ten? I had to stop and think to narrow down my list of favorite romances to just ten, but these were the books that came to mind:

- Charming the Prince by     Teresa Medeiros
-Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne
-Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
-most anything else by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
-Garters by Pamela Morsi
-Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory
-Dark Lover by J.R. Ward
-Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell
-The Charm School by Susan Wiggs
-Spymaster’s Lady by Joanna Bourne.

That’s a quickie list off the top of my head and reveals my love of historicals (7). It also might reveal my age as a lot of these books were stories I read in my pre-writing days or as I was first learning how to craft a romance. Many of these stories were books I dissected with my critique partner, Catherine Mann, as we discussed the merits of great opening chapters, solid conflicts and interesting characters.

I’m sure I could think of twenty other books that could lobby for Top Ten slots in my personal favs list, especially as I learn what other peoples’ favorite books are. Are you a diehard fan of Gabaldon’s Outlander? A romantic suspense reader with a preference for all things Karen Rose? I’d love to hear about your favorites! I’ve got a copy of my April Blaze, ONE MAN RUSH, for one random poster.

www.joannerock.com


Shadow's Fall

Vampires: They’re so 2009. Right? With about fifty million books and movies and television shows about them already out there, who on Earth would want to write more?

Call me a glutton for punishment.

I didn’t sit down and say to myself “I’m going to write a vampire series! Let’s cash in!” I originally started my Shadow World series in 1999, but back then I was only 22; I was terrified of the ordeal I knew was waiting. Everyone said fiction’s impossible to break into - even in ’99! I was afraid of the disappointment, so I shifted my focus to nonfiction. As it turns out that was a great idea; I used my writing to help my spiritual community and by the time I was ready to return to my first love, fiction, I had grown a lot as a writer and could create something much, much better.

Something changed in 2008. I wish I could say what, specifically - I think it might have been that I was so, so tired of all the mopey, self-loathing vampires that were filling up page and screen. I wanted to see vampires who had completely accepted what they were and had created their own world just at the edge of ours. I didn’t really care how original or not my own work was - my first impulse, whenever I want to see something, is to write it myself. I had no idea I would be approached by Ace for a two-book contract before the first book had even cooled on the printer.

Enter the Shadow World series. In Austin, Texas, a young woman is losing her mind; she’s an uncontrolled empath, able to feel and manipulate the emotions of others, and it’s driving her over the edge. After a horrific attack she stumbles headlong into the darkness: into a war between old school vampires who want to kill humans, and the current ruler of the Southern United States, Prime David Solomon, who has outlawed killing entirely.

The world is divided into territories and there are 27 Primes, each chosen by a mysterious supernatural system whose origin was forgotten millennia ago. Each Prime can have one Consort. David, a computer geek and warrior with a love of ice cream, programming, and Joss Whedon, has used technology to revolutionize how the vampires of his territory live and hunt, and it’s upsetting the old guard. When his Queen comes along in the person of a certain psychic musician, things get even worse, for Miranda won’t sit idly by as women are expected to in the Council; she owns her power as well as her skyrocketing music career. Miranda’s dramatic arrival in David’s life is the first domino to fall…and soon the whole world will change.

Now in its third book, with at least two more to come from Ace Urban Fantasy, the Shadow Worldseries is Miranda and David’s story, as well as the story of how the world changes when a handful of powerful vampires who refuse to live in the past any longer come face to face with the ancient origins of their kind. In this world political alliances are constantly shifting, romantic relationships always evolving, and new threats arise from every dark corner.

The first two books of the series, QUEEN OF SHADOWS and SHADOWFLAME, are already on shelves at your local bookstore. SHADOW'S FALL, the third, will be released at the end of March. To learn more about the series, check out my website: www.diannesylvan.com.

Post your comment on this blog and you could win a signed copy of SHADOW'S FALL!



Meet My Inspiration

The felines in my Cats in Trouble Mysteries are not totally figments of my imagination. I have owned many fur-friends all my life. When I decided to write a cat series, I was well-versed in cat behavior and in awe of their intelligence, beauty and inventiveness.

Cats love a mystery as well as readers do. No door shall remain closed--for who knows what might lie behind it? No smell or sound shall remain uninvestigated--for who knows what the source of that sound or smell might be? They are curious problem solvers. Why not be the sidekicks a woman needs to deal with murder and mayhem?

Jillian Hart, my reluctant heroine, is brought in to crime investigations in the small town of Mercy, South Carolina, most often because of her knowledge and expertise with cats. Reluctance is not a characteristic of her cats—Chablis, Merlot and Syrah. They are more than willing to help their beloved Jillian. And help her they do, often in the most creative ways. You'd have to read about them to understand.

Jillian's three Katrina rescues have many of the same characteristics as my own two fur-friends. My older "lady" is 16 years old and her name is Agatha Christie. (Are you surprised?) She is a short-hair exotic—just a Persian with short hair, really.

My new young friend and uber curious helper is Wexford—named after Ruth Rendell's detective. He spends the day trying to help me write, but mostly just causing trouble. He's been known to swing on the stained-glass kitchen light fixture.

Now that you've met my inspiration, I hope you'll pick up the fourth book in the series come April 3rd—the follow-up to my New York Times bestseller, THE CAT, THE LADY AND THE LIAR.

www.leannsweeney.com

PLEASE SHOW YOUR LOCALLY-OWNED BOOKSTORE SOME LOVE

This past week I had the opportunity to meet some very impressive folks.

I attended a couple of regional meeting/training seminars for independent booksellers. I wasn’t there as an author but rather as an employee of a publishing company.

As readers, you probably already know that locally owned and operated bookstores are wonderful places to frequent and typically staffed by knowledgeable and caring individuals. They often offer programs, services and insight into literature that simply wouldn’t be available in certain communities if they were to disappear.

And let me tell you, disappearing is a clear and present danger for many a local book retailer. These folks are up against some major obstacles, including massive competitors: businesses like Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Costco and Wal-Mart. Perhaps you’ve heard of them.

Over the past few years many independent bookstores have already closed their doors. Their communities have lost some of their vibrancy, color and atmosphere as a result. They’ve also lost a revenue source, for the sales tax paid to local bookstores stays local and makes an impact on that town’s economy and infrastructure, helping to pay for schools, roads, etc. Community bookstores also frequently support and provide services to charities and causes related to their town and its citizens.

What became clear to me at last week’s meetings was that independent bookstore owners typically care very deeply about both books and their customers. They’re our friends and neighbors and more often than not act that way.

Think about it, do you really want one or two major retailers, whether online or brick and mortar, deciding what everyone in the nation is able to read and at what price? While some of the big boys are very competitively priced today, what incentive would they have to stay that way if all the little guys were gone and the huge retailers no longer had any real competition?

Here’s my message: Whenever possible, please make your book purchases from a locally owned bookstore. That goes for anything you buy online as well. Most independent bookstores have websites now. Prior to making a book purchase anywhere else, please see first if you can’t make the same purchase from your friendly neighborhood book retailer, either in person or online. You’ll be doing yourself and your entire community a favor if you do.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE OR A STORY ABOUT ONE THAT YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE? A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

Jaycie Cash blogs on a regular basis for Writerspace.com. Her debut novel, Mrs. Goodfeller, is available through most major e-Book outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She’d love for you to like her Facebook Author page.

www.jayciecash.com

The Long Stitch Good Night

I’m happy to tell you that THE LONG STITCH GOOD NIGHT, the fourth book in my embroidery mystery series, will be coming out on April 3, 2012. To celebrate the event, I’m offering one lucky Writerspace reader a copy of the book in either paperback, Kindle, or Nook format. It’s easy to enter the giveaway—simply leave a comment below with your email address and the format you’d prefer if you’re the winner. On Tuesday, April 3, the winner will be announced.

In THE LONG STITCH GOOD NIGHT, Marcy finds herself in the minority when she believes both handsome local brewer Todd Calloway and Sadie’s husband Blake MacKenzie are innocent of the murder of one of their old fraternity brothers. Both Todd and his friend Blake’s fingerprints are on the murder weapon, and neither is talking about what happened. Marcy is determined to stitch together some St. Patrick’s Day luck from more than a few four-leaf clovers and prove that the culprit was someone else….

Here’s an excerpt from THE LONG STITCH GOOD NIGHT to get you started:

Sadie and I shared a look of fear and revulsion as we walked through the metal detectors and into the jail. I wondered if the place was always this crowded on Friday nights, or if St. Patrick’s Day and an overabundance of green beer and other liquors was the cause.

Sadie stepped up to the counter where a forty-something female officer with her hair in a tight bun sat staring at a computer screen. “Excuse me,” Sadie said. “My husband is here, and I want to see him.”

The officer barely glanced up. “What’s his name?”

“Blake MacKenzie.” Sadie spoke softly, obviously not wanting to announce to everyone within the sound of her voice that her husband had been arrested.

“Excuse me?” the officer asked. “You’ll have to speak up.”

“Blake MacKenzie,” Sadie repeated a little more loudly.

The officer typed what I assumed was Blake’s name into the computer. In a moment she instructed, “Wait here. I’ll have someone take you back.” She pressed an intercom button and called for Deputy Flaherty.

Within just a couple minutes, a red-haired policeman of average height and build arrived. “Mrs. MacKenzie?”

“That’s me,” Sadie said.

“Right this way,” he said.

“Is it okay if my friend comes too?” she asked.

“Sure.”

We followed him down a corridor that led to the cells. Prior to going through the door, Deputy Flaherty waved a metal detecting wand over us to further ensure neither of us was carrying a weapon.

“You may talk with your husband for about five minutes,” he told Sadie. “There is to be no physical contact, and I’ll remain with you while you speak with him.” He pressed a button and the door opened automatically.

The nearly deafening din coming from inside the cellblock reminded me of stepping into a dog kennel at an animal shelter. And the similarities didn’t end there. As I looked into the eyes of those behind the locked cage doors, I felt compassion for some and fear of others.

And, of course, my heart broke for Blake. Now wearing a standard issue, orange inmate jumpsuit, he sat on a cot in a cell by himself looking hung over and sad. His usually gleaming hair was limp and sweaty. His face brightened a little when he saw Sadie. He stood and hurried over to the bars. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Let’s just get you home.”

Blake looked ruefully at Deputy Flaherty and then back at Sadie. “That’s not gonna happen, babe. At least, not until Monday.”

“What?” Sadie stepped toward the officer until she was nearly nose to nose with him. “I can pay his bail right now. Why can’t he leave?”

“Bail hasn’t been set,” Deputy Flaherty said, patiently. “And it won’t be set until the judge presides over the arraignment Monday morning.”

“Isn’t there something you can do?” she demanded. “Someone you can call? I don’t know what charges you have him on, but I’m certain this must be a mistake. My husband is a good man.”

The officer spread his hands. “I’m sorry. In cases as serious as this, the accused must appear before the judge for the arraignment and bond hearing before there is even a possibility of his being released.”

Sadie went back to stand before Blake. “When you called, you said there had been some trouble at the bar. I thought you’d been in a fight or something. What do the police think you’ve done?”

Blake sighed. “Graham Stott is dead.”

She gasped. “Graham? How? What happened?”

“He was shot,” Blake said.

“B-but who? Why?” Her eyes filled with tears.

Blake simply shook his head.

“The police think you had something to do with it?” she asked.

He nodded.

The automatic door swung open, and another uniformed officer—this one short, heavy, and bald—escorted Todd into the cellblock.

“Todd?” I asked. Like Sadie, I was desperately trying to get a handle on what was going on.

He managed a weak smile. I noticed his hands were cuffed.

The officer instructed us to step back while he placed Todd into the cell with Blake. After shutting the door, he had Todd put his hands through the bars so he could remove the cuffs.

Sadie spun around to face Deputy Flaherty. “Will somebody please tell me what’s going on here?”

“Mr. MacKenzie and Mr. Calloway have been charged with the murder of Graham Stott,” he said.

 

Thanks so much to everyone who has made the embroidery series successful! I hope you enjoy THE LONG STITCH GOOD NIGHT. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway by leaving a comment with your email address. Also, please visit me at www.gayletrent.com , on Twitter, or on Facebook.

Good luck!

Amanda Lee

Here’s to Self Indulgence

I’ve been as guilty as anyone else.

Over the years, I’ve been known to sit in judgment of those who are more obviously blessed in the financial department than the majority of us for some of their more opulent choices.

Wouldn’t it have been nobler to give money to the poor than to use it buying a Maserati, I’ve mused. Does anyone really need an outfit that costs thousands of dollars, I’ve sometimes wondered.

This past weekend I learned the error of my ways.

While on a business trip, my employer treated me to a tour of the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. If you ever get the chance, do yourself a favor and go there. Plan to stay as long as possible, because there’s plenty to see and do and it’s incredibly beautiful.

Finished in 1895, Biltmore House is the largest personal residence in America. It has 4 acres of floor space, 250 rooms, 34 bedrooms, 43 bathrooms, and 65 fireplaces. The basement alone houses a swimming pool, gymnasium and changing rooms, bowling alley, servants' quarters, kitchens, and more. It’s set on 125,000 acres of truly gorgeous land, including formal gardens.

George Vanderbilt had it built as his personal residence when he was a bachelor with no potential wife waiting in the wings. So, being a sometimes-judgmental sort, time was when I would have damned the creation of Biltmore House an inexcusable self-indulgence. After spending time there, I’m of another mindset all together.

Although no longer used as a private residence, approximately one million people visit this glorious site annually. Over 2,000 people are currently employed on the estate, whether at the house or its associated hotel, winery, gift shops, various restaurants or whatever. Hundreds-perhaps thousands-of people were involved in the Biltmore’s creation over the six-year period it was being built. George was known to be a kind employer who treated, paid and housed those who worked for him in an exemplary fashion. Several of the employees I spoke to this weekend assured me that tradition continues and that the Biltmore is still a terrific place to work.

Was the creation of Biltmore house self-indulgent? Probably. Was that a bad thing? In this instance I have to vote no. An untold number of people have been blessed over the years, and continue to be, as a result of it being built and preserved. Therefore, I have determined that when self-indulgence leads to the responsible creation and maintenance of something positive and lovely that blesses others, it is among mankind’s nobler endeavors.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? IS SELF-INDULGENT OPULENCE RIDICULOUS OR A POTENTIAL ONGOING BLESSING TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS? A FREE COPY OF MY DEBUT NOVEL, MRS. GOODFELLER WILL BE RANDOMLY AWARDED TO ONE PERSON WHO LEAVES A COMMENT BELOW BEFORE THE NEXT WRITERSPACE BLOG IS POSTED.

www.jayciecash.com

Jaycie Cash blogs on a regular basis for Writerspace.com. Her debut novel, Mrs. Goodfeller, is available through most major e-Book outlets, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble. She’d love for you to like her Facebook Author page.

What Makes It So Tantalizing

Writing erotic romance or even highly sensual romance is writing hot. So, what makes it hot? How does a writer keep the heat level high when she/he is writing? Hm, that ladies and gents, is a very good question.

For me, I think the emotional connection between the hero and heroine is what makes the sex as powerful as it is. If there isn’t a connection between them, the heat level just doesn’t go as high. Now when I say emotional connection, it could mean love, hate, like, dislike, or just that animal attraction between two people.

You won’t find my characters without that connection because that’s when things get interesting. In my new release, DEVILS ON HORSEBACK: GIDEON, the hero and heroine have something of an adversarial relationship when they meet. However, they each sense the underlying attraction immediately.

He’s a southern gentleman from a privileged family, and she’s the daughter of a dirt farmer who has been poor all her life. They’re at opposite sides of everything they know or believe in, yet that connection is there, it brings them together whether or not they want to.

And oh boy, when they come together, it’s like the fourth of July. Sincere sexual heat and erotic pleasure are inevitable with such passion. That’s what it is at its base level – passion. They fight with it, talk with it, and have fabulous sex with it.

I think pitting a hero and heroine against each other like Gideon and Chloe allows the reader to root for one or the other. Then when they finally roll (or is that tumble? ?) into bed or wagon in this case, you’re right there along with them, feeling the heat and the erotic experience too.

If there is a heat in the story, I feel it when I write it just the same as when I read it. If I don’t feel that sexual tension and passion, then you won’t either. Gideon and Chloe were a conflagration from the get-go. Opposites attract and oh boy the flames burn brightly.

I had a book club friend ask me once, “Why do you have to use words like p*ssy and c*ck? Is that necessary?” Now you have to know she’s a lifelong attorney, a retired ADA and outspoken (love her to pieces!). She would always ask me directly what she was thinking. So what do you think I told her?

What two people in real life don’t have sex in a relationship? And that sex is heightened the more descriptive the words I use to paint the picture for the reader. I find as a reader, I like to read the explicit words because it’s much more, ah, stimulating. ;)

I hope that you readers feel the same way, or rather, get the feeling the same way. LOL.

www.bethwilliamson.com

 

Falling in Love with Rory MacGrath

Have you seen the gorgeous man on the cover of HAUNTING WARRIOR? I mean, seriously, do they get any sexier? If I saw him walking down the street would I throw caution, decorum and sanity to the wind and accost him…probably yes. (Okay, okay, absolutely yes….)

Well, meet Rory MacGrath.

I fell in love with Rory during the first draft of HAUNTING WARRIOR. It was about that time when the reserved and sometimes angry man began to show me his softer side. Disconnected from his past, his family, and even his heritage, Rory had a vulnerability that was a direct contradiction to his manly exterior. But even Rory knew that the front he presented was just that—a façade that might fool strangers, but couldn’t fool those who knew him.

Or people like me who were about to fall in love with him.

Tough on the outside and lost on the inside, I knew that all Rory needed was a woman who could help him see his own strengths—a woman who would challenge him to rise above the past that had crippled him emotionally. This woman would bring him back into the circle of the living. She couldn’t be just any woman and she certainly wasn’t easy to find. In fact, Rory had to travel through time to reach her.

One of my favorite scenes in HAUNTING WARRIOR comes when Saraid (Haunting Warrior’s heroine) faces the fact that man she’s wed is not the loathed Ruairi the Bloodletter, but another man who watches from the same blue, blue eyes….

Saraid stared at her splayed fingers, feeling that the freezing hand must surely belong to someone else. Not her. Not Saraid. Yet she could feel the coldness of it pressed against the burning heat of the Bloodletter’s chest. Feel the fierce pounding of his heart beneath her palm. She was numb and raw at the same time. Her mind felt dull and yet every pore of her skin was sensitive to the slightest shift in the air. The draft coming from beyond the curtain chilled like a blustering wind. The voices in that other room boomed loud and jarring. How could they still be laughing? Playing music and dancing? How could they not know what Saraid had witnessed? The impossibility of it felt as enormous as the sky, the sea, the very earth beneath her.

“It is you she foretold. It was always you.” Saraid spoke the words before she’d even realized their truth.

But somehow her eyes and her mouth had accepted what her mind still rejected. This man staring at her from behind the Bloodletter’s blue gaze had changed—pulled himself in two and . . . and . . .

She moved her icy fingers, trailing them over the heated muscle to the rippled pucker of a scar just over his heart. Slowly she traced the outline while he remained perfectly still, barely breathing. Watching her with the same shock she felt inside.

The scar was as big as her hand, spread wide over it. It was shaped in three continuous spirals that had no beginning, no ending. She knew them, recognized the symbol from the ancient stones at Tara, from the countless mounds and dolmens scattered throughout Éire. It was the triple spiral that represented life, death, and rebirth. The same symbol that she’d just seen locking what could only be the Book of Fennore. The spirals had been burned into this man’s flesh so long ago that the skin was now white and silky. But the scar hadn’t been there before, when he’d stripped his clothes. When he’d taken her on the bed….

I hope you’ll take the journey through time with Rory and Saraid and I hope you’ll find the same fascination with Rory MacGrath that both Saraid and I shared. Be warned though…he might steal your heart.

HAUNTING WARRIOR is available now at all bookstores and online booksellers in mass market paperback and electronic formats. Amazon, Barnes & Noble , Books-a-Million or Indie Bound

Also new this month, look for IRISH MIST, a e-novella quick-read for 99 cents at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance.

Erin Quinn is an award winning author who writes romance for the thinking reader. Her books have been called “riveting,” “brilliantly plotted” and “beautifully written” and have won, placed or showed in the Booksellers Best, WILLA Award for Historical fiction, the Orange Rose, Readers Crown, Golden Quill, Best Books, and Award of Excellence. Go to www.erinquinnbooks.com for more information or follow Erin on FB at www.facebook.com/ErinQuinnAuthor or twitter at @ErinQuinnAuthor.

Erin will be giving away an eBook copy of WHISPERS or ECHOES to 2 lucky winners who comment on today’s blog. Tell me, what is your favorite kind of paranormal novel? (time travel, shapeshifters, magic….?) Talk to me!

 

www.erinquinnbooks.com


 

Letting Go

Like most people who love reading mystery series, I like to watch the characters evolve, see their relationships ebb and flow. Sitting down with the next book in a series is like visiting with old friends. Now that I'm writing a mystery series myself, I find that I enjoy the same things about it from the author's side. There's even a bonus -- beginning the second book in a series isn't quite so intimidating. My characters are already my pals, so I know they'll come out to play as soon as I knock on their door. And I know they'll bring all their loveable, laughable neuroses with them.

There is one thing that hasn't changed since writing my earlier, stand-alone titles. Sending the finished manuscript off to the editor is still difficult for me. It's a lot like sending a child off to make his way in the world. I think about what my daughter said to me when I was harassing her with my last bits of parental wisdom before she left for college: "Mom, you need to relax and trust the way you raised me for the past seventeen years." She was right of course, but even after two kids and six books, I still find it hard to let go. Now that SKETCH A FALLING STAR, the third book in the Portrait of Crime series, has been released, I'm once again wondering how this newest baby of mine will be received out there, how it will fare on its own.

If you've been reading the series you already know that Rory McCain and federal marshal Zeke Drummond are partners in a private investigating firm. Rory started out as a sketch artist for the county police department, and Zeke started out as a lawman back in the nineteenth century. In other words he's been dead for well over a hundred years. As you might imagine, they've had their problems learning to live and work together. Zeke is old school when it comes to a woman's place in society -- old, old school, and Rory's a risk taker, an independent woman of the twenty-first century.

In each book of the series there's a new murder case for the duo to solve as well as more glimpses into Zeke's mysterious past and the dark secret that still burdens him. In SKETCH A FALLING STAR the team is hired to investigate a death that occurs during a flash flood. Rory's high-spirited, slightly wacky aunt Helene and her amateur acting troupe are vacationing together in Arizona when the sudden flood catches them in a slot canyon. When the water recedes one of the actors is dead. Although the medical examiner labels the death accidental, Rory and Zeke soon have reason to believe that it was murder.

In SKETCH A FALLING STAR you'll also meet Eloise Bowman, an elderly woman who moves in with her family down the street from Rory and Zeke. Although her family believes their matriarch's recent stroke has left her daft, Rory and Zeke realize it also left her with some pretty impressive psychic abilities. In fact, Eloise plays a pivotal role in helping Rory uncover the truth about Zeke's past. There's never a dull moment when you're hanging out with Rory and Zeke.

www.sharonpape.com

 




 

WRITERSPACE READERS ENJOY LUCK OF THE IRISH THIS MARCH

Thanks to the many terrific books being released this month, Writerspace readers are sure to feel they’ve found that much-ballyhooed pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. All reading, all the time is a definite option for anyone who doesn’t have to make an appearance at the office until April.

Wish I had time to write more, but it’s time for me to snuggle in with my favorite leprechaun and start reading!

March 2012 Writerspace releases include:

Darkness Bound

By Stella Cameron

Forever

www.stellacameron.com

Redwood Bend

By Robyn Carr

MIRA

www.robyncarr.com

Sinful Temptation

By Ann Christopher

Kamini Romance

www.annchristopher.com

Operation Midnight

By Justine Davis

Harlequin Romantic Suspense

www.justinedavis.com

Guns and Roses (anthology)

Blood and Roses

By Sylvia Day

Murder She Writes Press

www.sylviaday.com

The Last First Kiss

By Marie Ferrarella

Harlequin Special Edition

www.marieferrarella.com

Secret Paradise

By Dara Girard

Kamini Romance

www.daragirard.com

Secret Identity

By Paula Grave

Harlequin Intrique

www.paulagraves.com

Guns and Roses (anthology)

Nightfall

By Laura Griffin

Murder She Writes Press

www.lauragriffin.com

The Surrender of Miss Fairbourne

By Madeline Hunter

Jove

www.madelinehunter.com

Blame it on the Bachelor

By Karen Kendall

Two of A Kind, Inc

www.karenkendall.com

Just Another Day in Paradise

By Elizabeth Lowell

Two of A Kind, Inc

www.elizabethlowell.com

The Frog and the Scorpion

By Elizabeth Lowell

Two of A Kind, Inc

www.elizabethlowell.com

Gatsby’s Vineyard

By Elizabeth Lowell

Two of A Kind, Inc

www.elizabethlowell.com

Just Enough Light to Kill

By Elizabeth Lowell

Two of A Kind, Inc

www.elizabethlowell.com

McKettrick’s Pride

By Linda Lael Miller

HQN

www.lindalaelmiller.com

Sketch a Falling Star

By Sharon Pape

Berkley Sensation

www.sharonpape.com

Irish Mist

By Erin Quinn

Books We Love Publishing

www.erinquinnbooks.com

Haunting Warrior

By Erin Quinn

Berkley Sensation

www.erinquinnbooks.com

With Just One Kiss

By Francis Ray

St. Martin’s Paperbacks

www.francisray.com

Sea Fire

By Karen Robards

Pocket Star

www.karenrobards.com

One Man Rush

By Joanne Rock

Harlequin Blaze

www.joannerock.com

More than Words: Stories of the Heart

By Meryl Sawyer

Harlequin

www.merylsawyer.com

A Distant Tomorrow

By Bertrice Small

HQN

www.bertricesmall.net

Guns and Roses (anthology)

Pick Your Poison

By Roxanne St. Claire

Murder She Writes Press

www.roxannestclaire.com

If You Know Her

By Shiloh Walker

Ballantine

www.shilohwalker.com

Wicked Edge

By Nina Bangs

Berkley Sensation Trade

Passion Wears Pearls

By Renee Bernard

Berkley Sensation

Fair Game

By Patricia Briggs

Ace

Taking a Shot

By Jaci Burton

Berkley Heat

The Belly Dancer

By DeAnna Cameron

Berkley

Waltz This Way

By Dakota Cassidy

Berkley Sensation Trade

Spellbound

By Janet Chapman

Jove

The Vampire Files, Volume Five

By P.N. Elrod

Ace Trade

The White Pearl

By Kate Furnivall

Berkley Trade

Geared for Pleasure

By Rachel Grace

Berkley Heat

Dead in the Family

By Charlaine Harris

Ace Trade

Oracle’s Moon

By Thea Harrison

Berkley Sensation

Passion and Pretense

By Susan Gee

Berkley Sensation

Wedded in Scandal

By Jade Lee

Berkley Sensation

Soul Bound

By Mari Mancusi

Berkley Trade

Protector

By Catherine Mann

Berkley Sensation

Don’t Kill the Messenger

By Eileen Rendahl

Ace

Celebrity in Death

By J.D. Robb

Putnam

New York to Dallas

By J.D. Robb

Berkley

Born in Shame

By Nora Roberts

Jove

Angel’s Flight

By Nalini Singh

Berkley Sensation

Now or Never

By Michele Bardsley

Signet Eclipse

Dying Wish

By Shannon K. Butcher

Signet

Murder She Wrote: Skating on Thin Ice

By Shannon K. Butcher

Obsidian

Perfect on Paper

By Janet Goss

NAL Trade

When Maidens Mourn

By C.S. Harris

Obsidian

Where Shadows Dance

By C.S. Harris

Obsidian

Eventide

By Elle Jasper

Signet Eclipse

Abby Finds Her Calling

By Naomi King

NAL Trade

If You Were Here

By Jen Lancaster

NAL Trade

Fashion Faux Paw

By Judi McCoy

Obsidian

The Sister Queens

By Sophie Perinot

NAL Trade

Darkness Undone

By Jessa Slade

Signet Eclipse

The Haunting of Maddy Clare

By Simone St. James

NAL Trade

Little Shop of Homicide

By Denise Swanson

Obsidian

Dire Needs

By Stephanie Tyler

Signet Eclipse

Night Born

By Lynn Viehl

Signet Selecte

Vampire’s Kiss

By Veronica Wolff

NAL Trade

Cat’s Claw

By Susan Wittig

Berkley Prime Crime

Agony of the Leaves

By Laura Childs

Berkley Prime Crime

Scones & Bones

By Laura Childs

Berkley Prime Crime

Fire Engine Dead

By Sheila Connolly

Berkley Prime Crime

Murder Buys A T-Shirt

By Christy Fifield

Berkley Prime Crime

Adrift on St. John

By Rebecca M. Hale

Berkley Prime Crime

Dead Over Heels

By Charlaine Harris

Berkley Prime Crime

The Probability of Murder

By Ada Madison

Berkley Prime Crime

Due or Die

By Jen McKinlay

Berkley Prime Crime

Helsinki White

By James Thompson

Putnam

Caught in the Spotlight

By Jules Bennett

Silhouette Desire

A Fair Cop

By Rosemary Laurey

Ellora’s Cave Blush

Starstruck

By Ashleigh Raine

Samhain Publishing

Gideon

By Beth Williamson

Samhain Publishing

The Revenge of Lord Eberlin

By Julia London

Pocket