Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Today we celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Wouldn’t it be great if I had an Irish book to talk about? Well, as you can probably guess, THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD is set in Scotland. So today I thought I’d chat about a common ancestor to both Scotland and Ireland: the Celts. The Celts is a term rather loosely used to describe some of the early peoples of Europe and the British Isles. Currently, the six Celtic nations are considered to be Scotland, Brittany, Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The Celtic culture is an ancient one and shrouded in mystery. The Celts were known as warrior adventurers, conquering and spreading through Europe and particularly into the British Isles. Woman may also have been warriors and leaders of their clans. Another important role in Celtic society was the members of the priestly and intellectual class called the druids. Celtic religion was polytheistic and their deities were often associated with natural features, such as rivers. After the conversion of the Celts to Christianity in 5th century Ireland, thanks to our celebrated St. Patrick, the Celts showed a strong interest in intellectual pursuits, particularly in…

Scoundrels of St. James #4 November 2009On Sale: November 1, 2009Featuring: James Swindler; Eleanor Watkins384 pages ISBN: 0061734004EAN: 9780061734007Mass Market Paperback$6.99 Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com Midnight Pleasures with a Scoundrelby Lorraine Heath She Sought Revenge but Discovered Desire On a quest to avenge her sister’s death, Eleanor Watkins never expected to fall for the man following her through pleasure gardens and into ballrooms. But soon nothing can keep her from the arms of the sinfully attractive scoundrel, not even the dangerous secrets she keeps. Strong, compassionate, and utterly irresistible, James is all she desires. But can she trust him enough to let herself succumb to all the pleasures that midnight allows? James Swindler has worked hard to atone for his unsavory past. He is now as at home in London’s glittering salons as he is in the roughest streets. But when the inspector is tasked with keeping watch on a mysterious lady suspected of nefarious deeds, he is determined to use his skills at seduction to lure Eleanor into revealing her plans. Instead, he is the one seduced, turning away from everything he holds dear in order to protect her–no matter the cost to his heart. Can love survive…

Does a normal person ever get to a place where they forget or lose their sense of self? If so, what happens to those things that make us unique individuals? Things like the way we feel about love, morals, values, ethics, our perspective on the way we see the world? Our faith? Do our automatic responses stay the same? If we (hard to imagine!) hated chocolate, do we still hate it? Those were the kinds of questions in my mind and so I decided to think about them and explore them in FORGET ME NOT, the first book in my new Crossroads Crisis Center series. The worst-case scenario would be to have a person whose entire life was suddenly a mystery to them. That’s a feeling we’ve all had at one time or another; a moment when we look at ourselves in the mirror and we’re not quite sure who that person is looking back at us. So naturally the heroine had to have her life stripped from her–all of it! Once it had been, then I could see what was left. I was admittedly eager. I know. I’m awful. The protagonist endures a long, difficult and sometimes scary journey,…

Last month, I did a presentation at the Arlington, Texas, Public Library’s paperback swap event. Even though Valentine’s Day has already passed, we still kept the romantic mood alive by focusing on romance. Just to be different, I spoke about the romantic books you find outside the romance section. The romance genre itself has some expectations, the most important of which is a happy ending with the couple together in some kind of relationship that looks like it will last. That makes it a safe place if you want to read a love story where one of the main characters doesn’t die tragically at the end. But you can still find romantic stories in other places, though there’s the risk that it won’t work out in quite the way you might hope. Actually, romance has been important to fiction ever since people started telling stories. Look at all the hooking up that happens in Greek and Norse mythology, in Arthurian legends and in fairy tales. Then there are the literary classics. There’s a romantic happy ending in all of Jane Austen’s books. Jane Eyre is essentially an inspirational romance, since Jane is rewarded with her true love after she holds…

Reality is good. We all live our lives steeped in it. Some days are better than others. We know it, accept it, and consider ourselves lucky if we end up with a few more good days than bad ones. We take care of ourselves, our families, our careers. We handle the expected demands–the voluntary demands and the compulsory ones–and the thousand other things that need to be done on a routine basis. We also handle the unexpected demands, everyone’s crises, and the things that we couldn’t plan or prepare for with a million years’ advance notice. And, wonder of wonder, somehow we manage to do all these things and stay sane. So why then, when we mere mortals accomplish the impossible with monotonous regularity, are we’d begrudged our desire to indulge in an occasional bit of whimsy? Admittedly, I’m having a little trouble with understanding this. While it seems it’s perfectly acceptable for us to do all of the almost superhuman things that we do, we get every reaction from strange looks to admonitions for wanting to do something just for the fun of it. Sometimes, justification is actually asked for, and on occasion (can you believe it?) required or…

August 2009On Sale: August 1, 2009Featuring: Nancy D’Onofrio; Nell D’Onofrio; Vivi D’Onofrio320 pages ISBN: 0758228635EAN: 9780758228635Paperback$14.00 Romance Suspense Buy at Amazon.com Tasting Fearby Shannon McKenna New York Times bestselling author Shannon McKenna delivers a provocative, thrilling new novel in which three sisters search for their mother’s killer…and find unexpected passion on the way. BLOOD WILL TELL Nancy . . . Nell . . . Vivi . . . Three sisters who know there is no force on earth greater than love . . . unless it is the desire for vengeance. When their adored foster mother is murdered, the D’Onofrio women come together to hunt for her murderer—and track down a family legacy gone missing; rare, priceless art from the Renaissance, a treasure worth killing for. The law can only do so much and the three sisters are on their own—until three mysterious men get involved . . . Startled to find a brawny stranger at her mother’s house, Nancy is even more surprised at the heat of passion that flares between them. Liam is intense and instantly protective. But is it wise to trust him with every secret? Her sister Nell has turned to Duncan, her new boss, for…

One thing that can be said for certain about Edward IV-the king whose secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville sets the events of my novel The Stolen Crown into motion-he knew how to put on a show. Take, for instance, the welcoming of Louis de Gruthuse to England in 1472, an event recorded by Bluemantle Pursuivant. We know that Gruthuse was led to the chambers of Edward IV’s queen, where the ladies were dancing and playing games; that Edward presented his visitor with costly gifts, including a great gold cup containing a unicorn’s horn, feasted with him, and hunted with him; and that when the long days of pleasure were over, Gruthuse was escorted to a splendid bed of “as good downe as coulde be thought.” Edward got another chance to demonstrate the magnificence of his court in 1478, when his four-year-old son, Richard, Duke of York, married little Anne Mowbray, who at age five was even longer in the tooth than little Richard. We have a detailed description of the wedding festivities and especially of the celebratory jousts, at the conclusion of which the king’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, presented the winners with golden initials studded with a diamond,…

Redstone, Incorporated February 2010On Sale: February 1, 2010Featuring: St. John; Jessa Hill224 pagesISBN: 0373276672EAN: 9780373276677Mass Market Paperback$4.99 Romance SuspenseBuy at Amazon.com The Best Revengeby Justine Davis He wanted his last dead end buried… Something in St. John’s intense blue eyes reminded Jessa Hill of her childhood friend. But Adam Alden was long dead…. The handsome stranger had vowed to help her defeat Adam’s father in the mayoral race. Yet St. John’s quest for revenge seemed too personal for a casual acquaintance. Could St. John and Adam be the same man…and would he disappear with Jessa’s heart a second time? Dameron St. John returned home with a new identity and a score to settle. But he wasn’t prepared for the emotions that surfaced when he reunited with Jessa. Could he let her in once again…and together would they slay his demons once and for all? Excerpt “Coward.” St. John looked at himself in the mirror. The scar was less vivid than usual this morning, perhaps because there wasn’t much tan to contrast with the thin, long ridge that slashed along the right side of his jaw. That happened when you hid inside most of the time, he told himself. Coward was…

Jaded Gentlemen #1 March 2010On Sale: March 2, 2010Featuring: Haley Moreland; Galen Hawke336 pages ISBN: 0425233375EAN: 9780425233375Paperback$7.99 Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com Revenge Wears Rubiesby Renee Bernard Vengeance doesn’t always turn out the way you planned Vengeance doesn’t always turn out the way you planned. First in a sexy new series of erotic passion set in Victorian London Galen Hawke desires nothing but revenge against the woman who betrayed his dearly departed friend. Instead of mourning the loss of her fiancé, Miss Haley Moreland is merrily celebrating her upcoming nuptials to another man. Now, Galen has one mission: to seduce Miss Moreland and enslave her heart. And when she is completely his, he will destroy her. The journey is long for an emotionally crippled man to finally discover the ability to love. Excerpt Bengal, 1857 They’d just been voices in the dark to each other in the first few days. The familiarity of English accents and the simple relief at not being alone were stark comforts none of them had ever experienced. In an ancient pitch-black oubliette, unsure of their ultimate fate, they’d observed the rituals of introduction and exchanged names and shaken hands as if they were in the…

This week I got news I wasn’t expecting and have spent a lot of time crying over it. I know that as the next few weeks and months go by I’m going to be doing a lot more crying, so I thought what a perfect time to read a book that makes me cry, because I can just blame my news on why I’m crying, and my husband and sons won’t poke fun of me for crying over a book. On the other hand i’m also going to need to find things to laugh about, and I know there are books out there with the humor I’m looking for. I read and cried over The You I Never Knew by Susan Wiggs, Cloud Nine by Luanne Rice, and The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah just to name a few. I read and laughed over Big Girls Don’t by Cathie Linz, Bet Me by Jennifer Cruise, and True Confessions by Rachel Gibson again to just name a few. So, which do you prefer….to laugh while reading or a good tear jerker? Does it depend on your mood? What recommendations do you have for me and others this week?…