Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Fresh Pick | SILVER SILENCE by Joy Nash
Fresh Pick / September 30, 2010

Druids of Avalon #3 November 2009 On Sale: October 27, 2009 Featuring: Rhys; Breena 336 pages ISBN: 0505527170 EAN: 9780505527172 Mass Market Paperback $7.99 Add to Wish List Paranormal, Romance Historical Buy at Amazon.com Silver Silence by Joy Nash Dark Magic dooms Rhys to wander the endless roadways and wild forests, searching for druids strong enough to battle the coming evil. Duty demands that he lead a solitary life, taking women to his bed but not into his heart. Dark Passion drives Rhys to commit acts that shame him, especially when he believes they’ve been witnessed by the innocent druidess he’s sworn to protect. Breena is young and pure, and Rhys hates himself for his dark longing. A Dark Spell steals Breena away, leaving Rhys to follow her through the Lost Lands to Britain’s grim future, when the danger Breena has foreseen threatens to extinguish the Light of Avalon. Only together can Rhys and Breena unravel the secret linking their past with a future King, and break the… Silver Silence. A powerful, passionate and intense story in the Druids of Avalon series. Excerpt Breena’s voice trembled. “I don’t want anyone else, Rhys. Can’t you understand that? I love you. I…

Shelley Munro | Why Write A Gothic Historical Romance?
Author Guest / September 30, 2010

My parents introduced me to books and reading at a young age. As kids, my brother, sister and I knew our nursery rhymes off by heart and loved our parents reading to us. As we grew older, our love for books continued and we branched out, reading by ourselves. I distinctly remember receiving a copy of Enid Blyton’s FIVE ON A TREASURE ISLAND, book one in the Famous Five series, in my Christmas stocking. This was my introduction to mysteries. I devoured this book, reading it many times, along with the other Famous Five adventures. I was hooked, graduating to Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy mysteries, along with anything else that contained mystery and suspense. During my teenage years, on a beach holiday, I ran out of books to read. Disaster! In desperation, and to keep the peace, my mother gave me one of her Mills & Boon romances. They were pretty tame in those days and the hero and heroine were lucky to actually kiss during the course of the book. I enjoyed the book and read several more during the course of our holiday. Back at school again, my friends and I discovered Victoria Holt. (Wikipedia) A combination…

Fresh Pick | GWENHWYFAR by Mercedes Lackey
Fresh Pick / September 29, 2010

King Arthur October 2009 On Sale: October 6, 2009 400 pages ISBN: 0756405858 EAN: 9780756405854 Hardcover $25.95 Add to Wish List Fantasy Buy at Amazon.com Gwenhwyfar by Mercedes Lackey The White Spirit The bestselling author of the Valdemar novels pens a classic tale about King Arthur’s legendary queen. Gwenhwyfar moves in a world where gods walk among their pagan worshipers, where nebulous visions warn of future perils, and where there are two paths for a woman: the path of the Blessing or the rarer path of the Warrior. Gwenhwyfar chooses the latter, giving up the power that she is born into. Yet the daughter of a King is never truly free to follow her own calling. Acting as the “son” her father never had, when called upon to serve another purpose by the Ladies of the Well, she bows to circumstances to become Arthur’s queen-only to find herself facing temptation and treachery, intrigue and betrayal, but also love and redemption.. Tales of King Arthur and his queen never go out of style. Previous Picks

J. K. Beck | Story Ideas From the Oddest Places
Author Guest / September 29, 2010

Maybe it’s part of being a writer, but story ideas always seem to be popping up—sometimes under the oddest of circumstances. We’ve just moved, and story ideas are running rampant. For example, our new house is on a culdesac, which means that there’s a circle of concrete in front of the house, and several neighbors both on the sides and behind us. Having moved from a house on 1.5 acres, this is new to me…and my mind is whirring! Anyone see The Stepford Wives? I’m thinking I need to write The Culdesac Husbands? All the suburban moms get together and decide they need the perfect off-to-work, lawn-trimming, BBQ grilling, backyard mowing husbands? (Already I can tell that would be nice, LOL). Or a culdesac version of Rear Window? After all, I can see what my across the backyard neighbor is watching on television through the kitchen window. So what else could I see if dastardly deeds were done? And who’s to say what could come of the fact that we’re a two-story house but most of our neighbors are one story? The possibilities are endless…. It’s that “What If” mentality that marks writers, I think. I know my current series,…

October Best Bets for Suspense…
Fresh Thrills / September 28, 2010

I love October. The summer heat is mostly gone. I no longer have to be up by 6:00am to take the dogs for a walk. The new TV season has started. I’ve been back at work for about 6 weeks, so everything has settled into a routine. I work in academia so I get to take some time off in the summer, something for which I am very appreciative. I must say, though, the transition back can be a little rough. “Meetings? I have to go to meetings? Really?” fades to “So, when’s the next meeting?” by October. The resentment I feel over the fact that work seriously cuts into my reading time has also eased by now. In the summer I like to beat the heat by lying in bed and reading. By October, I’ve relearned how to prioritize my reading, since I’m lucky to get time to read over lunch or before going to sleep. I made a point to take a sneak peak at two of this month’s new releases. THE 2nd LIE is the second book in The Chapman Files by Tara Taylor Quinn. The lynch pin of the series is psychologist Kelly Chapman, whose cases…

Fresh Pick | MAY EARTH RISE by Holly Taylor
Fresh Pick / September 28, 2010

Dreamer’s Cycle #4 October 2009 On Sale: October 1, 2009 Featuring: Gwydion 485 pages ISBN: 1933836571 EAN: 9781933836577 Paperback $15.95 Add to Wish List Fantasy Historical Buy at Amazon.com May Earth Rise by Holly Taylor The Y Dawnus, the Gifted, are pillars of High King Arthur’s society in a mysterious land in 500 A.D. Without them, his empire cannot survive. When they are taken captive by the Coranians in a battle for Kymru, the fate of the world hangs in the balance. In this fourth book of the Dreamer’s Cycle, cruel deprivation and a full-scale conflict bring the Kymri to the brink of annihilation. Confronting his mortal enemy, Havgan the Warleader, Arthur and his forces face a formidable opponent backed by menacing powers that threaten to destroy their magical, elite kingdom. Loyal to King Arthur, Gwydion, the Dreamer of Kymru, must risk the loss of Rhiannon. She alone is the love of his soul. A daring escapade against the Coranians threatens to separate them forever. If he fails, he will never see her again. In a treacherous realm where captives are collared and sacrificed, where ruthless territorial boundaries are drawn and enforced, where death by poisoning and torture are the…

Spotlight on Gwyn Cready
Author Spotlight / September 28, 2010

RT Gives Aching for Always 4 1/2 Stars! Enter to Win a Kate Spade Bag. Vengeance has driven naval captain Hugh Hawksmoor from his eighteenth century ship to a gleaming future of skyscrapers and cell phones, but will it drive him out of the arms of the woman he loves? “Cready builds on her reputation for writing sensuous, romantic time-travel books. This delightful story is passionate, suspenseful, adventurous and highly entertaining. Readers will find themselves constantly smiling and wonder where the time went when they come to the end.” — Romantic Times on Aching for Always, 4 1/2 stars Message from RITA® Award-winning novelist and author of Aching for Always, Gwyn Cready: I hope you love romance because Aching for Always (Pocket Books, $7.99, available in stores and online today) is the best I’ve ever written. Here’s the story: Eighteenth century naval captain, Hugh Hawksmoor, is determined to avenge his brother’s death. His quest takes him into the future, a world he doesn’t know or understand. There he meets Joss O’Malley, a scrappy young woman determined to save the map-making company her mother founded. One map will change both of their lives. Hugh’s deft touch and Old World charm stir…

Gabriella Edwards | Hard for the Money: Sexy Occupations that Make Men Sexier
Author Guest / September 28, 2010

Spies, private investigators, detectives, G-men, Special Forces, firefighters, and so many more I’m missing I’m sure, all carry the same aura or “WOW!” factor for me. Sexy is relative when it comes to just about anything. For example, kilts are sexy—on people who can wear them. On Gerard Butler they’re downright sinful! Now on Uncle Paolo who’s had way too much stuffed manicotti over his lifetime… hmm, not so much. So sexy is as sexy looks? No, I don’t think so. Men in uniform, men who take risks, men who use their brawn for most of the day in their jobs, do it for me, baby! So if I’d started out this way, then this list could include so many more occupations. • The Uniformed = garbage collectors wear them. So they’re sexy? Uh…we don’t see too many calendar pin-ups of them, now do we? • Risk Takers = sewer workers take a risk every time they submerge themselves in sewer systems filled with…okay, sorry, yuck! Sexy? • Brawny Lads = farmers use big huge machines (this may have some of you thinking, hmm, that’s sexy) to do most of the heavy lifting, but hearing a friend describe her husband…

Kat Martin | Covers–Bain Or Blessing
Author Guest / September 27, 2010

The cover of a novel is the single most important ingredient in the success or failure of a book. This is not something authors want to hear and it is not always true. If the book is special enough and it gets loads of word-of-mouth, even a bad cover can’t stop the book from being a success. If the author’s name is well enough known–and I am speaking here of New York Times bestsellers with very large print runs–a bad cover can’t stop it from being a success. However most of us fall in the category where a cover can make the difference between success and failure. Over the years, I’ve had good covers and bad. One of the prettiest covers I ever had was on a book called MIDNIGHT RIDER. The problem was the cover was completely white. The lovely embossed bird on the front didn’t show up until the reader picked up the book. Not many did! The title was the second half of the problem. It was chosen by the publisher and no amount of talking could convince them to change it. The combination of bad cover and bad title was lethal. On the other hand, I…

Fresh Pick | THE MISTS OF TIME by Susan Squires
Fresh Pick / September 26, 2010

Davinci Time Travel #1 September 2010 On Sale: August 31, 2010 Featuring: Diana Dearborn; Gawain 368 pages ISBN: 0312943555 EAN: 9780312943554 Mass Market Paperback $7.99 Add to Wish List Romance Time Travel Buy at Amazon.com The Mists of Time by Susan Squires How far would you go for a once-in-a-lifetime love? Diana Dearborn knows all about romance, at least in the books she writes. But passion eludes her in real life—until she’s offered the chance to travel back in time to Camelot. The world of King Arthur and Guinevere is nothing like she pictured, neither is the knight she encounters on her return to San Francisco: Gawain, the hero of her current project. He’s complicated, mysterious, and sexier than anything her imagination could conjure. And he’s been waiting for her… Now, joined together in a desperate race, Diana and Gawain must prevent an ancient, evil force from wreaking mayhem in the all-too-real present. Diana must learn to trust Gawain—even while she encounters secrets about her own past. But even if their mission succeeds, does Diana’s destiny lie with this man from another time—and will their love alter history forever? A unique and exciting combination of time-travel and Camelot, with a…