Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Fresh Pick | RHYMES WITH CUPID by Anna Humphrey
Fresh Pick / February 9, 2011

January 2011 On Sale: December 21, 2010 Featuring: Elyse Ulrich; Patrick 162 pages ISBN: 0061935018 EAN: 9780061935015 Paperback $7.99 Add to Wish List Young Adult Buy at Amazon.com She’s in love, Cupid! Rhymes With Cupid by Anna Humphrey Love happens when you least expect it… Goodman’s Gifts & Stationery Store February 14 Cashier: Elyse 3 boxes of heart-shaped chocolate . . . $12.00 Chocolate is the only good thing about this nauseating holiday. 4 containers of candy hearts . . . $5.00 Ever since my ex cheated on me, I’ve sworn off love. Too bad my new neighbor Patrick didn’t get the memo. 1 Valentine’s Day card . . . $4.50 I’m not interested. Although, he is pretty cute. And sweet. And funny. 1 singing Cupid doll (promotional item) . . . $0.00 Stupid Cupid! Point your arrows at someone else. . . . Subtotal . . . $21.50 It’s going to be a complicated Valentine’s Day. Rhymes with Cupid is a sweet, funny love story about a girl who finds romance despite her best efforts not to. All that Elyse Ulrich wants is to get through Valentine’s Day as painlessly as possible. Working at Goodman’s Gifts & Stationery is…

Julia Justiss | The Eternal Appeal Of The Rake
Author Guest / February 9, 2011

It doesn’t take much research to prove that the “bad boy” is one of the most popular hero types in romance fiction.  For the Regency, the operative term is “rake” or “rogue;” enter that word as a title name on Amazon, and you currently get 1816 books with “Rake” in the title, 9087 with “Rogue.” Whether he comes kitted out as an ancient Roman gladiator or medieval knight, an arrogant Regency rake or Victorian duke, a contemporary cop, private eye, billionaire businessman or a futuristic shape-changing warrior or vampire, it’s clear most romance readers love the the alpha male Bad Boy.  But what is it that we find so appealing? Maybe it’s the idea of all that hot, exciting, masculine energy, teasing and tantalizing you.  Maybe it’s the challenge of trying to tame him, or the heady thrill of believing you may be the only woman who can do so.  Maybe it’s the thought of all that barely-controlled sexual energy pulsing just under the surface, knowing it can sweep you to ecstasy at his whim, maybe at yours.  Maybe hooking up with someone who doesn’t play by the rules and gets away with it calls to the rebel in us…