Reigning Cats & Dogs #5 September 2010 On Sale: August 31, 2010 368 pages ISBN: 0553592386 EAN: 9780553592382 Mass Market Paperback $7.99  Add to Wish List Mystery Pet Lovers Buy at Amazon.com Crossing the Lion by Cynthia Baxter CAN A SMALL-TOWN PET DETECTIVE HUNT DOWN A BEAST OF A KILLER IN ITS OWN LAIR? Veterinarian Jessica Popper is still basking in newlywedded bliss when neighbors Betty and Winston beg her to investigate the suspicious death of Linus Merrywood, king of the corporate jungle. On stormy Solitude Island, the Merrywoods have enjoyed the lion’s share of wealth for generations. But from the suspects to the surroundings, Jess feels as if she’s walked straight into an old-fashioned game of Clue—except here the stakes are life and death. There’s the butler named Jives, a sexy assistant named Scarlett, teatime in the conservatory, and a house with secret passageways, moving walls, and a wailing aunt locked in the attic. With a storm raging around the island and Jess’s least favorite police detective assigned to the case, things are looking dire until Jess’s lionhearted husband, Nick, braves his way to Solitude to rescue her. Now it’s the two of them against a family steeped in…

Romance novels are often accused of being formulaic.  Of being the same story, told often.  After all, how many different ways can you tell the story of a girl and a guy (or a guy and a guy, or a were-beast and a girl, depending on the genre you prefer) falling in love and working there way to a happily ever after?  My general response to that is, how many different ways are there to make a dress? The answer of course, is TONS.  From choice of fabrics, line, length, cut, style, and level of sophistication, there are a million different ways to make a dress.  And is a dress going to be the same old dress, sewn often?  No, of course not.  Any dress Michael Kors makes is going to be different from Christian Dior, from Jessica McKlintock, from the Gap. Similarly, there are millions of different ways to tell a love story, because a love story is unique to each individual couple.  That said, much like with clothing, there are certain patterns that romance writers follow, called tropes.  These tropes are not meant to make the stories the same – but they are recognizable – just as a…

Hi y’all! And how is everyone at Fresh Fiction today? In southern Oklahoma things are hopping right along. Spring has sprung. Summer is well into coming into its own and the flowers are blooming. And I have a new book on my bookcase! LOVE DRUNK COWBOY just hit the stands today and I’m so excited I could just dance a jig with a peg legged pirate, or maybe do some line dancin’ with a tall, dark sexy cowboy! Yes, indeedy, that does sound better. LOVE DRUNK COWBOY is the debut book in the new Spikes & Spurs series which has grown into four books already with the possibility of more on the horizon. Red’s Hot Cowboy will be out in September; Darn Good Cowboy Christmas in October and an untitled fourth book in the spring of 2012. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas. Right? That’s what Jasmine and Ace thought when they had a secret wedding but then it was broadcast on national television and the secret was out of the bag. We haven’t come up with a name for it yet but believe me, my fabulous editor Deb Werksman will find a perfect fit for…

March 2011 On Sale: March 1, 2011 Featuring: Rachel 448 pages ISBN: 0425238873 EAN: 9780425238875 Trade Size $15.00  Add to Wish List Women’s Fiction Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Lost Dogs & Lonely Hearts by Lucy Dillon An irresistible novel about women, men, and the dogs that own them. Thirty-nine year old Rachel is having a really bad year. After losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend, Rachel has inherited her late aunt’s house, her beloved border collie, and a crowded rescue kennel, despite the fact that she knows almost nothing about dogs. Still, considering her limited options, she gamely takes up the challenge of running the kennel. And as Rachel starts finding new homes for the abandoned strays, it turns out that it might not just be the dogs that need rescuing. Previous Picks

November 2008 On Sale: October 28, 2008 Featuring: Amy 496 pages ISBN: 0553589121 EAN: 9780553589122 Mass Market Paperback $4.81  Add to Wish List Thriller Buy at Amazon.com And sometimes a dog can be chilling The Darkest Evening Of The Year by Dean Koontz With each of his #1 New York Times bestsellers, Dean Koontz has displayed an unparalleled ability to entertain and enlighten readers with novels that capture the essence of our times even as they bring us to the edge of our seats. Now he delivers a heart-gripping tour de force he’s been waiting years to write, at once a love story, a thrilling adventure, and a masterwork of suspense that redefines the boundaries of primal fear–and of enduring devotion. Amy Redwing has dedicated her life to the southern California organization she founded to rescue abandoned and endangered golden retrievers. Among dog lovers, she’s a legend for the risks she’ll take to save an animal from abuse. Among her friends, Amy’s heedless devotion is often cause for concern. To widower Brian McCarthy, whose commitment she can’t allow herself to return, Amy’s behavior is far more puzzling and hides a shattering secret. No one is surprised when Amy risks her…

For a solid 24 hours, my novel THE COLOR OF HEAVEN outsold THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATOO on Kindle, and for the next two weeks sold at a record rate of a book a minute. It rose to #4 on the general fiction Kindle list at Amazon and hit #1 on the contemporary romance list. I was flooded with letters from readers who believed my fictional story was true, and I had to write back and explain it was not.  Some went hunting on the internet, looking for actual news items about the story.  Other readers wrote to share personal stories of connection with lost loved ones, who they believed were watching over them from some other dimension. THE COLOR OF HEAVEN isn’t a religious book.  In fact, it’s more of a love story than anything else, but it touched a nerve with so many different kinds of people – men and women, young and old. Some key parts of THE COLOR OF HEAVEN are based on my own life experiences (the character’s car accident and her daughter’s illness) but the essence of the story comes from my imagination and my research into the fascinating subject of actual, documented…

Dog Walker Mystery #4 March 2011 On Sale: March 1, 2011 336 pages ISBN: 045123278X EAN: 9780451232786 Paperback $6.99  Add to Wish List Mystery Buy at Amazon.com Great series continues… Begging For Trouble by Judi McCoy When Ellie, New York City’s most enterprising dog walker, goes to see one of her clients perform in a show, the screams aren’t just for the fantastic dance numbers… A murder happens backstage, and the only witness is a dog named Bitsy. Taking Bitsy to a dog psychic might not be standard procedure, but it may stop a killer from biting again. Previous Picks

Thanks for having me today! I had the first opportunity to see Michael in the shelves at Barnes and Noble this weekend so that was pretty darn exciting.  It feels that Michael has been a long time coming. I first started envisioning the story during a time when I use to travel to Vegas several times a year. I started out in denial that I would EVER gamble, and so I explored the city. Of course, I later developed a real love for roulette, but thankfully not until the city caught fire in my blood. Once I found the roulette table, I was hooked, but even that fun game couldn’t overshadow the excitement and energy of Vegas. The series has lots of that Vegas energy I so adore, and I hope readers will enjoy experiencing it through my characters. Aside from the Vegas flavor, the Zodius series is about a group of Special Forces soldiers that were told they were receiving immunizations and instead received injections of experimental alien DNA. These soldiers become immune to all human illness, but they also develop very special skills — super speed, super strength, and they can travel with the wind. Some even develop…

March 2011 On Sale: March 1, 2011 Featuring: Emily Partman; Sandy Portman 336 pages ISBN: 0312382189 EAN: 9780312382186 Hardcover $24.99  Add to Wish List Women’s Fiction Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Best Friend can be a dog Emily And Einstein by Linda Francis Lee A novel about second chances He was a man who didn’t deserve a second chance…but he needed one Emily and her husband Sandy Portman seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building. But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident. The funeral isn’t even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment. But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies. Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was…all the while feeling that somehow he isn’t really gone. And what if he isn’t? Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein. But is Einstein’s seemingly odd…

Did Vestal Virgins exist? Yes. Chosen between ages six and ten, they served Vesta, the goddess of fire. BASTIAN, THE LORDS OF SATYR is a love story between Silvia (a former Vestal Virgin–now an immortal Ephemeral) and Bastian, who’s the lead archaeologist in the Roman Forum during the 1880s excavations. Crossing the centuries, Silvia now seeks to trick Bastian into helping her locate powerful, mysterious relics in the Forum ruins. Relics she herself lost during the destruction of the pagan temples (including Vesta’s) in the 4th century A.D. It’s historical fact that these relics existed and were guarded by the six Vestal Virgins. The relics were believed to protect the city of Rome from harm. Today, no one knows what the relics were or what became of them. So I was free to decide what form these relics would take and what power they hold. The Virgins were revered and privileged. They could own property, when other women could not. However, in times of strife, they were scapegoats. Accused of being unchaste, whether fairly or unfairly, some were buried alive in small underground enclosures in the “Evil Fields” near the Colline Gate. When Vesta’s temple was destroyed, Silvia and the…