Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Spotlight on Kristen Painter
Author Spotlight / September 29, 2011

Welcome to The House of Comarré BLOOD RIGHTS 9/27 FLESH AND BLOOD November BAD BLOOD December BLOOD RIGHTS “Prophecy, curses, and devilish machination combine for a spellbinding debut of dark romance and pulse-pounding adventure.” – Library Journal, starred review “Passion and murder, vampires and courtesans – original and un-put-downable.” – Patricia Briggs Visit Kristen Painter Service Is Her Life Chrysabelle is a comarré, a unique human hybrid raised under a strict code and chosen to provide exceptionally pure and powerful blood to the vampire nobility, if they can afford the cost of a comarré’s blood rights. On the verge of earning her freedom, Chrysabelle’s vampire patron has just been found dead and all evidence points to her. Fearing for her life, she runs to New Florida, home of the only person she knows outside her sheltered world, the woman who raised her, the woman she calls aunt since no comarré know their true parents. Through one of her aunt’s connections, Chrysabelle is introduced to a reclusive vampire who might be able to help her. If she doesn’t kill him first. Death Is All He Knows Malkolm is anathema, an outcast vampire living under a curse that causes him to drink…

Jerri Corgiat | When “Gentle Fiction” Feeds the Soul…
Author Guest / September 29, 2011

I’ve been thinking about the economy and war and my son and entertainment-market trends. Hang in there with me; I’ll tie this together. Just recently, I read this article that said, because of the Depression-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named, Hollywood has been finding success in adventure-escapist-fare such as this past summer’s spate of movies based on comic book heroes. Not much later, I spoke with my former print editor. She said there was a new, growing demand for “gentle fiction” of the same stripe as my Love Finds a Home series. And then, on the eve of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, my son spoke with a sergeant, and he said, you’re headed for Afghanistan, private, before another month is out. My epublisher, thinking that last point might be overshadowing pretty much everything else in my life just now, reminded me I’ve a blog entry due to Fresh Fiction. She’s right; I’d forgotten, and now the hour is late. So I face this page with all these thoughts knotted up in my head and very little patience in untangling it all, so let me grab a thread and pull. A decade ago, before 9/11, I fought an uphill battle to find representation for Sing…

Sandra Hill | Looking For New Books
Author Guest / September 28, 2011

Do you ever get into a reading slump where, despite your teetering TBR pile, there’s not a single book that seems to interest you? Do you ever panic when there’s no “good” book waiting for you to read, or resume reading? Do you ever walk through a bookstore aisle and see nothing that calls to you? That’s where I am at the present time. I’m all caught up on my favorites: Mary Balogh, Beverly Lewis, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Rachel Gibson, Karen Marie Moning, Loretta Chase, Charlaine Harris, Janet Evanovich, Lisa Kleypas, etc. This is when I turn to my HUGE pile of books, mostly used, that I buy at the annual AAUW book sale. With the price of books today, this is the way I try new authors. If I try one, or a dozen, and don’t like them after fifty or so pages, I don’t feel guilty passing them on to Goodwill. But if I do find gems, I then go out and buy the entire backlists. It’s this way that I discovered Elizabeth Hoyt, Lisa Kleypas, Jillian Hunter, Julia London and others. But there are other alternatives. I never thought I would be one of those people who…

Spotlight: NYT best seller Dianna Love
Author Spotlight / September 27, 2011

Did you find your SOULMATE?  Do you know how to look for him? According to Plato, at one time, humans had two heads, four arms and four legs.  If that wasn’t scary enough these humans supposedly had great power. So great that Zeus and the other gods feared their strength.  The next thing everyone knew, those humans had a plan to climb to heaven so they could take over. That got everyone’s togas in a wad.  Zeus told his buddies not to worry, that he had everything under control, which was why he was Zeus after all.  He’d cut all the humans in half to weaken them and on top of that he’d just doubled the number of humans who could worship them.  The gods loved this and gave Zeus kudos for solving their dilemma, but the humans weren’t happy at all.  They felt empty and confused, wandering around trying to find their way.  In a moment of compassion, Zeus decided that every human could have sex with their other half, which would allow them a chance to feel one, and whole, again in that intimate moment. Since that day, we’ve all been hunting our other halves – our soulmates….

Mia Marlowe | Reading the “Wrong Sort of Book”
Author Guest / September 27, 2011

I’m always interested in how what we read changes how we think about things. Unfortunately for my hero in A DUKE FOR ALL SEASONS, he’s been reading the wrong sort of book. It’s called A Gentleman’s Guide to Keeping a Mistress and even though he has four different mistresses a year, Sebastian hasn’t found happiness following the guide’s precepts. At the beginning of every chapter of A DUKE FOR ALL SEASONS, I start with an excerpt from A Gentleman’s Guide. It gives you an idea of what’s been rolling around in Sebastian’s noggin. I warn you, each statement is more outrageously chauvinistic than the last. Chapter One “A woman, like a blooded hound or fine steed, has a finite period of usefulness. When that time has run its course, a prudent man divests himself of the asset without regret.” Chapter Two “Under no circumstances should a gentleman involve himself with a woman who has entanglements of a sort that might diminish his enjoyment of her.” Chapter Three “Selecting a mistress involves more than finding a pleasing bed companion. A gentleman must be sure the woman is an ornament to his arm and a credit to his reputation as a man…

Mary Campisi | Name Your Hero
Author Guest / September 26, 2011

People often wonder why I write in different genres. The answer is simple — it relaxes me. When I’m working on a contemporary romance or women’s fiction, the tone is usually heavier, the issues more complex, and there’s invariably a moral dilemma that’s ambiguous. My brain is tired when I finally type the end. I love the work, love the process and the results, but I need time to play…or in other words, write about brooding heroes and smart heroines aka Regency historical romances. I began writing these for the pure joy of falling into romance through a fairytale setting. The beautiful young women, the wealthy, titled men, the gowns, the carriages, the estates, even the villains are pure fairytale material reminiscent of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and Sleeping Beauty. I still remember watching Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella with Leslie Ann Warren and Stuart Damon, (who was later Alan Quartermaine in General Hospital!) The historical lifts me up and carries me away into happily ever after. I love, love, love Mr. Darcy of PRIDE & PREJUDICE. What a delight when he appeared in movie theaters and later, on our televisions 🙂 I own both the regular and the deluxe…

Fresh Pick | BLAMELESS by Gail Carriger
Fresh Pick / September 25, 2011

Parasol Protectorate #3September 2011 On Sale: September 1, 2010 Featuring: Alexia Tarabotti; Lord Maccon; Lord Akeldama 355 pages ISBN: 0316074152 EAN: 9780316074155 Mass Market Paperback $7.99  Add to Wish List Romance Paranormal, Fantasy SteampunkBuy at Amazon.com Horror / Conference week. What we’re reading and enjoying… Blameless by Gail Carriger A novel of Vampires, Werewolves and Templars Quitting her husband’s house and moving back in with her horrible family, Lady Maccon becomes the scandal of the London season. Queen Victoria dismisses her from the Shadow Council, and the only person who can explain anything, Lord Akeldama, unexpectedly leaves town. To top it all off, Alexia is attacked by homicidal mechanical ladybugs, indicating, as only ladybugs can, the fact that all of London’s vampires are now very much interested in seeing Alexia quite thoroughly dead. While Lord Maccon elects to get progressively more inebriated and Professor Lyall desperately tries to hold the Woolsey werewolf pack together, Alexia flees England for Italy in search of the mysterious Templars. Only they know enough about the preternatural to explain her increasingly inconvenient condition, but they may be worse than the vampires — and they’re armed with pesto. A wonderful story for anyone who enjoys British…

Dianna Vennetta | Why Gardening and Romance are the Perfect Mix
Author Guest / September 25, 2011

I write romantic women’s fiction.  You may be wondering, what exactly is romantic women’s fiction?  Is that anything like romantic fiction? Yes, I believe it is.  Similar to novels with strong romantic elements, romantic women’s fiction is my term for combining the two. For me, romance centers on the hero and heroine and the slew of reasons these two characters whom are otherwise hot for one another cannot be together—and why they should be. It doesn’t give equal weight to best friends or family and it doesn’t focus on a woman’s personal growth and maturity where women’s fiction can. The main reason I consider JENNIFER’S GARDEN to be romantic women’s fiction is because it portrays the journey of Jennifer’s personal growth in regard to false impressions and misplaced judgments, particularly with regard to one Jackson Montgomery. My theme questions how a woman goes about the business of choosing her husband. Is it about social status and job title or a matter of chemistry and friendship? Must the man be equally or more successful? Men have been marrying up and down the social ladder for years. Can women? It’s romantic because there is a budding relationship at the heart of the…

Fresh Pick | THE BARRETT SOLUTION by Robert Norris
Fresh Pick / September 24, 2011

June 2011 On Sale: June 6, 2011 Featuring: LT. Mark Owens; Dr. Elizabeth Price; DA Peggy Moreland 266 pages ISBN: 0984123350 EAN: 9780984123353 Paperback $11.95  Add to Wish List Romance Suspense Buy at Amazon.com Suspense with romance… The Barrett Solution by Robert Norris Only the White House can provide a solution to this dilemma. During the investigation of a murder in rural Texas, Lieutenant Mark Owens uncovers the highly guarded secrets of a CIA black operation. The trail leads to the Oval Office. With a presidential election looming the White House will resort to extreme measures to cover up their illegal activities. Owens knows his life and that of the woman he loves may be in danger, but he is determined to bring the killer to justice. Only the White House can provide a solution to his treacherous dilemma. Excerpt FBI Director Richard Carson and CIA Director Kevin Samuels took their seats in front of White House Chief of Staff Ronald Pace’s desk. The chief of staff looked at Carson. “All right, RIchard, I don’t have a lot of time today, so what’s on your mind?” “I don’t have a complete picture yet,” Carson said. “But apparently this task force…

Dorothy Hearst | Running With the Wolves
Author Guest / September 24, 2011

I really never thought I’d write a book about talking wolves.  I was going to write Very Serious Literature That Wins Prizes.  I had it all planned out, and had been trying for many years to write this Very Serious Literature.   Then one day, when I was sitting in my recliner recovering from a sore neck and minding my own business, the wolves barged into my apartment insisting that I was the one to tell their story.  They wouldn’t leave me alone. They sat under my desk at work, followed me as I walked around San Francisco, crawled onto the bed when I was trying to sleep. Soon I found myself immersed in the Wide Valley and in the life of Kaala, a young wolf living 14,000 years ago.  The wolves took over more and more of my life until I eventually quit my job to play with them. SECRETS OF THE WOLVES is the second book in The Wolf Chronicles trilogy, which tells the story of how the wolf became the dog from the wolf’s point of view.  It’s based on the theory of wolf-human coevolution (the idea that wolves, and later dogs, helped make us the dominant species…