Sabina Kane #4 January 2012 On Sale: December 28, 2011 Featuring: Sabina Kane 432 pages ISBN: 0316178438 EAN: 9780316178433 Kindle: B004RCNGUI Mass Market Paperback $7.99  Add to Wish List Fantasy Urban Buy at Amazon.com Book club favorite returns Silver-Tongued Devil by Jaye Wells Now that the threat of war has passed, Sabina Kane is ready to focus on the future. Her relationship with Adam Lazarus is getting stronger and she\’s helping her sister, Maisie, overcome the trauma of her captivity in New Orleans. Even Giguhl is managing to stay out of trouble thanks to the arrival of Pussy Willow and his new roller derby team. But as much as Sabina wants to feel hopeful about the future, part of her doesn\’t believe that peace is possible. Her suspicions are confirmed when a string of sadistic murders threatens to stall treaty negotiations between the mages and the vampires. Sabina pitches in to find the killer, but her investigation soon leads her down dark paths that have her questioning everyone she thought she could trust. And the closer she gets to the killer, the more Sabina begins to suspect this is one foe she may not be able to kill. Previous Picks

January 2012 On Sale: January 1, 2012 Featuring: Ross Bennett; Paige Hart ISBN: 1611940869 EAN: 9781611940862 Trade Size (reprint) $13.95  Add to Wish List Romance Buy at Amazon.com If you missed it the first time, don’t miss it now… Stuck With You by Trish Jensen As lawyers on opposing sides of a messy divorce case, Paige Hart and Ross Bennett ought to have kept matters purely professional, yet Paige and Ross came to loathe each other with an intensity that was strictly personal. The bad blood between them takes on an unexpected new dimension when the infuriated pair is forced to share a hospital room, when they’re quarantined after being exposed to the rare and highly contagious Tibetan Concupiscence Virus that’s reputed to shift sensual desire into high gear. When symptoms (which a nonmedical person might mistake for pure and simple lust) start showing up way ahead of schedule, the lawyers’ objections to each other are overruled — and they enjoy every minute of it. But, after the doctors declare that the disease has run its course, Paige and Ross are still feverish with a longing for one another that they hope will never be cured. When the verdict comes…

Since Sourcebooks will take care of sending a copy of THE LURE OF SONG AND MAGIC to two commenters on this blog, I think that’s pretty magical, so if I’m asked if I believe in magic, it’s obvious my definition of magic is pretty loose. Hi, my name is Patricia Rice, and I write romance, any kind of romance from historical to contemporary to paranormal. I have about fifty print-published romances under my belt, and my current one is called paranormal because most people don’t believe in the magic of psychic phenomena. Consider my definition above—I think Snow White with seven minions to take care of her comes under my definition of magic—I’m all in favor of invisible hands dealing with the packaging and mailing of prizes. Fantasy magic would be if I could wave a wand, and poof, the words wrote themselves. But we all know that’s not happening. Maybe we need a word that means possible magic as opposed to improbable. Given the title, it should come as no surprise that the heroine of LURE, Philippa Seraphina (Syrene) Malcolm James, has gifts that some might consider magical, but others think of as in the realm of possible. When…

I know the slush pile. I’ve been in it. Many times. About eighteen times in fact.  In the old days it was often the only option to get a story in front of an editor. The book was written, typed up, bound between cardboard and thick elastic or string and posted off. Then came the waiting, which was agonizing. A note would come in the mail to say the manuscript had arrived and was under consideration. Then more waiting. Some time later another letter might come in the mail.  In my case that was always another rejection. And for me the cycle started all over again. Until I figured a way out. Until I started thinking of myself as a professional writer, and as such, the proprietor of my own business. About four years ago I started doing research about who was getting picked up by the publisher I was targeting – and how.  I read blogs, websites, and any statistics I could find about what this publisher was looking for. Then I thought about contests. I’d entered a few randomly over the years, but without any real purpose. But my new found approach to my career got me thinking…

My mom often reminds me that I’ve always loved to cook. She also likes to remind me that every time she left me in charge of the kitchen, she had to call the plumber to clear the clogged sink afterwards – usually on a holiday. In fact, her plumber still talks about all the potato peels he unearthed from the drain the night I held my “Host a Murder” party in high school. (Sorry about that, Ma. I wish I could say I’ve learned a lot since then, but my husband would disagree, citing the great latke clog of 2008.) So take a budding cook who likes to write and always has a trashy romance novel hidden in her purse and send her to college…Pre-med. Ha! I switched my major to creative-writing faster than you could say calculus. However, I failed to write the literary short stories I longed to master. Every story I turned in was filled with post-adolescent lust and heartbreak, thinly disguised scenes from my own life. Even then, I was writing romance, and let me tell you, the group critiques of those babies were awkward, especially since I was usually dating someone in the class. Ouch!…

FRESH FICTION is delighted to welcome New York Times bestselling novelist Philippa Gregory.  Ms. Gregory, well-known for her novels of the Tudor era, is currently concentrating on the War of the Roses.  Several of her works were highlighted in the History Refreshed column THE WAR OF THE ROSES PART I, and her upcoming novel, THE KINGMAKER’S DAUGHTER, features Anne Neville, whose husband Richard III is the central character in this month’s column, THE WAR OF THE ROSES PART II. Julia Justiss: Welcome, Philippa, and thank you so much for taking time out of your hectic schedule to give FRESH FICTION readers some insight about your background and writing.  So let’s get started! As a New York Times bestselling novelist whose works have made their way into film, you’ve captivated readers around the globe. Yet you started your career not as a writer, but as a scholar. Can you tell us a bit about the professional background that resulted in your fascination with history? Philippa: My first professional training and work was that of a journalist, which had the advantage of teaching me to write on time, and satisfied my enquiring curiosity. I went to university after I had served my…

History ReFreshed Exploring what’s “new” on the historical shelves The previous column focused on the personages who began the Wars of the Roses, from Henry VI‘s claim for the throne being challenged by his cousin Richard of York until the death of Edward IV.  Now the stage is set for the final decisive struggle between the Plantagenet heirs, represented by Edward IV’s brother Richard, and the Tudors, who trace their claim to the throne to the marriage of the widow of Lancastrian Henry V to Welsh bard Owen Tudor. As a special treat, this month also features an interview with New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory, who wrote several of the novels described in last month’s column, WARS OF THE ROSES PART I. Philippa’s upcoming novel features one of the heroines involved in Richard III’s story, his wife Anne Neville, daughter of the Earl of Warwick, “the Kingmaker.” (more about her later.) Edward IV‘s premature death set about a struggle for the throne between the widowed queen’s Woodville relations, the Tudor claimants and the Neville-York side.  Concerned for the safety of his nephews, Edward’s brother Richard, whom the late king had named Lord Protector, moved the boys to the…

Set in Austin, Hill Country, UNDERCURRENTS is the second volume in the popular Detective Craig Rylander Clover-Mystery series. Barnes & Noble in Firewheel Town Center will host the first North Texas release party with the authors, George Arnold and Ken Squier, Friday, January 13 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. according to Katy Hastings, the store’s community relations manager. UNDERCURRENTS: The Van Pelt Enigma, set in Austin and the Texas Hill country, chronicles the further adventures of the Austin Police detective sergeant beset with doubts about his own job performance and who is suddenly thrust into the crosshairs of an international assassination ring run by descendants of the Romanoffs, the last Czars of Russia. Believing his team is investigating a local arson murder and a likely-related car bombing, Rylander reluctantly accepts help from the Texas Rangers, FBI, Interpol and the CIA, all of whom believe the local cases are traceable to a psychopath, Felix Pavlovich, head of the assassination ring and pretender to the throne as Czar of a new Russia. Gholson likens the book and series to the work of P.D. James, Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke. “The authors, George Arnold of Fredericksburg and Ken Squier of San Antonio,…

“The Bungalow is a story as luscious as its exotic setting. Ms. Jio has crafted a wartime story of passion and friendship, loss and mystery. – Karen White, author of The Beach Trees “[U]nabashedly romantic . . . thanks to Jio’s (The Violets of March) deft handling of her plot and characters. Fans of Nicholas Sparks will enjoy this gentle historical love story.” -Library Journal “Engrossing…this mystery-slash-love story will have you racing to the end.” – Redbook “Mystery meets romance in this absorbing debut novel by Sarah Jio” – Woman’s Day In the most transporting fiction, setting speaks with a voice all its own, beguiling readers onto unforgettable journeys. In her acclaimed debut novel, THE VIOLETS OF MARCH, Sarah Jio chose Bainbridge Island, surrounded by the moody waters of the Puget Sound Basin, to cue her “engrossing” (Redbook) story of people whose closely held secrets collide with their search for second chances. In her highly anticipated follow-up, THE BUNGALOW (A Plume Original/January 2012), Jio imagines an island with an entirely different tale to tell. Bora-Bora’s South Pacific shores have served as muse to Paul Gauguin and inspired a host of passions. As the Second World War escalates, Anne Calloway forgoes…

What’s so special about a guy in a kilt? Getting him out of it, of course. In SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER, “Mad Rob” MacLaren peels off his own plaid to take a bath after a sleepless night. The poor guy has had to flee from his pursuers, sleep in a cave without a fire, and fight off a wolf-pack. Of course, he brought all this trouble on himself when he abducted his enemy’s bride from the altar. To make matters worse, he’s having difficulty thinking of Elspeth Stewart as simply a means to a vengeful end. Exclusive Excerpt from SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER: Rob stripped off his filthy clothes on the loch’s shore and left them in a pile as he walked to the water’s edge. He squatted down and splashed himself all over, sucking a breath over his teeth at the cold. Normally, he’d have skipped a bath in this weather, but Elspeth Stewart was getting clean somewhere inside Angus Fletcher’s cluttered wattle-and-daub home. He didn’t want to smell like a boar pit beside her. Rob scooped out a dollop of soap from the stone jar Angus had loaned him and smeared his whole body with it. He even…