In my story, REPOSSESSED, my heroine Tessa is a matchmaker. Instead of helping men and women find their match, she helps supernatural creatures like warlocks, witches, and even werewolves. I’ve even written a scene where she has matched gnomes! I have enjoyed writing about a supernatural matchmaker, but to be honest, I find real life matchmakers just as fascinated. On television, we’ve all had a chance to see the Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo TV in action. She takes millionaires, many of them eccentric, and finds them a love match—well—most of the time. I won’t go into details, but if you did a search on the Internet, you’d find that there are so many matchmakers out there. Professional matchmakers who help people find the right mate. I’m happily married, but I did have some time on the dating scene. As I researched matchmakers, I learned so many things I wish I would’ve done myself. Care to find out what I wish I knew? Here are the top four things I learned from matchmakers. 1. Leave your baggage at home. You’d be surprised how many women and men have been hurt or scorned by someone else, but it’s amazing what you can…

It’s time to vote on the TWO dueling billionaires, which one do YOU prefer? Matt Deluca SAVOR by Monica Murphy A billionaire hero is the ultimate fantasy. He’s rich beyond anyone’s wildest dreams, which means he can pretty much take the heroine wherever she wants and give her whatever she wants. They’re driven, successful and they usually dress well. I imagine they smell pretty damn good too. He’s a protector, he’s smart and when a billionaire decides to pursue a woman, he usually does whatever it takes to make her his. That’s sexy. Three reasons Matt Deluca is the best billionaire 1. He’s a billionaire (duh) 2. He used to be a professional baseball player (sexx-ay) 3. He owns a winery (all the wine you could ever want!) SAVOR A Billionaire Bachelors Club Novel BY Monica Murphy Bryn James can’t take much more. Smart, sexy Matthew DeLuca is everything she wants in a man, but he’s also her boss-the youngest, hottest vineyard owner in the Napa Valley-and he doesn’t see her as anything more than his shy assistant. That’s all about to change. Armed with a hot new look and an attitude to match, Bryn is determined to catch Matt’s…

Might as well face it, I’m addicted to love. Stories, that is. Real life, too, actually. I like the butterflies and romantic chemistry whenever two people who are meant to be are near each other, and I like yelling at the characters in books or movies to “Kiss already!” So, I decided to put my romance addiction to good use, and write stories filled with it. The idea behind my Accidentally in Love series was to have two people who don’t exactly mean to be in love with each other, but find themselves falling anyway. In FALLING FOR HER FIANCÉ, it was best friends who faked an engagement, and were terrified their desire to be more would screw up their friendship. In ACT LIKE YOU LOVE ME, an actress gets a second chance on her first crush. In the final book in the series, RESISTING THE HERO, I’ve got Connor, a SWAT hero who falls for his best friend’s sister, even though he knows it’s a bad idea. And while Faith’s sworn off hero types, she’s having a hard time resisting the bad boy once she sees what a good man he is. I like taking characters who have a…

As we reported last week in the Society pages, Dane Martin of the popular men’s dating advice website virile.com and author of soon to be released self-help book, Coming On Strong, was seen in a compromising position with another local celebrity, Holly Winters. Ms. Winters, whose popular blog girlnextdoor.com gives relationship advice to women struggling to find commitment among the monogamy-shy Virile sycophants, seems like the last woman Martin would dally with as both bloggers’ philosophies are in direct opposition with the other. Winters’ own self-help book, as yet untitled, is to be released next year. Though neither would comment on the romantic nature of their relationship to PC Daily, stating they were “just friends”, they agreed to a joint column this week answering reader questions from their unique perspectives. Each day, we’ll be posting a new question with the He said/She said response. Port Calypso will certainly be watching these local experts as they navigate their “friendship.” We can’t help but wonder if the Girl Next Door has tamed the most Virile man alive…or is she just another notch on the bedpost? Dear Mr. Virile and The Girl Next Door, I met a guy, I’ll call him Jerk, who…

Port Calypso Daily News As we reported last week in the Society pages, Dane Martin of the popular men’s dating advice website virile.com and author of soon to be released self-help book, Coming On Strong, was seen in a compromising position with another local celebrity, Holly Winters. Ms. Winters, whose popular blog girlnextdoor.com gives relationship advice to women struggling to find commitment among the monogamy-shy Virile sycophants, seems like the last woman Martin would dally with as both bloggers’ philosophies are in direct opposition with the other. Winters’ own self-help book, as yet untitled, is to be released next year. Though neither would comment on the romantic nature of their relationship to PC Daily, stating they were “just friends”, they agreed to a joint column this week answering reader questions from their unique perspectives. Each day, we’ll be posting a new question with the He said/She said response. Port Calypso will certainly be watching these local experts as they navigate their “friendship.” We can’t help but wonder if the Girl Next Door has tamed the most Virile man alive…or is she just another notch on the bedpost? Dear Mr. Virile and The Girl Next Door,             I read both of…

Until this past summer, my heroines had all been young, twenty-somethings dealing with love and sex. Then, in June, in the middle of writing my latest novel featuring another ingénue, I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. It was a huge wake-up call to me on many levels, and one of those was creative: I realized that while it’s fun to write about very young women discovering passion for the first time, I am a woman in my 40s who experiences love and sex from a very different perspective. And I knew I had to write about it. The problem was timing: I was in the middle of writing a New Adult novel for St. Martin’s, an upcoming release called RUIN ME. But the call to write my story of an older woman was too loud to ignore. And I remembered, in this moment of creative crisis, advice I’d gotten a few years ago from Sylvia Day when I emailed her and asked her how she managed her deadlines. (This was when she had just self-published Bared to You -before it was published by Berkley, before she was SYLVIA DAY.) She emailed back right away, and told me that…

Hey Fresh Fiction people! In my latest release, SWEET SOUTHERN BETRAYAL, my hero and heroine follow in the footsteps of Joan Collins, Britney Spears, and Bruce and Demithey get hitched. Complete with Elvis and the “I Can’t Help Falling in Love” wedding package the knot is tied and the fun begins. Now, the Main Man and I have been married twice – to each other. The first was the lavish, cast of thousands Southern wedding that every girl dreams about. The second was a small intimate affair in a small church in Cornwall, England surrounded by kind strangers who threw us a sweet little party to celebrate our vow renewal. Well, this year is our twentieth year and I want to renew our vows again and I want to do it in Vegas. After ups and downs, we know that it is laughter that keeps us going so we want to have fun. But, so far he isn’t convinced about Vegas but I’ve still got a few more months to work on him. Here are my top choices so far 1. Camelot Themed Wedding: Complete with costumes for the Bride and Groom, Knights and Merlin or King Arthur as the…

Port Calypso Daily News As we reported last week in the Society pages, Dane Martin of the popular men’s dating advice website virile.com and author of soon to be released self-help book, Coming On Strong, was seen in a compromising position with another local celebrity, Holly Winters. Ms. Winters, whose popular blog girlnextdoor.com gives relationship advice to women struggling to find commitment among the monogamy-shy Virile sycophants, seems like the last woman Martin would dally with as both bloggers’ philosophies are in direct opposition with the other. Winters’ own self-help book, as yet untitled, is to be released next year. Though neither would comment on the romantic nature of their relationship to PC Daily, stating they were “just friends”, they agreed to a joint column this week answering reader questions from their unique perspectives. Each day, we’ll be posting a new question with the He said/She said response. Port Calypso will certainly be watching these local experts as they navigate their “friendship.” We can’t help but wonder if the Girl Next Door has tamed the most Virile man alive…or is she just another notch on the bedpost? Dear Mr. Virile and The Girl Next Door, I’m a twenty-five year-old virgin….

Port Calypso Daily News As we reported last week in the Society pages, Dane Martin of the popular men’s dating advice website virile.com and author of soon to be released self-help book, Coming On Strong, was seen in a compromising position with another local celebrity, Holly Winters. Ms. Winters, whose popular blog girlnextdoor.com gives relationship advice to women struggling to find commitment among the monogamy-shy Virile sycophants, seems like the last woman Martin would dally with as both bloggers’ philosophies are in direct opposition with the other. Winters’ own self-help book, as yet untitled, is to be released next year. Though neither would comment on the romantic nature of their relationship to PC Daily, stating they were “just friends”, they agreed to a joint column this week answering reader questions from their unique perspectives. Each day, we’ll be posting a new question with the He said/She said response. Port Calypso will certainly be watching these local experts as they navigate their “friendship.” We can’t help but wonder if the Girl Next Door has tamed the most Virile man alive…or is she just another notch on the bedpost? Dear Mr. Virile and The Girl Next Door My boyfriend goes camping every…

Midwives Tales #2 January 2014 On Sale: January 7, 2014 Featuring: Bridget Hodgson; Martha Hawkins 320 pages ISBN: 1250010780 EAN: 9781250010780 Kindle: B00F1R0SOK Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List Suspense, Mystery HistoricalBuy at Amazon.com Back in England the midwife wasn’t scorned she was admired, except by murderers The Harlot’s Tale by Sam Thomas It is August, 1645, one year since York fell into Puritan hands. As the city suffers through a brutal summer heat, Bridget Hodgson and Martha Hawkins are drawn into a murder investigation more frightening than their last. In order to appease God’s wrath—and end the heat-wave—the city’s overlords have launched a brutal campaign to whip the city’s sinners into godliness. But for someone in York, this  is not enough. First a prostitute and her client are found stabbed to death, then a pair of adulterers are beaten and strangled. York’s sinners have been targeted for execution. Bridget and Martha—assisted once again by Will, Bridget’s good-hearted nephew—race to find the killer even as he adds more bodies to his tally. The list of suspects is long: Hezekiah Ward, a fire and brimstone preacher new to York; Ward’s son, Praise-God, whose intensity mirrors his father’s; John Stubb, one…