Fresh Pick for Wednesday, May 7th, 2014 is HOW TO LOSE A DUKE IN TEN DAYS by Laura Lee Guhrke #RomanceWednesday Love this series An American Heiress in London Avon May 2014 On Sale: April 29, 2014 384 pages ISBN: 0062118196 EAN: 9780062118196 Kindle: B00G97C51K Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List Romance Historical, Romance Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound How To Lose a Duke in Ten Days by Laura Lee Guhrke From USA Today bestselling author Laura Lee Guhrke comes the story of a bargain, a marriage of convenience . . . and the chance for love to last a lifetime They had a deal . . . From the moment she met the devil-may-care Duke of Margrave, Edie knew he could change her life. And when he agreed to her outrageous proposal of a marriage of convenience, she was transformed from ruined American heiress to English duchess. Five years later, she’s delighted with their arrangement, especially since her husband is living on another continent. But deals are made to be broken . . . By marrying an heiress, Stuart was able to pay his family’s enormous debts, and Edie’s terms that he leave England…
My name is Anna Sugden and I need lots and lots of sleep! Eight hours is the absolute minimum; ten is better. I wish sometimes that I only needed four hours. Think of all the things you could get done with those extra four, even six hours in your day! I could write books in half the time. Read more books. Finish more craft projects. The list is endless. What’s more, I wouldn’t feel guilty for frittering away time on computer games or losing myself down a research rabbit hole or shopping for shoes! But, I don’t have that extra time. Instead, I find myself trying to sneak those additional minutes of snoozing! It would be great too if I was good at naps, but I’m not. I love hearing about those people who can ‘power nap’ for ten or twenty minutes and be refreshed. Me … I’d wake up groggy and (yes, you’ve guessed it) find away to get ten, twenty or even thirty more. I also wish I was one of those people who wake up bright and breezy and raring to go (like Doc Cambridge). I’m a slow starter in the morning and like to ease myself…
When I launched my first online auction for diabetes research in 2005, I had no idea I would still be running the fundraiser ten years later. I started it because I wanted to make a difference to my son, who was diagnosed at five years old, and everyone else suffering from this terrible disease (over 350 million people have diabetes worldwide). So far, we’ve raised over $2 million, but I honestly thought we’d have a cure by now. Ever since we first learned that Thad faced this challenge, I’ve been hearing that a cure is right around the corner. And when you slug away at something for a long time, and it doesn’t feel as if you’re making enough of an impact, it can be tempting to give up. In those moments of discouragement, however, something always happens to keep me going. Many times it’s an episode of insulin shock and another jolt of that terrible fear that grips every parent of a child with diabetes. But it can also be something positive, like having my son put his arms around my neck and tell me how much he appreciates what I’m doing. Or another author, friend or supporter emailing…
When I wrote the first book in the Dante Walker trilogy, I had no idea that Dante would speak directly to the reader in the opening pages. It wasn’t until I was done with copyedits and proofing, and ARCs were being prepped, that I had the idea. After all, I’d spoken for Dante entirely in THE COLLECTOR, and Dante Walker is one to speak for himself, whether he wants to be heard or not. So I approached my editor with the thought of including a letter from the soul collector, and she immediately embraced the concept. The next morning, I drafted the first letter from Dante which appeared in the final, printed version of THE COLLECTOR. Readers seemed to love it, and so I drafted a second one for the sequel, THE LIBERATOR. Now, with the release of the final book in the trilogy, THE WARRIOR, I wrote my last letter from Dante. This time, Dante’s words had a sharper edge. He’s been through a lot, after all, and is tired of the attacks on those he’s grown to care about. I hope you enjoy reading this final letter from Dante Walker, and the very first taste of this sexy,…
Fresh Pick for Tuesday, May 6th, 2014 is MIDNIGHT CROSSROAD by Charlaine Harris Harris is back with an all new story Midnight Texas Ace | May 2014 On Sale: May 6, 2014 320 pages | ISBN: 0425263150 | EAN: 9780425263150 Kindle: B00FKEYHM8 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List Fantasy Urban, Paranormal Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris FIRST IN A NEW TRILOGY From Charlaine Harris, the bestselling author who created Sookie Stackhouse and her world of Bon Temps, Louisiana, comes a darker locale—populated by more strangers than friends. But then, that’s how the locals prefer it… Welcome to Midnight, Texas, a town with many boarded-up windows and few full-time inhabitants, located at the crossing of Witch Light Road and Davy Road. It’s a pretty standard dried-up western town. There’s a pawnshop (someone lives in the basement and is seen only at night). There’s a diner (people who are just passing through tend not to linger). And there’s new resident Manfred Bernardo, who thinks he’s found the perfect place to work in private (and who has secrets of his own). Stop at the one traffic light in town, and everything looks normal….
As a long-time renter, I often fantasized having my own garden; three seasons of bloom, a symphony of blossoms and butterflies. In winter, the snow would rest like lace on the dried stems and flowers. I did not allow the small discouragement, known as reality, to dissuade me from believing in my perfect garden. When my husband and I finally bought our little bungalow, I approached the garden with trowel in one hand, seed packets in the other, only to discover beneath the neat landscape, sheets of heavy plastic which, meant to foil weeds, would certainly deter my cottage garden, the one I had dreamt of for so long; foxgloves, hollyhocks, and herbs dropping their seeds to the ground in a perpetual rhythm of death and rebirth. My vision of sinking my (gloved) hands into the fertile earth was replaced by the sharp reality of scissors and shears, the sweat-inducing labor of removing heavy layers of mulch-covered plastic sheeting anchored to the ground by metal prongs. It took years to unearth all that plastic. I found an entire fern garden one spring; the fiddleheads in fetal curls unfurled their lovely fronds beneath the sun. The anemic bouquet of Black Eyed…
A couple weeks ago, I finished my contracted book. It’s a great book, coming out next year, titled (for the moment) The Duke’s Cunning Plan by Jade Lee. It was a ton of fun to do, but before I dive into the next one, I decided to do something weird. I’m now writing a book just for me. I’m making it as fun and quirky as I want. No thought of contracts or market or even genre. Whatever comes out, that’s what I’m writing. Now you have to understand, I’ve been a professional writer for two decades. The idea of creating something with no eye toward selling it? Something just for me? Well, that’s…like going to your job on your vacation. Except writing isn’t just a job for me, and somewhere along the road, the magic got buried under the technique and business of writing. But there is good and bad with this process. The great thing about writing just for fun is… A. No deadline. If I don’t feel like writing today, I can sleep in and read Pride and Prejudice. (Actually, I’m listening to it in audio which is making it much more fun) B. We’ve entered conference…
Fresh Pick for Monday, May 5th, 2014 is THE COLLECTOR OF DYING BREATHS by M. J. Rose #SuspenseMonday Atria Books April 2014 On Sale: April 8, 2014 385 pages ISBN: 1451621531 EAN: 9781451621532 Kindle: B00DPM9088 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List Suspense, Thriller, Mystery Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound The Collector of Dying Breaths by M. J. Rose Florence, Italy—1533: An orphan named René le Florentin is plucked from poverty to become Catherine de Medici’s perfumer. Traveling with the young duchessina from Italy to France, René brings with him a cache of secret documents from the monastery where he was trained: recipes for exotic fragrances and potent medicines—and a formula for an alchemic process said to have the potential to reanimate the dead. In France, René becomes not only the greatest perfumer in the country, but also the most dangerous, creating deadly poisons for his Queen to use against her rivals. But while mixing herbs and essences under the light of flickering candles, René doesn’t begin to imagine the tragic and personal consequences for which his lethal potions will be responsible. Paris, France—The Present: A renowned mythologist, Jac L’Etoile—trying to recover from personal heartache by…
Fresh Pick for Sunday, May 4th, 2014 is MURDER AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY by Amanda Carmack #HistoricalMystery Elizabethan Mystery Signet April 2014 On Sale: April 1, 2014 304 pages ISBN: 0451415124 EAN: 9780451415127 Kindle: B00F9EZBQU Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List Mystery Historical Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound Murder At Westminster Abbey by Amanda Carmack 1559. Elizabeth is about to be crowned queen of England and wants her personal musician Kate Haywood to prepare music for the festivities. New to London, Kate must learn the ways of city life…and once again school herself as a sleuth. Life at the center of the new royal court is abuzz with ambition and gossip—very different from the quiet countryside, where Kate served Elizabeth during her exile. Making her way among the courtiers who vie for the new queen’s favor, Kate befriends Lady Mary Everley. Mary is very close to Elizabeth. With their red hair and pale skin, they even resemble each other—which makes Mary’s murder all the more chilling. The celebrations go on despite the pall cast over them. But when another redhead is murdered, Kate uncovers a deadly web of motives lurking just beneath the polite court banter,…
Fresh Pick for Saturday, May 3rd, 2014 is MURDER AT HONEYCHURCH HALL by Hannah Dennison #Free4All a quirky but fun mystery St. Martin’s Press Minotaur May 2014 On Sale: May 13, 2014 304 pages ISBN: 1250007798 EAN: 9781250007797 Kindle: B00H6EOJNW Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List Mystery Cozy, Mystery Amateur Sleuth, Mystery Woman Sleuth Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound Murder At Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison Kat Stanford is just days away from starting her dream antique business with her newly widowed mother Iris when she gets a huge shock. Iris has recklessly purchased a dilapidated carriage house at Honeychurch Hall, an isolated country estate located several hundred miles from London. Yet it seems that Iris isn’t the only one with surprises at Honeychurch Hall. Behind the crumbling façade, the inhabitants of the stately mansion are a lively group of eccentrics to be sure—both upstairs and downstairs —and they all have more than their fair share of skeletons in the closet. When the nanny goes missing, and Vera, the loyal housekeeper ends up dead in the grotto, suspicions abound. Throw in a feisty, octogenarian countess, a precocious seven year old who is obsessed with the…