Men are Direct… There. You have the answer on how to understand the male point of view. Thank you for listening. Oh, you want further details of how men view life? Some insight from their point of view?  Okay, sure. Here are some nuggets: Primal… When it comes to a female in a man’s life, he’s constantly in threat-assessment mode. When a woman simply wants a hug when she’s upset, men are looking how to “fix” what is wrong: eliminate threats first, care for emotions second. Solutions… A man speaks his mind and is driven by the facts of any given circumstance. Men always want to solve the puzzle. Or, as needed, eliminate the threat. (See above.) Adrenaline… It is incredibly addictive for men. Addictive to the level of combining all the great things in life together in one source and then multiplying that times a billion. Adrenaline draws out a level of mental clarity that can be described as playing a five-level chess game—while simultaneously solving large-scale world issues. All this happens with few spoken words. Thoughts… Men think in a linear format, one topic at a time. Though when adrenaline flows, those topics fly by at the speed…

One of the immutable truths of romance fiction is this — men in uniform are undeniably sexy. Doesn’t matter if the man is a soldier, a sailor, a cop, or a fireman. The uniform is like a catnip to many women, myself included. Especially a fireman’s uniform. Be it the navy blue T-shirts, the beige turnouts, or the dress uniform — all are hot in novels and in real life. I’ll be the first to admit that I stare unabashedly when we drive past the firehouse that’s one-quarter miles away from our home. (By the way, have I mentioned how awesome it is that we live near a firehouse? BECAUSE IT IS! It is equally awesome that the men are often seen drinking coffee at the nearby coffee shop, providing yet another opportunity for ogling as I run my morning errands.) And since I know I’m not the only woman who loves a fireman, that’s why I chose to write about hot firemen in my Fighting Fire series that includes BURN FOR ME and my newest release MELT FOR HIM. But what is it about firemen in particular that can cause such jaw dropping and neck craning on the part…

Last year KILLING CUSTER came out and now is available in paperback.  This year’s novel, NIGHT OF THE WHITE BUFFALO, appears in early September.  Looking at these two very different novels on my shelf, I wondered if the only thing they had in common is the same author.  (That would be me.)   Which set me to wondering, is what ways are they alike? Let’s start with setting and characters.  Both are set on the Wind River Reservation in central Wyoming with the Arapahos, one of the Plains Indian tribes.  Both feature Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden and Jesuit missionary priest, Father John Aloysius O’Malley.  So, in what ways are they different?  Since I work very hard not to tell the same stories over and over again, the stories are different.  KILLING CUSTER deals with reenactors, people who dress up like Custer and the 7th Cavalry and fight—again and again—the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which took place on June 25-26,1876.  NIGHT OF THE WHITE BUFFALO deals with the birth of a white buffalo calf on the reservation, a  sign from the Creator Himself that brings hundreds of pilgrims and changes everything.  Both novels are set in the present and yet, what they share,…

I love historical mysteries! As I look back over my list of favorites, I see that most of them are historicals that take me to a different time and place, introduce me to different cultures, and show me different ways of seeing the world. That’s why my husband Bill Albert and I teamed up to write a dozen Victorian/Edwardian mysteries, under the pen name of Robin Paige. That’s why, when we finished that series, I turned to the life of children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter for eight books in the series: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter. And why my latest historical mystery project has been THE DARLING DAHLIAS, a Depression-era series featuring a garden club in a small Alabama town in the challenging decade of the 1930s. Most of us think of the Depression as a dark time, with businesses out of customers, people out of work, and families out of luck. And yes, it was a dreadful time, there’s no doubt about it. But the ladies of Darling, Alabama, reflect the best of those shadowed years. They belong to a garden club called “The Dahlias,” which (next to Beulah’s Beauty Bower, the Darling Diner, and the party…

#FreakyFriday continues with this delicious excerpt from Marina Anderson’s THE DINING CLUB, as part the Forever Romance Menage a Trois Release Blitz! About THE DINING CLUB You are invited to the Dining Club. If you pass the challenges we set, a world of pleasure awaits you. He is everything she never wanted: brooding, secretive, rich – and far-removed from her care-free artistic lifestyle. Yet David has a power over Grace that she cannot resist, a power that comes from his darker, passionate side. And now he is ready to truly reveal himself. Inviting Grace to a weekend at the Dining Club, David offers her the opportunity to discover his deepest desires and to find pleasures far beyond her wildest imagination – but only if she is willing to play a series of sensual games. Grace faces a choice: give in to her doubts and retreat to her quiet life, or truly embrace happiness with David and win over her mesmerizing lover forever. Excerpt of THE DINING CLUB The subdued lighting and quiet murmur of intensely private conversations in the dining room were an arousing background to these small acts of sensuality, and Grace was thoroughly relaxed and enjoying herself when…

Time to celebrate #FreakyFriday with the Forever Romance Menage a Trois Release Blitz! We have a special excerpt for you from Rebecca Rose’s hot new romance TEMPTING MR. PERFECT. (Warning! Steamy content below.) About TEMPTING MR. PERFECT Dave Sanders is making up for a lifetime of sin. After leaving his reckless past behind, he now runs a respectable bar and grill. But keeping his wild side in check becomes nearly impossible when Kathy Mae Smith starts working for him. She’s shy, modest, and sexy as hell. Slow, sweet seduction has never been his style, but then Dave has never wanted a woman like this before . . . Thanks to her ex-husband, Kathy doesn’t know if she can ever trust another man. And she certainly isn’t about to jeopardize her job by jumping into bed with her hot new boss. Yet Dave is kind, caring, and his sizzling persistence is about to burn through the last of her defenses-until her past catches up with her. If she surrenders the truth to Mr. Perfect, will she lose him . . . or get a second shot at love? Excerpt from TEMPTING MR. PERFECT Slow, he reminded himself. Take your time. When…

When I began writing novels, description was not an area of strength for me, and setting was just a place to plop my characters. Fast forward ten years and my publisher compliments my upcoming release with a “You can smell the salt in this one.” DRIFTWOOD TIDES (releasing this September) is set at the Outer banks in North Carolina. You can’t set a book a place like that without readers expecting a richly painted scene. They want to feel the cold ocean foam on their feet, feel the grit of sand between their toes, hear the seagulls circling above, see the cotton candy colors in the sunset . . . and yes, smell the salt. 1. The best way to learn to master setting is by reading other books that have done just that. One novel that sets the scene better than maybe any other book I’ve read is To Kill a Mockingbird. Here’s one example of the masterfulness of her scene-setting: “Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when I first knew it. In rainy weather the streets turned to red slop, grass grew on the sidewalks, the courthouse sagged in the square.” You…

Sensible. Dependable. Reliable. These three words epitomize Miss Penelope Rose, confirmed spinster. Of course, these are fine attributes for a lady…or a cocker spaniel. After being the bridesmaid in the successive weddings of all of four of her sisters, Penelope Rose is officially on the shelf. So she does the most sensible thing and becomes the companion to the Dowager Duchess of Marchford. In addition to her regular duties as a companion, Penelope has also joined the dowager to form a matchmaking service under the name of Madam X. Penelope facilitates the love matches of many a happy couple. So adept is she in finding matches, that the only one she seems unable to create a happy alliance for is herself. Despite her penchant for practicality, Penelope longs to be seen as the bride, not just the bridesmaid. However, when a proposal finally does arrive, it is not the romantic offer she secretly dreams to receive. Here is the brash offer from the Duke of Marchford from her perspective. “I need at least a fiancée, someone who will not plague me. Someone who does not whine or cry or do other feminishy things,” grumbled Marchford. “Feminishy?” Penelope raised an eyebrow….

Hello! I’m Diane Alberts (but I also write as Jen McLaughlin), and I am so happy to be here today! I have a new book out with Entangled Publishing (Entangled Brazen), and it’s the second book in my Shillings Agency series. The first book was TEMPORARILY YOURS, which I also blogged about a few months ago! I’m thrilled to be back, and talking about the second book in the series (which is loosely tied with FALLING FOR THE GROOMSMAN, which came out in June). So, when I first starting writing my newest release, STEALING HIS HEART, I knew one thing right off the bat. My heroine would not be a simpering heroine, nor would she be completely legal. In fact, she’s a thief. To top it off, she’s actually a modern day Robin Hood, with a dash of Sherlock in her for good measure. I knew, right away, that an obstacle I would face is making her thieving something that a reader could accept. Because it’s a lot harder to accept flaws in our heroines than it is in our heroes. With our heroes, all they have to do is say one charming phrase here, a scorching kiss there, and…

My medieval novel, TIME ENOUGH TO LOVE, is the story of knights in the service of King Edward III of England. Knights are perhaps the iconic image most readers have of the period. The men didn’t, however, spring fully ready at birth for this way of life. There were years of training and hard work that went into becoming a knight. After the fall of the Roman Empire, old Roman families became rulers of their own land holds, usually a castle and a certain amount of land. These lords depended on the strength of their retainers, arms-bearing men who swore fealty them and lived within their households. This is the beginning of the knightly social class who became defined as warriors on horseback. In return for their service, the lord would usually give the knight a small parcel of land or fief, with authority over the peasants who worked the land. This authority led to the knight’s elevation into the ranks of the nobility. Training to be a knight began actually at birth. Male children who were not destined for Holy Orders, began learning at his parents’ home what is expected of a knight, good manners, and the code of…