Don’t miss the much-anticipated follow up to USA Today bestselling novel, GETTING LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN. ANATOMY OF A PLAYER by Cindi Madsen This bad boy is about to get played… After getting her heart broken by a player again, Whitney Porter is done with men. She’s focusing on her future career and her first assignment at the college newspaper: Posing as a sports writer for an exposé on the extra perks jocks receive. But Hudson Decker, the bad boy of the hockey team, is about to test her resolve. To keep herself from breaking her no-sex rule with the temptingly tattooed athlete, she decides to use him for a side project: Anatomy of a Player, to help Whitney—and women everywhere—spot a player, learn what makes him tick, and how to avoid falling for one. With his life spiraling out of control, Hudson Decker’s looking for a distraction. When his teammates bet him that he can’t land the gorgeous but prickly new reporter, he accepts the challenge, boasting he’ll have her in bed by the end of the semester. But Whitney is so much more than Hudson expected, and soon enough, he’s in too deep. The last thing he needs is…

Music is powerful. The melodies crash through our bloodstream and make us feel whatever it is that the musician/lyricist wanted us to feel: anger, despair, desire, love, longing, happiness. Every emotion we can imagine is expressed in music. When I got the idea for my new Love You Like A Love Song Series, I was struggling with the question asked today; If this book had a music soundtrack, what would it be and why? And then I thought, the romance should have its own song, a song that tells the story of these two characters. Their love story is unique, and strange, and powerful. And so, my Love You Like A Love Song series was born. CRASH AND BURN, ALONE WITH YOU (Feb 2016), UP ALL NIGHT (March 2016) and MAKE ME FORGET (April 2016) – with more to come So, I sat down with the vague idea for CRASH AND BURN, day one, page one, and I started with song lyrics. It sounds crazy — and I felt a little crazy when I was writing it — but the lyrics came, and with them came the voice of my heroine, Erin Michaelson, as she introduced herself to me. Turned…

Lady Olivia, the matriarch of the Waters Highland clan, has sent her two youngest sons south to London with the task of marrying off their hoydenish sister, Mary Elizabeth Waters. While in England, Alexander (HOW TO SEDUCE A SCOT) and Robert (HOW TO WED A WARRIOR) were under strict instructions not to marry an English girl, a stricture which they both ignored. Mary Elizabeth can out-hunt, out-shoot, and out-ride every man she has ever met, and she has declared openly and directly that she will never wed. Now, let’s sit down to tea with the Waters clan, shall we? Tea with the Waters Family Alexander Waters: I’ve gathered you all here today to consider why Mary Elizabeth isn’t married yet. Mary Elizabeth Waters: Because marriage is for fools! What woman would give up her life to a man? No offense, Catherine. Mrs. Catherine Waters (laughing): You don’t offend me, Mary. Robert Waters: Now, Mary darlin’, don’t be too hasty. Ye might enjoy wedded bliss. Mary Elizabeth: Just because you caught Mrs. Prudence— Robbie: She caught me! Mary Elizabeth (with a glower): Just because you caught my Mrs. Prudence and got her to marry you, does not mean that you are…

by Beth Cornelison It was a dark and stormy night… Ah, yes. The trite opening line that even Snoopy, in his Great Writer persona, used to set the stage for his novel. Why? Because setting, when used to the fullest advantage, is an important element of a writer’s toolbox. What would Rebecca be without the mysterious and austere Manderley? Would Star Wars be the same in a galaxy just around the corner from Earth? The setting of a story, used to full advantage, affects the plot and the mood and can reflect a theme in a novel. In TO LOVE, HONOR AND DEFEND, one of the first books I published with Harlequin Romantic Suspense, the stark cold weather, gray skies and bare trees mirrored the feelings of isolation, fear and betrayal my heroine felt. Setting can also be used for contrast, thereby highlighting some aspect of plot or character. In Healing Luke, my grumpy and bitter hero glares irritably at the bright Florida sunshine early in the story, showing the reader the truly dark place his life had reach. Knowing the importance of setting, when I set out to write ROCK-A-BYE RESCUE with Karen Whiddon, I knew we needed to…

Our reviewer Sandra Wurman, wrote FIND HER “first and foremost I have to say I’ve never been more emotionally invested in a story. FIND HER crept into my heart and consciousness and refused to leave. This book is so well written with obvious attention to details and sequences that the author, Lisa Gardner, deserves plaudits for a job very well done. I’ve read lots of crime novels, but FIND HER is gritty and scarily plausible, and that’s what makes it attention-grabbing.” So now it’s time to talk to the author and find out more about FIND HER (February 2016). I can’t help but wonder – just what or who was your model or inspiration for the character of Flora Dane? Flora had to be one of the most resourceful characters ever written – human to be sure – but so mentally secure in her own way. The mantra she developed was awe inspiring. I developed Flora’s character after interviewing two victim specialists from the FBI’s Office of Victim Assistance. These specialists focus on working with a victim’s family during a crisis as well as developing a post-captivity plan upon recovery. One of the specialists emphasized over and over again that…