When I was in high school I wanted a pair of Justin Ropers, a type of boots that were very popular in a town where many of the teenagers knew how to ride a horse. I wasn’t one of those teenagers, but I still wanted boots. I did live out in the country and considered myself to have a tomboy side, so having a pair of country-looking boots seemed pretty normal to me. Unfortunately, on the first day I wore them to school, I felt extremely out of place. I remember feeling like a fraud as I walked past a group of girls who it seemed had earned the right to wear their boots, because they had horses and I didn’t. Sadly, I knew I wasn’t the real thing, like those other girls, and everybody else probably knew it. It wasn’t until my real, cowgirl friend, Amy, stopped me in the hall to say she liked my pair of boots that I began to feel like I belonged in them. After that, I wore them as much as I wanted to. The only thing I would change about that story is the part about my needing someone else to make…

“Love is a striking example of how little reality means to us.” -Marcel Proust As an author, I read a lot. As a reader, I think a lot. As a romance reader, I think about love a lot – an unfortunate amount, my friends might say. What is it made of? Hormones? Pheromones? Something less tangible? How reliable is it? Does it fade over time? There’s no limit to the number of questions a love-addled brain can produce in a single episode of insomnia, and no end of disastrous love stories that have failed to answer them correctly. So, why do we keep trying? C.S. Lewis wrote about four different types of love and how they intersect and fluctuate across the human life cycle. His essential conclusion was that familial love is defining, spiritual/religious love is necessary, passionate love (aka lust) is powerful yet fleeting, and companionship is forever. Thus, since companionship is the one that lasts, we should all marry our best friends, right? Admittedly, if we did, the divorce rate might go down. The birth rate might also go down since many of us, myself included, have exactly zero desire to see our BFFs naked. What’s the answer,…

Finally we are headed into spring with the month of April but other than looking forward to the warmer weather, there’s also plenty more in the book world to get excited about. April has so many releases that I’ve been anxiously awaiting so for this week’s recommendations, I wanted to share what I plan on reading and hopefully you’ll find them interesting enough to add them to your own to-be-read pile! During the first week of April, THE BEAST by J.R. Ward will be unleashed onto the world. As Ward’s fourteenth book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Ward will be returning to a previous couple in the series who have already had their HEA and Since Rhage and Mary are my all-time favorite couple, I’m especially excited to have Ward revisit them. Another title that I think is worthy of putting on your TBR list for April is Donna Grant‘s SMOKE AND FIRE. As book nine in the Dark Kings series, Grant takes the dragon mythology and runs with it, breathing new life and culture into her books. This particular book is one of my favorites in the series because not only to get a steamy romance but there’s…

Can you believe it’s already spring? Our Fresh Fiction Box subscribers are enjoying the great weather with these latest releases. April’s Print Books: Every box included RELATIVITY by Antonia Hayes plus a random selection of 2 other new releases: Take Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates A Cowboy’s Claim by Marin Thomas Want Ad Wedding by Cheryl St. John One More Night With You by Lisa Marie Perry A Fool and His Monet by Sandra Orchard Annabel Lee by Mike Nappa Brighton Belle by Sara Sheridan Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor April’s eBooks: Everyone received all 4 Dangerous Gentlemen by Beverley Oakley Naked Choke by Vanessa Vale Motion for Madness by Kelly Rey Sugar Daddy by Sawyer Bennett April’s Special Keepsake: First Aid Kits from Sandra Orchard You can sign up for the May shipment and get a box full of new books delivered to your door! What would you want to read first? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter with #FFBoxNOTtoMiss!

What’s in a name? Everything when it comes to a cozy mystery. It must be witty, eye-catching, combine a hint about the series and the individual crime all in a couple quirky words. The author must turn a phrase, or twist it or just toss it out there and see if the readers catch the pun. Of course we do—we always do. That’s why we read cozies. They snare our attention with that little wiggle at the end of the line. The one you can’t resist even if the pond is full of bigger fish with names that make your eyes pop. The cozy author has given you a taste. A tease. A temptation you can’t resist. The new April releases are just so—titles you can’t pass up. Titles that made you go, “hmmm.” So what’s on your menu for tomorrow? About REST IN PEACH by Susan Furlong In the refreshing new Georgia Peach Mystery from the author of Peaches and Scream, an upcoming debutante ball turns into the pits when a juicy murder scandalizes a small town. The annual Peach Cotillion, Cays Mill, Georgia’s biggest event, is fast approaching and Nola Mae Harper is just as excited as the…

Are you a fan of cowboys? I mean, who isn’t a fan of the western man, usually silent but solid, dependable but with a little bit of “bad boy” around the edges. So if you are a fan, you should be downloading a copy of COWBOY JUSTICE. Available tomorrow at all your favorite e-tailers for only 99¢. About COWBOY JUSTICE Get your TWELVE Cowboy Lawmen who are so hot it’s criminal. The COWBOY JUSTICE 12-Pack includes fresh novellas by twelve New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Authors! JUSTICE FOR LAINE by Susan Stoker – What began as a favor turns out to be fate when Laine meets sexy Texas Ranger Wes and falls for him. JUSTICE BURNING by Elle James – Hard-nosed sheriff’s deputy, Nash Grayson, places his family and hometown in danger when he rescues a desperate runaway bride LAYING DOWN THE LAW by Becky McGraw – Doctor returns to hometown when mother takes a fall and falls harder for new town Sheriff…her first love. TEXAS JUSTICE by Cynthia D’Alba – First-term Sheriff is torn between duty and love when sexy Chief of Surgery is accused of medical malpractice and homicide. TEXAS LONE STAR by Sable Hunter –…

You might not be able to relate to someone who only wears Prada and drives a Maserati, but let’s face it, as human beings, we all have at least one thing in common: We must eat in order to survive. Whether it be the humble PBJ or French cuisine, something must fill our stomachs. But eating isn’t just about staying alive. Nearly every holiday we celebrate is associated with a particular food or meal—just imagine celebrating Thanksgiving without the dinner!—and the sharing of food is deeply ingrained in every culture. You wouldn’t invite someone over to your house without providing them with some sort of refreshments. It simply isn’t done. By the same token, refusing what is offered could be seen as a major insult. Cooking is also a terrific means for expressing creativity. The combinations of foods and flavors are endless, particularly if you don’t limit yourself to one particular cuisine. Tina Hayes, the heroine of MUST LOVE COWBOYS, does this by searching for recipes online and then adding her own personal touches. Food can be beautiful as well as tasty. Whenever I’m out with friends and someone orders a particularly awesome dessert, someone nearly always posts a picture…

The London Season – famous in fiction (and still happens today, amazingly!) – was the ideal marriage market for the Regency Miss. With Parliament in session from mid-fall to early summer, the court and the gentry alike left their country estates to flock to the capital. By day some made laws, by night all made hay at a glittering round of parties, concerts and balls. Eager mamas thronged the best venues, hunting a good catch for their daughters. Romance flowered, and not just for debutantes. Marriage could be little more than a property deal, so for married women flirtation spiced up a life of sheltered respectability. Naturally all had to be hidden. A whiff of scandal could ruin even the most powerful, but women, with so few rights, suffered most. Saffina’s passionate romance with the mighty Earl of Endale, her rakish guardian, travelled a rocky road. They quickly become lovers, sharing his taste for erotic discipline. In SAFFINA’S SEASON they’re now settled and married but Lord Endale treats his new Countess to her long-promised London Season with mixed feelings. He knows her beauty and wit will make her a star, but his reputation is checkered. Worse, he dreads a rival…

I’ve had the same style hair for a decade—short bob that the kids didn’t grab or bury in peanut butter. My clothing style was comfortable and hardy. And my home décor has been decided by the previous owners of the furniture I inherited. But I’ve been empty nesting for a few years now. Life has slowed down and my husband and I are earning enough to have a little extra. And here’s the clinker. My twenty-something daughters have emphasized that “Style” isn’t a dirty word. Now if you’ve met me at a conference, you know I have some beautiful clothes. Flowy fabric often with an Asian flare. Beautiful right? That’s style, right? Of course it is. And it fit perfectly with my penname Jade Lee. Except I’m also Kathy Lyons who is publishing more and more contemporary fun books. Laugh out loud books, some with paranormal twists, but all with distinctive modern humor. So…style update. Guess what I’ve changed. (Hint: can be more than one) Long blonde locks. Yup, grew out the hair, bleached it until it’s almost white, and then added some curls. Red highlights. I’ve got dark hair so that shock of red…well, it’s not so shocking. In…

Baseball has always been a sport I’ve loved. I grew up collecting baseball cards, watching the Boston Red Sox whenever a game was on TV, and playing with the boys in the schoolyard. And still after many, many years, the love of the game is still embedded me. So much so, that my home office is riddled with pictures and memorabilia of the game. My inspiration for DARE TO KISS goes a bit deeper. As a little girl I fought hard to play baseball on a boys’ city league. But back in the late sixties and early seventies, girls weren’t allowed to play on boys’ team. It was then I came up with the plot for DARE TO KISS on how a high school girl breaks through barriers to play on an all boys’ baseball team. It didn’t take me long once I started writing. The protagonist, Lacey Robinson is a girl, who is a lot like myself. She loves the energy of the ball field. She loves hearing the crack of the bat and the roar of the crowd. She loves striking a batter out, but most of all she loves the game, and no matter the consequences, and…