The month of May is rife with Young Adult releases but the ones I have chosen are a little bit more special because they have that have a paranormal twist to them! If you’re like me, you are looking forward to these releases. Personally, I’m a lover of both YA and PNR so whenever I find a series that combines the two, they tend to get pushed up on my TBR pile. Authors like Sherriyn Kenyon are no strangers to both genres. In fact, The Chronicles of Nick series is closely tied to the Dark-Hunters world so there is a lot of cross over. In contrast, Sarah J. Maas and Danielle L. Jensen write YA but with a heavy Fantasy influence. The series, however, do include fae and witches, making it easy for supernatural fans to devour. The only thing I would say about all these books is that you must read the series in order. Since they are YA, the stories do not have a resolution at the end of every book like typical Paranormal Romances do. Therefore, it’s important to read in order to benefit from the story the most. Don’t worry if you’re behind because I can…

What kind of shifter would I write about if I no longer created stories about wolf or jaguar shapeshifters? That’s a hard one to answer because I love creating stories about the wolves and jaguars. I’m writing about cougars and also have one coming out about a polar bear because the first shifter book I ever read was about a man cursed to be a polar bear in EAST OF THE SUN AND WEST OF THE MOON, a Norwegian fairy tale. Reading that book as a child, I had my first real experience about shifters and loved the romance between the prince and the maid who married him. The story was a fantasy, a wicked troll queen cursing him to be a polar bear by day and a man at night. But mine will be perfectly plausible. Looking for a hot polar bear to warm your heart? Cougars are really different from jaguars, so it’s fun for me to write about two unique big cats and how different the shifters are in their human form also. Jaguars are mysterious, hard to document, protected. Cougars are hunted and have seasons to thin their numbers. Jaguars are exotic big cats, whereas cougars…

Spring is finally here which, according to some love pundits, means that along with sweet-smelling flowers, fresh, dewy love is just around the corner. All that newly exposed flesh… all those newly liberated hormones! But if you’re in the market for a new man this spring, this author highly recommends that you consider trading up and going for a supernatural boyfriend. Here is a roundup of the top 5 reasons the #SNB is the better man. You’ll never be bored. Ever. One of the biggest failings of any relationship is boredom. This is never a problem with a #SNB. So what if you don’t have much in common? No one said that a vegetarian and the undead couldn’t get along! You may not be a drama queen, but the #SNB simply doesn’t have ordinary problems. Imagine lamenting to your friends over coffee about your new significant other and how he occasionally sprouts fur – and sometimes tears the heads off attackers in an effort to save the world and/or you. They’ll be just as enthralled by the discussion as you are. He’ll get you out of a jam. This is the boyfriend you want in your corner. He won’t leave…

Have you ever searched for books with the word wedding in the title? On Amazon alone, there are over 22,000. Add in bride, and you’ll have a mini-explosion on your screen. We have runaway brides, mail-order brides, princess brides, virgin brides, substitute brides, pretend brides, and, yes, bridezillas! There are right at 29,000 book titles that include the word bride. Groom? Another 2,000. I know. A lot less. Sorry, guys, but it’s best you understand right now that it’s all about the bride. Why so many books about weddings? Because we love to read them! We get to vicariously share that magic moment with the bride and groom, their families and friends. The reader is given a front row seat at the affair…and through all the ups and downs it takes to reach that moment. In Magnolia Brides, my new series, we’re right there when wedding planner Jenni Beth Beaumont (THE BEST LAID WEDDING PLANS) and florist Cricket O’Malley (EVERY BRIDE HAS HER DAY) meet their brides and plan that perfect-for-her event…and smile when, along the way, each finds her own special someone. We love the little pink purses bursting with sweetheart roses, calla lilies, Bells of Ireland, and strands…

I’ve had a few mishaps lately. Nothing serious, but annoying. I hurt my wrist, requiring it to be in a sling. And then I chipped a front tooth. No picture for that because I really hate looking at my mouth right now. Anyway, guess how these injuries happened. I was defending the world from evil aliens. After leaping over the nearest baddy, I used my tablet to knock the worst alien unconscious. Sadly,the impact of breaking his skull shattered my tablet, my current manuscript, and my wrist. Aliens did it to me in my sleep. Yup, I just woke up one day and there was a huge bump on my wrist. Racquetball—I stepped too close to my opponent and his racquet slammed into my wrist. Totally his fault! Racquetball – I stepped too close to my opponent and his racquet slammed into my wrist. Totally MY fault! Carpal tunnel from writing so much, so fast. I’m an author on fire! Answer: D – I really wish I’d been fighting aliens or writing so fast that my wrist exploded. Sadly, the truth is that I was playing racquetball, inched too close to my opponent, and got whacked. And yes—big sigh—it was…

There’s something ’bout the bad boys that makes the good girls fall in love. ~ Zara Larsson It isn’t just Zara who sings about good girls falling for the wrong boys, we hear it all over the radio, we see it in books and movies, as well as every day in real life. In THE SOCIETY, Sam definitely found herself pulled toward a “bad boy.” He was hot, rode a motorcycle, and had that almost indefinable edge of danger about him from the first time they met. One sexy grin and she was hooked. So what exactly is the allure of bad boys that makes so many girls, especially teens, lose their heads and hearts chasing after them? One surface answer might be that some girls love the bad boy image—that kind of wild, devil-may-care attitude coupled with a sexy grin can leave a girl weak in the knees. Most of us have been there at one time or another. I know I have, especially as a teenager and in my early twenties. On one hand, you might have a perfectly nice guy who your mother would adore, and on the other? The rebel without a cause. How many of…

I love a good sandwich – some amazing French bread, ham, roast beef…a bit of provolone or cheddar…oh, it makes my tummy happy! But grilled cheese – in all its varieties – is my absolute favorite sandwich to make. I think it’s my favorite because of all the variety: I can go kiddish with straight-up American and white bread or take it on a bit of a grown up turn with some broccoli and mushrooms. One of my favorite recipes is for Double Bacon Grilled Cheese – it’s a recipe the characters in PROTECTING THE QUARTERBACK, Jonas and Brooks, sample. Here’s how to make it: Ingredients: 8 slices bacon – we prefer thick cut, but use your favorite Some chopped red onion (to taste and totally optional) 4 slices Cheddar cheese, 3 ounce slices 4 slices mozzarella cheese, 3 ounce slices 8 slices sourdough bread, medium (1/2″) slices Cook It Up: You can use a flat skillet or a closed contact grill, I prefer the closed contact grill, but both make yummy sandwiches. Either way, heat the pan/grill for 5 minutes. Skillet Method: Cook the bacon until lightly crisp, and remove from heat. Sautee the onion in the bacon grease…

Exclusive Excerpt: About DARE TO TAKE A one-night stand. A secret. A mistake they tried to forget. On leave from the army, Tyler Dare is just looking for a little fun, but his best friend’s sister is off limits. Yet unable to deny how sexy and alluring she is, he finds it all too easy to succumb to a night of passion and heat that ends the next morning in the worst way possible. There are just some guys you don’t touch–even someone as innocent and inexperienced as Ella Shaw knows that. But when her brother’s best friend is up for grabs and willing, she can’t resist. After all, she’s wanted him for years… Now, Ella is stranded on a tropical island with a hurricane bearing down, and only Tyler can save her. It’s his chance to make amends for the past and show the woman he’s never forgotten that he’s coming after her . . . in more ways than one. Buy DARE TO TAKE: Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR Tyler had been standing in the hallway for a good half hour…

Where does an author come up with her stories? Sometimes from watching a movie or reading a book or news article that piques her interest and gets her thinking “What if this happened next… And sometimes, when a secondary character sticks in her head and refuses to be dislodged until she agrees to tell his story. Such was the impetus for my new Hadley’s Hellions series, which begins this month with FORBIDDEN NIGHTS WITH THE VISCOUNT. The character in question was a key player in rescuing the heroine in FROM WAIF TO GENTLEMAN’S WIFE, a story set more than ten years earlier, when farmer’s orphan David Tanner Smith was still a boy. But a sharp, intelligent, resourceful boy who so impresses hero Sir Edward Greaves that he decides to sponsor the lad at Oxford. Davie has great ideas and a dream of reforming England so that commoners like himself have a voice in government. But power is wielded by those of birth and wealth, so I knew to implement those plans, Davie would need to link up with men of like ideas and better connections. Men who had compelling reasons to be estranged from others of their birth and class….

I don’t enjoying looking at rich people’s art and old furniture, so I’m not a fan of most house museum tours. There’s only one exception: Fort Lauderdale’s Bonnet House Museum & Gardens. I can’t wait for you to read THE ART OF MURDER, my May Dead-End Job mystery. THE ART OF MURDER opens at Bonnet House, where I worked as a volunteer greeter. Bonnet House was the colorful home of artists Evelyn and Frederic Clay Bartlett. Evelyn took up collecting miniature orchids at age 101, and lived to be 109. Their house was filled with light, life and color. Bonnet House was Frederic’s idea of a Caribbean plantation house. It’s built around a courtyard sheltered by feathery palms and bright with flowers. The house has whimsical touches: gilded baroque columns swirl around the drawing room doors, balconies are frosted with New Orleans wrought iron, and Evelyn’s collection of brightly painted wooden animals, including giraffes and ostriches, are everywhere. Evelyn loved animals, and Bonnet House still has swans and a troupe of adorable monkeys living on the grounds. The monkeys, the last of Evelyn’s pets, escaped from a bar. Frederic built Evelyn the charming Bamboo Bar and Shell Museum as a…