A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING by Deanna Raybourn Veronica Speedwell Mystery Veronica Speedwell returns in a brand new adventure from Deanna Raybourn, the New York Times bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey mysteries… London, 1887. Victorian adventuress and butterfly hunter Veronica Speedwell receives an invitation to visit the Curiosity Club, a ladies-only establishment for daring and intrepid women. There she meets the mysterious Lady Sundridge, who begs her to take on an impossible task—saving society art patron Miles Ramsforth from execution. Accused of the brutal murder of his artist mistress Artemisia, Ramsforth will face the hangman’s noose in a week’s time if Veronica cannot find the real killer. But Lady Sundridge is not all that she seems, and unmasking her true identity is only the first of the many secrets Veronica must uncover. Together with her natural historian colleague Stoker, Veronica races against time to find the true murderer—a ruthless villain who not only took Artemisia’s life in cold blood but is happy to see Ramsforth hang for the crime. From a Bohemian artists’ colony to a royal palace to a subterranean grotto with a decadent history, the investigation proves to be a very perilous undertaking indeed…. Mystery Historical [Berkley, On…

THE SEVENTH PLAGUE asks, if the biblical plagues of Egypt truly happened—could they happen again—on a global scale? In THE SEVENTH PLAGUE the leader of a British archeological expedition stumbles out of the Egyptian desert. Before he can explain what happened to his team, he dies. But his remains hold a terrifying discovery that only deepens the mystery: something had begun mummifying his body while he was still alive. Sigma must search for the truth, traveling from the plague-ridden streets of Cairo to a vast ancient tomb buried under the burning sands of the Sudan; while struggling to stop a mad genius locked within a remote Arctic engineering complex, risking the lives of all those he holds dear. As the global crisis grows ever larger, Sigma Force will confront a threat born of the ancient past and made real by the cutting-edge science—a danger that will unleash a cascading series of plagues, culminating in a scourge that could kill all of the world’s children . . . decimating mankind forever. James Rollins is one of the most inventive writers writing today, with the New York Times Book Review raving, “he’s what you might end up with if you tossed Michael…

Cowboy Unwrapped by Vicki Lewis Thompson Thunder Mountain Brotherhood #8 Harlequin Blaze December 2016 On Sale: November 22, 2016 Featuring: Jake Ramsay; Amethyst Ferguson 224 pages ISBN: 0373799233 EAN: 9780373799237 Kindle: B01DSPXLG8 Paperback / e-Book Romance Contemporary | Holiday | Romance Western This cowboy can handle the heat… For cowboy and firefighter Jake Ramsay, Christmas at Thunder Mountain Ranch is all about family, food and celebration. Okay, and maybe a chance to run into his high school sweetheart, singer Amethyst Ferguson. Six months ago, they had a scorching-hot, wild reunion…and this cowboy can’t wait for another chance to play with fire. Now their sexual attraction is an insatiable, five-alarm blaze that’s only grown more addictive. But Amethyst has career dreams that don’t include Jackson Hole, Wyoming, or a “relationship.” Whatever this is between them, however real it feels, it can never become anything more. Once Christmas is over, Amethyst must walk away…even if they both get burned. Thunder Mountain Brotherhood Midnight Thunder #1.0 Amazon.com | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play Thunderstruck #2.0 Amazon.com | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play Rolling Like Thunder #3.0 Amazon.com | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play A…

It’s almost time to sing Auld Lang Syne and as I reflect over the blogs I’ve posted for 2016, I realize what an amazing year I’ve had on the Cozy Corner. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to interview authors whose experiences and careers are as varied as the mystery genre they write. Many thanks to Fresh Fiction and the generous writers who’ve graciously given me their time. But most of all, to the readers who click on the Cozy Corner to find out what’s new in the genre—thank you for making the past year awesome! Take a moment and think about your best moments this year: The stranger who did something nice without a second thought. The store employee who went out of her way to help you. Remember that lunch you had with your colleagues. That movie you shared with your friends. That special night with the one you love. And don’t forget all those wonderful books that kept you up late at night, even if you did pay the price the next day. 😉 There are so many good things to reflect on from 2016. Forget the bad, yet be mindful of how you can make a difference…

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Ready? Okay, here goes. I have a secret love affair with the best friend’s little sister love trope. Yep, you heard me right. I love it. LOVE. It. Madly, truly, deeply. There’s just something about a forbidden romance on that kind of level that gets me hooked on a story. Most of the time, the trope has an older brother (or four, if you’re talking about my newest release, THE CEO’S SEDUCTION, the first in an exciting new series) who absolutely does not approve of the sister and his best bud dating. Because of this, you have an automatic tension in your book that sizzles, snaps, and pulls you in. There’s the secrecy of the love affair, something both the heroine and hero will fight to keep… But you know it’s all gonna come out eventually, and when it does, which way will the cards fall? Will the hero bail, and apologize to his best bud, or will he stand by the heroine’s side, and take whatever comes his way, all in the name in love? If I’m being one hundred percent honest, I think that’s my favorite moment in…

Remember finals? The last-minute scrambling? The late-night pizza and Mountain Dew fueled explorations into complex topics that, when illuminated by morning and a couple hours of sleep, failed to retain that brilliant, panic-enhanced hue? And then handing in something you feared might just be garbage? You would have thought we’d have learned. But here we are, a couple of weeks from Christmas, madly surfing Amazon for gift ideas and tossing the decorations at the tree with Whoville efficiency. How does this happen every year? If you are a writer, or anyone else who works with deadlines, this time of year can be especially sleep-deprived. And it doesn’t help much that it’s now dark before dinner. Suddenly 5:00 feels like 10:00, and I spend a significant portion of my day dedicated to yawning. And I wasn’t there, but I’m relatively sure that when the gods of the work calendar congregated to decide how long we should have to accomplish any given task, they began with a blank calendar. If a job is to take three weeks, it should take three weeks in December just like it would in May. Not so much. At least if you have a life. So here…

GIVEAWAY: a copy of SLEIGH BELLS RING Admit it. You love Christmas romances just as much as I do. Why do these stories touch our hearts so profoundly? Because every page engages our five senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. They evoke our memories of the scent of mulled cider sipped near a real Christmas tree. The way a warm sugar cookie melts on our tongues. Curling up under a cozy afghan in front of a crackling fire. Imagining the soft touch of his finger stroking the curve of our cheek. Christmas carols add the background music to our own romantic Hallmark movie. Christmas is the season of miracles, and we want to believe in miracles. But most of all, it’s the season of love. Sweet romance novels stoke our imaginations with the possibility that we, too, will live happily ever after with our one true love. SLEIGH BELLS RING is a collection of four contemporary Christmas novellas in which each Tucker sister is the heroine of her own story. The Tucker girls have inherited their father’s Kentucky horse farm for Christmas. Make that . . . a run-down horse farm. It needs some serious TLC in order…

Excerpt -Mated to the Vikens Erik, Planet Viken, Viken United Compound, Transport Center Nerves made my heart beat faster than I wished as I watched my two brothers-in-arms. Gunnar, with his black hair and blacker heart, stood silent and still as a statue as we waited for our mate to arrive via transport. He’d vowed not to love her, but Rolf and I didn’t need him to do so. “How long must we wait?” Gunnar turned on the Viken warrior behind the transport station, every line in his body screaming of his irritation. “For someone not interested in a mate, you’re fucking impatient,” I countered. While the other two stood near the transport area, I leaned against the wall. Gunnar regarded me over his shoulder with a look that screamed fuck you. “Not long, sir,” the attendant said. “The transport signal is strong. Your mate should arrive in the next few minutes.” “Relax, Gunnar,” Rolf said. He could always calm our friend. “Earth is a long way from here. A long, long way.” They stood shoulder to shoulder. Next to Gunnar’s darkness, Rolf looked like a beacon. Always smiling, his pale blond hair and bright green eyes nearly made him…

CHANCE ON LOVE by Nancy Corrigan Royal-Kagan Shifter World #4 Sometimes the only choice is to take a chance and enjoy the consequences. Sean Reynolds is content wielding his dominant personality as the public face of Kagan Industries. Pack leadership and all the responsibilities that go with it doesn’t interest him. But when alpha-in-waiting Nic Kagan skips town, there’s no one to take on his aging father’s spirit wolf. No one but Sean. Sean wants none of it, but with his wolf growling in eagerness to fill that void, he heads for the bar in an attempt to drink the beast into submission. He’d like to ignore the sultry blonde shifter burning up the dance floor with moves that make him painfully aware of the full moon. But when she abruptly disappears, his wolf sends him in hot pursuit. Following the scent of a female he can see in his bed not for a single night, but for a lifetime Note: This is a short novella (11K) that introduces the Kagan Pack, the Alexander Pride’s single shifter neighbors. This is not a full length book, but it may be read as a standalone. Romance Paranormal [Samhain, On Sale: November 28,…

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved Christmas. In many ways, the holiday season can be a bit hectic, with shopping and gift-wrapping and decorating, but it’s also a treasured time for family, friends, fond reminiscences, and creating new memories. One of my favorite Christmas traditions centers around decorating the house. My hubby rivals Clark Griswold with his passion for exterior illumination, and despite his efforts to decorate our house with a coordinated theme, our outdoor holiday décor is not complete in my eyes until I put out my illuminated penguins. After years of exposure to snow and wind, they’re looking a little worse for wear—one of them looks rather like he got into a brawl with some bigger, meaner penguins, but I have a soft spot for the little guys and display them every year. My hubby sighs and grumbles, but he knows that battle is lost. My interior décor is rather eclectic. I wish I could say I have a unifying scheme that ties all my festive items together, but my approach to decorating the house can be summed up in one word: memories. Cherished ornaments hand-made by my sons when they were children are among…