Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Karen Rose Smith | Tea and a New Cozy Mystery Series
Cozy Corner / July 29, 2018

I’ve been drinking tea all my life. My mom served me tea with lemon in winter after I played in the snow. She added orange juice when I caught a cold. As I grew older, my dad might add a shot of whisky for a sore throat! My tea drinking days followed me through life as green tea and anti-oxidant information became more available. However, as I visited tea rooms over the years and began writing my Daisy’s Tea Garden cozy mystery series, I researched and tasted many more types of tea. Using tea bags for hot tea and brewing iced tea had been convenient. But exploring loose teas opened up another whole world of tea drinking. Loose teas are easy to brew and can provide a variety of flavors that are unique. For me tea is no longer about dipping a teabag into water heated in a microwave. It’s a calming process that involves aroma as well as taste, sharing and experimentation with mixing and combining to develop my own favorite taste sets. I have to admit I was mostly a tea bag connoisseur before the past few years. I would use tea pots to keep water warm for…

Lynne Marshall Reaches a Milestone!
News / July 27, 2018

At Romance Writers of America national conference in July, I received my twenty-five-book milestone from Harlequin. Before and at the annual party, I was treated like a VIP and given a darling Harlequin pin with a tiny ruby in it. I have already written twenty-seven books for Harlequin, with three more contracted, which will eventually bring me to thirty. As a late bloomer, I didn’t start writing until I had, what I call, a classic “late” midlife crisis. I suddenly had to write a book! I never dreamed I’d get published, and it took me five years to do so, and twelve more years to make it here, so this milestone was a big deal for me. Which book was my milestone book? Forever A Father, the first book in the Delaneys of Sandpiper Beach Trilogy for Harlequin Special Edition. Here’s a picture of me just before I went into the VIP lounge for some extra special pampering.

Return to the Sentinel Wars with Shannon K. Butcher’s BLOOD BOND
Author Guest / July 26, 2018

Blood Bond by Shannon K. Butcher Justice has never known freedom. She woke up ten years ago, naked and alone with no memory of who or what she was. Since then, she’s been a prisoner, compelled by powers she doesn’t understand. She’s roamed the country, doing whatever the fates demanded of her, good or bad. Completely alone. Until now. Ronan is starving to death. Like all the Sanguinar, his survival depends on finding the dwindling traces of blood left behind by an ancient, magical race. Weeks ago, Justice saved his life and since then, it’s been her blood he craves, her face he dreams about. As evil closes in on all sides, threatening the only stronghold the Sentinels have to protect them, Ronan must find a way to gain Justice’s trust and free her from the dark powers that control her. Because if he can’t, the next person she is compelled to kill may be him. Order BLOOD BOND: Kindle | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR Sentinel Wars They are the Sentinels. Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each possessing unique abilities in their battle to protect humanity…

Our Christmas in July Extravaganza
News / July 25, 2018

Contests Gayle Leeson celebrates Christmas in July with a Mystery Lover’s Extravaganza   Celebrate “Christmas in July” with a vacation on the lake and Lori Foster’s COOPER’S CHARM   Ella Quinn won’t let you FORGET YOUR FIRST EARL   Nancy Naigle has a special giveaway for Hallmark Christmas in July Movie Lovers!   Celebrate Christmas in July with an Amazon gift card from Jennifer Estep   Win a fun-filled Christmas in July Tote from Daryl Wood Gerber!   Get your passion on with Shelly Alexander’s Christmas in July giveaway!   All-Stars baseball + Christmas in July + Kathy Lyons = FUN!   Melinda Leigh kicks up the heat with a $100 Amazon Gift Card as we wait for WHAT I’VE DONE

Your August Netflix Arrivals for August
Film / July 25, 2018

Are you ready for the television shows and movies coming to Netflix beginning August 1? August 1 Batman Begins Chernobyl Diaries Clerks Constantine Dreamcatcher Edge of Fear Eraser Gran Torino House of Deadly Secrets Los Tiempos de Pablo Escobar—Season 1 Million Dollar Baby No Reservations Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Moby Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Nile Rodgers Once in a Lifetime Sessions with Noel Gallagher Once in a Lifetime Sessions with TLC P.S. I Love You Secretariat Silverado Steel Magnolias Stripes Switched (Netflix Original) The Aviator The Golden Compass The Informant! The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement August 2 Emelie August 3 Brij Mohan Amar Rahe (Netflix Film) Cocaine Coast (Netflix Original) Dinotrux Supercharged—Season 3 (Netflix Original) I AM A KILLER (Netflix Original) Like Father (Netflix Film) Marching Orders (Netflix Original) August 4 Flavors of Youth: International Version (Netflix Original) Mr. Sunshine (Netflix Original) On Children (Netflix Original) August 5 Paid in Full August 9 Perdida (Netflix Film) The Originals—Season 5 August 10 72 Dangerous Animals: Asia (Netflix Original) Afflicted (Netflix Original) All About the Washingtons (Netflix Original) Demetri Martin: The Overthinker (Netflix Original) Insatiable (Netflix Original) La Casa de las Flores (Netflix Original) Million Pound Menu (Netflix Original) The Guernsey Literary and Potato…

Cynthia Breeding | Londinium
Author Guest / July 25, 2018

Long before dukes and earls rode in fancy carriages through London’s Hyde Park, and long before the Norman-French claimed victory at Hastings, Romans established the city of Londinium. Julius Caesar first visited Britain in 55 B.C., but it wasn’t until A.D. 43 that Emperor Claudius decided the Thames was a favorable shipping route from the North Sea and established a town in the area just east of present day Westminster. The area extends roughly from east of Waterloo Bridge to Tower Bridge and north from the Thames toward the Museum of London.  If walking, there are stone Dragon monuments that mark the boundaries of the Old City. Of course, local Celtic tribes did not welcome the Roman invasion any more than Native Americans did white settlers.  Inceni Queen Boudicca of East Anglia led a revolt against the Romans and destroyed their cities of Camulodunum (Colchester), Verulamium (St. Albans) and Londinium. Perhaps she was the first, true Women’s Libber!  In any case, she was indeed a Warrior Woman whom men followed into war.  A statue of her driving her chariot stands at the corner of today’s Westminster Bridge and Victoria’s Embankment, right across from Parliament. The Romans, however, were not known…

Shana Gray | Run Away to Vegas
Author Guest / July 24, 2018

Have you ever been to Vegas? Have you walked along The Strip and felt the excitement? Vegas has its own unique sound. When you go in the casinos there’s a hum, a ringing of all the slot machines and games, for those that have been you know what I mean. But there’s more to Vegas than just gambling, there’s the shows, the food, the sightseeing, golf, shopping, and more. It’s almost an assault on your senses and you really can’t do it all in one trip. I’ve been three times, and each time realize just how much I’ve missed, which, means I only have to go back and see more! And flying in a night, well it’s breathtaking to see the lights of The Strip spread out before you from the air. I always try and spot the hotels, like the Luxor with its distinctive shape and beacon of light that shoots into the sky. All the hotels have their own unique feature. Like Paris, with a replica of the Eiffel Tower on the exterior and the interior. The volcano at The Mirage hotel that belches out ‘lava’ during the show. The gondola ride along the canal inside the Venetian,…

Author/Reader Match: Nancy Herkness
MatchMaker / July 24, 2018

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Nancy Herkness. Writes: Contemporary romance set in places Nancy knows well from personal experience (New York City and West Virginia). Her July 24th release, SECOND TIME AROUND, is the first novel in her new Second Glances series (which kicked off with a novella, SECOND TO NONE). Her editor calls this series “billionaires with heart.” About: Nancy is an animal lover, a Jazzercise enthusiast, and a native West Virginian transplanted to New Jersey. She has written three award-winning romance series—Second Glances, Wager of Hearts, and Whisper Horse—and several standalone novels. She graduated from Princeton University with a degree in English lit and creative writing (poetry, if you can believe it!). She got hooked on reading romance when her grandmother loaned her a Georgette Heyer novel. What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Must love dogs…and the occasional cat and horse! Enjoys the fantasy of being swept away in a fast car or a Learjet, holding a glass of champagne. Thinks…

Mysteries in the Garden
Cozy Corner / July 23, 2018

By Rebecca Adler Try not to judge…but I’m having an affair with my air conditioner. In spite of my desire to cling like a limpet to this hardworking, life-giving, and mechanical knight in shining armor, I still crave the outdoors: the sound of birdsong, the touch of a gentle breeze, the sight of squirrels and rabbits frolicking in the cool of the morning. Every day before the temperatures in Texas soar to a brain-frying 107 degrees, I step outside and greet the day. If you enjoy spending the cool of the morning or early evening outside, why not take along your favorite cozy to nibble along with your coffee, tea, or margarita? From the garden to the orchard, this week’s new cozy mystery boxset is sure to satisfy and refresh. DANGER COVE FARMERS’ MARKET MYSTERIES BOXED SET by Elizabeth Ashby, Gin Jones Danger Cove Mysteries From USA Today bestselling authors Gin Jones & Elizabeth Ashby comes a set of the first three full-length Danger Cove Farmers’ Market Mysteries featuring clever and witty amateur sleuth Maria Dolores, including: A DEATH IN THE FLOWER GARDEN Maria Dolores, new manager of the Lighthouse Farmers’ Market, has her work cut out for her when…