I always look forward to a new Lorraine Heath book and her newest novel, TEXAS LEGACY, is something very special. The hero in TEXAS LEGACY is a character who was a boy in Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy, which she wrote quite a few years ago. Lorraine Heath’s new book got me thinking about all the wonderful supporting characters I’ve read about over the years. Sometimes, as with TEXAS LEGACY, an author will give the character a book of his own and other times the reader is just left to forever wonder “what if.” Love’s a silver bullet That blows your world apart I wanna be remembered as an outlaw The boy who stole your heart I wanna be the guy who wears the white hat Then rides across the plain I’m gonna be your enigmatic stranger Honey, you are looking at your Shane – “Cowboy Dreams,” Prefab Sprout Rawley Cooper first appeared in Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy series as a boy who knew what it was to suffer. Now, in TEXAS LEGACY, Rawley is a grown man coming back home and reuniting with the girl he left behind. In the earlier series, Rawley’s story made readers shed a few tears,…

Something about the richness and vibrant color of the brocade gowns of the Italian Renaissance calls up to me the decorations of the winter season—bright golds, reds, purples and candlelight glowing against the dark of winter.  So for this New Year’s column, we will look at several works of historical fiction that illuminate the art and politics of Medici Florence and Borgia Rome. We begin with BOTTICELLI’S MUSE by Dorah Blume.  Drawing upon much of what is known about the artist’s life, Blume presents the political and artistic cosmos that is Renaissance Florence through the focus of one of history’s most compelling painters, Sandro Botticelli.  While under the patronage of Piero Medici, during a visit to his sister at her convent, Sandro meets and falls in love with Floriana, a Jewish weaver who will be the inspiration for his masterpiece La Primavera. But disruptive forces are at work, the radical priest Savonarola exhorting not just against Jews, but decrying books, art and the Medici rulers themselves.  Deftly handling a large cast of characters, including notables Lorenzo Medici and Lucrezia Borgia, Blume’s story draws out the heart of Florence during one of its most tumultuous periods. The Savonarola movement also plays…

I’m so excited to be starting 2019 with the first book in my new series Jokers Wild.  ONE NIGHT GAMBLE is a sexy, emotional story that proves that we make our own luck. I love setting books in Las Vegas because I like playing around the idea of illusion that what you see isn’t what’s really on the inside.  And no city typifies that for me more than Sin City! My hero and heroine both grew up in Las Vegas and have seen the seamier side of the city. Their childhoods were very different and yet they both were shaped by them into the person we see today.   Casey took a gamble on himself when he left the group home he was living in and struck out on his own.  He was determined that with his belief in himself and the luck he made he could make a fortune using only his skills with cards and his ability to read people.  He’s done it. He’s made more money than anyone ever expected him to and he’s one of the top poker players in the world. When he meets Talia he takes another risk.  She’s different, she works for him,…