Can it get any hotter? Yes, it can! Luckily, I’m talking about mysteries on my bookshelf and not the temperatures outside. (I refuse to listen to the weather reports at this point.) The books I’ve chosen this month are heating up the charts and bringing a biting blast to enflame your imagination. July started out rather nicely with temps below normal, and a novel release of a curious cat prowling around in Booking a Crook! Laurie Cass’s ninth Bookmobile Cat Mystery will have you dreaming of creating your own snow angels (preferably not the ones that accompany dead bodies) and wondering if it can actually get cold enough outside to make your teeth chatter as Minnie Hamilton struggles to keep her bookmobile on the streets of Chilson, Michigan. The name of the midwestern town alone should help you feel the chill in the air, but if you’re still looking for goosebumps, imagine looking at the people you’ve known your entire life as murder suspects. The shocking twist at the end is guaranteed to freeze the blood in your veins! BOOKING THE CROOK by Laurie Cass Bookmobile Cat #7 It’s all paws on deck as a librarian and her rescue cat…

I am a huge movie fan, have been since I was little. That’s where I saw my first western, my first musical, my first romantic comedy, my first sci-fi, and my first drama. Then I went to college to be a screenwriter, and that didn’t quite work out like I planned. But I have to say, I love writing romance novels even more! And movies provide inspiration in my writing. It primes the pump, so to speak. So now for my favorite movies…. THE PRINCESS BRIDE – Oh how I love this movie. The love story, the snarkiness, the delicious comedy, and the ridiculousness of it all. Buttercup is a strong woman who knows what she wants, Westley, and manages to keep her strength despite life’s challenges. At its core, it’s well-written, well-acted, and a brilliant script. It’s about our choices in life and how they shape our future. Definitely not inconceivable. STEEL MAGNOLIAS – I wish I could see the play but I have seen the movie many times. Living in North Carolina the last 22 years has given me the perspective of what being a southern woman means. Steel Magnolias is about women, their friendships, their fortitude and…

My current romantic suspense series, Shades of Leverage, is filled with action and adventure, set against the backdrop of sexy protector agents and strong-willed women. Locales can be anywhere from a city in the Midwest to the Florida coastline and the Gulf of Mexico. From the Northwest pines to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Filled with plot twists and cutting-edge equipment, most of the time, you won’t figure out the true villain until the last few chapters. Even then, there’s always one more thing you didn’t see coming. One more no-way will they survive. One more kiss. The Shades of Leverage series centers on the covert agency known as OPAQUE (Operation Protector Agents Quantum Elite). Their mission? Protect the innocent from the corrupt, and counter the crime-riddled greed and power of Coercion Ten (CT). The parts blur a great deal of the time because CT’s targets are their way of having leverage against someone lucrative to their exploits. Someday, OPAQUE will zero in on CT’s main base of operation. Until then, they keep fighting to save the targets. Keep compiling more and more intelligence. And leading the way is the Shades Team. They are an integral part of OPAQUE’s…

As a romcom author, it goes without saying that there’s a fair bit of romance in my stories – like my next book, How to Hack a Heartbreak, which is all about the highs and lows of searching for love on the internet. In the story, the main character, Melanie Strickland, sets her sights on one guy in particular, Alex Hernandez. But her burgeoning love affair with Alex isn’t the only significant relationship in her life. Equally important (if not moreso) are the friendships Mel has with her three best girlfriends: Whitney, Dani, and Lia. As I was writing How to Hack a Heartbreak, I wanted to convey the power of women and the importance of female friendships. Because let’s face it, ladies: lovers often come and go, but your girlfriends will always be your true ride or dies. The girl gang in this book was partially inspired by my own best friends, who’ve been there for me through practically every momentous life event – from my high school graduation to my wedding day, from my son’s birth to my mother’s death. Sometimes I think they know me better than I know myself, and frankly, I’m not sure I’d be…

As a writer, I’m always looking for new story ideas. For most writers, past experiences can be a very big help. Have you ever survived a dangerous situation? How did you do it? When I was first learning to snow ski, I got caught on top of Stowe Mountain, Vermont in a blizzard, after the lifts had closed. It’s a huge ski area. It was my first day on skis and somehow I got separated from my friends and wound up on a black diamond run. Of course, I started falling, and falling, and falling. Throwing myself down in the snow was the only way I knew how to stop! By the time I got halfway down, it was pitch black and freezing cold. I tried taking off my skis and walking, but the snow was deep and it was even harder than trying to ski. The clothes I had on weren’t nearly thick enough for a New England winter and I was afraid hypothermia would set in. I knew I was in big trouble. Maybe the reason I started writing Romantic Suspense had something to do with that day. Just when I was ready to give up, just sit…

Tessa Esposito, the protagonist featured in Penne Dreadful (on sale July 30th), lives in the charming town of Harvest Park, located in Upstate New York. A talented chef, Tessa would feed the entire world if possible. As with most cozy mysteries, Harvest Park has a gossip grapevine the size of Italy and she soon finds herself in the center of it. Cooking helps Tessa to deal with the stress in her life, which is currently at an all-time high. Fortunately, her close-knit Italian family is supportive and always there to lend a hand. They are passionate about most things in life, with food at the top of the list. The beginning of the story finds Tessa dealing with a personal tragedy—specifically, her husband Dylan’s recent death. Her grief quickly turns to anger when she discovers it was no accident—finding he was murdered instead. Who would do such a thing? Was Dylan in some type of trouble? And why didn’t he tell Tessa about it? The questions pile up as she struggles to understand. Tessa uses the other love of her life—cooking—to uncover Dylan’s killer. Her quest leads her to accept a job working “undercover” at a local pizza parlor called…

A SEAL Never Quits is all about having the heart of a warrior and never letting go of a mission, whether it be your assignment in the military, your dream future, or the love of your life. While researching Navy SEALs, I found endless inspiration from my own life experiences. Military Heroes date back in my family for hundreds of years. My father served in Vietnam as a private, and by the mid-seventies became a Captain in the Army Rangers. When I began writing A SEAL Never Quits, I knew it had to be about Special Ops since my dad shared that world with me from his time as a Ranger. His stories of the bond he formed with his unit shaped my view of a do-or-die brotherhood represented in the book. The Texas Navy SEALs series takes a group of rough and tough SEALs and puts them on an undercover assignment near the Texas/Mexico border to handle a rising terrorist issue coming from Mexico, Central, and South America. The unique aspect is that these SEALs go undercover on a working ranch and must stay on top of intel in a small town. Writing about a working ranch in south…