You are hereby formally invited to a reunion of the Midnight Brunch Club. October 27th through 31st, 2014, 12 Railroad Street in Dunstan, Vermont. Come to celebrate the life of Jennifer (Jennet) Sherilyn Stark (1967–89) and revisit our shared past through the elixir of the pines. There are still secrets to be discovered; the past is not even past (Faulkner); we are boats against the current (Fitzgerald). Leave all doubts and inhibitions at home. RSVP to Auraleigh Lydgate. The first time Sonia ever received an invitation from Auraleigh Lydgate was in the Dove-Cat room freshman year, on the first warm spring day in Vermont, forsythia bursting forth on the quad. Sonia was bent over a Mac Classic when Auraleigh swept in, wearing a leather jacket and drop-waist minidress, and noisily slid out a chair. “Oh my God, I’m dealing with a roommate nightmare! Marina got this brilliant idea to backpack in Europe, so now Paul and I are short a person for the townhouse.” “Paul Bretton?” Sonia couldn’t hide her surprise. He was the newly elected editor of their lit magazine—quiet, earnest, and formidably intellectual. Auraleigh was rich and from LA and had a husky laugh that made boys’ eyes…
SEAL’s Claiming, The Coronado Team 2 Series by Makenna Jameison The Men of New York Series Boxset, Men of New York Series by Samantha Syke One Night Series by Eve London The Bodyguard, Book 2, Black Hawke Security by Juliette N Banks The Black Arrowhead Boxed Set (Books 1-3), Black Arrowhead Series by Dannika Dark A Drop In The Ocean: A Novel by Jenni Ogden Witch Way Collection, Silver Sisters Series by Jennifer L. Hart Letters from the Heart, Book 3, Willow Valley Series by S.L. Sterling No Man’s Bride, Book 1, Misadventures in Matrimony by Shana Galen Little Lost Secrets, Book 2, Georgiana Germaine Series by Cheryl Bradshaw The Housemaid by Sarah A. Denzil Draax Series Books 1 – 3, The Draax Series by Elizabeth Kelly Wicked Heat, Book 4, Wicked Nights by J. Kenner Submission and Surrender, Book 2, The Billionaire’s Temptation Series by Cali MacKay Timeborne, The Blade of Shadows Series by Sara Samuels A Ghostly Affair, Book 7, Diamonds of London by Sandra Sookoo The Witch Collector, Book 1, Witch Walker Series by Charissa Weaks Alpha’s Rejected Mate, Book 22, The Alpha Shifter Collection by Sam Crescent Wolf Girl, Book 1, The Wolf Girl Series by…
1–What is the title of your latest release? BECOMING CARLY KLEIN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? What if 15-year-old Carly Klein could become a different person? What if instead of being a rebellious and unhappy student failing out of her uptight, private girls’ school in Manhattan, she could pose as a Barnard College sophomore and become the girlfriend of her psychiatrist mother’s blind patient, Daniel, a sexy senior at Columbia? Because Daniel cannot see her, Carly finds an ingenious way of making this happen. Neglected by her self-absorbed parents, who wind up divorcing, Carly is sustained by her best friendship with unconventional and artistic Lauren, with whose warm and caring French mom, Tibou, she would like to swap mothers. When Lauren and her family move away, Carly ramps up her passionate pursuit of Daniel and takes us on a rollercoaster romp through the exhilaration as well as disappointment of first love and the unintended consequences of disguise, deception, and discovery. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Writing Becoming Carly Klein has been inspired in many ways by my life in New York City, where I grew up and spent much of…
Prepare to be captivated by the intricate tapestry of truth, perspective, and human connection in Ava Dellaira’s latest novel, EXPOSURE. In this week’s Jen’s Jewels, we dive deep into the creative mind behind this compelling story that interweaves the lives of four characters across time and place. Dellaira shares her six-year journey crafting this multifaceted narrative, exploring themes of race, grief, and the elusive nature of truth in our polarized world. From the sun-soaked streets of Los Angeles to the bustling energy of Chicago, discover how Dellaira breathes life into her settings and characters, offering readers a poignant reflection on the complexities of human experience. Don’t miss this insightful conversation that peels back the layers of Exposure and offers a glimpse into the passionate process of a rising literary star. Jenifer Vido: In EXPOSURE, the perspectives of four characters provide a multifaceted view of a single night. How did you balance the different voices to ensure each character’s truth resonated equally? Ava Dellaira: I wrote this book over the course of six years, so I had a lot of time to spend with each of them! During the writing process, I would move freely between the different storylines and…
Book Title: SPELLS TO FORGET US Character Name: Luna Brandt-Gold How would you describe your family or your childhood? Witches in Boston are all about magical power, so my family arranged for my parents to get married so they could pass down their magic and have a super powerful kid. But the bad news is they don’t really like kids. Or each other. So I spent most of my childhood off by myself and got into a lot of trouble using my magic for pretty self-destructive stuff. What was your greatest talent? Unfortunately, my greatest talent is definitely my magic. I’m the most powerful witch in Boston. (Actually, I’m supposedly the strongest witch in all the Northeast according to my grandma, but it’s not like I’m leaving town all the time to test that out, so I’ll have to take her word for it.) I have sacrifice magic, which means I can make almost anything I imagine happen with my powers. The downside is that, for every bit of magic that I work, an equal cost has to be paid. That cost is impossible to anticipate, but my magic almost always makes some kind of twisted torture out…
Book Title: MY VAMPIRE PLUS-ONE Character Name: Reginald Cleaves How would you describe your family or your childhood? My family all died violently and a very long time ago. I think I had a happy childhood? But it’s been centuries so I can’t remember. What was your greatest talent? Bullshitting others Significant other? Do fake significant others count?? Biggest challenge in relationships? Immortality Where do you live? No response. (This is classified information.) Do you have any enemies? Why? What have you heard???? How do you feel about the place where you are now? Is there something you are particularly attached to, or particularly repelled by, in this place? It’s pretty fun here! I have no complaints. Do you have children, pets, both, or neither? None of the above. What do you do for a living? General layabout. One major benefit of having lived centuries is that compounding interest has had an extensive amount of time to compound. I haven’t had to work since the American Revolution. Greatest disappointment? Frederick Greatest source of joy? My Edward Cullen poster. It sparkles! Frederick loves it too, though he won’t admit it….
1–What is the title of your latest release? HAMPTON HEIGHTS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? It’s right there in the subtitle: “One Harrowing Night in the Most Haunted Neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.” Six paperboys and their stupid manager Kevin set out to sell subscriptions on a cold winter’s night in 1987. Wild adventures ensue. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I grew up in Milwaukee in the 1980s and wanted to capture that very particular time and place. And Hampton Heights is a real neighborhood—one that in the ‘80s was shifting from working-class white to working-class Black and facing the manufacturing shutdown that hit most Midwestern cities in that era. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonists in real life? The six boys at the center of the story would (wisely) scorn me now, but back when I was a teen, a few of them might have thought I was OK. I would not hang out with their stupid manager Kevin. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonists? Ambitious, anxious, and brave. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That it is really fun to take the familiar creatures…
It’s September, and we desperate, hopeless addicts know what that means: a new J.D. Robb book! PASSIONS IN DEATH’s arrival brought sighs of relief to readers across the globe, and their anticipation was generously rewarded. The story opens, of course, with murder most foul, when a young, exuberant bride-to-be is killed at her pre-wedding party. Eve didn’t know the victim, but she knows and cares about the location of the killing—a nightclub where she herself was once the victim of a vicious assault. Ferreting out the killer proves a challenge, as the dead woman was surrounded by a group of closely-knit, and seemingly loving friends. Roarke, meanwhile, is busy being Roarke (fess up: aren’t you closing your eyes and sighing longingly, too?) running his galactic enterprise while simultaneously able to focus on the fate of individual administrative employees and ensure that Eve has a glorious cup of coffee whenever she most needs one. As always, the mystery was captivating, Eve’s ruminations about life, elevators, and syntax were entertaining, and a brief scene in which Eve and Roarke walk in the garden and sample a peach was the epitome of tenderness. How many days until February???? Readers always eagerly await new…
Yvonne Maison Ladurée doesn’t have the flavor Madeleine likes for her macarons, but they say the new batch will be ready in fifteen minutes. They don’t even promise me anything, they just throw the information at me as if I was her housekeeper. A well-dressed housekeeper, but no one to fawn over. I want to tell them I’m her understudy, and I’m fetching macarons to get into her good graces, so she’ll recommend me for principal roles, and don’t they know to prepare orange blossoms and pistachio macarons for when the great Madeleine Moreau rehearses Tosca? But there’s no point to argue. I just have fifteen minutes to wait. I wander outside the store on Rue Royale to pass the time. I could go to the right, toward the Church of Saint-Marie-Madeleine that a king (Louis XV maybe? I was never good in school) wanted to be a memorable end bracket to the street, the other bracket being the Place de la Concorde with its Egyptian obelisk. The thing is, the church’s name reminds me of Madeleine, and I’m already thinking about her too much, running errands for her when I’m supposed to go and meet my professor from the…
1–What is the title of your latest release? THE ROYALS UPSTAIRS 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A bodyguard and a nanny have to come to terms with their tumultuous past relationship and sizzling unresolved chemistry when they’re both hired by the same zany royal family. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? My father and family is Norwegian, plus I’ve written about the Norwegian royals before, so it felt natural to have it set with that royal family again. I set it just outside of Oslo, at one of the royal estates, to keep the characters isolated and in forced proximity. Also my heroine is from the same small village, Todalen, that my father was born in. In fact, my heroine’s house is modeled after my family’s house, and there are a few scenes that take place there. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes! Laila is super easy going and we share a lot of the same neurodivergent traits. And James, our MMC, would be a real hoot (and a sexy one at that! Hello, Scottish brogue). 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Stubborn, loyal,…