Romance novels are my jam. However, every time I think I’ve heard about all the different subgenres and variants, another one pops up to knock me for a loop. The first time I heard of “dark romance”, I was happily browsing Etsy for all things romance when I stumbled upon some dark romance themed swag. I didn’t understand what that was or what the various key phrases meant. I have since been educated. Per Google: “Dark romance is a subgenre of romance fiction that explores intense, often taboo, and emotionally charged relationships, featuring morally ambiguous characters, themes of danger, crime, dubious consent, and power dynamics (e.g., kidnapping, stalking, mafia). Unlike traditional romance, it focuses on high-stakes emotional intensity, often resulting in complex, positive, or sometimes tragic, conclusions.” One thing about dark romances that I really appreciate is a list of potential trigger warnings provided by the author. I appreciate it when an author includes them in the front of a book, but some authors will just say to check their website to see the associated trigger warnings associated with each of their books. For example, an author might warn readers that there are scenes or sections that mention animal abuse…

In this week’s Jen’s Jewels, I’m featuring PINKY SWEAR by Danielle Girard, a riveting thriller about a woman whose surrogate vanishes just days before her baby is due. If you’re craving a compulsively suspenseful read that will keep you turning pages long past bedtime, this one absolutely delivers. LIGHTNING ROUND In three words, describe the vibe of your book.Intimate, haunting, emotional. What’s your ideal writing fuel: coffee, tea, wine, or chaos?Black coffee, side of chaos. Plotter, pantser, or “organized mess”?An organized mess – I write a draft without a road map and then (hopefully!) revise my way into clarity. If your book had a theme song, what would it be?Ha. Maybe something like I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor. This book went through a lot of iterations. What time of day does your creativity peak?I used to be a night owl. I’d start after the kids were in bed and write until the wee hours. These days, I love to write from about 10 am to 4 pm. I’d say those first two or three hours are peak performance, but sometimes I still surprise myself with a late-night session. THE DEEP DIVE Every book has an origin story. What was…

Music has slowly become more and more central to my writing journey. While I can’t write at all unless I am surrounded by complete silence (or the odd white noise), I have found now that I love connecting to my stories through music. For my debut novel DAUGHTER OF FIRE, I didn’t make a playlist until I was finished writing the book, and the purpose was to complement a list of book club questions and make it more immersive to the readers. I didn’t expect to fall in love with the process of matching songs to the themes, plot and characters. That is why I began my playlist for THE OTHER MOCTEZUMA GIRLS a lot earlier, probably halfway through writing the book (which took many years). I found that music helped me to figure things out when I was feeling stuck, which happened all the time! The novel has two points of view. There’s the perspective of Tecuichpoch, who was the last empress of the Mexica at the time of the Spanish Conquest and is writing down her memoirs before her death, and also the perspective from her daughter Isabel Cano, who embarks on a quest to find the hidden…

Hello, I’m Caitlin, here to usher you into the twisty, magical world of my dark academia fantasy debut: THE FOX HUNT it, shy student Emma Curran discovers that a circle of privileged students have been entering into a dark pagan ritual – one that holds tantalizing power and comes at a terrible price. T is for tradition. At England’s most ancient university, rituals run deep…and some of them are bound up with real magic. H is for hunt. A shocking night at university into something far more sinister, when a group of powerful young men decide that they are hunters, and young women are the prey. E is for enchantment. Magical libraries, strange creatures, and a hidden world are waiting to be discovered…   F is for fox. This story reverses Beauty and the Beast tropes: our heroine Emma finds strength in her savagery and beauty in the beastly O is for otherworldly. Emma is drawn into a shadowy realm full of magic, adventure and strange encounters X is for exclusivity. The wealthy, privileged boys of the University’s elite secret society, The Turnbull Club,  live by the code that power belongs to a chosen few.   H is for hierarchy….

What is the title of your latest release?BURIED IN A BOOK What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?Bookshop owner Charley James is plunged into a mystery involving a rare book worth killing for in this new Cozy Bookshop Mystery How did you decide where your book was going to take place?She owns a bookstore so it was kind of a no-brainer LOL Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?absolutely! What are three words that describe your hero?Curious, Courageous, Determined What’s something you learned while writing this book?Lots about Vincent Price! One thing is that he was an excellent gourmet cook Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?definitely edit as I draft What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?Chocolate milkshakes! And Trader Joe Buffalo Chicken Wings Describe your writing space/office!A cozy little nook in my den. I have built-in shelves of books for both pleasure and research Who is an author you admire?Too many to name, but James Patterson and Stephen King come to mind. Is there a book that changed your life?Yes, LITTLE WOMEN. The character of Jo inspired me to be a writer. Tell us about when you got “the call.”…

CHAPTER ONE The embroidered edges of the curtains that framed Mia’s double- paned windows moved in smooth ripples just above her head, the breeze brushing against her face. Nearly every morning of her life began this way, no matter the temperature. Mia was in love with the night and the mystery the silence carried. Every evening her mother would storm into her bedroom to slam the window closed. But regardless of how many times her mother asked her to leave the window shut, she couldn’t. The moon just called to her; in her mind, if the window was open, the sky and her were connected in a way that was only feasible if the glass wasn’t there to separate them. She thought herself a  moon child. When Mia was younger, she thought her mother was more concerned with the energy bills than anything else. She’d had no idea then that there was such a thing as bad people who sometimes crawled through windows and stole little girls. It would have made zero sense to her anyway, as the people who did make their way into her room didn’t need windows or even a door, and they never meant any harm….

What is the title of your latest release?THE RESIDENT MURDER What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A suspense-packed, multi-POV medical thriller that will keep you in a constant state of guessing and intrigue How did you decide where your book was going to take place?NYC, which is where I did my own medical training and thus, was most familiar with the culture of medicine Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely What are three words that describe your hero?Cautious, compassionate and inquisitive What’s something you learned while writing this book?It’s difficult to write both likeable and suspicious characters Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?I typically edit as I draft What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?bagels with lox and cream cheese Describe your writing space/office!Typically in my home office, which is sparsely furnished, but has some inspiring art on the walls Who is an author you admire?So many-Mary Kubica, Liz Alterman, John Marrs Is there a book that changed your life?Again, so many! A notable few include The Nightingale, Covenant of Water, A Place for Us, The Other Mrs. Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out…

I’ve been writing historical romance since 2014—long before I published my first book in 2017. I’ve been reading romance since I was twelve, taking mental notes about longing and restraint, playing stories in my head, and learning how to build a quiet ache in my characters until they are brave enough to claim what they really want. And yet, for a long time, there was one kind of heroine I circled carefully instead of embracing fully. Curvy women. Not because I didn’t love them. But because I am one. I have been… For as long as I can remember. I’ve struggled with my weight my entire life, and if I’m being honest, that made writing full-on, unapologetically curvy heroines feel personal in a way I wasn’t sure I was ready for. It felt safer to write around it. Why would I write about one if I didn’t want to BE one? The first time I ventured there was in the third book in my Lord Love a Lady Series: SAVING THE DUKE. Abigail Wright had silver lines. A soft belly. A body that had lived. I loved her—but I only dipped my toe in the water. But the Busty Bodice…

It’s common to say music has healing qualities, and maybe that’s what got me through my 80s/90s childhood. As much as I remember my mother’s alcoholism, my father’s absenteeism, and my sister’s drug addiction, I remember the soundtrack playing in the background. My sister and I kept cassette tapes everywhere. The boombox sat on the bathroom counter like an altar we worshipped before school. The moment we got in the car—before the ignition even turned—we blasted Don McLean’s “American Pie” to carry us through the ten-minute drive. When I needed to disappear, I put on my yellow Sony Walkman and played U2’s The Unforgettable Fire on repeat. My GE digital clock radio (Model 7-4612B, red display, AM/FM, black) woke me every morning at 7 a.m., and whatever song came on lodged itself in my head for the rest of the day. Through my novel TINY LITTLE EARTHQUAKES, I thread the music that was playing—or the songs that mattered—to a young girl named Elliot. A story set in that era wouldn’t be honest without it. This was, hands down, the hardest list I’ve ever had to make. It should be a hundred songs. I narrowed it to eleven—because those are the…

Chapter 1 Every once in a while, there’s a winter fog so thick you can barely see in front of you. It rolls in with the mulled wine and the fake Santas and the Christmas lights on Oxford Street, around the time everyone starts mumbling about seasonal affective disorder like it’ll kill you. It rolls in with no warning and casts an intoxicating magic, the kind that belongs in story books. The kind that makes you want to stand still forever, lose yourself and just breathe it in. He was like that fog. He stopped me in my tracks and reminded me of what it was to have a heartbeat. So that’s how I ended up here, at Archway tube station, wearing huge sunglasses at 9.07 pm in case I cry. I look up at the board: three minutes. The next train is due in three minutes. I just need to hold it together for three more minutes. Then I’ll be on my way home. I can do this. The platform reeks of urine, and I can hear rats scuttling in the distance. A woman arrives, earbuds in, scrolling through her phone. A roll of silver wrapping paper pokes out…