In SOMEBODY’S BABY, veterinarian and neat-freak Rory Gallagher is faced with the knowledge that Oaklee Collier, his best friend’s little sister, has grown up to be not only beautiful but fun to be with. There’s just one problem: way back in high school, Cam Collier let Rory know that it was strictly hands-off. But what’s a man to do when love comes knocking? He makes a list, of course! Rory Gallagher’s Top Five Reasons to Not Date His Best Friend’s Little Sister The bro code. Bro says hands off my sister, he means it. And when you agree, you mean it back. YOU DON’T BREAK THE BRO CODE. She was a complete pain in the ass in high school, always following us around like a little puppy dog. And that’s not even touching on the awkward flirting and obvious bra-stuffing to get attention – though the stuffing wasn’t necessary. I noticed. She doesn’t like animals. What the hell? Who doesn’t like puppies and kittens? How can you not be a “pet person”? Her apartment is a disaster zone. There’s untidy and then there’s… OMG. Her place looks like a bomb went off inside. How hard is it to run a…

It Must be March in New England What would a big stack of Maine blueberry pancakes be without fresh maple syrup poured over the top? We’re talking real maple syrup, not the type of artificial “pancake syrup” you find in grocery stores. That’s made from flavored corn syrup, and it’s not maple syrup! But what’s the difference between the two, and how is maple syrup made, anyway? You’ll find out in the pages of TOWN IN A MAPLE MADNESS, the eighth book in the Candy Holliday Murder Mystery series, due out April 4th. As we once again join the friendly and busy villagers of the coastal community of Cape Willington, Maine, it’s late March, which means it’s maple sugaring season. But it’s also the time of year when snow and ice are starting to melt, which means it’s mud season. Two big events, one sweet, one not so sweet, and they both play a prominent role in our story. Cape Willington has two “sugar shacks”—one at Crawford’s Berry Farm, owned by Neil Crawford, and the other at Sugar Hill Farm, owned by Hutch and Ginny Milbright. As the story opens, both sugar shacks are in full operation, with their evaporators…

This year marks the publication of the 25th China Bayles mystery, THE LAST CHANCE OLIVE RANCH. Gosh—it seems like yesterday when the first book, THYME OF DEATH, came out. But that was way back in 1992, the same year that Bill Clinton became president, Hurricane Andrew bulldozed across South Florida, and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven cleaned up at the Oscars. To tell the truth, I never imagined that China and Ruby would be still be sleuthing, 25 books later. But I’m glad they are, for they’ve given me, as their partner-in-crime, many wonderful (and challenging) hours of writing fun. Back in the day, those early China Bayles mysteries broke some new ground. For one thing, regional mysteries were fairly new to readers, and I was a little worried that a small town in the Texas Hill Country might not be appealing. What’s more, China was a shop owner, an herbalist, and a gardener, the first of her kind in the U.S. (British mystery author John Sherwood had already written several books in his Celia Grant horticultural series but there were none in America.) China’s mysteries were also among the first to feature recipes (Diane Mott Davidson began doing this at about…

The date is indelible in my memory: February 20, 1995. I was a sophomore marine biology student, about to embark on SEAmester: a nine-week semester on board a schooner, traveling from the Caribbean up the Eastern Seaboard to Long Island, NY, learning about not only the flora and fauna we’d encounter along the way, but also the ancient art of navigation and seamanship. I remember that day so vividly, even after all these years: bidding my parents a teary farewell at JFK and flying to St. Maarten. I remember the conflicting emotions I experienced on that flight: excitement, anticipation, apprehension, and fear. I remember my first sight of the Harvey Gamage as we approached in the ship’s tender, her masts stretching into the sky, her hull gleaming white, her sails tightly furled. We set sail the next day. I can still hear the chink-chink-chink of the anchor chain as it slowly coiled around the windlass, lifting the iron weight off the bottom; the rush of awe I felt watching the sails unfurl like the wings of a giant swan, slowly climbing the masts, billowing out as they caught the wind. I remember the taste of salt spray on my tongue,…

Like most authors, when I’m not writing or reading, I am refilling my tanks with the juicy, creative mojo that is television. I am about as picky about my shows I am about my books, and here are my top five favorite TV shows. American Housewife. American Housewife is a hilarious and seriously en-pointe look at the middle class, American wife and mother. Her struggles are my struggles, but she does it with a lot more humor than I do. She’s chubby, hates to socialize, can’t stand her own kids, and is just as tired, annoyed, fed up, and sweatpantsy as I am. I love Katie, I love her insight, I love how she says what other American moms are thinking and feeling. This show is a breath of fresh air. Into the Badlands. This show has everything my cheesy Kung Fu movie loving inner child longs for. It’s over the top, bloody, fun, and the story just pulls you in. It would be easy to just let the action and blood turn the show into a campy trash dump, where all good plots go to die, but it is a fabulously wonderful show that keeps me on my toes….

Bad boys are one thing, but blue-blooded mafia princes? They’re a whole other breed of trouble. ROYALLY BAD is the first in a series that focuses on the Badd Family. Kain Badd is the youngest son of the bunch. His father–heir to the throne–fled his home country long ago for unknown reasons. Now, Kain and his brothers rule the city streets of Rhode Island, here in the states. He’s used to money, power, and getting his way. Women never turn him down, so when Sammy Sage–the wedding dress maker for his sister’s wedding–tells him to back off, he’s intrigued. But can she really resist him? There are plenty of good reasons to date a guy like Kain… but there are a LOT more reasons not to! So with that in mind: Here are the Top 5 Reasons that dating a royal is bad news! Number one: He’s used to getting his way. I mean, think about it– this guy is rich and hot as heck, his family has provided for him, and the world is his oyster. That’s probably why he expects Sammy to give into him when he corners her in his kitchen… Number two: He’s crazy rich. Sure,…

Exclusive Excerpt – This Time Around by Tawna Fenske They’d taken three steps toward the buffet table when a trio of women approached. The instant they spotted Jack, the one dressed in a silver-sequined gown let out a soft gasp and put her hand over her heart. The other two tilted their heads to the side and gave identical sympathetic headshakes, looking like well-coiffed parrots. One wore a bright-red gown and the other a strappy little number in purple chiffon. One of the two—whose face seemed frozen by astonishment or Botox—marched forward with such purpose that Allie had to step out of the way to avoid being trampled under the strappy, bloodred Jimmy Choos that matched her dress. “Jack Carpenter,” she said in a voice that reminded Allie of an audition for the dramatic lead in a high school play. “We were wondering if you’d be here. How are you, honey?” The woman in purple chiffon was still doing the sympathetic headshake, but Silver Sequins dropped her hand from her heart and put it on Jack’s arm. “We were so sorry to hear about Caroline. How awful that must have been for you.” “And you have a little girl, too,”…

Confession: I love antlers. I love claws and teeth. Growls that can be mistaken for either love growls or the kind that say, ‘I’m going to eat you.’ I love these elements all the more when they inhabit human-ish characters engaged in extreme acts of violence while falling in love. In fact, I think it’s the supernatural elements of the characters that make the danger and chemistry between characters work so well. Danger is hot. Antlers are kind of amazing. And falling in love is an extreme act. Isn’t it true that the first blushes of love can feel so very violent? (Remember what it felt like to screw up your courage and call up that boy for the first time?). Danger can lead to love. Danger is a form of chaos that breaks down the barriers people build to shield their hearts from one another. It razes the reasons we build up to keep us from acting on our desires. Think about THE HUNGER GAMES’ Peeta and Katniss. It takes a deadly game where their doom is all but assured to bring Peeta to act on his attraction to Katniss. It takes near death experiences to get Katniss to…

It happens in way too many books, movies, and television shows to count: guy walks into a room/down the hall/into a classroom. His gaze meets with the girl’s. Despite her thinking, “He looks like trouble,” she’s immediately drawn to something in that smolder. It’s love at first sight. Don’t get me wrong; media is full of tropes and I love so many of them. Love (or even just lust) at first sight is one that can be done really well and leave me as a reader going, “Oh, I totally feel you” because if I’m instantly in love with a character, I can get why their presumably soon-to-be love interest is, too. But, personally, I’ve long been a fan of the slow burn romance. Not just in my own writings, but in the media I consume, too. I love couples that don’t realize they would be amazing together until I’ve realized it. Until I want to shake the book and yell at them to kiss already. (Considering I’m bisexual and therefore want everything I read/watch to reflect a wide range of sexualities, I often end up disappointed because…well, heterosexual romances still top the charts. Everywhere. Always. But that’s another post…

I recently spoke to a group of fourth graders. I know, a romance author talking to kids about books, how dare she? I spoke about the joys of being an author, making sure to leave out the bits about the crippling self-doubt that keeps us up at night and also failing to mention anything about coffee and sometimes booze being part of our main food group. I promise I was well-behaved and didn’t disclose the subject matter of my books. Instead, I took a different approach. I explained just how many people it actually takes to create a single book. The look on their young faces was priceless. As they passed around a few paperbacks I had brought for them, I heard whispers of how cool this was. After I went into detail about the work it takes to make what they held in their tiny hands, I got to thinking about how lucky I am to be doing what it is that I do and how cool it is to be a part of the fantastic book world. These children listened intently as I spoke passionately about the reasons behind my literary journey. They asked really excellent questions about…