Dear Reader, Having just put my grandson on a plane back to Florida, I’m thinking how lucky I am to live in a place with such great opportunities for adventure. We had a blast! From the challenging white water of the Cache la Poudre River to the wave pool at Water World, Denver Broncos football, bowling, games, movies, and an American Idol Concert, it was a crazy, hectic, amazing week. I’ve been traveling a lot this summer, so the release of UNFORGETTABLE has been delayed, but it will be available soon. I’ll be sure to let you know when it’s (finally!) online. Meanwhile, my novels I PROMISE and HEARTBEAT are now available both in ebook form and as audio books from Recorded Books. New Hawk’s Way reissue . . . HAWK’S WAY GROOMS—which contains two books, THE VIRGIN GROOM and THE SUBSTITUTE GROOM—is available in paperback this month. The latter title contains the sexiest scene I’ve ever written! Read More… For those of you anxiously waiting for Josie’s story, BLACKTHORNE’S BRIDE, I’m writing as fast as I can. I appreciate your patience! I know school starts soon, so enjoy the rest of your summer! Take care and happy reading, Joan…

I don’t know about you but it’s been a long, hot summer in the Flynn household with three kids running around like banshees. I love the little monsters, but boy do they keep me running! 🙂 They’re all excited for the first day of school—the soon-to-be sixth grader already has her first-day outfit picked out—and we recently made the traditional run to Target to buy all of the school supplies. We stuck to the list (plastic folders with brads in red, yellow and blue = check!) and our cart filled up faster than a jaguar on espresso. By the time all was said and done, we walked out of the store with a bazillion bags and a big hole in my wallet where there used to be money. I know all of you parents out there know exactly what I’m talking about. That got me thinking. I grew up with a single mom and without a money tree spouting dollar bills. So I broke out my Google Fu skills and found several charities that help kids who can’t afford school supplies. One of them, the Kids in Need Foundation, has a four star ranking from Charity Navigator and gives nearly…

So, rather than do a regular post to celebrate the release of my latest Brazen novel, DIRTY DEAL, I decided to do something a little different. I called in my best friend since birthdom, author Mike Wood, to ask me questions so you could get to know the real me. He agreed, if I agreed to answer every question as written, no edits allowed. Here are the results (and a picture of us back in the day. I’m the cute one in the pink, Mikey is the one on the left that looks like a monkey). MW: This is awesome. Okay, so Question #1: Remember that time when we were like nine and you threw a padlock at my head when we were playing Happy Days because I wouldn’t call you Pinky Tuscadero? CB: Uh, yes. I have a vague recollection of said event. What about it? MW: Nothing. I just wanted to make sure the readers know the type of person they’re dealing with. Next question: Mad Men or Good Wife? CB: Game of Thrones. MW: As a child, you used to “borrow” your mom’s books and read the dirty parts. Since your books are MOSTLY dirty parts, how…

I’m so happy to be here today at Fresh Fiction, the eighth stop on the MY HIGHLAND SPY Teaser Tour! MY HIGHLAND SPY is the first book in my new Highland Spies series, and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. We left off yesterday where Laird Ruairi Sutherland met his new English governess. Let’s see what Ravenna thinks of this Highland laird. Excerpt Eight: Chapter Two With all her might, Ravenna held back a groan. The laird didn’t speak a word of English. How would she be able to figure out if the man conspired against the Crown if she didn’t understand a word of Gaelic? Praise the saints. This was nothing short of a disaster. She was stuck in the Highlands with a widowed laird and his son. She didn’t like this at all. As she stood in the great hall trying to suppress the urge to flee, Ravenna noticed tapestries hung on the walls that depicted swords, shields, and men in the throes of battle. Laird Sutherland certainly had an odd way of making his guests feel at home. Perhaps that was his intention. A stone fireplace dominated the far wall, and…

Weather has always fascinated me. I am one of those people who will actually sit and watch The Weather Channel—and not just for the local on the eights. They have some seriously killer programs that cover a wide range of weather phenomenon from hurricanes to blizzards to hailstorms. But my favorite shows are the ones about tornadoes. I don’t have an explanation as to why I find these the most engrossing. If I had to come up with one, I would blame the movie Twister. After seeing the movie in 1996, I devoured anything about tornadoes and storm chasers. Almost twenty years later, I still devour the subject. Any documentary, movie, or live coverage will keep me in front of the television for hours. I will re-watch programs I’ve seen multiple times without batting an eyelash. Because of this, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on the subject. I mean, almost twenty years of fascination I had to know something, right? I didn’t know diddly squat. I understand now why, even though I’ve wanted to write a storm chaser character for years, I haven’t. I wasn’t ready. Deep down I knew this would be one of the most…

It was a huge surprise to this inner-urban Melbourne girl who wears too much black, when I stopped jumping on long-distance inter-continental flights and had a look in my own backyard instead. Actually, I had to be dragged, grumbling and protesting, by my then-new partner who was determined to show me what I was missing. Not only were we going to see this great country, we were going to bush camp while we did it and within 24 hours I was hooked. Our great love is Australia’s outback, an area that is sometimes hard to define. Is it geographical or a state of mind? Either way, the intersection of endless red dirt, brilliant blue skies and the grey-green of saltbush and mallee is what makes us happy. We’ve camped up and down some of Australia’s great rivers; the Darling, the Murray and the 1300km long Cooper “Creek”, the setting for RED DIRT DUCHESS. During flood years wildlife abounds; waterbirds, huge flocks of parrots, moths as big as your hand. After years of drought, a sudden sluice of floodwater can awaken a landscape poised for renewal within a week. After a couple of days alone in the bush, we ‘go into…

Can’t get enough of Downton Abbey fiction? Here’s a new lineup of contenders for your English upstairs-downstairs addiction. CAVENDON HALL CAVENDON HALL Historical fiction fave Barbara Taylor Bradford enters the lists with CAVENDON HALL. An Edwardian epic set at the Yorkshire manor of the title, the novel follows the lives of the Inghams, the Earl of Mowbray and his family, and the Swanns, who have lived nearby and served the earls for centuries. The story begins just before World War I, as Charles Ingham, the sixth Earl, and his wife Felicity are about to present their daughter Lady Daphne at court. Their efforts are assisted by the earl’s valet, Walter Swann, and his wife Alice, dressmaker to the countess and her daughters. Devastating secrets, love, honor, loyalty and betrayal unleashed in this time of uncertainty will change the both families and their interactions forever. RUTHERFORD PARK RUTHERFORD PARK Elizabeth Cooke offers a two-book tale, beginning with RUTHERFORD PARK. In 1913, Lady Octavia Cavendish lives in the Yorkshire estate of the title’s name with her husband William and their children. Although all appears well on the surface, the attempted suicide of a housemaid will reveal secrets about her husband and her…

My amateur sleuth grew up much like I did, in a family of food-loving Italian Americans. By the age of eight, I was learning to cook at the elbow of my dear Aunt Mary, an experience I’ve treasured so much that I’ve lent it to the main character in my long-running series of culinary mysteries. Clare Cosi may have been raised in her grandmother’s little Italian grocery, but she’s come a long way from making espressos in her nonna’s battered stovetop pot. Now a master coffee roaster, Clare not only works with one of the best bean hunters in the business, she manages a century-old coffeehouse in one of New York’s most picturesque neighborhoods. In many ways, Clare’s life is rich, unfortunately her bank account isn’t. At the start of BILLIONAIRE BLEND—just released in its brand new mass market paperback edition—Clare is trying to find the funds to overhaul her Greenwich Village shop’s aging façade when a car bomb explodes on the street outside. Amid the fire and chaos, Clare comes to the aid of an anonymous customer, an intense young man who turns out to be billionaire tech whiz Eric Thorner. Eric is so grateful to Clare for saving…

I am often considered a nerd. It happens to be true. I’ve read a wonderful essay about the history of manhole covers and another about garum, a fermented fish sauce Romans used quite liberally to season their food. I troll Game of Thrones forums and read everything involving dragons. I sometimes think I’m addicted to letters. If I see print, I have to read it. Watching subtitled movies is a nightmare because I only see the words. Whatever it is I’m compelled to read, I always find something to spark my imagination, and this week I read a fascinating article about the Mongol Derby which took place between August 2 and the 15. The Mongol Derby is considered the longest and toughest horse race in the world. At 1,000 km (621.371 miles), the Derby follows the route of Genghis Khan’s rather ingenious postal system that spanned the entire Mongol Empire. Implemented around 1200 B.C.E., way before the Pony Express, the postal service delivered important news and information across the vast empire in an efficient and timely manner. The Mongol Derby gives 30 riders a chance to sleep under the stars, camp with herders, and survive the arduous track and brutal…

I checked my Facebook feed earlier this week and was confronted with a bitter reality. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are on their way back to Starbucks. I walked out of Baskin Robbins today and a sign on the door told me September’s flavor of the month is going to be Pumpkin Cheesecake. I even saw someone post one of those digital cards the other day, declaring the imminent start to Everything Pumpkin Season. We must be getting close to Fall. Here in North Texas, school starts next week, but aside from that and those Starbucks lattes, there aren’t many other hints of the season. Temperatures are still hovering around the century mark. You’re far more likely to find me doing the backstroke in my backyard pool than looking for my leaf rake. It’s funny to me how much excitement there was around the notice of the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. I remember the same excitement not too long ago for sunny days and trips to the beach with family. Now that we’ve got the warm weather and sunshine, it seems like people are looking for something else. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all sit for a moment…