My first Book Boyfriend was a vampire. No surprise since vampires have always had sex appeal. The second was a mage. I’ve always loved magic and characters who can use that. But the movies almost always portrayed male magic users as either very young boys or very old men. Warlock being a rare exception, but I was too young to appreciate how sexy Julian Sands was when I first saw it. Then, at 14, I got hold of the Dragonlance novels. There you had a 20-30-something year old mage whose body was shattered, hair turned white, skin turned metallic gold, and given hourglass-shaped eyes so he could see everything age and die around him. This was the price he paid for his power. He wore black velvet robes that smelled of spices and dead roses. And I had the biggest crush on him. Anyway, those books inspired me to write some sexy mages of my own—and I’m going to share a list of others I’ve found, because until fairly recently, mage romance heroes have been rare.   I wrote this one before romantasy became a thing, and I kinda lured readers into it by having the first two books be…

I just returned from a spring retreat in the mountains of North Carolina. The air was fresh with pine, rain, and flowers and the silence from manmade machines soothed my soul. Horseback riding and hiking by day with no television, no computer, and very little phone reception was a true gift. It was magnificent in it’s simplicity and my reading material was all the entertainment I required. It also provided me with some great recommendations for mystery readers who want to get away as badly as I did. Even if you can’t escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life, put in a pair of earbuds and use the noise canceling setting while play a revolving loop of your favorite sounds of nature. Then open up one of today’s recommended mysteries and engage your imagination in one of these captivating novels. You deserve the escape.   As the owner of Portland, Oregon’s popular Ground Rules coffee cart, hard-working young master barista Sage Caplin is excited to expand her business with a brick-and mortar store. But not everyone gives her a warm welcome. DEATH UNFILTERED by Emmeline Duncan Ground Rules Mystery #4 A fresh-voiced and witty cozy mystery series set in Portland, Oregon,…

Hiding to find a new life or defying expectations to find one, this month we look at four courageous nineteenth century women determined to forge a new path in the field of medicine. We begin with THE NURSE’S SECRET by Amanda Skenandore.  Bellevue Hospital in New York was the first in the US to establish a school of nursing based on principles developed by Florence Nightingale, who insisted that nursing should be a profession peopled by trained and skilled women of good character, not slovenly, unschooled drudges.  Into this regimented and exacting environment comes a most unlikely candidate.  Having taken one of the few options open to her to survive, orphaned Uma became a professional thief, picking pockets and pilfering luggage at train stations, then turning over her take to the crime boss who offers protection from the police but keeps most of the proceeds of Uma’s thefts.  When she falls out with the boss and is accused of murder, Uma must flee—and ends up conning her way into Bellevue’s training program.  Initially she intends to stay only long enough to gather the resources to escape New York, but as she proceeds through the program, she finds friends, an unexpected…

This month’s guest on the FF Women’s Fiction column is bestselling author, Katherine Reay. Katherine’s newest book, THE BERLIN LETTERS, set in the Cold War era, tells the story of a CIA codebreaker who discovers that the father she long assumed was dead is actually imprisoned in East Germany. Her daring attempt to free her father and get him out of Berlin alive is full of twists, turns, danger, and love in the last place she expected to find it.   Q: Katherine, I’m so happy you’re with us today. What inspired you to write The Berlin Letters, and how did you create your characters Luisa and Haris? A: While writing my previous novel, A Shadow in Moscow, I discovered more fascinating stories and hidden secrets, courageous acts and remarkable sacrifices, than I could use— and so many interesting ones out of Berlin too. I also was intrigued by the Wall, both as iconic symbol of the Cold War and as barrier that kept families apart for 28 years. Take all that and my discovery of the extraordinary women codebreakers of the CIA’s Venona Project and I was off and running. As for my two main characters, Luisa and Haris,…

As I type these words, spring is bursting out ferociously across much of North America. So ferociously, in fact, that many people have their heat turned up in the morning, but by late afternoon, it’s grown so hot that air conditioning is called for. And then there’s the pollen! All this exterior chaos is the perfect excuse for settling down in a comfy chair with a great book, and as always, I have some fabulous recommendations. For those in the know, the long wait is over for the new Susan Elizabeth Phillips book. And for those not in the know, here’s your chance! SIMPLY THE BEST lives up to its name. Rory’s relationship with her famous football-star brother is strained, to put it kindly, so an inadvertent hook-up with his manager, Brett, is wrong on so many levels. But life, as it’s wont to do (especially in romance novels!) thinks throwing them together repeatedly is the right strategy to pull off an against-the-odds win. You’ll find humor in abundance, a murder mystery, the touching transformation of previously strained family relationships, and a swoon-worthy romance. Way to go, SEP!! While luxuriating in that comfy chair, why not luxuriate in the words…

In honor of the Wearin’ of the Green, this month we’ll look at stories featuring characters who hail from the Emerald Isle.  Slainte! Moving chronologically, we begin with THE IRISHMAN’S DAUGHTER by V.S. Alexander.  Briana Walsh loves her home at Carrowteige, County Mayo, where her father Brian is the land agent at Lear House for the English owner, Sir Thomas Blakely.  Brian’s job requires him to collect rents from the tenant farmers, which they pay by selling rye and oats, while for their own food, they grow potatoes. Times are always hard for farmers, including Brian Caulfield, the young man Briana loves and wants to marry.  But then in 1845, blight destroys the potato crop, virtually eliminating the food upon which the poor depend.  When the following year, the crop fails again, starvation and disease devastate the Irish.  Wanting his daughters to survive, their father sends a now-married and pregnant Briana and her sister to America.  Instead of endless opportunity, the girls find prejudice and poverty, only the assistance of other Irish helping them to endure the ghetto and find employment.  Through it all, though she longs for her Irish home, Briana perseveres, her efforts bent to surviving and reuniting…

In honor of Black History Month, I decided to highlight some supernaturally awesome reads by Black authors. Faye Princess series by Layla J. Omorose If you like epic romantasy, you’ll love this slightly dark, slow burn spicy series! DARKNIGHT: ANCIENT BLOODLINES by Layla J. Omorose Faye Princess #1 His worth will be measured by the strength of her love… A Runaway Princess… Tara Du’Faye, Second High Princess of the Faye, has had it with the King’s demands. Fleeing the palace, she is captured by a world of savagery and black majick. She prays her warrior can find her before she is consumed by the dark walls of the Arena, A Warrior Without A Past… Alexios is the commander of the Faye Army, and a male, whose past is covered in darkness. Vicious in battle, deadly by nature, there is nothing he wouldn’t do to ensure the safety of those he cares for. Especially, the Second High Princess of the Faye. Searching for her will change him forever as darkness draws closer to the kingdom he left unprotected. Forbidden Love… Can a warrior, who had deemed himself unworthy, and a princess, whose only concern is claiming the one thing she cannot have, come…

Once upon a time, I used to present a writing workshop on “Crafting Killers” to new writers.  Why did I focus my talk on killers? It’s because I think the villains in books are just as important as the protagonists.  A “good” villain can make or break a book. After all, a “good” villain will stay with you long after a story has ended. (Looking at you, Hannibal Lecter!) For today’s post, I thought I’d hit on a few key points when it comes to crafting a powerful villain. I have two main guidelines for villains: Good villains must command attention. A good villain will shock, surprise, and keep a reader on the edge of his/her seat. I believe that every character has a backstory. When a writer starts to create the villain, the villain’s origin has to be understood. Is the villain bad because of nature or nurture? Or a combination of both elements? I encourage authors to ask these questions about their villains: How did your villain come to be so wicked? What turned her/him into this being? Is your villain’s “wickedness” due to nature or nurture? What is the level of evil for this character? After all,…

Ellen Feldman is a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow, and the author of nine riveting and insightful works of historical fiction. Ellen has been on my radar ever since I read her debut novel, LUCY, back in 2003. I was impressed even her even then but she seems to have gone from strength to strength ever since.  Her latest book, THE TROUBLE WITH YOU, released on February 20th, is the work of writer at the top of her game. I’m grateful to Ellen for taking the time to answer some questions about the book, and her writing life.   Q: Please introduce us to THE TROUBLE WITH YOU.  What is the basic plot and premise, and where did you find your inspiration for the story? A: THE TROUBLE WITH YOU is the story of Fanny Fabricant, a woman raised to be a wife and mother, who suddenly finds she is only half that description and must rear her small daughter and support both of them on her own. The inspiration for the book was the fate of women, my mother’s generation, in the postwar world.  During WWII, men went off to fight and women came out of the home to work in…

For the month of Valentine’s Day, we’ll look at the world of Hollywood and entertainment glamour through novels that feature three real-life scenarios and one entirely fictional one.  Though the time frames vary, the price of ambition and the cost of fame remain constant factors—and often bring heartache. We begin chronologically with FROM DUST TO STARDUST by Kathleen Rooney, based on the real life of silent film star Colleen Moore.  In 1916, fourteen-year-old Eileen Sullivan travels from Chicago to Hollywood with her beloved Irish grandmother, dreaming of stardom.  After her uncle arranges a screen test with Cecile B. DeMille, she takes the screen name “Doreen O’Dare” and begins working her way up.  By the late 1920s, she’s become one of the most famous (and highest paid) stars of the silent film world, an “It” girl who popularized the bobbed haircut—and suffers the heartache a life-long forbidden love.  Despite the pain of failed marriages, when her career fades after her first three talking pictures fail to hit it big, her astute investments allow her to retire from acting as a rich woman.  Continuing to invest wisely, she’s able to indulge her second passion—dollhouses, funding the construction of a Fairy Castle she…