Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Did You See the April Fresh Fiction Box Not To Miss!
News , Readers , Romance / April 6, 2016

Can you believe it’s already spring? Our Fresh Fiction Box subscribers are enjoying the great weather with these latest releases. April’s Print Books: Every box included RELATIVITY by Antonia Hayes plus a random selection of 2 other new releases: Take Me, Cowboy by Maisey Yates A Cowboy’s Claim by Marin Thomas Want Ad Wedding by Cheryl St. John One More Night With You by Lisa Marie Perry A Fool and His Monet by Sandra Orchard Annabel Lee by Mike Nappa Brighton Belle by Sara Sheridan Murder in an Irish Village by Carlene O’Connor April’s eBooks: Everyone received all 4 Dangerous Gentlemen by Beverley Oakley Naked Choke by Vanessa Vale Motion for Madness by Kelly Rey Sugar Daddy by Sawyer Bennett April’s Special Keepsake: First Aid Kits from Sandra Orchard You can sign up for the May shipment and get a box full of new books delivered to your door! What would you want to read first? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter with #FFBoxNOTtoMiss!

‘Exclusive’: Live From the Plano Book Club with Mari Madison
Readers / March 17, 2016

On St. Patrick’s Day Eve our Plano book club hosted author Mari Madison, who many readers will recognize as Mari Mancusi. Her newest book, the first in a trilogy, is a contemporary romance set in the exciting world of a TV newsroom. JUST THIS NIGHT (An Exclusive Romance #1) holds nothing back when it comes to the intense relationships that can evolve between reporters and their photographers, but it also takes the time to develop the character’s love affairs and home lives. It’s a sexy read and it was a genuine thrill to have Mari take the time to call in with us. Mari started by telling us how JUST THIS NIGHT was one of the first books she ever wrote, pulling exclusively from her experiences as a TV news producer. Ultimately the book needed more time to cook and landed in a virtual file cabinet where it hung out for twelve years. We often hear from authors about the manuscripts they keep under their beds, but for Mari, JUST THIS NIGHT actually had a chance of seeing the light. Having a news producer call in also afforded us the opportunity to ask questions about her favorite stories (she won…

Afternoon Tea with CA Szarek and Linda Bolton
Readers / March 14, 2016

Monthly teas are always a welcome event on Saturday to look forward to. Book chatter and meeting with friends can become the best day of the week. And enjoying a Chocolate Angel tea is the icing on the cake — no pun intended although the cake balls are delicious! In celebration of spring and Easter coming soon our dessert included a carrot cookie along with brownie and cake ball. Yummy! Our guests included C.A. Szarek who is in a new anthology out on March 7th – SHADES OF DESIRE 2, Sexier by the Dozen. Twelve titillating tales for naughtier nights and dreamier days. Chrissy writes romantic suspense, time travel and her favorite – fantasy. Author of two contemporary romances with a new one coming in July, Linda Bolton wowed us with behind the scenes scoop from a indie publisher. From covers to editing, Linda told us all. Unfortunately she didn’t get to scope out her male model for the cover in person but he’s different than any other guy in a suit and we all oohed over him! Linda’s current books available for purchase are INCANTATION and TAKE 2. From talk about favorite Easter candies‐Reese’s Peanut Butter Eggs and Cadbury…

The Sporting Life: Romances With a Kick by Miranda Owen
Readers / February 7, 2016

A friend of mine recently told me that she didn’t read sports-themed romance because she wasn’t that interested in sports. I can respect that, but I don’t think being a sports fan is necessary in order to enjoy romances that revolve around some kind of sport. I don’t play or watch sports, but some of my favorite books involve athletes. In fact, one of the first contemporary romances I ever read was sports-themed. I first got into this sub-genre of contemporary romance by reading, and becoming enthralled by, Erin McCarthy’s Fast Track series. The Fast Track series centers on the world of stock car racing. Every one of the driver heroes in this series is to die for and each one is very different, except for their drive and commitment. In THE CHASE, Erin McCarthy puts a new spin on the series by featuring a female driver as the main character. The Fast Track series is seriously sexy but with Erin McCarthy’s trademark humor and snappy dialogue as delectable additions. Fast Track by Erin McCarthy #1 Amazon.com | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play #2 Amazon.com | BN.com | iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play #3 Amazon.com |…

Looking Back at 42 In Death Novels
Readers / February 2, 2016

“A new J.D. Robb book is out.” It’s the words that all we J.D. Robb fans want to hear and excitedly wait for twice a year. I can still remember the first time I read a J.D. Robb book. A friend and bookstore owner placed a copy of the first In Death book in my hands and insisted I had to read it. I protested initially as I already had so many other series I was reading. Little did I realize at that time that J.D. Robb was actually Nora Roberts, an author I already loved and one of the first romance authors I’d had the pleasure of reading. My friend gave me the ultimate bookstore guarantee: read it and return it if I didn’t like it. Today that copy of NAKED IN DEATH, along with 41 other J.D. Robb books, happily sits on my shelves. About NAKED IN DEATH Originally Published June 1995 Buy NAKED IN DEATH: Amazon.com | Kindle| BN.com| iTunes/iBooks | Kobo | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Amazon DE | Amazon FR The relationship between Roarke and Eve is the cornerstone of the In Death…

Jeaniene Frost and Lynn Viehl – Anatomy of a Vampire Romance
Readers / December 22, 2015

As I was reading one of Jeaniene Frost’s “Night Huntress” books, I started thinking about another great vampire-themed love story – the one between vampire Michael Cyprien and the formidable Dr. Alexandra “Alex” Keller in Lynn Viehl‘s “Darkyn” series. Each series has a different vampire mythology and a lot of other wildly different components, but both also have some important things in common – including strong female characters and kick-ass vampire love stories. In the “Night Huntress” series the villains are usually megalomaniac paranormal or government types, and in the “Darkyn” series the villains are usually the sadistic and completely twisted quasi-religious group called the Brethren. Night Huntress #1 Buy on: Amazon.com | Kindle | BN.com | Kobo | iTunes/iBooks | Google Play | Powell’s Books | Books-A-Million | Indiebound Night Huntress series 0.5  Reckoning 1  Halfway to the Grave 2  One Foot In The Grave 3  At Grave’s End 3.5  Devil to Pay 4  Destined For An Early Grave 5  This Side Of The Grave 6  One Grave At A Time 6.5  Home for the Holidays 7  Up from the Grave 8  Outtakes from the Grave I didn’t immediately warm to Jeaniene Frost‘s Cat Crawfield and Lynn Viehl‘s Alexandra…

Becky Pena | Where All The Geeks Go! To Meet Olivia Munn!
Readers , Saturdays with Sara / July 17, 2010

This past Thursday led me once again to the Lincoln Park Barnes & Noble, near NorthPark Center, for Olivia Munn’s book signing. For three hours I watched guys of all ages ride up the escalators to wait in line. Yes, the line to get their book signed. It was crazy. I got to the store around 4:30pm and boys were sitting on chairs, the floor, standing around the book shelves and like I said above, already starting their own book signing lines. The actual signing wasn’t supposed to start till 7pm… Does it sound like these boys have an obsession? It sure does to me. Olivia Munn, for those who don’t know, is a well known television celebrity who stars on the show “Attack of the Show!” currently on G4. She is also a well known model with cover shots ranging from Maxim to Playboy to Foam magazine. You girls would probably remember her by her Pepsi and Neutrogena campaigns. I will not deny it; I honestly had no idea who Olivia was before attending this book signing event. I am an avid book lover, not a TV one. As the intern, I had the fortunate task of standing in…

Sara Reyes | To Read YA or Not, That’s my question…
Readers , Saturdays with Sara / May 8, 2010

What a wild week I’ve had: three signings attended (if I was a woman with super powers I could have gone to seven of interest), two author dinners, one reader lunch and one reader dinner. Today I go to our monthly tea and we’ll have a guest, Marie Bostwick. But first all this gadding about is expensive and second fun and third, exhausting. Why exhausting? Good question, I’ll tell you! Because I bought a bunch of books and oh, my, even YA ones. And now I’ve got to read them! All right I can say I’ve read YA in the recent past, after all, you’ve heard our stories of being there for at least three of the final Harry Potter release parties, which I’ll always remember until I die. They were fun and I doubt ever to be replicated no matter how hard they try to make a book or series so “important.” HP has the magical quality of reaching all generations. And it was in all the media: books, audio, movies, games. Only thing I know missing is the television and since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ is now open, they’ve covered the theme park version as well….