My birthday falls at the end of August. When I was a kid I hated the fact that my birthday was during summer break because I never got to celebrate with cupcakes or cookies in class. Now that I work at a University, I find that my birthday falls on, or shortly after, the first day of school which means birthday celebrations come second to the start-of-semester madness. This year my birthday falls on a Sunday so I’ll have the day off. I think I’ll make it a “lazy day” and spend the day reading some romantic suspense. August has some great selections, which book should I choose? Hmmm. DESPERATE DEEDS Dee Davis A-Tac #3 Grand Central Publishing; $6.99 A-Tac, an elite CIA unit masquerading as faculty at an Ivy League college, is back. When a thieves steal a shipment of thermonuclear detonators, Commander Solomon has reason to suspect that information from inside A-Tac facilitated the heist. He instructs his team to set up a sting to recover the detonators and to trap the traitor. Operative Tyler Hanson is skeptical when Solomon appoints renowned physicist and Nobel Prize winner Owen Wakefield to head the team. Sparks fly as they work…

Remember when you were little and you had an imaginary friend? Do you remember how old you were when your imaginary friend moved away never to return or be heard from again? Now that I’m grown why can ‘t I still have an imaginary friend to turn to when life is overwhelming? Is it because society frowns on adults being frivolous or is it because as I’ve aged my imagination has also aged and just doesn’t run to fanciful images? Thankfully because I love to read when I feel the need for an imaginary friend I can turn to authors such as Robyn Carr who created Virgin River a town where everyone feels welcome, and a seat at Jack’s Bar is always available. Or perhaps a journey to New Bern, Connecticut and the Cobbled Creek Court Quilt Shop created by Marie Bostwick. Here are women willing and able to teach me a new skill, and make me a part of the fabric of their lives. Finally what if I were wanting a friend to share a sleep over with, and share spine tingling thrills and chills. Then I might turn to the suspense that author Beverly Barton has fine tuned…

I’m delighted to be a guest on the Fresh Fiction blog today and appreciate the chance to tell y’all about my latest romantic suspense novel from Zebra. COLD HEARTED, which hits the shelves tomorrow, actually began with a comment my editor made. “Have you ever thought about writing a book with a black widow heroine?” No, I hadn’t; but the idea intrigued me so much that I could think of little else. However, Jordan Price is no ordinary black widow. Her late husband’s brother hires a private detective, Rick Carson, to prove Senator Dan Price did not commit suicide. Rick immediately assumes Jordan is a cold hearted bitch who is capable of murder; but he soon realizes that those who know her best think of her as a saint. Rick, who works for the Powell Agency, headed by Nic and Griff Powell (THE MURDER GAME), is torn between his physical attraction to the lovely, young widow and his suspicion that she is a clever, ruthless murderer. The deeper he digs into Jordan’s past, the more dead bodies show up – a first husband, a former fiancé, and an old boss, to name a few. Jordan had profited handsomely from each…