July 2010 On Sale: June 29, 2010 400 pages ISBN: 0778328708 EAN: 9780778328704 Mass Market Paperback (reprint) $7.99 Add to Wish List Women’s Fiction Buy at Amazon.com Fresh Fiction Readers favorite Summer read! A Summer In Sonoma by Robyn Carr Girlfriends make the best therapists. Elly, Sable, Barbara Ann and Beth. They have been drawn together by the sudden death of their friend Gabby—and the favor she has asked of them. For these four women, whose own lives have become unhappy works of fiction, a summer spent sorting through Gabby’s personal papers offers the perfect challenge—and the perfect escape. Elly — the intellectual spinster who’s hidden herself within the walls of academia, afraid to admit that she’s tired of being alone. Sable — her bestselling novels have made her a star, but the woman who has everything in fact has nothing except a past she’s desperate to hide. Barbara Ann — the talent behind twenty-six romance novels, who wakes up one day to find she’s lost control of her career, her sanity and her family. Beth — her popular mysteries have become the only way she can fight back against the secret tyranny of her abusive husband. In the house…

When I thought about the blog post this week I really wanted to be bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed detailing the totally wonderful time I had in Orlando at RWA 2010. However, I am sick, and while I understand that it’s a side effect of being worn down from the fun I had, I’m really ready to be over the sick, so I can truly reflect on the fun! I had the chance to attend RWA due to the generosity of Sara Reyes, and Fresh Fiction. It truly was a wonderful experience, and I would suggest anyone and everyone take the opportunity to attend even if like me you don’t think you want to be an author. Being surrounded by the amazing people of the publishing industry is really inspiring, and I have to admit had me giving a fleeting thought to writing a book. For all you other aspiring authors…your chances are still safe, because I don’t see myself writing a book, and I’m beginning to believe if you can’t visualize it you can’t achieve it. There were so many highlights, but two that really stand out was the opportunity to meet Robyn Carr. If you’ve been reading me you know…

This is my first time to be “attending” RWA from start to finish. My trip started at the of dawn on Sunday…well ok, 7:00 AMish at a McDonalds very close to my home. There I met Sara, Pat, Gwen, Rosemary Clement-Moore and Daniel, who was just helping us to load and not actually coming on our exciting road trip. Follow me on Twitter We drove to Georgia where we spent the night. The next day we picked up Faye and continued into Florida and Disney World. The entire road trip was so exciting because I’ve never before been to Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, or yes even Disney in Florida! Since we stopped in each of these states I can now officially add them to the places I’ve visited. Lovely rooms here at the Boardwalk Resort, lovely, wonderful friends to share a once in a lifetime experience with, and the opportunity to meet so many wonderful authors I can’t possibly name them all here. I do have to mention meeting Tara Taylor Quinn, Sharon Sala and of course I had my first face to face with Robyn Carr! Ok… time to go have more great once in a lifetime experiences. Until Sunday…

Virgin River #10 March 2010 On Sale: February 23, 2010 Featuring: Aiden Riordan; Erin Foley 400 pages ISBN: 077832768X EAN: 9780778327684 Mass Market Paperback $7.99 Add to Wish List Romance, Women’s Fiction Contemporary Buy at Amazon.com Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr With her beloved younger siblings settled and happy, Erin Foley has got empty nest syndrome. At age thirty-five. So she’s hitting the pause button on her life and holing up in a secluded (but totally upgraded, she’s not into roughing it) cabin near Virgin River. Erin is looking forward to really getting to know herself…not some shaggy-haired mountain man she meets wandering the woods. In fact, beneath his faded fatigues and bushy beard, Aiden Riordan is a doctor, recharging for a summer after leaving the Navy. He’s intrigued by the pretty, slightly snooty refugee from the rat race — meditating, journaling and definitely keeping him at arm’s length. He’d love to get closer…if his scruffy exterior and crazy ex-wife don’t hold him back. But maybe it’s something in the water — unlikely romances seem to take root in Virgin River…helped along with some well-intentioned meddling, of course. Another wonderful installment in the Virgin River series. Excerpt Chapter One In…

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…

It’s time again for another reading wrap up. In April I was able to read 10 books. I know a lot of people who read more than that, and just as many who read less. I really don’t care how many anyone reads (with the exception of my friend Yvonne with whom I have a reading bet) as long as they read. What was special about this month was that I read three library books. I read THINK TWICE by Lisa Scottoline, which was a first time, read for me from this author, and I really enjoyed it, and look forward to reading more from her in the future. I followed that up with WILD RIDE by Jennifer Cruise and Bob Mayer, and was really glad that I had gotten that from the library rather than investing in a Kindle version. The final library book was THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE by Mary Higgins Clark. It’s been way too long since I read a book by Clark, and after closing the last page of THE SHADOW OF YOUR SMILE I’m ready for another. Thankfully I can just go to the TBR for a backlist book. I also read MORE THAN…

Hey, guess what? Something you’ll never believe about the economy! Romance book sales are up. Way UP! And I say, DUH!!! Sheesh, where has everyone been? Of course they are! As the uncertainty about jobs and income stays with us so does the need to find escapes and one of the best “bangs for the buck” is a good old-fashioned romance novel. Seriously, you get a couple of hours of entertainment with a guaranteed happy ending for about eight dollars. Of course the romance publishers doing the best are the ones with the less expensive books, but even so, $8 is generally still affordable. It’s even better than buying a tube of lipstick which was supposed to be the other big recession commodity not given up by women. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy And the other little splurge? Movies. But not the big dramas, the so-called chick flicks, children movies, comedies and as my son calls them, “light-hearted action flicks” are all making box office profits and it’s hard to find a good seat on Fridays and Saturdays. Even worse on half-price Tuesdays! People find it reasonable to go out for a movie,…

This week I broke one of my cardinal book rules. I bought a book that I’ve already read, and I plan on keeping it. In case you don’t know I don’t keep books nor do I reread books. This being the case why then would I purposely buy a book I’ve already read? The answer is easy…due to the Readers-n-Ritas event I attended a few weekends back I was able to get two autographed books from the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr. I being the book fanatic than decided to see if Ms. Carr would be nice enough to autograph the third and return to me, and she agreed. So naturally I needed the book. The trip to the bookstore went smoothly enough, but I didn’t walk out with just the one book. Does a book fanatic ever walk out with just one? I ended up buying the reissues of the Grace Valley books because of the beautiful covers. It didn’t matter that those books in their original covers are sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, the new covers call my name, and I had to have them! I couldn’t believe I was carrying those books to…

A lot of readers have written to ask if Virgin River is based on an actual town, because they’d like to move there. Unpack those boxes – the town lives only in my mind, although I have heard from people who claim to live or have lived in such a place. They don’t usually say where. It might be all in my head, but I’ve been living there for a long time. I’m committed to delivering four more Virgin River novels. I’m not sure the actual release dates for these books yet, but when I know for sure, I’ll post them on my website. Meanwhile, I couldn’t ask for a better home. I get up in the morning, fire up the computer, and settle in with my old friends. When nothing much is happening with them, I bring in some newcomers who have their – uh – issues. I knew what it was about the town that appealed to me, and it didn’t take long for me to hear from readers what appealed to them. It goes without saying, my readers have fully enjoyed the strong, handsome, virile men of Virgin River; they’ve admired the beauty, inner strength and intelligence…

Meeting with reader groups and bookclubs has been my favorite thing for a long time, and when I had more time I belonged to two bookclubs of my own. From the author’s perspective, at least this author’s perspective, these are readers who are so focused on the story and characters, I learn more from them than they learn from me. It’s always great fun to hear what readers like about your work, that goes without saying, but the value to me as I continue to write is learning from them where the story didn’t jive for them, where they wanted more and they are never shy about telling you what they want to see next. A favorite bookclub selection of mine has been The House On Olive Street – and one reader group took issue with the beginning, which several agreed was hard to get into. My immediate response was, “Oh yeah? Well you should’ve tried writing it!” There have been some fun surprises. I was asked to join a church bookclub as they discussed my book, Runaway Mistress. Runaway Mistress for the church ladies? Oh man, I thought, they’re going to chew me up and spit me out. While…