Although every romance novel naturally focuses on the relationship between the hero and heroine, any writer worth her salt will spend quite a bit of time on the secondary characters, too. In HOW TO PLAN A WEDDING FOR A ROYAL SPY, my new Renegade Royals historical romance, I experimented a bit with secondary characters. For one thing, my heroine, Evie Whitney, is an identical twin. She and her sister are best friends and as close as siblings can be, even though they’re quite different in personality. I had a lot of fun playing with the twin relationship and developing Evie’s character in contrast to her sister, Eden. But Evie isn’t the only character in the book with a “sidekick.” My hero also has a best friend who figures prominently in his life. In fact, you might even say he’s involved in a bromance—that classic, male bonding relationship between two buddies who are almost inseparable. Until, that is, they find their soulmates! My hero, Captain Will Endicott, is a tough-guy military spy for the Duke of Wellington, commander of the British Army. Will’s fellow agent is Captain Alasdair Gilbride, a charming rogue who, like Will, is the illegitimate son of a…

Fresh Pick for Wednesday, April 9th, 2014 is CONFESSIONS OF A ROYAL BRIDEGROOM by Vanessa Kelly #RomanceWednesday Renegade Royals #2 Zebra April 2014 On Sale: April 1, 2014 352 pages ISBN: 1420131249 EAN: 9781420131246 Kindle: B00FH1IDWE Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List Romance Historical Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound Confessions Of A Royal Bridegroom by Vanessa Kelly Only one woman is worthy of his secrets They are the Renegade Royals, illegitimate sons of the Royal Princes, each finding his rightful place in society–and the woman destined to be his perfect match. . . Some men are born into scandal. Others pursue it with a passion. Griffin Steele, secret son of the Duke of Cumberland, is guilty on both counts. Yet somehow London’s most notorious scoundrel has been saddled with an abandoned baby boy–and with the unflappable, intriguing spinster summoned to nurse him. . . Justine Brightmore may be a viscount’s niece, but she’s also a spy’s daughter, determined to safeguard the infant when his suspected royal parentage makes him a target. Yet how to protect herself from the rakish Griffin? Marriage might shield her reputation, but it can only imperil her heart, especially with a groom intent on delicious seduction….

Pop Culture has always been in love with doctors, who figure prominently as heroes in movies like M*A*S*H, TV shows like House and Grey’s Anatomy, and in books like Eloisa James’s WHEN BEAUTY TAMED THE BEAST and Jo Goodman’s MARRY ME. And no wonder. In many ways doctors are the ultimate alpha males since they hold the power of life and death in their manly hands. They’re also educated, smart, and exercise their skills with a calm precision that instils confidence in the rest of us lowly mortals. By those characteristics alone, what’s not to love in a guy like that? But unlike other alpha males—who often channel a wee bit too much aggression and usually need to be tamed by the heroine—doctors have a nurturing side that displays itself in the very nature of the profession. They are warriors of another kind. They don’t come on all strong and warlike by hacking their way through a line of marauding invaders, nor do they rush into a hail of bullets to save a hapless victim from a psychotic criminal. No. Doctors fight a quieter, more intense battle by caring for vulnerable people and doing it in an intimate, personal way….

It can’t possibly be June already. Wasn’t it just February? I should be grateful for the warmer weather and the lazy days of summer, but unfortunately there isn’t much time to laze these days. (Smile) I did make myself a promise, and that is reading at least one book a weekend. So far I’m averaging two, and I have to say it’s the one way I can get my brain off of my crazy life and send it into a lovely new world someone else has created. There are tons of fun books and here are a few for you to check out: BLOOD SONG is the first of a new series by Cat Adams (formerly C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp). This is the story of Celia Graves, a vanilla human trying to get by in a paranormal world. “But Celia’s life is rocked when she’s bitten by a master vampire and becomes half human and half vampire,” says Clamp. “Celia’s world was first developed in an unusual fashion. There’s a saying: ‘A picture is worth a thousand words.’ Well, in the case of this book, a picture was worth a hundred thousand words. Cie Adams and Cathy Clamp were…

Small towns are always a popular setting in fiction, especially in contemporary romance. The Virgin River series by Robyn Carr is a reader favorite, for example, as are the contemporary romances by Toni Blake set in the charming town of Destiny, Ohio. Perhaps we’re drawn to these settings because they promise something that can seem elusive in our fast-paced, over-burdened lives. Although most of us have dozens, even hundreds of “friends” on various social media sites, face-to-face contact with people who really know us in a personal way can seem like a quaint relic of bygone days. My latest book, SEX AND THE SINGLE EARL, takes place in smaller town, but in a historical rather than a contemporary setting. Many if not most Regency-set historical romances take place in London, especially the London of the haute ton. On occasion, the ton probably felt like a small town to those who moved in its exclusive circles. Everybody knew everybody else, and gossip reigned supreme. But London was still a big city, and one could easily get lost in the crowds. Not so in Bath, the setting for SEX AND THE SINGLE EARL. Bath was and still is one of the most…

What is it about the topic of sisters that causes so much controversy? My new Regency-set historical, Mastering The Marquess, is partly a story about a pair of sisters, and the life-threatening situation they confront together. Meredith, my heroine, will do anything to keep her little sister Annabel out of harm’s way—even if it means putting her own life at risk. And she does that without blaming Annabel for their predicament, or feeling resentful that she must potentially sacrifice her own chance for happiness. Meredith’s selflessness didn’t seem odd or out of character to me, likely because I have an older sister who has always been uber-protective of her siblings. She would take on a herd of charging elephants without a second thought if it meant keeping me or my brothers safe. But to my surprise, a few readers of Mastering The Marquess expressed discomfort with Meredith’s willingness to sacrifice herself for Annabel. They thought their relationship was too perfect—that real sisters fought more, and that Meredith should, at the very least, be resentful of Annabel. That took me aback since I can count the number of times I’ve fought with my sister on one hand, with a few fingers…