Romance Reviews Today

Guest Feature: Karen Whiddon & Giveaway!

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I’m so pleased to feature a multi-talented author on the blog today.  She’s Karen Whiddon, who writes exciting paranormal tales for Harlequin Nocturne and suspense stories for Silhouette Romantic Suspense.  Karen’s had quite the writing career.  With over twenty-five books to her name, she’s been published by Harlequin, Kensington, and Dorchester Publishing.

Karen’s latest suspense book is The CEO’s Secret Baby, which features a secret baby (love that plotline!), a nasty drug cartel, and enough betrayal and danger to keep every suspense-loving reader happy.


And then there’s Karen’s popular Pack Series, with books like The Lone Wolf, featuring sexy shape-shifters willing to risk everything for love.


Karen also wrote the highly acclaimed Magic Series, paranormal romances originally published by Dorchester Publishing.  Here’s what Romance Reviews Today had to say about Soul Magic, the third book in the series:

“SOUL MAGIC is a passionate tale of hope and despair, and of love’s rebirth in the midst of devastation. As good battles evil, the reader is taken on a magical ride that simultaneously thrills and terrifies.”

Luckily for us, these out-of-print books are now available in digital format.  The first in the series is Powerful Magic, which received wonderful reviews, including this one from The Romance Journal:

“Ms. Whiddon has created a romantic tale about a battered woman’s return to self-worth and her journey towards love.”


Here’s the blurb for Powerful Magic:

Kenric of Blackstone is tormented. Not entirely human, he cannot live with his past or with that he truly is. When he is needed to help in a battle that could destroy the earth, it is Megan who gives him strength, Megan whose kisses heal him…

In a strange land and time, it became clear to Megan Potter why she’d been summoned. This wasn’t about Faerie prophecies or wizardry, or even a desperate struggle to find her way home. This was a quest to save a man’s heart. And for the first time ever, she felt destined to prevail, because with her help she knew this handsome prince could discover the most powerful magic of all—Love.

Doesn’t that sound great?  I love that combination of fantasy and romance, with strong, tormented heroes who need the love of a good woman to be saved.  Karen’s entire Magic Series is now available in e-book, and you can find the details and buy links on her website.

For my readers, Karen will be giving away a digital copy of Powerful Magic.  Let’s ask a different kind of question today.  If you were a character in a paranormal book or series, what kind of creature would you like to be?  A vampire or shapeshifter, a fae princess or a kick-ass witch?  Enquiring minds want to know!  One person who comments will win a copy of Powerful Magic.

 

Guest Author: Karen Rose Smith & Giveaway!

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We have a very special guest author on the blog today.  It’s Karen Rose Smith, the USA Today bestselling writer of warm and heartfelt contemporary romance.  Unbelievably, Karen has published 75 books since 1991, with publishers like Silhouette, Harlequin, and Kensington.  She’s won several awards, including the Golden Leaf and the Golden Quill, and she’s made the Borders Group Bestseller list for Series Romance and the Amazon Romance Bestseller list.

Whew!  What a career!

Karen loves writing books with a lot of emotion.  She was an only child who dreamed of having lots of brothers and sisters, although she did grow up in a big extended family.  She brings that love of family into her books, with plotlines that include small towns and strong personal and family relationships.  Critics and readers alike love her stories.  Here’s what Romance Reviews Today had to say about her books:

“Karen Rose Smith’s storeyworlds are complete and realistic and lovely places to visit and revisit. She excels at stories that feature couples brought together by infants and children, and she handles her plots and characters with sublime sensitivity.”

Fortunately for her readers, Karen has lots of good stuff out this year.  In August, her Montana Mavericks release, His Country Cinderella, came out from Harlequin Special Edition.


The hero of this book is a country music singer—I love that idea!  Here’s the blurb:

Zane Gunther once entertained fans with his down-home, heartfelt songs. But a tragedy at one of his concerts has turned him into a hermit. The gift of music has left him.

Can a resilient single mom give him back that gift along with her love?

Who doesn’t love a good Cinderella story?

Karen continues the Cinderella theme with her next book, coming out in late September.  This story is part of her Reunion Brides series, set in the fictional town of Miner’s Bluff, Arizona and featuring couples who attend their high school reunion.  Fun!


Here’s the blurb for Once Upon A Groom:

Zack and Jenny fell in love in high school. But Zack intended to escape the Rocky D while Jenny craved the roots she’d found on his parents’ ranch. With resentment and bitterness toward his father, blaming him for his mother’s death, Zack found a life as a movie director with wealth, fame and privilege. Now when he returns to Miners Bluff, his father isn’t the man he once was. And Jenny has a secret she has never divulged.

Old fires reignite as Zack and Jenny fall in love all over again. Will their differences push them apart once more? Or can love truly conquer all?

I love both fairy tale themes and reunion plots, so this book sounds great!  You can check out the details for both Once Upon A Groom and His Country Cinderella on Karen’s website. 

While you’re there, you might want to check out her short story collections, which also continue her Cinderella theme.  There’s Everyday Prince Charming and Everyday Cinderellas, both of which sound like lovely collections.  She also has some new e-books and number of backlist books re-released in digital format.  You can get all the details on her Dear Reader page.

And Karen has a lovely blog too, called Cats, Roses…And Books.  Trust me—you’ll want to stop by and check out her Cranberry-Orange-Pecan scone recipe!

For my readers, Karen has graciously donated a copy of His Country Cinderella.  Let’s talk contemporary romance.  Do you read contemporary romance?  If so, which authors do you really enjoy?  One person who comments will win a copy of Karen’s book.

 

Guest Author: Susan Lyons & Giveaway!

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I’m really happy to be showcasing a fellow Canadian today – Susan Lyons, who also writes as Susan Fox.  Susan is one of those extraordinary women you often find in the romance world, a multi-talented, multi-tasking person who had at least one successful career before becoming a writer.  In Susan’s case, she was a project manager, a computer consultant, a legal editor, and a lawyer (she says becoming a lawyer was way easier than becoming a published writer).  She eventually found her way to writing, and has been penning fiction for 15 years.  In additional to her novels, she’s had stories published in Canadian literary journals, England’s Women’s Weekly, and Australia’s Woman’s Day.

In 2005, Susan finaled in the Golden Heart, the prestigious contest for unpublished authors sponsored by the Romance Writers of America.  A year later her first book, Champagne Rules, was released, and she has subsequently published over 16 novels and novellas for a number of publishing houses.  Susan has also won a whole slew of awards, including the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, The Book Buyers Best, The Booksellers Best, and the Laurel Wreath.  Her book, Sex Drive, was a Cosmopolitan Magazine Red-Hot Read.


As if you couldn’t tell by that last bit, Susan writes really sexy books, with great titles like Touch Me, and She’s On Top.  Readers and reviewers alike love her books, and rightly so.  Her stories are steamy and passionate, but they also have a lot of heart and truly wonderful characters.  For instance, RT Book Reviews gave She’s On Top a 4-1/2 stars, Top Pick review:

“Full of internal conflict, good friends and delicious sensuality, this book is hard to put down.”

By the way, this book also won the Aspen Gold Readers’ Choice Award for Best Erotic Romance, the Golden Quill for Best Erotic Romance, and finaled in the Maggies, the Laurel Wreath, the…well, you get the idea!  If I listed all the awards and accolades Susan has received we’d be here all day!  You should definitely check out her website, which has tons of info about her books, novellas, and short stories, and some really cool features like recipes for each of her books.

Susan’s latest book is Heat Waves, which is two-story, interwoven anthology that is part of her Destination Wedding Series.


As usual, Susan has garnered wonderful reviews.  According to Romance Reviews Today, Susan has “created a perfect blend of interesting characters, romance, intrigue and, of course, hot sex.”

Sounds like my kind of book!  Here’s the blurb for Heat Waves:

Get ready to sizzle…

Liz and Peter can’t think of a more fun, sexy place to get married than the Greek Islands. And they’re not the only ones looking for a steamy holiday, cruising in the sun…

“Rock the Boat”
For widowed wedding planner Gwen Austin, the charismatic Santos Michaelides is the perfect man to help her rediscover herself as a sexy single woman. At least until she finds out there’s more to the cruise director than meets the eye—in more ways than she believed possible. In fact, he’s an insurance investigator, working undercover to get the goods on one of the passengers. How is control-freak Gwen going to cope when she discovers Santos has the potential to mess up the wedding—and mess with her heart?

“Making Waves”
When prosecutor Kendra Kirk meets up again with Flynn Kavanagh, the sexy IT consultant she’d unsuccessfully prosecuted for white collar crime, sparks of all kinds fly. When he professes his innocence, she believes him and soon they’re lovers—secret ones, because if her boss ever found out, she’d be seen as sleeping with the enemy. Kendra’s job is the most important thing in her life, so what will she do when she learns the truth about the crime and must choose between work and love?

Heat Waves is available on Amazon and at all the usual booksellers.  Check out Susan’s site for the buy links and to read an excerpt.

For my readers, Susan has graciously donated a copy of Heat Waves to the blog.  Since Susan is a sexy writer, let’s talk about sex!  When reading romance novels, how hot do you like to go?  Full-on and steamy passionate encounters, or do you prefer sex in novels behind closed doors?  Enquiring minds want to know!  One person who comments will win a copy of Heat Waves.

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