USA Today Bestseller list

Guest Author: Alexandra Hawkins & Giveaway!

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I’m featuring a fantastic author on the blog today.  She’s Alexandra Hawkins, and she’s a USA Today bestselling writer of historical romance.  In The Lords of Vice series, Alexandra has combined her love of English history, mythology, and romance to create sensual, character-driven stories that readers have enthusiastically taken to their hearts.

Alexandra burst onto the romance writing scene with her first book, All Night With A Rogue.

 

Awesome cover, isn’t it?  Whew – talk about hot!  And the reviews for this book were great.  Here’s what Loves Romances and More had to say about it:

“A truly fantastic debut novel! ALL NIGHT WITH A ROGUE is one of the best Regency romances that I have read for quite awhile.”

And RT Book Reviews said that “Hawkin’s first Lords of Vice tale calls to mind the highly sensual reads of Bertrice Small and Susan Johnson.”  Very nice!

Alexandra followed up her first book with two more in the series:  Till Dawn With The Devil and After Dark With A Scoundrel.

 

Goodness, what beautiful covers!  Needless to say, Alexandra’s subsequent books received great reviews as well, including this one from Fresh Fiction for Till Dawn With The Devil:

“Ms. Hawkins weaves a fantastic tale threaded heavily with scandals, secrets, and sins, yet gentled with blossoming friendships and budding romance. TILL DAWN WITH THE DEVIL promises an intoxicating journey, and delivers with an exciting series of twists and turns that leave the reader disoriented and begging for more.”

Fortunately for her readers, Alexandra has a new book in The Lords of Vice series – Sunrise With A Notorious Lord.

 

It’s got everything you’ve come to expect from Alexandra’s books, including a sexy new Lord of Vice:

FOREVER THE BACHELOR

Christopher Courtland, Earl of Vanewright—known around London as “Vane”—is the very picture of a rich, handsome ladies’ man. Why shackle himself to just one lady when he’s free to sample them all? In spite of his own mother’s attempts at matchmaking, Vane has sworn to stay single. Until he has a chance run-in with Miss Isabel Thorne…

NEVER IN LOVE—UNTIL NOW…

A modest and refined beauty, Isabel is a lot more brazen than she appears. When a pickpocket tries to make way with Vane’s bejeweled snuffbox, Isabel attempts to thwart his escape…and manages to steal Vane’s heart. But the harder he tries to seduce the sharp-tongued, strong-willed Isabel, the more she resists. Now it’s up to this tried-and-true bachelor to find a new way to play the game…or risk losing the one woman who’s ever captured his heart.

Doesn’t that sound great?  I don’t know about you, but I’m a total sucker for this kind of delicious story.  The details are on Alexandra’s website.  And make sure you check out the book trailer for Sunrise With A Notorious Lord on YouTube.

For my readers today, Alexandra is giving away not one but two copies of her new book!  Just tell me what your secret vice is (mine is cupcakes) for a chance to win Sunrise With A Notorious Lord.  Two people who comment will win the book.

Guest Feature: Trish Jensen & Giveaway!

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My featured author today is the talented, best-selling writer Trish Jensen.  Back in the 90’s Trish escaped from the corporate world to begin her career writing fun, high-energy contemporary romances that both readers and reviewers raved about.  She’s written for a number of publishers, including Harlequin, Berkley, Dorchester, and Kensington.  RT Book Reviews calls her work “charming and delightfully humorous,” and The Romance Reader said that Trish has “a great comic touch and an ear for dialogue.”

I don’t know about you, but with all the stresses that come with this time of year, charming and humorous sounds just about right!

Like many authors with an established career, Trish has some wonderful books that are not as easy to find as they used to be.  Fortunately for her readers, those books will soon be re-released by Bell Bridge Books, starting in January with Stuck With You.

 

Here’s the blurb for Stuck With You:

As lawyers on opposing sides of a messy divorce case, Paige Hart and Ross Bennett ought to have kept matters purely professional, yet Paige and Ross came to loathe each other with an intensity that was strictly personal. The bad blood between them takes on an unexpected new dimension when the infuriated pair is forced to share a hospital room, when they’re quarantined after being exposed to the rare and highly contagious Tibetan Concupiscence Virus that’s reputed to shift sensual desire into high gear.

When symptoms (which a nonmedical person might mistake for pure and simple lust) start showing up way ahead of schedule, the lawyers’ objections to each other are overruled — and they enjoy every minute of it. But, after the doctors declare that the disease has run its course, Paige and Ross are still feverish with a longing for one another that they hope will never be cured. When the verdict comes in, will they be sentenced to life — in love?

OMG!  That sounds like so much fun!  RT Book Reviews called this book “a fun-filled romantic comedy that will definitely tickle your fancy.”  Readers obviously agreed, because this book hit the USA Today bestseller list.  Be sure to check Trish’s website for the books that are currently available, and to find out when her other books will be available in digital format.

While you’re there, check out Trish’s holiday round robin novel that she wrote with acclaimed romance authors Sandra Hill and Kate Holmes.  It’s called ‘Twas The Night, and it’s funny, poignant, and uplifting—everything a Christmas story should be!


Here’s the blurb for‘Twas The Night:

The three bad-boy bachelors of Snowdon, Maine, have to make it to the church on time, or die trying. Due at a friend’s wedding on Christmas Eve, the Fearsome Threesome find themselves dashing through the snow in the goofiest bus on Earth — a bright red vehicle filled with a bunch of senior citizens known as The Santa Brigade. Ho, ho, ho!  

Decked out in red and serving up holiday cheer to the masses, a Blue Angels pilot, a bounty hunter, and a former pro football player discover ’tis the season for folly as each trips over his heart to capture the love of the one special woman for him. And who is to say what they’ll find nestled in their beds as the stockings are stuffed and the gifts placed under the tree.

RT Book Reviews called it “a delightfully funny, charming, and humorous holiday tale,” so you know you’ll want to read this one.  Check out Trish’s website for details.

For my readers today, Trish is donating a lovely trade paperback copy of ‘Twas The Night, signed by all three authors.  Wow!  Since we’re talking about comedic romance, let’s go with a similar topic.  What’s your favorite romantic comedy movie, and why?  One person who comments will win a copy of Trish’s holiday book.

 

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: JoAnn Ross & Giveaway!

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I’m so thrilled to be featuring one of my favorite authors today – JoAnn Ross, the acclaimed writer of dozens of contemporary romance and romantic suspense novels.  To date, JoAnn has written around one hundred novels (she stopped keeping track a while ago), and her books have been published in twenty-six countries.  Two of her titles were excerpted in Cosmopolitan Magazine – which definitely makes her a Cosmo Girl – and her books have been published by the Doubleday, Rhapsody, Literary Guild, and Mystery Guild book clubs.

Not bad for someone whose first career choice was to play center field for the New York Yankees!  JoAnn swears that writing was intended to be her backup occupation, something she was only going to resort to after her retirement from baseball.  Luckily for us, the Yankees never called and JoAnn was forced to write all those wonderful books, going on to win (more than once) the Romantic Times Career Achievement Award and eventually making it onto the Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll for best-selling authors.

I could wax on and on about JoAnn’s truly distinguished career and her fascinating personal history – she married the same man twice, for instance – but you can find that stuff out for yourself on her great website.

Okay, you DO have to check out her 10 things you probably didn’t know about JoAnn page, which includes such fascinating tidbits as the fact that her early years were spent in a bungalow on Santa Monica Beach.  The best part about that?  Her babysitters were the bulked up bodyguards from L.A.’s Muscle Beach!  And then there’s the fact that…well, you get the idea!

What I really want to talk about are JoAnn’s books, which are fabulous.  As readers of my blog already know, I’m a huge fan of romantic suspense and JoAnn’s are among my favorites.  The books in her recent High Risk series are suspenseful and fast-paced, with a compelling group of military heroes who generate a whole lot of heat and chemistry with their heroines.

Here’s what RT Book Reviews had to say about Shattered, JoAnn’s third book in the High Risk series:

“The third book in Ross’ High Risk series is a fine addition to her oeuvre dealing with veterans of our current conflicts. The story is compelling, and showing characters dealing with some of the issues men and women face when they return from war adds depth.  Highly recommended. ”  *4 1/2 Stars*

JoAnn’s new series leaves the action of the battlefield for the small town of Shelter Bay, Oregon.


Fortunately, she hasn’t left behind the fantastic, emotional stories her readers have come to love.  The latest book in the Shelter Bay series is One Summer, which made the New York Times, the USA Today, and the Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

See what I mean?  This woman knows her stuff!


Here’s the blurb for One Summer:

It was supposed to be nothing more than a brief encounter…

Former U.S. Marine photojournalist Gabriel St. James doesn’t see the world as others do. His work reflects the heart of a dispirited, disillusioned loner. When he arrives in Shelter Bay to help out a fellow Marine, the last thing he expects is for that cynical veneer to crack. Then again, he never expected to meet a woman like Charity Tiernan.

A veterinarian with a past that would have defeated a less resilient woman, Charity still possesses a heart as generous as her name. She’s known men like Gabe before—a guarded soul with an elusive nature. With a shared attraction impossible to deny, Charity and Gabe agree to a simple affair with no expectations.

But as summer unfolds, and Gabe finds reasons to extend his stay in Shelter Bay, he and Charity realize that there’s nothing simple about falling in love, and nothing easy about the choices of the heart.

I’m reading One Summer right now, and I can tell you that I fell straight in love with Gabe.  I know you will too, and you’ll also fall in love with the small town of Shelter Bay.  Trust me – this series is fantastic.

For my readers today, JoAnn has graciously donated a copy of One Summer.  Naturally, you have to answer a question first!  On JoAnn’s very cool website she has a number of recipes that match up to her books.  Just check out her recipes pages and pick one you think looks really great (well, they all do – but just pick one).  Then hop on back here and tell me what it is.  One lucky commenter will win the book, and we’ll all get to savor JoAnn’s wonderful recipes!

We Have A Winner!

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The winner of Phoebe Matthew’s book, Vampire Career, is Robin D.  Congratulations!  I’ll be in touch soon.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by the blog.  My guest blogger this Friday will be the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Maggie Shayne!  She’ll be talking about her vampire romances and sprinkling a little of her magic our way.  You won’t want to miss that!

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