Sara Reyes | Tea, a Saturday Tradition Bears Fruit... with Vampires!

Fun Books to Read!

Today is tea day, Means gathering books, getting dressed somewhat nicely (no "work" pants, jeans okay), putting on the minimal amount of make-up (mascara, lip gloss) and heading out the door by noon to go meet the girls. Sorry, no guys allowed in this part of the book club. Then we gather at a tea room and enjoy at least two hours of conversation, book chatter, life chatter and consume a four course (sometimes five if we're lucky) tea. We do this at least once a month, sometimes we luck out and get to do it twice in a month. I can't remember a three-time but hey it could happen! It's really lots of fun and since we usually ALWAYS do a book exchange, you come home loaded to the gills with new books to try. It's the closest thing to a reader paradise I know.

Except maybe book club night, a whole different concept.

So, anyway, today is the Saturday after "Vampire Diaries" and with all the vamp talk being going on about this one, starting in the 1990s when the L.J. Smith books first came out and Gwen discovered them. Those were the books that allowed her to participate more fully in that Saturday ritual of tea book group. Before the Smith books, Gwen was bored. And there is nothing worse than a bored teenager at a forced to go because you've got to spend time with your mother outing. And it was a regular type thing. Once a month seemed like it went on forever. How do I know, because as a mother I was on the receiving end of this treatment. But I digress, L.J. Smith's books were read even back in the 90s by both teens and adults. And there were several adults in the tea group who loved all of them as much as Gwen. So began a common discussion of books. Something to even look forward to. And with a couple of booksellers in the group, it made it so much easier to get all the copies, even first edition versions of Smith's books.

So, spin forward a dozen years or so...read the rest....

ROSEMARY CLEMENT MOORE WARNING! READING COULD BE DANGEROUS TO YOUR DIET

I had cheesecake for breakfast this morning.

Completely self-indulgent, right? Not on the diet at all, let alone for breakfast. Saturday morning PSA cartoons really did teach me better than this.

But it was integral to my writing process. It’s working cheesecake. Really.

As writers, we’re told to include all five senses in our descriptions. Sight and sound come pretty naturally. Touch, well, I dare you to write a romance novel without it. Smell is supposed to be one of the most emotionally evocative senses, something about the olfactory part of the brain being close the memory storage unit... or something. But cheesecake is making me think about taste.

To read more about food in books, and to comment for a chance to win a copy of Rosemary's newest release please click here.

Sharon Lathan |Traveling Through Derbyshire With The Darcys

Oh how I wish I could share with you all my personal adventures walking and driving over the pastoral hills and valleys of Derbyshire, England. But, alas, that is not the case. Among the many challenges I faced in writing my sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice was the fact that this American girl has never stepped foot in the United Kingdom. Research in all its myriad facets became a way of life as I undertook the task of revealing life as it would have been lived 200 hundred years ago in Regency England. On the top of the list was the necessity to know as much about Derbyshire as I possibly could. This, after all, is where Pemberley is located and the county that the Darcys would have called home for uncounted decades prior. I needed to visualize the landscape, smell the indigenous flowers, hear the rumble of the River Derwent, feel the breeze on my skin, etc.

Thank goodness for the internet with its wealth of maps, photographs, tourist websites, and historical articles. As I examined endless pages, I not only got a firm grip on what the land would have been like two centuries ago, I fell in love with the history. It was then that I decided Darcy was going to take his new wife on a tour of his ancestral shire. While Lizzy and Darcy explore old churches, ruined castles, bustling villages, and grand Manors, the reader goes along for the ride. I endeavored to make it fun and romantic as well as informative.

Now, you need to read the rest of Sharon's post and possibly win! click here to continue...

Fresh Pick | THE SPLENDOR FALLS by Rosemary Clement-Moore

September 2009
On Sale: September 8, 2009
528 pages
ISBN: 0385736908
EAN: 9780385736909
Hardcover
$17.99
Young Adult
Buy at Amazon.com

The Splendor Falls
by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Can love last beyond the grave?

Sylvie Davis is a ballerina who can’t dance. A broken leg ended her career, but Sylvie’s pain runs deeper. What broke her heart was her father’s death, and what’s breaking her spirit is her mother’s remarriage—a union that’s only driven an even deeper wedge into their already tenuous relationship.

Uprooting her from her Manhattan apartment and shipping her to Alabama is her mother’s solution for Sylvie’s unhappiness. Her father’s cousin is restoring a family home in a town rich with her family’s history. And that’s where things start to get shady. As it turns out, her family has a lot more history than Sylvie ever knew. More unnerving, though, are the two guys that she can’t stop thinking about. Shawn Maddox, the resident golden boy, seems to be perfect in every way. But Rhys—a handsome, mysterious foreign guest of her cousin’s—has a hold on her that she doesn’t quite understand.

Then she starts seeing things. Sylvie’s lost nearly everything—is she starting to lose her mind as well?

Previous Picks

Heather Long | Shelf Wars: Science Fiction and Fantasy Strike Back

My husband and I share similar tastes in books. Granted, he likes some authors that I just can't get into and vice versa. But our last few trips to the bookstore haven't been fruitful for him. Why? Because the plethora of urban fantasy and paranormal romance seem to have staged a coup on the science fiction and fantasy shelves of the bookstore.

This is not to slight these wonderful books, not at all. For I am a huge fan not only of reading them, but of writing them. But my husband is floundering his way through the section looking for some solid science fiction in the flavor of David Weber's original Honor Harrington book: On Basilisk Station or Peter F. Hamilton's universe spanning Reality Dysfunction.

For pure fantasy, he's still enjoying Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series (which I have to confess, I haven't started reading yet!) I love Jim's Dresden books and my husband does too, but I've not been as into the high fantasy in a while. Luckily, I have the whole series on the shelf so far, so when I do get to reading it, I will have it.

So, here is my dilemma. Finding the kind of books my husband is so desperately searching for. His birthday is next month and our anniversary is at the beginning of October. As mentioned, we're heading to Disney World (yes, we love the fantasy of that) for vacation in just three short weeks (I cannot wait!) and I want to surprise him with some good books for him to read.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to recommend some solid fantasy and/or science fiction books that my husband might enjoy. You have to avoid Arthurian or Star Trek or Star Wars. He does like the Doctor Who novels, but I think we're only up to the Martha books so far and The Story of Martha is high on my list of books to buy.

You've got to read the rest, so click here

Fresh Pick | MISTRESS OF MELLYN by Victoria Holt

December 2008
On Sale: December 23, 2008
Featuring: Connan TreMellyn; Martha Leigh
336 pages
ISBN: 0312384157
EAN: 9780312384159
Trade Size (reprint)
$13.95

Romance Historical, Romance Suspense

Buy at Amazon.com

Mistress of Mellyn
by Victoria Holt

The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense

Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned...

But what about its master--Connan TreMellyn? Was Martha Leigh's new employer as romantic as his name sounded?

As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her.

TreMellyn's young daughter, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered. But it was the girl's father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil--even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha's life.

Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets--as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning.

But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love--and the freedom to find a golden promise forever...

Previous Picks

Suzanne Arruda | Just What Does Larger Than Life Mean?

Sometimes I feel like Jimmy Stuart in "It’s a Wonderful Life," gazing at the National Geographics and dreaming of adventures in far away countries. Instead of living those dreams, he stays in his town, filling the role thrust on him. I vicariously live my life of danger and adventure through my character, Jade del Cameron, the heroine of Treasure of the Golden Cheetah. With her running point, I can safely climb Kilimanjaro, charge a lion, and do battle against evil without breaking a sweat. Via Jade, I shoot rifle and bow, throw a mean lariat, fly a plane, and kiss a handsome man. (Well, I do get to do that last part in real life.)

Jade is often described as "larger than life" and that’s probably true. But it makes me wonder, just what does "larger than life" mean? Frankly, life is pretty big. Sometimes that can be intimidating. We might find a safe spot and hide in it, camouflaging ourselves for anonymity. We stay with what’s comfortable and call risk takers crazy daredevils. So perhaps being larger than life simply means that a person grows to take in as much of life as possible.

To continue reading what Larger Than Life means to Suzanne click here.

Fresh Pick | HIS WICKED SINS by Eve Silver

August 2008
Featuring: Elizabeth Canham; Griffin Fairfax
352 pages
ISBN: 0821781294
EAN: 9780821781296
Paperback
$5.99

Romance Historical, Romance Suspense
Buy at Amazon.com

His Wicked Sins by Eve Silver

In the midst of desire, lies a killer...

In the quiet hamlet of Yorkshire, the hallowed halls of Burndale School stand...and evil lurks in its dark corners. For a serial killer with a proclivity for blonde women has struck again-this time, murdering two of its teachers. Now everyone is wondering when the killer will seek his next victim...

Elizabeth Canham has accepted a teaching position at the local boarding school in Yorkshire. But her quiet life takes a surprising turn when she meets Griffin Fairfax-the handsome father of one of her pupils. His mesmerizing stare quickly draws her in, and she can't deny the fierce attraction between them...

Griffin Fairfax appears to be a doting father and gentleman. But one disturbing truth lies at the heart of the murders-all of the victims were intimately connected to him. When Elizabeth discovers this, she wonders if it's a mere coincidence or if Griffin could be a charming, seductive killer so many women have lost their hearts-and lives-to...

A suspense packed gothic romance with a serial killer on the loose!

Sara Edmonds | My Favorite Hero--The Bad Boy

I have been spending a lot of time re-reading some of my favorite authors. And while I was re-reading and book swapping with friends, I came across an old Tami Hoag I had not read. After I got over the shock, and started reading, the heroine Genna made a great point. Why do women always go for the bad boy?

In The Trouble With J.J., Genna doesn’t want to be attracted to Jared because she thinks he is. . . well. . . crazy. He is brash, wears weird clothes, has an earring, plays football for a living, and somehow has a love of plastic flamingos. What Genna wants is a stable, normal- corn flakes for breakfast, come home every day at five o’clock- kind of guy. Well this was a Bantam romance by Tami, so we know she goes for a walk on the wild side and takes a chance after all. But it got me thinking- what is up with my love affair of the bad boy.

To read more about Sara's fascination with the bad boy here click here.

SANDI SHILHANEK | ONE LAST SUMMER HURRAH

If you live in the United States then this is perhaps a holiday weekend for you. It is for me, and I’ve been looking forward to it with much anticipation. Ideally I would spend the weekend lounging with a book, but I’m sure my reality is going to be much different.

I have no real plans. My youngest son might wish to compete in a local bowling tournament, but I don’t know if he wants to or not. The last time we discussed it he was rather non committal. He does have an appointment with the eye doctor, but that’s the only thing carved in stone in my appointment calendar. I would like to get my house clean, but that’s something that’s usually accomplished when I don’t have people looking over my shoulder as to what I’m dejunking, so reading sounds like a nice staycation escape..

To read more about Sandi's Labor Day plans, and to enter the weekend only contest click here.