Romance Novels

One of the things I’ve said for years was that readers would eventually love my longer stories.  A lot of the review sites have loved my stories but wanted more depth from the characters (This translates to longer stories, not better ones!) I’ve written bigger books, have had them shelved for years because I chased trends to make a name for myself.  But with the acceptance of Endangered from Red Sage Publishing, that trend slowly dies off. Sure I’ll still write shorter pieces, have to keep the name out, ya know? But Endangered is a story dear to my heart.  Joséf, the hero, is a man with secrets even he’s not aware of, and complex layers of character that required me to dig deep into both of us to find out who he is.  The journey took a long while and cost quite a lot in terms of struggling with inner demons.  Endangered starts off with him addicted to LS13, a highly addictive drug that hooks users on the first use. As an undercover cop playing rogue, Joséf was given a taste of the drug and forced to use, or blow his cover.  When we meet him he’s running from the crime organization he’d intended to tear down, only to be caught by Livía, famed Queen of San Francisco vampires. Of course Livía has her secrets too, in needing Joséf.  But when it comes to issues, she’s so far well adjusted, compared to him.  She knows her past, her future is always uncertain but for the one thing she needs of Joséf. Yet his addictive nature, which is what I really dug into, causes problems in both the relationship and the story outcome because he needed to see a different light.  He needed something inside to spark his desire to fight beyond the inner demons triggered by the drugs, the alcohol and the nature of his secrets….in that he’s got a beast of his own to contend with. When Livía brings out his true nature, she unleashes something powerful within him, something dark.  I had to really examine why the nature of Joséf’s beast was so violent and the only thing I came back with was that I was angry at the world. The difference between the 26 year old version of me who wrote that story and then and Joséf now is that both have learned to become comfortable with the darkness enough to let it out long enough that it gets acknowledged and dealt with, rather than buried.  In Joséf’s world, it took two women to show him what he needs. I hope you’ll join me on the ride with these characters in digging deeper to find what you’re looking for in a paranormal romance. Website:  Http://saschaillyvichauthor.com Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/author/saschaillyvich Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/saschaillyvich Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SaschaIllyvich GoodReads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2928546.Sascha_Illyvich YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/user/SaschaIllyvich?feature=mhee

I have had numerous friends recommend John Green novels to me over the years, now I finally know what they were talking about! The Fault in Our Stars is the June selection for the FLICKS Book & Movie club, and we will have a lot to discuss at our meeting this week.I knew going in that this book would be sad. It is the love story of two teenagers that meet at a Cancer support group. Hazel has terminal Stage Four Cancer, but has been reprieved the past few years by a miracle drug. She still has to carry around her own tank of oxygen everywhere she goes in order to breath. She may be seventeen, but she has already graduated from high school and is taking classes as a local college. After deciding she suffers from depression, her mother takes her to a cancer support group. Hazel soldiers through it, until the fateful day that she meets Augustus Waters. Augustus is in remission after having his leg removed.Augustus and Hazel hit it off right away. They have hilariously witty dialogue and begin their relationship by recommending books to each other, which is my idea of a perfect way to meet! The book goes through their relationship and it is not always pretty, but it did show the humanity of the characters and what it means to live and love.I made the mistake of reading a review of this book before I wrote my own (something I usually avoid) and the one I read faulted the book for the two teenage main characters speaking at levels they thought were beyond their years. I disagree with that review. Why is it that teenagers are always assumed to be stupid by people older than them? Looking back at my teenage years from my thirties, I still think I was pretty adult and responsible for my age. I also think my friends and I had a good understanding of life and witty dialogue. All teenagers are not silly idiots that can’t have a deep discussion about literature or death. Besides all of this, I think that Augustus and Hazel are forced into wisdom beyond their years by having to face their mortality at a young age. Also hanging out in a cancer ward of a hospital and seeing other kids that you have befriended die, would have to age someone.As a mother, one point that struck me the most about this novel was Hazel’s overwhelming concern for her own mother and what would happen to her after her own death. While sick in the hospital, she had heard her mother tell her father that she wouldn’t be a mother anymore after Hazel died. Hazel was struck by this and the thought of herself destroying her own parents’ lives after her death consumes her. This makes her obsessed with her favorite novel, An Imperial Affliction, which is also about a teenage girl grappling with cancer. That book ends with an incomplete sentence and Hazel is consumed by the idea that she needs the answer to the fate of the protagonist (Anna’s) mother and the other people in her life, so much so, that she contacts the author. What ensues is both hilarious and painful.I don’t want to describe too much more and ruin the book for those that have not read it. I can say though that this was a wonderful novel, well worth the recommendations. I will definitely be reading more John Green novels. This book has stayed in my thoughts in the two weeks since I’ve read it. It was one of those books that I had a very hard time putting down to do anything else, it consumed me. I highly recommend this book, but keep the tissues handy.Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

As a lover of all things Jane Austen, I am not sure why I have not signed up for the Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge yet. I love Austenprose.com, I loved the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge, and I love all things Pride and Prejudice. I blame my relatively new job and the family schedule with running kids around, but I am going to sign up before it’s too late!I would love to celebrate the two-hundredth anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice by reading/viewing the following:1. Listen to a Pride and Prejudice audiobook2. Listen to a Pride and Prejudice Radio Production (shortened like a play with various actors)3. Read the original Pride and Prejudice4. Watch the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice5. Read Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding6. Watch the movie Bridget Jones’s Diary7. Read a spin-off novel or twoThis puts me at seven items or so, which would make me a “Disciple.” I am looking forward to this!

I am having such a busy month! This past weekend we moved my daughter to Richmond, a feat that took up lots of time and energy in the last week. We also saw the Richmond relatives for Father’s Day and my nephew had this for his iPad–it’s a cover that looks like a vintage book. In search of something to talk about today, I went to Chambers Book of Days for today and found this entry– (it all seemed to fit….) THE ROXBURGHE CLUB This fraternity—the parent of the whole tribe of book-printing clubs which have occupied so broad a space in the literary system of our age—was formed on the 17thof June 1812. The plant shot forth from a hot-bed of bibliomania, which had been created by the sale of the Duke of Roxburghe’s library. On that occasion Earl Spencer, the youthful Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Blandford, and a whole host of minor men, lovers of old and rare books, were brought together in a state of high excitement, to contend with each other for the rarities exposed under the hammer of Mr. Evans, in the Duke of Roxburghe’s mansion in St. James’s Square. On the 16th of June, a number of them had chanced to dine together in the house of Mr. Bolland (afterwards Justice Bolland), on Adelphi Terrace. They had to look forward to the exposure on the ensuing day of a most rare and remarkable volume, a folio edition of Boccaccio, printed by Valdarfer of Venice in 1471. They agreed to meet again at dinner on the ensuing evening, at the St. Alban’s tavern, in order to talk over the fight which would by that time have taken place over the body of Valdarfer; and they did so. Earl Spencer, the unsuccessful candidate for the volume (which had sold at £2260), occupied the chair; Dr. Dibdin acted as croupier. There were sixteen other gentlemen present, all of them possessors of choice libraries, and all keen appreciators of scarce and curious books. The lively Dibdin tells us that they drank toasts which. were as hieroglyphical characters to the public, but’ all understood and cordially greeted by those who gave and those who received them.’ We may presume that the immortal memory of William Caxton was one of the most prominent; that sundry illustrious booksellers, and even notable binders (bibliopegists they called them), were not forgotten. The club was constituted by the persons there assembled; but by the time they had had two annual assemblages, the number was swelled to thirty-one, at which it was fixed. It was by an after thought that the club commenced its system of printing and reprinting, each member fixing upon some precious article, of which only as many copies were thrown off as afforded one to each, presented gratuitously. By this happy plan the friendly spirit of the brethren was of course promoted, at the same time that some valuable examples of ancient literature were rescued from oblivion. In the Scottish imitative societies—the Bannatyne Club, Maitland Club, &c.—the same plan was adopted; while in others of later institution the reprints have been effected by an equal annual subscription. The Roxburghe Club still exists today and has produced a remarkable number of books over the years. If you could have any antique book what would it be? Or do you own an antique book? (I own an 1815 edition of La Belle Assemblee!)

by Amy Wilkins, Harlequin Digital Did anyone else see Man of Steel this weekend? I did, and while I think Henry Cavill sure filled out those blue tights well, I have to admit my heart belongs to Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. What can I say, I have a weakness for billionaire playboy philanthropists Who is YOUR favorite superhero? All-American Captain America? Snarky billionaire Iron Man? Uber-manly Wolverine? Vote in the poll below, and tell us why in the comments! Take Our Poll

Looking for an easy summer getaway? Grab your girlfriends and head to Nashville for a special weekend with fellow book lovers in one of the South’s most vibrant cities! Held at the exquisite Opryland Resort from August 9–11, Debbie Macomber Fan Retreat offers the perfect way to experience the tastes, sounds and Southern charms of Nashville. Enjoy a weekend of fun without planning a thing Book your hotel room and your Fan Retreat ticket covers the rest! Get ready for an all-inclusive weekend of entertainment: listen to a country music band under the Tennessee stars; hop on a bus tour of Nashville’s landmarks and celebrity homes; dance the night away with friends at the Sock Hop Dinner; and spend time with one of America’s favorite authors, Debbie Macomber. Experience the famed Opryland Resort for less Fan Retreat guests will enjoy Opryland Resort‘s many amenities—luxurious guest rooms, acres of beautiful indoor gardens, cascading waterfalls, three pools to lounge by—all at an exclusive discount, making this the perfect weekend escape.   Exclusive perks at Fan Retreat At Fan Retreat you’ll also walk away with tons of swag: early access to Debbie Macomber’s new novel, Rose Harbor in Bloom; and special giveaways from event partners including FitBit, Celestial Seasonings and local favorite, GooGoo Clusters. Plus a one year subscription to ALL YOU. To lighten the load, we’re including a Debbie Macomber tote bag to help bring everything home!   Win a Consultation with Publishing Professionals Are you an aspiring writer? Sign up for the Fan Retreat between now and June 30th and your entered to win a consultation with a member from Debbie’s Random House publishing team. Meet with someone from editorial, marketing, or publicity to get an in-depth look at what goes on at a major publishing house and tips on how to navigate it all. For more information on Debbie Macomber Fan Retreat and tickets, go to MacomberRetreat.com.

NEW SERIES ALERT THE SERIES: Defiance BOOK #1: Defiance | GENRE: NA Post-Apocalyptic Romance PUBLISHER: Carina Press | RELEASE DATE: 10th June 2013 Rebelling against her legacy as the MC’s princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe. Tru is at the MC’s mercy when she’s dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she’s ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club’s leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil. Tru’s brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar’s response … and the inevitable fallout. (Goodreads) THE AUTHOR New York Times Bestselling author Stephanie Tyler writes what she loves to read – romantic suspense novels starring military heroes and paranormal romance novels novels starring warrior heroes, all complete with happy endings. She also co-writes as Sydney Croft. She lives in New York with her husband, her kids and her crazy Weimaraner, Gus. To find out more about Stephanie and her books, visit her website: www.stephanietyler.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter (@StephanieTyler) and Facebook.

Bed of Roses (Bride Quartet #2) by Nora Roberts Brilliance Audio (Sept 2009) | Audiobook, 9h 27m Narrator: Angela Dawe | Contemporary Romance Bed of Roses is book two in Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet, following four best friends who run a wedding planning business. Book two is Emma’s story, the florist of the group. Emma’s a very different lead to Mac in the previous installment. She is light, fun, sexy and romantic and I found I liked her very much. She is my kind of girl, warm and kind-hearted. She likes to date, but she’s completely waiting for her knight in shining armour to woo her. Our hero is Jack, one of the quartet’s best male friends and a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. Emma has also had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. Perhaps not such a great combination, but the couple agree to see where things take them. You can all predict where this story goes, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not an enjoyable ride. Just as Vision in White, Bed of Roses is about female ties and strong friendships. All four women live in a giant house together that they use for their wedding business and I quite fancied packing up and moving in with them. And it’s these friendships and the community around the women that is my favourite part of the books. Their genuine love and warmth for one another and how each of their lives interconnect. As always, Roberts delivers a cosy, traditional romance. As I thought with Vision in White, I still think her paranormal or suspense romances are more thrilling, I felt like I was waiting for an earth shattering moment that didn’t occur. I could of at least had a car crash or a pregnancy scare, but no, this is a gentle story, quite simply about love and friendships. I enjoyed this book, I don’t know if I would say I loved it. In many ways I felt like it was a flip on Vision In White, instead of Mac, the girl being the commitment phobe, it was the man – Jack. It was less intense as Emma had a lovely family, rather than a b*tch mother. But there was also a scene where all of Emma’s friends intervened and banned Jack from the house, without even telling Emma that he had visited because they thought it was for the best, that got my back up a little. Friends are there to be there for you, not make decisions for you. But at the same time this intervention did very much stick with the theme of girlfriends doing anything for one another, even if it was a bit misguided. I do however plan to continue with the series as I find I want to see each of the girls get their happily ever afters. I’m particularly looking forward to Parker’s story, the super-efficient, unruffable wedding planner. I hope there’s plenty of ruffling! Sadly I have to wait until book four! VERDICT: If you’re looking for a warm, gentle romance this series is probably perfect for you. It’s not my favourite of Nora Roberts’ books, but it was well written, with strong themes of friendship, centred around four great women. Jack and Emma made for a lovely couple and it’s always good to see a man humbled and come to his senses! RATING: NORA ROBERTS ONLINE Website | Facebook |Goodreads BOOKS IN SERIES ORDER Vision in White Bed of Roses Savor the Moment Happy Ever After US COVER BUY YOUR COPY

  Hi, Jo here, sharing a bit of fun and fashion. No, I'm not claiming that's me. Just another example of the 18th century look. Quite a young girl, but in her finery. There's a place on line where anyone can make a 30 second video for free and I've been playing. Along the way today I found a couple of great fashion sites to play with. I wanted to make a video that would alert people to Seduction in Silk, coming toward us rather faster than I'm prepared for. How can it be June already? Someone e-mailed me to remind me of something I'd promised to do in June and my first reaction was irritation that they were bugging me about it so early! Mind you, that could be the weather. How's your almost-summer? The BBC is asking whether we should get a new name for the season. Bummer has been suggested. I favor scummer myself. Can you come up with a name for a dull, wet summer? I certainly hope you don't get one. But not excessive heatwaves, either. Anyway, I made a video about a Georgian lady preparing for a ball. I hope you enjoy it. Make a video of your own at Animoto. Then I thought I'd should try the men's version. I couldn't find as good pictures, but it's still fun, IMO. Try our slideshow creator at Animoto. Along the way I came across this fabulous site of Georgian and other images. Do please explore. I'm sharing a couple here. Click on them to enlarge.              This is a banjan, or dressing gown. The ones my heroes wear are often gorgeous, but not quite so flowery. Now this is is, I'm sure, a heroine in disguise. You can even see her breasts! I also revisited the V&A Museum's costume pages. Always interesting.  To complete the fun -- hey, it's Sunday! -- I made a little Wench video. Make your own slideshow with music at Animoto. You can read an excerpt from Seduction in Silk here. Also, if you're a Goodreads member it's #7 on the upcoming historical romances list. If you plan to buy it and click to say so, we could nudge it a bit higher. May you enjoy fun and frolics of all kinds, Jo

Hi Guys! Hope you’re having a great weekend. Here’s the low down on what happened at BCC this week… CAROLYN’S ROUNDUP This week I managed to read three books. The first was Tangled by Emma Chase, which has quite mixed reviews on Goodreads, some hating it, some loving it. Although it’s not a 5 star read for me it does hit the 4 star mark. I couldn’t put it down. It was funny and sexy. However, it’s from the POV of the main character who’s a guy – not my usual fare as I always seem to go for the female protag. Also, he’s not very likeable, but more about that in my review, which will be up soon. The next book was The Zombie Whisperer by Jesse Petersen, the 4th book in the Living with the Dead series. It was a fun read, but short at only 174 pages. My review of this one will be up this coming week. I then read a contemporary m/m romance called Waiting for Ty by Samantha Ann King. This was a cute read, with two interesting characters. What caught my attention with this one was the premise: Ty and Landon are best friends, both have been with women but both are attracted to each other since they became best friends four years previously. I loved the set up but unfortunately it just wasn’t executed well. Full review to come closer to release date (July). I’m still reading Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley. I’m only a couple of chapters in but it’s good so far. I’m also reading Red Heat by new-to-me author, Nina Bruhns. It’s the first in a sexy romantic suspense series call Men in Uniform – and just look at that cover, that’s the only reason I bought it *hangs head in shame – nah, not really, I’m a proud cover hussey*. All the covers in this series are seriously hot. My fave is this one. And on that note, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. Have a great week, and happy reading! xoxo LAURA’S ROUNDUP Over the last couple of weeks I have discovered Kristen Ashley! And what a find, I think I might have a new favourite author. Her books are completely page-turningly addictive. I burned through the first two books Own the Wind and Motorcycle Man in quick succession and I’m now on book three Fire Inside. They are all delicious biker romances, a new romance genre for me, I think my love of Sons of Anarchy might have coloured me, but I am loving these hot, biker heroes! I would highly recommend her books and I will definitely be devouring more. On the audiobook front, I have finally finished The Daylight War, goodness me, what a book it was pretty phenomenal and my top rated book of the year so far! Trust me, it’s awesome. I am now listening to the final book in Nora Roberts’ Bride Quartet Happy Ever After, which is a warm, contemporary romance. I have also bought a couple of books the aforementioned Kristen Ashley books, but also Shadow Bound by Rachel Vincent. I currently have a Kindle voucher burning in my pocket, so I will definitely buying more, watch this space! BOBBY’S ROUNDUP This week has been a bad week for reading again: I only managed to finish one book, but thankfully that was The Red Plague Affair by Lilith Saintcrow, so I managed to stick to last weeks goal. Although I enjoyed it, I’m still formulating my thoughts about it, but I will be writing up my review as soon as that happens so be sure to look out for my review! I also started Iced by Karen Marie Moning which is a little bit addictive from what I have read so far. I’m nearly done with The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa, too. Next week promises to be a stressful one, so I’m unsure as to how much reading I will get in, but hopefully I will at least be able to finish book. It might be a case of whatever appeals to me at the time. I also bought more books to add to the TBR pile: my pre-order of Defiance by Stephanie Tyler came in – I’ve already read a chunk of it and it is enjoyable, if a litt