Finding Romance in Yosemite: A Guest Post by Karen Barnett

Which of these sounds more romantic to you—the lights of Times Square or the starry skies of Yosemite? The sounds of an orchestra or of a rushing waterfall? Truffles or s’mores?

I’m not sure about you, but to be perfectly honest, I’m more of a graham cracker and starlight kind of girl.

I fell in love with nature at a young age, and was fortunate enough to spend several years working as a park ranger and a naturalist. Eventually my life went in other directions, and I settled into a career as a novelist. When I got ready to write my newest series, I was drawn to my memories of working in these amazing places. I couldn’t imagine a more exciting and romantic location to set a story than our national parks. Wilderness holds inherent danger as well as beauty, and that […]

By | 2018-06-15T10:08:18+00:00 June 15th, 2018|Categories: Guest Posts|Tags: |4 Comments
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From the blank page to the shelf: Olivia Boothe talks about her journey as a romance writer

My career as a writer didn’t begin like most authors. I wish I could say I wanted to become a writer since I was five years old. Or that I wrote my first book at the age of ten. Or that I have several books under my belt. The reality is, I am embarrassed to say I didn’t even like to read recreationally until I was out of college. I picked up my first novel by accident as I scanned the small bookrack at a convenience store while I waited in line to pay for my bag of potato chips. Map of Bones by James Rollins sparked my love of reading. Something about the cover caught my eye. Once I flipped open the first page, I was in love. The rest is history. I’ve been an avid reader ever since.

Even […]

By | 2018-06-12T14:17:04+00:00 June 13th, 2018|Categories: Guest Posts|1 Comment
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Female Friendship And Too Many Tears: a Guest post and Giveaway by Toni Anderson

I was a little worried that the heroine of my newest Romantic Suspense Cold Blooded comes across as a little overemotional at the start of the story. The readers meet her under duress, and then it gets worse. Pip West finds her best friend face-down in the lake and spends an hour trying to revive her before paramedics arrive and pull her away. Naturally she’s devastated, but there’s a certain dispassion to a book’s audience, especially when the reader has only just met the heroine.

“Don’t make her a whiner.”

In the back of my mind, I hear former editors’ comments about how “no one likes a crier.” And “not to overuse tears.” So, I allow Pip to cry for a little while but then I force her to get a grip and pull herself back together from those million, non-orgasm induced, shattered pieces.

It got me thinking about friendship. About women. Those deep […]

By | 2018-06-10T18:05:56+00:00 June 11th, 2018|Categories: Guest Posts|Tags: |3 Comments
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Living Life Resiliently – A Guest Post by L.J. Evans

I write contemporary romance that’s driven by music and by characters who live life resiliently. Why do I write emotionally driven books? Well, it’s because people amaze me. And I don’t mean that in the way you hear a lot nowadays, about how horrible people can be. I mean it in the way that people are INSPIRING. I’m sure each of you reading this would amaze me because you have all suffered losses in your life and are still here. Still moving forward. Still trying to find a new normal in your life after the last loss you faced.

When I lost my grandmother while in college, a friend gave me a book called How to Survive the Loss of a Love by Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D., Melba Colgrove Ph.D., and Peter McWilliams. When I read the book, I realized that I’d already experienced a lot of losses in my life. Losses that I hadn’t called a loss. Losses that I’d […]

By | 2018-06-05T21:16:17+00:00 June 7th, 2018|Categories: giveaways, Guest Posts|1 Comment
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Fantasy for Romance Readers – a guest blog by Victoria Janssen

I love romance for the same reasons I love other genres: intriguing characters with problems, who need others’ help to find solutions.  In romance, the main romantic couple are generally the intriguing characters, and they help each other to solve the problem […]

By | 2018-05-19T09:59:32+00:00 May 19th, 2018|Categories: Guest Posts, Romance reading|Tags: , , |7 Comments
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How a People-Pleaser Found Her Voice By Kristen Granata (and a giveaway!)

I first started writing Collision while sitting on my couch in a sling just after shoulder surgery. I had not turned thirty yet, and in addition to the excruciating shoulder pain, I was experiencing unhappiness in another area of my life – my marriage. My very good friend, Dorthy, sent me some books to read to keep myself from going stir-crazy. As I read them, I imagined what it would be like to know a man like the love interest in any of those books. I held a pity party for myself, and felt saddened to think that those fictional men don’t exist in real life. (If they did exist, I would have met at least one, right?!) I decided that if I couldn’t find the kind of man I longed for – I would write him into existence.

No […]

By | 2018-05-17T08:09:28+00:00 May 17th, 2018|Categories: Authors, Guest Posts|13 Comments
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The Art of Love: A Guest Post by Suzette D. Harrison

1930S – BOOTLEGGERS, PROHIBITION AND ROMANCE

The Art of Love is Suzette Harrison’s contribution to the Decades: A Journey of African-American Romance project. For readers who may be unfamiliar with “Decades”, the series consists of 12 books, each set in one of 12 decades between 1900 and 2010. Each story focuses on the romance between African American protagonists, but also embraces the African American experience within that decade. […]

By | 2018-05-09T08:22:25+00:00 May 9th, 2018|Categories: Authors, Guest Posts|Tags: |5 Comments
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Miss Kitty Says: Read This, Not That

Miss Kitty has a pair of irrepressible nephews who were obsessed, several years ago, with a book called Eat This, Not That. (Miss Kitty’s nephews have always been a trifle odd, but then so are Miss Kitty’s siblings, so it’s not entirely unexpected.) The book espouses giving in to your cravings, but making smart choices while doing so. One kind of burger instead of another.

Miss Kitty eats what she like (which, unfortunately, shows in her lack of a waistline), but she often wishes someone would give her advice on a book ‘diet’. In direct opposition to her waistline, Miss Kitty’s wallet is far too slim, and it could be considerably fatter if someone would direct her to read this, not that. With that in mind, here is a recommendation: read The English Wife by Lauren Willig (read […]

By | 2018-05-02T21:05:48+00:00 May 3rd, 2018|Categories: Guest Posts, Historicals, Miss Kitty, Mysteries, Romance reading|8 Comments
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A SENSE OF PLACE: A Guest Post and a Giveaway by Elizabeth Essex

My current release, Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Marry was written as an ode to travel—my hero and heroine, Ewan, Duke of Crieff and Lady Greer Douglas, each embark upon a Grand Tour of the European Continent in search of erudition and enlightenment. Now, I have never made a Grand Tour, but love to travel—my social media posts are full of photos of me and mine wandering about fields, castles, cities and museums. But what I love even more than traveling with the Essex clan is traveling with other writers!

In the fall of 2014, I had the very good fortune to be invited to travel to Scotland as part of a group of seven exceptional women—Deborah Barnhart, Lorraine Heath, Liz LeCoy, Cathy Maxwell, Kerrelyn Sparks, Bonnie Tucker and myself—romance writers all, […]

By | 2018-04-27T09:22:26+00:00 April 27th, 2018|Categories: Authors, giveaways, Guest Posts|Tags: |32 Comments
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