Keira: Does the Not Quite series follow the Morrison family and their love lives?

Catherine Bybee: The Not Quite series follows Jessie, Katie and Monica… in that order. Although I do hold the right to take the series farther if I want to.

Keira: When does love find you?

Catherine: I think love finds you when you least expect it. Don’t look, and that’s when it will pop up and slap you in the butt.

Keira: How do you define true love? What makes it true and work?

Catherine: Love is work. Certainly the feeling isn’t something you can ‘work on having’ but only in a book is love easy. And only in a Disney book is it too easy.

Keira: So tell us a bit more about this unexpected baby!?!

Catherine: I think we’ve all read the baby on the doorstep book. But how often is a baby left on a woman’s doorstep? I’ve worked many years in the ER, and have had a few times where a new mother ‘safely abandoned’ her baby in the ER. Legal in California. I remember once a female doctor who wanted to adopt looking into the legalities of a complete stranger ‘giving away’ their child. How if the doctor and this woman had come to some agreement before walking in the ER, there wasn’t a lot standing in their way of the doctor becoming an instant mom. I’m sure much of that has changed, but it sparked this idea.

Not everyone is ready to be a mom when they find themselves pregnant, and the smart pregnant women figure out how to safely take care of their infants.

Keira: What’s the next in the Not Quite series?

Catherine: Monica and Trent ( you haven’t met Trent yet ) are in Not Quite Enough, which is slated for October 2013.  You’ll grow to love Monica, Jessie’s sister, even more in Not Quite Mine.

Bio: New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and
has penned novels Wife by Wednesday, Married by Monday, and Not Quite Dating. Bybee lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Southern California.

Buy: Not Quite Mine (Not Quite series)

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In the tradition of Kate Mosse, a swiftly-paced mystery that stretches from modern London to Tudor England

In modern-day London, architectural historian and recovering alcoholic Annie Kendall hopes to turn her life around and restart her career by locating several long-missing pieces of ancient Judaica. Geoff Harris, an investigative reporter, is soon drawn into her quest, both by romantic interest and suspicions about the head of the Shalom Foundation, the organization sponsoring her work. He’s also a dead ringer for the ghost of a monk Annie believes she has seen at the flat she is subletting in Bristol House.

In 1535, Tudor London is a very different city, one in which monks are being executed by Henry VIII and Jews are banished. In this treacherous environment of religious persecution, Dom Justin, a Carthusian monk, and a goldsmith known as the Jew of Holborn must navigate a shadowy world of intrigue involving Thomas Cromwell, Jewish treasure, and sexual secrets. Their struggles shed light on the mysteries Annie and Geoff aim to puzzle out—at their own peril.

This riveting dual-period narrative seamlessly blends a haunting supernatural thriller with vivid historical fiction. Beverly Swerling, widely acclaimed for her City of Dreams series, delivers a bewitching and epic story of a historian and a monk, half a millennium apart, whose destinies are on a collision course.

Buy: Bristol House

GIVEAWAY: 1 print copy of Bristol House is up for grabs. Open to US readers/addresses, but not PO boxes. Enter by leaving a comment! Ends 5/27/2013.

Guest Blog by Amanda Forester, author of A Wedding in Springtime

Finding the perfect match is difficult no matter what time period you happen to find yourself. While the idea of a matchmaker may sound foreign to modern day readers, many of us use a modern day equivalent - the online dating site! In these online dating sites you enter in a variety of information about yourself and then you are given options of potential partners who would theoretically be a good match. You can also go "shopping", so to speak, by putting in the type person you think you might like, and see what options are available. Our modern matchmaker is a computer algorithm! Whether or not this is a winning formula for love is debatable, but more and more people are finding their romantic partners online.

During the Regency (1811-1820) computerized dating services were obviously not available, but this did not mean people did not turn to a third party to help find the perfect match. Bringing young people together was one of the important aspects of many of the Regency entertainments. As a young Regency miss, have no fear but that your mother, your aunts, and your cousins would all be plotting ways to get you to "accidentally" meet just the right man. The question wasn't whether there were matchmakers in the Regency, but rather who wasn't acting as a matchmaker in the Regency.

In A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME, Penelope Rose has helped to find successful matches for her four sisters. Taking the matchmaking one step further, she has developed a book (an annotated copy of Debrett’s “Peerage of England") listing potential husbands and their relative attributes and limitations. Pen is not one to leave something as important as marriage to chance.

Using her skills at matchmaking, she attempts to arrange a marriage for beautiful Eugenia Talbot, whose natural vivaciousness was not well received by the queen. On the edge of social ruin, Genie needs to find a husband - and quick! So Penelope using her skills to connect Genie with eligible marriage partners, and keep her away from notorious rake William Grant. Unfortunately for Penelope her plan goes horribly wrong, yet through a series of circumstances involving a Napoleonic spy and a street urchin, it all comes right in the end.

Despite everyone's better judgment, Genie Talbot and William Grant find true love in A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME. But will is ever be the matchmaker's turn? Fortunately, more books and opportunities for matchmaking will arise for Penelope as the Marriage Mart series continues with A MIDSUMMER BRIDE (Nov. 2013) and WINTER WEDDING (Sept. 2014).

I hope you have as much fun reading A WEDDING IN SPRINGTIME as I had writing it! I love to hear from readers so come visit me at my website, facebook, or twitter.

So how did you meet your match (or are trying to meet your perfect match!). Did you turn to any "matchmakers" online or otherwise?

Buy: A Wedding in Springtime

Reviewed by Cara Lynn

I liked this book a lot and rate it 5 out of 5 stars. Romantic suspense, my favorite genre. Warning: near rape.

The book opens with Laura Roberts being hauled in for questioning by two FBI agents who will stop at nothing to get the information they need. They are very intimidating, and it isn't clear if they really are FBI agents, considering how they take her away and how quickly they flash id which cannot be read. I thought she was less than smart in going with them without a lawyer, even though Chase Donovan had tried to intervene.

She is a bookkeeper in Chase and his father's warehouse business. She has been quietly doing her job.

Next thing you know, the next morning she resigns from her position. Then things get violent and gruesome when she is drugged in the back of a limo, overhears what two thugs have planned for her (violent rape, then death), and they begin to make 'good' on their threats.

Chase is a complex character whose mother was sweet and loving, and whose father is anything but. He appears to be only a playboy, spending money, gambling, multiple women, but there is more to him than what appears.

On a night when his father has invited him to dinner, he decides to go to his boat to get away from the life he is leading -- and there he stumbles across the two men with Laura. Lucky for her.

It is clear someone wants her dead so she cannot inform on them to the FBI. She has no idea what it might be that they are after. She knows that it is Chase's father who has set her up for the assault.

The why and wherefore is the book's story. The reader has to suspend belief in some instances, but not to the point of the ridiculous. The characters are well drawn and believable. I liked the character of Chase's aunt. One wonders sometimes why they were able to stay safe, as they don't take some of the precautions that I thought of. But Chase knows what would make his father hesitate, and it is a good solution for both of them and provides for some almost-misunderstandings along the way, as well as some misunderstandings.

It's considered a sensual novel, but it is not crude, and the sex is within a loving relationship, not erotica.

P.S. The near rape scene is as violent as I would ever want to read, even moreso. Because it is not in a military or spy situation, but just a regular woman, it is more gut wrenching, because you know she doesn't have any super powers up her sleeve, yet at the same time since the genre is romantic suspense you don't expect her to be killed -- and you hope she isn't raped. You also know that Chase is already on the way, unsuspecting, and you are pretty sure he will get there in time, but it is touch and go.

This book was given to me in digitally to review for LRP.

Rating:

Buy: Magic Moment

Reviewed by Sandra Scholes

For a short story collection, this has to be one of the shortest I've read in the past few months, but that doesn't detract from the fact that these are very well-written and extremely erotic. There are four in this anthology:

• Alias Love
• Big Puerto Rican Brazillian German Cock Summer
• Beautiful Sadist
• I'd like Me Some-a That

As you can see, the titles aren't that imaginative apart from Alias Love and Beautiful Sadist, I suppose. And if you had randomly picked this book off a shelf, with the title of Warlock Masters staring you in the face, you would think of some fantasy stories - oh, wait a second - it is fantasy.

Good points:

• There is a honesty to Domingo Rhodes's work, and it's in his characters and the feel of the stories.
• They are well written and not just erotica; they are erotica with real stories attached to them.
• The writing is fresh and comes with some excellent dialect!

Bad points:

• The story titles aren't that imaginative.

Alias Love: The hero of this story is in love with a girl called Valerie and a guy called Valmon at college, and confessing his love didn't go down too well with Valerie, as she didn't talk to him again, but Valmon did later, even though he wasn't comfortable with his confession. He is an incubite-succubite warlock of the left hand path (try saying that after a few daiquiris) and this particular story is about his life and how unhappy he is with it. He tells the tale of how he got to become the way he is now, and it's an explosive world of drugs, sex and death - enjoy!

Big Puerto Rican Brazilian German Cock Summer: Two guys are enjoying their own company in this one, a Brazilian and a German. He keeps referring to him as "bottom boy," but likes the heat of this fun union. Both men sound sexy and hot.

Beautiful Sadist: Ciro doesn't know the truth of who his lover is, only that he is a ravening male always after his body daily. He wonders what he would do if he found out he was a goat-man, a satyr from a whole tribe of them - well readers get to find out if they read it. This, like the second one gets straight to the sex, but it's a good thing as this is one of the hotter stories in the book.

I'd like Me Some-a That: Tatum and Caine get up to no good at Chuck's apartment, but that's half the fun of this story where Caine learns what discipline is in the realm of BDSM. There is some fun character interaction in here, and it’s just as good as the rest.

Review: These stories are all about dominance and submission in all kinds of different ways, and every one of the stories is very readable, and intoxicating, which is just what you want when you curl up in bed with a book like this. It is recommended for all fans of gay male erotica and one that can be read again and again, at least in my humble opinion.

Rating:

Buy: Warlock Masters

Reviewed by Lynn Reynolds

Tatyana Petrova is having trouble with her car. She's stuck on a mountain road on New Year's Eve. Annali Templeton seems to be writing in a notebook and Ryce Champion is trying to drag her attention away when Hunter Finn arrives.

Hunter finds out that a friend has seriously been hurt. And then they meet for the first time. After they meet, the action begins. It's a story of warlocks and witches - one is good and one is evil. It's also about family and Jacquelyn has you feeling as if you are a part of that family. We also get to see the building of heat between Tatyana and Hunter.

As I read Jacquelyn's descriptions of her characters, the story plays in my mind as if I'm in the theater watching a movie. To me, this is one thing that makes a great book. As I read, I have music playing and I see the scenes and characters starting to materialize. One of the female characters I can picture being played by Kat Von D - the minute you're introduced to her you just might feel the same. One of the male characters I can picture being played by David Navarro - again, I'm sure you'll feel the same.

Jacquelyn is also good at teasing her readers. You can just about see the sparks flying between Hunter and Tatyana and then Jacquelyn pulls them back. She does this several times but this is what keeps you riveted. I had a very hard time putting this book down - I got this book finished in just over a day (the witches had me bewitched). I had to know if I was just going to feel the heat or was I going to see what we all want to see. Plus who wins the fight - good or bad.

I was disappointed to find that I finished the book - no, there has to be more! Then I was disappointed even more when I couldn't tell that there is going to be a sequel or that there wasn't a book one. She will have a new book coming out in September (writing as Jax) but I don't see that it has anything to do with the Willow Coven. The only thing I can suggest is keep an eye on her web site, http://www.jacquelynfrank.com, to see if she posts anything.

Rating:

Buy: Hunter

Guest Blog by Synithia Williams, author of A Heart to Heal

Everyone has a past. Good or bad, but a person’s past often affects their future. If it’s bad a person may let their past define them or they may choose to overcome the problems of their past. It takes strength to realize that the person you were in the past doesn’t have to be the person you are in the future can be difficult.

I wouldn’t classify my past as bad. I made mistakes that I’m not proud of, as most people have. Many of the mistakes I made were due to a lack of self esteem. I can’t pinpoint exactly why I wasn’t the most confident of girls. My parents always encouraged me, my family was always supportive, and there wasn’t anything traumatic that happened to me. The only cause I can come up with would be my shyness. It was—and at times is still—hard for me to talk to people and therefore I was more introverted.

Low self esteem caused me to make relationship decisions that weren’t in my best interest. After the relationships ended, I’d beat myself up internally for making those decisions. It was a cycle of not liking myself because of the choices I made. It took a lot of soul searching, talking things out with close friends and journaling my feelings before I came to terms with myself. I accepted that everything I’d done or been through made me who I am. I took responsibility for my stupid decisions and relieved myself of responsibility when something wasn’t my fault.

My personal experience is the reason why I wrote a character like Shayla Monroe, the heroine of my current novel A Heart to Heal. I identify with Shayla probably more than characters in my other novels. Her situation is different from mine. She lived with people bashing her confidence before an incident out of her control ruined her reputation. For a while she let her past define her, but after facing her demons she learns to love herself. She’s imperfect, as so many women are, and therefore I hope many can relate to her.

Learning to appreciate yourself for who you are can be the hardest thing a person ever has to do. It was for me and for Shayla. Especially when there are those out there who love to remind you of where you were or the mistakes you once made. Cut those people out of your life when you can. And if you can’t, build up the internal strength to tell people exactly where to go if all they can bring to your life is past negativity.

A Heart to Heal Blurb

Shayla Monroe fled her hometown of Helena, South Carolina, after a shocking situation broke the heart of the only guy she’d ever loved. Years later, after losing her job in Atlanta with her name once again shrouded in scandal, she has nowhere to go but home.

Now a devastatingly handsome and well-respected man, Devin Jones became a successful doctor as a way to forget Shayla’s betrayal. When she returns as infamously as she left, he plans to put aside old feelings and treat her as any other person in town. But after looking into her soft brown eyes, the feelings he thought long dead quickly rush to the surface.

Ignoring rumors, disapproval from family and friends, and promises to avoid each other, the two become friends ... then lovers. Devin wants all or nothing, but Shayla, haunted by her past, is afraid their relationship will damage what’s left of her reputation. Can two broken hearts survive the fight against past and present demons to heal and find love?

Buy: A Heart to Heal

Author Bio:

Synithia Williams has enjoyed romance novels since she was 13 years old, so it’s no surprise that she began writing her own. When she isn’t reading or writing, she’s working on sustainability initiatives in the Midlands of South Carolina. She lives with her husband, Eric, and two boys.

Website: www.synithiawilliams.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@synithiaw

Facebook: www.facebook.com/synithiarwilliams

Buy: A Heart to Heal

What happened:  Laird Taran Ferguson and some of his clansmen kidnap four ladies, one by mistake, and carry them back to Finovair castle. Along the way the men accidentally kidnap a duke and everybody gets snowed-in. Will there be hell to pay or marriages at the end of this debacle? Whatever the case this is guaranteed to be the most talked about scandal all season!

Why was it done? Taran wanted to provide wealthy matches for his reluctant nephews to wed.

The players:

• John Shevington, Duke of Bretton – He wasn’t meant to be in the carriage, but since it was his, it shouldn’t have surprised the laird and his men to find him in it.
• Byron Wotton, Earl of Oakley – A proper gentlemen who’s horrified by his uncle’s actions.
• Robert (Robin) Parles, Comte de Rocheforte – A rake of the first order whose reputation may or may not be deserved.
• Lady Cecily Tarleton – She knows who she wants and she refuses to let him get away.
• Catriona Burns – The lady kidnapped by mistake all because she wore blue. Cat is not an heiress and is therefore out of the running according to Taran for his nephews. Good thing the Duke doesn’t care what Taran thinks.
• Fiona Chisholm – Bespectacled and respectable heiress usually overlooked when her lively, younger, and prettier sister is around…. But somebody notices her!
• Marilla Chisholm – A gorgeous female who knows it. This is one hellcat whose claws you don’t want to sink into you!

Favorite match: The Duke and Cat.

Most surprising match: Marilla’s.

Review: I loved the house part games and kind of wish we had house parties like it now! A must read if you love humor, Regency house parties, and love at first sight!

Rating:

Buy: The Lady Most Willing

PG Wodehouse Collection 10 Books Set New RRP £ 7990

US $27.24

Sale

Guest Blog by Melinda Dozier, author of Time Changes Everything

I grew up a musician. I’ve played piano since I was seven and flute since I was eleven. In fact, as a senior in high school, my dream was to become a Music Therapist. Even thought that didn’t happen, music is a big part of who I am.

So, it only makes sense that I listen to music as I write and that music often inspires my ideas. Below you will find a few song s that inspired scenes in Time Changes Everything.

1. Marry Me by Train –

   This is Jake and Amanda’s song. I can totally see it as the end credits to the final scene. The words of this song are key:

   "Forever can never be long enough for me"

   Jake and Amanda have known each other their entire lives. Growing up together has given them the chance to know one another. What better person to spend your life with?

   "Love has surely shifted my way."

   In the beginning, Jake thinks he’s not the commitment type. He’s had too much fun playing the field, since he has no trouble meeting women. Then he meets up with Amanda again and – BAM – love has shifted his way. Perfect!

   2. Try by Nelly Furtado –

   Again the lyrics say it all:

   "Then I see you standing there, wanting more from me, and all I can do is try."

   Amanda knows Jake better than anyone. She knows he’s a ladies’ man. But, when Jake persuades her to try a relationship with him, she finally concedes… all she can do is try.

   "As I say goodbye to the way of life, I thought I had designed for me"

   Amanda has always had her life planned. Move to New York, graduate from Columbia University and work in the fashion industry. When Jake moves into town, and into her heart, she has to change her plans to include him. Will her life be better? Read it to find out!

   3. They Bring Me to You by Joshua Radin –

   This song represents Jake’s thoughts. Jake and Amanda’s first real date leads them to a law-firm Christmas party. This night moves them from friends to lovers and Jake has an epiphany – he can be a one-woman man.

   My favorite lines that show Jake’s thoughts include:

   “Moon pours through the ceiling tonight, embraces us tight, shows me we’re right for each other.”

   “The rest of my life can’t compare to this night, and only the heartaches have given me sight, they bring me to you.”

   I hope you have a chance to listen to the music, even better, listen to them while you read Time Changes Everything. Jake and Amanda’s thoughts, feelings and actions can be shown through the songs in more ways than you can imagine.

   Do you like the song choices? I have a playlist on Pinterest dedicated to my writing time. You’re welcome to check it out at: http://pinterest.com/melindadozier/music-to-write-to/

   I love talking to readers! You can find me at:

   Twitter: www.twitter.com/melindadozier

   Facebook: www.facebook.com/melindadoz

   My blog: http://melindadozier.blogspot.com

   Add Time Changes Everything to your Goodreads shelf!

   http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15990302-time-changes-everything

   Read Jake and Amanda’s young adult sweet romance, The Boy Next Door, available April 29 through Entranced Publishing Reader’s Club:

   http://www.entrancedpublishing.com/readers-club-4/entranced-extras/

   Now it’s your turn to share. What are your favorite romantic songs? Leave a comment below!

   

   Buy: Time Changes Everything

   
   ]]> http://www.loveromancepassion.com/time-changes-everything-playlist/feed/ 1 http://www.loveromancepassion.com/time-changes-everything-playlist/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ReviewRomanceNovel/~3/oYoaNTETs2E/ http://www.loveromancepassion.com/what-is-a-huaca-anyway/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 09:30:00 +0000 Guest Blogger http://www.loveromancepassion.com/?p=17416

   Guest blog by Marcia Mickelson, author of The Huaca

   My YA novel, The Huaca, comes out May 14. Many people have asked me how the word is pronounced and what it means. Huaca is pronounced wak'a.

   In Quechua, a Native American language of South America, a huaca is an object that represents something revered. In my novel, it takes on a different meaning. I have used its broad meaning and changed it for my own purposes.

   Part of what I love about being an author is that you can take something real and change it to meet your own needs. This is what I have done with the word huaca. While in most cases, a huaca refers to a sacred monument, I have changed its meaning to refer to a wooden artifact, hand-crafted by Incan natives. It’s still something revered—it’s a sacred object used by the Incan people to communicate with their loved ones who have passed on.

   In The Huaca, Gabe de la Cruz is in possession of a huaca; it has been handed down from his great-grandfather, a full-blooded Incan. Here is a description of my book:

   Seventeen-year-old Ellie Cummings just wants to be a regular teenager, but after her mother’s mysterious murder, she isn’t sure if she’ll ever be normal again. Her mother’s death has left Ellie and her father worlds apart. And when her best friend abandons her, Ellie has no one else to turn to—except for the strange boy who says he can help.

   Gabe de la Cruz seems to know way too much about everything, and her instincts tell Ellie to stay far away. But when he claims that he can communicate with the dead through an ancient Incan artifact, Ellie can’t resist the temptation of seeing her mother again. In the hanan pacha—the Incan afterworld—Ellie’s mother sends a message to help Ellie understand what happened the night of the murder—a message that may be better kept a secret . . .

   Buy: The Huaca

   

   
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