Spring Romance Report - Charmed, Thrilled & Swept Away! By Martina Bexte (March, 2007)
If you've worked your way through your winter reading list and are eager to replenish it, we're here to help with a great assortment of spring reading by favorite authors as well as a host of newcomers. So brush the last of the winter snow from your patio chair, polish your reading glasses and prepare to be charmed, thrilled, and swept away!
Historical Romance
Laura Lee Guhrke presents another amusing and emotional tale, And Then He Kissed Her, where meek secretary (and closet etiquette expert) Emmaline Dove quits her publishing job after her editor continually rejects her work. Harry Marlowe must use all his wiles to win her back. Stephanie Laurens returns to the glittering world of the Ton with the 14th installment in her Cynster Family saga, The Taste of Innocence. Newcomer Janette Kenny debuts a pleasing marriage-of-convenience story set in the old West in One Real Cowboy - a British beauty is determined to keep her heritage intact even if it means marrying a cowboy without a penny to his name who harbors dangerous secrets from his past.
Gaelen Foley brings 1817 India to life in Her Only Desire, an adventure-filled tale of British diplomat Ian Prescott on a mission to avert war. Instead, he becomes entangled with freethinking Georgiana Knight who feels his interference will destroy her adopted homeland. Elizabeth Hoyt spins a moving tale of powerful love between a lady and the commoner she hires to oversee her Yorkshire estate in The Leopard Prince. Head back to 1870s Colorado in Stacey Kayne's romantic duster, Bride of Shadow Canyon where cowboy Jed Dolan goes beyond the call to rescue Rachell Carlson from an obsessive lover. The Maidens of Rivenloch are back in Sarah McKerrigan's Knight's Prize. This time it's quiet sister Miriel's turn to shine. As the anonymous outlaw, The Shadow, she hands over her riches to the poor - that is until Sir Rand sets an amorous trap she can't resist.
Sara Bennett's Mistress of Scandal brings fans of her Greentree Sisters trilogy the final installment, where Francesca's quiet and sheltered life is turned on its ear when she saves a fallen lord's life. Cheryl Sawyer's The Winter Prince brings history to life as she spins an engrossing tale of political intrigue and forbidden romance during the reign of Charles I. Finally, Jo Beverly, Mary Jo Putney, Karen Harbaugh and Barbara Samuel charm with four enchanting tales about Dragon Lovers, taking readers around the world from Medieval England to Japan and the modern day Western plains.
Mainstream & Contemporary
Karen White's Learning to Breathe, one of those rare books that tug at every emotion, tells the story of two childhood sweethearts whose fractured pasts won't allow them to move on with their lives. Super Mom Birdie Lee and boyfriend Carl are back once again to rescue their town from evil doers in Melanie Lynne Hauser's hilarious Super Mom Saves the World. Fans of Sophie Kinsella will love Shopoholic & Baby - Becky might be pregnant but she won't let her condition interfere with shopping and making sure that she's on the patient list of the 'obstetrician to the stars'.
Barbara Bretton presents another realistic and poignant tale in Just Like Heaven where antique dealer Kate French's life is saved by a passer-by she can't seem to forget - her rescuer, Mark, can't get her out of his mind either. Lori Wilde's There Goes the Bride entertains on various levels after Delaney Cartwright discovers a wedding veil that shows her glimpses of the truth about her upcoming nuptials. Karen Kendall's Fit To Be Tied blends humor and serious relationship issues after new bride Jennifer discovers unexpected secrets from her husband's past. Susan Mallery rounds out her Marcelli Clan series in The Marcelli Princess with youngest sibling Mia prepared to raise her baby alone - until she discovers young Danny's father is alive, well, and an arrogant royal who's come to claim his son.
Linda Lael Miller moves her McKettrick saga into the present in McKettrick's Pride following the rocky romance of widower Rance McKettrick and self-sufficient bookstore owner Echo Wells. Danielle Steel brings her legion of fans another emotional read in Sisters, in which four busy and very different women pull together during a family crisis. And Mary Alice Monroe writes another heartwrenching story in Swimming Lessons about a young mother's quest to turn her life around after the death of her best friend.
Mystery & Suspense
Marianne Stillings kicks off her Darling Detective series with Arousing Suspicions where dream interpreter Tabitha March teams with skeptic Nate Darling to track down a killer. Dinah McCall pulls out all the stops in her chilling tale, The Survivors, where a group of plane crash survivors must battle the elements and a killer for their lives. Annie Solomon's Dead Shot is another edgy thriller about a troubled murder witness's attempts to lure her mother's killers out into the open.
The second installment of Allison Brennan's latest thrill-ogy, See No Evil, tells a chilling and timely tale of vengeance gone wrong after DA Julia Chandler begins investigating her niece's links to online chat rooms and the brutal murder of her father. Joanne Fluke dishes up another delicious whodunit in Key Lime Pie Murder that sees bakeshop owner Hannah Swenson investigating the murder of a fellow baking contest judge. Samantha Graves makes a fine debut in Sight Unseen where Raven Callahan's gift for psychometry find her and an ex cop on a deadly search for her kidnapped partner. Lisa Jackson runs with a story thread she began in last year's Shiver - in Absolute Fear detectives Montoya and Bentz unearth another old murder linked to the crumbling Our Lady of Virtues Mental Asylum.
Holly Lisle is back with a nifty haunted house story in Night Echoes - once artist Emma Beck stumbles across her dream house, people start dying. Tami Hoag brings back tough, damaged ex-cop Elena Estes in The Alibi Man where she and on-again-off-again lover James Landry investigate a murder that points to a group of wealthy Palm Beach bad boys. And Penny McCall spins an action packed and sexy tale in All Jacked Up where a spunky librarian and FBI agent Jack Mitchell are on the run from a notorious drug lord who wants them both dead.
Fantasy, Paranormal & SF Romance
Vicky Pettersson and Keri Arthur each release back-to-back installments of their sizzling and original supernatural series. Newcomer Pettersson introduces an intricate and intriguing mythology in Scent of Shadows - on her 25th birthday Las Vegas heiress Joanna Archer discovers her true identity as the defender of light and shadow. In The Taste of Night, Joanna must prove herself to her fellow Light Warriors after their enemies release a biological toxin. Keri Arthur's Tempting Evil and Dangerous Games are books 3 and 4 in her sexy werewolf series set in Melbourne Australia. It follows the adventures of part were/part vampire Riley Jensen as she works dangerous assignments for the Directorate of Other Races.
Linnea Sinclair offers up another complex out-of-this-world adventure in Games of Command where two old enemies must work together to strengthen a tenuous planetary alliance. Susan Grant brings readers the second in her humorous interstellar series about the Jasper family in My Favorite Earthling. This time ex-pilot Jared Jasper inadvertently damages a shaky political alliance after annoying Keira, Queen of the Universe. Only marriage to the haughty and spoiled queen will avert war. Alyssa Day puts a fresh spin on Atlantean myth in Atlantis Rising where Conlan, future king of the sunken city, and his elite Warriors of Poseidon protect humans and themselves against invasion of darker forces who crave power.
Kim Harrison continues her popular Hollows series in For a Few Demons More - this time Rachel is pitted against a serial killer who's set his sights on weres. Susan Squires continues her sensually rich historical vampire series in One With the Night. Callan Kilkenny is desperate to find the scientist who may have a cure for the vile affliction maniacal vampire Asharti infected him with, but it's daughter Jane who fires Callan's blood. And take a vacation with late night talk show host, Kitty Norville in Kitty Takes a Holiday - hiding out at a secluded cabin writing her memoirs, she ends up helping her lawyer Ben survive a werewolf bite.
P. C. Cast and daughter Kristin debut House of Night, a story set in a world very much like our own, except in sixteen-year-old Zoey Redbird's reality, vampyres have always existed. In this first book in the series, Zoey enters the House of Night, a school where she will train to become an adult vampire - that is, if she makes it through the Change.
Ann Roth urges her fans to check out her back-to-back releases: Another Life is the story of two women who discover that they're married to the same man. It Happened One Wedding, her lighthearted Harlequin American romance, is about a wedding planner and photographer who finally give in to their long-time attraction.
Genie Davis reminds her fans that her current release, Five O'Clock Shadow is out and getting rave reviews. And Claire Cross is happy to announce that Zach's book, All or Nothing will be out in early April - he hates commitment but loves a challenge and that's just what pretty waitress Maddie presents from the moment they meet.
Coming Soon!! A brand new interview with writer Jana Oliver, who talks about her Timer Rover adventure, Sojourn, her London speaking engagements at the Whitechapel Conference and what it's like being a Ripperologist.
Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons.
