Hello, dear friends!

I’m so happy to be able to visit with you on the day of the release of  “Smooth Talking Stranger.” Some books require a little more soul-searching and deep thought than others, and with this one, I often found myself going into what my husband and children call “the stares.” I would be having dinner with the family, or doing the laundry, or sitting in the car, and a particular idea or question about the characters would send me into a virtual trance until I had worked it out. Alas, my family is not very respectful of my trances.  My son and daughter wave their small hands in front of my face, make robotic noises, and repeat the phrase “Earth to Mom” until I snapped out of it.

But…

We’re all learning to be thrifty.  And thrifty is a good thing.  Maybe it’s something we should have been doing all along.  You know, turning off the lights when you leave a room.  Not only is it good for your wallet, it’s good for the planet.  Maybe you’re combing your local newspaper for coupons.  Or maybe you’re just beginning to experience the joys of savings when shopping with coupons.

Personally, I’ve always been into thrift, searching for a bargain or a sale.  I do eat leftovers, I don’t let the water run while I’m brushing my teeth, and I will wait for a movie to come to DVD.

However, there are certain indulgences that don’t fall into the category of ‘gotta be thrifty’.  When a ridiculously priced pair of shoes screams my…

Mortal Sins by Eileen Wilks
Reviewed by Stacey Agdern
5 Stars

When an author is writing a continuing series that seems to expand with each succeeding book, it is fundamentally important to have a focus point.  And when that focus point is a couple, it is doubly important for that couple to ‘crackle’.  In her ‘World of the Lupi’ series, Eileen Wilks has that central point in Lilly and Rule.

But what happens when a couple ‘crackles.’  To put it mildly, when couples ‘crackle’, it means that an author has managed to translate that indefinable tension, that absolute and utter chemistry which happens between real couples…onto paper.

‘Mortal Sins’ , the fifth story in the World of the Lupi series, and the fourth to feature Lilly and Rule, is about bonds.  The kind of bond…

I love time travel, books, television and movies.  It’s almost an obsession.  When I first began reading romance, I searched out every time travel romance there was.  I went deep into author’s back lists, I scoured the bookshelves, I asked for recommendations.  I couldn’t get enough.  When it comes to time travel television shows, all they have to do is promote a new one and that hour is booked on my schedule.  However,  based on the number of TV shows canceled and the dearth of books published, it would appear I’m one of the lonely few who enjoy the subject.

When it comes to canceled TV shows there are any number of them.  For example:

Journeyman  was a series about San Francisco reporter, Dan Vasser who involuntarily traveled through time.   His purpose…

Reviewed by Maria Lokken
Publisher: Berkley
5 stars
Publication date 4/7/09

I picked up Jodi Thomas’ latest novel not knowing what to expect.  The only thing I knew was that I was in for a good read, and once again, Ms. Thomas did not disappoint. She paints beautiful pictures with her words, creates characters that are so real you feel as though they’re standing next to you, and she has a deliciously wry sense of humor. Rewriting Monday is no exception.

Pepper Malone, an ex-reporter from the Windy City, is on the run and traveling light.  With just the bare essentials (her car, computer and Manolo Blanicks) she ends up in Bailee, Texas – a town without a traffic light.  In an effort to stave off starvation and get some money in her pockets she takes…

Reviewed by Andrea Williamson
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Release Date: April 7, 2009
5 stars

Since he first entered my life as a secondary character in the book Never a Lady, I’ve had the biggest crush on Logan Jennsen.  And that crush grew exceedingly larger after reading each of the subsequent books by Jacquie D’Alessandro, the first three of her wildly popular Mayhem in Mayfair series.  They also left me waiting (im)patiently for Logan’s own story, Tempted at Midnight.  I can now say that it was absolutely worth the wait and that my crush has officially turned into full-blown love.

The Ladies Literary Society of London reconvenes once again and their selection this time is another scandalous tome, The Gentleman Vampire’s Lover.  During their discussion meeting, Lady Emily Stapleford tells her friends of the recent financial…