GCC Tour: A DAMSEL UNDER STRESS by Shanna Swendson

I love this series, so I'm thrilled to be blogging this latest release from Shanna, A DAMSEL UNDER STRESS.



Click here to order the book!

About the book:

Shanna Swendson’s beloved blend of fantasy and romance is back in her delicious new novel DAMSEL UNDER STRESS (A Ballantine Books Trade Paperback Original; May 2007).

I love Shanna Swendson’s Katie Chandler novels. They’re quirky and make me laugh out loud. The dialogue is snappy, the characters endearing (well, maybe not the evil ones...) and the plots are fascinating. She’s taken over the throne from Buffy, Sabrina is losing ground and Bridget Jones doesn’t shine as bright anymore, because we have Katie Chandler and she rules.”
—Armchair Interviews on DAMSEL UNDER STRESS

“Great entertainment, full of humor both magical and everyday, and some truly engaging characters.”
—Locus on Once Upon Stilettos

“A fascinating story that will keep readers turning the pages. Don’t miss Once Upon Stilettos.”
—Romance Reviews Today

“Fans of both chick-lit and Harry Potter should not miss out on this series set in magical modern-day Manhattan.”
—Fresh Fiction

“Mayhem at its most enchanting.”
—Romantic Times on Damsel Under Stress


Here's a bit about Shanna:

SHANNA SWENDSON escaped the corporate rat race to be a novelist and pop culture essayist. She is the author of Enchanted, Inc. and Once Upon Stilettos, in addition to contributing essays to books about television series, authors, and novels. When she’s not writing or watching television and movies so she can write about them, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and singing.

And now that you know about Shanna, here are her answers to my GCC Tour questions:


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

This book was a little different from my usual pattern, which involves hours
of handling business stuff and goofing off until late afternoon. Instead, I
goofed off and handled business stuff all day, then started writing after 9
at night and went until around midnight or one in the morning. Before I
figured that out, I went for a while spending a couple of frustrating hours
late in the afternoon staring at the blank computer screen, then had trouble
falling asleep at night because my brain was suddenly wide awake. {{JK Comments: Welcome to my world. I think our neighbors must wonder why my office light burns bright at 2 am}}

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

The main plot was part of the ongoing series, but the inspiration for the
fairy godmother subplot came from something I often say about my very
pathetic love life. I'm always saying I could really use a fairy godmother,
and after saying that one time more recently, I realized that in the
universe of my books, I could make that happen literally. {{JK Comments: Love it. Playing God is cool}}

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME
CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.

I share the housekeeping abilities of Owen, my hero. In his office, he
organizes with stacks that only make sense to him, and in his home, every
horizontal surface is covered with books and papers. That's pretty much the
way I live. {{JK Comments: Soulmate!}}

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK
THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON
WHICH TO WRITE?

I'd take the books because I can write in my head, just as long as no one
expects me to turn them in for publication anytime soon. {{JK Comments: THAT is a machine someone should invent. A brain-story transcription device. I'd buy it!}}

BEER OR WINE?

Wine. I may get kicked out of Texas for this, but I don't like beer at all. {{JK Comments: I'll be on the rails right with you, though, actually, I've started to develop a taste for beer. But, um, it's imported beer.}}

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

Chocolate for flavor, vanilla for scent {{JK Comments: I'll go with that!}}

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?

To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. It's a book that has everything
-- a science fiction Victorian farce time travel romance World War II
mystery romantic comedy. {{JK Comments: Oh! I have so been meaning to read that one!}}




Want more?

Shanna's Web site:
http://www.shannaswendson.com

Read an Excerpt:
http://www.shannaswendson.com/damselexcerpt.html

Check out Shanna's Blog:
http://shanna-s.livejournal.com/

DEMONS ARE FOREVER - excerpt & more

Here's a sneak peek at the next Kate Connor Demon Hunting book, coming to a bookstore near you on July 3 (just in time for July 4 beach reading!).


Click Here To Order The Book!


{{{Spoiler Warning: Although the Kate Connor books do stand alone, reading out of order will inevitably result in some spoilers. This excerpt contains information regarding the final pages of CALIFORNIA DEMON. Reader beware!}}



CHAPTER ONE


I killed my first demon at the ripe old age of fourteen. Stabbed it through the eye with an ivory-handled stiletto that had been a birthday gift from my caretaker and mentor, Father Lorenzo Corletti.

I had spent two days tracking the demon, living on the filthy backstreets of a poverty-riddled Italian village, eating nothing but the scraps I'd tucked away in a threadbare knapsack. I had one companion – a boy I adored and whom, in fact, I later married. But teenage lust was the farthest thing from my mind during those long days. Demon-hunting is serious business, and I was a serious girl.

Even now, over two decades later, I can still remember the intensity of emotions. The drive of the chase despite bone-numbing exhaustion. And the certain knowledge that this was Important Stuff. From an overall life perspective, after all, very little ranks above thwarting the minions of Hell.

As far as my duties as a Demon Hunter went, my youth was an issue only to the extent that my strength and training gave me a fighting chance to stay alive. By age fourteen, I was physically ready. As for mentally? Well, there was never any question. I knew what had to be done, and I was expected to do it. My age never factored into the equation.

With all that in my personal history, you might think that I would understand better than anyone that fourteen- year-old girls are both strong and resilient.

You might think that, but you would be wrong. Because when it came time to actually have the talk with my fourteen year old daughter, I was a tongue-tied mess.

And, just so we're on the same page, when I say the, talk, I'm not talking about the sex one. That one I managed to muddle through. I'm talking about the other conversation. The one where I sat her down and confessed my deep, dark, secret life.

My name is Kate Connor, and I'm a Level Four Demon Hunter with Forza Scura, a super-secret arm of the Vatican charged with keeping the forces of darkness at bay. That particular piece of familial history, however, had been withheld from my daughter her entire life despite the fact that her father and I had hunted demons all over the globe until just a few years before Allie was born.

**WANT TO READ MORE? CLICK HERE!**

And check out this great review:

FIVE STARS! This series just gets better and better! The author writes the character of Kate so well that I could almost believe she exists. I found myself empathizing with Kate's maternal instincts. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough. I eagerly await the next title, Deja Demon, due for release in Summer 2008! -- Huntress Reviews

Whoo-HOO!

Just got this in my inbox:

Congratulations, you have been chosen by the reviewers of CataRomance to receive the prestigious CataRomance Reviewers’ Choice Award for Harlequin Blaze during the second half of the year 2006. Your book THE PERFECT SCORE was selected as one of the best books read and reviewed by CataRomance during that time frame.

How very cool!

Here's an excerpt from THE PERFECT SCORE if you're curious:




Click Here To Order The Book!

PROLOGUE

I never actually wanted to be one of those girls. At least not the sleazy, too-tight Lycra, jump anything that moves kinda girl. But I did want ... something. And I wasn’t getting it by being the girl next door, that’s for sure. I mean, when this all started, I was twenty-seven years old and I'd never even worn thong underwear. I'd never had cybersex. And I certainly hadn't ever done it anyplace even remotely public.

I guess, when you get right down to it, I just wanted sex. Good sex. Amazingly Good Sex. With a capital A, and a capital G, and a capital S. And, frankly, I wasn't getting any. Which meant I was on a mission to remedy that little problem.

You see, it all started with a simple New Year's Resolution...

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!

GCC Tour: THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY by Lauren Barnholdt

Click here to order THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY!

This week, I have the pleasure of hosting Lauren Barnholdt, whose book THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY is launching the new Simon and Schuster MIX line for tweens.

Mom says karma always comes around to get you, and I guess it's true. Because last summer I was a total liar, and now, right in the middle of Mr. Pritchard's third-period math class, my whole world is about to come crashing down…..

That's because while Devon was living with her grandmother for the summer, she told her "summer friend," Lexi, that she was really popular back home and dating Jared Bentley, only the most popular guy at school. Harmless lies, right? Wrong. Not when Lexi is standing at the front of Devon's class, having just moved to Devon's town.

Uh-oh.

Devon knows there's only one way to handle this -- she'll just have to become popular! But how is Devon supposed to accomplish that when she's never even talked to Jared, much less dated him?! And it seems the more Devon tries to keep up her "image," the more things go wrong. Her family thinks she's nuts, her best friend won't speak to her, and, as if it's not all complicated enough, Jared starts crushing on Lexi and Devon starts crushing on Jared's best friend, Luke. It all has Devon wondering -- who is the real Devon Delaney?


Lauren answers my GCC Tour Questions:


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”? I don’t really have a typical writing day. I like to mix it up. Sometimes I’ll stay in bed with the laptop, or head out to Barnes and Noble. I like to have coffee or Diet Coke with Lime. I always set a word count goal for the day, too – I find it helps if I have something to work toward.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK? When my friends and I were in junior high, we were dating this group of guys from another school. So we made it seem like we were super popular at our school, and that all the boys wanted us. Which wasn’t even close to being true. One night some of the guys we lied to played basketball against some of the boys from our school who supposedly wanted us, and I just kept thinking, God, I hope none of them talk. And that was the inspiration for THE SECRET IDENTITY OF DEVON DELANEY. Only, unlike in my situation, poor Devon’s lies catch up with her.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER. I think my junior high self was a lot like Devon – had very good intentions, but was slightly misguided in some ways!

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND , WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? Books

BEER OR WINE? Neither, really. I’m a total lightweight when it comes to alcohol. I’d rather have one of those drinks that’s mostly ice cream.

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.




Want to know more?

Here's Lauren's bio: Lauren Barnholdt’s first book for teens, REALITY CHICK, was a Teen People Can’t-Miss Pick and a New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age 2007. In junior high, she was known to have a few “secret identities” of her own. She currently resides in Boston, Massachusetts, where she’s hard at work on her next book.

Visit Lauren online at www.laurenbarnholdt.com or www.livejournal.com/users/laurenbarnholdt

GCC Tour: SO NOT THE DRAMA by Paula Chase

This week, I'm hosting SO NOT THE DRAMA, which looks like a fabulous YA debut! Check it out:



Click Here To Order the Book!

“I just realized, I’m the Seinfeld of YA lit,” author Paula Chase says. “Taking tiny teen crisis and turning them into an entire book is my ‘thing.’ In her debut, So Not The Drama, Chase takes her Seinfeldian-style and turns a high school sociology project into a catalyst for good old-fashioned, light-hearted teen angst.

So Not The Drama [Kensington Books/Dafina for Young Readers] introduces readers ages 11+ to bright-eyed, optimist Mina Mooney, a high school freshman with nothing more on her mind than climbing the popularity ladder, until a sociology experiment to rid the world – or at least Del Rio Bay High School – of prejudice backfires. The project causes a rift between Mina and her best friend, Lizzie and sends Mina on a journey of exploration that’s both funny and eye-opening.

So Not The Drama is about the transition from middle to high school and the impact it can have on friendship.

Set to burst on the scene with her self-proclaimed Hip Lit, Chase takes readers back to high school where cliques reign supreme and going to class…a place to be seen.


The Buzz On The Book
“Contemporary friendship story, which revels in rich diversity of race, color and class.”
—Booklist

“Readers will like the genuine dialogue.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A multi-layered story…contemporary and thoughtful.”
—Little Willow of Bildungsroman


Paula Chase has written for Girls Life, Sweet 16 and Baltimore Magazine, among others. In addition to her background in corporate communications and public relations, she founded the Committed Black Women, a youth mentoring program for 14-17 year old girls. Her Del Rio Bay Clique series helped launch Kensington Books YA line and joins a burgeoning number of YA books targeted to multi-culti suburbanite teens. Chase calls her brand of teen literature, Hip Lit, a nod to the diversity spawned by the MTV-watching, 106 & Park-ing, pop culture hungry hip hop generation. The author lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. Learn more about the series and author at www.paulachasehyman.com

Paula's Answers To My GCC Questions!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
My writing schedule recently changed. I used to be a night writer. But two months ago, I switched to mornings. Now, I get up anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00 and head into the office. I write until my youngest daughter wakes up. Normally I can get a good hour and a half in before the house is too full of her chatter. My goal is to get in at least 1,000 words a day. Some days I get more done. Some days less. But mornings are great because then I avoid that writer’s guilt, worrying if I’ll be too tired later on to push myself to write. Also, morning writing leaves me wanting to write more. So I find that, I’ll usually get in a few more words later in the day to capture thoughts as they come to me.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
Actually, I do. It was a Saturday morning. I was in a perfect sleep. The type where it feels like you could snooze for a few more hours. I went to turn over and the name, Mina Mooney, entered my head. I knew what she looked like and what made her tic. Soon other names popped up in my head and I popped out of bed and went into my office to write them down. Within thirty minutes I had a decent outline of characters and the places they lived. It felt very Sweet Valley High and I ran with it.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
My character, Jacinta, is the “sassy” chick. I love her! She’s outspoken, unafraid to hit you with her sarcastic wit and very grounded in reality. Jacinta is very much me as an adult. I wish I had been like her as a fourteen year old – so unconcerned with what others think about me.

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE? Books. If I became really desperate, maybe I could write on the blank spaces in the books. Gotta tell you, that’s a darn hard choice.

BEER OR WINE? Wine, Merlot to be specific

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Ohhh….depends on my mood. But nothing beats a good creamy vanilla cone

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor

Blast From The Backlist

I've decided to start a new thing ... "Blast from the Backlist!" And I'm starting with my series of superhero romances, the first of which is APHRODITE'S KISS.

Follow the links for excerpts, reviews, and more. Or just scroll down for an excerpt:



Click Here To Order The Book!

Excerpt

Back Cover Copy

Reviews & Kudos

Related Books


EXCERPT:

VENERATE COUNCIL OF PROTECTORS
1-800-555-HERO
www.superherocentral.com

Protecting Mortals Is Our Business!

Official Business

Ms. Zoë Smith
Halfling
Los Angeles, California

Greetings and Congratulations on your upcoming twenty-fifth birthday:

Enclosed please find your Application for Membership to the Venerate Council of Protectors (487 pages, excluding affidavits and attachments) and Council Publication Numbers 1758-A(3) and 2987-Z(9), respectively titled "So You're A Halfling" and "The Venerate Council: A Brief History in 1200 Pages".

Please complete the Application and return it in triplicate to the Council by no later than one month prior to the 25th anniversary of your birth.

As part of the Application process, you may be evaluated through field testing during your birthday week. Such testing is random, and Applicants are not informed in advance.

You will be advised of your Application status the morning following your twenty-fifth birthday. A decision as to your denial or acceptance will be based on your overall skill level and performance during the tests.

If you are accepted to the Council, you will be informed at that time of the date and location of your swearing in ceremony. If your application is declined, you will be escorted to the Bureau of Registration, where you will be required to either register as an Unlicensed Protector (Outcast) or forfeit your Protector heritage and undergo mortalization, at which time all memories of your Protector relatives will be removed. (For more detailed information on the mortalization process, including limitations of liability, warranties, and disclosures, please visit our website at www.superherocentral.com.)

Failure to register as an Outcast or to select Mortalization is a violation of Section IV, subpart 2(a)(ii) of the Mortal-Protector Treaty of 1970.

In addition to your formal Application, you must submit -- by no later than sunset on your twenty-fifth birthday -- the enclosed Affidavit of Mortal Disclosure affirming that you have disclosed to your mortal parent your status as a halfling and your decision to apply for Council membership.

As you are aware, your Protector parent filed a Notice of Halfing Nascence contemporaneously with your birth, and such information has been periodically updated. Your file currently states that, in addition to the speed, strength and agility inherent in the Protector genetics, you have also demonstrated a propensity toward the following skill(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s):

heightened five senses (including x-ray vision)

As the anniversary of your birth draws closer, you will most likely experience significant oscillation in your ability to control/utilize such skills(s)/power(s)/characteristic(s). Such fluctuations are an unfortunate by-product of your halfling status and are considered normal.

Our records further indicate that you have not yet mastered the following necessary skill(s):

matter manipulation (a.k.a telekinesis)

Form 82-C(1)(a), on file with the Office of Halfling Registration, reflects the issuance of the following Council-controlled articles:

propulsion cloak, model C-14A (training model)
and
x-ray blocking glasses, tortoise-shell variety (regular and sunglasses)


Please be advised that at any time prior to the anniversary of your birth, you may formally announce your intent to not submit the Affidavit and to select mortalization. Please use Form 93B, enclosed, Intent to Select Mortalization.

Upon submission of such form, you will be immediately escorted to the Bureau of Registration for processing. Please arrange return transportation in advance. Following the mortalization process, you will have no memory of the Council or your Protector relatives. A stranded mortal is an unhappy mortal!

Thank you for your attention to this matter -- and happy birthday!

Sincerely,
Phelonium Prigg
Phelonium Prigg,
Assistant to Zephron, High Elder

jbk:PP
enclosure


***

Want to read more? Click here!

Xiang's Getting a Family!

I'm so excited! Just received this from Love Without Boundaries! "Xiang whom you sponsored for lip repair surgery over the Christmas holidays is having her paperwork started for adoption!" Thanks to everyone who contributed to the fundraiser!

GCC Tour: Staying Home Is A Killer by Sara Rosett

click here to order the book

This week, I'm blogging GCC Author Sara Rosett and her new release, STAYING HOME IS A KILLER, the second book in the mom lit mystery series about a military spouse who runs a professional organizing business.

Now, I LOVE Jill Churchill's mysteries, and so the blurb in Sara's material that says the book will appeal to Churchill fans really caught my eye. And, yes, STAYING HOME IS A KILLER looks like a fabulous read. Check out the info below, and then read Sara's answers to my GCC questions:

Diaper bag over her shoulder and adorable toddler wriggling in her arms, Ellie Avery strives to balance motherhood, marriage, and her professional organizing business, Everything in Its Place, but her ordered world is thrown into disarray when a fellow military spouse’s death looks more like murder than suicide. Toss in her husband’s deployment and her daughter’s separation anxiety, and Ellie has to keep the home fires burning as she sort clues from chaos and proves that home is not for killers.

The Reviews!

Publishers Weekly: The author, also the wife of an air force pilot, includes practical tips for organizing closets, but the novel's most valuable insight is its window into women's lives on a military base.

Romantic Times: Thoroughly entertaining. The author’s smooth, succinct writing style enables the plot to flow effortlessly until its captivating conclusion. (Four stars)

Armchair Interviews: If you like cozy mysteries that have plenty of action and lots of suspects and clues, Staying Home Is A Killer will be a fun romp through murder and mayhem.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Sara Rosett has always loved to curl up with a good book. The wife of an Air Force pilot, she and her family moved ten times—giving her plenty of expertise to write the Mom Zone mystery series about a military spouse. Sara and her family currently live in southern California. Her work appeared in Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul, and she is working on the next Mom Zone mystery, Getting Away is Dangerous (Kensington, April 2008).

SARA'S ANSWERS TO MY GCC QUESTIONS:

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?
It depends on what type of writing I’m doing. If I’m in the
composition/rough draft stage, then I drop the kids at school, go home, and
write for a couple of hours, then take a break to run errands or do whatever
needs to be done to maintain the semblance of normality in our lives. If I’m
in the revision stage of writing I usually have my manuscript in a huge
binder that I tote everywhere with me. I can revise while I’m waiting in the
carpool line.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?
Since I write about an amateur sleuth I have to look for a legitimate reason
to involve Ellie in an investigation into what looks like a suicide. I had
to come up with something that Ellie would know about the person who died
that would be so compelling that it would completely rule out the
possibility of suicide and convince Ellie that her friend had been murdered.
I don’t want to spoil the story, so I won’t give away Ellie’s inside
knowledge. I’ll let readers discover that on their own.

PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME
CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
My main character Ellie and I are both very stubborn. Everyone always asks
if I’m Ellie. Overall, no, but that trait of stubbornness is shared. Her
stubbornness helps me in plotting because I know if she’s got an idea in her
head about who did something or why they did it, she’s going to pursue it.
In real life, I don’t know if that stubbornness is always such a good thing!

IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK
THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON
WHICH TO WRITE?
Oh, I have to pick the paper. I think I’d go crazy if I could get the
stories in my head down on paper!

BEER OR WINE? Ah—Diet coke?

CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? No question. Chocolate. Preferably dark.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK? So hard to narrow it down. My favorite
children’s book is The Secret Garden and for adult fiction I’d have to say
anything by Mary Stewart.

****

Visit Sara on the web here:
Website: http://www.SaraRosett.com
Blog: http://www.RosettWrites.Bravejournal.com
Blog: http://www.good-girls-kill.com

Night Owl Romance: Julie Kenner Interview

Night Owl Romance: Julie Kenner Interview

Check out the interview of moi!

A Match Made on Madison, by Dee Davis, Paperback

Barnes�&�Noble.com - Books: A Match Made on Madison, by Dee Davis, Paperback



Okay, folks, this is a fabulous read, by a wonderful author! Check it out.

And, yes, Dee is my critique partner, which means I was lucky enough to have a sneak peek at this book before it went to press. It's Dee's first foray into the trade women's fiction market (she also writes killer suspense).

Try it! Trust me! You won't be disappointed!

I'm being interviewed over at Make-believe Mondays

Come check it out! Make-believe Mondays

The Good Ghoul's Guide To Getting Even -- "Stellar!"

Ya gotta love a review like that! Here's the full scoop! The book has just hit shlves, so if you don't have a copy, run grab one! The feedback from teens (it's my first YA book) and adults has been awesome!



"I have not had this much fun with a teen book in a looong time! Beth is not only smart, but she is witty and filled with sass! Her friends are the same, but Beth just has it all in spades! The story is go great that I did not want it to end. So I am thrilled to find that there will be a second novel in this series. Don’t worry, this book will NOT leave you hanging. It is fun watching Beth and her friends get even with Stephen and the cheerleaders, as well as, against the various other popular kids who got her turned into a vampire. But the author, Julie Kenner, is a Master at story telling! Again, the ending does not leave you hanging, but it does set up a problem that will obviously have to be handled in a part two. “Buffy” and “Firefly”, move over! There is a new show in town. STELLAR!" - Huntress Reviews

Click here to order the book!

GCC Tour: I TAKE THIS MAN by Valerie Frankel

Touring this week on the GCC, I TAKE THIS MAN by Valerie Frankel. This one sounds great! How could it not, being described as "a hilarious story of suspense, revenge and revelation, involving a bride, a groom, her mother and his father"?

Penny Bracket has waited two years to marry her dream man, Bram Shiraz. Just as Penny’s putting on the final touches on her wedding day, she receives a note from her beloved that simply says, “Penny, I can’t go through with it. Sorry, Bram” Mortified, Penny is determined to figure out what went wrong, even if it kills her, or, preferably Bram.

Ester Bracket, Penny’s divorced mother wants Bram’s head on a platter. And she gets it: In a fit of maternal rage, Ester finds Bram as he’s packing to flee, knocks him out with a bottle of champagne, and kidnaps him to a secret room in her mansion in affluent Short Hares, New Jersey. Will Penny get the answers and revenge she’s after from Bram, who (as she may or may not discover) is locked in her attic? Will Bram’s widowed father, handsome tough guy Keith Shiraz locate his son and/or seduce Ester Bracket? Will Bram, athletic and regretful, escape both his wedding and his imprisonment in one piece? Find out in I TAKE THIS MAN.

About the author:

“Valerie Frankel cracks me up! Kooky, sexy, and downright hilarious, Hex and the Single Girl had me laughing to the very last magical page”
— Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries series and Size 12 Is Not Fat

“Reading a novel by Valerie Frankel is like hanging out with your favorite and funniest friend”
-Melissa Senate, author of See Jane Date


Valerie Frankel is a freelance writer who resides in Brooklyn, NY with her two daughters and husband. She contributes to many national magazines, including O, [Glamour], Allure, Self, and Parenting. She’s also been a featured writer for the New York Times Style section. [Val has written thirteen novels thus far, including The Accidental Virgin which has been optioned to become a movie starring Heather Graham, Smart Vs. Pretty, optioned to be made into TV show, and The Girlfriend Curse, nominated for a Quills award.

Val's Answers to My GCC Questions:


HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL “WRITING DAY”?

I take my kids to school at 8:30, go to the gym, come home, shower, waste an hour online, and then I write straight until school pick-up at 3. I'm lucky to get three hours of solid writing time, during which I hope to get 1,000 words of raw material down.

DO YOU RECALL THE KERNEL OF INSPIRATION FOR THIS BOOK?

The basic idea for I Take This Man was cranked out on a typical day in the life of a working mother. My daughter came home from school, and announced that some little girl in her first grade class made her cry. A flash of anger flooded my brain. After a minute or two, I calmed myself down. Lucy and I discussed what had happened, and worked out an appropriate response. But that flash of maternal rage got my meat grinder going. Any intense emotion is a kick-start. It made me wonder: What offense against one of my daughters would actually move me to lash out with violence against another human being? I fixated on the question, lay awake in bed, wondering what indeed would make an otherwise controlled, rational woman thirsty for blood? I imagined being the mother of a jilted bride who, in a fit of vengeance, attacks the runaway groom. From there, I asked more questions: “Why did the groom cancel the wedding?” “What did the mother do with the groom after she bashed him?” “How would the bride find out what happened?”

Five hours later, at three o’clock in the morning, I had the framework of a plot.




PICK A CHARACTER IN THE BOOK AND TELL US WHAT TRAIT YOU SHARE (OR COME CLOSEST TO SHARING) WITH THAT CHARACTER.
In I Take This Man, I relate to Esther, the brides mother, the most. She's a mom, a widow, in her forties, like me. Also like me, she finds herself a new man to love who makes all the pain of her past go away.


IF YOU WERE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE A MAGICAL TRUNK THAT GAVE YOU LIMITLESS BOOKS TO READ, OR A LIMITLESS SUPPLY OF PAPER ON WHICH TO WRITE?

I'll take the books.



BEER OR WINE?
Wine. But I'm not much of a drinker anymore. I get insta-hangovers.


CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA?

does anyone say Vanilla? Chocolate, of course.


WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE BOOK?
Simply impossible to say.

The Prada Paradox - review!

The Prada Paradox: Just got this review from Romance Junkies ... the book is just now starting to hit shelves!

"THE PRADA PARADOX is a very engrossing ending to this fast-paced series. ... Ms. Kenner has put a slightly different twist on this version of the PSW game and readers will wait with baited breath to see how it all plays out. The suspense is high and because of Devi and Blake’s celebrity status, it is countered with a very public view that was not part of the original series that really ups the ante on the danger factor. THE PRADA PARADOX is enticing and fantastic suspense!"



Click here to order the book!