Lovers Masquerade--a Valentine's Day boxed set

 Masquerade balls have been the setting for great romances all the way back to Romeo & Juliet. This collection--a shared world project--takes place at a high society charity ball hosted by Madeleine Kane (a lovelorn tech billionaire and secret matchmaker). Everyone who's been invited has been asked to wear a touch of pink or red, indicating their preference for finding true lover or just a sex partner. And what happens at Kane mansion stays at Kane mansion--if that's how the partners want it. 

Lovers' Masquerade is a sexy Valentine's collection of stories that share setting, characters, and intention--heating up your night! Some of the stories--like "The Phantom and the Cheeseburger"--have rom com roots, others flirt with 50 Shades of Grey withe their dominant billionaires flying their dates off to Greece in their private jets. There's plenty of playful banter, lots of tenderness, a few misunderstandings, and many surprises.

The women are relatable--Nicolette, who has not quite perfected the art or walking in a ball gown (Kick/Step) and therefore makes a spectacular entrance; Addie who stops into a lingerie store to buy some dainties only to have the snooty saleswomen ghost her, not realizing she's the owner's daughter; Madeleine, the party's hostess who is the very definition of "poor little rich girl." The men--alphas all--have dimensions. One man seems to have it all, but his mother is dying from complications of MS and not even his manager knows it. 

These bite-size bits of romance are a perfect diversion for a cold winter's night. Get lost with the lovers.

Magically Delicious is here!

The third entry in my Ostrander Witches series is now live everywhere! You can get it on Amazon here. It's also available on Nook and Kobo and through Draft2Digital at a number of smaller sales platforms.

Where's number two, you ask? (Mother Nature, about Rosalind Ostrander). It'll be out soon. (I already have the cover.) It's just I ended up writing this novelette for a boxed set first because  it's a Valentine's Day story.

The stories don't have to be read in order, but the "origin story" is  Deus Ex Magical. That one has a five star rating on Amazon and a 4.5 rating on Goodreads (and you KNOW how picky they can be).

Happy Valentine's Day

Last year, as a Valentine's Day present to myself, I bought a month's worth of stock photograph downloads to use for book covers and blog posts and the like. One of the photographers whose work I fell in love with is Andrejs Pidjass, who calls himself Nejron. You can find his Shutterstock portfolio here. He stages a lot of shots and provides his models with costumes and his work is just great. He works with these two models a lot and I like the pictures so much they've inspired a new series for me. You should check out his work. Or like him on Facebook. Check out his website. Or browse his portfolio on Dreamstime. Or on Stockfresh.  He's really versatile and I guarantee you've seen some of his work on covers. That's his photograph on the cover of my book Bride of the Midnight King,

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman--Review

French Lessons by Ellen Sussman

C’est l’amour

A single day in Paris changes the lives of three Americans as they each set off to explore the city with a different French tutor, learning about language, love, and loss as their lives intersect in surprising ways. Ellen Sussman’s novel French Lessons is a book for those who love movies like Love Actually and Valentine’s Day.

The three Americans traveling through their day are a diverse lot—there’s French teacher Josie with her secret sorrow, Riley, an unhappy expat who pines for home, and Hollywood husband Jeremy who has accompanied his film star wife to her Paris location and is now dealing with his stepdaughter, who’s acting out and with an unexpected attraction to the French teacher who’s been giving him lessons. 

It’s the Americans who have the focus but it’s the French tutors who are learning their own lessons. The ménage that exists among Nico, Chantal and Philippe interests us and we’re by no means certain how it’s all going to turn out.

The characters are not uniformly likeable—we adore Nico but are lukewarm about Josie; we like Riley but know way too many guys like Philippe—but we enjoy being a tag-along on their ramble through Paris.

The characters are deftly drawn, even the minor characters who just have walk-on parts. When Nico tells Josie about the raucous girl Philippe flirted with, we see that girl so completely she casts a shadow. Riley’s little boy Cole, who seems to spend a  lot of time patting his mother’s shoulder and telling her things will be okay, is a lovely kid.

Jeremy’s wife Dana—the movie star whose movie Nico comments does not “look as though it will last 100 years—has a strong presence too. We  know a lot about her even though her character is mostly filtered through his point of view.

New NoHo Noir for Valentine's Day

Celebrate Valentine's Day with the characters of NoHo Noir. This is a pivotal episode--expect revelations about Ethan (the homophobic cop), James and Amanda Gold (movie mogul and his trophy wife), backstory on Clarence Garrett, Lem Majewski and Shari the bubbly receptionist at Economou, Deeter & Bailey.

Here's the story.

As always, the artwork is by Mark Satchwill. You can see more of his work here.

Oh Fudge....

So I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's nearly Valentine's Day (plan ahead people) and this year you don't want to get just ordinary candy. You want to give a gift of deep, delicious fudge. But not just any fudge. (Which reminds us of Miss Eudora Welty's wonderful novel The Ponder Heart in which a character sniffily dismisses a trifling character as "eating the kind of fudge anyone can make." But I digress.)

I am an honorary member of "Michiganders in L.A." which has a memorable Memorial Day picnic every year. A highlight of the picnic is a trivia contest and the prizes always include a box of fudge from Mackinac Island Fudge Shop. (Mackinac Island is where they filmed the movie Somewhere in Time.) I have never won this fudge (though it is worth boning up on Michigan trivia for) but I have sampled it. And it's that good...

Deadline for Valentine's Day shipping is February 9th. (I told you to plan ahead.) Details here.