Dear Ms. Kelly,
As an art lover, I have to tell you that your book is a delight. A delight with some problems as a true romance book but perhaps you intended it to be more of fiction with a romance element. I like the way you parallel your idea of the creation of the famous [...]

Dear Ms. Justiss:
Beautiful cover. Writing for these upper tiered lines at Harlequin must make you thrilled because you can usually expect a gorgeous, arty cover which is what convinced me to buy this book in the first place. I have a love/hate relationship with courtesan novels. Usually the courtesan is a faux [...]

Dear Ms Sharp,
If readers are looking for a kickass heroine, they need look no further than Leah Ryan. You have this girl kick some serious shit in Repo Chick Blues. I will admit to loving a well told first person book and admire anyone who can pull one off and still show us most of [...]

Dear Mrs Marshall,
I’ve been looking forward to your third novel and for the most part, it doesn’t disappoint. You have a knack for portraying early 19th century Florida, giving us lots of description of the flora and fauna and politics of the age without forcing in every fact you ever learned during your research and [...]

Dear Ms. Armstrong:
I spent much of last night and this morning scratching my head over my final thoughts on this book. This is the third entry in the Elena and Clay saga which began in 2001 with Bitten. Bitten was one of the first werewolf books that I really loved. I have [...]

Dear Authors and Gentle Readers:
I guess it’s safe to say that we Ja(y)nes are suckers for books. We got a great response from our first ebook buzz contest. We will run this contest at the end of every month until August and maybe longer, depending on how well we like the books we [...]

Dear Ebook Publishers,
Do you people not want readers to purchase books from you? It certainly seems like it. I decided to buy 6 books, 2 from Samhain, 2 from Triskelion, 1 from Cerridwen and 1 from Liquid Silver. By the way Liquid Silver people, this is what is listed on your dl page

Liquid Siver [...]

Dear Ms. Ross:
I know that you have a number of fans and huge body of work. For some reason, I can’t recall ever reading you before. I bought your book because it was a story that someone recommended featuring southern gentleman. I had just finished a reread of Carnal Innocence was jonesing for [...]

Dear Ms. Dain:
I am not sure where you are today in your writing career, but in 2003, you wrote one of my favorite westerns ever published. It is an oft overlooked gem and I am glad to have this forum to bring it to a few people’s attention. I want to give thanks to Sybil [...]

Dear. Ms Novik,
What can I say but “wow.” No, I guess “Wow!” would be a better way to phrase it. You’ve created a stunning new world with vivid characters, action and scenery. My colleague Jane has already filled our readers in on the plot so I’ll head straight into my thoughts on various aspects [...]

Dear Ms Lyon,
After seeing the cover of your second novel, I have to wonder who you pissed off. Wow, that cover is ghastly, complete with huge man titties. Which is a shame since the book isn’t bad. Set against the historical backdrop of the Cheyenne Indian’s flight from their squalid reservation in Oklahoma territory, [...]

Dear Ms. Novik:
This really is a series for the ages. I believe that this trilogy will make every best fantasy list out there. The things that I like best are learning about the dragons themselves and seeing the interaction between Temeraire and Laurence. The things I like least are the battle scenes. [...]

Dear Gentle Reader:
Today I went to the bookstore to see what new releases where out. I picked up Suzanne Forster’s Tease. I had intended to buy it. A friend informed me that this was part of Harlequin’s new Spice line. It was in the New Romance section of the bookstore. It [...]

Dear. Ms. Westin
In my never ending quest to find non Regency historicals, I snatched up your book. And while I’m not sorry I did, I didn’t find it to be everything I’d hoped for.
Our heroine, Lady Anne Gascoigne overhears her beloved fiance offering her virginity to randy King Charles II in the hopes of preferment [...]

Dear Gentle Reader:
We know. Everyone is blogging about ebooks these days but no one is really talking about the one important thing: the e book reader. Because truly,if you are tied to your laptop, the ebook thing ain’t ever taking off. So let’s talk technology. [...]

Dear Ms. Knight:
I am sorry to say that I think we are no longer compatible. It’s not you, it’s me. Your mageverse alternative urban fantasy seems less like a cohesive attempt at world building and more like a magentic word set gone horribly wrong. So many things in your world make [...]

Dear. Mrs Pippin,
I enjoyed your first novel, Blood Moon Over Bengal last year and have been looking forward to what you’d write about next. I’m glad to say this one is just as good if not better. I think the war time setting is great and well done. You again use lots of slang and [...]

Dear Ms. Bruce:
I have kind of ranted on about anthologies before. Nicole Camden is the gold standard for me in terms of romance anthologies. Your first story comes close but the rest of the book kind of peters out.
The anthologies tell the individual stories of three debutantes who survived a tough [...]

Dear. Ms Potter,
I applaud anyone these days willing to write a historical romance novel that’s NOT a Regency. So, here’s lots of applause for you. And more applause for writing a good novel with characters I cared about while you’re at it. It’s not every day that I find a book set in the [...]

Dear Ms. Cassidy:
When I came across your book the other night I was dumbfounded and then, strangely enough, curious. What could this book, with its shockingly funny title, possibly be about? I want to harangue you about your title choice but ultimately, the shock tactic worked on me so would I be pot [...]

Dear Ms Snodgrass,
I loved the excerpt for The Wishing Tree. And I’m a sucker for a good marriage of convenience and was still in the mood for a good Western. Enough that I bought the book soon after reading it. I’m still debating with myself if this was a good move. Let me explain [...]

Dear Ms. Martin:
You are a very uneven author for me. I loved your debut book, Body Check. Moderately disliked the second book, Fair Play, and did not finish the third, Total Rush. I honestly had written you off after Total Rush and wasn’t going to buy another book by you. [...]

Dear Ms. Jameson:
I am always looking for true contemporary romances and what I mean by that is character driven romances without suspense. It is hard to find this type of book these days. Your book, My Hero, is exactly that type of romance. What is more, it features great, witty and realistic dialogue between the [...]

Cece started this all when she asked readers and writers opinions on self promotion. Maili blogged about the lack of online buzz for epubbed authors. It is a fair statement that there are few readers blogs who post about ebooks. Nicole’s is one. Sybil’s is one. Not many others. So [...]

Dear Ms. Dessen:
If I were to ever write a book, I would want to write like you. Your stories of young womanhood and the pain of growing up are rendered with small strokes, small details, but with broad feeling. I can honestly say that there isn’t a book of yours that I haven’t [...]

Dear Authors:
Keep in mind that when we write you letters, it is out of love in our hearts for books. I know that is a love that we share, even if we don’t love your books. Jayne and I believe whole heartedly in the Reader’s Bill of Rights excerpted from the 1999 book [...]

Dear Ms. Spencer:
I think you must be a genius. I also think that Tinker, who is a genius, is a bit too much of a Mary Sue. Sure, she makes mistakes, but everybody wants her. She can do everything. She talks to dragons, defeats dragons, kills the oni, saves Pittsburgh, rebuilds [...]

Dear Ms. Whiteside:
I was intrigued by another review of your book which promised a heroine who was in control of her own sexuality and who didn’t require saving as she fled for her life from a forced marriage with the villain. Plus it’s a Western, something which is becoming a rarity these days in the [...]

Dear Gentle Reader:
Here’s my list of must reads, maybes and I-am-sure-that-I-will-get-them-from-the-l ibrary hodgedpodged into one list.

Cabot, Meg - Queen of Babble (hardcover–MOR) order from amazon.com
Griffin, Emily - Baby Proof (hardcover–STMS) order from amazon.com
Albert, Michele - Hide in Plain Sight (POCK) order from amazon.com
Bird, [...]

Dear Ms. Kenner,

So far, I’ve enjoyed both of your novels in this trilogy. The plot, that a megalomaniac billionaire who developed an addictive online reality game called “Play. Survive. Win.” has somehow managed to have it brought to life and played out the streets of Manhattan, is great. Yeah, you take a few liberties with [...]

Dear Ms. Reavis,
I’ve been a fan of your’s since way back and was thrilled to hear that you were going to write another book set in North Carolina. The plot of a dying woman returning to her mountain home along with her illegitimate daughter so that both can find peace with the past may sound [...]

Dear Mr. Blythe,
I loved your book. Just loved it. Well, maybe not quite all of it as sometimes you did tend to drift a bit and go on a bit about religion and other non-basketball issues but when you got back to enumerating just exactly why the rivalry is so fierce between these two legendary [...]

Dear Ms. Novik:

I resisted for about 3 weeks in buying your book. It wasn’t a romance. It featured a male protagonist. It was about war and warlike things. War scenes are hard for me to follow. Even the glowing reviews couldn’t budge me but then I saw it for [...]

Dear Ms. Mccafferty:

I was late to the Jessica Darling saga and was able to read Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings within days of one another last fall. These were wonderful books and really cemented a relationship between myself and young adult fiction. I recommended these to a friend who responded that she couldn’t [...]

Dear Ms. Levigne,
What a wonderful historical novel you’ve written. It took me straight back to my early teenage years devouring every book I could find on Greek myths and mythology and Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Yes, I will admit to actually reading and enjoying Homer’s works at that age. What can I say, [...]

Dear Ms. Leigh:

I know that we have been harshing on you here and I thought maybe we haven’t given you a fair shake. Just because I was totally icked out by your erotica version of the 7 Brides for 7 Brothers concept (where instead of singing and dancing in the snow, the brothers are [...]

Dear Mrs. Cummings,
I had read a recommendation for your US Civil War novel, My Rebel Belle, but to be honest I was put off by the price being charged by Amber Quill Press ($7.00) combined with the paltry excerpt available at their site. I realize that neither of these issues are your fault but if [...]

Dear Ms. Kirkman:
I wanted to like this book. Honest. A good friend of mine thought it was the bomb. Plus you have kick ass covers. And by kick ass, I mean, who at Harlequin’s art department are you boffing because your covers, unlike the book itself, are truly the bomb. [...]

Dear Ms. Williamson:

This is the first opportunity I have had to read a book by you. This story came to my attention when sybil blogged about it. As Sybil explained, it was a virgin story with a twist. Set in Colorado, 1872, Madeline Brewster is a spinster. She is 30 [...]

Dear Ms. Heath:

src=”http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/0060749822.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_V54784547_.thumbnail.jpg” alt=”Cover for Lorraine Heath’s Promise Me Forver” />
I was lured into buying your book by positive reader comments and a $1.00 off coupon from Borders. I really have to work on the whole willpower thing. You see, I haven’t really been happy with you since you began transporting your characters [...]

Dear Gentle Reader:
Jane was voted the winner (or loser) by a whopping 74%. Jane thinks it is due to some ballot stuffing by Jay. Kristie(J) was nice enough to share with us her experience of cluelessness. Let’s recap:
Well, I voted for Jane because I've done the same thing - sort of. Once [...]

Dear. Ms Andrew,
After reading so many complaints from UK readers about how American authors screw up Regency era books set in England, I wanted to give you a try and see if there really is a difference. There really is a difference. I could tell immediately from the vocabulary and just the whole, I dunno, [...]

Dear Ms. Resnick:
I think that you are an underrecognized author who is on the cusp of a real breakthrough. Your entry from the Luna line was smart and funny.
Esther Diamond is the understudy to Golly Gee, a B list pop star with a mediocre voice and a yen for acting. The current Broadway [...]

Dear Ms. Burton:
You left kind comments despite my complaining letter and I asked you for a recommendation. You gave me one and I chose to read that one and another. It was a risk on both our parts. Your risk was that I would read the book and write another complaint filled letter. My risk [...]

Dear Ms. Lee:
You certainly are versatile. From writing category westerns to thrillers to fantasy novels. I picked up Shadows of Myth from the library and purchased the Shadows of Prophecy ebook. It was nice to read the two of them in a row.
Your stories, while eminently readable, are in part a retelling of the [...]

Dear Ms. Feather:
You are a favorite author of mine despite some serious missteps (KissedBy Shadows - What were you thinking?). I really enjoyed Almost a Bride even though many thought that Jack, the hero, was too cold and mistreated Arabella. I defended you on message boards claiming that Jack did love Arabella and showed [...]

Dear Ms Allen,
The first third of your book is delightful. Loved the characters, loved their actions and interactions. The second third is done well but contains the action which will drive the plot for the remainder of the book. My warning is that some will think it too improbable (me) and some will find it [...]

Dear Ms. Barton:
I really struggled with your letter. I have viewed small print publishers, particularly epublishers, in a lesser light than mainstream NY publishers. I have also wrongly felt that the small eprint publishers were all the same - churning out romantica and literotica. In writing you this letter, I felt that because [...]

Dear Authors:
Generally I don’t buy anthologies. Mostly because I think the short story is an art to which many authors do not do justice and because I think that anthologies are promotional materials for the authors’ other books. I.e, interested in reading more about susie and her vampire friends? Buy my 7 [...]

Dear Ms Michaels,
I should have trusted my first instincts about this book. Instead, I let myself be lured by one good review into spending $7 on it. Bad move on my part. I think I will be skipping all the subsequent books in your series about 7 orphans who are adopted by an eccentric and [...]