Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Ms Kitt,

Years ago I read one of your interracial romances, enjoyed it, and had always meant to try some more of your work. Well,…the best laid plans and all. So here I am at last reading another one of your books.

I used to live in the Germantown subdivision and remember the heat and humidity of a Memphis summer very well. The Pink Palace was a favorite place to go though I never once went to Graceland. And it’s the Memphis setting that caught my eye in this story of a young woman who meets a handsome man in her quest to help a troubled teenager.

Michaela impressed me by not taking shit from anyone yet being a lady while she managed it. She started turning ET around by laying out some sound ground rules and sticking to them. She also told Cooper straight out that she didn’t appreciate him not being honest with her. For any chance of a HEA, I think a couple needs to show me that they respect themselves and each other.

Another thing I really liked was being able to watch these two fall in love. Characters …

Dear Ms. Alers,

Long Time Coming is the first book in your trilogy about the Whitfields of New York. For the Whitfields, weddings and other celebrations are a family business. The book’s heroine, Tessa Whitfield, is an event planner and owner of Signature Bridals, the company through which she orchestrates dream weddings. Tessa’s sister, Simone, is a floral designer, and her cousin Faith is a baker who specializes in wedding cakes. The three have a warm personal and working relationship, although tension sometimes flares up between Faith and Simone, requiring Tessa to play the role of peacemaker.

As the book opens, Tessa arrives at her home and business (a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights) and finds a message from Bridget Sanborn on her answering machine. Bridget, a young bride, was to come by that evening for a wedding planning session, but can’t make it because she is on a sequestered jury. The problem is that it is now mid-October, and Bridge’s wedding is scheduled for New Year’s Eve. The meeting with Tessa was an important one, so Bridget sends her brother Micah in her stead.

Micah, an assistant DA …

Dear Ms. Hailstock,

I have to admit it was the beautiful cover of “Wrong Dress, Right Guy” which caught my eye followed by the blurb. Yeah, I’m a sucker for weddings too as long as I’m not the one running the last minute errands or having to spring for any more of those expensive, yet ghastly, bridesmaid dresses anymore. Thank goodness I’ve never dealt with a Bridezilla! But poor Cinnamon Scott has to deal with someone almost as bad. Is there a term for brother-of-the-bride-zilla?

Though once Mac gets over his snit that he catches Cinnamon trying on his sister’s ‘mistakenly delivered to Cinnamon’s house’ dress I got to like the guy. He’s a gentleman, handy around the house (never discount that!), cleans up after himself as well as being an intelligent political journalist. I enjoyed seeing scenes of him at work in D.C. as well as how tied into the local Indian Falls community he is.

Cinnamon is the type of heroine I love. She doesn’t take any nonsense from her hero, calls him on his stupid assumptions, doesn’t swoon with lust - though she does enjoy his presence as …