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

Welcome to our series called “If You Like” which will be hosted by various readers, authors and bloggers of Dear Author. The purpose of the post and the comments is to explore what we like about a particular iconic author and what other authors have books like the iconic author. This week, we are featuring Allison Brennan whose latest release, Playing Dead, was released on September 30, 2008.

Author Mary-Francis Makichen put together this wonderful contribution for us to read, appreciate, and use as a reference point for the future. Thanks Mary-Francis.

If you would like to host an If You Like piece, please email me at jane at dearauthor.com
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If You Like Allison Brennan

I can’t remember where I first heard about Allison Brennan. What I do remember is reading the The Prey and being captivated by heroine Rowan Smith—a former FBI agent turned bestselling author. Rowan gets pulled into the search for a killer when people start turning up dead just like the victims in her book. To further complicate her life, her bodyguards turn out to be two hunky brothers who both vie for her affection.

It was …

Dear Ms. Brennan:

I bought this book because I’ve been wanting to read you for a long time but never got around to it. I actually have no reason because I think I even have received a few of your books for free. I think I believed that your books were more suspense-y and not very romance-y and I like the mix. Well, honestly I like books with a good dollop of romance.

Aaron Doherty was in prison for a little thing like killing a famous actress due to suffering from erotomania. Erotomania is a disease in which individuals delude themselves into believing that they have an intimate relationship with another, usually a celebrity. While in prison, Aaron begins reading romance books written by Joanna Sutton. He begins to believe that she writes these books directly to him, that the passages are communications. One day there is an earthquake and he is able to escape with a few other prisoners. He makes his way to Montana where Joanna lives and plans to start a new life that she’s been promising in her books. Yeah, Doherty …

New York Times Bestselling Novelist Allison Brennan made her first sale in 2004 and quickly became one of the genres top selling romantic suspense writers. Since then she has gone on to publish 5 additional romantic suspense books and is contracted by Ballantine to write six more. Fear No Evil was released in March and was the last of a back to back to back 2007 release for three of Brennan’s books: Speak No Evil, See No Evil, and Fear No Evil. You can read more about Brennan’s work at her site.

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I read in the Romance Writers Report (RWA) that it takes on average a little over five years from finishing your first book to selling your first book. So when I made a commitment to myself to finally finish one of over a hundred books I’d started, I didn’t expect a sale overnight. It didn’t happen overnight, but it seemed to happen fast. I’ve only now become somewhat comfortable with …