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

Dear Mrs. Goodman,

When I got an ARC of your latest book, “The Night Villa,” I had no idea of what to expect. But it sounded intriguing and I put it in my TBR short stack. After all, one doesn’t find heroines who are Classics Professors every day of the week.

I love books which open new avenues of thought and which make me want to begin investigating things from them. I adore books which teach me new things or add to my knowledge base. “The Night Villa” does both. I mean, who hasn’t heard of the famous historical eruption of Mt. Vesuvius? Who hasn’t at least seen the names Pompeii and Herculaneum? The fact that processes are now available to allow modern researchers to “read” the carbonized papyrus rolls that were buried by the pyroclastic flows is amazing. That you’ve taken this and used it as the basis for your novel is inventive to say the least.

Several reviews have described the book as an academic thriller as well as one which, due to the inclusion of classical references, is suited to more literary readers. Though I decry the …

Dear Ms. Rose:

This may be a week of talking about under appreciated gems. You consistently put out strong suspense stories with an qually strong romance. I also appreciate the thematic approach to have your books.

Die for Me’s theme was families–the families that we create and the families we are born with. Regardless of what you feel about your family, their actions can reflect on you.

Vito Ciccotelli, a detective from Philadelphia, comes from a large family. His parents are still alive. His brothers are very close, at least one of them has lived with him at one time or another. Vita has always believed that he would have a family as well. Vito is unafraid of love. To some extent he embraces it and what it would mean for the creation of his own family.

Sophie Johannsen, an archeologist, has a family is one that she created and was, in part, created for her. Her mother figure is her grandmother, a former famous opera singer. Her father figure is her uncle by marriage. Her view …

Dear Ms Nicholson,

What a fun book. It’s kind of a cross between Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park with a dollop of history thrown in. Then add suspense and great character chemistry on top of that. Then finish with fun, playful humor. It’s been a while since I read a book where I honestly couldn’t tell what would happen next and where I didn’t want to put it down.

Raine Ashaway almost ignores the letter which Anson McCord sends her asking her opinion about whether or not some kind of dinosaur might have been the inspiration for carvings on Aztec temples. But with nothing else on her calendar and since she’s always on the lookout for a new place to dig for fossils, she decides to track him down in a remote coastal region of Mexico. A disastrous love affair tanked McCord’s academic career and for years he’s been trying to track down centuries old rumors of a fabulous lost Aztec treasure to resurrect it. In the meantime, he runs two week long archeology “excursions” to Mexico’s Copper Canyons to pay the bills. The scenery might be gorgeous but Raine’s first meeting with the locals is …