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

Dear Ms. Kittredge,

When I read your debut novel, Night Life, I’m afraid I found myself among that group of readers who considered your heroine Luna Wilder abrasive, obnoxious, and borderline stupid.  But even so, the Nocturne City setting stuck with me and while I felt that I might not be a perfect reader-writer match in terms of the types of characters portrayed, I thought your plotting was strong and sound.  Both of these were enough to make me willing to give your series another chance.

It’s been three months since the events of Night Life.  Since then Luna’s been on extended medical leave and she’s only just now returning to her job as a police detective.  It’s not an easy transition.  Newspapers have outed her as a werewolf.  She has a new female boss who remains unimpressed with Luna’s headstrong grandstanding.  And even better, she has a new partner who could pass for a Barbie doll.

Luna’s personal life is no better.  Her cousin Sunny has left and moved back in with their grandmother who hates Luna.  Her last boyfriend, werewolf pack leader Dmitri returned to Russia after …

Dear Ms. Kittredge,

I was introduced to your writing by your short story, “Newlydeads”, in My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon. While that story didn’t work as well for me as I’d hoped, I still looked forward to your first novel. Sometimes short stories aren’t the best indicators of good novelists and since Night Life was set in a different world from that of your Black London stories, I hoped I’d enjoy it more.

Night Life takes place in Nocturne City, a dark and gritty place where magic and the supernatural co-exist with the mundane. Luna Wilder works as a detective — with one difference. In addition to being a woman in a male-dominated field, she’s a werewolf. Made into one against her will when she was just fifteen, Luna fled the man who changed her and now lives as an Insoli: a werewolf with no pack, no rank, and no respect. Luna has kept the fact she’s a werewolf a secret from her human co-workers but she finds it more difficult to control her shapeshifting as the full moon approaches.

Luna’s latest case involves …

Dear Authors,

While many readers dislike anthologies because the good stories are often outnumbered by the bad, I’m not one of them. I love anthologies. They let me sample many different authors at once — old favorites and new-to-mes. And sometimes all it takes is one perfect story to make an anthology worthwhile.

The follow-up to My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, My Big Fat Supernatural Honeymoon presents nine authors covering the spectrum from paranormal romance to straight urban fantasy. The variety is the anthology’s strength. I think there’s something for everyone who likes these genres. On the other hand, some of these stories aren’t as accessible to new readers as they could be and the quality varies widely.

“Stalked” by Kelley Armstrong
I’m a huge fan of yours and the werewolves are my favorite characters from the Otherworld series, so I was greatly pleased to read this story. Set two years after the birth of their twins, Elena and Clay are enjoying their honeymoon, which amused me because they’re technically not married. (It’s more of a symbolic gesture than anything else.) It’s meant to be …