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

Dear Ms. Briggs,

Once in a while there comes a book that sweeps you off your feet, a book you fall in love with so completely that it is hard to do justice to that love in a review. Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf made me feel that way.

Because of the way I read them — first Alpha and Omega (from the anthology On the Prowl), then Alpha and Omega again, and then again Alpha and Omega, then Cry Wolf, and then more bits and pieces of Alpha and Omega and favorite parts (which means a good portion of the book) of Cry Wolf — and because they follow the same main characters and the same romantic relationship, it is hard for me to separate the two. I am, I think, going to have to review both together.

Here I sit, bleary-eyed from lack of sleep, trying to explain the euphoric grin I’m wearing. If someone had given me a bare bones description of Alpha and Omega — “Alpha werewolf hero, sexually traumatized heroine who possesses special abilities she is unaware of, and instant attraction between mates” — I might have …

Dear Ms. Rose:

Having read four of your six releases, I feel confident in saying that you consistently deliver a good suspense with a believable romance. You regularly villianize certain professionals (defense lawyers and journalists), but your provocative themes along with strong characterizations make for a non stop reading adventure.

Tess Ciccotelli is a psychiatrist with a promising practice until her patients start killing themselves. What is worse is that her patients seemed to be driven to kill themselves by Dr. Tess herself. Evidence from the crime scenes show hallucinegetic drugs with her finger prints on it; her voice is recorded as taunting the victims. Dr. Tess becomes the prime suspect and her life begins to fall apart as the press villifies her and the licensing board begins to review her competency.

Aidan Regan is convinced that Dr. Tess is at fault for the murders of her patients and sets out to prove it. In the course of the investigation, Aiden’s thinking is changed and he begins to not only believe that Tess is a victim, but he begins to care for her. This makes the real killer all …

Dear Ms. Rose:

Geez, I must have my head in the sand/dirt/whatever to have only just now started reading you. Apparently you won the 2005 RITA Award for Best Romantic Suspense. Having read this book, I can see why. This is a taut, on the edge of your seat kind of suspense with a really well done romance that never seemed to be overtaken by the suspense.

Kristen Mayhew is Assistant State Attorney who prosecutes alot of sexual crimes. She’s got a high winning percentage and like most lawyers not named Gerry Spence, she loses them too. A kind person has taken it upon himself to avenge her losses by killing the criminals who have gotten off on technicalities. He sends her evidence of his crime and addresses letters to her that sympathize with her losses.

Complicating the matter is an overzealous and unscrupulous reporter and the gang members of some victims and the mob-like father of a victim both of whom believe that Kristen must know the killer. All three endanger Kristen’s life in one way or another.

Abe Reagan is a man who suffered …