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

I’ve got a hardcover copy of this book to giveaway to a random commenter. You just need to post the best bad date/bad prom night story in your memory banks. The comments will close on Sunday, April 22.
My worst date was in college. I hadn’t much dating experience. My parents were strict and my social circle was small. I was a bit overweight, quite mousy and spent most of my time with my books. By the time I got to college, I may have had a dozen dates under my belt. I fully intended to throw myself head first into the dating pool which we all know is very dangerous.

It was early fall and I owned a pair of white jeans. Yep, white. We all now know where this is going, right? I had a spill. I went to the bathroom and tried to scrub said spill out only when you add water to spills and then adding scrubbing, it only ends in a larger, MUCH larger stain. Luckily I had a cardigan which I …

Prom Nights from Hell is a thoroughly entertaining collection of stories from five of the top teen writers in the business. The fresh and fully realized worlds will engage the entire spectrum of readers from tween to adult. While not all of the stories are self contained as some appear to be introductions to future series, there is enough to satisfy. What makes the anthology really shine is the variety of riffs on the same theme: prom night gone bad. Every author tells a unique and different tale from various points of view. Even the guys aren’t left out. Overall, this is one of the best anthologies I’v read of late and would rate the book a B+.
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Dear Ms. Cabot:

You open the anthology with The Exterminator’s Daughter. Mary is not your normal high school student. She’s a vampire killer’s daughter. Mary’s mother was The Exterminator of all kinds of otherworldly bad guys until, well, the bad guys got her. Mary is determined to take vengeance starting with killing Sebastian Drake, a descendant of Dracula. Besides being a vampire and all around bad guy, Sebastian has …

Dear Ms. Jaffe:

I feel for you. I really do. You really, really must have made someone angry in the art and title department. Why else would they saddle your outstanding contemporary romance suspense book with the cutesy cover and an even worse title? I imagine that those readers looking for a fun cute read were sorely disappointed by the contents of the book and those readers who would have picked up a hot, sexy contemporary romance would have totally passed this by. I know I passed it by any number of times. I can’t recall if I finally picked up after a recommendation or what. But oh, what I story I had been missing. If you ever decide to give us romance readers another try, let us know.

Chicago “Windy” Thomas is the new head of the Las Vegas Metro police department’s criminalistics bureau and the mother of a 6 year old going on 16. She’s also very hot. One suspect wondered if she was a stripper. “Honey, you tell 'em to get these cuffs offa me and …