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

One of my favorite comfort re-reads is Robin McKinley’s Beauty. I don’t know if this re-telling of Beauty and the Beast is supposed to be Young Adult or not, (I am 31.)… all I know is that there’s something special about the journey I take with Beauty when I sit down and read Robin McKinley’s version of her story.

I always fall in love with Beauty, her family, and the world they live in — right from the beginning of the story. I love meeting Beauty’s sisters, Hope and Grace. I love hearing Beauty tell how she ended up being nicknamed Beauty, instead of using her given name, Honour… even though she was a bookworm who had not inherited the same tall, willowy beauty that her sisters have. I become one of the family with them, sharing their grief as Grace’s fiancé is lost to the sea, sharing their despair as their father’s fortune is lost as well, and sharing their determination to be happy in their new poorer life in the far magic-tainted North with Hope’s new husband.

And then the magic roses start to grow along the wall …

Our spotlights are over for the year. I hope you all enjoyed these features. We’ll start up with something like that again next spring so we can find out what great new books we should be on the lookout for.

In re-reading Julie Garwood’s book a few weeks ago, I realized that I hadn’t allowed myself to pleasure of re-reading. Sometimes our to be read stacks get wildly out of hand and we feel compelled to read the books we’ve bought but have languished in an indistinguishable pile of bound paper.

There’s a real luxury in re-reading a book that we love. It represents a certain nostalgia and comfort. I think giving ourselves permission to re-read from time to time is a reading treat that we all need. Last year, during Thanksgiving, Jayne and I blogged about books that were our favorites. For the next few months, we are going to feature a series called “My Favorite Things”. The series will contain reviews from readers, authors and industry folks of their favorite books. It could be a childhood book, a collection of stories, a …

The following guest review/letter comes from author Jenyfer Matthews whose latest release, One Crazy Summer, is available in ebook form.

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The nicest thing my ex-SIL ever did was introduce me to Nora Roberts books. She gave me a box of her castoffs with the warning that they were formulaic but fun. Included in the box was Holding the Dream, the second of the �Dream� trilogy, published in 1997.

If they are formulaic, it�s a formula that works. The Dream trilogy is the story of Margo, Kate and Laura � three women bound not by blood but by upbringing, friendship, and love. Each of them had achieved the dreams of their youths, only to find their present world rocked by scandals. Now each of them has to find a way to survive, a new path, and in the process a new dream.

From the back cover:

Surrounded by the sweeping cliffs and beauty of Big Sur, Kate Powell treasured her life at Templeton House�and the family who raised her like one of their own. Although Kate lacked Margo�s beauty and Laura�s elegance, she knew she had something they would never possess � a shrewd head for business. Driven by ambition, …