Dear Author: Romance Novel Reviews, Industry News, and Commentary

Dear Ms. Thomas-Sundstrom,
I read your offering for last month’s offering of Nocturne Bites.  Although I was disappointed by what I felt was an unresolved plot thread, I later discovered that it had been intended to be the first of a series, in which the various installments were connected by the mystery of an unidentified werewolf [...]

For readers not familiar with Harlequin/Silhouette’s various imprints (completely understandable because I confuse them myself), the Nocturne Bites are the paranormal novella line.  Often times, they’re related to full-length Nocturne novels released around the same time.  That’s not always the case, but it’s something to keep in mind if you peruse what’s on sale.
Blackout by [...]

Dear Ms. Hancock,
If I recall correctly from the email Harlequin/Silhouette sent Dear Author, you’re a new author they discovered via email submission.  I always look forward to reading new authors in the hope of finding someone I’ll love.  And at these short fiction lengths, it’s a minimal time commitment, which means less risk for me.  [...]

Dear Ms. Anna,
While I’ve heard of you before, this is the first story of yours I’ve read.  I know some of my fellow Dear Author reviewers don’t care for shorter fiction.  The compressed length doesn’t allow for as much development as you’d find in a full-length novel and as a result, something (plot, characterization, worldbuilding) [...]

Here’s the blurb:
Mortal Enemy, Immortal Lover, Throne of Judar and The Castaldini Crown author Olivia Gates’s A NOCTURNE BITE, featuring a half-vampire, half-demon hero and a heroine who belongs to a group of super-powered humans pledged to eradicate all inhuman monsters and the explosive encounter when they discover they’ve fallen in love with their hereditary [...]

Dear Ms. Holder,
/>I’m afraid the merfolk romance is not for me. I’ve never been enchanted by merpeople and honestly, the thought of getting up close and personal with someone who has a fishtail weirds me out. It also makes me crave sushi, which weirds me out even more. [...]

Harlequin is the leader, in my opinion, in major publisher e-initiatives. They are the first to put out their entire front list in digital format every month. They allow readers to buy series books one month in advance of the book’s in store release dates which means if you went to e-harlequin right [...]