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

Here’s your weekly dose of Author Talk with amateur actors, producers and filmographers, but purportedly professional writers talking about about Roxanne St. Claire’s Bulletcatcher series. Roxanne’s latest book, Now You Die, is in stores now.

A friend of mine was asking me about Roxanne St. Claire’s books the other day complaining (rightfully so) about the generic covers of Roxanne’s books. I told her that I thought Roxanne did a great job of blending romance and suspense in her books and that it looks effortless even though it is a blend that a lot of authors don’t get quite right.

Dear Ms. St. Claire:

This is the 7th installment in the BulletCatcher series comprised of five books and two novellas. Generally, I’ve liked each one of the installations. A lot of the times I think how well I like one of these books depends on how well I respond to the main characters.

Then You Hide is a continuation of a trilogy of books designed around three sisters, separated at birth. The mother of each sister is in prison for killing another woman. She claims she didn’t do it and has convinced the head of the BulletCatchers that their help would be worthwhile. In addition to the Bulletcatchers attempting to solve the mystery of the murder, they are also attempting to save her life. The mother has Leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant.

Each sister has a tattoo on the back of her neck. The Bulletcatchers have been dispatched to find the sisters, locate the tattoo, and report back. It is believed that the tattoos might hold some clue to the murderer.

Vanessa Porter heads down to the Carribean to search for her best friend, Clive Easterbrook, who hasn’t …

This week is an eclectic mix - some old-school type stuff, some already-played-out stuff, and zombies.

I loved the movie Lost In Translation, and this sounds like a literary parallel. I’d buy it.

Malena Watrous’s REPEAT AFTER ME, in an effort to outpace her grief, a young American woman moves to rural Japan shortly after her father’s suicide and finds work as an English teacher as well as unexpected solace with her Japanese supervisor and seemingly different neighbors, to Jeanette Perez at Harper Perennial, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM (World).

This sounds like all those 1980s ‘science fiction’ romances crossed with a harem fantasy. I should be disgusted, but who are we kidding? I’d buy this on release day.
Shelli Stevens’s CAPTURED ROSE, on a planet where females are on the endangered species list, a woman who has spent her life in erotic servitude to the three wealthy and powerful men who own her finds freedom and passion in the arms of her abductor, a man who should be her fiercest enemy, to Peter Sentfleben at Kensington Aphrodisia, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Laura Bradford at Bradford Literary Agency.

Yay! She writes …

Roxanne St. Claire first came to my attention from a friend of mine who thought I would enjoy her new BulletCatcher series. My friend was right. The BulletCatcher series is “an elite group of security and protection specialists who are considered the cream of the crop of contract bodyguards.” I have found the series to be just as advertised: strong men, strong women, fast action and very sexy. I also had the pleasure of meeting Ms. St. Claire at RWA this year and found her to be a fun combination of proper lady and wicked sense of humor. First You Run is out now and the start of a new trilogy of BulletCatchers.
***
As the new millennium loomed and we all braced for the digital Armageddon of Y2K, I battled with my own fear of failure — the four numbers in the right hand corner of the calendar would change, my Mr. Coffee …

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews. Both Jane and Jia would recommend this sophomore effort by newcomer, Ilona Andrews. The “Magic” series features a smart mouthed, sword wielding Kate Daniels who helps to enforce the law in an alternate universe Atlanta. For the crossover genre reader (i.e., the romance reader that likes to cross the genre aisles), Curran, the Beast Lord of the Pack of Atlanta, plays the alpha male who likes to tweak Kate’s chain. Jia particularly likes “how their relationship is unfolding slowly, developing over the course of what I hope will be several books. It makes things more believable considering the two people involved: the Beast Lord of the Pack and the lifelong loner with a dangerous heritage.”
First You Run by Roxanne St. Claire is recommended by Jane as a fast paced road romance featuring a hot Austrialian bodyguard and a Mayan scholar. The suspense revolves around the end of the world theory that some believe is predicted by the Mayan long calendar. So you get a bit of historical facts, a bit of suspense, a bit …

Dear Ms. St. Claire:

Your books and I have had a rocky relationship. It has been up and down and now, I am glad to say, we are up again. First You Run is my favorite of your bodyguard series so far. It was tightly plotted with no lapses that pulled me out of my suspension of disbelief, although the concept of the plot is a bit, um, out there. However, I went with it and was glad that I did.

Miranda Lang is an assistant professor of Mayan culture who has written a successful book that has made its way into pop culture. She’s currently on tour to promote her book. Unfortunately there is a group of radicals that believe that the Mayan Calendar predicts the end of the world as the end of the Long Count calendar is December 21, 2012. One of her speaking engagements is interrupted by a few of these cultists and Miranda is saved by a hunky man in the back. (Hunky men usually do not attend speaking engagements about Mayan culture).

Adrien Fletcher aka Fletch is a laid …

Dear Ms. St. Claire:

I availed myself of the Simon & Schuster early ebook release program and snagged the ebook version of Take Me Tonight (Bullet Catchers, No 3) a few weeks ago. This week, the print version makes its way into bookstores. I had enjoyed the previous Bulletcatcher books. Unfortunately this novel required one to make an incredible suspension of disbelief. I tried to make that leap but ended up falling into a crater of implausibility that was too large for me to escape.

Sage Valentine is an investigative reporter whose best friend and roommate supposedly committed suicide after a fantasy kidnapping/sex experience run by Take Me Tonight. Keisha was a member of the Blizzards dance team and as part of a bonding experience, all the dance members have to be kidnapped and then rescued. This is all orchestrated by a company called Take Me Tonight. As part of the package, the participant who gets rescued can have sex with the rescuer. Or not.

Sage is convinced that Keisha did not kill herself and tries to investigate …

Dear Ms. St. Claire:

I picked this novel up as the Nascar themed romances had me curious and because I had enjoyed your single titles. I read this book after watching the last 32 laps of the Daytona 500. Preceeding the race were reports of cheating by major NASCAR teams along with articles critisizing Teresa Earnhardt, one of the few female owners in NASCAR. All of these issues were touched on in some respects making the book relevant and timely. The heroine’s hollow and seemingly foolish resistance to a much needed cash infusion and an out of nowhere suspense plot at the end dampens my excitement for the book.

Shelby Jackson is part owner of Thunder Racing, one of the last family owned race teams in NASCAR. As a family owned team, the company suffers poor cash flow and has a hard time competing against the corporate run ones. Her partner and grandfather suggests selling his share of the team to another person who can bring publicity and infuse much needed cash into the team.

Mick Churchill is a superstar soccer player (think David Beckham) who is nearing the …

Dear Ms. St. Claire,

So I am on my way to a small town for a business trip and I have a Pocket PC full of books to read. This one made my four hour trip seem like 1 hour. And I gleefully reminded myself that I only paid $3.89 at SimonSays.com.

Thrill Me to Death is an action packed book that reunites two old lovers. Cori Paker nee Cooper is the widowed wife of billionaire mall developer William Parker. Theirs was a May to December romance that lasted five years. William died of a heart attack in his bed but Beckwith International, the insurance company, questions whether this is really a homicide. Cori is concerned for her safety and contacts Beckwith who refers her to Bullet Catchers. Now, it bothered me a lot that BC was hired both by the insurance company and by Cori. It was a huge confict AND BC took on the case with no real loyalty to Cori.

Lucy, the enigmatic head of BC, taps Max Roper to be the muscle. She does so intentionally because Max …

Dear Ms. St. Claire,

Alex Romero has a bad habit of allowing his libido interfere with his jobs. He signed on to Bullet catchers, not just for its super rich salary, but for the opportunity to guard “presidents, princes, and the head of Scotland Yard.” His boss, Lucy Sharpe, assigns him to guard the body of a tv news anchor in Miami. Alex recognizes this is both punishment and probation. He resolves to be on his best behavior despite the fact that his principal (the body to be guarded) is well, let me just quote you:

she added, “Don't let me down, Alex. You know the rules.”
“Jeez, Luce. It's insulting that you think I'm such a dog that I can't resist one measly news—”
She heard the folder flip open, then his long, slow whistle.
“Those are real,” she said without taking her attention from her handheld device. When he didn't answer, she finally looked at him, seeing a glint in his eyes that was both threatening and amused.
“You're evil, Lucy. Truly black-hearted and evil.”

The principal is supposed to be Jessica Adams, but Jessica has asked her twin sister, Jazz, to impersonate her …