One of the things I love about the romance genre is how many strong heroines there are. Gone are the days of damsels in distress. The women of modern romance writers might be from ancient eras, Victorian times, futuristic or fantasy words, or from our own time, but they have one thing in common – they can take care of themselves.
What are your five favorite movies with romance or romantic elements?
It’s hard to narrow my extensive list of favorites down to five, so I’ll just mention the first five that come to mind.
“Silver Linings Playbook.” I’m a sucker for two damaged people leaning on each other to heal and falling in love in the process. Plus, I could watch Bradley Cooper eat cereal all day and find it riveting.
“Moonstruck.” It’s over the top fun, passionate, and ultimately very sweet.
“Pride and Prejudice” the Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightly version. An absolute classic.
“The Proposal.” I want all of the clothes Sandra Bullock wore in the movie and Ryan Reynolds.
“The Decoy Bride.” It’s hilarious and everyone talks in a thick Scottish accent. I watch it at least once a month.
“We are bound together, Emma, bound together—I breathe when you breathe, I bleed when you bleed, I’m yours and you’re mine, you’ve always been mine, and I have always, always belonged to you!” 
The first time I saw the 1980s flick Lost Boys, my teenage heart raced with excitement and was thoroughly stolen by the dark and broody Jason Patric. From that moment on, I was hooked to the vampire romance. And while there have been dozens of adaptations of the beautiful monster—from sensual to beastly to kickass to sparkly—they all possess this indefinable allure we can’t resist. Though our favorite vampires fall under more than one category, let’s break it down and look at the different types and why we love them.
Rough week? Probably an understatement. Thankfully, we’ve brought you an amazing little gift from the ever-wonderful Kasia Bacon! Let us take you world away with this sneak peek from The Mutt, out right now!
I WANTED him from the start. From the very first time I laid eyes on him. Everyone kept talking about him in the days prior to his arrival to the camp, curious about this half-breed born to an influential Elven clan, but brought up by humans. A hybrid. A mutt.
Lochan Féyes.
I was curious as well. Maternal half-breeds such as him were a rarity. They retained all physical qualities of a pureblood and enjoyed, at least in theory, equal social status. Not that discrimination didn’t occur. The real losers in the biracial game were the paternal ones. Considered downright human and non-citizen, they constituted the lowest caste in society.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but he exceeded my expectations. Later I discovered he had a knack for doing just that.
If I hadn’t known human blood flowed in his veins, I wouldn’t have been able to spot it. The tips of his ears were perhaps less pointy, and his eyes—not as distinctly angular as those of an average Elf.
Even back then, at seventeen, he proved every bit a killer. He made that obvious during the first training session. He was deadly. Calm. Steady. Cold. Disinterested. So self-assured that he seemed arrogant. I wanted to bring him down a peg. Teach him a lesson. Break him. Taste him. Make him beg me to kiss him.
I wanted his attention, but he refused to give it to me.
So I had to find a way to claim it.
His eyes were blue—so intensely the colour almost appeared offensive. Fuck, it offended me. I was just an unworldly Dark Elf at the time, unaccustomed to irises that weren’t obsidian. The azure hue of his gaze reminded me of the glass crystals that grew in caves in the highlands of the Black Mountain. I used to collect them as a child.
I wanted those eyes on me.
It’s a dangerous time to be the Kingmaker—a human lie detector and the most coveted diplomatic weapon in the realms. In Breath of Fire, the second book in The Kingmaker Chronicles trilogy, Thalyria is heading toward all-out war, Cat is now officially out of hiding, and her secrets are out, too. Some key Olympian Gods as well as her warlord lover, Griffin Sinta, are all telling her it’s time to kick denial in the butt and start taking responsibility for the kingdom, so continuing to ignore that pesky, world-shaking prophecy about herself is getting harder to do. The problem is, when you’re a runaway princess just about everyone wants to capture, kill, or use, actually getting around to ruling the world can be tough. It’s hard enough just to survive.
So what’s a girl to do?
Learn how to hide. Know how to fight.
Cat is adept at both. In fact, when hightailing it to safer ground isn’t an option, she can melt enemies with magic, turn their own powers back on them, and hit just about any target with a knife. When it comes to protecting the people she cares about, she can be unapologetically violent and forget to even blink an eye at the ensuing bloodshed. And when situations really get sticky, whether her foe is human, mage, or beast, Cat follows some rules of survival that have served her well over the years.
If an Olympian shows enough interest in you to dole out magic, gifts, or even advice, take it. It’s extremely rare, definitely not to be ignored, and might not make any sense at the time, but things like that have a way of working themselves out—once you understand what’s going on. When Gods dabble in the lives of men, anything can happen. Cat’s philosophy on this one? Take the magic. As for the rest… Wait, see, and hope for the best.
Bravado goes a long way in any battle, especially when the magic in Thalyria is so powerful and vast that, frankly, you never know what an enemy might be able to throw at you in a fight. Elements? Creatures? Something conjured from thin air? The good thing is, your foes don’t know what kind of magic you’ve got in you, either. If they think you can pound them into the dust with a single thought, they might be less likely to try to burn you to a crisp. Cat’s viewpoint? Make them run away first. It’s better than doing it yourself.
We don’t toss around the word “gripping” that often, but for this excerpt of Sylvain Reynard‘s The Roman, we are more than willing to make an exception! Seriously, we might have stopped breathing a little toward the end. But you won’t have to hold your breath for long. The Roman releases December 6th!
Raven wished she had one of William’s relics. Commander Borek had seen to it that her sister Cara received medical attention, but he hadn’t done so out of compassion. He’d done so because he feared the Curia.
Raven needed to bolster her defenses.
“Commander Borek.” She lifted her voice, evading the soldier who was supposed to carry her.
The commanding officer ignored her.
“Commander Borek,” she repeated, louder.
He turned his head in her direction, as did the remaining members of their party.
“We need to leave,” he growled. “Or you’ll end up dead.”
“I need a sword.” She extended her hand.
He stared at her incredulously. “No.”
She took a few limping steps in his direction. “I’m not afraid to fight. What if we encounter ferals?”
Look, when I say we can bear-ly handle this excerpt from Kathy Lyons’ latest, I’m not just being insufferable. We are so excited for For The Bear’s Eyes Only, which is incredibly lucky, because it’s out right now! Get a taste of the book right here:
He stared at her and shook his head. “You think because I’m not fur and claws right now that I’m tame? That I won’t tear right through you if you try to Tase me again?”
She held up her bare hands, spread wide. “I don’t want to hurt you. I want to talk to you. Come home with me. Please. There are…things we need to talk about.” She’d almost said more. She’d nearly told him about how much her bear was right now pulsing with want. How his scent was oddly compelling even at its worst. About all the confusion that he created inside her. But she was on an open mic with Mark on the other end. She just couldn’t force herself to be that vulnerable with another man listening in. So she swallowed the full sentence and settled for pleading.
Does this post really need an introduction? Is it even possible to resist an excerpt from a book that has it all? It’s a Holiday book. About beautiful hot-headed shapeshifting jaguars. Who protect other shapeshifters as a job. It’s amazing! Don’t you dare miss A Very Jaguar Christmas from Terry Spears, out now!
A man raised his voice several feet away and Everett and Howard turned to see what the matter was. Everett didn’t recognize the redhead, but Demetria was facing him down, hands on her hips, frowning at the guy. No matter how many times he observed her, Everett still saw her as an incredibly sexy brunette, curvy, with killer moves, a quick temper, but a loving heart—where kids of all ages were concerned. She hadn’t dated since Matt had died in the Costa Rican rainforest, and Everett didn’t think she’d ever get over his death.
Her long hair pulled back into a ponytail, she focused her darkened brown eyes strictly on the man in front of her, her body posture balanced. She looked ready for action.
Everett wanted to help her out if she needed his assistance, but he knew that stance. She was a wild cat, ready to take down the big male who was giving her grief. All the agents were highly trained, so no advantage to Demetria there. And he was ready for her reaction, so she couldn’t surprise him. Because of his size and weight, he most likely would have the upper hand. That meant Everett was tensing and getting ready to charge in and protect her—whether she needed him to, or wanted him to, or not. Who would know until after the altercation ended? Everett didn’t want to see her hurt.
Hell, a dozen guys were probably just as ready to protect her, but he didn’t have eyes on anyone else—just Demetria and the redhead.
If my life were a romance novel, it would have to be in the chic-lit subgenre. I used to say my life was one big romantic comedy—or more accurately, the blooper reel! Fortunately, I’m now living my happily-ever-after, but it was wild ride to get here!
I won’t go all the way back to my ‘too young to know what I was doing’ marriage. At least I got an adorable daughter out of it.
I’d probably start with the guy who helped me pick up the pieces after that. Too bad I was in no mood for anything serious. He would have been a good guy to wind up with—and he had a boat. But no, for a few years there, I sabotaged anything that looked like it might be appropriate.
For instance, I was the Monday morning entertainment before the shift change at my hospital. (I was an RN in a psychiatric hospital.) And you thought the patients were crazy… Another unit always invited me over for lunch to hear my latest weekend escapades (i.e. dating disasters.) That is, until I began dating the head nurse’s son! No more lunch invites. They didn’t want to know…
Later, he told me his mother tried to warn him away from me. She called me a ‘heartbreaker.’ Heartbreaker? Me? I thought I was always the one getting my heart broken. Well, it was shortly after that that I met the guy I call Mr. Amazing. My wonderful husband of 22+ years. Sorry, head nurse’s son…you knew it wouldn’t last. Didn’t you? Your mother sure did.
So, anyway…my wonderful husband and I were set-up (without our knowledge.) A mutual friend tried to get us to agree to a blind date, knowing we’d be perfect for each other. We both refused.
Not one to be discouraged, she planned a ‘night out dancing.’ That wasn’t unusual. What was unique about this time, however, was that instead of ‘the gang’ showing up, it was just she and her boyfriend, Mr. Amazing and me. They picked us both up, so we met in their back seat, checked each other out, and thought, Hmmm…
