Rox reads… Books, Books and More Books!

I’ve got so much to tell you, friends! Did this past winter seem longer than usual to you? I’m so happy to see the sun again and watch all the color reappear after those seemingly endless grey days. It’s been quiet from me, I know, but I’ve been very busy and finally, I can tell you what I’ve been doing!

But first. I’ve read some wonderful books over the past few months and I’d like to share a few with you.

1. maddadam by Margaret Atwood. The third in her MaddAddam trilogy, following Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood, this post-apocalyptic tale is seductive, hypnotic, super-creepy and brilliant. After reading about pigoons, a human-pig hybrid, I’ll never look at bacon the same way.

2.Her Spy to Have by Paula Altenburg. The first in her Spy Games series, this novel is a tightly-plotted globe-trotting cat-and-mouse game as well as a touching love story and I can’t wait for the next installment.

3.The Color of Destiny by Julianne MacLean. The second in her Color of Heaven series, this was a total palate-cleanser for me, a spiritual and emotional story, not inspirational per se, but definitely inspiring.

4.In the Waning Light by Loreth Ann White. This romantic suspense-thriller kept me up way too late. I’ve read several other books by this new-to-me author and I’m now a huge fan. This book is a finalist for the Romance Writers of America RITA award, and well deserved.

5.A Bramble House Christmas by C.J. Carmichael. A wonderful, heartwarming holiday read, this short contemporary romance is also a RITA finalist!

6.Love Me Tender by Susan Fox. Book 5 in her Caribou Crossing series, this made me go back and read the first four. Book 6, Love Somebody Like You, is yet another well-deserving RITA finalist.

Of course, I’ve read many more books but these stood out for me. What books do you recommend?

And now, my news: I’ve got five – that’s right, five – new books contracted. Two of them are with Tule Publishing‘s Montana Born Books, part of the upcoming Love at the Chocolate Shop ten-book series with four other authors. Mine tell the stories of Madeleine and Deirdre Cash, flighty twin sisters who vow off men in order to be taken seriously, only to find love with men they can’t have. The series, which centers around Marietta, Montana’s Copper Mountain Chocolate Shop, launches October 2016. Maddie’s story, THE CHOCOLATE CURE, will be available digitally in January 2017, with DeeDee’s story THE CHOCOLATE COMEBACK following in April.

If these names sound familiar, you’re right! I introduced Maddie and DeeDee last year in CINDERELLA’S COWBOY, in which they played the roles of evil (not really!) step-sisters.

As for the other three books… drum-roll, please… I’m thrilled to announce that I just signed my first, full-length print deal with Kensington Publishing! It’s for a brand-new contemporary series called Sunset Bay, full of colorful characters, romance, humor and dogs, set on a wellness retreat/dude ranch on the south Oregon coast. Let me just say that the characters running this place are not what they seem to be. Think… Scandal, with Olivia Pope’s “fixers,” but in cowboy boots and aprons.

The first book, SUNSET BAY SANCTUARY, is scheduled for release in 2017 with DRIFTWOOD CREEK and BLACKBERRY COVE to follow.

And as always, happy reading!