In Which the Ladies of the R8 Leap into Summer

This summer the ladies of the Rockville 8 have a whole lot of fun planned,

from vacations to new books to a little something, something extra.

J. Keely Thrall:

Vacation: A staycation! Sadly, I’m not headed to RWA Nationals this year, but I *am* looking forward to spending some time at my condo’s pool! And wonder of wonders, I think it will be TWO FULL WEEKS. Aaaah, I can already feel my shoulders dropping from up around my ears as I turn into a boneless sloth...

Book release: Protecting His Own, by Cherise Sinclair, latest in her popular Masters of the Shadowlands series.This is a companion novella to the book Breaking Free, a look into Beth and Nolan's HEA. I'm also on tenterhooks for the next "Beyond" book from writing duo Kit Rocha. This post apocalyptic franchise swept me up in a whirlwind earlier this year and I'm salivating at the thought of getting my hands (and eyes) on the next installment of kinked out fun.

Movie: Star Trek Beyond (or pretty much any geek movie franchise installment. I’m not picky!)

Lagniappe: Earlier this year I submitted a MS to Entangled and received a "revise and resubmit" letter from one of their editors, with a due date of late June. Totally stoked to send it the requested edits and see where it takes me!


Misha Crews:

Vacation: I've been invited to Williamsburg, VA for a week's writing retreat. It's been years (decades?) since I've been to the Williamsburg area, and not only am I looking forward to hanging out with some writing friends and getting some good work done, it will also be fun to get reacquainted with a part of the state that I don't get to visit very often.

Book release: Neil Gaiman's The View from the Cheap Seats, which will be released at the end of May. I've pre-ordered the audio book, which he narrates himself (swoon!). Here's what the publishers say about it: "An enthralling collection of nonfiction pieces on myriad topics–from art and artists to dreams, myths, and memories to comics, films, and literature – observed in award-winning #1 New York Times bestselling Neil Gaiman's probing, amusing, and distinctive style. An inquisitive observer, thoughtful commentator, and assiduous craftsman, Neil Gaiman has long been celebrated for the sharp intellect and startling imagination that informs his fiction." Can't wait!

Movie: Hello, My Name is Doris. (It came out in March, but I missed it in theaters; now eagerly awaiting the dvd.) This movie looks hilarious and heartfelt, and those are two of my favorite things!



Lagniappe: Actually finishing my novel! I've been working on this book for years, and it seems unfair to leave the characters in limbo like that. It will be great to get it done and out into the world, and then get on to the next novel. It's going to be a great summer.




Mackenzie Lucas:

Graduation: My middle son is graduating high school in little over a week. Hoorah!!! I'm looking forward to this in that bitter-sweet way emptying-nest mom's do. Then summer will be all about preparing him for going off to university in August. I'm also looking forward to my own graduation from massage therapy school at the end of August. Yeehaw. Ready to get out there and get my business rolling.

Vacation: Hopefully a family vacation to the Outer Banks in July, if I can get it planned in the midst of the chaos that is my life right now.

Book release: Sweet Little Lies by Jill Shalvis. This is a new series start by Shalvis, set in a coastal town, probably much like her popular Lucky Harbor series. Can't wait to devour this one when it

comes out on June 28th.

Movie: Bad Moms, which comes out July 29th. Looks hilarious. And, oh-so irreverent, and yet strangely applicable from the trailer.

Lagniappe: I had to look this one up, because I didn't know what it was ... it's broadly known as "something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure." So, my lagniappe for the summer is looking forward to enjoying the sun and fun one day at a time as it comes, and to writing a new novella set in the Essence world as well as the first book in a new series. As well as enjoying my kids this summer. Guess I've got a lot of lagniappe.

Lisa McQuay:

Vacation: Outer Banks. A corner condo with an ocean view and a screened porch with breezes from the front and side. I can't wait to slow down, walk on the beach, read and just plain chill. It's been a hectic 2016 thus far.

Book Release: Kiss Me That Way by Laura Trentham. I read her historical series, Spies and Lovers, and absolutely loved the books. It's released on May 31, 2016 and I can't wait to try one of her contemporaries.

Movie: Jason Bourne. My husband and I love, love, love the Bourne movies and have watched them over and over. When I told him recently that the "Tires felt a little splashy on the way over here," he knew EXACTLY what I was talking about. I was so excited when I saw the advertisement on TV for the new movie that I ran to the next room where he was to tell him the good news.

Lagniappe: Finish my current Romantic Suspense novel. Get it to the agents who requested it. I'm currently doing a schedule to make that happen.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

All I want for Christmas is . . . a Good Holiday Story

By Hope Ramsay

I’m an avid reader.  Like most authors it was reading that lead me to this writing life.  And when it comes to pleasing me at Christmastime, all you have to do is give me a good book.  In fact, I plan most of my holiday festivities for Christmas Eve, so on Christmas day I can relax, curl up with a hot toddy, and crack a good book, hopefully one of many I’ve received from friends and family.

So, if you have an avid romance reader in your family and you’re wondering what to give her for Christmas.  Here is a rundown of some terrific holiday stories.  Many of these reads are less than $2.00 in digital format, so you could easily buy them all and load up the e-reader of the bibliophile in your life. 

Perfect by Autumn Jordon
Dylan Kincaid totally screwed up Thanksgiving and now he's faced with Christmas. Thrown into the frightening role of both mother and father while his brother and sister-in-law are off serving their country, all Dylan wants is to make Christmas perfect for his two nieces. But time is running out.

Down on her luck Charleston, S.C. restaurateur, Darcy Witherspoon is licking a wounded ego when she arrives in Black Moose, VT and meets the handsome Maple tree farmer. Wanting a happy holiday herself, she teams up with Dylan to make a perfect Christmas.

Neither is interested in a holiday affair, but the magic of Christmas has something more everlasting in store for the couple. An absolutely perfect love!

Hunk for the Holidays by Katie Lane
Always putting business before pleasure, Cassie McPherson works hard for her family's construction business. That might explain why she doesn't have a date for the company Christmas party. But it doesn't quite explain why she's crazy enough to hire an escort for the event or - crazier still - why she's dying to unwrap him like a present . . .

With whiskey-colored eyes and a killer smile, James is one gorgeous hunk who really knows how to fill out a tuxedo. He charms everyone, including Cassie. And when the night ends, the party doesn't stop. As Cassie falls, literally, into his bed, James falls head over heels in love. Now he has to figure out a way to tell her the truth: he's not an escort. He's her family's fiercest business rival. But all he wants for Christmas is her .... The digital version of this book will be on sale for $1.99 starting in mid-December.

Trouble with Christmas by Debbie Mason
Resort developer Madison Lane is about to lose the one thing she loves most in the world - her job.

Dubbed "The Grinch Who Killed Christmas," Madison spoiled a deal that would turn quaint Christmas, Colorado, into a tourist's winter wonderland. Now the citizens want her fired but the company gives her one last chance, sending Madison to the small town to restore the holiday cheer.

For Sheriff Gage McBride, no hotshot executive from New York City is going to destroy the dreams of the people he loves. But one look at this beautiful woman and it's his heart that may be broken. In just a few days, Madison causes more trouble than he's had to deal with all year. He can't decide if she's naughty or nice, but one thing is for certain- Christmas will never be the same again.. The digital version of this book will be on sale for $1.99 starting in mid-December.

Spirit of Christmas by Liz Talley

Brennan Henry doesn't have time for holly and jolly. He's been too busy boosting the bottom line for the family business. That is, until his eccentric grandfather hands over a lot of money to a stranger on the street. Some nonsense about her being the true spirit of Christmas. Yeah, right. All Brennan can see is he's now got a situation on his hands with one Mary Paige Gentry.

Then he meets Mary Paige. And no matter how deep he searches, it seems she's the real deal. Kind, compassionate and just enough sass to keep him very intrigued. The spark of attraction between them could land him on the naughty list! But his is still a dollars-and-cents world…unless she can prove there's more to the season—more to life—than money.

And if you’re looking for an anthology of shorter Christmas Stories, pick up the digital anthology A Christmas to Remember, with stories by Jill Shalvis, Kristen Ashley, Molly Cannon, Marilyn Pappano, and me. Click here.

Happy holiday reading to one and all.  

The Eight Hosts Jill Shalvis Blog Tour Stop #4

The Rockville 8 is participating in the official Hachette/Grand Central sponsored Jill Shalvis Summer Blog Tour today. And we couldn’t be more thrilled! We’re stop #4 on kickoff day of a tour that will travel from blog site to blog site from July 16 to July 26. For a complete listing of tour stops, see the below.

So, let’s jump right in talking about Jill’s back-to-back releases of Lucky in Love (released June 1, 2012), At Last (released June 26, 2012), and Forever and a Day (released July 31, 2012).

First off, let me say that I love anything written by Jill Shalvis. I came late to reading her books when Simply Irresistible, the first of her Lucky Harbor series books was released in October 2010. Imagine my delight when I found I had a brand-new-to-me author who’d published over three dozen other romance novels. Oh, baby! I love when that happens. And that hadn’t happened to me since I found Susan Elizabeth Phillips. Since then, I’ve found and purchased every single book Jill Shalvis has written. And I love each and every one of them. She’s a master story teller and I can always count on her to deliver a rich, sexy, poignant love story that grips me from beginning to end, no matter if she’s writing for Grand Central Forever, Harlequin Blaze, Brava, Harlequin Temptation or Berkley Sensation. I love them all!

Lucky in Love ~ After I’d finished Lucky in Love, I thought it was my favorite Lucky Harbor novel to-date. And it was. For June 1st. It didn’t get much better than Ty Garrison--hot ex-Navy SEAL who’s dropped in to Lucky Harbor to rehabilitate his leg injury (and later we find his wounded heart and soul as well)--and hometown favorite do-gooder Mallory Quinn who is a nurse and the resident nurturer of the small, quirky Washington beach town of Lucky Harbor. In this book we get the story of a wounded hero and the steadfast woman who begins to fall in love with him, despite his clear status of Mr. Wrong. It’s a beautiful love story of healing and trust that’s just hot, hot, hot.

At Last ~ Then I read At Last toward the end of June and found my next Lucky Harbor keeper. In At Last, hunky former cop turned forest ranger Matt Bowers is the Lucky Harbor resident with stronger local ties. But he’s set adrift when he begins to fall in love with Amy Michaels, a woman who is on a journey to find hope, herself, and love in Lucky Harbor by following the footsteps of her grandmother on the nearby Sierra Meadows Trail. Amy’s been on her own, and down-on-her-luck since she was sixteen. She has trust issues, huge trust issues earned by a rough life as a homeless teenager. Matt rescues this feisty heroine time and time again as she tromps through the forest to find the legacy she thinks she’s seeking. Only when she begins to help Riley, a young girl running and on her own, does Amy open her heart and her life to the healing she really desires to find. We fall in love with Matt, Amy, and Riley in this heart-warming, tense, funny story where we root for the heroine to find her heart and the love of her life.

Forever and a Day ~ Finally, I just read a review copy of Forever and a Day, due to be released on July 31. And I adored Dr. Josh Scott and Grace Brooks. Theirs is a story where a natural caregiver (Dr. Josh Scott, an ER doctor who took over the sole care of his rebellious paraplegic sister and his young son) must learn to trust and accept the care of a woman who falls in love with him. Grace Brooks is, a power-hitter in the banking industry who stops over in Lucky Harbor one stormy night and stays to fall in love with the town, its people, and a certain hot ER doctor, his hell-on-wheels sister, his son who is more likely to bark than speak, and a pug puppy who’s dubbed The Anti-Christ).

These three books were my favorite of the Lucky Harbor series of books, however, all six books in the series are winners for any reader of contemporary romance. The small-town quirkiness of Lucky Harbor and its town inhabitants is enchanting and fun. The worldbuilding and the characters' emotional journies suck in a reader and hold her rapt from cover to cover.

Visit Lucky Harbor today, where all the heroes are hot, hot, hot and all the heroines are feisty and smart.

You won’t be disappointed. I promise.

So, go ahead, tell us what you love about Lucky Harbor! Let’s dish.

Blog Tour Listing

http://nikkibrandyberry.wordpress.com/ 7/16/2012
http://atastyread.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
marygramlich.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
www.rockville8.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
www.fictionenthusiast.com 7/16/2012
bookswagger.com 7/16/2012
http://www.justanothernewblog.com 7/16/2012
http://maryinhb.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
http://maryinhb.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com 7/16/2012
http://www.a-novel-affair.com/ 7/16/2012
http://booksandmakeup.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
http://hangingwithbells.blogspot.com/ 7/16/2012
www.lovetoreadforfun.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
Www.thebookgirl.net 7/16/2012
http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com 7/16/2012
http://paranormalromanticsuspensereviews.blogspot.ca 7/17/2012
www.sosaloha.blogspot.com 7/17/2012
Lushbookreviewss.blogspot.com 7/17/2012
melindadozier.blogspot.com 7/18/2012
http://fictionally-inclined.blogspot.com/ 7/18/2012
http://www.happilyeverafter-reads.blogspot.com 7/18/2012
http://paranormalromanticsuspensereviews.blogspot.ca 7/18/2012
www.seductivemusings.blogspot.com 7/18/2012
http://modokkerbookpicks.blogspot.com/ 7/19/2012
http://www.cocktailsandbooks.com 7/19/2012
http://brokenteepee.com 7/19/2012
www.boekiesbookreviews.com 7/20/2012
www.thebookpushers.com 7/20/2012
http://ov099.wordpress.com/ 7/20/2012
http://dreyslibrary.com 7/20/2012
http://dreyslibrary.com 7/20/2012
http://readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.blogspot.com/ 7/20/2012
http://romancingrakes4theluvofromance.blogspot.com 7/21/2012
ramblingsfromthischick.blogspot.com 7/21/2012
http://www.guiltypleasuresbookreviews.com/ 7/23/2012
http://theromancereviews.blogspot.com/ 7/23/2012
http://www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com 7/23/2012
http://www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com 7/23/2012
http://www.csmaxwell.blogspot.com 7/23/2012
http://reviewsbymolly.com 7/23/2012
karalovesreading.blogspot.com 7/24/2012
http://www.findthetimetoread.net 7/25/2012
www.stormgoddessbookreviews.blogspot.com 7/25/2012
www.froggaritasbookcase.com 7/26/2012
www.lovetoreadforfun.com 7/26/2012
http://ashleysbookshelf.blogspot.com 7/26/2012
http://asthepagesturn.blogspot.com 7/26/2012