Omnivoracious

Sylvia Day Whets Our Appetite for "Entwined with You"--and More Crossfire

After naming Sylvia Day’s Bared to You a 2012 Best Book of the Year in Romance and devouring Reflected in You, we've been anxiously awaiting the release of the third book in Day's scorching Crossfire series, Entwined with You. To whet our appetites and make waiting for the book's arrival a little easier, Amazon Romance expert Alyssa Morris spoke with Day about what’s next for Gideon and Eva, her upcoming collaboration with Harlequin and Cosmopolitan, her all-time favorite romance novels, and much more.

Alyssa Morris: Now that you’ve had a bit of time to absorb the success of Bared to You, does it feel real? Or are you still surprised?

Sylvia Day: I'm still surprised! I’m glad I’m a veteran and that I’ve been publishing for close to 10 years, so I had some experience under my belt as far as dealing with it. But on the other hand, there’s no way to anticipate writing something that becomes a global phenomenon, you know. I don’t know about other writers--I didn’t even dream about anything like that. I always figured that it just happened to the Stephenie Meyers and J.K. Rowlings of the world. So, yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever get over being surprised that I had a series that struck such a chord.

AM: It just hit such a moment in our culture, where all of a sudden this is what everyone wants to be reading. It’s an interesting confluence.

SD: Right. We always talk about that, about right book, right time. Random House released Fifty Shades on the same day I self-published Bared to You, so talk about the right timing. Just… wow!

AM: Do you have a favorite moment in the Crossfire series so far? 

SD: You know, I really loved the weekend that Gideon and Eva spent in the Outer Banks. These poor guys. When they’re alone, they’re fine. Life is perfect when they’re alone. Unfortunately, they don’t get a lot of time alone. [Laughs] So I just love that. I love seeing them together away from all of the distractions and intrusions and everything else that’s going wrong in their lives.

I can’t talk too much about Entwined with You because it’s not out yet. And that’s so hard, because I so want to talk tabout it! But there’s more alone time with Gideon and Eva as we move forward in the series and they grow stronger, so I’m really enjoying that as a writer. 

AM: Can you tell us a little bit about what we can expect to see next for Gideon and Eva? And is Entwined with You the last book in the series, or it might continue farther?

SD: Yes. It’s definitely continuing, so I can say that for sure. I was not able to wrap up the entirety of the storyline into three books, and I was absolutely adamant that I was not going to try to rush or cram the third book to try to make it fit. And I was fortunate that my agent and my editor they both agree that it would be a big disservice to the series to not let it play out the way it needs to, so there will definitely be future books.

The first book was really the introduction to Gideon and Eva. That’s where we first become familiar with their flaws and their issues, which are of course very prevalent in the first book. The second book they were really apart most of that book. They were mostly broken up through that whole thing. It was very angsty and dark. The third book is very different. Eva’s in a different place. At the end of Reflected in You, Gideon has made a pretty large sacrifice for her. Her big issues had been insecurities, concerns about other people and other women particularly in Gideon’s life. It’s hard to have those sorts of fears and self-doubt after somebody makes a huge sacrifice, like Gideon did for her. So she’s in a much more stable place as far as her comfort level with the relationship and being able to accept the depth of his commitment to her.

Gideon, however--what he’s done, there’s a lot of ramifications. Not just externally, but internally. So as she grows stronger, he’s actually struggling with more. That said, she’s really the anchor for that relationship. She has been from the beginning. So with her being stable, it brings new stability to the whole relationship, and readers will see a lot more moments of calm and connection between the two than we have seen in the previous books.

Connie Brockway: Steamy Southern Romance

I'm in the mood for something steamy, and--since up here on the tundra, we're still entrenched in never-ending winter--something warm weather-related. But if I can’t have that, I’ll settle for the Deep South: a molasses-smooth drawl, humid nights, hot heroes, and steel magnolia heroines.

Here’s my selection of old and new treasures guaranteed to sweep you south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Long before True Blood hit the HBO airwaves, Charlaine Harris wrote a more genial (if no less blood thirsty) vampire novel called Dead Until Dark. In it, her naive 25 year old virgin waitress finds true love and an empty mind (you either already know why this is a plus, or you’ll just have to read the book!) with super studly vampire Bill. But the real star of this story in Bon Temps, a sleepy, bayou-stranded town with a plethora of characters both alive and dead, supernatural and super-odd that will have you turning pages as fast as you can. Here’s a story that goes down as easy as sweet tea on a hot afternoon.

Texas Destiny by Lorraine Heath
If you love a tortured hero, you’re going to adore Houston Leigh, ravaged body and soul by injuries suffered in the Civil War. Sent to escort his beloved brother’s mail-order bride across the Texas wilderness, Houston falls for southern bell Amelia Carson. What’s a tortured, honorable, desperate man to do, especially when your brother is not some shiftless ne’er do well but a good, hard-working man deserving of the glorious Amelia? Happily, in Lorraine Heath’s expert hands, the answer isn’t left entirely up to Houston. Amelia has survived her own ordeals and emerged stronger, more competent and ready to love. This is a richly satisfying and emotional read that never takes the easy way out. And that setting? I can almost taste the trail dust.

Meant to Be by Terri Osburn
This book isn't available until May 21st, but it fits in so well with my theme and it's so much fun that I couldn’t resist including it. Sweet, disarming Beth Chandler isn’t exactly a mail-order bride, but she is willing to take a terrifying voyage (okay, it’s a short hop across a channel on a ferry, but she’s hydrophobic) to meet her future in-laws on idyllic Anchor Island. During the trip she finds a welcome distraction in rugged fellow passenger Joe Dempsey and his dog, Dozer. The animal magnetism (sorry, it was irresistible) is already doomed by the fact that she’s already engaged, but then she discovers that—yup, you guessed it—Joe is her intended’s brother. Fun, flirty, with an adorable and genuinely likeable heroine and a great supporting cast, watching these two fight their high-octane attraction is pure delight.

I could go on for a long time about my favorite southern delights, but for those of you who want to really sink your teeth into the more over-the-top on that pile, I suggest digging up some of Kathleen Woodiwiss’s titles, such as Ashes in the Wind or the seminal Shanna. They’re as lush and rich as praline sauce on bread pudding. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Connie Brockway is a USA Today and New York Times best-selling author. Her latest novel is The Other Guy's Bride. She is published by Montlake Romance.

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Connie Brockway: Romance on the Beach--and the High Seas

Connie Brockway: Romance on the Beach--and the High Seas

Guest contributor Connie Brockway is a best-selling romance author, eight-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award, and two-time recipient for My Dearest Enemy and The Bridal Season.

My original plan for this post was to write a follow-up to last month's Scottish-set romance recommendations. But that will have to wait for another day. Because, once again, my family’s snow/sleet/cold/gloom tolerance has maxed out after a particularly nasty Marchuary, and we are dying for some sun and surf. I have a sneaking suspicion there are droves of others out there in the same boat (or sleigh).

My suggestion? Flee the hinterlands for southern climes! And if you can’t make it to the real thing, plant yourself in an armchair, switch out your reading lamp’s florescent bulb for a full spectrum one, pour yourself a tall frosty drink, pop a paper umbrella into it, and set sail between the pages of a book. It’s time for a beach party!

And what’s a beach without a pirate? I’ve got a couple of yummy sea wolves for your consideration.

First up is Marsha Canham’s Across a Moonlit Sea, a classic rip-roaring, Elizabethan swashbuckler, pitting French nobleman and privateer Simon Dante against cartographer Isabeau Spence. Both protagonists are overcoming past betrayals, and the sexual tension is hotter than a mutineer’s broadside. But the real pleasure here is Canham’s first-class historical detail. You can practically feel every swell in the ocean (naughtier ones amongst you, feel free to imagine me wiggling my eyebrows suggestively). This isn’t costume drama, it’s high seas drama at its best.

I love a good girl-poses-as-boy story. Add in a pirate captain and a slow simmering attraction, and I’m hooked. (Resign yourself to the marine allusions.) Darlene Marshall does both in her wonderful Sea Change. In 1817, David Fletcher plucks a doctor from a British merchant ship to tend his wounded brother, unaware his young sawbones is female. For years, Charley Alcott has worked alongside her physician father, but when he dies, she masquerades as an apprentice physician in order to secure passage to her godfather’s Caribbean home. Uneasy friendship grows into even more uneasy attraction and finally, with the revelation of Charley’s gender, into a passionate love affair. But that’s just icing on the cake in this funny, yet poignant tale of a woman struggling to find her way in a man’s world (and on his ship).

If pirates aren’t your cuppa, how about a world-weary photojournalist who just happens to one of the most romantic, sexy men I’ve read this year? The always excellent Christie Ridgeway outdoes herself in Love Shack. With her trademark humor ratcheted down just a hair, this lovely story is the quintessential romance having heart, humor, pathos, and red-hot love scenes. In this story of heartbreak and healing, what Gage Lowell envisions as sweet, summer fling with old friend (and unacknowledged soulmate) Skye Alexander quickly escalates into something neither are prepared to admit, yet cannot deny. Wowza. Simply terrific!

And finally, to my mind you, simply can’t call it a vacation unless you read a gothic romance--and if it’s on a lush tropical paradise during the nineteenth century where a young orphan girl faces hidden danger, all the better. If this is your idea of gothic heaven, prepare to sigh over Jill Tattersall’s fabulous Damnation Reef. Marina Derwint is shipwrecked and rescued, only to find herself under the unwilling protection of the enigmatic and brooding master (aren’t all the best masters enigmatic?) of Tamarind, an estate in Antilla. Murder, sunken treasure, and suicide are just a few of the obstacles the star crossed lovers must overcome. An old-fashioned gothic with a tropical flavor. I can practically taste the rum. --Connie Brockway

Connie Brockway: All-Time Favorite Scottish Romances, Part I

Guest contributor Connie Brockway is a best-selling Romance author, eight-time finalist for the Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award, and two-time recipient for My Dearest Enemy and The Bridal Season.

My alma mater, Macalester College, used to hold a Scottish Faire during which Bonny lassies would cheer hirsute Braveheart wannabes to their best endeavors in a modern rendition of the Highland games. Now, I’m not claiming that the sight of brave young laddies in kilts heaving telephone poles (aka cabers) around a football field engendered my love of Scottish romances, but it sure didn’t hurt.

Alas, the Highland Fair fell victim to the last economic downturn and it’s been several years since the ghost of Robert Burns has goosed the co-eds on Olin Field. My love of Scottish romance has not dimmed, however, so this past month I asked my readers to submit their all-time favorite Scottish romances. The results were unsurprising (to see a full list of the titles submitted, subscribe to my newsletter), but there were some “Hey! I haven’t read that one,” moments. In fact, there were so many fine suggestions (for both old and newer titles) that I simply can’t do them all justice in one column. So, next month it’s “Hoot Man, Part Two!”

Bewitching by Jill Barnett

Barnett pairs a somewhat inept, always adorable Scottish witch with a chill, pragmatic nobleman in this light-hearted take on Bell, Book, and Candle. I loved watching the cold duke’s heart being melted in spite of himself by the lovely Scottish girl whom he weds in haste, unaware of her magic propensities.

Highland Surrender by Tracy Brogan

Believing her in-laws murdered her mum is a valid reason for Fiona Sinclair to be an unhappy bride. And concern over whether his new bride's going to make herself a widow might dampen the spirits of a lesser man, but—need I say this?—not Scotsman Myles Campbell. Treachery and political intrigue provide a well-textured backdrop for a poignant romance in which a young girl, well out of her depths, struggles to reconcile what she thinks she knows with what her heart tells her. A classic sweep-me-away tale of romance and daring-do!

Son of the Morning by Linda Howard

Dumb Connie never read this book, despite the hype. But now that’s been rectified, and wowza, am I ever glad. Heart-pounding suspense, cool arcane tidbits, time travel, hearts afire across the centuries--this book is the whole package! An archeologist in possession of history-altering info is pursued by uber-bad guys and protected across time by a burning hunk-of-gorgeous Knight Templar. I know, crazy. But it works!

Laird of the Mist by Paula Quinn

This is as far from the tender Bewitching as you’re likely to find: Paula Quinn doesn’t hold back on the grit and gore in this tale of star-crossed lovers from bitter enemy clans. Callum MacGregor's set on revenge for the genocide of his clan--clearly, not without justification--so when fate delivers a fierce, fiery, and equally justified in hating his clans' guts lassie into his hands, it's up in the air whether he'll bed her, wed her, or dead her. (Couldn’t resist the rhyme.)

The Last Debutante by Julia London

London's in full winsome mode in this lovely Scottish romp. Spinster Daria Babcock hits the Highlands on a mission to rescue her dear old gran, only to discover the old lady tending a bloody laird (no, that’s not a oath--he really is bleeding) who'd come to reclaim the money the old lady had stolen and been shot by the same. The confounded Scotsman takes Daria hostage, and so begins a battle of the sexes and hearts. Great, great fun! --Connie Brockway

50 Great American Love Stories: How They Made Our Map

Of all the projects I've helped launch in nearly 15 years at Amazon, this map of 50 Great American Love Stories, with the heart of each state linking to our picks, felt from the start like one of the most ambitious. But it's also been great fun. Since we unveiled it last week, we've had a steady stream of comments from readers, including some constructive criticism (which we took to heart), but mostly kudos and some welcome contributions. In case you’re curious, here's a peek at how our Great American Love Stories map came together.

Our Mission: To select and map the best books about love ever set in America, from before its founding into its hypothetical future. We sought books that captured the complete spectrum of love: the whole sweet, passionate, messy, ecstatic, devastating, depraved, beautiful universe of human experience.

The Method to Our Mapness:

• Compile a sprawling list of our favorite stories about love.
• Weed out all the great love stories that aren't set in America and save those for a future feature.
• Ask our Facebook fans and a few friends with great taste in books to send us their faves, to make sure we didn't miss anything wonderful.
• Narrow it down to a more manageable hundred or so.
• Sleuth out the settings for each of them.
• Discover to our delight that The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is set in New Jersey.
• Decide early on that we're OK with inevitable blowback from calling Gone Girl a "Great American Love Story," because it's the most twisted love story we've read in years, and America's really pretty famous for this brand of tabloid weirdness.
• Realize we have about a dozen terrific picks for states like New York, and none yet for, say, Delaware and West Virginia.
• Scour the heck out of the web for good books set in Delaware and West Virginia. Find some lovely choices for the latter; eventually decide that Delwarians will have to live with the fact that obsessive, murderous love is still a kind of love, and Ann Rule is the queen of true crime. Secretly hope someone from Delaware will tell us we missed something great. (Not yet--but there's still time, romantic readers from Deleware!)
• Cull the list again, making painful choices about what to highlight and what will get honorable mentions. (Sorry, Time Traveler's Wife and Just Kids. You're still great!)
• Notice that John Irving and Tennessee Williams are the only authors with two books in the top 50 (two incredible plays, in the case of Williams). Agree they deserve it.
• Have the Fifty Shades conversation.
• Write 50 blurbs that encapsulate why we picked each book in 15 words or less.
• Make the page pretty.
• Lose some sleep the night before we go live, hoping people all across America will love--or at least grudgingly like--the books we picked to represent their states.
• Breathe an enormous sigh of relief when it's greeted with mostly great feedback: only one Facebook fan commenting incredulously on Gone Girl (and, OK, 3 other fans Liking her for it), one lone Deleware resident decrying our Ann Rule choice, and a history buff pointing out that John Smith and Pocahontas were never really intimately involved--so our original Virginia pick needed to go.
• Feel a little guilty about leaving out D.C. Decide we'll work it in next year (even though it will totally throw off the symmetry of the rows).

Just like our country, our love story list continues to evolve--so please check them out and keep the comments coming. Whether you live in America or Antarctica, we hope you're living your own great love story. And if you've yet to be so lucky, you can always do it vicariously through a great book. X.O.X.! --Mari

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Get Smitten With Zombie Romance

It took a while, but ultimately Beauty saw something special in the Beast. Then there's Bella, who just couldn't help but chase after that centuries-old vampiric hearthtrob Edward.

Let's face it: ladies like a little ... okay, a lot of challenge in their loving. And with the adaptation of Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies hitting theaters, we might just be witnessing the beginning of a whole new Hollywood epidemic of cinematic monster crushes.

Of course, the film world will find no shortage of material from which to choose; the popularity of zombie romance has been spreading like a virus among young adult readers for quite some time as quirky one-offs and entire series base themselves on these brain-eaters.

For genre purists, the story involves at least one undead protaganist. Marion, for example tells his story in first person from the zombie's point of view, allowing us to experience his emotional reanimation as he falls in love. For the more lenient, a zombie romance can be any love story told in post-apocalyptic setting.

Intrigued? Sink your teeth into some of these:

YA Wednesday: He-Said/She-Said with Chris Crutcher and Kelly Milner Halls

When it comes to relationships, there are always two sides to the story.  In Girl Meets Boy, 12 top young adult authors came together to create an anthology of diverse, original, he-said/she-said stories of love and heartbreak. One of these dual narratives is a collaboration between bestselling author Chris Crutcher and the mastermind and editor behind the book, Kelly Milner Halls.  The two of them recently got together again in this exclusive author one-on-one.--Seira

Kelly Milner Halls on Girl Meets Boy: Creating Girl Meets Boy, a he-said, she-said anthology for Chronicle books was a new challenge for me because I am best known for creating high interest nonfiction. But picking the writers I wanted for my YA project was a no brainer. I wanted the writers about whom I’d written and I wanted the best. My friend Chris Crutcher is the best of the best, and he was my partner in our interactive story pairing. So I caught up with him to ask a few questions about writing for Girl Meets Boy, as well as a few questions about his upcoming Fall 2012 release, Period 8.

Kelly Milner Halls: How did you feel about contributing to Girl Meets Boy --the concept of two authors exploring the same plot points from two different points of view?

Chris Crutcher: It's a very interesting idea, and novel. Perspective is always an author's friend, and the idea that perspective alone can create two different stories from one point of view is intriguing.

Milner Halls: You created the lead story for the pair of stories we wrote together. Were John Smith and Wanda Wickham characters you created just for Girl Meets Boy or were they rooted in other creative projects?

Crutcher: They were created for Girl Meets Boy. I'm sure I've used pieces of their personalties elsewhere, but they were specific to this anthology.

Milner Halls: Have you ever considered writing a book from alternating points of view as Joyce Carol Oates did in Big Mouth & Ugly Girl?

Crutcher: I haven't read that particular book. Angry Management contains a novella that tells the story from three different perspectives. It's not all that hard to do.

Milner Halls: Girl Meets Boy is often controversial in the topics it examines including sexual abuse, homosexuality, transgenderism and inter-racial relationships. Is there emotional value in fictionalizing realistic life issues?

Crutcher: I'm sure there is, but the emotional value of any story comes from the reader.

Milner Halls: Which is more difficult, writing a full-length novel or writing a short story for an anthology like Girl Meets Boy?

Crutcher: It's probably a toss-up. Short story is easier from a plot point of view because usually it's about a single thing and there's not room for great complexity like there is in a novel. But short story requires word economy and straightforwardness to a degree that a novel might not. Writing Short Story is a great way to train for writing longer material.

Read the rest of the conversation between Chris Crutcher and Kelly Milner Halls here

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Why we picked them: #96 to #100.

Something about Best of the Year lists seems a little unfair. There are great books and brilliant authors all up and down the 2011 Amazon Best Books of the Year, and yet it’s always the Top 10, or maybe the Top 20, that gets the majority of the attention. Because we’re not all the same and (thankfully) don’t all share the same tastes, one person’s 98th-ranked book might be included in another’s Top 10. And vice versa. So, in honor of our differences, and to highlight the lower ranked but still great books farther down our Best of the Year list, I thought I might explain why we picked them, five at a time. I hope to work my way to the top five by the end of the year, but if I don’t it will be ok—the top books are going to get their share of attention anyway.

#100 – Delirium by Lauren Oliver

The 100th pick this year is a young adult book. There aren’t a lot of young adult books on the Top 100 list, so it’s good to see one get the last spot on BOTY. In this case, Delirium was a February Best Book of the Month, and in her review, Jessica Schein (the books team’s primary YA expert) described it as a “powerful and beautifully written novel.” The hook of the story—that in the near future love has been identified as a disease—immediately grabs hold of your imagination. The Amazon customer reviews echo this point, and a number of our editors loved the book as well. It’s one that readers of The Hunger Games might find appealing, a book that, in Schein’s words, “throws readers into a tightly controlled society where options don’t exist, and shows not only the lengths one will go for a chance at freedom, but also the true meaning of sacrifice.”

Navy SEALS and Special Agents: Crime-Fighting Contemporary Romance Heroes

Last week on Omni, we highlighted our #1 pick from our Best of the Year So Far list for Romance, Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart, by Sarah Maclean.

This week, we’re featuring two more of our BOTYSF picks in Romance—this time focusing on the contemporary crime-fighting heroes from Breaking Point, by Pamela Clare, and Face of Danger, by Roxanne St. Claire. Both of these stories were taut and action-packed, and both featured hard-as-nails heroes who were more than just white knights sent to rescue the damsels in distress.

In Breaking Point, Clare crafts a realistic, ripped-from-the headlines story about a journalist, Natalie Benoit, who is captured by a terrifying drug lord. Also imprisoned at the same time is a former Navy SEAL, Zach McBride. Natalie and Zach take turns saving each others’ lives as they escape the cartel and make their way through the scorching-hot (in more ways than one, wink, wink) Sonoran desert and over the U.S. border. But getting Natalie safely home is only half the battle…

In Face of Danger, tomboyish private investigator Vivi Angelino takes on a case to protect a Hollywood starlet by acting as her body double, and by-the-book FBI agent Colton Lang is sent along to protect Vivi. Vivi soon discovers that the starlet is into more than bad movies, and Vivi and Colton join forces to uncover the truth about the actress’s dark past.

The plot and the action in Breaking Point kept me glued to my chair for an entire afternoon—I literally could not put it down. I loved the progression of Zach and Natalie’s relationship, and I loved that Natalie did her fair share of butt-kicking.

What I loved best about Face of Danger was the strongly developed personalities of Vivi and Colton. Our first glimpse of Vivi is at a skate park, and she’s dressed in clothes normal women would wear on the weekend—baggy t-shirt and comfy cargo pants. It was refreshing to read about a heroine who isn’t perfectly polished in stylish, sexy clothes every hour of the day. And Special Agent Colton Lang is kind of a hoot—he struck me as a Mr. Hospital Corners in his Dockers and ironed polo shirts. Vivi and Colton are an odd couple, for sure, but when they finally get together…it all fits.

Did you love Breaking Point and Face of Danger? Let us know what you loved—or didn’t—in the comments!

Best of the Year So Far: Romance Books We Love

Earlier this week we launched our Best of the Year So Far lists, and I’m particularly excited about the Romance list we put together. It was so difficult to choose our favorites for this year—there were way more than ten to choose from!—but as these lists tend to do, it forced us to think about what makes a Romance book truly great and focus on the ten most memorable books of the year (so far).

Our number one Romance pick of the year was Sarah MacLean’s Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart, starring feisty, Italian-born Juliana Fiori (who you might remember from MacLean’s first book in the Love by Numbers series, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake).

Juliana is notorious for her difficulties conforming to the inscrutably complex rules of London society. One night, after thwarting the advances of an unwanted suitor, Juliana hides in a carriage—only to be discovered by its owner, Simon Pearson, Duke of Leighton, a man famed for his hauteur and aversion to scandal. Juliana resolves to teach him a lesson about living a passionate life before he marries his proper (read: dull) fiancée, while the “Duke of Disdain” agrees to watch over Juliana and protect her from further faux pas before she brings ruin to her family. But the Duke is hiding a scandal of his own, and when he becomes the center of the ton’s gossip, he realizes that the woman he wants by his side is the one who has caused—and weathered—a few scandals of her own.

I loved the realistic yet delightfully witty banter in Eleven Scandals, and I felt for both Juliana, who tries so hard to repress her unconventional nature (it’s not worth it, Juliana!), and Simon, whose primary motivation is to protect his family’s secrets, even at the expense of his own happiness. But what propelled this novel to the top of our favorites so far this year were the brilliant, fully realized set pieces (the best being a bittersweet Guy Fawkes Day bonfire) and the heart-wrenching role-reversal at the end. We won’t spoil it here—you’ll have to read the book to find out how it ends.

We’ll be discussing our Best of the Year So Far picks in Romance here on Omni over the next few weeks. We’d love to hear what you thought about our picks, as well as the ones we missed—join the conversation in the comments!