From Shonell Bacon

To All READERS of ROMANCE FICTION!

I would love your input on a pilot study I’m conducting titled “Romancing the Reader: Preferences of the Romance Fiction Reader.” With this pilot study, I seek answers to several questions, to include:

1- Why do women read romance fiction?

2- Is there a difference in the reading/purchasing habits of romance fiction readers depending on race?

3- What aspects of romance fiction do readers enjoy most?

4- What problems do readers find with romance fiction?

5- Do women read romance fiction from authors outside their race?

6- Does age of reader affect 1) reading of romance novels and 2) reading of romance novels across race?

For this pilot study, I am administering a survey, which is located on Survey Monkey

The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete and consists of 26 questions on romance reading preferences and demographical information.

Names will not be used in the study. If you agree to participate in the study, please go to Survey Monkey [http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/romancefiction] where you will first read the consent form before completing the survey.

You can contact me at shon.bacon@ttu. edu if you have any questions.

I thank you all in advance for considering my request. Shon Bacon

Ladies, are you partial to sexy men who play smooth jazz? Can you appreciate a man who knows how to wine and dine a woman, right?

If you answered yes to the questions above, then let me introduce you to a man who is not only sinfully sexy, but he’s a Grammy award-winning jazz musician and he loves women – Raphael Baptiste!

Yep, he’s the protagonist in IF I WERE YOUR WOMAN by LaConnie Taylor-Jones that releases March 4, 2010. He’s truly a man worth knowing. So-o-o-o, I invite you to connect with Raphael now through March 4, 2010!

You can follow him daily or at your leisure at – http://twitter.com/RaphaelBaptiste

Enjoy!!!

Shayna Kenyon knows heartbreak. After she catches her fiancé cheating on her the night of their wedding, a reality break in Jamaica is just the pick-me-up this romance author needs. Especially when Shayna arrives at the exclusive resort…and notices the seriously sexy brother checking her out.

In the Caribbean for a wedding, Donovan Deval isn’t thinking about making a love connection. But it’s time to move on with his life—and that means pursuing Shayna, the exotic beauty who’s making his libido leap off the charts! Shayna wants to take it slow, but Donovan’s ready to turn up the heat. As passion ignites, he vows to turn their sizzling island paradise into the real thing.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Do you know someone who has experienced it and they are still together? Is this something that only happens in books & movies? Share your thoughts!

Trey Evans has zero interest in becoming Mamma Lou’s next matchmaking “victim.” The single life suits him just fine, at least until he meets fashion designer Kenya Whitaker. She’s talented, smart, savvy—everything he wants in a woman in one irresistibly sexy package.

All Kenya wants from Trey is payback for stealing her father’s company. The charming, ambitious businessman is known for getting his way. But Kenya has some tricks of her own, and she intends to use them to capture Trey’s heart—and then break it. Yet when her scheme starts to work a little too well, will winning this battle of wits be worth losing something far more precious?

If the romance in your relationship has been lacking lately below are a few simple steps to add the spark back into your relationship:

1. Give your mate your undivided attention. Let the phone calls go to voice mail; turn off the TV; pull yourself away from email and the computer.

2. Schedule a date night. Whether it’s once a week or once a month, new and old couples need a night just to themselves. If you have kids, find a reliable babysitter. Do what you have to do so you and your mate can keep the flames burning. Keep in tune to what attracted you to your mate in the first place.

3. Allow your mate some “me time.” Everyone needs to spend time away from their mates—whether it’s to read, a long hot bubble bath, a trip to the spa, hanging out with friends, or just quiet time alone. Believe it or not this can help your relationship.

4. Give a card, send an email/text message or make a phone call “just because.” Don’t wait for special holidays or birthdays to show that you care. Do something every week, if not every day to let your mate know you’re thinking of them. And not out of any obligation, but because of your genuine affection towards them.

5. Share a part of yourself that you don’t share with anyone else. This helps create a special bond and should bring you closer.

6. Make a customized CD with both of your favorite songs. Don’t forget to make duplicates so you both can have a copy in your cars.

These are only a few ways you can add spark back into your relationship. Remember to take the time to REALLY get to know your mate’s likes and dislikes. Don’t be afraid to cater to their needs.

For more suggestions, click on the following links:

• Romantic wine selection
• Great Love Sonnets by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
• Music to romance by

Shelia M Goss is the author of six romance novels, including His Invisible Wife, My Invisible Husband and Hollywood Deception. For more information, go to www.sheliagoss.com.

Congrats to Patsy Nelson! She is the winner of the box of books & other goodies for the Endless Love Virtual Tour book & song contest! Patsy submitted a whopping 87 titles/songs! You go Patsy!

Your prize will be mailed to you in the next few days!

Again, congratulations!

This doesn’t happen with every book I read, but sometimes there is a quote or a scene that is so romantic or so hot, it brings a smile to my face, a tear to my eye or gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling that only true love can bring.

For instance, I just re-read A Legal Affair by Maureen Smith. The whole book is excellent and there are several scenes that stick out in my mind, but the one that affected me the most was at the end of the book, pages 289 – 294 to be exact :::giggling:::, when Caleb comes in and requests Daniela’s help finding a missing person. That is such a beautiful, romantic scene.

So, what are some of your most memorable quotes/scenes?

A guide to the most popular and maligned fiction genre, this hilariously sarcastic but always affectionate study of romance novels is perfect for hardcore fans and dabblers alike.

Smart and irreverent, the women who founded the popular blog “Smart Bitches, Trashy Books” both mock and pay homage to this highly successful genre. Sure, the authors visit the wild love scenes where the hero/heroine Must Have Sex NOW, but they also speak with famous romance authors and explore how the billion-dollar genre has influenced gender and sexual roles in our society.

From insider advice on writing romance novels to discovering your inner Viking warrior, Beyond Heaving Bosoms shows that while some romance novels can be silly, maybe even tawdry, they’re also intelligent, savvy, feminist, and fabulous — just like the Smart Bitches.

Staying in Love

I’ve been married to the same man for more than a quarter of a century. I like to say it that way because it sounds like a longer time than more than twenty-five years. LOL We married in our teens, and have beat the odds. Not only are we still together, we still like each other!

So, how do we stay in love?

We make our relationship a priority. We work together. We are frequently in the midst of one household project or another and we garden. We heat with wood in the winter, so we go out and get the wood, then I split it and he stacks it. (I like splitting it…my arms look better now than they did when I was in my teens! LOL)

But we don’t just work. We geek date.

What’s a geek date, you ask?

Well, anything that makes my kids roll their eyes when I say we had a ‘date’ pretty much qualifies. LOL We walk the dogs together every evening. We grocery shop at Wegmans most weekends together. Now, this might not seem like a big date, but if you’ve ever been to a Wegmans, you get it. They’re a fun grocery store, with tons of new things to try. Coffee. Bagels. Oh, yeah, it’s a great date!

We also antique. I have a lovely collection of Halls China and have recently started collecting stoneware. But the biggest glee has been furnishing our formal living room with antiques. And since we’re out antiquing together, each item comes with a story. For instance, the beautiful Ethan Allen corner cupboard was one of my dh’s best haggles…ten dollars. Not only is it pristine, but it looks as if it was built for the corner.

Over the summer, we did some special outings as well. One of the coolest was spending a day on the Brig Niagara…Erie’s reproduction of the Perry’s ship on the Battle of Lake Erie.

Okay, does any of that constitute a magic recipe for a happily-ever-after? No. Would it work for other couples? Maybe not. I guess my point is, to create a happily-ever-after your own. Find your own inner-geek dates. Something that the two of you can do together. More importantly, something you can enjoy together.

I don’t think that a happy marriage is because of big things. I think it’s more of the little things. Walking the dogs, shopping at Wegmans, an outing on the Brig Niagara… It’s finding what things work for both of you!

Holly Jacobs

So what are some things that help you stay in love?  Share your responses below and be entered to win a book from Holly!

About the author

More than a million and a half copies of Holly Jacobs’ books have sold worldwide. Her category romances have made Walden’s Bestseller List and won numerous awards such as the National Readers’ Choice Award, Holt Medallion, Bookseller’s Best, Golden Quill, Golden Leaf, More than Magic and Madcap Awards. She’s won two of Romantic Times’ Reviewers’ Choice Awards and also won their prestigious Career Achievement Award for Series Love and Laughter. She’s presented more than forty workshops across the U.S. on a variety of writing related subjects from writing romantic comedy to time management. Both subjects frequently come into play in her non-writing life. You see, Holly’s married to a police captain and together they’ve had four children.

Visit Holly online

www.HollyJacobs.com

http://www.myspace.com/authorhollyjacobs

http://www.new.facebook.com/authorhollyjacobs?ref=profile

http://community.eharlequin.com/most-recent-blogpost/1185

About the books – click covers to purchase

Life happens…and then life really happens!

Teacher Eli Cartwright has it all figured out—the career, the reliable boyfriend and the next few dependable decades. But life has quite a sense of humor, it seems, since her perfectly ordered existence has been completely upended. Because now Eli is counseling pregnant teens—with an unplanned pregnancy of her own!

So Eli is single, terrified…and exuberant. And her colleague, Zac Keller, has never been more attracted to her. But can he convince Eli that life sometimes offers more than one unexpected gift at a time?

9 Months Later: It’s not what they’re expecting

********************************************************************

For years, Nana Vancy Bashalde Salo believed that she’d cursed her own family to bad weddings. Now that the curse is broken, she’s bored. Her best friends, the ‘Silver Bells,’ convince her to try her hand at matchmaking. And Nana has just the person in mind, Salo Construction’s new office manager, Eve Allen.

Eve is coming out of a bad relationship and longs for a little quiet and order. That’s definitely not in the cards with Nana Vancy around. And it’s even less possible when Nana tries to hook her up with TC Potter, a boy who broke her heart in kindergarten when he told her there was no Santa, and then broke it again in 9th grade when he stood her up for a dance. Eve’s heart still healing from her last bad relationship, she doesn’t need it broken by TC for a third time.

Freelance writer, TC Potter makes his living by writing articles about Every American Man. His life was pretty much perfect until he was named one of America’s most eligible bachelors last year. He’s spent the last twelve month hiding out from women who’d like to de-bachelor him. Now he’s finally met someone he’d really like to date, but Eve’s not interested. But maybe with a Hungarian grandmother’s help, and a little Christmas magic, he can convince her that they have something too special to ignore?

Rejoin the Salo family in Everything But a Christmas Eve and discover if Nana Vancy really does have some Hungarian magic!