Okay, here's another new book from my friend Robin Lee Hatcher. Robin is a great lady who I admire and respect. She gave me some great advice at a recent writer's conference. And she loves Macs to boot. Here a little about her new book:

BUNDLE OF JOY

Alicia Harris says she's happily married and expecting a baby—but only the last part is true. She can't bear to disappoint her grandfather by telling him she's two months away from single motherhood. Then Grandpa Roger, still recovering from a heart attack, drops in unexpectedly to spend the holidays with Alicia and her husband, and to protect her beloved grandfather from unnecessary stress, Alicia needs to find a fill-in—fast. Childhood friend Joe Palmero fits the bill and is willing to play along. Still, the longer they spend playing their parts, the closer Alicia and Joe come to discovering what love, faith and marriage truly mean.

Find out more about this and all of Robin's books at her web site:

Library News from Author Susan Meissner

My friend Susan Meissner’s newest book, The Shape of Mercy, is a blend of contemporary and historical fiction, mystery and romance. Set in present day Santa Barbara and also in colonial America during the Salem Witch Trials, the book follows a young college student as she transcribes the diary of a young woman falsely accused of witchcraft in 1692.

“The story in a nutshell is this,” Susan says. “Lauren Durough is a West Coast English major at the proverbial age of discovery. Sheltered in her growing up years by family wealth, she is just beginning to grasp how people judge other people by what they want to believe about them, and particularly for her, how the poor view the wealthy. When she opts out of her family’s financial support, she takes on a job as a literary assistant to Abigail Boyles, an 83-year-old reclusive East Coast transplant. Abigail tasks Lauren with transcribing the diary of her ancestor, Mercy Hayworth, hanged for witchcraft in 17th-century Massachusetts. The lives of these two very different women converge as they jointly piece together the life — and death — of a third woman, Mercy Hayworth, who lived three hundred years earlier, and who also struggled against undeserved cultural stigmatization, but lost.”

Susan says the title has dual meaning. “Those who testified against the accused in Salem in 1692 often claimed their tormentors “took shape” in their bedrooms and tortured them as they slept. My fictional character Mercy was also accused of taking shape and torturing another young girl of the Village. She was innocent of course, as all those accused were, but in her last act before death, she shows that love has a shape. And its shape is mercy.”

Publishers Weekly gave the book a starred review. I encourage you to learn more about Susan and her books at www.susanmeissner.com.

My Kind Of Town

Man, do I love New York City. I'd been twice before, but my 18-year-old daughter and I just spent 4 days in "the City" and loved every New York Minute of it. We got Metrocards and canvassed the city via subway and on foot. From the Circle Line boat tour around Manhattan and the five boroughs, to the top of the Empire State Building, to Grand Central Station, the NY Library, Times Square, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, and Wall Street, we did it all. Even caught a glimpse of America Ferrara shooting on location at Centre Street. The food, the people, everything was fabulous.

Library News from Author Susan May Warren

At a recent writers' retreat in Orlando, I got to spend quite a bit of time with Minnesotan Susan May Warren (and she says it like that..."Minnesoooota" with a long O). Anyway, Suzie is a wonderful person and she writes great books. Her new one is called Finding Stephanie, and it's romantic suspense. Here's a bit about it:

When she put her dreams on hold to help run the family ranch, she never imagined they would slip out of sight. Luckily for Stefanie, those dreams are about to come knocking at her door.

Lincoln Cash has gained fame and fortune on the big screen, but a crippling secret leaves him one last chance to make his mark on the movie industry. With dreams of hosting a new film festival, Lincoln intends to remodel a sprawling ranch in eastern Montana to make it the new Hollywood hot spot.

Unfortunately, a house fire threatens his plans. So does opposition from his new neighbor Stefanie Noble, who's not thrilled about his Tinseltown changes. What Lincoln and Stefanie don't know is that the fire won't be the last disaster to threaten Lincoln or his future. Someone is out for revenge... but who? And who is the real target?

Here's a bit about Suzie's background:

Susan May Warren is the award-winning novelist of over twenty novels, many of which have won the Inspirational Readers Choice Award, the ACFW Book of the Year award, and have been Rita or Christy award finalists. Her compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won her acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. She loves to write and help other writers find their voice through her www.MyBookTherapy.com boutique editing blog and services. A former missionary to Russia, Susan May Warren and her husband of 20 years, and four children, now live in a small town on Minnesota’s beautiful Lake Superior shore where they are active in their local church.

Click here to order the new book and click here to visit Suzie's web site. Thanks for stopping by. Creston

Library News from Author Rachel Hauck

Hey guys,

My friend, Rachel Hauck, has a new book out called Love Starts With Elle and there's a cool book trailer you can watch right here. Rachel is a wonderful person whose work I highly recommend. You can find out more, and watch the new book trailer, at her web site.

Library News from Author Tamera Alexander

Hey all,

My friend Tamera Alexander has a new novel out and the synopsis and reviews make me want to read it. In fact, I plan to get a copy very soon...in Orlando!

Here's a bit about the novel, From A Distance, off the back cover:

What happens when dreams aren’t what you imagined,
And secrets you’ve spent a lifetime guarding are finally laid bare?

Determined to become one of the country’s premier newspaper photographers, Elizabeth Westbrook travels to the Colorado Territory to capture the grandeur of the mountains surrounding the remote town of Timber Ridge. She hopes, too, that the cool, dry air of Colorado, and its renowned hot springs, will cure the mysterious illness that threatens her career, and her life.

Daniel Ranslett, a former Confederate sharpshooter, is a man shackled by his past, and he’ll do anything to protect his land and his solitude. When an outspoken Yankee photographer captures an image that appears key to solving a murder, putting herself in danger, Daniel is called upon to repay a debt. He’s a man of his word, but repaying that debt will bring secrets from his past to light.

Forced on a perilous journey together, Daniel and Elizabeth’s lives intertwine in ways neither could have imagined when first they met . . . from a distance.

“…a rich historical romance by possibly the best new writer in this subgenre.”
--Library Journal

“…a most amazing story. The characters are more than words on the page; they become real people.”
--Romantic Times

To order, click here.

Library News from Author Linda Hall

Shadows at the Window is the name of my friend Linda Hall's new novel, the second in her ‘shadows’ trilogy. The women in these series of books must deal with and work through the ‘shadows’ in their pasts before they can make peace and find love in the present. Linda says, "In the first of the series, Shadows at the Mirror, the main character doesn't know anything about her past. It’s a mystery she must uncover. In this release, Shadows at the Window, main character Lilly Johnson knows her past all too well, and it’s one she’d rather forget. Because it’s so abhorrent to her, she’s made up a series of lies that she tells her fiancé. But, the past has a way of catching up with the present, and when people in her past show up, her first inkling is to run. But, that would mean leaving everything behind, and that’s something she’s not willing to do."

Get all the details on Linda and her books here.