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I have a confession to make: I spend as much time fretting over the health of GAME OF THRONES author, George R.R. Martin as if I'd birthed him. I scour the Internet for recent pictures of him, then compare them to last year's in forensic detail. Has he gained a pound? Is his skin tone healthy? Is he watching his cholesterol?
I'd like to claim my concern is prompted by a sort of universal writerly bonhomie-- but it's not. I fret because I got sucked into his fantasy series and I live in terror that he'll be taking the Big Dirt Nap before he writes "the end" of the series. This isn't an unfounded fear, either. The last book in the series came out five years after its predecessor.
This reflects poorly on me, I know, but you have to understand that I am not a willing series reader. I can't tell you how many times I have tried to break off my series addiction, sometimes because the series floundered to an unsatisfying end and sometimes because the series ended midstream (George, are you listening?) But the most bittersweet reason of all is because the series ended well, leaving me tearfully waving to a literary boat that's never coming back again.
Yet, despite my vows of serial abstinence, here I am about to try to lure you into joining me on some new romantic series addictions. Be warned: These are gateway books. So, as usual, in no particular order of preference.
Barefoot Season, Book One of The Blackberry Island Series by Susan Mallery.
Woman's fiction with plenty of romance, this story offers an emotionally compelling tale of heroism and sacrifice, betrayal and enduring friendship when Michelle Sanderson, an army vet suffering from PSTD, comes home to take over the inn she's inherited and there confronts a past that both threatens and strengthens her recovery.
Hidden, Book One of the Bone Secrets Series by Kendra Elliott.
It might not sound as sexy as "blood splatter expert" but newcomer Kendra Elliott's forensic odontologist Lacey Campbell, is one helluva a character. Sparks fly when she teams up with ex-cop Jack Harper to investigate the newly discovered remains left by a killer thought captured long ago. Fans of Tami Hoag and Tess Gerritsen are going to fall in love!
Midnight's Master, The Dark Warriors Series by Donna Grant.
Did you love the old "Highlander" TV series? Of course, you did! Well, hallelujah, the marvelous Donna Grant is bringing back the magic, the muscles and the macho in her brand new contemporary time-travel series where wicked gorgeous Scotsman, Logan Hamilton is sent through time to fight a Very. Dark. Force. And fighting against falling in love with Gwynn Austin. I adore a story where a godlike hero ends up undone by a mortal woman (like me.)
More Than a Stranger, (Sealed with a Kiss) by Erin Knightly.
Simply a fabulous debut novel! If like me, every now and then you yearn for a more subtle romance, for a Georgette Heyer, Carla Kelly or Candice Hern, something sensual but subtle, where the sexuality simmers, not boils over, you're in for a treat. The long building romance between spinster Lady Evelyn Moore and enigmatic Benedict Hastings is threatened by the obligations of family and duty.
And finally, my favorite series launch this year doesn't belong to a romance but to Lyndsay Faye's stunningly rich, textured and detailed historical mystery, The Gods of Gotham.
What about you? Started any series lately that have you drooling for the next book?
Connie Brockway is a USA Today and New York Times bestselling author. Her latest novel is The Other Guy's Bride. She is published by Montlake Romance. You can see a recent review of her own book here.
