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A Word About Billionaire (and Other Scummy) Romance Tropes

Warning — this is a rant about romance tropes that get under my skin and not in a good way. Plus recommendations for good romance reading. Did I get your attention when I mentioned billionaire? That category of fiction that’s blowing through old sales records, reinventing the romance genre, and — in my opinion — leading young readers astray.

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Writing Tips — Writing Love and Romance

I’m in the mood for writing love and romance. It’s springtime here in Northern California, with roses, lilacs, and poppies bursting out. I wanted to celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary by visiting our local rose garden, and it was a truly gorgeous display! We congratulated ourselves on choosing a springtime wedding date. With love in the air, I resumed work on the romance sub-plot in my new time travel novel, Undoing Time. It’s a difficult…

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Why All My Novels Are Set in Italy

It’s hard to avoid noticing — all my novels are set in Italy. All or part of all three of my stories take place in that magic land, Italy. It began as an homage to the most fabulous traveling of my life, an art history tour of Rome, Assisi, Florence, Portofino, and Venice. Even just one of those places makes you want to fall in love — if with nothing more than this beautiful place.

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Time Travel Novels — Escape to Other Times

I love time travel novels that focus on love and mystery. Do you need a good read that lets you escape — lifting you out of your worries or concerns. Want to escape for a few evenings that’s romantic, adventurous, and emotionally satisfying? I know I need such stories right now. Here are three books I’ve read that combine all those elements — with a Youtube link to a song for each book!

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Ideas for Your Global Pandemic Self Isolation Reading List

As a public service, here’s a list of books for your global pandemic, self isolation reading — you are reading more now, aren’t you? They’re books I’ve enjoyed recently (though I wasn’t yet in self isolation). Time traveling, sister stories, romance, and mystery When We Believed in Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal — 5 stars.A poignant story of sisterhood and reunion, this well-told story of separated sisters moved back and forth between the present and the…

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Isn’t It Romantic? More Novels Set in Italy

Isn’t It Romantic? If you can’t travel to this romantic, beautiful land, you can fall in love reading novels set in italy. They take you to what may be everyone’s dream getaway destination. Read my earlier post on this for a long list. Here are some added romantic novels, and even some romantic nonfiction books set in that magical, sensuous country.

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Interview with the Main Character – The Renaissance Club

Today I’m interviewing May Gold, the character in my time travel romance novel, The Renaissance Club. Perfect for fans of Susanna Kearsley and Diana Gabaldon, the story has been called “enchanting, rich, and romantic”! May a young art historian whose career ambitions are frustrated and whose love relationship is disintegrating, goes on a tour of Renaissance Italy with her teaching colleagues. When she steps through a fold in time she meets her 17th century artist…

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Romance Novels Set in Italy

Romance Novels Set in Italy — Isn’t It Romantic? Have you read any romance novels set in Italy? Hard to imagine a more  delicious setting for love to blossom. The warm climate, the friendly people, the fabulous food, the passionate way Italians live. And while you’re dallying with a (fictional) handsome Italian, you’re munching on fabulous pasta and looking at gorgeous art. Longing for a romantic book like that?  I have a list for you,…

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The Renaissance Club on Blog Tour + Enter my Givewaway

Book blog Fabulous and Brunette has hosted me and my book with an interview and my giveaway, plus an excerpt. Read a little of my time-travel novel, The Renaissance Club! This wonderful site bills itself as: “A Lifestyle blog that focuses on all things from fashion to beauty; fitness to weight loss; recipes to coupons; books to movies; travels to entertainment; and everything in between.” From fashion to fiction, recipes to fitness, there’s a lot to…

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Marketing a Romance Novel That’s Non-Traditional

One of the challenges I’m facing is marketing a romance novel that’s non-traditional — that is, doesn’t follow the romance formula. My book The Renaissance Club didn’t start out as a classic romance story formula. I was simply intrigued by the idea of a love story across the ages. As I imagined my heroine, May Gold, I wasn’t thinking about book marketing categories, Amazon, the Big Five, romances, or literary agents.

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