Guest Blogger: Barb V.

I am a romance novel addict. I have been voraciously “trash” reading romance since I was 12 years old and hiding Harlequin Romance novels in my school locker. I had a middle school “pusher” pass along to me her mother’s stash of Harlequins (a new set each week). It was imperative I kept our friendship going, or my supply would dry up. I read some Barbara Cartland novels (an English romance author who wrote about 723 novels and lived to be 98 years old). Cartland wrote about poor, virginal heroines and their arrogant, titled, lovers. This formulaic content of poor, innocent girl looking for the confident man of experience to take care of all her problems worked enough for me until my 20s. Then I was looking for spicier, stronger characters and found them in paranormal and historical romance genre.
There is one particular writer I would like to plug that I believe you will enjoy. Kresley Cole is a paranormal romance author fairly new to the scene. According to Cole’s web site biography, before she became a writer, Cole was a world-ranked athlete and Master's grad. Since her first novel was published in 2003, she has sold a total of fifteen books and two novellas in two different subgenres, and has seen her releases translated into ten foreign languages. In January 2009, Cole became a #1 New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller.
I just finished the latest novel in Cole’s “Immortal After Dark Series” Pleasure of a Dark Prince. Cole again proves she is a smart, imaginative writer who uses humorous banter between the protagonists to build up the romance. The stories are filled with action and drama played out by mythical players such as Greek gods and goddesses, vampires, lykae (werewolves), furies, shifters, feys, valkyries and demons. These immortals fight amongst themselves and other factions and every 500 years (the Accession) a battle for supremacy begins. This war does a good job in population control.
Pleasure of a Dark Prince is about Lucia the Huntress, an archer who never misses, is pursued by Garreth MacRieve, Prince of the Lykae (werewolf) the Highland warrior who recognizes her as his mate. She doesn’t feel the same however and the pursuit takes them from New Orleans to the Amazon. Lucia carries a secret…if she sleeps with a man she will lose her powers, given to her by the Goddess of the Hunt Skathi, so she can enact revenge against the Devil. She needs a magical arrow to end his evil existence. Garreth’s tenacious seduction, however, makes it very hard for Lucia to resist him.
These “hot” titles from Cole’s “Immortals After Dark Series” definitely advertise the sexy, humorous and exciting content readers will find inside the pages of these books.
*Hunger Like No Other
*No Rest for the Wicked
*Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
*Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
*Kiss of a Demon King
*Pleasure of a Dark Prince
* Demon from the Dark (coming in August)

I don’t think romance writers are given the respect they deserve for the tales they tell and they should be admired for brightening the day of women from 12-years-old to 98. Holding one of these books in your hand is a quick escape from the demands of the world and these smart women should be commended for making that possible.
Happy reading romance lovers!
Barb V.