Hello, and welcome back! Hope you´re not all too swamped with holiday prep to take at least a few minutes to yourself and catch your breath.

This seems to be the time of year to sit back and reflect on the past twelve months...and it seems to me we´ve had quite a year. All the great new authors we´ve found, the tried and true favorite authors who treat us to delightful new stories regularly. New lines to replace some of the no-longer-existing lines at the romance publishers. Our new Romantic Notions shop. Plenty to be thankful for amid some of the other chaos of the year.

First of all, those new authors--Sue-Ellen Welfonder, Lauren Bach and Stephanie Gertler to name just a few. What amazing talents! I know all three have new books scheduled for 2002, and I can´t wait to get my hands on them. Sue-Ellen´s is due out in April, right before we head to Scotland on the Lady Barrow tour, the setting for her wonderful romances. I don´t have dates yet on Lauren or Stephanie´s next releases, but I´ll let you know as soon as I hear.

Ah, the tried and true fave authors--Nora Roberts is at the top of my personal list--like Patricia Potter, Catherine Anderson, Susan Meier, Christine Holden, and Susan Krinard. I can´t possibly name them all, but I´m so glad they´ve been sharing new characters with us. From Nora Roberts alone, we´ve had many new books, including the first two from her new trilogy. Time will drag until the final book in that series is released. Many of these ladies also have new books scheduled for release in 2002--I actually have a a few of their January releases sitting on my desk right now, waiting to be shared with you. Here´s hoping they continue to come up with the characters we can´t resist for many more years to come.

The Seduction and Highland Fling lines are off to a good start, with Elizabeth English´s contribution (and her January release is also part of the latter line), though I miss the regular Magical Love and Time Passages. Harlequin´s Blazes are out monthly and keeping more favorite authors on our shelves with those sexy reads we love. Who knows what the publishers will come up with for us next year?

Finally, there are the new things we´ve done here at Bella´s Romance Books, most recently our shop. But throughout the year, there was the interview with Susan Krinard, our Lauren Bach book giveaway. I´m aiming to continue to bring you news of your favorite authors for the next year as well, and perhaps a surprise or two. I hope you enjoy.

Until next week, happy reading!