Hello, and welcome back! While last week was the most gorgeous weather imaginable, it looks as if this week will be less agreeable, and ending with rain from the humongous hurricane working its way toward the east coast. I suppose that's a good excuse to stay inside and read, right?

Before I get into the new books, I first want to remind you all that our September Book Club Selection is still being discussed over in the forum, so please come join us.

Also, I have two book giveaways coming up, also in the forum, so come on over anyway, even if this month's book club selection isn't quite your speed.

Okay, first up is Suzanne Forster's
Brief Encounters (Harlequin Blaze #101). I'm a big fan of Ms. Forster's and always complain that I wish she wrote faster, so I was very happy to learn this book was coming, though I was a little leery about the format, since the Blaze books haven't lived up to what some readers (including this one) expected when they split off from the Temptation line. Interesting premise--underwear designer Swan McKenna is taken completely by surprise when super-sexy FBI agent Rob Gaines comes to arrest her for embezzlement. Her cooperation with his investigation, though, puts them in very close contact, closer than is normally encouraged for officer-suspect relations. There are some highly steamy encounters here, which will satisfy lovers of good erotic romance. I could have done without so many references, however, to the heroine's bathroom problems throughout the story. Kinda icky. I'm borrowing three and a half of Cupid's five arrows for this one.

Next up is Nora Roberts's
Mysterious, a new anthology with reprints of three of her older romances, "This Magic Moment," "Search for Love," and "The Right Path." For readers who've been searching for some of her older titles, this year has been a bonanza, with all the reissues that have hit the bookstores. Yes, as with all older romances, there's a certain amount of alpha male, younger female in the story lines, but hey, we read them, too, didn't we? And who says we can't still enjoy them for what they are: romances, fantasy. By the way, this is one of the two books I'm going to be giving away in the forum this week, so if you're a Nora fan, keep your eyes open over there.

Finally this week, I have Richard Paul Evans's
A Perfect Day (Dutton) as my second giveaway book, and this one's autographed. Not really a romance--the story of a man whose fondest wish comes true, but at what cost?--but I know that he's quite a popular author in other arenas, and as romance readers are generally voracious readers, probably many of you have read some of his other things. See you in the forum!

Until next week, happy reading!