Betrayal—Choosing Family Book 3

Apologies if you’re receiving this a second time. Gremlins invaded my machine and an unedited version went out. Betrayal is Anna Turner’s story. You may have met her in Masquerade (Bk 1) or Quinn, by design (Bk 2). She’s an identical twin and fiercely loyal to her sister Kate, the Quinn brothers and select friends. She doesn’t like entitledContinue reading “Betrayal—Choosing Family Book 3”

Can I interest you in a trope?

Tropes are a feature of romance novels, whether the novels be sweet, spicy or dark. Sophie Pembroke suggests a trope is a plot, theme, device or character used so often that it has become a convention within the genre. I’ve heard category romance editors argue that you have hooks and tropes, with the hooks relating to charactersContinue reading “Can I interest you in a trope?”

What’s so special about a table? (aka Quinn, by design)

Absolutely everything. In Quinn, by design—Choosing Family Book 2, one of Niall Quinn’s major creations is a table made from a single bark to bark piece of Huon pine (pictured on my website jenniferrainesauthor.com). The Huon pine or Macquarie pine, Lagarostrobos franklinii, is a species of conifer native to the wet southwestern corner of Tasmania, Australia. While known as a pine, it’sContinue reading “What’s so special about a table? (aka Quinn, by design)”

Familiar or unfamiliar settings?

Do you like to read novels set in a familiar or a foreign—by which I mean unfamiliar in time and space to you—location? A long time ago, I overhead someone say they loved Peter Corris’s crime novels because they were set in the city where the reader lived. That reader knew the streets, the spacesContinue reading “Familiar or unfamiliar settings?”

Writing the little black dress

Do a web search for “little black dress” and you’ll discover that fashion historians credit Coco Chanel for this 1920s design. It’s a clothing item that’s so well known it’s often referred to as “LBD”. The LBD is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible symbolising class, business, elegance, and sexiness. I’ll have whatContinue reading “Writing the little black dress”