Sourcebooks Casablanca Romance Authors

Although we really don’t see a change of seasons much here in the Arizona desert, we do have an abundance of wild flowers, and cacti do flower in the spring. So I’m happy to be able to share these photos I took at our Desert Botanical Gardens. I have included some cacti that are just beautiful in shape, although they aren't flowering. The tall stalk is the bloom of a century plant, which is only supposed to bloom every one hundred years, but I've seen it bloom much more often. The plants that look like rocks are actually named that, and are native to Africa but thrive here in our own desert. I hope you enjoy! As Always, Wishing you my Magical Best, Kathryne

by Cheryl Brooks Contrary to Punxsutawney Phil's prediction, spring came early to Indiana this year. I can't complain too much because I'm ready for the snowdrops to bloom as soon as the Christmas tree comes down--and this year, that's pretty much what happened. I took this first picture toward the end of February, but these little charmers had already been in bloom for at least three weeks even then. I posted this picture of my first daffodil on my blog on March 1st-- much earlier than usual! And then, after all that lovely warm weather, it snowed. When I let Peaches and Bugsy out that morning, they were looking around like, "What the hell happened?" and I'm sure they weren't the only ones who felt that way. And then spring returned with temperatures that had the tulip magnolias blooming and people wearing shorts. By mid March, the weeping cherry was in full bloom. Ev...

In the Regency period, where I set my books, flowers were more than simply pretty. Each and every flower had a meaning. Want to express love? Try carrying carnations--red for pure love or pink meaning, I will always remember you. Or perhaps the love is new. Then you want to give lilacs, which symbolize the first emotions of love. Tulips indicate a declaration of love. Red roses, of course, are the ultimate symbols of love. Violets indicate faithful love. From whence did this tradition originate? Turkish harems, believe it or not. In 1718, the wife of the ambassador to Constantinople decoded the messages used in the harems and introduced them to England. It wasn't until 1809 that the first book on the subject was published, and after Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, she spread the tradition around the country. Lest you think this tradition has completely died out, consider that Kate Middleton specifically chose flowers for her wedding celebration to convey particular meaning...

by Joanne Kennedy We Westerners like a challenge--but gardening in Wyoming might be too much of one for me. It's dry here, and the growing season is short. Every year spring seems to come earlier. My bulbs come up, my daffodils bloom, and then wham ! We get slammed with snow. Last year we got ten inches on May 25th. At least I've learned not to run out and buy bedding plants at the first sign of spring. It only took me a few years of tragedy to realize that you absolutely can't plant anything until the end of May. It's really tempting to break that rule when the skies are blue, the temperature is a balmy 75, and robins are frolicking in the back yard, but I've learned to resist temptation. You also have to resist the temptation to buy many of the plants that catch your eye at the garden center. Anything that needs moisture or humidity is out, and since the temperature can vary by forty degrees in a single day, you need fairly hardy varieties. Delicate plants...

by Deb Werksman Editorial Manager, Sourcebooks Casablanca We've started an exciting new venture: www.discoveranewlove.com Discover a New Love is an online readers club, featuring DRM-free ebooks. Members join for 6 months, and every month they get a choice among 4 featured selections for download. They also get a hefty discount on any other books they want to buy from the site. Our whole purpose is to make it easier for readers to discover authors they've never read before. We've been hearing over and over how difficult it is to know what's good with so many books out there now. How does a reader know she's going to get a book that's any good? We're taking the guesswork out, and also providing ways for reader to connect with the authors they love. We launched about 2 weeks ago, and we've already had thousands of visitors from all over the world. 2/3 of the books are available all over the world, and we're really excited to be c...

*I'm having trouble with blogger and can only post text here. It's a shame, because I had some beautiful pictures. I managed to post everything (including the pictures) on my own blog. I'll continue my struggle to post them here, but I'll give you the link to my personal blog in case I fail and hope this issue shakes out soon. ******************** Signs of spring bring to mind beautiful meadows with wildflowers, baby wildlife, and kids able to shed their coats and kick a ball outside again. Now that I live in NH, that's the spring I know. But back when I lived in Boston and Spring arrived, even with warmer weather the awakening seemed less evident--maybe because the city never really experienced the quiet sleep of winter. It takes until late May or June, but eventually the city blooms. The public gardens are a joy to walk again. The swan boats come out of storage. Flower boxes overflow with beautiful color. But the major change is with people. All winter...

We here in the mid-Atlantic region were not living the traditional "April showers bring May flowers" thing. It's been kinda dry. Well, it's no longer dry and my grass seems to have sprung up overnight (as grass and children are wont to do). It started raining Saturday night (when Stephanie Julian and I were driving home (NY to PA) from a Book Obsessed Chicks gathering/signing) and it hasn't stopped since. Bad stuff has been raining down, too, unfortunately, but I won't talk about that. Though some prayers for 2 of my extended family members wouldn't be remiss. But good writing stuff has been raining down, too. I finally got the cover for my August release, Magic Gone Wild. Isn't it pretty? This is my blurb for the book. marketing is still working on the official one: Zane Harrison opens an old trunk in the attic of his family’s ancestral home to find Vana. The genie. A famously inept genie as it turns out—which explains so much about why ...

The Crepe Myrtles in full bloom in my front yard! I couldn't resist sharing Duncan MacNeill, the new cover for A Howl for a Highlander, fierce Highland warrior who has a mission--take back the money that belongs to the clan. Only he gets a whole lot distracted by one sassy she-wolf when he arrives on the Grand Cayman Island, who's got his number. Will he be trouble? That's all she wonders, and yes, only maybe she causes more than he ever could! :) Feb 2013 Release! Wolf smelling the wildflowers of spring. Thistles grow wild out here, bringing a little of Scotland home. Wolf pup in spring and lovely wildflowers framing her. More wildflowers. Giant sunflowers that pop up year after year with a backdrop of the cornfield that's jungle high. My dad planted the seeds years and years ago and remind me of him every year. She's either planning to shift with the alpha male, or already turned back into her human form. Not sure. Which do ...

by Olivia Cunning I love flower gardening. Each winter, I long for the first spring flowers to emerge from the ground and display their brave blooms. There was a time, not so long ago, that I would spend entire weekends planting, tending, weeding, mulching and watering all my pretty little flowers. This is what my garden looked like in the spring. These are photos I took of my garden flowers around five years ago. It was so wonderful to see such gorgeous blooms after a long, harsh winter in The Plains. This is the same garden in the summer. Lilies thrive in this climate, much to my delight. Obviously, I love spring flowers and lilies. Some of my lilies grew shoulder-high and they smelled heavenly. Due to my increasingly busy life and lack of commitment to weeding and fertilizing and watering, my flower garden slowly deteriorated. Each year there were more weeds and fewer flowers. I kept telling myself ...