This is gonna be brief, because I’m writing again (slowly, but yes!) and I want to get back to Jules and Sam who are deeply mired in some serious (and seriously funny) WTF.
A) There’s a US 99 cent e-book sale for A Holiday Secret, which is a Harlequin re-packaging of Undercover Princess, my installment in the old Royally Wed multi-author series.
This is a book that I was approached by the publisher to write for a multi-author series about sisters who were all princesses (natch!), searching for their long-lost prince-brother.
I got sent the series bible and I thought, “Sure, that could be fun, as long as I don’t get the wimpy, shy sister. hahaha, why would they give me her?! HAHAHA!”
Of course, you can guess what happened. Hello, wimpy, shy sister. I sat with her—Katherine—a moment and decided that in this book my heroine would learn to be assertive and kick-ass. And yes, dear reader, she certainly did. It was actually quite a fun book to write. (FYI, it stands alone from the rest of the series.)
My heroine goes “undercover” in her search for her missing bro, and ends up getting hired as the nanny for a man with two young children, one of whom has sought comfort from his mother’s death by continuously pretending to be a dog. The other is a mouthy teen girl. So Princess Katherine has quite the challenge on her hands. (Also their dad is crazy hot and there may be a sex scene on his office desk, in which Katherine is neither wimpy nor shy…)
And oh, yeah, the book won a RITA, which means what it means, of course. (To me it meant “Hey, look, I won an award for a book in which there’re no Navy SEALs in sight!! That’s weird!”)
So okay. Before you click the buy-button remember to check your bookshelf/library for Undercover Princess, because that was this book’s OG title. (That first cover was one of my favorites.) For some reason (which they didn’t share with me) Harlequin changed the title to A Holiday Secret.
But yeah, you can get it for a very excellent grab-it-now 99 cents in the US for a limited time. (I found out about it because BookBub sent me an email yesterday. But these types of sales tend to last for a few days at least. Still, act fast!)
Here’s a link to my webpage about this book (under the Undercover Princess title) which has the links to all of your favorite (and hated/boycotted) e-book sellers:
Which brings us to…
B) I had the pleasure of reading an ARC of Victoria Helen Stone’s new release, Bald-Faced Liar, and (whispers) don’t tell Jane because I loved this book even more than I loved Jane Doe. (And I really, really loved Jane Doe.)
Here’s what I said about Bald-Faced Liar:
“Bald-Faced Liar is hysterically, mindblowingly great. There’s so much of this book that I loved, and by so much I mean everything. Characters, plot, theme, voice, world-building. Sinking down into Elizabeth’s world was so delightful. What a fun, exhilarating ride.” —Suzanne Brockmann, New York Times bestselling author
It’s a thriller with romantic elements, and I really do think you’ll love it as much as I did.
Here’s the book’s blurb:
Traveling nurse Elizabeth May has a promising new home in Santa Cruz. And another new identity. It’s a pattern of reinvention for a woman escaping a traumatic childhood—and hiding from the decades of notoriety and destruction that followed. Invisibility has kept Elizabeth safe. Until now. After all these years, someone sees her for who she is.
Threat by threat, a vengeful stalker is dismantling Elizabeth’s carefully constructed lifetime of lies. And no one in her temporary circle can be trusted. Not her fleeting new love interest. Not the supportive friend she knows only from online forums. And certainly not the police. They’ve never been there for her.
As dread sharpens to fear, Elizabeth soon discovers something about her past that even she didn’t know. The revelation could finally set her on a path of healing and redemption. Or, now alone in the dark, it could be Elizabeth’s worst nightmare.
Argh, I wish I could read it again for the first time! (You are all so lucky!!) It’s so good and funny and insightful and excellent!
You can grab it from Amazon right now (at least until the end of May) as a First Reads for $1.99—and if you still have Prime, it’s FREE. (The paperback comes out on June 1st, and hopefully you can find it at other booksellers if you are stalwart in your Amazon boycott.)
Here’s an easy link to find it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bald-Faced-Liar-Victoria-Helen-Stone-ebook
And here’s more info at Victoria Helen Stone’s website:
Last but not least…
C) I’ve been slowly but surely writing again.
I recently got an official diagnosis of Long Covid ME/CFS from the Yale New Haven Long Covid Clinic, so yeah, doing much of anything these past five-plus years since I had acute Covid has been quite the challenge. (And no, I have not gotten it more than that one time because I still mask in public, but despite that, Long Covid really really sucks.)
But okay. Here I am, and these are the challenges of my life now, so I basically re-taught myself to write despite the fatigue and the brain fog, because after the shock of this past November, I discovered that I still have a lot to say.
So I’m writing a book—a mystery/dramady with romantic elements—that answers the question “What happens to Jules Cassidy after he gets forced out of the FBI?” (Because, let’s face it, whatever our political values, we all know that as a high level FBI team leader, Jules would’ve lasted about two minutes under this present administration.)
The book has a major subplot that explores Jules’s very first case, which took place when he was a senior in high school. It’s his origin story—it’s why he joined the FBI. (That’s been pretty fun to write. Young Jules is a hoot.)
I’m not gonna say more about this, because part of my writing process these days is to not talk AT ALL about the writing (kinda like Fight Club). In fact, I haven’t even told my mother that I’m writing this book. (She’s finding out about this for the first time because she’s a subscriber to this newsletter. Hi, Mom. Shh, don’t talk about the writing!!)
But I’m just gonna drop this photo here.
Okay, that’s all for now.
I’ll keep you posted as to when this book will be available for you to read. My best guess, end of summer, early fall…? I’ll be self-pubbing it, so it’ll get to you ASAP, after it goes through the editing process. Also, needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway: No AI has been or will ever ever EVER be used in the writing/creation of any of my books. Never ever ever EVER. #AISucks
Follow me on Bluesky @SuzBrockmann, if you’re over there!
Thank you for your time and attention.
Please never stop fighting for our freedom, for our democracy, for equality, equity, peace, love, hope, and for the rights of ALL of our neighbors both here and around the world,
Suz
P.S. During these dark days, I’ve thrown in with Authors Against Book Bans. If you’re a romance writer (or any kind of writer!!) you might want to check out this growing group. MAGA is coming for our romance novels—it’s right there in Project 2025—and I for one am gearing up to fight like hell.
Here’s the link again: