Recently received...

The Reluctant Matchmaker by Shobhan Bantwal (Kensington trade paperback, 26 June 2012).

At thirty-one, Meena Shenoy has a fulfilling career at a New Jersey high-tech firm. Not that it impresses her mother and aunts, who make dire predictions about her ticking biological clock. Men are drawn to Meena's dainty looks and she dates regularly, but hasn't met someone who really intrigues her. Someone professional, ambitious, confident, caring. Someone like her new boss, Prajay Nayak.
Just as Meena's thoughts turn to romance, Prajay makes an astonishing request. He wants her to craft a personal ad that will help him find a suitable wife: a statuesque, sophisticated Indian-American woman who will complement his striking height.
Despite her attraction to Prajay and the complications of balancing work and her "marriage consultant" role, Meena can't refuse the generous fee. And as her family is thrown into turmoil by her brother's relationship with a Muslim woman, Meena comes to surprising realizations about love, tradition, and the sacrifices she will--and won't--make for the sake of both.



The Cop With the Pink Pistol by Gray Basnight (Ransom Note Press trade paperback, 6 March 2012).

She doesn't do jiggle. She isn't into shoes or jewelry. She doesn't wear makeup (or, as she calls it, war paint). NYPD Homicide Detective Donna Prima's sole concession to modern womanhood is the pink .38 she wears strapped to her ankle. Not that she has much opportunity to use it, having been demoted to desk duty for a serious infraction of NYPD regulations.
On a routine burglary follow-up in Greenwich Village, Donna meets soap-opera actor Conner Anderson (Crawford on the top-rated Vampire Love Nest), who alerts her to some strange goings-on in a liquor store across the street. Sick of being chained to her desk, Donna decides to investigate. Meanwhile, the Feds need her help on a cold murder case as they investigate a theft from a nuclear power plant.
But would-be detective Conner Anderson wants to come along for the ride. And Donna, an Italian-American from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, can't deny the mutual chemistry she feels with this Southern WASP from Tupelo, Mississippi. Will taking on Conner as a civilian partner be the start of something beautiful or the biggest mistake of Donna's life?


Killing in Time by Elizabeth Carroll (The Wordsmith Press trade paperback, 7 May 2012).

Home should be a place of safety, but when Julianne parks in the driveway of her California mansion and steps out of the car with her young son Teddie, she finds herself standing in a pool of blood.
Julianne is brought face to face with violence, abuse and betrayal, and soon finds herself fighting for her life.


 The Jane Austen Guide to Life by Lori Smith (Globe Pequot/Skirt! hardcover, 
1 May 2012).

The Jane Austen Guide to Life playfully and poignantly examines Austen's life and novels for the timeless advice that still applies for today's women.
Austen may not understand texting or tweeting or platform heels, but as an astute student of human nature, she can surely teach us an awful lot about ourselves--and we might just be surprised by what she has to say.