Beate Boeker, Guest Blogger

When Beate Boeker contacted me about doing a guest blog, I was intrigued.  Here's an author whose first language is German, but she writes romances in English.  That can't be easy.  And, I loved the cover of her book, A Little Bit of Passion, and the fact that the entire story is written in e-mails.  Please join me in welcoming Beate Boeker as guest blogger.

A Little Bit of Passion

Blog for Lesa

I feel so honored to be a guest at Lesa's blog today. Few people read as much as librarians, and so they become experts with an eclectic taste, which is reason enough to be in awe of them – but I also have a second reason. All my three novels have been published by Avalon Books, a publishing house with an unusual concept: They focus on libraries! That's why all Avalon novels are hardcovers – they last through the years, no matter how many hands have turned the pages. Avalon prints sixty new titles every year – ten every two months – and libraries across the country can subscribe to six ready made „packages“ per year. Each package contains four contemporary romances, two historical romances, two westerns, and two mysteries, so there's something for every taste (well, almost - if you don't count thrillers or erotica. Avalon Books are clear on one point: they have to be family friendly, and the romances don't go beyond a kiss (but what a kiss!). :-) )

I'm one of their romance authors – contemporary romance, to be exact – and my latest is as contemporary as it can get because it's entirely written in the form of e-mails. The heroine, Karen, spends half the year on the Teton Mountain range as a skiing teacher and the other half on Long Island, where she owns a tiny book store. She writes daily e-mails to her best friend Leslie, who co-owns the book store with her. Karen's e-mails are without restraint, ironic and illogical, furious and funny, sensitive and sad - just like her life, which gets increasingly confusing as she meets the man who might be the one and only . . . if only she'll be willing to give up a bit of her independence. But that's just the problem – Karen is passionate about her job(s), and John, the man who might change everything, lives in Seattle, a city she remembers as cold and muddy from a previous vacation.

This book gripped me more than any other novel I have ever written. I fell into that snow-covered world, got blinded by the dancing sunlight, and when my family tried to contact me while I was in "that other world," I often lifted my head with hot cheeks and ears, and looked at them for a long moment, disoriented and blinking, before I could reshuffle my worlds back into the normal perspective.

So if you feel like a short break from your routine, and if you are in the mood to dip your toes into another world without ever moving from the sofa, then A Little Bit of Passion might be just right for you (and if your local library should not yet have it, you can also order it at book stores and on Amazon :-) ). Have fun!

Thank you, Beate!  And, good luck with A Little Bit of Passion.

Beate Boeker's website is http://www.happybooks.de/

A Little Bit of Passion by Beate Boeker.  Avalon, ©2011. ISBN 9780803476509 (hardcover).