FAB- The Many Faces of Romance Week!

I have to tell you, I think I've got one of the best "jobs" in the entire world. Don't believe me? Well, besides being a mom of six wonderful children, and a wife to an incredible man, I get to read a LOT of books. Not only do I get to read them, I get to write reviews about them. Not only that, but sometimes, if I've been veryvery good, and the gods are smiling down upon my (now hairy) little head, I even get to meet SuperStars! For me, authors are the biggest kind of SuperStars. Better even than Rock Stars, really. And yesterday, someone must have thought I was veryvery good, because I got to visit with (again) one of the VERY best people ever, Lani Diane Rich.

This is especially cool since this month, we're doing something special with our FAB Picks. Yes, I know that Dee just finished up with Richelle Mead (wasn't she FAB-ulous?!?), but it's a whole new month now, ok? Since we both picked authors that have books being released this week, we decided to combine FAB Pick week, and bring you The Many Faces of Romance. Why "many faces"? Well, our picks are very different. Both of the books are very special, but will appeal to different readers. I'm not going to get into a genre debate though. All I'm going to mention is that Dee and I both love a good book, but our personal feelings and tastes are different. You've probably noticed that already, right? Let's face it though, a good book is a good book, no matter what genre or label someone sticks on it. While the books that we've picked as FAB this month may be different, they have at least one thing in common - they are well worth the time to read, no matter what your taste in books may be!

That in mind, let me tell you a bit about Lani, ok? If you've been hanging around with us for a while (and THANK YOU so much, if you have!) then you know that I met Lani for the first time back in October, in New Jersey. Lani really was FAB-ulous then, and she's even more so now. And busy? This Chick is all over the place. She's a wife. She has two wonderful kids. She has her own site that she keeps updated pretty regularly. She's one of the Literary Chicks. She has a new podcast starting called "Will Write For Wine". She's all over the Jenny Crusie Cherry Forums and the JCF list. Oh yeah- and she writes FAB-ulous books. If she does anything else, we may have to get her a SuperHero cloak.

Anyhow, yesterday I had the pleasure of intruding on Lani for a few hours, and it was so much fun. She's even better in person than she is over at the LC. We got to talk about all sorts of things, from writing to publishing to wine, and even more. I'll be sharing some things that I learned, as well as posting an interview that I did with Lani, later in the week. I'll also be posting some reviews of a few of her books. Plus, I'm pretty sure that she's going to drop in this week and chat you guys up, in the comments section. So if you have any questions for her, don't be shy (like that would ever happen here, right?).

However, the BIG THING is this: Lani has a new book coming out on March 6. That's right - Tuesday! Can you believe it? It's called The Fortune Quilt, and it's already gotten some amazing reviews. Plus, it's been chosen as a BookSense Notable Pick for April. I'm giving you a sneak peek at the BCC, which, I might add, is pretty terrific:

Carly McKay's life is going just fine until she produces a television piece on psychic quilt maker Brandywine Seaver and receives a quilt with an enigmatic reading telling her that everything is about to change. Carly blows off the reading until it comes true. Her boss runs off with all the station's assets, leaving her jobless; her best friend, Christopher, proclaims his (unrequited) love for her, leaving her friendless; and her mother, who deserted the family seventeen years ago, returns, sending Carly into a serious tilt.

Convinced it's the quilt's fault, Carly races down to the small artists' community of Bilby, Arizona, to confront its maker, and ends up with an unexpected friend in Brandy - and in Will, the laid-back painter who rents the cabin next door. With quirky new buddies and no more deadlines, Carly starts to enjoy her reimagined life, until her old one comes calling. Now Carly has to decide what parts of each world she wants to patchwork in.. and how much she's willing to leave to fate.

How cool is that? Pretty cool, huh? I've already read this book and it is - FABulous, of course. I'll be reviewing it here, on Monday. That way, you can read the review, start frothing at the mouth for it, and go out and pick it up first thing Tuesday morning, right after you call in to work because you need the whole day to read. Trust me, the book is worth it! PLUS - Lani has agreed to give our readers TWO personally autographed copies of The Fortune Quilt. PLUS, Lani almost wore out her hand signing books for me yesterday, just so I could offer a BIG PRIZE worthy of you wonderful readers. The BIG WINNER of this week's contest will get signed copies of The Fortune Quilt, Maybe Baby, The Comeback Kiss, and Ex and the Single Girl. That's right, it's a basket of Lani-love for the winner.

What do I have to do to win so many wonderful books? you might ask. All you have to do is tell people about the book. Here's how you do that.
1) Copy that BCC and that cover shot of The Fortune Quilt, as well as our link (deeanddeedish.blogspot.com).
2) Put it up on your own blog.
3) Link to your blog in the comments of THIS post.

Easy as pie, right?

What if I don't have my own blog? you may ask. Again, very simple. All you have to do is tell people about the book. Here's how you do that.
1) Copy that BCC, and the release date for The Fortune Quilt, as well as our link (deeanddeedish.blogspot.com).
2) Post it to a group or a loop or a forum, somewhere we can see that it is posted.
3) Tell us, in the comments of THIS post, where it is.

For every blog where you post it, you get an entry. For every group where you post it, you get an entry. You get TWO extra entries for every person that comes here and says they heard about the contest from you. At the end of the week, I will draw a name out of an empty truffle box (it's EMPTY now! How sad is that!?), and that lucky winner will get the BIG PRIZE package of love.

In the meantime, please give a huge welcome to Lani. Because she's FABulous!

Keep Turning Those Pages,
dee