Author Profile – Sherryl Woods

sherryl woodsSherryl Woods is one of this library’s most popular romance authors.   Her stories center around enduring friendships and family life in a small town setting

She is a graduate of Ohio State University School of Journalism.  She spent many years as a television critic for newspapers in Ohio and Florida.  She’s been writing novels since 1982 and is the author of over 100 books.  When not reading or writing she enjoys gardening, tennis, theater, ballet and baseball.  She currently lives and divides her time between Key Biscayne, FL and Colonial Beach, VA.

Sherryl has a new series coming out this spring called Ocean Breeze.  It takes place in a small community on the North Carolina Coast and features the tight-knit Castle family.

The first book in the series is Sand Castle Bay and is available now.   It features the story of Emily Castle who’s torn between a successful career in Los Angeles and her old boyfriend in North Carolina.

That book is followed by Wind Chime Point, coming out in April.  It centers around Emily’s sister, Gabriella, and her struggle to fulfill her life-long dream. The third book in the series is Sea Glass Island and is coming out in May.  It features the third sister, Samantha, who is trying to win the heart of her old crush.

Her books are published in both hardcover, located in our Fiction section, and mass market paperback, located in the Romance section.

Sherryl recently published an article in the Huffington Post called “Trash or Treasure – Why More Woman Should Read Romance Novels”.  You can read it here.

BOOK REVIEW: Free Fall by Catherine Mann

This book is my all time favorite book by this author.  It is part of the Elite Forces series.  It works well as a stand alone book.

Pararescueman Jose Cuervo James is 100% committed to his job and leaves no room for anything else.  He is also a recovering alcoholic who can’t seem to come to terms with his past.  Stella Carson is an undercover Interpol agent hoping for the “white picket fence” some day.  She became an agent in hopes of finding out what really happened to her missionary mother who died in Africa.  They are brought together on a high-risk rescue deep in the African jungle.

The author focuses  on the mission of rescuing Stella and her fellow hostages and preventing an attack on the US Embassy and First Lady of the United States.  Stella and Jose’s romance develops slowly as we learn about each of their pasts with all their flaws and imperfections.

The author writes an intriguing, captivating story with very likable characters.  The story is fast-paced and filled with edge of your seat suspense with a few surprises thrown in.  You feel like you are in the middle of all the action.  There are subplots that keep the story moving and your interest piqued.  It’s a book you just can’t put down!

Today’s Romance Novels

Today’s romance novels are not the bodice ripping, sex saturated, moaning and groaning, air head woman vs. chest beating man, empty stories of the 70’s and 80’s.  Today’s romances have evolved to complex plots, with smart, savvy heartsheroines and sensitive, flawed heroes.  The old romance books had the domineering man “rescuing” the passive woman.  Today you’ll find strong, independent women who sometimes do the “rescuing”.  While most of today’s books have the “happily ever after ending”, some stories end up “happy for now”, or “satisfied with my live as is”.  Most romances today don’t center around just the two main characters.  You learn about their families and friends, the town they live in, the world around them.  Today’s romance reader is smart, educated, thoughtful, and complex.  Today’s romances run the gambit from historical England, to the wild American West, to the military, to small town life.  They can be inspirational, suspenseful, other worldly and a whole host of subgenres – so many that everyone will be able to find the right fit for their reading pleasure.  It is a bit deceiving to label a book “romance”, when it fits quite nicely as a “literary” novel.  Below is a list of just a few of the romance subgenres.

  1. Medieval
  2. Historical (England, Scotland)
  3. American Historical
  4. Western (Contemporary)
  5. Western (Historical)
  6. Contemporary (Serious)
  7. Contemporary (Humorous)
  8. Suspense
  9. Thriller
  10. Military
  11. Paranormal(Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters)
  12. Paranormal(Ghosts, witches)
  13. Futuristic/Fantasy
  14. Regency Romances
  15. Victorian Romances
  16. Inspirational(Historical)
  17. Inspirational(Contemporary)
  18. Erotic
  19. Chick Lit
  20. Romantic Mysteries

The Library has an excellent selection of mass market romance paperbacks located on the main level near the front windows.

Which is your favorite genre?

BOOK REVIEW: The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin

We’re all familiar with the story of Charles Lindbergh and his place in history, but what of his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh?  We can barely recall her accomplishments in aviation history, as those accomplishments were overshadowed by her husband and Amelia Earhart.  Many people don’t know Anne was the first American woman to earn a first-class glider pilot’s license, or that without Anne, Charles would not have been able to achieve all his successes.

Author Melanie Benjamin takes us on a journey through the incredible life of Anne Morrow, using her imagination to weave a riveting story blending fact with fiction.  From Anne’s early days as the daughter of an Ambassador and student at Smith College, to wife, mother, aviator, writer, and person living in the shadow of a famous man, the author does a wonderful job of peeling back the layers of this complex and talented woman.  We also learn that Charles Lindbergh really wasn’t the hero everyone thought he was.

This is a well written, well researched book that keeps your attention.  I couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting!  It also would be an excellent book club selection.

Look Who’s Writing Romance!

harlan cobenHarlan Coben’s new book, Six Years, is being touted as his first “romantic thriller”.   During his appearance this morning on the Today Show, he admitted he was a die hard romantic at heart.  He’s been married to the love of his life since he was 20 years old.  Also during the interview, Mr. Coben announced that the actor Hugh Jackman will be playing the role of Jake Fisher, the lead male character of the book.

The publisher’s description reads: ” Six years have past since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd.

But six years haven’t come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd’s obituary, he can’t keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife he’s hoping for…but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she’s been married to Todd for almost two decades, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life—a time he has never gotten over—is turned completely inside out.

As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can’t be found, or don’t remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake’s search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking page-turner that deftly explores the power of past love, and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.”

Sounds like a winner!