My real name is Susan Berger and I'm a certified bookaholic. I'm also an actor and I love my work. Being older has been very lucky for me. I wrote childrenās books as Susan J Berger. COVID closed my publisher and I'm not actively submitting at the moment. I write romance as Susan B James because I didnāt want my children to have to acknowledge that their mother knew anything about sex. Falling in love and living happily ever after is an ageless state. But in romance novels heroines are mostly under thirty. I happen to be chronologically gifted myself. And many of my favorite romances feature older heroines. I think we need more.
I am a sucker for dry wit and feisty independent heroines who arenāt looking for love but find it as an incidental to the story. I first read an Elizabeth Peters novel when she was writing as Barbara Michaels.
Once I discover an author I love I have to read everything they wrote. I found out Barbara Michaels had another identityā Elizabeth Peters. O Frabjous joy! Another author to devour! I read Crocodile on The Sandbank and fell in love with her takeoff on Victorian literature and her intrepid heroine, Egyptologist Amelia Peabody. Crocodile on The Sandbank is the first book in what turned into a series spanning a thirty-nine-year periodā1884 through 1923. I bought every book as soon as it was published. The only book of the series I own in paperback is Crocodile and I have lent it and/or given it away to so many people. In this first book Amelia journeys to Egypt to find a tomb to excavate and encounters a mystery and the brilliant irascible Egyptologist Emerson Radcliffe. She and her beloved Radcliffe are a romance for the ages.
Amelia Peabody is Elizabeth Peters' most brilliant and best-loved creation, a thoroughly Victorian feminist who takes the stuffy world of archaeology by storm with her shocking men's pants and no-nonsense attitude!
In this first adventure, our headstrong heroine decides to use her substantial inheritance to see the world. On her travels, she rescues a gentlewoman in distress - Evelyn Barton-Forbes - and the two become friends. The two companions continue to Egypt where they face mysteries, mummies and the redoubtable Radcliffe Emerson, an outspoken archaeologist, who doesn't need women to help him solve mysteries -- at least that's what heā¦
In 2014 I went to my first Romance Writers of America Conference in New York City. On the first day, a five-author panel discussed the romance genre and read excerpts from their work in a shaded area of the park at the back of the NYC public library. One of the panelists was my favorite author, Susan Elizabeth Phillips (which is why I was at the discussion.) At the time I had never read a Beverly Jenkins book.
When I heard her speak and read an excerpt I knew I wanted to read her books. I bought the two books she had with her.
When I got back to the hotel room I was sharing with my editor and her best friend I realized the books were numbers four and five in a series. Bummer.
I wanted to start reading her right away.
I went online and bought the firstāBring on The Blessings. And I adored it. The book had a great premise. (She bought an entire town and planned to fix it up to raise foster kids and their chosen families.) It was filled with humor, heart, and so many relatable characters and romance. I read through all the published books in the series and then bought each one as it came out. Book 11āA Christmas To Rememberāwill be coming out in October. Iāve pre-ordered it. And I will save it for my Christmas read. Beverly also introduced me to African American Historical romance. I just got a copy of her latest historicalāTo Catch a Raven.
Bestselling author Beverly Jenkins makes the move to trade paperback with this rich and moving story that introduces us to the beautiful Kansas town of Henry Adams, and the townspeople who make it unique
Bernadine Brown is a woman with money to spend. Henry Adams is a town in desperate need of cash. But after Bernadine puts up the money, she has some ideas about how the town should be run. Will the townspeople be willing to shake up their comfortable lives to share the gift theyāve been given with others who really need it?
After World imagines a not-so-distant future where, due to worsening global environmental collapse, an artificial intelligence determines that the planet would be better off without the presence of humans. After a virus that sterilizes the entire human population is released, humanity must reckon with how they leave this world beforeā¦
Susan Elizabeth Phillips is hands down my favorite author for her humor, her voice, and her willingness to put older heroines in her books.
Natural Born Charmer has a wonderful B Story about a charismatic but aging rock star and a beautiful fifty-two-year-old woman trying to make peace with her rock and roll past. I don't want to admit how many times Iāve read it.
When millionaire Dean Robillard meets Blue Bailey, she couldn't be more down on her luck; her ex has stolen all her money and she's got no place to go. A football hero, Dean is taking a holiday while recovering from a career-threatening injury. He'd planned a solo road trip to get his head together. The last thing he needs is a damsel in distress tagging along for the ride.
However, despite Dean's misgivings the two find themselves thrown together and soon Blue has moved into his home and is merrily turning his world upside down. Their attraction is mutual butā¦
Sarah Addison Allenās books enchanted me at first read. In her books, what others consider weird or magical are an ordinary part of life.
Josey Cirrini still lives with her unloving mother. She hides her favorite thing in her closet. A stack of romance novels and a stockpile of sugary treats. This was her sanctuary until Della Lee Baker, a cranky waitress in the town, moves into Joseyās closet.
Chloe Finleyās life is sprinkled with books that follow her around.
Sarah weaves their lives together into a beautiful magical story where the color red has startling powers and passion can make eggs fry in their carton. Oh, try her, please?
Twenty-seven-year-old Josey is sure of three things: winter in her North Carolina hometown is her favorite season; she's a sorry excuse for a Southern belle; and sweets are best eaten in the privacy of her hidden closet. For while Josey has settled into an uneventful life in her mother's house, her one consolation is the stockpile of sugary treats and paperback romances she escapes to each night . . . Until she finds her closet harboring none other than local waitress Della Lee Baker, a tough-talking, tender-hearted woman who is one part nemesis - and two parts fairy godmother .ā¦
In May 1941, Bartlesville, Oklahoma, hums with talk of spring flowers, fishing derbies, and the growing war in Europe. And for the residents of a quiet neighborhood boarding house, the winds of change are blowing.
Self-proclaimed spinster, Bessie Blackwell, is the reluctant owner of a new pair of glasses. Theā¦
Jennifer Crusie writes some of the funniest heroines I ever met. I adore her voice and I wanted to add her to my list. When I went to Jenās blog ArghInk to ask her which of her heroines was over forty. She said Andie.
Andieās ex-husband North wants one last favor from her as closure. Help him settle the two delinquent orphans he inherited from a distant relative. He knows Andie can handle anything.
I read Maybe This Time a long time ago. Twice. When I went to read it again this week, I discovered Iād lent it. I couldnāt check it out of the library. I was 15th on the hold list. So I rebought it.
Two women in their sixties time travel to 1969āLondon and Los Angeles. One finds an old love. One finds a new. But time travel has rules. And that's a problem...
Being in their sixties has its perks. Sherry is a successful businesswoman. Lorenaās an actress on a popular sitcom. Sherryās husband dumped her for a younger woman eighteen years ago. Lorenaās husband died of cancer. Sherry wants a second chance at love. Lorena doesnāt think second chances are possible. She canāt imagine loving anyone but Dave. But when a glitch in a Virtual Reality Adventure game sends them back to 1969 London, āpossibleā takes on a whole new dimension. Are they willing to pay the price to alter their future?
Joth Proctor is an under-employed, criminal defense lawyer based in Arlington, Virginia, where a mix of southern charm, shady business dealings, and Washington, D.C. intrigue pervade the story. Upon the suspicious death of the wife of a close friend, Proctor enters a tangled web of drug and alcohol abuse, realā¦
October 1962. Recently turned 21, France Leighton travels to Luxor, Egypt, taking with her two legaciesāan antique cello and an emerald ring. Instead of the archaeological adventure she expects, she gets a lecherous dig director, hidden agendas, and an enigmatic nuclear physicist.