Hopefully not.

Still, the winter holidays are indeed upon us, and we at Lady Jane’s Salon are looking forward to celebrating in romantic literary style.

The December Salon tosses out the tinsel with three historical romance authors reading from m/our holiday releases. Getting the party started, first-time Salon guest Jacquie D’Alessandro and I will read from our Dickens’ inspired romance anthology, A Harlequin Christmas Carol. Jacquie’s delightful Shakespeare-inspired Today’s Longing will have you rolling in the aisles before the first eggnog is poured.

Salon Co-Founder, Hope Tarr signing at the December '09 Lady Jane's.

Next, I’ll read from my novella, Tomorrow’s Destiny, an even more paranormal re-telling of Dickens’ Christmas Yet To Come. Prickly, scotch swilling Covent Garden bookshop proprietress, Fiona MacPherson faces turning thirty and losing her beloved bookshop, both by the New Year. Unearthly pale and sun blind, Tobias Templeton doesn’t care a whit about the shop, but there’s one book in particular he’s convinced holds the cure for his “curse.” Can a nocturnal visit from Fiona’s “Angel of Christmas Future” turn the tide toward uniting Fiona with her One True Love, her soul’s mate, before it’s too late?

Returning to the Salon is our dear friend, Lauren Willig. Lauren will read from her latest release in the Pink Carnation series,The Mischief of the Mistletoe.

Best-selling author, Jacquie D'Alessandro.

The December Salon convenes on Monday, December 6th from 7-9PM at Madame X. Admission is $5 or one gently used romance novel. Net proceeds support an end-of-year donation to a NYC based women’s charity. Cash bar. Raffle. Author books will be available for sale on site.

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas…

Salon Co-Founder, Hope Tarr has written fifteen historical and contemporary romance novels for multiple publishers. Tomorrow’s Destiny in A Harlequin Christmas Carol is her first novella. Visit her at www.HopeTarr.com and enter her holiday contest.

Ah, Lady Jane’s Salon! What a wonderful night of reading and mingling in Greenwich Village! I had the good fortune to meet one of Lady Jane’s founders, Leanna Hieber, a few months ago at another book signing, so when she offered me a November spot to read, I was thrilled. I’ll admit, though, as the date grew closer I developed a terrible case of nerves (looking back, this seems silly – I mean, as a high school English teacher I talk in front of people all the time. Still, this felt different). However, I survived and even managed to enjoy myself, mostly about halfway through my reading when I realized I wasn’t going to pass out from nerves.

Madame X is a narrow little bar with a separate room upstairs decorated entirely in red, with cushy couches and ottomans everywhere. And yes, I decided to dress to match the décor J  About 10 of my own friends joined me, some who live in the city and some who came down from my hometown about 60 miles north. I’d say there were maybe 50 people attending in all. Four authors read, and the nice thing is that we all wrote in different genres of romance. I chose a passage from my latest sweet contemporary, One Night in Napa (though check out the cover for my very newest release, Summer’s Song - I love it!). Sarah MacLean followed with a hilarious scene between her Regency hero and heroine and had everyone laughing. After intermission (during which I enjoyed one of the bar’s signature cocktails – yum!), Terence Taylor read from his paranormal romance novel. It was wonderful to have a male romance author as part of our group, and the audience loved his New Orleans accent and literary nod to Zora Neale Hurston. Finally, the awesomely-garbed Stella Price read from one of the stories in her latest erotica collection.

Author Allie Boniface at the November '10 Lady Jane's.

All in all, it was a terrific night. We had a chance for mingling and picture-taking afterward, and, well, you can’t really go wrong spending an evening in NYC. If you arrive early (and you should!), take a walk around the neighborhood and have dinner or drinks in one of the many cozy restaurants in Greenwich Village.

So romance authors, if you have the chance to read at Lady Jane’s Salon, do so! It’s a wonderful experience. Hey, if you’re a romance fan at all and you find yourself in NYC on the first Monday of any month, I highly recommend stopping by Madame X at 94 West Houston Street between 7 and 9 pm. At the very least, you can’t beat the $5 cocktails!

The August Salon welcomes three great guest authors: Anna DePalo, Erica Ridley, and Alaya Dawn Johnson.

Guest authors books will be available for purchase on site.

Lady Jane’s meets at Madame X (94 West Houston) on the first Monday of every month, 7-9 PM. Cash bar. Admission is $5 or one gently-used paperback romance novel with net proceeds supporting local women’s charities.

Image Courtesy of LisaDaleBooks.com

In a fun break with Za Rules, this month’s recap post is by a guest author who hasn’t read at the Salon–yet! Click on the link and hear what the wonderful Lisa Dale has to say about her Lady Jane’s experience.

And please do mark your calenders to join us on July 5th. We have a jam-packed evening with four guest authors reading from their latest releases: Toni McGee Causey, Dianna Love (returning to the Salon), Colby Hodge AKA Cindy Holby, and yes, me,  Salon Co-Founder, Hope Tarr reading from The Tutor, my July Victorian-set romance.

Otherwise, same time, same place: 7-9 PM at Madame X. Admission is $5 or one gently-used paperback romance novel with net proceeds supporting an end-of-year donation to a New York City women’s charity.

As always, we’ll have author books available for purchase and signing on site, including Maya’s late June release, A Groom of One’s Own.

Cheers,

Hope

To the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Columbus Ohio! (My home state! Yes, this is Leanna posting this) Here is our fabulous lineup. If you’re going to be at the awesome RT Con, we hope you will join us Saturday, May 1st, from 7-9pm, for greatness!

Featuring:

DELILAH MARVELLE

An RT Nominee for Best First Historical Romance (Mistress of Pleasure) and Bookseller’s Best Award Delilah Marvelle has a flare for researching all the beautifully naughty things in history.  Her upcoming three book Scandal series with HQN in 2011 will be highlighting history in the hopes of making every reader blush.  For more about Delilah’s naughty research, you can visit her blog www.DelilahMarvelle.blogspot.com or visit her website at www.DelilahMarvelle.com

LINNEA SINCLAIR

Rita, Prism, Pearl and RT Gold Medal winner Linnea Sinclair leads the Sci-Fi Romance world with her Dock Five Universe series. A former news reporter and retired private detective who yearns for more adventure than ‘Hold the presses!’ and stacks of case files can provide. The role of starship captain was her dream long before James T ever uttered “Beam me up!” Writing stories is her way of living that dream. When she’s not tinkering with a recalcitrant sublight drive, you can find her in southwest Florida (winters) or central Ohio (summers) living with her very patient husband and thoroughly spoiled cats.  Visit her at www.linneasinclair.com Upcoming release: Working Title Songs of Love and Death: Tales of Star-Crossed Love, Anthology Release Date: November 16, 2010

SABRINA JEFFRIES 

In the past decade, New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries has penned 18 Regency romances and five novellas – becoming a regular on both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists in the process. New Orleans-born, Thailand-reared, the novelist attributes her success to listening to what peers, her publisher and her own common sense told her she should be writing.  “I write what I enjoy reading:  lighter, sexier historical romances,” Jeffries said, “with more dialogue and more sensuality.” Writing about 19^th-century English life comes naturally.  Not only is Jeffries a lifelong Jane Austen fan, but she has a doctorate in English lit from Tulane (as well as a specialty in Early Modern British literature). Yet the impetus for her stories, Jeffries says, is always “what if” – not what if her hero likes this or that but what if this happened and this happened … what would it do to a person?  “I have stories in my head, and I have to get them out,” Jeffries explained. Her ultimate goal in life would be to have “everybody reading one of my books.” The Truth About Lord Stoneville, which was released in January, is the 29^th book of her entire career.  Her next title will be A Hellion in Her Bed, Book 2 of the Hellions of Halstead Hall series, coming this Fall.  With it, the novelist will have more than 3 million Sabrina Jeffries books in print. Visit her at www.sabrinajeffries.com

And we’ll be back just in time for our May 3rd Salon back in NYC!

May 3rd at Madame X will feature Christina Britton Conroy, Jeri Smith-Ready and myself, Leanna Renee Hieber.

We will see you there!

Johnny Diaz read from his latest, Boston Boys Club. Anna DePalo read a delicious scene from The Billionaire In Penthouse B. Delilah Marvelle came in a fabulous costume for a fabulous reading from Lord Of Pleasure.

Co-founder Hope Tarr is blogging about the readings and everyone who was there. Visit her blog for the details.

The delightful and talented Biz Urban took many gorgeous photographs! See the rest of her work at www.bizurban.com.

(Photos: Anna DePalo, Johnny Diaz, Delilah Marvelle, and one of my favorite pictures from Biz

Last night, I moseyed on down to Madame X for the July edition of Lady Jane’s Salon.  This reading series has quickly become a must-not miss event here in New York.  It’s hard to believe that no one came up with the idea of hosting a romance reading series in New York until this year! What were we thinking? No matter, thanks to founders Hope Tarr, Ron Hogan, Leanna Renee Hieber and Maya Rodale, Lady Jane’s is here to stay. The wonderful thing about the Lady Jane’s Salon reading series is not only is it a great way to catch up with friends, and also networking, but it also gives the readers a chance to give back by donating gently used books to Share the Love.

Ron Hogan was a delightful comprere for the evening’s festivities. This month’s event was very special because Susie Felber, the daughter of the author Edith Layton who passed away recently, gave a wonderfully funny and touching speech about her mother.  I didn’t think it was possible to laugh and cry at the same time! I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a run on Edith Layton on Amazon.com today after hearing Susie’s memorial to her mother last night.

The next reader was RWA NYC‘s own Dee Davis (who was our author of the year at last year’s Golden Apple Awards).  Dee read from her book A Match Made on Madison.  If you watch Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo, or are a big fan of Sex and the City, you will love this book.  After a brief pause so that we could refresh our drinks (I’m a big fan of the Indecent Proposal), we had two authors whose work I was unfamilliar with, but I can’t wait to read their books, Anthea Lawson and Diana Love.

Again, another fantabulous evening at Lady Jane’s.  If you are in New York the first Monday of the month, you cannot miss this event.

Visit Elizabeth at www.scandalouswoman.blogspot.com or at the next Salon on Monday, August 3rd.

Lady Jane’s Salon returns on Monday, July 6th with more splendid romance authors!

Debut historical author ANTHEA LAWSON will from her RITA nominated work Passionate

Award-winning local author DEE DAVIS will read from A Match Made On Madison

New York Times bestseller DIANA LOVE will read from Whispered Lies

SUSIE FELBER will pay tribute to her her mother, romance novelist EDITH LAYTON.

You already know the details, but here they are again for your convenience:

WHEN: Monday, July 6th, 7-9 PM

WHERE: Madame X, 94 Houston Street (btw LaGuardia and Thompson Streets), New York, NY 10012, 212.539.0808. Nearest subways: F,V,B,D at Lafayette, N, R at Prince Street.

Admission is $5.00 or one gently used romance novel.  Proceeds to benefit Share The Love a nonprofit organization that provides gently used romance novels to groups helping women in transition, such as homeless or domestic violence shelters. Why? Because everyone deserves the pleasure of a good story and a happy ending. Co-sponsors: Share The Love and Ron Hogan of Beatrice.com. Cash bar.

Oh, and some pictures, of course!

Diane Gaston

Amanda McCabe

Wendy Corsi Staub

Marjorie M Liu