“'A Rogue by Any Other Name' is the first book in the 'Rules of Scoundrels' series, centered on a legendary pre-Victorian casino and her four scandalous aristocratic owners.”

“Alas, summer sun can't last forever. The days will grow cooler and shorter, and our skin will once again pale.”

“As for the zone, I always find the zone immediately after I am sure I will never ever find the zone again because it has left me for some other, better writer.”

“As winter approaches - bringing cold weather and family drama - we crave page-turners, books made for long nights and tryptophan-induced sloth.”

“Boring heroines are, in my opinion, the most common romance mistake. We loathe hanging out with women who define themselves purely through their relationships... why would we want to read about them?”

“By the time I was 10 or 12, I had discovered the lure of the romance genre - and the dusty copy of 'The Thorn Birds' on my parents' bookshelf.”

“Colleen McCullough taught me that desire is the heart of romance.”

“Even in 2014, when romance heroes are as varied as their genre, somewhere in them you can still always find the alpha male.”

“For the most part, my characters don't talk to me. I like to lord over them like some kind of benevolent deity. And, for the most part, my characters go along with it. I write intense character sketches and long, play-like conversations between me and them, but they stay out of the book writing itself.”

“I never met Colleen McCullough; if I had, I probably would have cried and made a fool of myself.”

“I think we can all agree that Colin Firth falls into the George Clooney category of 'Men Who Age Like Fine Wine.'”

“I want to wake up one morning and know how to write page one, or page 10, or page 250. But I never seem to know how to do it. Every book is different and takes a different structure, style, process, etc. And relearning how to write is where the insanity comes from.”

“If you think back to your time as a teenager, everything was dramatic.”

“I'm so thrilled to have won the RITA. The award is particularly special because it is given by other romance authors. It's deeply rewarding and not a little humbling to be honored by such a talented tribe of writers.”

“In real life, I'd say that your commitment-phobe/narcissist/bad boy boyfriend is a lost cause, but romance is shelved in fiction for a reason.”

“Like so many others, I came to romance during the golden age of it - Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, Johanna Lindsey and Jude Deveraux were at the height of their historical domination. Without those women, I wouldn't be a romance novelist.”

“No doubt, much of the joy of a great romance is the moment when these stoic heroes crack open and reveal themselves to their heroines - the only women strong enough to match them.”

“No matter how troubled a character's history, romance novels tell us, love can be built upon it, and happily-ever-after can result. What's more, the darker the past, the brighter the future - and the better the read.”

“Of all the myriad ways we define love, there is perhaps none more honest and powerful than this: Great love is rooted in great partnership.”

“Teenagers are asking, 'Who am I?' and 'How do I fit in?' in every aspect of their lives, and the best YA romances appreciate that there is more to a teen's life than finding love.”

“That first meeting - the one where the hero and heroine start the slow burn that takes the whole story to turn into true love - is the single most important part of the whole book. Nail it, and you've won yourself readers.”

“The best partnerships aren't dependent on a mere common goal but on a shared path of equality, desire, and no small amount of passion.”

“The trick to great romance is in overcoming adversity. In realizing that love is worth some uphill climbs.”

“There is a whole generation of romance readers and writers who suffer from what I like to think of as 'Thorn Birds' Fever.”

“There is perhaps no more rewarding romance heroine than she who is not expected to find love. The archetype comes in many disguises - the wallflower, the spinster, the governess, the single mom - but always with one sad claim: Love is not in her cards.”

“When it comes to love, the English language bears no shortage of cliches.”