In last week's romance feature, “Love Keeps Winning,” wherein we asked editors to discuss their hottest new titles and authors, we inadvertently passed over two publishers with very substantial romance programs.
Ballantine
Hottest Title/Series: Says senior editor Kate Collins, “Allison Brennan is a writing machine. Killing Fear, the second book in her Prison Break series, which started with Killing Evil in February, just hit the list. The books are set in California, and an earthquake takes place under San Quentin prison. Each book features a different prisoner, but they're all interconnected. Allison strikes a great balance between dark suspense and romance; the sky's the limit with what she can do. Next year we have her FBI series, starting with Sudden Death [Apr.] in mass market.”
Hottest New Author: “Anna Windsor is a great talent and really prolific. We're very excited about launching her in July with the Dark Crescent Sisterhood trilogy, which starts with Bound by Shadow. She's done some erotica before, but she's changed up and gotten more mainstream. She is writing extremely sexy, edgy dark paranormal. We have very good feedback from the sales reps, and we're going out with a lot of books. There are three Sybils [warrior priestesses] who all marry NYPD mortals. New York City is a great backdrop, and there's huge potential for spinoffs.”
Hottest Series: Editorial director Maggie Crawford's pick is Cindy Gerard's upcoming Black Ops romantic suspense series—Show No Mercy, Take No Prisoners and Whisper No Lies. “It features the sexy heroes of Black Ops Inc., a private security firm that handles threats even the military won't touch. The heroes are brave, bold and loyal but they have a sense of humor. And because they aren't the smoothest guys with women, they seem more genuine than many romantic heroes. We're giving this series a strong launch with close publication of the first three books—October, November and January.”
Hottest New Author: “Kresley Cole,” says executive editor Lauren McKenna. “The combination of her fresh take on paranormal romance and trademark humor brings the genre to a whole new level. Readers can't get enough of her Immortals After Dark series, and sales momentum, coupled with fantastic word of mouth in the romance community, have propelled her to the top of bestseller lists across the country.”
