Author Fan Letter Blog Tour - Molly Harper

Dear Ms. Harper,

I still remember the first time I saw Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs. I was in B&N, and the title caught my eye; nice cover, good blurb, so I picked it up. Little did I know that what was inside would begin a one-sided love affair with your books.

Nice Girls has the funniest vampire transformation story I’ve ever read: the heroine gets fired from her job as a librarian, heads to Shenanigans with the gift card that was part of her termination package, has a few drinks, her car breaks down on the way home so she starts walking, gets mistaken for a deer and is shot by a drunk hunter. Left for dead, she is turned by Gabriel, the vampire she met in Shenanigans.

Jane is the kind of snarky, funny yet caring friend I want to have. Hell, let’s be honest here, she’s got the kind of personality I wish I had. Gabriel is, in turns, sexy and clueless. And who ever thought I’d fall in love with a vampire named Dick Cheney? As secondary characters go, he’s one of my favorites. Jane’s best friend Zeb, her grandmother’s ghost, and her dysfunctional family, including a mother that insists on bringing her casseroles, all keep me in stitches.

The Nice Girls series is one of my favorites and holds a prime spot on my keeper shelf.

You had me at Nice Girls, but then you went and wrote a contemporary - And One Last Thing...

I loved it!! Such a funny divorce scenario: Heroine catches her husband cheating, writes all about it in the company newsletter, and e-mails it to everyone - friends, clients, and family. Bravo! And One Last Thing… has everything I like in a contemporary romance – a funny, sometimes crude heroine, a cantankerous hero who looks like Wolverine (yum!), and a gay BFF (okay, he's her brother, but I think that's pretty awesome that her brother is her BFF).

I’m really hoping this won’t be your last contemporary. As I say in my review – this book is exactly the reason I love reading contemporaries – it’s pure entertainment from start to finish.  This one sits on my keeper shelf right next to the Nice Girls books.

But, you weren’t finished with your domination of my literary soul:

You went and started a series about Werewolves. Naked Werewolves. *wiggles eyebrows* And they’re funny. Sexy too, but laugh out loud funny. I chuckled and snorted  my way through both books until my husband told me he couldn’t hear the TV over my laughter.  I summed up How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf in my review:  You've got the funny, the sexin', a love triangle, a dog in a sweater, and a borderline obsession with meat products. How can I go wrong with a book like that? I think this is where I admit that you have your own section on my keeper shelf.

So, here’s the thing:
I read because I want to be entertained. I don’t want to know the specifics involved in sailing around the world in an 1800’s schooner, or how to track a serial killer using GPS, a paperclip and dryer lint. I’ve got three kids and a stressful day job - I want to immerse myself in the characters and live vicariously through the pages of the books I read. Your stories do that for me: every time I open one of your books, I’m immediately transported into an alternate life where the characters face challenges and overcome obstacles, and I’m fully vested in the outcome without actually having to do it myself. (I think as a wife and mother you can understand where I’m coming from here.)

Thank you, Ms. Harper, for sharing your stories. If you look up the term "auto-buy author" in the dictionary - I've pasted your photo there.

With vampire wishes and werewolf dreams,
All the best,



In case you missed it, yesterday's Author Fan Letter was from The Book Reading Gals, and tomorrow's letter will be at Katidom.  A complete list of participants can be found here.

Review: And One Last Thing... by Molly Harper

From the Publisher's website:
"If Singletree's only florist didn't deliver her posies half-drunk, I might still be married to that floor-licking, scum-sucking, receptionist-nailing hack-accountant, Mike Terwilliger."

Lacey Terwilliger's shock and humiliation over her husband's philandering prompt her to add some bonus material to Mike's company newsletter: stunning Technicolor descriptions of the special brand of "administrative support" his receptionist gives him. The detailed mass e-mail to Mike's family, friends, and clients blows up in her face, and before one can say "instant urban legend," Lacey has become the pariah of her small Kentucky town, a media punch line, and the defendant in Mike's defamation lawsuit.

Her seemingly perfect life up in flames, Lacey retreats to her family's lakeside cabin, only to encounter an aggravating neighbor named Monroe. A hunky crime novelist with a low tolerance for drama, Monroe is not thrilled about a newly divorced woman moving in next door. But with time, beer, and a screen door to the nose, a cautious friendship develops into something infinitely more satisfying.

Lacey has to make a decision about her long-term living arrangements, though. Should she take a job writing caustic divorce newsletters for paying clients, or move on with her own life, pursuing more literary aspirations? Can she find happiness with a man who tells her what he thinks and not what she wants to hear? And will she ever be able to resist saying one . . . last . . . thing?
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I love Ms. Harper's "Nice Girls Don't" books. Her characters are fresh and funny with the paranormal twist thrown in to make them "keepers" for me. When I heard she was writing a contemporary I was thrilled. And One Last Thing... did not disappoint! I was drawn in from the first page and loved every minute I spent reading this book.

The main characters were endearing and the kind of folks I'd love to hang out with in real life. Lacey Terwilliger is witty and funny, even in the face of the betrayal of their marriage vows by her husband. Her e-mail newsletter was hysterical and became one of those stories you have to look up on Snopes.com to see if it is really true. This was not a "woman scorned publicly embarasses her husband and makes him pay" kind of book. I mean, yeah, that did happen, but there was so much more. And One Last Thing... was snarky and smart and very well written. And the romance - Oh!!! Her hunky neighbor, Lefty Monroe is delicious. Monroe is just the right mix of aloof and adorable, sexy and sensible. The chemistry between Lacey and Monroe sizzles.

Reading this book, I felt like I was there with Lacey, watching her work out her emotions and try to get past the pain of betrayal. I wanted to help her sort out her feelings for Monroe. I wanted to have drinks with her brother. I wanted to meet Monroe's parents. I wanted to tell off her cheating husband and his bimbo secretary (see, I'm still a little emotional!). Lacey and I could be besties, I just know it!!!

This is exactly the kind of book that made me fall in love with Contemporary Romance. I found myself noting quotes of great scenes on almost every page. I'm currently looking at elementary schools for my kids in Ms. Harper's district so I can move in next door - yup, I've officially graduated from fangirl to stalker.

My rating:

This book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.