Whew. Got through another holiday season and now that all of the decorations are put away, it’s time to think spring as our March issue arrives filled with hundreds of great books to look forward to.

The historical romance section is brimming with Top Picks from some of your favorites, including Christina Dodd, who returns to the historical genre after a four-year absence with IN BED WITH A DUKE. Brenda Joyce continues her unforgettable stories of the de Warrenes with AN IMPOSSIBLE ATTRACTION, an emotional, delightful addition.

Cathy Maxwell returns with THE MARRIAGE RING, another heartfelt story where love conquers all! Book three of Lynsay Sands’ Devil of the Highland series is definitely a keeper as THE HELLION AND THE HIGHLANDER serves up wit and sensuality, hallmarks of this talented author.

And speaking of talented authors, rising star of historical romance Renee Bernard joins this elite group with a Top Pick for her latest, REVENGE WEARS RUBIES, her sixth full-length novel to date. Congrats, Renee!

Perennial favorite Virginia Henley also favors us with a Top Pick this month but don’t let the tag “Historical Fiction“ mislead you. Based on historic figures of Georgian to Regency England, her fictionalized biography, THE IRISH DUKE, is filled with the trademark passion this author is known for.

Add to this 25 additional Top Picks in eight other genres and you have a good start to your spring reading list!

Our cover story for March is on indie publishing star Bridget Midway, who dazzles us with her erotic interracial Corporate series that brings new meaning to office romance. This series sizzles!

It seems these days angels and demons have taken over the paranormal genre and in our March issue feature we explore the appeal of these otherworldly forces. We interviewed Anne Rice and Debbie Macomber, and you’ll also hear from Lilith Saintcrow, Larissa Ione, Sharon Shinn and Cara Lockwood.

Our next feature came about from watching our message boards where romance readers are quite vocal about not liking first-person books. We decided to delve into the controversy and make a case for both first- and third-person books. A huge thank-you to C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp, who took a third-person passage from their new book SERPENT MOON (which received an RT Top Pick this month) and rewrote it in first person to demonstrate how point of view affects the story. Hopefully the article will bring a new “perspective” to some of you die-hard third-person fans.

We’ve gone mainstream this month with interviews featuring Jodi Picoult and Sarah Addison Allen, two megatalents who are as down to earth as you can get. HOUSE RULES and THE GIRL WHO CHASED THE MOON, respectively, are books you’ll want to add to your TBR piles this spring.

Young adult fans will love our chat with Ally Carter, who brings us up to speed with her latest caper in HEIST SOCIETY as well as special coverage on counterculture icon Emily the Strange and the illustrated novel series about her life. Book two (of the four-book series), EMILY THE STRANGE: STRANGER AND STRANGER, will be out in March from HarperTeen and it’s a perfect gift for the teens in your life.

There is also an interview with Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Kate White, whose latest crime novel, HUSH, will be in stores in March. Kate will be joining us in April for the RT Booklovers Convention where she will be part of a mystery panel, Sex: It’s All a Mystery, and appear at the special autographing on Thursday, April 29 (see page 125 in the March issue). She will also be our keynote speaker at the Awards Ceremony on Thursday and our invited guest at the Faery Ball later that evening. Welcome to the RT family, Kate!

The RT convention will be here before you know it and in this issue we list all of the authors attending. But be sure to check our website, RTBookReviews.com, for updates because several authors have already been added to the list since we went to press, and more are being added daily! The new issue also spotlights some new workshops added to the agenda, including one led by bloggers Jane Litte (Dear Author) and Sarah Wendell (Smart Bitches, Trashy Books) called Save the Contemporary. This will be a power hour discussing what readers want in a contemporary romance and how we all can help “save the contemporary!”

Another addition is for authors who are trying to market their books in this brave new world of the Internet. Penny C. Sansevieri, an Internet marketing specialist and author of RED HOT INTERNET PUBLICITY, will help guide you through the process. She will also take 15-minute individual appointments to help you tailor a strategy for your successful career.

We also spotlight something new we have added to the RT convention agenda we are calling “Social Sunday.” As things wind down from the hectic pace of the general program, Sunday will be all about the fans for some freebies and fun. Be sure to check out all we have planned before making your return flight arrangements because we are sure you won’t want to miss out!

Next issue we will print a grid with all of the workshops scheduled for readers, writers and booksellers as well as all of the parties and events planned. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so soon. It’s very helpful for us to have registrations in early so that as April approaches we can focus all of our energy on the workshops and events to ensure that everything goes smoothly for our attendees.

Now on to the next issue, which we are busily working on. April will be a mystery-themed issue with lots of tidbits and news from popular authors. There will also be a “rising stars“ feature where we will spotlight several mystery authors to watch, and we will highlight many mysteries set in various locales outside the United States. We’ll also introduce you to some international mystery authors who may not be familiar to the U.S. reader but superstars abroad. So get ready for a cornucopia of mystery musings sure to please fans of the genre.

Our cover story is on the incomparable Lisa Jackson and her latest suspense, Without Mercy, sure to keep you at the edge of your seat. We also snagged an interview with legal thriller master Scott Turow and got Laura Griffin, author and longtime Turow fan, to conduct the interview. Laura asked some great questions that give insight into the success of this master storyteller.

Other interviews are with urban fantasy star Richelle Mead as well as one with historical romance author Lisa Valdez, who is finally back after several years away from publishing. April will see book two of her Passion Quartet (appropriately titled Patience, since fans have patiently awaited its release for almost five years!) finally out. Welcome back, Lisa.

On a sad note, we lost yet another talented author in January. Kathleen Givens died of a heart attack unexpectedly on New Year’s Day. She published Scottish historicals with Pocket, Warner and Dell and most recently had a short story in January’s Mammoth Book of Irish Romance from Running Press.

I hope to see many of you in Columbus this April at the RT convention and as I mentioned before, please register now if you are planing on attending!

And great news for our West Coast friends. We have set the date for 2011 and will be heading to Los Angeles, April 6-10, so no more excuses from our left coast friends. It will be your turn to party with us at the 2011 book lover event of the year so start planning. Authors, I am now accepting workshop proposals for 2011, so please send them on to me at CStacy@RTBookReviews.com. It will be here before you know it!

Happy reading,

Carol Stacy