Month: April 2010

I’m my “other life,” I’m a travel writer, with much of my work focusing on the Jersey Shore. I’ve set up Google Alerts for the names of the shore towns in my region – Atlantic City to Cape May – so I can stay up to date on news.

One of those towns is Strathmere, and the Strathmere Google Alert kept sending me notices about Strathmere’s Bride (Harlequin Historical, No. 479)by Jacqueline Navin, a Harlequin Historical romance novel about the Duke of Strathmere and the governess winding her way around his heart even though he’s supposed to be marrying someone of a proper bloodline – or something like that.

So when I saw a copy for sale for $.75, I bought it, and I read it on the plane to and from Chicago this weekend.

It wasn’t bad. I don’t generally dig historical romances, but this one wasn’t too couched in proving the author did her historical homework, and Chloe, the governess, was likeable. The Duke wasn’t too prideful or mean, either, as heros in historical romances can be (a former popular plotline in these types of […]

I won’t say too much about Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic Citybecause I’m interviewing author Nelson Johnson on Thursday, and he’s a key figure in an article I’m writing.

What I will say, though, is that if you ever wanted to understand political corruption and how these guys seem to get away with it, this is the book to read.

It’s also a long history of Atlantic City, which I write about in my other life.
Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City also inspired the upcoming HBO series Boardwalk Empire, staring Steve Buscemi and directed by Martin Scorsese. That series starts on the day prohibition was enacted. The book Boardwalk Empire takes a much longer view, from the island’s beginnings up until 2002.

Here’s a preview:

It premiers in September, and It’ll be something. Can’t wait. You can read more about the book here.

Also – shout out to South Jersey. This book was published by Plexus Publishing, who I wrote about a zillion years ago when I first started […]