Hi, everyone! I'm excited to report that A Novel Seduction won the Single Titles Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Contemporary Romance of 2011. I'm in some pretty heady company there, with other category winners such as Sabrina Jeffries, Kresley Cole, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Roxanne St. Claire. Thanks so much to the reviewers who gave A Novel Seduction their support.

In other news, my next book, a time travel romance featuring a hard-working librarian facing budget cuts and the eighteenth century son of an earl, finally has a title. (Drum roll, please.) It's Timeless Bride, and I LOVE IT! What's more, I can pretty much guarantee the cover will feature a gorgeous wedding dress. Yay! I'm hard at work on the book that will come out after that (which will actually be a trilogy, I think.) More soon on Timeless Bride, which will be out this summer. On to the weather. I know it seems like winter will never end, but I, however, have a slightly different philosophy. Psychologically for me, winter lasts from December 15 through February 15. By February 15, it doesn't matter if there's snow on the ground and a below-zero wind chill. I know spring is JUST AROUND THE CORNER, and that's all I need to begin painting my nails pink and shopping for white jeans and linen tops. However, if you insist on waiting until the hyacinths bloom to begin to cheer up, here are my top four suggestions for things to keep you warm when it's cold:

FOUR THINGS TO KEEP YOU WARM WHEN IT'S COLD Movies with sexy actors: Bonus points for holding hands in the dark. My husband and I just saw Safe House. Honestly, I could watch Denzel Washington in anything. And Ryan Reynolds isn't too hard on the eyes either. Great movie. Cashmere. I just scored two great sweaters, new with tags, on ebay at about a third the price I'd pay in a store. Seriously, can anyone have enough black cashmere sweaters? Fires. If you have a fireplace, great. If not, light three candles, pour yourself a glass of something great, and snuggle under a blanket. Again, bonus points for holding hands in the dark. A hot bath with a great book. May I suggest A Novel Seduction? Enter THIS MONTH'S CONTEST to win a signed copy. If you win, you get to pick a friend to win a signed copy, too. Enter here. The contest ends on Sunday, February 26 at midnight EST.

JOIN THE PARTY AND WIN A DOWNTON ABBEY DVD SET I'll miss my weekly dose of the Matthew, Mary, Bates and Lord Grantham, and I want to send them off in style. Join me for a live Twitter Good-bye Party at 9 pm EST at #downtonabbey or #downtonPBS! More fun: Anyone who replies to or retweets one of my tweets during the show will be entered to win the Downton Abbey Season One DVD set. If you've never been on Twitter before, and are nervous about trying, don't be. It's easy, and for events like Downtown Abbey's season finale, where hundreds of people will be tweeting at #downtonabbey, it's really, really fun. Just join, then type #downtonabbey in the search box in the top right, and you'll see a live running stream of comments on the show, including mine. Go ahead, you can do it right now (people are commenting on the show all the time, but they do it even more on Sunday night.) You'll be given the choice of "Top" or "All" comments. I prefer "All." See, it's like a party without the Spanx! Then, heck, as long as you've joined, just click here to follow me, too. Happy first day of Spring! (Well, at least in my world.) Best, Gwyn

old.cready.com gwyn@cready.com Gwyn Cready , Romance Novelist on Facebook @GwynCready on Twitter Copyright©2012 Gwyn Cready. All rights reserved. Author photos copyright ©2012 Garen DiBartolomeo. Website design by avoCreative. Illustrations of author courtesy of Design-Her-Gals.