Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
ELISA LORELLO | No We Don’t Have ESP…What It’s Like To Be A TWIN
Uncategorized / February 15, 2010

I was born just three minutes after my twin brother in January 1970. (Yes, I just turned 40. That’s another post altogether.) I came as a surprise to just about everyone except my mother, a buy-one-get-one-free deal, if you will. My four older brothers were thrilled to have another boy. My only sister was even more thrilled to finally have a girl. You’d be surprised how many people ask us if we’re identical, to which I reply, “If we are, then one of us has a big problem…” He loves to introduce me to his co-workers by slouching next to me to meet my height and saying, “See the resemblance?” with a mock straight face and sincere tone. My twin brother and I are different in every way. He’s tall; I’m short. He’s got straight hair; I’ve got curly hair (naturally curly, that is). He’s right-handed; I’m left-handed. He’s got brown eyes; mine are blue. He can listen learn to play a piece of music just by listening to it, while I can draw by copying from photographs. He’s very shy; I’m rather outgoing. We’re both writers, but he writes literary science fiction with a prosaic style that is quite…

Fresh Pick | PLAY WITH ME by Leslie Kelly
Fresh Pick / February 15, 2010

Forbidden Fantasies February 2010On Sale: February 1, 2010Featuring: Amanda Bauer; Reese Campbell224 pages ISBN: 0373795254EAN: 9780373795253Mass Market Paperback$4.99 Romance Erotica Sensual Buy at Amazon.com Play With Meby Leslie Kelly The best games are played in the dark… Pilot Amanda Bauer has always craved a life of adventure…sexual adventure, that is. Lucky for her, she’s currently getting her thrills by indulging in naughty games with hunky Reese Campbell! After their first explosive encounter, they arrange to get together every couple of months for days filled with fantasy and wild, no-strings sex. And the best part of it? Nobody else knows about it. Nobody! It’s the perfect private indulgence…until they find themselves on YouTube! This steamy story has interesting scenarios, a riveting plot and great character development. Excerpt Halloween It should have been a routine flight. Pittsburgh to Chicago was about as simple an itinerary as Clear-Blue Airlines ever flew. In the LearJet 60, travel time would be under an hour. The weather was perfect, the sky like something out of a kid’s Crayola artwork display. Blue as a robin’s egg, with a few puffy white clouds to set the scene and not a drop of moisture in the air. Crisp, not…

Carly Phillips | I’m A Romantic Are You?
Uncategorized / February 14, 2010

I’m so happy to be back at Fresh Fiction for what has become my annual Valentine’s Day blog. This year, after listening to some comments on my Plotmonkeys Blog I realized more people than I would have thought were “done” with Valentine’s Day. From the comments, I gathered much of this “Ugh it’s just another day” theme comes from the commercialization of the holiday. And of the notion that if you’re really in love, you shouldn’t have to make a big show of that love on one stated day a year. To that I say, WHY NOT? Sure, my husband and I say “I love you” many many times during the year, but I confess to being a romantic at heart. Hey, I write Romance. What can I say? I LOVE the idea of being showered by hearts and flowers and cards (even if said cards have become WAY to expensive, but so has everything else in the world!) I like to know I matter! Now that said, I have a hubby who is not Mr. Romantic and as a result I’ve learned to work around this problem. And it’s a problem for all holidays, not just Valentine’s Day. He’ll…

Fresh Pick | NOTHING DENIED by Jess Michaels
Fresh Pick / February 14, 2010

Albright Sisters #3February 2010On Sale: February 2, 2010Featuring: Beatrice Albright; Gareth Berenger320 pages ISBN: 0061657727EAN: 9780061657726Paperback$13.99Romance Historical, Romance Erotica Sensual Buy at Amazon.com Nothing Deniedby Jess Michaels Submit to passion, surrender to desire Shrewish Beatrice Albright is beginning to realize that her difficult nature has consequences. As her seventh unsuccessful Season begins, her younger sister is taken under the wing of her elder sisters and the invitations have dried up. Terrified she’ll be forced into old maidenhood and the company of her mother, she vows to find a groom by Season’s end. Even if he is suspected of murder. The Marquis of Highcroft, Gareth Berenger is just as shunned as Beatrice since he is thought to have murdered his first wife. But when she demands they wed since no one else wants them, he isn’t sure. Gareth is a man of intense sexual desires and dominant predilections and he’s already seen the consequences if his partner cannot accept them. He proposes instead a trial affair. If Beatrice can handle his sexuality, then they will marry. But as much as Beatrice is drawn in my Gareth’s sensual and shocking seduction, she is also afraid to trust and surrender fully. And there…

Fresh Pick | DANCING ON THE HEAD OF A PIN by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Fresh Pick / February 13, 2010

Remy Chandler #2 April 2009On Sale: April 7, 2009Featuring: Remy Chandler304 pages ISBN: 0451462513EAN: 9780451462510Paperback$14.00 Fantasy Urban Buy at Amazon.com Dancing On The Head Of A Pinby Thomas E. Sniegoski Remy Chandler “is a character I can’t wait to see again.” (Christopher Golden, bestselling author of The Lost Ones) Still mourning the loss of his wife, fallen angel Remy Chandler has immersed himself in investigating dangerous supernatural cases. His latest: the theft of a cache of ancient weaponry stolen from a collectorwho deals in antiquities of a dark and dubious nature. The weapons, Remy knows, were forged eons ago and imbued with unimaginable power. And if they fall into the wrong hands, they could be used to destroy not only Heaven but also Earth. Previous Picks Visit FreshFiction.com to learn more about books and authors.

Ann Purser | Introducing A New Character
Uncategorized / February 12, 2010

Before starting the Lois Meade Mysteries, I wrote six village novels, the Round Ringford series, where plot and characters were built up over the series. As I have always lived in English villages, this was a labour of love, and with so many contemporary issues, like closure of small village schools, dual carriageway bypassing a quiet village, changing character of villages as `incomers` move in, etc etc., there was plenty to write about. So why detective stories? I suppose partly for a change, and mostly because I had always loved to read them, and now began to write them. Again, the village setting, which I know best. (Write about what you know!) The twists and turns of a murder plot are fraught with danger to the author, and as I am not one who knows from the beginning exactly how it is going to progress, one or two readers have emailed `Hey, but what about so-and-so on page 98?` But I enjoy writing them immensely and am about to launch a new series: The Ivy Beasley Mysteries. Readers of Round Ringford stories will remember this crotchety character, and be amazed at her new career! To leave a comment or learn…

Sara Lindsey | Some Valentine Day Hero Recommendations
Uncategorized / February 12, 2010

I love Valentine’s Day. I love hearts and flowers and chocolates and secret admirers and the color pink. I know Valentine’s Day is generally regarded as a holiday celebrating couples, but I’ve always embraced it as a day to celebrate all the loving relationships in my life. Flying solo on Valentine’s Day used to be a single woman’s nightmare – like being dateless for the prom – but now February 14th is the perfect excuse for a luxurious girls’ night out. But what happens at the end of the evening? Well, whatever your relationship status, as a romance reader you never have to worry about going to bed alone! Using some hero archetypes, here are my picks for your Valentine’s Day book-date – pick one depending on your mood or, if you’re feeling adventurous, cuddle up with them all for a romance read-a-thon… The Professor: There’s something about a man with a big … brain … that always makes my heart beat faster. Just think about those early scenes in Indiana Jones when Harrison Ford is in his tweed suit lecturing about ancient civilizations… whew! Sign me up for study hall! Sara Says: The sexiest professor I’ve come across in…

Fresh Pick | GENTLEMEN PREFER SUCCUBI by Jill Myles
Fresh Pick / February 12, 2010

The Succubus Diaries #1 January 2010On Sale: December 29, 2009Featuring: Jackie Brighton384 pages ISBN: 1416572821EAN: 9781416572824Mass Market Paperback$7.99 Romance Paranormal Buy at Amazon.com Gentlemen Prefer Succubiby Jill Myles The first of two fun and sexy paranormal romances featuring a succubus, a vampire, and a fallen angel. Who knew an angel could get a girl in so much devilish trouble? Jackie Brighton woke up in a dumpster this morning, and her day has only gotten weirder. Her breasts grew overnight, her sex drive is insatiable, and apparently she had her first one-night stand ever . . . with a fallen angel. Of course, she only remembers gorgeous Noah’s enormous, er, package. And their steamy shower sex. Hmm . . . and the dark stranger whose bite transformed her into an immortal siren with a seductive Itch. With help from Noah and fellow succubus Remy Summore, Jackie adapts to her new  lifestyle—until she accidentally strikes a deal that sends her lover into the deadly clutches of the vampire queen and lands Jackie, Remy, and the queen’s wickedly hot right-hand man into the middle of a fierce battle for an ancient halo. But how’s a girl supposed to save the world when the…

Deanna Raybourn | How A Book Gets Titled
Uncategorized / February 11, 2010

One of the questions I am most often asked by readers is how I come up with titles for my books. The short answer is that I don’t! Sometimes the book seems to title itself. A single phrase, usually a snippet of a quote from a poem or play, will settle down on the title page and I cannot bring myself to think of it as anything else. My March 2010 release, The Dead Travel Fast, was one such book. I had the idea for the novel some five years ago, and started researching it and compiling notes. It is the story of a Victorian novelist who leaves the security of her Edinburgh home for the grim castles of Transylvania and meets up with an aristocrat who may or may not be a vampire, and as part of my research, I read Dracula. I knew as soon as I came across this passage what the title of my book had to be: As he spoke, he smiled, and the lamplight fell on a hard-looking mouth, with very red lips and sharp-looking teeth, as white as ivory. One of my companions whispered to the other…‘Denn die Todten relten schnell.’ (‘For the…

Fresh Pick | GUARDIAN by Claire Delacroix
Fresh Pick / February 11, 2010

Angels #2 October 2009On Sale: September 29, 2009Featuring: Rafe Gerritson; Delilah Desjardins368 pages ISBN: 0765359502EAN: 9780765359506Paperback$6.99 Fantasy Urban, Romance Paranormal Buy at Amazon.com Guardianby Claire Delacroix The Eyes of the Republic are everywhere. The victim of what she believes is a malicious kidnapping, seer Delilah Desjardins quickly realizes that her abductor is on a mission to save her from assassins. Rafe, a fallen angel, must ensure that Delilah, blessed with the gift of foresight, reaches her true calling as an oracle for the Republic – and if his divine calling results in a more earthly relationship between the two of them, well, he doesn’t mind that at all. Drawn to Rafe, but fearing the loss of her gifts should she surrender to his charms, Delilah knows she has to leave him. But fleeing his guardianship sets the assassins on her trail again. As Rafe races to save Delilah, he knows he isn’t just saving her for the good of the Republic, for the angels, or for the future – he’s saving her for himself. The Eyes of the Republic may be everywhere, but then so are Angels. Excerpt She was being watched. The woman known only as Twenty-three felt her…