Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Jennifer Probst | A Little Old, A Little New – Mixing Characters in a Series
Author Guest / April 30, 2014

Readers love series. I love series. Stand alone, continuities, trilogies, serials, you name them, I’m ready to leap and get intoxicated by a new group of characters to invest in. One of my favorite ways to do this is mix old characters with the new. It’s a delicate balance to bring something fresh to my readers, along with giving a taste of what happened in the past books, like visiting an old friend. I remember when I was completely addicted to soap operas, and suddenly the young children were full grown teens one day, ready to take on their own story. Or one of the kids would disappear, and many episodes later, storm back into town as a full adult. We forgive soap opera time because it’s so much fun. Same thing with fiction. In SEARCHING FOR PERFECT, my hero Nate is a big golfer. When he’s on the course, he almost gets bonked on the head by a runaway golf ball, and when he meets the person holding the club, readers come face to face with Wolfe – my nineteen year old angsty, tortured teenager from THE MARRIAGE MERGER. But now he’s all grown up. Wolfe and Nate strike…

Christine Bell | FIX YOU ~ Free download of part 1
Author Guest / April 30, 2014

Thanks so much for having me here at Fresh Fiction to celebrate the release of FIX YOU, BASH AND OLIVIA, Book Two, and to share some cool news. Book #1 is FREE EVERYWHERE right now! *flails* And book two is only .99 for the next three days, AND I’m giving away three copies of book two today here at FF! FIX YOU is a three-part,new adult serial chronicling the relationship between sexy boxer Bash McDaniels and college student Olivia Beckett. Book three will be out on May 20th. That will conclude Bash and Olivia’s story, but then, in June, I’ll introduce you to Matty McDaniels and his love interest. Each McDaniels brother has a set of three novellas, and each novella releases a month (or less) apart. When the characters of Bash and Olivia first came to mind, I have to admit, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. I’d written a lot of adult contemporary romance, as well as YA romance, but this was my first foray into New Adult, and I wanted to make sure readers got exactly the book I wanted to write. But I was dying to write a serial, and in case you didn’t…

Fresh Pick | PURE TEMPTATION AND OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Fresh Pick / April 30, 2014

Fresh Pick for Wednesday, April 30th, 2014 is PURE TEMPTATION AND OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER by Vicki Lewis Thompson #RomanceWednesday Classic romance revisited The Best of Temptation Harlequin April 2014 On Sale: April 15, 2014 384 pages ISBN: 0373606273 EAN: 9780373606276 Paperback (reprint) Add to Wish List Romance Contemporary Buy A Copy Amazon.com BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound Pure Temptation and Old Enough to Know Better by Vicki Lewis Thompson In these two classic Harlequin Temptation stories being young just makes it hotter! PURE TEMPTATION Growing up in a small town with four very big brothers means Tess Blakely might as well be wearing a chastity belt. This has to change before she moves to New York. She’s read loads of books about sex, but she needs some hands-on training. And her best friend, “Mac” MacDougal, looks like the perfect teacher to set things on fire…. OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER Accepting a dare to hit on the gorgeous new landscaper is Kasey Braddock’s chance to prove she can entice a man and leave him drooling. After all, she’s old enough to know what she wants—and she wants Sam Ashton…badly. The chemistry between them is powerful, explosive.Still, she plans to…

Nina Croft | Why I Like it Hot…
Author Guest / April 30, 2014

It occurred to me recently that the majority of my stories take place in warm, often exotic locations and nearly always in the heat of the summer. That’s certainly true of my latest release, OUT OF CONTROL, where most of the action takes place in the mountains of southern Spain, in a villa overlooking the Mediterranean. With a little thought, it’s not hard to understand why this appeals to me so much. I’m English, and I grew up in a small town in the north of England, in an area known as the Lake District. It’s a beautiful place but the sun rarely shines and it rains there—a lot. From an early age, I dreamed of hot places. When I started reading romances in my early teens, I was always drawn to the ones with hot, sultry settings and hot-blooded heroes. I fantasized of one day lying on a sun-kissed Mediterranean beach with a stunningly gorgeous, very-nearly-naked hero of my own. He’d be all golden skin and rippling muscles, and one look from his dark eyes would melt me into a puddle in the sand. It never happened. I found a lovely English guy instead, but we did travel a…

Ella Carey | Romance Tied Up in a Mystery
Author Guest / April 28, 2014

When a true story holds both impossible mystery and romance … The heart of mystery is perfection. The writer needs to find the perfect ‘crime’ with which to begin. The reader should not be able to work it out. If you committed it, you could … get away with it. As a writer you need to force yourself into becoming a master detective, into solving the mystery in a way in which you outsmart yourself. You need to discover the flaw in what you thought was perfect. But what if you discover a true story that not only holds all of these elements, but is also set in the most romantic city in the world, and encompasses a secret love story from the past, its ghost-like images captivating not only you, but also thousands of bloggers all over the world? This was what happened to me. I was writing a mystery surrounding valuable art. It involved a love affair from the past and I was working with an agency in London. The novel was almost ready. But then, I read about THE PARIS TIME CAPSULE. Now, you see, I adore France. I speak French, and I love history. I have…

Lynn Cahoon | Second careers
Author Guest / April 28, 2014

Jill Gardner, my heroine in GUIDEBOOK TO MURDER quit her job at the law office, picked up her life, and bought a coffeehouse/book store in a small coastal California tourist town. Risky you say? I don’t think so. We are drawn to actions that at the time seem foolish to those around us. But maybe, just maybe, it’s a life path correction that needed to be taken. Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken has always been my favorite poem. What would happen if we did take the less traveled road, the one that called to our soul? Some people are better at listening to the universe and choose well the first time. I, on the other hand, have always been one who learns from experience. Like my first marriage. Or a failed business. Thomas Edison said a failed light bulb is one less way it wouldn’t work. Sales courses tell you it takes 25 no’s to get a yes. Twenty-five rejections. Now that’s persistence. I’m on a second career path right now. I built my work experience in a large social service agency. When I left, I tried to run my own business but realized I didn’t like marketing. Funny…

Fresh Pick | THE COLLECTOR by Nora Roberts
Fresh Pick / April 28, 2014

Fresh Pick for Monday, April 28th, 2014 is THE COLLECTOR by Nora Roberts #SuspenseMonday Roberts hits her stride again Putnam April 2014 On Sale: April 15, 2014 496 pages ISBN: 0399164456 EAN: 9780399164453 Kindle: B00FX7REI6 Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List Romance Contemporary, Romance Suspense Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound The Collector by Nora Roberts From #1 New York Times–bestselling author Nora Roberts comes a novel of a woman who needs nothing, a man who sees everything, and the web of deceit, greed, and danger that brings them together—and could tear them apart . . . When professional house-sitter Lila Emerson witnesses a murder/suicide from her current apartment-sitting job, life as she knows it takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly, the woman with no permanent ties finds herself almost wishing for one. . . . Artist Ashton Archer knows his brother isn’t capable of violence—against himself or others. He recruits Lila, the only eyewitness, to help him uncover what happened. Ash longs to paint her as intensely as he hungers to touch her. But their investigation draws them into a rarified circle where priceless antiques are bought, sold, gambled away, and stolen, where what you possess…

Rachel Harris, Addicted to Romance
Author Guest / April 27, 2014

Hello, my name is Rachel, and I’m addicted to romance. But when it comes to addictions, I happen to think mine’s a pretty good one. Reading and writing romance stories reminds me of the good in the world. The power of love and personal connection to overcome hardship and struggle. The need we all have to be truly understood by another. How despite our various backgrounds, social status, and nationality, at our core we’re all the same. We all love to swoon. We all love to see the growth that results from a true love journey. And we all love to believe that in the end, everyone has a perfect match. I don’t know the first romance novel I read, but I can tell you it had a red spine, and was swiped from my mama’s bookshelf. I remember bringing similar books to school and hiding them inside other books so I can read them at recess and not get in trouble at my Catholic school. Soap operas were also favorites, and fan fiction about a super couple gave me my first full-length foray into writing. Romantic comedies and dramas line my DVD shelf. But there’s just something about crawling…

Fresh Pick | LOVE COMES CALLING by Siri L. Mitchell
Fresh Pick / April 25, 2014

Fresh Pick for Friday, April 25th, 2014 is LOVE COMES CALLING by Siri L. Mitchell #InspirationFriday Hollywood’s calling! Bethany House Publishers March 2014 On Sale: March 4, 2014 368 pages ISBN: 076421036X EAN: 9780764210365 Kindle: B00DWA6A1S Paperback / e-Book Add to Wish List Romance Buy A Copy Amazon.com Kindle BN.com Powell’s Books Indiebound Love Comes Calling by Siri L. Mitchell A girl with the best of intentions. A heart set on Hollywood. An empty pocketbook. That’s all it takes for Ellis Eton to find herself working as a telephone operator for a look-alike friend. For Ellis, this job will provide not only acting practice but the funds to get her a start in the movies. She\’s tired of always being a disappointment to her traditional Boston family, and though she can’t deny the way he makes her head spin, she knows she’s not good enough for Griffin Phillips, either. It’s simple: avoid Griff’s attentions, work, and get paid. But in typical Ellis fashion, her simple plan spirals out of control when she overhears a menacing phone call…with her very own Griff as the target. With an endearing heroine as her lead, Siri Mitchell takes readers on a madcap tale of…

Angela Ruth Strong | Stories to Entertain Your Inner Child
Author Guest / April 25, 2014

“Kid appeal” is a term primarily used in the children’s market for books that kids can’t get enough of. There’s a kind of magic that makes them memorable. I’d like to suggest the same thing happens in the adult market. It’s the reason I have a manuscript being held for consideration with a publisher who isn’t crazy about my writing. She said the story offers “a fresh and engaging idea… though the writing is not as strong as I would like.” Ouch, right? I’ve obviously got some work to do. But hey, my kid appeal is influential enough that this editor just might take a risk on me anyway. I’d say it was kid appeal that made Nora Roberts and Debbie Macomber stand out back when they were published alongside all the other Harlequin authors. Nora Roberts had a character who joked about naming her unborn child “Butch,” and Debbie Macomber had her character cry in the neighbor’s arms because she couldn’t bake cookies. These are the books I can’t forget, and neither could their millions of fans. They are the reason I have my personal trainer in LIGHTEN UP gain weight and bust a seam in her pants when…