One of the things I loved doing when my girls were small was making treats for class parties. I nearly always did something or other; my favorite thing to do for Valentine’s Day was little cookies that melt in your mouth. When I was writing THE COWBOY’S VALENTINE, I had my heroine do the same thing for Amber, who is the hero’s daughter. I thought I’d share both an excerpt and a recipe with you today – these can be made for any occasion and in any shape. But I love them as little hearts. Chocolate Shortbread Valentine Hearts ½ cup butter at room temp 1 ½ tbsp. cocoa ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted ½ tsp vanilla 1 cup flour (unsifted) Cream the butter. Cream in the powdered sugar, the cocoa, and then the vanilla. Then work in the flour, using your hands. Knead until the dough is smooth and forms a ball. Lightly dust your surface with flour and roll out your dough to between ¼ and ½ an inch thick. Cut with a small heart-shaped cookie cutter (mine is about an inch and a half across). Place on a greased cookie sheet (or on parchment paper) and bake…

New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor stops by to discuss her latest work of historical fiction with Fresh Fiction Features Editor Pasha Carlisle. Pasha: Welcome, Hazel! Your novel A MEMORY OF VIOLETS centers around the young orphaned girls who sold flowers on the streets of early 1900’s London. What first inspired you to write about the plight of the flower sellers? Hazel: The novel was first inspired by my love of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady (I played the role of Eliza Doolittle in the school musical when I was seventeen). I wanted to understand more about the real Elizas – the young women who sold flowers and watercress on the streets of Victorian and Edwardian-era London. I’d also spent many years living in London and always loved the atmospheric cobbled streets of Covent Garden where the flower markets were originally based. During the early phase of my research, I discovered the work of a Victorian philanthropist, John Groom, who took many of the orphaned, blind and physically disabled flower sellers (young children and women) off the streets and taught them how to make artificial flowers in a workroom of his chapel. Their work became widely known in London and eventually reached…

Fresh Fiction is pleased to welcome international bestselling author Belinda Alexandra to discuss with Features Editor Pasha Carlisle the sweeping journey of WHITE GARDENIA. Pasha: Welcome, Belinda! From Russia to Shanghai to Australia, WHITE GARDENIA sweeps readers all across the world. How have your own travels influenced the globe-trotting background of this novel? Belinda: For me, travel has always been an enriching experience. Understanding other cultures, languages and history adds so many layers to my own experience of life. But no matter where I travel, I’m always struck by how much the human race has in common – especially in regards to our basic desires to love, to grow, to create and to connect. I’ve always found travel a pleasure because it’s been a matter of choice for me. But for many people who have had to flee their homes because of wars and revolutions and have had to adapt to another culture, the journey has been one of culture shock and resilience. The way these people survive and adapt fascinates me. Pasha: WHITE GARDENIA begins in the city of Harbin near the end of World War II. Could you tell us a bit about the city and why you chose…

My name is Marina Myles and I’m the author of the Cursed Princes romance series with Kensington. My fairy tale retellings are hot, a bit twisted, and feature immortal Prince Charmings who aren’t always “good”! During this interview, you’ll meet le vicomte Jean-Daniel Girard, hero of my fourth novel CINDERELLA AND THE GHOST. He’s a mysterious ghost who can beguile and hypnotize all kinds of women with one stare. Ironically, he wants only one girl…Ella Benoit. They met long ago, when Jean-Daniel wasn’t trapped inside his portrait and Ella wasn’t the orphaned inheritor of Château de Maincy, Jean-Daniel’s sprawling, French estate. Interview with the Ghost Q: I’ve never held a Q & A with a ghost. What do you want to tell us about being an apparition, Monsieur Girard? A. It is a very lonely existence. With nothing to do but pass the time, a ghost dwells on what used to be. Personally, I fixate on Ella. With her golden hair, firm curves, and lapis-blue eyes, she is gorgeous. Yet, her heart is kind and true. That makes her my dream girl. Q: Since you two were connected in the past, would you like to be reunited in present day? A:…

For those of us who live in Northern climates, cold winter weather is just a part of life. Dealing with ice and snow is the price we pay for the privilege of watching leaves turn vibrant colors in the fall, and waiting expectantly for those first, brave little crocuses to peek out in the spring. (I have a friend in Atlanta who boasts her crocus are already blooming. This is not fair.) But being from the frozen tundra (okay, Michigan is not really tundra but it does get really, really cold here) one does learn clever ways to keep oneself warm on those burrrrrrzy nights. In my latest book, LOVE ME SWEET, California girl Delaney Masterson is on the run from scandal – and her escape leads her to Bell Harbor during the worst winter in fifty years. As the adult daughter of an 80’s rocker icon and a past-her-prime supermodel, she’s accustomed to the downside of fame. But when an old boyfriend releases a very private tape, suddenly she’s front and center in the news. Desperate to evade the media, she plans to hide out for a bit until the story… blows over. But what she finds in Bell…

Heroes – what do we all want in a hero? Let’s face it, psychologists tell us the first thing that attracts a woman to a man is what she sees when her hero appears on the horizon. Is he tall, dark and handsome? Or does he have that indefinable something that sucks her in? Maybe she responds to a man who’s assertive, strong, and quick to figure out how to push her buttons. You know what I mean. This first meeting is the bread and butter of how an author’s romantic tale begins. The additional ingredients we carefully sprinkle into our hero guide the rest of the story. Does he have a brooding secret? Does he carry a heavy family burden that prevents him from committing to the heroine? In my first two novels coming out this year, my heroes are entirely different. In FORTUNE’S HORIZON, Captain Jack Roberts is well above six feet tall and uses his height to intimidate the heroine, as well as any of his crew crazy enough to hesitate to obey an order. His icy blue eyes and long, silver blond hair complete the forbidding look he presents to the outside world. My heroine, Lillie,…

You could say I started out in this business as a book thief. I used to steal my mother’s romance novels and read them in my room, under the covers with a flashlight. There were five of us kids, so she really couldn’t have known for sure who was doing it—but trust me, if she did, she would have flipped out. All the stories I read back then were about the hero saving the heroine. It was a beautiful picture they painted. So real in fact, that as a teen, I thought it was real. Well, guess what? Not all men are pirates named Brock that will help you get back what was stolen from you, fall in love with you, sweep you off your feet  and then finally…‘take you, under the moonlight.’ Shocker. As I grew up, I started to wonder what happens to a girl who is desperately seeking that in a world where men don’t actually think like charming Brock the Pirate? Actually, if I’m being honest, I didn’t really have to wonder, because I was too busy learning the answer to that question firsthand: Our heads spin, our hearts get broken, and each time we try…

Cozy mystery lovers, check out this tasty excerpt from J.J. Cook‘s newest Biscuit Bowl Mystery, FRY ANOTHER DAY, and a special author note! “Can you really make a biscuit out of sweet potatoes, Zoe?” Delia asked. “I’m not sure,” I replied. “I guess we’ll find out.” It was four a.m. on the downtown streets of Charlotte, North Carolina. It was dark and quiet in the city. A line of food trucks with names like Stick It Here, Meggie’s Mushrooms, and my food truck—The Biscuit Bowl—were in place as though they were waiting for the lunch crowd. Only extra early. It was the first morning of the Sweet Magnolia Food Truck Race. Ten food trucks from across the United States competing for a fifty-thousand dollar grand prize. Even if I didn’t win the cash, the race was being taped to be shown on national food networks. How great was that? The organizers had made it clear the day before that there would be plenty of challenges, and even a few tricks along the five stops between Charlotte and my hometown of Mobile, Alabama. They weren’t kidding. *** And I found out that you CAN make a good biscuit with sweet potatoes,…

The books in my Downward Dog Mystery series are all set in Pacific Northwest locations that I know and love. My second, A KILLER RETREAT, takes place on Orcas Island, a small wooded treasure off the Washington coast. The island is only accessible by ferry, so once you get there, you are truly an ocean away from it all. Of course, no writing project would feel complete without research trips, and I took more than a few. If you’re ever near the Washington coast, be sure to visit my five favorite spots on Orcas. You’ll be glad you did. Tracy’s Top Five Orcas Island Destinations 1. Doe Bay Resort and Retreat. This relaxing retreat center sits on 38 acres and was one of several meditation centers that inspired my vision for the Elysian Springs Resort, which is at the heart of A KILLER RETREAT. Visitors can choose from houses, cabins, tent sites and yurts. My German shepherd, Tasha, says that if you take your dog—and who wouldn’t?—you should stay in Eden, the cabin right outside the garden. Tasha likes wandering along Doe Bay’s trail system, resting on the beach, and staring at the deer that graze in the fields surrounding…

Have you ever read a book and been so drawn in by the setting, you thought, “I want to go there?” Often, towns or places are fictional, especially in books with contemporary settings. They may be inspired by real places, but by using a fictitious name, the author has the freedom to inject elements that can come from many different places. Occasionally, though, an author will use someplace real for their setting. Like I did with my current series for Love Inspired Books. When my mother-in-law introduced me to the town of Ouray, Colorado, I was smitten. Located in southwestern Colorado, this former gold and silver mining town is where her parents homesteaded in the 1920’s and is as rich in history as it is in beauty. But why use a real setting? Simple. I want the world to know about Ouray. Nestled in a bowl that’s surrounded by fourteen thousand foot peaks, this tiny alpine village is unique. For instance, Ouray is the Jeeping Capital of the World. Whether individually or on a tour, Jeeps are the most popular way to explore the San Juan Mountains, abandoned mining towns and unsurpassed vistas. In the winter, Ouray is host to…