Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Fresh Pick | LADY BRIDGET’S DIARY by Maya Rodale
Fresh Pick / February 3, 2016

Fresh Pick for Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 is LADY BRIDGET’S DIARY by Maya Rodale #RomanceWednesday a delightful new series begins About LADY BRIDGET’S DIARY In the first novel of Maya Rodale’s stunning new series, an American heiress must learn to navigate London society and an infuriatingly irresistible rake . . . Lord Darcy is the quintessential Englishman: wealthy, titled, impossibly proper, and horrified that a pack of Americans has inherited one of England’s most respected dukedoms. But his manners, his infamous self-restraint, and his better judgment fly out the window when he finds himself with the maddening American girl next door. Lady Bridget Cavendish has grand—but thwarted—plans to become a Perfect Lady and take the haute ton by storm. In her diary, Bridget records her disastrous attempts to assimilate into London high society, her adoration of the handsome rogue next door, her disdain for the Dreadful Lord Darcy, and some truly scandalous secrets that could ruin them all. It was loathing at first sight for Lady Bridget and Lord Darcy. But their paths keep crossing . . . and somehow involve kissing. When Lady Bridget’s diary goes missing, both Darcy and Bridget must decide what matters most of all—a sterling…

Enjoy Exclusive Excerpt from Samantha Chase’s LOVE WALKS IN
Author Guest / February 3, 2016

Can’t wait until April? We can’t either because it’s when Samantha Chase’s new book releases! You can pre-order LOVE WALKS IN now, which we highly recommend, and as a treat–don’t we all deserve one in February–here is an exclusive sneak peek! It took a full minute for Hugh to realize he was staring at nothing but his window before he shook his head to clear it and made his move. In a flash he was silently through the window, and his sexy intruder hadn’t noticed. She was looking around the dimly lit room and unfortunately, he couldn’t get a good look at her. Standing in the corner, he continued to observe. If she was going to try and steal something, he wanted to be certain to catch her in the act. In a perfect world, he’d hit the lights as soon as she took something that clearly didn’t belong to her so he could press charges. He hated people touching his belongings—especially when they so blatantly held such little regard for his privacy. But who was she? Why was she here in his office? “Finally,” he heard her mutter. Stepping closer to his desk, he reached for the small lamp…

Susan Meier New DUET…or is it?
News / February 3, 2016

When I began the duet, The Princes of Xaviera, I thought I’d do something fun with two princes who are forced into marriages of convenience. As part of a treaty, the first prince, Dominic, is promised to marry a princess from Grennady, but he gets a one-night stand (Ginny) pregnant and their child will be heir to Xaviera’s throne. So Dom and Ginny must get married. So what happens to the princess and the treaty? Well, Dom’s younger brother Alexandros is forced to take Dom’s place. A playboy who has no desire to reign or marry? He’s not happy at all. But we have two princes forced into marriages with women they don’t really know. Lots of fun! Both books are filled with the glitz and glamour of the life of a royal. In book 1, PREGNANT WITH A ROYAL BABY, Ginny is an American school teacher, forced to fit into the kind of life she’d never even dreamed of. Royal hairdressers, dressmakers and chefs are enough to put her in awe. Outside the palace with sightseers and the press, things are even more difficult. But Ginny’s got the American spirit that she can overcome any obstacle and ultimately she…

Jade Lee | My Favorite Winter Pick Me Up!
News / February 3, 2016

It’s cold where I live. There’s snow on the ground and my cat spends her days on my lap even when I have to reach over her back to type. Her favorite thing to do is go outside for a while and get nice and cold. Then she runs inside and worms her chilly, wet nose to some part of my body. Her favorite spots are under my shirt against my belly or if I’m sleeping, she’ll settle against my neck. Brrr! That’s Cinnamon’s favorite winter activity (as far as she’s told me). But I have a few favorite things to do when it’s nippy outside. Guess which is my current favorite! Curling up with a good book while lounging under a thick blanket. And my cat purring against my belly. An extra chocolately mocha hits me just right on a cold morning. Fun leggings. It heats up the house with yummy smells! Racquetball tournament season. Every weekend, I’m making grown men cry as I trounce them on the court. Answer: C — Fun leggings! I bought a package of cheap fun print thermal leggings. They’re too hot to wear other times of the year, but in winter, I love…

Stacy Finz | You never know who’ll steal the show
Author Guest / February 3, 2016

Dear Readers, I’m so excited to be on Fresh Fiction today celebrating my new release, BORROWING TROUBLE. Brady Benson, BORROWING TROUBLE’s hero, first appeared in the fourth book of my Nugget Romance series, STARTING OVER. I liked him so much that I wanted to give him a book of his own. That’s the thing about writing minor characters. You never know when he or she will worm their way into your heart and beg you for their own happily ever after. I’ve had some secondary characters who would’ve taken over an entire book if I’d let them. Brady’s a chef and I’m a former food writer so already we were a match made in heaven. He was also mysterious. In Starting Over he’d arrived in Nugget running from a secret. The honest truth: I hadn’t worked out his secret yet. For that book the important thing was to give him an air of intrigue and if I never used him again—or continued using him only as a minor character–so be it. I like writing character-driven stories and I like writing stories where traditional rolls are flip flopped. For instance, Brady spends his days in a kitchen and the heroine, Sloane…

Jenny Holiday | The Four Best Jane Austen Adaptations You’ve Never Heard Of
Author Guest / February 3, 2016

We all know about Colin Firth emerging from the lake. (Right???? If not, here’s a little primer on “the scene that changed everything.”) Mr. Darcy and his soggy shirt are the stars of what is probably the most popular Jane Austen adaptation out there, the 1995 miniseries that also starred Jennifer Ehle as Lizzy Bennet. And, hey, you’ll get no argument from me. That series is a delight from start to finish. But how about some lesser-known Austen adaptations and Austen-inspired movies and TV shows? Without further ado, I give you my four favorites. The 2007 version of Persuasion, starring Sally Hawkins as Anne Elliot and Rupert Penry-Jones as Captain Wentworth. Interestingly, PERSUASION isn’t my favorite Austen novel. But this adaptation! It is glorious. I’m particularly fond of the last scene, where Anne goes running after Captain Wentworth, tearing though the streets of Bath in a most unladylike manner as the camera jiggles around like crazy. Oh, my heart! The Jane Austen Book Club, a 2007 Hollywood movie about a group of friends who start a Jane Austen-reading book club to cheer up one of their members, who has just been dumped by her husband. If I recall correctly, this…

Amanda Weaver | Costume Design and Romance
Author Guest / February 2, 2016

One of the first historical romance novels I ever read was LOVESONG by Valerie Sherwood, when I was about fifteen. There’s an early scene featuring the heroine sneaking out of her London boarding school to meet up with her elusive beau at an 18th century gaming hell (spoiler alert: he’s not the hero and this doesn’t end well for her). Her friends help her dress in disguise as a young man, so she can prowl the streets of London at night alone. One provides a pale green satin men’s suit with silver metallic embroidery, made for her brother. She wears her own clocked stockings and garters. Another friend styles the heroine’s platinum blonde hair into something resembling a powdered wig. It’s been thirty years and I can still remember that dress up scene and still recall small details of her outfit. I couldn’t recall the heroine’s name, or the shady beau’s, or the eventual hero’s. But that green satin suit? It stayed with me forever! That was probably my first indication that my future lay in costume design. I ended up getting a master’s degree in costume design, and I’ve spent twenty years in New York working in the industry….

Sharon Kimbra Walsh | Why I Had To Write ‘A FALLEN HERO’ A Sequel To ‘FOR THE LOVE OF A MARINE’
Author Guest / February 2, 2016

I confess I have no answer to that. My debut novel was birthed from blood, pain, tears and tantrums. Don’t get me wrong. It’s all worth it. When you’ve done as much research as your weary brain can take; you’ve had the mother of ideas at 2 am in the morning (on more than one occasion) and you HAVE to get it down on your laptop; you’ve coped with the hiccups and glitches of your pc and you’ve recovered from all the trauma of thinking that your manuscript has disappeared into the ether; you’ve edited, edited and edited it for what you pray is the final time and there’s an “oops, I need to check that”, or, “have I done this, that or the other?”, it’s finished! A huge sigh of relief, throw your hands in the air and do a little cha-cha around the living room before falling exhausted into bed. So, after all that, why, oh why, did I choose to right a sequel? I will truthfully say, with some embarrassment, that I had totally and utterly fallen in love with my characters, Joe and Katie. I missed them, their love for each other and their struggles and…

Grace Burrowes | Top Five Things About Having a Dog
Author Guest / February 2, 2016

As I grew up, my family had any number of cats. I also had a horse, as did one of my brothers. The occasional hamster came along, a few parakeets, even a couple of goats, but no dogs. Was that a deprived upbringing or what? When my daughter reached latchkey age, I saw an opportunity to remedy my doggy-deficit at last, for what kid can feel lonely at home with a dog on the premises? I left the choice of breed up to her, and she chose…a mastiff. OK… So we answered an ad, and picked up a cute little guy who looked sorta like… well, as the weeks went by, that puppy looked less and less like a mastiff, and more like a bull mastiff. Hmm. “Mom, you SAID I could have a mastiff.” A stout backyard fence was already in our future, and dogs are pack animals, right? If one is lovely, then two would be twice as delightful. This time, we bought from a reputable breeder nearby, and by gum, we got a mastiff… a fuzzy mastiff, that is. Both dogs outlived their breed life expectancies by many years, and they were purely wonderful additions to the…

Avery Aames | Meeting Charlotte
News / February 2, 2016

What? You don’t know about the Cheese Shop Mysteries? How is that possible? The first won the Agatha Award for best first novel, plus it’s a nationally bestselling cozy mystery series, and the 7th in the series is coming out February 2016. Let my protagonist Charlotte Bessette tell you a bit about the series. Welcome to my town! Providence, Ohio, located in Holmes County, is one of Amanda Weaver the most gorgeous places on earth, with rolling hills and miles of open land. Due to our proximity to Amish country, tourism is a major part of our economy. The main town, built in a series of concentric squares, surrounds a darling area called the Village Green. An age-old clock tower stands in the middle. Shops line the main streets—shops with adorable names like Sew Inspired Quilt Shoppe, The Country Kitchen, La Chic Boutique, and more. As for me, I am in my thirties. I grew up at Fromagerie Bessette, or as the locals in Providence like to call it, The Cheese Shop. My grandfather owned it and taught me all things cheese. Now in his seventies, he decided to give the shop to my cousin and me. The two of…