Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Julieanne Lynch | UNBREAK ME Playlist
Author Guest / May 31, 2016

When I first sat down to write UNBREAK ME, I knew from the get go exactly how the story would unfold–I’m rather pedantic about outlines. I had a clear vision in my head of what I expected my characters to do and how their journey would end. What I hadn’t anticipated was how they would break my heart, rip my emotions to shred and leave me with many sleepless nights to ponder over the very things I’d written and made them do. Crazy, right? Welcome to the life of an author. What got me through? Music. Music became my saviour as I wrote the ever changing and conflicting lives of Molly and Connor. I never paid any attention to the music that had been playing in my office, not until I found myself being submerged in the melodic tones of Maroon 5 and Raven Quinn. And then it hit me hard in the face and I was blown away. I sat in front of my speakers, closed my eyes and found myself falling in love. Something happened as I paused and listened to the words of each song, it was like the light finally came on inside my head and…

Julie Castle | The Story Behind the “story”
Author Guest / May 30, 2016

The story behind the story of BOUND TO SERVE The first thing you need to know is that I love spy novels and movies. So naturally I had to come up with, Delta Star, my own clandestine agency. It was a bit like going on an undercover mission creating my own super-secret black ops world and I loved every minute of it. Of course the agents had to be pure ice. Condor earned his reputation by being Delta Star’s ultimate secret agent. He’s untouchable, unstoppable, and he always nails his targets. But no matter how many times he’s saved the world, he’s a ghost who will never take credit. He works best alone, and to continue to protect his country, he’ll stay alone. Some of my books start with an opening line that tantalizes me until I write it down and others begin with a general, I wonder what would happen if I… idea. BOUND TO SERVE, was born after a marathon 007 and Jason Bourne viewing weekend. Hubby also loves them you see. The book is set on a lush tropic island because I truly love the Caribbean. Sparkling water, warm sand beaches, and balmy breezes, what’s not to…

My Memorial Day Memories
Author Guest / May 30, 2016

When I was a little girl the last weekends in May leading up to Memorial Day were filled with red poppies and chicken bar-b-que. Yes, in Pennsylvania that is how I was taught to spell barbeque. Our grilled chicken did not have red or tomato based sauce instead it was slathered with a butter and vinegar mixture and grilled in wire frames over coals or flames. The smells were amazing. The chicken skin was dried but the rest was moist and delicious. Paired with homemade pepper cabbage and mustard potato salad the meal was topped off with a square of chocolate iced butter cake. Every church and school and family gathering had a chicken bar-b-que in May, raising money for causes or just the easiest food to make for a large gathering. At the stores or market, old men would be standing with arms or baskets full of red poppy pins. For a donation, and my grandmother always thought a nickel was enough, you got a red poppy to wear on your dress or shirt. My grandmother would mutter and fuss but she always bought a poppy for all of us and tell us to be sure to wear it…

Merrie Olde England
History / May 29, 2016

In May, thoughts turn to the May Pole dances and Spring celebrations in Merrie Olde England. This month’s selections illumine the worlds of court and entertainment, revealing the sometimes stark reality of life for women in England in the 18th century—both high-born and commoner. Beginning with the political, we have MISTRESS OF THE COURT by Laura Purcell. Married off to the dissolute, violent son of distant relations, Henrietta Howard endures a life of increasing hardship until, to evade her husband’s creditors, the two escape to Hannover. There, they ingratiate themselves with the heirs-in-waiting to the British throne, Prince George and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach. Henrietta becomes a Woman of the Bedchamber, her husband one of the prince’s staff. But the prince has more in mind for Henrietta than attending his wife, and to buttress herself against her abusive husband, Henrietta reluctantly yields to him. So begins a relationship with the man who will become King George II that spans decades, embraces a sort of friendship with Queen Caroline, and ends finally with Henrietta building a life for herself as a woman of style and intelligence who counted Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift among her friends and built Marble Hill…

Tracy Wolff | What does LOVEGAME’s Veronica and Heath Ledger have in Common?
Author Guest / May 28, 2016

Hi Everyone 🙂 I’m so excited to be here today with a sneak peek of my June 7th release, LOVEGAME. It’s been a long process to get this book from idea to reality, but now that release day is right around the corner, I can’t believe how fast these last few months have gone. The excerpt I’m posting today was actually inspired by what I know of the time before Heath Ledger’s death. Ledger had a difficult time after playing the Joker, one of the most diabolical, damaged and sociopathic characters in film today. He struggled with nightmares and numerous other problems for months, traumatized by the character he’d immersed himself in, until he finally died of a drug overdose. In LOVEGAME, my character, Veronica Romero, has also just played a sociopathic monster for film and now that the movie is about to come out—and she’s having to do the press and photo shoots for it, press and photo shoots that take her right back into the heart of the darkness she had to confront—she’s terrified of losing herself to the woman she spent so many months portraying. I hope you enjoy the excerpt and can’t wait to hear what…

Men of Legend Are Galloping Your Way!
Author Guest / May 27, 2016

They are men…They are brothers…They are Legends I’m so excited about my brand new historical western romance series that will kick off on October 4th. Men of Legend has the big feel of the old Bonanza TV show. Patriarch, Stoker Legend, is busy running the huge Lone Star Ranch while trying to keep tabs on his three sons – Sam, Houston and Luke. Sam Legend is a famed Texas Ranger and is featured in Book #1, TO LOVE A TEXAS RANGER. Houston Legend is a rancher and cowboy like his father. And Luke Weston Legend is an outlaw with a price on his head. Though Sam feels a duty to arrest him, he can’t bring himself to do it. Putting his brother in jail will rip their family apart. But if he doesn’t, he’ll lose his job and might find his own butt in the calaboose. This family comes from tough stock. They don’t back down. Ever. They know exactly how to administer their own brand of Legend justice—and do. About TO LOVE A TEXAS RANGER Gravely injured on the trail of a notorious criminal, Texas Ranger Sam Legend boards a train bound for his family ranch to recuperate…only to…

Liana LeFey | The Making of an Eighteenth Century “Superhero”
Author Guest / May 27, 2016

For me, making the hero for TO LOVE A LIBERTINE wasn’t about giving a guy in tight breeches a bunch of cool gadgets or putting him in a secret underground lair. It was about showing a man’s struggle to overcome a dark past and figure out who he wanted to be. Lord Percival Falloure, Marquess of Tavistoke, started out as the quintessential bad boy—and when I say bad, I mean Vicomte-de-Valmont-bad. Yes. My darling, dashing Percy once was a cad and a blackguard. He once tried to steal his best friend’s bride! When TO LOVE A LIBERTINE begins, however, we see a penitent Percy who has only recently set foot on Reformation Road after losing in love and unwittingly helping to rescue a severely abused young prostitute from certain death. These experiences have irrevocably altered his perception, making him question himself and his role in the world. Whereas a villain is made when a person decides to embrace their badness, a hero is created when the opposite occurs. But how does one become a true hero? Wanting to be good or simply not being bad isn’t enough. Otherwise, we would never have seen Clark Kent transform into a spandex-wearing, caped…

Kristina Knight’s Top 5 Vacation Spots
Author Guest / May 27, 2016

I love to travel – short trips, long trips (but, really, are any trips long enough?), weekend trips and daytrips. I usually say ‘anywhere with a beach’, but in reality if a trip involves a plane, train, car or cruise ship, I’m in – even if a beach doesn’t come with the visit! I also love coming home, because the best thing about going on a trip is coming home to your own bed and your own chair and your own cooking. We’ll ignore the laundry for just a bit. Here are five of my favorite places to visit: Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri I know, this one isn’t exotic, but it’s home for me. I was raised in a small town on a farm/ranch near the Lake of the Ozarks. RadioMan, bebe and I call Lake Erie home now, but it’s always so much fun to go back to Missouri, see the extended family and spend an afternoon or three cruising Lake of the Ozarks on a pontoon! Chicago I know, I know, traffic. But the train system is amazing and can get you wherever you need to go without battling other cars or trucks. Plus, there is Navy…

Mimi Jean Pamfiloff | And Now, a Word from Cimil, Your Friendly Neighborhood Goddess of the Underworld…
Author Guest / May 26, 2016

Well, hellooo there, my little people pets! My name is Cimil—aka, Goddess of the Underworld. Also known as Ah-Puch by the Mayans, Mictlantecuhtli by the Aztec, Grim Reaper by the Europeans, Hades by the Greeks…you get the picture! And yes, yes. I know you have many questions for awesome me, but before we begin, I would like to remind you pervy mortals out there to text, message, tweet, stalk on FB, smoke signal—whatever works—this author person, Mimi Jean. While her upcoming release TOMMASO certainly has some juicy, indecent moments, we demand she get super-raunchy, XXX-kinky, mother-will-disown-her-sexy, for the next book! #GodOfWine #MakeItDirtyMimi! My unicorn, Minky, demands it. Alrighty, now that we have that important business out of the way, I bet you’re wondering what a Goddess of the Underworld does all day besides star in books, take souls to their final resting place, and watch reruns of The Love Boat. Yep! You guessed it. I sit around being awesome! (And super evil.) I also answer a lot of fan-mail. So what’s the one question I get asked the most? You guessed right again! “When will the world end?” To which I respond, “Who the hell cares? You’re all going to…

Jamie K. Schmidt | Pamper Yourself like a Dragon Queen
Author Guest / May 26, 2016

When you are a dragon Queen, you are pampered and spoiled by your court. Of course, if you don’t have a court yet, like Queen Margery in my latest Emerging Queens book, THE QUEEN’S DANCE, you’re fighting for your life as rampaging Cultists try to kill you and greedy dragon studs try to kidnap you. But all the more reason to form a court and be treated like the Queen you are. Dragon Queen Carolyn from the first book in the series, THE QUEEN’S WINGS, recommends a few good books to read and then a few more downloaded onto your tablet. And maybe a quick visit to the library to round out your TBR pile. Make sure you bring your long suffering protector or consort to carry all those books for you. Once you have all the books to read, you can indulge by reading in the tub, in bed, in a hammock, in the car… Some of Carolyn’s favorite books are: Anne Bishop‘s Black Jewels Trilogy Lee Child‘s Jack Reacher series Sarah MacLean‘s Rule of Scoundrels series Alexander McCall Smith‘s Number One Ladies Detective series Karen Marie Moning‘s Fever series On the other hand, Dragon Queen Viola from THE…