Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Ali Brandon | A Close-Up Look At Black Kitties
Author Guest / November 14, 2016

When I first started writing the Black Cat Bookshop Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, our current feline companions happened to be orange tabby brothers. Not that the hubby and I hadn’t been caretakers to black cats before; we just seemed to have settled on tiger cats for the duration. But after spending so much time with my fictional black cat, Hamlet, I couldn’t help but feel that something was amiss in Cat Land. One thing I love about our orange tabby boys is that they’re mellow guys without the “bite” of the ornery Hammy. That said, I wondered if maybe I needed a junior Hamlet of my own to help jumpstart my writing when I hit a tough spot. Sweet purring cats do not equal compelling plot points! And so, after much consideration, we adopted a brother and sister pair of sleek black felines whom we named Brandon Bobtail (he has but half a tail) and Ophelia. But after barely a month of living with the new kitty duo, I was amused to remember something I’d forgotten over the years—that having a black cat in the house is like living with a shadow. Or, in our case, a pair…

Jenn McKinlay | Catcher in the Rye could help solve a COLD case!
Author Guest / November 14, 2016

A cold case. Just that term makes my spine tingle and the hair prickles on the back of my neck. A mystery that remains unsolved for years due to lack of evidence or witnesses or an obvious motive always grabs me by my curiosity and just won’t let go. When plotting BETTER LATE THAN NEVER, I knew I wanted to challenge my amateur sleuth Lindsey Norris with a cold case. Why? Well, in a small New England town like Briar Creek, a cold case would resonate for years in such a close-knit community. People would have their suspicions, families would be torn apart, and as the mystery remained unsolved so the lives of those impacted by the murder would also remain disrupted and out of order. Lindsey being a librarian with a librarian’s rage for order would definitely feel compelled to find the truth. For me personally, the motivation to write a cold case was much like my reasoning for writing in the mystery genre to begin with — to have good triumph over evil. You don’t really get happy-ever-afters in mysteries, but in a world that is full of anger and violence, writing mysteries helps ease my outrage when…

Hate At First Sight by Avery Flynn
Author Spotlight / November 14, 2016

I am a total sucker for the enemies to lovers trope. OMG, the who heat and banter and fighting the feelings. I just love it! So it’s no surprise that it’s one of my favorite tropes to write. In HER ENEMY PROTECTOR, Lucas and Ruby don’t just start off as enemies. He’s actually blackmailing her to be his fake fiancee. Sure, he has his reasons (you know, saving the world and all) but you know there are sexy shenanigans ahead as those two fall hard for each other. So to celebrate the enemies to lovers trope, here are ten movies I highly recommend binge watching that include that theme! Silver Linings Playbook Leap Year Tangled The Proposal Enchanted Something’s Gotta Give Down With Love Sweet Home Alabama Bridget Jones Diary Ten Things I hate About You HER ENEMY PROTECTOR by Avery Flynn Tempt Me By-the-book secret agent Lucas Bendtsen will do anything to keep his country safe—even if that means blackmailing the stepdaughter of a notorious mobster who is about to sell guns to a group of terrorists. The plan? He’ll pose as her fiancé in order to access her stepfather’s guarded compound and find out the location of the…