I live in West Wales and run a farm with my husband and eighteen year-old son. I love escaping to the world of my stories when I’m writing and the two jobs complement each other well, although they do keep me rather busy! When I do take time out I love visiting old castles or grand houses where I can indulge my other passion of photography. Guilty pleasure? Living on a farm means early mornings are the norm, so having a lie in. ~It doesn’t happen very often though. What’s in your coffee/tea? I love my morning coffee with frothy milk. Last picture you took? The sun coming up as I walked my dog across the fields. Biggest Fear? Heights. If you could have a superpower, what would it be? Being able to read superfast – then I could keep up with all the fabulous books out there! Least favorite food? Not keen on baked beans. Favorite junk food? A cheeseburger and fries. Favorite meal? I love Italian food. Biggest pet peeve? Miserable shop assistants. First author hero? Jane Austen Last book you read? Joanne Dannon’s An Unforgettable Holiday. Favorite 80’s song or artist? Now that’s a hard one, but…

MIDNIGHT OBSESSION by Melinda Leigh Midnight Series #4 In Wall Street Journal bestselling author Melinda Leigh’s edgy new thriller, Louisa Hancock thought she was safe…but there’s a new killer in town. When a mysterious package lands on Louisa Hancock’s doorstep, the Philadelphia museum curator can hardly anticipate the nightmare that’s about to envelop her. The package is addressed to her father—an expert in Viking culture—and inside is a ninth-century sword, a chilling thank-you note, and photos of two dead bodies in a tableau evoking a Nordic funeral. The gruesome images match a recent crime scene. But before the police can investigate the killer’s connection to Louisa’s father, Ward Hancock vanishes. Sports bar owner Conor Sullivan wants nothing more than to spend his life with Louisa. Devoted and protective, he refuses to leave her side after her father’s disappearance. When a troubled young boxer he’s been coaching is suspected of the murders, Conor is pulled in even deeper. Desperate, Louisa and Conor take it upon themselves to find her father, but soon another ritualistic slaying makes it clear there’s a Viking-obsessed serial killer on the loose. And he has a new target: Louisa. Romance Suspense [Montlake Romance, On Sale: January 3,…

In the Second Chance Cat mysteries you can always count on three things when it comes to those senior sleuths known as the Angels. One, they’re actually pretty good detectives. Two, they drink gallons of tea. And three, a cup of tea tastes better with a little something sweet on the side—at least according to Rose Jackson. Rose is often the source of those sweet treats, anything from oatmeal cookies to cinnamon coffeecake to her popular banana bread. Ingredients: 1 cup of mashed bananas ⅓ cup butter or margarine ⅔ cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 ¾ cups flour 1 ¼ teaspoons cream of tartar ¾ teaspoon baking soda ¼ teaspoon salt Instructions: Grease a loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350° F. Cream the butter, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add alternately with the mashed bananas to the creamed ingredients. Mix well. Pour into the loaf pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in the pan then remove and cool on a wire rack. Enjoy! TELLING TAILS by Sofie Ryan Second Chance Cat Mystery The New York Times bestselling author of A Whisker…

It began like most things begin today – with a google search. I was hunting for the perfect location to set my next mystery THIRD TIME’S A CRIME. The mystery is the third book in my reality TV series where I’d concocted an unsolved murder at a haunted castle. I needed an eerie location as a starting point for my story. When I found the Preston Castle in Ione, California I knew I had it! From the Preston Castle website: “Experiences at the castle have included EVP, humming, whispers, touching, channeling, and seeing and recording orbs and apparitions. There have been no harmful events and no one has been hurt during these overnight events.” You see this is no ordinary castle – it was the home of Preston School of Industry, one of the oldest and best-know reform schools in the United States. It is said to have been the sight of many mysterious tragic episodes, violent encounters and even unsolved murders. The accounts of visitors are that the castle is rife with ghost sightings. The fact that the castle sponsors overnight ghost tours seemed like just the ticket for my research. I dialed my dear friend and paranormal mystery…

It’s official. After sixteen books, our Greenwich Village coffeehouse manager, Clare Cosi, finally becomes engaged to her boyfriend, NYPD Detective Mike Quinn. Unfortunately, the vintage diamond Mike slips on Clare’s finger in DEAD COLD BREW, opens a Pandora’s box to a cold case murder that occurred sixty years before. This chilling homicide happened in a stateroom of the Andrea Doria, a luxurious Italian ocean liner that tragically sank off the coast of Nantucket in 1956. On board that ship was a gifted Italian artisan named Gus Campana, the jewelry designer who created Clare’s engagement ring. When Clare finds Gus poisoned behind his West Village workshop, she won’t rest until she uncovers who may have done it and why. Her search uncovers family scandal, a charming thief, and a deadly adversary. If you are new to our long-running Coffeehouse Mystery series, don’t hesitate to pick up DEAD COLD BREW. You can read it as a stand-alone, and if you like it, you have 15 more mysteries to enjoy. But don’t miss this latest entry. It’s embedded with twists, turns, and wonderful secrets about New York City that we’ve discovered over the years—from an exclusive room in the legendary 21 Club, to…

Hello, Readers, The fifth Hat Shop mystery ASSAULT AND BERET is on the shelves now and since I wrote it a year ago, I had to go back and remind myself of what happened in the book. It sounds crazy, I know, but after I finished that book, I went on to write four more so you can imagine that all of those characters, plots, and settings fill up the filing cabinet in my head and make it very difficult to remember who did what to whom, when and where. Which brings me to the best part of writing, at least for me, the research! I love doing the ground work for a book. Usually, I learn so much more than I can ever stuff into a story, but when the book is released, it gives me a chance to revisit all of the facts that I learned and much like reacquainting myself with the characters, it’s like visiting with old friends. I usually remember exactly what I was doing when I learned a new fact or read and interesting story. That is, when I take the time to revisit the book that is being released. True story, funny story:…

It’s 1969, and sixteen-year-old Lucy is about to run away to live off the grid in rural Pennsylvania, a rash act that will have vicious repercussions for both her and her older sister, Charlotte. As Lucy’s default caretaker for most of their lives, Charlotte’s youth has been marked by the burden of responsibility, but never more so than when Lucy’s dream of a rural paradise turns into a nightmare. Writing a Woman’s Life columnist Yona Zeldis McDonough catches up with Caroline Leavitt and asks how she found her way to this remarkable story. About Caroline Leavitt Caroline Leavitt is the award-winning author of eleven novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Pictures of You and Is This Tomorrow. Her essays and stories have been included in New York magazine, Psychology Today, More, Parenting, Redbook, and Salon. She’s a book critic for People, the Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle, and she teaches writing online at Stanford and UCLA. WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER YZM: How did this novel emerge in your imagination? CL: I’ve been trying to write this book since I was 17. In the 70s, I sat behind a girl in study hall and we talked, not…

If you read MISSED CONNECTIONS, you’ve already met the delicious massage therapist Blake Wilde, but in the second novel in the Summer Love Series, you get to see more of him. Way more. With thrusting. 😉 He even gets a Point Of View of his own in this book, so you get to crawl around inside his mind as well as Melanie Walker’s (the other main character). But before you delve between the covers of his book and take him home with you, there are a few things you should brace yourself for. Without being too spoilery, here are the top 5 reasons Blake Wilde is as Scorching Hot as Miami! His last name His last name is literally Wilde. A sexy last name automatically makes someone seem hotter. Picture Brad Pitt. Now imagine his last name is Wilde. He’s at least 37% hotter now. Let’s face it, if there was no Brad Pitt and you heard that name, what springs to mind? Definitely not the deliciousness we’ve grown to associate with that name. But if you married Blake Wilde, YOUR new name, should you choose to accept it, would be Wilde as well. It’s sexy. It’s dangerous. It’s fun—just…

Happy New Year Fresh Fiction Readers! I hope that you all rang in The New Year exactly how you wanted! As for me, I was in my jammies long before midnight, tucked into my bed with my beagles snoring by my side and a good book on my kindle! And maybe, just maybe, a glass of sparkling vino on my nightstand! Today, I’m toasting to my new release, BREAK POINT. BREAK POINT is a two-part romance. Part One is equal parts steamy and sad. College transfer student and tennis hopeful, Juliette Smith, falls for her dreamy, alpha coach, Drew King. He’s all man with the most spectacular forearms. Their affair is forbidden and steamy until it’s not…anything…anymore. Part Two reintroduces us to Jules and Drew a few years later, both carrying baggage—Juliette’s slightly heavier than Drew’s. Given a second chance, the pair has to work through all the emotions and coming to terms with their past while taking care of Darla—Jules’ daughter. At one point during the story, Drew is tasked with caring for a sick Darla. With a sore throat and a fever, Darla is a mess. Inside Drew’s bachelor pad, he doesn’t have much to offer her for…

Sometimes a question comes up when I’m writing, and the answer is as close as Google (does anyone remember having to go to an actual LIBRARY to find out answers to things?). Sometimes you have to go a little farther. A couple of years ago, when my agent and I were tossing setting ideas for a new series back and forth, I said, “Maybe they own a vineyard,” thinking that maybe Mr. Stanley and I could use his airline points for a trip to California. But then she said, “What about a bourbon distillery?” Being the agreeable little writer that I am, I said, “Okay!” After which I hung up the phone and went, “Um, I don’t drink liquor. My bourbon days are (thankfully) long past.” On the other hand, I do live in Kentucky, which is the absolute best (some might say only) place in the world to get good bourbon whiskey. So I gathered up the previously mentioned Mr. Stanley, and we drove an hour South to tour the Buffalo Trace Distillery It was a tough job, but my brave and heroic husband drank my share of the free samples. I learned a lot of good stuff about…