Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Mika Jolie | Recipe Sharing – Linguine and Clam Sauce by Dean Conrad Morello
Author Guest / April 28, 2017

Every man should have a secret dish he can cook to knock a woman’s panties off. Imagine this. Tonight’s the BIG date at your place. Date #3. The money date. The date where you and your date either screw your brains out, or move on to someone new. A lot of pressure, a lot of performance anxiety. Any little mistake could spell disaster. All of your charms (and ab work) would have been for naught. That said, there’s a few hard and fast rules that need to be followed. Clean up your place. If you’re too lazy to do it, call in a cleaning service. Generally speaking, chicks hate to use a bathroom with piss stains on the toilet seat. Light some candles. If you’re a man, not living with Mom, there’s at least a 79.3% chance your place smells like beer, farts, and cigar smoke. Change the sheets. Ever see a chick’s bed? Twenty-five pillows, shams (whatever the fuck that is), and a comforter cover from Anthropologie. Case closed. Rub one out. You have to clean the pipes before the big night. Trust me on this one, you’ll actually have an interesting conversation without thinking about having sex every…

Elizabeth Coldwell | Letting Your Guard Down
Author Guest / April 28, 2017

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘bodyguard’? One of those huge, silent, black-clad men keeping a discreet distance as celebrities walk the red carpet at a film premiere? The secret service types with their concealed weapons who are there to make sure no harm comes to a head of state or captain of industry? Or maybe that tense but tender moment when Kevin Costner carries Whitney Houston to safety through a crowd of screaming fans in the imaginatively titled The Bodyguard? While most of us appreciate the work a bodyguard performs, none of those are situation we’ll ever have to consider happening in real life – however much we may fantasise about being in the arms of a hunky paid protector. We don’t have the money, level of fame or security concerns that would make hiring someone to look after our wellbeing necessary. For most of those people who do need to employ bodyguards, the role is seen as just another of their employees, like the nanny, the accountant or the personal assistant – a necessary evil and payroll expense that comes with being someone with power or influence. In romance fiction, however, the bodyguard is…

This week at Target, special price for Marie Bostwick’s THE PROMISE GIRLS
Author Guest / April 28, 2017

Buy at Target THE PROMISE GIRLS by Marie Bostwick In an emotionally rich and captivating new novel, New York Times bestselling author Marie Bostwick reunites three sisters whose deep bond is rooted in an unconventional past. Every child prodigy grows up eventually. For the Promise sisters, escaping their mother’s narcissism and the notoriety that came with her bestselling book hasn’t been easy. Minerva Promise claimed that her three “test tube” daughters—gifted pianist Joanie, artistic Meg, and storyteller Avery—were engineered and molded to be geniuses. In adulthood, their modest lives fall far short of her grand ambitions. But now, twenty years after the book’s release, she hopes to redeem herself by taking part in a new documentary. Meg, who hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in years, adamantly refuses to participate, until a car accident leaves her with crushing medical bills. While she recuperates in Seattle, the three sisters reluctantly meet with filmmaker Hal Seeger, another former prodigy. Like them, he’s familiar with the weight of failed potential. But as he digs deeper, he uncovers secrets they’ve hidden from each other—and a revelation that will challenge their beliefs, even as it spurs them to forge their own extraordinary lives at last. Women’s…

The Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth…Sometimes…
Author Guest / April 27, 2017

We haven’t met yet so I need to ask you to read the following sentence and withhold judgement until the end of the post, okay? Ready? Here goes: My goal in life is to find my authentic self and live my truth. I know, I know, that’s about the most stereotypical LA thing that has ever been said. It could only be more clichéd if I’d mentioned traffic on the freeway making me late for my yoga class in the Whole Foods cleanse aisle. But it’s true. I want to live every day being honest with myself. This is exactly why I write young adult paranormal romance. The characters I create are strong, brave, sexy, and always have a witty retort ready to shoot back at anyone who gets in their way. Basically, THEY’RE ALL THE THINGS I’M NOT and that’s why I love writing them! YA paranormal romance allows me to live vicariously through confident, no nonsense girls who wouldn’t let a bully (human or otherwise) come between them and their goal. A horrifying creature chases you through the woods? No problem—find a clearing and stand your ground. Obnoxious demons trying to get the better of you? Don’t sweat…

Have You Ever Milked A Snake?
Author Guest / April 27, 2017

No, that’s not a euphemism. It’s an actual job and my heroine, Clover Lee, in THE NEGOTIATOR has held the position along with a ton of other weird temp jobs. “She’d done time as a snake milker—don’t ask; smiled for pictures as a paid bridesmaid—bridezillas, she’d known a few; bellied up to the table as a dog food taster—think stale crackers with a funky aftertaste; learned the true benefit of good arch support as a professional line stander—always in the rain or the cold or the blazing heat; and distilled the mysteries of the universe as a fortune cookie writer. Clover had done it all to pay the bills, have some excellent adventures, and stay as far away from the small town of Sparksville as possible.” So, of course, when she sees this job ad, there’s no way she’s not answering it—out of pure curiosity if nothing else. I mean, come on. What in the world kind of job is persona buffer? WANTED: PERSONAL BUFFER Often snarly, workaholic, demanding executive seeks short-term “buffer” from annoying outside distractions AKA people. Free spirits with personal boundary issues, excessive quirks, or general squeamishness need not apply. Salary negotiable. Confidentiality required. The idea for…

Ghost Wolf – history/inspiration
Author Guest / April 27, 2017

In WOLF BITE, released in July 2014, Mason Clayborne heard the sound of a familiar woman being mugged—pursuing the sound he raced into an alleyway in Dallas, Texas, in time to see Alexis Huston breaking the nose of her would-be assailant. Coming face to face with his past dropped a pebble into the still waters, and those ripples would become a tidal wave. The wave would gather force as the ripples spread out to include wolves like A.J., abandoned by his previous alpha and left to stew in a prison, and Owen, the senior Hunter whose love for a journeyman healer drove him to follow her to another pack when Hudson River needed her help. Mason’s relationships with other alphas like Brett and Serafina opened the door to new challenges and changes for more than only Willow Bend. With each subsequent novel, we journeyed to the five different packs and even met an alpha from Italy. Each arc from Rise of the Alpha (books 1-3), Dawn of Three Rivers (book 4-6), Wolves of Change (Books 7-9) to Guardians of the Wolves (Books 10-12), has played a role in the evolution of a world which brings us to GHOST WOLF. I…

Updates from Eloisa James
News / April 24, 2017

Eloisa is heading to Wisconsin this week for the Barbara Vey Reader Appreciation Week-end. This is a fun-filled three day event featuring 60 authors! Several activities are free and open to the public, including a book signing on Saturday at 3:30pm. You can find a complete list of activities on the event website. Eloisa hopes you’ll stop by — she’ll be handing out sets of her fabulous recipe cards at the signing! Did you know that all of Eloisa’s books are available on audio? Eloisa picked Susan Duerden to read her novels: you can listen to an audio of Eloisa’s newest novel, Seven Minutes in Heaven, right here on the website! Eloisa’s favorite app is Litsy, a social media community that is all about books and nothing but books. If you love reading and want great suggestions, search for EloisaJames and find all kinds of wonderful new reads! About Eloisa James New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa’s very first book that she “found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar”; later People Magazine…

Samanthe Beck | Emergency Response
Author Guest / April 21, 2017

This might be a strange confession coming from a woman who just finished the third book in a series featuring emergency responders, but I am useless in an emergency, (unless you need someone to freak out, pass out, or possibly both—then I’m your girl). I’m even useless in fake emergencies. A while back some friends booked an escape room adventure called “Cold War Bunker” where we got locked in a room and had to solve a bunch of puzzles in order to stop the countdown clock on a nuclear bomb, and free ourselves. Oh, my God, you guys…I couldn’t even figure out how to turn on the stupid lights. Granted, I’d had four margaritas, but still. That countdown clock worked my nerves. By the halfway point, I was pounding on the door and begging to be sprung. (Fun fact that might have been good to know before I imbibed four margos—no potty in the Cold War Bunker). I think this personal failing on my part accounts for why I love a hero who can keep his head together under pressure. The kind of guy that hears, “Houston, we have a problem,” and calmly replies, “Let’s work the problem.” That’s Shane…

Noelle Adams | Inspirations from Nature
Author Guest / April 21, 2017

Pets have always been a popular feature in romance and women’s fiction—dogs in particular—but it’s much less common to have wild animals be a part of these books. In BAY SONG, my heroine, Holly, is a recluse who lives completely alone on the Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She has a big wooded property, and her only companions are the wild animals who live on her land, so the animals end up being a big part of the book. A couple of years ago, I moved to a small town in the country. It’s in the mountains, surrounded by woods, so wild animals are really part of this town. Deer come by at night and eat the apples that fall off my tree. Rabbits, birds, squirrels, and chipmunks hang out on my patio. And I go by the pond a few time a week to feed the ducks and geese that live there. There are mallards, Canadian geese, and the occasional wood duck—plus the domesticated geese and ducks who call the pond home, including one adorably ugly Muscovy duck who begs for food just like a dog. I wrote BAY SONG shortly after I moved to this…

Kelsey Norman | The Writing Journey
Author Guest / April 21, 2017

When I told people I wanted to be an author, it wasn’t as though I had told them I wanted to be the next big movie star and they’d say, “Good luck with that.” No, they’d smile and say, “I want a copy of your first book,” even if they’d never read anything I’d written. That’s the thing about writing…people see it as an attainable goal, because you can do it anywhere. You don’t have to move to Hollywood or New York City, you can do it from the comfort of your own home no matter what city you live in. However, just like with any calling or dream, you have to work at it. When I got to the age where I could really dive into my writing, I didn’t know where to start. So the following are things to do if you’re just beginning your writing journey. Read I’ll admit that sometimes when I read books by my favorite authors, I feel pangs of jealousy because I think I’ll never be as good of a writer as they are. However, by reading their books, I get great ideas and it pushes me to become a better writer. Practice…