I understand the Fresh Fiction readers love lists. Well, have I got a list for you! All of my books in the same Boston paranormal world. STRANGE NEIGHBORS THE WEREWOLF UPSTAIRS THE VAMPIRE NEXT DOOR FLIRTING UNDER A FULL MOON HOW TO DATE A DRAGON KISSING WITH FANGS I DREAM OF DRAGONS MY WILD IRISH DRAGON NEVER DARE A DRAGON HOOKED ON A PHOENIX (just released!) You know you’ve created a successful world when your editor asks for more books set in that world. My new series (Phoenix Brothers—Book 1, HOOKED ON A PHOENIX (March 6th) is a spin-off of book 2 in the Boston Dragons series. Oh! And the Boston Dragons series is a spin-off of book 2 in the Flirting with Fangs series! And, oh yeah, the Flirting with Fangs series is a spin-off of book 2 in the Strange Neighbors series! Yeah…always book 2. Weird coincidence? Or numbers? Knowing that publishers are keeping track of things like sales, I can pretty much guess it has to do with numbers. I’m not a math person or a business person. I’m a creative person—not that those things are mutually exclusive! More and more authors are becoming business savvy. I’m…

I am so excited to be given this opportunity. Swoon Worthy and Alpha Male are two phrases that are guaranteed to bring giddiness to romance readers, and a frenzy of one-clicks on the eBook sites. For an author in the genre, we must give our Alphas the traits that will require a fainting couch and a cold shower. Here are a few of mine. A strong heroine. I love to read about an Alpha who wants to keep his woman safe, but knows that she is strong enough to take care of herself. He will save the day, and fight off any and all enemies, but does not expect her to sit on the sidelines and watch all of this happen. Oh no. A capable heroine has the ability to vanquish any sort of enemy (werewolves or vampires, medieval feudal lords or crooked Old West lawmen), but she also feels a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that her man has her back. I’m going to borrow a member of one of Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed for this trait. There was a scene in Kiss of Crimson where Tess (the heroine) was at an art gallery and Dante walked in. He…

Thank you for joining me today! I also want to thank Fresh Fiction for inviting me to be on their blog. I’m excited talk about the release of HOW TO TEMPT AN EARL, the first book in my Raven Club series. Who doesn’t love an accidental marriage theme in a romance? I know I do and that’s what I chose to write for my historical romance, HOW TO TEMPT AN EARL. My hero, Ian Swift, had been at odds with his family and left to open a notorious gambling club in London. For ten years, he’s lived life on his own terms. But when his older brother dies, Ian unexpectedly inherits the earldom. Ian hasn’t associated with the beau monde, other than the aristocrats who visit his casino and lose money at his gambling tables, in many years. He needs a mentor. Then Miss Grace Ashton walks into his club one night. Grace is the daughter of a baron who is a reckless gambler. In exchange for her father’s debts, Ian strikes a deal with Grace. If she agrees to give him gentlemanly lessons in the evenings, he will forgive the five-thousand-pound debt her father owes to him. What begins…

My newest erotic romance—LAYING PIPE—releases May 21st from Entangled Publishing. Because of that, I’ve got sex on the mind. Who am I kidding, I always have sex on my mind. That’s because my writing celebrates women’s sensuality, sexual exploration and, of course, true love. It’s all in good—if not clean—fun, and my smutty stories can take it to the extreme. If it’s about an architect, expect some kinky architectural maneuvers. My mechanic does the dirty in, and on, fancy hot rods. (Both stories come out later this year.) As for Laying Pipe, my lonely librarian meets a hunky plumber who’s tool inventive. Ever hear of a drilldo? (Google it, but I warn you, what is once seen, can’t be unseen.) It must be clear by now that I take this sex stuff lightheartedly. I also take it uber seriously, considering it one of God’s greatest gifts and worth sharing… However, for something so essential to our human existence, it can also be remarkably hard at times. For comparison, there’s eating—something equally essential to our existence. Do we have trouble enjoying it? Talking about it? Finding yummy flavors? Instead, we celebrate eating, both the preparation and the participation, and find it…

Welcome Home Katie Gallagher, by Seana Kelly: This is one of those books that will make you smile long after you’ve finished reading it. Katie Gallagher is a woman who’s determined to leave her bad ex behind and start fresh in the small town where she grew up. She doesn’t expect to run into Aiden Cavanaugh, the boy from her childhood who’s all grown up, and she especially doesn’t expect him to be the sexy hot police chief who’s arresting her on her first day back. The witty banter between these two characters is so fresh and funny, I dare you not to laugh out loud! The Perfect Match, by Kristan Higgins: This is the story that got me hooked on Kristan’s books. I remember staying up really late one night to read it and I laughed so hard, at one point I woke my husband up and he thought I was crying. The Perfect Match is about Honor Holland, a woman who’s trying to get over being rejected by her lifelong crush. She agrees to enter into a marriage of convenience with a sexy British professor who needs a green card. Hilarity ensues. For Better or Worse, Lauren Layne…

by Sharon Pape and Kym Roberts It always amazes me when I approached an author I don’t know with a hairbrained idea, and she actually says, “Yes!” Yet the writing community is that way: adventure seekers to the core. My guest today is one of those brave souls who didn’t hesitate to jump on board this crazy ride between her fictional characters and mine. Sharon Pape, author of the fabulous Abracadabra Mystery series, has co-written today’s blog with me. It started out as an interview between characters, but ended up as a short story we hope you’ll enjoy. Without further ado, here’s Magick in the Barn! I looked around and my knees nearly buckled. I closed my eyes, said a silent prayer to anyone listening. “Please, let this be a dream.” I slowly peaked out my left eye. No one in the heavens heard a thing I said. We were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a magick shoppe from 17th century England. There were beakers and bottles and antique fixtures my daddy would absolutely love. Princess nudged my leg and the breath I’d been holding so tight in my chest escaped through my lips. I sounded…

When I initially began writing SPIES, LIES, AND ALLIES, I intended for it to be another YA rom-com like my previous books, with a fun cast of characters and romance. It checks those boxes, but this novel also ended up being a love story about dads and daughters. I say “ended up” like the book just happened somehow, but the truth is I wrote SPIES as my dad struggled with the end stages of Alzheimer’s. It was incredibly tough to “write funny” while grieving, and this book went through the most intense revision process of any of my books. For a while, I wasn’t even sure this one would make it into print, but my editor was patient, and I revised, again and again. Laurel and her dad share a love of Star Wars; she calls him Dad Vader and he calls her Princess, for Leia, naturally. Laurel convinces her dad to give her a summer job at his business, but it doesn’t turn out at all like she expects. As in “real life,” Laurel’s dad is hesitant to give her too much responsibility, not sure she’s ready for it. Many of us probably experienced this with our own dads,…

Contemporary Romance: Solo Tu: Only You by Narelle Atkins — Can two high-school teachers, a girl from Tuscany and a boy from Australia, risk everything for love? (Contemporary Romance, Independently Published) The Theory of Happily Ever After by Kristin Billerbeck — According to Dr. Maggie Maguire, happiness is serious–serious science, that is. But science can’t always account for life’s anomalies, like why her fiancé dumped her for a silk-scarf acrobat and how the breakup sent Maggie spiraling into an extended ice cream-fueled chick flick binge. Concerned that she might never pull herself out of this nosedive, Maggie’s friends book her as a speaker on a “New Year, New You” cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Maggie wonders if she’s qualified to teach others about happiness when she can’t muster up any for herself. But when a handsome stranger on board insists that smart women can’t ever be happy, Maggie sets out to prove him wrong. Along the way she may discover that happiness has far less to do with the head than with the heart. (Contemporary Romance, Revell – A Division of Baker Publishing Group) Hometown Reunion by Lisa Carter — Widowed former Green Beret Jaxon Pruitt comes home to…

  The beach is my happy place. What’s not to like about the beauty and peace of a lovely beach? For me, visiting the beach is a real memory fest. I grew up playing on one, have always lived around water. Before I was even born (and let me tell you, that was a loooong time ago), my parents invested in land on a small island across from Seattle. Before I came along, the gang would pile into an old whaling boat my dad had found somewhere, take it through the Seattle locks (terrifying the people with pretty boats, who didn’t want their babies scratched) and head across Puget Sound to the island. Back then it was all trees, strawberry farms and a few summer cabins. We added to the cabin population by one and became summer folk. We owned high bank property, which meant we eventually needed to quit borrowing my uncle’s stairs and build our own to get to the beach. My dad hired a man to bulldoze a path partway. By that time I was around, a scrawny little girl fascinated by the whole process. The final product looked like a canyon to me and I dubbed…

If you’re thinking about packing your bags and heading to Dominion City (via the True Born Trilogy) there are a few things that I, as the author, think you should know in advance. To begin your armchair excursion into the dark heart of this dystopian sci-fi/fantasy (you do like Dystopian sci-fi fantasy, don’t you?) I’ve put together a few pointers on how to survive, and some of the items you’ll need to get by, in this treacherous futuristic world. Rain, rain and more rain Pack your rain gear. It’s always raining in Dominion City. This is not an exaggeration, folks. In Dominion you’ll be introduced to endless gray skies, tons of rain, and some really dramatic Flux storms (caused by pollution-induced climate change? Likely) leaving in their wake widespread chaos, charred neighborhoods and flattened skyscrapers. All of which the citizens can’t fix. See point 2. Plague, plague and more plague People in Dominion are not happy campers. A great plague has been sweeping the globe, decimating the population. This has all sorts of ramifications for residents of the city: the power constantly fails. People chop up their houses for firewood to keep warm. Some live in car hotels. When you…