EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 2 The group parted to allow Heather to pass, and she walked toward me with the practiced bounce of a model. Opening her arms wide, she pushed a giant smile to her lips. I didn’t trust her for a second. “Catherine!” she said warmly. “Don’t you ‘Catherine’ me,” I growled, my hands finding my hips. No way was I going to allow any kind of friendly embrace. Heather stopped in front of me and allowed her arms to hang there awkwardly for a moment. The women she’d just left were watching us, and I could see the puzzled expressions on their faces too. “You set me up!” I hissed. Heather’s arms dropped dramatically. “Catherine, whatever are you talking about?” I waved a hand down my front. “This.” “It’s a lovely suit, dear, but why would you come wearing black and white to a jewel-tone themed luncheon?” The ladies behind Heather edged closer toward us, completely engrossed in what was obviously about to become a scene. “I’m wearing this because you told me this was a black and white themed affair.” I was aware that I was speaking through clenched teeth, likely giving me the appearance of snarling…

There are so many things I love about cozy mysteries, it’s hard picking just one, but if I had to, I would say it is the amateur sleuth. Most people would equate the amateur sleuth as to being a busybody, someone who sticks her nose into other people’s business, nosey about the lives of her neighbors. But when I created Hope Early, the protagonist in my Food Blogger mystery series, I had a different view of her role in the series. When I was fleshing Hope’s character out, I knew she would be a strong, independent woman. She had to be because she would risk friendships, family relationships, and possibly her life in search of the truth and for justice. Hope isn’t a character willing to stand by while someone is being accused or when the victim doesn’t seem worthy of justice being sought. After I wrote the first manuscript, I came to refer to Hope as a Boss Sleuth because she takes ownership of what she does, and she doesn’t give up until the truth is revealed. There are a few things Hope has learned since her first foray into sleuthing. She learned early on to doubt everyone’s alibi….

Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Julie Anne! Please tell us about your new Cider Shop cozy mystery series and the first book, APPLE CIDER SLAYING. Hi! Thank you SO crazy much for having me back!! I’m really amped up about this new release! APPLE CIDER SLAYING is near and dear to my heart, set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northern West Virginia, an area I know well. Winnie lives with her Granny Smythe on the family apple orchard and becomes entangled in a murder investigation when Granny’s arch-nemesis is found lodged in the apple press, and the new sheriff names Granny as his number one suspect. Winnie Montgomery is just trying to keep her family’s apple orchard in business, but when her beloved grandmother is accused of murder, Winnie is having a hard time keeping things in order and just wants to prove her grandmother’s innocence. What do you think made Winnie a good amateur detective? Winnie is the best. Her natural curiosity gives her the little push she needs to get started once the urge hits. Before that, her big heart gets her started. Anytime Winnie sees an injustice or an underdog, she’s nearly compelled to jump in…

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-ReaderMatch” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present ELLIE RICE! Writes: I write contemporary romance with lots of LOL moments and a little angst, for good measure. My stories are full of steam and snarky banter. I want to get you hot, then make you snort-laugh. My newest novel, Keyed Up, releases 10/24. It’s about a spitfire if a redhead with a penchant for odd, made-up words and phrases and the hot as sin bike builder who tries to focus on opening his second bike shop. Neither wants a relationship, but you know what they say about best-laid plans. About: Mid-forties momma seeks readers who love movies and music and have a sense of humor of a fourteen-year-old boy. Readers should be well versed in recognizing quoted from all of the best movies from the 1980s to the present. The author has lived the quiet life, only discovering her inner vixen in the last eight years. What I’m Looking for in my Ideal Reader Match: – Someone who recognizes my…

There I sat, in my dining room, ready to cast my first spell. My daughter was with her father for the night, as we were recently separated–I had left him six months before, and had filed for divorce despite his desire for us to stay together. The usually warm Texas fall air had finally begun to get crisp, and I drew my legs up into the chair and into my cardigan. I had gathered the few necessary tools required- a hexagonal crystal I had purchased at a local crystal shop, his picture, a candle. And most of all, I knew what I wanted–I wanted for him to let me out of this marriage without a fight. I wanted magic. I wanted the easy way. I wanted to conjure anything I could and believe that my troubles, and this divorce I was in, could dissipate, and end in my favor. As I conducted the spell, I moved the carved crystal over his picture, just as instructed in whatever spell I had dug up online and was following. I don’t remember any words or anything about that spell anymore, but I vividly remember one thing about this moment as I ran the…

You know how they say that preparing for something is almost more fun than actually doing it? All those hours spent to find the perfect holiday destination, crossing off the days until you’re leaving, the nerves in your stomach when the big day has arrived. . . It’s just like that with Christmas! No matter how many ornaments there are, neatly wrapped in tissue paper in the boxes in the attic, the cellar or the garage, it’s always a good idea to buy some more. Advent calendars are a fun way to count down to Christmas, and when certain smells invade the house – pine, cranberry, gingerbread – you know the time is coming near. . . I wanted to capture all that and more in my very first Christmas romance, A Family by Christmas, just released from Entangled Bliss. My heroine Emma is a bonbon maker whose agenda is over-full in the runup to Christmas. Her whole life seems to consist of work, really, as she’s an orphan with no siblings and not a lot of new friends yet in Wood Creek, the small New Hampshire town she moved to, to open up her very own chocolate-making business. But…

“Imagine what would happen if you took Die Hard and swapped out John McClane for Han Solo and Princess Leia?” This is what I asked my agent. Her answer? “I’m going to need more coffee for this.” And so Red Awakening was born. In Red Awakening, the hero, Mace Armstrong, is tough, cynical, doesn’t give a stuff about what’s going on around him, and hates to get involved. But, just like Han Solo, when he’s pulled into a situation he can’t avoid, he just can’t stop that honorable core of his from breaking free and making him do the right thing. Although, his actions do come with a heft side-serving of sarcasm. Meanwhile, our heroine, Keiko Sato, may be smaller in stature than Mace, but she’s fierce enough in personality to run rings round him. And even though she starts the book quite oblivious to the wrongs happening around her, when she does find out the truth about her employer – CommTECH – it ignites her own core of integrity and after that, there’s no stopping her. I adore how these two interact with each other. The initial attraction is hot and explosive, but the reality of how well-matched they…

October is the month when it’s fun to be scared! Halloween movies play on the tv stations, while readers turn to Halloween, creepy or paranormal themed books to get into the mood for October 31. For me, October is always the time to pull out a Stephen King book as his stories set the perfect atmosphere for an eerie October night. I’ve also discovered a few other reads this October that are perfect for the season. Here are some of my recommendations for creepy October reads this Halloween season: DIABHAL by Kathleen Kaufman is a deliciously dark occult thriller focusing on a matriarchal cult called The Society. Things go awry when 10-year-old Ceit Robertson’s mother is attacked by restless spirits called Sluagh and she’s placed in a foster home called MacLaren Hall. While the story itself is fictional, MacLaren Hall isn’t and has a disturbing history that only serves to heighten the creepy atmosphere Kathleen Kaufman creates.  DIABHAL is the kind of book that you can’t put down even as you wonder what will happen next- it’s classic horror at its finest! A.J. Hackwith puts a whole new diabolical spin on libraries in THE LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN! Claire is…

Hello! I’m Tina Gabrielle and I write adventurous historical romance featuring feisty ladies and bold heroes. I’m excited to be on Fresh Fiction to celebrate my new historical release, HOW TO CAPTURE A DUKE, the third book in my Raven Club series. All my books are standalone reads. Did you know Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Earl Jones, and Nicole Kidman have all struggled with stuttering? Many more famous people can be added to this list. This book is straight from my heart, and I purposely chose a hero with a speech disorder. All through grammar school, I was treated by my school’s speech therapist. First, English was my second language. I’m a first-generation Armenian-American, and we spoke Armenian at home. Second, I had an articulation delay and struggled to pronounce certain words and sounds. As a five-year-old, I remember my speech therapist quite fondly. She had pretty long, brown hair to her waist, wore colorful high heels and gave me candy after each session. She also helped me a lot, and over my entire grammar school career, my speech difficulties were resolved. I went on to become an attorney, and I’ve argued cases in front of judges in crowded…

When I announced to my friends, family, and writing colleagues that I finally secured a contract to publish a novel-in-stories, Floating in the Neversink, about growing up in Brooklyn and the Catskill Mountains from 1955-1961, I received unexpected enthusiasm. Certainly, my older family members anticipated memories of gossiping on city brownstone stoops and grabbing a Chinese lunch on Flatbush Avenue, and my growing-up friends hoped to recapture memories of make-out parties in the Catskill day camp meeting house during humid summer nights. But I was surprised by the interest of the younger relatives and friends, my daughter’s Generation X and the Millennials. Some were movie buffs and loved cult favorites like Dirty Dancing, Sweet Lorraine, and A Walk on the Moon, romanticizing the summers of that era, or more recent movies like immigrant life in Brooklyn. Many had heard their parents’ and grandparents’ stories; others were obsessed by Amazon’s 1950s-set comedy The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. But I suspected this interest was more layered: young and old were attracted to a time when life was seemingly more humanly connected. I looked for verification of my theory, and I lazily began on social media. I searched Facebook for groups relating to the…