We all have different pieces of our personality we share with different people. We are one person at work, another at home, and yet another when we are alone. I’m basically an introvert. But when I’m with the people I love and feel comfortable and safe with, I’m a gregarious extrovert. It’s the duality of human nature. Ellie, the main character in my latest novel, Blood Creek, takes this duality to another level. Actually, she brazenly struts into the realm of duplicity. Ellie is a master manipulator, and she uses every relationship, every event, every circumstance for her own benefit. She’s a woman we love to hate and hate to love. When we first enter Ellie’s world, we assume many things about her, and rightfully so. But all is not as it appears. Ellie struggles with the restraints placed on her by society and the culture of the early 1900s. What woman wouldn’t? How many of them just went along to get along? Afraid to break out of the societal confines placed on them. In 1912, women were limited in their movement, their livelihood, pretty much every aspect of their lives. They couldn’t vote or even own property outright in…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction! Can you tell us a little bit about your new historical mystery, THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE? Someone recently described THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE as a gothic rom-com and I think that’s absolutely perfect. It’s about a scandalous widow, Alva Webster, who badly needs a fresh start. After her (terrible) husband is murdered in Europe, she returns to New York, buys a decrepit mansion, and decides to use its renovation as the basis for a home decorating book. Unfortunately, it may be haunted. Enter Professor Samuel Moore, scientist and inventor extraordinaire, who is fascinated both by the possible ghosts and by Alva herself. It’s a love story, a ghost story, and a story about learning to laugh again. Alva Webster is a determined woman with a scandalous past that both hinders her and works to her advantage. She buys the supposedly haunted Liefdehuis mansion and brokers a publishing deal to write a book about restoring it and giving interior design tips. But New York society – including her own parents – won’t speak to her or invite her back into polite company. So, on the one hand, Alva wants to be welcomed home, but she also…

Fall is the perfect time to break out your slow cooker and let something simmer all day long, especially when you have a great book to occupy your time! As always, comment below for a chance to win a copy of today’s featured book, HEIRESS GONE WILD by Laura Lee Guhrke. Check back tomorrow for more fun!  Day 1 with Elizabeth Goddard: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10267   Day 2 with Soraya Lane: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10269 *** When Jonathan Deverill promised a dying friend he’d be guardian to the other man’s “little girl,” he’d imagined her to be a sweet little thing in pinafores and pigtails, not a fully-grown, devastatingly beautiful woman with a talent for trouble. Nonetheless, a promise is a promise. Besides, he’d been living in the rough and tumble of Idaho’s mining towns, so he’s pretty sure he can keep one young lady in line. And when Marjorie McGann found out her new guardian was a British gentleman on his way home to London, she thought he’d be the perfect person to help her find a titled husband so she can spend her Yankee millions in style. Both of them turn out to be wrong. And when shady suitors and countess con-artists arrive on the…

The truth won’t set me free—but it will probably get me killed … As Gin Blanco, aka the assassin the Spider, I’m used to having a target on my back. But ever since I started investigating the secret society known as the Circle, that target seems bigger than ever. Still, I’m trying to relax and enjoy the events leading up to my friends’ wedding when I learn that an old enemy has returned to Ashland. And that’s the just beginning of my latest nightmare. Soon, I have Circle goons watching my every move, but I have no choice but to continue searching for a key piece of evidence against the evil group. The deeper I dig, the more horrifying secrets I uncover, and the more dangerous things become for me and my friends. Just when I think I finally have a handle on things, a shocking revelation shatters my heart and leaves me with an ugly realization—that betrayal is the sharpest sting of all … Booksellers and librarians can order print books through IngramSpark. Excerpt “I didn’t think our date night would end up here.” I looked over at Owen Grayson, my significant other. “I thought you were looking forward…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Adriana! Please tell us about yourself and your latest novel, AMERICAN LOVE STORY. I am an Afro-Dominicana author writing contemporary romance. I like to say that I write romance full of people who look and sound like my people. American Love Story is the third installment in the Dreamers series and it’s a story about love, racial justice, activism, privilege and navigating a world that sometimes feels like it wants to pull us all apart. Patrice Denis is an ivy-league professor and a Black Lives Matter activist and Easton Archer is a prosecutor who is everything he wants in a lover, but represents some of the things that he’s actively fighting against. Patrice Denis is an interesting character – he works tirelessly both in his job as a professor and in his work as an activist, but this intense work ethic denies him a personal life. What does Patrice’s need for perfection in all aspects of his life, aside from personal relationships, show readers about his personality? With this series I wanted to render the immigrant experience, as I understand it. As a black man and an immigrant Patrice is a man that has a lot…

Our Potluck continues with yet another delicious recipe and fabulous author with a new book! Don’t forget to follow along all week for more recipes, more books, and more giveaways!  Day 1 with Elizabeth Goddard: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=10267    *** When Cody Ford is back home on the ranch, he loves nothing more than the comfort food he grew up with as a kid. So I can imagine Cody and Lexi curled up by the fire at Christmas, while it’s snowing outside, eating this devious beef stew! Aromatic Beef Stew You don’t need a slow cooker for this recipe, it’s equally as good if you do it in the oven, or if you simmer in a pot on the stovetop. The combination of orange peel, star anise, and hoisin sauce makes it aromatic and delicious! Ingredients Approx. 1.5 kg beef blade steak or beef cheeks 2 Tbsp flour 2 Tbsp cooking oil A handful of shallots 1 cup red wine 1 x 400g can tomatoes Half cup prunes 60ml hoisin sauce 1 star anise One approx 3cm length of orange peel Extra water if necessary Trim the fat off the meat, then cut into large chunks. Put the flour in a plastic…

“Seeing as we’re going to be partners, want to grab dinner?” Vaughan asked. “I’m starving, and we could talk about the case.” It was a ritual Zoe had shared with her late husband. Dinner had always involved a cold beer, maybe a steak, and discussion of a case. They had both loved the intellectual challenge, the sparring, and the lovemaking afterward. “I know a place.” “Lead the way.” He drove them to a small diner surrounded by a cluster of fast-food restaurants near the interstate. When she shot him a questioning look, he held up a hand. “Trust me.” “I’m holding you to a good meal, Detective Vaughan.” He opened the door, held it, and waited for her to pass. The hostess called out his name; he waved and headed toward what had to be a favorite booth. Men, she noted, were creatures of habit and liked routine. She slid across the red vinyl seat of the corner booth. From this vantage, they both had a clear view of the front and back exits. Like all cops, he probably wanted to know who was coming and going while he ate. She reached for a laminated menu and opened it. “So,…

There was blood on the ice. Rick Jordan jolted to a stop, gaze riveted on the crimson spots blemishing the frosty ground, fingers tightening on the disposable cup of coffee he’d just nuked. Could his eyes be playing tricks on him in the waning light of the December afternoon? He leaned closer. No. His 20/20 vision hadn’t failed him. It was blood. After all the gore he’d seen, it wasn’t difficult to make a positive ID. But with all the wildlife on the wooded acreage he called home, could it be from an animal? As he peered at the ruby-­colored stains, the hair on the back of his neck snapped to attention–and since metabolic cues had saved his hide on more Night Stalker missions than he cared to remember, ignoring them would be foolish. The blood was human. Giving the landscape a thorough, methodical sweep, he set down the cup of java he’d picked up at the café during his supply run to town, balancing it on the uneven ground. No movement other than the huge flakes that had begun to sift down from the leaden sky. Apparently the blizzard warning issued this morning had been spot-­on. Missouri would have…

Welcome to the Fall Slow Cooker Recipe Potluck! All week we’ll be joined by awesome authors, talking about their new books, sharing delicious Fall recipes, and book giveaways on each post. Check back tomorrow and every day this week for more fun! And now, Elizabeth Goddard will kick things off. . .  In ALWAYS LOOK TWICE, rancher/deputy Heath McKade grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He now runs the Emerald M Guest Ranch and offers cabins, fishing, hiking tours, and horseback riding, and a guided wilderness camp tour. He has worked hard to renovate his life after his difficult childhood and now his ranch’s reputation is growing, but Heath still struggles to overcome the past. He’s more than surprised to save a woman from a bear attack, or rather, she saves him–and discovers that woman is none other than his close childhood friend who moved away–Harper Reynolds. But Harper is in trouble, and Heath isn’t sure he’s the best man to protect her. On the other hand, can he truly trust anyone else to protect Harper? Harper has taken a year off from photographing crime scenes–too much blood and death–especially considering what she witnessed as a child. She’s finally on…

Thank you so much for having me back to Fresh Fiction! How much do I love Fall? I love it as much as my heroine, in The Boyfriend Contact, Emily Birmingham does. . . bring on pumpkin spice everything! I was married in the fall, both of my children were born in the fall (okay, we didn’t actually plan to have two kids in the fall, but still), and my current book release is in the fall. A few years ago my husband, kids, cat, and I moved from the city to a small town on the shores of Lake Erie, in Canada. It has been an adventure and a huge learning experience! Who knew driving only an hour and a half from the city would be like an entirely different world. Here are my top five favorite things to do in the fall now that we live in the country: 1) The County Fair-okay we get a real kick out of this every year. We must really look like city people as we walk through the various displays and barns filled with animals and pumpkins waiting to be judged and ooh and aah. 2) The foliage-it is truly as…