Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Julia London | Author-Reader Match: THE PRINCESS PLAN
Author Guest / November 20, 2019

Instead of trying to find your perfect match in a dating app, we bring you the “Author-Reader Match” where we introduce you to authors as a reader you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Julia London! Writes: I write historical romance and contemporary romance with equal enthusiasm! The Princess Plan is the start of a brand new series set in Victorian London. The Devil in the Saddle is the second book in my Princes of Texas series. About: I’m a little bit charwoman and a little bit queen. I love dogs and princes in equal measure and not necessarily in that order. My favorite pastimes include dressing up in fancy gowns, attending balls in my head, and gossiping with my friends and sister. I follow all the royal news because you never know when a prince may become available. When I am not reading up on all the details of a royal wedding, I am willing and able to stick my nose into unusual situations, like, say, a murder. Seeking a prince with a big castle, lots of servants, and an undying eagerness to keep me warm at nights. What I’m looking for in my…

Chantal Fernando | Title Challenge: RENEGADE
Author Guest / November 19, 2019

My latest release is called RENEGADE, the second book in the Knights of Fury MC Series. Good girl Isabella wouldn’t miss the birth of her sister’s baby for the world. So when her car breaks down and one of the bikers next door offers her a ride to Vegas, it’s too tempting to pass up. Besides, she can think of worse travel conditions than wrapping her arms around Renny, otherwise known as Renegade. Tall, dark, and handsome, the man is pure sex on a Harley. Between wild parties and rumbling motorcycles, living next to the Knights of Fury MC has always left Isabella curious, but after a night in Vegas, she gets a firsthand taste. Drinks in the club surrounded by burly bikers soon turns into a series of daring decisions, which don’t seem so bad until she wakes up the next morning. Married. To Renny. Could she be more of a cliché? Nothing complicates an annulment like lingering temptation, especially when Isabella and Renny give in to their need, putting their marriage where their mouths are. But as Isabella learns what outlaw life is really like, she’ll have to decide if she’s in love with a biker–or in over…

Kelly Rimmer | Writing About a Soon-to-Be-Divorced Couple
Author Guest / November 19, 2019

UNSPOKEN is about Paul and Isabel, who have been married for several years but are now just days away from divorce. In this book, I wanted to explore the ways that while opposites often attract in the first flush of love, they can later cause distance in a relationship if they don’t acknowledge them and work through them. Romances generally end at the ‘happily-ever-after’–but it’s actually the case that once a couple decides they want to build a life together, the real work must begin. It may be true that love is one of the very best and most important things in life, but it rarely comes easy, even within a marriage between two committed parties. In the case of Paul and Isabel, we have a couple who face serious communication challenges. Their inability to really hear one another has led to a relationship implosion, but with neither really understanding exactly what went wrong between them, they’ve fallen into a pattern where they simply blame one another for their unhappiness. Paul feels blindsided by Isabel’s decision to leave and he resents that she would walk away without trying to repair their relationship, but at the very same time, Isabel is…

Lori Foster | Exclusive Interview: ALL FIRED UP
Author Guest / November 19, 2019

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Lori! Please tell us a little bit about the Road to Love series, and the latest book, ALL FIRED UP. Thank you for allowing me to visit.  The Road to Love series is about a courier service, Mustang Transport, with the task of moving some very unusual – and often dangerous – items. The business is run by brothers Brodie (DRIVEN TO DISTRACTION, book 1) and Jack (SLOW RIDE, book 2) with help from their mother, Rosalyn and a young lady they think of as a sister, Charlotte. In ALL FIRED UP, Mitch enters the scene. He’s an unknown half-brother to Brodie & Jack (thanks to their oft absentee father) and after a rough upbringing, he wants to meet his brothers, but he ends up meeting Charlotte first, and that throws off all his plans. Nothing is as he expected it to be, and everything is better than he’d ever dared to hope – except that a deadly problem from his past has followed him and now his new family is in danger. Mitch will do anything necessary to protect Charlotte, and the brothers he’s quickly learning to love. Charlotte Parish has been a part of…

Mary Hughes | Five Signs You Might Be. . . Quirky
Author Guest / November 18, 2019

Thanks to Fresh Fiction for having me here today! Apple. Walmart. Chanel. We live a world of brands and categories. It’s a good thing! Shortcuts help you decide in a soundbite (or mindbite) whether you want to buy.  A necessity, really, with as fast as life is these days. Who has time to research every last detail of which toothpaste to buy or how many types of sunscreen there are? But what if you’re not a one-size-fits-all? What if you’re living in a vanilla world but you’re a tiny bit. . . chocolate? Here’s a fun little quiz to see if you might be quirky. A group from work or school is going to McDonald’s for lunch. You: Go along. Mac’s is great! Go along. But order a salad. Suggest that little hole-in-the-wall deli instead. Stay at your desk. You have a hot date with the latest JR Ward. Whip out an array of hot sauces ranging from mild to stupidly toxic and play your own version of First We Feast’s Hot Ones (the show with hot questions and even hotter wings).  Your own answer! You arrange for dinner with a big group of friends, but you arrive an hour…

Delores Fossen | Exclusive Excerpt: SAFETY BREACH
Author Guest / November 18, 2019

Kellan tried to shut out the chatter and noise in the squad room so he could volley his attention be­tween the live feed from the surveillance camera at the Serenity Inn and the medical examiner’s report for Oswald. He’d printed out the report to free up his com­puter so he could use full screen for the surveillance camera. He wanted to see something–in either the report or at the inn. To find something. He wanted a blasted smoking gun that would give them Eric on a silver platter. There sure as heck was nothing in the report or on-screen that would do that. But maybe Maylene would come through for them four hours from now as she’d said. Maybe she could indeed lure Eric there at noon. However, it was just as possible that this was a trap or a wild-goose chase. Still, a trap could yield them Eric if they played this right. Kellan had started the “playing right” by already having three deputies in position near the inn. When it got closer to noon, he’d go out there, as well. Wear­ing Kevlar and armed to the hilt. And if he got lucky, this would all come to an…

Rosemarie Ross | Exclusive Interview: COBBLERED TO DEATH
Author Guest / November 18, 2019

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Rosemarie! Please tell us about yourself and your latest novel, COBBLERED TO DEATH. I’ve been married for 37 years. We have one son, one daughter-in-law and two granddarlings. I’ve been writing since 1991. I focused on short stories early in my career then graduated to books when I became an empty nester. COBBLERED TO DEATH is a food-themed cozy and my first foray into the mystery genre. The main character, Courtney Archer, is a cooking show star asked to co-host The American Baking Battle which is supposed to be a genteel competition like The Great British Baking Show. Behind the scenes, egos and tempers flare. When a contestant is bludgeoned to death with Courtney’s cast-iron fry pan of cherry cobbler, Courtney becomes the main suspect in the murder. To clear her name and find the real killer, Courtney sifts through clues all while smiling for the camera. Your lead character, Courtney Archer, is the star of her own show Cooking with the Farmer’s Daughter, as well as co-host of The American Baking Battle, a new cooking competition show. She has a lot on her plate, so to speak! Where did your inspiration come for this new series,…

Suze Winegardner | THE LOVE PLAYBOOK
Author Guest / November 15, 2019

I always wanted to write a book where a girl knows more about a sport than the boy playing it. I was inspired by watching Draft Day–a movie about the NFL draft day, in which Jennifer Garner’s character is the money person behind the football team. I loved that feeling of going toe-to-toe with the hardened football experts, and being able to tell them where to get off! Avery is the reluctant heroine in my new book, The Love Playbook. She’s sat on the bleachers since she was four, watching her dad coach every football player that ever went to her school, and now, as her family recovers from a tragedy, she overhears one of the team’s key sponsors saying that if the high school football team doesn’t get to the playoffs, he’ll do everything in his power to have him replaced as coach. In a panic to avert another family tragedy–her father losing his job—she agrees to coach the new guy on the team, Lucas, a player (in more than one way) who seems to have lost his mojo. But Lucas comes to her town with a fake name and a big secret. . . a secret that could…

Sourcebooks Casablanca Christmas Authors | Holiday Fun + Giveaway!
Author Guest / November 15, 2019

Can you believe Christmas is right around the corner? To celebrate, we asked the authors of our 2019 Christmas titles to answer some fun, wintry and Christmas themed questions! Fall in love this Christmas and be sure to read: Longing for a Cowboy Christmas by Leigh Greenwood, Rosanne Bittner, Linda Broday, Margaret Brownley, Anna Schmidt, and Amy Sandas Wish Upon a Cowboy by Jennie Marts Cowboy Firefighter Christmas Kissby Kim Redford Cowboy Christmas Homecoming by June Faver A Dash of Christmas by Samantha Chase Puppy Christmas by Lucy Gilmore Silver Town Wolf: Home for the Holidays by Terry Spear Keep reading to get in the Christmas spirit and check out the books over at Romance Reads! *** What’s the best part about writing a Christmas book? Rosanne Bittner:       The best part about writing a Christmas story is that it takes me into that “miracle” mood that seems to be a part of the Christmas holiday. I always try to include some kind of little miracle in my stories. In last year’s anthology, Christmas In A Cowboy’s Arms, my story miracle was the healed awakening of an unconscious little girl. This year, in Longing for A Cowboy Christmas, my miracle surrounds…

Debbie Wiley | Fall Fantasy Book Recommendations!
Author Guest / November 14, 2019

Fresh Fiction Senior Reviewer Debbie Wiley  Fantasy novels are magical with their ability to transport you to other worlds. Worldbuilding is crucial to the success of any fantasy novel as we need to believe in these imaginary and sometimes quite fantastical worlds. Character development is important as well since we have to care about the fates of the characters. Despite the fact that both elements are important to any genre but particularly the fantasy genre, most readers have a preference for one or the other and I have to admit I prefer complex worldbuilding over character-driven novels. Here are some of my recent favorite fantasy novels in which the authors do a marvelous job at balancing both character development and worldbuilding. Who doesn’t love a series featuring a Library in charge of the world? Rachel Caine’s brilliant series, The Great Library, recently concluded with the fifth and final book, SWORD AND PEN. SWORD AND PEN showcases all of the characters we’ve grown to love and cheer for putting it all on the line in hopes of finally creating a world of peace and information, where the Library doesn’t squelch knowledge it doesn’t like. The worldbuilding is phenomenal, as we have…