1–What’s the name of your latest release? An Unsuitable lady for a Lord 2–What is it about?  Here’s the back cover description: Lord Aaron Lyle has one hell of a choice: a bankrupt dukedom, or marriage to some simpering society miss so his spendthrift father can get his hands on her huge dowry. He won’t do it. He has a reputation to maintain, and besides, he’d rather run naked through the streets of London than marry anyone at all. Surely, there must be a third option. Then Lady Crystal Wilding walks into his life, a bluestocking, full of subversive thoughts, who hates the notion of marriage even more than he does. He is intrigued, and suddenly he has an idea. He invites the totally unsuitable lady home on the pretext of presenting her as a possible match. .  . But in truth, Aaron has something far more pleasurable in mind. For her part, Lady Crystal has her own reasons for going along with his harebrained scheme. Imagine their shock when his highly proper family loves her and starts planning the wedding. Good lord. Now what? 3–What word best describes your heroine? Feisty 4–What makes your hero irresistible? He’s good-hearted, wealthy…

Moving out of winter doldrums into the warmth and light of summer is always an energizing time. In the historical fiction we look at this month, through struggle and persistence, women from very different pasts move beyond the limits of their beginnings to a flawed but fuller life. In THE GARMENT MAKER’S DAUGHTER by Hilary Adrienne Stern, Lena Rothman and her brother arrive at Ellis Island in search of the American Dream.  In early 20th century New York, their stories intersect with those of fellow immigrant Daniel Cowen, who longs to study law, labor organizer Jake Brenner, and his girlfriend Sophie. Stern follows her protagonists through the next fifty years, from sweatshop work, labor strikes, the devastating Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and the fight for woman’s suffrage, continuing the story into the second generation with Lena’s daughter Rachael. Focusing primarily on Lena, we follow her efforts to defeat the obstacles placed in the way of immigrants, workers, Jews, and women as she carves a life for herself and her family in this new land, carrying through her story the themes of love, friendship, betrayal, survival, and hope. Laura Moriarty presents us with another story of changing values and perspectives in…

We are hip-deep in a pandemic as I write this, and my youngest daughter is currently singing/shouting Beauty and the Beast for the fifth time today. I don’t hate it. She squeezed into an old costume, pulled out her “makeup” and asked for extra glitter. I complied of course and decided to paint her nails and curl her hair, too. ‘Cause getting on your glam is never a bad idea. I might even pull out the good china for lunch and serve the grilled cheese and grapes properly. These are unprecedented times and I’m doing everything I can to focus on the many positive ways we humans are pulling together. And not the news updates, I check obsessively. Some days are better than others, and today thankfully, has been a good one. Glitter and all. And it is with that spirit that I’d like to offer my writer/introvert life hacks that have kept me (mostly) sane. Make a plan. A loosy-goosy (yes, that’s a technical term) agenda will only make you feel unaccomplished at day’s end. May happen anyway but at least putting the right foot forward gives you a fighting chance of winning the war of laundry. I usually…

Thank you for having me here to share some details about my new release, INKED WITH A KISS, the second book in my Thorn & Thistle series. In INKED WITH A KISS, tattoo artist Jamie and social worker Sierra have both come to rely on themselves more than anyone else, but a future together will mean letting their guards down and accepting each other as a safe place to fall. I is for irresistible. That’s what they are to each other. N is for new. Sierra introduces Jamie to new experiences, like a picnic under the stars. K is for kinks. Can freckles be a kink? Well, Sierra’s are for Jamie. E is for enthusiasm. Sierra has lots of it. D is for discovery. They discover in each other exactly what they need. * W is for worry. Jamie is a worrier. Thankfully, Sierra is going to help her with that. I is for independent. Sierra is independent and proud of it. T is for tattooer. Jamie is a tattoo artist and Sierra is her most challenging client. H is for help. With a little convincing Jamie is helping Sierra with a fundraiser. * A is for age gap. Twelve…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  NOT THAT KIND OF GUY 2–What is it about?  It’s a workplace romance between an older woman and her intern, but with wild Vegas weekend in the middle. It’s the companion book to NOT THE GIRL YOU MARRY, and you get to see a lot of the characters from that book, but it can be read on its own.  3–What word best describes your heroine?  One word to describe Bridget Nolan: tough. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  His kindness and empathy.   5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help?  Bridget turns to her dad and brothers, and Matt turns to his parents.   6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I loved the brief period of time that I lived in Chicago and I think it’s such a great rom-com setting. It’s larger than life.   7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)? I’m pretty much a plantser. I have a synopsis at the start but most of my books diverge from the plan at some point.  8–What is an ideal writing day for you?  Honestly, my…

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 Carla Cassidy!  Writes: Books like 48 Hour Lockdown, the first novel in the Tactical Crime Division series. It’s a fast-paced, high drama read highlighting some of the people in this unique division of crime-fighters. About: Extroverted author seeks readers who love murder and mayhem. I also love to hang out with people who have a sense of humor and like to laugh. I’ll supply coffee and ice cream (my secret weakness) for an evening of laughing and talking about all the ways to kill a character! What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Must love characters that are strong as they protect and serve. Must love reading at a breath-taking pace, complete with lots of action scenes. Must love suspenseful moments that take your breath away. Must enjoy moments of heartrending emotion that makes you want to cry and scream at the same time. Must love the ultimate battles between good and evil. What to expect if we’re compatible: Romantic…

Is it just me or is it hard to concentrate on anything right now? I usually read between 6-10 novels and graphic novels a month and I’m not sure I fully finished a book during the month of March. I finally forced myself to sit down and read two books (mainly because it’s part of my job to review books and also interview authors about their books) over the last couple of weeks, and I’ve started about three more, but they’re just sitting on my nightstand collecting dust or waiting patiently on my kindle.  But I have been consuming romance novels, just not in the traditional sense. Romance Podcasts! There are many, they are delightful, and I can turn them on while I stress-bake, stress-clean, or stress-stare-off-into-space. I admire so many of these hosts, enjoy their banter, and trust their judgment when it comes to book recommendations, and I can safely “argue” with them when I disagree. The podcasts listed below are a small number of the romance podcasts available – check your favorite podcatcher for even more romance listening:  Fated Mates Hosted by bestselling romance author Sarah MacLean and romance critic Jen Prokop, Fated Mates started out in season…

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Meet Me At Midnight 2–What is it about?  They have a love-hate relationship with summer. Sidney and Asher should have clicked. Two star swimmers forced to spend their summers on a lake together sounds like the perfect match. But it’s the same every year—in between cookouts and boat rides and family-imposed bonfires, Sidney and Asher spend the dog days of summer finding the ultimate ways to prank each other. And now, after their senior year, they’re determined to make it the most epic summer yet. But their plans are thrown in sudden jeopardy when their feud causes their families to be kicked out of their beloved lake houses. Once in their new accommodations, Sidney expects the prank war to continue as usual. But then she gets a note—Meet me at midnight. And Asher has a proposition for her: join forces for one last summer of epic pranks, against a shared enemy—the woman who kicked them out. Their truce should make things simpler, but six years of tormenting one another isn’t so easy to ignore. Kind of like the undeniable attraction growing between them. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Sidney is a lot of things,…

Jen: What inspired you to write The Closer You Get? Mary: A friend told me about a single woman we knew who was having an affair with a married man. He left his wife and went to live with her, but the relationship didn’t last long and he went straight back to his wife. It made me wonder what would happen if both affair partners were married to other people and decided to be together; who would dare to take that first step towards their new life? How could you trust anyone enough to do that? If you were in that position and left your marriage and the other person didn’t leave, you would have burned all your bridges. So that became the start of the idea, that a married woman leaves home to be with a married man, but he doesn’t show up. What draws coworkers Ruby and Harry into having an extramarital affair? I think Ruby is a classic case of a woman who’s very unhappy at home and falls for the first person to show her some kindness and interest. On the other hand, Harry’s actually always been happy at home. His reasons for having an affair…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Alison! Please introduce yourself and tell us about your debut novel, YOU AND ME AND US. Thanks so much for having me! My name is Alison Hammer, and during the day, I’m a VP Creative Director at an advertising agency in Chicago, and during nights and weekends—I write upmarket women’s fiction. You and Me and Us the story of a workaholic woman and her distant teenage daughter, and it’s about the way their relationship evolves as they go through a tough summer, losing the third member of their family. It’s a tearjerker, but there are parts that will make you laugh and smile, too! What had your publishing journey to your debut novel been like? What has surprised you about getting to the publication of your first book? While You and Me and Us is my debut novel, it isn’t the first book I wrote. I have a manuscript that I put in a drawer after trying to find an agent for about a year. While I was querying, I wrote and revised You and Me and Us. It took about seven months of querying to sign with my amazing agent Joanna—who happened to be the…