Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Mary B. Morrison | 20 Questions: CAREFUL WHAT YOU CLICK FOR
Author Guest / May 25, 2020

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  Careful What You Click For 2–What is it about?  Online dating. Four church members–in their quest for lust and love–do the unimaginable. Blinded by desire, the characters are determined to sex the lover of their choice. 3–What word best describes your heroine?  Fallible. 4–What makes your hero irresistible?  There is no hero in Careful What You Click For. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help? Loved ones. Law enforcers. In some instances, as church members and friends, they depend upon one another. In a particular situation, one character has no means to communicate with the outside world and must rely upon God to deliver him from evil. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Atlanta, Georgia, is intriguing. Churchgoers and politicians often share the same bed. I enjoy taking the characters from Sunday service to the bar to show how Christians are sinners. 7–Are you a plotter (follow an outline) or a pantster (write by the seat of your pants)? I’m an artist first. My characters are real to me. I don’t like to get ahead of them and dictate their direction. I outline four chapters at…

June Rushdan | Title Challenge + Exclusive Excerpt: UNTIL THE END
Author Guest / May 25, 2020

Every so often, we challenge authors to describe their new releases using the letters of their titles! Enjoy this Title Challenge from Juno Rushdan’s latest romantic suspense release, along with an exclusive excerpt from UNITL THE END:  U is for unexpected N is for necessary T is for thrill ride I is for intrigue L is for love * T is for twist H is for heart-stirring E is for entertaining * E is for edge-of-your-seat N is for national security D is for danger Excerpt:  Did you find out why they changed security protocol?” Jess asked, driving the armored truck along the dark, deserted road stretching before her like a giant black hole. “Nope.” Roger stared out the passenger window. “I don’t care either.” She tried ignoring the dread that always bubbled in her gut on Route 15. This road was the worst part of their quarterly drive making deliveries from Nexcellogen to Fort Detrick. Her gaze flicked to the rearview mirror. All clear. She half expected to find the boogeyman chasing up behind them. So ridiculous. Nothing was different about this run—except the sidearms she and Roger both carried. A new security requirement that substantiated the unnerving rumors among the drivers about…

Jennifer Vido | Jen’s Jewels Interview: THE WIFE STALKER by Liv Constantine
Author Guest / May 22, 2020

Jennifer: What inspired you to write The Wife Stalker? Liv (Lynne & Valerie): The ideas always start with a common trope that we try to turn on its head. When the idea for The Wife Stalker came to us, it presented a challenge in terms of how exactly we could transfer that idea to the page, and that became the propelling motivation as we wrote. What draws Piper Reynard to Westport, Connecticut? Piper wants to leave California and put as much distance as possible between her past and her new life. Moving almost 3,000 miles away, to the other side of the country, is the best way to do that. The draw of Westport is its cosmopolitan yet small-town atmosphere and the fact that it’s on the water. Piper is passionate about sailing, and so she wants to find a place on the coast. Because many of the residents aren’t natives of Westport, no one is particularly interested in anyone’s family history. It’s a place she can re-invent herself and become “Piper”. How does her life change when she meets the handsome Leo Drakos? Piper feels both excitement and a tiny (very tiny) bit of trepidation when she meets Leo….

Linda Bond | Author-Reader Match: FLATLINE
Author Guest / May 22, 2020

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 LINDA BOND! Writes: Linda Bond writes romantic thrillers because she’s a big fan of the James Bond franchise. She’s also a real-life news reporter who spends every day writing under deadline. Her series from Entangled Publishing is set in a Central Florida newsroom, where each reporter goes out on assignment, stumbles onto a mystery, and while solving the mystery, falls in love.  Her latest, Flatline, is a medical thriller: People are dying in Dr. Joshua Salvador’s ER. His medical assistant, only weeks from delivering her baby, hangs on to life by a thread. The symptoms seem horrifyingly familiar, and he begins to suspect the deaths are targeted at him. But, before he can figure things out, top TV investigator Rachel Wright is standing in the middle of his ER, convinced an outbreak, an epidemic, or even a botched flu vaccine could be the cause, and she’s going to tell the world.  About: Adrenaline junkie news reporter by day, romance writer by night, seeks…

Kevin van Whye | Title Challenge: DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER
Author Guest / May 22, 2020

D is for Dare. Everything in this book starts because of the dare that Bryson Keller accepts. A is for Anticipation. Kai starts to anticipate the time he spends with his fake-boyfriend. T is for Truth. Kai desires to live his truth. E is for Empathy. Kai is surprised by how empathetic and understanding Bryson Keller is. * M is for Music. Both Kai and Bryson connect over their favorite band. E is for Embarrassed. Kai blushes a lot, a fact that Bryson finds cute. * B is for Bryson Keller. The swoon-worthy love interest. R is for Romance. This is a gay Rom-Com. Y is for Yearning. Being a closeted teen can be lonely. S is for Sexuality. This is a coming out story. O is for Open. Kai and Bryson slowly open their hearts, and themselves, to each another. N is for Now. Kai decides to live in the ‘now’ with Bryson. * K is for Kissing. ‘Nuff said. E is for Endure. Kai and Bryson endure trials & tribulations for their happy ending. L is for Life. Kai’s life is forever changed by the dare. L is for Love. This is the story of two boys falling…

Debbie Wiley | Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night…
Author Guest / May 21, 2020

by senior reviewer Debbie Wiley Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie. When the pie was opened, the birds began to sing- wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king?  I have a love/hate relationship with birds that started with Mother Goose and the Song of Sixpence nursery rhyme. Sure, there are birds I dearly love, like the graceful Sandhill cranes and the majestic owls, but it is the mystery of those blackbirds that has left me with a healthy dose of fear for birds. I know I’m not alone as look at Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, or Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds (shudders). Several authors recently have challenged me to rethink how I feel about some of these maligned birds and I’d like to share their wonderful books with you. Heather Webber tackles the Song of Sixpence directly with a bit of magical realism in MIDNIGHT AT THE BLACKBIRD CAFE. Anna Kate Callow has arrived in Wicklow, Alabama, to bury her beloved Granny Zee. Unbeknownst to her, she inherits her grandmother’s entire estate, including the Midnight Cafe under one condition- she has to remain in Wicklow and run the cafe for a specific amount of time. Anna Kate has preconceptions about Wicklow….

Kari Arthur | Exclusive Interview: BLACKBIRD RISING
Author Guest / May 21, 2020

by Fresh Fiction Reviewers Debbie Wiley and Annetta Sweetko Hi Keri! Annetta and I (Debbie) are thrilled you’re joining us today at Fresh Fiction as we’re long-time fans of your work. Thanks for inviting me here! Can you tell us a little about your newest book, BLACKBIRD RISING, and what inspired it? I’d been thinking about writing an Arthurian inspired novel for a while, but in all honesty, it was just bubbling away in the background with no real substance. Then one of my favorite cover designers–J Caleb Design–put the Blackbird pre-made up for sale and boom, the whole story was right there. Needless to say, I grabbed that cover as soon as I could (his pre-made go really fast, so it was definitely meant to be). And so, The Witch King’s Crown series was born. You’ve written a variety of paranormal books, including other shifters. What made you decide on a blackbird shifter? The cover! I honestly had no intention of adding shifters into an Arthurian-based story, although I was always going to have witches and demons. In all of your various book series’ you have come up with very strong women ( for example – Tiger in the…

Allie Therin | 20 Questions: STARCROSSED
Author Guest / May 21, 2020

1–What’s the name of your latest release? Starcrossed 2–What is it about? It’s the middle book in my Magic in Manhattan trilogy–not a standalone, but part of a 3-book romance series where two men from different classes fall for each other, fight to be together–and save 1920s New York from some very dangerous magic. 3–What word best describes Rory? Loyal. It’s hard for him to trust, but when he does, it’s for life. 4–What makes Arthur irresistible? He’s hiding a very soft heart under his playboy facade and always puts the safety of others above himself. 5–Who are the people your main characters turn to when they need help? Arthur always turns to his best friend, Jade. Rory doesn’t ask for help, even when he needs it, because he’s had to rely on himself for a long time. But maybe with Arthur and the crew in his life, he’ll eventually learn how. 6–What do you love about the setting of your book? New York is a city I visit often and there’s so much to love–the diversity, the history, the food, the architecture. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the 1920s, if I’m honest. I love the…

Eloisa James | Exclusive Interview: SAY YES TO THE DUKE
Author Guest / May 20, 2020

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Eloisa! We’re thrilled to have you here. Can you tell us a bit about your Wildes of Lindow Castle series and where SAY YES TO THE DUKE fits in?  The Wildes of Lindow Castle series follows a huge family living on the edge of a bog, and Say Yes is the story of an adopted Wilde, Viola. Her half-siblings are gorgeous, vivid, and dramatic—but Viola is a shy wallflower. As she describes it, she has no more in common with His Grace’s offspring than a donkey to a dragon.  SAY YES TO THE DUKE is pure escapist fun: the wallflower attracts the attention of a duke, but she doesn’t want him because she thinks she’s in love with a vicar. They end up married, and then he has to work hard to change her mind! Family is an important factor in SAY YES TO THE DUKE, as well as the other books in this series, and I enjoyed catching up with the Wildes from previous books. What do you love about creating a tight-knit family like the Wildes?  It’s wonderful to be able to deepen and grow characters over several books. I became so fond of the duke and duchess, for example, that I have a prequel of their romance coming…

Julia Justiss | History ReFreshed: Hard Truths
Author Guest / May 20, 2020

The devastation of war tests the human spirit to its limits, as individuals struggle to survive in desperate and dangerous circumstances.  With the war we’ve all been fighting the last few months against an invisible enemy, the topic is even more timely.  The following stories enthrall, astound, and invite us to look past the minor irritations and minutiae of our everyday lives and concentrate on what is truly important. This was certainly the case for the women involved in SEVEN DAYS IN MAY by Kim Izzo.  Despite the savage war being fought on the Western Front–and a warning from Germany that any ship crossing the Atlantic puts itself at-risk–New York heiresses Sydney and Brooke Sinclair stick to their plan to sail to England, where Brooke is to marry Edward Thorpe-Tracey.   While Brooke is excited to marry into the aristocracy, independent Sydney is drawn to the suffragette movement. Full of confidence in the future, the girls and Edward board the Lusitania for the seven-day voyage.  Meanwhile in England, Isabel Nelson, after escaping a scandal in Oxford, is grateful to have landed a secretary’s job at the British Admiralty’s mysterious Room 40.  Recognizing her skill at codes and cyphers, she’s soon put…