Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Makenna Lee | 20 Questions: A SHERIFF’S STAR
Author Guest / October 27, 2020

1–What’s the name of your latest release?  A SHERIFF’S STAR is my new release from Harlequin Special Edition. It is the first book in the Home to Oak Hollow series. 2–What is it about?  A SHERIFF’S STAR is the story of a single mother of a little girl with Down syndrome. Mother and daughter travel to Oak Hollow where Tess Harper will curate the town’s museum before moving to Houston for Hannah’s heart surgery. Upon arrival in the quaint Texas town, her four-year-old slips away for an unannounced game of hide-and-seek. Tess finds her in the arms of the handsome chief of police. Although tempted, she’s not here for romance, and he’s exactly the danger-seeking type she avoids. Staying away from him becomes impossible when he turns out to be her landlord and next-door neighbor. Hannah adores him and his grandmother, making separation difficult. Anson Curry’s alluring tenant is jumpy and standoffish, but he helps her move into the house he’d planned to fill with children. He’s vowed not to start a relationship unless it can be a forever thing, so getting close to another woman who’ll leave town is a chance he shouldn’t take, but her daughter, Hannah, keeps…

K.D. Fisher | Exclusive Excerpt: THE SECRET INGREDIENT
Author Guest / October 27, 2020

Hi, everyone! I’m thrilled to share an excerpt from THE SECRET INGREDIENT, my queer rivals-to-lovers foodie romance. When classically trained chef Adah Campbell and intuitive baker Beth Summers meet, their attraction. . . and rivalry. . . is immediate. The two women couldn’t be more different, but their intense passion for food and undeniable chemistry draws them together. Below is a sneak-peak of Adah and Beth’s meet-cute (in this case more of a meet tense…that’s a thing, right?) THE SECRET INGREDIENT is available now. Thanks for reading and I hope you all enjoy! Excerpt: The woman stepped forward without missing a beat, extending her hand. I closed the gap between us, shivering as her long fingers brushed my palm. Her skin was warm and a little work-rough. A heavy quiet settled over me as we shook hands. I had the strange thought that I could have held her hand all day. Up close I realized her narrow, wary eyes were a soft shade of green. They widened for a fraction of a second before she stepped back, shoving her hands into her pockets. “I’m Adah Campbell, the new executive chef at Bella Vista. This is Sean Jacobs, our GM, and…

Eileen Brady | 20 Questions: SADDLED WITH MURDER
Author Guest / October 26, 2020

1–What’s the name of your latest release?    My latest book in the Dr. Kate Vet series is called SADDLED with MURDER. It will be available on October 27, 2020. The word saddle in the title has a duel meaning, one of which involves a wild mustang who has been adopted out and is having difficulty adjusting to his new home. 2–What is it about? It’s a mystery that reminds us to be careful what you wish for. The story begins at the Oak Falls Animal Hospital Christmas party, where Cindy, the receptionist, suggests playing a party game. Everyone is asked to share a secret selfish holiday wish. It’s been a long day for Dr. Kate Turner. She’s juggling a lot in her professional life and private life and when it is her turn, she stands up in front of the staff and says she’d like to make two problem clients disappear. Kate isn’t specific – but the audience yells out some names. “Abracadabra, poof, they’re gone,” she says. That night a video taken at the party is posted on social media, which makes Dr. Kate feel terrible. But she feels even worse when the first of those clients is found…

Kym Roberts | Cozy Corner: Fall Into the Paranormal with Maggie Toussaint
Author Guest / October 26, 2020

It’s that time of year when all the ghosts and goblins appear! Unfortunately, 2020 has made it difficult for them to visit your doorstep, so why not let them visit your library instead:) My guest at the Cozy Corner will allow you to do just that, and so much more. Maggie Toussaint loves to captivate readers with her eclectic writing that captures the imagination no matter what genre you prefer, she’s offering a sea full of great books! *** Kym: Welcome to the Cozy Corner, Maggie! Maggie: Thanks! It is my pleasure to be here. What an interesting mix of writing you do! Mystery, romance, and sci-fi, but what you left out in your bio was how beautifully you incorporate paranormal in your Dreamwalker Mysteries. Can you tell our readers about the series? I have had an arm’s length fascination with the paranormal for most of my life. When I decided to write in this genre, I blended my fear and fascination into a reluctant sleuth’s strengths and weaknesses, and Baxley Powell formed on the page. You see, she’d denied her psychic abilities for so long, that her journey of self-discovery involves learning about a new extrasensory talent with each…

Annabeth Albert | Title Challenge: FEEL THE FIRE
Author Guest / October 26, 2020

Hey Fresh Fiction readers! I’m so happy to be here participating in the title challenge for my new release, FEEL THE FIRE. This is book 3 in my Hotshots series about smoke jumpers and wildfire fighters, but it also stands alone well. We met Tucker briefly in book 2, HIGH HEAT, and you’ll see small easter eggs from the couples of books 1 and 2 in FEEL THE FIRE. In FEEL THE FIRE, I wanted to look at some of the people behind the scenes in Wildfire Fighting—the people calling the shots, arranging logistics, and deciding how best to approach a fire season. This year Oregon has been in the news with a very active and heartbreaking fire season that claimed over a million acres. While FEEL THE FIRE includes a number of the realities of fighting wildfires, it centers around the reunion romance of two childhood sweethearts meeting again as adults and coworkers. There’s lots of family and feels and sexy tension! F is for First Kisses E is for Eating, shared meals and long talks E is for Each moment counts L is for Longing * T is for Trust, both past and present H is for Home,…

Nicci French | Exclusive Excerpt: HOUSE OF CORRECTION
Author Guest / October 26, 2020

The screaming started at three in the morning. Tabitha had never heard a human being howl in that way before. It was like the screeching of an animal caught in a trap and it was answered by shouts, distant, echoing. Tabitha couldn’t tell whether they were cries of comfort or anger or mockery. The screams subsided into sobs but even these were amplified by the metal, the doors, the stairs and floors. Tabitha felt they were echoing inside her head. She sensed a movement from the bunk above her. The other woman must be awake. “Someone’s in trouble.” There was silence. Tabitha wondered if the woman was ignoring her or really was asleep, but then a voice came out of the darkness. She was speaking slowly, as if she were talking to herself. Her voice was low and gravelly, a smoker’s morning voice. “Everyone’s in trouble,” she said. “That’s why they’re here. That’s why they’re crying, when they think about their children or what they did. Or what they did to their children. When there’s real trouble, you don’t hear any screams. You just hear the screws running along the corridors. When it’s really bad you hear a helicopter landing…

Jan Drexler | 20 Questions: SOFTLY BLOWS THE BUGLE
Author Guest / October 23, 2020

1—What’s the name of your latest release?  Softly Blows the Bugle is the third book in my Amish of Weaver’s Creek series. 2–What is it about? When Elizabeth Kaufman received the news of her husband’s death at the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, she felt only relief. She determined that she would never be at the mercy of any man again, even if it meant she would never have a family of her own. Then Aaron Zook comes home with her brother when the war ends two years later. Despite the severity of his injuries, Aaron resolves to move West and leave the pain of the past behind him. He never imagined that the Amish way of life his grandfather had rejected long ago would be so enticing. That, and a certain widow he can’t get out of his mind. Yet, even in a simple community, life has a way of getting complicated. Aaron soon finds that while he may have left the battlefield behind, there is another fight he must win–the one for the heart of the woman he loves.  3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Elizabeth is determined, but fragile. Aaron is steadfast. 4–What makes your story…

Jennifer Vido | Jen’s Jewels Interview: IN THE DEEP by Loreth Anne White
Author Guest / October 23, 2020

Jen: What inspired you to write In The Deep? Loreth: Thanks for hosting me, Jen. In The Deep was inspired by a visit to my brother who lives in a small oceanside town in New South Wales, Australia. He’s a big wave surfer, and a man of the sea in every way, so of course we went out deep sea fishing in his tiny boat. When we were ten miles off the coast, heaving about on the white-veined swells of the deep blue waters of the Tasman Sea, with the Australian coastline just a distant purple haze, I got to thinking: Anything could happen out here, and there would be no one to witness it, and what if someone did go overboard, and maybe not by mistake. Later, while eating dinner outside under a vermillion sky, and listening to the flying foxes squabble overhead and the lorikeets and ‘cockies’ fighting in the gum trees, my brother regaled us with tales of some of his adventures, like the time he got a treble hook stuck in his neck. And he told us how the flying foxes–giant bats–can swarm in groups along the highway as they migrate, and more . . ….

Joanna Davidson Politano | Title Challenge: THE LOVE NOTE
Author Guest / October 23, 2020

T is for truth, the heroine’s strength and downfall as well. In romance, in her medical career, even in prickly family matters, she cannot help but spout out the truth the moment it comes into her head. H is for happy endings, something that nearly everyone at Crestwicke lacks, and only a few will find by the end. E is for epic love story, the sort that has blossomed out of the dry stones of Crestwicke, between two unknown people connected by an old love letter. * L is for lost chances, which happened when a letter admitting to a secret love was dropped—or hidden—in the crack of a desk without ever being opened. When the heroine finds it, she is determined to reunite the secret lovers—if the chance is not already lost completely. O is for obsessed, which the lonely maid at Crestwicke becomes when she stumbles on the letter, believing she now has a secret admirer. V is for Vanish, which is what the letter does over and over, landing in different people’s hands and causing chaos below the surface that will eventually explode out into the open. E is for enduring, which is exactly what our hero…

Lyssa Kay Adams | Exclusive Interview: CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE
Author Guest / October 23, 2020

Hi, Lyssa Kay! Welcome to Fresh Fiction. Please tell us about yourself and your new book, CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE: Thank you so much for having me! I’m sitting in my home office in Michigan, where I write full-time with a very spoiled Maltese at my feet (when he’s not sleeping ON MY DESK). He has been at my side through every Bromance book, including this one. I’m so excited for readers to get their hands on Noah and Alexis’s story in CRAZY STUPID BROMANCE. Both are characters that readers have met in previous Bromance books, and now they will really get to know them on a deeper level. Both are very wounded characters from things that happened in their pasts, but they have helped each other heal as friends. But when Alexis is confronted by a woman claiming to be her long-lost sister, her friendship with Noah begins to blossom into something more as she leans on him to navigate this touchy family situation. There is a subplot in the book about a kidney donation among family members, which is very personal to me. My husband donated a kidney to his sister shortly after we got married, and I poured…