All of this week, we’re showcasing a different Forever holiday romance author! Visit the blog every day for author interviews, cheery giveaways, and more festive fun.  Up first, Annie Rains! ** What’s the name of your latest release? My new release is called SEASON OF JOY. I think it’s the perfect title for this book because it’s a holiday story and Joy is the name of my heroine. What do you love about writing holiday/Christmas romance?  There’s a touch of magic in a Christmas romance. It’s the season of hope, which is really at the root of all my books. I also love adding in all the festivities of the season like picking out a Christmas tree and decorating it, buying gifts, festivals, flotillas, and of course the food! There’s so much to love about a holiday book. Who can resist? Are your hero and heroine full of Christmas cheer or do the holidays bring out the worst in them?  Well, my hero is the owner of the local Christmas tree farm. He’s typically full of Christmas cheer, but this year he’s struggling because half of his tree farm burned down in the spring. My heroine, Joy, is also struggling….

“So what do we do now?” Hannah asked. When she’d reopened the boutique, customers flooded the store. Russell had offered to help her until things slowed down. One hour had turned into two and in the blink of an eye the entire day had passed. She’d appreciated the help, but when she’d told him she felt guilty for keeping him from see­ing his family, he’d waved away her concern like it was no big deal. She’d wondered if he was avoid­ing them, then dismissed the idea as ridiculous. Unlike her, he had a loving, supportive family. And for a man who’d never worked in retail and who hadn’t had a clue about women’s fashion, he’d done incredibly well. A woman who’d come into the boutique looking for the perfect blouse had left with three dresses, two pairs of pants and three pairs of earrings in addition to that blouse, all because Russell had said she’d looked nice in them. He’d also given thumbs down on two other dresses and the woman had left without them. More than providing her customers with a male’s perspective, Russell had served as the mus­cle she’d needed, carrying boxes for her. He’d also unpacked and…

Hi, Opal! Welcome to Fresh Fiction. Please introduce yourself and tell us about your latest book, STROKE OF LUCK.  Hi. Thank you for inviting me! It’s always a pleasure! I’m Opal Carew and I’ve been writing erotic romance for over 20 years. I’m a cat-loving, artistic, romantic sort, but I spent most of my career as a high-tech professional. I dyed my hair pink (or purple or blue) 30 years ago before it was popular. I don’t like to live in a box or colour within the lines. Well, I do the latter when I’m actually colouring, but I like to draw my own lines. 😉 April, the heroine of Stroke of Luck, has always tried to stay within the lines and do what is expected of her, and it got her into a big mess. To get her life back on track, she needs to do something unexpected and a little crazy so that she can take back the control she’s lost. April starts out down on her luck–she thinks she’s going to Vegas to get married, but gets cheated on, left, and has to foot the hotel bill. What do you think readers will love about April?      I…

Half a dozen women, standing by a makeshift bar in Didcote’s Air Transit Auxiliary’s mess turned appraising faces toward us. For one panicky moment I felt I was back at boarding school on the first day of term. “Good morning, Miss Redfern, I’m Vera Abercrombie, Didcote’s commanding officer.” A compact looking woman with a direct no nonsense gaze introduced herself. I suppose, like everyone else who first met her, I was surprised that the Didcote ATA commanding officer wasn’t the standard issue senior male RAF officer with a waxed moustache. Vera Abercrombie was probably in her mid-thirties, but her fair northern skin was deeply lined, either from years of flying, or put there by the burdensome responsibility of her war-time job. She carried a clip-board with a sheaf of papers pinned to it and her glance strayed to it often, as if she might have inadvertently overlooked some small but important detail. There are not many women who have shot to the heights of command that Vera Abercrombie had achieved, without being conscious of their seniority every hour of their long working day, but there was no arrogance in her greeting and no feeling that this was her ‘show,’ and…