Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Amy Pershing | Author-Reader Match: A SIDE OF MURDER
Author Guest / February 22, 2021

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 Amy Pershing! Writes: I write the Cape Cod Foodie Mysteries, which (obviously) revolve around food and Cape Cod. And murder.  And romance. Or, at least in the first book of the series, A SIDE OF MURDER, it was a romance. Now it’s, well, complicated. It all begins when Samantha Barnes — once an up-and-coming New York chef until an unfortunate YouTube video went viral — retreats home to Cape Cod.  There Sam finds herself dealing with a falling-down house, a ginormous puppy, and a job writing restaurant reviews. Oh, yeah, and a dead body. And the town’s new harbormaster, Jason Captiva.  Who, it turns out, was Sam’s high school crush. . . About: Like Sam, I am a total foodie.  I’ve edited cookbooks, reviewed restaurants, and pretty much eaten my way around the world. I’m also a total fool for love.  Especially first loves.  At 16, I thought my guy was the cutest, smartest, funniest, sexiest guy in the room.  I still do.  For more about me…

Eva Devon | Top Ten Fun Period Films Guaranteed to Give You Costume Envy
Author Guest / February 19, 2021

1: Sink me! I adore a good caper. And The Scarlet Pimpernel is a GORGEOUS movie and full of hilarious banter. Plus, it features an amazing cast that includes a young Ian McKellen! 2: Emma with Romola Garai is my very favorite version. It is such a treat! Romola plays Emma as fun, feisty, and yet limited by the fact she’s never left home. Also, they do a great job of giving context to the childhoods of supporting characters. A really lovely and fun presentation! 3: Girls are boss! In this very gritty, funny, and pretty true series, Harlots gives Georgian England the full female treatment. I’ve read a lot about Covent Garden and the show holds true to form. This one is not for the light of heart or for those who prefer their love scenes off screen. Produced, directed, and largely acted by women, I love it! So gorgeous! 4: War and Peace sounds really heavy and it is serious, but I could look at the main characters in their fabulous costumes in their fabulous settings all day. It’s a gorgeous trip back into the height of war time 1800s. The balls are out of this world. 5:…

Sharon Sala | Exclusive Excerpt: SOMEBODY TO LOVE
Author Guest / February 19, 2021

Ava was still daydreaming about her lunch with Hunt and didn’t think to check the rearview mirror before heading home. It wasn’t until she was pulling up into her drive that she caught a glimpse of red and then a car pulling in behind her. When she realized it was Vince, her heart stopped. She had a moment of sheer panic, and then anger washed through her. The fact that he was an utter jerk was no longer in question. He was stalking her and it made her mad. She reached beneath the seat, grabbed the old baton her dad had given her years ago when she began working nights at the hospital in Savannah, and got out with it in her hand. Vince got out, holding up his hands in a joking I-give-up gesture when he saw what she was holding. “There are laws against stalking,” Ava said. Vince took a step toward her, grinning. “Aw, come on, Ava. I’m not stalking you. I just wanted to clear the air. I didn’t mean anything back at the grocery store. I was just surprised to see you and—” “You weren’t surprised. You were looking for me or you wouldn’t be…

MaryJanice Davidson | Exclusive Excerpt: A WOLF AFTER MY OWN HEART
Author Guest / February 18, 2021

There was a swinging door between the kitchen and living room, and Lila blessed it. Which was a switch from earlier, when she’d been carrying boxes and mistimed the swing (“Ow, dammit!”). But now the contrary thing concealed her for a crucial few seconds, and then the guy who kicked in her door came through, and she had the barrel up behind his ear before he was all the way in. “Jeez, you Domino’s guys are persistent,” she hissed. “I told you. I. Don’t. Want. Any. Pizza. Jackass.” “Please. If I was delivering pizza, it’d be Green Mill.” That startled a laugh out of her. She had to give it to him, he didn’t sound rattled in the slightest. And he was distractingly good-looking. Not every guy could pull off a Caesar haircut. Or had eyes the color of forest moss. Forest moss? Time to get laid. Not by this guy, though. Most likely. His looks made up for his clothes: He was wearing scruffy slacks, a shirt he hadn’t bothered buttoning up all the way (which revealed the shoulders and abs of a swimmer, which was even more irritating), he didn’t have a coat, and…was that blood on his…

Eva Leigh | 20 Questions: WAITING FOR A SCOT LIKE YOU
Author Guest / February 17, 2021

1–What is the title of your latest release? WAITING FOR A SCOT LIKE YOU 2–What is it about? Major Duncan McCameron is struggling to adjust to life in peacetime, so as a favor to a friend he agrees to escort a widowed countess on a trip north. He didn’t anticipate that Lady Faris would be a vibrant woman eager to explore all of life’s experiences. They clash at first, but as their journey turns into a wild ride, they can’t deny the explosive attraction between them. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  I love road stories because they’re always full of adventure, and this book is no different! 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  Beatrice’s zest for living comes from the fact that she’s spent most of her life in an unsatisfying, confining marriage, and I loved learning how determined she is to finally break free. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  Three words: grumpy Scot Dom. Okay, two more words: younger man. 6–What was one of your biggest challenges while writing this book (spoiler-free, of course!)?  Making sure that Duncan and Beatrice challenge but also complement each other on their emotional as well as physical…

Julia Justiss | History ReFreshed: The Valentine of Success
Author Guest / February 17, 2021

The month of romance conjures up thoughts of candy, cards, sweethearts, and gifts.  But for women who have historically struggled to make a place for themselves that isn’t defined or restricted by men, a truly sweet treat is to read uplifting stories of women who struggled–and succeeded–in expanding the narrow roles thrust upon them, striking out to master new ventures. In Karen J. Hasley’s WAITING FOR HOPE, a girl from a San Francisco brothel escapes the past to establish a new life and a new identity in the beauty of the wilderness.  After inheriting land and a cabin, Hope Birdwell sets off for 1905 Wyoming Territory, determined to succeed as a homesteader.  There she meets the Davis family, who offer her friendship and assistance, and John Thomas, a man in whom she might just be able to believe.  But when a brutish man from her past tracks her down, threatening all she’s grown to love, it will require all her courage and ingenuity to defeat his menace and emerge victorious. We meet another strong heroine determined to create a new life for herself in LOVE OF FINISHED YEARS by Gregory Erich Phillips.  After arriving at Ellis Island in 1905, German…

Danielle Jackson Dresser | Reading Outside of My Comfort Zone
Author Guest / February 16, 2021

It’s still early enough in 2021 that I’m still mulling over my goals and intentions for the year. Drink more water. Write more. Move (with intent) for at least 30 minutes a day. Read more. This last one is always on my list. READ MORE. Is it truly possible? There are so many uncertainties right now, it’s hard to carve out dedicated time to really read. But one thing I do have control over is what I read and every year, I try to push myself to read things that I might not normally gravitate toward. I chose a few recent reads I’ve enjoyed that have been squarely outside of my comfort zone and that I really enjoyed. *** SCIENCE FICTION Look, I love Star Wars a whole bunch, but I’ve never been able to get into “Science Fiction” the “genre.” I stumble over worldbuilding that relies on a ton of explaining, but when it is done well and woven into the fabric of the narrative, I can relax and fully enmesh myself in the setting and the story. WINTER’S ORBIT by Everina Maxwell – What starts out as an arranged marriage to keep political alliances in line turns into…

Jennifer Vido | Jen’s Jewels Interview: DO NO HARM BY CHRISTINA MCDONALD
Author Guest / February 12, 2021

What inspired you to write DO NO HARM? I’ve spent much of my adult life watching my brother’s addiction to opioids. Watching someone you love go to war with themselves is a special level of hell. The experience profoundly changed me and my view of addiction and opioids. So I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to write a thriller set against the backdrop of the opioid epidemic. Then one day I saw a news story about a podiatrist who’d been arrested for starting an opioid ring and it got me thinking: why do people start selling drugs? Is it money, power, status? What would drive someone to do that? The only thing I believed I could ever understand, given that I’d watched my brother’s descent into addiction, was love. My children. I would do anything for them. And that was the moment I first thought of the story for Do No Harm. When Emma’s son is diagnosed with a rare cancer, how does her life change? After a troubled and lonely past in which her parents were killed in a car accident and she was raised in foster care, Emma has finally found the happiness and belonging…

Sapna Bhog | 20 Questions: DARE TO BE A DUCHESS
Author Guest / February 12, 2021

1–What is the title of your latest release? DARE TO BE A DUCHESS 2–What is it about? It’s an enemies-to-lovers historical romance between a mixed heritage girl from India and a duke. 3–What do you love about the setup of your book?  I love the slow burn romance between the hero and the heroine. They didn’t set out to fall in love. In fact, they both knew that their love was forbidden. They waged a daily battle within themselves to forget the other and that internal conflict is what I loved the most. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  When I was writing Lara’s character, I wanted her to be brave, wild, and rebellious, and while I hope to have achieved that, what I think also came across is how loyal she is, how fiercely she loves, and how vulnerable she feels when she falls in love. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  Wolf is a proper Duke. At the beginning of the book he’s stiff, broody, and moody, but all that changes once he starts to fall in love. Readers will enjoy how his character transforms across the book and how he breaks all the rules of society and…

Valentine’s Day Recipe Roundup: BEST LAID PLANS by Roan Parrish
Author Guest / February 12, 2021

Thank you SO much for celebrating Valentine’s Day with us this week! We hope you discovered some great new books and will try a recipe or two that have been shared. Don’t forget to leave comments on the posts for chances to win amazing books by these wonderful authors. Today, Roan Parrish brings this roundup to a close with more about her book, BEST LAID PLANS and a recipe for decadent truffles! Best Laid Plans is the second book in my Garnet Run series, which features cozy, queer romances that take place in a beautiful small town. We met Charlie Matheson briefly in Better Than People, the first book in the series, which featured his brother, grouchy children’s book illustrator Jack. When Charlie Matheson’s parents died just days before his eighteenth birthday, he learned to fend for himself and take care of his younger brother, Jack. That included learning how to cook. He was always competent, but he never saw food as anything more than fuel to get him through the day, repeating the same five meals every week for the last fifteen years. When tattooed new arrival, Rye Janssen, inherits a house in Garnet Run, Wyoming, he brings much-needed…