Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Kari Lee Harmon | Top Five Things to do in Vermont
Author Guest / August 31, 2021

VALLEY OF SECRETS comes out on September 7th. It’s a women’s fiction book with romance and a bit of mystery. The story is about a woman following her aunt’s journal on a journey of self-discovery who finds herself in an unlikely relationship with the editor-in-chief who is trying to solve a mystery that has haunted him for years, but a valley of secrets and a devastating loss threaten the new life she fought so hard to create. It takes place in a fictional town called Mystic Valley, but the state of Vermont itself is very real. I lived in Vermont for a while, and the state is beautiful and mystical with many things to love. Everyone has their favorites but my top five favorite things to do in Vermont are: See the Covered bridges Covered bridges are on my list of must-sees. You won’t find any better than those in Vermont’s Bennington County, where every spot to cross a stream seems to be under wooden eaves. You will find most of the covered bridges in the state’s southeastern corner, including the 88-foot-long Silk Road Bridge, which spans the Walloomsac River and dates from 1840. Anna drives over a covered bridge…

Penny Aimes | Exclusive Interview: FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH
Author Guest / August 31, 2021

Danielle: Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Penny! Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your debut novel, FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH.   Here’s the bio I’ve been using everywhere! “Penny Aimes was assigned Hoosier at Birth but made her way to Austin, Texas, where she lives with a beautiful accountant and a very loud bird. Her debut novel FOR THE LOVE OF APRIL FRENCH is the story of a trans woman who has always seen herself as a stopover for others on their way to a happily ever after and the cis man who knows his home will never be complete without her. Both kinky and unrepentantly fluffy, it is a story about letting go of fear and believing that you can love and be loved in return. It’s also about embracing your community and letting your community vice you a little versa now and then.” “Kinky and unrepentantly fluffy” comes from a very kind review from Talia Hibbert, which is also quoted on the front of the book. A funny thing about that quote is that we had to keep revising the attribution as Talia got more awards and honors. I think we finally settled…

Adriana Anders | 20 Questions: UNCHARTED
Author Guest / August 30, 2021

1–What is the title of your latest release? UNCHARTED  2–What is it about? In this follow-up to WHITEOUT, Leo—a hotshot pilot—is on a race to find a man and a virus when she crash lands in Alaska… and finds a man. She’s just not sure if he’s the right one. The two team up in order to survive and discovery that maybe, they have, indeed, found the right one. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  Writing and researching these Survival Instincts books has been an absolute adventure because the setting—in this case, the remote Alaskan forest—is more than a place. It’s a character. Leo and Elias have to work with their surroundings in order to survive. But of course, that’s never easy, especially while the ice is breaking up and the elements are working against them. But there’s so much beauty everywhere and that’s what I loved the most… this setting is pristine and wild and it forces the characters to go back to their most basic selves.  4–How did your heroine surprise you?  The biggest surprise with Leo was her unexpected soft bits. She’s a tough, accomplished woman who has gotten where she is through intelligence…

Debra Holt | Author-Reader Match: THE BRONC RIDER TAKES THE FALL
Author Guest / August 27, 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 Debra Holt! Writes: I read my first romance over 30 years ago — Janet Dailey’s “Fiesta San Antonio” — and became hooked on the genre. Writing romances, both contemporary and inspirational, is both my passion and dream come true, and I hope my books will bring smiles…and sighs… to all who believe in happily-ever-after. My romance novels are set in small towns in my home state of Texas and the ranches that surround them. My favorite trope to write is second chances. It always brings out the romantic sparks in my mind. But in my latest novel, THE BRONC RIDER TAKES A FALL, I decided to write the trope opposites attract. Can the “Rodeo Romeo” and the small town girl at heart find room in their hearts for each other? THE BRONC RIDER TAKES A FALL is book three in the Tremaynes of Texas series, following CAPTURING THE TEXAS RANCHER’S HEART and THE RANCHER RISKS IT ALL. Book four, THE SHERRIF AND…

Julie Anne Long | 20 Questions: I’M ONLY WICKED WITH YOU
Author Guest / August 27, 2021

1–What is the title of your latest release? I’M ONLY WICKED WITH YOU. It’s the third book in the Palace of Rogues series. 2–What is it about? Hugh Cassidy is the battle-hardened son of a bastard, raised in the wilds of New York. Lady Lillias Vaughn is the sheltered, blue-blooded darling of the London broadsheets, destined to marry a duke. Their worlds collide at The Grand Palace on the Thames, a boarding house near the docks—and the war between them ignites when Hugh catches her smoking a cheroot and tattles on her to the Earl of Vaughn, her father. While their mutual attraction is incendiary and unwelcome…they’re absolutely at its mercy. But little by little, spark by spark, they begin to learn truths and vulnerabilities in each other that no one else in the world has ever uncovered. When their inevitable soul-searing indiscretion threatens to destroy their futures, Hugh comes up with a plan to unravel their entanglement…and the brutal truth is the best way to love her might be to break his own heart. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book? Everything! I’m having the best time writing the stories set at The Grand Palace on…

Sasha Summer | Exclusive Excerpt: COUNTRY MUSIC COWBOY
Author Guest / August 27, 2021

“How about we get a couple of pictures of you two together?” A photographer waved them closer. With each new pose, her awareness of Travis King grew to an alarming level. Little details. The mole on the side of his neck. The scent of spearmint on his breath. One especially long curl that hung onto his forehead. Like a blond Superman. He had a slight bump in his nose. His hand was warm against her back. The gravel timbre of his voice. The more he smiled, the more she wanted to grab him and… Push him far, far away. She didn’t exactly push him, but she made sure to put space between them just as soon as the pictures wrapped up. With a smile and a wave, she was out of the press room… She wasn’t exactly sure where she was going—only that she needed to get Travis out of her head. She glanced at the sign on the wall, turned, and headed for the dressing rooms. If Bree was there, she’d change and attempt a quick exit. “Loretta.” Travis called out. No. At this point, there was nothing left to say. Don’t look back. “Hold up.” He was getting…

Jennifer Vido | Jen’s Jewels Interview: THE SHOW GIRL BY NICOLA HARRISON
Author Guest / August 27, 2021

Jen: What inspired you to write THE SHOW GIRL? Nicola: Well, the truth is I had no idea I would be writing about a Ziegfeld show girl when I started thinking about my second novel. I had written article for a travel magazine about a hotel in the Adirondacks called The Point that was originally built by William Avery Rockefeller II to use as his family’s summer compound. Today it’s a five-star resort that promises guests a taste of times gone by while “roughing it” in extreme luxury. Through my research for this article, I learned about several of these “Great Camps” along the rugged lakeshores of upstate New York all built by Guided Age magnates and I knew that there was a story hiding out in those woods that was begging to be told, I just didn’t know what that story was yet. So, on a chilly Friday afternoon my husband, my son and our two chihuahuas loaded into the car and drove the five-and-a half hours from Manhattan to Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks where we stayed at one of these “Great Camps” called White Pines Camp. The next morning we were given a tour of the 13…

Paige Tyler | Exclusive Excerpt: ROGUE WOLF
Author Guest / August 26, 2021

“When I’m with you, I get these crazy feelings,” she started slowly. “Emotions I’ve never experienced before come bubbling up out of nowhere. They’re so powerful, they take my breath away.” Even as Samantha recognized the complete truth of what she’d said, it was impossible to miss the effect her words had on Trey. He looked stunned. “Crap,” she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself protectively. “This isn’t coming out the way I wanted. I must sound insane.” But instead of backing away like she expected, Trey took her into his arms, squeezing tight and making the most calming shush- ing sounds she’d ever heard. “You don’t sound insane,” he said, tugging her close until her head was nestled comfortably under his chin. “I completely get everything you’re saying. It’s not crazy at all.” Samantha pulled away, opening her mouth to tell him she didn’t appreciate being patronized. She was so focused on what she was about to say, she forgot about Trey’s mug sitting on the edge of the counter. At least until her flailing hand slammed into it and sent it flying, spinning the thing into the tile backsplash hard enough to shatter it into a thousand pieces,…

Michelle McLean | 20 Questions: HITCHED TO THE GUNSLINGER
Author Guest / August 25, 2021

1–What is the title of your latest release? Hitched to the Gunslinger 2–What is it about? A notorious and grumpy gunslinger wants nothing more than to retire and live out his days napping somewhere quiet but instead stumbles into this hole-in-the-wall town and finds himself promptly fake engaged (and then real married) to a morbidly optimistic and determined woman who never gives him a moment’s peace. The rest of the zany townsfolk talk him into becoming the sheriff and he find a way to defeat a corrupt landowner who is terrorizing his new wife and the town while chasing after his own HEA. 3–What do you love about the setting of your book?  It’s wild west but it’s also green and pretty. It’s still remote and untamed but not the tumbleweed dustbin I often think of when picturing a wild western town. 4–How did your heroine surprise you?  She’s more patient with Gray’s antics than I pictured her being. I’d go into a scene picturing her irritated and it would end up really fun, with her playing off Gray’s surliness and egging him on almost rather than being offended by it. 5–Why will readers love your hero?  He is so…

Christi Caldwell | Exclusive Interview: ALONG CAME A LADY
Author Guest / August 25, 2021

Danielle: Welcome back to Fresh Fiction, Christi, and congrats on the release of your new book, ALONG CAME A LADY! We’d love to hear more about it and the set up for this new series, All the Duke’s Sins.   Christi:  Danielle! I’m so excited to be back here chatting with you!! Thank you for both having me, and the warm congrats. Fun fact about me and Fresh Fiction…Fresh Fiction was one of the first blogs to ever host me, back when I began publishing. As such, it’s always special being here! And, I’m really excited to share more about my All the Duke’s Sins series. The series centers on the Audley family: three brothers and a sister who live and work in a mining village in Regency, England…and who also happen to be the illegitimate children of the Duke of Bentley!  Rafe is the eldest of the Audley family. Two things matter more to him than anything. First: his family. He is the protector of his younger siblings. The second being his role as foreman of the Cheadle mines. Rafe lives to thwart his father. He believes his father is a ne’er do well who abandoned his children…however, there…