Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Valerie Bowman Interview – Noblemen in Disguise
Author Guest , Interviews / April 27, 2022

I love stories in which a main character “comes back from the dead”. What inspired you to create a story with this plot? THE DUKE IS BACK is book 6 (and the final book) in my Footmen’s Club series. The series was based on the idea of three noblemen betting each other they couldn’t pull off pretending to be servants at a house party. Whoever makes it the longest, wins! That is the premise of the first three books, and I’d only planned to write the trilogy. But readers asked for more (yay!). So I wrote the book about how the couple who hosted the house party met (Book 4, Save a Horse, Ride a Viscount). In that book, there was a mysterious house guest who was hidden away. His name is Phillip. Save a Horse ended on a cliffhanger for Phillip (it was sort of a surprise for me, too!) THE DUKE IS BACK picks up the story of what happened to Phillip and how he reclaims his life.   Phillip’s brother was murdered. I suspect there’s a mystery thrown into this romance. If that’s so, would you say you have an even balance of mystery in romance? Or…

LaQuette | 20 Questions: ONE NIGHT EXPECTATIONS
Author Guest / April 26, 2022

1–What is the title of your latest release? ONE NIGHT EXPECTATIONS: Devereaux Inc 3 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? One night of unbridled passion can send their future up in flames. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’m from Brooklyn, so many of my story concepts are set here.  Also, the Devereaux Inc series was pitched as Black Dynasty set in Brooklyn.  Staying true to the pitch, all the titles in this series will take place in Brooklyn. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely.  She’s confident, successful, and fashionable.  We’d have loads of fun talking shoes and purses. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Nurturing, loyal, passionate 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That even when you do the wrong thing, there’s always a chance to do better. 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I wait until I’m done.  Stopping to fix everything only serves to slow me down.  Once the draft is done, then I can look at the project in its entirety and make changes from a global standpoint. 8–What’s your favorite foodie…

Jackie Ashenden | Author-Reader Match: FIND YOUR WAY HOME
Author Guest / April 26, 2022

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 you may fall in love with. It’s our great pleasure to present Jackie Ashenden!   Writes: Jackie writes steamy, emotional small-town romance set in New Zealand, with hot heroes trying to get the world to their liking, only have it blown apart by feisty heroines who won’t let them get away with a single thing.   About: Jackie loves drinking coffee and baking the odd batch of cinnamon rolls, as well as buying yarn, keeping yarn, playing with yarn, and knitting with yarn. When she’s not admiring her yarn stash, she is planning her next book, that will no doubt feature an incredibly hot alpha hero brought completely to his knees by the sassy heroine. You can find Jackie on her website or follow her on Instagram.   What I’m looking for in my ideal reader match: Must love: An isolated mountain town with no internet, no cafes, one pub, a general store, and an outdoor adventure company owned by three suspiciously hot guys. Enemies-to-lovers romance featuring a take-charge, no-nonsense NZ hero and a take-no-prisoners Texan heroine who…

Cat Wynn | Author-Reader Match: PARTNER TRACK
Author Guest / April 26, 2022

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 Cat Wynn!   Writes: I write contemporary rom-coms with a lot of smut and a little bit of an edge. PARTNER TRACK follows the story of Perdie Stone an often-overlooked plaintiffs’ attorney who’s trying to make partner at her firm. After besting younger hotshot defense attorney Carter Leplan on a big case, the two are snowed in together. Riding high off her win, Perdie sleeps with the irresistible Leplan thinking she’ll never see him again. But when she returns home to Charleston expecting a promotion, she discovers that Leplan has been hired at her firm instead taking the position she was gunning for.   About: Hello beautiful readers! I’m Cat and I live in a cozy house near the Atlantic Ocean in Charleston, South Carolina with my two geriatric rescue dogs. I write late at night on an old couch that should’ve probably been tossed five years ago. I’m shockingly good at parties provided the snacks are good. You can test…

Kris Ripper | Exclusive Excerpt: BOOK BOYFRIEND
Author Guest , Excerpt / April 26, 2022

For a while I found excuses to be in the common areas of the apartment, hoping Art would come back out and I could mount a solid defense about my mad romance skillz, but he stayed holed up in his room and since I couldn’t hear his music, that probably meant he had on noise-canceling headphones and couldn’t hear me conspicuously walking down the hall­way, or washing the dishes, or, uh, moving the couch so I could sweep under it, which I’d never done before and was so gross I might never do again. There was no point if he wasn’t coming out to see what I was doing so I could triumphantly brandish my disgusting dustpan like a…like a very passionate-about-cleaning hero out of a romance novel? That was probably a thing, right? I’d interned under the romance editor, Adams, and I was pretty sure I could sell her on cleaning as a romantic gesture. Well. Maybe. Adams was kinda hard-core. Let’s just say, if it was a thing, she’d probably seen it already and could cite every in­stance of it in every romance novel published in the last fifty years. I finally gave up and went in my…

Rachel Reid | 20 Questions: THE LONG GAME
Author Guest / April 26, 2022

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE LONG GAME 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov get their hard-earned happily ever after! 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Because this is a sequel, the locations were already decided (mostly Ottawa and Montreal), but I chose these cities in the first place because I like writing stories set in Canada and I have some familiarity with those places. 4–Would you hang out with Shane in real life? Oh man. I don’t think we’d have much to say to each other. 5–What are three words that describe Ilya? Charming. Perceptive. Sad. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? That writing a sequel is really hard! 7–Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done? I edit as I draft quite a bit, especially for the first half of the book. I am trying to not do that as much so I can complete my first drafts faster, but it’s a hard habit to break. 8–What’s your favorite foodie indulgence? I love food so much, this is tough. I can’t resist anything homemade, especially…

Kym Roberts | Cozy Corner: A Different Path to Mystery
Author Spotlight , Cozy Corner / April 25, 2022

A couple times a year I get sidetracked. (My husband would say I do it more often than that, but I don’t remember asking for his input.) My reading, and writing, veer off-course to see what’s beyond the cozy forest as I explore what lies deep within the darkness—to the place where laughter and silliness don’t exist, but exceptional writing and storytelling still grasp hold and don’t let go. We all have a go-to genre, one that speaks to us the way no other does, yet just as in life, going outside the boundaries of our chosen lane allows us to experience another culture to enrich our daily lives. And I have to say, the choices I’m sharing today sweetened my reading venture – from a kiss of death to a trip through time, to the novellas of a genre king, and the threats of a haunted home, all of which brought me right back to my original trek – and a trip to Paris. I mean seriously, it’s Paris! I hope my selections inspire you to take a chance, a risk that will open your eyes to new possibilities…and then you can finish back in our cozy little corner….

Jeneva Rose Interview – Psychological Thrillers
Author Guest , Interviews / April 25, 2022

While reading the description of your book ONE OF US IS DEAD, I was reminded of my favorite Real Housewives. What was your inspiration for this thriller? I actually came up with the idea for ONE OF US IS DEAD when I was sitting in a salon chair. My hairstylist had mentioned something personal I had previously told her (I don’t even remember what it was), and I was like, “Wait, I told you that? I can’t believe I told you that.” She replied, “Yes, you wouldn’t believe the things people say while sitting in this chair.” That was a lightbulb moment for me, and I immediately felt a salon was the perfect setting for a thriller. By the time I got home, I had half the book plotted out in my head. As I drafted the novel, I was definitely inspired by the Real Housewives as well as the book BIG LITTLE LIES.   Is this story divided up and alternating between the perspectives of several different characters? Yes, there are five points of view which was quite the undertaking to ensure they were unique voices and readers wouldn’t be confused by the multiple perspectives. Thankfully, early reviews gush…

Allison Brennan Interview – Chatting About Thrillers, Teamwork in Crime Solving, and Cold Cases
Author Guest , Interviews / April 25, 2022

How much research goes into one of your books? A: It really depends on the book. If I’m not familiar with the area, I’ll do a lot of location research, but I try to write books in places where I’ve been or where I know someone. For crime details, I have a lot of people I can call upon for help, or I can post a question in the Crime Scene Writers group. I’ve also done a lot of research over the years that’s become my own knowledge base — I’ve gone through the FBI Citizen’s Academy, gone on ride-alongs with local police, toured the morgue and viewed an autopsy, visited Quantico, and participated in training drills with SWAT teams. All that informs my books. For THE SORORITY MURDER, which came out at the end of 2021, I reached out to the head of the Criminal Justice department at Northern Arizona University as well as someone from the campus police department because I had very specific questions. But most of the forensic and psychology details I researched in books I own. For THE WRONG VICTIM, I reached out to a former ATF agent for information about bombs to make sure…

Julie Anne Lindsey | 20 Questions: TO CATCH A KILLER
Author Guest / April 25, 2022

1–What is the title of your latest release? TO CATCH A KILLER 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? A woman on the run from a killer. A US Marshal determined to protect her. Will these former lovers lose their hearts in the process? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I set the Heartland Heroes books in rural Kentucky because it’s such a beautiful area, full of small towns and good people. And someplace the wilderness is always just a stone’s throw away. 4–Would you hang out with your heroine in real life? Absolutely! I write women-next-door heroines, because I want readers to easily walk in their shoes and experience the adventure right along with her. My heroines are always smart and resourceful, which I also adore. And there’s nothing they won’t do to protect the people they love. I would be any of their best friends in a minute. 5–What are three words that describe your hero? Honorable, courageous, capable 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? My heroine is a budding chef with dreams of opening her own restaurant. More specifically, she wants to honor her family. Her mother is…