Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Meet the Boas & Tiaras Authors | Jane Porter relaxes with Lucky Charms, yum!
Author Spotlight / June 1, 2018

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.     Jane Porter is stepping up to the mic. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. There are consequences when you help your best friend avoid a loveless marriage, especially when its ends up sabotaging your boss’s wedding. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? Michelle Reid’s PRICE OF A BRIDE (but also, Debbie Macomber’s early romances, and Nora Robert’s Silhouettes). Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. I don’t have just one, but I tend to fall in love with my heroes.  I really adore them, and want to date them, and I so enjoy their banter, and their charm, and masculinity and appeal.  (Now that I think about it I’m terribly fond of Rory Douglas from MIRACLE ON CHANCE AVENUE) What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline? Travel, read, and watch reality singing and dancing competitions. I have lots of secret weaknesses and I record my shows…

Meet the Boas & Tiaras Authors | Bridget Blackwood will be sporting pink hair under her tiara!
Author Spotlight / June 1, 2018

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions.     Let’s see what Bridget Blackwood has to say. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. LOST IN PARADISE is a paranormal ocean adventure tale with high stakes, hot nights, and love blooming in the tropics that overshadows any treasure. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? NIGHT PLEASURES by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I can remember the smell of the bookstore and how everything looked in the mall bookstore when I bought it that day. This was back in 2004. I went back two days later and bought more. LOL! I was hooked. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. This was really hard. I think my favorite to write is Black Annis. She does what she wants at all times. It is interesting to write a character with no inhibition or conscience to restrict her. Good or bad, her actions are always strategic to a plan. What do you do to de-stress when you’re…

Meet the Boas & Tiaras Authors | C.A. Szarek falls for her own heroes. You will, too!
Author Spotlight / June 1, 2018

Spotlighting our Boas & Tiaras Authors As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions. C.A. Szarek has some cool facts to share with you. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. Small Town Texas doesn’t always mean small time crime. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? I write different genres, so I’m not sure. I guess each of my characters draws me in their own ways. When they “introduce” themselves to me, I generally have to get to know them as if they were a real person, which can be as frustrating as it is fun. I like to write real people who are very real to the reader. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. I can’t pick one. That’s like picking your fave kid. I can say they each speak to me differently and when I’m writing the book, I usually fall for the hero before the book is over, and hope my readers do, too. What do you do…

Meet the Boas & Tiaras Authors | T.M. Smith can’t wait to meet you!
Author Spotlight / June 1, 2018

Spotlighting our Boas & Tiaras Authors As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras (click here to buy your ticket) we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions. Check out what T.M. Smith has to say. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. There’s a SURVIVOR in all of us. What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? It was a series actually, Shadowhunters by Cassandra Clare. I fell in love with Alec and Magnus and the inner workings of their relationship.  Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. They’re all my favorites, but I do have entirely too much fun with Aiyan and Kaden (Opposites series) and figuring out what they’ll be breaking next. What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline? Walk and/or listen to music. What’s one thing you want our Boas & Tiaras guests to know about you? That I can’t wait to meet them! Tables are filling up fast for Boas & Tiaras. Don’t miss your chance to wear a tiara, sit with one of these lovely authors, and…

Meet the Boas & Tiaras Authors | Did you know Jodi Thomas is on her 50th book?!
Author Spotlight / June 1, 2018

As we speed closer and closer to Boas & Tiaras we decided to give you more insight into our attending authors. We’ll highlight one author in each newsletter with five quick questions. First up, one of our Guests of Honor, Jodi Thomas. Pitch us your newest book in one sentence. MORNINGS ON MAIN is a powerful, heartwarming story about generations of family, their lives, their loves and the ironclad bonds they forge. Nominated last week for the National Readers Choice award. (Congratulations!) What book made you fall in love with the genre(s) you write? I learned to write women’s fiction when I wrote THE WIDOWS OF WICHITA COUNTY, but I fell in love with it writing RANSOM CANYON. Strong Texas men, ranching, and a great love story. Tell us about your favorite character you’ve ever written. Tyler Wright was 42, overweight, balding, hadn’t had a date in two years and was the town funeral director, but he loved people. When he stepped on stage in the first book of the Harmony series he came alive. In fact, for that year he often got more fan mail than I did. What do you do to de-stress when you’re on a writing deadline?…

Love Meghan and Harry? We have the perfect list of royal romances for you to enjoy
Guests / May 31, 2018

By: Miranda Owen “Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” ― William Shakespeare, HENRY IV, Part 2 “Hail to the king, baby.” – Ash, ARMY OF DARKNESS Royalty-themed romance is a fun fantasy, and not just limited to historicals. Reading a few books in the Royal Wedding Archives series, by various authors, I got to thinking about all the varieties of romances featuring royalty – contemporary, historical, and paranormal. Some stories have fairy tale aspects, and some characters are realistically flawed even though they may be royalty. I admit that when I think of books about royalty, historical romance immediately comes to mind, but I recently read some fabulous contemporary romances with royal heroes. After binge-reading new-to-me author Alexa Riley, I came across her story THE KING’S INNOCENT BRIDE. Even though it has a contemporary setting, THE KING’S INNOCENT BRIDE has an old-world fairy tale feel to it. Kate is isolated and virtually a prisoner of her wicked uncle. After bravely making an escape attempt, she comes face-to-face with the king. James is instantly smitten with Kate and he spends the rest of the story dispensing punishment to anybody who has crossed Kate, and catering to her every desire…

Elizabeth Heiter | An Interview with FBI Profiler Evelyn Baine
Author Guest , Interviews / May 28, 2018

Today, I’m sitting down with the heroine of The Profiler series, Evelyn Baine, to find out more about how she balances her job with the FBI and the rest of her life: So, Evelyn, what exactly do you do for the FBI? “I’m a criminal investigative analyst – what you might call a profiler – for the Behavioral Analysis Unit. If you’ve got a crime where everything you’ve tried has failed to find you the perpetrator, you call my unit. We don’t need forensics or obvious suspects. What we do is look at the crime scene and read the psychology behind it. What caused the perpetrator to do this? What kind of person is he? How do you find him?” That sounds really complicated. How did you get into this line of work? “Sometimes it is complicated. I don’t really like to talk about my personal life, but I learned about profilers when I was twelve years old. My best friend disappeared and an FBI profiler came to town to find her. He never did, so it became my life’s mission to join the FBI, learn how to profile cases myself and one day figure out what happened to her.”…

Stephanie Laurens | Introducing ‘The Cavanaughs’
Interviews / May 9, 2018

Fresh Fiction’s Miranda Owen recently sat down with Historical Romance superstar, Stephanie Laurens, to discuss the first book in her Cavanaugh series. They talk finding the right balance of mystery, romance, and action; creating a great heroine; and what she’s planning for the series in the future. Miranda Owen: Even though the reader is made aware of all the shadowy players in THE DESIGNS OF LORD RANDOLPH CAVANAUGH (Review), there is a little mystery for the good guys. Do you find it difficult balancing the mystery, action, and romance in your stories? Stephanie Laurens: Yes and no. It’s certainly something I consciously bear in mind because I actively write mystery-romance (the Casebook of Barnaby Adair series) as well as romance with a touch of adventure/mystery, such as this release. I decide early on what the balance ought to be, and it can vary from about 80% romance/20% adventure-mystery to 20% romance/80% mystery and through all points in between. You could say that striking the right balance takes conscious effort. Miranda Owen: Let’s talk heroines. In online romance book discussion groups, you always get asked to name some of your favorite heroes and heroines. For me, about a billion heroes come…

L.L. Bartlett | Finding The Right Setting in Buffalo, NY
Author Guest / May 8, 2018

As a New York Times bestselling author with three names (L.L. Bartlett, Lorraine Bartlett, and Lorna Barrett), readers think they know what my most successful series is. The Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett, of course. That’s the name most people associate me with—it, and the cozy mystery genre. But in reality, I’ve sold many more books in my Jeff Resnick series, and yet that name is far from being a household name. Unlike my cozy mystery series (and I have three), the Jeff Resnick Mysteries are quite a departure as it has an authentic setting—Buffalo, New York—and as I’m not a native, I’ve had to depend on actually visiting the area so that my books reflect the ambiance of the city and its surrounding suburbs, where most of the books take place. Why did I choose Buffalo? I (wrongly) concluded that as it was a much bigger metropolitan area than Rochester, where I live, that the crime rate must be much higher. Nope. But it’s an edgier city that has been shaking off its run-down reputation as a rust-belt relic and has recently been undergoing a renaissance. I’ve had a lot of compliments on the setting for the (so far)…

Samantha Chase | My top-five favorite romantic movies
Author Guest / May 1, 2018

Hey, everyone!! So as you know, UNTIL THERE WAS US is available now and it is a second-chance romance. I love that trope!! It’s a fun trope to read and that got me thinking about some of my favorite movies that share it! So here are my top five quirky picks for second chance romance movies!! THE PHILADELPHIA STORY LOVE this movie! Classic Katherine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart. Can it get any better than that?? It’s fun, it’s witty, and just everything a second chance romance – with a hint of a love triangle – should be!! WHEN HARRY MET SALLY True, it’s technically a friends to lovers story, however, once they slept together and Harry tries to win Sally back, you have the makings of a great second chance! And really, I can watch this movie every day and never get bored! GREASE Summer romance. They think they’ll never see each other again and then BAM! First day of school and there they are! Need I say more? Although, admit it, you’re singing Summer Nights in your head right now, aren’t you? SCROOGED Okay, this is my all-time favorite Christmas movie but when you push all of…