Each Friday the Smashwords store reports the bestselling indie fiction titles based on the previous week’s sales. If an author has more than one title eligible for the list, only the highest performing title will be included. This ensures high-performing titles receive the accolades they deserve, while providing up-and-coming authors the visibility they have earned. Don’t miss Monday’s Top 10 Hot Preorders List, where Smashwords will provide a list of the most highly anticipated ebook preorders.

This week’s Jen’s Jewels spotlight is shining on FALLING FOR PEACHTREE BLUFF by New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey. The newest installment of the beloved Murphy family series brings fans back to Peachtree Bluff, where small-town charm, family secrets, and plenty of pumpkin spice await. If you’re ready for a cozy fall read filled with heart, humor, and Southern charm, this one belongs on your TBR. LIGHTNING ROUND What’s your favorite way to spend a crisp September afternoon?I’m a big football girl! A Tar Heel game and a pumpkin spice latte make me so happy! Any high school sporting event too. I also love fall boating days. It’s a little cooler, and the water is so calm. What’s your go-to fall drink, snack, or sweet treat while writing?I love to make—and eat!—pumpkin muffins! Pumpkin everything for me! THE FALL INSPIRATION What was the very first spark that inspired this story?It was so strange. I wrote CHRISTMAS IN PEACHTREE BLUFF in 2020 as the extra chapter of the series. I was finished. Or so I thought. The minute I finished I knew what happened next, and I kept writing, just for fun, maybe even for myself. I never even…

A movie star, a diplomat’s wife, a scientist, and attendants to royalty—the protagonists of this month’s selection of stories live out-of-the-ordinary lives on, or near, a grand stage. We’ll start with the movie star in WHEN WE WERE BRILLIANT by Lynn Cullen, a novel about the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and photographer Eve Arnold—the only female photographer Monroe worked with and the one she pursued as a young starlet, sure this woman would project the image Norma Jean wanted the world to see. Although one would become an internationally recognized personality and the other would be little-known, their association spans Marilyn’s life, her story revealed as Eve saw and photographed her.  Both were ambitious, driven women determined to succeed in their chosen fields despite the restrictions imposed by their male-dominated industries, struggling to balance professional aspirations with traditional female roles in marriage and motherhood.  Though Cullen’s Eve remains somewhat a shadowy figure and her narrative doesn’t delve deeply into Marilyn’s serious mental health issues, she does a marvelous job of letting Eve reveal the poignant humanity and enormous heart of the woman behind the symbol who yearned all her life for love, stability and acceptance. We return to a fictional…

What is the title of your latest release?RE:CLAIM – A Sultryverse story What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?After an eighteen-year-old French heiress is blamed for fighting off an attempted assault, she is sent to an elite Swiss boarding school built to contain the scandals of the ultra-wealthy. With a brilliant hacker she cannot stop thinking about, she uncovers a vault of blackmail material and builds Les Louves, an anonymous collective determined to expose powerful men without exploiting their victims. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I wanted old money, reputation, and secrecy to feel like parts of the same machine. Paris gave the story polish and social pressure; a private island, an elite Swiss boarding school, and a bank vault gave it institutional secrecy and physical stakes. The settings look immaculate, which made them perfect places to hide ugly systems. Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely, but I would let Manon choose the venue. She is loyal, funny, stylish, and ferociously protective. I would also make sure my passport was current, because an ordinary drink with Manon has a way of turning into an international incident. What are three…

Sufjan Stevens “Mystery of Love”In one of their first conversations, love interest Elijah says he reads Sufjan Stevens lyrics in his free time. Elijah later plays a Sufjan song for the narrator, Sean, and it is likely “Mystery of Love.” The song originally featured on the soundtrack for Call Me By Your Name, a film that notably centers a young man who has physical relationships with both men and women. Yo La Tengo “Autumn Sweater”Best friend Andi still makes mix CDs, creating a collection in Sean’s glove compartment known as the Andi Lucero Mix CD Library. The first mix they made for Sean had a slipcase made of duct tape and was called Autumn Sweater. Andi listens to music from the early 2000s, as though their glory days happened before they were born. The Replacements “Unsatisfied”Unsatisifed is the title of a loud, angsty mix Andi asks Sean to play on the drive to school one morning. When I first came out as bi in 2008 and got my heart broken by a boy, I listened to the Replacements’ “Unsatisfied” on repeat. Bob Dylan “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”When alone, Sean listens to folksy Bob Dylan records from his mom. This…

The Temple of Kronos wants her dead. The Stoneslayer wants her destroyed. Neither will have her. (In the fourth book of the Stoneslayer dark fantasy series, Helen Andros awakens her spiritual mastery to gain the skills and power she needs to survive a death mark. Following is another excerpt.) Helen and Obadiah stood facing each other on either side of the redwood. Maguari directed them to open their hearts as much as possible and ask that their hearts be filled with love. “The warmth in your chest is the love,” the Mist-Weaver explained. “Claim as much of that love for yourselves as you can. It is very healing.” Asking Obadiah to place his palms against the tree trunk and keep his heart open, Maguari gave different instructions to Helen. “Once you feel that warmth and have claimed your fair share, hold up your hands and turn the palms toward the tree. With your thoughts send the excess of that love and warmth along your arms, out of your palms, and into the tree.” Obadiah gasped. “I can feel it!” “What is it like?” Helen asked. He had some trouble putting his impressions into words. “It feels like popping soap bubbles….

What is the title of your latest release?10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT ZOMBIES What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?When Portland smoothie shop owner Zoey meets mushroom farmer Nick, she places a huge mushroom order in order to get close to him…but the resulting mushroom smoothies have some strange side effects, like green skin, shuffling, and a whole lot of moaning about “brains.” Can Zoey and Nick work together to find an antidote to the accidental zombie apocalypse they’ve started – and maybe some true love as well? How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I lived in Portland, Oregon, for a few years, and knew that Portland – with its quaint shops and outdoorsy vibes was the perfect setting for this one! Plus, the city literally has an annual Zombie Shuffle – how could I pass that up? Would you hang out with your heroine in real life?Absolutely – she has excellent taste in books (Frog and Toad!) and music (60s garage rock)! She’s a wee bit grumpy, though, so maybe she wouldn’t want to hang out with me! What are three words that describe your hero?Kind, thoughtful, helper. What’s something you learned while…

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 Helene Wecker! Writes:I write award-winning historical fantasy (with a romantic twist!) about unlikely immigrants in early 20th century New York. My newest book, THE GATES OF MIDNIGHT, is the conclusion to the Golem and the Jinni trilogy, which draws on Jewish and Arab folklore to tell the story of two fantastical beings who must learn to navigate the human world – and their feelings for each other – while facing dangers from their shared past. About:You can take the girl out of the Midwest, but you can’t erase the hotdish from her soul! I grew up in suburban Chicago and spent my early adulthood in Minnesota, then ricocheted between Seattle and New York before finally settling in Northern California. I love to read tales of strangers in strange lands, misunderstood magical outcasts, and lonely gods and goddesses. I draw my writing inspiration from the Jewish background I was born with and the Arab heritage I married into, and I tend to write books about…

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 Alex Hay! Writes:Historical crime set in London, sometimes with a contemporary twist. Enjoy big houses, bad families, glittering settings and plenty of twists. In The Housekeepers, we join a disgruntled gang of female servants as they embark on the most audacious heist of the century. In THE QUEEN OF FIVES, we meet London’s premier conwoman, out to defraud the wealthiest family in town – until she realizes somebody is playing a game of high deception against her. And in THE MIDNIGHT GUESTS, we’re pulled into a dark and twisting 1920s mystery, when two ornate coffins are discovered in the vaults of London’s most lavish new hotel. About:Bestselling author of three novels, Alex Hay writes fast, twisting suspense novels layered with all the delicious sights, sounds and scents of the past. He loves the research process, uncovering the details that will bring a scene to life. But most of all he loves writing complex, secretive, scrappy characters determined to survive and thrive in the cut-and-thrust…

The heat’s still on in many parts of the northern hemisphere, mocking the pumpkins and Halloween decorations already demanding seasonal attention. The world had to say a tearful good-bye to Dolly Parton, and AI is delivering as many questions and concerns as answers. In this in-between, helter-skelter time, it’s good there are great books out there to deliver respite and distraction. None of the books I’m discussing today avoids day-to-day realities, but each one offers a chance to think about them from different perspectives, and each one delivers a satisfying conclusion. FURY IN DEATH, by the inimitable J.D. Robb, is the latest triumph in this long-running series. Detective Eve Dallas is after a violent killer (okay, no big surprise there!), but this murderer seems determined to inflict near unimaginable damage to the bodies of the men he’s killing, even after they’re dead. What could inspire such fury? As Dallas and her beloved “consultant,” Roarke, ricochet from one crime scene to the next, her understanding of the killer’s motives deepens, along with her compassion. The suspect’s hatred is personal and fueled by a demand for revenge, but that hatred was born of villainy perpetrated by international conglomerates and dirty politicians, all…