“The Highwayman” by Loreena McKennitt The title of book seven in my House Flipper series, Dead Post Society, is a nod to “Dead Poets Society,” one of my favorite movies. In this book, carpenter Whitney Flynn and her cousin Buck remodel the former headmaster’s house at a defunct boarding school not far from Nashville. Poems play a big part in the movie, so it’s probably no surprise that I begin each chapter of this book with a quote from a poem. Loreena McKennitt put the famous poem “The Highwayman” by Alfred Noyes to music, and her haunting voice is perfect. You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGFo0xn4JeY “If” by Anthony Clohesy When I still had a day job, I shared an office with a one-of-a-kind real-life character named Gene Edwards. Gene was an incredibly intelligent and wise guy with a unique, sometimes dark sense of humor, and he became like a big brother to me. He’d hung the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling on his wall. The choice of that poem said a lot about Gene, who he was and who he aspired to be. In honor of Gene, I included the poem in the book. A singer named…

1–What is the title of your latest release? SWEPT AWAY 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Two strangers end up lost at sea together after a one-night stand on a houseboat that is swept out to open ocean 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The houseboat setting came about because I was playing around with some classic romance tropes, including the idea of being stranded together on a desert island/remote location, and at the same time, there was a real trend over here in the UK to move into a houseboat! A lot of (slightly clueless) millennials were buying houseboats as a way to own a property in a city when flats were so prohibitively expensive. It didn’t always go as idyllically as planned (houseboat life is not for everyone, I’ve learned, while researching this book!). I loved the idea of a houseboat setting for two stranded strangers because it was hilariously unglamorous but also felt unique and contemporary. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely – both Lexi and Zeke. Though I think Lexi would probably take a while to warm to me… 5–What are three words…

Each Monday the Smashwords store lists the top ten most highly anticipated indie fiction ebooks based on the previous week’s preorder accumulations. Each title on the list is scheduled to release within the next week. To help the talented authors on this list accumulate even more preorders, click the title of the book. The hyperlink will bring you to a Books2Read page where you can order from your preferred ebook retailer. If the preorder is part of a series, click the hyperlinked series title to learn about the other books in the series. Be sure to check back Friday for a list of the Top 25 Bestselling Indie Ebooks.

Book Title: FALLS TO PIECES Character Name: Mac – The aging enigmatic bouncer from Kati’s college bar in rural Pennsylvania What was your greatest talent? I was a good cop once. Then things went sideways, and I found myself off the force and behind bars for aggravated manslaughter. My talents went to waste in the joint, unless you count my talent for survival. Once I got out, I put my talents to good use to protect people important to me. Kati Dawes and her daughter Zoe are two of those people. I’d go to hell and back for either one of them. Biggest challenge in relationships? In my experience, there are two types of people who make poor partners in relationships – ex-cops and ex-cons. I’m both. Now, I’m also an ex-husband. But even I can’t put all the blame on me for our marriage going to hell while we were still in the honeymoon phase. There was a lot my bride never told me, a lot she probably didn’t recognize herself. All of it was too much for any relationship to survive.  Where do you live? I’m originally from Philly but moved to Center Valley, Pennsylvania, 20 years ago…

1–What is the title of your latest release? FOLLOW ME 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? FOLLOW ME is a dark comedy/thriller skewering toxic Instagram Motherhood – think HEATHERS meets THE STEPFORD WIVES but in the age of social media. After her sister goes missing at a Mommy Influencer Weekend, childless burnout Adrienne must go undercover to try to find out what happened before the other perfect psycho mommies or her own demons catch up with her.  3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I am a Northern California Girl, and if anyone is going to suck me into a cult atmosphere, that’s where I will be most susceptible. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I would definitely hang out with Bautista and Chiara! Adrienne and I would have gotten along in my 20s, but I am too old for her now. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Dedicated, distrustful, sensitive. 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I learned that even though I felt so fragile after I had a baby, I was in fact stronger than I had ever been. And in sharing this…

Time for another romance trope round-up! Each month in 2025, I thought I would talk about a favorite romance trope.  This time, I’m chatting about a classic favorite for many…the amnesia trope.  Full confession—I super love this trope. I used it in one of my fav books, REMEMBER RAMSEY. In that romance, the heroine had been attacked, and at the beginning of the book, she had zero clue that she and the anti-hero were hot and heavy lovers.  The poor guy had to completely woo her again…Ah, amnesia romance. I do enjoy those stories! Corrine Michaels wrote a fabulous amnesia romance, HELP ME REMEMBER. I found this tale to be sexy and swoony, and I thought it held a fun amount of romantic suspense, too.  Plus, it had the added element of utilizing the “brother’s best friend” trope, too—extra awesomeness for the win! Rebecca Zanetti gave her hero amnesia is her sexy romantic suspense, FORGOTTEN SINS.  He wants the heroine desperately, even if he can’t remember their past together. I love the emotional angst that can come when one partner remembers EVERYTHING, but the other partner is walking through the dark (so to speak!) in the pages of the book….

This week’s Jen’s Jewels features a brilliantly unconventional story about an obituary writer who accidentally publishes his own obituary. Can you imagine the mortification (pun intended)? While death isn’t everyone’s favorite conversation topic, John Kenney tackles it with the perfect blend of humor and poignant reality, creating a read you won’t want to miss. If you’re searching for something refreshingly different to add to your reading list, this gem is absolutely for you! Jennifer Vido: What sparked the idea for this novel? Was there a particular moment or experience that led you to explore the life of an obituary writer? John Kenney: There was. It was the last time I saw my brother, Tom. He was in the final stages of cancer, but home, well cared for. My four other brothers and I planned a final visit. I arrived first. Tom was in a lounge chair, too thin now but smiling. We talked for a bit when I heard a car pull into the driveway and looked out the window. “The others are here,” I said to Tom. With Buster Keaton timing, stone-faced, Tom dropped an arm over the side of the chair, let his head fall to one side,…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE RESISTANCE PAINTER 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? 2010 Toronto:  Sculptor, Jo Blum is making sculptures for grave sites when she finds herself interviewing a dying man whose experiences eerily mimic her grandmother Irena’s war story. We plunge into 1939 Warsaw, Poland, where Irena and her sister Lotka have opposing strategies for surviving the brutal Nazi occupation of their city. Irena becomes a resistance fighter guiding people to safety through the sewers of Warsaw. She goes on to bear witness to this war through her drawings and paintings. Lotka disappears. Years later, Jo is driven to excavate Irena’s past, uncovering a Pandora’s box that threatens her grandmother’s life and everything Jo knows about her family. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Polish part of the novel was inspired by the life of my mother-in-law who fought in the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis in 1944. The Jo part is set in Toronto because I love my city and probably could not live anywhere else. More specifically, like Jo, I’m fascinated by cemeteries, particularly the old trees and the never ending, changing life…

In our March women’s fiction column, we’re talking with author Elise Hooper. Her debut novel THE OTHER ALCOTT was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. Three more novels—LEARNING TO SEE, FAST GIRLS, and ANGELS OF THE PACIFIC—followed, all centered on the lives of extraordinary but overlooked historical women. Her next book, THE LIBRARY OF LOST DOLLHOUSES will be released by William Morrow on April 1, 2025. Thanks for making time to talk with us today, Elise. Please, give us a quick synopsis of your new book. THE LIBRARY OF LOST DOLLHOUSES is a dual-timeline novel in which a museum curator named Tildy Barrows discovers a pair of elaborately crafted dollhouses in an old library in San Francisco. After finding clues hidden within these remarkable miniatures, Tildy sets out to decipher the secret history of the dollhouses and the mysterious artist who created them. Tildy’s journey introduces her to a world of ambitious and gifted women in Belle Époque Paris, a group of scarred World War I veterans in the English countryside, and Walt Disney’s bustling Burbank studio in the 1950s. As Tildy unravels the mystery, she finds not only inspiring, hidden history, but also a future for herself—and an astonishing…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE ORPHAN’S KING 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? If the unfortunate person trapped in the elevator with me is an exec, I’d say, “So this boy came from the most horrible childhood and decided that he was going to fix the world with violence and fire, and he mounted a revolution against the corrupt king, and had the whole kingdom in an uproar—but then he went after the king himself, and got caught and executed, and the whole revolution fizzled out.” And they’d say “Oh, bummer ending” and I’d say “No, no…that’s just chapter one.” And then they’d say “So what happens in the rest of the book?” and I’ll know they have fallen into my trap.   If it’s just, you know, a person, I’d say, “Assassin’s Creed 2 meets Arcane, this idiot boy kidnaps this idiot girl and then they have a whole enemies-to-lovers slow burn arc.” Or my favorite 5-word summary: “Hot Scottish Sociopath Destroys Capitalism”. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? As far as plot, characters, and worldbuilding go, worldbuilding is usually the more passive one with me. I…