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.

Welcome to my first Jen’s Jewels column of 2025! Award-winning novelist Fiona Davis takes readers on a thrilling journey through time in her latest masterpiece, THE STOLEN QUEEN, weaving together the stories of two remarkable women connected by a mysterious Egyptian artifact at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Blending the glittering world of the 1978 Met Gala with ancient Egyptian archaeology, Davis crafts a tale of curses, repatriation, and unexpected friendship as her protagonists race from Manhattan to Egypt in search of a priceless treasure. In our conversation, Davis reveals the fascinating real-life inspiration behind her novel—including a viral Kim Kardashian photo that led to the recovery of a stolen sarcophagus—and shares how she brought both the glamorous Diana Vreeland era and the legacy of a forgotten female pharaoh to vivid life. Read on to discover the stories behind one of this winter’s most anticipated historical novels. Jennifer Vido: What inspired you to weave the lives of Charlotte Cross and Annie Jenkins across two distinct timelines, and how did you balance their stories to create such an engaging narrative? Fiona Davis: I loved the idea of two very different women – in terms of age, temperament, and interests – being…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE LOTUS SHOES 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? In 1800s China, gentle but brave Little Flower becomes self-centered Linjing’s slave-maid. When scandal strikes Linjing’s family, both women are forced to join a Celibate Sisterhood. Little Flower wants dignity, love and independence. Can she escape Linjing’s tenacious grip? 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Lotus Shoes is based on family lore past down from my grandmothers. They came from the Pearl River Delta of southern China. The Celibate Sisterhood also originated in this region—this under explored feminist movement is a pivotal focus in the second half of the story. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I can imagine sitting in a sewing circle with Little Flower—we both love embroidery, though my stitches are more like Linjing’s pedestrian ones. As research for The Lotus Shoes, I learned the satin stitch and the Peking knot. Embroidery is fun and very relaxing, almost like meditation. If that’s what you’re looking for, give it a go! 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Innovative, brave, resilient. 6–What’s something you learned while writing…

Greetings readers, I am Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield, an American singer. Or was. I did perish in 1876, but here I am being called back from eternity and the land of the ancestors to grace you all with my presence. I was asked to give my opinion about a book that’s been written about me, called THE UNEXPECTED DIVA, by an author named Tiffany L. Warren. I’m told it’s in a category called historical fiction, which leaves me a bit befuddled, because I certainly am not fictitious. So, that is my first thought. This diva is real, and with a three-octave voice, what about me should have ever been unexpected? Perhaps the individuals responsible for selecting book titles were alluding to the fact that no American Black woman had ever gone on a singing tour before me. That is true. I toured all over North America and even Canada. The free states, of course. I wasn’t going south to put on a concert. I am pleased at the gifted beauties that have followed in my footsteps, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Pryce, Beyoncé, Cynthia Erivo, and I am especially fond of a buxom songstress named Madelyn Brené. I claim them all. Every fearless…

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.

by CJ Holmes We have to talk about dragons. ONYX STORM is book three in Rebecca Yarros‘s Empyrean series, and it’s releasing on 21st January. This book is one of the biggest romantasy releases scheduled for 2025 – and I can guarantee there will be a social media takeover, and more than a few bookshops will be holding all night long publishing events. Not sure what this series is? You’ve probably heard of book one, FOURTH WING. It’s been a huge publishing phenomenon in romantasy and this book has caught the imagination of a whole new generation of readers. Is it perfect? No. But no book is and if this has inspired a whole load of people to pick up books and become readers, then I’m all for it! THE EMPYREAN SERIES has also brought dragons out of hibernation, and there’s been a surge of readers wanting books about these amazing fantasy creatures. In the world of fantasy romance, they come in three broad flavors: evil villains who need to be defeated, magical beasts with fantastic riders they’re somehow connected to, and dragon shifters. What’s a dragon shifter, I hear some of you ask… It’s a creature that shifts between…

Nestled in a little scooped out valley in the Appalachian Mountains and surrounded by the National Forest like a giant maw waiting to snap closed and swallow us whole, Caball Hollow, West Virginia is a hard town to get to and, with the switchback that washes out every time it rains, an even harder town to leave. We have one stoplight and two restaurants. The Pub and Grub, is primarily a bar, complete with sticky floors and a menu that tastes mostly like old fryer grease. And I’m not just saying that because the other restaurant is my family’s diner. The Harvest Moon serves breakfast and lunch six days a week, from fried green tomatoes and grits, to cathead biscuits and red-eye gravy. Each recipe was perfected by the generations of James women who came before and faithfully recorded in our family books of mountain wisdom, alongside the best places to find paw paws and what to plant by the phases of the moon. And these days, my younger sister, Linden, has taken to supplementing our menu with a selection of baked goods that make use of her special talents, like lavender shortbread to ease conversation and chess cake for…

Book: THE CAPITAL OF DREAMS Character Name: The Goose How would you describe your family or your childhood? My family hardly paid any attention at all. I could have been any goose to crack out of the egg. I knew I was different. But my family alas, did not know I was different. It was muddy. I do remember that. So much mud. So much squawking. What was your greatest talent? I consider myself to be a public intellectual. I think public speaking is something I am gifted at. I believe I could only truly feel myself when I am in front of a crowd of a thousand people. Significant other? I belong to a human child. That was my ambition. I did not want anything to do with other geese. I was laughed at on the farm. They said you are not a dog, you cannot acquire a child. But I knew I would. So I found a lost one on the side of the road. A very posh erudite child from the city. I wanted a well-to-do child, who would have a similar vocabulary to me. Biggest challenge in relationships? Accepting that your partner is going to make…

By Lauren J. A. Bear When I set out to write about mothers in literature, I knew it would be complicated. Because motherhood is complicated. The moms I know – myself included – certainly do our best, but we are all working within the parameters of our current existence and under the veil of our past experiences. I always say, I might be correcting the mistakes of the mothers before me, but I’m making entirely new ones in the process. Defining a “good” mother in fiction or reality is, thus, a subjective task. There’s Marmee March, of course, morally steadfast and true, and Mrs. Rabbit of Beatrix Potter lore, always aproned and full of sage advice. But one of the hallmarks of good literature is authenticity. Nobody is an angel of the home all the time. On the flip side, there are quintessentially bad mothers: Mrs. Wormwood from MATLDA, vain and self-centered, or sociopathic Cathy Trask from EAST OF EDEN. While some may find the antics of Jane Austen’s Mrs. Bennett entertaining, I’m no fan. Her meddlesome desperation never felt like it had her daughters’ best interests at heart. There must be a middle ground. Moms who are devoted to…

Happy New Year everyone! I’m multi-genre author Debra Parmley, and I write while living the RV lifestyle full-time with my husband. I’m excited to bring you “Tales from the Trailer” a new feature on Fresh Fiction where each month I’ll be sharing stories of our travels and the RV lifestyle from an author’s point of view. For 23 years we had lived in Bartlett, TN just outside Memphis and we had talked about getting an RV and traveling more when he retired from his pressure washing business. Then Covid changed things in the US, and I said, “What are we waiting for? Everything is shut down anyway. If we must stay home, why not do that in a home on wheels? We can just move the home and go see national parks and our beautiful country. Let’s sell the house, buy an RV and go.” So, we did. By October 2020 we had bought the RV, a 2010 Tiffin Allegro diesel bus, parked it at our house, and started moving things into it while I worked on downsizing everything in our house.  When we put our house on the market, it sold 6 days after we listed it with two…