1–What is the title of your latest release? PROTECTING THE PACK 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Book #4 in my Protectors at K-9 Ranch series, featuring dogs that have been rescued by and/or trained at K-9 Ranch. In this one, my heroine has a black Newfoundland named Jasper, who is trained in water rescue (she lives on a lake) and is a gentle guardian for her and her foster children. PROTECTING THE PACK – A plus-size woman with foster kids and a dog is set up on a blind date with a silver fox cop. But they’re interrupted by an urgent request to foster two boys. Stella and Joe’s connection is real. Their found family is everything they wanted—but someone doesn’t want the kids, or lovers, to have a happily-ever-after. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? I’ve set many of my books in and around Kansas City, Missouri, including this one. While I don’t live in K.C. anymore, I still have family in the area and visit often. I love checking out new places in the area or revisiting old favorites—and I have a lot of fun including them in my…

Most likely to… Stumble into trouble—Steph. She’s an artist at heart who disappears inside herself and into her music while she’s designing intricate buttercream flowers and stacking tiered cakes. Steph walks to the beat of her own drummer and tends to get lost in her own baking world. She’s rarely seen without her Airpods and is often seen sketching elaborate new cake designs in a cozy corner of the park. With her head in the clouds, she might inadvertently stumble into trouble. Help out a stranger—Helen Capshaw is the matriarch at Torte. She’s part baker, part therapist, and a mom to all. Helen welcomes everyone into the artisan bakeshop with open arms, a hot cup of coffee, and a fresh-from-the-oven cinnamon roll oozing with her signature buttercream and finished off with a dollop of her raspberry preserves. She’s never met a stranger and would give you the shirt off her back and loaves and loaves of honey walnut bread to go along with it. Be skeptical—The Professor. Ashland’s resident detective and Shakespeare aficionado is equally kind and cunning. You’ll find him wearing tweed jackets and quoting sonnets and soliloquies, but don’t let his literary façade fool you. His deduction skills…

by Jamie L. Adams Hi, I’m Jamie Adams, and if you’ve been following along, you know I love a good mystery. There’s something irresistible about an intricate puzzle, a trail of clues, and that heart-pounding moment when everything falls into place. One of my favorite mystery elements is the idea of small towns with big secrets. On the surface, these places seem like picture-perfect—charming main streets, friendly neighbors, and a sense of community where everyone knows everyone. But beneath that idyllic facade, secrets lurk. And when those secrets start to unravel, the results can be explosive. Why Small-Town Mysteries Work So Well The setting of a small town adds a unique layer of tension to a mystery. Unlike big cities, where anonymity is the norm, small towns thrive on familiarity. When something sinister happens—a murder, a disappearance, an unsolved crime—it shakes the entire community. Suddenly, lifelong friends start looking at each other with suspicion. That kindly shopkeeper might be hiding a scandal. The reclusive widow may know more than she lets on. In a small town, there’s nowhere to hide. Yet, somehow, the biggest secrets are buried right under everyone’s noses. Classic Small Town Mystery Themes Many of my favorite…

1–What is the title of your latest release? THE YOUNGER WOMAN 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Gabby’s just starting to adapt to life as an empty nester, when she makes a stunning realization: she can’t stand her husband! One night, after too many cocktails, she meets an enigmatic younger woman called Ellis and blurts out that she wishes her husband were dead. Obviously, she didn’t mean it and the next day, she wants to take it back, but when she tries to contact Ellis, she can’t find her. Gabby begins to get the nasty feeling that she wasn’t who she said she was… 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The setting was an important part of the story so it sort of decided for me! It was inspired by Sandbanks, on the south-west coast of England, one of the most exclusive places to live in the world. If you read the book, you’ll see why it had to be there! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Yes. Because despite what people may think, I like her and I think she would have my back and vice versa….

Book Title: ONE MINUTE MORE Character Name: Detective Ari Greene How would you describe your family or your childhood? I’m the only Jewish detective on the Homicide Squad of the Toronto police force and the only child of parents are holocaust “survivors.” I put survivors in quotes, because my dad, Yitzhak, the toughest and wisest person I know, hates the term. His first wife and daughter were killed in the camps. My mother died a few years ago from Alzheimer’s – thinking near the end of her life that her nurses were Nazi guards. But you don’t dare feel sorry for my father. Now he’s full of joy, especially now because a few years ago I discovered that I have a twenty-year old daughter, Alison, I never knew about. She grew up in England and now lives with us. Not your typical family, but family we are.  What was your greatest talent? Listening. Thinking. Caring. Significant other? In the new book, ONE MINUTE MORE, a prequel set in 1988, the readers learn that back then I had a girlfriend named Meredith. And in the more recent books I was, well, having an affair with a married woman. A prosecutor. It…

Each month in 2025, I’m engaging in a reading challenge where I try to find books within a specific trope to enjoy. For February (the month of romance!), I’m all about enemies to lovers. What’s the appeal of these stories? Going from hate to love?  There always seems to be extra intensity in these romances. A desire that should be forbidden but is all the more attractive because it’s taboo.  Hate and love are supposed to be opposite emotions, but in these tales, the line between them sure does blur. One of the very first books I ever read that featured this trope was HONOR’S SPLENDOUR by Julie Garwood.  The hero was supposed to hate the heroine. Her brother was a true villain, and our hero came to take his vengeance. And, yet… He wound up falling for the heroine. Typical. A super popular book right now that features this trope? FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros (a book I absolutely devoured). The main characters should hate each other, and, in fact, the super hot hero does seem to be against our determined heroine. But things are not always as they appear.  Sometimes, your worst enemy can wind up being your…

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 Jen’s Jewels, a weekly column where we dive into the heart of storytelling with today’s most exciting authors. Whether you’re looking for your next must-read or curious about the creative sparks behind your favorite books, you’ve come to the right place. This week, we’re checking out AN OVERDUE MATCH by Sarah Monzon, a delightful romance that turns library check-out histories into a matchmaking tool. With a heroine who’s beautifully resilient and a hero who’s more than meets the eye, this charming novel is sure to steal your heart. Let’s chat with Sarah about the inspiration behind her latest release! Jennifer Vido: Using library check-out histories as a matchmaking tool is brilliantly original. What creative spark or real-life observation led you to develop this charming and unconventional approach to romantic connections? Sarah Monzon: I wish I could say that I had a fun story behind this idea, but really, it just kind of popped into my head one day. I was thinking about the character of Evangeline, and I might have just watched Jewish Matchmaking on Netflix a couple of weeks prior, then, poof, the idea of using the books that library patrons check out as a matchmaking tool…

Book Title:  A TINY PIECE OF BLUE Character Name: Silstice (Silly) Trayson Describe Yourself I’m a thirteen-year-old girl living with my family in the farmlands of southern Michigan during the early 1930s, which became known as the Great Depression. We’re dirt poor, often not having enough food and I’m skin and bones. I’m starting high school soon and I hate my tattered clothes, but we have no money for new clothes. I want to fit in, but my family is known as the “Trashy Traysons” and no one wants to befriend me. Why Do You Have Such a Weird Name? I was born on December 21 and the midwife told my mother it was a special day, the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Unfortunately, my mother misunderstood and thought the word was “silstice” and named me that. “Silly” became my nickname which I’ve grown to hate because all the kids snicker when the teacher does roll call. Our family is called The Trashy Traysons because my father has never held down a real job and we have lots of old barrels, wood, metal, and junk in our yard. What Are Your Biggest Problems? My house burns down…

1–What is the title of your latest release? DAWN OF GRACE – Mary Magdalene’s Story 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? On the brink of despair, Mary is about to discover that while the life of faith is never perfect, perfect love casts out fear – and Jesus makes all things new. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? The Bible gave me the place after I picked the person whose story I wanted to tell. 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Absolutely! I loved telling Mary’s story, though storytelling is never easy. I look forward to meeting her in heaven one day. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Lonely, Fearful, Loving 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? I had no idea what it might be like to cast demons out of someone or how it might feel to be possessed by demons, but with Mary’s story, I had to learn. I turned to author Bill Myers, someone with real-life experience in that area and read his book, Supernatural Wars, that he’d written describing his meetings with a man possessed and what it took to…